2019 Weight Loss Group


SpiritDragon
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Jan 4

Wake up 9AM.

10AM - 1 cup lucky charms, 1 cup almond milk

11AM - 16 ounce of 1/4 orange juice 3/4 water.

3PM - Subway Friday.  It’s tradition.  6-inch seafood sub (Italian herbs and cheese bread, seafood, lettuce, tomato, vinegar, salt and pepper), Lays potato chips, 32 ounces of 1/2 crystal light lemonade and 1/2 water.

10PM (didn’t get home until then) - lunch plate size beef tips stir fry with onions and bokchoy and white rice. 16 ounces 1/4oj 3/4h2o

11PM - banana egg roll. gulp of water.

2am bed.

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2 hours ago, SpiritDragon said:

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.

I did have the opportunity to watch the video and videos also about the different exercises.  I think I may try some of the table pull ups (or reverse pushups I suppose they are called) that were shown in one of the videos. 

On the intermittent weight training, I'm not sure what they call it.  I have read that if you do a lot of weight in short bursts and then rest that it can be more effective than doing a lot of repititions.  Thus I think that if I do a few shoulder presses (not sure what the machines are called, these are the ones that you push up and pull down with the arms from your shoulders to above your head), a few bench presses, and arm raises (not sure on what these are called either, but you are flapping like a bird while doing the weights, or that's the appearance) before I run on the track in short bursts, and then maybe a few after that would work in being with the work out.  So perhaps nine or ten of each in burst of three lifts (3x3 =9 total...maybe with one last to get that last oomph in) every other day or so.

Normally I eat out while at work, so no challenge on the drive home itself, just during the middle of the workday.  There are a ton of restaurants around campus (more off campus within the surrounding few miles) than near where I live.

Edited by JohnsonJones
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8 hours ago, JohnsonJones said:

I did have the opportunity to watch the video and videos also about the different exercises.  I think I may try some of the table pull ups (or reverse pushups I suppose they are called) that were shown in one of the videos. 

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.

8 hours ago, JohnsonJones said:

On the intermittent weight training, I'm not sure what they call it.  I have read that if you do a lot of weight in short bursts and then rest that it can be more effective than doing a lot of repititions.  Thus I think that if I do a few shoulder presses (not sure what the machines are called, these are the ones that you push up and pull down with the arms from your shoulders to above your head), a few bench presses, and arm raises (not sure on what these are called either, but you are flapping like a bird while doing the weights, or that's the appearance)(Sounds like lateral raises) before I run on the track in short bursts, and then maybe a few after that would work in being with the work out.  So perhaps nine or ten of each in burst of three lifts (3x3 =9 total...maybe with one last to get that last oomph in) every other day or so.

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.

8 hours ago, JohnsonJones said:

Normally I eat out while at work, so no challenge on the drive home itself, just during the middle of the workday.  There are a ton of restaurants around campus (more off campus within the surrounding few miles) than near where I live.

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,

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Well... Today wasn't great.

Breakfast: Sausage & eggs scramble

Lunch: Tuna sandwich

Dinner: Spicy Italian sub w/wheat, mayo, mustard, lettuce, tomato, olives

... and a 17 oz. Pepsi.

I went ahead with the Pepsi because I succeeded in my week purge plus a couple days.  I don't plan to have another anytime soon.  It just wan't quite the same.

My daughter and I went out to a comic book signing.  Marvel has acquired the rights to do Conan the Barbarian, and I got issue #1.  One of the authors was at a comic store in Annapolis so we went to go get it autographed, then we went to the game store next door and did some browsing.  Did a good bit of walking around.

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Interesting week for weight loss.

We were on vacation in Colorado last week.  And since I was already broke from getting ripped off by a contractor for remodeling, and then trying to hire good contractors to fix their mistakes and with all the holiday expenses and vacation expenses...  I had no money left.

So, this week I decided I wasn't going to eat out at all.

I had two boiled eggs for breakfast and two for lunch each day.  That's all -- all day.  Then a smaller than normal dinner.

By Friday, I noticed when I got dressed that my stomach got smaller.  My ratcheting belt (1/4" increments) went in about three or four extra notches than before.  No weight loss. But my spare tire got a LOT smaller.

Because we didn't really celebrate Christmas over the break, we decided to celebrate Christmas today (sort of).  This involved the traditional feast.  We had a turkey which I FINALLY figured out how to keep moist and tender after 20 years of tweaking.  And we had all the trimmings.

