Keeping Motivated!!

[campy]

Originally Posted by Jo_Culprit

My daily work out for many months now has been 30 push ups followed by 50 sit ups.

However I recently came across a few articles that seem to indicate that the sit ups were a waste of time


Exercises that could be harmful | Better Health Channel
5 Great Reasons to Never Do Another Sit-Up Again - Healthy Living on Shine

This is an excerpt from the second link:

"1. Contrary to popular belief, sit-ups don't protect your back. Studies show that building static back strength is the key to preventing injury.

2. Sit-ups and crunches actually compress your spine more than is allowed by occupational-safety standards.

3. You risk even more damage if you do the move of the moment: a sit-up on a physio ball. Hyperextending your back below its midline is a no-no.

4. Flexing forward at the waist is also a bad idea. Your abs were designed to be a rigid hoop to support your spine.

5. Sit-ups are a far less effective abs exercise than planks, which work your six-pack and obliques up to 25 percent more efficiently than sit-ups or crunches."


So instead of 50 sit ups a night I'm currently trialling a single 90sec long plank.

I did Pilates after my son was born and the work out on the "core" was insane. I ended up injuring my back doing all this planking shit....never had that problem with sit ups.

I think any activity, done incorrectly will result in injury. So far the best activity I have found for my belly fat has been running, not crunches or planking or standing on one foot while I tilt to the left while trying to kiss my elbow (pilates can be ridiculous). Push ups are basically planks anyway, just plans in motion so your 30 push ups a day were doing wonders fro your whole core!


I am anxious about winter coming and having to stop running for about 4 months...It means I am going to have to cut down on my food intake which is seemingly impossible for me. I've been at this for 9 months and I am still struggling with how much (or little) food I am allowed on my Weight Watchers plan....grrrr I get bitchy when i'm hungry!

[thangers]

You can still run in the winter, just probably not at the same pace and you will have to have a place where you can put your smelly clothes (since there will me more of them, Bundle Up!). Plus, it helps fight the blues in the winter because you're still soaking up some sun. It may not be the most comfortable running but it is definitely something to try out.

[Lord of the Cock Rings]

Joined a gym ~2 mo. ago.

I've only lost about 2 more lbs but my body fat %age is down 3.5% so that's a pretty good sign.

Apparently we're still going with 'no pain, no gain' cuz that's how it works.

[tempfoot]

Awesome job Campy (and company)...

Male, 6Ft.

As of late June of last year I was over 250 lbs. I started putting weight on in grad school - 20 years ago (I'm old). 2 kids, a divorce, lots of drinking and a demanding extremely sedentary career (with expense account) later it was XXL t-shirts and 40 inch pants for me.

I'd been a cyclist much of my life but had been away from it for about 10 years until I met my seriosa 7 years ago. She's really into it and though I found myself riding a lot and even doing several century rides (100 miles) I never lost more than about 15 lbs.

I realized that at my age, exercise just wasn't going to get it done. This was becoming a problem as the seriosa has the physique of T2 Sarah Conner.

Her trainer had her on a modified version of the 17 day diet. After months of foot dragging, I finally read the damned book, and here is what I found:

You get a list of food.
You eat as much of the food on the list as you want.
You count and keep track of almost nothing.
Exercise is minimal.
It supposedly works fast.
It's low fat, lots of lean meats and veggies, restricted carbs that get reintroduced.

I'm a good cook and knew I could do a lot with the choices on the list(s).

My goal was to get to 210

I lost 12 lbs in the first 17 days.
I started exercising again - slowly at first..
I allowed myself some off-plan items - half and half for coffee, a bit more drinking than allowed.
I got to 210 at the beginning of September and thought 'why stop'?
I mostly stayed on the diet during a 3 week trip to Europe in September (Including 2 weeks in Italy - that was kind of hard) - though I drank my face off and ate drunk food at Oktoberfest...

I got to 200 in Late October.

Riding the bike was getting a *lot* easier.

I got to 190 by November

I took over an hour off my best time for a 100 mile ride I do every year in November.

