Official Workout/Fitness Thread (Re-born)

[Nivek]

A few years back, my family changed our diet with 3 rules: no high fructose corn syrup, no enriched flour, no hydrogenated oils. I lost 40 pounds.

Then we backslid. Gradually at first, but then just back to the way we'd eaten before. I regained almost all 40. I've gone back to those rules the past month (with a couple "slip-ups") and I'm down 7 pounds as of this morning. I haven't exercised in that time. Not once.

[nate33]

According to the book, you did diet. You did the most important thing -- you stopped drinking soda.

One soda/day = 15 lbs of fat each year.

Right. And wouldn't all soda-drinking obese people lose a bunch of weight if they stopped drinking sodas? Is it not a reasonable to expect them to do so for the sake of their own health? All it takes is a little time to get used to the aftertaste of diet soda.

[Upper Decker]

According to the book, you did diet. You did the most important thing -- you stopped drinking soda.

One soda/day = 15 lbs of fat each year.

Right. And wouldn't all soda-drinking obese people lose a bunch of weight if they stopped drinking sodas? Is it not a reasonable to expect them to do so for the sake of their own health? All it takes is a little time to get used to the aftertaste of diet soda.

Maybe I should have been more specific regarding this diet change because I only drank roughly 1 soda a week. It wasn't a major change. My thought was--hey, it's not good for you, and I don't do it often, if at all, so just cut it out completely. One soda/week = 2 lbs of fat each year.

[Upper Decker]

According to the book, you did diet. You did the most important thing -- you stopped drinking soda.

One soda/day = 15 lbs of fat each year.

Right. And wouldn't all soda-drinking obese people lose a bunch of weight if they stopped drinking sodas? Is it not a reasonable to expect them to do so for the sake of their own health? All it takes is a little time to get used to the aftertaste of diet soda.

I read a recent study that diet soda actually causes more weight gain that regular soda because the diet chemicals are unnatural, unlike regular soda sweeteners, and are harder for our bodies to digest. There's also the mouse study which gives a mouse chemicals from a diet drink and the mouse just blows up. Interesting stuff.

[nate33]

I've never seen anything that suggests that the unnatural sweeteners are harder to digest and therefore somehow add to obesity. What I've read is that the unnatural sweeteners trigger the same type of insulin response as sugar does, and that insulin response tends to make people hungry. So people who drink diet soda get the same hunger cravings as those who drink regular soda, making diet soda less than ideal as a weight loss strategy.

Nevertheless, if two identical people eat the exact same amount of food and exercise equally as much, only one drinks regular soda and the other drinks diet, the diet soda drinker will lose more weight. The key is to make sure he doesn't eat additional food.

[Zonkerbl]

I also think what he really meant is that exercise won't reduce your subcutaneous fat -- I'll have to go back and check what he said. Pretty sure that exercise alone can help you get rid of visceral fat.

[Zonkerbl]

I've never seen anything that suggests that the unnatural sweeteners are harder to digest and therefore somehow add to obesity. What I've read is that the unnatural sweeteners trigger the same type of insulin response as sugar does, and that insulin response tends to make people hungry. So people who drink diet soda get the same hunger cravings as those who drink regular soda, making diet soda less than ideal as a weight loss strategy.

Nevertheless, if two identical people eat the exact same amount of food and exercise equally as much, only one drinks regular soda and the other drinks diet, the diet soda drinker will lose more weight. The key is to make sure he doesn't eat additional food.

That's what the Fat Chance guy says, although he says no studies have been done but he suspects that might happen.

[dobrojim]

Going to Vermont tomorrow. Going to make my 5th attempt
at completing a 100 mile endurance event. We'll see how this
goes.

BTW - what's up with everyone re exercise/diet? This thread had
fallen to the 11th page!

I've bike commuted about 850 miles this year so far.

