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My personal Fitness, Diet and Nutrition Plan for losing fat and staying fit : ) (1 Viewer)

Chris PC

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I don't follow the Atkins diet because I don't think you need to start a diet with such a low amount of carbs and it does not include what I believe is proper nutrition. Maybe someone can correct me. I'm not sure many people can be very fit and healthy on a fat consuming ketosis diet. You need a balanced diet of protein, complex carbs, and "good" fats, not the saturated ones that Atkins puts you on. I guess I disagree that EVERYBODY should remain in ketosis. Either way, regardless of diet type, the reason its not good to reduce carb intake too much my opinion is 1) it is too unbalanced 2) no carbs means you can become nutrient defficient by missing out on certain foods. Many fruits and veggies have very important nutrition that you need to be healthy. So if you want to do the Atkins or a protein diet, read about it and do it properly. Some people just assume you eliminate carbs entirely forever and they do it on their own. I don't know the whole Atkins diet very well, so perhaps I won't judge it here. Rather, I will present my experience here :)
Personal benefits experienced from MY PLAN:
I feel my mood is more stable. I feel I can think clearer on a day to day basis. I even suspect my memory is slightly improved.
I love exercise. It makes me feel exceptionally good and without regular exercise, I really feel quite lousy.
I feel very fit and get a kick out of sprinting or doing very vigorous exercise and barely feeling it. I rarely get out of breath now, if ever.
Drawbacks:
Even for someone who only lost 20-25 LBS, I find my clothes no longer fit. I am swimming in my shirts. I am making new holes in my belt. I am also colder outside in the winter because I've lost more fat than I've gained back in muscle. I do feel slim, which is weird. I guess its better than feeling chubby.
MY PLAN
Starving or limiting calorie intake TOO MUCH is bad because of two things: makes you store fat and potentially burn muscle. Burning fat is good, but you want to replace that with muscle to get much more gains in your appearance improvement. Burning fat is not just about your looks, but why not try to be fit and look good too? Just burning fat will leave you too slim with no improvement in strength and fitness. Some people do protein diets and lose fat without exercising. I think you're missing out. Plus, building muscle only burns more fat, even when doing cardio. Most people cannot build lots of muscle on a ketosis no carb diet. I know I couldn't do it very well. Either way, try my plan instead.
If you want to lose weight, you have to think about sugar and its affect on your body and the production of insulin. I am still researching this, but all you need to know, is that refined sugar is not an ideal energy source for us and its particularly EVIL for certain people, more than others. I am not a doctor or a nutritionist, but I know that too much sugar makes your body store carbohydrates and fat AS FAT. But you can eliminate sugar from your diet without eliminating ALL carbohydrates. You can use complex carbohyrates as fuel in order to properly burn fat AND build muscle, just be sure not to eat too much carbos because extra is turned to fat storage.
If anyone wants to lose fat and gain muscle and strength and become fit, then I urge you to follow MY PLAN! If you follow it to the letter, I feel you should achieve long term success.
The determination to reach a GOAL.
First, have a goal in terms of fat loss and fitness. You have to be honestly and absolutely commited to changing your life FOREVER. Your goal is to reduce your body fat as much as possible to a safe level (too much fat loss can actually be unhealthy) and gain muscle size and strength and to improve your overall fitness. Have short and long term goals. You might only be able to get to a certain level in a few months. It shouldn't take more than one year or two to reach your ideal goal of fat loss, but if you are very over weight with lots of body fat, perhaps it will take longer. Don't worry, just stick to thinking about your direction, not where you are on that path. You always want to move towards your goal and NEVER go backwards:
DIET:
Eat less food at first, increasing food intake over time to allow for exercise to be completed without bonking (running out of energy completely).
No sugar. No more refined cane sugar at all. No syrup, no honey. The only refined "sugar" you will get will be from the once a week or so Iced Tea you drink at a restaurant, or if you're really smart, try unsweetened ice tea and use that lemon instead. Other than that, don't add sugar to cereals, and eat things that have little or NO refined sugar. The only sugar you eat should come from fruits and vegetables.
