Shoofin

My wife wasn't so happy about it(because she thinks it's a waste), but I told her I'm not happy with my overall appearance. She likes the pudge...It drives me crazy. I hate dieting as well. I weighed in at about 175-180 when I got married, I'm now about 210. I NEVER thought I'd ever break the 200 mark. My body shows it well, most people don't realize that I weight as much as I do. We bought a treadmill, which I used a few times. I like running on the treadmill more than walking, but when I do that, the whole house hears it, and I'm on the 3rd floor of a 3 family house. She won't even let me buy a frikkin scale.That's going t change soon!

Since 3 knee surgeries, I'm a lot less active than I used to be. I seldom play ball these days, my right leg is stronger than my left (knee surgery=left knee), my right arm is stronger than my left (I bowl very frequently). I get up every morning with lower back pain. I can't stand straight long enough before starting to hunch and getting more back pain. My younger brother works out religiously and he looks great. I've got pretty strong legs and arms, but they could use some more work, along with the rest of my body. I need to do something about it.

My eating habits aren't so great. Breakfast is at about 9am, and it consists of a bagel and a coffee, not so bad. Lunch is almost always after 2pm (today was at 4:30). I eat dinner when I get home half of the week, the other times that I don't eat are because I'm still full from lunch. I had a tuna salad platter (cucumbers, tomatoes, peppers and a scoop of tuna, no dressing, no bread, nada). I was actually hungry for dinner, ate spinach quiche, made sure not to overstuff myself. I tend to overeat once in a while. That has to stop.

My work habits aren't so great either. I'm usually in around 9, sometimes a little earlier, sometimes a little later. I'm in the office usually until at least 6pm, but there are days that I'm in at 8am, and out at 10pm. I need to work on that and set up a strict plan of action when I'm going to work out. I'd love to go in the morning, but I really don't want to sweat like a pig, shower, go to work, go home, shower again and go to sleep. I think after work is a better time, I just really need to commit.

I signed up at New York Sports Club. They were already setting up the membership without me even approving it, but I figured I have nothing to lose really at this point. There's one about 5 minutes from my office, and another one about 5 minutes from my house (where my brother works out). He's quite excited that he has a workout buddy to go with. I hope to set myself up on a program that isn't time consuming, and effective enough to show some results soon. Good move?

ryan7645

You won't regret it. Good move. The back (especially lower back) is one of the most overlooked parts of the body when working out. If you work chest and abs but overlook the back, that lower back pain will get worse. Also, a chiropractor can work miracles, without drugs or surgery. As far as knee pain goes, about a year ago I started having a little knee pain after running. Turns out I severly overpronate and needed custom (hard) orthotics. Combined with a good 'stability' running shoe, good to go. In fact, I wear running shoes almost ALL the time now, even to work with dress clothes! Much easier on the feet

The Ultimate Meal (http://www.ultimatelife.com) is my breakfast most mornings. If you drink it regularly (4-5+) times a week, you won't even need a multi-vitamin. Whole Foods has it. Not cheap but worth it. If you try it, be sure to throw a few frozen mixed berries in the blender with everything else, really adds to the taste.

Doc.Booty

Sounds l ike you know what needs to be done. Good luck

Whiskers

Saintor

I passed the 200lbs mark at the beginning of January. :banghead:

I lost 60lbs in 1997, from 238.5 to 178.5lbs. I went up to 210lbs in 2003. Then I discovered the benefits of low-carb eating (inspired from South Beach Diet). Despite the naysayers, it worked/works well for me.

I am now at 195 lbs. I am focusing to lower this figure at 180lbs. Rate of weight loss is secondary for me and I would be happy at 0.5lbs/week.

I do a lot of walking but I would need resistance training as well. Good luck!

esCarbonie

SHOOFIN do some Yoga or Pilates... dont laugh its not gay and it will help you a lot..

dont touch the weights... just do cardio and yoga and/or pilates.... the weights tighten you up.. you need to loosen/lengthen and increase flexibility..

Im a wieght guy and I started dating this ballet dancer who teaches gyrotonics and Im learning how inflexible and tight I am from lifting and not doing post-workout stretching and stuff like that...

Doc.Booty

A proper stretching routine keeps you from getting tight.

