SpiritDragon

One of the most glaring points that stands out from your log is that you don't eat at consistent times at all. I'm not sure if that's something that you would like to address or not, but having more routine eating times can help to establish a pattern of when not to eat as well, which can cut down on mindless eating while doing other things. As with others, keep in mind that you are the expert on yourself. What stands out to you? It might actually be a good idea to go back over your food log and memory and think over what changes you think could be made that would be the most do-able and beneficial for you before reading on. Okay. You're back. Did you have any epiphanies? If you have some ideas I'd love to help you refine them and make them into bite-size action items. If not consider one of the following new behaviours: Pick one meal to eat at a consistent time. If a set time is just not going to fly aim for a two hour window to start by. Find and try one new recipe that is mainly vegetables every week until you find at least five that you enjoy enough to alternate Replace chips with carrot sticks on all but one day of the week Replace juice, pop, punch or any drink that has calories, or would have calories if it wasn't a diet version with good old H2O. You can keep the lemon or lime wedges if you like for a little flavour. Aim to do this 5-6 days per week to start as well Remember to just pick one for now and stay committed to it. If you like the idea of one of these, but find it too challenging, let's work to make it easier to start with and then we can always increase the challenge later as you have built up your success implementing it.

Okay so let's evaluate what you've presented so far. The main thing that stands out is a shortage of fruits and vegetables. It looks like salad didn't hit the menu, or a side of green beans or carrots for that matter. Without serving sizes it is hard to tell how much each food item is contributing though. How much lemon water do you think you are having on a day to day basis? Looking back at your log and thinking of your intake is there anything you think would make a big difference to you in addition to your soda purge? Is there any chance some foods or snacks were eaten without thinking about entering them into the log? Keeping in mind that you are the expert on you so your ideas will trump mine, I would have you pick one of the following to start with: Aim to drink one gallon of water per day Try two new recipes this week that are over 50% vegetables by volume Have a salad with dinner X times this week (where x is more than zero, but not pushing the limits of your reality) Aim to eat a matching volume of salad (not packed) to whatever the main course is.

Don't you just love that

I'm sorry to hear that you're ill today. This must be your third day of logging now. I'll have to go over them all, and I think @unixknight has also submitted three days now, and look at key factors for each of you to address.

When my wife and I were newly weds we moved into a ward where we were shuttled away into primary which made it difficult to get to know other ward members. I didn't seem to be getting a home teaching assignment and didn't know who the EQP was to ask. I finally tracked him down, but I'm not sure he even knew who I was either, even though I explained my name and situation. He did not have an assignment for me. A few months later one of his councilors was reaching out to me to find out why I hadn't been home teaching and then spent the next few months trying to "reactivate me" as if I hadn't been coming to church, only I had been faithfully serving in my primary calling where I was somewhat lost to the rest of the ward. It took 6-9 months but I found who I was home teaching and was able to go quite consistently thereafter. Edit: I love these men dearly and admire there desire to serve and help. I don't want this to come across as a criticism of anyone, simply showcasing that is easy to be forgotten about when serving in Primary.

Great tips! This is one of my favourite presentations on these ideas:

While food journaling can be useful for some people long term, especially those who find an app they enjoy using to help with it, I usually just use it for a few days at a time as an information gathering tool to see what areas of improvement will yield the biggest results in the least amount of effort. There are certainly different options, but one thing that is unavoidable is that you do need to make adjustments to what you're doing currently. You can't expect different results from doing the same things. Rather than keeping a log you might do better using a meal reference sheet. This could be something you simply keep in your pocket or on your phone that has a list of things your meal should include. If you read through this article https://www.precisionnutrition.com/fix-a-broken-diet and find the starting point portion recommendations for your body type and have them all listed on a card, then all you have to do is make sure your meals match the outline. Where is the protein coming from? how much? Where are the vegetables? Healthy fats? Work to make your meals match what is on your card (or phone reminder) and you'll be making great progress. If your meals match the guidelines over 90% of the time you'll be well on your way to success.

I'll look forward to hearing back. I'm excited for you... and missing the days I could play on my parent's Total Gym. I loved that thing. I may need to save up for one.

