getting fit to hunt

[sweet old bill]

Being fit to hunt or how can I lose 52 lbs.

It seems over the years I have gained a total of 40 lbs. I played bnoth football / baseball in HS and went into service at 231 lbs. After basic I was down to 218. I went for my yearly physical and am 68 years young and the weigh in told the story of two many years of eating like I was still playing sport at 18 years old  but being retired just sitting around to many days. The story is the doctor put together a plan that I call weight watchers type of requirement with the goal to lose a 1 lb most weeks and that I could be down by 40 lbs in a year time.

So far I have lost 11 lbs. I have also increase my physical level to support the change in diet as well. I am trying to shoot a 32 target 3D course each morning. It takes about a 1 1/2 hour period. Has some up and down hills and seems to be a lot of fun as well. Nopw for the change in food I have to say the key is staying on the diet and to that it means my ears seem to be growing to a rabbit length. I never was one that was big for lettuce, but now seem to like it. ( better than nothing ) We also now have red meat only once a week. I sure miss those cheeze burgers. Or ham and cheeze on rye. Our amount of bread has decreased by over 50%. I also lost 2 inches off the belly so far.

Is anyone wlse trying to get back in shape, how are you doing it and or what is your goals for being fit for hunting ???

[Doc]

My dieting is a year around thing now. I do a carb-counting routine to control a diabetic condition. That doesn't mean I am always successful ....... lol. I do try to get some form of extra exercise daily, usually in the form of walking. But then that's nothing new. I have always done that.

Doc

[Culvercreek hunt club]

I usually put on 20 between January and June....summer work and hunting itself seem tp be enough tp get it off as long as I stay away from the carbs....and they are my downfall. Not much of a sweet tooth but pasta and bread are my downfall...I really try to add a lot of simple thing...stairs instead of elevators and stuff like that. Best formal routine o ever did was stairs....boring as hell though....get a walkman or ipod

[sweet old bill]

11 lbs so far. But now they tell me the best you can do is about a 1 lb a week and some weeks you may even add a LB back. The good news at the doctor this past friday is that I will not have to have the double artery opened and reamed out. I have 55% blockage in both the left and right artery but the flow is considered normal at this time. So I just have to go for a yearly doppler test. I had the left done 3 years ago and in that period it has become 55% blocked, they also now have me on new meds that may help break down the blockage.

[Mr VJP]

I always try to shape up for hunting starting in August.  Diet is the big problem as I go to the gym twice a week all year.

I need to lose 10 pounds this season to get down to 180 again.

[Culvercreek hunt club]

180.....damn..I haven't seen that since high school...I try for 220 by hunting time.

Bill...good luck with all that...and on the bright side...venison is very low in fat...Dr told me to eat that before skin on chicken...and I do cuz no skin chicken to me has no taste. My biggest hurdle is quitting smoking...NY is helping me with that at 9,50 a pack

[WNYBuckHunter]

Good luck quitting Culver. I took that leap over a year ago and am much happier without those things. 

[Cabin Fever]

Trying myself! Started low carb 3 weeks ago. Down 12lbs, so far...

[Paulie]

You guys are pretty inspiring....!! I have been thinking about it, but i think that you just put me over the edge. Diet it is...gonna be aggressive and see if I can drop 20lbs before opening day!!

[Cabin Fever]

My biggest hurdle is quitting smoking...NY is helping me with that at 9,50 a pack

HOLY CRAP!! I knew they were expensive, but I had NO idea that expensive!!! Yeah, good luck with that! Talk about a good incentive!! I quit 11 1/2 years ago, using the pills (can't remember the name right now). They worked great!

[vipertech]

I quit cold turkey in the late 80's. '89 to be exact.  It's a tough thing to do.  Glad I never had to pay $9-something for a pack of smokes. 

[Doc]

I quit 2/18/08. I used Chantix. I'm not sure whether to credit that stuff or the fact that I was just plain ready. A little wheezing at night and coughing up some real nasty looking stuff, and having had  stroke 8 years earlier kind of helped. But you know, even today I still get a pretty powerful urge at times to have another cigarette. Of course I know better, but it is amazing what a heavy-duty, entrenched, long lasting addiction that is. Of course doing something like that for 48 years, it's no wonder that it had such a strong grip on me.

[Culvercreek hunt club]

Yup...I am ready...called the Dr today for that script Doc....quit date is a week from today...just an idead of NY tax...just bought a pack in SC for 4.25....same ones in NY are like 9.60 gonna quit and get a new gun at the beginning of the year when I make it

[sweet old bill]

I had always told my wife the day I would quite smoking was when they locked me up so I could not go to town and get some. Well 15 years ago was my loast smoke. I use to buy 10 carton at a time  in NY for 10.60 a carton or buy the smae in NC for $5.95 a carton. I would save my spending money and buy 40 cartons in NC to save on NY cost.

