This is partly a little bit of personal bragging but also a genuine question.
Before lockdown, around xmas, I invested in a running machine at home. Did it on and off, but first week of lockdown I found myself boozing too much so decided to really make an effort.
In 5 foot 8 or 9, 173cm ish, and weighed 12 stone 5 on 31st March. My 5km time was 31 mins and a little bit. Being frank, I could not make 5km without a walk.
I've run on the machine most days, 5km each day, as well as a dog walk each morning. My time just a few mins ago was 26 mins and 4 seconds, so a 5 min plus improvement, no walking anymore, and my weight last night was 10 stone 13 , so a 20 pounds, stone and a half weight loss. I've just thrown away several pairs of 34 inch waisted shorts and got several 32 inch pairs , and my shirts are too big ! My face has now got cheek bones, although too much hair. My bmi is 23 ish now, it was 26 plus. I'm going to have a glass of rose now but feel justified and I feel fit. I'm 55 in 3 weeks time, I'm less weight now than anytime since we married in 1997.
We went to a cafe this am for breakfast , no one else there, it was lovely and i enjoyed a tea cake.
I'm no saint and still snack occasionally but lockdown has possibly added several years too my life. My BP was too high before, 135/90 and I reckon it must be lower.
Work has gone well and weve won lots of work and delivered some great stuff as well. I feel more connected with my team and colleagues as Teams has worked very well for us, and some of our team went home to bulgaria, france , Poland and Sweden from London in March and yet weve worked really well together.
I miss my mum and dad who are in their 80s and I've not seen much of, but they are well. My son went back to london last week, to flat hunt as his lease runs out in September, but hes home in 2 weeks again. My daughter hopefully heads to university in edinburgh in September also, shes worked hard at Yorkshire tea factory over the past few months and has more savings than we do!
So lockdown overall has worked very well for us and my family and I'm in no real rush to return to old times and habits.
-- Edited by JonH comes home on Sunday 5th of July 2020 05:47:55 PM
I hope above doesn't sound selfish, it does I know, and many have struggled and suffered loss. I'm just giving my personal life perspective and being open and honest.
I also learnt how to run fantasy poll tennis events!
One thing I never do is get down or upset because others are doing well. When friends have successes, that is something to celebrate, so I don't find your post selfish at all, JonH. Indeed, I am happy for you and also impressed with how you have managed to maintain motivation through these times. So congratulations on your 5k times. Not sure I could get close to that - actually I know I couldn't.
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Rest of post deleted.
-- Edited by Bob in Spain on Sunday 5th of July 2020 06:59:01 PM
One thing I never do is get down or upset because others are doing well. When friends have successes, that is something to celebrate, so I don't find your post selfish at all, JonH. Indeed, I am happy for you and also impressed with how you have managed to maintain motivation through these times. So congratulations on your 5k times. Not sure I could get close to that - actually I know I couldn't.
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Rest of post deleted.
-- Edited by Bob in Spain on Sunday 5th of July 2020 06:59:01 PM
The beauty of a running machine is that you can set the pace and just go with it. On the road, it's hard to maintain or judge pace, I find, and so I set ours at 11.5kmh tonight and went with it, increasing it a little as I went through to 12.5 as I felt ok. If I feel good, tomorrow i can set it at 11.6 or 11.7 and know that I can beat my best time , so long as I can manage the pace.
It works well. I put the telly on with some football or news and run. Antiques roadshow is a good one to run too, although I cant always hear it above the machine!
Lockdown in general - some very hard days and weeks and some very good days and weeks. My partner and I hadn't long moved in together before lockdown (about 5 weeks) but we have learned that we are a strong team and I feel very confident about our future together.
My partner and I have started doing the couch to 5k runs to build fitness and be healthier. We're now on week 4, which is 1 x run of 3 mins, some walking, a run of 5 mins and repeat both (so 16 mins of running in total). It's hard going but we do it 3 x a week and have the weekends off to do a long walk/it a bit more freely.
Lockdown in general - some very hard days and weeks and some very good days and weeks. My partner and I hadn't long moved in together before lockdown (about 5 weeks) but we have learned that we are a strong team and I feel very confident about our future together.
My partner and I have started doing the couch to 5k runs to build fitness and be healthier. We're now on week 4, which is 1 x run of 3 mins, some walking, a run of 5 mins and repeat both (so 16 mins of running in total). It's hard going but we do it 3 x a week and have the weekends off to do a long walk/it a bit more freely.
That's good re the runs it is amazing how you build strength quickly , and confidence. Fab re you and your partner, after 5 weeks it must been a nervy time on how youd manage together but it sounds like you're well matched and doing well! Congrats to you FW!
I've only just seen this thread, so I have a story a bit like Jon H. Last autumn i went to the GP for an over 65s check up, where they found a pre-diabetic Blood sugar, a high blood pressure and a BMI of 31, and I had already been taking heartburn tablets for 2 years. In B'ham you can be referred to weight watchers if you're prediabetic and have 9 months of free resources from them. So I was referred, decided to try and do a 30 minute walk daily and keep with their programme, I also had to go on BP tablets. I dusted off the Wii fit, and by the time lockdown came my weight had dropped about 2 stone. I got out the digital scales when WW physical classes stopped, and started going for an hours walk every day. I took up gardening as our garden is a mess, and for my birthday in June my son gave me the nintendo ring fit, which has properly planned exercises and a game where you exercise to defeat the enemies, all a lot of fun. I don't think I could put up with a rowing/cycling/running machine or the gym, I need more variety.
