Life The Getting in Shape Thread

[baboysai]

I'm actually interested to hear what changes had happened after your push-ups, woofcat ^^

 

[TheGenius]

Here is an interesting website;

http://stronglifts.com/

Very motivational and full of cheap and good ideas.

 

[Forever_Melody]

The trick is to balance what goes in and what comes out of your system in terms of energy. If you eat for x amount o calories, try to approach that amount of calories spent in that day. Any large excess won't be healthy.

Another simple trick is transportation. I know people are very fond of cars, but sitting in traffic isn't much exercise. Walk or bike to places close by. For me, any place I know could be reached by car in less than 15min, I bike to(assuming I don't need to take the highway or any kind of large bridge or something). This is a simple, yet effective way to at the very least be a bit healthier. It's nothing huge, but it does make a different, even if minimal. It's noticed by a few studies(I'll try and find a link) that suburban kids who bike to places are healthier than kids in the city who take the bus or drive.

Sports are also an easy way of getting fit. If you're still in the age, subscribe to sports teams in your town/community. Most are pretty cheap if not free(if you're a resident normally) so money wouldn't be a huge issue. Even if you're not any good, they'll place you in a team of according strength(at least that's how it works here). If you're older, you can always coach or do other things. And it's not just a question of physical health anymore, sports help relieve tension(what better tension reliever than hitting/kicking into something?), stress and create social interaction which contributes to better psychological and mental health. It's not just about looking/feeling good, it's about the good balance.

Aside from that, everything else people have said are very good examples ^.^

 

[blai]

Omg I didn't knew this thread existed...

Thaaaaanks baboysai!! *hugs*

So any veggies here that got some tips on how to have a varied diet while still getting all the important proteins? With the 4-hour method and a diet that's not for loosing weight but neither to build muscle-mass... Mainly to keep in shape while working out/fitness training...

 

[baboysai]

blai, i dunno about this 4-hour method, but I've heard about it.

My usual diet would consist of high-fiber (veggies, etc) low carb diet. I avoid white breads, sodas, etc. And I do cardio work-out when I feel like it. it's generally 2 hours a week, but I want to increase it.

anyway, dieters, here's my review and experience with the GM diet, a 7-day diet that could supposedly make you lose 7-10 lbs.

 

[blai]

Ah cool. Yeah the 4-hour method is awesome since it increases your metabolism. If you eat twice or three times a day. For example 7am, 1pm and 7pm your body "thinks" that it is going to start after approx 4hours after your 7am and 1pm meal. It will disturb your metabolism and it will decrease. If you eat every 4th hour but small meals you will have a constant metabolism during daytime and that will lead to a higher energy-need and if you keep your healthy diet during those 4weeks your body will get rid of the fat instead of the muscles that it normally do if you're not eating at all/eating a lot but at a few occasions or if you eat the "wrong" food that doesn't give the needed energy.

edit: I'll check that review-thing out!

 

[Weapon_X]

To me eating junk food doesn't make any difference to me whatsoever. Actually the more I eat, the more muscles I tend to get when I workout like every single day.

My workout routine is=

Monday = Stretches, Cardio (Upper Abs workout ) + Weight Building
Tuesday= Stretches, Cardio (Upper Abs, Lower Abs workout + Step Machine(30 mins)
Wednesday= Stretches, Cardio (Upper Abs+ Side Abs workout) + Weight Building
Thursday= Stretches, Cardio (Upper Abs, Lower Abs workout + Step Machine(30 mins)
Friday= Stretches, Cardio (Upper Abs + Side Abs workout + Step Machine(30 mins) + Weight Building
Saturday= Stretches, Cardio (Step Machine (30mins)
Sunday= Rest Day

If you follow this routine, you'll get in shape. I've been doing it for like 3 months and the difference is great. To me the "having rest between days " doesn't effect me for some reason. So I just go full out.

Nice thread btw.

 

[oomba.boomba]

Diet is such a hard thing for me. I can easily work out and I love doing it, but it's always eating right and efficiently that costs me in the end.

Now, I'm not big by any chance (5'10" and weigh 168 lbs) so I appear to look pretty fit and muscular, but I sure don't feel healthy due to all the junk food I eat and little nutrients I receive from meals. Also havn't regularly exercised in more than 6 months.

So it's always good to see a thread like this. Good advice everyone. Going to try to write down a good meal plan and re-ignite my old exercise routine.

