Work outs.

[ejd43]

Any fellow LGPers work out or exercise on the regular? I have been out of shape for far to long. I graduated high school in 04 at 175, but am now pushing 240. I’ve made the decision to get back into shape, and honestly have no clue where to start. I’d rather ease into instead of starting out pushing too hard and getting discouraged and quitting. Any help, and pointers would be much appreciated.

[Defence21]

I am out of shape as well, so I cannot offer a whole lot, but a few years back I tried to get in shape and found it to be only mildly inconvenient. I stopped because I was working out in the mornings, and it just put too much of a strain on our morning routine when my daughter started school.

I would walk/run four miles, then return home and do pushups and situps in intervals. In all, I'd say I put in about 30-40 minutes a day and felt truly good while doing it. Can't say I lost a ton of weight, but I didn't need to lose a ton, either. What I did notice was that I was getting more toned and less frumpy.

Good luck!

[Durbano]

I’m not a fitness freak but have regularly worked out for most of my life (I’m in my early 50s). Still weigh the same as during the high school days. I joined a gym in late 2004 when I quit dipping, because I was afraid I’d end up weighing 400 lbs. Since then, I have never gone more than three days without working out, and in the last few years, I’ve never missed more than two days in a row.

I’d suggest a balanced approach. Portion control will help. Join a gym so you’re invested in more ways than one. Mix your workouts so they include cardio, strength training, core exercises and stretching. You really don’t need a personal trainer in the long run, but it may be worth paying for an introductory session or two.

If you find the right gym and stick with it, the rewards are significant. Almost without exception, I walk out of mine post-workout feeling like a million bucks (though undoubtedly looking more like a bad penny).

Good luck.

[ejd43]

Thanks for all the advice. As crazy as it sounds once I was done playing hockey I started smoking cigarettes here and there, then when I turned 21 I would smoke when I drank and it just snow balled from there. Long story short I quit smoking and ate a lot to satisfy that oral fixation I guess. I figured if I could quit smoking, I can lose some weight. Thanks again guys.

[Durbano]

"I figured if I could quit smoking, I can lose some weight."

Quitting nicotine is only about 10 million times tougher than losing weight. You'll get it done. Find the rhythms and routines that work for you, consume fewer calories than you burn, and you'll be off to the races.

[no name]

I m 45 and in pretty good shape, I used to be a 6 day a week gym goer. (hernia operation so I have to stop going for another 2 weeks until I heal) The first time I did it at home by jogging around my neighborhood and weight lifting. I still do that but at a Planet fitness. 3x week full body weight trainging, about 40 mins then 25 minute cardio routine the other 3 days, HIIT workout. If you plan to jog, you don't have to run 3 miles at once. Try jogging to a telephone pole then walk to the next one. Jog then walk. Once that gests easier jog between 2 telephone poles then walk 1, etc...

I think the best advice I can give, there are 1000 diets out there, most of them work. But you got to find the one that can work for you, don't focus on the "best of the best" I eat 2 meals a day, not to many diets offer you that, but I find it works for me with my life and schedule. That might not work for everyone.

2000 calories a day is my average, but honestly I don't count calories anymore, 1 plate of food is what I eat for my 2 meals and I don't make my diet fall on the rest of my family what ever my wife makes I eat. Just in moderation. Lost 35 lbs, would like to lose 10 more then add 10 lbs of muscle over the rest of the year. I weight 185 now.

Good luck to you all.

BTW: everyday drinking is really hard to do and maintain a calorie deficit, try just drinking on Friday and Saturday nights and just light beer.

[Pitt87]

TL;DR -- I had a good friend die last summer, decided to get butt in gear. Made every mistake on the way. 1+ year later, workout 6 times a week, monitor calories in/out, and overall feel stronger and better.

A little details -- A good friend of mine had a heart attack at 36. Greatest wakeup call ever was looking at his parents unable to look at their son in his casket. Then I think about my own little kids and putting them through that at a young age. I was never terribly overweight, but that was almost as bad. 5'7', 190ish pounds, eats and drinks anything, just generally bad shape. On track for similar outcome.

