The Official Exercise/Fitness Thread v. Run Forest, Run!

[The Walrus]

Whole wheat bread, beans, nuts, brown rice - also great sources of fiber. Veggies too of course. I  fiber.

[bosk1]

Speaking of being back on the bandwagon, I'm about 6-weeks back on it...

Feels good.  I've got a little over 2 years to hit my goal of being in the best shape of my life when I hit 50.  ...

183lbs as of yesterday

Nice job! 

I'm doing okay as well, with a similar goal, although mine is basically "as close as reasonably possible to best shape since getting out of the USMC."  I'm not too far off.  I definitely cannot do a lot of what I could do then.  But I am doing things now that I didn't do then either, like regularly taking my bike out for 25-50 miles, backpacking, etc.  Weight-wise, I'm still about 10 lb. behind you.  I'd like to hover between 180 and 185.  But to really fully meet my health goals, I probably need to drop a bit more than that, and then build a bit more lean muscle to get back up to that weight range.  Anyhow, progress...

[bosk1]

I did have a huge container of almonds at my desk but I finished it last month and haven't replenished. 

Almonds are great.  A great way to save money is to buy the huge bag of raw almonds at Costco and roast them in the oven yourself.  It's super easy and cuts the cost by about 75%.

[jingle.boy]

Hopefully no one minds this thread including nutrition as part of the discussion!  Oh snap!  I just noticed this is my thread. Guess I'm changing the title!   

Is Bulk Barn a thing in the US?  That's another inexpensive way to get nuts and such.  Just stay away from the chip/chocolate aisle.

@Cram... your water intake is exceptional - great for satiation, and great to keep your metabolism burning.  Also good on ya for not drinking your calories. If you're not doing any significant weight training, there is absolutely no need for protein powder to supplement your macros.

Two epiphanies I had during my weight loss and fitness journey's. First, it takes your brain 20 minutes to get the signal from your body that you are full.  So, I cut my portion size by a third, and NEVER ate until I was full.  If I was still hungry 20-30 mins after eating, I'd grab a small snack.  95% of the time, I never needed that snack.

Second, people often confuse the feelings of hunger and thirst.  So, drink water before reaching for that snack.

[cramx3]

I did have a huge container of almonds at my desk but I finished it last month and haven't replenished. 

Almonds are great.  A great way to save money is to buy the huge bag of raw almonds at Costco and roast them in the oven yourself.  It's super easy and cuts the cost by about 75%.

I was buying unsalted raw from target.  Essentially work gives me some money every month to stock my office with snacks and I haven't used that money to buy another batch.  I should since it's a healthy snack, right now I just got rid of pretty much any snack that was in my office.

Hopefully no one minds this thread including nutrition as part of the discussion!  Oh snap!  I just noticed this is my thread. Guess I'm changing the title!   

Is Bulk Barn a thing in the US?  That's another inexpensive way to get nuts and such.  Just stay away from the chip/chocolate aisle.

@Cram... your water intake is exceptional - great for satiation, and great to keep your metabolism burning.  Also good on ya for not drinking your calories. If you're not doing any significant weight training, there is absolutely no need for protein powder to supplement your macros.

Two epiphanies I had during my weight loss and fitness journey's. First, it takes your brain 20 minutes to get the signal from your body that you are full.  So, I cut my portion size by a third, and NEVER ate until I was full.  If I was still hungry 20-30 mins after eating, I'd grab a small snack.  95% of the time, I never needed that snack.

Second, people often confuse the feelings of hunger and thirst.  So, drink water before reaching for that snack.

I feel like nutrition is part of fitness so while maybe we are focussing a bit much there, personally, I think it relates.  Never heard of bulk barn but that doesn't mean it isn't a thing.  And as for the water, I also get gout if I start getting dehydrated so my water intake is already super high but what you mention about hunger is probably why I am drinking even more water than before, because it helps with feeling hungry. 

As for my calorie intake, yesterday was simple since everything I ate came out of a package, two bowls of oatmeal totalling 300 calories, a can of soup for dinner which was 380 calories, and I was still hungry after so I had an apple lara bar (something I got with my previous months work snack budget) which was 180 calories.  So 860 yesterday.  I had two cups of black coffee, not sure if there are calories in that but if so not much.  And I biked a quick 4 miles last night.  After thinking about this more, I probably should actually at least hit the 1k calorie mark and not short my already super low intake.   I was planning on doing an oatmeal lunch again today and I have a chicken breast marinating at home for dinner and some frozen veggies I'll heat up for a side dish.  I may have to add another snack in, but I currently don't have any.  I need to go food shopping because another part of my weight loss is trying to save money so I've slowly been eating all my stock of food in my pantry and that stock is running low now.

