Healthy Living 101

[Vegas69]

This thread is already going the direction I had hoped. We are all wired different and what works for you, may not work for the next guy. One thing I will say works for EVERYBODY. The better you eat, the longer you consistently excercise, the stronger you will be MENTALLY.

Erik mentions going through a bad divorce. Negativity through your enviroment and influences knocks the wind out of you. I like to compare it to the old nintendo boxing game. Every punch saps the power meeter. When you fight through a tough workout, those last few reps, that last mile, it becomes more natural to keep your head up and have a GREAT attitude, Regardless of circumstances.

That takes me into the next topic. Living healthy isn't just diet and excercise. It's also the company you keep. One of my favorite topics in the Compound Effect is the fact that you are greatly influenced by the FIVE people you spend the most time with. To take it one step further. You are the average of those 5 people. Meaning, happiness, wealth, success, attitude, etc. Who in your life is dragging you down with negativity? What new relationships/friends do you need to increase your POSITIVE influences? It's not just personal either. You can run a better business and surround yourself with the right clients. You just need to cement there expectations and your boundaries up front. For instance, I'm a real estate agent and I've worked one Saturday in 3 months. I take every Sunday off. I work 9-5:30 M-F. When I meet my clients, I outline our relationship in a contract. I want every client to have the same expectations for me and my team. Part of that is having a team member available on Saturdays. My point is, when you set standards for yourself, it's amazing how people will follow suit and respect your values. If they don't, it's the wrong client and relationship for your business and life.

[Track Junky]

Great thread Todd!! I was bike riding 20 miles every other day and doing push ups and sit ups for the days in between. I always watch what I eat but sometimes cheat and eat too many sweets. I am now in a slump and haven't been working out for over a month and am having a hard time breaking out.
Now that you have started this thread you have given me motivation to get started again. Thanks

[Vegas69]

Originally Posted by Track Junky

Great thread Todd!! I was bike riding 20 miles every other day and doing push ups and sit ups for the days in between. I always watch what I eat but sometimes cheat and eat too many sweets. I am now in a slump and haven't been working out for over a month and am having a hard time breaking out.
Now that you have started this thread you have given me motivation to get started again. Thanks

Gaetano, the problem I see with you is exactly as I described earlier in the thread. Who has time to ride a bike 20 miles every other day? The first day your schedule is to busy, you sweep it aside and pin it on time. Stretch, ride for a half hour, and stretch again and move forward with your day. If you have extra time, you can ride longer. Just don't think you need to ride 20 miles everytime. Some excercise is way better than none.

[Vegas69]

One thing I want to caution about is reducing your calorie intake to much. That leads to quick weight loss but it also leads to gaining the weight back since it will be tough to sustain. Here's my diet from last Tuesday.


AM-
Coffee
Jazz Apple
3 Mile Run
Egg White Omelet(Fresh Onion, Jalapeno, Spinach, Red Pepper, Zuccini, Tomato in Omelet)
One piece of whole grain toast(No butter or Jelly)
-----
Lunch
Chicken Salad(Whole wheat rice, black beans, corn, pico salsa, peppers)
----
Afternoon Snack
Handful of Carrots
Handful of Raw Almonds
----
Dinner
Seared Ahi Tuna Steak(Salt and Pepper)
Salad/1/2 Spinach with FRESH Onion, Tomato, Radish, Red Pepper, Cucumber (Reasonable amount of dressing)
One Dinner Roll(No Butter)
-----
Desert
FRESH Strawberries/1/2 Banana Mixed in a Bowl
A few spoonfuls of SKIM Cottage Cheese

Estimated Calories: 1700-1800

I lost .6 of a lb on the scale the following day. A super healthy fulfilling diet packed with enery and low enough calorie intake to lose weight. 200-300 additional calories would still net me a small weight loss.

[Spiffav8]

Originally Posted by Vegas69

One thing I want to caution about is reducing your calorie intake to much. That leads to quick weight loss but it also leads to gaining the weight back since it will be tough to sustain. Here's my diet from last Tuesday.


AM-
Coffee
Jazz Apple
3 Mile Run
Egg White Omelet(Fresh Onion, Jalapeno, Spinach, Red Pepper, Zuccini, Tomato in Omelet)
One piece of whole grain toast(No butter or Jelly)
-----
Lunch
Chicken Salad(Whole wheat rice, black beans, corn, pico salsa, peppers)
----
Afternoon Snack
Handful of Carrots
Handful of Raw Almonds
----
Dinner
Seared Ahi Tuna Steak(Salt and Pepper)
Salad/1/2 Spinach with FRESH Onion, Tomato, Radish, Red Pepper, Cucumber (Reasonable amount of dressing)
One Dinner Roll(No Butter)
-----
Desert
FRESH Strawberries/1/2 Banana Mixed in a Bowl
A few spoonfuls of SKIM Cottage Cheese

Estimated Calories: 1700-1800

I lost .6 of a lb on the scale the following day. A super healthy fulfilling diet packed with enery and low enough calorie intake to lose weight. 200-300 additional calories would still net me a small weight loss.

