I'm dying here

[Boerrancher]

I haven't been able to loose the weight that I put on while I was recovering from my injuries from Afghanistan, and managed to put on even more since I retired. My step son wanted to do kick boxing to get in shape and loose some weight and the wife thought it would be a good idea for me to do it as well to help motivate him and for me to loose a few pounds, so needless to say I took him to the dojo this evening for our first session.

Beginners are thrown into the work out with those who have been training for years, and most of them are teens in their prime. I am 43 and have 37 pcs of surgical hardware in my shoulder, back and pelvis along with a few pieces of shrapnel that was left in me. I didn't fall out and I was able to keep up for the most part, but now that I am back home in my easy chair.... I am freaking dying here.

Best wishes,

Joe

[9.3X62AL]

I admire the grit, Joe. Tylenol is your friend.

[freebullet]

Have a cold one & relax...you deserve it. Thank you for your service.

[Hamish]

I vividly remember being 17 and feeling a little smug watching the overweight middle aged folks while taking tae kwon do.

Now,,,,,I would settle for overweight and middle aged, not prematurely elderly and doing a very good imitation of a silverback gorilla, belly and all.

Joe, like they say, it's the journey, not the destination. (Although the destination looks a little better every day.)

[country gent]

Sir, thank you for your service may God bless you. Always remember you arnt cometing with the youngsters but with yourself only. Do what you can do and improve at your pace. Its the spirit more so sometimes. I am disabled with Multiple Schlrocis ( balance issues numbness and some other impolite concerns. I had to stop NRA high power service rifle matches due to it. I still do eberything I did before Just not always the same way as before. Sunday I am going to my first BPCR shilloette match. Keep plugging alnog and dont ever give up or give in. Do all you can and push the limits. Enjoy the step son do all you can with him.

[bruce drake]

Joe,

You and I are in the category of Old Bull now. I just have less metal in my body to account for the same aches and pains when I try to workout with the 16 year old son.

Moderation is the key. I take him down about once a quarter in the dojo and then try to recover the other 3 months while looking cool and collected...

Bruce

[Bzcraig]

As long as you are not further injuring yourself, take it slow but don't stop bro. At 57 and starting to put some weight on, I am having a heck of a time with the discipline necessary to even go out and walk or do any regular exercise. Sounds like you have the discipline and motivation. Thanks for serving brother.

[Lloyd Smale]

I feel for you. When my son at age 8 decided he wanted to take karate I was 36 and healthy. He talked me into going with him and i know how many sore mornings i woke up that first year. I cant imagine how tough it would be on you. Seeing that you got your pain and injury fighting to protect my family i wish there was a way i could take on some of it myself.

[JeffinNZ]

Well, I'm no expert on weigh loss as I have been built like a rake my entire life but I believe you should be a dash more moderate in the exercise stakes. Ease into it Joe.

[292]

As others have said, thank you for your service. I need to follow your lead, at 51 I'm getting soft and lazy.

[NSP64]

Unfortunately, we are not as young as we think we are.
It is a natural progression of life and genetics as we grow older, we add on weight.
Some people(Jeff in NZ) will be skinny their whole life.
Most of us will have lower testosterone levels and that leads to lower drives to do stuff that we did when we were younger.
Slow and steady.

[missionary5155]

Good morning
Thanks for stepping up for our country and us. I appreciate your dedication and the price you paid.
What you faced recuperating is a tough one.. Adjusting intake to instant lost activity is not easy.

Weight loss. Do all things in modration.. I grew up near a Potawatami family... Grand daughter of the last area chief was given the reservation. Her grandsons were my good freinds. Anyway they were always taking about never taking more from the land than you need. Some time along I realized it was about all aspects of life.
Shorty after I left the pickle suit brigade I took a good look at what many Americans think life is about.. Everything in excess. I realized it is a personally induced slavery. I also realized that is not life but slow self inflicted death. I like to hunt and fish and walk and climb trees and swim and kayak and.... I also realized I needed to be healthy to enjoy doing those things. Some things are just more important than sitting about being excessive with food.
So I decided for me.. I will not be a slave to appetite or my taste buds. I refuse to fall into the gluttony trap. I will be in control of my future and refuse to kneel to the dictates of unhealthy eating practices. I do not care what the practices of food slaves are. I will not live like them.

We rant and rave about the Second Admendment (Rightly so) But why would anyone want to give away health and the freedom of enjoyable activity just to be like most everyone else walking about with double the excess baggage bloated about thier frame ?

For me I see great advantage to all the excessive food fests so easily obtainable. I never see another kayak on North Fork River. I seldom encounter another hunter in the river bottoms. I seldom see another hiker on the trails. The past participents are all in line at some $7 food fest slowly self destructing. But it does break my heart whenever we return north to the US of A to see all the vastly overstuffed frames that used to be outdoor participants who are now hardly able to exit their vehicle let alone go for a walk in the fields.

