The WDYDT Fitness, Exercise, Diet Thread

[jcandy]

I tried out slow-carb diet starting about 3 weeks ago and so far I'm down 12lbs... not bad, for a diet where I can still eat all the steak and grilled fish & chicken I want and never starve myself :D

12 lbs is excellent.

Sorry but I have to offer my 2 cents. The essence of the slow-carb diet is sensible: focus on low GI carbs like basmati rice, lentils, oatmeal, rather than white bread and pasta. However, following this diet to the letter is unnecessary. Timing protein intake in particular is unnecessary. So is avoiding dairy. Too much protein has been shown to lead to reduced kidney function (one of those things that comes back to haunt you in your 40s and 50s after mega-dosing in your 20s and 30s). Dairy consumption, on the contrary, has been linked to improved fat-loss (when total calories are fixed, high dairy content is linked to enhanced fat loss).

[Toxis]

I started day one of the C25k program. Feel damn good about it too.

[ysss]

12 lbs is excellent.

Sorry but I have to offer my 2 cents. The essence of the slow-carb diet is sensible: focus on low GI carbs like basmati rice, lentils, oatmeal, rather than white bread and pasta. However, following this diet to the letter is unnecessary. Timing protein intake in particular is unnecessary. So is avoiding dairy. Too much protein has been shown to lead to reduced kidney function (one of those things that comes back to haunt you in your 40s and 50s after mega-dosing in your 20s and 30s). Dairy consumption, on the contrary, has been linked to improved fat-loss (when total calories are fixed, high dairy content is linked to enhanced fat loss).

Thanks man, I've been hearing/reading about that too.

I'm keeping a close eye on my kidney functions (sgpt/sgot values, which are raised) and I also have been skeptical on the no-milk/dairy thing.

I was consuming some milk & yogurt on the second week and tried to completely stay away from them on the 3rd... I've found my weight loss to be significantly more on the 3rd week; which may or may not be directly linked to dairy intake.

What do you think of the supplements? (PAGG stack: policosanol, ALA, garlic, green tea)?

[jcandy]

I was consuming some milk & yogurt on the second week and tried to completely stay away from them on the 3rd... I've found my weight loss to be significantly more on the 3rd week; which may or may not be directly linked to dairy intake.

One week is not long enough to assess this. Also, are you eating sweetened or plain yogurt?

What do you think of the supplements? (PAGG stack: policosanol, ALA, garlic, green tea)?

- long-term effects of ALA are not understood, so I would avoid that.
- clinical trials have found no evidence of the efficacy of policosanol.

On the other hand, the many benefits of garlic are well known, and my wife and I drink red tea (not green, since red has no tannins and no caffeine) every night between dinner and bed. Of all the popular supplements, I think fish-oil tabs are probably most useful, but I tend to be a "real food" type.

[McLoki]

This was my run tonight. Not really to bad considering I am old, fat and slow. Took the winter off and have about 15 pounds to lose to get back to where I was last fall....



I like biking a lot more than running, but it was a better night for a run than a bike ride. (spring in the mid-west is always rather windy...)

Michael.

[McLoki]

For those curious, I am 5'-9.5" tall and currently about 210 pounds. I would be in really good shape at 185-190. I like biking and tolerate running.

I got a new Garmin 305 for christmas and love the info that it gives you.... (click details on the embedded summary above to see it.) It works great for outdoor exercise (like running, biking, walking or hiking) but does not do nearly as well for stationary exercise (exercise class, elliptical, treadmill, etc...) I use a different HR watch for that. (Sportline 1060)

Anyway - great thread.

Michael

[cnh]

That's pretty good. When I've tried to come back after a long winter, even when I was in my 20s, .5 miles was about all I could muster on the first outing. The Garmin map is pretty cool!

Keeping weight off is a B@#$%! Especially as you 'age'.

cnh

[McLoki]

That's pretty good. When I've tried to come back after a long winter, even when I was in my 20s, .5 miles was about all I could muster on the first outing. The Garmin map is pretty cool!

