Fitness 2022 thread.

[mongers]

[mongers]

Haven't posted in this thread for ages. Had a rough time last winter keeping up with exercise. I was pretty motivated during the first two lockdowns but the last one sucked.
Been doing well since then though, just finished two 50k walks back to back over the weekend, and I feel somewhat ready to take on another 8 day death march to Switzerland two weeks from now.

Mal, how did you Swiss death-march go?

[Threviel]

Dieting during the summer has brought my BMI under 25 for the first time in many years. I'm at 77 kg right now, which is 5-7 kg above my ideal weight.

The swimming has also given results, today I graduated to a more advanced group for the swimming club's Saturday training, where all adults swim together. I'm no longer in the beginner/low effort group but in the exercise group for those that can swim and only do it for exercise. Today that meant 3.5 km instead of 2.7.

I'm probably in the best form of my life right now, having previously mostly been lazy and fat.

[Valmy]

I spent a few months on my father's bedside as he died last year and I gained weight and unfortunately my a1c went up again so I took my health pretty seriously this year. I joined the gym that opened across the street from my house and hired a nutritionist. It's worked out really well, I have lost 40 lbs (from 215 lbs/97.5 kg to 175 lbs/79.4 kg) though I won't get my next a1c test until October. I have reached that unlikely American status of no longer being overweight according to the holy BMI. All glory to the BMI!

So now I have to stop losing weight but not gain weight. A needle I have found very hard to thread in my life 

[celedhring]

Since I began recovering from my knee injury I've lost 5 kg. I'm currently at 103 Kg, which is usually my wall every time I try to lose weight.

It seems a lot given that I'm only 183cm tall, but I have a massive frame and carry a lot of muscle mass (last time I had a six pack I weighed 94 kg). Still, I'd love to get under 100 Kg.

[mongers]

Dieting during the summer has brought my BMI under 25 for the first time in many years. I'm at 77 kg right now, which is 5-7 kg above my ideal weight.

The swimming has also given results, today I graduated to a more advanced group for the swimming club's Saturday training, where all adults swim together. I'm no longer in the beginner/low effort group but in the exercise group for those that can swim and only do it for exercise. Today that meant 3.5 km instead of 2.7.

I'm probably in the best form of my life right now, having previously mostly been lazy and fat.

The more so with the swimming, I need to do something like that, as my swimming is pitiful

[mongers]

I spent a few months on my father's bedside as he died last year and I gained weight and unfortunately my a1c went up again so I took my health pretty seriously this year. I joined the gym that opened across the street from my house and hired a nutritionist. It's worked out really well, I have lost 40 lbs (from 215 lbs/97.5 kg to 175 lbs/79.4 kg) though I won't get my next a1c test until October. I have reached that unlikely American status of no longer being overweight according to the holy BMI. All glory to the BMI!

So now I have to stop losing weight but not gain weight. A needle I have found very hard to thread in my life 

That's rather impressive, especially so during such trying times.

[Crazy_Ivan80]

managed about 5kg since the start of the year. About 5 more to go at least. Getting below 80 would be nice (especially for the back)

[celedhring]

managed about 5kg since the start of the year. About 5 more to go at least. Getting below 80 would be nice (especially for the back)

Yeah, losing some weight made such a difference for my back. I was at 120 Kg 6-7 years ago, and I had a shitload of back issues. They all went away after my doctor made me lose 10 Kg at gunpoint.

[Crazy_Ivan80]

managed about 5kg since the start of the year. About 5 more to go at least. Getting below 80 would be nice (especially for the back)

Yeah, losing some weight made such a difference for my back. I was at 120 Kg 6-7 years ago, and I had a shitload of back issues. They all went away after my doctor made me lose 10 Kg at gunpoint.

yeah, preach it!
The scar on my back (from a double hernia 20 years ago) is a constant reminder not to expand too much... And the last quarter of last year was a bit too much expansion 

[Maladict]

Haven't posted in this thread for ages. Had a rough time last winter keeping up with exercise. I was pretty motivated during the first two lockdowns but the last one sucked.
Been doing well since then though, just finished two 50k walks back to back over the weekend, and I feel somewhat ready to take on another 8 day death march to Switzerland two weeks from now.

Mal, how did you Swiss death-march go?

It was pretty good. The Black Forest is so beautiful, so absolutely lush even in this dry season. Unexpectedly the best moment came later, in the seemingly less interesting part leading to Lake Constance.
I climbed a nondescript hill with a wooded crest, before entering it looking back for one last look at the Black Forest in the distance. There was a short, straight path leading through the wood, like a tunnel to the other side of the hill. And there the ground fell away, opening to the most beautiful panorama I've ever seen. Rolling hills with early morning fog hanging inbetween, a couple of jagged volcanic plugs sticking out. The fields a golden yellow and a clear blue sky. And all along the horizon, out of nowhere, the Alps.
I must have stood there for almost an hour, just taking it in. No sounds except birdsong, no visible movement apart from a zeppelin slowly gliding in front of the mountains.

