The Core

It seems we have enough interest in weight loss & general health to warrant its own thread. Funny how so many of are around 40 and thinking about getting ourselves in shape.

My journey started this summer when I saw a photo of myself on the beach in June. Man, can that mirror lie. It was truly a Great White experience.

I've spent some time in the gym, off and on, over the years, so resistance training (weight lifting) is familiar. Unfortunately, I need(ed) cardio most.

My current schedule involves 30 mins of cardio and roughly 30 mins of resistance. I had to get over not being able to pump iron for 2 hours straight. Back when I was 20, I got results fast and loved it. Today, I just don't have the time or interest.

Excercise
10 mins of cardio (elliptical machine for now) for warmup
30 mins of resistance - 4 different exercises consisting of 3 sets of 8+ reps, except leg day which is 3 exercises with 4 sets of 8+ reps
and finally 20 more minutes of cardio plus 2-3 minutes of cooldown

Mon - Chest and Triceps
Tues - Legs and Abs
Wed - Shoulders
Thurs - Cardio only. 30, 45 or 60 mins straight.
Fri - Back and Biceps
Weekend off

As an aside, playing Kinect with my wife has helped keep the holiday pounds away. With fewer gym visits and more food overall, I expect I would have gained at least a couple pounds over the holidays. An hour session of Kinect can have you wheezing and sweating - it's great fun.

Diet
Hi, my name is Ken, and I'm a carboholic.

I've gone with a low carb way of living. I don't "diet" since that means temporarily changing to things of dislike and later returning to bad habits which eventually puts you back where you started.

Instead, I just stay away from carbs in general when possible, but still eat them if I really want. This means burgers with no bread, asking for extra veggies/meat instead of rice/noodles/potatoes, lots of high protein meals at home, etc.

But if I really want a pizza, I'll get one. Or, eat a burger with bun, or piece of cake, or full Mexican meal with tortillas. I do this about once or twice a week on average I'd guess, and I enjoy all of my meals. As a byproduct, I have some mild wheat allergy or intolerance. It causes some very minor digestive problems, but most importantly decreases my mentality in some ways. When I don't eat wheat, I'm sharper, more clear headed and feel better physically. Hell, it's almost like I stayed at the Holiday Inn Express.

Now, I don't have the issue of being comatose after lunch. I was struggling with this bigtime over the summer, and tried many things stopping short of buying a case of Redbull.

Goal
Started at 240.
Wanted 210 by Jan 1. Got close.
Want 200 by June.

Heather asked if that's too thin. I thought 210 was good until I had a physical and the doc told me 200. Now that I'm close to 210, I can easily see 10-15 that still needs to come off around the waist. A few calcs online show this is a good target, but its just a framework anyway. When I have no visible bodyfat, I expect I may ramp down on cardio and up on resistance which should start putting me back over 200, but with muscle instead of fat. Even if I stick to 30/30 I would expect to gain muscle mass and some overall weight over time.

What about you?

Last summer before Affiliate Summit I set a goal to lose 20 pounds in about a month and a half. I was able to do it and it really wasn't as bad as I thought. My wife has been doing Weight Watchers off and on over the years and we decided to give it a go. I didn't do any of the meetings or anything like that but I did count points. The system is fairly sound but the parts of it that really bugged me was foods with healthy fats like fish and nuts were fairly high in point value and fruit and vegetables also counted. They recently upgraded the system so fruit and vegetables are 0 points so that is a bit better.

I also exercised a bit more than I had been. We would walk 3-5 times a week and a couple times a week I would go on a 30 minute run.

I was able to lose the 20 pounds and since then I have kept most of it off. I started around 220, got down to 198, and right now am at about 202. I think I would like to get down to around 190 or so. Any smaller than that I think I will be too thin.

My main sources of exercise are golf and running.  

We can debate whether golf is a sport, but it is most certainly good exercise.  I play four 9-hole rounds a week minimum, April-Nov.  Each 9 holes is ~800 calories (according to studies I've read), or > 3000 Calories a week burned chasing a little ball around.  I usually play alone during the week and walk fast, even run, around the course.

Otherwise, I'll hit the road and run 10-20 miles a week.

With all that exercise, I can eat whatever I want.  And I do.

Unfortunately, winter is killer.  Golf and running outdoors is tough/impossible with the snow.  

The treadmill doesn't have nearly the appeal that getting outdoors has.  Plus in the winter I overeat and get a couple of colds that knock me out of any cardio routines.

When I'm exercising steadily, I weigh in around 165 (which feels great for my 5'10" self).  When I stop, my weight creeps up over several months to 185 or so.  I've been up over 180 a few times and I hate it there, though I tend not to really notice until I'm well on my way past 175.

Which is where we are right now.  I've had a few bad colds this fall, there's snow on the ground, I'm working too much, and with the holiday eating, I'm moving steadily up toward 175 now.   I may already be there. I'm afraid to step on the scale. :/

Thanks for the reminder Ken, I will get on the treadmill today.

Sorry for the long post....

At the old core I had a thread where I talked about the health problems I was getting from being fat.  I was having bad liver numbers (ALT & AST) and my doctor was accusing me of drinking too much, which is funny because I hardly drink at all.  NFFC actually helped me figure out that the bad numbers were from a condition called fatty-liver, which is caused by a buildup of fat in the liver cells and can eventually lead to serious.  I think I was 36 at the time and 272 lbs.(123 Kilos).  Later on I was re-tested at 225lbs and the liver numbers were back to normal.

I've always been a large frame, and was over 200 lbs in high school and I didn't think I was fat back then.  But 10 years in front of the computer pushed my waist up to 40 inches.  My first goal was to get down to 225, that was the weight I was in my early twenties, but I got there and realized that I had a way to go.  I think I'll probably end up in the 190s now.

Diet:
Started out eating a lot of legumes, mostly beans.  This seemed to work well for me, basically I cut out all white carbs (wheat, rice, potatoes, corn, sugar, etc.) and replaced them with beans.  I still eat some fruit and a lot of vegetables.  I would eat meat too, with most meals.  A lot of people trying to drop weight are down on fruit, but some fruit have very low overall glycemic load and are quite filling with lots of fiber.

Quick comment about legumes, they are very slow digesting, and have a lot of fiber (both soluble and insoluble) so their glycemic load is very low.  In that way I put them in a different category than most carbs, they do not spike insulin levels like say a piece of bread would.

After I got down to 225 I started experimenting with my diet and reintroducing different carbohydrates like oatmeal but it didn't work out so well as I gained back some of the weight and crept up to 238 for a little while.

I went back to restricting my white carbs and now I've lowered my legumes intake too.  I've found that upping my fat and protein has helped me a lot, as odd as that may sound to a lot of you.  Fat acts as an appetite suppressant so I eat less calories overall without being hungry.

A typical meal will be:
piece if chicken (with the skin)
half cup of pinto beans
brussel sprouts (I'll put some coconut oil or cheese on the sprouts for flavor and to up the fat %)

Typical breakfast:
three or four eggs fried with collard/mustard greens and unions

If I'm craving something sweet I'll have a small helping of fruit.  I'll also snack on almonds.  Another thing that has helped with sweet cravings is having spiced teas with stevia.


Exercise:

I've done lots of low intensity cardio like biking across town or elliptical machine for an hour+ for months, but honestly I haven't gotten much benefit from it.  I don't find that it helps me lose weight because I find that I get hungrier to the point where it is a wash -- what I burn I eat back in.

What worked best for me is weight training while dieting.  The weights keep me from burning up muscle and the diet makes me burn the fat.

Drastic - looking at your exercise plan, I highly recommend Lou Schuler's books
- New Rules of Lifting (2006)
- New Rules of Lifting for Abs (Dec, 2010)

They are funny, well-written and, most importantly, based on the best available research at the time. You can get the pair at Amazon for under $25 (I just got them for $24).

The whole chest/biceps/shoulders thing is the classic bodybuilding workout. In the past year, I've changed over to more of a deadlifting/squats/Turkish Getups type of workout, which is more along the lines of NROL and what people like Mike Boyle, Mike Robertson, Dan Jon, Stuart McGill and people like that recommend.

You may never have heard of these folks, but they're the people who train elite athletes and train the people who train elite athletes. In terms of knowledge and experience, they are miles beyond the Jillian Michaels/P90X crowd.

Bottom line for me:
Switching to those types of workouts for me has made me leaner and stronger, with about half as much time in the gym as I was doing.

Check this out - a podcast that has both Lou Schuler and Dan John in one episode (plus Alan Aragon).

http://thefitcast.com/episode-200-lou-schuler-alan-aragon-and-dan-john

>>doc told me 200.

How tall are you?  how many times a day do you eat?

>>>few calcs online show this is a good target

Most are bullshit and don't take into account muscle weight. 

Bonz, sounds like you exercise more with hobbies and outdoors.  Thought about trying to find another sport for the winter?  Hockey?

>>>I've found that upping my fat and protein has helped me a lot

The right fat can be good for you, especially when trying to put on muscle.  Like whole milk.  I'll explain later in my post

>>>'ve changed over to more of a deadlifting/squats/Turkish Getups type of workout

I've done the same thing.

I had to ditch squats since I ripped apart my knees going to heavy w/ squats...but I've replaced with them with deadlifts, power cleans, jerks, etc.

I stumbled across this type of lifting/training when I did an intro crossfit course.

You guys that have plateaued should check it out.  You might really enjoy it.

---

I'm on the opposite end of the spectrum from you guys.  Different goals.  You want to lose weight, I want to gain it.  I've gained about 20 to 25 pounds since I started and would like to gain another 10. 

I only started working out maybe 5 years ago.  Before that I don't think I touched a weight more than twice or three times in my life, although I always played sports.

I was terribly skinny, which also runs in my family.  Hated it.  Weight fluctuated between 155 to 165 lbs....depending on how much I was drinking at the time.

When I started working out I didn't know shit.  Did the basic workouts and ate well but not much.  I thought salad and chicken for lunch was good and would work.  Started taking protein shakes like 1/2 the other guys at the gym but it was the crappy stuff loaded with sugar.  Didn't push myself enough at the gym w/ heavier weight training.  Because I hadn't worked out before I saw quick gains but didn't gain much weight. 

About 2 to 3 years ago I started learning more about it.  Changed up the way I trained.  Starting eating a ton more.  6 to 8 meals per day.  Lots of wheat pasta, brown rice, chicken, turkey.  Not a ton of red meat but mainly because I don't think eating a lot of red meat is healthy.  Started training harder and experimenting with dead lifts, squats, clean & presses, etc.  This is also when I was boxing on a regular basis.  Also took some supplements during this time like protein shakes (but not the sugared down stuff), creatine, and glutamine.  During this period I started to gain weight and muscle.  I saw nice gains and was in good shape.  I think I got up to 175 or 180 pounds.

About 1 to 2 years ago I heard about the GOMAD diet (http://stronglifts.com/gomad-milk-squats-gallon-gain-weight/).  I did this for a month....it was tough but it definitely works.  I gained another 5 to 10 pounds using it and had some great strength going.

I went to a local crossfit gym about a year ago and got some humble pie.  Shit those workouts are tough.  Literally almost puked when I left.  The way they train is extremely intense and the workouts are excellent.  What I like about crossfit is:  a) the system of accountability as you workout with a team and post results to the board, b) the lifting and training they do is full-body, no curls, etc., c) the workouts are unique and different so you don't get bored.  I would love to go back and train with them full time at some point. 

I did the GOMAD diet again recently and gained a bit of weight but I wasn't as dedicated to it the 2nd time around.

I'm currently at 185 and in pretty good shape.

