Who has gotten into shape?

Listen to this man, arizona. The last thing you want to do is look back and say "Where the **** was I while all that was going on?".

 

OUCH! You may have damaged the kid for life. Put down the flame thrower Allan, he's just a kid.


P.S. Whith the way gas prices are, especially in Hawaii, could you even start that thing for $5.?

 

I would say the best way is get a SERIOUS partner so you both push each other to reach your goals, quality food as stated before 5-6 meals a day (a meal could be a protein shake) and a good work out.. i would say about 2 months building muscle mass first and then 2 months cutting fat.. this way is better since when you have some muscle mass you burn more fat than when you dont have (under same circumstances). www.abcbodybuilding.com and www.bodybuilding.com are great resources, i highly recommend abcbodybuilding.

 

Working on it now .. ie. joined a gym again and re-started fitness training.

Pete

 

Hell ya! 5 bucks starts it, and gets me up and down the driveway. Gas prices here are 2.59 a gallon.

 

I have this same problem/blessing. My lovely lady eats whatever she wants, whenever she wants. I sit and have a little something with her to be social... but then it turns into a salt/sugar cycle and after I have chips, I have Coke, then popcorn, then ice cream, etc. blah.

The thing I forget is she does 90 minutes of yoga every morning in a 106 degree room. And sometimes goes out for an impromptu 10 mile run. I do niether.

If I don't knock this crap off I will never have these....
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Peter, I'm 35, and for some reason decided to stop smoking last Sunday night so that means I haven't had one in a solid week. I don't know exactly why I stopped because I really do love smoking Dunhills and had smoked between 5 and 10 a day for probably 15 years.

The first few days was annoying and since then it's just a constant nagging feeling, like having had too much caffeine. It's not a painful feeling, but it's annoying enough that if I still feel like this a month or so from now I'm going to say "screw it" and start smoking again.

My wife said, "hey, i bet you can get cheaper life insurance if you don't smoke." To which I replied, "If I stop smoking I'll probably live forever and won't need the damn insurance." ha!

Good luck with whatever choices you make.

 

Peter, quiting smoking will be tough but well worth it! My Dad quit cold Turkey 25 years before his death. I look at pictures of him taken during his smoking days and 20 years later after he quit, he looked younger at 76 than at 50! Same with my mother, who quit after having a stroke. 15 years later she looked 60, not 79. Smoking seems to age a person faster than anything else.

I am 50, never smoked, drink very little, been taking Vitamin E and other anti-oxidants since I was 18. I have 85 % of my hair, non of which is grey, no wrinkles, pass for being in my 30's, but almost always had a weight problem.

So at 30 I went on the New Balance 990 plan - bought a pair of NB 99X series running shoes and used them as intended. Modified my diet (cut back on junk, sugar). Went fron 260 to 185 (I'm 5'11), started Jazzercise and weight training. It was a long haul but worth it!

Good luck with your plans - it WILL be worth it!

 

I'm not expert but I'll add a couple of comments on this one. First, what is your goal? Is it to loose weight, get in shape, or both? Those require different programs. I train for triathlons but was still 20lbs over weight. You can loose weight without working out, or you can work out and not loose weight. If your target is to loose weight, and you don't like to work out hard, I'd suggest:

1. Get a heart rate monitor and start walking. It is best to establish your Max Heart Rate (MHR) with a test. If that is not practical, then you can estimate it by 220-your age. In my case, mine is 220-44 or 176. Your body burns different stuff at different heart rates (HR). In order to focus on building your aerobic base, and burn fat, keep your HR between 70% and 85% of your MHR. If you want to run, do so until your HR is above 85%, then walk until it comes back down to 70%. What you will find is that over time, your average HR will stay the same, your pace will increase. For example, when I started training with a HR monitor, my average HR over 6 miles was 142 running 10-minute miles. It's now 142 over the same distance running 8-minute miles. I don't mean to make this overly complicated, just walk a few miles per day (take the dog that will do wonders to build your aerobic base and burn fat. (As a side note here, go to a running store to get shoes, not the local sports shoe place, a running store will watch you run and suggest shoes that will reduce injury and leg pain.)

