Trooper Fit Club

[revlimiter[Staff]]

This is a timely thread bump. I didn't realize we had something like this.

 

So... I've got Crohn's disease. Currently I'm untreated with no meds. I've been diagnosed for over 14 years and have gone from a lot of drugs and immunosupressives to a few to none. Diet and obsessive exercise had me in complete remission. I've had maybe 3 flare ups in the 14 years and was never hospitalized beyond my original episode... wherein I almost died.

 

COVID lock down has been extremely unkind. I *loved* going to the gym. I'm a social exerciser. I don't enjoy working out on my own and have a hard time motivating myself to do it. But if others are around, perhaps in a gym environment, I do well. If I'm in a class with others doing the daily workout board (WOD) I thrive.

 

I haven't worked out much in the past 2.5 years since lockdown. I built a decent home gym in an unused room and have all the equipment I need... just no motivation to do it. How lame is that? A lovely home gym with a rack, plates, weights, and all I need yet it just sits.

 

And because of Crohn's, I cannot exercise in a gym. At least currently while COVID is still rampant. I'm fully immunized, but it doesn't matter a whole lot in this condition.

 

I started building my armor when I was working out all the time. I did the forearms and biceps back in 2019. They were TIGHT. And when I took my centurion photos in 2021, they were quite loose. Arguably, they needed (and still need) to be sized down. And I was still in "good shape" when I took these pix. Healthy without symptoms.

 

I'm not in good shape now. Crohn's has been rearing it's ugly head and my health is quite poor. I likely need meds again, or I need to actually work out, or both. I've lost about 30 lbs of muscle. I can't eat much to help maintain my weight. I'm in danger of not being able to troop and being in the hospital again.

 

So I need this Trooper Fit Club. Or something. Anything. A kick in the posterior armor.

 

I've done small workouts the past 2 days. I just need to keep doing things. Keep moving. Keep lifting things. I need to do something today.

 

It's so hard to find the motivation.

[TKSpartan[Staff]]

1 hour ago, revlimiter said:

This is a timely thread bump. I didn't realize we had something like this.

 

So... c

 

I haven't worked out much in the past 2.5 years since lockdown. I built a decent home gym in an unused room and have all the equipment I need... just no motivation to do it. How lame is that? A lovely home gym with a rack, plates, weights, and all I need yet it just sits.

 

And because of Crohn's, I cannot exercise in a gym. At least currently while COVID is still rampant. I'm fully immunized, but it doesn't matter a whole lot in this condition.

 

I started building my armor when I was working out all the time. I did the forearms and biceps back in 2019. They were TIGHT. And when I took my centurion photos in 2021, they were quite loose. Arguably, they needed (and still need) to be sized down. And I was still in "good shape" when I took these pix. Healthy without symptoms.

 

I'm not in good shape now. Crohn's has been rearing it's ugly head and my health is quite poor. I likely need meds again, or I need to actually work out, or both. I've lost about 30 lbs of muscle. I can't eat much to help maintain my weight. I'm in danger of not being able to troop and being in the hospital again.

 

So I need this Trooper Fit Club. Or something. Anything. A kick in the posterior armor.

 

I've done small workouts the past 2 days. I just need to keep doing things. Keep moving. Keep lifting things. I need to do something today.

 

It's so hard to find the motivation.

 

I'm sorry to read your health situation Adam,  I like to do some Gym exercise too and find so difficult tp do it at home. This Covid thing has been a real mess  .  The worse thing we can do is to leave the physical activity it's depressing and the body need it.

 

Hope you can continue with your Home Gym, day by day .  I have a saying that I read somewhere,  when things turns challenging.

"Retreat Hell, we just got here! "  

 

keep on posting your advances brother !     

 

 

[revlimiter[Staff]]

20 hours ago, TKSpartan said:

 

I have a saying that I read somewhere,  when things turns challenging.

"Retreat Hell, we just got here! "  

 

keep on posting your advances brother !     

 

 

 

This meant a lot. Thank you.

 

I had a really good workout yesterday afternoon and another this morning. 4 days in a row. Gotta keep advancing!

[Sly11[Admin]]

Wow Adam, you are a legend to keep that at bay under your own steam, that's impressive.

I am positive you can get back on that horse and work yourself  to wellness, you've championed it before so you are in control of your destiny here.

Think of it like centurion Level, it's not easy to achieve, but it is possible, you just need the focus and drive.

In your case, your body is centurion level, you managed it on your first build, now your onto a new build and you are hungry for it again.

You got this.

[jsilvius[Staff]]

Wow am I glad to found this thread.

