I just can't stand not bragging on my hubby, this year after 30 years of dreaming it he completed his first Ironman Triathlon. He has gone from  over 300lbs to doing a 140 mile race. He started a blog and he and my son made a video about his journey. He also loves me and my figs!!!
http://fitdad.org/ is his blog and this is the video, my son did a great job http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iyUFy6fL9WU
Thank for indulging me in this, feels like a family here!!

Congratulations !  That is amazing!

Congratulations to all of you!  That is truly an athletic feat!  Nice blog too!

Suzi

Thank you I designed the graphic and took most of the pictures... since I am very far from being Fit Mom I stay behind the camera...

Congratulations, it takes a family to raise a husband!!

WOW! Congrats!!!

That is really great to see!

Good Stuff....will think about losing weight...LOL    That is pretty amazing, takes a lot of focus and determination to compete like that. Great Video..!!!!

Gloria, Congratulations to you and your family on this achievement.

Wow, this before-and-after comparison from his blog is just amazing: 

 
Good for him!

It's cool to see father and son together... 

Wow, congrats!!!

Fit Dad and Fig Mom...both great role models :)

Okay, just wondering out loud if Gloria's post here has motivated anybody else to do something about getting into better physical shape, exercising, etc.

I had started an exercise program shortly before Gloria's post, but it was fairly mild.  It wasn't part of a resolution for the new year, etc., but something I had been thinking about for years.  I got a really good deal on a weight gym about 18 months ago ($200 for something that was in great shape and cost $4,500 new) and I finally got it put together.  It had become more difficult to figure out than I thought (had to be disassembled to haul home), but I found the manual online and got it figured out after some guesswork to go along with the manual.  I dusted off my stair stepper/climber, got some more weights, etc. and am actually using them, exercising vigorously every night for about 30 minutes every other night and about 60 minutes the other nights.  About three weeks ago I struggled to keep up a good pace on the stair climber for 15 minutes but that is pretty easy now, even with a faster heart rate (I am wearing a heart rate monitor I bought two years ago but just took out of the box, LOL).  According to the calculator at http://www.shapesense.com/fitness-exercise/calculators/heart-rate-based-calorie-burn-calculator.aspx I burned off about 450 calories tonight in 30 minutes.  I usually get my heart rate up to about 95% of the guideline max (220-age), sometimes more and try to keep at a vigorous pace to make the best use of my time.  I'm eating more reasonable portions and have eliminated most junk food/snacks.  It is encouraging to see some progress but I have a long ways to go.

I have no aspirations to go running a marathon or something wild like that!  Hiking and cycling are more my thing.

Good luck to anyone else giving it a shot!

I hope I don't need to spit out all of the figs I taste this year to keep some weight off! ;)

I stopped exercising for almost a year now. All the kilos that I lost has crept its way back to me. I always made excuses not to exercise now, but today I had a very bad news...my son-in-law's father has cancer...stage 3. He is a health freak and really takes good care of himself. I better do something about my health.

Norhayati

Gloria, your husband is awesome and so do you

Norhayati

Harvey,

Good for you!  Cycling is my way of keeping up with cardio.  I took advantage of yesterday's beautiful weather and did 43 miles with some friends.

i haven't worked out in... i can't even remember. must have been when i took my 2nd degree kendo test. 5.. 6 yrs ago? i do go backpacking and hiking occasionally, but nothing regular. just finding 30 min to work out is hard to do with hectic schedule that starts around 5:30am and ends around 11:00 pm or so. if i get some time to lay down and relax, i'm lucky. 

They just opened a fee fitness center in my office building.  There's no excuse now...

I miss when I used to work for Prudential and there was a gym in the building I could use at lunch..... I am getting better and have agreed to do the Rock n Roll half marathon with my sister in Nov... so wish me luck!!

Pete, you find enough time to post here on the forum a lot and suggest you find some time to exercise regularly.  Many nights I don't exercise until 11pm and then get to bed at 12:30.  I almost excused myself after a long day of some work on the set for a school play (I helped make a dragon, LOL) but knew more excuses later on would be easier as a result.  There are too many Scout leaders who are obese, IMO.  I'm not in very good shape but in better shape than most of the other leaders in our troop.  We need to take better care of ourselves and set better examples for our kids.

Gloria, good luck!

harvey, i'm barely 150lbs at 5' 10". my problem is not weight gain.. it's trying to keep weight on and keeping my energy level up. i have diabetes that works really strangely. i keep losing weight. i can go for 10-20 min without getting tried. problem is i don't do it enough to keep myself in top shape. few yrs without workout wasted all my muscle mass. i really should start working out. some cardio stuff. i have all the things in the house.. but never really get to use it. 

posting here is a pure joy. makes me feel good. 

Pete, sorry if it appeared that I was implying that you were obese.  I just meant that on our hikes too many obese adults in our troop (and others) set a poor example for our boys.  I'm both overweight and lacked stamina.  My stamina has increased greatly in the past month.  As I said, 15 minutes of stairstepping was a challenge but now that is not a problem.  The first 5 minutes are the worse for me, actually.  My goal was to be able to go to 20 minutes every day but I found that was pretty easy so I go 25 minutes unless I plan to lift weights immediately afterwards.  I have pretty good muscle mass since I do a fair amount of physical work but am still using a protein supplement to help in my work-out recovery process.  Might not taste as good as a Guinness but it's pretty good, IMO, and might be helpful to you.  Good luck!

P.S. I enjoy your posts. :)

Kudos Gloria!  Tell hubby to keep up the good work!  Be blessed!

Good luck Gloria