DO YOU LIKE THE SHAPE YOU'RE IN?

John Casler · « **Reply #100 on:** 20 Jun 2010, 07:46 pm »

Quote from: django11 on 19 Jun 2010, 01:59 am

I didn't read this whole thread. I"m 48 and in pretty good shape. I eat well and don't drink or smoke anymore. I couldn't actually gain ten pounds to save my life. My one problem is that I have an active job (I do remodeling) and progressively over the years it seems that muscles and tendons are getting tight. I have tendinitis. I had a calf muscle tear. The backs of my legs are really tight. I have "false" sciatica that is progressively getting worse.

Any solutions for this? Drink WD 40? Stretching and yoga?

I wouldn't begin to offer you specific advice without knowing significantly more about you, you lifestyle and your history.

However in general, males after a certain age have changes that occur to their hormonal profile. These changes are naturally occurring and lifestyle affected. There then is a complex interaction of these changes that tend to determine how fast we age and how this aging affects our health and life.

These changes cause many negative products in the body such as lower production of testosterone, and other hormones. As well the cellular reception of these hormones may be downregulated and make what is produced less effective. These affects are seen as metabolic syndrome, tendency toward diabetes, BPT (benign prostatic hypertrophy), and other age related diseases and inflammation.

In other words the body does NOT heal and grow like it did when you had the older hormonal profile. Your repair and growth qualities and immune system are not operating as before and the tightness in your tendons and muscle is a reflection of the slower repair and easier to damage tissues. Connective and Skeletal tissues which typically are slow to repair and recover anyhow are even more so.

In your remodeling work, you likely have repetitive stress to some areas while little or no stress to others. This will cause aches and pains but not systemic conditioning. If you have Piriformis syndrome there are regimens to help in relieving that.

Your tendency to tendinitis is again due to the reduced ability to heal, the compromised immune response, the lower levels of testosterone (hypogonadism), possibly insulin resistance, and all the other issues that occur as a result of the changing hormonal profile and the cellular changes to receiving the various hormones that are currently being produced.

Drinking WD40 will not help but you might want to visit an endocrinologist who understands HRT (hormonal replacement therapy) and have a few tests run. 48 is too young to be seeing this level of decline (IMO)

John Casler · « **Reply #101 on:** 20 Jun 2010, 07:58 pm »

Quote from: Destroyer of Smiles. on 19 Jun 2010, 09:31 am

Again "mistake certainties" can be easily cleared up by understanding genetics... there is no other way except of a long trail and error, never ending trail and error for that matter.

Hi DOS,

Are you well educated in Human Molecular Genetics and Genome Research?

macrojack · « **Reply #102 on:** 20 Jun 2010, 08:50 pm »

The question asked seems to inquire about your self-image more than your actual condition. I like the shape I'm in but freely acknowledge that I could be slimmer, could have greater stamina, could lift more weight - but those things don't matter to me. I'm quite healthy even if short of optimum.

django11 · « **Reply #103 on:** 20 Jun 2010, 11:54 pm »

Quote from: John Casler on 20 Jun 2010, 07:46 pm

Drinking WD40 will not help but you might want to visit an endocrinologist who understands HRT (hormonal replacement therapy) and have a few tests run. 48 is too young to be seeing this level of decline (IMO)

Food for thought. Thanks for your opinion.

Doublej · « **Reply #104 on:** 21 Jun 2010, 03:39 pm »

Sleep apnea is a common condition in older males. If you are waking up and not feeling well rested or snore you should consider seeing a sleep specialist for an evaluation.

sts9fan · « **Reply #105 on:** 21 Jun 2010, 05:16 pm »

Any of you avoid nightshades?

china · « **Reply #106 on:** 21 Jun 2010, 06:46 pm »

Well!!! Let us see!!! Round is a shape!!! Smile!!!

ctviggen · « **Reply #107 on:** 21 Jun 2010, 07:38 pm »

Quote from: macrojack on 20 Jun 2010, 08:50 pm

The question asked seems to inquire about your self-image more than your actual condition. I like the shape I'm in but freely acknowledge that I could be slimmer, could have greater stamina, could lift more weight - but those things don't matter to me. I'm quite healthy even if short of optimum.

