Rant Board Weight Loss / Exercise Thread

[Alluveal]

I thought I would start a fresh thread that invites any and all board members to talk about their health goals, maintenance and so forth. I really liked coming here to read about Ari's progress and I love Minute's Facebook updates about stuff as well.

How is everyone doing so far?


I'm about 20 lb from goal. I got sick for a few weeks, gained 5 lb, but have since lost it.

My biggest issue right now is exercise. I'm still under the weather and trying to figure out how to get some strength training in.

Post up. I'd love to see how folks are doing.

[Lurker]

Everyone, please make sure to update your progress in the pushup challenge as well.

[Partha]

Right now, I'm not doing so well. My legs have turned into two large cramps that start mid-calf and go all the way up to mid-thigh. I think it's from the pounding of trying to do too much too quickly. I'm gonna download that c25k app and start from the beginning.

[Harlowe]

C25k starts you out nice and easy and seriously, keep doing the same week over and over until it feels easy and you are ready to move on. You shouldn't feel horrible and hell, just walk for a mile for a few weeks before you even start the program.

Right now it sounds like your legs need to recover entirely. I wouldn't push anything, just walk and do some light stretching after.

[Arathena]

Working on the bridge to 10k workout bit by bit - Was ruly gassed at the end of the first weeks runs, going to repeat them, I think. Went out tonight with the original goal of just doing 3.5 miles in 35 minutes, but between the cold, rain, and stiffness from the last week of workouts, pooped out after 3 miles in 29.

Still, probably going to de-emphasize the running for a little while, as I have my test for 2nd dan in 2 and a half weeks, and need to get some solid practice in for that.

Am now down just under 45 lbs from my peak weight - 15 more to go to not be medically overweight, 25 more to goal.

[Arkaron]

Last visit to the doctor showed a 30 pound loss. I try to walk to and from work when I can.

[Taxious]

At -45lbs here and counting.

[Falundir X`Viento]

It's great to see that a thread from a message board inspired so many =).

I'd love to post my weight loss, but my goals are entirely different, and I started before the thread was initially posted. In short I'm a former competitive strongman, and after a bout of hurting my back, too much drinking, and eating like shit I was pushing 320 (and not muscle...), now I'm at 275-280. However, since my goal is to add muscle while losing fat, it's difficult to give a good 'fat loss' estimate without doing consistent body fat % tests.

[Minute]

Weight is the worst form of gauging progress period. BMI sucks balls too but at least it's a little better. Keep up with your body fat %. That would be interesting. Men should shoot for between 10-12% & women should shoot for 18-22%.

[Falundir X`Viento]

BMI sucks balls too but at least it's a little better.

BMI has been proven time and time again to be the most unreliable measurement of fitness. I actually refuse to go to a doctor who uses BMI and was involved in a class action lawsuit v BlueCross BlueShield because they would give you higher rates for a higher BMI. I actually received a notice stating that if I didn't drop out of the obese category they would raise my rates even more. However, as explained below, I'll never be out of the Obese category for BMI

According to BMI I should weight 170lbs. If I weighed 170lbs I would be in the hospital or dead. If I was to be lean, say 10% bodyfat, I'd probably be sitting around 220. At my best I was 258lbs around 18% bodyfat and the rest muscle... According to the chart, I have to be 239 to drop out of the obese category...

[Alluveal]

Awesome job on the weight loss.

I know it's not the only gauge, but it helps! And I think it's a great motivating factor and the easiest (I imagine) to keep track of.

That said, I usually do measurements once a month: chest, waist, hips, etc.

Can we talk supplements here for a minute?

I feel like I'm really lacking in energy but I don't do caffeine or ginseng, etc. Anything that helps with that? More vitamin C? Ideas?

[Arathena]

Seriously, unless you have real issues, any more than a multivitamin is basically expensive piss - and you're going to piss out most of your multi, too. http://www.informationisbeautiful.net/p ... pplements/ is basically the state of the science when it comes to supplements. You'll notice most of them don't do much, if anything - There's a reason they bear the Quack Miranda Warning. About the only thing that seems to do very much at all is Vitamin D - and that's a special case, too. The forms that come in supplements can be metabolized into what your body needs, with some difficulty, can be toxic in sufficient doses, and your body can make its own anyway with sunlight. Take a good look at your general nutritional balance, your stress levels, and the sleep / rest you're getting. If that's not the cause, a doctor can do panels to check for real deficiencies with ease.

More, I can't reccommend fucking around with any herbals, no matter how 'organic' they are. Herbals that don't do anything - see expensive piss. Herbals that do do something... well, you've got a pharmacologically active compound on your hands - and only very, very, very loose control of dosage, because of concentration variation between individual plants. The classic example is digitalis, where a pharmaceutical dose to treat heart failure is 0.125 mg - 0.25mg of the active drug... and 1 mg is lethal. That capsule of ground-up foxglove from Pakistan? Quick, how much digoxin is in it? Are you going to play it safe on the underside, and risk heart failure? Or hit it high, and pray the drug doesn't hurt you?