Keeping weight off is a B@#$%! Especially as you 'age'.

cnh

Last year was the first time I ever ran more than 1/4 mile. (and I only ran that far because they made me in high school) I was up to about 5-6 miles last fall... I have bad knees though so I only run 2-3 times per week max and never on back to back days... I land on the balls of my feet when I run (as opposed to my heel) and I think that helps a lot with cushioning my knees.

BTW - I will be 45 this year. Weight was easy to keep off in my 20's, in my 30's it was a slow and steady weight gain until about 2-3 years ago I topped out at about 250 and decided if I didn't change something soon, I was not going to make it to retirement.

Everybody has their thing that works for them when it comes to weight loss. Mine is intensity. It does not matter what you decide to do - run, bike, swim, elliptical, stairmaster, whatever. When you do it though - do it hard. If you can carry on a normal conversation while you are working out - you need to step it up a bit. (thats what works for me anyway)

Good luck everyone - and keep up the hard work.

Michael

[ysss]

One week is not long enough to assess this. Also, are you eating sweetened or plain yogurt?

Plain mostly, but I got some sweetened ones at first.

- long-term effects of ALA are not understood, so I would avoid that.
- clinical trials have found no evidence of the efficacy of policosanol.

On the other hand, the many benefits of garlic are well known, and my wife and I drink red tea (not green, since red has no tannins and no caffeine) every night between dinner and bed. Of all the popular supplements, I think fish-oil tabs are probably most useful, but I tend to be a "real food" type.

thanks ;)

[fatchowmein]

30 min jog in AM. Blissful!
60 min bike in PM.

I started day one of the C25k program. Feel damn good about it too.

Hey, that's pretty cool. Congrats and good luck on your runs!
http://www.coolrunning.com/engine/2/2_3/181.shtml

I got a new Garmin 305 for christmas and love the info that it gives you....

Sweet. Much nice than my Polar F6 and I have to manual calculate my distance using Google Maps Distance Calculator.
http://www.daftlogic.com/projects-go...calculator.htm

Does the chest strap for the Garmin 305 have a user replaceable battery or do you have to mail it back to Garmin for service?

[McLoki]

Sweet. Much nice than my Polar F6 and I have to manual calculate my distance using Google Maps Distance Calculator.
http://www.daftlogic.com/projects-go...calculator.htm

Does the chest strap for the Garmin 305 have a user replaceable battery or do you have to mail it back to Garmin for service?

Yes, you can replace the battery. It uses a standard CR2032. Like I said, for indoor exercise, there are a ton of better options, but I have not found anything for the price that compares to it when outdoors. (be sure to click on the "view details" on my linked workout above - autolaps every mile, gives breakouts of info for each mile, and the player is kind of neat as well...

Prior to owning this, I used mapmyrun.com and that worked well, but this is so much better. I also use it when biking, and since I have the speed\cadence sensor on my bike - it tracks cadence for my entire ride that I can review later just like speed and heart rate....

only about $129 on amazon. (i picked mine up just before christmas on sale (from amazon) for $109.) The speed\cadence sensor for the bike was a separate purchase and another $35.

Michael

[fatchowmein]

I txt'ed my coach to let him know him that the cardio guy cleared me to get back on the bike after the second leg surgery to clear up my compartment syndrome.

You probably know this but I'll mention it just in case you're not aware. On Coit Rd, just north of Spring Creek Pkwy, sits Carpenter Park Recreation Center on the west side. There's a cement trail called the "Bluebonnet Trail" there. Park your car at the park and take the trail east where it snakes through residential areas and if you get off of it at a certain point, you can hit the Starbucks and Barnes and Noble off of 15th. My friends and I call this the "Rehab Ride". Fantastic, easy ride especially during the spring when it's cooler. We send all newbies and anyone recovering from an injury there.

http://parks.planotx.org/econnect/Fa...FacilityId=428

The link below gives a good approximation but it uses Spring Creek Pkwy instead of the BlueBonnet Trail to get you to Starbucks. Just take the trail east to Jack Carter Park. For a shorter ride, just start at Jack's.

Starbucks

Good luck!

[fatchowmein]

only about $129 on amazon. (i picked mine up just before christmas on sale (from amazon) for $109.) The speed\cadence sensor for the bike was a separate purchase and another $35.

