Fitness advice/suggestions

[soflagator]

Which is crazy because I don't count calories. However I know I typically burn 500-600 calories during my cardio workouts(or so the machine tells me). I have no idea how many I burn during resistance training but the pace I keep is nearly that of a light jog judging from the way my heart rate feels.
The other thing that crossed my mind the other day about calories is if you get cumulative credit so to speak and not just a daily result. For example I still have 2 light beers a day and eat one sleeve of spicy peanuts with my late morning feeding. My guess is between the beer and peanuts it's probably 400 calories a day(empty calories). If I ceased those 2 items for a month it would be about 12,000 calories total or about 3.5#.

Really hate to give those items up as they help break up the psychological stress of other cravings and the 2 beers are really the only time I get to talk to my wife alone.

I guess if I get to a sticking point which I'm expecting along the way I could delete them and see if it gets me closer to my goal.

If it’s working, then I’d continue. As you said, at some point you may hit a wall or want to just slim down a little more. In that case, don’t cut them out entirely(for the reasons Layla suggests), but leave them as a weekend treat only. I had to do it with pasta, rice, wine, beer, etc. It may seem tough, but it will really help you enjoy them when you get them and your body and mind will adjust right back on Monday. But you’re already handling it very well by identifying what you can and cannot live without.

Also, on your part about keeping your heart rate up, that’s so important. I mentioned sticking it to trainers at my old Gold’s. It was because they weren’t teaching this to their clients and some of their clients began asking about my routine that they would watch. The trainers said I had to be juicing to keep that pace. In reality, they just don’t want someone to get in shape that quickly because it eliminates their relevance. So I decided to train, “not train”, then for free purely out of spite. Unless you’re strictly looking for strength, extended rests in between sets is very counterproductive. If nothing else, it forces you to do more straight cardio because you’ve allows your heart rate to decline. Especially at this stage of the game, and for people working, it only makes sense to effectively do two things at once.

 

[Seedy]

I've mentioned it here before, but this is one routine that I was able to stick to: The Buff Dudes 12-Week Plan

60-seconds max between sets, with an attempt to keep the heartrate up....like soflogator says

 

[Spectator]

Kayaking is my favorite exercise but lately I've only gone once or twice a month. It has foot pedals so I fish at the same time I 'exercise'. I need to lose 40 lbs but Mt Dew is my kryptonite. I spend about 5-10 days a month on my feet all day staying alert and agile, sometimes dodging cars and/or car parts. Saturday will be 130 cars for 14 straight hours. I stretch my back and legs every day at least 20 - 30 minutes to reduce back pain from an old injury. I never lost weight working out in a gym, just had bigger muscles. My cardio workout is banging my girlfriend.

 

[Concrete Helmet]

Also, on your part about keeping your heart rate up, that’s so important. I mentioned sticking it to trainers at my old Gold’s. It was because they weren’t teaching this to their clients and some of their clients began asking about my routine that they would watch. The trainers said I had to be juicing to keep that pace. In reality, they just don’t want someone to get in shape that quickly because it eliminates their relevance. So I decided to train, “not train”, then for free purely out of spite. Unless you’re strictly looking for strength, extended rests in between sets is very counterproductive. If nothing else, it forces you to do more straight cardio because you’ve allows your heart rate to decline. Especially at this stage of the game, and for people working, it only makes sense to effectively do two things at once.

Agree 100% especially at my age. Maybe someone who is in their 20's looking to add bodyweight and sheer power/strength might benefit from a routine like that with near max weights and low reps. Offseason football players, powerlifters and bodybuilders...

I think people who are either untrained or perhaps like me, just out of shape need to do whole body, quicker paced workouts with very basic movements likes squats, chest press/pushups, lat pulls/rows, shoulder presses and of course a little abdominal/core work. My current routine allows me to get in 63 sets(21 tri sets) in usually about 35 minutes. I do an additional 20 minutes of medium cardio after 2 of my resistance training sessions a week so that makes about an hour total but on the other days I just do one or the other and cut the cardio only days to no more than 35 minutes.

 

[Bernardo de la Paz]

For example I still have 2 light beers a day and eat one sleeve of spicy peanuts with my late morning feeding. My guess is between the beer and peanuts it's probably 400 calories a day(empty calories). If I ceased those 2 items for a month it would be about 12,000 calories total or about 3.5#.

Really hate to give those items up as they help break up the psychological stress of other cravings and the 2 beers are really the only time I get to talk to my wife alone.

If you don't change anything, you will see some diminishing returns because as you lose weight you'll burn fewer calories just sitting around scratching your balls.

