weight loss, diet, and fitness thread
- Thread starter EricNoah
- Start date
Where I am: 5'-9" , 240 lbs. My ideal weight: 180 (forget about charts and BMI, blah).
How I got here... a slow gain since college and 15 years of marraige. I have been at 240 for a few years now. I have a desk job. Exercise: not really my thing, even if I had time. Time: 3 kids. Food: I do like to eat; however, I am usually good durnig actual mealtimes. My downfall is between meals, especially mid-afternoon and late at night. I eat when I'm bored or stressed.
Where am I going? I have struggled with self esteem issues since my youth. I generally like who I am inside, just don't like how I think people see me from the outside. After marriage, I just become comfortable with myself as I am. Now I am over weight, high blood pressure, back pain, diabetes is in my future. I would like to get down to 200 lbs.
How to get there? I recently started parking further away in the parking lot, taking the stairs (five floors - 2-3 times a day), drinking Diet Dr. Pepper, and eating Lean Cuisine for lunch.
My main problems: I am stuck at my desk during the afternoons and usually have nothing to do.... except eat the M&Ms my office mate brings in. I have started bringing granola and water in to give me a quick fill up. After work, I am mentally crashed. I just want to sit and relax and drain my brain .. usually watching TV. If I get the time to crash, it's immediately followed by family time... fixing dinner, helping with homework, soccer practice, Scouts, church, etc. Excersize has never been a priority and I'm having trouble making it a priority (and seeing where it fits into the schedule of life).
How I got here... a slow gain since college and 15 years of marraige. I have been at 240 for a few years now. I have a desk job. Exercise: not really my thing, even if I had time. Time: 3 kids. Food: I do like to eat; however, I am usually good durnig actual mealtimes. My downfall is between meals, especially mid-afternoon and late at night. I eat when I'm bored or stressed.
Where am I going? I have struggled with self esteem issues since my youth. I generally like who I am inside, just don't like how I think people see me from the outside. After marriage, I just become comfortable with myself as I am. Now I am over weight, high blood pressure, back pain, diabetes is in my future. I would like to get down to 200 lbs.
How to get there? I recently started parking further away in the parking lot, taking the stairs (five floors - 2-3 times a day), drinking Diet Dr. Pepper, and eating Lean Cuisine for lunch.
My main problems: I am stuck at my desk during the afternoons and usually have nothing to do.... except eat the M&Ms my office mate brings in. I have started bringing granola and water in to give me a quick fill up. After work, I am mentally crashed. I just want to sit and relax and drain my brain .. usually watching TV. If I get the time to crash, it's immediately followed by family time... fixing dinner, helping with homework, soccer practice, Scouts, church, etc. Excersize has never been a priority and I'm having trouble making it a priority (and seeing where it fits into the schedule of life).
Been thinking about my own weight problems for a year or more.
Read Dog's post and thought about a of the things I have been doing and having trouble with- parking further from places you have to go into, great idea and been doing it for a while. Dog mentioned M&Ms that his co worker brings them in and I thought about my wife- who thinks that just because dark chocolate is suppose to be good for one's blood/heart/etc that I should eat it. I would rather eat carrots, but love chocolate, does she get that? No, she buys the dammed dark chocolate and I either get POed and throw it out or depressed and eat it. Will she stop buying it because I ask her? No, she likes the chocolate too. Will power is key here I think.
Finding time to get out and put some shoe to pavement- hard to get out there and do it, I know, but I have been making the two mile round trip to a store with our daughter to get little things (major shopping is done with a car). Does it help? It does.
Doing choirs I wear 5 lbs leg weights, that helps, a little. Doing jumping jacks while I wait for food to warm, or what have you- another trick.
The thing that is killing me is that my body slowed down (middle age) and I got depressed while recovering from an injury which caused me to eat more feel good food. How do I change that habit? How do I find the time to do the kind of work out I use to get on the job site? Anyone help here?