In Feb of 2019 my wife and I started a medically supervised weight loss program run by our local hospital. I was 320lb and very unhappy. After consulting with my doctor, we set a weight loss goal of 100lbs. She told me this was very conservative and very doable in this program. She wanted me to shoot for 200lbs, but I haven't weight 200lbs since I freshmen in College, so I didn't think that was a realistic goal.

 

By Jun of 2019 I was down 50lbs and very excited about what could happen. I saw that ATA was having an anniversary sale, and I bought 2 ANH TK kits from him, and decided it was time to join the 501st. (There is a longer story here, but I'll tell that another time).

 

October 2019 came  and I was down to 240lbs. I ran my first 5k at my son's college during the parent weekend. I came in 5th in my age group. It wasn't hard to beat the others as they walked the 5k. But I ran the whole thing and was amazed that I completed it. when we returned home I had 2 kits waiting for me. I was crazy excited. and figured my son and I would build them over Christmas break. I didn't have a clue, but I was just starting to read the forums and getting and idea.

 

Nov and Dec I slipped a lot, We had a 10 vacation to Orlando where we did both Disney and Universal theme parks and then the holidays came. I gained about 20 lbs back and was a bit depressed, but was ready to work on my kit. My Garrison's Armorer lives near me and we spent every weekend in January together learning how to build my armor. I was back to 250lbs and fit the kit to me for my approval in Feb of 2020. I attended my first Convention as a 501st member and ran the both most of the weekend. I was so proud to wear my kit.

 

Then Covid hit.

 

Trooping stopped, the medical weight loss program stopped, my son's school went virtual so he has to come home.

 

And the weight started to come back.

 

So here I sit, June of 2022 and I'm back up to 300lbs.

I hate how my armor looks on me, My second costume (my tie reserve) doesn't fit any more. So I'm miserable.

 

Luckily the weight loss program is starting back up in July and my goal of getting to 220lbs is alive again.

I don't have any pictures currently, but I'll update this post/thread later. I'm just happy to have found this thread so I can start participating and helping us all encourage one another! And hopefully by the time I lose the extra weight again, Dave's Darkside Depot (AM) or Troopermaster (TM) will have plastic again so I can order a new kit to build to at least EIB.

 

Thanks in advance for the encouragement. I've seen some of the post and it make me thrilled to find another part of the FISD to participate with.

[TKSpartan[Staff]]

@jsilvius you can do it again brother!! Go for it. 

[revlimiter[Staff]]

Dang. Sorry to read that you need this too James. However, I'm very glad there's a handful of us to participate and keep each other going! I made up something kinda quick to commemorate it.

 

 

What do you think brothers? Weekly updates? @Order and Justice @jsilvius

 

 

[TK22020[TK]]

19 hours ago, revlimiter said:

Dang. Sorry to read that you need this too James. However, I'm very glad there's a handful of us to participate and keep each other going! I made up something kinda quick to commemorate it.

 

 

What do you think brothers? Weekly updates? @Order and Justice @jsilvius

 

 

I can commit to weekly updates! I’m happy to have support from a couple of fellow Troopers in pursuit of similar goals, and I’m here to offer whatever support I can offer as well. Stay on target Brothers!

 

[TKSpartan[Staff]]

@revlimiter @jsilvius @Order and Justice and anyone who joins the club. 

 

[revlimiter[Staff]]

My last job had a fantastic gym attached to it. Almost always empty. It's where I started working out after my Crohn's diagnosis. To keep myself on track and motivated, I used an app called FitNotes. It's free and has auto backup to your gmail account.  You can enter custom exercises and track things, even light stuff like PT movements or walks. I continued to use it when I quit that job and joined a public gym, then stopped when I got into crossfit classes. No need to log crossfit since the workout is on the board everyday.

 

Anyways, I re-downloaded it, logged in, and opened it. All my workouts and saved custom exercises were in there with my last logged workout being in 2018. I've since logged 3 more.

 

http://www.fitnotesapp.com/

No affiliation, just a user for the past many years over about 4 phones. I was beyond pleased that the app still existed and worked.

[revlimiter[Staff]]

I finished my first full week of workouts yesterday... with a rest day. But that's okay, rest days count too. And then I started the new week today with a big workout. It felt good.

 

1 week down. Gotta keep advancing.

[CountCunning]

I'll be posting photos once I've gotten up the nerve to take them, but here goes. In late February/early March of this year a medication I'm taking regularly for an endocrine issue was increased and I started gaining weight incredibly quickly. My starting weight was approximately 155 lbs and as of the day I'm writing this (27 June) it's sitting at 191 lbs. This is despite walking nearly 3 miles to and from work 5 days a week and some serious dietary changes made in the last two months. I've yet to speak to an endocrinologist or my family doctor about this weight gain, but I'm hoping they'll be able to help me nail down the proper dose of my medication.

