Fitness for Glastonbury 2024

[Toilet Duck]

Got pneumonia twice before Christmas (not Covid, just common or garden community acquired pneumonia). 4 weeks on high dose oral steroids pushed my blood sugar dangerously high (32mmol/L fasting!…actually couldn’t see). Doc said it would go back to normal when I stopped the steroids, but it didn’t. Stayed in the high 20s. Very matter of factly just says, you’re diabetic now. Put me on metformin. I took it, but the whole thing frightened the life out of me. It was the jolt I needed to realise I was no longer bulletproof. Stopped eating sugar (more or less) there and then, gave up pasta, white bread, processed food, knocked the takeaways on the head and engineered more exercise into my day. Lots more fresh fruit & veg. Over the last 6 months, lost a quarter of my body weight, off the metformin, glycemic control perfect, and haven’t felt as good since my early 30s! Missed out on tickets this year, raring to go for next year! (Need to buy some new clothes though, I look ridiculous in massive shirts!). 

[Quark]

1 hour ago, Toilet Duck said:

Got pneumonia twice before Christmas (not Covid, just common or garden community acquired pneumonia). 4 weeks on high dose oral steroids pushed my blood sugar dangerously high (32mmol/L fasting!…actually couldn’t see). Doc said it would go back to normal when I stopped the steroids, but it didn’t. Stayed in the high 20s. Very matter of factly just says, you’re diabetic now. Put me on metformin. I took it, but the whole thing frightened the life out of me. It was the jolt I needed to realise I was no longer bulletproof. Stopped eating sugar (more or less) there and then, gave up pasta, white bread, processed food, knocked the takeaways on the head and engineered more exercise into my day. Lots more fresh fruit & veg. Over the last 6 months, lost a quarter of my body weight, off the metformin, glycemic control perfect, and haven’t felt as good since my early 30s! Missed out on tickets this year, raring to go for next year! (Need to buy some new clothes though, I look ridiculous in massive shirts!). 

Nothing major then!

Doing OK so far since kicking back off again, sticking to my 3 days on 1 day off routine and settling into a rhythm. Starting to see lifting numbers creep back up again, and stretching out the running distances to just shy of 20km last week so on track for the September half.  Weight isn't doing much yet, but noticing it in other places so not too fussed.

Challenge at the moment is high stress period at work, so having to fight really hard not to fall back into stress eating.  Fell off the wagon a bit over the weekend but will do a food shop later and make sure I've got all the good stuff in.

Also starting to consider a new challenge at some point.  Anyone on here done a triathlon before?

[Superscally]

7 minutes ago, Quark said:

Nothing major then!

Doing OK so far since kicking back off again, sticking to my 3 days on 1 day off routine and settling into a rhythm. Starting to see lifting numbers creep back up again, and stretching out the running distances to just shy of 20km last week so on track for the September half.  Weight isn't doing much yet, but noticing it in other places so not too fussed.

Challenge at the moment is high stress period at work, so having to fight really hard not to fall back into stress eating.  Fell off the wagon a bit over the weekend but will do a food shop later and make sure I've got all the good stuff in.

Also starting to consider a new challenge at some point.  Anyone on here done a triathlon before?

I'd be keen to do one, one day, but my swimming would need a lot of work...

[Quark]

4 minutes ago, Superscally said:

I'd be keen to do one, one day, but my swimming would need a lot of work...

I can do all the individual bits, just never tried stringing them together!

[philipsteak]

1 hour ago, Toilet Duck said:

Got pneumonia twice before Christmas (not Covid, just common or garden community acquired pneumonia). 4 weeks on high dose oral steroids pushed my blood sugar dangerously high (32mmol/L fasting!…actually couldn’t see). Doc said it would go back to normal when I stopped the steroids, but it didn’t. Stayed in the high 20s. Very matter of factly just says, you’re diabetic now. Put me on metformin. I took it, but the whole thing frightened the life out of me. It was the jolt I needed to realise I was no longer bulletproof. Stopped eating sugar (more or less) there and then, gave up pasta, white bread, processed food, knocked the takeaways on the head and engineered more exercise into my day. Lots more fresh fruit & veg. Over the last 6 months, lost a quarter of my body weight, off the metformin, glycemic control perfect, and haven’t felt as good since my early 30s! Missed out on tickets this year, raring to go for next year! (Need to buy some new clothes though, I look ridiculous in massive shirts!). 

Welcome to the slightly sh*tty but ultimately much better club!

