Got my boss to agree to a ~10 to ~19 schedule, as in: breakfast with my daughter, bring her to school, go for a run, drive to work with NO traffic.
It has done wonders for my motivation to exercise; I cannot imagine setting my alarm earlier to go running. And when I get home generally I’m too tiered too go out. So this schedule is perfect for me.
So far 0 weight loss, but I feel quite good and I am imagining some muscle growth
I’m male, 41, 6’2 and 227 lbs: my goal is below 198 ( 90 kg in metric)
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Sounds like you enjoy being at the point where you feel guilty if you miss a workout? Lucky.
I’m also at the point of feeling guilty when I miss a workout, and man … I don’t know, I just feel guilty whatever I do, practically. When I exert a ton of discipline, I can get such a beautiful body, and it gets to the point where if I’m not exerting huge amounts of discipline, I can feel guilty just for living like a normal person. If I work out, but I don’t think I chose challenging enough weights for the workout, it can bother me. If I decide to put a little bit of ketchup on my breakfast of scrambled eggs with mushrooms. If I finish my sweet potato at dinner but leave over some vegetables. If I drink any alcohol.
And then every time I try to lighten up and do something a little fun, like relax while I’m on vacation, I feel bad that I no longer have as good muscle definition in my arms as I did last month, and I know that it’s all my fault that I’m losing muscle definition. And then I get to really being in good shape, and I feel guilty for being the debbie downer who refuses to drink alcohol or eat birthday cake with everyone else.
And there’s nothing wrong with that! Be the Resolutioner who’s still there in September.
Some people argue that if you planned and prepared to have a free day, and then get right back on the wagon it’s ok. I’m not sure I agree, but having a cheat plan (I’m going to eat 4 square of dark chocolate, but not go facedown in the M&Ms … or I can eat all the BBQ ribs I want, but no potatoes) is really helpful. Maybe something like that would help you focus on what you really want rather than eating the buffet of snacky glory that is a superbowl party?
Question, and yes I probably should ask the monitor at the gym but I don’t like the one that’s been on duty the last few times*:
Working out on the machines, in theory should every push or pull be a clear effort, or would it be better to have a slightly-lower weight that I can do for 15x3 without hurting the next day?
I asked about free weights. The answer was “uhhh… well, you shouldn’t even think of those until you’ve been coming regularly, 3-4 times/week for at least 4 months”. Oh, OK, so never, and btw you don’t even consider that people may be doing other kinds of exercise. Gotcha. I don’t want to go to the next Strongest Woman contest, dude, just want to have some more flexibility on stuff I can do around the gym.
There’s no simple answer.
The “rule of thumb” is: high reps for stamina/definition, low reps (heavy weights) for strength/muscle size.
Personally, I find that high reps (20+, up to five sets) makes me much more sore the next day than going to failure at 6 reps, maxing out.
So, it depends on what you want to achieve. I think that most women would be better served by using more weight. I see a lot of women doing sets of 6-10, and not putting much effort into it at all, which seems like a big waste of time to me. I say - increase the resistance so that you are actually stressing your muscles a bit.
It seems like I’ve been battling my weight all my life with varying degrees of success. Now I have a new motivation.
I don’t want to go blind.
I was diagnosed with macular degeneration in December. I’m 55 so this is a little young. My dad has had it since a young age, too, so I’ve been rigorous about checking my eyes. It was caught early so I’m taking AREDS 2 supplements and following the National Eye Institute’s nutritional guidelines. My doctor says I have a 90% chance that my vision won’t be affected in the next five years, and I’m trying to better those odds. Basically, eat fruit, nuts, and dark leafy greens every day. Eat more fish. Keep your meals low in fat. http://www.amd.org/can-diet-and-vitamins-help-macular-degeneration/
I had already started an aqua exercise program last spring and have been very good about attending and participating. This has pushed me into overdrive.