Reduce or eliminate foods high in Saturated Fats. Read about the good and bad fats. Good fats are from fish and olive oil. Bad fats are the saturated kinds from red meat and egg yolks. It doesn't mean you can't eat bad fats, but they make up a very small proportion of your overall diet, and less than 1/3 of your fat should be saturated fat. You CAN nearly eliminate saturated fat from your diet and not have any problems, but you should at least minimize your intake of saturated fats. You want mono-unsaturated fat for the most part.
Don't eat stuff you know is bad like saturated fats, MSG, anything hydrogenated (which is like making something saturated) and avoid aspartame. Don't forget to eat healthy and you don't want to eat synthetic garbage or stimulants. Just eat natural foods.
No desert (especially when starting this diet). Try to get away from desert entirely. Cookies and things like that are hard to eat in moderation because they are densely packed with the wrong things. Almost all cookies have sugar and saturated fat which goes right back into your gut. You can eat desert once in while, once you've developed your fat burning engine, but thats later and regardless, the less refined sugar and fat you eat the better.
DO NOT DRINK ANY JUICE! That is pure sugar.
No Alcohol. Alcohol is fattening because it acts like sugar. A beer or two once a week is ok, but in the beginning, try to avoid alcohol for the first few weeks or the first month.
No bread. NONE. Maybe the odd piece of 100% rye bread, but thats it. You can introduce bread later once your fat burning engine is going, but again, bread = fat almost as much as sugar = fat.
Not essential, but try eating less wheat. Try Barley and oat based cereal and remember 0 sugar goes on that cereal. Whole wheat is ok, but try other carbos. i eat Bran Flakes but prefer grape nuts and oatmeal.
Eat salads and eat complex carbohydrates like whole long grain rice and some whole grain pastas. No more sugar, no more bread.
If you are a veggie, you'll have to do your own research. I am heading down the veggie path, but slowly.
Eat meat in this order:
Fish, Turkey, Chicken. Eat little or no Pork or Beef. Eat as much fish as possible in place of other meats. No batter, no tar tar sauce and no ketchup.
IMPORTANT EATING POINTS AS PART OF YOUR DIET
1) Eat first thing in the morning to get your metabolism going. Even if you are going for a walk, eat a bite of a banana or a handful of cereal. All you want to do before your walk is tell your body "Do not store fat. Food is on the way." This way, when you go on your morning walk, you can burn a bit of fat.
2) Eat throughout the day. Split Breakfast into two meals. Eat a bowl of cereal first thing, then later, have a banana and/or an apple etc. Lunch, eat lunch normally, but save less than half of it for later in the afternoon. Eating the same amount of food spread out over time means you are eating the same amount of food, but you are eating more often and this increases your metabolism, preventing your body from going into fat storage mode. This is why severe calorie deprivation is bad. You may actually burn muscle when starving! You'll lose weight all right! But the wrong mass. You want to burn fat, not muscle.
3) DO NOT EAT AFTER 7 PM, or within 4 to 5 hours of going to sleep with one exception, if you worked out and got back from the GYM later at night, at say 7, 8 or 9 pm, then sure, eat a meal, but make it higher in protein and lower in carbs and fat than it might otherwise be. If you are going to eat at 9 pm cause you're hungry, and when you workout 4 times a week, you will get hungry sometimes, then eat a very small portion of something complex in terms of carbs, maybe high in fiber, like bran cereal, or high in protein. Best not to eat after 7 pm though.
Nutrition:
The following won't help loose weight (fat) but they help keep you healthy.
Eat whole vegtables and fruit. Just look at the healthy food guide and follow that. Try to eat things that have good nutritional qualities. Raw fruits and vegetables are the most nutritious. Eat a few nuts like almonds and walnuts. Avoid peanuts.
Exercise:
1) DIET AND NUTRITION TIMING FOR EXERCISE. Eat a balanced meal of protein, carbs and fat 3 hours before your workout. Everyone is different, but just be sure that A) you have enough energy for your workout but B) You have NO FOOD IN YOUR STOMACH. This is very tricky for me so its sometimes a problem. I apparantly must eat well before my workouts, sometimes 3 1/2 to 4 hours before. Its ok to eat a small amount before, but you'll learn how YOUR OWN body works over time. The best most easiest thing for me to eat before and even during a workout is a banana. Always bring a banana or power bar to the gym to eat right after, or even to grab during your workout if you are running low on energy. Play it by ear and you'll see how your own body works best for you.
Exercising to build muscle and burn fat. Ideally join a GYM with a weight training room. Perhaps join the GYM along with a motivated friend. Ask the GYM to provide you with a weight training plan to build muscle and burn fat.
Weight train 3 to 4 times a week.
For example:
Chest and back x 2/week
Legs and shoulders x 2/week
Cardio 3 to 4 times a week whenever you can fit it in. Sometimes on the same day as your weight training, sometimes on weight training OFF days.
