trawlerman

Hi OPM, I've been bad about the forums, having pretty much dropped out completely as far as posting myself and stopped checking updates from others. Eh. So it goes. But I saw your HM on RunKeeper and came over here to congratulate you here as well. You are awesome! My goal is to be alive on my 51st birthday. If I can run a half marathon like you just did, well, that'd be a sweet bonus. Happy Birthday! Here's to another 51 excellent years! I'm hoping to hear about the half marathon you run right before your 102nd birthday! :-)

Updates tomorrow, I hope. Just checking in to say thanks. February hasn't killed me yet.

Also, in the positive, I started reading again after not being able to concentrate for a while. I started a new GoodReads account if any of you want to join me there: https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/52593427-oedipuss-wrecks

But all that is focusing on negatives. I do have a good life. Most of all, I have a wonderful family that loves me. I'd very likely be dead by now apart from this.

I've been struggling with depression and anxiety. I haven't been exercising. I've been eating poorly. Who knows which causes which? But it's a vicious circle. I've been drinking too much.

Posted that just because it's something. Here's more. I re-started GMB Elements this morning. That's good. I re-started StrongLifts last week. That's good. But I don't have a bench and that's stressing me out. I can't afford one just yet. So no bench press. Doing push-ups for now instead. I need to get out and run again. Or at least get out and walk. We've finally had a string of cold weather and getting outside has not been something that I've wanted to do.

Quick update. I still have no goals. Or, rather, it's that I don't know how to stick to goals. Diet is the most important. A change in my work schedule and I've already screwed up lunch and supper. I was excited to start fresh today. Bah. Now I've already overconsumed, taking in way too many calories. So,of course I start thinking about grabbing a bag of chips and beer on the way home. Freck. I haven't found any diet I can stick to. It's a will problem. I think that I also need to plan better. My meals are unplanned, I don't have a lunch ready, I work late and miss supper, so I settle for the easy bad choices. Which is stupid because I could just choose to go hungry forba while. I am not going to die and I know that.

Blackwell Legacy looks fun. What got you interested in a 10-years-old point & click game? I think that I'm going to check out Steam for the first time soon. A few of my friends in my Monday night D&D Hangouts game want to check out Fantasy Grounds, which is a system via Steam for playing tabletop RPGs.

February has beaten me back. I need you, Ellis, to get up and smack this month around. Destroy it. Stay strong. February will not defeat us!!!!

Dang. I've got to say that I'm taking a little bit of perverse pleasure in the fact that it seems like you're also struggling to update here, OPM! I know that this month has wrecked me. Hopefully you're missing in action because you've just been too busy crushing all of your goals!!! Hope all is well with you and yours. Keep strong through this difficult month.

Brief History: I'm 5'7". Male. 36. Three years ago, I was roughly 280 pounds. Very weak. Today, I'm hovering around 220 pounds. Still fat, but doing better. Still feel weak, but definitely overall stronger. The past month has found me in bad shape, reverting to bad old habits, not exercising, and putting the pounds back on. :-( The past 2-3 years, I've alternated between running and lifting. I enjoy both. I've also realized that it's been nearly impossible for me to find a good balance between the two. Most recently, I ran a Half Marathon on January 9th. Finished in under 2h15m, which I was pretty proud of. But while training for this, I let my lifting slide completely. Prior to that, I had been doing StrongLifts. I had progressed to something like this (I've lost my data; this is from my faulty memory) Back Squat: 205 5x5 Deadlift 265 1x5 Bench 135 5x5 Row 135 5x5 Press 95 5x5 This past week, I decided to start lifting again. Just squatting with the empty barbell had me feeling a bit sore (which made me realize how much strength I've lost!), but it also felt good. Last year, I bought a squat rack for my basement so that I could quit going to the gym. I have a barbell and bumper plates (got a good deal on Rogue stuff from a guy on Craigslist). I've also got a 35lb kettlebell and a 53lb kettlebell. I've got some very light dumbbells. Unfortunately, I don't have a bench. I'm going to order one this week. Right now, I'm thinking that I will continue with StrongLifts until I start to stall out. Then, maybe move to something like The Danger Method (which, frankly, scares me with its detail). I want to jump right into something like the Danger, but I think that I need to build back up a base of strength first. http://rebellion.nerdfitness.com/index.php?/topic/66234-the-danger-method/page-1 But should I just stick to StrongLifts? Or Starting Strength? Or one of the other ten programs out there? Do I stick to what is simple? I'd actually like to be lifting more than just three days a week. Squat every day programs are attractive to me. But I realize also that I'm just getting back into this and shouldn't overdo it. I'd also love to work in pull-up progressions. Right now, I can't do a single pull-up. :-( Really, I just want a program that tells me EXACTLY what to do so that I can mindlessly do it. Someone please tell me exactly what to do. :-) I know that I'm being unrealistic. I guess I'm just posting here because I need input and encouragement at this point. My goal is just to be the strongest, healthiest me that I can be. I don't want to compete. I just want to feel healthy. My biggest struggle anyhow is with diet/nutrition. That's another thread entirely.

Ah. I wrote a loooonnng post here just now and it vanished. Blah. Not meant to be.

Well done, Win.

Following! As for ditching the pedometer, I'm there with you. I read this encouraging article this morning: http://www.strangehorizons.com/2016/20160111/phillips-c.shtml

Following!