Health and Fitness

[Bandit]

Hello Everyone,

Past few months I have been trying to take a break from my computer and get back into shape. Well I didnt succeed from getting away from the computer as I needed to, but I have managed to spend about a hour or two a day working out.

I have been doing some resistance cardio and weight training and I was wondering if anyone else here was doing the same or interested in getting back into shape.

I still have a long road a head of me but so far between learning what I am really eating, monitoring my intake and the resistance cardio & weight training have went from 259 pounds already down to 222 this morning and have went from XXL shirts to regular large size. I have lost 10 inches around my stomach alone. This is still only the half way point that I am trying to get to by the end of December.

So yea I was wondering if anyone else was doing the same here?

Cheers,
Joe

[jonkiribati]

Yep I'm in the same situation but I've decided to learn Aikido I think it's more interesting.

[Jack Brown]

keep it up. yup, keep it interesting.
once it turns into a good habit, you'll find you're doing it regularly.

Just need to get into it and think of the benefits.

[Bandit]

Never heard of Aikido. Is that a mix of martial arts?
I was wanting to take some martial arts classes next year if they are offered. But honestly I was SO bad out of shape, a trip in walmart was enough to make my feet hate me.. LOL
Now I am up to a hour on my elliptical machine 6 days a week going through its training sets with little fatigue, plus my weight training 3 times a week.
I suffer from Asthma, Hypothyroidism and Sleep Apnea. Seems the world is against me at times.. LOL But I am more stubborn then a old mule so I will win or die trying. Betting on the winning part tho :D

[Paqman]

went from 259 pounds already down to 222 this morning and have went from XXL shirts to regular large size. I have lost 10 inches around my stomach alone.

Nice work! Keep it up!

Aikido is a Japanese martial art. IIRC it's all about short, sharp strikes and grapples, joint locks, that kind of thing. Nasty stuff, very practical for self-defence. It's what you see that idiot Steven Seagal using in his stupid movies.

[Bandit]

Nice work! Keep it up!

Aikido is a Japanese martial art. IIRC it's all about short, sharp strikes and grapples, joint locks, that kind of thing. Nasty stuff, very practical for self-defence. It's what you see that idiot Steven Seagal using in his stupid movies.

Nice. To bad no one is smart enough to teach that around here. Still hoping to move down to the gulf part of Mississippi this spring and hopefully they will have MA classes. I think there is a Karate class the next town over, but have to look into it. I wanted to take Taekwondo while in the military, but my command wouldnt let me off for those classes during the day. I should have found an off base source for the classes, but ones on base were free.. lol

[Toz]

About 10 years ago, I weighed over 250lbs and was having blood pressure issues. I started running, and though it was tough at the start, I stuck with it. After a few years, I had dropped down to about 220 and thought I was good enough to run a marathon. At the 35th kilometre, I realized I wasn't, but managed to finish anyway. A year later, I made it to 178 and finished the race running, but still didn't do as well as I had hoped. I think I lost too much weight and more importantly, muscle mass. Worked my way back up to 190 and finally ran a marathon I was proud of. I still run today (about 275km / month), but have found that for this all to work, it really amounts to a lifestyle change. I no longer think about dieting and forcing myself to run - its just a part of my regular routine - just like brushing my teeth, eating, going to work, etc.... Thats the only way it worked and continues to work for me.

[jonkiribati]

Never heard of Aikido. Is that a mix of martial arts?
I was wanting to take some martial arts classes next year if they are offered. But honestly I was SO bad out of shape, a trip in walmart was enough to make my feet hate me.. LOL
Now I am up to a hour on my elliptical machine 6 days a week going through its training sets with little fatigue, plus my weight training 3 times a week.
I suffer from Asthma, Hypothyroidism and Sleep Apnea. Seems the world is against me at times.. LOL But I am more stubborn then a old mule so I will win or die trying. Betting on the winning part tho :D

Aikido is a martial art used for defence it's a mix between ju-jitsu and samurai and many others :p It's very interesting.

[sffvba[e0rt]

The only exercise some people get is jumping to conclusions, running down their friends, side-stepping responsibility, and pushing their luck! ~Author Unknown

Sounds like me :(


404

[sn0m]

Well there is no easy way out. My advice, stop eating any sugars whatsoever apart from fruit. This will minimize insulin release which is a great factor in building up fat and weight. If you keen on sugars, you will suffer withdrawal, but if you stick to it, should not last longer then one week. Stick to three meals a day only. You will need the hunger, it is your friend. When body goes into hunger phase the hormones that are released will brake down your food stores, ie belly, between legs and what is more important fat tissue that covers your internal organs.
Do not forget to exercise, it helps, even going for a walk and building up to gentle runs is good. When you exercise, you could also reward yourself with a treat, it helps.
So good luck and let us know how u getting on.

