This is disgusting! Unfortunately, this is how I looked in September. The writing on my belly says: “To be gone by 2/1/15.”
I weighed 170.5#, my heaviest ever. I’ve noticed that men my age have these big pot bellies. Everyone just accepts it as part of the aging process. I don’t. Why can’t I weigh 150# like when I graduated from college? Why can’t my belly be flat?
With retirement has come extra time, so I decided to do something about it. In September I started working out with a personal trainer and I changed my diet. No bread, pasta, rice, sugar. I’m getting rid of carbs. I’m down 10 pounds, but it is slow going. Dinner parties and weekends are a huge challenge.
My workouts are done at a local coffee house / gym in Redwood City called The Backyard Coffee Co. Interesting concept, coffee house and gym in one building. The owner, Chris Sakelarios, is an athlete and personal trainer whose great-grandmother owned a restaurant called the Backyard – so Chris has integrated all of her interests in this business.
Over the years, I’ve joined gyms but have not stayed. Too pricy, too crowded, no personal contact, whatever. But I love this place. It is small and personal. Never more than three or four other people there when I’m working out.
Most of all, though, what keeps me here is my trainer, Ronney Richard. Ronney’s background is football, but now he coaches gymnasts and people like me trying to rebuild our bodies. He has this subtle way of keeping the exercises just ahead of my comfort level so it is always challenging, but never overwhelming. He has a never-ending array of different and new things to do. If I challenge him on why we are now going in circles from left to right instead of right to left, he will come back with something like: “Your Subscapularis needs to be strengthened to support your Pectoralis Minor muscle groups.” … awrighty then.
Ronney knows his anatomy and physiology. I just relax, trusting I’m in good hands. Without him and just the machines, doubt I’d stay with it.
Here is a video of a recent session:
I’ll keep you posted about my progress. I’m starting to doubt I’ll be rid of that belly by February 1st.
If you’ve managed to slim down, please let me know how.
Like you, recently I was not at all happy with my body. It’s been a lifelong struggle, and it had gotten worse. I went to a conference in early July and seemed to eat everything in sight and felt bloated, fat and unhappy. I realized I couldn’t have just a little sugar, a little demanded more. So I cut it out cold turkey. I kept working out and tracking my food intake, but the big change was no "treats." Since sugar is in so much, I didn’t feel cutting it out entirely was plausible, but cut out all treats. I’ve lost 20 lbs.
So stick with it. By cutting out starches as you are doing, it should come off and stay off if you keep to the program. Good luck!
I lose if I exercise daily, eat only to the point of "enough" and use small plates. Exercise? Walking, riding stationary bike, neck stretches, leg lifts, and playing the piano.
10,000 steps a day, swear by it, Rick. MUCH more than just walking 5+ miles, sending message to whoever’s listening inside my head, "I’m worth it!"
Great, brave post