Don't know if you saw my posts in the 2023 but I had a very similar kick up the arse in December. Without the pneumonia though. 

Had some horrific test results which weren't the biggest shock in the world (just how bad they were was a bit of a surprise. The fact I was diabetic really wasn't ) but I needed it to be official before I did anything about it. Lost 5 stone in about 4 months in a very similar way to you, last round of tests I was well under the threshold for diabetes but that included Metformin use so I've now stopped that and will see if I'm still under at my next lot of tests in about 6 weeks. I'm eating a bit more in the way of carbs these days but it's very much a treat. 

And yes, it cost me a fortune in New clothes too. And I looked ridiculous for a while as I didn't want to buy new stuff until I was at my target weight. And never mind early 30s,I honestly don't think I've ever felt this good. Fat unhealthy kid became a fatter adult. 47 year old me is doing stuff I couldn't have dreamed of before. Great innit? All those people who say being healthy is a good thing were right along!

Congratulations! So are you officially in remission then?

[Superscally]

24 minutes ago, Quark said:

I can do all the individual bits, just never tried stringing them together!

Do it! Do it! Do it!

[Toilet Duck]

1 minute ago, philipsteak said:

Welcome to the slightly sh*tty but ultimately much better club!

Don't know if you saw my posts in the 2023 but I had a very similar kick up the arse in December. Without the pneumonia though. 

Had some horrific test results which weren't the biggest shock in the world (just how bad they were was a bit of a surprise. The fact I was diabetic really wasn't ) but I needed it to be official before I did anything about it. Lost 5 stone in about 4 months in a very similar way to you, last round of tests I was well under the threshold for diabetes but that included Metformin use so I've now stopped that and will see if I'm still under at my next lot of tests in about 6 weeks. I'm eating a bit more in the way of carbs these days but it's very much a treat. 

And yes, it cost me a fortune in New clothes too. And I looked ridiculous for a while as I didn't want to buy new stuff until I was at my target weight. And never mind early 30s,I honestly don't think I've ever felt this good. Fat unhealthy kid became a fatter adult. 47 year old me is doing stuff I couldn't have dreamed of before. Great innit? All those people who say being healthy is a good thing were right along!

Congratulations! So are you officially in remission then?

According to my endocrinologist, yes, in remission, but I’ve had the wake up call that I needed, no going back to my careless ways! Doesn’t mean I can’t have the odd treat, I love a good burger, but hadn’t had one all year. No chips either, but I’m on hols at the mo and I had half a burger the other night and even let myself have a kids scoop of ice cream another night too (my wife bought me an ice cream maker at Christmas before I was diagnosed. Herself and my daughter have been enjoying it while i’ve been looking on enviously!😁). Still checked my sugars after the burger and the scoop of ice cream but within 2 hours or so, it was back under 5, so seems like everything is ok again. I do (and did for the last 6 months), eat some carbs, just a lot less and ones with higher fibre as well and it hasn’t had any obvious detrimental impact. Cutting out processed, high sugar stuff was what really made the difference.  Sounds like we had a very similar experience though (I reckon even without the steroids, I may have gotten there eventually), but great that you managed to sort it out too. Well done! You’re right, definitely feels great! My wife has this, “I told you so but didn’t want to nag you” aura of superiority all the time now (she’s very healthy and always has been), but no problem admitting she was right all along! 

[Quark]

4 minutes ago, Superscally said:

Do it! Do it! Do it!

Get me a podcast slot and I'll consider it 😂

"How To Be Averagehuman"

[Toilet Duck]

41 minutes ago, Quark said:

Nothing major then!

Doing OK so far since kicking back off again, sticking to my 3 days on 1 day off routine and settling into a rhythm. Starting to see lifting numbers creep back up again, and stretching out the running distances to just shy of 20km last week so on track for the September half.  Weight isn't doing much yet, but noticing it in other places so not too fussed.

Challenge at the moment is high stress period at work, so having to fight really hard not to fall back into stress eating.  Fell off the wagon a bit over the weekend but will do a food shop later and make sure I've got all the good stuff in.

Also starting to consider a new challenge at some point.  Anyone on here done a triathlon before?

That all sounds like you’re in a good place, lifting, running 20k, Glasto should be a breeze! Heavier exercise is something I haven’t approached yet (hate gyms, but love being out walking). I travel a lot for work, so my next step is to make use of the pools (and the dreaded gyms) in the hotels I end up in. Don’t mind the rowing machine, so might give that a go. 

