Health, Good Practises, and Exercise

[S.B.G]

Side note : some posters said they were getting credit for floors while they were driving, hehe.

Yeah that happens a lot when exercising outdoors like walking, running or cycling. Yesterday it said I did 19 floors, when in reality I only did 6. However, my record one day floors climbed was 125 and those were actual numbers too.

 

[Huntn]

Yeah that happens a lot when exercising outdoors like walking, running or cycling. Yesterday it said I did 19 floors, when in reality I only did 6. However, my record one day floors climbed was 125 and those were actual numbers too.

My iRunner app records elevation changes during a circuit.

 

[Khalanad75]

I've been using myfitnesspal since the beginning of the year. I haven't so much changed my diet as so much as just eaten less of what I did before.

I started at 326 and squeezing into a tight 46 size pants. As of last Friday I am down to 288.6 and fit nicely into an old pair of size 40 jeans.

Once I "truly" realized that weight loss comes down to calories in vs. calories out (CICO), I realized it isn't as hard as most people make it out to be.

I haven't cut a single thing from my diet. If I have a craving for something, I eat it to take care of those cravings (as long as I have the calorie allotment for it). I drink probably 90% Coke Zero and the other 10% being water (generally when I am walking or working out.) My afternoon snack most days is either a Baby Ruth or a Snickers.

Weight loss wise (not looking at nutrition) a calorie truly is just a calorie.
[doublepost=1462912026][/doublepost]

I've been pretty healthy for the last few years: I run, I cycle, play tennis, try not to eat too much. I used MyFitnessPal in the past to get my weight down to a level I hadn't seen since high school, but in the past year, every time I tried to get back on the MFP bandwagon, I'd lose interest pretty quickly. I'm working on losing around 10 pounds that I'd gained back.

I feel like I'm making progress now, though, due to two things: instead of using MFP as a single user with friends, my wife and I are sharing an account. We have a certain number of Calories that we share for the day, meaning if I go over my allotment, I'm eating into hers. It wasn't working lately to have two separate accounts as, psychologically, it wasn't affecting me enough if I went over. This has changed by sharing one account (and renaming the meals to "tobefirst" and "mrs. tobefirst"). And second, I finally picked up an activity tracker and have been religious about getting my steps in, which means getting up from my desk regularly. I haven't missed my goal (growing to >13k steps now) since January. Yesterday was a banner day: almost 25k steps.

I understand that muscles like for workouts to be changed up in order for growth to continue. I'm learning that the mental side of weight loss and maintenance for me is the same way.

I would love to know more how you set up the MFP to work for you and your wife. Truly sounds interesting and might be what would keep my wife focused on tracking.

 

[tobefirst ⚽️]

Im

I've been using myfitnesspal since the beginning of the year. I haven't so much changed my diet as so much as just eaten less of what I did before.

I started at 326 and squeezing into a tight 46 size pants. As of last Friday I am down to 288.6 and fit nicely into an old pair of size 40 jeans.

Once I "truly" realized that weight loss comes down to calories in vs. calories out (CICO), I realized it isn't as hard as most people make it out to be.

I haven't cut a single thing from my diet. If I have a craving for something, I eat it to take care of those cravings (as long as I have the calorie allotment for it). I drink probably 90% Coke Zero and the other 10% being water (generally when I am walking or working out.) My afternoon snack most days is either a Baby Ruth or a Snickers.

Weight loss wise (not looking at nutrition) a calorie truly is just a calorie.
[doublepost=1462912026][/doublepost]

I would love to know more how you set up the MFP to work for you and your wife. Truly sounds interesting and might be what would keep my wife focused on tracking.

I'm happy to answer any questions you have and be more specific about what we are doing, but I'm not sure exactly what to add at the moment. Let me know what you'd like to hear more about.

 

[Huntn]

I've been using myfitnesspal since the beginning of the year. I haven't so much changed my diet as so much as just eaten less of what I did before.

I started at 326 and squeezing into a tight 46 size pants. As of last Friday I am down to 288.6 and fit nicely into an old pair of size 40 jeans.

Once I "truly" realized that weight loss comes down to calories in vs. calories out (CICO), I realized it isn't as hard as most people make it out to be.

I haven't cut a single thing from my diet. If I have a craving for something, I eat it to take care of those cravings (as long as I have the calorie allotment for it). I drink probably 90% Coke Zero and the other 10% being water (generally when I am walking or working out.) My afternoon snack most days is either a Baby Ruth or a Snickers.

Weight loss wise (not looking at nutrition) a calorie truly is just a calorie.
[doublepost=1462912026][/doublepost]

I would love to know more how you set up the MFP to work for you and your wife. Truly sounds interesting and might be what would keep my wife focused on tracking.