I'm back to where I was before. :doh:

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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.

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2 minutes ago, Carborendum said:

Interesting week for weight loss.

We were on vacation in Colorado last week.  And since I was already broke from getting ripped off by a contractor for remodeling, and then trying to hire good contractors to fix their mistakes and with all the holiday expenses and vacation expenses...  I had no money left.

So, this week I decided I wasn't going to eat out at all.

I had two boiled eggs for breakfast and two for lunch each day.  That's all -- all day.  Then a smaller than normal dinner.

By Friday, I noticed when I got dressed that my stomach got smaller.  My ratcheting belt (1/4" increments) went in about three or four extra notches than before.  No weight loss. But my spare tire got a LOT smaller.

Because we didn't really celebrate Christmas over the break, we decided to celebrate Christmas today (sort of).  This involved the traditional feast.  We had a turkey which I FINALLY figured out how to keep moist and tender after 20 years of tweaking.  And we had all the trimmings.

I'm back to where I was before. :doh:

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?

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45 minutes ago, unixknight said:

Well... Today wasn't great.

Breakfast: Sausage & eggs scramble

Lunch: Tuna sandwich

Dinner: Spicy Italian sub w/wheat, mayo, mustard, lettuce, tomato, olives

... and a 17 oz. Pepsi.

I went ahead with the Pepsi because I succeeded in my week purge plus a couple days.  I don't plan to have another anytime soon.  It just wan't quite the same.

My daughter and I went out to a comic book signing.  Marvel has acquired the rights to do Conan the Barbarian, and I got issue #1.  One of the authors was at a comic store in Annapolis so we went to go get it autographed, then we went to the game store next door and did some browsing.  Did a good bit of walking around.

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?

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3 minutes ago, SpiritDragon said:

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?

Sorta planned.  Saturday is usually my "cheat" day anyway so that's when the rules relax a bit.  I wasn't expecting one but when my wife offered I decided to go ahead this time.

Usualy at breakfast if I'm going to have any veggies it's in the form of a juice, which I"ve been doing on and off lately.  We have a masticating juicer which is also how we make the lemon water.

Nah my daughter is "meh" on the comics but she does like the gaming store.  She was hardcore hinting at me over some Carcassonne expansions but it just wasn't in the budget today.

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I'm back on my program 100% tomorrow. I lost nearly 50 lbs on it before I lost my focus. Looking forward to feeling better within the week. My husband and I are planning on a vacation in the Smokey Mountains in March. So, we both want to be healthier by then. I'll take all the support I can get! 

For me, the keys to being healthy are 1) WATER! 2) keeping track of whatever you put in your mouth. 3) being consistent. I'm not a water drinker so this will be a struggle (always is). I've got some water infusers to help me but just plain water is always best (bleh!). 

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1 hour ago, SpiritDragon said:

...Bioenergetics...

OK, SD, you've convinced me that I need to add some planned / consistent anaerobic / interval training to my day; restore some muscle strength.  I currently tread on my trudgemill for 30 minutes / day, 6 days / week (sometimes 5 days, but less than 5 is extremely rare).  Mr. Trudgey has built-in routines where the speed goes up and down automatically and I use one of these - but it's not one of the "intensity" workouts - one of those would kill me and break my knees and/or ankles.  I think this is getting the aerobic in (I should probably kick it up a level, but I'm doing a lot better than when I started - took a year or so to make the 6 days / week habit).

To give you an idea of my current upper-body strength, which I'd like to improve, I tried that under-the-table thing and my arms just laughed at me, but I can do about a minute of pushups leaning against the kitchen counter before my muscles say "uncle" (it's 36" high and I'm 63" high, so it's not as much of an angle as a man might think).

Tools available to me: dumbbells (one easy set and one "good luck using us for anything except curls" set), stairs (though my knees don't like rapid stair use), Mr. Trudgey (but I'd rather do something else), a bike + trackstand, a Total Gym, and the furniture.  Personally, the Total Gym, dumbbells, and pushups / the like sound best to me.