 

I haven't actually got my TK armour built yet, partly because I haven't known where to start and partly because I've been feeling a bit insecure about my weight, but I'd love to get closer to my goal weight while working on putting it together.

 

My current weight: 191 lbs

 

Goal weight: 150 lbs

 

Exercise plan: Elliptical & stationary cycle 10km each, 4 days a week, lane swimming 2 days a week (no set distance goal yet), possibly free weights, but I'm not sure yet

 

Lifestyle plan: eat more healthily and try to cut most added sugar out of my diet (I love ice cream and my partner's mum is a habitual baker, so this might be a bit difficult, but I'm here to give it a shot haha!)

 

Anyways, thanks everyone for sharing your stories and goals. I'm feeling even more committed to getting in shape and sharing my progress with you all

 

Cheers!

[TKSpartan[Staff]]

10 minutes ago, CountCunning said:

I love ice cream and my partner's mum is a habitual baker, so this might be a bit difficult, but I'm here to give it a shot haha!)

 

Welcome to the Club Daniel  and Yes!, very difficult to leave the bakery and Ice cream but is it possible ? Yes!, little by little you can reduce the portion till your body and mind get used to. Believe me ,Now  I love my No sugar Black coffee every morning  (I used to add 3 sugar teaspoon !!   

 

So go step by step and you'll see.

 

Best luck and looking forward for your advances !  

 

 

 

[CountCunning]

59 minutes ago, TKSpartan said:

 

Welcome to the Club Daniel  and Yes!, very difficult to leave the bakery and Ice cream but is it possible ? Yes!, little by little you can reduce the portion till your body and mind get used to. Believe me ,Now  I love my No sugar Black coffee every morning  (I used to add 3 sugar teaspoon !!   

 

So go step by step and you'll see.

 

Best luck and looking forward for your advances !  

 

 

 

Thanks very much for the encouragement!

[TK22020[TK]]

Alright, 1 week down, many more to go!

 

Current Weight: 246.5lbs

 

Im down 8.5lbs at the end of my first week, which is quite a lot of weight, but as many of you know, that’s to be expected in the first week, I expect that to slow down pretty considerably. I’ve cut my caloric intake in half, keeping it below 1500 calories per day and I’ve kept up with jogging a mile every night. I’m gonna keep this going, while I know this kind of weight loss won’t be consistent every week, I’m going to allow it to motivate me to the end of another week.

 

Progress Troopers, Progress! 

[gmrhodes13[Staff]]

Great progress, well done.  I know it can drop fast at first then can slow but every bit counts. 

[TKSpartan[Staff]]

Awesome Cam, keep it up. !! 

[jsilvius[Staff]]

My son Jarod (TK-12140) is scheduled to start the local police academy on 1 Oct 2022.

This weekend he and I sat down to work on meal plans and exercise schedules.

We are starting out easy. The goal is 3 miles a day, two independently and 1 together after dinner each night.

We'll visit a couple of the local gyms next week to see what they have to offer.

My first appointment with the Medical weight loss group is Tuesday 5 July 2022.

This program is 800 calories per day no more than 50g of carbs. It is a Medically supervised keto like plan. 

I'm hoping in the 3 months we have until he starts the academy that we can get him ready for the academy PT and get me at least 1/2 way to my goal.

This program is rapid weight loss, it was originally designed as an alternative to Bariatric Surgery for folks doing large joint replacement (Hips, knees, etc).

They found if they coupled it with a maintenance plan after the original rapid loss they had a 90% success rate of keeping the weight off after 5 years.

It worked great last time, except I wasn't able to start the maintenance plan, so I hope that I'll get down to weight goal, and start the maintenance plan to keep it off this time!

[TKSpartan[Staff]]

13 minutes ago, jsilvius said:

This weekend he and I sat down to work on meal plans and exercise schedules.

We are starting out easy. The goal is 3 miles a day, two independently and 1 together after dinner each night.

Great to know this James! Having a training partner is a great way to keep the motivation high. Good luck !! 

 

 

[BigJasoni[TK]]

2 hours ago, jsilvius said:

My son Jarod (TK-12140) is scheduled to start the local police academy on 1 Oct 2022.

This weekend he and I sat down to work on meal plans and exercise schedules.

We are starting out easy. The goal is 3 miles a day, two independently and 1 together after dinner each night.

We'll visit a couple of the local gyms next week to see what they have to offer.

My first appointment with the Medical weight loss group is Tuesday 5 July 2022.

This program is 800 calories per day no more than 50g of carbs. It is a Medically supervised keto like plan. 

I'm hoping in the 3 months we have until he starts the academy that we can get him ready for the academy PT and get me at least 1/2 way to my goal.

