Idle Workouts

[feelthedarkness]

sorry peeps, i didn't mean that to be judgmental or anything! i apologize if i came off that way.

 

i was coming more from a perspective of a concern for people who are counting calories with certain expectations. i feel like that can create a failure state, or set unreasonable demands on yourself, where i believe people need to work on changing their mindset. both are hard, but i feel like "dieting" is more problematic, because you're not adjusting your core behaviors. it takes some forcing at first, and i can totally see out data tracking helps with that, but i've found that once you establish healthy patterns the behavior reinforces itself. it's definitely hard!  

[Twig]

Sorry, I'm a bad person, I didn't mean to snap at you. I seem to get a lot of "well if you just eat well and stay active, you'll be good!!!" sort of advice, which after a while has started to grate on me because duh that's what I'm trying to do, geez, and I react emotionally instead of rationally when I see it, even though I know no harm is intended. U:

[Griddlelol]

i was coming more from a perspective of a concern for people who are counting calories with certain expectations. i feel like that can create a failure state, or set unreasonable demands on yourself, where i believe people need to work on changing their mindset. both are hard, but i feel like "dieting" is more problematic, because you're not adjusting your core behaviors. it takes some forcing at first, and i can totally see out data tracking helps with that, but i've found that once you establish healthy patterns the behavior reinforces itself. it's definitely hard!  

 

The reason I track everything is because I'm terrible at estimating how much I've eaten. I always massively underestimate, to the point that when I first started tracking, I realised I was eating 4K+ calories a day. No wonder I was finding it hard to lose weight!

I also track to make sure I'm eating enough. I'm off my diet now, and slowly working back up to a maintenance calorie load. 

[Dinosaursssssss]

I finished doing Couch to 5k today! At the start of the summer I couldn't run for 5 minutes without stopping, and now I'm doing 3ish mile runs a couple times a week. I was initially hesitant to run outside 'cause I always feel like people are looking and judging, but I think that feeling is way stronger at the gym, where everyone is gathered for a singular purpose, as opposed to the streets where people are walking to work with their minds somewhere else entirely and really, truly don't care about you at all.

 

I'm not really sure what I'll do now; the Couch to 5k app was really handy for logging and keeping me on a schedule. I'm also kinda worried about the winter, since I'm expecting another apocalyptic Day After Tomorrow style snow disaster here in Boston, and I know how bad I am about getting my shit together to go to the gym. I guess I could bust out my Fitbit, but I only have the old one that's a 2 inch long piece of black plastic you can clip to your clothes, which I almost lost several times.

[elvaq]

I've been using the Wii Fit activity meter for a few months now and I actually really like it. Previously I think it was dismissive of Fitbit, etc. but the amount of useful info the activity meter has been really cool. Stuff that I would've never thought deeply about, like just HOW sedentary my programming job is is pretty helpful. In response to that, I now always use the bathroom on the other floor. Not huge, but a definite change in habit.

 

There's also a nice, if under-utilized feature that will has a target calorie count for each day, based on an overall goal you put into the full app. Pretty nice for maintaining activity on the weekends where I'd normally skip a workout in favor of playing games in bed or somethin'

 

Will probably get a Fitbit when I transition to doing more stuff beyond Wii Fit in the next few months, I've heard nothing but good things about them and I am responding well to the general concept of a fitness tracker. I think it's better for us nerdly types who love data but most people don't want or need that much info.

[Griddlelol]

Tracking sleep sounds really useful, I just wish there was a way to do it that doesn't involve wearing a watch-like thing. Can't deal with stuff on my wrist.

[eot]

The reason I track everything is because I'm terrible at estimating how much I've eaten. I always massively underestimate, to the point that when I first started tracking, I realised I was eating 4K+ calories a day. No wonder I was finding it hard to lose weight!

I also track to make sure I'm eating enough. I'm off my diet now, and slowly working back up to a maintenance calorie load.

I'm not judging, but I can't imagine eating 4000 calories a day. That's a different reality from my own. I need to be eating more (I dunno, like 2500+) to put on some weight and even that feels like a gargantuan task. Right now I probably eat around 1500 on average and some days way less than that. I guess the lesson is that it's hard to change your eating habits in either direction.

I've heard that tea suppresses your appetite and I drink about 6-8 cups per day and have since forever, might be part of the problem (I don't really get hungry).

[root]

I've heard the same thing about tea and am trying to get into the habit of drinking green tea instead of diet sodas. D:

 

Dropped six pounds in September, though. Been really good about logging and minding my calories and doing my hour of elliptical! 

[Twig]

My over-eating is less to do with being hungry and more to do with eating as a habit. I lead a very sedentary life, big surprise!!, and often that includes watching some show or whatever, and I really don't enjoy just sitting there. I mean, I guess I AM hungry when I eat a snack, but I feel like it's probably just all in my mind, and not necessarily that I'm actually physically craving food?