I play hockey 2 to 3 times a week and lift 4 to 5 times a week.  When I hit the gym now it is a mixture of crossfit-type exercises like deadlifts, clean & press, etc., as well as the standard weight lifting like chest/back/shoulders, bench presses, tris, pushups, pullups, etc.

I'm always looking for new stuff to try out too.  For me, I have to keep it interesting with new stuff so I continue to enjoy it.  So it is still a challenge.

Have you read the four hour body by Tim Ferriss. Lots of cool tips tested in depth by him.

>Bonz, sounds like you exercise more with hobbies and outdoors.  Thought about trying to find another sport for the winter?  Hockey?

Funnyyou mention that. Its beenon my mind to do that for years now.

I started skating before I could walk and played through high school but not really since then. Frankly I'm chicken to get out there again, afraid I'll suck. ;)

I just heard about a bunch of fellow dads organizing pond pickup games. I'll give that a go first. Low commitment on the equipment.

Btw, I got on the treadmill yesterday and today. Yay me.

>>>>Frankly I'm chicken to get out there again, afraid I'll suck.

I thought the same exact thing and procrastinated for years when I first moved out here.  Disappointed in myself for doing that.

I started playing again about a year ago...maybe less.  It took a few months to get back in form.  Its like riding a bike.

The big thing is getting confidence back which took some time.

I friggin love playing now.  Makes me upset that I chose partying over hockey back in high school.  Kids are stupid :)

40, up at about 172 now, and want to get back down to 160. Just got back from the first trip to the gym in months, and I'm aiming for swimming three times a week and weights three times a week. Maybe cardio at the gym too, but the cross trainer has to be the most tedious machine known to man. Even though it's not a lot of weight to shift, I'm going to end up putting on muscle, so I'm giving myself two months to hit the target.

I want to get fit enough to get back to Brazilian Jiu Jitsu training. I wasn't fit enough last time, and seemed to be permanently carrying little injuries. A broken rib took me out for a couple of months and I never got momentum back.

Quote from: littleman on January 03, 2011, 07:56:17 PM
What worked best for me is weight training while dieting.  The weights keep me from burning up muscle and the diet makes me burn the fat.

Interesting, I find the opposite. Cardio doesn't really make me hungry, but heavy lifting does. Personally the cardio is more for weight loss and heart health, and the lifting is for me. (Strength, muscle tone & size.) I just eat a lot of protein when I'm really hungry and get satisfied. (It took about 3 weeks to get past the carbaholism though.) The endorphin high seems better for me with lifting than cardio as well.

Quote from: ergophobe on January 03, 2011, 11:48:46 PM
Drastic - looking at your exercise plan, I highly recommend Lou Schuler's books
...
I've changed over to more of a deadlifting/squats/Turkish Getups type of workout, which is more along the lines of NROL and what people like Mike Boyle, Mike Robertson, Dan Jon, Stuart McGill and people like that recommend.
...

Bottom line for me:
Switching to those types of workouts for me has made me leaner and stronger, with about half as much time in the gym as I was doing.

You mean, like the physical printed things? That's a, erm, novel concept. ;-) Seriously though, are you saying the books talk about the stuff you're now doing?

Quote from: agerhart on January 04, 2011, 06:17:15 AM
>>doc told me 200.

How tall are you?  how many times a day do you eat?

>>>few calcs online show this is a good target

Most are bullshit and don't take into account muscle weight. 

6'4. Eat 3-5 times per day. Target 5 smaller meals but generally eat 3 sometimes 4 out of habit.

Yeah I spent maybe 5 minutes looking for and at the calcs. Just a general early goal, and as a check behind the doc. It actually seemed on the upper end of one of the calcs, where I may need to be lighter, but I have a large frame so figure I should be on the larger end.

In the end, I don't really care about the number, I know where I want to be physically. If I hit 200 and I can still see room for improvement, I'll continue to work on it. Same if I hit 205 and there is no visible bodyfat, I will have reached the goal.

And enjoy wanting to gain weight, you young mf.

>>  It took a few months to get back in form.  Its like riding a bike.

yeah, but you're a 185 lb brick sh!thouse now. I think you were 160 soaking wet last time I saw you. Sounds like I'd barely recognize you now.

>> I friggin love playing now.  Makes me upset that I chose partying over hockey back in high school.  Kids are stupid.

Kids are stupid.  So are adults.  Ok, I'll do it.

QuoteOk, I'll do it.

Seriously, do it.  And then we'll organize a nice affiliate charity hockey game :)

I started out going to stick time to skate around, get a feel for the puck.  Then went to some pickup games and got my ass kicked.  Felt like shit but kept going.  It took awhile but you start to get your legs back.

I've come to the realization that you're all New Age pussies.

I'm going to crack you with a hockey stick and Dogboy is going to choke you out with jiu-jitsu moves :)

Problem is, you'll have to get past his Saiga first.

So rc, 'splain whuzzup.

<waits on rc's explainin' of bench pressing an Austin Healey, in the snow, uphill (both ways), at age 6.>

>get past his Saiga first

With the 10-round clip. Load is 4/4/00/00/00/00/00/00/00/00.   (There's a free beer for any Eurotrash that knows what that means.)

>whuzzup

You guys sound like you're not going to make it to 45.  Go build a house or something.

>bench pressing an Austin Healey

Actually, I was a skinny nerd when I graduated from high school. A little over 6'1 and 140 pounds soaking wet.

ehheheeh waiting on rc's response too:)  

I just bought some L-Glutamine, BTW, to combat some of my health issues, namely 'Leaky Gut'... "Glutamine is a common amino acid that is found in many protein containing foods. It is important for a large number of bodily functions, an important example being the detoxification of ammonia. It is one of the most important nutrients for healing leaky gut syndrome because it is the preferred 'fuel' for the cells lining the mucosa of the small intestine (enterocytes). These cells have the ability to take up glutamine directly rather than waiting for it to be supplied through the blood. Glutamine is also required for the production of both intestinal mucus and Secretary Immunoglobulin Type A (SIgA). As a result of these functions, a generous supply of glutamine will help repair and maintain a healthy small intestinal lining."

...but since we are talking health, we should really bring up 'rest' as well. Here is some more that I found interesting and pertinent beyond the actual topic, "Dr. Walt Stoll, one of a growing number of doctors turning to an integrative style of medicine, believes that stress is THE most important factor in recovering from leaky gut syndrome. He suggests that everyone suffering from leaky gut syndrome should practice a relaxation technique twice a day that puts the brain into an 'alpha' or 'theta' state. These names relate to the frequency of the brain waves with alpha waves having a frequency of 8-12Hz and theta of 4-8Hz. In these states the brain is able to release the stored stress response 24 times faster than normal sleep which creates 'delta' waves with a frequency of 2-4Hz.

"Any technique which is able to produce alpha or theta waves will be very beneficial to the leaky gut sufferer. Some of the techniques that are effective include:

   * Self Hypnosis
   * Biofeedback
   * Breathing Techniques
   * Meditation and other spiritual practices
   * Listening to specially prepared sound frequencies that induce the same frequencies in brain waves as meditation. (Audio cassettes/CD's and sound devices are available for this purpose)"


>the brain is able to release the stored stress response 24 times faster than normal sleep which creates 'delta' waves with a frequency of 2-4Hz.

...that definitely caught my attention.

>140 pounds soaking wet

"it's not the size of the dog in the fight, but the size of the fight in the dog"

QuoteI've come to the realization that you're all New Age pussies.

Yeah?  And?  I challenge any of y'all to Yoga and then some Pilates.  At first, you'll feel ok.  Then, the next day, you will be so sore you won't be able to move.

It's interesting that y'all crave protein after you work out.  I swear, when I get done swimming, I'm absolutely *DYING* for a baked potato with sour cream.  And I can't do anything or think straight until I get it.

And, more new age hippiness from this geek:  the one diet that seems to work for me is Suzanne Somer's diet.  I have a cantankerous stomach, and if I don't food combine, I've got the worst heartburn ever.

That being said, I've been out of the workout game for a while.  I'm actually on my way to join a gym with a good pool so I can get ready for the tris and half mary or two.

Wierd thing is, if I don't have something to compete for with a deadline, I will put working out off...

The Atkins Diet works. Turns out I like having all-you-can-eat steak 20 times a week.

I was around 245 at Pubcon 1. That was about the end of the 8 or 10-yr period where I ate 100% of my meals in restaurants.
Now around 220.

I used to take on (manly) massive/heavy construction projects rather than doing (girly) things like diets and exercise programs. Or golf ...that's for complete pussies. Hell, go DO something better with your time, jangro!  At 60, I still tend to turn to projects but they hurt a lot more than they used to, hhh.

<added>
>Load is 4/4/00/00/00/00/00/00/00/00.   (There's a free beer for any Eurotrash that knows what that means.)

OK, make that TWO pints.

>Or golf ...that's for complete pussies.

get off the fence, RC, what are you trying to say?:)

QuoteI used to take on (manly) massive/heavy construction projects rather than doing (girly) things like diets and exercise programs.

You mean

"I used to take on (manly) massive/heavy construction projects rather than doing (girly) things like WORKING ON A COMPUTER AT A DESK."

>WORKING ON A COMPUTER AT A DESK.

I do the computer stuff as a sideline. Come to my house and I'll show you some results of the heavy work.

>get off the fence, RC, what are you trying to say?

Well, I will admit that participating in golf is (marginally) better than watching sports.  NFL, World Cup, NASCAR ...doesn't matter, anyone who is drawn into that is a weak-minded pawn of corporate sports.

QuoteCome to my house and I'll show you some results of the heavy work.

I'd love to if you pay my mortgage :)

QuoteNASCAR

Is not a sport!

>I'd love to if you pay my mortgage

Build your own house instead of pissing away your time and you won't have as much of a mortgage.  That's what I did.

>NASCAR

"Prohibition gave us NASCAR and the Mob. I'm not sure which is worse." -unk

> Or golf ...that's for complete pussies.

Hehe. What can I say? I love the game.
And I know it's cliche, but being able to play the game well has a way of opening doors.


...and it calms me so MFs who judge others for how they spend their time don't get me riled up.  ;)

>MFs who judge others

That's one of my better qualities. And why you love me.  Besides, you know I'm right.

@RC I'll bite: Two rounds of #4 birdshot followed by eight 00 buckshots? If at first they don't get the message, rip them into small pieces? ;)

You win 2 pints, jetboy.

> If at first they don't get the message

Yes. The house has nice woodwork and I'd hate to mess it up, but after the first 2 shells things will get serious.

...and don't forget a reload somewhere in there too.  After how many, depends if the hunting plug is in there:)

That's why I went with the Saiga --clips (or drum) rather than a tube loader.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vJHnYox1zMc

>>all-you-can-eat steak 20 times a week.

Right then, just found my diet.

>just found my diet

Really. It works well for men. Women seem to lose weight slower on it.  Atkins is an expensive diet, though.

QuoteReally. It works well for men.

Until they die at 50

>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vJHnYox1zMc

Right then, just found my shotgun.

>just found my shotgun

It's a really fun shotgun to own.  You'll enjoy customizing it.

>die at 50

It would seem that way ...particularly if you look at the obscene amounts of fat you can have.  But it's fairly easy to modify it to be a generally well-balanced diet. In fact, my mom's doctor put her on a low carb diet after her heart attack (she weighs 97 pounds, so it wasn't for weight loss).

Go on it. Buy a glucose tester and a blood pressure machine.  Have your cholesterol checked.  These numbers don't lie.