Michael

Cool. I'll drop the hint to my wife since my birthday is next month.

http://www.amazon.com/Garmin-Forerun...2288075&sr=8-1

Thx!

[fatchowmein]

30 min elliptical in AM.
P90x Legs & Back in PM.

[McLoki]

Sat. morning group ride (2 hours moving time with a break for breakfast in the middle...)

[tommyboy]

Everybody has their thing that works for them when it comes to weight loss. Mine is intensity. It does not matter what you decide to do - run, bike, swim, elliptical, stairmaster, whatever. When you do it though - do it hard. If you can carry on a normal conversation while you are working out - you need to step it up a bit. (thats what works for me anyway).

Michael

No, this should be for everyone. If you are overweight and you walk around a park talking on the phone, you aren't helping yourself out much. I'm not saying run, but a more brisk walk won't hurt your knees and will at least push you a little bit.

Btw, nice run and bike distances. I've been trying to do around 3-4 miles when I'm running around my neighborhood but its all hills so its a big pain in my behind

[camp21178]

After a long illness, I started going back to the gym in late January. I'm going to be 54 years old next week and I was able to do 3 sets of 3 reps with 335 pounds in the bench press. I'm getting pretty excited. I'll never get to where I was before, but my wife started going with me, and we're both feeling good. Weight training is something you can do at any age.

[camp21178]

oops, bumped, sorry.

[fatchowmein]

30 min jog in AM. Not blissful. No runner's high.
I'm feeling the cumulative weight of this weeks workout and I'm dragging so I punted the bike ride in the afternoon and took a long nap instead which bored my wife so I ended up driving her 70 minutes to the mall where I ended up the rest of the day.

Sat. morning group ride (2 hours moving time with a break for breakfast in the middle...)

I love those mornings. Ride. Breakfast with eggs, bacon, croissant, and OJ. Ride. Of course, I get funny looks from folks during breakfast because I'm wearing skin tight bike clothes and I'm walking funny because of my clipless pedals.

I've been trying to do around 3-4 miles when I'm running around my neighborhood but its all hills so its a big pain in my behind

Ditto here except it beats up my joints more than my behind so I've had to cut back from 5 miles down to 3.

...but my wife started going with me, and we're both feeling good.

More power to both of you and glad you've overcome your illness. Happy birthday.

[ohskigod]

can't wait for it to warm up so I can get on my bike.....while my hip is much better from when I was sick in 09, it can still get sore as hell when I run....I run and jog a bit when I walk the dog just for kicks.....though not terribly far....though just being able to run for me is pretty bigm I used to be about 370 (I'm still at around 295 now....not an ideal run weight)

I can bike pretty well though, I can do 10-15 miles with lots of hills (even more if flat, but there are no long flat runs for me here) besides, the hills make it more intense.

my hardest ride is the one from my house to my sister in law's....about 10 miles, but up eagle rock mountain and about 4 miles of it is dirt trail. my goal this year is to do that run, and then do it back within 2 hrs

[dragon1952]

After a long illness, I started going back to the gym in late January. I'm going to be 54 years old next week and I was able to do 3 sets of 3 reps with 335 pounds in the bench press. I'm getting pretty excited. I'll never get to where I was before, but my wife started going with me, and we're both feeling good. Weight training is something you can do at any age.

I'm sorry, but even Arnold Schwarzenegger or Franco Columbu coming back from a serious illness in his prime would be lucky to accomplish this feat.

[quadzilla]

Did a ride this morning of just under an hour. Legs felt very good. Will do 1-1.5 hours Sunday. Kind of boring at this point since all I'm doing is working on building aerobic endurance. And that means it's all done with a heart rate under 155. Looking forward to later in the summer when I can get out with the thundering heard and do some real riding. And after talking to my coach, that's going to be several months, as we both expect that I'll quickly work up to about 1.5 hours, maybe 2, for an average ride, but then will build slowly from there, adding about 10-15% each week. In other words, adding 10-12 minutes/2-3 miles per ride per week until I'm back to my normal 5-6 hour/100+ mile rides. And it also means that I won't be doing any peak power or peak anything else until I'm up to at least 2.5 hour rides with a strong base.