What do you recommend?  I work better with gradual changes, upping them only after I've formed a habit and it's no longer a challenge.  And I don't want to add much time given I'm already spending 30 minutes / day walking all over Mr. Trudgey.  Also, the whole reason I got Mr. Trudgey was because the bike and the Total Gym require me to keep up the pace, but it's boring as all get-out so my mind wanders and my body slows down - Mr. Trudgey keeps up the pace without needing my brain.  Therefore, a shorter work out that doesn't let my mind wander would be good (that deal where you do as much as you can in 1 minute then rest seems like it would avoid that problem, but I'm game to try what you recommend). :)

No rush answering - I'm deep-cleaning the house this month (~1 hour / weekday), which has a way of finding muscles you didn't know were needed by civilized humans.

Meanwhile, I'm thinking we should pay you in Amazon gift cards or something.

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2 hours ago, beefche said:

I'm back on my program 100% tomorrow. I lost nearly 50 lbs on it before I lost my focus. Looking forward to feeling better within the week. My husband and I are planning on a vacation in the Smokey Mountains in March. So, we both want to be healthier by then. I'll take all the support I can get! 

For me, the keys to being healthy are 1) WATER! 2) keeping track of whatever you put in your mouth. 3) being consistent. I'm not a water drinker so this will be a struggle (always is). I've got some water infusers to help me but just plain water is always best (bleh!). 

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.

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2 hours ago, zil said:

OK, SD, you've convinced me that I need to add some planned / consistent anaerobic / interval training to my day; restore some muscle strength.  I currently tread on my trudgemill for 30 minutes / day, 6 days / week (sometimes 5 days, but less than 5 is extremely rare).  Mr. Trudgey has built-in routines where the speed goes up and down automatically and I use one of these - but it's not one of the "intensity" workouts - one of those would kill me and break my knees and/or ankles.  I think this is getting the aerobic in (I should probably kick it up a level, but I'm doing a lot better than when I started - took a year or so to make the 6 days / week habit).

That's fantastic work creating a solid habit of exercise you can do on autopilot. 

Quote

To give you an idea of my current upper-body strength, which I'd like to improve, I tried that under-the-table thing and my arms just laughed at me, but I can do about a minute of pushups leaning against the kitchen counter before my muscles say "uncle" (it's 36" high and I'm 63" high, so it's not as much of an angle as a man might think).

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 :) )?

Quote

Tools available to me: dumbbells (one easy set and one "good luck using us for anything except curls" set), stairs (though my knees don't like rapid stair use), Mr. Trudgey (but I'd rather do something else), a bike + trackstand, a Total Gym, and the furniture.  Personally, the Total Gym, dumbbells, and pushups / the like sound best to me.

What do you recommend?  I work better with gradual changes, upping them only after I've formed a habit and it's no longer a challenge.  And I don't want to add much time given I'm already spending 30 minutes / day walking all over Mr. Trudgey.  Also, the whole reason I got Mr. Trudgey was because the bike and the Total Gym require me to keep up the pace, but it's boring as all get-out so my mind wanders and my body slows down - Mr. Trudgey keeps up the pace without needing my brain.  Therefore, a shorter work out that doesn't let my mind wander would be good (that deal where you do as much as you can in 1 minute then rest seems like it would avoid that problem, but I'm game to try what you recommend). :)

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?

 

Quote

No rush answering - I'm deep-cleaning the house this month (~1 hour / weekday), which has a way of finding muscles you didn't know were needed by civilized humans.

Meanwhile, I'm thinking we should pay you in Amazon gift cards or something.

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 :) )

 

 

 

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11 hours ago, SpiritDragon said:

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?

I've been trying to lose weight for the last three years.  I just have no time for any real 'program'.  All I can do is alter how I eat.

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11 hours ago, SpiritDragon said:

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 :) )?

Oh, yes, with my knees bent, I could do a bit better - seemed like cheating, and I wasn't sure about how the whole "keep your body straight" was supposed to work that way...  (Ha ha - under the table! :lol: )

My Total Gym includes attachments (not my photos, but what I have - the second works for hooking your feet or as a pull-up bar):

totalgym_2000-2.jpgtotal-gym-parts-foot-holder-pull-bar_1_4

You can also do something that seems a lot like pull-ups (to me) with just the cables and pulley.  I'll experiment.

11 hours ago, SpiritDragon said:

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.

I wonder if part of the curve is because of where he has his legs / feet.  I'm short enough that I can do what he's doing but with my legs dangling off the top of the board.  (And kneeling wouldn't be a problem - probably why my knees don't like stairs - I'm always sitting with my knees bent under me, or legs next to me, or cross-legged - can't stand sitting normally in a chair.)

11 hours ago, SpiritDragon said:

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?

