Fitness Thread

Hey is your dad going to be on the sidelines tomorrow night?
Oh yeah. In fact, I got to go on the sidelines pre-game last week.

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It doesn't happen all that often, and this was just something I was able to do for a few minutes pre-game. Last year he got me a sideline pass for the West Virginia game, which was AMAAAAAAAAAAZING!!
 
I'm starting a new lifting routine next week. It's from the book "Thinner, Leaner, Stronger" by Michael Matthews. It has 6 phases each lasting 8 weeks. I'm also cutting out sugar (including fruit :( ) and dairy from my diet. I'm hoping to shed the last bit of fat that just doesn't seem to want to part with my body. :)
 
From Dr Andreas Eenfeldt’s Diet Doctor website.

“Experts still trumpet eating less and exercising more to slow down the epidemics. But that’s what we’ve been saying for 30 years, while the problem has exploded. It’s not working.

It may be even worse. The problem really started to get bad in the early 80s, just when we were told to eat “healthily”, just when the first Dietary Guidelines for Americans were released, and then copied around the world. That’s when the epidemic started.”


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From Dr Andreas Eenfeldt’s Diet Doctor website.

“Experts still trumpet eating less and exercising more to slow down the epidemics. But that’s what we’ve been saying for 30 years, while the problem has exploded. It’s not working.

It may be even worse. The problem really started to get bad in the early 80s, just when we were told to eat “healthily”, just when the first Dietary Guidelines for Americans were released, and then copied around the world. That’s when the epidemic started.”


T2DMinworld-1-1200x675.jpg


CZw6xKNWIAEwaD6.jpg

After trying so many different things, the only thing I can get behind is just eating whole, real foods that don't come from a box or can. Whether you're a meat eater, vegetarian, or vegan, just choose foods that have the least amount of processing. It's almost the only way to avoid added sugars, which are hidden everywhere.

As far as physical fitness goes, you have to find something you absolutely love, otherwise it will always be a chore.

Those two things combined have completely changed my life. I also eat so much less animal product than I used to. I am by no means vegan, but I'm usually only eating meat or dairy (<-- and that's rare) at dinner time because my boyfriend doesn't practice any dietary restrictions, and so it's just easier to meal plan for the both of us at dinner. Most of the day I'm eating fruits, veggies, and healthy fats and proteins like hummus and almonds. Even my protein powder is vegan, and I love it!
 
I've been restricting carbs to lose belly fat and am down about 20 pounds since the first of the year, but realistically ought to lose another 50. The thing I worry about is losing muscle mass.

I love cycling and enjoy cycling up to 20 miles twice a week or so. (I've cycled as much as 50, but the enjoyment ended at about the 35 mile mark) However, I spoke with an expert who suggested I do more sprint-like exercises or I may start looking like the slender-limbed endurance athletes. Nothing wrong with that, I guess, but for some reason it's important to me to remain a big guy. I come from a family of muscular people and I've had to work a lot harder than my brothers to have larger than average muscles.

I have access to a gym at work with free weights, weight machines, stationary cycles, treadmills, elliptical and a rower. I try to do 3 one hour sessions in the gym, hitting the cycle for 20-25 minutes and then doing a combination of upper body exercises focused mostly on chest, arm and shoulders, moving quickly between reps to keep my heart rate up two days a week, and a combo of leg and ab exercises on the other day.

I'm wondering about concentrating on heavier weights and reducing my reps. Also wondering if maybe it would be a good idea to do 6 miles on the bike as fast as I can instead of 12-20 at a comfortable pace. Any opinions out there?
 
I took my PE certification test on Friday and I've been waiting patiently for my scores. They were posted just now, and I passed! Call me coach.
 
The Healthiest Old Person on the Planet Explains How to Stay in Shape

96 year old Charles Eugster

Great read at vice.com — a few notable bits quoted below.

The London-born ex-dentist, who now lives in Switzerland, is arguably the fittest senior citizen on the planet. He's also a body-builder, a public speaker, a writer, a rower, a wakeboarder, an entrepreneur, and a budding fashion designer, planning his own line in elderly couture.

I feel like a youngster of 60, tops. Being fit is a wonderful thing. Before I turned 90, I got severe colds every November, but now they've completely stopped—I've had two in six years. I'll tell you something else: strength training increases your libido.

:smokin:

What do you eat to stay in shape?

I start every day with a protein shake because, as you get older, your protein synthesis no longer functions as well. I avoid sugar and eat lots of meat, especially fat. I've been on a fat trip lately. Fat! Piles of fat. Yet, I was in a supermarket the other day and was perplexed to find yogurt with zero fat. What on earth is that? The idea of the nutrition pyramid where, at the top, is a little fat and meat, and at the bottom a lot of carbohydrates, is, excuse me, ********. Humans are so unbelievably stupid that we have begun to tinker with food. Our theories of nutrition have resulted in a pandemic of obesity. Can you imagine a hunter-gatherer enjoying a low-fat yogurt?

