I miss the fitness threads and the fitness Doms!

[intothewoods]

No idea if the source was reputable or not, but I remember reading quite a long time ago that we get especially hungry after workouts mostly when we work out at a level that's beyond our then current level of fitness. Your anecdotal evidence certainly seems to support this idea.

That sounds totally plausible.

 

[Homburg]

You know what? If it works, it works. If I had a gym buddy I'd probably love it too.

It's weird. And, sure enough, I get people staring. Probably because I am not mindlessly hitting the bench/curl/pull-down trifecta.

I don't know why the whole crazy hungry post-workout thing tapered off for me. Maybe it's just getting older? Not sure. I do still get somewhat hungrier if I have a tough workout but sometimes I just ignore it or eat a little more. And drink lots of water.

*snort* That would be a nice change of pace. A little hungry? Some days it's more like, "Hmm, I don't need four kids. They wouldn't notice if I ate the small one."

--

No idea if the source was reputable or not, but I remember reading quite a long time ago that we get especially hungry after workouts mostly when we work out at a level that's beyond our then current level of fitness. Your anecdotal evidence certainly seems to support this idea.

This would make a LOT of sense. Given that progressive overload is my usual model, I write my programs specifically to exceed my current fitness levels. This idea would explain why I am always hungry as hell afterwards, except on deload weeks. Deload weeks? Eh, food, whatever.

--

As an interesting (to me) experiment, I went vegetarian recently on a recovery day. In the past, it's been meat, and lots of it. Recently, I've been cooking vegetarian and vegan more often (largely because I want to learn how), so I did a meatless recovery day. It worked just fine. Pretty happy to report that, as I don't like feeling that I HAVE to have a particular food post-workout or to recover properly.

I've also taken to timing my intermittent fasts to my gym days. It's counterintuitive, but I'm not 100% performance-focused these days. Not trying to leave it on the gym floor every time I go. What is more important is quality effort, and writing the right program to fix the problems that have cropped up from years of seriously unbalanced performance-focused training.

Yes, I'm saying that to convince myself, thanks for noticing. It sucks, and it drives me up the wall. I want to get back to hitting big numbers, but my self-imposed program gives literally no chance to do so. Hell, I'm not even squatting, outside of barbell complexes and the like. It's... weird.

 

[Homburg]

Did I say I wasn't squatting? *snort*

For the second time this week, AP called out sick. I wasn't feeling so hot myself the last time, but I was up for it today, so I went by myself. Unfortunately, I was not really 100% and couldn't figure out what I was supposed to do. Forgot my belt too. No straps, no knee sleeve, nothing. Just me and a desire to lift even though my head is still messed up and my balance isn't right.

So, yeah, couldn't figure out what to do, so squats it is. AP wasn't there to whine about it, so I figured I'd get a session in. Got up to a tough single at 365# and decided that was good enough considering I had no belt or anything else. Definitely could've doubled it and probably gone for another 10# but, well, I was a bit wobbly coming up, and didn't want to pitch forward with a pile of weight across my shoulders.

As usual, I had people looking at me. Jesus, do people just not squat? I've never seen anyone use the power cage here. Literally no one. Once or twice I've watched guys put a little bit of weight on the bar and use the old-style squat stand arrangement, but I was looked at like a mutant for using the power rack like it is supposed to be used. It boggles me.

They looked at me even weirder when I started doing loaded carries around the weight room with a pair of 80# dumbbells. Talk about a surprisingly intense forearm workout, and I wasn't even walking that far.

Got home and inhaled much food. Not a surprise.

Feels good to be back under the bar, even if the weights are sucking. I'll get it back, even if I have to sneak the lifts in, dammit.

 

[intothewoods]

On inhaling food and increasing workout intensity, I have to say I am working out harder than ever before in my life and overall the crazy hunger thing has decreased. But I also have changed from mostly running to a little running and mostly conditioning/bootcamp type stuff. Not sure if that matters.

Homburg -- on people staring -- I don't know. I am not a serious lifter so I would probably take notice. Not sure what's typical for a dude though.