Well my day to quite came when I had a ladder slip on my way down from the house roof, I fell 14 feet and broke my right leg in 9 places. That was my last smoke as I waited for the transport to the hospital. My wife came home and found I had 7 cartons in the house that she gave away, 2 weeks later I came home from the hospital and it was another 4 weeks till I could with a walker get down stairs to my bow shop and I found another 2 cartons that I gave away. I kept one pack that I drove into the wall with a nail just to look at....I still know that if I had one I would be right back on them. But this is why I think I also gained 40 lbs, so now the hard work again to lose this amount of weight. to any that are trying to quit, it sure is hard but you can make it. I was 2 1/2 packs a day of Kool's. I got my first pack of these free from Uncle Sam in that little war in 1965.

Bill

[Doc]

Yup...I am ready...called the Dr today for that script Doc....quit date is a week from today...just an idead of NY tax...just bought a pack in SC for 4.25....same ones in NY are like 9.60 gonna quit and get a new gun at the beginning of the year when I make it

I'm convinced that the whole trick is getting yourself mentally ready to quit. I had tried a few times before, but was not quite convinced that I HAD to do it. This time, it really wasn't all that hard because somehow I developed the attitude that I HAD to do it. Did the Chantix do it's job? ..... or was I just finally ready to quit anyway. I'll never know. But the Chantix did provide a confidence builder that probably helped in some fashion. 

Anyway, I'm glad another person has taken up the committment to quit ....... Good for you!

[fasteddie]

I had my last cigarette Dec 24 , 1979 at 8 am on my back deck . My Dad was a life long smoker and died of Lung Cancer at the age of 66 on Nov 11 of that year . It took my father dying to make me quit .

[Geno C]

since i bought the house and got engaged i put on a few extra lbs... stress i guess lol... but this year things have kind of settled down a bit and i was able to get in good shape again and drop 20lbs.

now im not over weight by far, i just got out of shape. i leaned back out a bit. i was only going to the gym about on average 2-3 days a week and alls i was doing was watching what i ate. i cut alot of my carbs out, although you do need carbs for energy, i tried to clean my meals up a bit and really be conscious to portion sizes.

i think wgere alot of people go wrong and age doesnt have as much impact as you think aside from as you get older it gets harder to loose the way and thats only because you are to many years and too far in with the good meals you eat. but i am a firm believer that "YOU ARE WHAT YOU EAT" 

and if you eat like crap, you will feel like it...

i know most guys eat big size portions and drink alot of soda / beer... 

• cut soda out of your diet

• save the beers for the weekends or gatherings

• drink more water

• cut down on portion size and strink your stoumach back up, it will shrink back up after a few weeks trust me. you will feel fuller sooner.

• No salts and sugars (or limit them)

really its not hard to cut down on weight, you just have to change some things in your diet that most of us have been doing for quite sometime.

not saying strict diet but clean it up and cut some things out and you will be very surprised...

im only 5.6 and to loose 20 lbs for me is not easy vs a guy who is 5.7 or 5.8 and 220lbs. trust me...

i used to be 185 lean, but that was to big for me.. im now about 160 and i feel great.

[UpStateRedNeck]

I'm a very firm believer in over-all physical fitness being much more important than what the scale says.  And I think weight training when done right is still best thing for your over-all health.

I could make a 5 page post on the "right way" to lift, and favorite routines for over-all fitness.  But I don't think anybody will ready it  

As a general rule of thumb though, for decent fitness you should be exercising minimum one hour a day 4 times a week.  And the exercise should be making you sweat pretty hard.

[Geno C]

I'm a very firm believer in over-all physical fitness being much more important than what the scale says.  And I think weight training when done right is still best thing for your over-all health.

I could make a 5 page post on the "right way" to lift, and favorite routines for over-all fitness.  But I don't think anybody will ready it  

As a general rule of thumb though, for decent fitness you should be exercising minimum one hour a day 4 times a week.  And the exercise should be making you sweat pretty hard.

believe it or not weight training is just a piece of the pie when it comes to overall fitness. your diet regiment is key, the 2 go hand and hand clearly. but if i had to choose between one or the other it would be diet. anyone who eats and drinks what they want and goes to the gym is doing nothing for themselves. they may be happy doing so however its not. i am a big gym head, i love it... i can go on and on.

but anyone who says the scale doesnt matter is crazy... a guy 5.7 should not be 220.... ever... its not normal. i understand the whole weighing more then you should at a certain height may not bothger some, but me being 5.6 when i get to a certain weight i start to go into a diffeent mode and get myself out of that rut. its one thing being over weight and LEAN and another to just be simply over weight and on top of that ...un happy....

and on another note, ive seen plenty of people lift there ass off and you know what they still look horrible. becasue chances are they go to the gym and eat like CRAP. i see heavy set guys in the gym racking every machine and going with the heaviest weight all day. what is that proving? nothing... what is it doing? going to make you bulk up more when is reality that individual should be going with a comfortable weight, slow and controlled and possibly repping it out.

i see it all the time. guys thinkg by lifting more and heavy weight they will reach the results they have in there head and in reality they WONT...