[Arathena]

Double Post, but:

BMI is an excellent tool for its intended purpose: The statistical measurement of a population. Its usefulness is predicated on an 'average' composition - Over a group of a thousand, ten thousand, three hundred million, it holds over all. The anorexics balance out the Falundirs, etc. For individuals, when BMI indicates overweight / obesity / underweight, it is a signal to examine the individual for his deviances from that same average, and make a more informed judgement. It is not an end all.

For the record, my current BMI is 27.7 - putting me at 'healthy' by the pre-'98 standards, overweight by WHO reccomendations, and obese in Japan.

Unfortunately, body fat is a far more difficult thing to get a real handle on it. Aside from direct immersion and DXA, fat measurement is a joke. The error bars on everything else are huge. It is like having a ruler that tells me a guy that is six foot tall is 'somewhere between 5'5" and 6'7"' Sure, it tells me I don't have to worry about him being eight feet tall, but I can't very well tell him to run full speed under a bar that's 5'10" off the ground.

[Alluveal]

See, I've taken supplements in the past and there are a few tried and true forms that I will swear to. I take 5htp (at my doc's recommendation) for mood support and sleep. When I don't take it or run out for a day, I feel it. It's like a slap in the face.

I do take vitamin D and I notice that helps. I don't go out in the sun much (extremely fair skin on top of an allergy to the sun), so I take whatever vitamin D I can. Multivitamin is in there as is some calcium+magnesium (I'm not a spring chicken anymore).

Fish oil.

I think that's it.

My doc did mention that fish oil also helps with depression/mood, but I don't notice upon quitting and restarting that one.

[Falundir X`Viento]

There are a number of very good supplements out there, but after being in the main group that uses them for a number of years, the KISS approach is the best. I strongly support a pre training supplement, and a post training supplement. Creatine and protein are your gods, however CEE is a non bloat version of Creatine so purchase that in capsules.

What I use, and swear by is the following. Keep in mind that I favor supplements that don't break the bank and last a while.

MRI's Black Powder for pre training - Be warned that this is NOT for people who don't hit their routine like a run away truck. It's heavy on stimulants so I've known people to take it around noon and be unable to sleep at night.

Optimum Nutrition's C5G - A recovery compound that I will swear by. Using it will help your muscles to recover 3x as fast

Optimum Nutrition's - OptiMen Multi Vitamin

Gespari Nutrition's Protein - Quite possibly the tastiest blend I've ever had, very cost effective, and a good blend of different proteins.


However, based on what most people are doing here, I recommend just a muti vitamin and protein. If you start getting into higher intensity training then revisit this list.

[Turaylon Soulshadow]

I'm gaining all the weight you've all lost!

[Minute]

I personally don't take anything extra. A healthy diet provides everything you need. Finding areas in which you lack is simply part of balancing your diet.

[Alluveal]

True, Minute, but honestly? Some of us have a harder time balancing it all out. I'm doing what works for my lifestyle right now. When that changes, I'm happy to be more balanced, sure. But, if I don't get some of this in supplement form, I won't get it at all. I'd rather get it from good foods and such, but that's not happening now. I'm in a phase where I'm barely able to "eat healthy" as it is with all the stress, time restraints and such, not to mention creating a gourmet meal that is comprised of stuff I need to cut up, prepare, well, that's just about the last thing I'm about right now.

I do try to get some good stuff in. I'll have a few hours off over the weekend and I'll make a batch of veggie lasagna that rocks and I can freeze that for a few weeks.

Not trying to make any excuses. Hell, if someone has any ideas on how I can manage my time better and get all this good stuff in w/o having to do all the prep-work, I'm all ears!

[Harlowe]

I think what you are taking/doing sounds absolutely sensible Allu. The KISS approach is the best. The less pills you take, the easier it is to afford and keep the routine and also not play mad scientist with your body. I'm not entirely religious about taking anything other than doing my best to get a good variety of whole goods into my body each day. I dabble with a few supplements, but no herbs at all. I just don't trust them.

My current trend..

Food
Basically some protein, fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and some flax or chia. I love making smoothies, including green smoothies.

Supplements
Multi-vita: I often miss this one in the Summer, because I definitely I eat a pretty varied and fresh whole foods diet at this time of year due to the massive amount of local produce available (I try to eat local as much as possible other than in Winter).
Vit D: Especially in the Winter, I'm in the North and I have an Irish complexion.
Omegas: I hate pills so I take the liquid Carlson Lemon Norwegian Cod Liver Oil, it doesn't taste fishy at all
MSM: In powder form, I just put into my water or juice. I've added this just because when I do take it regularly I notice my skin, hair and the knee that would bother me on occassion stopped bothering me altogether, so I'm pretty sure it helps with knee-joint inflammation.

[Alluveal]

What exactly is MSM? Sounds interesting.