Agerhart and others, you may find this video interesting.  It was done by a nutrition researcher at Standford and he compared low carb Atkins like diets to low fat  and other diets,  The study also includes blood work and long term results. 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eREuZEdMAVo

The researcher is a vegan, and he was bothered by the results.  Basically, low carb wins in every way.

Study disputes low-carb diet concerns

Quotethe low-carb diet raised levels of HDL "good" cholesterol far more, but there was little difference on most other measures and no significant side effects, said lead author Gary D. Foster of Temple University

http://www.philly.com/philly/health_and_science/20100803_Study_disputes_low-carb_diet_concerns.html

------------------
Low carb diets like Atkins 'better for blood pressure'

QuoteParticipants in the study lost weight on both diets
A low-carbohydrate diet like Atkins is better at cutting blood pressure than weight-loss pills, say US doctors.

The researchers from the Veterans Affairs Medical Centre and Duke University Medical Centre say nearly half (47%) of those in the low-carbohydrate group were able to reduce or cut out their blood pressure medication, compared with around one fifth (21%) of those on orlistat plus a low-fat diet.
   
It's important to know you can try a diet instead of medication and get the same weight loss results with fewer costs and potentially fewer side effects. The two strategies were equally effective at improving cholesterol and glucose levels, as well as waist size and weight loss.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/8478629.stm

What he said

I'm not saying eating meat is bad.

I'm saying eating a lot of red meat is bad.

>There are only 2 reasons I am larger than I would like to be. Laziness and greed

Then low-carb is the diet for you --assuming you like meat.  It's fairly easy to do out in the real world and you can indulge your food greed on steaks or chops or salmon.

Once you knock off some weight, then consider switching to the harder-to-do low-carb with less red meat.  Add vegetable protein.  As I said above, it's do-able, but takes more effort to prepare.

I'm not an Atkins zealot, btw. I just have had good experiences with low-carb and know it works.  But I also have concerns that are similar to agerhart's in that a diet heavy on red meat is going to cause other problems if used long term.

Yeah, if it were up to me, we'd be eating steak, kebabs and burgers several times per week. Since Amy does the shopping, we eat a lot more chicken.

There is some incentive in there for me to go to the grocery store with her, since I pick out the beef. (and the beer)

Still, I usually don't go.

QuoteMeanwhile, old Jesse McVeigh the well digger is sitting on the porch of the Union Hotel watching the freaks walk by and muttering under his breath, "No matter how New Age you get, old age gonna kick your ass."

- Utah Philips, "Nevada City" from the album "The Past Didn't Go Anywhere"

>Protein makes you feel less hungry for longer.

Yeah, on the low-carb diets you're generally taking in huge amounts of protein.  Generally, by day 3 or 4 I'm not as hungry as meal time approaches.  But there's another reason for the lower appetite; carb intake converts to sugars quickly and that, in turn, spikes your blood sugar.  Then when your blood sugar level begins to fall, your brain interprets that as hunger.  Low carb diets trick the hunger system by keeping blood sugar levels consistently low.

>lo-carb

I started the Atkins diet today.  Takes some thinking NOT to reach for the carbs, and I think I'm going to miss them.  While I understand the giving up caffeine in the beginning, it is bordering on cruel. Decaf coffee just does not hack it first thing in the morning.  I'm going to be grumpy for this first week.   :-\

Most people don't do Atkins the correct way.  Atkins is actually very healthy:  the carbs you take in are leafy green vegetables.  And then, over time, you increase the level of carbs you take in until you are pretty much eating everything except white refined flour and sugar.

And, a lot of people I know say they are Atkins, but are on their own diet but they call it Atkins.  They will "save up their carbs" so they can drink beer or have other really high glucose stuff.  That's not the way to do it.

Beer is horribly high on the glucose scale.  Higher than refined white sugar, in fact.

There was a guy I went to work with who claimed Atkins caused him to have his gall bladder removed.  He called it Atkins, but it wasn't.  It was his own fucked up diet of "eat steak and cheese all the time and then allow himself to eat Ice Cream as his carbs." 

I think Atkins gets a bad name from idiots like this who "call it Atkins" but just do what they want.

Good luck there Brad.  Fight a good fight.

Oh, Brad.  Just so you'll know, you'll feel like HELL the first 4 or so days (and it has nothing to do with coffee)...But...after that, you'll feel better than you have in a long time.

Just know the misery doesn't last long...

QuoteWhile I understand the giving up caffeine in the beginning, it is bordering on cruel.

No way I could give up coffee.  I seriously wouldn't survive at this stage in my life.

>HELL

Yes.  I completely lost steam right after lunch.  Felt very sluggish.  Took a nap and made it a double.  I don't think I'll schedule anything important over the next few days.

Cold turkey is tough with caffeine.  Its much easier to step down gradually over several days.  Those cold turkey headaches are terrible and the more coffee you drink the long they last.

I'm with Agerhart. I routinely drink 2 or 3 20oz mugs of black coffee every morning. I don't cut back when I'm on low-carb (which usually quickly evolves into just a "No White Stuff" diet) and I still lose weight. 

Quote from: rcjordan on January 11, 2011, 03:31:17 PM
I'm with Agerhart. I routinely drink 2 or 3 20oz mugs of black coffee every morning. I don't cut back when I'm on low-carb (which usually quickly evolves into just a "No White Stuff" diet) and I still lose weight. 

This is good to know.  Not sure I can hold out without regular coffee for a whole week.

So day two and I go to grocery to get more fresh meat and all I can see are forbidden carbs: frozen pizzas, donuts, loaves of bread, pies ... you only really notice how much food contains carbs when you can't have it.

In two weeks I'll kill for pizza.

>White Stuff diet

...very popular down here, and very effective.  All the beautiful people are on it, and besides some sniffles and numb front teeth, this diet is lots of fun and you have all sorts of energy!  I would think it costs about $50 for every pound you want to lose:)

>lifestyle

Basically, that's the reason low-carb can work for most of us.  It requires some thinking, but you can 'fake' your old habits pretty well.  Want a quick burger fix from a fast-food joint?  Buy 3 cheeseburgers. Throw away the buns and stack the meat and have a meatburger.

>pizza

Meat-lovers with triple cheese. Throw away the crust.  Works.

>$50

More like $250. I told you it was expensive.

>it was expensive
only for the men.  Women get to diet for free and also get to have as much sex and alcohol as they want. I'm telling you, South Florida is funny like that!

>$50

Your post got me thinking about the expense.  It's expensive, yeah, but no more so than those pre-packaged meal plans like Nutrisystem  ...and that's if you're just blowing money on RC's All Meat Diet Complete With Pizza.

My best guess is the additional costs of low-carb raises my food bill by $400 per month.  On average, I've lost 20 pounds over 4 months. So that's $80 per pound for my diet.  So, for the average low-carb dieter, your figure of $50 is probably close.

Well, like any diet, you really have to stay on it to see the benefits. If you stop then you pretty much have to start from square one...

You have no idea how many diets I've tried and this one is just as good as any Spa or cruise.  10 days of dieting and $10k zero calorie meals and people won't even recognize you when you come back...

>In two weeks I'll kill for pizza.
You have no idea. Killing would be trivial.

Once you get to three weeks though, and you'll finally get over it. That's when I finally regained sanity and stopped literally dreaming about carbs. Though I still crave them, they don't taste nearly as good as I remember them, when I do go for it.

One thing that has helped me with my carbs cravings is to have a spiced tea or a strong flavored tea with stevia,  I think stevia tastes terrible with coffee, but it works well with most teas.  I know that some research suggests that having artificial sweeteners can cause an insulin response, but there is also data that says the opposite.  All I know for sure is that it has worked well for me,

>>I'm going with the rcjordan recipe: meat lovers w/triple cheese scraped off the crust.  I'll miss the crust - badly, but it ought to slake the pizza withdrawal cravings.  It would be uncivilized to go completely without pizza.

>>tea flavored with stevia

I like tea. I'll try this.  Thanks littleman.

Anyone know of a good low-carb pancake mix?  That's the next craving after pizza that will get me.

almond flour is low carb, but i've not seen it anywhere I shop and it sounds totally revolting for most baking. Might work well for pancakes though as almond pancakes sound edible. I'm presuming you mean american pancakes, as I imagine its a bit like ground almonds and I don't think you'd get a good crepe with that!

I also just found http://thefoodallergycoach.blogspot.com/2009/08/flourless-pancakes.html - surely thats not right?  Some things are just not meant to be......

CAUTION, Agerhart. DO NOT CLICK!

>low-carb pancakes

http://www.mrbreakfast.com/superdisplay.asp?recipeid=1175

They taste great.

Stevia is an herb that is naturally sweet, it is quite a bit sweeter than sugar, but has virtually no calories.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stevia

Don't forget to give me 10%   ;)

>stevia

Found Stevia at both Costco and the local grocery.  This is good stuff.  It fullfills that sweet-tooth craving and has no weird aftertaste.  Nice stuff.  Great tip LM.

Found Low carb pancake mix at both grocery and Amazon.

Good games/sports/activities for the winter:

mountain biking (yup at night too)  squash, raquet ball and swimming. Oh, indoor climbing.... and skiing if you have snow.  The new LED torches are amazing, you can do almost anything outside with a P& bulb.  (50 watt equivalent) Did it for the first time in years last week, and boy was I poor, an sore! 

At 165 lbs, loosing weight is not my problem, but when I stopped smoking, keeping it down was for a bit, until I upped the exercise.

I have a trailplus, ( sort of triathlon ) to go for 1st April, that keeps me focused, like Heather, I need a goal.

Um.  RC.  The "white stuff" DB is talking about is cocaine.  (Did you miss the numb teeth comment?)

And I swear to God, DB, if you really are doing coke, I'll fly down to Florida and kick your ass myself.  It'll make your Jiu Jitsu crap look like childs play.

And, Brad.  You actually won't kill for the pizza.  After you get over the carbs in your system, somehow, it shuts off...and you feel good.

Here's some of that newage pansy stuff for you RC:
http://clips.team-andro.com/watch/c4743e6724f960725612/joe-defranco-strong-the-movie

>Um.  RC.  The "white stuff" DB is talking about is cocaine.  (Did you miss the numb teeth comment?)

No, I saw it, but reading here is spotty and I forgot the reference.  I've called my own lazy, less-restrictive version of low-carb the No White Stuff Diet for years (no foods with flour, potatoes, or white rice). So I'm going to sue db for trademark infringement.

COCAINE!?!  That's what that was?!??  Wow, you have no idea how much that explains things... I was just like, 'wow, I feel fucking GREAT!'  Look, let's not argue names and trademarks here and get back to RC's favorite low cal sports drink for men...

(https://th3core.com/chat/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fphotos-h.ak.fbcdn.net%2Fhphotos-ak-snc4%2Fhs118.snc4%2F36271_10150364006505252_587880251_16969656_3743645_s.jpg&hash=dfbe0ec80add4e57dc24a197da09946e96e6f7dc)


heehhehe, but seriously, on the topic of health, and I couldn't say this more seriously to you: you should consider getting this $250 food allergy/antibody @home blood test, which will not be covered by your insurance, even if you are *sure* you have no food allergies... you'll thank me.

http://www.usbiotek.com/

...from what I have gathered through all my research, on myself and what got my dogs, everything has to do with your gut.  Your immune system is there. Your stuffy nose, surprisingly, is there too.  And your skin. Everything. And it's health depends mainly on what (and how) you eat, and in our cases, how much (and what kind of) stress you are under and how you deal with it.  Because stress and anxiety cause certain things to turn on and off inside your body to protect you from harmful things.  In other words, when it is time to run for your life, you are hardwired not to worry about digesting your food.  So if you perceive a threat, whether real or imaginary, it affects you physically.  And further stressing a weakened body eventually tears itself apart, over time, so more exercise isnt necessarily the answer, unless you are 'under-exercised'.