So, tonight I was somewhere where a photographer was taking pictures. He comes over to show me the pic.

Him: What do you think -- is this ok?
Me: OH MY GOD, I HAVE ARM MUSCLES!
Him: Ummmm, yes, you do. Is the picture ok?
Me: Yes, yes, it's fine!

 

[bhndblueyes88]

Does anyone have any recommendations for a good meal planner?

 

[YourCaptor]

Did I say I wasn't squatting? *snort*

For the second time this week, AP called out sick. I wasn't feeling so hot myself the last time, but I was up for it today, so I went by myself. Unfortunately, I was not really 100% and couldn't figure out what I was supposed to do. Forgot my belt too. No straps, no knee sleeve, nothing. Just me and a desire to lift even though my head is still messed up and my balance isn't right.

So, yeah, couldn't figure out what to do, so squats it is. AP wasn't there to whine about it, so I figured I'd get a session in. Got up to a tough single at 365# and decided that was good enough considering I had no belt or anything else. Definitely could've doubled it and probably gone for another 10# but, well, I was a bit wobbly coming up, and didn't want to pitch forward with a pile of weight across my shoulders.

As usual, I had people looking at me. Jesus, do people just not squat? I've never seen anyone use the power cage here. Literally no one. Once or twice I've watched guys put a little bit of weight on the bar and use the old-style squat stand arrangement, but I was looked at like a mutant for using the power rack like it is supposed to be used. It boggles me.

They looked at me even weirder when I started doing loaded carries around the weight room with a pair of 80# dumbbells. Talk about a surprisingly intense forearm workout, and I wasn't even walking that far.

Got home and inhaled much food. Not a surprise.

Feels good to be back under the bar, even if the weights are sucking. I'll get it back, even if I have to sneak the lifts in, dammit.

I think it's cliques and you probably do a lot more than them.

I feel like the gym always seems heavier than home.

On inhaling food and increasing workout intensity, I have to say I am working out harder than ever before in my life and overall the crazy hunger thing has decreased. But I also have changed from mostly running to a little running and mostly conditioning/bootcamp type stuff. Not sure if that matters.

Homburg -- on people staring -- I don't know. I am not a serious lifter so I would probably take notice. Not sure what's typical for a dude though.

So, tonight I was somewhere where a photographer was taking pictures. He comes over to show me the pic.

Him: What do you think -- is this ok?
Me: OH MY GOD, I HAVE ARM MUSCLES!
Him: Ummmm, yes, you do. Is the picture ok?
Me: Yes, yes, it's fine!

Sweet.

Photo please.

 

[midwestyankee]

Does anyone have any recommendations for a good meal planner?

What sorts of meals are you looking to plan? What does it mean to plan a meal (i.e., are we talking limitations like calories, glycemic index, or gluten, or just a need for more variety)?

 

[bhndblueyes88]

What sorts of meals are you looking to plan? What does it mean to plan a meal (i.e., are we talking limitations like calories, glycemic index, or gluten, or just a need for more variety)?

I was more thinking of something that i could put down my recipes and my meals and it'd give me general caloric info and a grocery list... but was also realtively simple and straight forward to use. a lot of the ones I've seen have way too much bell and whistle.

It's no big, though. I've kind of just done the old-school on paper thing

 

[midwestyankee]

I was more thinking of something that i could put down my recipes and my meals and it'd give me general caloric info and a grocery list... but was also realtively simple and straight forward to use. a lot of the ones I've seen have way too much bell and whistle.

It's no big, though. I've kind of just done the old-school on paper thing

My experience has been that most of the app and on-line planners try to be all things to all people and require way too much effort to be useful. I don't have time to input the recipes of every dish I prepare over a month's time just to find out that I averaged 63 calories per day more than I'd thought.

 

[bhndblueyes88]

My experience has been that most of the app and on-line planners try to be all things to all people and require way too much effort to be useful. I don't have time to input the recipes of every dish I prepare over a month's time just to find out that I averaged 63 calories per day more than I'd thought.

