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Introduction Text Life has hurdles....get over them! 56 year old unconquerable warrior who reduced a 38" waist to 34" my first year on Spark and now shooting for 32"! Surprisingly, I only dropped about 20 lbs total, but lost a lot of fat while adding a lot of muscle. Adult onset runner--first marathon at age 48. Hated running most of my life, smoked from age 22 to 47. Son deployed to Iraq in 2008, so I got busy, 1/4 mile at a time walking, running, getting off the cigi-butts. Got hurt in 2010 and had to switch to bicycling. Update Jan 2015 Starting my 5th year on Spark, I've realized some basic "truths": TRACKING FOOD WORKS My internal food estimator is broken. I have to log in everything I eat to know how many calories I've taken in and face the hard numbers every day, good or bad. When I stop logging food, I gain weight, pure and simple. YOU CAN'T WORK OFF A BAD DIET The evidence of my life leads me to believe that weight loss is determined 70% by diet and 30% by exercise. I used to think I could eat more because I was working out....WRONG!!! I still got heavier. THE SCALE CAN'T BE THE ONLY MEASURE OF SUCCESS: There are a whole series of �Non Scale Victories� out there. The numbers on the scale are just a measure of gravity. Yeah it's nice to see the scale move down, but when you lose fat and add muscle, your weight can stay the same, but your body shape-shifts into a whole new leaner you. Sometime the fit of the clothes is a better measure of success. Now I�m no saint about this one�.I still put a lot of credence on weight, but I�m willing to accept that tightening belt notches are indicators of success when the scale stagnates. YOU GAIN WEIGHT BACK MUCH QUICKER THAN YOU CAN LOSE IT There is no justice! It can take weeks & months to drop a stubborn 5 or 10 lbs, but they can gain come back with a vengeance in just a matter of days! This truth really sucks, but it�s still the truth. GOT TO DO CARDIO / GOT TO DO STRENGTH TRAINING Strength training has really done wonders helping me lose a lot of inches all over the place, and adding inches, and shadows, and muscle definition in all the right places. Got to burn off calories with cardio and have got to add muscle with strength training otherwise you get out of balance. And they have to be changed up periodically. Due to the surgery, my running days are over, but now I mix up biking, rowing machines, walking, and Hi-Intensity Interval Training (HIIT). Strength Training is best accomplished using heavy weights and doing the tough lifts; Squats, Deadlifts, Bench Press, & Overhead Press TRAINERS WORK For me, working with a personal trainer has wrought wonders. Periodically, depending on where we lived and my work schedule, I hired trainers to help me do Strength Training exercises (i.e. free weights) in the gym. For the last 3 years, (since my hip resurfacing surgery in 2010) I have worked with a trainer (a real son-of-a-bitch, I'm convinced he was an East German Stasi agent or a Russian Spetsnaz defector!) 3 times/week focusing on doing the tough exercises (squats, deadlifts, bench presses, shoulder presses, etc). I insist he make me do the forms perfectly and to push me beyond what I think I can do on my own. I hate it! I love it! It works! SPARK PEOPLE WORKS Don't ask me why, it just does. Tracking food, logging workouts, blogging about my successes & failures, interacting with friends and teams, encouraging others. It just works!

- Go from 200 lbs to 180 & stay there -- Done summer 2012! - Get waistline below 34" & stay there -- Done summer 2012! - Get below 175 lbs - Get below 32" waist - Track everything I eat and use the info to eat smarter - Lift weights 3x a week - focus on multi-joint lifts (Squats, Deadlifts, Bench Press, Overhead Press) - Lift a combined 1000 lbs between squats, deadlifts, & bench press -- Did 915 lbs in Oct 13!! -- Did 955 lbs in Feb 14!! -- Did 1005 lbs in Jun 14!!! - Hard cardio 2-3x/week; Kettlebells & Concept 2 Rower Overall, make fitness and healthy living as important as anything else I do at work, at home, anywhere, anytime

Tracking calories HONESTLY and using the information throughout the day to stay within my goals. Working out has to be enjoyable; if I don't like it, I won't stick with it, so I push enough to make sure I benefit from it, but make sure to slow down or lighten the load enough so that I want to keep coming back next time

I've traveled & lived all over the world. Currently residing in Northern Virginia. near Washington DC

Believe me, If I can run a marathon and turn into an adult onset weight-lifter, anyone can! My evolving home dream gym! https://pinterest.com/getstrongrrr/ Looking for exercise motivation...find some here; http://fitnessgifs4u.tumblr.com/archiv e

Add a Link Whether you think that you can, or that you can't, you are usually right! Henry Ford You won�t always be the strongest or the fastest, but you can be the toughest.
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