Just remember that self control is a finite resource. This is why it can be so helpful to make small changes and build on them or to adjust the six sources of influence in your favour so you are not constantly fighting yourself and exhausting your willpower. My belief is that the main reason some people do better with a complete overhaul is that they have physical food addictions they need to deal with and the big change allows them to break the physical addiction. For many of us though, we are simply emotionally tied to our food preferences but have no physical addiction. This allows us to make small changes that require less willpower and to make one-time changes that lead to ongoing results. An example of a one-time change might be to replace 12" plates in your kitchen cupboard with 10" plates and trick yourself into eating less. Another example might be to mover the TV to a less appealing, less prominent place so that it isn't the default "activity", especially if eating in front of it causes you to lose all connection with how much is being eaten and enjoyed. http://faculty.washington.edu/jdb/345/345 Articles/Baumeister et al. (1998).pdf This is a bit of a long read, but it is considered a landmark result showing that by tempting people with chocolates and cookies, but making them eat radishes instead their will power was depleted so that they made very little effort in a follow up challenge solving a puzzle compared to a group that got to eat the cookies instead of the radishes and a control group who only did the puzzles but had nothing to do with cookies and radishes. The point is that if you are using up your will power at a job you may not enjoy it may already be spent when it comes time to eat dinner. If your willpower is spent on meals other areas of your life that require it may suffer such as housework tasks or spending time with family doing things they enjoy but you don't and so on. It's not that will power won't be needed to make the changes, but the more you can leverage influence in your favour the less exhausting it will be for you. Here's a quick overview of the six sources of influence taught by Vital Smarts: http://sourcesofinsight.com/six-sources-of-influence/

Well if you'd like some support on the food front we are happy to help. Small changes work great for many people, but some do better with a complete break from normal and a rigid plan. As far as exercise goes, even a little can help. In fact, when you are coming from being sedentary into just adding a little you get the best return on investment. While more is almost always better, the largest improvements to your health come from the smallest of increases at first. Even 5-10 minutes 3-5 days per week can help preserve muscle mass and fight the decline of metabolism that is associated with inactivity as we age. If you'd like a short circuit you could do I'd be happy to oblige. If you prefer to stick to some eating goals, we're here for you. Just let us know what your plan of attack is (or if you want help figuring one out) and we'll be happy to keep you accountable and offer support.

That's fantastic work creating a solid habit of exercise you can do on autopilot. Did you try shortening the leverage working against you by bending your knees and allowing for some leg assistance with the under-the-table thing (sounds like how you plan to pay me too )? The total gym is pretty awesome. I suppose different models would have some different attachments. You can do pull-ups and rowing exercises with a total gym that will be even nicer than under the table any way. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8l2cAaNSoNY - Total Gym Pull-up https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l6VLWAkhDLM TG Row - I'd like to see the back not as rounded, when the angle is set to a steep incline this may require kneeling on the moving platform instead of sitting depending on hip flexibility. The posture demonstrated in this video is unfortunate. As far as recommendations it depends a little bit on your primary goals and the answer to some questions - Does your treadmill have incline options, or does it stay flat? Also, can your bike resistance be adjusted, or is it just free wheeling on the stand where you can only change speed but have no real resistance? I find that treadmills are not ideal for very high intensity intervals because the belt speed isn't responsive enough, so it takes too long to get up to speed and then too long slowing down again leading to more opportunity for a nasty mishap than I would prefer. However, for moderately high(er) intensity intervals they can be great. This might be similar to what some of your pre-programmed routines already do. A slightly more intense route would have you simply be aiming to increase your speed to a range you could probably maintain for 90-120 seconds, but only go for 45-60 seconds to stay safe. Intervals aside, because they can wait, how would you feel about cutting back to 15 minutes on Mr. Trudgey 2-3 non-consecutive days per week and adding a 10-15 minute strengthening routine on those days. You could start with bodyweight or assisted by the total gym less-than-body-weight exercises. I would suggest the following Alternating Reverse Lunges 12-15 repetitions per side (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OX0fKkaY6_cTotal gym Pull-up 12-15 repetitions Total Gym Pull-ups 12-15 repetitions Bodyweight squats 12-15 repetitions Counter top push-ups 12-15 repetitions (or total gym chest press https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AMK-REGyN54 in the same repetition range) Do each exercise one after the other with minimal rest and when you complete all four take a small break (around 2 minutes) and hydrate a little before repeating this sequence 3-4 times. Feel free to start with doing it only once through and then progressively adding additional repeats over time until you are comfortable with four rounds. Also, when using repetition ranges realize that the numbers are helping to indicate your loading. If you can't do the lower number of repetitions you have too much resistance, but if you can do more than the higher number it lets you know that you could use more resistance. So once it is easy to perform 15 body-weight lunges and squats, you may like to start holding those lovely dumbbells or adding a back pack and the best of books. You can also adjust the vector of your total gym to accomplish the same thing, and either adjust the angle of your push-ups or also add a backpack and stay at your counter. If you prefer to simply set a timer for 1-minute for each exercise that would work as well. Simply select loading such that when one-minute is up you are close to the point that you couldn't go on without a break, so your body is good and ready to switch to the next exercise in the sequence to give other muscles a break. This will help you to get the major muscle groups in a way that has great carry-over to daily life and sporting tasks and will help to stave off osteoporosis, while helping keep your metabolism primed and reducing your risk of diabetes, heart disease, and most cancers. Would that be too much change all at once? I would be afraid of forgetting to respond if I didn't do it while I have a notification of your post. It's a sad fact that our modern conveniences have left us more domesticated than our forebears and we most certainly do have under utilized muscles that need a good wake up call from house and yard work from time to time All the payment I hope for is to be of help to our forum participants (although if you find that you really really love the results and absolutely must contribute something more than mere appreciative words to the genius behind your transformation, I suppose we might be able to work something out, but let's not get ahead of ourselves )