And one indicator of all this, is the permeability of your gut wall.  The worse it gets, the more things it lets through, among other things. And as if fails to selectively keep waste out, it enters your body, causing further reactions.  And this test I pointed you to tests to see what you are actually reacting to.  In some cases, if you are fit, maybe you'll find a few things that surprise you, and you'll just keep them in mind.  But if you are like me, you will be allergic to damn near everything, and they will say you have a 'leaky gut'.  This is not because I'm really allergic to the substance, but that I have become allergic to the substance, indicating everything is fucked.  Now I learned there is a theory that matches my own that was described in a paper that was just released about a rare 'perfect storm' of events which cause the syndrome to occur... and here I thought I was 'special':)

Anyway, again, I'm sure you have questions, and I'm positive I don't have answers... but just go to your doctor and tell him to order you one of these tests. Take my word on it, I'm always right about shit like this.

>No White Stuff Diet

That's basically how I eat, no flour, rice, corn, potatoes, or  sugar,  and it works very well for me, I'm down 68 pounds.  I give myself a cheat meal a week to keep me sane.

Just in from Capt. Obvious:
http://www.usatoday.com/yourlife/fitness/2011-01-13-breaks-seat-heart-health_N.htm

Moving about throughout the day is more healthy.

But what got me, is it also applies to those of us who routinely work out. Makes sense, but hadn't really thought about it in this light.


"Even if you exercise for 30 to 60 minutes a day, what you do for the rest of the day may also be important for your cardiovascular health," Healy explained. "This research suggests that even small changes to a person's activity levels (as little as standing up regularly) might help to lower cardiovascular risk. These changes can be readily incorporated into the person's day-to-day life (including the work environment). Stand up, move more, more often, could be used as a slogan to help get this message across."

The authors pointed out that in developed countries people spend more than half of their day sitting, on average. At the same time, they point out that heart disease is the number cause of premature death in both the United States and Europe.

As much as love working from my Ultimate Command Recliner I would like a desk made for standing like these: http://www.standupdesks.com.  I think it would be more healthy to switch between the two.

>it would be more healthy to switch between the two.

agreed.  My Mom is an artist and she always had a huge drafting desk for engineering.

I am back in the gym after a few months off and I also bodyboard as much as the waves let me - which is usually twice a week through the summer. The winter season will be here soon and then I should be back in the water three or four times a week  ;D

I had a standup desk for a couple of years.  I used it regularly.  For over a year I'd stand up for 8 hours a day, and then after some time I bought myself a big stool and would sit down for half the day.  To be honest it didn't do me any good.  I was already over weight at the time and I didn't do anything about my eating habits.  I've seen people put a computer on a low speed treadmill, that might be more effective.  I know everybody is different, but I've benefited very little from low intensity exercise,

I recently tried one of those gigantic rubber exercised ball as a chair and loved it. 

Quote from: littleman on January 25, 2011, 11:52:48 PM
I had a standup desk for a couple of years.  I used it regularly.  For over a year I'd stand up for 8 hours a day, and then after some time I bought myself a big stool and would sit down for half the day.  To be honest it didn't do me any good.  I was already over weight at the time and I didn't do anything about my eating habits.  I've seen people put a computer on a low speed treadmill, that might be more effective.  I know everybody is different, but I've benefited very little from low intensity exercise,

I think this study/idea is more about general health, and avoiding heart disease in particular, which I don't think you would notice. What I gather is, if I'm fit and trim, and do 60 minutes of exercise every day, I still need to get up from the PC at various intervals throughout the day.

Yeah, I wasn't trying to imply that getting up and moving wasn't good for you, I just wanted to chime in on the standing desk idea.

Quotegigantic rubber exercised ball as a chair

We have 2 in the house.  Swiss balls over here.

A friend of mine who is a Lawyer, used to have one in an open office, with glass walls to the outside, and would bounce and balance on it when on the phone.

Must of been a picture :)

I'll just put this here:
http://www.boreme.com/boreme/funny-2008/the-office-exercise-ball-p1.php

I think I would get into big trouble for doing that :)     thanks for the idea.

Drastic, one tip I just read about to make sure you get up out of the desk often is to drink a lot, which forces you to get to the rest-room more often.  I've been doing this without thinking about it with my tea habit.

There is now a diet soda pop sweetened with Stevia called Zevia http://www.zevia.com/  I've tried a couple of flavors and it is not bad.  This is my dessert sometimes after supper to give me something sweet.

Quote from: littleman on February 26, 2011, 03:20:37 AM
Drastic, one tip I just read about to make sure you get up out of the desk often is to drink a lot, which forces you to get to the rest-room more often.  I've been doing this without thinking about it with my tea habit.

Yeah, I'm always needing to drink more water too.

Thanks for the reminder.

Sorry Drastic... I missed your question way back on Jan 4... here's a recap so you don't have to go find it

Quote

QuoteDrastic - looking at your exercise plan, I highly recommend Lou Schuler's books
...
I've changed over to more of a deadlifting/squats/Turkish Getups type of workout, which is more along the lines of NROL and what people like Mike Boyle, Mike Robertson, Dan Jon, Stuart McGill and people like that recommend.
...

Bottom line for me:
Switching to those types of workouts for me has made me leaner and stronger, with about half as much time in the gym as I was doing.

You mean, like the physical printed things? That's a, erm, novel concept. ;-) Seriously though, are you saying the books talk about the stuff you're now doing?

Yes, those books talk about that type of exercise. For $25 you can get both New Rules of Lifting and New Rules of Lifting for Abs (which is actually a much broader book than the title suggests and highly recommend it). Actually, I believe so strongly in the value of these books (and others along the same lines, but these are as good as any), that if you think you might be open to it and you tell me where to send it, I'll buy you a copy myself.

Otherwise, aside from NROL, look for books by Mike Boyle (dean of the "functional training" movement), Eric Cressy (if you're looking more to get strong than to get lean), and Pavel who everyone just calls Pavel because his last name is something like Tsatsouline.

Here are some podcasts so you don't have to do somethign so 20th century as go buy a book:

Mike Robertson interviewing:
- Pavel - http://robertsontrainingsystems.com/blog/ep-26-in-the-trenches-with-pavel-tsatsouline/
- Dan Jon - http://robertsontrainingsystems.com/blog/ep-21-in-the-trenches-with-dan-john/

The Fit Cast interview with Dan Jon, Lou Schuler and Alan Aragon
- http://thefitcast.com/episode-200-lou-schuler-alan-aragon-and-dan-john (that site is unresponsive at the moment but you can get it on iTunes - interestingly, a site:thefitcast.com search shows a lot of "tag" pages with the tile "Buy Clomid without a Prescription"... ooops. I should probably let them know.

Quotemake sure you get up out of the desk often is to drink a lot

I use this to remind me:
www.workrave.org

Quote
I had a standup desk for a couple of years.  I used it regularly.  For over a year I'd stand up for 8 hours a day, and then after some time I bought myself a big stool and would sit down for half the day.  To be honest it didn't do me any good.  I was already over weight

I thought I mentioned my experiences with the standup desk, but didn't find it in the thread. I use a standup desk, but having a matching chair is essential. Otherwise, when you get tired, you start to stand funny and it started causing me joint problems.

The benefit of the standup desk is more a matter of changing position. Sitting is bad for metabolic reasons, true, but standing still isn't much different. Standing has other benefits though. For example, so many of us have back problems because of the shortening and tightening of the psoas muscle, which is exacerbated by sitting. To me the standup desk is less about the value of standing per se and more about the value of variation and multiple movement patterns.

There definitely seems to be a back-to-basics movement when it comes to lifting weights.  In the 90s everyone was into muscle isolation movements like dumbbell flys and concentration curls.  These days it seems everyone is emphasizing compound movements like dead-lifts, squats, pull-ups bench-press, etc.  Everybody really into weightlifting trains much more like  a power lifter these days.

My personal take is that these things are are at least partially a trend.  Overall I think concentrating on the basic movements is a good thing, but I train something in the middle.  I do compound exercises, but I still work my smaller muscles like biceps and caves on their own.

One thing that I think is getting lost in the buzz out there is that you need to treat your body gentler as you get older.  I do more warming up and higher reps on my first set or two than I did in my 20s.  I use to always do low reps, 6 to 8, but these days I work up to 16 reps with lighter weight while keeping my form strict.  I have to keep my ego in check, but I've managed to keep from jacking anything up.  I also avoid anything that can aggravate old injuries, sometimes that takes discipline.

So I'm back into the swing of things after being out a few months. I had a weird double injury (heel and knee) due to remodeling/moving my office about 4 months ago. (so much for building a house or something to stay in shape, eh rc.)

Surprisingly I stayed roughly where I was at time of injury - 210-211 lbs, which means my diet is pretty solid. After the first week my new low was 207 after I shed some of the extra fat, but went right back to 209-211 range after 2 weeks, overall  trading muscle for fat. Still leery of working legs yet, hopefully soon.

At age 41, I'm quite surprised I bounced right back, and it feels good. This is probably the best shape I've been in, in my adult life.

Good for you Dras.

I'm at hovering around 202-204 right now and am itching to get to 200 which is about what I weighed Senior year in high school.  Every pound is a struggle at this point, lots of work.  The first 25 came off easy, the next wasn't too bad, but after hitting 225 its been really slow.

Workout wise I've stared doing  squats and deadlifts to strengthen my lower half and work on mobility -- I think it has helped this desk-jockey.  I use to get lower back aches but they seem to be gone now.  I started out really (almost embarrassing) light but have been gradually increasing my weight each week.  My last deadlift I was repping 205 which isn't a lot but is just above my body weight so I feel pretty good about that considering where I started.

Diet: I'm eating chicken, eggs, lots of leafy greens, some beans, and little fruit.  I have a tiny bit of milk every once in a while in a cappuccino.  One cheat meal a week and some dark chocolate on the day of the cheat meal.

I began 2011 with working out mainly lifting weights and very light cardio 3-4 times a week. I also try cutting food with too many carbs any keep away from the most "white" stuff.

I quickly cut off 17 lbs but more or less stayed there until today. Seems I'm trading some fat for muscle hanging around 230 lbs.

Training 3-4 times a week, just started to split the workout. I work out with a buddy which is key for me. Also missing a few sessions is not good mentally, however the longer we have been going, the more we wanna go and try not to miss too many times.

We try make it a good set in about 90 minutes, doing 4 sets, usually 12-10-8-6 reps with increasing weights. We both did some weights as young, so we tend to train quite heavy. We also keep a pretty fast pace between sets to keep the pulse up.

The #1 challenge is with increased training you get more hungry and the mind tries to convince you to eat more. Being creative with you have in the house is the trick for me. It's so easy to eat carbs and a lot more work to prepare veggies, meat etc., but if you only have want you need and not all the you want, then it's easier.

Having a body that sucks up everything I eat, going on a binge for a weekend will easily ad 4-5 lbs, so the hard truth for me is to get even more cardio and eat less. No surprise really, but sucks anyway :)

I feel a lot better though.

>Having a body that sucks up everything I eat, going on a binge for a weekend will easily ad 4-5 lbs

Yeah, I'm the same way, if I binge too hard it will take up to two weeks to undo it on the scale.   Keep at it Rumbas, that is some good progress.

>Every pound is a struggle at this point, lots of work.

Yeah, that worry has crossed my mind a couple times. I know the last to go are the hardest, but I'm trying to forget about crossing that bridge until I get to it.