[Quark]

1 minute ago, Toilet Duck said:

That all sounds like you’re in a good place, lifting, running 20k, Glasto should be a breeze! Heavier exercise is something I haven’t approached yet (hate gyms, but love being out walking). I travel a lot for work, so my next step is to make use of the pools (and the dreaded gyms) in the hotels I end up in. Don’t mind the rowing machine, so might give that a go. 

I think the key bit that keeps coming up is finding ways of exercising that you enjoy.  I'm lucky(?) in as much as I genuinely enjoy all of the things that I do these days, so although there are easier or harder days it doesn't feel like a chore on average. Sounds like you're bang on track!

[Crazyfool01]

Ok seems a good time to post this … 

type 1 and 2 it’s important to get it as early as possible , please look out for the symptoms … it’s becoming more and more common and there are suggestions that covid might trigger type 1 amongst other things . @Toilet Duck nice one on sorting it … the eyesight thing was a significant thing with my diagnosis of type 1 . Anyone unsure just get it checked !! 

[philipsteak]

1 hour ago, Crazyfool01 said:

Ok seems a good time to post this … 

type 1 and 2 it’s important to get it as early as possible , please look out for the symptoms … it’s becoming more and more common and there are suggestions that covid might trigger type 1 amongst other things . @Toilet Duck nice one on sorting it … the eyesight thing was a significant thing with my diagnosis of type 1 . Anyone unsure just get it checked !! 

Absofrigginglutely.

I ignored symptoms for far too long (single bloke in his 40s. Such a f**king cliche) and although I've now got things under control and will hopefully be in remission soon, I've done probably permanent damage to myself. They're all being closely monitored but the absolute best I can hope for, as I understand it, is for things to very slightly improve. More likely is the best I can hope for is things don't get worse. Still possible they might get worse though.

[philipsteak]

2 hours ago, Toilet Duck said:

According to my endocrinologist, yes, in remission, but I’ve had the wake up call that I needed, no going back to my careless ways! Doesn’t mean I can’t have the odd treat, I love a good burger, but hadn’t had one all year. No chips either, but I’m on hols at the mo and I had half a burger the other night and even let myself have a kids scoop of ice cream another night too (my wife bought me an ice cream maker at Christmas before I was diagnosed. Herself and my daughter have been enjoying it while i’ve been looking on enviously!😁). Still checked my sugars after the burger and the scoop of ice cream but within 2 hours or so, it was back under 5, so seems like everything is ok again. I do (and did for the last 6 months), eat some carbs, just a lot less and ones with higher fibre as well and it hasn’t had any obvious detrimental impact. Cutting out processed, high sugar stuff was what really made the difference.  Sounds like we had a very similar experience though (I reckon even without the steroids, I may have gotten there eventually), but great that you managed to sort it out too. Well done! You’re right, definitely feels great! My wife has this, “I told you so but didn’t want to nag you” aura of superiority all the time now (she’s very healthy and always has been), but no problem admitting she was right all along! 

I stopped testing after meals a while back. I don't know if it's psychosomatic but I swear I get a tingle in my left foot if I eat anything a bit carb heavy. (Numbness/pain/tingling in my feet was the thing that finally got me to the GP. It had reached the stage where I was getting really searing pain in the evenings. Don't get the pain anymore but seems the numbness is here to stay to some degree)

[Toilet Duck]

15 minutes ago, philipsteak said:

I stopped testing after meals a while back. I don't know if it's psychosomatic but I swear I get a tingle in my left foot if I eat anything a bit carb heavy. (Numbness/pain/tingling in my feet was the thing that finally got me to the GP. It had reached the stage where I was getting really searing pain in the evenings. Don't get the pain anymore but seems the numbness is here to stay to some degree)

It’s bloody scary alright! Thankfully as mine was very acute, don’t seem to have done any lasting damage to nerves or eyesight. Best behaviour (well, sort of!) from now on! Mate had a heart attack a couple of months ago, small one, but ended up with a couple of stents after it. That you know people in their 40s that are having these scares is a bit sobering! Honestly, we still think we are teenagers and made of Teflon. Maybe I’ll finally grow up a bit! 😁 (not too much though). 

[Beerqueen]

As usual, and unsurprisingly, my steps at Glasto this year were up to 45k in a day.  But this year for some reason when I got back I asked myself "so are you going back to sitting on your arse and doing 2k if that?".  The upshot is that I've done at least 10k steps every day since Glasto.  I found a bargain treadmill on ebay for £30 and if I haven't done the steps I watch crap youtube videos while walking.  Weight is gradually going down.