Welcome aboard @beefche I feel like I haven't encountered you in the forums in ages, possibly we just post in different threads more often than not. Your post got me thinking: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wC6bo3XJnVQ Would you find it useful if we have you commit to a certain amount of water consumption and hold you to it? If it helps for you to keep track of whatever I put in my mouth, I can also post a food log Let us all know as a group how best we can support you.

Was the Pepsi a planned event? For some people it works well to schedule "cheats" so they don't feel like they can never have the things they enjoy. It's still a victory to have one 17 oz Pepsi in the last ten days if the norm is to have 10+ Pepsi's in the same time span. Can you think of any vegetable dish that you might enjoy on the side of sausage and eggs? How about a Tuna Sandwich? It sounds a little odd at first, but I've learned to enjoy a side of green beans when I decide to have something like eggs and sausage for breakfast. It helps me get more fibre and phytonutrients and helps fill me up so I eat less of the sausage and eggs which are comparatively higher in calories. It's a great habit to get into making sure every feeding opportunity includes some fruits or veggies. Just something to think about, not a criticism. It sounds like a fun day with you daughter. Is she quite the comic aficionado?

That's very fascinating. I'd love to give an explanation as to what took place for you here, but I'm not sure. It is not at all uncommon to notice a slimming of the waist with no weight loss when resistance training because the fat lost is replaced with muscle and muscle takes up less space per pound, so a slimming effect is noticed. However, your changes sound like they are primarily dietary which should have actually created a difference you could see on the scale in addition to the change in the belt notches. It makes me wonder if your normal is a bit bloated, and by eating mostly eggs if you eliminated some offending food that causes your usual bloating or perhaps water retention (but there again should have shown on the scale if it was water). Also, if it is from a bloating effect it would make more sense that it could return from what sounds like one meal. I wish I was more confident in a reason for you. Are you planning to join us for some weight loss?