Add 1/2 hour to 1 hour walks/speed walks in the morning and at night if possible. It just burns additional fat and does NOT fatigue you. When I started this PLAN, I was unemployed and I had the extra time. Regardless, throw in a walk here and there to gobble up calories WITHOUT OVERTRAINING :)
Weight training works like this:
do a "set" of each exercise with each "set" containing x number of reps. Example:
do 3 sets of 8 repetitions
Again, if you've no idea about weight trainig. Simply ask someone at the GYM to give you a plan.
How to do to weight train and cardio exercise to maximize fat loss and maximize muscle gain(very important).
1)You can start off with high reps, but your ultimate goal is to loose fat and gain muscle, so you ideally should get down to 6-8 reps and work at going up to heavier weight. Just do your best. If you find you are able to do 10 or more reps, then go up in weight. Thats how you do it. If you can weight train with a partner, that is very good. You can do what is called working to failure, which means, you do as many repetitions as you can, and then on your last repetition, you'll find you cannot lift the weight alone. Here, your partner gives you a small bit of assistance. It helps push your muscles to the limit.
2) Do cardio 3 times a week. Gradually increase your fitness and level of heart rate etc. Once you become really fit, within a month, you MUST change your exercising in order to burn MORE fat. You must now LOWER the average intensity and not do cardio for too long, for too often. WHY? Because high intensity for longer duration will make your muscles smaller and more efficient. Ok for the longer term, but right now, you want BIGGER and LESS EFFICIENT muscles in order TO BURN MORE FAT. DO NOT DO LOTS OF CARDIO WITHOUT DOING WEIGHT TRAINING!! I did this in my 20's and only became fit and more efficient. My endurance and cardio vascular fitness was good, but I found it very difficult to impossible to burn more fat. The only time I burned fat was going bicycling for 3 or 4 hours and even then it was a modest loss of fat compared to what I would have gotten with weight training. Since I've changed my ways, I have burned MORE fat and gained muscle.
3) In addition to the above, do your cardio with intervals and/or sprinting and change your exercise type. RUN! BICYCLE! ELIPTICAL CROSS TRAIN! STAIR CLIMBER! Circuit train! Go for 1 hour or less of cardio at an easy pace, but during you routine, SPRINT or do INTERVALS at least once a week. Don't just keep increasing your level of resistance and go as hard as possible for as long as you are comfortable. This will not burn as much fat as you need. What I mean is, lets say you are on the crosstrainer at level 14 at 75 RPM when you got to your fitness high. You will now drop down to level 10 at 70-75 RPM and stay there for your 30-60 minute Cardio, but for say four to six 30 second intervals, you will go at a higher level, say up to 15 or 16 at up to 110 RPM. Then you drop back down to 70 RPM at level 10. Keep doing this. WHY? You want to shock your muscles and build muscle. The low intensity will burn calories without making your endurance get too good, which is essentially just making your muscles smaller and more efficient. That is fine for later, but right now, you want maximum fat buring.
Running is one of the most efficient calorie burner. Swimming is good too and probably the #1 calorie burner WHY? You are using your bodies largest muscles repeatedly and under high resistance. After getting into running, don't run too much for too long. Running is the best calorie burner, but again, the more you run, the more efficient you become. Your muscles get smaller and you burn less calories. If you have been running and gotten your fitness up to say running twice a week for 45 minutes and you feel you pace has increased, drop down the pace and run almost as slow as possible, but throw in those 30 second sprints where you literally run faster for 30 seconds and then drop it back down to a very slow pace. Slow means you're well within your muscles abilities and you are simply burning calories. The sprinting burns calories and builds muscle size and strength but does not make you more efficient and increase your endurance to much. You will naturally become fitter and your endurance will increase, but you want to minimize the efficiency improvements and maximize the size and strength increase because these are inefficient and BURN MORE FAT :)
This trying not to do TOO MUCH cardio and trying not too increase your endurance too much, by becoming too efficient is important. You only need to stress this now, while your muscles are smaller and you are wanting to burn as much fat as possible. As time goes on, your muscles will get bigger and naturally burn more calories. Once you reach a certain level of fitness and fat loss, you may be happy with your bodies fat levels and then you can do whatever you want, provided your body composition remains somewhat constant. So once you reach your goal, or you are within reach of your goal, you might want to increase your endurance for running. Thats fine, but right now, you want to burn fat.