I'm not that anal about my total, but I thought it'd be handy to arrange items together. Like, if I know that X sandwich costs 200 calories and Y soup is 300, I may pair them differently with sides that are 50, 100 or 60 calories, depending on how much my dinner calories are likely going to be. There's just SUCH a tendency to gain weight during our clinical rotations, mostly because we're frequently having to eat food on the run and on the fly. I'm hoping if I can inject some degree of planning and order into it, I'll avoid that...

 

[midwestyankee]

I'm not that anal about my total, but I thought it'd be handy to arrange items together. Like, if I know that X sandwich costs 200 calories and Y soup is 300, I may pair them differently with sides that are 50, 100 or 60 calories, depending on how much my dinner calories are likely going to be. There's just SUCH a tendency to gain weight during our clinical rotations, mostly because we're frequently having to eat food on the run and on the fly. I'm hoping if I can inject some degree of planning and order into it, I'll avoid that...

I sympathize. It must be quite a challenge to establish a strict regimen of any kind when whole days or weeks go by when you can't follow a particular schedule.

I wonder if, instead of concerning yourself with such a variable variable like calories, you focused instead on one single variable in your diet. For example, how much of a change in your intake would it create if you simply avoided all bread products? I'm not recommending this as particular strategy but rather as a type of strategy. So maybe you focus on eliminating all foods with sugar or all breads, or whatever. It would be easy to remember and you wouldn't have to try to do all the accounting needed to tally up your calories every day. If you knew, for example, that over the last two weeks you consumed X number of calories by eating bread and pasta and pizza crust and so on, and that eliminating that quantity of calories from your intake would be sufficient to bring about your desired change in weight, then such a simple goal would be enough.

Example: several years ago I was diagnosed with very high cholesterol (as in over 300 of the bad stuff, where under 175 is the desired level). I vowed to fix this with diet and exercise alone to avoid having to take pills the rest of my life. In six months I lost 35 pounds and became much fitter by doing two things: I exercised 6 days a week for a half hour and I changed my diet to focus on two parameters: no meat (and because this is so absolute, I really only had to focus on the second parameter) and I allowed myself 10 grams of fat per day. Now, that's a pretty strict regimen and I did have to study packaging labels and such for a few days. But soon I learned how much fat was in certain typical foods and it became easy to decide what to eat to stay on my program.

So, might there be a simple goal that you could set for yourself that might be just as easy to meet on rounds days as on every other day?

 

[intothewoods]

I think it's cliques and you probably do a lot more than them.

I feel like the gym always seems heavier than home.



Sweet.

Photo please.

Working on it!

I'm not that anal about my total, but I thought it'd be handy to arrange items together. Like, if I know that X sandwich costs 200 calories and Y soup is 300, I may pair them differently with sides that are 50, 100 or 60 calories, depending on how much my dinner calories are likely going to be. There's just SUCH a tendency to gain weight during our clinical rotations, mostly because we're frequently having to eat food on the run and on the fly. I'm hoping if I can inject some degree of planning and order into it, I'll avoid that...

I use google docs (spreadsheet) but I don't enter in nutritional data. I just tracked all that stuff separately in a calorie tracker. If you happen to have meals you repeat, you could set up a google doc to work for you.

 

[bhndblueyes88]

thank you both! I think I'm just going to stick with what I set up for now (it worked for today, anyway) and see if it holds up. if not, I'll look in to what you both suggested!


In other news, I'm already back down to about 163 lbs from 168 over the past couple weeks (I had jumped back up while my fiance was here...). WOO

 

[Homburg]

I think it's cliques and you probably do a lot more than them.

I feel like the gym always seems heavier than home.

I'm that way with everything but oly lifts. For whatever reason, they don't feel heavier at the gym. Probably because I'm not worried about busting up my own floor and my own weights if I blow a lift

Speaking of oly stuff, I'm doing more of it. I'm endeavouring to add in more oly work because A) I feel like my power generation is low compared to raw strength, and B) It's freaking hard work that'll flat wear you out. The conditioning aspect of oly work is undeniable.