The stretching part is about 1/3d of the way down the page. http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/topicoftheweek32.htm

If ronnie can do it, so can we

esCarbonie

^^ a lot of it can also be from overworking one group and/or underworking another... poor form and technique... Im assuming Ed isnt a gym pro and isnt likely to become one, so thats why I suggested not to bother with the weights just yet.. but you are right.. my suggestion is a bit of a copout/ alternative


hey Ed look into this stuff called 'birkham' (sp?) yoga.... its yoga done in a sauna its supposed to be badass

Adam_Schwartz

Good luck dude, just work especially hard on cleaning up the diet and stay consistent - the lbs will drop.

I got into the same situation as you - I was in good shape before I met my now wife and slowly added the pounds until I got pissed off and took action. I was ashamed of myself, but just dealt with it. Just be consistent dude!!

Shoofin

I went last night for my first workout. I started the workout with a few minutes walking fast on the treadmill, then jogging for a few minutes, then walking again, but at a slower pace to cool down. I needed to warm up the muscles a little bit before stretching out.
I then proceeded to their "circuit" workout. It generally consists of 10 machines, each one targeting a specific part of your body, from head to toe. They promote this circuit to be a 22 minute total body workout. You do 1-2 sets of 10-12 reps with little or not breaks in between sets or moving to the next machine. I did it with about 20-30 seconds in between. Just as I was completing the last machine, which worked the lower back, I got up to go back onto the treadmil, but for a little longer this time. As I got up, my lower back started tensing, so I needed to strech out a little bit.

At that moment, the whole gym felt like it was spinning. I was really dizzy, fighting to keep my eyes open, couldn't focus on anything, like I was drunk (if that's what being drunk feels like ). I sat down, couldn't even move to call one of the trainers, after 5 minutes got someones attention and told them to call a trainer. They came to me and tried to get me to sit on a chair, but I couldn't move. I made my way to the floor and was lying down for a few minutes. I was hot and cold at the same time, pale as a ghost, and I had a crazy tingling sensation in my arms. They got me wet towels, some powerade, and it helped a little. Eventually I sat up on the floor, but was still dizzy and nauseaus. They thought it might have been dehydration.

I felt the need to lie down again, which I did. Lying down helped me take deeper breaths than sitting up hunched forward. They kept insisting on calling an ambulance, but I told them i'll be ok. I was talking to the trainer the whole time. At some point, mid conversation, I had about 5/10's of a second to get up and tilt over to hurl what was supposed to be my lunch (tuna salad which I had at 4:30pm, while going to work out at 6:45pm). I got most of it in the towel I had in my hands, eventually they brought me a garbage pail that I finished in. That was sort of expected, but came on so quickly.

I felt better after that. 5 minutes afterwards I got up and went into one of the offices to sit on a chair. I felt much better. They called an ambulance that kept trying to get me to go to the hospital, but I was ok at that point. They checked my heart, lungs, blood pressure, did a total examination on me and I was fine. There were 2 police officers and like 7 EMT's there, I still don't understand why so many were needed for me. I stayed there for a little while longer, then changed and went home. I'm feeling ok now, muscles are a little sore, but I'm alright. My knee handled the workout fine with the exception of the leg extensions, my surgery knee was hurting through each rep. Other than that, I'm looking forward to going again tomorrow. I only hope everyone else there doesn't remember me as the guy that couldn't handle a simple workout.

Ed

anothercls

I always remember hearing you should have a full physical before starting any new exercise program.

I have had a similar experience, but it seems to only happen when I push myself towards the end of my workouts. I would say to slow it down a little bit, and relax a little between exercises.

Doc.Booty

Wow, that's uh... quite the first-time gym experience.

I'd suggest you take it easier next time around. Make sure you drink a ton of water during the day. Consider not doing the crazy circuit training regimen for a bit - 22 minutes to do 2 sets of 10 exercises would be tough as shit for anyone. Try a more "standard" 3-4 sets with a minute of rest in between each set. A good guideline for when you're ready to do another set is if your heart rate has dropped to about normal.

Adam_Schwartz

I have experienced the same "hot but cold" and pale complexion thing before, but not at the gym. For me, it happened just out of the blue. I know this will sound dumb, but focus on breathing properly, which is something many people don't do well at the gym. Just a thought for you.

I am sure your body is not used to that type of exercise, so just take it easy next time. But don't get discouraged. Shit happens all the time. People barf sometimes after heavy sets, so you have that to look forward to.

Shoofin

I've been paying attention to my breathing as I'm going through the reps, so I don't think that was part of the problem. I will be going back again tomorrow night, give my muscles a little healing time. I'm thinking of doing a tuesday-thursday-sunday routine. I think I'll do a little more cardio initially before getting more into the circuit program. I'll still do the circuit, but take more time.