An important thing about running is that it is handy for TIME management. If you really CANNOT go to the gym that day, and you don't want to do any weight/resistance training at home, then go for a 30 minute run. Its fast, convenient and burns the fat while keeping you fit :)
4) Shock your body. Change your workouts. Use the cross-trainer for a few weeks. Use the bike the next. Go for a speed walk, go for a run, use the stair climber. Change your bench press to decline from flat, change the angle of your incline press. Do a different back exercise. Change what you are doing but keep BUILDING MUSCLE and BURNING FAT. Do your Cardio like this: Cross Trainer 30 minutes, Run 20 minutes. Or Bike 30 minutes and then use the Stair Climber. When you feel the routine is too familiar, change it. Play this by ear, as you do have to stick with certain weight training exercises for a while before gaining, but eventually, you want to change to a slightly different exercise that works your muscles at a different angle. Muscle GROW more when shocked with unfamiliar work once in a while. Routine makes them too efficient.
Abdominal workout
Read up on this. Do upper, lower and oblique ab muscles. If your goal is fat loss and a ripped gut, you won't get it just from doing endless situps. You must do the right exercises and not do too many reps. Once you can do over 30 reps, take shorter breaks, add resistance etc. Going for 200 situps or crunchs makes you fit, but shrinks your abs a bit. YOU DON'T WANT THAT YET. Shrinking fat on your gut is better replaced with larger ab muscles. Read a book called Ultimate Abs. My guide for ABS is to do them at least 4 to 5 days a week. Some people say you can do them every day since they recover quite well over a short time, while others disagree and say you need to rest them at least one or two days a week. Do what you feel works for you. Every day just doesn't work for me. Take at LEAST ONE day OFF ABS per week if you're not sure.
DO NOT OVERTRAIN
Try not to spend 2 hours or more weight training in the GYM four days a week and then run 4 times a week for 2 hours. You get the picture? I usually spend an hour or less each time I weight train. Everyone is different. Listen to your body and don't train too much. You'll get a feeling for what is too much and what is enough to be effective for you. Start with a modest time commitment and increase slowly until you reach a comfortable maximum.
Other tips. Focus on your goal. Do not oversleep. Instead, if you can, get up as early as sensible (say on weekends) and go for a 30 minute walk. Go for walks at night before you go to sleep. Play sports. Socialize with your friends. Eat your fave foods once or twice a month. Enjoy life.
Eat a moslty balanced diet, eat raw fruits and vegetables, eat fish as your meat, don't eat bread and eat as little sugar as possible. DO NOT ELIMINATE ALL CARBS. Eat long grain whole rice and/or pasta. BE CAREFUL WITH PASTA! Too much is WAY BAD. You need pasta for fuel, so eat it according to your exercising.
I fell off the wagon a bit over Christmas, and over the last couple of weeks, with a cold and just not being able to get back into the gym. Then I went away for the weekend with some friends and we ate some things I shouldn't eat like cookies and bread etc. I had barely gained back about 4 to 5 LBS and now I've lost most of that. I'm back into it now and plan to continue my efforts to increase my fitness, increase muscle strength and size, lose fat and increase my overall well being.
Here is a typical week for me:
Sunday-Upper body Chest and Back
Monday-Cardio
Tuesday-Legs and Shoulders
Wednesday- OFF
Thursday-Upper body Chest and Back + Cardio
Friday-Legs and Shoulders
Saturday-Off or Cardio
Each morning and each night I try to go for a 1/2 hour walk.
You can exercise 7 days a week if you like, and sometimes you have to in order to get the cardio days so they don't interfer with leg workouts. For example, I do cardio after weight-training upper body sometimes, but not too much, and I eat soon after. I don't usually do cardio on a LEG workout day.
A note about motivation. If you are doing this PLAN to burn fat because you are genuinely bummed out about your body, then resolve to be positive. Fight depression like you've never done before. Instead of eating food or sleeping when you feel bored or unhappy, just go for a walk. Keep doing this and develop a habit.
I apologize for any spelling or grammer mistakes. I didn't realize writing out my thoughts would take so long. I really followed a PLAN so subconciously, it was interesting and I wrote down what I did over time. Perhaps I will edit it down to the essentials later. But really. If you read and refer to this plan, I think you'll learn what you need and do well to lose fat and become fit.
You can lose weight simply by weight training, doing cardio and consuming fewer calories, HOWEVER, with MY PLAN, you simply maximize fat burning per unit time, plain and simple. You lose fat faster. I've never lost more weight in a shorter time in my life, period, and I feel healthy and fit :)
There you go. Thats my plan. Good luck ;)
 