I've also added in a new thing - racquetball. While the gym has many annoyances, it does have a few advantages, and one of those are racquetball courts on site, with racquets for use if you don't have one. So after lifting, we go down to the courts and swat the ball around for 30-45 minutes. No rules or points, just doing it for fun. Still, fun or not, it's hard work that leaves me soaking wet with sweat. The nice thing is that the fun factor completely obscures the difficulty, so we can do it for a good clip without stopping.

And even though my diet hasn't particularly changed, I'm gaining weight. As I've said before, I can't hold a weight. I am forever gaining or losing. Now, even though I'm in moderate calorie deficit, the muscles are giddy with the renewed application of iron and are busily rebuilding tissue. And I can say that with some certainty as my pants aren't tighter, even though the scale reads heavier.

I know, I'm gaining muscle. I shouldn't complain. The scale lies, all that matters are the pants and the mirror. I know. I've said it probably hundreds of times to other people. It still sucks

 

[Keroin]

After all is said and done, there is really no training routine that compares to three days on the construction site working your ass off.


(Still, I'll take running and tennis over hauling lumber any old day).

 

[Keroin]

The nice thing is that the fun factor completely obscures the difficulty, so we can do it for a good clip without stopping.

THIS is the thing that I am constantly on about here and that I think sooooo many people miss.

Fitness does not have to be, nor should it be, a chore and something that you do simply because you know it's good for you or because you want to look better. When you do something fun, you're far more likely to keep doing it even if it leaves you exhausted and soaked in sweat. Because..****!

BTW, the above comments were not directed at Homburg. I just decided to shameless use his words as an example.

 

[JMohegan]

THIS is the thing that I am constantly on about here and that I think sooooo many people miss.

Fitness does not have to be, nor should it be, a chore and something that you do simply because you know it's good for you or because you want to look better. When you do something fun, you're far more likely to keep doing it even if it leaves you exhausted and soaked in sweat. Because..****!

BTW, the above comments were not directed at Homburg. I just decided to shameless use his words as an example.

Hey, I said this on page one!

I'm not a fan of the fitness concept, as in: repetitive exercises or workouts you don't really enjoy but perform in order to obtain a specific weight or conditioning goal.

Instead, I'm a fan of: finding something you love to do that involves movin' around, and then giving yourself permission to do it on a regular basis.

 

[JMohegan]

Seriously, though, I find many posts on this thread depressing as hell. It seems as if fitness is a chore to so many people, and the result of their efforts is not increased joie de vivre but an excruciating narcissism instead.

 

[intothewoods]

THIS is the thing that I am constantly on about here and that I think sooooo many people miss.

Fitness does not have to be, nor should it be, a chore and something that you do simply because you know it's good for you or because you want to look better. When you do something fun, you're far more likely to keep doing it even if it leaves you exhausted and soaked in sweat. Because..****!

BTW, the above comments were not directed at Homburg. I just decided to shameless use his words as an example.

Looking back, I was really in a rut for probably more than a decade. I did enjoy running for a time but I would always have to force myself to go on many days. This is the first time in my life I rarely think ugh about working out. I think it's part variety and just having something new to learn and work at. And I have become a narcissist, so that helps.

ETA - it really can be difficult to get out of a fitness rut and make it fun. I tried a lot of different things but nothing really took. In fact, the last time around I lost weight (before my wedding to Mister Man), I actually stopped working out altogether and it was a relief. Then when I started again I just started from scratch and made it fun. Like a few people suggested recently I train for a race, which is something I did in the past, and I was tempted but then I thought, nah, I love running right now. I don't want it to be a chore.

Seriously, though, I find many posts on this thread depressing as hell. It seems as if fitness is a chore to so many people, and the result of their efforts is not increased joie de vivre but an excruciating narcissism instead.

