"Fitness Club" Thread

GWC Community GWC Fitness Club
#661

Re: Food logging app, I’m a fan of MyNetDiary.com. It’s a service that costs like $5/month, but you can log your food directly via the (really cool and very easy to use) website as well as through their iPhone/iPad/Android apps. All the date ends up in the cloud, so you can just log however’s convenient at the moment. MND has a pretty good food database, and you can easily add custom items. You can also combine things you regularly make/eat together into “recipes,” so you can log common meals with just one entry.

MND has places to log your measurements, weight, and other data as well as exercise exercise logs and produces some cool graphs and such. I use it for to collect all the data you saw in my previous post except calorie burn and steps.

Re: breakdown at the gym, don’t feel bad. FWIW, I’ve been having a really rough time, too. Between work, school, gym, and projects I don’t really have time to be good at anything and it bothers me. Every time I do something right it seems like I’ve screwed up two other things. It’s depressing. Just trying to get through final projects and money crunch to get to end of the semester. Hopefully I can get another job this summer and even things out a bit.

Re: the weekend, as those of you who saw my tweets know, it wasn’t a stellar weekend for me health-wise. I ate some cake Saturday and had a few beers. Technically I didn’t go over calorie-wise, but too much of what I ate was crap. At this point to make progress I can’t be eating crap. Also, I missed cardio day yesterday. I spent the whole day working through data for a class final project, so I didn’t burn squat.

Oh well: gotta go do back day and try to do better this week.

#662

So just by mostly switching to drinking Coke Zero and running three days a week I have lost more or less 40lbs. The realization of this has reupped my interest in loosing more weight. I really want to loose 120lbs over all. I started in weighing around 300lb but want to get to 180. I am now hovering around 263ish. I think its really time to start working on diet and also going to the gym and start lifting even more.

#663

This may be of interest. It’s a Pokemon themed pedometer.

#664

FWIW, I was surprised how important strength training was to the weight loss process. I understand that whenever we lose a lot of weight, it’s going to be a mix of both LBM (lean body mass) and fat. Of course it’s the fat we want to see go. My trainer seemed to feel that keeping strength in the mix with cardio would help me hang on to more of the LBM than pure cardio.

It seems to have worked. I started out with 188.5 lbs LBM/76.5 lbs fat in Nov 2009, and bottomed out at around 139.8 lbs LBM/45.6 lbs fat in April of 2010. At my last weigh in I was up to 150.29 lbs LBM and 51 lbs fat. I’ve been working since to lose the fat I added – without giving up the LBM. It kinda becomes a game at this point where I don’t really want to change my weight a lot, but rather want to improve my body composition.

If you get the chance, do a couple of trainer sessions at least to get started. Though YMMV, they’re generally pretty knowledgeable and can save you a ton of time by focusing your efforts where you’ll get the most out of them.

#665

So today was weigh in for me. I lost the weight I gained last week as well as a bit more. I’m glad of that. But I am starting to worry about what’s going to happen once I reach my “goal.” What then? How much of an adjustment am I going to have to make? How long will that take? What happens when people stop commenting about how much weight I’ve lost, will they figure something else out to talk to me about or will that be the end all be all? Yes, I am a worrier. sigh

#666

Thanks, K! Yes I went, and here’s a funny story:

Had major allergy attack of sneezing, and missed the circuit portion cleaning my face up.

While the rest of my pack paired off for the boxing training, she put me on the circuits. I kicked my own butt there, making up lost ground and playing with our Friday trainer’s new puppy on my 10 second rest breaks. The kyoot lil tyke was staked out close to the circuit section.

So, I’m on the bosu doing crunches (where I usually have my eyes shut tight) when I feel a concentrated breeze on my crotch…

I look down and GHAAAAA!!! made a spectacular sideways dismount from said ball, trying not to crush the hilariously startled puppy! LOL!!

This caused an extra set of abs workout for the ones who saw it happen.

And yes, K, the crying fit is perfectly normal. Working out is a major stress release and you had a LOT to purge. I’ve cried after workout, narrowly avoiding breaking down during it! The weird one I get most, though, is the yawning. I tend to do that during the roughest parts of my workout when I’m having a stressful week. Brian says that’s normal, too, along with the crying.

Don’t feel bad or stupid- just be glad you got that crap out of your system!