2. Look at your diet. I don't agree with the premise that you just need to take in fewer calories. It’s just not that simple. For example, one test of three groups of men were put on a 1,500-calorie per day diet. One group ate primarily fat, one group ate primarily protein, and one group ate primarily carbohydrates. The group that ate carbs gained weight. The "Fat" group and the protein group lost weight, the protein group lost a bit more. The interesting data is that the protein group lost mostly FAT, not muscle. The "Fat" group lost more muscle than fat. The goal is to loose fat without getting rid of muscle. I'd suggest you look at some of the low carb diets. I know people that have had great success with Atkins and the South Beach Diet. I use the word “diet” loosely here because you can basically eat the amount you want, you just have to reduce carbs.

My final comments will be a bit controversial. Gyms will tell you that strength training will help you lose weight; that's BS. If you add 1 lb of muscle, that extra pound of muscle will burn 24 calories of fat per day. For all practical purposes, that's insignificant. What strength training will do is tone your upper body and releases a fat burning enzyme (or hormone, I forget) into your body. If you follow-up your strength training with some walking or running, in a lower HR zone, it will burn more fat than doing one or the other.

All that being said, I'm no expert.

Good luck

Roy

ps. If you are a reader, try some of these; I have read them all and found them interesting.

Triathlon Training in 4 hours a week by Harr (They have beginner programs)
Run Fast by Higdon
Precision Heart Rate Training by Burke
Fit and Fat by Edwards
Any of the Atkins books

 

i'm in shape. Round is a shape.

Peter, HAPPY (BELATED) BIRTHDAY...!!!

 

I started working out with a trainer in July 2003 and I noticed that I instantly started to eat worse. When it comes to food, my willpower sucks. I'm thinking about going to a nutritionist. I've spoken with a few family members who have done the same thing and they highly recommended it. And they are both in much better shape than before. I guess it's an option.

 

I was wondering how many of you guys would say that you were more fit when you were single. I know I was. I've always been active and I got myself pretty ripped. Then I meet my current girlfriend and it all goes to hell. Well, I can't say it was all her because a lot of things changed in our lives. But the fact that, like some of you, she doesn't put on any weight and can eat anything, affected me. And she cooks up a storm like you wouldn't believe. She loves food, and cooking. I should get her to start a catering service.

Before I met her, I was in the best shape of my life. I was doing a psuedo-Atkins thing. I eat pretty much anything I want during the day. But at night, I just eat a small piece of meat (chicken or pork) and a small helping of veggies. And I chase this with a healthy multi-grain cereal.

I'd wake up in the morning ready to go to the gym before work. I never got sick and always felt ready to go. Now that she's cooking dinners, I eat way more than I should (she's a fantastic cook). I need the energy during the day, not at night when I'm just sleeping. And now, I'm not as motivated in going to the gym in the morning.

Well, we finally had a talk and now she's lightened up on the dinner and she's packing me a lunch everyday instead. She's a wonderful girl and very understanding. I'm pretty lucky. So I'm on my way back to sporting a 6-pack. Watch out summer!

 

I've been telling myself to get in shape for the last 2+ years now. Weight-wise, I am fine (6' tall at 170-odd pounds), but waist-wise, NOT (at 34"+ and counting)! I think I need someone to discipline me, 'cause I don't seem to able to do it myself. Oh...so tough!

NNO, LOL!

 

I have always been in better shape when single. I think that when you are with someone you tend get comfortable and let yourself go a little. Of course we never want our women to get comfortable. Ahh....to be a man.