>going on a binge for a weekend will easily ad 4-5 lbs

Isn't it amazing? Funny enough, lately my worst temptation? Waffle House. All Star Special. Waffle, eggs, bacon (or ham or sausage), toast, hash browns or grits, coffee. At least I can skip the next meal.

I wouldn't have lost a pound if we had Waffle House and Sticky Fingers here :)

In terms of working out, we usually do bench press, squats and dead lifts. Also dumb bells  - flyers, pullovers, pecks. We got a great machine to do assisted chin-ups and dips which is awesome when you have trouble pulling your own weight up. We try to split it doing chest, shoulder and triceps one day, back and biceps the next. It's tough as it's so specific to each muscle group, but very effective.

I try to play a least one or two rounds of golf with a carry bag each week as well. Again, not a lot of cardio but still a rather good walk with 30 lbs on your back.

If you're interested in losing weight, you should put some cardio into your plan. 20-30 mins 3 times a week would make a huge difference.

Good point Dras and also my experience. However I really hate cardio, so it's much tougher mentally.

I haven't checked in here in a bit but thought I would give my opinion on some points...

- drink ice cold water because you will not only end up hydrated but if it is ice water, your body will burn significant calories to heat it up to your body temp.  Day after day, this will add up.  If you don't like water, just add a half of lemon.  It makes it taste better and its a cleaning agent for your body.

- don't turn yourself into a bodybuilder... it's not really that healthy and your body will generate a bunch of waste by burning so hot.  Moderation in weight training is key.  It doesn't matter if you can bench press a bus if you cant jog around the block.  Just all the way around the block, not a marathon.  A truly healthy person does better in all areas than either a specialist, or an out of shape person will.  If you have a bum knee, ride a bike or swim to make sure you can still move your dead a## around. Its a good litmus test.

- do more exercises that don't require props, like different styles of pushups, situps/crunches, pull ups, jumping jacks, etc.  That way you never have an excuse not to do it.  Wake up, do 100 pushups/50 situps, bolt 2 glasses of water and take a shower.  Then add whatever you want to that. If you guys want to get ripped, this is your ticket.  Weights just ad bulk and most people end up with odd looking bodies because they think they do something really well.  

- Every muscle you train, make sure you train the opposite one. Biceps/triceps, stomach/back, etc.  You never just do one thing.

- stretch more. you'll end up less injured and more flexible and limber.  Yeah, feeling tight has its place, but so does feeling flexible.  In jiu-jitsu many people don't believe in weights at all because they usually end up limiting your movement, flexibility and speed, and when you look at them their build is so much more attractive, balanced and natural looking, because by doing real work, you concentrate on all your muscles, and how they work together in concert... not focus on, say 12 different exercises that make you just look like you are in shape, but in actuality you can only move things around in a gym.  Every meathead that I've seen walk into our gym cant make it through our warmup without sitting down or puking.  However, you can put our top fighters into any situation and I'm completely confident they can make through with at least average performance for whatever you throw at them, even if they've never done it before, and they will be able to do it again the next day at the same level, without b###hing they are sore. Not even a question about it.  Thats because we touch all the muscles other people didn't even know they had, because that is our goal.

...as far as diets go, here's what the Champ says:
http://www.bjjcenter.com/multimedia/articles/detail.php?ArticleID=4

(https://th3core.com/chat/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.bjjcenter.com%2Fmultimedia%2Farticles%2Fimages%2Fupload_images%2FPablo-at-ADCC-2005.jpg&hash=58cd560e5afd832a47f2f4f2985a249f67caeb62)

>>>>Wow, he has a body just like

have you got a sun tan too  ;)

Quote from: mick g on April 17, 2011, 05:10:25 PM
>>>>Wow, he has a body just like

have you got a sun tan too  ;)

He's from Essex Mick.  They all have sun tans - straight out of the spray gun

Good points Rob. Will look a bit into that.

>Champ

So, you telling me he's not done any weights (or roids for that matter ;) to look like that? Takes a helluva lot of pull/push ups methinks.

heeheh I pointed at Pablo because his diet is really notable, and is loosely based on the Gracie diet, and he adheres to it and it works for him.

Things like "The Popovitch diet follows the simple concept that you should not eat complex carbohydrates with protein in the same meal." are critically important in a true performance diet, as it allows you to have periods of peak performance to do whatever you do.

As far as his workout goes, it's actually mostly Spartan.  He flips a 500lb tire around, pushes trucks, clean jerks logs, climbs ropes with no legs, runs obstacle courses in the sand on the beach, he was an extremely decorated champion swimmer, etc. so he swims in the ocean ...just youtube him, etc. He is really a super hero when it comes to just about anything.  But he doesn't work out to look a certain way, he is all about function.

This past year, he won a total of five absolutes ('absolute' means he fights against any weight, so guys easily 30-40lbs heavier than him at times) plus 5 Weight divisions without having a single point scored against him.  That is just basically unheard of in this sport, given that he usually fights 4-5 guys in each weight class (or absolute devision).  So imagine fighting 25 or so of the best fighters in the world and they never even scored a point on him.

...that's why I said check out his diet and follow it if you can because I doubt any of us can do anything else he does:)

Wow, so he's a tough guy? ;-) Good friend to have if you ever piss off the wrong guy, hehe.

Damn, if I only had room for a huge tire and access to a truck. Fascinating.

...oh, and he plays guitar and sings, and he's good at that too.  Also directed the construction of his website, multiple blogs, twitter, facebook, Myspace, etc. since I met him in 2007 and he now has 4 or 5 gyms that carry his name.  Also won instructor of the year in 2009, very good teacher, very approachable.

Really the 1% of the 1%, imo.  And yeah, tough, extremely good wrestler, and has even won a few MMA fights, in case anyone thought he was a pretty boy:) Honestly, the swimming part impressed me quite a bit.  He's a fish. 

>Good friend to have if you ever p##s off the wrong guy
heeheh I indeed have an entire crew of cauliflower'ed eared Brazilians that would come to my rescue with one phone call:)

And I've met some of those Brazilians...genuinely good people.

oh, yeah, you did meet some of those guys while you were down here, I forgot!

here's some spartan training:
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x24zbu_pablo-popovitch-training-for-adcc_sport

...and on the beach in Brazil:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rVhJRfOub5Y

...as you know, the house he shows in his video at the beach was demolished in the landslide that killed his mother earlier this year.  Thanks to those that pitched in to help his father, who survived and was able to keep his leg.

Quote from: dogboy on April 16, 2011, 07:07:09 PM

- drink ice cold water because you will not only end up hydrated but if it is ice water, your body will burn significant calories to heat it up to your body temp.

Actually, you absorb cool, not cold or hot, water the fastest, so that's usually what you want. The caloric effect is minimal. It takes  1 calorie to heat 1 gram 1 degree celsius. So let's say you're drinking a LOT of water - 2 liters per day, all of it ice cold.  Ice water will be 0C. You will heat it to 37C. So that's 37,000 calories per liter, or 74,000 calories per day for 2 liters. Dietary calories are kilocalories, so that's 74 kcal per day.  That's not minor, as that adds up to about 8 pounds of weight loss per year, assuming your body doesn't actually have other cooling needs. But in hot weather, drinking cold water or using other means to cool your body (air conditioning, carrying ice in your hands, dunking your head), will actually decrease metabolic demands (so recently they've done tests on runners holding ice while they run and find that it increases endurance and reduces fatigue.

Anyway, I would imagine the temperature aspect is worth at most 2-4 pounds per year, whereas dropping one 16oz (almost half-liter) sugared drink per day will make a difference of about 30 pounds per year (not to mention the health benefits of avoiding the sugar, weight considerations aside).

If you're struggling with weight, you can get tons of ideas on how to cut calories even easier than drinking cold water from a book called Mindless Eating. It's a fascinating read no matter what, but if you're on the weight loss track, it's an absolute must. He has concrete suggestions from their studies on how to shift from mindless eating to mindless dieting. Things as simple as put your large plates in storage and you could lost over 10 pounds per year just from that one action.

Quotedo more exercises that don't require props. Weights just ad bulk and most people end up with odd looking bodies

[edit]Just watched the video you posted and that exemplifies what I mean by "machines" versus "props" - I don't know about that think with all the cables and wires, but the other stuff is basic human movement that people have done for thousands of years, just instead of pushing SUVs they were pushing rocks for construction.[/quote]

I would say "machines" rather than props. My feeling is that with some exceptions I avoid exercises that involve sitting or lying down and target exercises that do involve moving my torso. So leg press and leg curls involve sitting and lying and neither puts my torso in motion. Deadlifts and single-leg squats happen on the feet, and do move my torso. They mimic real activity that humans used to do before gyms were invented. Pick sh## up off the *ground* and move it (deadlift). High-step on a log and step up (single-leg squat). Weights, tires, logs, medicine balls, sleds, climbing ropes, stability balls, chinup bars (or tree branches) are all great "props" and you can find many of them (trees, rocks, logs) while out in the woods. Sometimes if I'm out for a run, if I see a rock, I'll just stop and pick it up and drop it a few times. Basic stuff.

All that, however, means nothing up and against the key principle of health: something is better than nothing. If what turns you on is going into the gym and doing preacher curls, and you're just going to hate any other form of exercise, well, get off your a## and go to the gym and do preacher curls. It's better than going to the living room and doing television and chips. That's the 80%. The rest of this discussion is about the 20%

So how are you all getting on? I'm back down to 160kg thanks to cutting back on carbs. Time to get back to the gym...

Well I started getting lazy and at the point I didn't go a single day for a week, I had to recommit. It's so easy to take a day off here and there and before you know it, you went once or twice (or never) in a given week.

I've been 5 days/wk the last two weeks, and while I'm still stuck at 210-211, I'm losing bodyfat so I'm on track. The more I go the better I feel and healthier I am, so it's been great.

I have 3 more weeks before the beach vacation and want 15 more days straight (assuming the gym is open memorial day), hope to shed 5-6 lbs. by then. Diminishing returns is definitely hitting though so I'm trying to switch focus to bodyfat instead of the total number. (Target weight for my height is 200 lbs.)

>It's so easy to take a day off here and there and before you know it, you went once or twice (or never) in a given week.

Spot on Dras. It's a down ward spiral., If you miss out a few times, it's so easy to miss another day and then one and suddenly you haven't done anything for a few weeks and feels like being back to square one. Then you get soar and it's even worse.. Focus!

About a month ago I caught a virus which made me sick for several days, during that time I couldn't do much of anything.  I started to feel better and then went to the gym once.  This caused a relapse.  So, I was afraid to go to the gym for a while and ended up taking a total of 14 days off.  I did stick to my diet though for the most part but wasn't eating enough,

During this time I got down to 200 lbs, but I dropped the weight the wrong way and it bounced back to 202 in a couple of days after getting back onto the gym.  Like I said before, every additional pound drop has been a lot of work after the first 40 lbs, so I know that's how it has to be.

The good news though is that I'm back into 34 inch pants, which is the size I wore in high school. When I was my fattest I was in 40 inchers.

Just saw a bit of this on Facebook:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t1jMyzmtiI4&feature=player_embedded#at=99 :)

Its been a while, so how are you all doing these days? 

I've gone full Atkins, for a while.  I have a personal goal to make by my 40th birthday at the end of this month.  Going low carb is interesting.  I definitely feel the difference in the gym.  This is the first time I've done deep Ketosis, keeping my carbs at around 20 grams for the last two weeks. 

I've been putting more carbs back in my diet and slacking a bit on the working out. Since very low carb isn't healthy and I'm over the hump, I'm getting to a comfortable norm.