An alternative to loosing weight.. get a good dose of whatever influenza is floating about. If you survive in your weakened excessed condition you will have lost something rapidly. I do not recommend it but it will work. Colera also can be a very agreesive weight removal aid.. but the survival rate in many places is only 50%.

So the choice is yours. Take control or suffer. I am 62. I am no different than anyone else out there. It is your life and the only one you get. Make the most of it. I refuse to be a slave.
Mike in Peru

[WILCO]

Cardio Joe. It's all about cardio. Build up to it. Don't hurt yourself. A nice cold peach tea will do wonders too.

[Boerrancher]

Thanks fellas for all of the words of encouragement. I actually woke up this morning feeling pretty good except for the blisters on the balls of my feet. Yes, I am a tinder foot, and the berber carpet just ground all of the hide off of them.

Much of this was nothing new, as I was a MMA fighter as a teen and young man a long time before it ever became popular like it is today. It is just difficult to get this older, slower, and fatter body to move like it use to. I was really expecting to pay for it this morning, but other than a bit of extra pain in my lower back I actually haven't felt this good in a long time.

Bruce, as far as being old bulls, yes it is true. I have two more boys, 8 and 9 who want me to do do Tai Kwan Do with them 2 nights a week an hour before kick boxing. I can see this is going to get really fun and interesting.(insert sarcasm here). I actually laughed at your post because it is so true. I will bust my butt at times to keep up with or still out do my kids, and then spend weeks or months recovering from it. Ah, the wonders of life. I wouldn't want it any other way... Except for maybe a bit less pain.

Best wishes,

Joe

[41 mag fan]

Boy I know how you feel Joe. I got a boy age 21 now, who thinks when he's around he can outdo the old man. Well it's just not so....then I pay the price for weeks afterwards.
When I turned 35, I felt my self getting a little slower. When I turned 40, I REALLY felt myself slowing down.
After 3 knee surgeries, and now 44, I have really taken a back seat. Knees are going to be messed up for life, I see kids while at work underground moaning and groaning about a job they have to do. I think to myself, at their age...early 20's I'd of worked circles around them.
I'll do the jobs they're whining about...only thing is not as fast now. The only thing these kids can do, is work longer than me.....
Used to be, I could work a back breaking job for 8 hrs, go out and party all night long, get 4 hrs sleep and right back at work. Then turn around and do it all over again.
Now at 44 yrs old, I can do 4 hrs of back breaking work, before I'm shot, takes 8 hrs to recover, and then i need 8 hrs of sleep just to recuperate!!
Boy getting old sucks!!

[runfiverun]

i'm sure a pair of lightweight wrestling shoes would be forgiven.
they provide some ankle support too.

[9w1911]

I suggest you start swimming or a stationary bike or a real bike but low impact cardio to help get that ticker up to par
yoga is something that you should consider and its ok beginner classes are fine to start some motion you may not do to because the hard ware but it will help get you limber and aligned
chiropractors also
also start to substituted meals with smoothies w protein powder make them big enough to cure the hunger
its not easy but you can do it

[popper]

At my age I notice the effect of gravity. Hair grows at the bottom, not top, chest has slid a bit. Wife exercises 3x a week, has her hand in a cast from falling off the machine. I rub her feet almost every eve after her 'session'. I used to work out a bit till my shoulder came apart, now I'm a believer in low risk.

substituted meals with smoothies w protein powder

does work for some people and tastes better than it did in the '50s. Thanks for the service to us.

[Smitty's Retired]

Hang in there Joe. I had an older gentleman tell me years ago, "Getting old ain't for sissys." Now at 58, I understand what he was talking about.

[Boerrancher]

The step son is dragging around tis AM complaining about how bad he hurts, and as I said I feel pretty good. I walk a lot exploring these hills and hollows. I have lived on this farm most of my life and find new things every time I go out. I am still looking for Dad's cave. He never got a chance to tell me where it was before he died. I know it is here because my loggers were the first to find it and tell me about it, but that was 20 some years ago and I never gave it much thought until Dad's widow told me shortly after he died that he that he had found it. He had given her instructions to tell me about it after his passing but he never told her where it was. I guess he figured I knew where it was. I spend several days a week weather permitting looking for it which means walking up and down these rocky hills.

I am in better shape than most people my age. I just want to get back to my fighting weight of 185 or less instead of this 250 that I am at now. My Dr told me I was in good enough shape to do something like this but if I didn't start soon I wouldn't be it was a huge wake up call for me at my last Drs visit and tipping the scales at nearly 250. I am going to stick with this as I have a lot planned for the rest of my life and I want to be able to do it.

Best wishes

Joe