Chris PC

Senior HTF Member
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May 12, 2001
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I know this is long, and it doesn't cover everything, but its a pretty good guide. It takes less time than reading a whole book and its not very complicated. To know what foods to eat, just look at your local food guide (Health Canada publishes a food guide, I'm sure the US has something similar) and adjust it by adding the restrictions I have given here.
Has anybody done anything similar? Have you had a similar diet/fitness experience? Please feel free to comment.
If you want to try to follow my PLAN, please let me know and get back to me on your progress :)
 

McPaul

Screenwriter
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Cool Chris, you have any recipes to go with that?

I sometimes react badly to fish, is there any way to substitute?
 

Robert G

Stunt Coordinator
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Dec 2, 2000
Messages
191
Great PLAN Chris! I basically followed this same PLAN (except that I did cardio daily)to loose 65 pounds recently. I went from 270 to 205. My goal was only 55 but it kept coming off. When I reached the 55 pound mark I changed my routine a bit. I weight train much heavier now and do less cardio. Overall my results have been great. I still have a little loose skin around the mid-section but not much and my ab program is helping this. As I said before my PLAN matched yours closely during my weight loss period. My plan now is:
Mon: Shoulders & Triceps
Tue: Cardio & Abs
Wed: Legs & Back
Thur: Cardio & Abs
Fri: Chest & Biceps
Sat & Sun: Off (occasionally sneak in some Abs)
As you probably know, rest & recovery is a huge part of muscle gain.
My eating has changed as well. I now take in many more calories and make sure that I eat at least 1 gram of protein for each pound of body weight per day. Obviously my goals have changed to gaining weight by gaining muscle. Nothing like your arms getting bigger and your waist getting smaller.:) I still stay away from as much sugar as possible and limit the beer drinking.
I definitely know how you feel on the clothes. I gave up and started over on the wardrobe once I got to about 40 pounds of weight lost. All in all it has been a great experience. I am 31 and in much better shape than I was throughout my twenties.
 

Shawn Solar

Supporting Actor
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May 12, 2001
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I used to be in good shape. But now have gone from 190lbs to 217lbs. though I 've given up regular coke for diet. lost 7lbs in 2weeks so am now 210lbs. I stopped working out and such(work to late now) and haven't really been to the gym in 2 yrs. this year is going to be different:D
 

Clinton McClure

Rocket Science Department
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I know what you mean by working too late Shawn. My work schedule varies from week-week, day-day. I may work until 1AM then have to be back at work at 9AM the same morning and work until 11PM that night. This makes it next to impossible to maintain proper fitness.

Since the first of January, I've changed my diet. No more deserts/sweets (goodbye chocolate chip cookies and jelly donuts), I gave up drinking, I eats tons more salads, very little beef and pork and lots of fish and turkey and quit eating bread, chips and other nasty-for-your-body foods. I also am back to one soda per week as opposed to 4 or 5 per day previously and I drink the heck out of water. Most days I try to drink 7 or 8 glasses but some days I drink about 10.

I have just started back to my weight training a couple days ago so I do not have a set routine for that yet, but I go to the fitness center and walk/run 3 miles every day. My method is to stretch out real good and walk a half mile, then jog a half mile, and so on and so forth. The track there is a 1/8 mile oval so my sets are 4 laps each. The last 2 laps of the 3rd set of jogging laps, I speed up and on the last jogging lap I run at full gate.

On January 1st, I weighed about 206. Right now I'm down to 201 and feeling much better. I am slowly building up my running stamina, my calf muscles are beginning to take shape, I breathe better, have more energy, and sleep much better. Hopefully soon I can get on a set schedule at work so I can work out better and see really amazing results.
 

Shawn Solar

Supporting Actor
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I just fear being sore the next day from working out. especially the chest and legs. I'm getting a lot better but still got a long way to go. maybe when the new years resies clear out (in a month) I'll start back up.
 

Chris PC

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May 12, 2001
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Good feedback folks :)
Weight Training is THE key component for fat loss. Tailor it to your needs.
No recipes really, yet. Only things like:
Tuna salad with a bit of dressing.
I eat spagetti with tuna instead of red meat.
If you can't eat fish, just eat chicken and turkey or look for something else. I continue to research.
Robert G, I notice you only do each body part once a week. My research has shown that its best to do each body part twice a week. Do you find once a week per body part is enough? I am still trying to get rid of my "mini-belly' as I like to call it, but now I am at the point where I want more muscle mass gain than I want fat loss. My struggle is eating enough for workout fuel without eating too much. Long grain rice and fish or turky/chicken just seems to work so well for me but I can't always have it for lunch.
Gotta go to work now, more later.
Keep exercising :)
 

