LowLimit Fitness thread

[verstehen]

Post your goals, progress, and daily activities here. 

My story: I turned 30 this year and I'm looking to get in much better shape.  I'm pretty sedentary and don't have much muscle.  I'm not overweight - I'm about 5'11" 160 lb more like underweight.  I can run but otherwise don't have a lot of stamina for much else.  I've never been very strong and seeing how frail my (not very old, both around 55) parents are getting from never exercising I would like to head that off. 

Goals: eliminate stomach pudge.  Be able to chest-press 40 lb more than I can now.  Build upper body strength generally.  Run a half marathon in under 2 hrs by this time next year. 

Today:

- ran 2.6 miles
- 20 minutes of weights, all upper body

In the words of Hevad Khan, LET'S DO THIS. 

(Link for those who don't get it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kh49fHFMUTg)

[Tony]

I guess weight-loss comes under the general heading of "fitness", so here goes.

I've been on a diet for five weeks in an attempt to lose weight and reduce my body mass index.  Here's a summary of my progress thus far:

Wk 0: 14st 2.5lb (90kg), BMI = 30.2

Wk 1: 13st 10lb (87.1kg), BMI = 29.2

Wk 2: 13st 8.5lb (86.4kg), BMI = 29.0

Wk 3: 13st 6lb (85.3kg), BMI = 28.6

Wk 4: 13st 3lb (83.9kg), BMI = 28.3

Wk 5: 13st 0lb (82.6kg), BMI = 27.7


I'm now officially no longer obese and in the "over-weight" category.  I need my BMI to below 25 to be in the "normal" category.  My next weigh-in is Monday night, wish me luck!

[verstehen]

You lost 16 pounds in 5 weeks  .  Nice one!  Don't think you will have too much trouble making your goals if you keep it up!

[Tony]

Thanks V, yes it's possible that I could reach my goal weight of 11st 8lb (73.5kg) by Christmas if I can keep losing 2lb (about a kg) per week.  I'm guessing that as I get lighter it will be more difficult to shift the weight though, so it will probably slow down somewhat.  But it would be great if I could manage it by Christmas, so that's what I'm aiming for.  I'll post my weight loss (or gain  ) each week in this thread.

I'd love to start running again like yourself, it's great exercise.  I used to run a lot when I was younger but started to have problems with my knees, so I stopped.  Maybe when I'm back to my normal weight I'll rejoin a gym and start exercising again.  I definitely couldn't even run a couple of miles at the moment, I'll need to build up to it.

[Deadmoney]

You fat Bastard!!!!

  ...Like me, this is something I will follow with interest

Regards David

[Tony]

Ha haaa, now I HAVE to stick to it... 

[jabit]

I'll jump on board... next week...



honest. 

[MellowYellow]

Tony, in the other thread Tawnos and robsmith (rember him?) were saying how for actually burning calories for losing weight you should do a slower controlled run not a mile as fast as you can as I was doing because it is so many calories so fast it burns other things other than fat.  I looked into this a little and all the machines at my gym have a FAT BURN heart rate and a Cardio heart Rate.  The fat burn is always much lower.  The ones at my gym usually have fat burn at not much more than a fast walk at an incline.. a lot of times I feel like Im almost wasting my time but we got new equipment with small TV monitors hooked up to cable at our place, u plug a headphone in and you are good to go.

So i stayed at the pace keeping my pulse in Fat burn for an hour the other day listening to the Presidential debates.  I was going at a pace i felt i could do all day if i wanted at a slight uphill slope.  I was staying interested and hardly noticed the time, but after a bit i was sweating pretty good even though i felt i was doing nothing.  Then when I got off the treadmill (as always) it felt like i was floating and I realized i was getting a better workout than I realized.  So if you have bad knees and being overweight Im sure you could just do a nice power walk speed on a treadmill and be MUCH easier on your knees... or evne just around town if you arent in a gym.  I really like these new things cause for me its the boredom not the dificulty of the workout that keep me off the treadmills generally, but when there is something interesting on the time flys..

[verstehen]

Tony, in the other thread Tawnos and robsmith (rember him?) were saying how for actually burning calories for losing weight you should do a slower controlled run not a mile as fast as you can as I was doing because it is so many calories so fast it burns other things other than fat.  I looked into this a little and all the machines at my gym have a FAT BURN heart rate and a Cardio heart Rate.  The fat burn is always much lower.  The ones at my gym usually have fat burn at not much more than a fast walk at an incline.. a lot of times I feel like Im almost wasting my time but we got new equipment with small TV monitors hooked up to cable at our place, u plug a headphone in and you are good to go.

Totally agree, treadmills on "fat burn" are a very low-key pain-free workout that still gets you sweating.  My gym also added the mini-TVs with headphones so I just plug in with news, baseball, seinfeld, whatever and put in a few miles. 

And yes my thighs feel really weird when i step off the treadmill.

[verstehen]

Ran 3.6 miles slow on treadmill
Situps
2 miles on bicycle

[Tony]

Thanks for the treadmill advice.  I've tended to use the rowing machines when I do happen to go to the gym, but I find I can't keep this up for too long.  (Not because of my knees, it's just bloody hard work!)

I'll definitely try this the next time I go for a workout.  My local gym has also got the TVs installed, you just take your own headphones.

[verstehen]

One more goal: stop taking sugar in coffee!

[Tony]

Definitely do that V.  I stopped taking sugar in everything; tea, coffee, on my morning cereal.  It was surprisingly easy to adjust, and now if I accidentally drink a sweet coffee it tastes disgusting.

