"Fitness Club" Thread

GWC Community GWC Fitness Club
#981

BOOST! If it’s using a variation on the calculation of BMI, then it’s way off. At 5’9" and 195 lbs, my BMI is 28.8 - 30 is obese, so I’m technically borderline obese. I have a slight 6-pack, pretty decent vascularity on my biceps, and generally work out for over an hour and a half 5 to 6 days a week, plus incidental exercise (walking the dog every evening, always taking the steps). I’m pretty sure I’m not borderline obese buddy. Using a one size fits all approach to linking height, weight and fitness doesn’t work. You’re the best judge of that - period.

And good on you for hitting the gym every day after work. Frackin’ Wolverines buddy! Keep it and don’t let a gaming platform whose only real achievements over the last two decades have been Zelda and Mario tell you whether you’re getting in shape or not.

Use a bit of the dark side of the force tomorrow at the gym. Funnel that hate and anger into a kick ass workout - one of the many geeky fitness things I do. Yeah, the dark side of the force is definitely powerful…

#982

I like using the Wii for some fun exercise-y stuff, but I ignore it’s weight stuff entirely. It’s all based on BMI which is silly. It also thinks I should be what I weighed when the doctor told me I was underweight as a teenager (and at the same height I am now). My spousal unit uses it as a scale (since for mental health reasons I refuse to have one in the house), but don’t let the talking board get you down! Use the Wii Fit, don’t let it use you!

#983

starting the week off good, 50 minutes of weights and had a healthy day of eating! rawr!!! determined to get back on track now that it looks like the OT at work has finally dried up for a bit

#984

Thank you guys for taking the time. It really did have me down today but I objectively know it is an insane standard. 5’9, 185-190 pounds on any given Monday. I’m not a rail and I can stand to lose a few. Losing 40 pounds? Well I guess if I did that then I could just dress up as Skeletor every Halloween.

Again, thank you. In all honesty there are a few bad habits <drinking> I do need to curtail <drinking> to get maximum <drinking> benefit. I’m not suggesting stopping drinking, because really, what would one have to live for? Couple of beers every day (one on the train, one or two at home), additional tequila topper, that is just stupid freaking calories for a Monday. Seriously. It is like I always say, you always know the right choice you just need to stand behind the good choice and not crucify yourself when you wander from the path.

I am getting better about breakfast. Oatmeal or egg sandwich (when it happens). Lunch is pretty standard small spinach salad with grilled chicken, red peppers and either honey mustard, oriental sesame or low-fat italian. Dinner is whatever the lovely Mrs. Solai concocts, but the good news is that it is always good for you and delicious.

Thank you all. Again and again.

#985

You’re really close to my size, I’m 5’10" and 195-200. That’s not much more than I weighed when I was state mountain biking champion, so that pretty much tells you how useless BMI is. It’s as bad as figuring your max heart rate as 220-your age. (I’m almost 40 and mine’s 210)
You sound like you’re doing pretty dang good, but try to make breakfast an everyday thing. It really is as important as they say.

#986

In a weird place? What, like the back of a Volkswagen?

Seriously, however, the Wii fit people are pretty skewed.

#987

The balance, and the caloric spread across the day, look completely fine. And you’re right about the liquid calories, that’s the crux for most people. One of the reasons I really have stopped drinking beer entirely, actually, since the light/ultra stuff tastes like an Aborigine’s armpit, and I have developed a much keener palate for wines, bourbons, etc. Again, as you said, ALL in moderation.

For some time, I used a calorie counter app that also incorporated daily activity to track the daily delta of consumption vs. exertion. Helps to some degree, but the time intensity entering all the data in just…well, sucks. I did start to read labels and mind portions more closely as a result of having to type all that craaaap in, so even after discontinuing use, I had a better “mental point of reference” as to what I was, or should be, taking in, and what constituted a “good burn” day as opposed to a “feckless sloth” day.

(I’ll be over for dinner on Thursday, Sunday, and whatever is oven-stone pizza night, incidentally. I’ll bring the Pinot Noir.)

#988

Train like a Spartan

#989

Sounds like your meals are right on track Solai. Once you start to notice a change in your metabolism, also consider moving towards 6 smaller meals a day (or 5, 'cause Mrs. Amberite cooks dinner as well - always heathy & delicious too). I’m bad about oatmeal in the morning, but I’ve discovered keeping a carton of egg whites in the office fridge, and nuking a 1/4 cup for~1.5 min makes a quick protein filled breakfast. Add a bit of sriacha sauce, and boom - yummy. sometimes crack in a fresh egg as well to get some fats.

#990

I have my mornings where I sometimes don’t feel like eating either

do you have a favorite fruit or anything Solai? even just a banana, apple, or handful of grapes for example is better than nothing

#991

I’m managing to stay on track diet-wise, and it shows. I’m down a total of 18.2 lbs. However, had a bit of an emotional rough spot today when I was looking back at some old pics of myself. Though my memory tells me differently, I was not a fat kid. You see, I know the source of my food issues. When I was 10, my pediatrician put me on a restricted calorie diet because I was (just) over 100 lbs. He failed to take into account that I was 5’1". In his mind, no 10 yr old should weigh 100 lbs. And my mom trusted the doctor as a medical professional. So I was denied everything a 10 yr old wants, because I was “overweight”. I learned to sneak. I learned to lie. I learned to binge. I learned to hate myself. And I came to see my normal, healthy body as “fat”.