This program is rapid weight loss, it was originally designed as an alternative to Bariatric Surgery for folks doing large joint replacement (Hips, knees, etc).

They found if they coupled it with a maintenance plan after the original rapid loss they had a 90% success rate of keeping the weight off after 5 years.

It worked great last time, except I wasn't able to start the maintenance plan, so I hope that I'll get down to weight goal, and start the maintenance plan to keep it off this time!

James,

 I’m right up the road if you guys ever need a running buddy/ coach. I’ve got over 30 years distance running experience and would be more than happy to join up with you in RVA. 
I can’t wait to see how this works out for you and congrats to Jarod!

[revlimiter[Staff]]

Nice work Cam and James!!! 

[CountCunning]

Alright, it's a day late, but here's my weekly update!

 

Starting weight: 191

Goal weight: 150

Weight as of yesterday (04 July): 184

 

I was frankly pretty shocked at how much weight I'd lost in the week since starting my exercise plan. I haven't made very drastic changes to my lifestyle aside from now regularly exercising, and I'm pretty sure that I didn't bungle my weigh-in because I've always weighed myself at the same time of day wearing the same clothes each time. I'm considering bringing this up with my doctor because I'm not entirely sure if it's healthy to lose this much weight in such a short time period. If anyone has any advice, I'd very much appreciate it. I'm proud to have stuck to my plan, though, because forming new habits is difficult for me.

[revlimiter[Staff]]

I'm also a day late. Nice job @CountCunning   Keep going with that weight loss!!!  Initial sharp losses are to be expected. Newbie Gainz as they say. I've had similar early success and have had a lot of muscle mass return to my small frame. Expect the losses to slow as your body gets more used to the workouts and more efficient at doing what you're asking of it.

 

I'm now at 15 days of working out. I've had a rest day here and there, including yesterday. But that's okay. Gotta have a rest day here and there. 

 

I've been going on a Heavy / cardio / heavy / cardio / heavy / rest schedule.  I was supposed to have a heavy day yesterday, but had a rest day by accident due to holiday stuff. Today I woke up just craving the workout. I haven't felt that in sooo long. It felt good. And now, after having worked out, I would happily do more. I feel energized!

 

Crohn's has subsided and seems in remission again. I'm eating bland stuff (thankfully protein shakes agree with me and keep me energized) but it's still nice to feel well. I trooped in the desert for nearly 3 hours on Sunday evening and didn't get tired. I was surprised we'd been out that long when I looked at the time.

 

I even added a new kettlebell to the herd. More weight was needed.

[TKSpartan[Staff]]

3 hours ago, CountCunning said:

Alright, it's a day late, but here's my weekly update!

 

Starting weight: 191

Goal weight: 150

Weight as of yesterday (04 July): 184

 

I was frankly pretty shocked at how much weight I'd lost in the week since starting my exercise plan. I haven't made very drastic changes to my lifestyle aside from now regularly exercising, and I'm pretty sure that I didn't bungle my weigh-in because I've always weighed myself at the same time of day wearing the same clothes each time. I'm considering bringing this up with my doctor because I'm not entirely sure if it's healthy to lose this much weight in such a short time period. If anyone has any advice, I'd very much appreciate it. I'm proud to have stuck to my plan, though, because forming new habits is difficult for me.

 

Although, as you may know, in the beginning it could possible to lost weight fast , as  time goes,  probably the losing weight takes longer. IMO, to be sure,  is a good idea to check with the doctor.

 

Hope everything turns well.  

 

[TKSpartan[Staff]]

2 hours ago, revlimiter said:

I'm also a day late. Nice job @CountCunning   Keep going with that weight loss!!!  Initial sharp losses are to be expected. Newbie Gainz as they say. I've had similar early success and have had a lot of muscle mass return to my small frame. Expect the losses to slow as your body gets more used to the workouts and more efficient at doing what you're asking of it.

 

I'm now at 15 days of working out. I've had a rest day here and there, including yesterday. But that's okay. Gotta have a rest day here and there. 

 

I've been going on a Heavy / cardio / heavy / cardio / heavy / rest schedule.  I was supposed to have a heavy day yesterday, but had a rest day by accident due to holiday stuff. Today I woke up just craving the workout. I haven't felt that in sooo long. It felt good. And now, after having worked out, I would happily do more. I feel energized!

 

Crohn's has subsided and seems in remission again. I'm eating bland stuff (thankfully protein shakes agree with me and keep me energized) but it's still nice to feel well. I trooped in the desert for nearly 3 hours on Sunday evening and didn't get tired. I was surprised we'd been out that long when I looked at the time.

 

I even added a new kettlebell to the herd. More weight was needed.

 

Great news Adam !!  Desert Trooping wow 

 

keep it up Trooper !