[Zonkerbl]

In March I got my weight down to 169 (nine pounds off my target of 160, which I would be if I got my body fat down to 15%) and then had to go on travel to a hotel that didn't have a gym and I backslid, eating restaurant food three times a day without exercising. And I spent all of June traveling, although two weeks of it were at a hotel with an exercise room. So I returned from my travel binge about 10-12 lbs heavier, although I think about five pounds of that was water (last two weeks of travel binge was vacation and I drank a lot of alcohol, which makes me bloat). Weighed in at 174 this morning.

I asked my chiro what I could do to get off this "set weight" of 172 that my body seems to think is ideal, and he says I have to fundamentally change my diet -- much more raw vegetables, much less bread. Paleo diet. Expensive and time consuming and not feasible when I travel, so I think I'm stuck at 172. If I can mix in some weight lifting I can at least make that 172 relatively more solid, get my body fat down from 22%.

[nate33]

How tall are you, Zonker? 172 doesn't seem to be that heavy if you're lifting weights and have reasonable strength, unless you're 5-5 or something.

I'm 5-9 174 and would characterize myself as "lean". I don't quite have the 8-pack abs look, but you can definitely see a 4-pack.

[Zonkerbl]

I'm 5'7". I'm mostly going with my body fat percentage. It was weird, at one point I got my body fat measured while I was 172 and it was 20%. Then my weight ballooned up to 200, and when I got back down to 172 my body fat was 22%! So I lost about 4 pounds of muscle.

So I figure, even if I gain those four pounds of muscle back, I still need to lose 5%*172 = another 8 pounds or so to get to 15%. But don't know if that's possible -- Fat Chance guy says once you have subcutaneous fat, it's there for life. That's the bad news, the good news is that there aren't any real health consequences so it's ok. It's the belly fat you want to stay in control of.

Yeah, I have abs, but I always have abs, even when I weighed 200. It's a genetic thing. When I turned forty I got love handles and a sunken belly button for the first time, I've been freaking out ever since. Doesn't seem to be reversible.

[Liverbird]

I found that one of those calorie counter apps work really well. I didn't realize the extent of my caloric intake until I tried one of those. Reduced my consumption by 25% based on my target weight and drank less beer - lost 10lbs in less than 2 months.

Workout twice a week and play soccer every Saturday. Been doing that for years but until I reduced my daily caloric intake, it was hard to keep off the weight. Travel 50% of the time too.

In my 40's - 5'9 165 with 24% BMI and 18% body fat which is still high but it's a work in progress. Not bad for an old geezer If only I can hold steady....

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

I am 5'8" and currently weigh 263 pounds. I am 52 years old.

I am fatter than ever. I am kind of freakish in some ways. Did a treadmill test where I had to jog for several minutes. Nothing wrong there.

I still can jump high enough to get the ball out of the nets when I shoot around. I can dribble and shoot better than when I was young. (Maybe because I had no skill and was a football guy formost).

As I type this I'm watching my son's youth football team run hill. Yesterday, I ran up and down a few. My son looked gassed and I wanted to get him fired up.

It worked.

Of course today, I have a pulled hamstring. . Coming down the hill after I had already worked out hard earlier in the day--- was not the smartest thing! I fell and did a barrel roll. The second I got up I knew my hammy popped. But ... I loved it. Football practice for me was 35 years ago, and I forgot how much fun grueling practices were.

As far as health and fitness goes, tips on rehabbing a hamstring (from big sis): Sit in a hot tub with water and Epsom salt. (Did it as soon as I got home). After that, put ice on the injured area. (Did that, too). The treatment helped a lot.

This morning wasn't nearly as bad as I anticipated. I was in pain but not as bad as I thought it would be. I have a Magic Ball that is like a foam roller. I rolled that around my feet and the hamstring area. Took in a lot of water and I also took ibuprofen.

Bottom line: I am not where I need to be WRT to diet and weight, but today, I feel fine. I am way heavier than ideal for me (I think at 210 I look like an ex-NFL player). But, life is still going on and I am blessed.

Fat but blessed.

