Posted: 12/17/2007 10:22:25 AM EDT
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Some of you may recognize the name, i used to be a Team member but let it drop. Anyway, I need some help. I was always skinny as a kid, even into my Active Duty days. However at age 26 I'm about 180-185lbs at 5'9". Most of it is gut, that seems to be where i wear my weight. My clothes don't fit anymore (I have maybe 2 or 3 pairs of pants that i can wear) and i feel like shit. I went from a 32" waist to a 36" waist in about a year. I'm always tired, running even a few feet has become uncomfortable. I'm sednetary most of the time, i work in front of a PC 8 hours a day, then spend more time at night in front of a PC doing homework and labs for school. I know I'm not eating right, but I've never had a set eating regiment nor a set workout routine. I had knee surgery in 2006, running is hell now. All i have access to is a treadmill, a curling bar with weights, and a few dumbells (2x 10lbs, 2x 15 lbs and 2x 25 lbs). My goals: 1. Loose the gut 2. Strength Training 3. Eat healthier Any help is appreciated. Oh and before you say join a gym... tried that. I have a wife and a 5 month old at home. I have no time for the gym between my family, work and school. This has to be something i can do at odd times. |
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Wow, you sound like me. I'm 5'8". In high school I was 112# SR year. (wrestling) In the Marines, I was 130#-140# with a 29" waist. After doing PC work for years, my weight reached 210# at the age of 35 and holding most of it at my gut. My waist went to 38". Since I have a bad knee, I can't run that much. In 3 weeks, I've dropped to 195lbs and now my pants can slide off me. I'm actually at the last hole of my belt, exactly oppsite of where I was a few weeks ago. What I did was, work out 2x a week minimum (because my schedule couldn't fit it in.) I did mostly fee weights. That helped, but over time, I only lost a couple of pounds (probably because I was building muscle at the same time I was loosing fat.) I still didn't look or feel like I use to. So, I listened to people here and started to cut calories. I cut out all pop/soda. For snacks I eat cellary and carrots. I drink a ton of water, avoid fried food if possible. I cut all my portions to one plate. I wait 10-15 minutes to see if i'm still hungry. At night, if I feel hungry, I go to sleep. Also, sometimes hunger is actually thirst. Try drinking some water. My first goal was 195# and I reached that. Every week, I get closer to my goal of 185#. Do you still eat like you're in the service? You know, hunched over your food vacuuming it in? Quit it! Hope this helps Hardwarz |
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Thats for the reply. Tonight i dumped the soda in the house (i was the only one drinking it) and put together a shopping list of mainly salad ingredients and helthy snacks like carrots and cellery. I'm not too sure what i should be eating though. I'm going to try and do some cardio daily... it may be hard though with my schedule. I think i'll have time for a little weights in the mornig... maybe if i get up at 0430 instead 0530 for work i could squeeze in some cardio (treadmill). Not really sure how to go about it. I guess I'll try something. lol. As for eating like in the service still... i've been guilty of that depending on what my schedule is. Grossed my boss out doing it, he walked by my cubicle and i was unpacking lunch, 4 minutes later he came back and i was already done. lol. What should i eat for lunches? Normally i have a PB&J and a bag of chips (i know, chips are bad). |
Try to get a balance in all your sit-down meals. You want carbs to replenish depleted energy stores (from consistent exercise) and you want protein to feed your muscles. They don't eat anything else, so the more you ask of them, the better you should feed them. For the most part, fats will come your proteins, so try to cut it out where you don't need it (peanut butter...). Chicken/turkey sammiches on whole wheat, chicken salads w/ low- or fat-free dressing, 2% cottage cheese/yogurt w/ fruit... Hold the vinagrettes and olive oil. |
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Thanks for your reply AGW. This morning I got up at 0445 and went for a 20 minute run at 4mph. Not far, not fast... I just wanted to see what my body remembered. What I learnedwas my lungs were fine but my lower left shin hurt a little afterwards. Also, I need to get out my knee brace before upping the speed or length of run. I figure I'll run every other day and do weights on the off days. Does that sound reasonable? Also, working with the wife to eat my chicken and salad meals, swore off fast food last night. lol. |
