Speaking of Physical Fitness

What do you guys do for exercise?

I'm at my all time high on weight. Baby + family illness + long hours at work have made me this way. Here's my routine:

6:30-7AM get up, get ready for work, eat two eggs. Go to work.

1:30 ish - Eat half a bowl of fruit, maybe a rice cake.

2-5: I'll snack on mixed nuts, rice cake, veggies, or a banana.

5:30: BEER! Usually one. Maybe two. Usually an IPA.

6:30 - 7: Dinner. Nothing crazy high in calories. Nothing out of a box or from a fast food place. Roasted chicken with broccoli and potatoes is standard fare.

Evening: 2-3 stiff vodka tonics or whiskey drinks. I know these don't help in the empty calorie/sugar/late consumption category, but that's the way it's gonna be.

So basically, I'm consuming about 2,000 calories a day (I track it on my phone)...a good bit of that is alcohol, with no excercise. Right now I'm at 235 (ACK!) When we were working out almost every day before baby, I hit a wall at about 210, (still FAT) and figured it wasn't going to get any better unless I cut out the alcohol.

I HATED working out. I understand some people enjoy this. I am not one of them. I DO enjoy sports. Throwing a football/frisbee/whatever around, playing racquetball, etc., are all things I enjoy. Unfortunately, mama does not enjoy these things, and it's dark when I get up, and dark when I get on the road to go home. Baby doesn't make it any easier. We go to the park and chase each other around for a bit on the weekends, but it's hardly a workout.

What are you guys doing in the way of exercise?

Lift transmissions.

That and Insanity. Works for me. I was building muscle on day 3. Gotta keep up, though.

I drink plenty. Strong, double-hopped stouts, bourbon, etc... Don't get me wrong, I'm no drunk, but the bad stuff seems to go straight through me.

Cutting out the alcohol would be a good first step.

No help here, I love exercise, but I gotta say you're probably over-reporting your daily consumed calories. There's been a couple of studies out that show average over-reporting to the tune of 40%, which would easily explain your weight gain. Not a calorie counter so I don't know the solution, but the solution to weight gain is of course to always eat less than you burn.

I know a few guys that do 30-60 minutes 3-5 times a week on a treadmill at home, high incline. Most watch TV while doing this, though I know a guy who plays videogames. Keeps them "balanced" and not overly bored.

N Sperlo wrote: That and Insanity. Works for me. I was building muscle on day 3. Gotta keep up, though.

You'd have to be really, really weak to build muscle via Insanity. Low intensity/high rep stuff? Yeah.

I hate exercising just to be exercising, but I really need to get in shape.

I have a recumbent exercise bike in my basement. I rigged up a platform on its display that my iPad fits on. Weekday mornings, I get up about an hour earlier than I need to to get to work, grab a couple of bites of a banana, then get a glass of water, and go exercise. Right now, I do about 45 minutes a session, varying the resistance a bit (trying to get mainly cardio, but need some strength in there, too). 45 minutes is enough for me to watch an hour long TV show on netflix, so I don't feel like I'm "wasting" my time.

Edit: I'm not losing a lot of weight right now, but have stabilized. I've found since I started exercising, I get hungrier, and eat more. I need to start controlling my intak better, especially since I still tend to eat a lot of unhealthy food.

Thats a lot of booze! I'd certainly have a hangover from 2 beers and 3 stiff drinks.

It seems you eat healthier than me and I'm pretty thin. I gotta think the alcohol is your source.

good luck.

You may hate it, but exercise now will help prevent your poor health from being a burden on your family later. That, and in-shape sex is better than out-of-shape sex.

The booze, inadvertent over-snacking, and lack of exercise sounds like the problems you're facing.

Hate to say it, but the booze is probably what's stopping you. ASSuming you're eating sane portions (i don't), the stuff you listed probably won't even get you to 2,000 calories by itself.

I also hate working out. I just tell myself it's only an hour out of my day, 4-5 hours a week, and it's better than actually being at work, and i do that for 50-60 hours a week.

rotard wrote: You may hate it, but exercise now will help prevent your poor health from being a burden on your family later. That, and in-shape sex is better than out-of-shape sex.