Okay. So this post is going to be a little explanation of some basic exercise science regarding using energy. It may helpful and of interest to some of you, and it may simply be uninteresting and worth skipping or skimming briefly for others. I figured since I like to understand things and @anatess2 has stated she would be keen to read a whole book if I wrote it that it may be of value to our group. Bioenergetics: fueling physical activity On the simplest level of energy useage we have two primary energy pathways, aerobic and anaerobic. Aerobic energy is produced in the presence of oxygen and can supply an essentially unlimited energy supply. This is the main energy system used in our activities of daily living. When the power output required exceeds the capacity of the aerobic system to keep up then the anaerobic system becomes the dominant energy system. The anaerobic system is capable of generating far more power for short bursts of exertion, but is not sustainable like the aerobic system. The point at which energy production switches from primarily aerobic to anaerobic is sometimes called the anaerobic threshold. Within the anaerobic system there are two primary pathways at work. The first is based on stored energy and is called the ATP/CP pathway. ATP is the currency of energy in the musculoskeletal system, it has a high amount of potential energy which is released by breaking a phosphate bond. CP (Creatine phosphate) has a stored capacity of additional phosphate that can quickly restore the broken down ADP to ATP. This amazing system of energy is highly explosive and can be used for all out bursts lasting for very short periods of time (around 7-10 seconds, with some sources suggesting a possible upper time limit of around 20 seconds) Once the ATP/CP system has burned through the highly available but finite supply of energy stored in this manner the lactic acid system becomes the main power supply for activity. This system burns up sugars that are available such as glycogen stored in the muscles and can do so quickly to supply a still very high power input that can stay dominant from around 20 seconds to two minutes. The added cost of converting sugar into ATP at this incredible rate is it builds up lactic acid. Lactic acid was once thought to be a toxic byproduct, but it can actually help fuel activity too and it doesn't lead to muscle soreness as once was thought as well (of course muscle soreness is a real possibility, it's just not caused by lactic acid). Still, too much lactic acid will eventually cause the muscles to need to power down and allow the aerobic system to dominate while the lactate clears. Any activity lasting longer than two minutes is going to be primarily aerobic in nature which means that it can convert both sugars and fats into ATP to power the activity and won't accumulate lactic acid. Of course the systems don't work in isolation, they work together with different systems being called on more at different times. Understanding bioenergetics can help with understanding how to design training programs to match the energy demands of various sports and of course can also help to understand exercise selection for fat burning. Because the anaerobic system doesn't burn fat it has traditionally been looked upon as inferior to long sustainable aerobic workouts which will burn more calories during the activity and of course more fat. However, over the last 20 years more and more research has come out showing the benefits of higher intensity exercise for burning fat, it just does it after the workout. In this light it isn't really important what percentage of fuel during a workout is fat or carbohydrate, it simply matters how many calories total. Higher intensity exercise will yield more calories burned per unit time. even if over 90% of the energy used during such exertion was carbohydrate (free sugars in the blood and glycogen stored in muscles) there will be a period of time after the workout sometimes called excess post-exercise oxygen consumption or EPOC which can last anywhere from an hour or two to some studies suggesting a day or two depending on the time and intensity of exercise where the ATP stores need to be replenished. During recovery, the exertion is minimal so aerobic metabolism will be dominant and as such fat will be most likely used as a preferential fuel, especially if the sugar stores are depleted form the workout. That may sound like an absolute endorsement of using interval training to optimize energy usage in the shortest amount of time. This is all true and wonderful, but it also comes with the downside of requiring real grit and focus to push this hard. Also, the body needs to recover and remodel tissues so they are stronger and ready to perform at a higher level. recovery time may need to be lengthened when a person is in a caloric deficit to allow weight loss as well. So high intensity every time although a sound solution from the bioenergetic side of things, may lead to injuries and problems from the biomechanical side of things. For this reason, it is likely best to use a combination of methods, or to at least be sure to give your body adequate recovery time. By combining low intensity activities such as walking with higher intensity sessions you can still get out and burn some extra calories and possibly more importantly improve insulin sensitivity and chemical pathways that favour fat burning on the days that you aren't creating a more significant stimulus with high intensity training. Examples of anaerobic dominant training and activities Weight lifting with sufficient resistance Wind sprints Bike intervals A typical American Football play Running bases in baseball Examples of aerobic dominant activities and training Cross country skiing Snowshoeing Going for a jog/run (or a race of course) Regular cycling to get around Swimming Most sports will rely heavily on the aerobic system to keep energy levels up and speed recovery between anaerobic bursts.

The worst part is when I've asked in the last few years I've been told to look it up in lds tools and then met with astonishment that I don't have such a thing. They do eventually come around to emailing me some names.

on lds.org?

It would sure be nice if that could be rectified both ways, viewing who is assigned to you and who you are assigned too on lds.org too for those of us who prefer not to have a cell phone.