The big upside is that I seem to have hung on to a lot more muscle memory that I expected after being off the bike for about a year and a half altogether. Just for giggles, I decided to see how fast I could still spin without bouncing, and hit a 166 cadence that I held for about a minute before my heart rate started going up. For the rest of the ride, I noticed that even 90 feels a bit slow. 95-100 is more comfortable. And for a big guy like me, that's extremely good. It also means that the work I did on the Power Cranks just before I had to get off the bike wasn't wasted.

[cnh]

I'm sorry, but even Arnold Schwarzenegger or Franco Columbu coming back from a serious illness in his prime would be lucky to accomplish this feat.

I had a similar reaction, but it's possible that our poster is bigger than Hulk Hogan, weighs over 300 lbs, and has been power-lifting his entire life. That would explain that. The only guys I see in our college gym who can lift that kind of weight have been training for over a decade and none of them weigh less than 250+.

So I'm not ruling it out. Personally, I remember losing half my strength or more after a big illness like that and it taking a lot longer than 3 months to come back.

But more power to you if you're 'back'.

Now I'm off to do my measly sets with 225? If I'm lucky and my joints hold up....because I'm not that far away from that age myself....and I'm STIFF as hell and it 'hurts' to do the first set or two. It will only get worse as time passes?

cnh

[fatchowmein]

2 HR cycling. Quite windy today.

I decided to see how fast I could still spin without bouncing, and hit a 166 cadence that I held for about a minute before my heart rate started going up.

You see that object quickly fading behind you? That's me. LOL. The only way I'll be able to keep up with you is in my car. Here's hoping you get back to your old riding form quickly. Cheers.

[quadzilla]

Well, I was also in a 39/21 at the time, so I wasn't exactly hauling butt. Just wanted to see if I could still spin a high cadence. And thanks. I've missed being on the bike.

[dragon1952]

I had a similar reaction, but it's possible that our poster is bigger than Hulk Hogan, weighs over 300 lbs, and has been power-lifting his entire life. That would explain that. The only guys I see in our college gym who can lift that kind of weight have been training for over a decade and none of them weigh less than 250+.

So I'm not ruling it out. Personally, I remember losing half my strength or more after a big illness like that and it taking a lot longer than 3 months to come back.

But more power to you if you're 'back'.

Now I'm off to do my measly sets with 225? If I'm lucky and my joints hold up....because I'm not that far away from that age myself....and I'm STIFF as hell and it 'hurts' to do the first set or two. It will only get worse as time passes?

cnh

Yeah, I hear ya. Actually I had originally included a qualifier in that statement regarding his possible size/experience but edited it out. Even if it is true, one would be foolish to do max sets of 3 upon returning from a serious illness, no matter what their size.

[fatchowmein]

I feel like crud, run down and tired with a sore throat. Could be allergies due to the high wind and all the stuff blowing around but I'm pretty sure it's overtraining. Gonna kick back and relax for a few days.

[ryanjoachim]

Today's workout (haven't gotten to it yet) -

WOD:
50 Wallballs (20lbs)
Plus -
3 rounds of:
30 Double-unders (jump rope)
15 T2B (Toes to Bar)
10 Front Squats (135lbs)

Immediately after:
1 rep Max clean (3-min time limit)

I won't know the warmup until I get there after work...but with the workout we have planned I assume it'll be 3 rounds of squats, KB swings, and probably some running.

[camp21178]

My goal is to educate people at the gym about the benefits of weight training, especially older people and women. Many of these folks walk on the treadmill for 30 minutes and feel like they've exercised sufficiently. Medical experts are urging these people to incorporate weight training in their exercise routines. I show them that an old fart like me who's missing two feet of his large intestine, and who's stomach wall is held together with a mylar mesh, has an old badly healed elbow break, and basal joint arthritis in his hand can do it, so can you. A pound of muscle needs 200-300 calories a day just to stay alive, which is about how many the average person burns in a 30 minute treadmill workout.

[camp21178]

I feel like crud, run down and tired with a sore throat. Could be allergies due to the high wind and all the stuff blowing around but I'm pretty sure it's overtraining. Gonna kick back and relax for a few days.

I often take a week off from training, and I come back refreshed and stronger than ever. Just relax for a bit and come back stronger.