I've never had issues with weight, so I hadn't been reading this thread, but I do exercise a fair amount and it occurred to me that I have a suggestion that might help those who are trying to lose weight. Getting a laptop "shelf" that attaches to a treadmill, elliptical or exercise bike can make it easy to burn away a few hours exercising. I got this one, SurfShelf: http://www.amazon.com/SurfShelf-Tre...4RBK/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1292220263&sr=8-1 Not very expensive and works well. Easy to attach and remove and holds the laptop (or other portable device) quite securely. I find that the main difficulty in exercising for long periods is boredom, not becoming too tired. Using the treadmill at 3.5 miles per hour can burn 450-500 calories per hour (depending on your current weight)...over 2-3 hours, that's a pretty solid calorie loss...and that's while doing things you might do anyway. You can watch a DVD, browse the web, post to S2, etc. Assuming you spend a couple of hours a day doing that stuff, combine it all into one session, use an exercise machine at the same time and it's pretty easy. I'm all about multi-tasking and making things like exercise as enjoyable as possible, so it works for me. Of course, it may be a rather niche solution...but there may be others for whom it would also work.
Only ran four 100 yard sprints today. Legs were like jello at the end of it lol that run the night before probably didn't to me any favors. Not a terrible start though.
That looks pretty sweet. I might pick one up. I work out of my home. I raised my desk to standing height (ghetto 2x4 construction, but it works) and got a chair that raises to standing height. I now work about 6 hours a day standing, 2 hours sitting. I burn about 300 more calories/day doing that. It doesn't sound like much, but if you need to burn 3500 calories to lose a pound, you are losing a pound every couple weeks.
Oct. 10th - 182.0 Feb. 11th - 158.8 After hitting the single life, I definitely felt like it was time to change my whole lifestyle. No more soda, no more fast food, and if I go out to eat I get a salad. Starting hitting the gym 4-5x a week, and I've never been this in shape. Still feel like I need to get down to about 150, but I'm focusing more on getting my BF% down to about 12-14% now (18% currently).
Nice job Blazer Freak. I just broke up with my girlfriend too and immediately started boxing at a local MMA gym here. Been wanting to get into Muy Thai but those classes don't fit my schedule but boxing is fun too. Classes are Mo Wed Fri and I plan on continuing to play basketball Saturdays and I may start running on off days too because so far its not hard on my legs and I need all the conditioning I can get to keep up. Was 176 lbs. on Monday when I started so I plan on weighing myself every Monday.
6'0 175lbs. I used to be about 160 and I've always had BF in the 6-10% range. Since I graduated from college I sit in a chair all day on a computer (accountant) so i've packed on about 15lbs of fat. I've always had a leaner look, and the only other time I've been 175 was when I took creatine and lifted like crazy. Guess I just need to start lifting again, just sucks when you have barely any time
Thanks man. Yeah it definitely freed up some of my time ( and money ), and I think the best way to really get yourself going is to just go all out and immerse yourself in the lifestyle. For me atleast, it was all about figuring out where/how I could fit it into my schedule, and then looking at what I was doing that was unhealthy and it's really been a much easier battle since I've done that. 2 weeks ago I actually signed up for a 4 week program where I got a nutritionist and PT for 4 weeks, so I've been mostly focusing on increasing my lean body mass and burning off that extra fat. It was actually a pretty fair price, and honestly has paid for itself just in increasing my knowledge on how to work out properly and eat better. Gotten plenty of meal plans and such so I can pretty much switch up what/how I want to eat and still keep it within my calorie range. If anyone is curious/needs something like that I can definitely send you a copy, I know I couldn't have gotten this far by myself so I'd be glad to help anyone else out.
Comcast has some good workouts available "On Demand". My wife and I do various workouts 4-5 times a week.
