Fat git, 65K savings – take six months off to get fit?

oldvicar

OP sounds like a full blown early onset mid-life crisis.

Married - happily?

rpc

Depending on the form the alcohol comes in, you are drinking 2000-8000 calories per week (i.e. 1-4 days total calorie requirements). Beer is the worst for calories by far.

Cut this out and get some mild exercise and you will lose weight fairly quickly. You will also stop causing the damage that this level of alcohol intake causes. Other small changes (e.g. healthier meals, skipping sugary drinks, etc) will add on to this.

Don't think about a diet - change your lifestyle permanently to a healthier one.

hodd

oldvicar wrote: »

OP sounds like a full blown early onset mid-life crisis.

If wanting to sort out your health is a mid-life crisis, then I'm guilty as charged.

Wobblydeb

hodd wrote: »

If wanting to sort out your health is a mid-life crisis, then I'm guilty as charged.

I think people are reading it like a mid-life crisis (and I admit, I thought the same) because you are talking about giving up your job for 6 months.

If you were talking about cutting down alcohol, improving your eating habits, and looking for a less stressful job, then we would agree that health is the main motivator. But it seems that you are blaming all of your health concerns on the job. If you left tomorrow, would you really not have a desire to open that bottle of beer/wine?

It is entirely possible to do a job with long hours and lots of business travel and stay healthy. Walk or cycle to work, or go out for a walk at lunch time. Drink water instead of alcohol. Eat salads instead of chips. It aint rocket science.

If you are sick of your job, and find your daily life unfulfilling, admit it to yourself at least. You can swap your savings for carefree holiday time for a while, but you are not financially independent, so at some point you will have to think about how to support yourself. Perhaps reducing your hours or looking for a different job in the same field is the way to address your work/life balance?

jamesd

Your BMI isn't too bad but I am concerned about the high alcohol consumption, not only because of the calories you're consuming in the form of the drinks. It'll be increasing your risk of heart and other trouble as well. Cutting back on the drinking could help both the drink-related issues and be a relatively easy way to consume fewer calories. Drink risks, including increased risk of heart trouble, will probably matter more to your health risks than the BMI does.

jauntyangle

As a few people have said, the trick is to make lots of small adjustments in diet and exercise that you can maintain in your daily life. If you spent 6 months getting superfit and lean, you'd probably pile it back on as soon as you get back into the rat race.

Unfortunately, the right route is the boring route. It means replacing unhealthy foods with healthier alternatives, cutting down on drinking, taking more exercise - maybe walking or cycling to work.

Broke_n_Broken

Dude, get yourself a regular .....partner.... and sh*g yourself thin. Check out how many calories it burns!! Also, you're not drinking enough. You sure you live in Germany?
Much happier all round. Or at least happier at being round.

And if all that sh*ggin n drinkin leads you to an early grave you will be one lucky SOB.

gkerr4

go for it!! - this is the best post i've read on here!

I earn slightly more than you and LOATHE my job - it's a total waste of life! - people think if you earn a half-decent wage then you are sorted but it sucks! - the stress, the hours, the constant whinging clients - god i hate it. But I have kids and other assorted crap that force me to do it every day. I'm not overweight, but starting to see some health issues arise (i'm not even 40 yet!)

I think if you know you can get back into "some" sort of work at the end of the period then go for it - use the savings, enjoy some time to get your life back into order, lose some weight and enjoy it.

all the very best of luck for you.

guitarman001

Good last two posts lol...

gkerr, if it weren't for fincancial commitments would you be willing to cut salary a lot for a job you loved?

hodd

:laugh:

Everyone's different, but I think I'll stay employed for now. Some good replies, mostly common sense stuff, but good advice nevertheless.

The obvious problem with quitting would be seeing my meagre 65K savings turn into something like 50K within six months.

Also, and more obviously, whilst I would become a fine specimen with all the cycling, walking, etc, I wouldn't be able to maintain it at the same level once back at work. The weight would be back.

Less booze, some exercise, we'll see. I wouldn't want someone else to read this thread and quit work without thinking.