Excellent. That particular exercise has many names it gets called by and table pull ups would be just fine. I've heard it called body row, inverted row, inverted push-up, inverted pull-up and so on. This is partially why sometimes it's best to use anatomical movement to explain exercises between practitioners so we are clear on the meaning, but calling this exercise a simultaneous scapular retraction and elbow flexion while lying supine just doesn't have mass appeal to catch on as a good name So although it can be helpful in certain situations, it can also just be labourious and a mouthful. Short bursts of exercise can be very effective. When trying to use weight training exercises for weight loss it is often helpful to use moderately high repetitions like 12-15 with short rest intervals to induce a lactic acid accumulation which in turn seems to increase the production of human growth hormone, which was once thought to only be useful to children growing and not really be important to adults, but is now thought be very beneficial to fat burning. You could also try peripheral heart action training using short breaks or pretty well no breaks alternating from upper body to lower body exercises. Because, the working muscles require additional blood flow this has a dramatic effect in getting your heart to work to shift your blood back and forth between the upper and lower extremities. I've had my heart rate well in excess of 90% of my max doing this type of training. Let me give you some samples you can try. The bursts you speak of with weight training and sprinting for short bursts sounds excellent. The repetition range seems a touch on the small side, but that's not necessarily bad. It could be done so that the weight lifting portion is secondary to add some strength and muscle building/retaining benefits while the sprints are the primary exertion. Simply doing sprints with breaks is a highly effective form of training often called high intensity interval training or burst training (I can see how you came to intermittent training, it makes perfect sense, it's just not the usual term so I thought I'd better clarify what you meant. Intermittent fasting is commonly talked about and uses much longer time periods such that there is usually only a 2-8 hour feeding window during a day and the rest of the day a person is fasting - so that kind of intermittent lead me to wonder if you meant something entirely different) If you want the strength training exercises to be your primary exertion, I would suggest looking at higher repetitions sufficient to allow you to feel the burn and use less intense runs as "recovery" intervals. You could do your resistance exercises in straight sets (i.e. 3 sets of bench press in a row before moving on to the next exercise) or circuit style (Doing your exercises in an alternating order and repeating later, possibly push-ups, squats, seated row, lunges, pull-ups, hamstring curls, water break and repeat) You could definitely still go for a short run between exercises either way, or if trying to do something similar at home where you may not have space to run you could do jumping jacks or run in place. The drive home was just meant to be a general example anyway. However, you should be able to determine what factors lead you to eat out during your work day and how you can make changes to both your physical and mental/emotional environment to mitigate the risk of this happening,

Keep it up and you'll be amazed at where you can end up. By small and simple things are great things brought to pass.

Have you had a chance to watch the video I posted earlier about the importance of strength training for weight loss. It covers the very thing you are talking about. As we age we tend to pack on the pounds more easily and it considered to be largely due to slowing metabolism, but 90+% of that is simply due to lost muscle. So while gaining muscle now, won't quickly turn things around, it will help stem the tide and help you stop gaining at the same rate. I half expected you to say you were going to start intermittent fasting. I'm not quite sure how you define intermittent weight training, but it sounds like a great idea. from my perspective since rest days should naturally be incorporated I would suppose almost all weight training to be intermittent from the perspective that it isn't performed continuously and endlessly. If your plan is to train with weights 2-3 times per week with rest days in between, I think you're moving in the right direction. Running circles on the track can still be useful too. It doesn't have to be strength instead of aerobics or cardio instead of weights, it can definitely be an effective blend of both. Same for diet, no reason to pit diet against exercise, just use sound nutrition and exercise together. I hear you there. That is the biggest challenge for most people. It's really hard to put the instant gratification of yummy food on hold for the ongoing satisfaction of general health and weight management. Especially since the effects aren't quick so you don't notice an immediate decrease in vitality from over eating or surge of new health by eating one salad, but you do notice that a bacon double cheese burger calls out to your taste buds. I have talked a bit in some of the other posts about the importance of making a vivid picture of your default future if you continue on the path you're on. This can help to overcome the draw of instant gratification by poignantly and painfully putting an image of yourself in a few years by giving in. It also helps to make plans to help redirect your attention. For instance, it might be worth investigating changing the route you drive home if it takes you past a great temptation daily. By not going right past it you are far less likely to just happen by.

@Midwest LDS No pressue, but it sounded like you were planning to join our weight loss journey and I haven't seen you take part yet. I would like to know how best to help you get going. @JohnsonJones It appears you are also planning to work with us here. I'll look forward to hearing more from you and seeing if the group and I can't help you along. It sounds like a great thing you have going with the university gym.

I think it is similar to the concept spoken of in 2 Timothy 3: I think plenty of people study the scriptures quite academically, and in so doing the scriptures take on a form of godliness that is lacking in true power. These people can continue to learn scripture in an academic way, but will never learn what they could if they would yield to the Holy Ghost and learn true doctrine. Jesus Christ is the way the truth and the life, the scriptures testify of Him and are meant to help us draw near to Him. However, these same scriptures can actually act as a stumbling block when only the understanding of man is used to discern them.

Estimates are the best any of us can do with most foods

As it plays out if you can share the time you are eating and how much of each food item that will create a better picture of what changes to make. This is still helpful, it's just a lot more useful with a few more details. For instance, did your sandwich this morning have a whole banana, a skim of peanut butter and two thin slices of bread? Was the bread white, whole grain, home made? Tonight how many slices of pizza, what size is each slice etc. Are you eating the pizza while playing D&D and so on.