685 replies to this topic

[KaibaSama]

Alright first bike ride in probably 15 years complete. Did about 3 miles in 25 minutes.. it's a start and it's slow but wow so out of shape lol. Gonna be feeling it tomorrow. I also need to get a padded seat, ouch.

That's a lot better than I could do! I went running again after taking a rest day, but it was more walking than running. I couldn't run like I did 2 days ago for some odd reason.

Edited by Satsuki, 24 April 2014 - 04:16 PM.

[Rocket]

That's a lot better than I could do! I went running again after taking a rest day, but it was more walking than running. I couldn't run like I did 2 days ago for some odd reason.

I figured if I can walk the route i can bike it... Well I went a block over and forgot about hills. Gonna do some stretching so I won't be so sore tomorrow.

[Psyduck]

I want to run, but it's too late most nights by the time I get home. Tonight I was to do back&biceps. Any fun suggestions for dumbbells at home? @Psyduck @Doomsday

 

Ok so for back:

 

one arm dumbbell row (3 sets, 10 reps)- 

bent over row (3 sets, 10 reps)

dead lift (3 sets, 10 reps)

back fly (3 sets, 10 reps)

 

 

 

For biceps:

single bicep arm curl. (6 sets, 10 reps)-https://www.youtube....h?v=av7-8igSXTs

alternate bicep curls (3 sets, 10 reps)

inner bicep curls (3 sets, 10 reps)

hammer curls (3 sets, 10 reps)

[Nymh]

Thanks @Psyduck!!  Back and biceps are my favorite things to work but I didn't know how to do it at home.

[Doomsday]

I want to run, but it's too late most nights by the time I get home. Tonight I was to do back&biceps. Any fun suggestions for dumbbells at home? @Psyduck @Doomsday

I never really did too many weights I was more into keeping fit and lean so I did a lot of cardio.  I've replaced my cardio at the gym by going out most weekend and burning off excesive amounts of energy on a dance floor.  I also have a really manual job so that helps keep me fit too.

 

As for your question on fun suggestions for dumbbells I'm not too sure I'd class any of them as fun but they are effective.  Try looking here at a list of Dumbbell exercises, broken down into muscle groups (pecs, shoulders, back, arms etc).  It'll give you a suggested # of reps and sets for each method.  Lift what you feel comfortable lifting and don't over-strain yourself.  Start out lighter and work your way up in weight.

 

As suggested before if you think yours are too light but don't really have the money to afford more right away, makeshift dumbbells out of empty milk bottles.  Start by filling them up first with water for weight, then replace the water with sand or something heavier later.

[Scot]

I wish I could participate alongside the lot of you but military duty(teehee doodie) calls so I will share some things I've been doing to lose weight in preparation. The most obvious is cutting out fast food and cokes(all soda). After many months of this, I can literally smell the sugar when I am up close to non-diet cokes and it makes me disgusted to consider drinking it. Next change I made is instead of eating 4 meals a day I now eat 3, which takes getting used to because that feeling of hunger starts to creep every 4 hours but this also passes with time. In addition to that I started eating smaller portions after seeing this poster in the dfac. Exercise wise I go to the gym regularly, every other day for about an hour on a chest, arms, and a back/shoulder rotation. There will be plenty of excuses not to go but sadly there's no trick to this other than to do it. For me, I hate crowds so if it was past 4pm I wouldn't go at all. Later I forced myself to go at 10pm when it dies down, going at night really sucks btw so I now make time to go earlier in the day. I picked up running again after many many idle years. At first I could barely get half a mile but with some regularity, that number starts to creep up. I now run every other day. Fear is a great motivator btw, I weighed in over the limit at MEPs so not making weight could delay my entry and its really hot here so I'd rather go sooner than later. The one advice I can give from personal experience is not to be overly eager with your training regiment. When I first started working out with a friend we laid out all the things we said we were going to do like go to the gym every day and jog/walk the 6 mile trail close to our homes every other day and maybe take the 7th day off. We couldn't keep up with that for more than a few weeks and quit for a long time. When I started back up I eased into it. For example, if I didn't feel like going to run I would still go, even if it was to run just a mile or work out for only 20 minutes. As long as I went I could count that as a victory for good habits, and establishing good habits is v. important. There's my spiel. I hope you took something from all that C:

