The hardest part of my current fitness plan is enduring days like yesterday. I got up at 3:30AM, drove 275 miles, worked a full day, drove another 200 miles and ended up in a hotel room in Bismarck. I wasn't really all that tired (although I slept pretty soundly last night), but I had no opportunity to exercise and eating was a foraging event. Well, actually, it wasn't that bad, I had breakfast in my kitchen and a lunch according to my diet. But, what about dinner? I was traveling with another person and we stopped on the way at Applebee's (did not see @dadboner there). It turns out that they have a few 550 calorie offerings on the menu. I had a lime chicken offering. It wasn't great, but it wasn't awful for me, either.
In the past, I have brought workout clothes to hotels to take advantage of workout rooms. Due to the schedule here, though, I didn't bother. I knew I would be taxed to the nth degree as it is. Besides, I'll be home Thursday night, so I can get back on the workout routine then.
No weigh in, but I'm pretty happy that I was able to stay on track yesterday.
Another piece of advice I learned from my weight loss pertains to Stick's day. Remember it's a journey, not a race. It's ok to have a bad day every so often. If you maintain good eating and exercise habits 90 percent of the time, you can slide that 10 percent and still be on track toward your goals. The key is to make sure that 10 percent doesn't become 20 percent, then 30 percent...
I agree. If you can't eat the healthy meal that you'd prefer, at least order a more health-conscious (or portion-controlled) meal than you you would have otherwise ordered. Can't work out? Take a walk around the block.
Yesterday was overhead press day. Warm up, then 3x28kg, 3x32kg, and 5x37kg. 28 and 32 felt easy, but 37 certainly did not. For conditioning, I did some burpees, box jumps, and situps in a circuit that lasted about 12 minutes. Finished up with some pull-ups.
We had a "nacho bar potluck" at the office yesterday. I ate too much, although the "too much" emphasized black beans, heirloom tomatoes, and roasted jalapenos. Team building exercise was the only exercise I got (other than walking from and to my car).
had an italian beef sammich plus a piece of pizza someone else couldn't finish. i'm now continuing to sit at my desk like i did all morning. it's aaaallllllll gravy.
Last November I changed jobs and moved into a new town where my cousin lived. He has a large house and offered me a reasonable rent price to live with him. So I moved in with him and his fiancee.
I've been a little overweight since I was about 10. My cousin and his fiancee are very overweight. She's a great cook, and I gained 10 pounds in three months living there before I decided I needed to make a change.
In March I weighed in at 192. I'm now down to about 167 with a goal of 150. It is difficult controlling portions, but I keep myself accountable by writing down everything I eat. I've also been exercising 5 or 6 days a week and about a month ago I started lifting weights.
When I started I thought that I would just going to write down my progress as long as I was on the diet, but since then I've figured out that I'll probably need to do it forever or I won't be able to control myself. That was a tough realization, but I've come to terms with it now.
If you don't mind my asking, how tall are you? 150 seems pretty light to me, but I am about 6' tall--at 150, you can count my ribs.
I think that keeping track of progress is a nuisance, but I agree with you that it's essential. Tracking progress helps for attaining just about any sort of goal, really.
I'm only 5'9". 150 might be a bit light. In reality it isn't a set goal, I'll probably just stop when I'm not fat anymore.
Stop the reduced calories, that is. The goal is to continue to watch my calorie intake and keep exercising.
Sounds good. I was pretty surprised that by adding some lifting to my workouts I was able to put on 20 pounds and still fit in basically all my clothes.
We're about the same build, ubes. How long did it take you to put on 20 lbs? I want to shoot for 180+/- and I was wondering what a reasonable time goal was.
About six months or so. I think most of the weight gain was probably from squatting, deadlifts, and overhead pressing (three cheers for somewhat visible shoulders!). I think drinking milk helped, too. I've been at 170 for a couple months now. If I put on more weight now, my lifts would probably benefit, but at 30 years old and mainly concerned with long-term goals, I figure I'll give the rest of my body (ligaments, tendons, etc.) some time to adjust to the added weight and see where I'm at in 2-3 months.
I should caveat that somewhat, in that I think some of the weight is just from paying more attention to hydration. There's scale at my gym and I'll check it pre- and post-workout sometimes out of curiousity, and on hot days, I might lose 3-5 pounds of water weight in one workout. In the past, I think I often wouldn't have been hydrated well enough to sweat that much.
Hmm, that's longer than I was thinking. Then again, I have 6 years until the Peyongchang Olympics, so what's a few extra months?
I think a big thing I'll have to do is overhaul my diet. I've been keeping track this week, and I average about 1800-1900 calories/day. I'm gonna need more calorie dense foodstuffs.
I'm also 5'9", and right now I too am hovering in the 165-170 range. I was around 155-160 last summer, but that was when I was working at a restaurant and on my feet for hours every day and jogging in my free time. Working at a desk for the past year+ has really had a negative effect, and, although I hate to say it, so has New Gal. I was way more motivated to work out when I was single. I need to jump on this fitness bandwagon.
It's a strange bandwagon. Difficult to get on, easy to fall off, but it feels good when you're on it.
and it gets harder and harder to stay on it as you get older and have more "adult" excuses, like children (and PTA and youth soccer and...) and career demands. And your body starts giving you the middle finger in the morning even when you weren't out drinking the night before.
I'm finally getting around to having lunch. Leftover grilled chicken, carrots/celery/cauliflower with a little Italian dressing for dipping, grapes and an apple. Had my cardiac rehab workout yesterday, did 20 minutes on the treadmill but bumped the incline up a notch and then 25 minutes on the stationary bike. I have my nuclear stress test on Friday. Assuming that shows all systems go, I'll start adding is some strength training. I eventually want to get into a routine where I'm doing four days of aerobic and two days of strength training a week, with one day off because dammit, I deserve it.
CC to Stick - I'm happy to fill in on your travel days. I just finished a book I'd like to review/recommend, so I'll try to put that in the can over the weekend. Lord and Sinker knows the Twins aren't much worth watching these days.
Twayn:
I have a book post in the can for monday, but would be more than happy to have you supplement it with your review, if you want to go that route. Edit away.
I'd rather keep in the fitness franchise, I think it's a better fit here, and with Stick's travel schedule I'm sure I'll find a slot for it before too long.
That's cool.
Philosofer and I just spent the afternoon out in the heat golfing. That counts for fitness, right? It was enjoyable (our horrible games notwithstanding) and we both agreed that a WGOM foursome down the road would be great.
kinky...
Hey, I have a horrible golf game, too! Too bad I'm 4+ hours away...
Unless you spent an hour chasing the beer cart on foot, it does not count for fitness.
I rarely cart it while golfing- it's at least a two hour walk to do nine holes, while carrying my clubs. Close enough to exercise for me!
On the other hand, no point in starving yourself.
This is not surprising at all considering what I've learned in the past month about nutrition, exercise and the role of evolutionary biology in physiology. There's a lot of that in the book I'm going to review. Dieting coupled with inactivity basically tells your body not to invest any energy in building or repairing cells and tissue.
Jane Brody wants to write for the wgom.
This makes sense to me. I knew the benefits of exercise and good nutrition, but pretty much ignored them until I had an immediate life-threatening sitution. I'm pretty damn motivated by short-term benefits right now, although I look forward to the long-term benefits as well.