SpeedyV6

Maybe you were a little ischemic? The tingling sensation in your arm may have been angina pectoris. Considering that at least two of our forum members who were in their twenties had serious heart disease in the past year alone you may want to check into that with your physician.

fwiw I think combining weightlifting with aerobic exercise in "circuit training" may be a little too rigorous for a n00b. If your going to lift it might be better to break out the aerobic exercise and the weightlifting separately. Be sure to give yourself enough time to catch your breath between sets - something that circuit training doesn't always allow.

gavriil

The reason this happend is in your story above:


STR: Short Term Recovery. You need to learn what it is and how it works and why I say it's as important as LTR (long term recovery).

Also I saw something else alarming above:

Do not undersell the workout. You are untrained! Any workout is not simple for your body, it needs time to adjust.

Shoofin

I went yesterday to the local NYSC to my house, did the usual treadmill to warm up, than the circuit (while taking my time), but also added a few other workouts and machines to the mix, then went on the treadmill for about 45 minutes with a combination of walking/jogging. Very stimulating...Then I went with my wife and she treated me for a birthday massage, then we went out to eat. I think dinner killed all the hard work throughout the day, but it's all good! I'm sore from the massage (deep tissue), but I should be OK to work out again tomorrow. I'm going to try to stick to the tues/thurs/sun routine for now until I can handle more. I think on the off days, i'll go on the treadmill at home.

redinteg23

Sounds like you have something good going especially w/the advice in the thread...suggestion too: don't hit the weights more than the cardio from what I've read. Secondly, with the cardio, mix it up! One day run, next elliptical, next day run/climb stairs, sprints, etc..good luck.

Doc.Booty

Just don't make those dinners out a regular thing, they will absolutely murder your progress. To truly do this right and make it stick you need to make this a fundamental lifestyle change.

I'm a firm believer in allowing yourself one cheat meal or day per week, but no more.

Shoofin

I only eat out maybe 2-3 times a month, and if I did eat out, once in a blue moon would it be a big time steak or chicken meal, most of the other times it's lighter food, like pizza/pasta/salads, etc...

What kills me is that I come home after the workout starving and don't want to eat a big meal, not to mention it's like 9pm when I would end up eating. Last night my wife made stuffed shells, but I didn't eat it. I told her to put it away so I can eat it for lunch instead. I ended up just having a salad last night. I'm trying to cut down on the carbs in the evening and stick to eating them only for breakfast or lunch.

Sunday night's night out for dinner was at a middle eastern steakhouse, as much as I tried to avoid, I couldn't resist the pita, so I had some to dip with Hummus, and the main course was grilled chicken with salad and rice/green beans on the side. My wife had a steak, and we gave each other half of the platter, so I had both steak and chicken. We finished off the night with a piece of cake for my B-day, and that was it. It was major breaking of the rules, but I just had to!

Doc.Booty

Beware: Pizza and pasta are very very calorie dense. A meal with either should be considered a cheat meal.

You should eat after working out even if it's late. Some nights i get home at 10:30 and i'll have a protein shake right away, and some solid food shortly after. The "food eaten before you sleep only turns to fat!" stuff is way way way overblown. Your body still has to follow the rules in terms of calories taken in vs. calories burned - you'll lose weight so long as you eat less than you burn.

PerfectlyImperfect

Agreed. You should also eat carbs in addition to protein after training. If you plan to grow at all, you need those carbs. Oats, fruit, and skim dairly are all good options. Personally, I like the oats + whey + banana combo or if you do not have whey, oats + egg whites + other low fiber fruit.

Shoofin

If I ate carbs at night at home, it's going to be pasta or pizza(home made). This is why I'm trying to stay away from it when I come home. Also, when I eat so late, it bothers me with having to go to sleep only a few hours later. I do not want to get big, I just want to tone up my body. More like converting fat to muscle. My meals this week were as follows:

Mon:
Breakfast - Bagel/cream cheese (just a shmear) and coffee (milk/1 sugar)
Lunch - Didn't have time, so none
Dinner: leftovers from sunday night's dinner out (chicken and steak pieces) and soup (chicken broth, veggies and some noodles)

Tues:
Breakfast - oatmeal (raisin) and coffee
Lunch: leftover soup from monday night and an english muffin with 1 piece of muenster cheese
Dinner - spinach with cheese, took a piece from my mom's house (a mix of spinach with eggs and grated cheese baked) and salad

Wed:
Breakfast - whole wheat bagel with a shmear and coffee
lunch - stuffed shells (from home)
dinner - not sure yet..