[Superscally]

23 hours ago, Quark said:

Get me a podcast slot and I'll consider it 😂

"How To Be Averagehuman"

😁

[philipsteak]

Decided I needed to get out of my post Glastonbury/sh*t weather rut. I've been doing a bit but no where near as much as I was before Glastonbury. And if I'm being honest before I got the test results which put me under the threshold for diabetes.

So, a not amazing but much better weather day than we've had in a while I decided to tackle one of my nemeses (is that right? Google seems ok with it) The Fairfield Horseshoe. Not the biggest hike in the world but it has a reputation of being a bit tougher than average. And it's something that I certainly couldn't have done when I was fat. Or if I did it would've nearly/actually killed me. It's also literally loomed over me, I can see it from my house!

And, after all that, it was fine. Not nearly as hard as I was expecting. I've done harder stuff since getting fitter. Happy with my pace, happy with my time. The views were amazing obviously. No real aches, feet feel ok (a worry with type 2) although I haven't looked at them yet.

All in all a lovely day and hopefully kick started me into doing more again. Those Wainwright's aren't going to climb themselves are they? (58 now, over a quarter done)

[gigpusher]

14 hours ago, philipsteak said:

Decided I needed to get out of my post Glastonbury/sh*t weather rut. I've been doing a bit but no where near as much as I was before Glastonbury. And if I'm being honest before I got the test results which put me under the threshold for diabetes.

So, a not amazing but much better weather day than we've had in a while I decided to tackle one of my nemeses (is that right? Google seems ok with it) The Fairfield Horseshoe. Not the biggest hike in the world but it has a reputation of being a bit tougher than average. And it's something that I certainly couldn't have done when I was fat. Or if I did it would've nearly/actually killed me. It's also literally loomed over me, I can see it from my house!

And, after all that, it was fine. Not nearly as hard as I was expecting. I've done harder stuff since getting fitter. Happy with my pace, happy with my time. The views were amazing obviously. No real aches, feet feel ok (a worry with type 2) although I haven't looked at them yet.

All in all a lovely day and hopefully kick started me into doing more again. Those Wainwright's aren't going to climb themselves are they? (58 now, over a quarter done)

Great job. Yep it's been harder getting the steps in for sure when the weather has been this bad but I managed over 25k steps yesterday which I was very pleased with for a work day. My average for the year is 18097 steps compared to 10681 the year before. I know Winter will be harder but hoping to at least have a 15k average by the end of the year.

[danssol]

Not been on the site for a while. Resting my calf, following a ping when running, until October when I’ll get a sports massage to smash out the knots. Really cut the calories for the last month and have lost 11lbs. Looking to lose another 32lb over the next year

[philipsteak]

This thread seems to have dropped far down. Hope everyone's doing OK and keeping up with their fitness regimes. 

In type 2 diabetes news I had my latest round of tests on Wednesday. Three months since my last round which means three months since I last took medication, and I'm officially 'normal'! So f**king pleased, and proud, and relieved. Will need to wait until I see my GP next week to discuss what that actually means but as I understand it, I'm officially in remission now. Will obviously have to be very careful from now on, but I have no desire to go back to my former lifestyle. As I've said before I'm fitter and healthier at 46 than I have been my entire adult life. Possibly entire life. My mental health is better. My skin looks better. Even my hay fever has gone (no idea if it's related but in a year when everyone seems to be reporting it as much worse than normal, barely a sniffle form me).

My numbers went up a bit compared to last time but I expected that. No meds and I've not been as strict, diet wise. Still mostly good. I'd have struggled to sustain what I was doing before and I wanted to see what effect it'd have on my results if I wasn't as strict. For the stats fans, up to 42 is normal, 42 to 47 is pre diabetes and 48 and over is diabetes. My initial diagnosis was 113! 3 months ago I was at 35 and this latest round is 39. So at the higher end. If this was my first test my GP would probably be telling me to be careful, watch what I ate, and make sure I didn't cross over in to pre diabetes. 

Pretty much bang on 9 months from diagnosis to remission

[gigpusher]

Yep sorry @philipsteak I have been busy (busy being more active so hopefully all good!)so haven't had time to update on my progress. At the end of August I lost another 4.4lb's so up to 51.8 lb's lost in total. The loss is slowing down as is to be expected as I get towards not having as much to lose. My average steps for the year is 18,479 now which I am pretty pleased with. Especially pleased with it given that work has been pretty busy and stressful at times and whilst I would say there has been a couple of days where my diet has suffered as a result it's definitely better than I would previously have been where I'd have been grabbing crisps and chocolate to give me the energy to deal with the craziness!