So I started running -- which I hate. Zero outcomes from that. So I add bodyweight exercises -- I feel a little better but still so weak, and becoming disinterested.

So I set goals -- I will manage my BMI, and my resting heart rate -- which is basically like managing the bottom of a funnel with no understanding on inputs at the top, and no management of the day-to-day.

So... I talk to some folks I know who work pretty hard on their physical fitness. A friend of mine lost ~60 pounds in 6 months, and showed me how 3500 cal = ~1 pound, so running a deficit over a week at 7000 calories = 2 pounds per week. Easy. I also talked to another friend who loves the gym who pointed out that everythign else gets easier when you work on your full body strength. He likened it to athletes -- Athletes focus on increasing strength& endurance, and flexibility to avoid injury, not how many miles in what time. Focus on form, increasing load every week, and 2 cardio days a week. Bought a fitbit, which helped. Again, easy. I also talked to a friend who is crazy busy like me but is still able to fit it in. His advice -- a little bit every day is way better than a set schedule that ends up trashed each week because you don't have time -- get some resistance bands, learn to love the hotel gym, and integrate exercise in your life, just like food and entertainment.

I also changed my goals -- Kept an eye on those two items, but I set a weekly goal to exercise 5 times/week including cardio 2x, increase loads by 5 pounds per exercise each week until I hit each target max weight (35 pounds for curls, 45 pounds for rows, etc.) 175 goal weight, and monitored my active minutes, to avoid sitting around so much. Once I started hitting those goals... I became very motivated for more.

Now -- I work out 4 days a week, pick 2 cardio days, was down to 158 at one point, now very comfortable and getting stronger at 165. I manage stress better, I sleep better (my latest trackable is getting a good nights sleep!), I don't beat myself up for eating/drinking too much every now and then, because I know what it will take to correct those actions, and I am willing to work it off -- a lot like budgeting money.

Only 2 pieces advice in this area that I give; First -- Purpose is the best alarm clock. Find a reason to change, and remind yourself constantly. Second -- SMART goals really work. Focus on making incremental gains each week on whatever you do.

[Humperdink]

Sometime late spring this year I weighed 210 (6'0"), all belly. I started counting calories and took up pickleball. I cut my portion sizes down and limited my sugar and fried food intake. No candy, lots of salads. Still eat ice cream, which I love, but eat half as much. Weigh myself everyday. Down to 165 this morning. Keep at it and don't get discouraged.


Pickleball: If you have decent hand/eye coordination, it is a great sport, especially if you are getting long on tooth (like me).

[no name]

LISS cardio is the way to go for fat loss especially if your fitness level is low. Fast pace walk 3.8mph on a treadmill. Walking on a incline monitor your heart rate to see you are 120 to 140. Me I walk at 4.2 mph and a 13 inch incline. Gets my heart rate up usually do 55 mins.

[netwolf]

I've never really been able to develop regular exercise habits, but I have gotten my eating habits tho a decent place. I started using My Fitness Pal to count calories and I can't say enough good things about it. It's free and it definitely worked for me. Only semi-regular exercise I get is playing hockey once every week or two.

[DelPen]

Pick a diet plan that you can stick to and also start logging everything you eat and drink. If you want to lose weight you need to make sure calories in is less than calories out. I was able to best do this with Keto. I’ve gone from 225 to 168 in just about a year but most of that since 1/1 when I really started monitoring calories.

For me at least lean protein and no sugar and low fat work best. I also train with my Taekwondo sparring team 4 day a week which is a lot of cardio and a couple mile runs every week that I can easily hit under 9 minutes now without breaking pace and that’s something I haven’t been able to do since high school 20+ years ago.

Diet and moderate exercise, start there and see how you feel. If you have any questions on Keto if that 8nteest you let me know, there are a lot of bad assumptions about it floating out there.

[no name]

Exercise and OMAD (One Meal A Day) or 23:1.... it truly is a game changer. Youtube it or google it.

If you read above I used to 2MAD but moved to OMAD and went from 185 to 170... broke my cravings. and I can still drink beer on Fri and Sat nights.

Hate to preach about it. It has changed my perspective on food.