I hope you're not callling me a narcissist - I mean, damn, I'm almost 38 and I earned these muscles. Can I revel just a little? As someone who never felt attractive until about my mid-twenties, it does feel nice to go into a clothing store and not feel like the entire thing is an exercise in camoflage. A lot of self esteem issues are connected to experiences from our youth that relate to outward appearance. Obviously part of maturing is realizing how you look isn't the whole kit and kaboodle, but feeling like you have some control over your appearance is empowering.

 

[Keroin]

Seriously, though, I find many posts on this thread depressing as hell. It seems as if fitness is a chore to so many people, and the result of their efforts is not increased joie de vivre but an excruciating narcissism instead.

Well, to be fair, people are given some pretty fucked up messages. We live increasingly more sedentary lives, (how many people do jobs that involve physical labour anymore?); our diets are being directed more and more toward fast, cheap, empty calories; and at the same time we are surrounded by images and expectations of completely unrealistic body types and photoshopped beauty.

As a culture, we've lost the concept of just playing...for fun. And yes, that's sad.

And I'm not sure it's narcissism you're seeing as much as self esteem issues. (I generalize, of course).

I also think there are some social fears at work too. Our tennis club had an info table at the local mall recently, inviting people to come out and give the sport a try. Our club is SUPER friendly, casual, and cheap ($150 for a couple's membership for one year!). The first year you join, you get free lessons from our resident coach, (who is a fantastic instructor and a really lovely person). What shocked me was the number of people I talked to who really wanted to play but were hesitant to come out because they were either beginners or had never played before (women particularly). They were genuinely afraid. I and the other members did our best to assure them that they will have nothing but fun and no one will care how well, or not, they play, but I felt bad for them.

Trying a new sport should be fun, not stress-inducing.

 

[JMohegan]

I hope you're not callling me a narcissist - I mean, damn, I'm almost 38 and I earned these muscles. Can I revel just a little? As someone who never felt attractive until about my mid-twenties, it does feel nice to go into a clothing store and not feel like the entire thing is an exercise in camoflage. A lot of self esteem issues are connected to experiences from our youth that relate to outward appearance. Obviously part of maturing is realizing how you look isn't the whole kit and kaboodle, but feeling like you have some control over your appearance is empowering.

No, by "excruciating narcissism" I was referring to the rep counting, minute counting, mile counting, calorie & pound tracking, drudgery that people seem to hate. Grinding, joyless self-obsession.

If you love this kung fu stuff and revel in the results, then that's precisely the joie de vivre to which I was referring. Celebrating what your body can do is not a bad thing; it's part of the joy of living.

 

[JMohegan]

Well, to be fair, people are given some pretty fucked up messages. We live increasingly more sedentary lives, (how many people do jobs that involve physical labour anymore?); our diets are being directed more and more toward fast, cheap, empty calories; and at the same time we are surrounded by images and expectations of completely unrealistic body types and photoshopped beauty.

As a culture, we've lost the concept of just playing...for fun. And yes, that's sad.

And I'm not sure it's narcissism you're seeing as much as self esteem issues. (I generalize, of course).

I also think there are some social fears at work too. Our tennis club had an info table at the local mall recently, inviting people to come out and give the sport a try. Our club is SUPER friendly, casual, and cheap ($150 for a couple's membership for one year!). The first year you join, you get free lessons from our resident coach, (who is a fantastic instructor and a really lovely person). What shocked me was the number of people I talked to who really wanted to play but were hesitant to come out because they were either beginners or had never played before (women particularly). They were genuinely afraid. I and the other members did our best to assure them that they will have nothing but fun and no one will care how well, or not, they play, but I felt bad for them.

Trying a new sport should be fun, not stress-inducing.

I know, you're right.

I was given a wonderful gift by my parents - part nature, part nurture. I've never been non-athletic, so I don't really have a fair perspective for commentary here.

 

[Cattypuss]

And I'm not sure it's narcissism you're seeing as much as self esteem issues. (I generalize, of course).