To me, that's the most important thing -- are you happy with the way you are for the time period in your life you're in? What qualifies for this will vary throughout life. When I was 20 and single, my goals were different then they are now (twice as old, married, with children, and working on a house). No matter how much I worked out and dieted, I never had the washboard abs (though I could see every vein in my arms and every muscle in my legs), but does it matter? Likely, it does not.

Now, I just try to keep injury free and work out to the extent I can. If I forego a workout to spend time with my daughter, am I really missing anything?

John Casler · « **Reply #108 on:** 21 Jun 2010, 07:50 pm »

Quote from: Doublej on 21 Jun 2010, 03:39 pm

Sleep apnea is a common condition in older males. If you are waking up and not feeling well rested or snore you should consider seeing a sleep specialist for an evaluation.

You are correct and it is a FAR GREATER problem than it may seem initially.

One of the prime elements to any aging strategy is good quality rest and sound sleep.

Many mistakenly think that you need "less" sleep as you get older.

There are many VERY important processes that occur during different stages of sleep and shortening, or interupting them can cost you significantly healthwise.

For example your greatest release of HGH (Human Growth Hormone) Occurs just after you fall asleep. As well in males you dinural and highest production of testosterone occurs towards the end of a good sleep.

If you interupt or reduce these processes often or regularly then you will simply age far faster and be LESS HEALTHY in most every way. It will cause a systemic degradation.

John Casler · « **Reply #109 on:** 21 Jun 2010, 08:06 pm »

Quote from: macrojack on 20 Jun 2010, 08:50 pm

The question asked seems to inquire about your self-image more than your actual condition. I like the shape I'm in but freely acknowledge that I could be slimmer, could have greater stamina, could lift more weight - but those things don't matter to me. I'm quite healthy even if short of optimum.

Hi MJ,

Actually I was more interested in the "physiological shape" rather than your "look".

Many too often "judge" their physical condition by the way they look, and their weight. I am more concerned with actual physical health, fitness, and the physiological markers that tell us how well we are expressing our genetic potential as we age.

Genetic potential is like IQ. It can be expressed and developed, or it can just exist at a lower potential.

In looking forward to what Baby Boomers can do to improve their quality of life as they age, it is important to consider what simple options and actions can help.

Nutrition
Activity
Elimination
Sleep/Rest
PMA/mental

are all components that can contribute to a more disease free longevity and quality of life "IF" we seek out reasonable methods to employ them to our benefit.

Folsom · « **Reply #110 on:** 23 Jun 2010, 06:15 am »

django do you think it is possible you have mal-absorption issues? There a lot of things the body needs for proper muscle capability. Also how is your blood flow? If you lose good blood flow due to aml-absorption of nutrients then things will be very tight no matter how much you stretch.

Certain individuals begin to have low quality cell replication. These people also have a problem with AGE's (advanced glycation endproducts) that are more or less like burnt sugars that are hard to scrub out of the system. They end up having an issue where the hormones in their body have trouble fully penetrating cells and well then they age poorly you might say; like John is describing. These individuals typically are endomorphs or maybe ranging to mesomorphs. The AGE's for them along with high glycemic food leads towards diabetes, high blood pressures (among other typical problems like low thyroid activity). Funny enough fats are not their enemy despite some cardiovascular problems. They really just need lots of high quality animal protein, no wheat, real low glycemic and small amounts of grains, and some exercise! I would be almost certain you are not one django. You more likely suffer from a bacterial imbalance in your intestines, poor absorption of certain nutrients, stuff like that. Bad blood flow can lead to a lot of things including lack of blood to produce testosterone etc especially with bacterial issues. Also your stress level due to physical load with possible mal-absorption may lead to your body not doing well to repair itself with the prolonged state of cortisol. If you had insulin resistance I would suspect weight gain. However if you are feeding someone else (bacteria) you got to work pretty hard for weight gain (possible though).

Other people I have mentioned in here do well until midage because their genetics make them run hot until then. The have genes from times of war and famine where you had to develop fast and well early in life. They have AGE problems too but they are not the root of cardiovascular issues. They actually get that from fats, red meat, etc.... Red meat literally makes their blood vessels contract and expand so fast they sort of burn. They too need to back off carbohydrates but not as much. They are prone to weight gain (again often endo to mesomorph, not the really skinny people that never gain weight, at least they often are not). Hormonal imbalances are typically midlife as well. They really are the opposite and benefit from a near vegan diet with some fish, eggs, and very little dairy.