Bill Catherall

Screenwriter
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Chris,
It sounds like you and I are on the exact same page. I agree with almost everything in your plan except the fats. From my readings and personal experience, fats of any kind don't have any kind of effect on your percent body fat. Their effect on overall fitness? I don't know. You might know something there that I don't know. ;)
Anyway, May 2002 I reached my breaking point. I was a fat 240 lbs at 5'11" (29 years old). I started this thread to get some support and rally others who were interested.
Anyway, by September (4 months) I had lost a total of 40 lbs by just cutting back on carbs by not eating pasta, bread, potatoes, and rice. I cut out refined sugars and ate a lot more fruits and vegetables. I also exercised 4-5 times per week early in the morning. Then between September and and November my weight loss really tapered and I only lost 3-5 lbs.
I went from a size 40 waist to size 36 to who-knows-what now. I'm currently still wearing the size 36 jeans I bought several months ago, but they're too big and I need new ones. :D I'd say I'm close to 32, but I'm not sure (I haven't worn size 32 since high school :eek: ).
Over the holidays I pretty much went back to eating anything I wanted and only went to the gym a couple times, but I didn't gain any weight! I've picked things back up now and I'm currently weighing 195. I've still got what you are calling a "mini-belly" that I'm trying to lose, but mainly trying to gain more muscle. Ripped abs would be nice. :D
Also, my main goal when starting out wasn't just weight loss. I wanted this to be a fitness change for life. I was absolutely sick of being fat. I hated the way my clothes fit. I hated the way I looked. I felt very self-conscious about it. Now I'm feeling great, but still a little self-conscious (in a good way...my buddies are really jealous and call me "Slim" :D ).
Well, I've got to reread your post, and probably read it a few more times after that to make sure I take it all in. You've got some good ideas there that I'm going to have to try to incorporate.
EDIT: By the way, I'm an O+ blood type...if that matters. :)
 

Robert_Z

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I have really wanted to start a health plan for myself. I am 20-25 pounds too heavy, but there are so many obstacles in my way.

DIET: I am a picky eater. Not by choice, I just always have been. My diet consists of at least two sandwiches a day...I usually eat two loaves of bread a week. Of course, I eat those sandwiches with chips and a soda.

I usually eat 5 pounds of hamburger meat a week with spaghetti or those hamburger helper meals.

The vending machines at work only have junk, so I down a pair of Reeces Peanut Butter Cups or a Snickers bar almost every day. The only fish I can tolerate is fried catfish. I drink a gallon of orange juice a week. I thought this was good for you?

I am not hungry in the morning...never have been. Don't eat breakfast. If I try to force it down, I get sick. I am also an insomniac...I can never go to sleep at night, staying up til 1 or 2 every morning (ever since I was a kid). Try staying up that late every night on an empty stomach. Impossible for me.

Those are my diet challenges. Now regarding exercise:

I hate gyms. Nothing but shrines for narcissists. I have always been extremely uncomfortable in that environment, so I don't go. Is there an affordable, compact home gym that can be effective? I have a reconstructed ACL, so I need something with leg press and squat, but no leg extension. My OS told me that would tear up my knee.

I am not being facetious in any way. These are my circumstances. Anyone care to make any recommendations to get me on the path to good health?
 

DavidAM

Second Unit
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Sep 30, 2001
Messages
375
Thanks for the tips Chris. I've been planning on joining a gym all month actually. I had myself all psyched up for it, but got busy with work and haven't gone. I do plan on going very soon though. I will follow your tips as much as I can and hopefully I can tighen up a little. Also, I cannot remember my blood type for some reason....A positive I think. Or AB positive. I can find out. I know its a pretty common one. Not the most common (isn't that O?), but like the 2nd most common. Anyway, wish me luck on joining the gym....Lord knows I'm gonna need it!
 

Armando Zamora

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aromaz odnamra
David,
The frequency of blood groups in the white population:
Group O - 45%
Group A - 41%
Group B - 10%
Group AB - 4%
Frequencies of the ABO groups differ in a few selected populations and ethnic groups.
I no longer work in a clinical lab, but I'm an Immunohematologist (fancy name for Blood Banker) by trade. :)
 

Armando Zamora

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Shawn...That's probably a concern (fear) that every individual has when first starting out with any physical activity/exercise. The key is to not over-do it from the onset. Not only will you experience soreness, but you may also risk injury. The soreness will be there with varying intensity. However, once you get past the soreness or it subsides, just keep to a regular workout schedule so that you don't subject your body to the rollercoaster of soreness-no soreness episodes.
And if you do have an extended lay-off from exercise/weight-training (i.e., 1-2 weeks), ease back into it the first couple of days...don't go full-on.
Bottom line, don't think about it...just do it, my friend. I think that actually getting started is one of the hardest things to do when it comes physical activity/working out. Go!!! Go!!!! Go!!!! :D
I'm not a certified trainer or have a PhD in physical fitness...this is just from personal experience. :)
BTW, anyone have any personal recommendations/experiences on a good treadmill. I've been researching for a week on the Net, but would like to hear from folks' with personal experience. It's been way to cold outside for running, especially in the evening. I'm looking for one that will get about 8-12 hours of use (running, not walking) per week. Sorry for being off-topic
 

JoshF

Supporting Actor
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Aug 21, 2000
Messages
884
I just fear being sore the next day from working out. especially the chest and legs.
Once you get on an exercise routine, that soreness will become one of your favorite things. I love the feeling after a good workout, especially the day after. Makes you feel alive.
 