Like my grandma always said about farting: Feels better out than in!

xoxo!!

#667

A couple of thoughts, though some/all may by just peculiarities of my own situation. Hard to tell. But anyway:

When I got to around 200 lbs, we started trying to tail off the weight loss, and it turned out to be (I’m not kidding) kinda difficult. We increased my calorie intake in 500 calorie intervals each week until I got to 3,500/day before I bottomed out weight-wise. (Later I got a Bodybugg and we discovered that all the workouts + leaner body composition added up to a much increased metabolism. I now burn between 3k-4k/day.) So there’s that.

There’s also the mental changes from loss to maintenance (or to changing your body in other ways if you like). As hard as it is to get in loss mode originally, it’s actually pretty easy to stay on it once you’ve been doing it for six months or more. Switching off it can be as difficult as getting on it in the first place. Friends who don’t care what they eat (or have never been fat) won’t understand at all: “Oh, you can eat more? That’s great, right?” they say. Not necessarily. I don’t know about you, but I still have all sorts of neurotic thoughts about food. I’m scared to death I’ll get fat again. The trainer had to almost force-feed me to make me increase intake, and I still waffle between wanting to eat everything in sight and being scared to eat 3,500-4,000 cal even when the damn Bodybugg tells me I need to do that to keep my hard-earned muscle.

As far as other people, it’s definitely interesting. Having stopped the big loss a good while ago, I definitely get less of the “look how much weight you’ve lost!” comments. A lot of people – like the people I know from UTD at school – have never seen me otherwise, so they have no idea. And I’ve mostly run into the others who haven’t seen me since “before.” FWIW, I kinda like that. It’s nice sometimes to just be accepted as the new you. (Though admittedly it’s funny sometimes when it comes up. Like one of the 19-year-olds in class seeing a pic from a few years ago on Toolmonger and not recognizing me in it. Or people making disparaging remarks about the overweight, not realizing that yes, I now think they’re an asshole.)

Over time people will forget. If you continue the time in the gym, you’ll continue to change, though, and that makes for some comments. (Bkitty lit up my day when she noticed the muscle I’d put on since SDCC last year. :slight_smile: )

For me, it’s an ongoing battle. I just found new goals. I felt a little “small” at 180 lbs, so I’ve carefully worked my way back up to around 200 lbs. (Though I lost 6 of it a few weeks ago because I was down and didn’t eat enough. Stupid.) And now I’m working to reduce my body fat, which is really hard. Dr. Cox had it right: I look in the mirror and see things I don’t like, so I go try and fix 'em.

@Bkitty: I yawn at the gym, too, especially during the hard stuff. I wonder if it has something to do with using up the oxygen in the blood? I see others doing it, too.

#668

Yawns are fine; it’s grunts you don’t want.

“That was a grunt, a deep inhalation of oxygen aiding the stretching of muscle.”

//youtu.be/5C2AdVsg0zs

#669

so i shall take the advice and get myself a scale. Current reading is 230. might be a little high since im Hydrating like an Alpaca with a kidney stone… since im an alpaca with a kidney stone.

Spinning class is going well, if i ever take it again (I wont) I will be getting a soft Gel seat cover, those seats cause issues with me. On the plus side next semester I have a boot-camp class (lots of rotation = good) and a SCUBA class (FINALLY) so updates will be here.

I have to say Thank You again to DRR and Chuck and everyone else here, i wouldnt have gotten through this class without you.

Last question, I hear that Adkins is very unhealthy, but causes LOTS of weight loss. I also hear tell that High Protein diets are good for supporting things like boot camps and the like. I eat 0 veggies/fruit (spinach and starches being the exception) the texture in anything but soup or stew really bothers me. This makes eating a salad near impossible thus limiting calories for me has been the tried and true “Just eat half as much as you used to” plan. TLDR High Protein no carb diet while boot-camping Y/N?

Thanks again all… WOLVERINES!!

#670

An emphatic NO from me when it comes to Atkins/no-carb diets. Seriously, there’s nothing wrong with carbs and you’re going to need the energy from them to be able to make it through any kind of heavy exercise regimen. Talk to a doctor and/or nutritionist before you do anything far out. Or better yet, just stick to a good old 20% fat/60% carb/20% protein diet. Both Audra and I have been doing this since the beginning and had no problem losing weight at as high a rate as is realistically possible without just throwing away huge amounts of LBM.