 

I am 46 years old and 6 feet tall and started a work out program last September to get in shape. I joined Gold's Gym, hired a personal trainer and got started. In the last 6 months since I started I have went from 226 pounds+ to 183 pounds, went from over 23% body fat to a little over 9% body fat and from size 42 pants to size 34 pants. I drink 3 MyoplexLite shakes a day and eat 2 meals a day. I stay away from fried foods as much as possible and quit in between meal snacks completely. I now feel better, am much stronger and look better too. I recommend that you use a personal trainer to begin with until you develope the habit of working out. After a few months, you start looking forward to the workout and can drop the trainer.

 

I made a New Years resolution to get in shape this year. I am 25 years old and figured that now is the one point in my life where I have the potential to be in the best physical shape of my life. I workout Monday, Wensday, Friday nights after work and do a light workout on Sunday mornings. One thing that has helped me get motivated was getting a friend motivated to give it a shot also. We both have made it into a competition to see who slacks off first and when one is not feeling motivated the other pushes him to get in the gym and work out. I only started hitting the gym January 1st but in two months time I have become stronger and fitter than ever in my life. Once you get in the swing of things and start to see gains you will not want to miss a day because you feel yourself shrinking and slipping back. I am trying to gain weight however and any advice on losing weight should not come from me. Like I said though the first two weeks are the hardest. After that you are motivated more because you have already come this far. Good luck and keep at it.

 

Oh I just remembered the DISCOVERY CHANNEL had a series on recently called "10 Years Younger" (I think). It was a challenge to a group of men and women to see if they could look 10 years younger by the end of the program. It's a very cool series to watch. You could probably get it from the Discovery website.

They got into everything from Botox injections to psychological therapy. But there is alot about exercising and eating right and taking care of yourself.

 

A PROFESSIONAL HOCKEY PLAYER FROM 78-80, 5 10 160 LBS, 17 YRS OF MARRIAGE LATER....5 10 200 LBS..............WHATS THE ANSWER???

 

Start playing hockey again? LMAO

 

25 YRS TOO LATE!!!!!

 

Peter - First of all, congrats on deciding to get back in shape. I see two stages for you and stage 1 (imho) is far more important than stage 2. Stage 1 is quitting smoking. I have read that there is nothing more beneficial to your health than quitting smoking. It's hard (I've been there) and combining that ordeal with starting to train may be too much mentally, i.e. you might be setting yourself up for failure. However, the other side of the coin is that if you throw yourself into a healthy lifestyle, e.g. no smokes, good diet and gym 3-4x/week, you may be so inspired that it will make it easier to forget the smokes.

There was a time when I couldn't comprehend having my morning coffee without a smoke - now, I can't believe I ever used to do that. It's almost all mental - good luck on kicking an awful habit.

Admiral Thrawn - Someone mentioned abcbodybuilding.com - use it, excellent site for different exercises and techniques. You may or may not enjoy the other aspect of the site. BTW, don't focus just on upper body training (I think I got that impression from your post). I've seen too many people ignore their lower body and within a few months they look hilariously out of proportion (even if you ride or run).

That "Body for Life" book is really interesting too - I know a couple of guys in their mid-40s who rediscovered their 6-packs within 3 months.

Good luck.

Joe

P.S. Bruce - you were a pro hockey player? What position? Who did you play for?

 

ISLANDERS AAA...RW

 

heh, me too... 'cept not quite so old ( ) and don't smoke

woke up this morning and weighed in at 97kg (~215lbs), i feel like a right fat bastard.

really need to get down to between 85-90kg (185-200lbs) to feel good. i did it over summer (downunder), got down to 88kg and found it pretty easy... so long as i didn't drink alcohol, as i always head to the chicken shop or go out for a late steak when i'm drinking.

i was satisfied that i proved to myself i could do it if i really wanted, but the revelation of 97kg this morning and walking up a few stairs today made me realize how much crap i'm carrying about.

you ever carry a 10litre (2.5gal) box/bottle of water up a couple flights of stairs? that's what i feel like i'm doing all the time. well, will report back in a while, get some stats on my fat-off.

 

I am 270lbs and need to come down to 269lbs for my perfect fighting weight.....LOL!!