Day: August 11, 2022

L went back to school yesterday. M and C started classes today. Thus our academic summer has ended. Which makes this the perfect day for a post I’ve wanted to share for quite awhile. It will be extra navel-gazey, so feel free to skip if you prefer my writings about music, sports, books, etc. to those about being a middle-aged man.

When Covid began and our gym shut down, I was still able to use our modest home equipment to workout. But when I began having my vertigo spells about 20 months ago, I had to stop doing any regular exercise. With this came a depressingly quick increase in my weight. It took just a couple months to gain 15 pounds. That was doubly frustrating because I had largely cut out drinking at the same time.[1] I had hoped the calories saved by not drinking would balance out the lack of exercise, but clearly that was not the case.

I went back to the gym after getting vaccinated in April 2021 and slowly got back into a routine. When the girls returned to school a year ago I dedicated myself to a new strength training and cardio program and was as diligent as I’ve ever been about getting to the gym. In fact, the stretch from August through November 2021 was the most, and most consistently, I had ever worked out up to that point. I hoped by the time we went to Hawaii for Thanksgiving, I would be back to my pre-vertigo weight.

A weird thing happened: no matter how much I worked out, or how much I increased my cardio sessions, my weight stayed in the same 1–3 pound range. This bugged me because my entire life, anytime I gained a few extra lbs., I was always able to shed them quickly. Hell, after L was born I lost about 30 pounds in three months.

But I never had to do it in my late 40s or early 50s, which apparently makes a big difference. Who knew???[2]

I adjusted my diet slightly, continued to drink only occasionally, and stuck with the workouts. Still no real change.

In November I found a new strength workout for older dudes and threw myself into it. I also found a new elliptical workout that promised to burn calories, the elliptical machine being the cardio workout that protects my joints the most. I got stronger, improved my cardio fitness, but my weight refused to drop.

When we got back from spring break I was still in that three pound window I had been stuck in for over a year. I did my best to reduce snacks, take smaller portions at dinner, be careful with the late evening nibbles. I kept alcohol to a few nights a week, and then generally just one drink. I also found another, more intense, elliptical workout and subbed it in once per week.

These changes all finally had an effect.

By mid April I had lost five pounds. By May 1 I was down another three pounds. By L’s last day of school in May, I was officially down 10 pounds.

Although L wanted to start working out with me, I had some worries about keeping the weight off over the summer. Summer brings more pool parties, which means more drinks and treats. I’m not a big dessert guy anymore, but I do eat ice cream fairly often in the summer. Plus L really isn’t into cardio so I figured I would go from getting an elliptical session in 2–3 times per week down to just once.

I am pleased to report that my weight loss continued through the summer. In fact, just two weeks ago I got down to within two-tenths of a pound of my lowest weight since I started tracking it on my phone, back in June 2019. I had officially lost 15.3 pounds from my highest weight in November 2020.

Pretty good!

Shorts that were tight when we went on spring break fit perfectly now. A couple pairs that had more space in them have been put away since they hang far too loose for me to wear.[3]

My routine did get upset over the summer. The strength program I was on is designed to protect older men’s joints by mostly using free weights. Since L is not old enough to get into the free weight area at our gym, I did more machines with her, which has caused more aches and pains in my sensitive joints that I had over the past year.[4] I’m looking forward to jumping back into my Old Man program on Monday.

So that’s my bragging, self improvement post. I understand my schedule allows for a lot more opportunities to workout that many of yours do. But if you are looking to improve your fitness or lose a little weight, maybe this will serve as confirmation that it is still possible in middle age if you put in the time and find the right program.