[Rocket]

Thanks Scot! We wish you the best in your new life adventure! Be sure to update us on your progress when you can (also men in uniform mmmmmm)

[Applepi]

I wish I could participate alongside the lot of you but military duty(teehee doodie) calls so I will share some things I've been doing to lose weight in preparation. The most obvious is cutting out fast food and cokes(all soda). After many months of this, I can literally smell the sugar when I am up close to non-diet cokes and it makes me disgusted to consider drinking it. Next change I made is instead of eating 4 meals a day I now eat 3, which takes getting used to because that feeling of hunger starts to creep every 4 hours but this also passes with time. In addition to that I started eating smaller portions after seeing this poster in the dfac. Exercise wise I go to the gym regularly, every other day for about an hour on a chest, arms, and a back/shoulder rotation. There will be plenty of excuses not to go but sadly there's no trick to this other than to do it. For me, I hate crowds so if it was past 4pm I wouldn't go at all. Later I forced myself to go at 10pm when it dies down, going at night really sucks btw so I now make time to go earlier in the day. I picked up running again after many many idle years. At first I could barely get half a mile but with some regularity, that number starts to creep up. I now run every other day. Fear is a great motivator btw, I weighed in over the limit at MEPs so not making weight could delay my entry and its really hot here so I'd rather go sooner than later. The one advice I can give from personal experience is not to be overly eager with your training regiment. When I first started working out with a friend we laid out all the things we said we were going to do like go to the gym every day and jog/walk the 6 mile trail close to our homes every other day and maybe take the 7th day off. We couldn't keep up with that for more than a few weeks and quit for a long time. When I started back up I eased into it. For example, if I didn't feel like going to run I would still go, even if it was to run just a mile or work out for only 20 minutes. As long as I went I could count that as a victory for good habits, and establishing good habits is v. important. There's my spiel. I hope you took something from all that C:

 

Thanks for all those tips @Scot! I'm in the midst of trying to cut out all soda and its HARD! I know its one of those mind over matter things but I've gotten so used to having a soda with lunch its ingrained in my brains Stay strong fellow Codexians (that's a word right?) We can do it! 

[Rocket]

Thanks for all those tips @Scot! I'm in the midst of trying to cut out all soda and its HARD! I know its one of those mind over matter things but I've gotten so used to having a soda with lunch its ingrained in my brains Stay strong fellow Codexians (that's a word right?) We can do it! 

 

I'm 13 days strong with no soda! You can do it!!

[Ali]

I'm 13 days strong with no soda! You can do it!!

You won't believe how sweet it is when you do have one. Like drinking liquid sugar.

[Rocket]

You won't believe how sweet it is when you do have one. Like drinking liquid sugar.

 

Yea I gave it up for lent a few years ago, and was a shocker when I tasted coke again. I'm hoping this will be permanent and/or I'll only have one when I go out every once in a while.

[Bone]

You won't believe how sweet it is when you do have one. Like drinking liquid sugar.

 

Before I quit soda, I assumed that the people who said soda becomes unbearably sweet were lying. They weren't.

 

Yea I gave it up for lent a few years ago, and was a shocker when I tasted coke again. I'm hoping this will be permanent and/or I'll only have one when I go out every once in a while.

 

You can do it! If you think you're about to cave, consider having some juice instead!

[Ali]

Before I quit soda, I assumed that the people who said soda becomes unbearably sweet were lying. They weren't.

 

Once you realise, it's actually a bit scary how we just become accustomed to something being so sweet that we don't even sense it.