Read Dog's post and thought about a of the things I have been doing and having trouble with- parking further from places you have to go into, great idea and been doing it for a while. Dog mentioned M&Ms that his co worker brings them in and I thought about my wife- who thinks that just because dark chocolate is suppose to be good for one's blood/heart/etc that I should eat it. I would rather eat carrots, but love chocolate, does she get that? No, she buys the dammed dark chocolate and I either get POed and throw it out or depressed and eat it. Will she stop buying it because I ask her? No, she likes the chocolate too. Will power is key here I think.
Finding time to get out and put some shoe to pavement- hard to get out there and do it, I know, but I have been making the two mile round trip to a store with our daughter to get little things (major shopping is done with a car). Does it help? It does.
Doing choirs I wear 5 lbs leg weights, that helps, a little. Doing jumping jacks while I wait for food to warm, or what have you- another trick.
The thing that is killing me is that my body slowed down (middle age) and I got depressed while recovering from an injury which caused me to eat more feel good food. How do I change that habit? How do I find the time to do the kind of work out I use to get on the job site? Anyone help here?
GlassJaw
Hero
Harmon said:
Cold turkey man. Just gotta do it. Like flipping a life-switch. Imagine where you want to be and f'ing do it. That's it.
JUST DO IT
At least that's the only way that works for me, especially when it comes to diet and exercise.
I also find that lists help a lot - even if they are mental notes. Make lists before going into supermarkets. Check labels. Plan meals ahead of time. Pick a couple of foods that you know are horrible for you and just stop eating them.
It's not easy. It takes time. It's extremely easy to get discouraged. Set small goals and stick to them. It's as much mental fitness as it is physical. Actually, getting over the mental hurdles can be even more difficult. Once you get started, you'll get in a zone where you won't miss the things you gave up.
Check out the 101 Way article I posted above. There are a LOT of great lifestyle tips that should get you started.
GlassJaw said:
Nah, ante that easy. The wife and I have no one to tend to the kid, the wife crashes early to get to work at some unGodly hour. So during the day its just the kid and I- no room to work out, and no schedule. Doing my Yoga class is a pain, I leave the house just minutes before the class starts, and rush home to insure that all is going well with getting her down.
Funny thing is that if I went back to work I could dump this weight in a year, and be back in great shape.
My main food problem I think is the wife, if she would stop buying the things I like that are bad for me in the quantities I like then... well it would be easier.
(I have not had a candy bar, or sweets like that in years, this is all about the chocolate, chips, heavy carbs, etc type foods that taste so dammed good. Salads have gone because of taste and "fill you up satisfaction")
What I need is to retrain the wife's food tastes, and get someone to help out with the kid.
Agamon
Adventurer
My old job required me to be (and kept me) in decent shape. Now my desk job has caused to balloon out to my university weight. This sucks, as I like to do active things with my friends, by my brutal endurance makes such things less than fun.
Where I am: Out of shape, that's for sure. 5'11", 235 lbs. However, I was at 250+ a couple months ago, so things are starting to take shape.
Exercise: This is the main reason for my weight loss so far. An hour every M/T/W/F (and often one of the weekend days) of exercise, half weight/ab training, half cardio (aka jogging). I'm lucky enough to work at an office with a tricked out exercise room that no one else uses, as a well as a warehouse that makes for an excellent jogging track. So I don't need to go anywhere after work to 'hit the gym'.
The weight training is the easy part. Like I mentioned, my last job was quite physical, including a lot of heavy lifting. The muscle was still there, I just had to tone it up again. The cardio has been killer up to now, though. However, I just today crossed the barrier that was making me stop for breathers during my jog. A very satisfying feeling that was, I'l tell ya!
Diet: My nemesis. It's the friggin' potato chips. I eat fairly well, grains, fruit, lots of tuna, rice, chicken, veggies, diet soda and water. But I still eat the odd pizza, hamburger, and while I have no sweet tooth to speak of, I'm weak for those damned greasy chips.