We bought some new bikes (pedal kind), hybrids. A mountain bike style handlebar with road bike frame. We have a local railbed that's  been converted to a bike/pedestrian path that leads to a nearby city. Roundtrip is 21 miles through the back of downtown through the woods to a little town with a hardware store converted to a cafe. It's fun, relaxing and great exercise all at once. This caused some drop off from the gym, but it's more enjoyable.

In the gym we took a free workout with a trainer and did a lot more exercises with lighter weight and no resting.  Basically you get cardio and resistance at the same time, so no cardio machines except for warmup. It was fun and different so we incorporated the style into our workout. We're doing less overall but can be in and out of the gym in less than 30 mins. In a rush, I've done 12 sets in 12 minutes. Gets me back in the office quickly.

So, overall, my weight loss has basically plateaued at 212-215 for now, and I still want to get to 200 or so. But, I'm in no hurry and I'm making progress as I'm still building muscle while staying the same weight.

Doing pretty well here too. Seems I'm exchanging fat for muscle, however at a rather low pace, but getting stronger and doing more weight/reps. Started doing 30 mins of intensive cardio every 2nd workout which seems to shed some fat as well.

Body weight is still in the 100+ kg and wants to get below 100 before Xmas. Not in a hurry, but like to see some improvement to keep up momentum.

Still finding it hard to stay off too many carbs, but doing a lot more meat, fish and chicken and cutting the "whites" as much as possible.

Feeling better all around tough.

I was 117kg a few months ago - now 97kg :)

Done with aid of 4 week crash diet and a change from insulin to liguratide (insulin is a bastard for making you put on weight)

... have also bought a secondhand bike to get a bit more exercise (amazing bargain from ebay, £24 for a 21 gear Hybrid bike - in good nick too :) )


We are thinking of moving to Morecambe, and spending quite a bit of time there checking it out - they have an amazing network of 'proper' cycle paths that stretch all the way to Lancaster.

I really like Atkins as it is very structured.  You "step" up to add more carbs, and it tells you exactly what foods to add next.

I'd like to see a picture of you in your 40 inch pants, Little...sort of like the subway guy pants picture...then I'd like to see you in your 34 inch pants..

I know you don't like posting your picture...but perhaps in the IC?

Grnidone: I didin't keep any of the 40" pants.  I'll do a before & after eventually, but I don't think its time yet.  Maybe we could get Dras to do one first.

Rumbas: Nice work, keep at it.  Hope you make your goal.

4Eyes:  That's a very good start!  20kg, that's 44lbs.

Dras:  I've been seeing a lot of people do that type of workout these days, sort of like Cross-Fit, very intense, and people just keep moving.  I'd imagine its great for your cardio-system.   

>I'll do a before & after eventually, but I don't think its time yet.

How could it not be time?  40 down to 34??!!  You are half the man you used to be!  Come on!  do a picture!!

Brewing beer has blown my low carb diet.  You can't brew beer and not drink it - it's like a Rule or something.  But the Atkins diet worked real good for awhile there.

Quote4Eyes:  That's a very good start!  20kg, that's 44lbs.

I wish I could claim the credit - but I really can't - the new meds make you feel really sick for the first 3 weeks, so there is never a better time to go on a diet.

Now, if I can lose another 20Kg - then we are talking, but until then I am a fraud compared to those of you 'putting the effort in'

We're about to hit the new year so I figured I'd raise this one up again.  How you all doing?

Here's a picture of me at various sizes over the last  6 years.  The last one was taken mid November.

That's impressive stuff. Sort of thing you see on a WeightWatchers advert!

Wow, great job John. Keep it up!

I had gotten a bit sloppy with the gym and carbs, got back up to about 220.

3 weeks ago I started a new eating plan, mostly a whole food, plant based diet. More for overall health than just weight loss, but I've lost 5 lbs or so already.

It's pretty radical, but not really difficult at all, and I'm already seeing some gains outside of weight loss.

Great stuff Littleman. 

I am joining this thread for 2012.  Anyone up for a mini challenge, or challenge per month?

John, you look great!  You're half the man you once were!!

_{and...I like how your hair doesn't grow, it just sort of expands...like the white man's version of a 'fro...}

@Drastic: 
3 weeks ago I started a new eating plan, mostly a whole food, plant based diet. More for overall health than just weight loss,

I think that is the best reason to start any new eating/ exercise plan.  Do it for health.  Are you now a vegetarian/ vegan?  Or you just limit your meat intake to once or twice a week?  Do you eat any dairy?

Pretty close and I may eventually go full vegan.

No meat, no dairy. The only animal products I am currently eating are fish, seafood, turkey and feta cheese. I may have a steak once or twice a month, but not for the first few weeks at least.

QuoteI may eventually go full vegan.

Wow...that's quite a move.

Do you feel that is for health or moral reasons?

I've read about health benefits of vegetarian diets...but I've heard negatives of a full vegan diet.

Thanks for the encouragement guys, its a long term project, as you guys could tell from the years next to the pics.   Also, it wasn't always linear, at one point I worked my way down to 225 then I slowly pushed myself back up to nearly 240 thinking that it was just muscle gain, but it wasn't.  That up and down (220->240->220) took about a year.

@grnidone, I have the weirdest hair.  Basically, I could do three things with it:
1 grow it out to a ponytail
2 shave it off
3 stick gel in it and comb it back

@Dras:  That sounds good.  I think I'll eventually end up eating mostly plants once I'm done trying to lose.  Right now I seem to need the protein and fat from animal products to keep my appetite down.

@thesaintv12:  maybe we could post personal goals on the first of the months and then check in at the next month and report how we did?

>Do you feel that is for health or moral reasons?

Health only, moral possibilities kinda make me chuckle.

>I've heard negatives of a full vegan diet.

From what I've learned is there is a common misconception about needing protein from animal food, but you get plenty from other sources. I'm not that into it at this point, but I may get there, especially if things continue to improve. Stuff like thinking more clearly, less muscle tension in neck & shoulders, not snoring any more, having more energy and being in a better mood have made the current changes worth it and I've got a ways to go.

Right now I just don't eat anything processed, red meat, dairy, or sugar. I also try to eat more of foods that are supposed to be beneficial for my blood type, and avoid ones which are negative. But from what I've learned and experienced, I may go a bit more extreme in the coming months.

Check out the documentary Forks Over Knives (on Netflix streaming right now), which I watched last night. It has medical studies from different countries showing some of the above, and the reasons why. It's pretty eye-opening. My new direction didn't come from this movie (it's a bit different but quite similar), but it supports this line of thinking very well.

>Right now I seem to need the protein and fat from animal products to keep my appetite down.

One thing that really surprises me is how I eat less yet am still satisfied. I would have bet against it.

>I also try to eat more of foods that are supposed to be beneficial for my blood type, and avoid ones which are negative.

*cough* Yeah.  I just don't buy that blood type food thing.  Supposedly my blood type says I should eat loads of soy.  However, I'm allergic to it.

I've thought about going full on vegetarian, but since I'm allergic to soy, I'm pretty screwed when it comes to getting enough protein in my diet.  That, and I'm too lazy to learn how to combine the other grains to get all the amino acids found in protein.  Though I do know it can be done.

I find it easier to eat Vegetarian most of the time and have a cheeseburger/ steak/ chicken/ fish when I crave it.

Anybody want to commit to 5 days/week at the gym, checking in to the thread?

No backing out for me now, I am doing it for a cause (and my wife has posted it all over Facebook) - http://heat.lewispeople.co.uk/

@Drastic - I'll commit to 5 days exercise (though not all at the gym)

Awesome! Yeah, whatever constitutes your exercise regimen.

Want to check in weekly say, Monday morning or Friday afternoon to report the previous week's success?

Quote from: Drastic on January 02, 2012, 06:37:07 PM
Awesome! Yeah, whatever constitutes your exercise regimen.

Want to check in weekly say, Monday morning or Friday afternoon to report the previous week's success?

Sounds good, I'm in!

I'm in. Got 4.5Kg/10lbs to drop. Three days at the gym, two in the pool. I want to start training MMA again in May, and I'd get crucified at the moment.

I'm in - however making it 5 days a week is pushing it. I'd commit to 3-4 days :)

Quote from: jetboy on January 02, 2012, 09:09:33 PM
I'm in. Got 4.5Kg/10lbs to drop. Three days at the gym, two in the pool. I want to start training MMA again in May, and I'd get crucified at the moment.

Last time I saw you Rowan you resembled Skeletor off He-Man. You need to put on weight!  ;D

I'm in. Lost 1.5 stones in the past 3 months. Am hoping for the same again.

Me too.  I can't stand the way I feel anymore.  Pulled out the tri training schedule, though I don't have access to a pool at the moment.  Might have to trade pool days for weights.

Skeletor with a prominent belly and ill-fitting clothes at the moment. :(

In for four day a week.  That's what I've been doing for the last couple of years, and I'll keep it up.  I need that flexibility to negotiate work & the kids of 4 days out of 7.

I'll state a personal goal here.  195lbs. (87kg, 13.9 Stones) by Valentine's day.   I've slipped up about 2 lbs from the Holidays even though I've been on the stricter side (I think some of it is too much salt).

Well this commitment already helped today. I had a two hour appt. with a flooring guy this morning and dental appt this afternoon and I couldn't get in the gym anywhere near my usual time. But I went anyway, and I think committing here helped push me over the edge.

I'm still recovering from surgery... slower than expected... hoping to get my jiu-jitsu back on within the month. I'm totally out of shape.

That's an impressive goal you're aiming for there LM! Considering the history you posted above. Cudos for getting where you are now though!

My 3 month goal is 220 lbs / coming from 235 today and 255 a year ago. Ideally next Jan my goal would be around 200 lbs.

Doing weights ads more body weight than the cardio takes off at the moment, but things are shifting in the right direction :)

Raz, what I've been doing is resistance training without resting to get cardio at the same time.

Before, on my chest/arms days I would do 3 sets of bench/chest, then 3 sets of triceps, then another iso press for 3 and another tricep machine for 3 with the requisite resting between each set.

What I've been doing lately for example would be 1 set bench, 1 set tricep,1 set different chest, 1 set different tricep and repeating all 2 more times, but with no resting other than moving to the next rack/machine. You have to use less weight obviously but you get cardio at the same time. Your specific muscle groups (pecs vs tris for this example) still rest somewhat between sets since your focus switches on each exercise. It is more intense, something different and can be fun, plus the workout is much quicker. Just be sure to warm up and stretch as always.

The only problem is there is more chance of someone being on the machine you need, but that's somewhat alleviated by only needing to grab a quick set and people are usually ok with you working in for it.

Only been doing core exercises (planks) at home so far, but in the gym tonight. Been eating healthier though, and 4lbs dropped so far. No doubt I'll go up in weight after the gym though.

>No doubt I'll go up in weight after the gym though.

How does that work?  The gym makes you gain weight?

if you lift and eat the right way it will

I believe that weight training (at least after a layoff) makes your muscles retain water, so you tend to see an initial increase in weight.

QuoteHow does that work?  The gym makes you gain weight?

Yep.  It does for me.  When I'm out of shape, I'm about 105 pounds (47.6 kg, 7.5 stone) or less, when I'm in really good shape, I weigh around 117 pounds (53.7 kg, 8.36 stone).  Oddly enough, I look thinner when I weigh more...

I'm in

5 days a week

I've got a dog. 1-2 hours brisk walking everyday. Who needs a gym!!

I lose weight like I quit smoking... repeatedly, but never for very long. ;-) I used to be one of those people who couldn't gain weight if I tried, and I did try. Often commented that I'd like to gain weight. Then thanks to my thyroid taking a hike (probably starting about 10 years ago), I got my wish. Be careful what you wish for indeed.

