The Health and Fitness Thread

[patiirc]

Did the Brighton Marathon in 4 hours 35 minutes. To be honest, I might have struggled to crack 4 hours had I been injury free with a full training schedule behind me. Nothing prepares you for those last 5-6 miles which feel like about 15. Lost a toenail around that point too, which at least distracted me from the pain in my knee. Definitely the hardest thing I've ever done physically, last two days I've felt like someone has thrashed every inch of my legs with a baseball bat. I was thinking beyond this race, I may look to do even longer runs but fuck that. For now, I'm going to treat myself to a boozy,glutinous Easter where I do very little in the way of fitness work.

 

Well done that man! Serious a Marathon is something I could never do, for a variety of reasons. My old man harps on about how the Marathon made him a man, despite all the hardships, but in short I'm not built for running and never have been. So it's not going to happen.

 

Much respect for those who do though, irrespective of the time!

[Ant]

Hi guys

 

I've not yet read this thread, but will be doing so over the weekend.

 

I contributed to the 2013 version to outline my situation. Essentially my diet was shocking. I tried to get on the straight and narrow, but failed quite quickly when I started a new job that frequently involves travelling all around the UK.

 

However 4 weeks ago this coming Sunday I managed to get back on track. Got rid of the pepsi/irn bru etc - just drank water, except for 1 diet coke, 1 coke zero, and 1 bottle of Cobra beer whilst out with colleagues.

 

I've also cut out burgers etc, and have been eating lots of chicken and fish with salads. I've had a few baked potatoes for lunch (not at the one sitting!) but otherwise it's been all positive. Even in situations where I end up in a restaurant I've managed to go for the healthiest options - eg last Friday I was in an Italian restaurant and got a chicken and chorizo salad. Not saint like but better than the alternatives.

 

Anyway, I weighed myself last Sunday and I'd lost over a stone. Hoping to keep up the momentum, I think reading this thread will really help!

[Monkee]

Wow, a stone is fantastic, well done!

 

I've noticed this past week that my clothes are considerably bigger on me. I'm wearing jeans I haven't worn in about 18 months and the top I put on this morning is like a bloody marquee on me. I've had to tuck the sides into my back pockets! Well chuffed with this.

 

Also, not sure whether to put this here or in another thread but... I'm going to be doing a raffle/auction to raise money for my climb. I have a target of

[Kookoocachu]

BodyPower meet up anyone?

[patiirc]

Right, last year the goal was to get to around 15st 5lb from 17st 12lb that I was. This is now effectively done. Last time checked I was 15 st 8lbs, so three pounds off, which is pretty ace

 

 

Measurements have gone from-

 

Chest- 42 inches

Waist- 39 inches

Hips - 42 inches

 

To

 

Chest- 38 inches (Lost 4 inches)

Waist- 34 inches (lost 5 inches)

Hips- 38 inches (lost 4 inches)

 

 

So where too now? Do I keep going, rest up or what?

[Rey_Piste]

Only thing I'd say is maybe try to tone up if you've lost a lot of weight and the skin is a bit saggy. Then keep on with the exercise and get some skin tightening supplements.

 

I went to training this morning and whilst sparring in the cage, I threw a left hook, got taken down and my shoulder slipped out of it's socket. This lead to me shouting motherfucker very loudly whilst the kids BJJ class was going on and I had to apologise to the parents that were waiting for the class to end. I drove home alright, but I struggled to wah my hair in the shower when I got back and my shoulder slipped a little bit trying to take my hoodie off. This means I;m going to have to take it very easy on training for at least a week and just do the physio exercises.

[patiirc]

Only thing I'd say is maybe try to tone up if you've lost a lot of weight and the skin is a bit saggy. Then keep on with the exercise and get some skin tightening supplements.

