another fitness thread....

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INJEN78

HS LEGEND
alright so lets continue our fitness talks here.
when i say i want to "get in shape" i mean that i want to lose some fat,and be able to do regular everyday stuff without working up a sweat or feel like im out of breath..i guess im mainly looking for cardio stuff.but a little muscle doesnt hurt either.
 
What are the parameters in your life that will shape what you can do? I mean what are the constrictions?

What's your schedule look like?
Any Physical hobbies? Interested in starting one?
Do you have experience working out? Have you ran before?
Do you have people in your life where you live that do any physical activities you're interested in?
Do you have access to a gym/pool/etc?


Trying to gauge what advice I can give besides consistency and don't drink your calories.
 
Currently I'm doing body weight exercises, a 22/2 fasting schedule, and I feel great doing it. The weight is coming off even with a cheat meal/day every week.
 
What's the 22/2 fast schedule?
 
What are the parameters in your life that will shape what you can do? I mean what are the constrictions?

What's your schedule look like?
Any Physical hobbies? Interested in starting one?
Do you have experience working out? Have you ran before?
Do you have people in your life where you live that do any physical activities you're interested in?
Do you have access to a gym/pool/etc?


Trying to gauge what advice I can give besides consistency and don't drink your calories.
1-school from 6:30pm-11:30pm Monday-Thursday,other than that im not doing anything other than driving the wife to work and picking her up(10 minutes total everyday)
2-i dont really have any physical hobbies anymore
3-i have never really worked out,but i have ran almost as much as forest gump.
4-im living in ohio away from all of my friends,i have a small handful of friends,maybe 1 of them will actually want to be active and go do shit.
5-i have access to the gym at school,but im not one to go to the gym due to the fact that i cant lift weights for shit and i hate being around people honestly.

Diet is most important. Start there
this is what im going to work on the most.
 
eat only when you are truly hungry, stop eating when you are full. watch how many calories beverages have... its easy to drink a whole lotta calories. excersise in some way for at least an hour 3 days a week. lifting weights with lighter weights, high reps, and minimal rest breaks will give you a heck of a cardio workout and build muscle. these are things that i have been doing over the last couple years, and i lost 30lbs and have maintained a stable, lean, and strong build for at the last 10 months or so.
 
i have access to the gym at school,but im not one to go to the gym due to the fact that i cant lift weights for shit and i hate being around people honestly.

Have you ever actually tried it? Weight lifting is just like anything else...you have to start somewhere. And if you actually went I think you'd realize that not everyone who goes to the gym is a beast. There will be plenty of people there lifting fairly light weight. What I did when I first started was to Google basic full-body weight lifting routines. The routine I do now is still pretty much the same basic twice a week routine, but I've added and modified a few things over the years just to mix things up.

And as far as people go, can you not even stand to see other people? Or are you just not wanting to get drawn in to conversations? If you're just not wanting to talk to people, that's an easy solution. Just wear headphones and no one will bother you.

If you're even halfway wanting to go to the gym, then don't let that be the thing that keeps you away. And if you have free access to a decent gym, then at least try it a few times. I use the small, crappy gym at my apartment just because it's convenient and I don't want to pay for a membership somewhere...
 
What's the 22/2 fast schedule?

"IF" was probably the biggest diet to gain 'mainstream' acceptance in 2012. Paleo was probably another diet to hit it big, if what I've experienced is representative of what is going on out there in the public as a whole.

IF = intermittent fasting.

After all of my years being in the health and fitness community, I've learned its not what method of dieting you use that dictates the results - its about zeroing in on what is a sustainable lifestyle for yourself and then constructing a diet that fits into those parameters. I certainly think there's certain diets that will get you to your goals quicker, but all of that doesn't matter if you can't stick to the program.
 
What's the 22/2 fast schedule?
It's a variation of what's called the Warrior Fast. Sweet name right? I eat once a day. I fast for 22 hours, I feast for 2. It's based off of a predator's diet. Basically a tiger, mountain lion, shark, whatever, spends most of its day in a fasted state. At some point they take down their prey and have one big meal(feast). The rest of the day the body is using stored energy (fat). The awesome thing about it, it also has a natural cleansing effect to it. Breaking down long dormant fat releases the toxins your body has also stored up.