 

[Arrogance]

DRINK WATER!!!! I've always been a big guy (240-260) yet Ive also been athletic. I played football(American) in high school and was an Offensive lineman so I was gaining weight yet still remained fit due to all the activity. Then I sufferent a football carear ending knee injury, which lead me to getting surgery. After this it took me over a year to get back to being active again, yet in that time I had put on so much weight and lost muscle. Getting back working out wasn't hard, yet I was so used to being able to have a high calorie diet due to me being a football player and being able to burn a lot of that off during games and practices. One thing I tried to get rid of some of the extra weight was to just drink water. Instead of having a soda during meals, I would drink water which cut down on so many of my calories you wouldn't believe. Plus, if your still thirsty, ITS OK TO DRINK MORE! Honestly, by doing this I've felt the best I've ever did and did manage to lose a little more weight in the meantime. So next time you go out for a meal, and the waiter asks you what you want to drink, pass on the beer and soda and just say WATER, plus it can save you some money as well. =)

 

[blai]

Ah yeah, good tip Arrogance, the simplest and best thing to do. Water does not have any real substance innit either so it just runs straight through your body and that's way better than like coke for instance that contains ridiculously much calories.
Make sure it's water with ice, or cold water so that it costs more energy to heat it up in your body when you've drank it. Since according to some pyysic law (can't remember who's) if you have a cold and a hot body the hot body is releasing energy to give the cold body he same temperature as the hot one.

So, cool advice Arrogance! Almost forgot that one!

 

[Arth]

DRINK WATER!!!! <snip>
So next time you go out for a meal, and the waiter asks you what you want to drink, pass on the beer and soda and just say WATER, plus it can save you some money as well. =)

No beer!!?? You must be kidding me!!




I hear that walking and other light exercise is the best exercise for losing weight.
Doing exercises which keeps your heart rate below 120~130 uses energy that is broken down from fat instead of ATP in your muscles.

In other words:
- lighter exercise makes you lose weight
- heavier exercises makes you grow muscles

It's not as simple as that, but meh. It's generally true

 

[blai]

Yes it's true what you say Arth, that if you wanna loose weight you should do kinda do light cardio, walking and light excercises. And generally it almost IS as simple as that

Since ATP is a more effective energy source your body is using it when you're stressing - i.e. running 200m and using fat when it's not in such a hurry - i.e. walking 2km.

Of course, that's only a third of what you need to do, since it doesn't help unless you eat proper and sleep proper.

 

[Arth]

Yes it's true what you say Arth, that if you wanna loose weight you should do kinda do light cardio, walking and light excercises. And generally it almost IS as simple as that

Since ATP is a more effective energy source your body is using it when you're stressing - i.e. running 200m and using fat when it's not in such a hurry - i.e. walking 2km.

Of course, that's only a third of what you need to do, since it doesn't help unless you eat proper and sleep proper.

True that

Vigorous exercises can make you lose a lot of weight if you do it for long enough though.
It takes roughly 2 and a half hours to use up all your ATP (although it depends on the exercise), and then your muscles switches from using ATP to using fat as an energy source. Or something to that effect >.>

That's as far as my sketchy dietary knowledge goes ^^

 

[baboysai]

oooh you guys are saying some interesting stuff about atp and all... hehe.

It's true that you need to sleep properly too. when I asked my professor about this though, all he said was "because it's how nature made you. You sleep at night and wake up in the morning. That's all there is to it"

 

[blai]

Your teacher needs to read up on it because that's not really the only reason >,> jeez

 

[tasuki00]

One of the easiest ways I've found is pay attention to how you feel after you eat. Cuts out a lot of bad food as you get tired and cranky. Good food makes you have more energy and concentrate better.
On the atp thing that's one of many things to pay attention too. Like a lot of people explained there are tons of ways to lose weight which is why there are so many crash diets. Muscles need energy to be rebuilt so it is good for losing weight. Drinking cold water apparantly burns calories and eating apparantly does too which is one reason experts say eat 6 small meals a day(though plenty of people do just fine with 3).
Oh like babyosai I try to work out to get better at singing but sleep is my enemy.

 

[Lohnt]

In College, I did a lot of the simple diet, lots of pasta, sushi, antioxidants, and lessened meat, shitload of drinking. Maintaining 165-170, never getting away.
When I was in High school I was 200 lbs, and I dropped down to 140 by senior year by unhealthy dieting, starving/cutting out meat/fish.
I've worked at a gym for the past year.

