Hi there I'm Cliff, I live in Louth Lincolnshire and aged 58.
I'm a type 2 diabetes sufferer due to being perpetually overweight due to my love of food. At the end of 2011 I decided to finally give up smoking after 28 years and then in March 2012 I decided to lose some weight (I was 17st 10lbs). I lost 5 stone in 15 months and felt great, my diabetes was almost gone and all my other health problems were under control. However the dieting created (or showed it up) depression. Anyway my weight has crept back up to 14st 11lbs the depression is under control and now I have decided to lose some more weight and get to my fighting fit weight of 11stone (he says optimistically !!!). I love walking and do so twice a week so I'm going to increase that as well as cut down on my food intake (arthritis allowing). Hopefully I will succeed....
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cliffhilton1969
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Thanks Hydrogirl, have joined c25k but will get a bit fitter and test my arthritis in my hips first. Walk round Hubbards Hills every week and still finding new places to walk all the time. Walk up to 11/2 hours max currently will do better.
Hi there Cliff! Lovely Louth! I spend quite a bit of time there.
Walking is fab for weight loss. Do as much of it as you can. Walk everywhere! If you increase the distance each time, and set out to explore a new bit, you'll be amazed at the ground you can cover. To keep the lard at bay you have to eat healthily. I love my food but it's about quality, not quantity. Make your own food, get more proactive about what choices you' re making, and you'll feel better as well as look slimmer.
I borrow my neighbour's dog to make sure I don't miss out on walking. You could walk the Hubbard Hills every which way 😊
Are you about to embark on c25k then? That's why we're all here☺
Thanks for contacting.. You read my mind just answered the Hubbards Hills question it's my fav place to walk round as there is an incline along the Horncastle road to reach HH for about 1/2 mile it's a nice way to warm up.
Tried running when I first lost weight in 2012, got too many injuries and it's what started my arthritis I'm sure. Still never say never. But I prefer walking I enjoy it and lets be honest who in their right mind enjoys the pain of running or jogging, I guess I'm getting too old to do things just because they are good (???) for me.
Oi !! You're not too old to run, definitely not! We've got people who've started the programme in their 60s and 70s, so you're only a spring chicken. There are definitely loads of us in out 50s. Running is brilliant for your mental health as well as your physical health. We've got loads of people on here who've had episodes of depression too and every single one of them will tell you that running makes them feel better. So this is what you do:
A) You spend 3-4 weeks walking briskly for at least half an hour 3 times a week. This should get your joints used to regular exercise. During this time you need to buy some running shoes. The old trainers you potter about in wont be good enough, so bite the bullet and buy some proper runners. If you search the site for information on buying running shoes you'll find all the advice you need (and more besides!)
B) After your 3-4 weeks of preliminarily walks, it's time to download the c25k podcasts- they're free from iTunes and there's a link to them on the NHS Choices website.
C) Put on your new running shoes and go out and do the first podcast. You may not manage to get through it first time, but persevere. It takes some of us longer than others. The important things to remember are: 1) Go really really slowly. Speed comes with experience and, as a new runner, you dont have any, so the slower the better. 2) You can repeat each run or 'week' as many times as you need to, until you can get through the runs exactly as described. There's no point moving on to the next week until you're ready to. 3) Although they're called weeks, you can definitely take longer than a week to do them. You need to take at least one rest day between runs but lots of us need to take 2 or more at the beginning until our joints 'man up' to the new stresses we're putting on them.
D) Keep posting your experiences, triumphs, rubbish runs, questions and general musings on here. We're all had to start at the beginning, so we know exactly what you're going through and if you have a problem, then someone has probably already had it and can offer advice and encouragement.
E) Almost forgot, at the right hand side of the page, in the pinned posts, there is a link to the NHS guides to how to run and stretch correctly. Study them carefully and always always stretch after a run. Just because you picked up an injury once before, doesn't mean you will again if you follow these guides.
Very best of luck, Cliff. Sorry for the long post, but hope it encourages you to try running again. It really is the best exercise in the world (and this from a woman who hated PE at school and hadn't run a step until her mid fifties!)
I think that's on the Weight Loss forum Cliff - there was a lady who had been to a bird of prey display and was amazed at the weight of a buzzard and related that to her weight loss, as it was an easily visualised 'weight' that she could compare.
Good luck with the weight loss and feel free to join the weight loss forum - we are all very friendly and supportive
By the way Cliff I am 58. Never ran til I was 56 and now I can't stop. Once I ditched the lard I felt springy and felt the need to keep up with the dog rather than be dragged about, so I started jogging alongside him. Then someone put me onto C25k (lady at WW class) and I run every other day now, as do most of us here
You're as old as you feel! Get your act together, make a plan, get on it, get the weight off, get healthy and who knows where it will lead. 58 is young for goodness sake!
Come on! Folks here are dead supportive and lovely x
Thanks for the reply, now those messages make some sense. I have a buzzard at home that on some days I wish I could get rid of, I'm her carer (but that's no way to talk about my mother sic!). Anyway have just done a 1 3/4hour walk at a pace, tired, arthritis gone temporarily, now starving waiting for my meal time (18:30) had an apple didn't stop cravings will as usual have to find the will power not to eat too much, pass the time on this forum....
By the way for those interested this is my 2nd week of dieting. 1st week lost 2 pounds 2nd week feeling tougher to continue but will find something to kick or scratch and soldier on and on and on...
Congratulations on your weight loss and your determination to exercise more. Exercise is well known to be beneficial in respect of depression and from my experience, running provides a feel good bonus that is difficult to match or be triggered by any other form of exertion. Running may not be for you at present, but don't write yourself off at the age of 58. I am 60 and completed C25k two and a half years ago. I am fitter and happier than at any other time in my life as a consequence and honestly believe that the C25k training plan should be prescribed on the NHS.
Good luck with whatever you decide to do and welcome to this wonderful, life affirming forum.
Thanks Iannoda, obviously you are experienced on this website (or maybe someone else can help). As someone somewhat inexperienced with forums (a complete virgin actually) how do you put a picture up on these sites that does make you look like a prat??? I take it everyone sees mine on its side, I can't find where you change it. Simple instructions please (just like me!!!)
If you open your photo in editing software you will see that it is in fact a sideways image and needs to be rotated and then resaved. This is extremely common on here and is mainly caused by pictures being taken on phones and tablets set on autorotate.
Thanks Iannoda, but what I actually wanted was how to change (update) the photo on this forum, whenever I go to update profile (in this forum) there doesn't seem to be a way of changing the photo, I'm obviously missing where or are you saying this forum goes to where the photo is held on my laptop every time and so picks up the photo on it's side every time someone sees my posts. I am of course assuming you all see my photo on the forum or do you see that purple face thing with my handle beside it?
RAther than think of being on a diet, you need a sustainable way of eating for life. Eating should be joyous so lots of variation and colour on your plate make your palate zing. Don't watch the clock tick round til mealtimes, get busy so you're not clock watching. You could be preparing healthy meals to keep you from reaching for unhealthy snacks, which incidentally shouldn't be in the house. You could rattle those pots and pans and make your own bread, healthier cakes and energy bars etc. Your eating is in your own hands so dive in and immerse yourself in it. You don't have to be a great cook, you learn as you go.
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