Healthy Lifestyles and Fitness Discussion

[Kago]

I know this is a forum based on Anime, Manga, Technology, Writing, etc., but I thought it could be interesting to have a thread to discuss anything health or fitness related. Some of our members may have answers to your questions (coughDoctorLilcough), you may just need/want encouragement or support to reach your goals, or simply want to talk about the topic.

To be fair, anything you feel like discussing is welcome so long as it is related to health and/or fitness.

I will start things off:

I haven't been in the greatest shape lately due to my poor eating habits (leftover Easter candy, chocolate cake the wifey brought home). My goal is to drop at least five (5) pounds before my vacation trip (in about 8 weeks). I feel that is a respectable and achievable goal considering my physique (6'3 235 lbs).

To help me with my goal, I've been looking up healthy recipes and started grilling more of my food on my gas grill:

Mhmm.... Healthy....

 

[Doc]

As a person with high cholesterol I can't say much. but i've been eating those healthy choice cafe steamers for about two months now (frustratingly cheaper than the amount of hot pockets i'd need in their place) and suddenly i'm down a notch on my belt. so that's something.

 

[Wayne]

I was bound to post sooner or later.

@Kago, I'd say 5 pounds in 8 weeks is pretty easy even for a beginner. If anything, I'd suggest going for double that if you're really committed to your diet and exercise. I'm not a fan of getting technical with counting calories, but if you're down for it, judging by your height and weight, go with about 2,100 calories a day. That should put you on a deficit and hopefully help you lose weight even with little exercise. Assuming you really wanna go balls to the walls, by all means go below the 2k range.

Food wise, it's all about chicken chicken chicken. And by chicken I mean chicken breasts, aka white meat. Steak and similar red meats are alright for a once a week thing, although not so much for everyday. Keep seasoning to the more basic stuff: thyme, rosemary, salt, pepper, etc. The pre-made marinades tend to be packed with sugar and high fructose corn syrup. Also veggies, don't forget them veggies. Spinach, BROccoli, and kale are my personal favorites. As for drinks, stay the hell away from any of these so-called 'health drinks' you get at a grocery store like V8 and other bullcrap. Hell, even guys at the gym don't drink Gatorade or anything like that after workouts.

In a nutshell, there's gonna be a hierarchy of macros you want to focus on. Proteins, carbohydrates, and fats. Carbs are your main source of energy, but in excess the glucose it produces fucks your shit up. Lower your carb intake, and stick with complex carbohydrates (brown rice, whole grain bread, beans... not the canned ones, etc.). Contrary to popular belief, fats as a nutrient isn't the enemy here. It's necessary for your metabolism, but obviously keep it in moderation. Off the top of my head, a good source of healthy fats is olive oil. Use that shit to cook everythang. Lastly, brotein. It's your best friend if you workout, although it's useful even to people living sedentary. in your case, if you're limiting your calories, bring your protein intake to about 150+ grams or so for starters.

Losing weight isn't so bad, even with minimal exercise. Of course, running and hitting the weights can help, but just eating healthy can be a good start to dropping the pounds. For the most part, it really just boils down to limiting and picking what we put in our mouths. The rest comes naturally.

@Doc: You gon die of diabeetus, bro. No hope for you.


Also motivation, you say?

here

And my personal fave

 

[Nargles]

Feel like posting in this because why the hell not.

Over the past seven months I've lost roughly 40 lbs putting me now at 146 lbs. Though now I'm trying to go in the other direction while gaining muscle. My diet is rather weird compared to most people. As with most Hindu households my entire family is vegetarian. Though contrary to common belief it is really easy to gain weight as a vegetarian considering its easy to overdo the carbs to compensate for the protein.

At the beginning it does help to keep a close eye on calories. While it does help in weight loss the main benefit is to help rewrite bad eating habits. Furthermore, stay the hell away from over the counter pills and targeted weight loss drinks. The pills are usually just unsustainable appetite suppersors and the drinks are usually filled with artificial substances and sugar. Better alternatives are the greatest liquid ever made, water, complex carbs and healthy fats, like hummus. Starting out with simply a diet can show good results but overtime without exercise your body has a habit of plateauing. At that point, exercise can act as a Jumpstart to your metabolism.

