exercise, food, getting older

[Sueven]

I'm 27 years old.

Aside: That means I started playing EQ with some of you when I was, like, 15.

Maybe a little more than 5 years ago, when I was in college, I started thinking about exercise. I had never really exercised before. I have a fast metabolism, and I've always been at least somewhat active and I played some pickup sports, so I was at least in reasonable shape. But I had never really seriously been to a gym, never exercised in any formal way, never really committed myself to anything that would challenge me physically. I'm about 5'11 and i weighed probably 145-150 pounds. I was skinny.

Anyway, at some point I thought to myself "well, I've more or less mastered the mental part of life. Now I should master the physical part." I remember the exact words I thought. It was a silly thing to think. I hadn't "mastered the mental part of life." I was 22 years old and in college. I hadn't mastered anything. I had as much wisdom and perspective as you'd expect out of a 22 year old. What I had done-- and maybe this is what I was getting at at the time-- was developed a pretty good set of mental and emotional tools. I had read a lot, talked to a bunch of people, experienced as much as I could. I was set up pretty well so that, going forward, I could handle the mental and emotional challenges that life would throw at me.

My work on the physical side started slow. I began playing more pickup sports, and I went for a run here and there. I began thinking about what I was eating a bit more. Eventually I began doing more. I started going to the gym-- hesitantly and pretty incompetently at first, but I was going. I picked up a few more sports and started playing more regularly. I read up on nutrition. I started to get kind of into it. I set goals for myself-- I decided that somebody with my height and frame should weigh more like 170 pounds. I resolved to get there.

As time went on I started to become more and more passionate. I've always had a fleeting attention span and this was no exception. I starting throwing myself into dramatic and short-lived projects. I spent three weeks meticulously tracking the nutritional content of every single thing I ate or drank. I devoted myself religiously to crossfit for 8 months. I was in the best shape of my life-- I could bench 230 pounds, bang out sets of 35 pull-ups, run a mile in 5:20. I'm sure others are more fit, but it was good for me. I made it up to 164 pounds. I'm sure I was insufferable about it sometimes. Anyone who felt like reading a chronicle of all my posts on VV in the last five years can probably see that.

Anyway, it was too much, and it was unsustainable. Eventually I hurt my shoulder working out too violently. Once my routine was out the window, I was in trouble. Then came the bar exam and suddenly my equilibrium was gone. I didn't become a complete slob-- I kept playing sports, I kept walking places, I probably averaged one short, mediocre workout per week, I kept cooking somewhat healthy food on a somewhat regular basis. But there was no spark whatsoever, no desire to be active. I had a vague desire to be fit, but no motivation to get there.

At least a year passed like this. Eventually, slowly, I began adding a little more activity to my life. I signed up for a few longish races with my girlfriend and had to run enough to be able to finish them. My sports participation trended upward. I joined a gym.

And that brings us pretty close to today. Now, I run once or twice a week, probably 6-8 miles at a time. I go to the gym and lift weights once or twice a week. I play sports once or twice a week. I cook most of my own meals and they're pretty healthy. I hopped on the scale at the gym today and realized that-- surprise-- I weigh 171 pounds. Pretty much exactly where I wanted to get 5 years ago. I feel great, I love exercise, I'm in good shape, and I'm no longer erratic or obsessive-- exercise is an integrated part of my life now.

I was thinking back to my 5-years-ago desire to up the physical side of my self to match the mental. Now, I think I've done that. Not, again, that I've mastered anything. But that I've now given myself the tools to take on the physical challenges that life throws at me, and to do it competently. I'll probably run a marathon next year, because I sort of feel like it would be fun, and I'm confident I can do it. That's a mental state that the 22 year old me wouldn't recognize. And while I certainly was kind of nuts at times over the last several years, it's that crazy that let me develop the tools to view a marathon as a fun and completely reasonable challenge.

It'll be interesting to see, if I do decide to run a marathon, whether the crazy will come back. Maybe. I'll find out.

Anyway, I guess the moral of this ramble is that I'm starting to grow up and mellow out, a little bit. And I'm sure, five years from now, when I have two kids or something, I'll look back at this and laugh and laugh at how young and naive I was.

[Winnow]

Fuck you and your "getting old at 27"! At least wait until you're late mid 30's. You're in the absolute prime of your life.

Good luck with your training and marathon! That 61 year old lady made it 29 hours swimming in the water and halfway from Cuba to the US so don't give up at 27!

[Chidoro]

As far as looking back goes, you will think you were naive at 27 when you're 32. Just a way a life. I've heard someone call it "the perpetual asshole syndrome". You don't realize it at the time, but you always look back and get douchy about how you acted.
Anyway
If I was 27 again, I would focus on light cardio and light gym work ,like you're doing, with yoga and/or martial arts. You're in the position where you didn't exercise much in your youth so you didn't beat your body to hell. Aside from your most recent injury due to excess, you're more likely to be in for a lifetime of excellent health. My knees and ankles especially are shot from the excessive running and poor training/health maintenance that went with it. A lot of my excercise now is based on the physical therapy I went through. Balancing and stretching are the order of the day. I wish I started that kind of stuff at 27, it would have saved me a ton of injuries and general pain.

[Aabidano]

Perpetual douche bag syndrome, I like it

Varies by person, I'd say late 20s - mid 30s was my prime physically.

I've always ran, hiked, swam, aerobics, etc... Rarely did anything involving gym equipment unless you count raquetball. Plus smoked from 15-42. Putting out a Marlboro then placing well in a 10k was always very satisfying

Warm ups, bending and stretching are definitely your friends, @ 47 now and no issues beyond the occasional stitches, broken bones and lots of nails lost along the way. Primarily use my skier and road bike today, with fishing\kayaking\hiking thrown in as I can.

*Edit - Basically anything non-damaging that you enjoy doing works. Biking, gym, whatever. Problems come just as much from over exertion as from doing nothing, at different times though.