PerfectlyImperfect

Why do the carbs have to be pizza or pasta? You can easily have a clean postworout meal. There's nothing wrong with eating before you go to bed. Actaully, it is better that you do this to prevent muscle catabolism. I usually eat a meal 30 minutes before bed...either fat free cottage cheese and walnuts or egg/egg whites and veggies.

Don't worry about getting big. You wanting to "tone" is just a matter of a clean diet and some muscles mass. If you do not put on enough muscle, you will just look VERY skinny. Is there a celebrity or athlete whose physique you desire?

You are not eating enough at all. If you are serious about getting lean and muscular, you are going to have to change your diet. 6 small meals per day. Each meal must contain protein as well as a carb and/or fat source. This is how my nutrition plan looks on a given day minus my supplements...just for an example:

Meal 1: egg whites, whole egg, oats, apple
Meal 2: ground turkey, green beans
Meal 3: baked salmon, broccoli
Meal 4: oats, whey, peach

Workout

Meal 5: oats, whey, banana
Meal 6: fat free cottage cheese, walnuts, cocoa powder

Doc.Booty

Everyone says this and my response is always the same.

1) Your usage of the word "tone" is incorrect. You want better muscle definition.
2) You cannot convert fat to muscle. You either burn fat, or build muscle - they are made up of two completely different macronutrients and your body doesn't convert from one to the other.

3) To achieve that better muscle definition you do two things - lower your overall bodyfat percentage, and increase your muscle mass. Pick one and do it for a while. You'll look better. Then change your diet and do the other.

4)You are in no danger of getting "too big." To get anywhere near what anyone would consider "too big" takes years of extremely hard work and dedication.

Your diet looks a little light on the protein, i'd suggest trading in that bagel or muffin breakfast (both of which can have a surprising amount of calories) for some eggs and oatmeal.

Have you been tracking your daily calorie intake? About how many cals are you taking in every day?

Adam_Schwartz

Shoof, you are going to have to make some serious concessions about the types of carbs you eat. Pizza and pasta, no matter who makes it, are poor food choices if they are a major staple of your diet. Sure, mix them in sometimes to keep you from losing it, but you should eat more brown rice, red/sweet potatoes, oats, etc. One hard thing to deal with is living with someone who does not eat as clean as you'd like to - maybe your wife can also change her diet around to support you, as well as support her own health? I am blessed to have a wife who follows my healthy eating plan, so I know how important it is to her.

You can exercise all you want, but diet is going to be the top factor in sustaining a healthy lifestyle. Keep up the progress man, you are headed in the right direction.

Shoofin

I hear what all of you are saying, but here's why it's not as easy as you think:

I'm Jewish and only eat kosher food.

I get up in the morning to pray in the synagogue (7am). I can't eat until after I pray(religious thing). I go straight to work after praying. This would make a "specialty breakfast" hard for me to do outside of home. I get into work between 8:30-9am every day, which is around the time I like to eat breakfast. I work in an area where Kosher food is not 2 minutes away, and when I do go out to get something to eat, it's a 30 minute ordeal, not including eating the food, just going to get it. There are times where my days can get crazy to the point where I don't eat anything at all. When I do eat, It's quickly, then back to work. I know it's bad, but that's the way it's always been since I started working. It's hard to cut a habit you're so used to. In general, my diet is a sore subject to discuss-and to modify, other than cutting down on portions and eliminating the truly bad foods.
The main reason why Pasta and Pizza are mentioned by me is because those two things are among my favorite meals.
Dinner at home is usually mixed around: Monday and Wednesday is meat night, Tuesday and Thursday are dairy nights, and friday and saturday are very food filled because of the sabbath, mostly eating meat or vegetable/meat dishes. The only day where anything goes is sunday.
My wife teaches in a private school and eats what they give the kids (the food is very good, it's catered food too). If she had dairy for lunch, she doesn't want to have dairy for dinner, and vice versa. She usually likes to mix it up, so sometimes it screws me up with what I've been used to all my life. To me I really could care less, I'll eat chicken every night, it doesn't really bother me, but I'm so used to the alternating, it drives me nuts. Along with my wife, I also do NOT like fish (other than tuna fish in a can), so protein from grilled fish is out too, and you can only have so much tuna in a week.
With all that being said, this is mainly why it's so hard for me to watch what I'm eating. I'm really a simple eater, so I would eat anything she makes without making demands to what I want. She asks me every day what she should make for dinner, but she usually asks me after I ate lunch or something and am too full to even think about what I would want to eat for dinner.

Sorry for being so difficult, but this is what I have to deal with....