[H2]

Hopefully no one minds this thread including nutrition as part of the discussion!  Oh snap!  I just noticed this is my thread. Guess I'm changing the title!   

Nutrition is part of fitness so I think it's fine.

[vtgrad]

Nutrition is half the game in my opinion; everyone's physiology is different but nutrition can make or break your fitness goals in my experience.

I'm 39, 175-180 depending upon when I weigh, 6'2 and fairly muscular (not where I used to be, but that's OK); over my time being serious about health (probably 18-years of my 39) I've seen my diet make more impact than my routines.  My wife and I moved to a whole-food plant based diet for 5-6 days of the week (we eat meat on the 7th) and I've seen it change my stomach and my energy.  I'm not vegan because I still eat boiled eggs during the week (one every day), but we really only eat "meat" once a week (including sushi).  Reading "How not to Die" helped us develop our diet.

I've also recently moved to time restricted eating (intermittent fasting) and my energy levels and concentration levels, especially early morning, are through the roof.  Joe Rogan's youtube channel has a compilation vid of several of his guests speaking about it, including two physicians if I remember correctly.  It's a good vid to get you thinking about a routine.  I'm on a 16-8 routine right now and that seems to work best for me personally; I take in my first "meal" (anything other than water) at 11:30 and try to be finished eating by 7:30.  On the nights I play basketball during the week, that's a tougher schedule to keep, so I sometimes will cheat a bit and have Kefir and Almonds after I play.

My training has moved more toward calisthenics over the past few months, but I'm still following a basic lifting routine (The Beast... a version of James McAvoy's workout for the movie Glass) with yoga and Tai Chi.  I'm stoked to now have a Slack Line and I'm looking forward to falling off of it as much as possible   

You guys can change your bodies at any age, and nutrition is the key based on my experiences.  If you can see the change clearly in your mind, you can do it. 

[bosk1]

<1000 is dangerously low for anyone - and frankly there is no need to be that much of a deficit.

At an average of 1500 a day, which does NOT starve me, and very moderate exercise (even just walking for half an hour a day), I generally lose 10 lb. a month and feel great.  I up the calories a bit with more protein when doing a hard workout, like 25+ miles on the bike.  I'm getting close to where I don't need to lose any more and just need to maintain where I am. 

[bosk1]

As of this morning, I broke under 190 for the first time in awhile.  According to BMI calculators, I'm literally just a few ounces "overweight."    But for my own goals, as I posted above, I'm still carrying a bit more fat and less muscle than I would like, so I need to lose more than just a few ounces to get to where I want to be.  Still, I'm close and getting closer! 

[jingle.boy]

Awesome Bosky!

I've been pretty disciplined this week with caloric restriction, and a shit-ton of water, so I hope to be back on the downward trend for my routine Sunday weigh-in.

[cramx3]

Nice Bosk, I've been pretty good this week as well although no work out wednesday since that turned out to be a 17 hour work day and no workout today since I'm going to philly right after work, but I think this concert is the type I end up jumping and dancing a lot getting sweaty so I wouldn't be surprised if I get some workout there (probably not even enough to burn off the booze though  ) but my eating has been consistently on point this week.

[bosk1]

I have mostly been pretty disciplined for the past few months, with a few slight exceptions here and there.  For instance, at my niece's wedding, she did a traditional Chinese wedding banquet that is 10 courses.  I could have been disciplined and just partaken of small amounts of just a couple of the healthier courses.  But on the flip side, they are all expensive dishes that you don't really have an opportunity to have in any setting other than a Chinese wedding banquet, and those only come along in my family once every several years.  So I just went into it with the mindset that I was going to enjoy as much of it as I liked, and just continue to be disciplined outside of that meal (which I have).  I also told myself that once I broke under 190, the first Friday after that (which is today), I would go ahead and reward myself with a breakfast from the cafeteria downstairs at my work, which has really awesome breakfasts.  It is way too many calories for one meal.  But once in a great while, if it is something I really enjoy and I can exercise enough self-control to not let it develop into a bad habit, I see nothing wrong with doing that.  And on a day like today, I'm skipping my small between breakfast and lunch snack, limiting lunch to mostly veggies (I say "mostly" because my salad is sprinkled with some seeds and a tiny bit of lowfat bleu cheese crumbs for flavor/texture), and I'll burn 1200-1500 calories on my bike ride home later, so...  Small reward and commensurate setback this morning with that, but with the physical activity and keeping disciplined the rest of my meals, I'll be back under this weight before the weekend is over.  Anyhow, I'm rambling.  tl;dnr version:  I'm making good progress and made a conscious decision to reward myself today in a way that is slightly counterproductive, but not detrimental to my overall goals.

[The Walrus]

That's awesome, bosk. You should feel proud. Way to go!