 

I went to training this morning and whilst sparring in the cage, I threw a left hook, got taken down and my shoulder slipped out of it's socket. This lead to me shouting motherfucker very loudly whilst the kids BJJ class was going on and I had to apologise to the parents that were waiting for the class to end. I drove home alright, but I struggled to wah my hair in the shower when I got back and my shoulder slipped a little bit trying to take my hoodie off. This means I;m going to have to take it very easy on training for at least a week and just do the physio exercises.

 

Hey, bummer regarding ya shoulder. Ibro, Deep Heat, Muscle Soak, the usual should help.

 

 

Regarding Tone.

 

I'm getting toned, from work, shoulders and arms are coming along nicely. Amazing what lugging around several hundred 25kg boxes will do. I'm not looking for buff, just a chance to be comfortable in my own skin, which for me would be something of a miracle.

 

Core exercises for keeping my back in check means that there is some definition in the abs and the sides. Legs are pretty defined from walking.

 

So I'm left with just some unshiftable blubber on me belly, and stretchies.. Larvely, boak

 

Anyway. So people can laugh snigger and whatever, here's a diary of a transformation from fat pasty to well, not such a fat pasty including previous times where been blighted by injury and illness. It's just to prove that I can do it, twice and I'm no fitness guru or whatever then people who have the same determination can do the same. I think at my heaviest in 2002 I was around 22st! and was probably nudging that again in Nov 2011.

 

 

Yes, Im now confident enough to do a topless shot, dont all be sick, yas all

 

 

November 2002

 

 

 

Summer 2004

 

 

 

November 2011

 

 

 

 

September 2012

 

 

 

May 2013

 

 

 

March 2014

 

 

 

Well aware, that I'm not a skinny runt. As said in last years fitness thread, if I get below about this weight I start looking gaunt, skin starts hanging and it's not pleasant all around.

 

Anyway, I'll shut up now

[Rey_Piste]

Good going man on losing all that weight. I was in pretty much the same boat as you, always being a chubby fucker throughout my 20s, but when I dislocated my knee playing rugby and being up on crutches for ages. Shortly followed up by getting hit with an evil chest infection where I was in hospital for over 2 weeks on a steroid and antibiotic drip. This led to me putting on nearly 5 stone over the course of 8 months. My back started playing me up due to losing muscle and just getting fat. After a few years of this I got a new job wroking as a gardener for my local council. Just doing a more physical job than my previous shitty factory job meant I was losing weight. Since I was losing weight and had gotten back into watching MMA I started doing BJJ and kickboxing at a local gym. I just started to gain muscle and lose a lot of fat. Now I'm hovering around 15-16 stone a 46 inch chest, 36 inch waist. I used to have a 44 inch chest and was up to a 40 inch waist, though with me being a lazy fucker I still wear baggy old jeans that are too big for me.

[Nick James]

So, I regularly go to the gym and I am fine at that aspect of it, but the part of fitness I really struggle with, is diet. I cannot for the life of me stick to the right diet. I eat way too much junk food and I dont like Veg or Salad or nuts, which is becoming an increasing problem with trying to tone and slightly build a little more definition.

 

I understand the key is to eat as much protein as possible, and while to do try to do this, I constantly find that even though I set out with the best intentions, I fail after about a day or two.

 

Recently, I have been attempting to slowing take sugar out of my diet, for example, switching to canderel in my coffee rather than 2 spoons of sugar, drinking water over pop and I have switched to Green Tea. Working in a call centre for 8 - 10 hours a day, I'm finding it hard to produce a diet that will allow me to eat regularly, but in smaller portions. I wouldn't say I'm piling weight on (I weigh about 13 stone 9pounds), but it seems my gut is beginning to start showing more.

 

Does anyone have any tips or any handy ways to slowly change my eating habits?