Family Guy disagrees. Fat sex is the best sex.

Basically nothing, it's too hot for exercise. I watch what I eat to compensate. So far I've successfully avoided becoming a lardass but the threat is always looming.

Switch from having lunch and dinner, to having dinner and supper. You are eating the calories when you don't need them.

I also understand how hard it is to do that when supper is the only family meal you have.

And keep on drinking. These pansys just don't understand.

92CelicaHalfTrac wrote: Hate to say it, but the booze is probably what's stopping you. ASSuming you're eating sane portions (i don't), the stuff you listed probably won't even get you to 2,000 calories by itself.

Figure 150 calories a beer and 200 a drink, you're looking at 900 calories a day in booze alone. That hurts.

Bagel for breakfast, leftovers for lunch, leftovers or something hot and fresh for dinner, sometimes some desert. About 40 ounces of tea through the day, usually one beer a night, a little tequila on weekend evenings. I'd be stabbing at how many calories, but definitely upwards of 2000, and maybe more than 3k.

I don't exercise nearly enough. Lots of brisk walking at work, a few minutes chasing the dogs around when I get home, then work in the garage for a couple hours. Definitely not 3k calories-worth. I'm pretty steady at 210 lbs, but I'm young and have kick-ass metabolism (pisses my wife off ). I'm going to have to step it up over the next few years, or I'll really fill out if/when my metabolism slows down.

This might just motivate me to move the bike upstairs so I can spin a bit while I watch movies...

I know this will bring out the nay-sayers, but here it goes:

Vegetarian.

I was you (minus the hard booze) in March/April. 235 pounds (42" waist, XL shirts), all fat, no energy, sick all the damn time. I went vegetarian (absolutely no meat, fish, or eggs) plus a few other cuts (no dairy milk, already did no dairy butter, cut way back on the cheese).

Now, mind you, the healthiest I ever was was at the end of boot camp. 200 pounds, Large shirt, 38 waist, from doing crazy exercise for 10 weeks straight.

It's now December. I weigh 185 pounds, 36" waist, Medium shirt. I get ~4-6 hours of sleep a night (oh, hai, baby!) and yet I have energy out the wazoo. Everybody else in the office has gotten sick (including the flu) multiple times and I had a runny nose for a few days.

I feel like I need exercise (because I work a nearly sedentary desk job that's high-stress) so at night, back in August or so, I started doing just straight sit-ups and push-ups before bed with some stretching. Like 15 minutes, max.

At this rate, I'll probably be 180 by New Year's. I also didn't gain anything over Thanksgiving (+ leftovers week), when I normally balloon up about 10 pounds.

No supplements, no vitamins, etc.

I'll answer any questions, and hopefully the "you must have protein!" crazies will stay quiet.

Any hope of finding some sort of exercise you don't hate?

The progress on weight is slow for me, but in terms of increasing performance (which I'm pretty certain will grow into more/better exercise), I'm reminded (again) that consistency is key to improving my cycling.

Historically I've tried for every other day. Then stuff comes up and 3.5 days a week becomes 3 becomes 2 and then it's not exercise, it's just something I do occasionally.

Taking this opportunity to pat myself on the back, mostly to keep myself motivated, I rode more in November than any month all year (after finishing 2-3 months completely off the bike on the garage project).

I'm generally pretty bad about long-term goal motivation, but when I'm seeing headway, it becomes easier to stay excited about things further off, like mountain bike race season starting in a few months.

Any sort of community center near you with a pool or something like that? I can't swim, but was doing some lessons at mine (still spaz and sink, mostly, so far). Again, trying to find something that's consistent, active, and fun.

I have a stationary trainer, and have used it once this dark/wet season. I hate it, even with motivational bike races on TV. On the flip side, I go to a cycling studio gym thing a couple times a week, and having power data to watch and a coach specifying how hard to go, and other people suffering along makes it all more fun, and I get a really focused workout.

One other random observation; the more I exercise, the less I frequently want some things that aren't good for me. I love a beer or three, and find Manhattans go very well with Winter, but the appeal of more than one the evening after a workout usually isn't there as much.