Sleeping is restless for people with adrenal glands needing expression, those with bacteria problems, and especially people who can not relax because of cortisol issues. This occurs at any age. It has long been known that ectomorphs and ecto-mesmoprhs (skinny to skinny with some muscle but not muscly) are light sleepers. It is because of those things I mentioned. Chairguy would be one but I bet he sleeps pretty good now!

sts9fan I stay way away from Tomatoes. Bad bad for me. I do not like eggplant, and keep the peppers very moderate due to fear of unwanted thick blood. (I once had a blood clot in my foot that required surgery)

ctviggen · « **Reply #111 on:** 23 Jun 2010, 12:39 pm »

One of the problems with the current state of nutrition and exercise info in this country is that they've dumbed it down so much it no longer makes sense. For instance, you discuss ectomorphs, endomorphs, and mesomorphs. Under the current guidelines, those are replaced with BMI, which is solely based on sex and height. Your body frame as no bearing on this. Why has there been a movement from using body type to height? It makes no sense.

Another problem is the lack of scientific evidence rigor. In order for one to believe that saturated fat has implications with heart disease, for instance, one must overlook a huge number of studies indicating otherwise. This is a pretty good short synopsis on this issue, although much more detailed analysis is possible:

http://www.nytimes.com/2002/07/07/magazine/what-if-it-s-all-been-a-big-fat-lie.html

Additionally, I can point out people I know who can eat all types of carbohydrates (fruit, ice cream, bread, pasta, etc.) with seemingly no ill effects. I, on the other hand, cannot eat many carbohydrates without many ill effects.

Folsom · « **Reply #112 on:** 23 Jun 2010, 02:58 pm »

Yeah it is pretty amazing how much they are trying to sell us that everyone can be a skinny ecto-ectomesomorph...

BMI is interesting because there are machines that would be able to calculate it in such a way that even an endomorph might be ok. However the tables, graphs, and little fat pinching machines are going to tell you that you are fat every time.

The problem with all studies is that they end up seeing results in one direction of genetics and then claim everything else in the equation to be a fluke. I can not say how much but I am sure to a large degree demographics of people, where they live, who will do studies, etc, show similar genetics to some degree so that a study will appear legit. Besides that most studies look at things like this "no one died or developed disease so it is healthy" whaT???????? Should it not be based on people losing weight, lowering cholesterol, lowering triglycerides, and things like that? They say things like "these people had lower cholesterol" in some studies but sometimes that means that theirs just did not go up. Totally whack.

Mike Dzurko · « **Reply #113 on:** 5 Jul 2010, 01:35 pm »

Hey folks, a big thanks to John for starting this thread, and to all who have been contributing. The timing is excellent for me. Turn 56 today and am motivated to be the best old geezer I can be.

Some of you know me from my audio career. When I "retired" at the end of 09, I set four goals for how I'd use the extra 20-50 hrs/week. In no particular order *more family/friend time, *more time to work on my teaching goals, plans, and research, *more boating, water time, and *daily exercise including various aerobic and strength training. I'm happy to report that all is going well with these goals and that I've averaged about 6 workouts/week since January. I've hit some plateaus along the way, but overall progress has been very good. I've previously had tons of ankle, knee, back, shoulder injuries from various sports and activities. So, I've learned to be very careful with what and how I work out and lift. I use a combination of free weights and machines, and have found that I do better with two days instead of one between weight workouts. I plan to continue to mix it up and vary intensity, reps, lifts, etc. on a regular basis.

Dr. D's approach sounds extremely interesting. My wife was familiar with his work and we ordered one of the books Saturday. Glad it was brought up as it sounds like it could be one of the missing pieces. I'm 0+ and my wife is 0-. She's also as into this all as I am, and very open minded. We have always eaten pretty well, and continue to work on that area. She's always cooked with an emphasis on lots of fresh veggies, no sugar, fish, chicken, a little pork and not much red meat. We used to eat a lot of potatoes and breads, but have cut way down on that.