I'm pretty active at my job so on busy days I'm too tired to get to the gym. Already sweat buckets and got 8000 steps in. Friday thru Sunday I've been trying to do 20k every day plus lifting... gotta earn those beers. 

[bosk1]

Mine is more or less a desk job, so I don't have that option.  But on days that I ride my bike, I get a 25 mile bike commute, so that's a built-in. 1200-1500 calorie workout right there.  We also have a back yard project that is involving digging up and removing several hundred pounds of granite, so I generally get a good deal of natural, sweat-inducing exercise for a few hours a week working on that as well. 

[cramx3]

So far I did 11 miles bike ride, damn 20+ miles seems so much but thats awesome.

My job is like half desk half on my feet.  Our data center is pretty big so its quite a walk to go around all of it, plus moving equipment and whatnot (which isn't a daily thing, but I was doing a lot of that Wednesday).  A normal day is about 6k steps at work and a busy day I can hit 10k.  Today is super slow and I am not looking to change that though, currently at 3500 steps and sitting comfortably in my office, hoping not to have to leave it again until I leave for the day.

[jingle.boy]

Bosk... that's a fantastic post/approach to nutrition.  I loathe the idea of "cheat" meals - REWARD meals are a far better and healthier outlook towards anything that typically breaks one's nutrition protocol.  Ya have to 'earn' the reward, whereas anyone can 'cheat' at anytime and/or as often as they want.  Cheating is easy; rewarding requires work.   

Also, planning to cut back on days around the 'reward' is damn near perfect.  Balance the overage of the reward with a few underage days, and by the end of the week, you're still on point.

Flawless victory.

[cramx3]

I think this concert is the type I end up jumping and dancing a lot getting sweaty so I wouldn't be surprised if I get some workout there (probably not even enough to burn off the booze though  )

Had about 4k steps when I left work and 16k when I went to bed, yup, the concert had me going.  That was essentially a 3 hour workout on my feet, rocking out the entire night drenched in sweat.  Good fucking times.  But still, doubt that burned off the three IPAs I had.  I'll be hitting the bike soon.

[jingle.boy]

Did a 30-minute HIIT routine in the 27C (close to 40C with the humidity) heat in my backyard at 10:30 this morning.  3-minute circuit:

single leg step-up/jump (5x each leg)
skipping rope (50x)
box jumps (10)
Rest ... for however much time I have left until 3 mins is up.

Holy fuck what a workout.  Had my heart-rate up to 179 towards the end.

[senecadawg2]

Nutrition is half the game in my opinion; everyone's physiology is different but nutrition can make or break your fitness goals in my experience.

I'm 39, 175-180 depending upon when I weigh, 6'2 and fairly muscular (not where I used to be, but that's OK); over my time being serious about health (probably 18-years of my 39) I've seen my diet make more impact than my routines.  My wife and I moved to a whole-food plant based diet for 5-6 days of the week (we eat meat on the 7th) and I've seen it change my stomach and my energy.  I'm not vegan because I still eat boiled eggs during the week (one every day), but we really only eat "meat" once a week (including sushi).  Reading "How not to Die" helped us develop our diet.

That's a good book and I'd recommend it to anyone else interested in a relatively comprehensive look at the research linking whole food, plant-based nutrition to lower disease outcomes. And in fact its for that reason that I would avoid something like the keto diet—there's simply not enough research out there for me to feel safe in following it. Another good source is the author Michael Greger's website "Nutrition Facts," which has a lot of informative videos, articles, etc. on a ton of different topics. My only critique of the book and his work in general is that it tends of be rather reductionist. He focuses a lot on highly specific nutrient function, specific food items, etc., and perhaps doesn't do enough to address the big picture. For example, he's very prone to celebrating different "super foods," a concept which I find really counterproductive.

I'm a-okay with people eating whatever they want, however they want, and whenever they want, but it grinds my gears when I hear people recommending diets without providing evidence from the scientific literature to support it. Sure, there may be a certain amount of conflicting evidence out there, but if you're going to talk about how great the Atkins diet is (for example), at least make the effort to show how and why it actually works, both short- and long-term. Not that anyone here is doing that, and I don't mean to rant—it's just a pet peeve of mine.

I've never focused much on calories, but I think that can be a really helpful tool for a lot of people. My philosophy is that if the food is healthy and I don't eat until I'm sick, I shouldn't have to think about how many calories are in there. Fruits are my favorite. I probably eat 3-4 bananas a day, at least a couple handful of berries (lately a lot of blueberries), and fill in the day with whatever else is in season. Currently that means a ton of peaches and watermelon. Man I love peaches! I think if I were ever to go on a really restrictive diet, I would choose a raw frugivore diet.

[The Walrus]

I took a week off the gym to rest my foot; I was feeling weird pains in the toes of one of my feet, but I'm ready to get back at it.

