The Diet/Fitness Thread

[Bluehound]

I spent most of last year suffering from unexplained sickness and stomach pains, I lost alot of weight and became deficient in all kinds of vitamins as well as anaemic.

I eventually found out I have an auto-immune thing that was inflaming my intestines so I had to look at other ways of getting my nutrition in an easier way to digest and so discovered juicing.

I love juicing it gives me energy and all the vitamins I need in a healthy drink, substitute it for one or two meals a day ( for me thats breakfast) and you can use it as a great tool for weight control ( especially as I am putting the weight back on now I am taking meds and healthy again).

Next week I will be doing a few days of juice fast where I will only be having juices for every meal, to let my tummy rest after Christmas and a ski holiday excesses.

[Volya]

I am, like many others it would appear, trying to get in better shape this year. I'm already in pretty good shape, so I'll admit that it is mostly due to vanity and a desire to get stronger. So for Christmas I acquired a 50kg barbell set in addition to the weights I already have, and I have been using them regularly so far

[Calidore]

I read somewhere that Cary Grant never worked out or went to the gym a day in his life, and yet he remained fit until the day he died. He said his secret was he always took the stairs, never the elevator. Might be a challenge, Calidore, if you work in the Sears Tower up there.

Even when I was much thinner, my knees never liked me overdoing stairs, which the Sears (now Willis, actually) Tower would definitely be. I'm not big on heights anyway, so I'd try not to work there if I could avoid it. They do have an annual stair-climbing race from the lobby to the skydeck as a benefit for something or other.

Cary Grant had disgustingly good genes more than anything else, and us normal humans should never compare ourselves to him, lest we sink into depression.

Absolutely, the gym is such an artificial thing. If you're smart you can build fitness around daily life.

Reminds me of Rocky IV where Dolph Lundgren is training in an ultra-high-tech gym while Rocky runs through snow, climbs mountains, and chops firewood. Frankly, I'd happily take the warm gym full of other people also trying to get in shape.

I am, like many others it would appear, trying to get in better shape this year. I'm already in pretty good shape, so I'll admit that it is mostly due to vanity and a desire to get stronger. So for Christmas I acquired a 50kg barbell set in addition to the weights I already have, and I have been using them regularly so far

I used to have some weights when I was younger. The main lessons I learned from them were:

1) Kicking them when barefoot in the dark HURTS LIKE %$&^@!
2) When you move, you have to move them too.
3) None of the friends helping you move will want to move them.
4) After loading all the big, heavy furniture, books, etc., neither will you.

[LitNetIsGreat]

Reminds me of Rocky IV where Dolph Lundgren is training in an ultra-high-tech gym while Rocky runs through snow, climbs mountains, and chops firewood. Frankly, I'd happily take the warm gym full of other people also trying to get in shape.

HA, HA. Not me. I'd rather run through the snow and help peasants by lifting carts and go about chopping wood. Having said that...

[islandclimber]

I am, like many others it would appear, trying to get in better shape this year. I'm already in pretty good shape, so I'll admit that it is mostly due to vanity and a desire to get stronger. So for Christmas I acquired a 50kg barbell set in addition to the weights I already have, and I have been using them regularly so far

I was a personal trainer for a couple years and I always found the best results were had with a style of training that was of the functional sort. A combination of exercises with an emphasis on bodyweight movements, especially learning to move one's own body. Weights were superb for lower-body, compound lifts (ie. Squats and Olympic lifts), yet for the upper body, bodyweight was king. A gymastic style of sorts. Of course, to begin, a gymnastics-light. Beginner progressions for handstands, l-sits, planches, levers, etc. Even lower body, single leg movements such as one-leg squats and certain more unilateral forms of jumping, bounding, and lunges, worked very well. And the best part is these things are quite easy to do at home.

[Delta40]

I'm on my 6th day of not smoking and can't believe how easy it was to let it go this time after preparing for it. I was already reading stuff on quitting and Calidore's thread only added to the whole idea of putting the plan in place. I've got my own quitting thread on another site which has come in handy as I didn't realise other smokers would get on board so positively. So breathing better when I'm walking, playing badminton will be a real bonus and I think another stint in the gym will be more pleasurable because I won't get so short of breath so fast.

Good thread.

[2X2E5]

A possible suggestion/idea for your dietary plans...my father's currently faced with aborting his (probably) 20 kilogram food baby, as a result he's taking a two step diet. The first step is really radical and stressful, mainly because it consists of only eating greens and small portions of lean meat. But his plan in a couple months sounds too good to be true, but has produced results for others. There's this agency in Toronto that makes fresh food and delivers a days worth of meals to your doorstep every morning. What they do is, you enter the amount of calories you'd like to digest during each day/week/month, and they take ordinary healthy food, with occasional treats (with your approval) and they prepare the food, deliver it, and create the portions according to your desired calorie intake. According to some of my dad's friends, it was even to much food for them to eat! Although Im not to sure about that, unless they boiled/steamed everything, nonetheless it sounded compelling. I think the price for this service is 1000$ a month. Quite expensive but if you eat a lot (restaurant, groceries, etc) then its not like their ripping people off, and it takes away the trouble of calculating nutrition, calories, spend time to make food. Maybe there's something similar in your living environment.