I've actually stopped drinking tea and coffee altogether since I started my diet.  I had a headache for literally 24 hours the first day, but I persevered and I haven't touched a drop for almost 6 weeks.  I've found I feel less stressed, I sleep better and I don't get the 'hot flushes' or palpitations I sometimes found myself having.  I also used to feel a little nauseous sometimes after drinking tea, but I don't have the same problem with the herbal teas I've started drinking.

There's also some evidence that a large intake of caffeine may have a detrimental effect on weight loss (something to do with stimulation of insulin in the blood or something...?)

Bear in mind though that I used to drink a LOT of tea and coffee.  I'm talking like ten cups a day or more 

[verstehen]

I'll be honest, I have no aspirations to give up coffee (or alcohol, which my gf's health-obsessed mother is always telling us is the devil incarnate, being made up of so much sugar).  But sugar in tea and coffee is just unnecessary, I really don't miss it all. 

I'm at about 3 cups a day and that's fine, I don't feel too bad when I only have one or two although I do generally need one in the morn to get going. 

[lowraise]

I admire your efforts guys and I am going to try and join in. Currently I weigh 17st 5 lbs (110kilos approx) and height 6ft 3ins (1.9m). Everyone says i don't look it but I can see it. I have put on around 3st in the last couple of years and would like to try and get down to 15. I have tried a lot of diets but I can only keep the weight off if I exercise and that is really difficult to do these days. I have decided to take control and make sure I start doing stuff again as I think I need to take control again.

My biggest vices are cooking good food and not skimping on taste (lots of olive oil, butter, cream, salt, etc) and I also like to drink wine. I know if I can cut some of this down I can start on loosing the calories. I love my veggies and eat a balanced diet but just eat too large portions. But my big thing is to start exercising.

Anyway I am going to try and start cycling (Bristol is so hilly I nearly have a heart attack when I think about them) and I'm going to start doing some martial arts again.

Another thing I think is causing my weight is stress. This causes me to get depressed, eat to much, drink to much, etc, etc. One of the best things to sort out stress is exercise so lets bring it on!!!

[jabit]

Currently I weigh 17st 5 lbs (110kilos approx) and height 6ft 3ins (1.9m). Everyone says i don't look it but I can see it.

My biggest vices are cooking good food and not skimping on taste (lots of olive oil, butter, cream, salt, etc) and I also like to drink wine.

Another thing I think is causing my weight is stress. This causes me to get depressed, eat to much, drink to much, etc, etc. One of the best things to sort out stress is exercise so lets bring it on!!!

I hear you!

[Tony]

Good to have you on board Chris!  I can also completely identify with the issues you mention.  Especially the liking for good, home-cooked food and large portions.  One of the things I like about using a points-based diet is that it forces me to keep my portions reasonable.

Best of luck with it, keep us informed as to your progress

[MellowYellow]

Yeah another thing to give up is Pop (soda)

I havent ever really drank sugar in my coffee only like the first couple times I ever tried it then it's been black coffee only ever since.  (Yeah great setup for the black never go back joke very funny deadmoney)

I actually dont remember how I quit drinking Pop.  I was going to try the atkins diet once cause i knew 4 people that it worked wonders for, but my problem was I was working in a restaurant where it was free and I kept drinking it accidentally, I would just find it in my hand and be like.. SHIT i drank it again.

Then me and my gf were eating out ALL the time, and we stopped ordering Pepsi with our meals cause it reduces the cost by quite a bit per meal when u figure in the extra tax and tip (i know tips are foreign to you UK folks )  So then without knowing it I just stopped, now if I ever drink it which is SUPER rare it tastes really sweet and I can feel all the syrup residue in my mouth and on my teeth afterward and it drives me ABSOLUTELY NUTS I cant STAND it.

I didnt realize caffeine had an anti weight property Tony, I know it has lots of ill affects, my dad actually JUST gave it up recently, and he used to drink a pot a day just like I did, I'm really surprised he just did it out of nowhere the other day, but yeah I thought caffeine boosted the metabolism and helped with burning calories.  I have been cutting down now I drink a half pot/day now instead of 1 - 2 pots like I used to, someday I'll probably ditch it all together or just do one cup in the morning only.

Strangely poker has actually HELPED me quit drinking coffee.  When you get 20 tables up and running u want to keep them going, sitting and waiting for the blinds takes some time and it takes a while to get an open seat in 20 tables, so the first hour might only net 280 VPPs and then the following hours all net about 420, so once you got them going its time efficient to keep it up.  When I drink lots of coffee i have to keep running to the bathroom every so often.  Now I try to play without drinking it until my first break so sometimes I dont drink any coffee til Ive been awake about 4 or 5 hours once the headache starts to set in.

[Tony]

I can't remember where I read about caffeine, I think it might have been in the Atkins Diet book actually.  Something to do with insulin I think, I'll try and find out for you.

I know what you mean about the multi-tabling.  When I was playing last night there was no way I could have stopped easily.  In fact as soon as you even pause to think you get timers coming up on half of your tables, and I was only playing 10 tables!  I'll have to work up to playing 20 I think.  I was pleasantly surprised at how quickly you can get hands in though, even playing full ring.  The thing I found most difficult was opening the tables without another table popping up and covering the "sit down" box.

[Deadmoney]

I just wish I could find a gym that has a smoking section...............................


Regards David

joking aside, this "health" thing has been on my mind more and more, because of my 3 yr old, I got additional life insurance and upped some other investments, with Mitzie working and getting some money out of the business I am kinda ahead of the curve so to speak finanacially for the moment........its good to see $$$ in the checking account and it not to be allocated for something!

Sorry to say that, I will probably have to reduce my poker alot if I do this, but I have to stop smoking too, its easy I have done it loads of times


Gl Tony, you might be my inspiration !

Regards David