[Kanyewest]

According to the book, you did diet. You did the most important thing -- you stopped drinking soda.

One soda/day = 15 lbs of fat each year.

Right. And wouldn't all soda-drinking obese people lose a bunch of weight if they stopped drinking sodas? Is it not a reasonable to expect them to do so for the sake of their own health? All it takes is a little time to get used to the aftertaste of diet soda.

I read a recent study that diet soda actually causes more weight gain that regular soda because the diet chemicals are unnatural, unlike regular soda sweeteners, and are harder for our bodies to digest. There's also the mouse study which gives a mouse chemicals from a diet drink and the mouse just blows up. Interesting stuff.

Here is one study that I found.

http://thechart.blogs.cnn.com/2013/07/1 ... than-good/

I used to drink a lot of soda but then cut it out completely by just drinking water. After drinking a glass of water my cravings for soda usually went away.

[dobrojim]

back home safe and sound but disappointed to have had to make the
decision to drop at 70 miles. I had considerable blisters on my feet
and the fun factor had long since left. I had 10 hours left in which
I would have had to cover a hair under 30 miles. Might have been
do-able but the blisters sealed the deal. Hard to stay motivated
when every pebble you step on creates an unpleasantness.

As I walked in towards the 70 mile aid station after deciding
to drop I promised myself that I would work towards being
healthy enough to be able to train properly for these sorts of things.
Problem with that is that the races have become so popular that
I had to sign up 7 months before the race. I was feeling good
at that time. Things changed and I was working harder towards
being healthy (knee) than I was towards training to be strong
and have endurance.

I still want to go back and get a 5th finish there though.
It's an incredible experience.

[jivelikenice]

I need some new ideas. I'm about 5'8, 175. I'm 36 and i play ball a couple nights a week and my speed is still one of my biggest weapons. Problem is my legs feel great but something pulls on me every few weeks. One week its a calf strain, then a hamstring, now its my second about with plantar fasciitis. Ay ideas on keeping my legs in shape while cutting down on some of the wear and tear? I signed up for Bikram Yoga...

[nate33]

I need some new ideas. I'm about 5'8, 175. I'm 36 and i play ball a couple nights a week and my speed is still one of my biggest weapons. Problem is my legs feel great but something pulls on me every few weeks. One week its a calf strain, then a hamstring, now its my second about with plantar fasciitis. Ay ideas on keeping my legs in shape while cutting down on some of the wear and tear? I signed up for Bikram Yoga...

Lift weights. Squats, deadlifts, hamstring curl, calf raises, and core work. At least once a week and preferably twice.

[nate33]

Dobrojim, I assume you're talking about that 100 mile run that takes place on Vermont every year?

[Zonkerbl]

I need some new ideas. I'm about 5'8, 175. I'm 36 and i play ball a couple nights a week and my speed is still one of my biggest weapons. Problem is my legs feel great but something pulls on me every few weeks. One week its a calf strain, then a hamstring, now its my second about with plantar fasciitis. Ay ideas on keeping my legs in shape while cutting down on some of the wear and tear? I signed up for Bikram Yoga...

Lift weights. Squats, deadlifts, hamstring curl, calf raises, and core work. At least once a week and preferably twice.

So what's happened is you tweaked one thing and it wasn't all that serious so you kept running around. Now you're compensating to avoid the pain caused by the one thing and it's overstressing the other things and things are giving out on you, one after the other.

Like I always say, go to a chiropractor (or a kinesiologist/PT guy, practically the same thing except one is considered legit and the other isn't, whatever) and get straightened out, first of all, or this process will go on forever. Or you can just stop playing basketball for six weeks until you're 100%, but you don't want to do that.

Then like Nate says, do muscle strengthening exercises, particularly hamstrings, at least twice a week.

[Zonkerbl]

I tried to play basketball with a 14 year old while on vacation and nearly killed myself. Tweaked my sciatica. Have about five minutes of stamina. Can't guard. Can't jump. Can't shoot.

Sigh.