At the same time, with the huge difference you have now between calories in and calories out, you are going to hit your target weight fairly quickly even if you aren't shedding pounds quite as quick as when you started.

Then I suspect you'll be at a point where you don't want to lose any more weight and you'll get to choose between cutting back on the exercise and indulging more in things like beer and peanuts.

Like @bradgator2, it's hard for me to opine having never been a fat ass. But I know I'd choose keeping up the exercise routine and eating more. I generally eat whatever I want whenever I want, and I can do that because I average more than an hour of exercise a day.

 

[Concrete Helmet]

Like @bradgator2, it's hard for me to opine having never been a fat ass. But I know I'd choose keeping up the exercise routine and eating more. I generally eat whatever I want whenever I want, and I can do that because I average more than an hour of exercise a day.

Maybe if you had a debilitating back, neck and knee injuries you wouldn't be able to exercise for an hour a day, though.....huh? Not to mention an 80-90 hour work week....

 

[Bernardo de la Paz]

Maybe if you had a debilitating back, neck and knee injuries you wouldn't be able to exercise for an hour a day, though.....huh? Not to mention an 80-90 hour work week....

The 80-90 hour work week would make it almost impossible.

 

[soflagator]

Maybe if you had a debilitating back, neck and knee injuries you wouldn't be able to exercise for an hour a day, though.....huh? Not to mention an 80-90 hour work week....

Did you just start at Goldman or something? That’s insane.

 

[URGatorBait]

Did you just start at Goldman or something? That’s insane.

No his wife has to have someone type up all those Title papers

 

[Concrete Helmet]

Did you just start at Goldman or something? That’s insane.

We haven't been on vacation for 5 years now.....mostly 6 and sometimes 7 days a week. Hell a getaway to us is going to Port Canaveral for a couple hours on a Sunday and eating Oysters.....That might be all about to change though....

 

[Concrete Helmet]

No his wife has to have someone type up all those Title papers

If it weren't for getting distracted by this place I could probably get everything done in about 50 hours a week....

 

[URGatorBait]

If it weren't for getting distracted by this place I could probably get everything done in about 50 hours a week....

So you're milking the clock?
I just fired off an email to your wife

 

[soflagator]

We haven't been on vacation for 5 years now.....mostly 6 and sometimes 7 days a week. Hell a getaway to us is going to Port Canaveral for a couple hours on a Sunday and eating Oysters.....That might be all about to change though....

Getting canned, huh?

 

[Concrete Helmet]

So on to another month and another goal weightwise. I hit 250# for March and have set 2 goals for April. The first is 245 by the 15th and 240 by the 30th. I hope by keeping my self-accountable in intervals like above it creates less of a chance losing focus or becoming complacent with my results to date.

On a side note, my stomach has certainly shrunk. We ordered out Saturday night and I out of habit got my usual Prime Rib, baked potato and Caesar salad. While I did manage to eat all of it I can tell I no longer have the need or desire for 14oz of red meat and a whole baked potato in one sitting. I didn't feel terrible or bloated but on a day to day basis much prefer how I feel after eating 8oz of chicken, turkey or tuna with a huge salad and some raw veggies as an appetizer. I've completely lost any cravings for pasta, rice or bread although we did have some Mediterranean couscous salad last night which was delicious.

I also got a better gauge on the overall condition of my knee yesterday by working in the yard for nearly 5 hours. It was much better than before but I do have a little soreness this morning and could feel a slight strain yesterday when doing my squats after working in the yard(we have a pretty big yard with some dips and such with very thick and tall St. Augustine grass) Still I would have been rolling around on the floor from an hour or 2 of that 6 months ago.

 

[Concrete Helmet]

A little update here for anyone following along and perhaps any tricks or info to get past a sticking point would be appreciated. Yup, I've been stuck at 250# for going on 2 weeks now. Body feels good and my exercise performance is still noticeably better almost every workout. Motivation is still high. Eating is almost exactly the same and there haven't been any slip ups or splurges.
I had a goal set for this Friday the 15th for 245# and another for 240# on the 30th. I'm not sure I'm going to make it. For the first 2 months or so I would stay at a certain weight for a week or so and then all of a sudden seem to lose 4-6# almost overnight, then go about another week and same thing would happen and I'd drop another 4-5#.

On the other hand this morning I noticed I've taken up 4 holes in my belt comfortably, and I also notice a lot more towel to tuck in when I wrap one around my waist getting out of the shower. Despite not taking measurements, this should prove I've lost inches in the right places. My stomach has flattened out considerably and I've noticed my ass is much smaller. Still got some work to do around the love handles and lower abdominals though for sure but there is noticeable improvement in these areas too which happen to be my "weak spots" .