[meh_phistopheles]

that's cool that you're getting healthy and everything. i think you should consider buying a book on eating healthy. i've heard, and it's kind of obvious, that what you eat is as important as actually working out when you're trying to get in shape. so, i did a search for "eating healthy" on amazon and this was the top result: http://www.amazon.com/Eat-Drink-Be-Healthy-Harvard/dp/0743266420/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1321137423&sr=8-1

it looks perfect, mainly because of the harvard tag on it. but whichever book most appeals to you, i would strongly encourage you buying it and seriously reading through the whole thing. nutrition is just a thing you learn, so once you take the time to formally learn it, it kind of sticks with you and you don't have to worry about it so much anymore.

[Bandit]

I have turned to Ancestral Eating much like you can read on from www.dietdoctor.com
Basicly I eat very little complex carbs and simple carbs. I however do eat lots of lean meats, good fats and fibrous carbs.
The few complex carbs I take in are normally just my two peaces of whole grain wheat toast that I use to make a Turkey or Ham sandwich in the morning for breakfast. Rest of the day I eat a equal portion size of proteins and fibrous carbs such as 8oz Tillapia and 6 Brussle Sprouts for example. I steer away from processed foods, starches like potatoes and those so yummy sweets like Choc Cake and Pecan pies. I also drink very very very little soda pop now, I may have one or two diet 7-ups maybe a week at most. Rest of the time its water and 0%/Skim Milk.

FYI the US Food Pyramid the FDA endorces is killing people. Since they started putting down all fats in 1984 and pushing the food pyramid way of eating we have went from about 3 million with diabetes to 350 million with diabetes.. Hows those Fries and Shakes tasting now! ;)

[mips]

It's more a lifestyle thing as someone else mentioned.

Stop eating junk food / take-aways. There are much healtheir/tastier food out there. Just by doing this you will lose weight.
Try and cut out some sugar & fat, oily/greasy food etc. Snacking on candy, chips etc is not cool. Stay away from fizzy drinks etc. There are healthier snacks out there, like fruit & crackers. You can eat as much fruit and veggies as you like.
Cardio based exercises are good for you, I would not worry about weight based training as you get exercises you can do against your own body weight. The exercise I enjoyed the most and did not find boring was Tae Bo, these days I surf & swim.

I'm fortunate that I don't have a sweet tooth though and eat everything I want but the things that are not so good for you I eat in moderation and don't believe in depriving myself of anything I feel like. I'll eat a 400g rump steak or a six lamb chops without any guilt but that's only once a week kinda thing, call it a treat.

[Bandit]

I actually want to put on more muscle mass. So even though weight training isnt essential for me to loose weight, cardio alone will burn off fat and muscle both at the same time. So to keep from loosing most the muscle I have then this is where the weight training comes in. Right now I am just above 163LBS Lean Body Mass. For me to get to 200LBS and be %10 body fat (which is my first goal) I actually need to put on 23LBS more muscle. Which I dont see myself being able to do by the end of the year, but come summer of next year I "should" be getting close. As long as I can get to 200LBS and be at or below %20 body fat by the end of this year I will be super happy. Yea I aint trying to get skinny, I want to look beastly.. LOL
I first want to get to looking something like Clay Mathews (http://www.muscleandfitness.com/photos/athletes-and-celebrities/mf-exclusive-green-bay-packers-star-linebacker-clay-matthews-gallery) here from the Green Bay Packers. Hes pretty cut for a line backer and to me this is a healthy balance between skinny and Fouad (http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/images/2011/7-arm-commandments-fouad-abiads-rules-bigger-better-arms_d.jpg)

Guess my final destination would be like The Hulk here (http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/images/2008/lou_ferrigno_interview2_e.jpg)..

[mips]

I first want to get to looking something like Clay Mathews (http://www.muscleandfitness.com/photos/athletes-and-celebrities/mf-exclusive-green-bay-packers-star-linebacker-clay-matthews-gallery) here from the Green Bay Packers. Hes pretty cut for a line backer and to me this is a healthy balance between skinny and Fouad (http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/images/2011/7-arm-commandments-fouad-abiads-rules-bigger-better-arms_d.jpg)

Guess my final destination would be like The Hulk here (http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/images/2008/lou_ferrigno_interview2_e.jpg)..