 

In an ideal world I'd like walk on a treadmill or do free weights or i dunno something else to keep my body busy... but because of how I've lived my entire life up to this point... I just pour out a bowl of cereal instead.

 

I've been thinking about and/or trying to get into drinking tea. I have managed to find some teas I don't dislike! Especially with honey. But I still just prefer water the vast majority of the time? Hah. I drink a lot of water. Easily the best part of my eating habits!

 

Does tea really suppress appetite?

[dibs]

It gives you something to do instead of eating.

[Griddlelol]

Honestly, it's because I'm always hungry. It's really rare for me to be full unless it's directly after a big meal. Add on top of that:

 

1) Eating out of boredom

2) Loving high calorie foods (I love sugar and meat)

3) Emotional eating - I eat when I'm sad.

 

One thing I love about games is that I don't get hungry out of boredom while I play. I like to do things with my hands, I fidget a lot and so if I'm watching a movie, I'll constantly be getting up and making coffee, getting food, making tea (I drink loads of tea and coffee). 

 

I'm trying to bulk right now, I've gone up 3Kg in a month, and all my lifts have gotten better (except bench, but that's because my form was awful and I needed to correct it). It's good, I'm eating 3000 calories a day, and that keeps me content. I occasionally binge: yesterday I hit 5K since I had a pack of "healthy cookies" made of oats and fruit which turned out to be like 1200 calories for the whole pack.

 

Actually, that really bugs me. Stuff baked in shops don't have calories on them and the whole X calories per serving thing drives me nuts. If I buy a bar of chocolate, don't tell me that 1/8th of it is a serving. I'm going to eat the whole thing.

 

Anyway, this is meant to be idle workouts, not idle dieting. Everyone here who is working out or training, what time of day do you do it? Do you do it at the same time each time you go? What's your experience with going at different times?

 

I usually train at 7am. I've found that training at 10am-12am is my peak strength. I lift more, I recover faster and generally have an all-round more fun time. If I train after work I seem to be at my absolute nadir of strength and power intensity. I'm lethargic and struggle to meet my volume requirements.

[Dewar]

The only time I can get myself to exercise for exercise sake is right when I get up in the morning. Unfortunately, that really difficult to do when I'm in a depressive swing, so I've been less than successful.

[Badfinger]

I finished doing Couch to 5k today! At the start of the summer I couldn't run for 5 minutes without stopping, and now I'm doing 3ish mile runs a couple times a week. I was initially hesitant to run outside 'cause I always feel like people are looking and judging, but I think that feeling is way stronger at the gym, where everyone is gathered for a singular purpose, as opposed to the streets where people are walking to work with their minds somewhere else entirely and really, truly don't care about you at all.

 

I'm not really sure what I'll do now; the Couch to 5k app was really handy for logging and keeping me on a schedule. I'm also kinda worried about the winter, since I'm expecting another apocalyptic Day After Tomorrow style snow disaster here in Boston, and I know how bad I am about getting my shit together to go to the gym. I guess I could bust out my Fitbit, but I only have the old one that's a 2 inch long piece of black plastic you can clip to your clothes, which I almost lost several times.

 

First, congrats! I have done C25K a couple of times and never made it. I've made it all the way up to being able to do a mile in under 10 minutes, and being able to do two miles without stopping, but I've never made it the whole way to being able to consecutively finish a 5k without slowing to a walk.

 

If you're looking for a new thing to keep you going... I'm pretty sure those people have the next step, up to 10k!

 

 

:[ I have not been exercising regularly for a number of legit and not legit reasons for a bit now. It isn't reflected that much in my weight, but it is totally reflected in what I look like and how I feel. Like it's literally 1-2% of my body weight, and I feel different (and feel like I look significantly different). Also a tremendous amount of stress! Combine not exercising with stress, and I'm not sleeping, boom trifecta. It's awesome, y'all.

[miffy495]

I got within 3 runs of finishing a C25K before the Calgary weather started cooling off and I couldn't run outside any more. That was about 2 and a half weeks ago. On Saturday it was nice again for a day, so I decided to see if I could pick it up again after two weeks off. No dice. I felt like death and had to slow it down again. I need to figure out a cold-weather fitness thing quick, especially considering I live in a frigid wasteland.

[Griddlelol]

Hey Badfinger. I know it's obvious, but exercise will really help with the stress and not sleeping problems. I'm in full on panic mode at work now and I never feel like training. I spend all day talking myself out of it but I usually force myself to go and always have a great time.

Every time you skip a work out, you feel like shit. You tell yourself that you're awful for skipping it and it doesn't make you feel better. The thing is, no one ever regrets working out. Nike has a super powerful message in "just do it" as much as it is a marketing slogan, it's also some of the best advice about exercise.

