Rip 60, Week 3, Day 5

Howdy gang!

Today, for a change-up, I went to Youtube and grabbed a fun workout video (see below!). I modified it and did it in rounds, and only did four rounds, so instead of The 300, it was The 240!! But still, it was solid and gassed me pretty good, so I’m happy with it! Followed up with another 4-mile walk, as usual.

Nutrition has been under decent control. As I’ve mentioned, for this first month, I’m being fairly lenient with things like potato chips, other snacky foods, etc., with ditching sugar being the main goal for now (and drinking enough water). It’s a trade-off, because you can’t out-train (most people) a bad diet, but cold-turkey quitting everything at once tends to be a losing proposition.

That’s it for today peoples! Peace and blessings to you all! Coach Jimbo

Rip 60, Week 3, Day 1

Gooooooooood Evening workout world!

Okay, today’s weigh-in was not as happy as it could have been. I expected to drop a couple more pounds, but instead gained two back! What the???? Oh well, I’ve been around long enough to 1) not be a slave or at the mercy of the scale, and 2) know that fluctuations like this happen all the time. It’s not necessarily something to worry about, but it does prompt me to look at my eating habits, to make sure I’m not getting off track somewhere.

Tonight’s workout was 12 Squat presses with a 30-lb Kettlebell, followed by 6 pull-ups. Did six sets of those, still modifying pull-ups and building up my strength in that area.

Nutrition has been okay, but need to gradually tighten things up. Still staying away from sugar (mostly), but still too much in the way of “bad carbs” and processed foods. I’m allowing a lot of this during the first month, but will get cleaner and cleaner in my eating after that.

That’s it for today. Rip 60, Week 3, underway! Peace and blessings all. Jim B.

Rip 60 Week 2, Day 6

Greetings, workout people!!

Today’s workout was a classic from the Beachbody Vault, and one of my 2-3 favorite BB workouts: P90X Shoulders and Arms! I just love this thing – the moves, the pace, everything about it. Here’s a little clip:

Nutrition continues to be good within the Week 2 parameters.

Other workouts this week included mainly yoga and walking, along with some body-weight work. Just working on consistently doing work, day in and day out, to build a base, a habit, and momentum.

That’s all for today! Peace and blessings folks! Jimbo

Rip 60, Week 2, Day 1

Hi everybody! Starting out Week 2 with good results from Week 1 – five pounds lost and body fat percentage went down. The bigger success was booting Pepsi to the curb, and that alone probably accounted for the 5 lbs!

For this week, I’m maintaining ZERO Pepsi (or any other soft drink), plenty of water, but adding in at least one piece of fruit per day, a health shake for a snack or a meal, and reducing coffee. I’ll also gradually up the quality of the workouts, though it may be slow, since I’m just coming off a broken ankle, and even walking still makes that a little bit sore. Don’t want to go backwards.

Tonight’s workout was a 400-yard swim and a 4 mile walk with a 20 lb weight vest. It’s amazing what a mere 20 lbs can do to make just walking more difficult! The swim was awesome – the water had just hit 80 degrees, which sounds great, but in reality is still “take your breath away” chilly!! One the laps started though, it was actually very refreshing.

Okay, that’s it from here. Peace and blessings, readers! Jim Blue

Rip60, Week 2, Day 3

Hidy ho!

Today’s workout was another sort of beginner level effort. I’m using this first four weeks to just get readjusted to working out, getting more flexible, building some base stamina, etc.

I decided to sort of a step-down pyramid-type thing. 20 ab moves, 15 bw squats, 10 push-ups, and 5 pull-ups. Did five rounds before running low on time. Followed up with a 4-mile walk and a jump in the pool (which is still pretty chilly at 72 degrees!!

Nutrition has been good, for my early goals (which basically included no soda, drink plenty of water, and for week 2, eat a piece of fruit every day). Gradually I will tighten up more and more, until it’s acceptably clean eating.

That’s it for today! Peace and blessings to you all. Jim B.

RIP 60, Week 1 results!

Workouts for the week included seven 4-Mile walks, P90X Shoulders and Arms, 21-Day Yoga Shred (Days 1 and 2), and a body-weight workout of squats, push-ups, and pull-ups.

I started the week at 229 lbs and 21% body fat. The BF measure was from a hand-held device, so I don’t know if the number is accurate (though it very well could be!). But it does seem to consistently show changes in BF, which is fine for now.

The only nutrition “musts” for the week were 1) ZERO Pepsi; 2) much more water (shooting for half my body weight number in ounces (e.g., 230/2 = 115 ounces); and 3) exercise/activity every day.

Results were pretty good. I ended Week 1 at 224 lbs and 20.3 % Body Fat, which is a nice start! My goal weight is around 210 lbs, but that BF has got to go WAY down. The lowest I’ve ever been (that I’m aware of) is 12%, which was after my first round of P90X. Ten years later, that may not seem realistic, but I’m aiming to be lower than that by my birthday (late October).

This week I intend to gradually up the ante on exercise, along with adding more variety. After a two-week base, I’m hoping to add some HIIT in as well (not allowed to yet, due to my broken ankle – doc wanted me to wait eight weeks before getting “jumpy” or jogging, and the end of this week will be eight weeks).

Okay, that’s it from here! Excited about making some more progress this week!

