Weight loss/ lifting/ dieting thread

[JustinNck1]

7 minutes ago, 2talltim said:

Ok researching on doing a little more lifting, not much just some entry level stuff. My question is, I know they say you need a rest day inbetween lifting days. Can I do cardio on those rest days of does my body need a complete rest?

I usually do cardio the day after arms or shoulders, but rest the day after leg day. I don't know if it's by the book, but it works for me.

[redkow97]

I started drinking a gallon of water a day at work (or trying to, anyway), laying off weekday beers, and cycling twice a week.  I'm down 3 lbs. this week.

My friend who cycles seriously claims I'll drop below 160 if I really stick to improving as a rider.  I can't remember the last time I was below 170, and I'm under 175 right now...  I'm not working out to lose weight, per se, but if it keeps me looking better, cool.

[what]

down 7lbs since last post. Salad for lunch and peanut butter + honey sandwich (2) for dinner for a week works wonders. Going to see how long I can do this routine before I can't stand the sight of peanuts anymore. 

[2talltim]

27 minutes ago, what said:

down 7lbs since last post. Salad for lunch and peanut butter + honey sandwich (2) for dinner for a week works wonders. Going to see how long I can do this routine before I can't stand the sight of peanuts anymore. 

When I eat peanut butter I consider it a cheat, it's usually my go to when I have sweet craving. Too many carbs to eat it daily for me.

[what]

33 minutes ago, 2talltim said:

When I eat peanut butter I consider it a cheat, it's usually my go to when I have sweet craving. Too many carbs to eat it daily for me.

I'm not doing the carb thing so much, just calorie. Although the sandwiches are the only carbs I eat during the day. I wasn't sure if I would lose while eating it or not since it's so sugary but so far weight has been dropping off fast. I did decide on honey instead of preserves to cut down on any extra sugars. Lunch has been a salad with a hard boiled egg, some baked vegetables and some sort of meat on top. Water, tea or coffee is all I drink. I've found diet soda is pretty terrible for weight loss as it causes me to retain water like crazy. 

 

I should note this has been my normal routine over the last 2 years that let me drop 100lbs in the first place. I got off track over the summer/fall a bit but I'll be back to where I was by the end of next week. I was eating terribly through November... pizza every weekend, chicken fingers and dip, bags of potato chips, etc etc. Surprised I gained as little as I did to be honest. Got it out of my system I guess and am now back in gear to be down another 40-50lbs by the time the cold weather goes away. 

Edited December 14, 2016 by what

[ScubaCinci]

2 hours ago, 2talltim said:

Ok researching on doing a little more lifting, not much just some entry level stuff. My question is, I know they say you need a rest day inbetween lifting days. Can I do cardio on those rest days of does my body need a complete rest?

Depends on what you did. For instance, if you did strength training in your legs, I definitely would not do cardio the next day that heavily involve the legs. You could do circuit training (upper body) for cardio or swimming since it's primarily core/upper body. But if you just did upper body strength training, do all the cardio you want with your legs next day or even same day. Somewhere in this thread I posted how I split things up. If you are still really sore the second day, you should probably not use those muscles intensely for that day either.

Nearly all muscles need at least one rest day in between before hitting them hard again. The older you are, the longer the recovery tends to need to be. I try to skip at least 2 days between working the same muscle groups directly. Two exceptions - calves and abs. They are very resilient and can be done back to back days but just make sure to rest them at some point (i.e. three days in a row is probably pushing it). When you lift, you cause micro tears in the muscles. The repairing of these is what grows the muscle and adds strength as you recruit more muscle fibers. If you don't give this enough time to repair itself, you'll tear down the muscles again below where they were before so it's counter productive. If you can do more that 20 reps, the weights are too light, try again. Conventional training methods says weights that you can only do 2-6 reps build strength, 6-12 reps gets more into hypertrophy (muscle growth) and 12-20 is more endurance building though they all overlap to a degree. New studies have shown that using lighter weights with higher reps can be as effective as heavier weights for building muscle but not everyone is sold on it and there are specific methods to follow.

I actually have a lot of knowledge around fitness and exercise from school and always being an avid reader of fitness related stuff. In my case, just because you know what to do doesn't help if you aren't doing it.

[2talltim]

51 minutes ago, what said:

I'm not doing the carb thing so much, just calorie. Although the sandwiches are the only carbs I eat during the day. I wasn't sure if I would lose while eating it or not since it's so sugary but so far weight has been dropping off fast. I did decide on honey instead of preserves to cut down on any extra sugars. Lunch has been a salad with a hard boiled egg, some baked vegetables and some sort of meat on top. Water, tea or coffee is all I drink. I've found diet soda is pretty terrible for weight loss as it causes me to retain water like crazy. 

 

I should note this has been my normal routine over the last 2 years that let me drop 100lbs in the first place. I got off track over the summer/fall a bit but I'll be back to where I was by the end of next week. I was eating terribly through November... pizza every weekend, chicken fingers and dip, bags of potato chips, etc etc. Surprised I gained as little as I did to be honest. Got it out of my system I guess and am now back in gear to be down another 40-50lbs by the time the cold weather goes away. 

No doubt do what works for ya. I was just saying I can't eat that.