And what about your sprinting?
Well, once this hamstring heals, I think we'll see what can be done about the 100m outdoors. There's a 105-year-old Japanese sprinter called Hidekichi Miyazaki who I would like to run against over 100m. They call him "The Golden Bolt," and with our combined ages of over 200 years, I think that would be some spectacle!


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Interesting look at the history of the human diet with respect to dramatically increased carbohydrate intake (starch & sugar, especially refined carbs) over just the last 30 years or so. This coincides with huge increases in obesity, diabetes, metabolic syndrome, etc. Click the image for a bigger version.

I think this was originally in response to a claim that low carb eating was a “fad” when in fact it appears that the vast majority of human history has been low carb — our modern diet is the anomaly.

Source: jnwillits.com/2016/02/03/human-diet-perspective

From the post:

If the history of mankind were represented by a distance of 100 meters, the last 100 years would be within the final four millimeters.

Our first 1.5 million years of human diet history is not represented on the graph. If it were, the recent spike of relatively high-carb eating would be nearly invisible. I think one million years of history is enough to make the point that our switch to eating sugar and grains is an extreme change.


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Interesting look at the history of the human diet with respect to dramatically increased carbohydrate intake (starch & sugar, especially refined carbs) over just the last 30 years or so. This coincides with huge increases in obesity, diabetes, metabolic syndrome, etc. Click the image for a bigger version.

I think this was originally in response to a claim that low carb eating was a “fad” when in fact it appears that the vast majority of human history has been low carb — our modern diet is the anomaly.

Source: jnwillits.com/2016/02/03/human-diet-perspective

From the post:

If the history of mankind were represented by a distance of 100 meters, the last 100 years would be within the final four millimeters.

Our first 1.5 million years of human diet history is not represented on the graph. If it were, the recent spike of relatively high-carb eating would be nearly invisible. I think one million years of history is enough to make the point that our switch to eating sugar and grains is an extreme change.


jnwillits-carb-timeline1.png

Sugar, and a vast majority of animal products. Add on to that the fact that those two things are often highly processed... ew.

When I limit those two things I feel better, perform better, and my skin is glowing.
 
Corruption that needs to be exposed and ridiculed. Imagine if Jack Daniels and Smirnoff were contributing “sponsors” of Alcoholics Anonymous.

Corporate Contributions Influence Diabetes Treatment

Big Pharma ALONE paid the American Diabetes Association (ADA) OVER $31 million in 2012 [...] The ADA promotes a High Carb, Grain Based, Low Fat meal plan that causes MORE drug use and MORE INSULIN USE! Coincidence?

ADA DONORS

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TOP DONORS

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Novo Nordisk, Sanofi and Eli Lilly all profit directly from a high carb meal plan … they are the three top insulin producers.

The more the ADA promotes a meal plan featuring breads, cakes, cookies, pasta, rice, potatoes and cereals… the more those companies profit. And apparently the reason the donations went from $19 to $31 million in four years.


Any one with a blood glucose meter KNOWS that breads, cakes, cookies, pasta, rice, potatoes and cereals raise blood sugar. All high carb foods raise blood sugar.

Diabetes is disease of ‘high blood sugar’ or hyperglycemia.

When blood sugar goes up, what must people do? Buy more insulin and diabetes drugs.
 
Fat: The New Health Paradigm

Article at Credit Suisse Research Institute | Full Report (PDF)

“Eating cholesterol, for instance, has basically no impact on the level of cholesterol in the blood or on potential heart diseases, and the link between saturated fat intake and cardiovascular risk has not been proved.”

“In short, saturated fats and monounsaturated fats are not behind the high rates of obesity and metabolic syndrome* in the US. The two leading culprits are the higher intakes of vegetable oils and the increase in carbohydrate consumption.”

Metabolic syndrome is a collection of factors that increase risk for heart disease, diabetes, and stroke.
- High blood pressure
- High triglycerides
- Low HDL
- Excess abdominal fat
- High blood sugar
 
Fat: The New Health Paradigm

Article at Credit Suisse Research Institute | Full Report (PDF)

“Eating cholesterol, for instance, has basically no impact on the level of cholesterol in the blood or on potential heart diseases, and the link between saturated fat intake and cardiovascular risk has not been proved.”

“In short, saturated fats and monounsaturated fats are not behind the high rates of obesity and metabolic syndrome* in the US. The two leading culprits are the higher intakes of vegetable oils and the increase in carbohydrate consumption.”