I think the difference is, I'm willing to do things as long as I enjoy it. And I enjoy the exercise, the way it makes me feel when I'm done. Like Eric says, the iPod is a godsend for when the workout gets dull. And I don't mind eating 'well', sometimes, but I tried to the whole 'good for me, and nothing but' diet, and that didn't sit well with me. So I doubt I'll get all slim and trim eating 2-4 bags of chips per week, but slim and trim isn't really my goal.
Goals: I don't care how much I weigh. Even how I look is less important than how I feel. As long as I'm comfortable being able to play ultimate frisbee, floor hockey, or go for hike in the mountains, and have fun instead of get frustrated and played out, I'm happy.
Where I am: Out of shape, that's for sure. 5'11", 235 lbs. However, I was at 250+ a couple months ago, so things are starting to take shape.
Exercise: This is the main reason for my weight loss so far. An hour every M/T/W/F (and often one of the weekend days) of exercise, half weight/ab training, half cardio (aka jogging). I'm lucky enough to work at an office with a tricked out exercise room that no one else uses, as a well as a warehouse that makes for an excellent jogging track. So I don't need to go anywhere after work to 'hit the gym'.
The weight training is the easy part. Like I mentioned, my last job was quite physical, including a lot of heavy lifting. The muscle was still there, I just had to tone it up again. The cardio has been killer up to now, though. However, I just today crossed the barrier that was making me stop for breathers during my jog. A very satisfying feeling that was, I'l tell ya!
Diet: My nemesis. It's the friggin' potato chips. I eat fairly well, grains, fruit, lots of tuna, rice, chicken, veggies, diet soda and water. But I still eat the odd pizza, hamburger, and while I have no sweet tooth to speak of, I'm weak for those damned greasy chips.
I think the difference is, I'm willing to do things as long as I enjoy it. And I enjoy the exercise, the way it makes me feel when I'm done. Like Eric says, the iPod is a godsend for when the workout gets dull. And I don't mind eating 'well', sometimes, but I tried to the whole 'good for me, and nothing but' diet, and that didn't sit well with me. So I doubt I'll get all slim and trim eating 2-4 bags of chips per week, but slim and trim isn't really my goal.
Goals: I don't care how much I weigh. Even how I look is less important than how I feel. As long as I'm comfortable being able to play ultimate frisbee, floor hockey, or go for hike in the mountains, and have fun instead of get frustrated and played out, I'm happy.
EricNoah
Adventurer
Last year when I visited my grandmother in her new nursing home I got an eyeful of how people live when their bodies aren't working right. It was very motivating to me --I want to be one of those old guys who looks 10-15 years younger than he is, is still fit enough to do stuff around the house, go for walks, etc. So I have to constantly remind myself that to have that future, I need to do something in the present to make it happen. Keeping an eye on my daily calories and chipping away at exercise through daily walks and other means is the price I pay today for a future that I value highly.
GlassJaw
Hero
Harmon said:
That's half right.
Making the decision to better yourself and life is easy. Putting it into practice tough, yes, but deciding you WANT to change is the first step and probably the most important one.
You have to force yourself. Challenge yourself.
Going to GenCon has a similar effect.
EricNoah
Adventurer
GlassJaw said:
Also, break the goal down in to manageable taks. The goal might be "be more fit" or "lose weight" but those are impossible tasks -- they are too big, too overwhelming. Possible tasks include "examine my current daily schedule and carve out 30-45 minutes from my normal routine to add a walk around my neighborhood" or "go on a walk today" or "drink two extra glasses of water today".
Last winter I decided that I would exercise, in some form, every single day for as many days in a row as I could manage. It took me from late December well into March before the string was broken (nasty cold for a couple of weeks really knocked me out). After a so-so spring I had a great summer w/regard to exercise. The past month or so has not been great, so I'm going to try to get back on that wagon. I have a calendar that I mark every day that I exercise. It is very motivating to see that thing fill up each month. Attacking one day's exercise at a time helps me achieve the longer-term goal.
nerfherder
Adventurer
I find exercising totally boring too. What I did when I was swimming was come up with plots and characters for my D&D campaign. Just make sure to write them down soon afterwards, before you forget!Jeysie said:
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