All in the Family featured the curmudgeonly Archie Bunker. Archie was television’s most famous grouch, blunt, blustering, straightforward and untouched by the PC crowd. He was the archetype of the conservative male. Michael desprately tried to reeducate him, but he persisted in his breviloquence.



Looking back at the last 40 years, we realize: ARCHIE WAS RIGHT!

11/06/2015

It has to be Heavy

There have been ups and downs in my fitness quest.  Some things are a learning process. 

I started off with a program "guaranteed" to loss weight.  That program had me lifting six days a week doing lots of exercises each day.  I lost some weight.  Then I switched to the Strong Lifts program.  That worked.  I lost weight which was good.  More important I was gaining strength and feeling great.  That made it easier to stick with. 

As I started hitting strength goals I started slacking off.  I knew I needed to get cardio in so I could be in shape for hunting season.  Except I hate cardio.  So I slacked off some more telling myself that as long as I was hitting one heavy set I would be OK.

Well I wasn't OK.  It's not even close to OK.  Half a years work can be undone in six weeks slacking off. 

Last night I made up my mind to start lifting heavy sets again.  I only got through 2/3's of what I had been doing previously.  This morning I am sore.  Its a good kind of sore.  My body knows it was worked.  More importantly I know that I'm ready to work hard again.  Underneath the soreness is a feeling of physical accomplishment.  Even though I didn't do everything on my list (no dead lifts) I did something worthwhile.

I know that there are lots of exercise and weight loss programs out there and that folks like them.  I think I'm learning that, for me, I need to lift heavy weights.  I'm told that old guys shouldn't try to max out cardio and push for maximum lifts.  That's probably wise.  I'm probably in that category of old guy.  In order to lose the weight I want, I'm going to have to incorporate cardio, with heavy lifting and a disciplined diet.

The plan now is to stick with the Strong Lifts program, with a minor modification.  Once I hit a strength goal with an exercise, I'm not going to try to exceed it.  I keep doing all my lifts at that weight for all the sets.  Then on my rest days I'm going to add what I'm calling my 3 tens.  I'm going to do 10 min's each of elliptical, treadmill and rowing machine.  The plan is to increase those times as my endurance increases and to utilize some of the HIIT programs that are available on the equipment.

On the diet front, I'm a sugar junkie.  I'm going to work on cutting that out.  It's also the eating holidays so we'll see how that goes.  I've already started doing this but since I haven't got a full week in yet, I'm going to count 90 days starting this Sunday and then reevaluate.
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3 comments:

  1. Susan1:56 PM

    That was one of the many reasons why hubby and I switched to tea as our daily dose of caffeine. For one thing, I have cut out a lot of sugar from my diet, thanks to just that switch. Could never drink just black coffee, always had to have dairy and sugar in it.
    Now I do a little honey or agave and I am good to go.

    The nice thing is Res, is there are so many more substitutes you can use for holiday cooking now. One of my favorites is fat free half and half and either light or fat free sour cream. Both are wonderful ingredients to incorporate when watching fat intakes. Some recipes won't take to a total fat free substitute but it is a great start.

    Now I just have to find a good fat free or low fat alternative cheese and I will be a long way down a good path. Although I have started taking Julia Child's advice to heart, "everything is okay to eat, as long as you practice moderation. That is the key".

    I am glad you are having some success in your gym routine again. Didn't you have a problem with your elbow or forearm or something a couple months back?

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    Replies
    1. Res Ipsa1:59 PM

      I majorly screwed up my right forearm last year about this time and it caused me to lose 6 months of lifting. I did an exercise wrong and was too stubborn to stop at the time, even though it was hurting.

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  2. Kiwi the Geek6:45 PM

    If you cut out sugar long enough to get used to it, you can make all kinds of treats without any. I used to have an insatiable sweet tooth, but sweet potatoes or fruit taste like candy to me now. Do a search for paleo or fruit-sweetened desserts and you'll find lots of options. Here's a place to start: http://www.starlene.com/ebooks/naturally-sweetened-treats/ (You can find a lot of these on the corresponding websites, without buying the book.)

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