[Mr VJP]

Diet and exercise are both important to good physical fitness.  And cardio, especially for hunters, is very important.  Your weight should be what the doctor's chart says it should be for your height. 

I'm 5'11" and currently weigh 190.  The chart says I should be 170.  I'll be happy if I get to 180.  Last time I got down to 175 I was skinny and starving all the time, but I could run up and down the mountain without breathing heavy.  Trouble is i can't stay at that weight without starving.

If I can get down to 180 again and stay there for a year, I'll try to get down to 175 again and see if it's possible without starving.

BTW, I'm going to be 55 this year, so this is not easy for me at all.

[UpStateRedNeck]

believe it or not weight training is just a piece of the pie when it comes to overall fitness. your diet regiment is key, the 2 go hand and hand clearly. but if i had to choose between one or the other it would be diet. anyone who eats and drinks what they want and goes to the gym is doing nothing for themselves. they may be happy doing so however its not. i am a big gym head, i love it... i can go on and on.

but anyone who says the scale doesnt matter is crazy... a guy 5.7 should not be 220.... ever... its not normal. i understand the whole weighing more then you should at a certain height may not bothger some, but me being 5.6 when i get to a certain weight i start to go into a diffeent mode and get myself out of that rut. its one thing being over weight and LEAN and another to just be simply over weight and on top of that ...un happy....

and on another note, ive seen plenty of people lift there ass off and you know what they still look horrible. becasue chances are they go to the gym and eat like CRAP. i see heavy set guys in the gym racking every machine and going with the heaviest weight all day. what is that proving? nothing... what is it doing? going to make you bulk up more when is reality that individual should be going with a comfortable weight, slow and controlled and possibly repping it out.

i see it all the time. guys thinkg by lifting more and heavy weight they will reach the results they have in there head and in reality they WONT...

Oh I concur, if you had to choose one I'd have to say proper diet is the way to go.  I'd also concur when I see idiots at the gym doing 8 reps of their max weight, talking to another idiot for 5 minutes, doing a few more and then switching machines. 

I'm a big fan of circuit training with free weights, with limited recovery time between sets.  I usually do 3 exercises no one for the same exact muscle group, 5 reps, 5 sets with one minute of recovery time between each one.  Then do a different exercise for each of the 3 same muscle groups as the first group. 

As far as weight goes..... I haven't seen my target weight since the last time I was out of work and had about 1200 calories a day while jogging minimum 3 miles.  I carry a little spare tire around my waste , in case of famine !  The rest is dense muscle, just ask my 5 buddies that tried to jump me and throw me in the river at our last camp party.  Poor girly men.

[Geno C]

^^ some of the stuff i see at the gym is funny... lets face it tho, staying fit 24/7 unless you have great genetics is a life style and you have to totally alter yours to become that. but for the working man who maybe active a bit can seriously cut some things out of there diet and change that regiment to suit what they believe a healthy state for themselves...

its not hard at all but may require little will power and the sense of knowledge to know what they should be eating and what not, plain and simple...

this year i am actually going to keep it going as far as watching what i eat so that after the holidays im not starting from square one like most and like what i usually do lol

[sweet old bill]

weekly weight in check I gained a 1/2 lb. BUt can not understandy why, no cheating, walked the back mountain 3 times this week while shooting my recurve bow with blunt ( stump shooting ). Thee trees in some area are starting to turn, also see red acorn are dropping, see the deer have a 3 foot wide from the mountain to my son in law corn. It is over 8 feet high. The walk right past my one low tree stand that I can still use.

[bubba]

the simple slution to losing weight is less calorie intake+ more exercise. How you choose to cut the calories is up to the person. Starving ones self is the worst way to try to lose. The brain will slow metabolism when people starve themselves and goes into survival mode.  In fact you will retain all you take in as stores for lean times.  Eat 5 or 6 small meals a day and keep the metabolism up and the weight will come off quicker.  Pick a daily calorie intake ad breaking it up will also help. You have to plan for this to make it work.  And exercise.  I walk at least three to four miles a day, or I ride my mountin biike 6 to 8 miles day depending on time.  Take it form a guy who has lost 100 pounds in a year and a half,at 51, it can be done.  As far as smoking, Nicotine is an addiction.  It is as addictive as heroin.  I never took up the addiction, saw to many family members die from it.  Plus the one time I tried it, I thought anything that my lungs was coughing out as quick as I was trying to put it in there, was telling me something. I do a lot with smoking cessation in my job.  Chantix is great, but again as stated you have to want to quit before it will happen.  Too much of the it wont happen to me is factored in.

[Mr VJP]

Bill, building muscle will cause you to gain weight.  Muscle is heavier than fat.  Once you start burning off more fat than the muscle you are building, you will start to lose weight.