[Rey_Piste]

The best thing to do is go through your kitchen and get rid of anything that's high in carbs. Pasta, rice, potatos and bread. Then get rid of sweets, ice cream and sugary pop etc. not having the stuff around cuts down on temptation. Then you need to plan your meals a little bit, for breakfast I'll have an omelet, scrambled eggs or more often than not a meal replacement shake, since I'm not all that big on breakfast. Lunch and sanacky stuff I have Fridge Raiders, packs turkey chunksoe make myself chicken or tuna wraps instead of sandwiches. For dinner my favourite has to be steak with mushrooms, veg, and a salad. I'll normally have either dried or fresh fruit throughout the day and natural fructose is processed by the body quicker than refined sugars.

 

Generally I try to to watch my calorie and carb intake. As a rule of thumb anything up 1500 calories a day with a gram to grame and a half of protein for every kilo you weigh. I do have one cheat day a week where I'll be good all day then go and get myself a takeaway and have a few beers. Or if it's a Sunday then I'm off out for a carvery. The biggest thing is not to be tempted by sweets or takeaways and having that stuff in the house means you will eat it.

[Nick James]

Thanks for that Rey, its given me quite a few ideas, especially taking more interest in my daily calorie intake. I went through a fase of eating tins of tuna and chicken breast for dinner, I think I may start trying to get back into that again.

[SiMania]

The best thing to do is go through your kitchen and get rid of anything that's high in carbs. Pasta, rice, potatos and bread.

 

Nonsense. These carbs are fine and are needed as part of a balanced diet. Sugar is the first thing to cut out. I eat plenty of pasta, rice, potatoes and bread, and beer, I don't go to the gym or exercise much but I'm not overweight. The key is moderation and not eating shite like take aways and ready made meals every day.

[Rey_Piste]

The best thing to do is go through your kitchen and get rid of anything that's high in carbs. Pasta, rice, potatos and bread.

 

Nonsense. These carbs are fine and are needed as part of a balanced diet. Sugar is the first thing to cut out. I eat plenty of pasta, rice, potatoes and bread, and beer, I don't go to the gym or exercise much but I'm not overweight. The key is moderation and not eating shite like take aways and ready made meals every day.

You do realise that sugar is a carbohydrate. Every person is different and if you're going regularly to the gym you need a high protein diet to help to repair and build muscle. If someone is trying to lose fat then the best way is to drop a lot of those carbs, if you do that your body will start burning up fat instead taking energy from carbs. The only other thing I would say to look out for is to try and keep the amount of fat you intake low. I use my George Fornby grill loads and I use 1 cal oil spray for making omelets, but I'm not so great at watching fats. I don't bother doing eg white omelets for example and I will put a bit of cheese in with it, just to give it some flavour. Yesterday morning I did a bacon and sausage omelet wrap for breakfast.

 

So I did a mushroom omelet and cooked a sausage and a rasher of bacon on the George Fornby grill. I placed the sausage and bacon into the centre of the omelet with a little squirt of HP. Then fold all that in a wrap, it's basically a slightly healthier version of a bacon, sausage and egg roll. It does bring about another point that you do need to be careful when it comes to sauces and condiments. Many of them are surprisingly high in sugar or in the case of mayonnaise high in fat. You can definitely use some sauces to add flavour to what you're eating since grilled chicken breast or tins of tuna in water is fairly dull, just don't go overboard with them.

[ShortOrderCook]

If you're regularly training than you shouldn't be looking to massively cut carbs at all. Quite the opposite. Same for fats actually. Your bodies require protein, carbohydrates, EFAs (fats) to operate at an optimal level. Yes, protein is essential and top priority, but the others are essential too. The idea that many have that carbs = fat and a diet of protein + no carbs is the way is absolute nonsense

 

Absolutely cut out sugar, sugar has no nutritional value whatsoever and will do nothing but spike your insulin and put fat on you.

[deathrey]

So I did a mushroom omelet and cooked a sausage and a rasher of bacon on the George Fornby grill.

 

Err, it's George Foreman as in the famous boxer, not George Formby the ukelele player and comedian from Wigan, who is the name behind multi-million dollar grill company.

Edited April 14, 2014 by deathrey