At 22, my metabolism was fucked, I got a blood test and it said I had serious lack of nutrition that was affecting my red and white blood cells (probably my energy and emotions too).
But I can tell you two ways that will work. I speak professionally about this, listen if you want. THIS IS NOT A LOSE WEIGHT DIET, this is a convert your body to a healthier version of yourself diet. I don't care about losing weight diets, I care about diets where you don't lose a pound and the % fat in your body drops to half, while your muscle mass doubles.

How to be healthy, hard way:

Spoiler

5 meals a day, separated by 3 hours, 2 strong protein groups a day (chicken/tuna/salmon about 300 grams).
- Add spinach in your diet, chances are you need the iron. Eat a Spinach + Tuna salad for dinner, with carrot, and cherry tomatoes/sundried (garnish).
- Replace one of your 5 meals with a fresh mixed fruit shake. I know they have Jamba Juice in the states, here I just make them at home/at work at our health bar. If you cannot manage to eat 4 fruit a day, at least drink them in liquid format, but FRESH FRUIT, not refrigerated shit. I don't know anyone that doesn't fill up after Oj + Banana + apple + Kiwi.
- Avoid red meats (beef/pork)
- Have yogurt with honey/cereal in the afternoon.
- Either your lunch or your dinner must be complete (main dish, salad and dessert*), the other should preferably be a salad with some type of protein (cesear/tuna). * = a piece of dark chocolate, not a doughnut/cheesecake.

This is the hard part: Exercise 4-5 time a week. This was easy for me, because I worked in the gym and it was available to me right after/before work. But I see customers coming in every day and working out extremely loyal to their workouts.
Starting workout (first 2 months) should be something like this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-UXaS67tT2s aka a circular training workout.
Yes, that is a 7 day program, and yes I did follow it up to week 8, no its not as good as the video says, but lets say it got me week 4 results by week 8. If you follow it faithfully for 6 months instead of 3, I think you'll be pleasantly surprised.

Then on top of that, twice a week add an aerobics class: Pilates/Spin/Aqua. Most are available free with a basic gym membership. Pilates helps if you have back problems and in general if your job/school has you sitting a lot, Spin will help you lose weight at the speed of light and strengthen your legs, and aqua will strengthen your endurance and body while relaxing your muscles.

You'll be working out 2 hours a day 2ce a week, and 1 hour 2 more times minimum. Plus 1 hour a day preparation for 5 meals, which NO you cannot order out/eat at restaurants.
You must prepare these meals in order to: Boil, Bake NEVER FRY. No store bought dressings, learn to eat extra virgin Olive Oil and vinegar/lemon. Accompany your Proteins with vegetables (also boiled/baked, no melted cheese/butter, and only stir fry 1/3 times.)

This takes some getting used to, but if your schedule can afford it, it is soooooooooo worth it, you have no idea. Eating 5 times a day sounds like such a b.s. thing, but come Christmas dinner time, I could eat and eat and it didn't bother me the next day because I sped up my metabolism enough that I could mess up once or twice a month without worrying.

And.. the "easy" way. (More expensive, even though you're just replacing food costs with supplement costs).

Spoiler

I won't lie to you, you may not like this method, I didn't at first, but I work until 1am nowdays, and I can't find time to workout/cook anymore.

Protein: http://www.livepurehealth.ca/store/product.php?productid=16393 I use this at half the dosage (2 scoops rather than 4).
This supplement is not a steroid or a creatine, its not a drug. It is protein, manufactured so that you intake as much as a chicken and a half contain in a cup of water.
It tastes good if you mix it with a banana.
No I am not a body builder, I use this to fill up and make up for food I should be eating.

Supplementary vitamins - I take a daily multivitamin that lasts 30 days to improve my A B C's.

Antioxidant - DO NOT BUY CRAP YOU DONT KNOW FROM THE INTERNET
Green tea, Strawberries, Acai, and Pomegranate are good sources of "fat burners," drink juice/tea. Only take concentrated stuff if you see there is NOTHING added in the ingredients. Concentrated Acai is very popular recently, and Green Tea has been for years.

Nowadays, I eat dinner and sometimes breakfast. Breakfast consists of a shake of the above with cereal. Dinner will be a regular dinner (happy days: fish/chicken, bad days: steak, take out/pizza with salad and a glass of wine.)