Whiskers

Just by chance I walked down the Kosher isle at the Shoprite yesterday. I was curious on how tough it would be to eat healthy and kosher. While, there are less choices, there are plenty of healthy options. I saw a lot of the same foods of what I eat (cereal, salsa, chicken).....I had a good laugh at the Kosherific line of foods as well...

PerfectlyImperfect

This is easier to deal with than you think. Plan ahead. Cook and pack your food the night before. Not only will you get healthier, more nutritious meals...you'll also save money. It's a win-win situation.

That's the ONLY way I eat. I spend about 50 bucks a week on food and it lasts me the entire week. 50 bucks, 6 meals a day, 7 days a week.

Adam_Schwartz

Shoof, think of your current diet dilemma as a sporting match. You are on offense and your diet is the defense. Do you just roll over and not play if it's too challenging? Of course not, you ADAPT and plan accordingly. It sounds like a dumb analogy, but my point is that you have to adapt to the constraints in your life. If this was a problem for all Jews, then all Jews would be fat, right? But clearly they are not. So just develop a plan and stick with it. There are plenty of Kosher foods available to you. You can eat brown rice, potaoes and oats right? Do those have to be Kosher?

Shoofin

They do have to be kosher, and for the most part they are. Rice needs a certification, and I think oats as well, but most are kosher. All Veggies are ok, except for some pre-packaged salads or other veggies, due to cleansing process that aren't up to kosher standards. The kosher restriction and time is what makes it hard for me to eat more often throughout the day. For instance, a protein bar, or any of those other "healthy" bars as a snack most probably isn't kosher. I would have to check and see the packaging to confirm though.
Going to the supermarket, it isn't really that hard to pick up kosher food. There is an abundance of it, so that's not the problem. It's more the restaurant eating that makes it tough. There are plenty in my area at work, but again, they either take too much time out of my day to get there, or the food to me is a bit too heavy to want to eat, not to mention a little expensive.
As for lunches, I have been either going to the supermarket and buying something to last me the whole week (so I would basically eat the same thing every day for the week) or I would bring leftover's from dinner. As I said, I'm a simple eater, so eating the same thing every day doesn't really bother me. As for spending, I'm on a very tight budget, as business has been very slow, so I need to really watch the pennies these days, so any of those special diet food plans/programs are out of the question.

PerfectlyImperfect

Shoof, my diet consists of nothing more than oats, eggs, walnuts, fruits, veggies, extra lean ground turkey, fat free cottage cheese, chicken breasts, and seafood. You don't eat seafood, so that's not an issue.

Like I said...my total grocery bill is only about 50 dollars a week. Buying foods in bulk helps. And if you don't mind eating the same foods everyday, even better! Grill up some chicken breasts, steam some brown rice and veggies, and pack it all away for the week. Egg whites, oats, and fruit make a great breakfast as well as a great preworkout meal.

If you really want to get fit, you'll do what it takes. It's easy to do once you give in and just do it.

Shoofin

Break down a day's worth of meals for me so I can get an idea of how all that mixes in for you. BTW, Cottage cheese is out too, I hate that shit..

PerfectlyImperfect

How could you hate cottage cheese? We can work around that. Anyway, my diet looks something like this:


Meal 1: egg whites, whole egg, oats, apple
Meal 2: extra lean ground turkey, green beans
Meal 3: baked salmon, brown rice, broccoli
Meal 4: oats, whey, peach

Workout

Meal 5: oats, whey, banana
Meal 6: fat free cottage cheese, walnuts, cocoa powder

You can substitute the salmon for canned tuna or some other protein source like chicken. You can sub the fat free cottage cheese at meal 6 for egg whites and a couple of whole eggs.

Adam_Schwartz

I eat a ton of brown rice w/ chicken, turkey or tuna. I also eat lots of oats or sweet potatoes with these proteins. But I have adopted the view that food is an energy source, so I can eat similar things for extended periods. Of course I like to mix it up some, but 95% of my meals are simple, whole foods.

What really helps me a lot are the hot sauces and condiments, like low cal dressings.

Shoofin

Keep in mind, I'm not working out to become a powerhouse, I only want to lose weight and build a little more muscle to even out my "physique"...

Oh yeah, I lost 3 lbs....I think.. The last time I weighed myself, I was fully clothed and came in at 218lbs. I weighed myself today before working out, wearing shorts, tee shirt and sneakers and I rang in at 211, almost 212. My daily clothing is heavier, not to mention I have a lot of shit in my pockets every day. Go me!
Ed