[Calidore]

Progress update, about a month in:

Turns out yoga can be pretty tough. I still can't quite do everything on the Kimberly Fowler DVD (a couple of balance poses and one brutal upper-body transition are beyond me yet), but I can do some things that I couldn't at the start, and I'm making small but noticeable general forward progress every workout. I'm also not quite up to three sessions a week yet--the couple times I've tried skipping only one day, I could especially feel it in my shoulders and lower back. I'm trying to be very careful about allowing myself enough recovery time so I don't damage something. The main thing I have to remember is that even when I'm in good condition, I'll still be having to pose holding up twice her weight (in addition to my not being a former professional triathlete), so it'll never be as easy for me. I have to focus on trying to extend my own limits, not matching her abilities.

Happily, the scale agrees that I'm making progress. I'm down four pounds to 241, body fat is down exactly 1% to 24.5, muscle mass is up just over 1% to 38.0.

[qimissung]

Progress update, about a month in:

Turns out yoga can be pretty tough. I still can't quite do everything on the Kimberly Fowler DVD (a couple of balance poses and one brutal upper-body transition are beyond me yet), but I can do some things that I couldn't at the start, and I'm making small but noticeable general forward progress every workout. I'm also not quite up to three sessions a week yet--the couple times I've tried skipping only one day, I could especially feel it in my shoulders and lower back. I'm trying to be very careful about allowing myself enough recovery time so I don't damage something. The main thing I have to remember is that even when I'm in good condition, I'll still be having to pose holding up twice her weight (in addition to my not being a former professional triathlete), so it'll never be as easy for me. I have to focus on trying to extend my own limits, not matching her abilities.

Happily, the scale agrees that I'm making progress. I'm down four pounds to 241, body fat is down exactly 1% to 24.5, muscle mass is up just over 1% to 38.0.

Good for you, Calidore! Yes, you gotta be careful with yoga! Once I was doing Yoga with a CD, I can't remember who, but she was wonderfully lithe, and over the course of a week, in trying the triangle pose, I injured my rotator cuff. It took a year before it stopped hurting. So go slowly, and listen to your body. The Salute to the Sun is another good place to start.

[qimissung]

I was a personal trainer for a couple years and I always found the best results were had with a style of training that was of the functional sort. A combination of exercises with an emphasis on bodyweight movements, especially learning to move one's own body. Weights were superb for lower-body, compound lifts (ie. Squats and Olympic lifts), yet for the upper body, bodyweight was king. A gymastic style of sorts. Of course, to begin, a gymnastics-light. Beginner progressions for handstands, l-sits, planches, levers, etc. Even lower body, single leg movements such as one-leg squats and certain more unilateral forms of jumping, bounding, and lunges, worked very well. And the best part is these things are quite easy to do at home.

Can you maybe give a few specific suggestions, Islandclimber? Thanks.

[Sancho]

Went for a long run yesterday. Got passed by a woman pushing a baby-jogger.

*sigh*

[Calidore]

All the yoga stretches seem to be working. I've just discovered that, for the first time in my life, I can touch my toes straight-legged. Even when younger and much thinner, I was never able to extend that far. Progress!

Delta, how's things with quitting smoking?

[Calidore]

Working out with the Kimberly Fowler DVD on Friday, I actually managed both side arm balances for the first time, meaning I can finally execute her entire plank routine, meaning I've finally been able to do everything on her DVD. Thinking back to how much I struggled to do or just couldn't do at the beginning, I'm very happy.

I previewed the "easy" workout on the Bryan Kest Power Yoga DVD today, to see if I should consider a promotion, and I think that's still way past my level of fitness. However, he did deliver my favorite yoga instructor line so far: "That's why we gotta be where we're at, 'cause you're already there."

[Darcy88]

I just do kickboxing every day and go for a run 3-5 times a week. I used to be into bodybuilding and then power-lifting but I much prefer having a smaller slimmer physique. I'm semi bulimic and that definitely helps keep my weight down.

I know a few people who do P90X and they all swear by it. My mother struggled desperately with being over-weight for 15 years. Tried everything and nothing worked. Then she started doing P90X and almost magically after a few months she lost a dramatic amount of weight and is no longer overweight.

I used to be able to pick 640 pounds off the floor deadlifting. Now I'd probably injure my back doing 200.

The best diet is poverty.

[Buh4Bee]

I try to watch what I eat and I walk the dog. If I stay out of the booze bottle, I can really keep myself trim. Drinking is a lot of empty extra calories.