After several experiments, I find that I just cannot eat a big ol salad every day. I have decided to drink most of my leafy greens and fruit every morning. I got a Ninja IQ and gathered info. Most mornings, I start with a cup of kale, an orange or apple, a handful of frozen mixed berries, some chia seed, a dash of cinnamon and a cup of V8 healthy greens in the ninja. It’s not pretty, but it’s not the worst thing I ever tasted.
I’m also upping my gym time from 3 times a week to 4 or 5 (I’ve got arthritis, too. Hence the water routine)
This particular diet has me doing the opposite of most diets. It’s not “don’t eat this or that”. It’s you MUST eat fruit, fish, and leafy greens. I think I’m happiest with the clean eating and grain bowl style of meals. If I can just get it all coordinated.
With free weights, it’s better to have good form than up your weights. That prevents injury. With machines, I think it should be fairly easy in the beginning of the set, then tougher as you go on. When you can bang out the whole set without breaking a sweat, then up your weights.
45 and currently 84kg (184 pounds) / 183cm (6’1"). I was 75kg after college, and 93kg (my highest, or pretty close) around this time last year.
I’m currently in the middle of my first-ever weight-loss diet, which started back in September, when I weighed 92kg (202lbs). I finally got tired of being “gaijin fat”: people back home would say I was slim, while people in Japan would routinely slap my stomach and compliment me on my healthy appetite.
My technique is to go for slow, steady weight loss with eating habits that I can keep up permanently, rather than a temporary diet that I’ll quit once I reach a target weight.
The main changes I’ve made so far:
No between meal snacks and no sugared drinks
Track everything that I eat, which has really helped put in perspective just what I need and don’t need. My FitBit is currently set for a daily goal of a 750 calorie deficit
Do something active each day, even if it’s just walking to the next station on the way home. I try to bike to work (20-30km round trip) about 2-3 times a week.
So far it hasn’t been too hard, and I’ve adjusted to the new diet habits without ever feeling like I was really depriving myself. I put back a few pounds during Xmas back at home, but I’m now where I was before the holidays. People have noticed the difference in my appearance, and I’ve had to get new pants and belts. My exercise so far has been aerobic: walking, jogging, biking, and I think when I get down around 80kg I’ll get back into weight training and figure out then what new dietary balance I’ll need.
People do that?!!! :shuddders: Perhaps I won’t visit Japan after all. I am normal for corn-fed American girl, but I would probably be noticeable in Asia.
I can now, after several years of working up to it, workout for a solid hour with an average heart rate of 155-160. Age tables say my max should be 166, but I’ve gotten it up to 180 a few
times with absolutely no issues. Typically feel great afterwards too. And those 60 lost pounds remain lost.
Boot Camp this morning. I was so glad when I was chatting with the other ladies after to find out it wasn’t just me…it was an extremely tough workout. Whooboy.
This morning I looked at my January food log statistics in MyFitnessPal…ugh. I knew there had been several “bad” days, but I only came in at or under my daily calorie goal on 15 out of 31 days! That’s less than 50%! :eek: Seeing the numbers was pretty sobering. It’s some kind of miracle that I haven’t gained any weight.
I am going to do better this month. I’ll finish February with a much higher percentage of “goal calories” days, and it’s also time to quit whining about exercise and just do it.
Putting on my determined face (the closest this board can get is an angry face, but really it’s just determined!!)… :mad:
Almost done with the very low calorie part of my reduction plan, yay! I’m going to miss my goal by a little bit, buy hopefully the change of seasons will help with that. It’s so much easier to eat healthy in the summer.
Today marks the beginning of Squirrel’s 2017 Kick Your Butt Til You Cry program. I’ve been eating better and starting to work out for a couple months, but doing it myself just tends to fall apart after awhile - I cheat here and there on food, I skip a day or two at the gym, and all of a sudden, I’m eating Doritos and Mountain Dew while sitting on my couch. During the spring/summer/fall, it’s easier, because being outside running or cycling or swimming or hiking or just wandering are fun and enjoyable.
As of right now, I’m starting at 195, at 5’11". We’ll see how this goes.