Example- As I've gotten older, every time I drank my hangovers were a little worst than the previous episode. After going to this style of diet (I'm literally about a month in btw) I went out on NYE, had too much fun, and woke up feeling pretty good. I haven't had an absence of a hangover like that since high school. I re-hydrated and I was fine. I realized that the hangovers were just a side effect of all the built up toxins. I'm ultimately feeling better in my everyday activities as well. I find my brain is just clearer and works better.

If you are even slightly intrigued by fasting, go to this website.
How Fasting Aids Weight Loss | Mark's Daily Apple
There is a 7 part series literally entitled, "Why fast?". It's pretty much what turned me. I actually started the change with a 7-day fast to jump start the result. PM me if you do want to try any of this.

eat only when you are truly hungry, stop eating when you are full. watch how many calories beverages have... its easy to drink a whole lotta calories.
Something I realized when I first started fasting. Most of the time, I was eating because I was bored, or it was lunch time, or because pizza is good. I wasn't actually hungry.

And drinks will KILL you. I've literally cut out everything besides water and coffee. The hardest part is that I love a good beer. Those are pretty much the only calories I'm drinking.

Have you ever actually tried it? Weight lifting is just like anything else...you have to start somewhere. And if you actually went I think you'd realize that not everyone who goes to the gym is a beast. There will be plenty of people there lifting fairly light weight.
Especially right now with all the so called "Resolutionaries". It may be hard to get a treadmill or elliptical, but generally the 1 month a year crowd stays out of the weight room. And the ones that don't, won't be benching 400lbs. Hell, they won't be benching 150lbs.

And as far as people go, can you not even stand to see other people? Or are you just not wanting to get drawn in to conversations? If you're just not wanting to talk to people, that's an easy solution. Just wear headphones and no one will bother you.
I always go to the gym solo. Pop my headphones in and get in a zone. I'm not there to socialize, I'm there to work out. Maximize my time and get out. I actually remember when I was going late (getting there at midnight), there was a good looking girl who was always there around the same time. She would attempt to talk to me all the time. Had I been in a bar, I would have been pumped. But I was at the gym, leave me alone.
 
"IF" was probably the biggest diet to gain 'mainstream' acceptance in 2012. Paleo was probably another diet to hit it big, if what I've experienced is representative of what is going on out there in the public as a whole.

IF = intermittent fasting.

After all of my years being in the health and fitness community, I've learned its not what method of dieting you use that dictates the results - its about zeroing in on what is a sustainable lifestyle for yourself and then constructing a diet that fits into those parameters. I certainly think there's certain diets that will get you to your goals quicker, but all of that doesn't matter if you can't stick to the program.
I agree completely. I find this type of fasting incredibly easy. I don't eat at work (when I did it was always garbage anyway) and when I get home I get to eat my fill. As long as you keep it to the healthy stuff (with a cheat here and there of course), the weight falls off. In a month I'm down 10lbs. Basically from the diet. I work out, but it's sporadic as I attempt to get back in the rhythm. And like I said, I've even been cheating a little, and didn't limit myself on Christmas or NYE. I've been reading about fasting for years and I did always advocate that I thought it was the healthiest thing out there. It's only recently that I actually started to practice what I was preaching.

I plan to step up the exercise and really hit it hard now after the holidays. And to think, this all started because me and a friend drunkenly agreed to a weight loss slap bet.
 
i dont like being around people in general,unless they are my friends.
i think the fasting this is what im looking for(mainly because its what i had done unintentionally when i first got out to college)

so what im going to start is eating only after class,and healthier foods,and walking around alot.no more soda and no more high sugar drinks.
 
i dont like being around people in general,unless they are my friends.
i think the fasting this is what im looking for(mainly because its what i had done unintentionally when i first got out to college)

so what im going to start is eating only after class,and healthier foods,and walking around alot.no more soda and no more high sugar drinks.
I unintentionally was doing it during high school wrestling aka when I was in the best shape of my life. The 3 hours of HIIT a day probably didn't hurt either.