Sometimes I do run closer to 10%/60%/30%, but I rarely fall under 55% carbs.

On the plus side, you’d have no problem doing this without eating outside your comfort. I love vegetables, but I seem to rarely have time to make 'em. You can use chicken and egg whites (or Egg Beaters – same thing, but more like standard eggs and easier to buy than separating eggs) for protein. Sandwich bread, cereal, etc gives good low-fat carbs. You can fill in the gaps with bars or meal replacements, both of which (if selected carefully!) will give you the balance you’re looking for. You can use whatever app you use to track food to “what if” the stuff and figure out what it’ll do to your daily balance. After a while you get pretty good at figuring it out.

Keep this in mind, too: Can you do it forever? If not, I generally don’t bother when it comes to “diets.” If you do some crazy crap and lose weight but just put it back on as soon as you go back to normal eating, what’s the point?

#671

Thanks Nike!

I’ve been using MyNetDiary on my iPhone. I like it because it is always with me and it can scan bar-codes of foods, I can add food items (and there are a lot of contributed info - but something to be warry of), it’s got spot for tracking water drank, weight, measurements (haven’t used), vitamins & meds (haven’t used), a before and after picture, and ability to share socially (haven’t used… yet). I briefly tried Livestrong app but didn’t like it, and also tried Lose It! app, but it doesn’t support bar-codes.

Due to work I was only able to get one bike ride in this past weekend - but it was great. I got myself a Garmin 800 bike gps/heart rate monitor. I did 15 miles in 1 hour 3 min, 1493 feet of elevation gain, average speed of 14.3 mph, average heart rate of 158 bpm, average cadance of 79 rpm, 70 degrees F out, and hit a max speed of 39.5 mph (soo close to 40!). It was great and I was sore but it was worth it.

I’ll post a pic of my bike - it inspires me to ride. :slight_smile:

#672

My ride. :slight_smile:

#673

Built on motivation on the headset!

#674

Maybe not the safest thing - wasn’t sure if I was more worried about dropping my phone or losing control of the bike!

#675

Very true! I’ve yo-yoed quit a bit through the years, and it’s good to be on the fit side! @Aset see your changes as a positive and count 10 things you can/are no longer afraid to do with the fitter you!

@Chuck- how could I NOT notice those arms and tremendous rack!? I’m not blind, man!

Also, I’m going to look into the yawning thing- makes sense about the oxygen!

#676

Thanks Chuck - I didn’t realize they had a website too (though don’t know why I didn’t think to look for it).

#677

What’s the best time to weigh yourself. Not going to start keeping track for a week or two until I have my routine firmly established, but trying to lay the groundwork.

Or does it not matter as long as you do it about the same time every week?

#678

Oh, and legs feel a bit sore after exercising today. Tomorrow’s a definite day off anyways because Tuesdays frakking suck for me.

#679

Same time every week. Best time is first thing in the morning after you go potty.

#680

It’s Monday! Well, technically it’s Tuesday but we’re only about seven minutes in so it still counts. Last week I missed one workout day, but I have been working a lot, so I won’t beat myself up about it too much. Today I made it to the gym and after the hectic weekend at work that was an accomplishment. Wolverines! My gym is closed during easter weekend and I’m happy that I have no choice but to veg out on the couch.

That’s a nice elliptical Starsaber, I wish I had one in my apartment, but I’ve closely bonded to one at my gym. It has a name. Whenever someone else it on it I know it misses me.

So today was weigh in for me. I lost the weight I gained last week as well as a bit more. I’m glad of that. But I am starting to worry about what’s going to happen once I reach my “goal.” What then? How much of an adjustment am I going to have to make? How long will that take? What happens when people stop commenting about how much weight I’ve lost, will they figure something else out to talk to me about or will that be the end all be all? Yes, I am a worrier.
Aset

The mind is a funny, funny thing. Sometimes my brain won’t stop spinning and I worry about losing weight and I worry about not losing weight. Sometimes I just have to give myself a mental slap and get on with it. But I think that at the end of the day, I’m always going to be Nike regardless of where I am physically, just liike you’re always going to be Aset. The only difference, hopefully, is now we’re healthier, happier, and more comfortable in our skins.