# The Minotaur says hello.



## Minotaur (Jun 10, 2004)

Something about me...

I'll be 47 next month, and have been lifting for about 10 years.  I used to be a runner too, having done the Marine Corps Marathon in 1998.  It was my one and only marathon.  I had a great time training for it and running it.  I call myself Minotaur because my goal is to become half man and half bull.  I'm 5'5" and currently 218lbs with about 18-19% bodyfat.  My goal is 195-200 with about 12% bodyfat, and losing 3-4" from my waist.  I had sleep apnea and thyroid, testosterone and growth hormone deficiencies (all corrected now) that made it difficult to do cardio and lose fat.  I just packed it on.  

When I was about 36-37 years old, I lost a lot of weight, from about 165 down to 137. Before that I had only brief flirtations with exercise. I lost the 30lbs through dieting and aerobic exercise. Only later did I add weights. But even at 137 (and a 31-32" waist) I was still 'fat' and flabby. People told me I lost too much weight and was too skinny, but I thought I looked all that. 
	

	
	
		
		

		
			




Then I joined a health club and started lifting weights. I got some muscle. After a few years I joined the Y, learned to deadlift and squat, and bench (at my first gym my best bench was 95 lbs and I pinned myself... twice 
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	




 ). At the Y I got more muscle. Two years ago I joined another gym (more equipment, more serious weightlifters and bodybuilders) and am getting more muscle. 
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	




 Though my bench still sucks @ 185. My goal is just 225. Anything after that is gravy. My best deads and squats are 315 for a few reps. But at 47, it takes me a little longer to recover than the young studs, and a few more joints snap, crackle and pop, so I don't push for any records. Still, better than most 47 year olds, no!? 

Right now, despite exercise and having what I though was a good diet, I'm fighting to get my blood test numbers into shape. My fasting glucose is 5 points over the scale, I may be insulin resistant and prediabetic (my father was Type II), my triglycerides are through the roof, my LDL is high and my HDL is low, but my total cholesterol is tolerable, my liver test comes out a little funky.

Even if I get back down to a 36 waist (I'll _never_ see 32-34" and still keep the muscle mass), I will always look 'fat', unless I wear a wet T shirt and a jockstrap. I'll probably still need to wear size 38 or 40 pants for the legs and butt, but have the waist taken in. I wear XL shirts (shoulders are 52", chest is 46-47"), so of course the body is wide and makes me look wide. My hips and butt and legs have grown from squatting and dl'ing. My chiropractors and MDs even said I have short thick bones and short thick muscles. People don't understand that short and thick *does not *= fat! But you know what? I LIKE myself being a short thick musclebear. 
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	




I'm currently doing a ckd to get the fat down (currently 18-19%); people have said it's scary watching me eat. Ever watch Star Trek TNG and watch the Klingons eat? 
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	




Sorry to be so bit longwinded, but that's me.


----------



## supertech (Jun 10, 2004)

welcome


----------



## Minotaur (Jun 10, 2004)

Thanks!  This looks like a good site.  I'm always happy to learn.


----------



## Arnold (Jun 10, 2004)

Minotaur welcome to IM!


----------



## Minotaur (Jun 10, 2004)

Thank you, good sir.


----------



## PreMier (Jun 11, 2004)

Welcome to IM


----------



## Var (Jun 11, 2004)

Welcome Minotaur!


----------



## Minotaur (Nov 6, 2017)

Greetings from an old new member. I was surprised to see my account still active after all these years. The last time I posted was in 2007. Some things have changed  a lot from my introductory post up top, some things not so much. Please don't go looking for my old posts, I was embarrassed when I saw what I used to write.    When I posted in the past I had something of a chip on my shoulder, more like a rock... I was very uptight, angry with everyone and everything, and depressed. But time has a way of wearing those things away and mellowing and smoothing a person out. Sort of like water over rocks.

I've only recently gotten back to weight training, dieting and fitness to get back into shape. I let myself go to the dogs for a number of years. I had a couple of injuries, not gym related, that sidelined me. I had 2 back operations and major rotator cuff repair. The first back operation was microdiscectomies in 2010, the rotator cuff was in 2012, the last back operation was 2 years ago this week for a lumbar fusion. The pain is still worth writing a book on, still taking percocet. When I found I couldn't work out the way I wanted to or had been doing, I threw temper tantrums of biblical proportions, and tossed everything aside. 

I got fat and stayed fat. I threw myself so much to the dogs I intended on getting even fatter and was deliberately gaining weight. I tried more than a couple of times to lose and get back on track, but it was just so much easier to sit on me arse, eat, outgrow my clothes and become complacent. Something snapped recently and prompted me to re-up at Weight Watchers, which worked for me in the past. I lost 30 lbs back then but then my shoulder went south and I threw it all away. That was the beginning of the end. But now I'm back to it, I'm back in the gym lifting 3-4 x/week, although mostly with machines. I can't run or bike ride anymore, but I can and do walk... 5-6 x/week. The Apple Watch and a couple of phone apps have made it a game for me to compete with myself. In the past 2 weeks I lost ~3 lbs. Over the past month or so I lost about 3-4" off my belly. I have a long way to go.

I don't know how much I have to contribute at this point, but I'm just looking to get back to hanging out with like-minded bodybuilding, weight training and fitness folks. So, hello again!


----------

