So many middle aged Irishmen have let themselves go

AyeGer

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121894286#Comment_121894286

I notice when i come back from other counties how much Irish men dress in dark colours, blacks, greys, navy’s seem to dominate the Irishman’s wardrobe. Get a few lighter coloured items for your wardrobe. Also I think those trousers in the top photo are not the best fit.

Padre_Pio

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121936255#Comment_121936255

Walk into near every clothes shop and that's what you'll see, especially this time of year. Very little choice.

saabsaab

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121936331#Comment_121936331

I guess we are restricted to what Dunnes has mostly?

AyeGer

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121936331#Comment_121936331

I’ve started buying when I’m on holidays. Some great stuff at cheaper prices and less likely to see others with the same thing on. Perfect example is the puffa jackets, nothing wrong with them but they are everywhere the last few years.

Padre_Pio

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121936399#Comment_121936399

No, but Zara, H&M, Selected, TK Maxx and a few others are the same.

You can have any colour, so long as it's black, white, grey, navy, blue and, at a push, dark green or maroon.

freshpopcorn

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121936457#Comment_121936457

Lot's of people rave about Zara and honestly I don't see what they see.

TKMaxx is just stuff left over from other places unless you get really lucky.

JupiterKid

This is myself at almost 49.

I'm no adonis, but swimming, cycling, a lot of walking, a bit of wall climbing plus yoga and being sober just over 5 years helps.

6'1" (185 cm) and 13 stone.

Plus my OH who buys any decent threads I have as I'm not into clothes shopping - as gay men are stereotypically supposed to be.

AyeGer

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121957977#Comment_121957977

Well done on the sobriety. I’m off it a good number of years myself too. Don’t miss it at all now.

blade1

52 this week.

A little softer than I'd like to be in the torso region.

Alway had a good engine and I assume I'm healthy enough.

Not on any meds and when I got my bloods checked recently, doctor just told me the results were excellent.

I suppose work keeps me active enough but I'd like to get more exercise other than the odd cycle when the weather is fine.

Not very strict on diet but try to keep a rein on it for most of the week.

no way am I showing my face on here 🙊

Wanderer2010

Fair play to you. 52 is extremely young these days given all our advances in health and knowledge of wellness the past 20 years. What work do you do that's so active? I think that makes a huge difference in people's lives, whether they are out and about all day or chained to a desk.

blade1

6

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121958735#Comment_121958735

I'll just say it's outdoors.

Personally I think food is the biggest player in the body fat department.

A few times in my life I've put a few stone on but had to cut down on food to get it off.

The last time a knocked off a bit of weight was in 2018.

I was eating too much junk and especially late in the evenings.

So I decided to have a very small breakfast, a small lunch and a normal dinner.

No treats whatsoever.

I lost two stone in two months and three stone in six months.

But people were telling me I looked l looked too skinny so I slowly put one stone back on.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121900703#Comment_121900703

Simply because people see it first before they learn anything else about the individual. Often it’s easy to get past that and find the interesting & likeable person behind it.

Serious alcohol issues, quite apart from the usual familiar frequent inebriation, cause significant long term behavioural & health issues, so it is a massive obstacle as to how you can reset to such an individual. There is potentially effective treatment on the horizon.

Leg End Reject

Poor Sarge has been shown up with all other pics posted. 😄

JupiterKid

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121958642#Comment_121958642

You're in great shape for 52. 👍

I need to do more core exercises to work off a bit of flab on my belly. Any other middle age lads here find that jeans, no matter what the brand, are sh*te for keeping in place at the waist with a belt? 😁

Agent Coulson

I dress in oversized comfy clothes, I'm going blad but don't shave my head and look like a slob when not at work. I gave up smoking a dozen years ago I drink every now and then.

I can cycle 50km in under two hours and run a sub 30 minute 5km so I'm a happy healthy middle aged Irishman who dresses for comfort not to impress.

blade1

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121959765#Comment_121959765

Cheers JK.

How do you feel about heading for 50?

AllForIt

On St.Patrick's weekend I was out in the pub and 2 people I'd met for the first time underestimated my age, one by 14 years and the other by 17. It has got to the stage people are so shocked I keep a photo of my passport on my phone as proof otherwise they'll think I'm pulling their leg. I do factor in the possibility people's judgment might be skewed due to being pissed and to be fair the average underestimation is about 10 years if taking guesses made outdoors in natural light and from sober people. I do try to show some modesty and often say it's not me that looks good for my age it's everyone else that looks so awful for their age. I do believe that's actually true these days.

It's not all genes and it so happens I'm exactly 1 year to the day haven't had a drink. I hate being overweight and drink totally wrecks any chance of keeping my weight in check. Drinking also encourages a bad diet i,e. carb heavy, so that's a double whammy. It is my aim to be ripped (aim high, why not) by summer, and this last 2 years I've had to achieve it 100% by diet because I wrecked my knee 2 years ago and had to give up cardio vascular exercise. Running was my thing and hopefully I'll be able to get back to it some day but the physio rehab is going slowly. I can cycle and walk but I don't do either of those to any intense degree, in part because of our gawd awful weather. I always knew it's all diet anyway when it comes to weight loss so no huge deal. I might take up swimming some day instead.

I share the bins with a single guy who lives in the apartment above me so I can't help but observe what he eats. I can only describe his diet as horrific. Most everything he eats comes out of a cardboard box whereas I don't have a single thing that does nor do I have to return any plastic bottles to the supermarkets. Amongst other things he eats are these fruit biscuits type things that are marketed as healthy, they have some sort of wheat exterior the shape of a fish finger with a fruity interior. Pure garbage. I'd say the only meat he gets is a few bits of greasy pepperoni on a pizza. His diet must be 85% carbs/sugar. Over the 2 years since he moved in he just gets bigger and bigger.

I'm not criticizing or mocking him, I actually feel sorry for him because I can tell he's just clueless. Educating yourself on what is pure garage alone can go some way to put you on the right path. But if you don't even know what it is you're eating you haven't a hope. I used to have a horrific sweet tooth but once I learned about hydrogenated fat (like say in chocolate spread) and high fructose corn syrup the mere mention of those things make me feel ill such that it puts me off pigging out on that type of cr*p at all, thus forced into healthier alternatives.

I think the biggest problem is basically all shop bought meals are unhealthy. I cook everting from scratch and if you can't do that I don't know what to suggest. I don't like having to cook ever day either which is why I batch cook, often just by throwing meat like a whole chicken and at the same time a joint of lean bacon into the over with roasted veg (lovely) that can do me for a good few days if not a whole week.

So yea, I ain't 'letting myself go' anwayz 😁