But like I said, if you're serious about it, read those articles. Honestly some of the best information about fasting I have found anywhere. It's one thing to do it, it's a much better thing to understand how it works and why you're doing it. It'll also explain to you that the first few days are going to suck and make you want to push through to the easy part rather than give up.
 
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Interesting. Didn't know much about the IF diet.

My roommates are big on the paleo. They aren't in better shape than me so I'm not too keen on trying it.

Biggest thing everyone here that has terms of diet and in good shape have in common is consistency. You'll find some things will work for you and others won't but being consistent about it is everything. Consistency is the key.



Looks like you have a great schedule for exercising. It'll just take some drive to do it. If I recall you're a big dude.

You should look into lifting in off peak hours with a buddy or by yourself. When I first started I was lucky because I was in weight training but I've worked out with people since then that had zero teaching/application of it and have good results. There is a lot of stuff online about good form, good beginner lifts etc to get going. I'd start with just the basics now via body weight. You can do most at home even.

My brother doesn't have access to a gym often so in his house he just does 100 burpees a day with 300 sit ups. 200 push ups. 200 body squats. Throw in some other crap like iso abs, moutain climbers etc. He used to be very fat and is in very good shape now. Less than an hr a day.
 
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Interesting. Didn't know much about the IF diet.

My roommates are big on the paleo. They aren't in better shape than me so I'm not too keen on trying it.



Biggest thing everyone here that has terms of diet and in good shape have in common is consistency. You'll find some things will work for you and others won't but being consistent about it is everything. Consistency is the key.
Doing Paleo and doing Paleo right are very different things. I tried it. Honestly, doing it correctly was a PITA. Fasting is actually very similar in concept, but I have found the actual application is so much easier. But like you said, it's consistency. Whatever you can do on a regular basis, without causing added stress to yourself (which is a whole different topic) will work the best.
 
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You saw my facebook....
I lost 65 lbs in about 4 months without much effort. I started eating better and i did a boot camp 2 days a week. So, 2 hours a week. Sometimes 3 days a week if i could squeeze it in. I started at 289 and dropped to 225. I have since stopped going to the gym for the past 2 months and have leveled off right at 230, even through the crappy eating of the holidays.


Jump start- Stop eating processed foods. If it comes in a box, bag, or container of any kind, don't eat it.
This includes everything from drinks to meats to veggies. You can have plenty good meals without ANYTHING in the center of the grocery store. These days, I hardly even buy anything down an isle (to eat anyway... i still by towels and soaps, etc) Stick to the outsides..

Don't eat anything with sodium nitrate/nitrite, sodium phosphate, soy lectin, food starch modified, anything Enriched, corn syrup, any hydrogenized oils, and especially no canola oil. Don't cook with olive oil. It goes rancid at temp. I shake my head when i see all these chef's heating olive oil to sautee in. Such an amatuer mistake. Use coconut oil instead. Expeller pressed.
Don't buy meat from the grocery store if you can help it. Get grass-fed, anti biotic free, free-range animal products if you can.

Eat like that, and get 3 hours of high-endournace strength and aerobic training (like p90x style) exercise a week, and you WILL lose weight.

Being able to bench press 300 lbs is useless to me. Those are like the drag racers.....
being FIT is like road course racing.
Sure, you will burn fat (every 1lb of muscle burns 50 calories a day just to maintain itself) when you have more muscle, but you still won't be in any 'shape' without endourance training. Period.

You CAN'T just lift and be FIT. You may look good, but when it comes time to ACT with the body, as it would in a ring, in a tough mudder, or what ever pyhsical challenge presented besides stuff the worlds strongest man peforms, the fit person will win every time. And how often do you strap on a volkswagon and walk 10m?

Being fit is a lifestyle. It's not a 'program'.
 
"Don't eat anything with sodium nitrate/nitrite, sodium phosphate, soy lectin, food starch modified, anything Enriched, corn syrup, any hydrogenized oils, and especially no canola oil. Don't cook with olive oil. It goes rancid at temp. I shake my head when i see all these chef's heating olive oil to sautee in. Such an amatuer mistake. Use coconut oil instead. Expeller pressed."

For those that know me and are on my facebook, they know I'm a fitness nut. B is one of those people.