Osterkraut wrote:

92CelicaHalfTrac wrote: Hate to say it, but the booze is probably what's stopping you. ASSuming you're eating sane portions (i don't), the stuff you listed probably won't even get you to 2,000 calories by itself.

Figure 150 calories a beer and 200 a drink, you're looking at 900 calories a day in booze alone. That hurts.

Yep. I know it's not perfect, but i switched to diet sodas when i realized i was consuming about 1,000 calories a day in Mountain Dew.

Next step is to switch to water.

Oh, and i've found that food poisoning is a great way to lose weight. I got it at Thanksgiving, lost almost 10lbs in 3 days, and haven't gained it back!

Javelin wrote: I'll answer any questions, and hopefully the "you must have protein!" crazies will stay quiet.

Well unfortunately, when you call us "crazies," that's pretty much the best invitation anyone could get.

I do really well with exercise for the spring, summer and fall cause I have soccer and ultimate frisbee to play and I run some. But then winter comes and I am too damn cheap to buy a gym membership and it is too cold to run outside and I gain like 10 lbs....

92CelicaHalfTrac wrote:

Javelin wrote: I'll answer any questions, and hopefully the "you must have protein!" crazies will stay quiet.

Well unfortunately, when you call us "crazies," that's pretty much the best invitation anyone could get.

No, I called the crazies crazies. You're normal people. Normal people understand things like basic math, scientific method, and moderation.

Crazies eat "supplements" in a bowl full of eggs for breakfast cereal, work their core at the gym 6x a week, and think that chicken is a vegetable.

Find a softball league. Or an inline hockey league. Or an ice hockey league. Or a flag football league. Or a basketball league. Or whatever. Puts the fun back in it.

Make sure it is only 1 beer, not 2.

Cut the 2-3 stiff drinks back to 1-2 not quite as stiff drinks.

I pick things up and put them down.

Works well. Works better if you have money for food and space to really lift, but I don't, so I've been a chubby 220 for about 8 years now. Not sure what my waist is, but 34-38 is what fits depending on the brand of pants.

Osterkraut wrote: You'd have to be really, really weak to build muscle via Insanity. Low intensity/high rep stuff? Yeah.

I must be really, really week then, because it works for me. Also really brought my endurance up, but I've always had bad endurance. Coming from a family off marathon runners, I'm the sprinter.

Javelin wrote:

92CelicaHalfTrac wrote:

Javelin wrote: I'll answer any questions, and hopefully the "you must have protein!" crazies will stay quiet.

Well unfortunately, when you call us "crazies," that's pretty much the best invitation anyone could get.

No, I called the crazies crazies. You're normal people. Normal people understand things like basic math, scientific method, and moderation. Crazies eat "supplements" in a bowl full of eggs for breakfast cereal, work their core at the gym 6x a week, and think that chicken is a vegetable.

You just pretty much described my diet when i'm not too injured to work out.

I can and will eat 10lbs of chicken a week.

I don't just work my core, though... so i'm good.

This method works for bulking for me, but i'd absolutely not recommend it for weight loss, for sure.

Javelin wrote: I'll answer any questions, and hopefully the "you must have protein!" crazies will stay quiet.

Silence, everyone with ideas formed using science, I don't want to hear it from you!

If only it worked that way. Diets higher in protein produce a weight loss that spares more lean body mass, that's a fact. Here's some science that agrees.

Javelin wrote:

92CelicaHalfTrac wrote:

Javelin wrote: I'll answer any questions, and hopefully the "you must have protein!" crazies will stay quiet.

Well unfortunately, when you call us "crazies," that's pretty much the best invitation anyone could get.

scientific method

L. O. berkeleyin. L.

Javelin wrote: No, I called the crazies crazies. You're normal people. Normal people understand things like basic math, scientific method, and moderation. Crazies eat "supplements" in a bowl full of eggs for breakfast cereal, work their core at the gym 6x a week, and think that chicken is a vegetable.

Funny, I know a ton of crazies then. Also some of the nicest guys out there who wouldn't give you E36 M3 for being a vegetarian. Always the other way around it seems.

My breakfast usually entails about 8 eggs, a ton of sausage/bacon/scrapple and my plates at buffets are always loaded up with meat.