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Post by slammer66 on Jul 14, 2016 8:24:48 GMT -8
I'm just now getting back into backpacking so this is more of a general info thread on a change I made in my life. It started when I read a Mediterranean cookbook. It wasn't the recipes in the book that helped, because my wife didn't like them and so I only made a few. It was actually some author back ground information. The author was an American of Italian decent. I'll make a long story short here.
Americans generally eat twice as much meat as they should and half as many vegetables.
So I reversed that, tried to remove as much sugar from my diet as I could, and tried to shrink my dinner portions down a bit.
Then for exercise I had injured my shoulder and required surgery so for many months I couldn't do much anything at the gym other than ride a bike or some other cardio thing. I ended up doing about 30 to 40 minutes of cardio three to four times a week. Not killing myself, just riding a bike, jogging, or a stair machine.
end result is I lost every ounce I gained since I was 21 years old. I'm 49 and I now weigh what I did when I was 21. That's a 25 lbs weight loss. It may not sound like much but I'd been trying for 20 years and had little to no success. Not only did it come off but it stayed off and I feel great.
My typical work day ( I work a desk job)
breakfast - 11 oz Muscle Milk snack - apple lunch - salad (spinach leaves, bok choy, one 4.5 oz can of chicken meat, 1 avacado, dressing of olive oil, vinager, & greek seasoning) snack - nutty snack bar Dinner - whatever, just avoid sugar and large portions.
It's also good to increase your water intake.
Don't know how balanced the diet is but it works and I can schred myself at the gym and I never feel light headed or lack energy.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jul 14, 2016 12:03:16 GMT -8
Great approach!
Everyone is different and different things work for different people, depending on their physiology and what kind of diet is maintainable for them.
There are people who go to extremes in one direction or another; going paleo and upping their protein, or going vegetarian, or cutting out almost all sugar. Any of these will work at least temporarily just because they're cutting out a lot of stuff they used to eat all the time. Whatever works, if it can be maintained.
Your approach seems balanced and maintainable.
My problem was portion size. I'm one of those in the common group where weight loss is 80% diet and 20% exercise. I went to the gym and/or ran regularly - even ran a few marathons - but never lost too much weight. The foods I ate were generally healthy, I just ate too much of them. I was able to keep eating the kind of stuff I wanted, but just less. The calorie counts seemed ridiculous at first, the portions ballerina sized. But after a week or two they started to seem normal and I wasn't hungry anymore. My weakness is still sugar (I love desserts!), especially in times of stress. People tell me that if I cut it out almost entirely I wouldn't crave it anymore. I fully believe them, but I enjoy them and would rather work through it. So far so good. I start drifting upward in weight sometimes and I just have to buckle down again and take it more seriously.
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Post by rwtb123 on Jul 15, 2016 2:42:27 GMT -8
I'm a believer in eating for your activity level as well as body type.So in my view, you should be eating the foods your body needs and can use but no more or less or bad things start to happen.
You seem to be on the right track as evidenced by your progress.It seems you have taken what I view as ,perhaps,the most important concept of the Mediterranean people's diet,ie that nutrient dense plant based fats can be an important part of a healthy diet.Given your desk job,moderate aerobic level and likely slow metabolism you would only need maintenance levels of protein,while the healthy fats and vegetables give you the nutrients and calories to satisfy your appetite and stop cravings due to nutrient deficiencies.
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Post by slammer66 on Jul 15, 2016 10:06:24 GMT -8
I definitely have to hit the gym harder than the average person because of my desk job. I can literally go a whole day and not get up except to go to the bathroom. For someone who is moving around they would not have to hit it so hard. My previous injury forced me to quit lifting weight and focusing more on cardio and movement type exercises.
My view on sugar is not specifically to avoid sugar. It's because they are pumping so much sugar into processed foods to mask the fact that the ingredients are crap. Basically you can package dirt and if there is enough sugar in it, it will taste good. So by avoiding sugar I'm really just trying to avoid eating too much sugar because you will get more than enough with just eating normal food. Diet foods are often loaded with sugar so I avoid most anything that is a diet food (ironic)
I look for what I call "nutrient bombs" to add to my diet. foods that are so nutrient dense that I think they fool the body into thinking you ate more than did. My lunch for instance is one big nutrient bomb. It's not that big of a salad but once you've eaten it you don't feel hungry again until dinner. It also has the added benefit of having enough fibre to keep the pipes clean, when helps you feel better in general.
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whistlepunk
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Post by whistlepunk on Jul 16, 2016 16:27:47 GMT -8
... I can literally go a whole day and not get up except to go to the bathroom... New research is showing sitting for long periods is very unhealthy. It is basically un-exercise. Sitting more than 2 hours may negate and undo purposeful exercise done the same day. They cancel each other. You have to make an effort to get up and walk around. Some researchers have opined a sedentary desk job constitutes an unhealthy work environment and should be regulated by OSHA.
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Post by slammer66 on Jul 18, 2016 8:42:24 GMT -8
I whole heartedly agree that sitting at a desk is almost a death sentence. Some have tried the standing desk. You have to have a doctors excuse for the company to pay for one and even then it's iffy. I even built one myself to try. The problem is that standing all day sux. The store bought ones allow you to be up or down as much as you want but they are really expensive. About the best I can do is walk around the parking lot during lunch.