Definitely. The timing was perfect on the boxing thing because a TA of mine who trains for all aspects of MMA invited people to come try it out so right after my girlfriend and I separated I told him I'd be there and that commitment sort of forced me to go. I'm glad I jumped in when I did because I think if I didn't go the first day I'd be sitting around saying I'm taking a few weeks off before I try to get fit/improve my life/try something new. And yeah I don't get the science and specifics behind nutrition, how the body works, etc. I'm pretty limited in food options since I'm in college though so I'm ok with it. Just trying to think about what I eat and make the portions just what I need to not be hungry. I fucking LOVE beer though, thats the one thing I'd have a hard time giving up. I know I can get drunk other ways with less calories/carbs but man nothing beats beer and its so enticing to sit around all night throwing back beers BSing with roommates. Ends up becoming the equivalent of a whole meal in calories though lol.
Bump to brag. Down 62 pounds since July 2010. Cut out pretty much everything made with flour and sugar (most days) and ate a ton more meat and veggies. Jogging, hiking, some strength stuff. Lots of cheat days, or it'd have gone a lot faster. I figure another 10 or so and I'll start thinking about how low I really want to go. Ran a 5k yesterday. May not sound like much to the whippersnappers here, but to a 38 year old dude who basically lived on a couch for years, that ain't bad. Booyah.
I lost 6.5 pounds since last Tuesday. I never understood how people can measure such small increments over short periods; it’s got to be all water weight. I’m joking obviously. I swear my weight can fluctuate 8lbs just from going to bed if I drink a big glass of water, sweat some at night and pee in the mourning. I obviously didn’t lose any long term weight by laying still for 8 hours.
congrats Mook! I did good and was really motivated about a month ago. Running on an eliptical (bad knees) every day and eating well. But then we had a family dinner with great Mexican food and I fell off the wagon lol. I had lost about 6 pounds in the first two weeks (some water weight I'm sure) but am just having trouble getting started again. Again, good work!
About a month ago I stopped eating meals at restaurants, fast food, or heavily pre-packaged items. Much more healthy and I’m saving money. I plan to eat at restaurants if somebody else buys or it would be socially awkward to not eat and pay for my meal but that is it. I’m only eating groceries or things I cook myself. I’ve always been good about preparing healthy meals with protein and veggies when I do decided to cook, but had way too many times I’m on the run, so grab a burger or ordered $5 pizza with blazerboy. I’m trying to watch carbs, not necessarily do low carb as I want plenty of energy for exercise and sports; more that I want to maintain reasonable carbs but make a conscious effort to increase proteins and good fats. I agree sugar and flour have been the worst parts of the recent American diet. I completely stopped drinking alcohol, I usually binge drank about once every other week and had a couple beers on a few other nights. Feel as though I’ve been there done that with alcohol and it’s not as fun any more. I’m 6’3”, was 205 a few months ago now down to 185. I was trying to decrease body fat %, which I’ve been doing, but I’m not really trying to lose weight, would like to gain muscle and have weight closer to 200. I think I’ve lost mostly fat, but a little muscle. Once you start eating healthier it can be very hard to get enough calories and protein to maintain weight. I’ve always thought it would be good to work out in the mourning but I’ve never been able to stick to a routine of forcing myself to wake up early enough before work. Sometimes things pop up and I run out of hours later in the day so I miss a few evening workouts here or there.
Thanks! I feel you on falling off the wagon. I ate 1 and a half medium Dominos pizzas on Saturday night. It was pathetic. Seemed like I crapped about 40 times the next day. Each trip to the can just drove home the shame. If you have problems falling off the wagon, maybe try doing the Seinfeld Calendar. Basically put up a year calendar on a wall and put an X on every day you exercise or eat below a certain number of calories. The goal becomes not breaking the chain of X days for as long as you can. Jerry Seinfeld developed it for writing, but it works well with weight loss, from what I hear. I'm just starting it now because I've found myself getting a little lax lately and I think a good visual reminder might help. Honestly, I think the real key to long-term weight loss is to just switch up systems every so often. And remember that it's 80% diet, 20% exercise.
