Ex Smoker and User Getting Back In Shape at 53

[gdcgray]

wrote the important info in my bio. 5K April 30th. I am 53, 6', out of shape and 30 pounds overweight. 

[MK974]

Good for you!! Welcome!! I'm a newbie as well. This forum is pretty awesome.

[misswobble Graduate]

Hi there.  Well done for taking yourself in hand ☺You reach a point don't you  when enough's enough and you feel and look so sh*t that you have to change.  You are not on your own, lots of us here have heard the penny drop and are/have turned things round

Stick to your new improved regime!  Never quit 😊

C25k and c25k+ podcasts are the bees knees and will help you on the road to fitness and good health.  The onus is on you to see it all through.  Folks here are really good cheer leaders and will help lift you or give you a kick up the bum should you need it

Have fun!  Go nice and steady ☺

[poppypug Graduate]

Brilliant ! Welcome aboard ...

Massive respect to you for turning your life around.  I think most of us on here have had their " lightbulb " moment  where you assess your lifestyle and realise that there is room for improvement !

Good to have you here , I take it youre in the States ?

Good Luck and keep posting , will be interested to follow your progress xxx

[gdcgray Graduate in reply to poppypug]

Here in New Mexico at 6600 feet above sea level. 

[davelinks Graduate]

Well done! I smoked for longer than you, packed it in 24 years ago! And no exercise much since school Xcountry more than 45 years ago, my busy work kept me fitish, but with mental health problem, had to retire early, and it told on me with the weight I put on through being so inactive, I could hardly get up out of a chair! Muscles became so weak!  So found c25k just under a year ago, and as you would say, it's been my saviour.

Have now lost loads of weight and can now run 7km non stop, feel better and stronger than I think I've ever been! even my biceps seemed to have toned up, and the legs now have muscle tone, so no problems getting up from chairs now! It hasn't been easy though and takes a lot of will power, you won't regret it! Good luck!😊

[Zev1963 Graduate]

Well done for starting the program, and turning your health around. I am sure that you will not regret it.  Once you begin to feel the many benefits of loosing weight, being able to run easier, and general health improvement, it is very motivating to carry on and achieve more.

You should not les your past influence your desire to get in shape. There are plenty of people on this forum who were overweight ex smokers, who have gone on to achieve far more than they expected to in their wildest dreams, myself included.

I began the C25K program in Sept 2014, after having half of my left lung removed in january of that year due to a benign tumour. I too had not lived a blame free life, and was an ex smoker (albeit having given up the habit in 1998).

I was always a keen walker, and one day I just tried to jog for 2 minutes during a walk, just to see if I had any chance of staring the C25K program. I ddiscovered that I could (still in jeans and normal shoes ).  So after walking on for another 20 minutes to cool down, I had another go, and that was not too bad.  That was a sunday, so the monday morning, before work, at 6am, equiped with Laura's C25K podcasts, I started the journey from which I have never looked back.

I completed C25K in Nov 2014. I then entered a parkrun, and gradually increased my distances (no more than 10% per month)

I now run three times a week.  35 minutes on tuesday and thursday morning, then a long run on Sunday which is currently at 18km in length. I can now run 5km in under 27minutes on a good day, and 10km in around an hour.  I completed my first half marathon distance 2 weeks ago in around 2 and a half hours.  I know that that is not very fast, but it is the first time I've run so far, and I can work on that.

I hope that my experience will show you that what you are trying to do is more than possible, and that you can expect your running to get better and better, and become a real pleasure.  I suspect that it will become one of the best addictions you could have, as it has become for mny of us.

Happy running

[gdcgray Graduate in reply to Zev1963]

wow! what  a testimony zev!  Absolutely does encourage me.  If I ran half a marathon, I wouldn't care how fast I did it. It would be such an amazing accomplishment I'd be plenty stoked about that.  The fact that you did that is amazing beyond words. 

[Zev1963 Graduate in reply to gdcgray]

Believe me it is a great feeling, but you will realise as you progress through C25K that it is not such a great mountain to climb.  C25K shows you how to approach your goal in manageable steps. It is well designed so that just about anyone can achieve the goal, as it is very gently paced. It's a great idea, because so often we jump in at the deep end, try to do too much too soon. We either injure ourselves, or become disillusioned with the difficulty. C25K isnt like that. Because each step is a small, but do-able increase, it is very motivating.

If C25K has taught me anything, it is that the rate of progress is far less important than the direction.  Loosing weight, getting fitter, changing your eating habits, all of these things are better acheived slowly yet for the long hall.  Try to do it too quickly, and often it just results in despondency, and we give up, 2 steps forward and 3 steps back.

What I'm trying to say is, it hasnt been a chore, or an enormous effort, it has been enjoyable   I've probably added only 10 minutes or less of extra running each week, but in the long run it really accumulates. And as for speed, you really do not need to try. If you just keep going out there and doing your runs at a comfortable effort, then your speed will increase without you even noticing.

I hope you will soon be enjoying your running as much as I do. 

Happy Running 

[Zev1963 Graduate in reply to Zev1963]

that should read 10 minutes of extra running each month by the way  :))  !!!!!

[gdcgray Graduate in reply to Zev1963]

I agree completely. Fortunately I have a good friend who talked me out of a starvation plan and introduced me to 5K running apps. So the slow and steady is what I have adopted. It is sane. I have always been off or on, black or white, all or nothing. I just needed to redefine my all or nothing more wisely. 

Yeah! That 10 minutes a week had me for a minute. eye brows were raised - glad you corrected that. lol.

I am off to the track, thanks and God bless.