One of our employees at the office pulled my wife aside Friday and told her she needed to buy me new clothes because the old ones are starting to swallow me up. I have been wearing mostly gym shorts and long baggy t shirts for years now partially because I don't have to dress for work but I think mostly to try and hide what was going on with my body.

All of this is good however I still consider overall bodyweight reduction to be near the top of my priorities. One I think it will help me put off needing a knee replacement and keep me lighter on my feet during some of the activities I want to begin doing again(surfing, mountain biking, and perhaps even jogging).

I realize long term fasting is not a solution but I have heard that there are some health benefits to shorter term fasting like a 3-4 day water fast. Anyone ever do this before? I'm thinking this may help to push me across some plateaus if needed but I really don't want to do anything that will slow any longer-term progress.

 

[URGatorBait]

A little update here for anyone following along and perhaps any tricks or info to get past a sticking point would be appreciated. Yup, I've been stuck at 250# for going on 2 weeks now. Body feels good and my exercise performance is still noticeably better almost every workout. Motivation is still high. Eating is almost exactly the same and there haven't been any slip ups or splurges.
I had a goal set for this Friday the 15th for 245# and another for 240# on the 30th. I'm not sure I'm going to make it. For the first 2 months or so I would stay at a certain weight for a week or so and then all of a sudden seem to lose 4-6# almost overnight, then go about another week and same thing would happen and I'd drop another 4-5#.

On the other hand this morning I noticed I've taken up 4 holes in my belt comfortably, and I also notice a lot more towel to tuck in when I wrap one around my waist getting out of the shower. Despite not taking measurements, this should prove I've lost inches in the right places. My stomach has flattened out considerably and I've noticed my ass is much smaller. Still got some work to do around the love handles and lower abdominals though for sure but there is noticeable improvement in these areas too which happen to be my "weak spots" .

One of our employees at the office pulled my wife aside Friday and told her she needed to buy me new clothes because the old ones are starting to swallow me up. I have been wearing mostly gym shorts and long baggy t shirts for years now partially because I don't have to dress for work but I think mostly to try and hide what was going on with my body.

All of this is good however I still consider overall bodyweight reduction to be near the top of my priorities. One I think it will help me put off needing a knee replacement and keep me lighter on my feet during some of the activities I want to begin doing again(surfing, mountain biking, and perhaps even jogging).

I realize long term fasting is not a solution but I have heard that there are some health benefits to shorter term fasting like a 3-4 day water fast. Anyone ever do this before? I'm thinking this may help to push me across some plateaus if needed but I really don't want to do anything that will slow any longer-term progress.

It's just a plateau. Keep doing what you're doing...if you notice you go a much longer period and nothing comes off then you may consider additional changes then, but in a short period of time I wouldn't worry about it too much.
Sometimes your body will react to losing too much weight too quickly and start to want to retain things when it gets fed.
You may also be putting on muscle weight, which is more dense than fat weight. So you may be losing fat but adding muscle and not losing weight on the scale.

 

[Concrete Helmet]

You may also be putting on muscle weight, which is more dense than fat weight. So you may be losing fat but adding muscle and not losing weight on the scale.

I hadn't really considered the "muscle" part of the equation and while I doubt at my age I'd be able to put on appreciable amounts of new muscle maybe I could be reactivating/rehydrating existing muscle that has been dormant for years?
Coincidentally I did change my resistance training program to 4X weekly splitting my upper and lower body into separate workouts 2X each while increasing weight/resistance for the different bodyparts....hmmm

 

[URGatorBait]

I hadn't really considered the "muscle" part of the equation and while I doubt at my age I'd be able to put on appreciable amounts of new muscle maybe I could be reactivating/rehydrating existing muscle that has been dormant for years?
Coincidentally I did change my resistance training program to 4X weekly splitting my upper and lower body into separate workouts 2X each while increasing weight/resistance for the different bodyparts....hmmm

When you compare muscle vs fat when it comes to weight, you have to consider mass also. Because 1 lb is 1 lb regardless of if it is fat or muscle.
But muscle is more dense, so when you consider the volume of both, muscle weighs about 15-20% more than fat, when considering the same size mass.

 

[CDGator]

Buy a farm.
You can get 10,000 steps in a morning.

 

[URGatorBait]

Buy a farm.
You can get 10,000 steps in a morning.

He'll have to ask his wife for it.