 

After all this "sugar = devil food" mania that we've had in the media recently, I read an article about how we all get addicted to sugar and our brain's ability to taste sweetness essentially dulls, so we need bigger and bigger hits to sense it. Not sure how much truth there is in it (and I can't be bothered to find the article ) but it does tally with the soda experience.

 

I gave up all refined sugars for about 3 weeks just out of interest and it really does alter your tastebuds when you go back to it afterwards. Bagels for instance, seem impossibly sweet to me now, and I struggle to eat regular milk chocolate.

[Trichomes]

Before I quit soda, I assumed that the people who said soda becomes unbearably sweet were lying. They weren't.

 

 

You can do it! If you think you're about to cave, consider having some juice instead!

 

I don't know, I've drastically cut back on my soda intake, but I still enjoy it from time to time. I haven't been eating or drinking much of anything with added sugars lately, aside from the Easter candy that I've been eating in moderation all week, and I've noticed my teeth are a lot more sensitive to sugar than they used to be. I have no idea if that's even related.

 

Artificial sweeteners, on the other hand, are completely inedible to me now.

 

I actually like to drink certain kinds of juice, like apple or cranberry, diluted with water.

[Applepi]

Once you realise, it's actually a bit scary how we just become accustomed to something being so sweet that we don't even sense it.

 

After all this "sugar = devil food" mania that we've had in the media recently, I read an article about how we all get addicted to sugar and our brain's ability to taste sweetness essentially dulls, so we need bigger and bigger hits to sense it. Not sure how much truth there is in it (and I can't be bothered to find the article ) but it does tally with the soda experience.

 

I gave up all refined sugars for about 3 weeks just out of interest and it really does alter your tastebuds when you go back to it afterwards. Bagels for instance, seem impossibly sweet to me now, and I struggle to eat regular milk chocolate.

 

This is such an interesting phenomenon! I've definitely read about this as well and its kind of insane that we could build such a tolerance to sugar. I dont know if I could cut out all sugar (can't take my coffee black, I'm not enough of an adult), but I really do want to cut down on how much sugar I eat daily. I'm hoping to get back on track with watching what I eat. It seems that those stressful weeks are always my fall-apart points  

[Bone]

Once you realise, it's actually a bit scary how we just become accustomed to something being so sweet that we don't even sense it.

 

After all this "sugar = devil food" mania that we've had in the media recently, I read an article about how we all get addicted to sugar and our brain's ability to taste sweetness essentially dulls, so we need bigger and bigger hits to sense it. Not sure how much truth there is in it (and I can't be bothered to find the article ) but it does tally with the soda experience.

 

I gave up all refined sugars for about 3 weeks just out of interest and it really does alter your tastebuds when you go back to it afterwards. Bagels for instance, seem impossibly sweet to me now, and I struggle to eat regular milk chocolate.

 

I'm not sure on the science behind that, but it sounds believable enough to me. I love bread (and sugar, even), but so much (American, sliced) bread is loaded with enough HFCS to make me gag. 

I don't know, I've drastically cut back on my soda intake, but I still enjoy it from time to time. I haven't been eating or drinking much of anything with added sugars lately, aside from the Easter candy that I've been eating in moderation all week, and I've noticed my teeth are a lot more sensitive to sugar than they used to be. I have no idea if that's even related.

 

Artificial sweeteners, on the other hand, are completely inedible to me now.

 

I actually like to drink certain kinds of juice, like apple or cranberry, diluted with water.

 

Huh. I can drink diet soda, but can't stomach more than a few sips of regular soda. 

 

I've also noticed that my teeth are more sensitive to sugar, but that might have more to do with the fact that I'm slowly grinding them down to nothing in my sleep.

[Ali]

I'm not sure on the science behind that, but it sounds believable enough to me. I love bread (and sugar, even), but so much (American, sliced) bread is loaded with enough HFCS to make me gag. 