Add 2 days of working out.
For this, I would suggest toning exercises that can be achieved from pilates/yoga/aqua etc. You can do weights, but weights require your perseverance, otherwise you don't do anything.
Start jogging with this program as well, because all the protein will make you "fat" even though it is crazy easily converted into energy/muscle if you start working out.

I know this program is scary, but nowadays with no time, and being on my feet all day at work, I work out once a week 3-4 hours (1 hour tennis, 1 hour aerobic, 1 hour circular 1 hour heavy muscle training) and my body hasn't really gained anything, if anything it's tightened because I barely put any fat in it. (you're replacing the lipids you would find from your regular meals with pure protein, vitamins and antioxidants). You need lipids as well, but you get plenty of that if you drink coffee.

Oh before I forget, you have to stop drinking milk for this diet, since it doesn't play well with protein supplements. Drinking milk is also like drinking 3 scoops of sugar with every glass. Cut off white sugar, try having sweet low/fake sugar or brown sugar at worse.
Try to reduce red meats.
Make SURE you eat salad/veggies every day because this diet is hell and all it does is replace your need for a sandwich/chicken nuggets in the middle of the day.

In total you gain about 2500 clean calories with 1/5th the fat you would intake with the other diet. This means you'll have more energy and get 2x the results from less exercise.
This cost me 120 + 40 + 30 = 190 euro this month that I no longer spend on food/ordering out in general

Ultimately, I would suggest mixing both, supplements aren't something randomly made up, we don't suddenly get enough vitamin C and B 12 by changing our diet, and despite drinking 2 Oj's (12 oranges) and 2 spinach salads, I didn't improve my iron levels until I took supplementary vitamins. You can't harm yourself with daily vitamin supplements because they exit in your urine.

General tips:
If you're going to eat fish: Big fish > small, big fish are full of protein like tuna/salmon, small fish are also good for you, but provide more fat for less protein.
Chicken: Boil/bake yourself, avoid store bought stuff, sauces and breadcrumbs/frying.
Beer:

Spoiler

1. Beck's Premier Light: 64 calories (fewest!)
2. Amstel Light: 95 calories
3. Anheuser Busch Natural Light: 95 calories
4. Michelob Ultra: 95 calories
5. Natural Light: 95 calories
6. Miller Light: 96 calories
7. Heineken Light: 99 calories
8. Budweiser Select: 99 calories
9. Coors Light: 102 calories
10. Corona Light: 105 calories

 

[blai]

Oh like babyosai I try to work out to get better at singing but sleep is my enemy.

Do you have any special exercises? Or is it just fitness to increase your lung-capacity?

General tips:
If you're going to eat fish: Big fish > small, big fish are full of protein like tuna/salmon, small fish are also good for you, but provide more fat for less protein.

Just a quick question. I know exactly what I eat and stuff nowadays but there's one thing I haven't thought of before... I'm eating a lot of tunas and I know it's really healthy because it has approx 25% proteins and Omega 3 but I haven't researched that much on the fish-topic so do you know another fish that tastes almost as good (impossible to, tuna = love) and that is healthier?
Preferably something canned since it's expensive and I'm a poor student

 

[Forever_Melody]

The 5 components of fitness are as follows:

- Muscular strength
- Muscular endurance
- Cardiovascular endurance
- Body composition
- Flexibility

In order to be considered truly "fit", each of these aspects should ideally be maintained or worked at a good level. Most people usually concentrate on the first 2-3 however. I notice flexibility isn't much of a winner among people(especially guys), but it's important to be mildly flexible as it helps posture and in the long run it helps with back problems and other such issues when one gets old.

Stretching is a good way to improve flexibility. Since stretching is a must for workouts, it honestly shouldn't be too complicated to add an extra 5-15 minutes of dynamic and static stretching to improve flexibility.

 

[blai]

Oh this is just waaay to troublesome... I'm applying for the Musical Academy 2011 in Umeå and I need to be inhumanly fit for that ;<

With that I mean I have to be really flexible, atm I'm an old hockey-player which = stiffness... I have to do stretching like 3-4 times / day - the whole year... I also need to take dance classes in jazz-dance too... Need to work up my breathing capacity so a lot of fitness has to be made... the dynamic muscles I have are more than enough, I just have to work on the static ones... Since ballet is a course you have to take when you choose musical...

Anyone got a good tip on how to combine static muscle work-out with fitness and flexibility... Like an endurance flexibility exercise or something...