It has feet that can be folded under at one end.  Here it is.

11 hours ago, SpiritDragon said:

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?

Oh no, it's got resistance.

155433436_30-blackburn-rx-5-trackstand-i

11 hours ago, SpiritDragon said:

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.

I'm OK even just adding 10-15 minutes 3 days / week.

11 hours ago, SpiritDragon said:

I would suggest the following .... [good stuff clipped]

I'll start experimenting tomorrow to find a combination that works - sequence of those exercises, number of reps I can do, etc.  Once I have a routine that seems like it will work, I'll post back. :)

Thank you!  Not knowing where to start / what to do / how much to do has been one of the big things keeping me overly casual about all this, so having someone to give me a starting point is fabulous!

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Ive tried to  keep a food dairy and i do well  at keeping it for a week, than get tired of doing it,  cause i rather do something eles or its not fun enough for me,  or i dont like having to  do it. All i know is i hate having write out my food after every time i eat. Is it possible to still loose weight and not track what you eat. Or a faster easier way to track? Ive tried all sorts of apps  and ways but it doesn't stick with me.  I rather just eat and skip making a documentary on what i eat. Lol

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9 hours ago, Carborendum said:

I've been trying to lose weight for the last three years.  I just have no time for any real 'program'.  All I can do is alter how I eat.

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.

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8 hours ago, NeuroTypical said:

Image may contain: meme and text

 

Me - still seeking to overcome my "3 day not eating too many dumb things" habit.  Although I'm still down from my all-time high, I'm at a new high for the last year.  

Today needs to be about self control.  So does tomorrow and Tuesday.

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/

 

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4 hours ago, zil said:

I'll start experimenting tomorrow to find a combination that works - sequence of those exercises, number of reps I can do, etc.  Once I have a routine that seems like it will work, I'll post back. :)

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.

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3 hours ago, discoqueendiva said:

Ive tried to  keep a food dairy and i do well  at keeping it for a week, than get tired of doing it,  cause i rather do something eles or its not fun enough for me,  or i dont like having to  do it. All i know is i hate having write out my food after every time i eat. Is it possible to still loose weight and not track what you eat. Or a faster easier way to track? Ive tried all sorts of apps  and ways but it doesn't stick with me.  I rather just eat and skip making a documentary on what i eat. Lol

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.

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18 hours ago, SpiritDragon said:

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.

That is my all time favorite from Ronnie Milsap. Last time my husband and I were in the Smokies, that song came on while we were driving in the Smokey Mountains in the rain! I regret we didn't stop and dance to it on the side of the road. LOL!

I use myfitnesspal app to log my food. So, so easy! 

Today was good. I can tell because when I weighed myself this morning, I didn't let it depress me even though I had gained more than I guessed. My emotions are tied too much to the scale. I know that it's just a tool for me to use, but unfortunately I'm fighting again culture and a lifetime of thinking my worth and value lay in my weight. So, I limit myself to weighing once a week as a way to measure progress (not the only way I measure, but just one). 

I stayed on plan today and already feel physically better. I eat every 2-3 hrs and didn't plan well enough when I visited my dad. I went 4 hrs without eating and was so hungry when I got home. But, I still stayed on plan and am excited to see the results next week. Yahoo!

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BTW, one thing I've learned in my health journey is change habits one at a time. I would get so overwhelmed with completely changing what/how I eat, exercise, journaling, etc. So, now I've changed habits one at a time.

Want to get more exercise in but you are a couch potato? Then begin by simply parking further away in the parking lot. Walk around the store 1 time  before beginning to shop. Take the stairs down instead of elevator (and work up to taking the stairs up when you can). Begin small and commit to just doing something today. Want to eat healthier? Then commit to eating a healthy breakfast. Once you get that down, then commit to eating a healthy breakfast and lunch. Step by step.

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14 minutes ago, beefche said:

BTW, one thing I've learned in my health journey is change habits one at a time. I would get so overwhelmed with completely changing what/how I eat, exercise, journaling, etc. So, now I've changed habits one at a time.

Want to get more exercise in but you are a couch potato? Then begin by simply parking further away in the parking lot. Walk around the store 1 time  before beginning to shop. Take the stairs down instead of elevator (and work up to taking the stairs up when you can). Begin small and commit to just doing something today. Want to eat healthier? Then commit to eating a healthy breakfast. Once you get that down, then commit to eating a healthy breakfast and lunch. Step by step.

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

 

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