Bread is my Achilles heel. I suspect a bit of a gluten intolerance because it makes me feel bloody awful these days, but I do love it so. I think that is the worst thing when it comes to sugar though, it's in so many things (and in quite high volumes) that we don't consider sugary. We all know that sweets and chocolate and soda are sugary, but it wasn't until I started to be really aware of my food that I realised how much was in bread, or pre-bought sauces.

 

This is such an interesting phenomenon! I've definitely read about this as well and its kind of insane that we could build such a tolerance to sugar. I dont know if I could cut out all sugar (can't take my coffee black, I'm not enough of an adult), but I really do want to cut down on how much sugar I eat daily. I'm hoping to get back on track with watching what I eat. It seems that those stressful weeks are always my fall-apart points

I kept natural sugars, so I was still eating fruit. Even just cutting out refined was really difficult because it is in so much but it was good from the perspective that it really heightened my awareness of what I eat. I try and make a lot more things from scratch now. Things like soups and pasta sauces are so easy to make, and bought versions are so high in it!

[NapisaurusRex]

A few weeks after I quit eating gluten, the smell of bread started making me nauseous. I still crave things like tortillas and crackers, but I don't know if I'll ever eat bread again cause it makes me want to throw up.

[Trichomes]

This is such an interesting phenomenon! I've definitely read about this as well and its kind of insane that we could build such a tolerance to sugar. I dont know if I could cut out all sugar (can't take my coffee black, I'm not enough of an adult), but I really do want to cut down on how much sugar I eat daily. I'm hoping to get back on track with watching what I eat. It seems that those stressful weeks are always my fall-apart points

 

My mom uses agave nectar to sweeten her coffee instead of sugar. It's about 60 calories per tablespoon, but it's sweeter than sugar, so you don't need to use as much.

[Bone]

Hey, another tip for you Losers (inspired by @Ali 's mention of sauces). It may have already been brought up, but it bears repeating:

 

DON'T USE STORE-BOUGHT SALAD DRESSING. Creamy dressings are extremely fatty and often have a lot of sodium, and "vinegarettes" are often full of sugar. Just use some olive oil and/or red wine/balsamic vinegar. Classier, healthier, and tastier. Bam.

[Doomsday]

Hey, another tip for you Losers (inspired by @Ali 's mention of sauces). It may have already been brought up, but it bears repeating:
 
DON'T USE STORE-BOUGHT SALAD DRESSING. Creamy dressings are extremely fatty and often have a lot of sodium, and "vinegarettes" are often full of sugar. Just use some olive oil and/or red wine/balsamic vinegar. Classier, healthier, and tastier. Bam.

A bit of olive oil mixed with lemon or lime juice is what I generally use.

[Tubbz]

I have 2 tips that are actually really useful, but I fear are going to get lost in the essays being posted.
1. Most of the time, it's thirst not hunger. Drink some water, wait half hour, and see if you're still hungry. Often you're not. Thirst and hunger feel the same.
2. Stop weighing yourself!!!! If you're weighing yourself midweek, it's just disheartening when you don't see the scales going the way you want.
Day 1 - stay the same
Day 2 - stay the same
Day 3 - stay the same
Day 4 - stay the same
Day 5 - stay the same (if you've weighed yourself everyday, you're going to be fed up by now)
Day 6 - 1lb loss
Day 7 - 2lb loss

If you weigh yourself every day, it's so much easier to think it's not working and give up.
If you're starting at a low weight anyway, there's not going to be huge variation in your weight.

[Rocket]

If you weigh yourself every day, it's so much easier to think it's not working and give up.
If you're starting at a low weight anyway, there's not going to be huge variation in your weight.

 

This is true, I've stopped weighing myself daily for this reason. I'm only going to do it once a week now.

[Psyduck]

I only weigh myself once every 2 weeks. It helps if you are trying to lose weight to not look because it helps as a motivational tool.