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walkswithblackflies
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Post by walkswithblackflies on Jul 19, 2016 5:14:24 GMT -8
I whole heartedly agree that sitting at a desk is almost a death sentence. Some have tried the standing desk. You have to have a doctors excuse for the company to pay for one and even then it's iffy. I even built one myself to try. The problem is that standing all day sux. The store bought ones allow you to be up or down as much as you want but they are really expensive. About the best I can do is walk around the parking lot during lunch. I got a standing desk 3 years ago. I was going to build one, but then I found an old drafting table which works perfectly. I bought a $20 stool at Walmart that I can use when I want to sit.
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Post by froggiebecky on Aug 10, 2016 2:35:33 GMT -8
Another simple fix that I've put together is a little app on my computer called WorkRave. It sets a timer for some amount of time (I set mine for 25-30 minutes), then locks the screen for a set amount of time (say, 3 minutes). It's built with the idea of preventing repetitive stress injuries, but I find it's a good reminder to get up and walk a bit, too. Even if it's just down to the water cooler to re-fill my cup.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 10, 2016 4:55:16 GMT -8
I workout so I can be a better hiker. Bing a better hiker is my motivation.
I set a goal, a few years ago, of wanting to be able to do a 5 mile a day backpack. I worked out towards that goal. Meeting that goal, I set my next goal to be able to do a 5 mile a day backpack without feeling wrecked when I got to the camping spot. Metting the 5 mile no wreck goal, I moved to being able to do 10 miles a day backpacks and I am now on the goal of not feeling wrecked goal. I plan on stopping at 10 miles a day not feeling wrecked.
Taking the time to reward myself has helped. I had greatly cut back on eating red meat; I really like a good burger. So, if I worked out X number of times per month then I would allow myself to eat a burger.
This Am I took my BP and got a reading of 121/78, reward time of one cup of coffee.
I also worked on and continue to work on my mind; on my anxieties and stressors.
I am still a 'fat' guy at 230 pounds but I can lift weights for 2 hours and run for 10 miles. Something I worked up to over 6 years.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 10, 2016 5:12:03 GMT -8
I also write 'it', the work out, down. I made a spread sheet of my workouts, years ago, then I'd print it out and write down my workout after doing the exercise. My workout has changed over the years but I can look back and see the progress.
Take your workout aheet with you and write down your result after each set or exercise.
I leave space on the spreadsheet for the write in. For a long time working out on the VersaClimber was an option. When I started out with the VersaClimber I would do a minute then have to stop to recover. I worked up to being able to do an hour on the VersaClimber. Now the VersaClimber is part of my warm-up, with a 5 min. hard resistance.
Now the Jacobs Ladder is a write in. I can only do about 1 min sets on the Jacobs Ladder. When I first tried the Jacobs Ladder, I did about 30 sec and had to stop. I then said to myself, 'I am going to do this machine.' For me that Jacobs Ladder simulates a class three climb to the top of a peak.
The gist is that I found its important to track my progress.
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rebeccad
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Post by rebeccad on Aug 10, 2016 8:57:45 GMT -8
Another simple fix that I've put together is a little app on my computer called WorkRave. It sets a timer for some amount of time (I set mine for 25-30 minutes), then locks the screen for a set amount of time (say, 3 minutes). It's built with the idea of preventing repetitive stress injuries, but I find it's a good reminder to get up and walk a bit, too. Even if it's just down to the water cooler to re-fill my cup. I like that. I might suggest it to my husband, who can sit for far too long at a stretch. I don't personally need it because a) I drink a lot of water, and b) I think I'm a bit ADD I very seldom work long stretches without getting up. The gist is that I found its important to track my progress. I'm not that scientific about it, but I find that it's good to keep a log of my workouts. For one thing, it's so painfully obvious if I'm slacking! I've thought about keeping a log of what I eat, too, for much the same reason--if I have to write down that I hunted up the Halloween candy and ate a Snickers bar, I'm less likely to do it
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Post by froggiebecky on Aug 10, 2016 14:54:15 GMT -8
I'm at the point where I need to do it (yay thesis), I'm capable of doing it, but I feel pretty awful when I do. That, and when I was doing my masters my wrist really suffered, so I'm trying to not have a repeat of that little experience.
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walkswithblackflies
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Post by walkswithblackflies on Aug 11, 2016 5:09:29 GMT -8
Now the Jacobs Ladder is a write in A machine created by the devil himself.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 11, 2016 5:16:18 GMT -8
Now the Jacobs Ladder is a write in A machine created by the devil himself. You used one? When I first spied the new Jacobs Ladder at the gym, I said to myself, 'I'm in shape (I consider round as being a shape), so why not give it a try.' After about 15 seconds, I was ready to quit, but my wife was standing there *laughs*.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 11, 2016 5:19:02 GMT -8
Oi! I forgot. Watch some YouTube videos on gym fails. A good primer on what not to do when one gets to the gym.
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