My lowest weight in the last 10 years was 148 down from an all-time high of 200+ (The Drs office weighed me in at 199, but that's after I dropped a little weight). Then I slowly crept back up to the mid-160s, where I am now.

I know there are plenty of easy ways I could lose weight... I dropped 10lbs in a month by laying off the beer, but I don't want to lay off the beer. Therefore I must exercise. And I don't particularly like to. So having a bunch of people to be accountable to, even if it's just online, should help with motivation. *crosses fingers*

And after looking at Littleman's photos, damn. I have no good excuse for not dropping 15-20lbs.

>How does that work?  The gym makes you gain weight?

Absolutely!

I've probably put on more weight than losing over the last year. Took a good cut the first few months and kept the same body weight since. Doing quite a bit of weights and definetly burned fat for muscle. Pants and shirts fitting better and feeling much better.

I've still got quite a bit of fat to shed but a few months ago my training buddy and I increased the speed and intensity of our weight training trying to burn more calories. Quite effective as Drastic mentioned above. Doing a least 2 sets of longer cardio excercises a week on top. Cross trainer for about 45 mins.

Littleman mentioned in another thread the excercise can't beat a bad diet. I have to concur completely.
Eating less and better is my main challenge. I love good food.. and plenty of it. Also eating more times a day will help, but I've never cared for breakfast and basically only have lunch and dinner and maybe some bad white carbs at night before bed - which is REALLY bad if you want to loose weight.

>And after looking at Littleman's photos, damn. I have no good excuse for not dropping 15-20lbs.

I think Little should take a picture in a speedo when he gets the abs showing.  He's got no excuse *not* to... 

>speedo

no chance!

>How does that work?  The gym makes you gain weight?

Ditto. I usually only get fat if under a lot of stress (e.g. finishing my doctorate when the deadline suddenly got moved from eight months to three months).

If under a little continual stress or just plain lazy, I get skinny - skinny arms, skinny legs. I go to the gym primarily to add weight. Or, actually, I go to the gym primarily to add *stength* which usually requires adding some weight. If I could get twice as strong without adding a pound, I'd prefer that, but aside from training neuropathways, it doesn't tend to work that way.

Weight is, in general, a terrible measure of fitness.

Quote from: littleman on January 09, 2012, 08:09:28 PM
>speedo

no chance!

hahahaha! Spoil sport. You're raining on Heather's parade.

So, I did a workout yesterday... I'm switching it up to the program I used last time I tried to stick to something and get in shape. My hamstrings and butt are KILLING me, but everything else feels fine. I guess that's what I get for using a female-specific workout regimen... apparently all we care about is our lower body?!

If you're struggling to find time or looking to mix things up and are already pretty fit, Tabatas are something to throw in the mix.

How: http://www.t-nation.com/free_online_article/sports_body_training_performance/the_tabata_method

How 2: http://www.t-nation.com/free_online_article/most_recent/the_tabata_method_perfected

Why: http://www.cbass.com/FATBURN.HTM (short version: EPOC - excess post-exercise oxygen consumption).

Read and heed the warnings. A couple weeks ago I saw an article that cited two more studies confirming the value of Tabatas.

Love this quote from Dan John

QuoteI do either Tabata front squats or Tabata thrusters about twice a month. I'm sure someone will comment, "If it's so good, why don't you do it every day?" Go ahead, try it and report back after the second day.

(note in more recent articles he recommends against thrusters, though that's what I did this week, b/c of the high chance of... well... passing out and dropping the weight on your head.

Wow, that seem extremely effective. One guy here swears to heavy lifting and doing reps until you nearly pass out. Fits perfectly with the Tabata theory.

I'll try the front squats at tonight's training.

I've seen people doing the front squats in the gym, just not to that intensity. Looks interesting, like good a Saturday extra workout trial. My knee is holding up surprisingly well playing ball, so I may be able to get back to leg strengthening exercises soon. Not yet though.

***Warning*** Be very careful doing any kind of squat - poor form can very seriously injure your back. If you don't have or know proper form, get someone who does to coach you the first few sets. This is the kind of mistake that can last for years.

---

I seem to be leveling around 210 lbs. As lm mentioned in the commit thread, these last few are the hardest fought. I'm still leaning up overall though, so progress is still being made. That bit around the waist is dug in, war is definitely an apt description.

A couple of additional thoughts on Tabatas

1. Those are just two exercise options (front squats and thrusters) and there might be better options if you have a bad knee. The original Tabata research was done on stationary bikes and the idea of that type of workout was developed by the Japanese Olympic speed skating team (not sure what they were doing, but pretty sure it wasn't front squats, probably biking or skating).

2. Go HARD. The essence of the Tabata is to go all out, no pacing yourself, during the work periods.

The key is something that will completely max you out, which makes sprinting hard (to hard to stop fast enough) and curls stupid (not enough big muscles) as Dan John says in the second article. If you don't feel like puking, aren't shaking in the legs, and feel ready to run off and hit the showers afterwards, you probably haven't gone hard enough. My wife's legs were shaking for a day and a half after her first try (and she's pretty fit -- e.g. skate skied 11 miles the weekend before). I basically collapsed on the incline bench for five minutes. When I got up and thought I'd just do a couple of ab exercises before leaving, I almost puked.

So far, my wife has tried bodyweight jump squats, a weird "skater" thing (essentially jumping laterally with a crossover). She  was broken for a few days after the skater thing. I've done the thrusters.

3. GO LIGHT!
Dan John says Tabata thrusters with a 35-pound weight is a *hard* workout and he's a guy who chucks a discuss 55m and has a lifetime of Olympic lifting heavy. Very heavy. After my experience with the thrusters - starting with 20 pound dumbbells and having to bump down. By the 10th round, I was on five-pounders (which was too light, but crazy as it seems, 10s were getting to heavy). Take a weight that you would do for a normal 10 reps, say, and divide by three or four for a good Tabata starting weight.

For my first time doing Tabata front squats, I would probably go with just the bar (especially as I don't have a squat rack, so I have to hold it throughout). Doing the thrusters with hardly any weight, my legs were getting flamed from what were pretty much bodyweight squats at the end.

4. Front squats are way safer than back squats and you'll be doing them very light and very fast. So the chance of injury is a lot less than when going heavy.

5. Have FUN in that weird, suffering sort of way. It's only 4-6 minutes and you can put up with a lot of hurt for that long.

Well I'm finally back to losing again. Things were staying stagnant in the 210-211 range.

Hit 205 this week and dropped a belt hole to boot!

I think the key for me is eating little to no carbs after dinner. I'd gotten into a bad habit of snaking on chips & dip or similar around or after 10pm. With more and smaller meals throughout the day I kept on through the evening.

Now that I've cut that back and mostly eating nuts or dried fruit late evening, the pounds are dropping again.

>key for me is eating little to no carbs after dinner. I'd gotten into a bad habit of snaking on chips & dip or similar around or after 10pm

Same here. I have a really nasty habit of eating way too late in the evening - usually right before bed. However staying away from carbs and fat and only doing fruits, wegs, serial etc. does the trick.

Still fighting loosing total weight - mainly due to bad eating habits and heavy lifting.

Yeah, I have this sugar craving that wants to be satisfied with carbs or sugar itself.

Amy makes this kind of nut crunch stuff which works great. Mixed raw nuts, a few berries, and molasses or maple syrup. Baked in a glass pan for 20-30 mins. Pretty healthy yet makes me happy.

Sad thing is I can remember not that many years ago eating ice cream every night at bed time and not gaining weight.

Temptation is tough man.  I try to avoid situations where food I love but I should not eat is being served.  My seven year old loves watching the "food network" and wanted to have cheese fondue with french bread and chocolate fondue for dessert for her birthday.  That kind of stuff is like crack for me -- very hard to resist.

Dras, you should be happy that you have a metabolism that allowed you to eat that way for so many years. 

For the first time, just dropped below the target of 200 lbs.

Time to celebrate, I think I'll eat a cake.

Wow, congrats Ken! Good work there bro :)
I'm at 230, going hard for 220 and 200 long term.

Nice one!  Keep at it.

Congrats!  You going to post a before/after?  I can't be the only one...

Thanks all.

Yeah I thought about the before/after, but the before photo from the beach is pretty bad. Shirt off, pasty white - it's plain ugly.

HBO recently did a documentary series on the American obesity problem and they were good enough to put it online.

http://theweightofthenation.hbo.com/

On Youtube as well:
part one http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-pEkCbqN4uo
part two http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hLv0Vsegmoo
part three http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T24B6T-hp0E
<edit>
part four http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BmcZRgWBdwQ
</edit>

Been here in the US for about a week and I've seen some of the most obese people ever. On all my visits here, this one has been the worst, however I'm also seeing a lot more of the other extreme; excessive huge pumped guys and girls that seem to have sucked on a steroid pipe for too long.
Question is where are the normal people?

I see why Amercans get soo fat; fast food and calories everywhere all the time. Personally I would probably easily weigh 300 lbs if I lived here.

I think you got it right.  Fat is the new norm, so there really aren't any normal people.  For the most part we have those who are into fitness/muscle building and then there is everyone else.  It isn't just the fast food chains.  When you were in the States did you have a chance to look inside a grocery store?   Most of the space in the stores are filled with  isles of empty calories, candy, chips (crisps), cookies, pastries, salty snacks and sugary drinks -- stuff that taste good, but aren't really food.

My girls tell me about what their friends bring to school and it's unbelievable, almost everything is laden with sugar.  One of the causes is that the US subsidies corn production which means cheap high fructose corn syrup so HFCS or sugar work their way into virtually everything processed.  All the fast food restaurants are now pushing sweet 'coffee' & 'fruit' drinks on their customers, so I'm expecting this to add to the weight burden in the next five years.  Honestly, I think our collective gluttony is a much bigger problem than anyone is wiling to admit.

Funny Dras that's exactly how I started eating about a year ago.  I'm down to 135 which is almost perfect for me.  130 would be ideal but almost too skinny.  I just avoid carbs in general, why tempt myself.  I only exercise about 30 min's 4-5 times a week and it's enough.

Talking about less is more.  I'm in the middle of moving to the "barn" which is the small house on the new property we bought.  Looking at the old house - I can't believe how much STUFF we have!  It's insane!

I'm going to be selling/giving away as much stuff as I can, and the new house will be minimalistic as heck, it's terrible to have SO MUCH STUFF.  Less is more is my new motto, starting this week!

Quote from: Rumbas on May 20, 2012, 09:40:28 PM
Been here in the US for about a week and I've seen some of the most obese people ever. On all my visits here, this one has been the worst, however I'm also seeing a lot more of the other extreme; excessive huge pumped guys and girls that seem to have sucked on a steroid pipe for too long.
Question is where are the normal people?

I see why Amercans get soo fat; fast food and calories everywhere all the time. Personally I would probably easily weigh 300 lbs if I lived here.

Tell me about it bro, it's the worst in the South. All that butter, oil and grease catch up to us. Trying to eat healthy at local restaurants is quite the challenge, you have to pick where to go carefully.

Quote from: 2much on May 22, 2012, 01:56:38 AM
Funny Dras that's exactly how I started eating about a year ago.  I'm down to 135 which is almost perfect for me.  130 would be ideal but almost too skinny.  I just avoid carbs in general, why tempt myself.  I only exercise about 30 min's 4-5 times a week and it's enough.

Talking about less is more.  I'm in the middle of moving to the "barn" which is the small house on the new property we bought.  Looking at the old house - I can't believe how much STUFF we have!  It's insane!

