Hi guys / girls. Just wondering if it's okay to start a health and fitness thread where we can share experiences, tips etc?
Trying to lose weight and improve overall fitness and health (lost about half a stone since January but long way to go). Am doing pretty much solely treadmill work at the gym, and then at home am doing a mix of kettlebell, yoga and shadow-boxing. Anyone else do any of these and have any advice? I must say it felt weird as a bloke trying yoga at first (not that I'm sexist, just it's still seen by some as more of a "lasses' thing"icon_wink.gif but it is enjoyable to be fair, and some parts difficult!
The kettlebell is an interesting one - my brother recently told me about it, but apparently its been around for decades. Bought an 8kg one (I'm not a strong or muscular person in the slightest!), at first I was wishing I'd perhaps got a slightly lighter one, but getting used to it.
So, how does everyone else get their fitness rush? Any pointers, success stories etc?

[url=http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2591062/Former-Olympic-star-58-died-suddenly-heart-failure-sunbathing-topless-garden.htmlYes, have a read of this and don't over-do it[/url

To my uneducated mind half a stone since January is about right, don't be persuaded by ridiculous claims that "this will make the weight drop off" or "this will rip you in two weeks", take it easy and enjoy what you are doing, don't make sudden lifestyle changes that you won't maintain, and maybe take up something that involves getting outside from time to time rather than just doing gym work, cycling, running etc ?

And lose some for me while you're at it.

From my own experience I'd echo what Jerry says about enjoying what you're doing to lose weight.
I've tried several times to lose weight in the past, from running either on roads near my house or by the river etc to going to the gym, spinning classes, circuit training etc
I'd lose a bit of weight initially but I wouldn't keep it up and so would eventually put it back on.
Late last year, around October time, I started playing tag and touch rugby again after several years of not playing. Thoroughly enjoyed it so I kept going and have lost about a stone since starting.
Not changed my diet really so it's all been from the extra exercise. And as I really enjoy it it doesn't feel like "exercise" and I look forward to going instead of it feeling like a chore I have to get through in the week.

I've dropped 10 kgs since January through diet alone. I quit boozing, I now drink only Beck's Blue and non-alcoholic wines.

I start the day with two cups of black coffee and porridge made with water. I've cut meat from my diet and have around 150 grammes of fish per day. I don't eat bread or any pastries. I now snack on fruit and vegetables with a handful of almonds each day. I also drink up to 6 litres of water each day.

I've surprised myself how easy I've found it and have now set the date of 19 April to quit smoking

Mate, well done. Take a bow




There are so many variables in each and every one of us from genetics to discipline. Your discipline is admirable.

How have you gone without wine? LOL

Basic stuff. Little things like:

Stand up more.
Walk a little further.
Get off a bus, one or two stops before yours.
Eat what you want but monitor it and make choices to what you truly believe you might be able to live without.
You DON"T have to kill yourself with exercise. Take it lightly.

See how you go. See how it feels before deciding you think you can take it up a notch.

Most importantly. Look after your brain also.

I haven't.

I buy from [url=http://www.alcoholfree.co.uk/alcoholfree-wines-c-2_46.htmlthese people[/url. They sell a range of de-alcoholised wines (brewed as normal wine then subjected to temperature and pressure to drive off most of the alcohol)

You cheeky bast ard. You said they were non-alcoholic! Do they still maintain their flavour/bouquet then?

Well done anyway.

Eat less, exercise more - simple weight loss program!

Great effort.
Remember, do some resistance work. Build a little muscle to improve your metabolism to burn the fat. You may not see the weight drop off, but you will see an improvement in your fat burn if that what you're going for.

Stay hydrated. People often neglect how much hydration plays in how your body looks. The better hydrated, the less your body has to hold in fat to manage. You'll pee like a octogenarian at first, but your body will adapt.

Make sure you are having fun. If it ain't fun, you'll be more inclined to give it up. Mix it up, try spin classes, etc. There is no one formula, everyone works differently when it comes to fitness. But try a little of everything and you'll find the ones that work for you.

PS - Yoga is the one!

PPS

70% diet, 30% exercise.

Bouquet?

Mate, I currently smoke 40 rollups a day I can't even smell the dog's farts let alone the bouquet in wine

I find weights shed the fat for me. I started going to the gym again (only once a week) just before Christmas after 3 years of not going and only sporadically doing some free weights and I have lost a lot of my accumulated fat, particularly round my waist and neck/face. I wasn't particularly overweight but I feel a lot better for it. I find the machine weights are most effective as they are designed to do the whole of your body with lower risk of injury. You can work your way up easier as well.