Since then I've been able to really train on the bike. I'm signed up for all of the challenging rides here in Colorado that I thought I would never be able to do.

I do some weights and a BodyPump class each week.
My training log says I did 700 indoor/outdoor miles on the bike last month.
I had to get all new clothes - twice. I bought nice stuff this last go-round.

As of today, I weigh 186. One pound less than when I graduated from High School. I don't think of it as a diet any more - it's just a lifestyle now.

Not every diet works for everyone, but this one was perfect for me and has helped many friends. The book is about 10 bucks. Healthy food in general costs more than the dollar menu. The pic is me in November... According to a pal I was riding with - shortly before this shot we were cruising at over 40mph.

And yes, Campy, as you stated, pretty much everything is better when you are thin (and feel better about yourself).

[Astigos]

I've been on a serious fat loss quest which has been quite success. Started Nov 1st and have lost 25lbs in ~2.5 months. I highly suggest everyone to read the bodybuilding.com forums as they have been the most enlightening thing as I am a complete novice.

Start here: How to lose fat for Noobs Part II and here: Calculating Calorie & Macronutrient Needs

Here are the rules:
-Eat 1g to about 85% of your weight in pounds (e.g. 200lbs = 170gs). This is where protein powders are your friend because it may be unfeasible to eat this much protein through foods.
-Calculate your maintenance calories (the amount of calories you need to live according to your activity level) then eat about 85% of that amount.
-Meal timing and frequency is IRRELEVANT. The only thing that matters is your calorie intake at the end of any 24 hour period. Don't believe that crap where you have to eat every 3 hours. Eating 400 calories 6 times a day is the same as eating 1200 calories 2 times a day (except much more annoying). You can eat once a day and still lose weight so long as you eat all the macronutrients you need and still hit your deficit in that one meal. It's called the Warrior Diet, look it up.
-If you run a 500 calorie deficit per day after 7 days you will lose 1lb. One pound of fat contains 3500 calories. Whether that 1lb loss is fat or fat and muscle is dependent on your protein intake and lifting routine.
-Sources of carbs/fats/proteins are irrelevant. All that matters are the carbs/fats/proteins so pay attention to what you're eating. You can actually eat nothing but chocolate cake and BBQ ribs and lose weight so long as you're running a calorie deficit. You'll probably lose muscle and be mentally broken from constant hunger pains as those are calorie dense but definitely lose weight.
-Aerobic cardio is unnecessary. Unless you're doing high intensity interval training (1min sprint, 1min jog, 1min sprint, etc.) all aerobic cardio does is burn calories so that your deficit for the day is now larger. Energy used for aerobic cardio is derived 75% from fat and 25% from muscle so it may be counter-productive to your goals if you do a lot of cardio. In all respects heavy weight lifting is better. It will both burn calories anaerobically (approaching 100% fat burn and no muscle loss) and cause after burn (soreness) which will burn calories long after you stop lifting and eventually train your muscles to use more calories in a day so that your deficit is easier to hit. Of course cardio is good for your heart and lungs but that's a different topic.

So do your weight lifting, eat 15% below your maintenance calories and get lots and lots of protein, but do not neglect your fats. Use carbs as only when necessary as they are proportionally less important in the quest for fat loss.

And here's my favorite motivating video.

[Jo_Culprit]

On the weight loss thing I recently came across a few interesting bits of info regarding metabolism and fat retention. I read them first in a book called "The 4-Hour Body" by Tim Ferriss. In the weight loss section Tim argues that a thermodynamic model of calorie usage is more useful than the calories in equals calories out model. He basically proposes taking cold showers and concentrating the cold between your lower neck and shoulder blades to enact a particular kind of 'fat burning fat' or something. Ferris covers a few other interesting things but one of reasons I like his book so much is that he split tests every theory and idea he can find.

[DWarrior]

Originally Posted by Astigos

tings

thumbsup.jpg!

I learned basically the same stuff through Leangains.com (which I think bb.com references for the most part). A good calculator to get all that caloric stuff done quickly is IF Calculator.

