Official SI "Get in Shape" Support Group

[CosmoTX]

M - W - F 20 minutes of cardio (currently and predomintanly eliptical but making the segue to the treadmill) followed by 30 minutes of weight training (upper body M & F and lower body one week and lower body M & F and upper body the next week)

According to my trainer, doing cardio followed by weights is not a good idea, since apparently doing weights when your muscles are dehydrated isn't good for them, or something like that.

[one4thethumb]

George, didn't know you were planning to live to be 100. Guess I'll have to wait for awhile to see you on the flip side.

Voices: So I guess when I approach the century mark I can call you Methuselah (sp?) ???? :-)

[one4thethumb]

Thanks for the advice, I will check with the trainers at my club. The whole point of my 20 minutes of the cardio prior to weight training is to warm up the muscles and to keep the heart rate up during the weight training. To my knowledge, I've never been dehydrated after just 20 minutes of cardio.

[CosmoTX]

Thanks for the advice, I will check with the trainers at my club. The whole point of my 20 minutes of the cardio prior to weight training is to warm up the muscles and to keep the heart rate up during the weight training. To my knowledge, I've never been dehydrated after just 20 minutes of cardio.

No prob. I don't claim to be some expert by any means. If I was, I wouldn't be in the shape I'm in. I just happened to remember her saying do cardio first, so I thought I'd pass it on

[Fire Eater]

I've had weight problems for most of my adult years and tried most all the fad diets there were. Those don't work. The only one that works is exercise and watching both what you eat and how much you eat. The most I've weighed is around 234 lbs. I'm 5' 8" and that is just too much weight to carry on that size frame. Both my family doctor and cardiologist have been after me for awhile to get going and last spring, at my wifes urging, I did. At that weight, everything was just too uncomfortable. I started walking but, but, I would only do maybe a mile and quit. I was tired out already. Meanwhile, my wife, who also had gained a good amount of weight, mostly from meds for her menopause, had started walking and was up to about 3 miles a day. I finally decided that was the only way to go. Since then, we both walk 5 miles a day, 5 days a week. This 30 minutes a day for three or four days is crap. For it to work, you've got to go longer and farther. My wife watches her diet more closely than I do but, I'm getting better. She's lost 75 lbs and looks absolutely terrific. I'm going more slowly and have lost about 35 lbs and am down to 200 as of today. We walk outside, no treadmills. I hate treadmills, it's like walking to nowhere. The only time we don't go out is if it's raining or like the other day with that ice coming down. Sure it's cold out there but, you warm up pretty quick and if you dress right, you won't get cold from sweating.
My wife has about 10 more to go, myself, I don't know. She wants me at 185 but, I'm not sure that's good for me. I still have to quit eating certain foods. I love burgers from anywhere but, I'm not supposed to eat very much beef. Beef has protein and with one kidney, too much protein can make the kidney work harder than it needs to. However, I've gotten into eating Boca burgers and they're quite good and they have soy protein which they say could help keep the kidney from working OT. We don't eat out much anymore because my wife doesn't want to break her diet so, we eat alot of chicken, turkey, some fish, oatmeal, alot of vegetables and fruit. I still eat some no-no stuff, like crackers and such but, no potato chips, no sweets, no added salt. We're both going on 60 and we want to stick around as long as we can with one grandson here and two more coming in the next two months.

[WayDowntownBang]

Good job getting down to 200, Fire Eater. That's something to be proud of.

You've got good advice. Walking does wonders, especially consistant like you do. There's something to be said for just getting out and DOING it.

Great work.

Oneforthethumb: Great work as well. Don't give up.

[one4thethumb]

Thanks. So far so good. I am down 8.25 pounds, with many more to go (but as the saying goes, a journey of a thousand miles begins with a few small steps). I will admit that I have hunger pangs often which are only temprarily abated by water, but I'm working my way through them.

My best advice to anyone would be NOT to eat after 8:00 PM if at all possible. My vice has been the late night snack; salty snacks, cookies and my personal favorite; ice cream. Over the last 10 days I have resisted the late night snack. I haven't completely denied myself those vices, i just "sample" those things in moderation, for I've found if you completely deny yourself something, I would have a tendency to "binge" on it at some time in the future.

For example, to satiate my desire for a salty snack, I will take 2 Snyders sourdough pretzels and break them up in a bowl and snack on them as I have my 6 year old do his obligatory 20 minutes of reading each night. Granted, I am consuming 200 calories, but there is some dietary fiber there. BTW, other then my morning oatmeal, the pretzels are the only bread products I consume all day.

Of course, should I stumble upon another snack to replace the pretzels, I'll let you know.

Not to be preachy, but a sign I use to see in the late 60's & early 70's all around the eastern US as the interstate highways were being constructed, is appropriate in this context:

"TEMPORARY INCONVENIENCE FOR A PERMANENT IMPROVEMENT!"

[WayDowntownBang]

There's a few quotes that I've heard since Kevin and I have started the whole blogging thing that's in our signatures:

"Nothing tastes as good as thin feels"

"A moment on the lips is a lifetime on the hips"

The most important thing to do is to develop a new lifestyle. My trainer always tells me that "you're not going to go your entire life without a cheeserburger or candy bar, you need to adapt your lifestyle to a point where you can make the right choices, and allow yourself to have these things once in a while".

You should check out the webpages Kev and I have pimped, it may be of help to you.

[cmuspmed]

Well it would appear that I am officially on the down side of this cold I have been fighting. I have been able to get out and walk every day for about 30 minutes or so with this cold. But hopefully by the beginning of next week I can begin the workout routine I have been wanting to start - 30-45 minutes of jogging before work and a 30-45 minute weight training workout at lunch. Then we will see how the Battle of the Bulge progresses.

The one good thing about being sick is you don't feel like eating and you drink alot of water. Hopefully I can continue to keep my appetite down and fluid intake up now that I am nearly fully healthy.

[Lantz358]

There's a few quotes that I've heard since Kevin and I have started the whole blogging thing that's in our signatures:

"Nothing tastes as good as thin feels"

"A moment on the lips is a lifetime on the hips"

The most important thing to do is to develop a new lifestyle. My trainer always tells me that "you're not going to go your entire life without a cheeserburger or candy bar, you need to adapt your lifestyle to a point where you can make the right choices, and allow yourself to have these things once in a while".

You should check out the webpages Kev and I have pimped, it may be of help to you.

im not going to lie to ya, a large chicago style pizza taste much better than thin feels

[The Great Gazoo]

This is awesome...i've been where a lot of you are right now...keep it up, stay motivated and you can get to your goals...

When i entered College in 1995 i was 6'1" 185, 3 years later, i was 225...damn beer / pizza / late night meals / pop, all that stuff took it's toll on me. by the end of my senior year, i dropped 50lbs. i stopped eating all the crap that the fraturnity chef was serving us...instead of 2 sandwiches, i had 1. instead of a bad of chips, i just had a handfull...i played soccer 2-3 times a week, ran, and played hockey when i could...

now, i'm 175lbs, a little flab that i'd like to be gone, but all in all, happy. i still work out at least 3 times a week, and when i don't work out i feel a little guilty...the toughest thing is to get into the routine...once you're there, it's tough to leave it...that's where everyone here has to get to. get into the routine as much as possible...make it part of your day...once you're there, it won't be as much work, but something that you will love to do...

Keep it up!!