I'm going to be selling/giving away as much stuff as I can, and the new house will be minimalistic as heck, it's terrible to have SO MUCH STUFF.  Less is more is my new motto, starting this week!

That's great! I've switched over to a mostly vegetarian diet around first of the year, going mostly vegan now. My diet is all about overall health rather than weight loss these days. I hear you on all that "stuff," I recently cleaned out the attic and have a couple closets to go. Put some on ebay and made about $1500, the rest went to charity and still have about a dozen items to sell. I'm loving the extra space in the storage areas. Good luck on the cleanup!

Wow, wow. Begun to watch those HBO documentaries John and what a bad bad state the US is in!
Absolutely terrifying to say the least, but 100% on par what I've seen for the last 2 weeks. I'm floored as to how many Americans I saw being extremely fat. Especially in Disney World where the ratio of people driving around in their small carts was 1/3 at least. I have never ever seen so many people not being able to walk around and enjoy the fun, but sitting there stuffing themselves with food.

It was borderline disgusting. Especially being that Disney gives these fat folks special treatment and let them in first everywhere (I DO realize that some of them where in their carts from other medical reasons, but the vast majority was just plain old fat.). It almost seem like these extremely fat people expect special treatment and just push forward everywhere. Being extremely fat is almost a privilege there, having a cigarette somewhere inside the park is almost 100% impossible and just sneaking one, will get you in trouble from the cart mafia - go figure.

Now I'm really looking for to some lean meat, veggies and some low fat/carb home cooked food again - and lifting some weights on a regular basis.

How is everyone doing? Seems most in the Commit lost weight and got more healthy?

I'm hovering around 225 lbs and still manage to put on more muscle than dropping fat. Still struggle to keep the volume of food down late in the evening - mainly due to training in the evening and feeling extremely hungry at 23-24. Not the best time to eat..

The weight training is great and my traning buddy and me are seeing improvements all around. Just managed to pull 330 lbs off the floor in dead lift yesterday. Personal record, so I'm thrilled to get going.

The weights regime was putting on a lot of weight, and as I was snacking on protein bars, I'm not convinced that most of it was muscle. I was up around 170 lbs. Heavier that I'd like to be, and not looking much better for it. I was able to lift heavy things though. ;)

So I took a break for a while, and then started dieting mixed with light exercise a month ago. I've just avoided pizza, Chinese, sweets and eating late primarily. Most days have included press-ups, planks or swimming. I started out at 166 lbs, and was 157 lbs this morning. Proportion-wise, I'm down 3% body fat, with no change in muscle. I'd guess that this is the lightest I've been in about the last 15 years or so.

I've tentatively started back at the gym, but I'm trying to do more cardio and not push the weight training as much. The aim is fat reduction rather than size.

QuoteThe aim is fat reduction rather than size.

Cardio and better diet will reduce the fat and weight. 

But won't tone or build muscle

I went back on the low-carb diet last November. I was around 235. I also started some labor-intensive home projects. When Rumbas was here in May I weighed 200.  I'm currently 190 and shooting for 170.

<added>
My last project was rebuilding my 200' pier without any helpers. That involved lifting a couple of tons of salt-treated lumber into place,  so for now my upper-body strength is pretty good for an old man.

You guys are depressing me stating your weight.
So far I'm I think I am the heaviest gezza here. I'm currently a 251 beast (I was around 265ibs before I started that core commit malarkey so it looks to be going in the right direction), but apparently I have big boned frame (think Rugby instead of Football) that's at my disadvantage lol
It's been done before though! and my ultimate goal weight is 210 of pure muscle, but alas, the joys of sitting on my arse all day now isn't helping matters.

Highest I've ever been was 246. That was around the time of pubcon1 when I'd been living in restaurants for the previous decade. 

>muscle

From my observations, the guys who go into heavy-duty muscle building don't do well weight-wise over the long term.  At some point, they invariably ease up on the workouts but their appetite stays in high gear and they flash over to lard-asses.

Looks like you all are doing really well.  Congrats on 330 lbs Rumbus, that's quite an accomplishment.

>3% body fat
Wow!  You must look like an anatomy chart.


>You guys are depressing me stating your weight.
Chuck, go back to page 9 in this thread, you'll see what I use to look like, I had a good 20 lbs over you.

>don't do well weight-wise over the long term.

It has worked out well for me.  My high was in the 270s, now I'm 187.  I don't do much cardio other than play with my kids (bike ride, skateboard, chasing them around and such) every once in a while.  I've been on this track for about five years now and it seems sustainable.

There is lots of contradictory research out there regarding weights vs. cardio and sometimes people get religious about the topic.  Same thing for diet.

I don't pretend to know the absolute truth, but this is what's worked well for me:
reduced calorie via eating low carb + weight training

Its a real simple formula.  A lot of people think that there is some magic to low carb and that one doesn't need to reduce calories to lose weight.  I don't think so anymore, but I think eating low carb does act as an appetite suppressant -- taking out the sugar and starches keeps one full longer so you just end up eating less total calories.  The weight training keeps my strength/muscle/metabolism up while running a moderate deficit.

Quote from: littleman on August 17, 2012, 10:45:19 PM
Chuck, go back to page 9 in this thread, you'll see what I use to look like, I had a good 20 lbs over you.

Makes me feel that little bit better now :p

Quote from: littleman on August 17, 2012, 10:45:19 PM
Its a real simple formula.  A lot of people think that there is some magic to low carb and that one doesn't need to reduce calories to lose weight.  I don't think so anymore, but I think eating low carb does act as an appetite suppressant -- taking out the sugar and starches keeps one full longer so you just end up eating less total calories.  The weight training keeps my strength/muscle/metabolism up while running a moderate deficit.

Carbs is where it's at I think. What people tend to forget is normally all the low fat products are actually high in carbs. So it's a false economy as if those carbs aren't burnt off then it turns to fat.
I did try the Atkins diet once. All I ate was fatty, rich in protein foods. It worked but boy was I feeling like crap. I had bad breath and was moody. Extremely moody. In the end I had to give it up as my life then was not fun back then.
Now all I do is watch the carbs and the calories, and have smaller portions. If I feel hungry then I have a couple of pints of water as the body thinks my stomach is full curbing the hunger pains.

Quote>3% body fat
Wow!  You must look like an anatomy chart.

Down 3% on where I was. Still high 20s, although I can't see where I'm stashing it.

Been following schwarzeneggers site come to life a bit more the last few months. They brought on some guest posters and it's pretty good stuff if you're interested in fat loss and weight training.

Topped with some old pics of Arnold in his prime it's a good read :)

Latest one is pretty interesting and well written:
http://schwarzenegger.com/fitness/post/exercise-carbs-a-game-changer

-90lbs. today.

Quote from: littleman on November 17, 2012, 08:28:35 PM
-90lbs. today.

Even though we've never met*, I continue to be inspired by watching your progress. Seriously, it gives me an extra little boost to stay on track.

*though I think someone might have pointed you out at Pubcon New Orleans, ca. 2003. Is that possible? I just have a vague memory of saying "That's X X, littleman on Webmasterworld" and looking up and seeing someone who was not a little man. Could be my mind playing tricks on me though.

Thanks Ergophobe, that's really good to hear.

I was at Pubcon 2003, it was Boston.  That was a fun time...seems so long ago.

Well done LM! Impressive.

I wonder if we're even able to recognize you again? Last time we met we where all a little errm wider :)

Congrats LM! Milkshakes all around!...errr...

I've put a couple pounds back on, but now focused on overall physical shape than weight since I hit my target. I can now hit 15-20 motocross laps vs. 3-5, for example.

The feedback loop here really does help -- it gives an extra little kick where I'd me more likely to slip up or get lazy.

Is this your lightest ever as an adult?

Do you feel any differently, with energy, sleep, mental, or otherwise?

I think the last time I was this light I was still in high school.  I actually never tried to lose weight before I started on this path a few years ago.  I just gradually kept gaining at a rate of 5-10 lbs a year until I started having liver issues.

I definitely feel different.  Moving is easier, my abdomen, and feet use to hurt, oddly enough I think I caused my arches to drop from the heavy pounding my feet use to take.  It's weird, but I am a lot more in touch with my body as a physical thing now -- I am much more aware of the space I occupy.  I feel where my bones are, my hip bone for instance, when I had all that padding I forgot it was there.  About 40 pounds ago I felt it and I was like "wow, what is that?!"

Energy and mental acuteness are mixed, I wouldn't say I have more now.  I use to drink a shit load of coffee with cream and sugar and that made it possible to go day after day with as little as four hours of sleep.  Since I cut out daily caffeine and restricted my diet I sleep like a normal person

Here are some oddities...

• I've shrunk.  I think I've lost a quarter of an inch in height.  I've must have had some padding on the bottom of my feet and top of my head.
• I am overdue for my second resizing on my wedding band, the ring is falling off my finger again.
• I am cold a lot, all that padding really helped keep me warm before.
• I think about food all the time, way more than when I was fat.
• High school friends seem to think I look the same, newer friends keep telling me how different I look.
• I *do not* have a lot of loose skin, I think it is because the weight loss has been so gradual -- this was something I was worried about, being in my forties.

Wow, that is pretty awesome.

I have some similarities. I am much more agile with sports, especially volleyball. My body responds to move and jump or go where I want it to much more accurately, and I'm jumping higher.

Too funny about being cold though, I'm used to never, ever being cold indoors. Just the other day I was thinking about bumping the thermostat up from 68. Before if the ambient temp was probably 62-64 I was fine. My wife is happy to welcome me to her world.

Coffee I am really struggling with. I cut it out for a while, and with the rest of the diet change and supplements I've slept better than ever. I didn't need it to wake up any more, but on those slow days recently when I needed a boost, I got it from coffee. Now, I'm wanting it every day, but when I have one I don't sleep as well. But man, a good hand pressed double espresso based drink and I can get anything done.

Interesting about thinking about food, I'm luckily not dealing with that. But then again, I eat as much as I want, just not the same foods. I find myself craving healthy stuff now too, except for the occasional burger and fries binge.

Congrats again though, it's well-deserved.

I should probably explain the 'thinking about food' thing, because how I wrote it is a little misleading.  I am not constantly craving food that is off my diet.  I do get cravings sometimes, and I'll make provisions for them, like I'll have a meal or two a month where I'll eat something I really like but has terrible macros, like pizza or Thai or Indian food.  Or, I'll have a small amount of dark chocolate at night instead of a traditional dessert.

What I mean is I think about what I should eat a lot in advance.  I pre-plan my meals and snacks.  I do a calculation in my head "will this work with what I've eaten already today?"

I love coffee btw, I've come to like decaf and drink it daily.  Getting off of daily caffeine was one of the hardest things I've ever done.  My head hurt for two weeks and I was absolutely  miserable to be around.

Woot, just got below 100 kg. 99,8 in fact.

Can't remember when I was under 100 the last time. Many many years ago. Going for 95 and maybe 90 within a year, but I'd like to put on some muscle in the process so it's slow and steady.

Anyone else close to their goals? Anyone have any goals?

Congrats Rumbas, that's quite an accomplishment.  Slow and steady while you are training is really the way to go.  I've seen so many people crash diet only  to regain everything back a year later.  Keep at it!

What was your heaviest?

I don't really have a goal weight anymore, I just want to get rid of the remaining squishy bits in the middle.  I figure that's about another 10-15 lbs though.

Thanks LM. I've really begun to enjoy the training and find myself reading and watching a lot more training centric stuff. Eating properly has been a huge help.

I was at around 115 kg/ 255 lbs about 2 years ago.