Also most importantly, STARVATION DIETS DONT WORK. Your body is programmed to hold as many fats and nutrients as possible when it feels starved.

 

[Several Zombies]

^ This.

There's a big misconception that if you simply stop eating, or severely reduce your caloric intake, you'll lose weight. Unfortunately, when you starve yourself, long before you actually start seeing any weight loss, your body enters 'starvation mode'. As far as it's concerned, you're fucking dying, and every single nutrient you take in is precious. When you're in this state, practically everything you eat will be 'stored' as fat. That's why it's not only entirely possible, but pretty common for people who try and starve themselves to actually gain weight instead.

This is a problem I've struggled with personally. As some of you may know, my life over the last few years has been hectic to say the least, and one of my good habits that kind of fell to the wayside during this time was eating decently portioned meals at regular times. Things were just too busy for me to think about meals, and without even realizing it or intending to do it, I cut my food intake way down which, in turn, led to me packing on some pounds.

Now that things have calmed down I've definitely started to work it off, but it's like Criss said; you just need to be mindful about what you put in your body. Both the composition and amount of food you eat is important. I know a lot of us lead pretty busy lives, but one of the best bits of advice I can give from my own personal experience is to get on a schedule. Eat at regular times, exercise at regular times, sleep at regular times. Your body thrives on structure!

/2cents

 

[Eidolon]

5 steps, none of them simple, that I learned growing up.

Fitness - Do cardiovascular exercise three times a week. "Running" is not the best option, typically, due to the stress it places on joints and ligaments, especially once you're not 20 anymore. Swimming is quite crazily good cardio, and is a full body workout as opposed to just 'lower body', there's also extremely low intensity, high volume weight training that can suffice. You aren't training for hypertrophy per say with that approach, but instead monitoring your heart rate and keeping it in the optimal zone.

Weight Training - Don't just go to the Gym and start trying to bench your own weight. Consult with a fitness expert to get a well balanced approach to hypertrophy and strength training, based on your own desires. Lower body, front upper, back upper split between three days (the one's you don't cardio) and a net 1 day of no exercise for your body to recover. In strength training, always remember its not about the weight you move, but rather, how you move it.

Form, full, fluid movements that are controlled and isolating the intended muscle groups is the key to success. Just trying to bench a small car and and then talking about how big your biceps are while doing curls with mostly your back will lead to humiliation, the appearance of a top heavy dude or dudet, and certainly injury.

Good programs scale from hypertrophy, to power, to peaking, and then give rest cycles. Also, switching up what techniques you use for a muscle group help to keep gains at a maximum.

Flexibility - Stretch your muscle groups before you exercise to prevent injury, stretch after to increase flexibility. Again, ask a fitness professional for a great set of stretching routines to get your body loosened up and capable. Don't ever cheese out on this. Its incredibly important.

Proper diet - Mostly covered in other posts. But remember if you are training your muscles, you need to supply them torn fibers with what they need to rebuild, and in terms of your caloric intake, you'll be perhaps increasing, but at the least altering your intake. Doing cardio while having increased muscle mass = more calories burned, and so on.

Rest - When its your day off: rest. Seriously, don't do any cardio/weight training. Its fine to play a game and so on, but really do rest. Your body does need time to recoup.

 

[Fisher]

http://liamrosen.com/fitness.html

One of the best comprehensive guides I've come across. The source was unexpected, for sure. but this information is reinforced with facts, resources, and references to back it up. I fully agree with nearly all of the things on this page.

Nearly.

Almost.
Fzzkzzghgaahg.

 

[Kago]

This is all great information. With everyone providing input, some questions have come to mind:

What kind of experience(s) have you had in the past?

Have you reached your goal or are still struggling to reach it?

What is/are your current goal(s)?

What motivates you to strive forward?

How do you make exercising fun?



Please feel free to share your stories.

