Help for your 2013 season .....maybe ! ! !

[Fred Rice]

Some excellent points, Jack. It is ever more challenging to stay in some sort of physical shape as we age. I will hit 62 this year and have made the same commitment. As a matter of fact my wife just got finished walking me....lol.

I purchased an eliptical machine and plan to work out on it every morning, cut my meal portions down and eliminate soda and fast foods. I think this is all good. I know I am already starting to feel better. Thanks for bringing this topic to the front as we would all like to go a few more rounds in life.

[Frank Castros]

Check out the Zone diet, it's a healthy formula of protein, carbohydrates and fat. It's easy and it works.

[Stewart Way]

Jack
Glad to see you have joined the workout crowd. Keep at it and you will see a difference. I'm no expert but do know a little about it. After heart issues I am back at the weights and have the bench back to around 275lb. At 63 I think I will try for 300 and no higher. Shoulders too old. You feel better when you workout because endorphins are released. Thats the runners high you have heard about. These are the bodys own happy drug as well as a pain killer of sorts. Working out is a plus when you are dieting because eating your "happy foods" can release these endorphins but you may have removed them from your diet. Thats why some people are grumpy on a diet. The exercise will release endorphiins. Claude mentioned diet drinks as something to be avoided. Not totally true but they can trick the body into thinking it has gotten a sugar fix and when it realizes it hasnt gotten the sugar it craves it and you might eat something to stop the craving. Thats how it has been explained to me.
Hope you stay with it as even if the results are hard to see they are real.
My grandson is sitting beside me having a choc. milk which reminds me of the endorphins the choc will release and he will be on a sugar rush shortly because of those pesky endorphins and get his brother wound up as well. Life is good.

[Jack Matyas]

Well , it sure is ugly getting here early in the morning but the place is just as I like it -- empty .Trying many new and different machines - some for muscle tone and some just because .

These folks are serious about not taking pictures - they are protecting their customers as well as the brand names on the equipment etc .I'll sneak a few here and there to keep it interesting .

Jumped on the scale this morning - no big losses but a pound here and a pound there all add up and you must start somewhere .The pic below is an honest number ......

Hey Jack keep up the good work. I've been the gym on a regular basis for the last three years. Not only did i loose 30+ pounds it made it alot easier to race and maintain two cars! On the flip side it didn! help my driving much! LOL

[Aubrey N Bruneau]

DAMN, that's EXCELLENT, Stewart !
I too, am a weight trainer, mind you, even at 53, perhaps a little heavier than I should do. Hadn't done it steady since 1988, which was OK though, because I was pretty active. Some stressfull circumstances caught up with me, and by mid 2009, I had gotten a little "plump" ( 5'9" @ 208 ) for the first time in my life.
I got my $&%# together, and put myself on a pretty strict diet / excercise program. I was never into pop and chips anyhow, so that was no matter... but I DO cook, and like to eat !
With this diet, I removed practically all fats ( used to remove the yoke from the eggs ), short of olive oil for cooking. Moderate complex carbs, sugars less than that, VERY high protein, of course full assortment of fruits and vegetables.
This, combined with VERY fast pace walking 3-8 miles every day, and a full weight training routine, I lost 2 pounds a week, for 14 consecutive weeks. Adter 3 months, ultimately getting down to a painfully skinny 172 !
Since then, I still watch my diet, keeping it balanced, and still high protein... though during this process, I have triggered my metabolism into a monster that makes me eat like a 16 year old high school football player ! an average of 4000 calories a day..... a little costly.
With all that, my weight is stable at pretty lean 180, and even with a permanantly torn rotator cuff in my left shoulder, some of the weights I'm doing, makes my 28 year old buddy who works out with me, turn away and cringe.
And YES, maybe it's the endorphans... I dunno ?... but I sure don't feel like I'm 53 !
Then again... as mentioned... it sure hasn't helped my driving any.

Anyhow, I found that just a little control of what you eat, combined with regular "cardio" excercise, can be very effective. I would not recommend weight training alone though.

[Rich Biebel]

I have excercised to control my weight for well over 30 years. Jogging for many years untill the last 5 or so when the old bones just say no.....So now I walk..fast and I keep moving as much as I can.....If anyone knows me they see me on my bicycle at any NHRA race I go to. I often hit the bike early in the morning and always try to go down the racetrack at least once and lap the entire place at least once or twice in the AM.....

Best thing you can do is aerobic excercise and some light weights for high reps......

It is not easy to compete with the young guys when you are eligible for SS and on Medicare.....and I am.....LOL

[ALMACK]

Way to go Jack.
Keep it up !

Diet and exercise. I'm a big believer now.
My cholesterol in Jan 2012 was 217.
I was advised to read the food labels, especially for saturated fat.

4 months of a low fat, high fiber diet got that number down to 157 in May 2012.
Also lost 10 pounds, had more energy, and more enthusiasm.

I try to ride my bike 2 miles around the neighbor hood every day...even when it is cold.

I am getting rid of the 800 lb.golf cart I used to use at the track.
I use a 40 pound mountain bike now.

As posted before:
Soda and greasy chips are the biggest junk products one can put in their mouth. Junk in...junk out.

[GarysZ24]

Jack, I'd recommend you also include foods rich in fiber and whole grains to your diet, and increase your consumption of water. If you have a Taco Bell near you, the "Fresca(o?) Soft Taco's are good for you as well. The reason I know this, is I partook in a weight loss challenge my work had 1.5 yrs ago, and WON, by losing 27lbs in just over 2 mths. All of the excercise ideas you've read about here were good, but those ideas will help you out too. I wish you well Jack...

p.s. I could be critical of you over your dilema (as you were me and mine), but since it was a concern of mine too I'm offering you ideas to support your efforts...improving your diet will improve your energy level, and your alertness/performance at the track, and then those younger guys/gals best not assume that since you're older than them, that they'll have an easier shot of winning against you...of course they'll realize that once they're on the trailer, and you're prepping your car for the next round!!!

[Jack Matyas]

Here's the latest - After spending time in Atlantic City this weekend eating way too many crab legs I came back yesterday in time to watch Danica bang the wall hard and then to read about our own Kyle Radcliff bang the both sides of the track hard ( both are OK ) .Where are we going with this you ask - this morning while I was feeling tired my trainer decided to up the ante as they say - he upped the weight on all of the machines I use - only a few pounds each but higher none-the-less .

And on top of all that at the end of this mornings session I jumped on the scale - turns out I'm now heavier than I was when I started this three weeks ago - glad I'm in my office this morning - I need the rest .................