I'm knowledgeable about a lot of things, but this is one thing I'm very interested in. I never had formal cooking lessons or anything cooking related really explained to myself. My cooking rules are don't serve chicken if it has any pink in it. Wash your hands after eggs and chicken.

I read an article once about what fats/oils you can heat and which you can't.

Do you have a reliable link on not heating olive oil? I do it constantly. We cook in a ceramic pan and 'saute' chicken with olive oil. I do have a jar of coconut oil. I'm not a fan of coconut but I don't mind the oil. My girlfriend isn't a fan, so we don't use it as often as I would.
 
Interesting. Didn't know much about the IF diet.

My roommates are big on the paleo. They aren't in better shape than me so I'm not too keen on trying it.

J, if you didn't know, I've been paleo for about a year at this point.

I wouldn't base your opinion of the diet based on the experiences of your roommates, if you're interested in the idea. You're just as likely to head to any Crossfit gym in America and be amazed by the level of results that many paleo pundits have achieved.

I'll put it this way, I did a 30 day paleo challenge. I was the last person that wanted to do the challenge but I was deeply devoted to the gym and always had been. My diet was 'already in check' as I had eaten high protein, low fat, complex carbohydrates for the past 10+ years. I hovered around 13% bodyfat when I started the challenge.

In 30 days, I dropped 2% bodyfat, increased by deadlift 25lbs (I pulled 405lbs at 152lbs bodyweight), increased my power clean 10lbs, performed better in workouts, slept better, and felt better overall.

That made me a believer. When everyone finished the challenge and went back to their regular diets, I never stopped paleo. Now I make paleo work for me. Its possible to complete IF while being paleo or ZONE or any number of dieting philosophies, all while maintaining a paleo lifestyle.

Most people I talk to think that paleo is a dieting philosophy but its really a lifestyle philosophy. I choose to eat paleo because after years of research, I've concluded that although my body always looked good and performed at elite levels, eating non fat cheese (more accurately "cheese product") that had been made in some factory likely wasn't as healthy as eating foods from the earth.

Now I go through cycles of being extremely low carb on paleo by limiting my fruit intake and essentially just eating mounds of green veggies and by eating as many or more carbs as before I went paleo by loading up on fruit.

*I'll likely revise this post and make it more logical and less rambling when I have more time. I'm not trying to sway anyone one direction or another but share my experience.
 
You CAN'T just lift and be FIT. You may look good, but when it comes time to ACT with the body, as it would in a ring, in a tough mudder, or what ever pyhsical challenge presented besides stuff the worlds strongest man peforms, the fit person will win every time. And how often do you strap on a volkswagon and walk 10m?

Being fit is a lifestyle. It's not a 'program'.

While I agree that lifting alone isn't healthy in the most prevalent application, I don't agree with that idea for experienced lifters.

You CAN just lift and be fit. It's all dependent on the manner in which you lift. The way most people lift, does it make them fit? No. The chest, bis, and tris guys at the college gym are missing the boat.

The guys that powerclean, squat, snatch, deadlift, bench, push press, etc and very rep ranges and intensity are extremely fit. That strength is applicable in all walks of life. I have a friend that didn't perform any cardio for years and years. He's a monster. Completely natural. I've taken him to Crossfit gyms where he's outperformed people that trained specifically for those sort of returns. It CAN be done, its just that it takes a lot more knowledge to do it correctly. There's a video somewhere on youtube of a guy who is solely a powerlifter. He jumped over 4 feet on to a ledge to demonstrate his explosive power. It was his first time ever trying to do a 'box jump'.

What I prefer for training, especially for newbies, is lifting + a HIIT program. P90x isn't bad since it incorporates weights with their interval training. I definitely feel there's more ideal ways of training but if P90x is something you can stick to, it's great because its all laid out for you.

Lifting or performing a lifting circuit and then pairing that with some sort of HIIT and LISS works as well. Example 5x5 squat, leg press, cleans. 15 second sprints, 45 sec walk. 15 minute low intensity, steady state cardio like walking.

We're in agreement that I also think good boot camps, Crossfit gyms, and MMA training gyms offer even the greenest of green enthusiasts a perfect method for achieving an improvement in overall health and body.
 
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