Metabolic syndrome is a collection of factors that increase risk for heart disease, diabetes, and stroke.
- High blood pressure
- High triglycerides
- Low HDL
- Excess abdominal fat
- High blood sugar

Do you pay attention to your macro percentages? I've gone back and forth between 50/25/25 and 40/30/30. I'm not sure which is better for me to continue on as I've lost weight at both counts. I'm getting to a point where I'm not really wanting to lose much more, but rather maintain and continue to adjust my body composition.
 
Do you pay attention to your macro percentages? I've gone back and forth between 50/25/25 and 40/30/30. I'm not sure which is better for me to continue on as I've lost weight at both counts. I'm getting to a point where I'm not really wanting to lose much more, but rather maintain and continue to adjust my body composition.
I tracked macros briefly when I first changed my eating habits, just long enough to make sure I understood the glycemic index on things. Now I know what works for me. Plus, tracking every meal was a PITA so I don’t do it any more. I keep carbs very low, typically 50-100 grams/day and eat a lot of fat, probably 65-70% of my calories most days.

If you’re losing weight at 30% carb that is pretty impressive to me — lots of exercise involved I’m guessing?
 
I tracked macros briefly when I first changed my eating habits, just long enough to make sure I understood the glycemic index on things. Now I know what works for me. Plus, tracking every meal was a PITA so I don’t do it any more. I keep carbs very low, typically 50-100 grams/day and eat a lot of fat, probably 65-70% of my calories most days.

If you’re losing weight at 30% carb that is pretty impressive to me — lots of exercise involved I’m guessing?

HA... no my highest number on both counts is my carbs. So currently that's 50%. And yes, I work out A LOT. Intense workouts. Plus most of my carbs are actually just fruits and veggies, not starchy carbs.
 
HA... no my highest number on both counts is my carbs. So currently that's 50%. And yes, I work out A LOT. Intense workouts. Plus most of my carbs are actually just fruits and veggies, not starchy carbs.
Oh, I read it as fat/protein/carb, not sure why though, I guess I am used to seeing it that way.

Have you tried carb restriction and increase the fat? I think you mentioned before that it didn't feel right to you. Many people find the extra weight drop off very quickly when carbs are cut way back.

Good that you limit the starchy stuff. Fruit & veg has fiber to mitigate the uptake of carbs so I think the insulin/fat storage impact is minimized.
 
20 years from now, maybe sooner, we will look back on the low-fat dietary advice as perhaps the biggest medical mistake in history.
 
Oh, I read it as fat/protein/carb, not sure why though, I guess I am used to seeing it that way.

Have you tried carb restriction and increase the fat? I think you mentioned before that it didn't feel right to you. Many people find the extra weight drop off very quickly when carbs are cut way back.

Good that you limit the starchy stuff. Fruit & veg has fiber to mitigate the uptake of carbs so I think the insulin/fat storage impact is minimized.

I haven't. Actually I'm kind of obsessed with Freelee the Banana Girl and her way of eating. Like I said, I'm not vegan myself, but I don't eat very much animal product. My body seems to respond well to me eating 50/25/25 with those carbs being almost completely fruits and vegetables. I do a lot of zucchini noodles with this nice little device I bought. That or spaghetti squash. I feel really good eating this way and I've seen an increase in my endurance during my workouts.
 
......
“Eating cholesterol, for instance, has basically no impact on the level of cholesterol in the blood or on potential heart diseases, and the link between saturated fat intake and cardiovascular risk has not been proved.”

“In short, saturated fats and monounsaturated fats are not behind the high rates of obesity and metabolic syndrome* in the US. The two leading culprits are the higher intakes of vegetable oils and the increase in carbohydrate consumption.”.....


Good stuff, thanks
 
My 15 year old son started back on the ketogenic (low carb) diet two weeks ago today. He's a big kid, about 6-1. The first week he lost 8 pounds, from 233 to 225. This morning he weighed in at 220, another 5 pounds in his second week.

13 pounds in two weeks. He said he has a more energy and he wakes up not feeling so sluggish in the morning.
 
The good news on my fitness is that at 56 I can lift more weight than at any time in my life and I weigh 30 pounds less than I did in January. In high school I worked out every day, but even the field goal kicker could lift more than I, so I'm not sure the reason for this late life strength surge ...but I did 12 bench press reps at 245 pounds (the whole stack) on the company fitness center machine. Maybe it's because I only work out my upper body two days a week so my muscles have time to build and recover.

The bad news is that my endurance on long bike rides isn't right. I feel really hungry after riding an hour. Saturday, i had to stop for lunch to have enough energy to get home on a 3 hour ride. Then when I got home and started to rest I got a cramp in my aductor longus muscle. Damn, that was way worse than a calf or hamstring cramp.
 
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