The aerobics thing is that it's basically a waste of time. If you're gonna do aerobics then eat afterwards, just stay home and do something else and don't eat as it doesn't help gain strength/lbm, and aerobic adaptation is for the most part unnecessary (it's basically only useful for doing more aerobic exercises). As for heavy lifting, the ideal range is 3-5 reps, as high rep stuff (10+) will induce a catabolic effect.

The cool foods aside from brotein shakes are Egg Whites (100% protein cals, unless you fuck up the yolk separation), Lean Chicken Breast (92% protein cals if you cut all the side fat), and as I found out today Shrimp (89% protein cals). The great thing about dieting is pretty much everything tastes great, so eating clean is super easy now.

I've been on a 20% deficit the past 4 weeks trying to lose 10lbs (ideally going from 16%bf to 11% assuming minor lbm loss). And I just hit the halfway point today, fysy! (Actually a week ahead of schedule, so maybe I underestimated my maintenance). bf% estimates are also on target. Once I hit my goal, I'll do an official bodpod measure and get an accurate %bf.

[DWarrior]

Originally Posted by Jo_Culprit

On the weight loss thing I recently came across a few interesting bits of info regarding metabolism and fat retention. I read them first in a book called "The 4-Hour Body" by Tim Ferriss. In the weight loss section Tim argues that a thermodynamic model of calorie usage is more useful than the calories in equals calories out model. He basically proposes taking cold showers and concentrating the cold between your lower neck and shoulder blades to enact a particular kind of 'fat burning fat' or something. Ferris covers a few other interesting things but one of reasons I like his book so much is that he split tests every theory and idea he can find.

Haven't read the book, but I'm pretty sure cals in/cals out IS thermodynamics. Arguing for cold showers beyond the raised metabolism (which is increased cals out) would be arguing from some nonthermodynamic biological effect.

[Jo_Culprit]

Originally Posted by DWarrior

Haven't read the book, but I'm pretty sure cals in/cals out IS thermodynamics. Arguing for cold showers beyond the raised metabolism (which is increased cals out) would be arguing from some nonthermodynamic biological effect.

he's saying it takes energy to maintain body temperature and he uses swimmers as a example where their raw exercise seems to account for a third of what they ingest in calories. While yes technically energy in equals energy out, he's saying that the calorie ingested equals calories exercised model specifically can be expanded to include calories the body uses to maintain its core temperature under thermal loading.

My forums posting really doesn't do the book justice.

[Astigos]

Originally Posted by DWarrior

thumbsup.jpg!

I learned basically the same stuff through Leangains.com (which I think bb.com references for the most part). A good calculator to get all that caloric stuff done quickly is IF Calculator.

The aerobics thing is that it's basically a waste of time. If you're gonna do aerobics then eat afterwards, just stay home and do something else and don't eat as it doesn't help gain strength/lbm, and aerobic adaptation is for the most part unnecessary (it's basically only useful for doing more aerobic exercises). As for heavy lifting, the ideal range is 3-5 reps, as high rep stuff (10+) will induce a catabolic effect.

The cool foods aside from brotein shakes are Egg Whites (100% protein cals, unless you fuck up the yolk separation), Lean Chicken Breast (92% protein cals if you cut all the side fat), and as I found out today Shrimp (89% protein cals). The great thing about dieting is pretty much everything tastes great, so eating clean is super easy now.

I've been on a 20% deficit the past 4 weeks trying to lose 10lbs (ideally going from 16%bf to 11% assuming minor lbm loss). And I just hit the halfway point today, fysy! (Actually a week ahead of schedule, so maybe I underestimated my maintenance). bf% estimates are also on target. Once I hit my goal, I'll do an official bodpod measure and get an accurate %bf.

Good link and good to hear you're doing it right.
I've been running a good 20% deficit for about 3 months now and my weight loss has really come almost to a halt. I'm not exactly sure what to do as some people have said I need to either refeed (which I believe means eat at maintenance for a while) or reduce calories further. I have no problems eating clean but to eat less would be a bit of a stretch. So I'm gonna try reducing calories for a while and if I don't see results I'm going to go to maintenance for 2 weeks.