Am I at fighting weight?

I recently blogged about my boxing experience in post: http://wp.me/p4AplF-r7  In those days I was just a wee skinny 16 year old guy! I think I was in the Bantamweight category, somewhere between 8 and 9 stone (50 – 57 kg). Although I gained some weight after years of service in the military, I didn’t really ‘bulk out’ in the wrong places until I left the military aged 45. Even then it wasn’t what you would call overweight or obese. I joined a gym, determined to maintain some form of fitness.  I sacked it due to pressures of work but then joined a few years later for another go. However, work and associated commuting took over again and I withdrew once more. In those days, I didn’t really weigh myself and relied on looking in the mirror as a guide :-)

I always remember weighing myself at the gym though and was consistently around 12 stone (76 kg).  Wow that’s ‘Super middleweight’!  I therefore assumed this was now my normal weight and thought nothing more of it.  However, in 2010, at a routine GP sponsored Asthma clinic, a discussion about my weight sparked off a chain of events leading to a diagnosis of Neuroendocrine Cancer,  A really, really innocuous discussion (or at least it was to me) about why I’d gone down from 12 stone to 11½ stone.  You can read more details about this here: http://wp.me/p4AplF-1W  and here: http://wp.me/p4AplF-bY.

After 4 years of treatment I’m now down to 10 stone (63.5 kg).  My weight dipped to 10½ stone following two major bouts of surgery but I put it back on during recuperation.  I did eventually get back to 11½ stone but in the last 12 months, my weight has now gone down to 10 stone – a 15% reduction from pre-diagnosis!  This drop in weight is significantly greater than the one which led to my diagnosis.  However, this was mostly controlled through minor changes to diet and exercise and puts me right in the middle of the green zone on the BMI chart! Additionally, my waist size has reduced from 34″ to 30″ since diagnosis. I haven’t had a 30″ waist for well over 30 years – cost me a packet in new trousers 🙂  All of that said, when I now look in the mirror, I do see that wee skinny lad from Dundee (as do others….)

So – am I now at my ‘fighting weight’? Probably but other weaknesses are potentially a hinderance! I’m not currently very strong physically and whilst I’m conscious of my increasing age, I do seem to generate aches, pains and minor injuries far too easily.  The slightest bit of ‘garden football’ or manual labour inside or outside the house, seems to hurt more than it should.  Walking isn’t a problem, I can walk for miles – see post: http://wp.me/p4AplF-iw  – I’ve always had good legs!  Plus much of that is in the mind and I’ve always been strong willed.  In short I have no physical upper body strength and that is where my focus is now moving. My consultant has recommended the gym and armed with a GP referral, I start next week!  My initial aims are to bulk up my upper body and to progress from walking to running to increase my stamina.

Watch this space!

Ronny

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