Anyway, thanks for all the great discussion and info so far. I look forward to the book and continuing to learn and grow.

Ryan45872 · « **Reply #114 on:** 5 Jul 2010, 05:06 pm »

Hi
I am in better shape then I was @ 18 years of age. I'm 38years old 5' 10" and my weight is 172lbs. Started the year @ 227lbs. I ordered the P90X off ebay and started it in February and completed the program in May.Man that is a hard program!! Still doing it but not quite as hard. The only thing that got me started was a contest at work. I finished second, but the guy who won started off by cheating his weight at weigh in, and then starved himself most of the time. Not me. I just followed a high protein low carb diet and good fats also. Our nurse said my BMI was much better than his also.
I am never going back to that weight. Everyone at work don't recognize me half the time ,but thats a good thing

.
Ryan

JoshK · « **Reply #115 on:** 7 Jul 2010, 01:44 pm »

Based on this thread I bought Dr. D'Adamo's book and have started to read it. I am still not 100% sure my blood type as I haven't been tested yet. My dad is A and mom AB so I am most likely one of those two (small probability it could be O, but I remember it was either A or AB when I was tested as a kid, I just forgot which).

EthanH · « **Reply #116 on:** 7 Jul 2010, 02:53 pm »

Interesting thread. After three years of being very sedentary in grad school (turned 29 in February) I'm now trying to get back in shape. I'm probably an ecto-mesomorph, as I'm about 6'2" and 185 pounds, with a 42" chest and 31" waist. Five years ago when I lifted weights and was in what I would consider to be good physical condition I was about 20 pounds heavier. I'm obviously not nearly as strong or lean as I used to be, but the odd thing is that I'm just exhausted all the time now. I don't know if the fatigue is stress or diet related or what.

I'll have to check out some of the books mentioned in here.

rollo · « **Reply #117 on:** 7 Jul 2010, 03:00 pm »

Pleased to hear some have bought the book. It will take a month before you begin to feel the difference. Your body will correct itself. Once that occurs your body will tell you big time how the "avoid" foods affect your metabolism and well being. You will be sore, achey and tired. Indegestion and waste elimination will vary as well.
The biggest part besides the correct food is stopping the consumption of processed foods. Organic or natural only. Canned goods as well as packaged are filled with chemicals, corn syrup, fructose sugar, salt. Stay away from hybrid seed produced foods as well. No one knows yet how the body responds to them yet.
Hey anyone have Acid Reflux ? Buy some organic apple cider vinegar [ healthfood store] with the mother. "Braggs" is the brand. Follow the instructions on the bottle and in 3 to four weeks you will never have acid reflux AGAIN. END of story. Numerous family members have beat it.

rollo · « **Reply #118 on:** 7 Jul 2010, 03:12 pm »

Hey Mike D.
I'm a type "O" as well. Once you get off those potatoes and pork some of the worst offenders for type O's the healing process will begin. Fish and chicken are neutral for us. Red meats however are highly benificial. Especially lean organic meat. We buy a whole Filet Mingon and cut it up. The small pieces are ground up for chop meat and the hanger steak for barbaque. No waste and just enough of a portion. We have replaced potatoes with rice dishes. Wheatt was another biggie our WORST offender. So we went to Artichoke flour pasta. Hey gotta have my pasta you know what I mean.
It will take some effort to change but once your body tells you when you cheat a bit you will never turn back. Quite amazing actually, that this science is not at the forefront of nutrition. Food politics and corporate food processors have kept it quite for some time, but the cat is now out of the bag. Lucky for us. FEEL BETTER!!!

charles

Mike Dzurko · « **Reply #119 on:** 7 Jul 2010, 06:53 pm »

Charles:

Thanks for the info. Just got back from lunch, a last supper if you will: pulled pork, fries, cornbread muffin

Figured I might as well do it today, since I plan on getting serious as soon as the book gets here. Heck, I'll probably start some of the more obvious stuff right away. Funny, but a couple years ago I lived off lean meat, chicken, fish and veggies for a couple of weeks and lost a bunch of weight and felt treat. Sounds like I'll be headed somewhat in that direction again.