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I can relate -- I have been sedentary for about 4 years now until just recently. I used to weigh around 145# but gained about 40# by sitting around at the computer and sitting in class for school. I have felt physically horrible for the past few years, and I haven't been able to do a lot of the physical activities that I enjoy, such as hiking, mountain biking, ect. I haven't lost much weight yet, but I think that's because I've been gaining some muscle. Here is what I've been doing: As far as the cardio thing goes, I decided to make a lifestyle change around this past August. I started out walking on the treadmill for 2-3 miles @ 3.5 mi/hr. I would do this about 3-5 days a week; 3 days at first and then increased to 4 or 5. Now, after about 2-4 weeks of that, I gradually had lower levels of fatigue each week & decided to start jogging some. I began jogging @ 4.0mi/hr, and I would alternate jogging @ 4.0 for a few mins and then walking @ 3.5mi/hr when I got tired. I would always do 3 miles each session, about 3-5 times a week. I kept this up for 4-6 weeks and continued to see improvements throughout that time. Eventually I was able to basically jog the entire 3 miles @ 4.0mi/hr, and I would do that around 4-5 days a week. However, during this process I went through some hellacious spells of calf and shin pain -- it would hurt so badly to jog just at that 4.0mi/hr that I had to quit for a few days to let my legs recover. After 2-3 days of rest, I would resume the cardio sessions. So, I spent about 2 weeks jogging 3 miles @ 4.0mi/hr for around 4-5 days each week. Eventually, I felt like I could do more, so I bumped it up to 5.0mi/hr, but had to alternate between jogging the 5.0mi/hr and going back to 3.5 or 4.0mi/hr. I did this for around 2-3 weeks. Now, I have finally settled in on jogging 3 miles straight @ 5.0mi/hr; and I do this about 4-5 days each week. I have been going through some horrible leg pain, so I had to take these past 2-3 days off. After I give it a couple of days, I resume and keeping pumping out the miles. I am lucky, because I have the treadmill in my den with a TV, so it makes it much easier since I don't have to go to a gym and spend the time commuting back and forth. Now my goal is to run this current speed, 5.0mi/hr, for a few more weeks, hopefully 3-4 max, and then start pushing towards 6.0mi/hr, which is a 10min mile. Note that I've never run a 10min mile in my entire life, so when I hit 6.0mi/hr on the treadmill for 3miles straight, that will be a new achievement for me. My ultimate goal is to run 4-5 miles / day @ an 8min mile, for 4-5 days / week. 8min miles = 7.5mi/hr on the treadmill -- I still have a ways to go, but I think my goal is possible, hopefully within 6-12 months. One last note: I will say this, now that I've been doing the cardio for probably 4 months now, it has become much easier to just jump on the treadmill for 35-45 mins without hating it or dreading it so badly. Once you force yourself to get in the habit of doing it, your mind gets used to it -- it becomes habitual like brushing your teeth. Also, I cannot tell you how much better I feel for the rest of the day when I have done my 3 miles. My legs may be ready to fall off a lot of the time, but I have extremely tight hamstrings, calves, and shins. You must STRETCH STRETCH STRETCH -- some before, during if you must, and especially after jogging. I really can't explain it, but you just FEEL better, even if you are not killing yourself jogging but doing 3 miles leisurely. I actually look forward to jogging now but HATE the leg pain... GOD my calves and shins hurt! I have been trying to find a way to keep my calves stretch out, but it must be impossible... who knows? ---------------------------------------------- As far as the lifting goes... if I had to pick the better of 2 evils, I would pick jogging each time, because I absolutely despise lifting; but, I've been doing it anyway for a few months now. I am not interested in bulking up -- just being fit, so I do a simple routine of 3-4 sets of 10 reps or so, 2-3 days a week. My reasoning for this is to build up enough strength / endurance so I can transition into push-ups, sit-ups/crunches, and pull-ups. Again, I am lucky because I have a flat bench and dumbbell pairs going from 20# to 50#. I don't have to go to a gym to use the equipment... I have my own free weights from now on, and it only takes about 30 mins to do those 3-4 sets. I got the flat bench @ Play-It-Again Sports for around $70 and some used dumbbells for like $0.38 / lb. The exercises I've currently been doing are the basic dumbbell press for chest, concentration curls / hammer curls for biceps, and overhead tricep extensions for triceps, obviously. I have not been doing rows or anything for back yet, because I am basically lazy, heh. One of the final pieces of equipment I would like to have would be a power tower for pull-ups. I want to be able to wake up each day, jog my 3-5 miles, and do like 50-75 push-ups & crunches with 3 sets of 5-10 pull-ups or something similar -- that would be the ideal workout for me; I am not interested in building or bulking up or anything like that... I just want to be fit with good endurance for hiking/backpacking/mountain biking/ ect. This is just my personal preference, but I am already on my way to achieving my goals... getting close to running the 3 miles @ 6.0mi/hr and my dumbbell press has gone from 20# to 35# each arm, all in about 3-4 months @ a leisurely pace. I just want to say it IS possible to make gains without killing yourself like a top lifter or athlete. Sure, the pace is slower and gains take longer, but I have been slowly pushing towards a healthier lifestyle. I feel great so far, but you have to keep it up -- forever :O |
1. Write down everything you eat (including alcohol). Do this for a couple weeks. 2. Find the things that you can cut out. 3. Start walking more. 4. Begin basic bodyweight strength training. 5. Add weight as necessary. Gut is purely a function of burn more than you take in. Running a mile will burn about 100 calories. In a given week, would you rather run 20 miles, or cut back 300 calories per day? |