[2talltim]

OK did a pretty heavy upper body work out on Wednesday evening. Woke up Thursday morning and felt NOTHING and didn't feel anything all day long. Kind of wondered if I did something wrong or not enough. Woke up this morning(Friday) and everything was a little stiff but not bad. It is now almost 2pm and my bi''s, tri's and chest are burning like a mother f'er. Is this normal? I haven't real done anything strenuous all day. Why did it take 36 hours before I felt the effects? And my plan was to hit it every other day but being sore today should I wait at least a extra day for muscles to recover. Just thought it was strange how it all played out.

Edited December 16, 2016 by 2talltim

[ScubaCinci]

Yep, the real soreness doesn't creep in until about 2 days later. Unless you take a few weeks off, from here on out the soreness will be minimal after a workout. 

[JustinNck1]

That was exactly how my first day lifting was. Felt good first day, 2nd day was rough. I've now been mixing an amino acids drink prior to strength training, and then a scoop of protein after. Haven't been than sore and I can now get more weight and reps in.

[2talltim]

23 minutes ago, ScubaCinci said:

Yep, the real soreness doesn't creep in until about 2 days later. Unless you take a few weeks off, from here on out the soreness will be minimal after a workout. 

So should I wait another day or hit it again tonight 48 hr later

[ScubaCinci]

If you are still really sore, wait. If just a little sore you're ok. You can always target a different muscle group. 

[2talltim]

I'll do some cardio tonight and some leg work, then hit the upper again tomorrow. Sounds like a plan.

[2talltim]

Do you need work out gear or like me and just need to replace you entire wardrobe because nothing fits? www.underarmor.com has some really good deal today up to 40% off of some really nice stuff. You have to search for the discounted stuff but worth it and there is FREE shipping. Just bought myself and my son some $12 shirts.

[ScubaCinci]

I've been buying stuff as I go along...you can find shorts and stuff pretty cheap pretty much anywhere. I don't care too much about being stylish at the gym...some people are all decked out as they preen around the place

[2talltim]

On 12/17/2016 at 3:05 PM, ScubaCinci said:

I've been buying stuff as I go along...you can find shorts and stuff pretty cheap pretty much anywhere. I don't care too much about being stylish at the gym...some people are all decked out as they preen around the place

I work out in whatever work shirt I had on that day and a pair of cheap Walmart shorts. Even my shoes are $16 Walmart specials. I do like UA polos and t-shirts every day wear though. 

[JustinNck1]

It's hard to tell much difference, but these photos were taken a year ago and this weekend. The red shirt you can see my gut was pushing it out. The blue shirt is a more athletic cut, but I think you can see some progress. Not much, but I will be curious to see how 2017 looks.

[ScubaCinci]

Yep, I can tell...it wasn't until I lost about 60 lbs that people started noticing. I think that's when my face thinned out.

[2talltim]

Same here it was around 50lbs lost before most started to comment. at 60lbs lost now and everyone that hasent seen me in a while says something.

[what]

On 12/16/2016 at 1:47 PM, 2talltim said:

OK did a pretty heavy upper body work out on Wednesday evening. Woke up Thursday morning and felt NOTHING and didn't feel anything all day long. Kind of wondered if I did something wrong or not enough. Woke up this morning(Friday) and everything was a little stiff but not bad. It is now almost 2pm and my bi''s, tri's and chest are burning like a mother f'er. Is this normal? I haven't real done anything strenuous all day. Why did it take 36 hours before I felt the effects? And my plan was to hit it every other day but being sore today should I wait at least a extra day for muscles to recover. Just thought it was strange how it all played out.

 

On 12/16/2016 at 2:18 PM, ScubaCinci said:

Yep, the real soreness doesn't creep in until about 2 days later. Unless you take a few weeks off, from here on out the soreness will be minimal after a workout. 

 

Yep. It's usually the 2nd day after for me though.

 

Day 1: work muscle group that has been neglected

Day 2: that wasn't so bad. 

Day 3: please kill me

 

Same here it was around 50lbs lost before most started to comment. at 60lbs lost now and everyone that hasent seen me in a while says something.

 

The best is when you haven't lost anything at all and people say how much thinner you look since last time they saw you.  :| 

Edited December 19, 2016 by what

[what]

11 hours ago, JustinNck1 said:

It's hard to tell much difference, but these photos were taken a year ago and this weekend. The red shirt you can see my gut was pushing it out. The blue shirt is a more athletic cut, but I think you can see some progress. Not much, but I will be curious to see how 2017 looks.

You're still in your 20's so you'll lose really fast if you stick to your routine. There's definitely some progress showing already. 

[JustinNck1]

Started this week replacing my breakfast (Nature Valley granola bar) with a protein shake (1 scoop Gold Standard Whey) each morning. We will see how it goes.

Edited December 19, 2016 by JustinNck1

[Wojo72]

I hit 210 yesterday. That's 14 lbs down from where i started.  I'm guessing that I'll get down to about 205 before I stall out.  

 

[ScubaCinci]

Lots of weight being lost in here

Down 102 lbs. this morning...somewhat amazing because I went to 3 holiday parties this past weekend.

[ScubaCinci]

who wants the over under on 1.5 lbs?