That does not appeal to me at all but different strokes for different folks. I know a guy that was build like the hulk but he stopped that as he got into cage fighting and is now much smaller. It's also hard work to maintain that bulk, more natural cut look is easier.
This is where I would like to be at:
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3055/2530991299_e72ff89770.jpg
http://bradscottfitness.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/Brad-Pitt-Fight-club-Workout.jpg

[Bandit]

That does not appeal to me at all but different strokes for different folks. I know a guy that was build like the hulk but he stopped that as he got into cage fighting and is now much smaller. It's also hard work to maintain that bulk, more natural cut look is easier.
This is where I would like to be at:
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3055/2530991299_e72ff89770.jpg
http://bradscottfitness.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/Brad-Pitt-Fight-club-Workout.jpg

Yea I have been like that before, right after bootcamp. But honestly I felt to weak and lost a lot of wrestling matches with to my friends. Keep in mind muscle size also always doesnt determin strength. I have seen some huge men barely lift their own body weight and have seen people half their size bench twice as much. I used to have a friend from Philly that could bench 275 and tell you about the drunken braw he had the night before while lifting and had some other freinds that where much larger not even come close to lifting 200.

But honestly between you and I, if I can get to this shape Chris Hemsworth in Thor (http://www.squarehippies.com/images/actors/chris_hemsworth2/chris_hemsworth3.jpg). I will be tickled crapless.. lol And just stick to maintaining that.

[mips]

How tall are you as you are pretty light?

[bedpotato]

Hooray, good for you! Just keep going and do whatever exercise you enjoy. Any is better than none! :)

[collisionystm]

My big moment was quitting smoking. I smoked for 10 years. Have not smoked in almost 3 months. I know its not that long, but it was for me.
Pack a day.
Now its time to move on to exercise. I am very interested in P90-X. Just need to get my lazy *** out there and doing it!

[Bandit]

How tall are you as you are pretty light?
5 foot 6 inches, 66inches. At 221Lbs, 17.75" neck, 40.5" waist (stomach) I am at %26.03 body fat this morning. Not to bad considering when I started out I was at %38.16 and 259 pounds with a 51 inch stomach waist. :KS




Hooray, good for you! Just keep going and do whatever exercise you enjoy. Any is better than none! :)
Many Thanks



My big moment was quitting smoking. I smoked for 10 years. Have not smoked in almost 3 months. I know its not that long, but it was for me.
Pack a day.
Now its time to move on to exercise. I am very interested in P90-X. Just need to get my lazy *** out there and doing it!
Hardest part is getting started. The first two weeks I got back into working out I was only doing 5 mins of cardio 3 times a week plus just goofing off with my weights getting back into the hang of using them correctly.
Now I do 60 mins of resistance cardio 6 times a week and have a split weight training routine consisting of compound exercises utilizing both 3x12 sets and FST-7 sets.
I was never that good at many of those P90-X, Taebo and other exercises. Guess I am just not that coordinated on my feet :)

[Gremlinzzz]

White Tea:popcorn:

[jjex22]

Just wanted to say a huge well done to bandit and keep it up! When you feel comfortable enough about your appearance, I strongly recommend hitting the pool - shattering at first, but now I have so much energy!

Also to collisionystm really well done! I put on a stone when I quit - hence the swimming!

keep up the good work all!

=D>=D>=D>=D>=D>=D>

[BBQdave]

Great job Bandit :D

And I would offer have fun. I have always enjoyed hiking and dogs, so for most of my adult life I have hiked a couple of miles a day with dogs on lead. Now with kids, I have a (2-seater) stroller-cart that they ride in with a golden retriever attached, and off we go hiking.

In my young adult life I came upon a great stretching and strength exercise routine (basically a pre-boxing warm up) and I do that every day to loosen up and maintain strength. The routine does not take long, and it has kept me injury free for years now.

So again, I would offer to have fun with the exercise you do, it becomes a fun part of life (not exercise anymore).

[Bandit]

Just wanted to say a huge well done to bandit and keep it up! When you feel comfortable enough about your appearance, I strongly recommend hitting the pool - shattering at first, but now I have so much energy!

Also to collisionystm really well done! I put on a stone when I quit - hence the swimming!

keep up the good work all!

=D>

Many thanks, I cant wait till its warm here to start swimming again. When I lived next to the ocean I used to snorkel in many coves diving down 30 to 40 ft at times and swiming for hours on end, many times so far out that the coast guard would stop and ask us if we were ok. Its funny to see a Budweiser sign behind a air plane spelling resiewduB from 2 miles out at sea. :lolflag:


Great job Bandit :D

And I would offer have fun. I have always enjoyed hiking and dogs, so for most of my adult life I have hiked a couple of miles a day with dogs on lead. Now with kids, I have a (2-seater) stroller-cart that they ride in with a golden retriever attached, and off we go hiking.

In my young adult life I came upon a great stretching and strength exercise routine (basically a pre-boxing warm up) and I do that every day to loosen up and maintain strength. The routine does not take long, and it has kept me injury free for years now.

So again, I would offer to have fun with the exercise you do, it becomes a fun part of life (not exercise anymore).

Many thanks also. I am only just getting started in my transformation. I used to be extremely fit when I was in the military. Now its time for me to get back to that and see where I can go from there. :)

[markbl]

Society + media tells us that we are fat because we don't exercise enough. But the problem is mainly our diets. We are not told that because corporations don't want you to stop buying all that fat, sugar, and salt filled junk food and snacks.