Everyone's different and what works for some doesn't work for others. I hate running on treadmills so I don't do it. I like cycling and go for plenty of walks instead.

Kudos for starting though. The hardest part is finding time to start and making sure you don't find something else to do instead of carrying on.

Cod'ead - well done on your diet, although don't cut too much of the things you like out because you're more likely to fail. A few of the lads at work stopped smoking for new year, some just went cold turkey and the rest have got e-cigs. All of them have kept it up and feel a lot better for it - including their pockets!

I think I might jump on this fitness bandwagon.
Did a ten hour sesh Friday and a fourteen hour session Saturday with another rake down yesterday afternoon and sick of waking up Monday morning feeling like dog.

I actually did 57 days dry last Spring and felt a million times better for it but then proceeded to slip into old habits.
It was the longest stint without in 35 years of heavy boozing so I am toying with the idea of setting a date and going for a new personal best.

Thing is I ate most of the things that I thought I liked because it was "the norm". I love fish so that bit comes really easy. I never ate a great deal of meat anyway and since changing my eating habits (I'm loathe to call it a 'diet'), I really can't say that I've missed anything. I've had one 'proper' burger, a ribeye steak and about 4 pieces of chicken breast since January and they've been "treats" and have been sufficient. A matew told me that I would put on weight when I gave up smoking but that only usually happens when people substitute chocolate and sweets for nicotine. The fact that I snack on carrots, celery and cucumber should mitigate those effects.

I went to the pub yesterday to chase up some money that the landlord owes me and a mate offered to buy me a drink. I asked for a Beck's Blue and as I got near the end of the bottle started feeling palpitations in my chest. It was only then I turned the bottle around and noticed the dopey bint behind the bar had given me normal Beck's. I was literally staggering as I left the pub and went to bed once I got home. When I was boozing I sometimes suffered from post-alcohol anxiety and I've been feeling like that since I had the bottle of Beck's. I appear to have become super-sensitive to alcohol now and there is simply no way I want to go back to the bottle again.

If you like shadow boxing try and get hold of a punch bag or better still, try going to boxing circuit training. I've never sweated as much as when I do that.

There are loads of kettle bell training drills on youtube too. You'll soon be swinging a 20kg one round.

Another piece of advice (again from personal experience) look into HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training) as your cardio, probably on a bike.

It will kill you at first, but will yeild great results.

What, even if you are dead?

You'll be the fittest corpse in your local mortuary.

A necrophile's delight.

That sounds a sensible way to do it. None of the lads at work have put any weight on so it must be the substitution problem as you say.


It was probably on purpose to regain your custom!

LOL I suppose 8 pints+ a day is a bit of a drag on the takings. He claimed he didn't know the difference between Beack's & Beck's Blue, despite the fact that the non-alcoholic version wholesales at less than 10 bob a bottle

I'll try to add a bit of the stuff I've learned over the years.

Diet is far more effective than exercise in changing body fat levels. Despite all the complex stuff you will be bombarded with, it's really a matter of understanding your Total Daily Energy Expenditure (TDEE) which is a function of BMR x activity rate. There will be a calorie count that keeps your weight constant at your TDEE. To lose weight, eat 500kcals less, to gain weight eat 500kcals more. Varying by more than this can screw your metabolic rate around. You can increase your TDEE by exercising more of course.

Beware of falling into the cardio trap: Lots of aerobic exercise (or dropping your cals too far) which conditions your body to store fat. Storing muscle is "expensive" for the body in terms of calorie expenditure. So starve your body and it will drop muscle to survive, which therefore reduces your BMR & TDEE more, causing a reaction of reducing cals/exercising more: the cardio trap.

Lift weights: More Lean Body Mass increases your TDEE. Don't worry about getting "too big" there are a ton of people in the gym trying to get big so you won't do it by accident. If you do want to get big, you really need to eat higher than your TDEE so be prepared to gain a bit of fat in the process.

I haven't yet cracked how to maintain all strength whilst dropping body fat. I got below 10% but lost a bit of strength. I'm decent power-lifter strong now, but at 15%

Anyone try any crossfit workouts?

I did a workout called 'the murph' the other day named after Lt Michael Murphy who was killed in 2005.

With a 20lb pound weighted vest you run a mile, do 100 pullups, 200 pushups and 300 squats, then run another mile, do this as fast as you can.

If your time is 45 mins or below, you have an elite level of fitness.