On a side note: I'm so glad I'm not trying to lose weight any more. Putting on weight is so much fun. I'm never tired, I eat whatever I want and the weights are shooting up on my main lifts. The only problem is my lower back has gone from one of my stronger points to my weakest points. A day isn't long enough for it to recover which is throwing my routine off. Will have to go back to the drawing board.

[Badfinger]

You're 100% right, and I know it. They're all feeding into the same loop. The problem is the time I have for exercise is currently being taken up by work. Maybe it'll get better soon.

[jennegatron]

Badfinger, I find that even setting alarms for myself a couple times a day (12pm & 3pm) that encourage me to get up and walk around the office complex a couple times I feel a lot better. It's not a full workout, but it definitely helps me clear my head, refocus, and I feel better about not being stationary all day. It gets harder when it's cold/snowy out, like it inevitably where you are, but it's something to consider?

[Badfinger]

That is an excellent suggestion! Thankfully/currently unfortunately I work a fairly active job, so trying to take care of a couple sets of responsibilities I'm on my feet maybe 3/4 of the day?

 

Maybe I should set alarms to sit down.

[Griddlelol]

That's actually an awesome idea jennegatron. I might have to steal that.

So I'm not sure if I should ask here or in the sports thread, but I was perusing my local powerlifting scene and came across the NW England records. I'm currently not that far off the records in my weight class and I'm sure I could get there. One of my aims when I started in the gym was to compete in a powerlifting meet.

Basically I want to find a trainer and someone who can not only help me get stronger more efficiently but teach me how to compete. I just don't have money to employ a personal trainer.

Not really sure what I'm trying to say, other than: is there a way to get trained for a moderate price?

[darthbator]

A lot of really high quality lifting instructors don't charge an arm and a leg (at least from my experiences). Just show up at some meets and ask guys where they're training and who they worked with and it should be pretty apparent who you should talk to. 

 

I tend to start working out mostly between 1-3pm or 6-7pm. I'm trying really hard to get out of the gym. Trying to reduce expenses and get back to training methods I find more enjoyable. Unfortunately I can't really find good replacements for heavy backsquats, deadlifts, and cleans at least once a week and I just can't justify barbells in my apartment...

[Griddlelol]

That seems like a good idea. Just turn up to a meet and ask about. Pretty sure there's one relatively soon. There's a lot of internet training going on now, not sure if I'd be suited to that. All I really need is someone to tell me what to do and have someone else to answer to other than myself. 

 

Oh, and I injured my back. The worst part is, it wasn't from lifting. I had to carry a really heavy backpack for a whole day travelling, and it completely screwed up my middle back. Not being able to exercise is horrible, I can't do anything, I can't lift, I can't run...I can swim but I'm not really willing to pay an extra £5 over my gym membership to go to a pool.

It's crazy stressing me out! Exercise is the only thing that really de-stresses me.

 

I like the idea of a home gym, but there's something about going to a building thats not my home for exercise. It puts me in the mindset, while at home I tend to slack off. 

[eot]

I started working out this week (something I've been meaning to do for ages, so yay!) and in the past the thing that stopped me from making much progress was not eating enough. So I decided to keep track of that with myfittnesspal which people seem to recommend all the time. It makes up some goal numbers for you, like approximately 2 grams of protein per kg bodyweight. Seems fine. Except I'm stuffing my face to the best of my ability and I haven't hit those numbers a single day. I'm literally eating three times as much in a single meal and it's not enough lol. Maybe being vegetarian doesn't help, I can't just eat eggs and milk, and cheese and nuts are both quite expensive. I figure though, since I am eating way more maybe that's enough even though it's less than what some website tells me? I guess I'll find out.

[Griddlelol]

2 grams per kg of lean body mass.

[eot]

Well, my BMI is in the 16's so the difference isn't that big

[Griddlelol]

Eh, the 2g/kg is for people who are really trying to pack on muscle. Even that is the upper end of the recommendations (I've seen anywhere from 1.2 - 2g/kg.) 1g/kg is plenty.

 

I think in general, most people don't eat enough protein, so aiming high isn't a bad thing. On the other hand, most bodybuilding bros eat way too much protein, with the logic that if 2g/kg is good, 4g/kg must be twice as good. Which just isn't true. As long as you're making sure you're hitting the complete range of amino acids, then you should be more than fine with 1g/kg and working out hard.

 

In the end, it entirely comes down to your goal. 

 

Funny you should mention vegetarianism. I've been considering switching back to a veg diet, but I find that vegetarian sources of protein make me really gassy. I've been eating mainly vegetarian for a week now and I'm fucking unbearable. I just stink out any room I'm in for more than 5 minutes. I'd be embarrassed if I wasn't such a child that finds it hilarious to fart.