Just eat less and think about what you eat. Most Westerners eat way too much food. You don't need any special diet, just common sense.

[Bandit]

Society + media tells us that we are fat because we don't exercise enough. But the problem is mainly our diets. We are not told that because corporations don't want you to stop buying all that fat, sugar, and salt filled junk food and snacks.

Just eat less and think about what you eat. Most Westerners eat way too much food. You don't need any special diet, just common sense.

Well its like this, no one expects a "Drug Dealer" to tell them the truth about the drugs they are buying. So why does everything thing the pharmaceutical company's are so honest? Fact is they want you to get sick or stay sick. Sure they look for cures for cancer and other diseases, but they are in the business of making money just like a cattle farmer is the business of making beef. The point is many company's like Bayer Drugs and such lobby with many officials from the FDA. They do this so the FDA pushes what is supposed to be healthy for you, but is it really? Since the FDA pushed the revised Food Pyramid chart is 1984 we have grown with just over 3.5million world wide with Diabetes to over 350 million! What changed? They started claiming that Fats on food where bad and lead to Heart Disease and that everyone should eat lots and lots of Complex Carbohydrates. 30 years later the facts now show that Fats on food do not actually have nothing to do with heart disease. Matter of fact the Complex Carbs they want everyone to eat actually spike a large glycemic index producing lots of glucose and even though someone who works their butt off like a construction worker can burn it back off before the glucose is stored in the body as FAT, most folks dont work that hard. Also the constant glucose spikes are a huge contributor for the onset of Diabetes. There is a lot of medical reasons for this that would take me 3 pages to explain but can easily goggled for.

The point is we should eat what our body is designed to processes, which is mostly leafy veggies that are mostly fibrous and meats. Many good fats can be taken in like fish oil and the natural fats in milk and the meats we eat. ;)

[bedpotato]

Society + media tells us that we are fat because we don't exercise enough. But the problem is mainly our diets.

This is completely true. 99% of weight loss is down to what you eat. Exercise helps with fitness and muscle development but it won't burn significant amounts of weight unless you're a professional athlete training many hours at a time. Your average Joe always seems to think he can eat huge hamburgers and then "burn them off" in 30 minutes of cardio, but you would have to do hours and hours of exercise just to burn off one hamburger.

[anaconda]

Almost the "same".

At least trying to get to better shape.

But my problem, is that I lose weight waaaay waaay too easily. I think I have lost about 5 kg during the last month alone. And I am not trying to. The opposite actually.

Probably should start going to lunch buffets more often :) Or something.

Just dont remember to eat properly, when I am doing some fun things...

[drawkcab]

I eat more junk food than I really should but I play close 10 hrs of basketball every week and lift weights on off days which stabilizing everything.

[Tarquin1]

Most of the people blame that we are too much occupied in our life. I want to inform those people that only 15-20 mins exercise is enough to maintain the health.

norwalk personal trainer (http://straightupfitness.com/norwalk-fitness-trainer/)

[anna2112]

Wow !!!! thats fantastic....you had lost lots of pounds already,,thats an achievement !!
I hope I can do it also...the problem is Im lazy to work out,,and my husband wants me to eat more...hahahah :P

[ice60]

i put on some weight and am very lazy so looked for all the short cuts to get back to my ideal weight. i did it and found it easy. if you are interested i can tell you what i did? (it only took me 2/3 days before i found it easy and wasn't hungry :))

i read about the Okinawa diet (the people who live the longest lives in the world)
http://www.google.co.uk/search?q=Okinawa+diet
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aOQ6KBBDftQ

here's the relevant part -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xoKLW51Byrg

i learned a bit about caloric restriction, which kind of backs up some of the Okinawa diet.

i learned about HIITS workout that speed up your metabolism for days for only a few minutes a day.
http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=hiit+workout+at+home&oq=hiit+workout

these are the basic things i got from it that worked for me, probably for others you'll need to modify it.

before any meal or hot drink, drink two glasses of water.

breakfast. 3 glasses of water, 1 tea and 1 coffee. (lol)
lunch 2 glasses of water cup-a-soup and some fruit
dinner stirfry, water and pepsi max :D
snack before bed - water, can of tuna with light mayo and some cheese.
i drink loads of tea everyday. i'm getting some now and need the toilet because i drink so much liquid lol.

workouts 4/5 minutes 3 or 4 times a day kettelbells or some HIITS.

i didn't weigh myself, but got a piece of string and marked my start-out tummy size and made a mark in red where i wanted to be.

i now have the same measurements of a catwalk model :popcorn:

for inspiration i watched workout videos on youtube and model videos lol.

that worked for me. i should add some of my friends thought i was crazy, but they are the same people who now say my abs are my ribs lmfao.