I also discovered powdered peanut butter. Put a couple small scoops in a shake with my chocolate protein powder and ohhh my lord. Mixes waaay better and more easily than real peanut butter and tastes just like it. This stuff is a game changer. Gonna use it all the time.

[cramx3]

Never heard of powder peanut butter before

Actually feeling really good about my fitness journey today because a guy who works in the same building as me complimented me out of no where about looking slimmer  got to keep it up which will be tough this weekend since I'll be away from home.  I may be able to get a workout in though since I'll have some down time.

[The Walrus]

Congrats dude! Nothing quite like getting complimented especially by strangers. (Powdered peanut butter - I picked it up at Wal-Mart, but it was the only type of powdered peanut butter they had, so it's easy to miss.)

I fully intend on using those treadmills/exercise areas during ProgPower, even when I'm hungover. 

[cramx3]

I hope I'm in such better shape come ProgPower, its really coming up quickly now though so I can only make so much progress.  I'll probably hit the gym there as well, we'll have to get a picture of the DTF workout at Progpower crew 

[The Walrus]

I hope I'm in such better shape come ProgPower, its really coming up quickly now though so I can only make so much progress.  I'll probably hit the gym there as well, we'll have to get a picture of the DTF workout at Progpower crew 

  Brightly colored sweatbands and baggy clothing. 80s style!

[cramx3]

  jingle in spandex

[bosk1]

  I just got an image of Chad bouncing into the venue wearing neon spandex, leg warmers, and headband, a Walkman, and loudly humming Olivia Newton John's "Let's Get Physical" at the top of his lungs.

[The Walrus]

If there's even a chance of that happening, I'm making sure my phone is fully charged and ready to post pictures. 

[cramx3]

  what a shit show this is going to be

[jingle.boy]

  I just got an image of Chad bouncing into the venue wearing neon spandex, leg warmers, and headband, a Walkman, and loudly humming Olivia Newton John's "Let's Get Physical" at the top of his lungs.

@ cram/Katt... I'll give you a helluva workout right in our condo.

Wait, that's not what I meant.  Well it is, but it isn't.

Seriously, I do a ton of HIIT / bodyweight workouts that needs no equipment.

[cramx3]

Yea, I don't know if I can handle those haha

Since I had the afternoon to kill in Brooklyn and there's no gym in this hotel plus a nice day, I went out and took a nice walk.  Didn't realize how close and how nice Prospect Park is in Brooklyn.  It felt just like Central Park in NYC.  Anyway, according to google maps, that was a 90 minute 5 mile walk around the park.  I did take a nice break sitting on a rock just taking in the scenery but also a nice way to get some exercise in on a day when I typically probably wouldn't have. 

Having said that, rocking out to Iron Maiden in the pit for almost 2 hours is more than enough work out as well  I honestly can't remember the last time I went so hard rocking out and for so long, jumping and what not, and I never felt too tired.  Like my friend kept saying he needs to stop and go back cause he was getting too tired, but I think it's from working out so much that I have even more energy than before.

[jingle.boy]

Awesome, Marc.

[axeman90210]

Meant to say at the bar last night Marc, you looked noticeably slimmed down

[jingle.boy]

Weekly weigh-in ... 182.0 - down 1.8lbs from last week (though still up 4-ish from April).  I'll take this as a win, since jingle.son and I went to a local WingFest, and chomped down on a bunch of wings, topped up with an ice cream cone.  But, I'd planned for it for a few days by keeping my calories lower than normal.

Back to being fully disciplined this week.

[cramx3]

Meant to say at the bar last night Marc, you looked noticeably slimmed down

Thanks, good times last night 

Nice, Chad Wingfest sounds yummy.

[vtgrad]

Weekly weigh-in ... 182.0 - down 1.8lbs from last week (though still up 4-ish from April).  I'll take this as a win, since jingle.son and I went to a local WingFest, and chomped down on a bunch of wings, topped up with an ice cream cone.  But, I'd planned for it for a few days by keeping my calories lower than normal.

Back to being fully disciplined this week.

Good on ya Jingle!  Progress is progress and there's nothing wrong with rewarding that progress... psychology at it's finest!

My wife and I "rewarded" ourselves Saturday morning at our local farmer's market... this was completely unplanned as we were there for Kale, Basil, and bones for bone broth (I've found a local cattleman that's willing to give me some of his marrow and knuckle bones when he butchers).  The Balkan Bakery here in Abingdon VA has the BEST Baklava I've ever tasted... absolutely destroys the Baklava I had in the Middle East... they were there and my wife and I put some down!  I'm telling you guys, there's nothing like really, really good Baklava and Turkish Coffee.

I figured an extra set of pull-ups and hanging leg raises would take care of the extra sugar calories.