The problem though is that for some fucked-up reason (which probably has an awful lot to do with mass media) many people link their self-esteem to their looks.

I mean seriously? People SERIOUSLY think that losing weight or getting bigger muscles or dropping a dress size or (for that matter) increasing their bra size makes them more worthy of esteem (their own or other people's)?

 

[intothewoods]

No, by "excruciating narcissism" I was referring to the rep counting, minute counting, mile counting, calorie & pound tracking, drudgery that people seem to hate. Grinding, joyless self-obsession.

If you love this kung fu stuff and revel in the results, then that's precisely the joie de vivre to which I was referring. Celebrating what your body can do is not a bad thing; it's part of the joy of living.

Ah. Well okay then. I know I've written this before somewhere here but in order to succeed at a diet, you have to be obsessive and detailed about it. I suppose that's why the hardest part of a diet is maintenance because you no longer have that obsessive mindset to keep you on track. In the interest of the health benefits of losing weight, I think it's worth it but it's not sustainable or good for your mental health in the long term for most.

Well, to be fair, people are given some pretty fucked up messages. We live increasingly more sedentary lives, (how many people do jobs that involve physical labour anymore?); our diets are being directed more and more toward fast, cheap, empty calories; and at the same time we are surrounded by images and expectations of completely unrealistic body types and photoshopped beauty.

As a culture, we've lost the concept of just playing...for fun. And yes, that's sad.

And I'm not sure it's narcissism you're seeing as much as self esteem issues. (I generalize, of course).

I also think there are some social fears at work too. Our tennis club had an info table at the local mall recently, inviting people to come out and give the sport a try. Our club is SUPER friendly, casual, and cheap ($150 for a couple's membership for one year!). The first year you join, you get free lessons from our resident coach, (who is a fantastic instructor and a really lovely person). What shocked me was the number of people I talked to who really wanted to play but were hesitant to come out because they were either beginners or had never played before (women particularly). They were genuinely afraid. I and the other members did our best to assure them that they will have nothing but fun and no one will care how well, or not, they play, but I felt bad for them.

Trying a new sport should be fun, not stress-inducing.

Back to the experiences of our youth -- if you weren't good at sports, you probably experienced some sort of humiliation related to that growing up. Heck I was pretty decent and I experienced some humiliation!

 

[Keroin]

I was given a wonderful gift by my parents - part nature, part nurture. I've never been non-athletic, so I don't really have a fair perspective for commentary here.

Perhaps not, but I think it's important for people to see that perspective - it's too easy to get locked into thinking that this weird culture we've created is 'normal'.

L's story is similar to yours. He is constantly baffled by so much of the diet and fitness stuff he sees out there. But then I think he came out of the womb with a tennis racquet in his hand, lol. Drudgery, to him, is being kept stationary for too long.

The problem though is that for some fucked-up reason (which probably has an awful lot to do with mass media) many people link their self-esteem to their looks.

This is the one societal myth I wish we could do away with. ARGH! It galls me to see all the media out there preying on people's fears and insecurities!!

The funny part is of the truly happy and confident people I know, none fit into our media's model of "beautiful" - in fact they are often the complete opposite.

Back to the experiences of our youth -- if you weren't good at sports, you probably experienced some sort of humiliation related to that growing up. Heck I was pretty decent and I experienced some humiliation!

Oh definitely. I don't know how sports are taught in school now (or if they're even still taught in school) but 'back in the day' they were ground zero for childhood trauma. Oh yes, I was often the kid picked last or second to last for a team. Natural born klutz with two left feet. Still, it's sad that, as grown ups, so many can't move past that.

I think however people find their way to fitness and healthy eating choices is fine, really. It does concern me, however, that so much of the behaviour I see is really designed to fail. So much of it is simply not sustainable - not if you actually want to have a life. IMO, it's far better to take the long view, take baby steps, form habits, add one good behaviour at a time, set fun goals that are attainable. Something as simple as "I'll go for a walk every day", is a perfectly admirable goal. The walk doesn't have to be long, but at least you're getting out there and moving.