Bill Catherall

Screenwriter
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Aug 1, 1997
Messages
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I hate gyms. Nothing but shrines for narcissists.
:D
That's so funny, Robert! I know what you're talking about. Here's what I recommend (standard "I'm not a physical trainer, physician, dietition, etc. etc." disclamer): Find a gym that has a pool and just go there to swim. I've found that the "narcissists" don't spend any time at the pool (no mirrors ;) ). So you can get a good non-impact workout in without visiting the "shrine." :D I've been a member of 2 different gyms that have pools and I've usually had the pool all to myself.
Working out might help you with your insomnia. It's kind of hard to stay awake when you're so worn out. I'd recommend working out in the morning. This gets your metabolism going for the day and gives you more energy, but by the evening you're tired and you'll sleep better. Working out at night might make it harder to get to sleep.
 

Chris PC

Senior HTF Member
Joined
May 12, 2001
Messages
3,975
Just a note. I know people who dislike GYM's because they are "filled with grease monkeys or meat-heads". Well, let me tell you, you're right. There ARE moron's in the GYM, but you're not one of them. Unfortunately, working out does attract some idiot's. You just have to ignore them. Do not let someone else's behaviour or lifestyle undermine the fact that weight training is excellent physical conditioning for strength and fitness. Who cares what other people are doing. You are not a narcissist yourself, so why concern yourself with people who are? I understand you do not want to be associated and do not want to associate with certain people, so avoid them. Weight training is an entirely respectable activity.
More to the point, is the self image. If the presence of meat heads in a GYM bothers you, its because you are at the same time, aware of their stupid behaviour, but also, you must admit that you might be jealous of their appearance if they are fitter, or more muscular than you. Forget about it. If you view them as a grease monkey meat head, then you are right, they are a moron, but who cares about judging them anyways? Just focus on yourself. Most of us here will agree we are doing this to improve our appearance. Do it in a reasonable way, and don't ever feel insecure about your appearance in terms of attracting woman. Even when you improve, DO NOT talk about it to woman or show off too much. What you will get that is useful to attracting a mate is actually not so much the appearance change itself, but also your improved confidence. As an example, take two similar looking guys, one is chubby or skinny, while the other is muscular. I know woman can often choose a chubby or skinny guy who is totally secure and confident, over a person who is in better shape but is self-concious, insecure and lacks confidence. That's just how people work. I've seen it time and time again. I know woman appreciate hard bodies, but don't let this cause you to focus on your appearance and its affect on woman and then worry about it. Just keep on you plan, gain your confidence and forget about it. We're all human and everyone here will admit their body fat has affected their self-esteem. Just think, when you get fit, you can feel confident and know there is one less variable to worry about, so don't think about it anymore, just feel confident and forget about the grease monkeys in the GYM.
Home equipment is good and allows for quick workouts. No trip to the gym etc. If you really want home equipment, just research and watch for special deals etc. Don't buy the gimick stuff, do your research and find people you can talk to who have decent affordable equipment at there house. Working out at home is ok, but you won't have a spotter unless you have a partner who comes over all the time.
I don't use a treadmill. I have rollers for my mountain bike, but never really use them. Really just a novelty. For cardio without going to the GYM, I bicycle, roller-blade (in summer) or I run, go for walks or speed/fast walks. I bought some used ice skates and plan to use those real soon. Also, my GYM is a fifteen to 20 minute walk each way and I walk it 99.9 % of the time :)
One tip is to NEVER stop your schedule unless its absolutely impossible to workout. If your schedule is put off, thats ok, but just keep doing the same number of exercise sessions per week. Right now I'm making a chart so I can tick off my weight training, cardio, abs and walking that I do each week. Even if my schedule is thrown off, I can at least keep track of my total number or the actual frequency of exercising I am doing per week. You MUST maintain the minimum number per week in order to achieve your goal.
If you go to the GYm and don't feel good, you're stressed and don't want to work out, just give it a try anyways. Sometimes I feel poor and want to go home, but I persist and feel decent afterwards.
If you are starting out and/or you are just still in that stage where you want to burn as much fat or gain as much muscle as possible or both. Basically, you are either fat or slim, but muscles are not large enough, then here is an added reminder:
Keys for burning fat consistently and/or continually burning muscle:
Always workout 3 to 4 times a week, every week.
Keep up your diet. Change it around, but do what is working and stay away from deserts, too much fat, NO sugar and/or Juice or alcohol.
Do Cardio 2 to 3 times a week minimum.
Do abs 4 to 6 times a week minimum.
Throw in a walk now and then, it helps burn extra calories even when you are beat from a workout. Even after a leg workout, a walk is not too bad.
Get enough sleep.
Focus on your plan and don't give up.
:)
I'm actually going through some life changes right now and trying to maintain my fitness plan. Its going ok. I might adjust my plan a bit and fine-tune my goals etc.
I'd love to hear from people who were at least 35 to 50 LBS overweight and were able to eliminate your belly and get a ripped stomach and abs without lipo or tummy tuck. I know its not always, possible, but I'm curious to hear from people who have achieved the above, or come close.
Also, I'd love to hear from people who weight train and are experiencing large gains in strength and mass. I would love to hear what you are doing. Not interested in steroids and also, would like to stay away from other synthetic stuff like Creatine too.
Let me know how your things go people :)
Don't sit in front of that PC or home theatre too much ;)
 