Looking back over those pics today, I realized my memories were dead wrong. I was not a fat kid. I was long and lean and full of smiles. I was beautiful. And that bastard made me feel ugly and disfigured. He created a monster of self-loathing and food-obsession in me that 25 yrs later I still battle.

Poor Xer01 kinda got emotionally dumped on this afternoon. But, great guy that he is, he took it all in and pointed out to me that I need to let go of that scarred little girl. I don’t have to be her anymore. I don’t have to let what that bastard did to me matter anymore.

So this is my catharsis. I know some of you will relate, and some of you might not. But I know you will not judge me, and telling it gets it out, breaks some of its control over me. I am developing a healthy relationship with food and therefore a healthy body. And the support of this community is one more weapon in my arsenal.

Thank you all for being so awesome. <3

#992

To quote a Coldplay Song: “[this] put a :slight_smile: upon my face”. I haz happy how you feel about it now Rachel.

#993

Thanks, Andi. :slight_smile:

#994

No, no, thank you my friend for having the strength to share that deeply personal piece of information. You have identified the root cause and are taking the right steps to correct your course. It says a lot about you that you have taken this turn. You had every right to play the victim, but you have turned this into your own rallying cry to make the healthy choices you should have been given the opportunity to have all along.

/CARTMAN ON: Kick Ass!

#995

Thanks, Solai. I’m trying. :slight_smile: There may be rough spots, but backed up by my super-supportive Wolverine friends, I know I can succeed.

#996

Apollymy, a lot of us look back and see someone we don’t want or need to be any more. Someone we’ve been carrying around for years, like a ball and chain. Many others carry that person and never see them, to be drug down eventually by a personal demon from the past. You are both fortunate and brave. Rock on.

#997

Apollymy, a lot of us have similar stories, and you have both the courage to share them, and the strength to face your past and move beyond it. Pure OSSIM. Tonnes of <3.

#998

I know some of you will relate, and some of you might not. But I know you will not judge me, and telling it gets it out, breaks some of its control over me. I am developing a healthy relationship with food and therefore a healthy body. And the support of this community is one more weapon in my arsenal.
Apollymy

Rock on, baby. I’m glad you feel healthier and happier now, but I’ve always thought you were beautiful.

I definitely relate. My parents didn’t even really address my issue with weight most of the time. Then on and off they’d make comments when I was eating, and I don’t think they understood how hurtful it was. Once my father said to me, “Have you looked in the mirror lately?” When I confronted him about it a long time later he said he didn’t remember saying it. I wish I could forget it, because it’s just amazing how much damage people–even people who love you–can do to your sense of self-worth with a few offhand comments.

#999

I put this in a comics sub forum thread as well, but over the last little while I’ve kind of settled into this new routine. Day to day, I have a labour job, so I stay on my feet and I do some lifting. It’s not a big workout, but it keeps me active. Now I’ve stopped driving most of my comic book hunting route. I drive to the first store, then to the train station. From there I ride downtown and walk to the next 3 or 4 stores. In total I get close to a 10 mile walk, and my shoulders get a bit of a workout depending on how heavy my backpack gets. So just about every weekend I now have a good healthy walk, that only takes me the morning/early afternoon, and it’s really easy to stay motivated to do it because it’s not excercise, it’s my comic book hobby (obsession). It’s really helpful that driving downtown is a PITA, and parking is expensive (park the car for half an hour, or afford 2 more books? Books please!), so I’m never tempted to skip out by driving.

I won’t pretend that I’m a super healthy person, and that I make any real effort to take care of myself, but I do enjoy a good walk, and I think this is a good example of turning some excercise into something else that I won’t make excuses to avoid. Maybe this trick will work for some of you.

#1000

I stayed up way too late last night reading the past few months of posts I was behind on in this thread. Y’all are awesome and super motivating. Seriously.

I joined a gym last fall to aid in my goal of being healthier and to lose weight by my 40th birthday and was successful for a while going just for cardio. I’d worked up to running 2 miles on the treadmill and felt pretty good. I had a set back in the spring (a breakup) that kept me out of the gym (my head wasn’t in it and I moved) but I’m back! Joined a World Gym last month and got right back into cardio with the elliptical and treadmill. I am now able to run 5k at 5-6mph. Two weeks ago I started seeing a trainer. I told him I wanted to lose weight, lose fat, and gain muscle. He said, “So you want it all?”, laughed and proceeded to kick my ass. I had my fourth session with him today and I feel great. Sore pretty much all the time, but great. Now I’m taking a break from the trainer for a couple of weeks (it’s expensive) and will have to do what he’s taught me so far on my own. I’m nervous about getting it right (body positions and weights) without his assistance. And I’m worried I won’t do as much as I should. I’m eating well but I know it could be better. I’ve done the food app thing before but not doing it now. I’m thinking about talking to one of the trainers who does an hour consultation about nutrition. I know what to eat but I don’t always know when or how much. My job is physical (I’m a letter carrier) and I am probably not eating enough during the day for my level of physical activity. Plus, my physical activity is different everyday depending on my route. Some days I only walk a few flat miles, but others I’m walking 7+ miles of hills and stairs. My food needs have got to be different on those days but I eat the same everyday.

I turned 40 in July and feel that I achieved the goal I’d set for myself. Now I’m ready to do more!