So now, my BMI is 24, so I've lost 3 stone, I don't need the heartburn tablets, my blood sugar is a little lower and i'm taking my BP at home, and in my opinion I don't need those tablets either, however I've still got to confess this to the surgery!
I've only just seen this thread, so I have a story a bit like Jon H. Last autumn i went to the GP for an over 65s check up, where they found a pre-diabetic Blood sugar, a high blood pressure and a BMI of 31, and I had already been taking heartburn tablets for 2 years. In B'ham you can be referred to weight watchers if you're prediabetic and have 9 months of free resources from them. So I was referred, decided to try and do a 30 minute walk daily and keep with their programme, I also had to go on BP tablets. I dusted off the Wii fit, and by the time lockdown came my weight had dropped about 2 stone. I got out the digital scales when WW physical classes stopped, and started going for an hours walk every day. I took up gardening as our garden is a mess, and for my birthday in June my son gave me the nintendo ring fit, which has properly planned exercises and a game where you exercise to defeat the enemies, all a lot of fun. I don't think I could put up with a rowing/cycling/running machine or the gym, I need more variety.
So now, my BMI is 24, so I've lost 3 stone, I don't need the heartburn tablets, my blood sugar is a little lower and i'm taking my BP at home, and in my opinion I don't need those tablets either, however I've still got to confess this to the surgery!
Fabulous, well done! Keep it up! I have to admit that although my 5km time is improved at 25 mins 17 secs, my weight has gone back to 11 st 4. So I need to hunker down again!
I've only just seen this thread, so I have a story a bit like Jon H. Last autumn i went to the GP for an over 65s check up, where they found a pre-diabetic Blood sugar, a high blood pressure and a BMI of 31, and I had already been taking heartburn tablets for 2 years. In B'ham you can be referred to weight watchers if you're prediabetic and have 9 months of free resources from them. So I was referred, decided to try and do a 30 minute walk daily and keep with their programme, I also had to go on BP tablets. I dusted off the Wii fit, and by the time lockdown came my weight had dropped about 2 stone. I got out the digital scales when WW physical classes stopped, and started going for an hours walk every day. I took up gardening as our garden is a mess, and for my birthday in June my son gave me the nintendo ring fit, which has properly planned exercises and a game where you exercise to defeat the enemies, all a lot of fun. I don't think I could put up with a rowing/cycling/running machine or the gym, I need more variety.
So now, my BMI is 24, so I've lost 3 stone, I don't need the heartburn tablets, my blood sugar is a little lower and i'm taking my BP at home, and in my opinion I don't need those tablets either, however I've still got to confess this to the surgery!
Be proud of yourself Miriam. You've earned it. What a great story.
I've only just seen this thread, so I have a story a bit like Jon H. Last autumn i went to the GP for an over 65s check up, where they found a pre-diabetic Blood sugar, a high blood pressure and a BMI of 31, and I had already been taking heartburn tablets for 2 years. In B'ham you can be referred to weight watchers if you're prediabetic and have 9 months of free resources from them. So I was referred, decided to try and do a 30 minute walk daily and keep with their programme, I also had to go on BP tablets. I dusted off the Wii fit, and by the time lockdown came my weight had dropped about 2 stone. I got out the digital scales when WW physical classes stopped, and started going for an hours walk every day. I took up gardening as our garden is a mess, and for my birthday in June my son gave me the nintendo ring fit, which has properly planned exercises and a game where you exercise to defeat the enemies, all a lot of fun. I don't think I could put up with a rowing/cycling/running machine or the gym, I need more variety.
So now, my BMI is 24, so I've lost 3 stone, I don't need the heartburn tablets, my blood sugar is a little lower and i'm taking my BP at home, and in my opinion I don't need those tablets either, however I've still got to confess this to the surgery!
Well done Miriambee. Hope you will be able to keep it up !!!
That's a great account, Miriambee - really inspirational. Seriously, major congratulations.
My story is far less dramatic but just to share: I'm one of those skinny, unfit sort - low BMI, low blood pressure but pretty high heart rate. I had a lot of work during lockdown (which I'm not complaining about) but it gave me an excuse at the start to do nothing.
And then I thought, CD, make a friggin' effort! Look what everyone else is going through.
So, as well as a 45 mins walk, which I probably was pretty much doing anyway but now it was more 'official, I also started simply doing the stairs in the block of flats where I live in London. Not the stairs to my flat - 3rd floor - I've always walked those. But just the full 7 flights, or from floor 3 to floor 7 three times, basically about ten minutes of stairs in different variations.
And my heart rate has fallen about 10 bpm. Which I'm really pleased about.
That's a great account, Miriambee - really inspirational. Seriously, major congratulations.
My story is far less dramatic but just to share: I'm one of those skinny, unfit sort - low BMI, low blood pressure but pretty high heart rate. I had a lot of work during lockdown (which I'm not complaining about) but it gave me an excuse at the start to do nothing. And then I thought, CD, make a friggin' effort! Look what everyone else is going through. So, as well as a 45 mins walk, which I probably was pretty much doing anyway but now it was more 'official, I also started simply doing the stairs in the block of flats where I live in London. Not the stairs to my flat - 3rd floor - I've always walked those. But just the full 7 flights, or from floor 3 to floor 7 three times, basically about ten minutes of stairs in different variations. And my heart rate has fallen about 10 bpm. Which I'm really pleased about.