Chris PC

Senior HTF Member
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A couple of things to add:
I imagine it is more important to NOT eat sugar than to eat less saturated fat, but to each their own. I see no reason to eat too much saturated fat, so I eat less saturated fat. By eating mostly fish, I figure its fine, maybe better than eating more fat which is saturated. Plus Fish has omega fats which are reasonabley healthy, more-so than saturated fats.
As long as you are weight training and gaining muscle, its probably not that crucial to avoid long cardio workouts which increase efficiency and endurance. Since you are weight training, you are making your muscles less efficient by their gain in mass. I just feel that you may as well try not to increase your endurance too much until you've lost that fat, because less efficient burns more fat. So lower levels of cardio don't make your muscles smaller, but they still burn fat, and so do the sprints/intervals.
Just my thoughts. Adjust to your liking :)
 

Justin H

Stunt Coordinator
Joined
Sep 30, 2002
Messages
167
Chris, a question for you.

How do you go about eating mostly fish? I've tried to incorporate more fish into my diet but it can be difficult unless you are willing to go buy fresh fish for dinner every night. Eating chicken and beef is much simpler as they lend themselves to freezing for long periods of time. Have you found any type of fish that freezes well, like maybe flounder or sole?

I suppose I could manage to eat fresh fish maybe 3 times a week, and mix in some light pasta dishes, chicken and veggie based meals, but that's about it. Just curious about how you sustain this diet. Thanks.
 

JonZ

Senior HTF Member
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Dec 28, 1998
Messages
7,799
I would suggest:

Monday: Chest,Shoulders,Triceps

Tues:Cardio

Weds:Legs,Cardio

Thurs:Cardio

Friday:Back,Biceps

Sat & Sun: Off or Cardio-up to u.

You must remember that the smaller muscle groups come in play when using the larger.

Your triceps get worked whiel doing chest. Your biceps get used while working back. Having them on seperate days will lead to OVERTRAINING. This is SO important.

Actually I would suggest a isolation movement before going into the compunds movements for the larger muscle groups.

Example: Do flies for 12 reps then with zero rest go to incline dumbell presses. This will preexhaust the chest so that when the weaker muscles, the triceps give out, chest will still have been worked enough.

I also suggest not doing more than 4 (Tops!!!!) exercises for each body part.

Even if your goal isnt to "bulk up" - remember you can always drop it while cuting up and it will make u look better anyway. Also the more muscle you have the more calories youll burn during the day and you should notice a speedup of your metabolism. You may be hungrier more often but thats becuase your body needs the fuel. Eat good foods and you wont have to worry about adding pounds.

Your diet seems pretty good, but I would like to make one correction(which of course isIMHO). To have a Time Released protein drink before going to bed. This will give your muscles the protein needed to grow at night.
 

Chris PC

Senior HTF Member
Joined
May 12, 2001
Messages
3,975
I do chest, back and triceps on the same day.
I do legs and shoulders on a separate day. Does my shoulders and upper body separation into two different days not make sense? Am I overtraining muscles used for both the chest and shoulders?
I do 2 exercises per body part. I am interested in what you say about which to work out first.
I have read that you should train each body part twice a week, which is what I try to do. The people who work at my community GYM (awesome equipment) also mention that you should work out each body part twice a week. I notice that both you guys, RobertG and JonZ, only work out each body part once a week. Whats up with that? I understand about rest, but is that correct to only work out a body part once a week? I guess if its working, then its correct :) I am curious. In the future I will not be working out on a continuous basis 4 days a week, so I will likely drop down to 3 days a week for those times when I'm trying to stay into it, but want to work out less.
 

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