Add a slice of Bacon to each one of those and it would be the perfect plan.

[johnnymac46]

I'm 24, 6' 225LBS and in the military (currently overseas). My command goes to great lengths to keep us in shape, we have Nutritionists, Personal trainers, and a great gym. This of course is when I am home.

Anyone who has been or is in the military knows that fitness is peaks and valleys. When you are home and can eat right..You don't, when you are deployed and cant eat right...you wish you could.

As a few guys have said eating small meals throughout the day helps big time. Eating breakfast is one of the best things you can do for yourself, and a lot of people skip it because they "don't have time". The biggest thing is it gets your metabolism going, which makes you burn fat. You have to eat fat(good fat) to burn fat. When I'm home I eat 4-5 Meals a day. I am also Extremely active and put down about 4000-6000 calories a day to maintain my weight. I'm not a body builder but a 215 pound man in full body armor weighs at least 270lbs. I refuse to be the guy who cant get my buddy out of trouble.

Some misconceptions about working out are that more time in the gym is better, not the case. After 35-50 minutes your body is getting close to maxed out. I never run more than 5 miles (unless I'm told to). High intensity workouts are the way to go for general fitness. I have tried a lot of programs, from old school Arnold workouts, Big Beyond Belief, Crossfit, GymJones. I will say that I was in the best shape of my life when I was doing crossfit 3-4 times a week. You can do Crossfit in your garage, the workout of the day is posted on their website every morning. If you don't know the exercise you can Youtube it. Working out your large muscle groups (legs), also helps to release hormones that increase overall strength and fitness (I'm not talking about squatting 405 a million times either).

Working out with just your body weight is on of the best ways to get in great all around shape.

Remember when you are tracking your weight Loss/gain to weigh yourself at a similar time everyday, and your body will naturally flux 2-5lbs depending on the person.

As Todd said in the beginning write it down. I write everything down, Food intake, workouts, weight. It does pay off, and when you lose motivation you can flip back 2 months in your notebook and realize you have lost 10lbs and put 50lbs on your bench press.

I'll dig through some of the stuff I have and post up some good links for different "diets".

At the end of the day Diets don't work. Changing the way you eat/grocery shop helps. Next time you go to the grocery stay out of the Isles(where the processed food is) and stay on the outside where the coolers are(fresh food). Just doing that will make you drop some pounds.

[Track Junky]

Broke out of my mold and got a bike ride in this morning. I am trying to practice what I preach so I pulled my wife out with me. Kids are at grandmas in the Bay Area so it was easy to get her out. I did not take her on my usual ride due to the intensity level so I took her to a popular local bike riding trail off of the Nimbus dam and Salmon Hatchery in Sacramento. The trail runs beside the river and has beautifull scenery. I wish I brought my camera. We did 9 miles.

I'm not dialed on calorie counting and at the same time we were in a hurry to get out due to the hot weather so all I had was a bowl of Honey Nut Cheerios and a couple of waters.

My wife struggled at the halfway mark but is still positive and glad she got out.

Lunch was a turkey sandwich with a slice of cheese and more water. Not sure I will get to the point of counting calories as I never have issues trying to lose weight but I have gained 7 lbs since I stopped riding.

I already feel way better mentally......I've broken out of my slump!!

[96z28ss]

Todd, just fess up all this is for you to just lighten up your race weight.
Wouldn't it be easier to just get rid of the sub box and amps?
LOL!

I also just started hitting the gym after about a 12 year layoff.
Going to keep an eye on this thread.

[OLDFLM]

One word... Paleo.

[sn75]

Originally Posted by OLDFLM

One word... Paleo.

Nuff said!! Primal Blueprint/Paleo (different, yet very similar ways of eating), either one reveals the fallacies of SAD (Standard American Diet) eating and many things so called "medical professionals" and such want you to believe (regarding cholesterol, blood pressure, evils of sugar/wheat/seed based oils, etc, etc). Don't believe it, I certainly do (down 70 lbs, yes, that's right and still steadily losing and keeping my muscle mass). It's not an overly wordy/in depth methodology (I just don't want to type it all out here, lol).

Check out Marks Daily Apple and/or Paleo Hacks for some enlightenment (for those interested of course).