Currently also decorating our hall, stairs and landing which has been an added calorie burn in this heat!

[moogster]

58 minutes ago, philipsteak said:

This thread seems to have dropped far down. Hope everyone's doing OK and keeping up with their fitness regimes. 

In type 2 diabetes news I had my latest round of tests on Wednesday. Three months since my last round which means three months since I last took medication, and I'm officially 'normal'! So f**king pleased, and proud, and relieved. Will need to wait until I see my GP next week to discuss what that actually means but as I understand it, I'm officially in remission now. Will obviously have to be very careful from now on, but I have no desire to go back to my former lifestyle. As I've said before I'm fitter and healthier at 46 than I have been my entire adult life. Possibly entire life. My mental health is better. My skin looks better. Even my hay fever has gone (no idea if it's related but in a year when everyone seems to be reporting it as much worse than normal, barely a sniffle form me).

My numbers went up a bit compared to last time but I expected that. No meds and I've not been as strict, diet wise. Still mostly good. I'd have struggled to sustain what I was doing before and I wanted to see what effect it'd have on my results if I wasn't as strict. For the stats fans, up to 42 is normal, 42 to 47 is pre diabetes and 48 and over is diabetes. My initial diagnosis was 113! 3 months ago I was at 35 and this latest round is 39. So at the higher end. If this was my first test my GP would probably be telling me to be careful, watch what I ate, and make sure I didn't cross over in to pre diabetes. 

Pretty much bang on 9 months from diagnosis to remission

Double upvote!

Summer's not been great to me with a mild hip injury and the fact that I can't sport if the temperature is above 20 degrees it seems. But am still pushing to get my steps in and to do short/slow runs. Just went this morning before the sun went up. So not as good as pre-glasto 2023 but trying to keep the habit. I've been assigned to a project that means I am sitting in meetings from 8 am to 5 pm, driving to and from work, sitting lunch with colleagues,  so that's really not good 😞. Nobody said it was easy...

Edited September 8, 2023 by moogster
mixed up my am and pm

[faymondo]

Feel like I have been on the ale since Glastonbury and the auld shorts are a bit tighter. Back doing exercise though not cranking the mileage up too far yet due to dodgy knees (Steady 4 milers) 

I am 50 on the 18th so any diet/health kick will have to wait for that to pass.

The big aim is to do the Manchester marathon in April 2024 (I ran a marathon for my 40th) and run it for charity.

Not sure the knees have it in them this time and don't want to let any sponsors down if I say I will but then the knee (s) go.

Decisions decisions eh !

[Crazyfool01]

Completely unfit … aches and pains everywhere… back , legs , groin wonder which relate  to my potential hernia … will hopefully find out more after my ultra sound tomoro . 

[gigpusher]

1 hour ago, moogster said:

Double upvote!

Summer's not been great to me with a mild hip injury and the fact that I can't sport if the temperature is above 20 degrees it seems. But am still pushing to get my steps in and to do short/slow runs. Just went this morning before the sun went up. So not as good as pre-glasto 2023 but trying to keep the habit. I've been assigned to a project that means I am sitting in meetings from 8 am to 5 pm, driving to and from work, sitting lunch with colleagues,  so that's really not good 😞. Nobody said it was easy...

 

1 hour ago, faymondo said:

Feel like I have been on the ale since Glastonbury and the auld shorts are a bit tighter. Back doing exercise though not cranking the mileage up too far yet due to dodgy knees (Steady 4 milers) 

I am 50 on the 18th so any diet/health kick will have to wait for that to pass.

The big aim is to do the Manchester marathon in April 2024 (I ran a marathon for my 40th) and run it for charity.

Not sure the knees have it in them this time and don't want to let any sponsors down if I say I will but then the knee (s) go.

Decisions decisions eh !

Interestingly I have a long standing issue with my left knee and recently my left hip has started to hurt as well so I am probably offsetting and causing other issues. Trying to incorporate some stretches and looseners into my daily routine

54 minutes ago, Crazyfool01 said:

Completely unfit … aches and pains everywhere… back , legs , groin wonder which relate  to my potential hernia … will hopefully find out more after my ultra sound tomoro . 

Hope the ultrasound goes well and you get answers.