I took a rest day in Constance to check out the town and take a boat trip across the lake to see Meersburg and the Zeppelin museum in Friedrichshafen.
Then I crossed into Switzerland at the break of dawn, a forced march to Sankt Gallen to get to the wonderful Abbey library before it closed. It had been hot and humid for days, thunderstorms forecast never materialised.
The next day was going to be the big one, 35k with a 1800 meter mountain at the end, sleeping at the top and going down the next day.
It was very hot and humid again, very bad thunderstorms forecast but not a sign of it until I got nearer the mountain. At the last town I started asking locals for advice, they all firmly said don't do it. Under clear blue skies I cancelled the greatest leg of the trip and found a route around the mountain. Good thing I did, clouds started appearing shortly after, and in the end I half ran down the lower pass to stay ahead of near-black thunderclouds. I would have been stuck halfway up the mountain in a terrible thunderstorm, with real risk of hypothermia. Sobering thoughts all around.
Low clouds obscured all scenery the entire next day and it rained nonstop. Even if I'd made it up the mountain I would have been holed up there for at least a day. I stuck to the valley and my rain gear held out fairly well.
 
The last day from Vaduz to Chur was a 42k slog along the Rhine with one steep ascent and descent. Halfway down part of the path had been swept away by what looked like a very recent landslide. I probably should have turned back, but couldn't handle the thought of an additional 5 to 10k and crawled across on all fours.
I'm disappointed not to have gotten real mountain experience, which I'll badly need crossing the Alps next year. But once again it was a pretty epic trip.

[mongers]

Haven't posted in this thread for ages. Had a rough time last winter keeping up with exercise. I was pretty motivated during the first two lockdowns but the last one sucked.
Been doing well since then though, just finished two 50k walks back to back over the weekend, and I feel somewhat ready to take on another 8 day death march to Switzerland two weeks from now.

Mal, how did you Swiss death-march go?

It was pretty good. The Black Forest is so beautiful, so absolutely lush even in this dry season. Unexpectedly the best moment came later, in the seemingly less interesting part leading to Lake Constance.
I climbed a nondescript hill with a wooded crest, before entering it looking back for one last look at the Black Forest in the distance. There was a short, straight path leading through the wood, like a tunnel to the other side of the hill. And there the ground fell away, opening to the most beautiful panorama I've ever seen. Rolling hills with early morning fog hanging inbetween, a couple of jagged volcanic plugs sticking out. The fields a golden yellow and a clear blue sky. And all along the horizon, out of nowhere, the Alps.
I must have stood there for almost an hour, just taking it in. No sounds except birdsong, no visible movement apart from a zeppelin slowly gliding in front of the mountains.

I took a rest day in Constance to check out the town and take a boat trip across the lake to see Meersburg and the Zeppelin museum in Friedrichshafen.
Then I crossed into Switzerland at the break of dawn, a forced march to Sankt Gallen to get to the wonderful Abbey library before it closed. It had been hot and humid for days, thunderstorms forecast never materialised.
The next day was going to be the big one, 35k with a 1800 meter mountain at the end, sleeping at the top and going down the next day.
It was very hot and humid again, very bad thunderstorms forecast but not a sign of it until I got nearer the mountain. At the last town I started asking locals for advice, they all firmly said don't do it. Under clear blue skies I cancelled the greatest leg of the trip and found a route around the mountain. Good thing I did, clouds started appearing shortly after, and in the end I half ran down the lower pass to stay ahead of near-black thunderclouds. I would have been stuck halfway up the mountain in a terrible thunderstorm, with real risk of hypothermia. Sobering thoughts all around.
Low clouds obscured all scenery the entire next day and it rained nonstop. Even if I'd made it up the mountain I would have been holed up there for at least a day. I stuck to the valley and my rain gear held out fairly well.
 
The last day from Vaduz to Chur was a 42k slog along the Rhine with one steep ascent and descent. Halfway down part of the path had been swept away by what looked like a very recent landslide. I probably should have turned back, but couldn't handle the thought of an additional 5 to 10k and crawled across on all fours.
I'm disappointed not to have gotten real mountain experience, which I'll badly need crossing the Alps next year. But once again it was a pretty epic trip.

Thank you Mal, a beautifully described epic journey; I think I've found some inspiration from it.

[Maladict]

I think I've found some inspiration from it.

We need all the help we can get in this thread