 

[Code of the Noble]

This is all great information. With everyone providing input, some questions have come to mind:

What kind of experience(s) have you had in the past?

Have you reached your goal or are still struggling to reach it?

What is/are your current goal(s)?

What motivates you to strive forward?

How do you make exercising fun?



Please feel free to share your stories.

1. I dont quite understand this question.

2. Mine is a goal I have been working toward since February this year. I've lost a total of 6 inches on my waist and gained a shit ton of weight. I've learned to stay away from the scale as what I've gained is muscle weight (and muscle is heavier than fat). I weigh almost what you weigh Kago but I went from a 36 comfortable to a 33/34 and still loosing.

3. My goal is to look and feel great in my clothing as well as inside. Also to stay healthy from the inside out.

4. My goals and the results as well as my fitness coach and team keep me motivated.

5. make a friend or two at the gym that you see there the same days you go or would like to go (cardio wise this works great, also when needing someone to spot you when lifting) Or you could look into group training. Thats what I did and am still doing

 

[Wayne]

What kind of experience(s) have you had in the past?

Have you reached your goal or are still struggling to reach it?

What is/are your current goal(s)?

What motivates you to strive forward?

How do you make exercising fun?

1. Working out has probably become my most avid hobby compared to anything else. I was particularly engaged with the science behind it--in this case, nutrition as well and how the body reacts to certain types of strains put on it i.e., strength, endurance, or hypertrophy training. It's kind of like tinkering with playdough to see what you can make out of it. Also, I found in my 4 years of hitting the gym that the big dudes (the scary fuckers who everyone thinks is some douched-up roid monkey) are actually some of the most helpful and chillaxed bros you could possibly talk to. Half of what I know now was from the Internet, while the other half was from them... along with the occasional broscience, of course. That being said, there's always gonna be some assholes wherever you go, whatever shape or size. If you're a beginner struggling with the 3 main compounds (squats, deadlifts, bench press) don't be afraid to ask people for a spot. You'd be surprised how friendly guys at the gym can be. Sometimes even the dudes who wear backward hats and giant headphones. I still hate them though.

2. Weight loss to me is more of an aesthetic issue and less of a struggle. I'm around 11 to 12% body fat, and because I'm more predisposed to being an endomorph, I tend to retain fat. It's a hassle trying to shave off those last few chunks without losing muscle mass, but I'm pretty sure if I keep my routine for a few more months, I might hopefully reach 10% bf or below. Long term goal is pretty straightforward. I want to be the most ripped motherfucker I could possibly be. The people who scream "ew thats too big for me" can go fuck themselves.

3. As for motivation, I'll be honest. I do it less for health and more for my ego. Sure the health benefits are nice, but looking shredded as fuck and lifting more than what most of the general population can is totally the way to go for me.

4. I go work out solo 99.9% of the time. I found that bringing someone along usually distracts me seeing as how we inevitably just end up having a dick-measuring competition (figuratively) and see who can lift the most. It messes with my routine, so screw it. I don't personally have anything to add to the 'fun' factor since to me, lifting is already a fun distraction.

 

[theStark]

I like this thread. xD

Okay well I recently just got back into working out and eating healthy. Within the 5 weeks I've been working out, I've dropped 15lbs while adding a lot of muscle. I hit the gym 6 days a week. Everyday doing one body part while doing cardio and abs 3 days a week added with a workout (Usually with shoulders, back and legs). I'm trying to get a little bigger while slimming down. I have awhile to go but I've never been more motivated.

My diet is something I'm still trying to iron out. Being an EMT is tough because there are days where you won't get to eat the 6 meals a day that I want to try. Sometimes I'm lucky if I get to eat once during my shifts. I've cut out fast food, and basically make chicken and whole grain rice or pasta, along with fruits and veggies. I do have a cheat day once a week(if I use it). Which usually isn't much anyway. I don't drink soda. I mostly drink Water, Gatorade, and Milk.

I don't take any supplements yet as I want to see how I look after two full months. If anyone has any suggestions feel free to add your input.