I've said this for years, however don't overlook the role of genetics and metabolism. I know two brothers raised on the same diet with the same lifestyle where one was slim and the other was fat. Exercise forces your body to burn calories, overcoming its desire to hang on to them, and afterwards spend even more calories repairing and building muscle.

 

[keysofanxiety]

But I've already lost 45 pounds since last July and I'm well on my way to my fitness goals.

I'm 5'6". Years ago I weighed 275 pounds, I weigh 140 pounds today.

There are a few more in this thread I'm sure, so sorry to just quote you two! Massive congratulations to you both though, these stories are always really inspiring. I'm hoping I'll have a positive tale to add to this thread in a few months' time.

 

[ardchoille50]

There are a few more in this thread I'm sure, so sorry to just quote you two! Massive congratulations to you both though, these stories are always really inspiring. I'm hoping I'll have a positive tale to add to this thread in a few months' time.

Keep up the good work. You can do this!

 

[Khalanad75]

Im

I'm happy to answer any questions you have and be more specific about what we are doing, but I'm not sure exactly what to add at the moment. Let me know what you'd like to hear more about.

Okay, so how did you come up with the calorie count for the day? Did you combine the numbers that MFP gave both of you? Or did you use a TDEE calculator and input the calories into MFP from there?

How is the weight loss going? Is it about even for both you and your wife?

 

[Badagri]

Indeed it is. My only regret when it comes to this stuff is that I wish I knew what I know now about fitness and nutrition way back when I was an active duty Marine. I could have been so much better off and further along had I known back then and adhered to it. Rather, my youth compensated for my poor diet and relatively no exercise except running.

I say we find a modified DeLorean.

Much agreed. The science backs this up too.

To me a very low or, no carb, diet is one of those fad diets that aren't sustainable.

I don't know, it has been working for me. Saying that, I'm not using anyones diet except my own.

#177 I must admit, I've only suffered one item out of that list. Mild constipation. I've rectified that though.

That's the problem with almost any diet, as soon as you go off the diet and return to your old eating habits, you gain all the weight back. The reason for gaining all of the weight back is because your old eating habits were responsible for being overweight to begin with.

Many people don't realize this and assume that they failed to follow the diet so they try the diet again - this known as the yo-yo effect.

If you want to lose the weight and keep it off you would need to find a diet you'll be happy with for the rest of your life - you can never return to your old eating habits unless you want to gain the weight back.

The best way to lose weight and keep it off is to follow some simple rules:
* discuss weight loss with your physician
* adopt a healthy diet
* adopt an exercise regimen

I do not think I could ever return to my old ways because if it is one thing I've discovered is how salty and sugary most things are now I grew at it. In fact anything sugary I find makes my stomach feel like it is burning.

When I think back before I went on a new food path I always recall suffering indigestion at night from a lot of foods, even drinks.

Last summer I was 235lbs, last week I was 177lbs. Only 10 months into my new ways. Exercise about 135 minutes a day. Usually have the weekend off. Built up from 3 minutes when first started as I was so pathetically weak and unfit. So bad it was like arm/leg spasms.

Hope to get down to 154lbs.

I'm 5'6". Years ago I weighed 275 pounds, I weigh 140 pounds today.

The things I did to lose weight were:
* eat only when hungry
* never eat to the point of being full
* go to bed hungry
* I removed dairy and pork products from my diet
* I replaced all drinks with water

My meals are no larger than my fist. If that means eating 5 meals per day then I eat 5 meals per day. The first meal of the day has been plain oatmeal and dry toast, this has gone on for over a decade.

I recently had a physical examination and the results were:
Age: 51
Height: 5'6"
Weight: 140 pounds
Blood pressure: 112 over 78
Medications: none
Medical issues: none

Years ago, when I weighed 275, my doctor told me that I likely wouldn't see retirement if I didn't lose weight. I still see this doctor and she is amazed at the transformation. It takes the willpower of a warrior, but I like to think there is a little warrior in all of us

Its a Fitbit and it measures floors climbed by sensing changes in atmospheric pressure as you climb up flights. So a stationary stair climber found in a gym won't cause it to track anything - you have to climb actual stairs.

Which one? Charge HR or Surge?

 

[S.B.G]

Which one? Charge HR or Surge?

Both do this.

 

[Badagri]

Yeah but which do you own?

 

[S.B.G]

Yeah but which do you own?

Oh, sorry. I currently have the Surge. Previously I had the Charge HR.

 

[Badagri]

How is the Surge battery life? I find the Charge HR murderous on the battery.

 

[S.B.G]

I'm getting about a week out of it, give or take a day or two. It depends on how often I go outside and use the GPS tracking.

The Charge HR also gave me about a week as well.

 

[Badagri]

How on earth do you manage to get that long out of it? I have practically all features disabled and can only get 4 - 5 days. If all touch features, alarms etc are enable 2 - 3 days. I assumed you were always using exercise mode?