Peace and blessings, readers! Jim Blue

Rip 60

I gave the nutshell version of my fitness story in previous posts, so no need to go into that here. It’s time to start documenting my plans and process for the next six months – Rip 60!!

Yes, that’s right. I’m calling this six month program I’m doing “Rip 60”. I turned 60 on my last birthday, and I want to get “ripped” (depending upon what the heck we mean by “ripped”) before my next one, six months from not. So Rip 60 it is!! And it’s the opposite of R. I. P., by the way – I don’t sign the Grim Reaper’s checks, so I have no idea what’s in store for me in that department! I could kick off an hour from now – who knows? But what I do know is that while I’m here, I get to have a LOT of input on the quality of whatever time I have left! So that’s the plan – do what I can, the best I can, here and now, to create the best future possible.

I had some difficulty and delays in getting this whole website/blog started up – I am stubborn and want to be able to do things myself. So I did (in case you couldn’t tell by the professional quality, LOL)! Anyway, I’m already at the end of Week 1, so I’ll summarize that in the next post. It’s pretty tame anyway, so that’s okay. Then I’ll get into the business of daily posting, and hopefully will have some more interesting workouts to talk about!

Until then, Peace and Blessings to you all! Jim Blue

My fitness story: Part 1

Hi there! Okay, so I have a long fitness history and don’t really need to detail it here. But let me give you a nutshell version.

I have always been active, into several sports during childhood, adding others along the way – football (my first sports love), baseball, tennis, and later, running, downhill skiing (my biggest sports love), racquetball, mini-triathlons, etc. And I always sort of thought of myself as being “in shape”.

But by my late 40s, I was kind of falling apart. Bad diet, inconsistent exercise, the effects of getting a little older – all of these converged and brought me to a sad realization: I was definitely NOT in shape. As my 49th birthday approached, I saw an infomercial on TV for a little thing called P90X. I had seen the thing before – in fact, I watched it every time it came on! I found it inspiring, but also thought, “There’s no way I could do THAT!”

But that day, watching the show and feeling like garbage, I told my wife, “If you want to get me something for my birthday, here’s what I want.” She was like, “Really??? Well, okay…” She ordered it, it arrived before my birthday, and within a couple days, I began. Rather than writing about what happened next, the video below will show you.

Okay, so it’s not quite the ripped six-pack giant muscle-bound thing that many people are interested in. But for me, it was an amazing outcome!! I got in the best shape of my life, completed two marathons in three weeks AFTER turning 50, and best of all, my bloodwork numbers were astounding – most notably, cholesterol dropped from 215 to 131. I never looked or felt better in my entire life! You’d think that would be the end of the story, right? Happy ever after? Well, I’m happy and all, but the fitness thing came and went. More about that in My Fitness History, Part 2!

Peace and Blessings to you, reader!

My fitness story: Part 2

Okay, so Part 1 of my fitness story ended well – great results from P90X, life improved in many ways, etc. Yippee-ki-yay!! Well, I’ll keep Part 2 shorter than Part 1. In the ten years since I completed P90X, my fitness life has been very up and down. The “UPs” included a couple more Half-Marathons, a Tough Mudder, completion of another few Beachbody fitness programs, getting certified as a Personal Trainer, and numerous small triathlons (I call them “Tin Man”, as compared to Iron Man!).

The “DOWNs” have included an Achilles surgery (put me out of action for about six months), a back surgery (put me down for about eight months, and a knee surgery (cartilage shredded, put me down for just a few months), and most recently, about seven weeks ago I broke my ankle, which stopped me down for most of that time (no jogging, no jumping, difficulty with leg work, etc.). All of these down periods, unfortunately, also included a terrible diet, as if I went into “give up” mode and stopped caring. Then I’d gradually come out of it and start again, usually almost from scratch.

Last October I turned 60 and I started wondering if maybe I should just take it easy and not worry so much about it and accept getting older. But that thought did not sit well with me. As I write this, we are in the midst of the world-wide pandemic of the Corona virus, which has given me a little extra time to ponder “where I am” and “where I wanna go” in various areas of my life – spirit, mind, and body. And for the “body” part of the equation, I decided I wanted to make a push to be in the best possible shape as I can, before my next birthday. I started on April 28, which gives me exactly six months to transform my body and my health to where I want it to be.

Most of what we have grown to accept about aging in our country is a load of crap – nearly ALL of the “age related disease” that we experience is actually lifestyle related. Nearly all of it comes down to TERRIBLE nutrition and a near total lack of physical activity. I look around me and I see a terrible obesity epidemic and people my age (and way younger) getting fat and sick and overwhelmed by all these metabolic disorders, and it’s all preventable!!

So, bottom line, I decided to not sit on my ass and give in to Father Time or the culturally accepted “decline model” of aging. Nope, I’m going to kick age in the teeth and flatten the age-related decline curve (more about that later). I’m embarking on a six month program of changing my eating habits once and for all – not a diet, but a lifestyle shift – and a self-devised exercise routine to go with it. This blog/journal will document that process – be it good, bad, or ugly (and by ugly, I mean my “before” pictures, which look dang near as bad as my pre-X before pictures!!).

See ya next time. Peace and blessings to you all, dear readers! Jim Blue