 

[S.B.G]

I dunno. It just lasts that long for me. I also use it as an alarm to wake me up too.

 

[Huntn]

Question for serious swimmers, can overdoing laps result in elbow issues? Swam 66 laps on Wed and later noticed a sore elbow, that went away. I'm swimming Crawl (Freestyle?), Side Stroke, Breast Stroke, Back Stroke. Just don't want to injure myself. My wife quit swimming in her teens due to elbow problems. Interesting article:

Top 3 Strokes That Swimmers Elbow Sufferers Must Avoid

The article describes how to mitigate the stress associated with these strokes.

 

[S.B.G]

I don't know about elbows and swimming, but on a related note, I was reading the other day about shoulder impingement and it talked about it being common among swimmers. I was reading about it as it relates to various overhead press exercises which I don't do anymore.

http://www.webmd.com/osteoarthritis/guide/impingement-syndrome

http://orthoinfo.aaos.org/topic.cfm?topic=a00032

Maybe some food for thought for you now that you're swimming a lot again.

 

[Huntn]

I don't know about elbows and swimming, but on a related note, I was reading the other day about shoulder impingement and it talked about it being common among swimmers. I was reading about it as it relates to various overhead press exercises which I don't do anymore.

http://www.webmd.com/osteoarthritis/guide/impingement-syndrome

http://orthoinfo.aaos.org/topic.cfm?topic=a00032

Maybe some food for thought for you now that you're swimming a lot again.

Thanks! Although some slight soreness in a shoulder, right now I'm noticing some burn in my upper arm, so I'll put off my Friday workout until Saturday. Just don't want to ruin this. This is obvious, but as pointed out in the swimming link, the stress is exaggerated by how hard you go at it. For the shoulder issue, I assume that abstaining or light workouts is the solution?

 

[S.B.G]

For the shoulder issue, I assume that abstaining or light workouts is the solution?

I just won't do overhead press movements like the shoulder or military press, clean and presses and anything where I'm lifting weight overhead. I was doing them and hurt my right shoulder doing so and then I looked into this more and found there are better, safer and more effective exercises to do to build the shoulder muscles.

 

[Huntn]

I just won't do overhead press movements like the shoulder or military press, clean and presses and anything where I'm lifting weight overhead. I was doing them and hurt my right shoulder doing so and then I looked into this more and found there are better, safer and more effective exercises to do to build the shoulder muscles.

It might not help that recently I've been moving 60 lb bags of sand and pavers. I think a day off may be the solution.

 

[S.B.G]

It might not help that recently I've been moving 60 lb bags of sand and pavers. I think a day off may be the solution.

Yup. Have to listen to the body.

I wanted to deadlift today and was going to warm up with 185lbs and when I made the first pull I could feel a spasm in my right-side back. I didn't pull anymore and moved on to a different exercise.

 

[Huntn]

Great articles associated with swimming shoulder issues:



How to avoid and fix swimming shoulder injury

Rotator Cuff Stretches For Healthy Shoulders

SHOULDER INJURY PREVENTION

 

[xtshabi]

Calories are pretty much all I care about these days when it comes to diet.

 

[ardchoille50]

First, I thought you were in your 30s or so. I must be bad at online age guessing, because I thought Meister was a teenager

We eat healthy, which I'd say is a mix of portion, ingredients and mix of food types. Mostly fresh, very little "pre-fab", even if we do something less-than-healthy like fried fish, I use whole wheat flour, the fish is usually locally fresh caught (nothing farmed), all known ingredients. We try to consume plenty of "superfoods": sweet potatoes, salmon, broccoli. If a product has a bunch of unknown ingredients, we generally look for a substitute.

We do some organized workouts: cycle, cross-fit, yoga - I surf, run, bike, swim, scooter/skateboard (with the little person).

Artificial sweeteners I'd say rank in terms of worst to least-worst:

Saccharin (branded as Sweet-n-Low/pink),

Aspartame (Nutrasweet/blue, used in most diet drinks)

Sucralose (Splenda/yellow), the least worst of the artificials, a decent number of diet drinks available (Coke Splenda, all the Diet Rite bevs).

I've seen Stevia (Truvia/green) grouped with artificials, but it's a plant, and in products like Stevia in the Raw, it's just natural extract. It's my go to for adding sweetener ...

... or, just Sugar in the Raw. Sugar used to get a bad rap, but I really question products created in a lab vs. naturally occurring sugar.

We still cut loose some days, or if we're out to have a good time, we drink but try to limit consumption to the weekends or special occasions.

I don't use any sweeteners. It is my opinion that food is just fuel for the body, so taste is low on the list of priorities. I eat for nutrition and don't really care how food tastes.