Diet and health, any a-holics secrets???

[ImcLoud]

Since my wife has been ill {now much better, she returns to work in a month or so} as most of you know I have stayed home to help take care of her.. The problem is as she is getting healthier I am getting NOT healthier, lol... With all this spare time it seems I have developed a love for French Onion sun chips, cool ranch Doritos, and ice cream at 10pm!!!

I got on the scale this morning and noticed a 3 as the first number!!! So this morning I went back to eating responsibly, I had some egg beaters and a slice of provolone chz on a piece of wheat/oat toast for breakfast, Ill have a fiber one bar some point today and then chicken and brown rice for dinner, I am going to need a month or three to get back on track and down into the 280's, and I can tell its going to be hard because after I ate my breakfast I wanted to eat 2 more....

 

[jinjuku]

I'm at the gym 3-4 times a week. Treadmill for ~50-60 minutes and running for 40 of those. I don't change what I eat, I just eat less. Make sure you get good protein with every meal. Some fiber to help move it through.

Today breakfast was oatmeal with diced apple, egg scrambled, cup of coffee (one sugar), 4 oz milk. Lunch will be some home canned bean soup with lean pork for protein (meat protein is better than vegetable proteins that the beans present).

Snacks are half lunchbox apple with natural peanut butter or string cheese or yogurt with a bit of granola and popcorn. I don't tend to eat processed snack food. It literally tends to turn my stomach at the thought.

Again I think trying to drastically modify your types of food is always a mistake (at least for me). I don't deny myself, just less often and lesser amounts. I love me a rootbeer float now and again. Just a smaller one.

 

[ImcLoud]

Normally yes, changing you diet drastically is not the answer, but mine changed for the worse, I am just changing it back, well minus a little because I need to lose 30 lbs, lol.. As far as the gym, I have a 900sq ft gym in my house, 3 tons of weight and every machine from hack squat to 4 post cable crossover and I am in there every day, no matter what, but lately I am half hearted because I am tired because I am lazy and dragging around the extra weight... Normally I walk in, smash the heavy bags for a half hour, speed bag for 15 minutes, then take a break and stretch out, then at least 20 sets of low rep high resistance stuff {8 plate bench presses, 180lb preacher curls, 110lb skull crushers, ect....

Now I walk in, hit the bags lift some weights and 30 minutes later Im shutting the lights... I come up stairs and order a lg steak and chz with some mozz. stix, then throw audioholics on and see what you jerks are up to...

I am going to walk over to the gym in an hour or so and I am going to try and get an hour and a half of cardio in half boxing half treadmill, if I live through it Ill try and do it again tonight before bed, I am just so not motivated, my wife says its this time of year coupled with me being home all the time and depressed that there is no one to boss around.. she may be on to something, so I told her to get in the kitchen and make me a sandwich and when shes done with that go wash my truck... She didn't think it was funny...

 

[jinjuku]

You need to change your environment and find a place with more energy then. You may want to find a gym with no contract options just for a change of scenery.

Being IN the house is part of the problem. You've been the care provider but you need to go somewhere else, maybe even pay a personal trainer to kick your butt for a few sessions (even though you most likely don't need a PT).

You need someone to provide some care for you. I get my tablet, put it on the treadmill, watch my action movie (currently the Bourne series) and just RUN.

 

[MidnightSensi]

Since my wife has been ill {now much better, she returns to work in a month or so} as most of you know I have stayed home to help take care of her.. The problem is as she is getting healthier I am getting NOT healthier, lol... With all this spare time it seems I have developed a love for French Onion sun chips, cool ranch Doritos, and ice cream at 10pm!!!

I got on the scale this morning and noticed a 3 as the first number!!! So this morning I went back to eating responsibly, I had some egg beaters and a slice of provolone chz on a piece of wheat/oat toast for breakfast, Ill have a fiber one bar some point today and then chicken and brown rice for dinner, I am going to need a month or three to get back on track and down into the 280's, and I can tell its going to be hard because after I ate my breakfast I wanted to eat 2 more....

I'm sorry you're struggling. Do you eat when you feel stressed?

There is a lot of anxiety involved with caring for someone, and someone being dependent on you. Anxiety also tends to cause depression, and isolation worsens it.

I agree with jinjuku about getting out. However, I also understand that it might feel a little funny since you're so used to being at home with your wife. So, when you say 'I'm going out to do X" you may feel some guilt about leaving her. But, it's all healthy - just accept feeling that bit of guilt (if you do) but put yourself first for a bit now that she is safe. Make sure your both self-sufficient inside and out (mentally and physically) - then can go back to having a healthy relationship.

Going on Audioholics is a stress burner for me too. I use it to take my mind off work for a bit, that way I can go back and focus. It's an escape. However, I try to balance that with activities and other things so I remain healthy.

Life is so much about making small adjustments, then measuring results. I think one of the biggest mistakes is making too drastic of a change too fast, instead of making small changes and seeing how each work for you and letting your body adjust. I'd rather see you gradually introduce new foods and exercise.

Also, are you on any medications?

Do you take any benzodiazepines (Xanax, Klonopin, Valium, etc) or z-drugs (Ambien is a popular one)?

 

[ImcLoud]

no medications, I was prescribed anafranel for my ocd, but i took that for about a day, lol.. Its great I stop clicking my thumbs on the steering wheel when I pass street signs but I feel like if I try to drive I will fall into outer space... so that wa a no go, lol...

I can lose 30 lbs in 7 days, I am not worried about losing the weight, it will be easy, I was a body builder so the cold cabbage soup recipe is burnt in my brain, and I can sit on the butterfly machine switching from region to region for hours and burn 12000 calories, lol... with a couple hundred pounds of muscle you would be shocked to see how many calories my body burns...

The issue is now I have the time to do it healthy and although I can tell I gained 2 pounds it seems no one else can, another good thing about being a bigger human, you can gain 50lbs and no one sees it but you...

 

[ParadigmDawg]

I would just get a wife that likes fat dudes if I were you......

 

[ImcLoud]

Or I can start making her eat donuts, uhh but I dont like fat girls, damn it...

 

[ImcLoud]

OK, so a few days of eating good has me feeling much better and I dropped 11 pounds since thursday night!!!! I have been eating around 1100 calories a day, no sweets, no fried anything, no red meat, no soda or juices, no breads, pastas, potatoes, ect... Just fiber one meal bars {starwberry yogurt, I split them in half and only eat half at a time}, bananas {also just eat half}, eggbeaters {whites only} with no fat cheese, either swiss or provo, cabot nf cottage cheese, mushrooms, spinach onions, chives, lettuce, ect... Dressingless salads, sauteed chicken, ect.. All good stuff...

This morning I had 4tbls egg beaters, half slice swiss chz, some spices and sliced sundried tomato, I had a half banan about half hour ago and my soup is on the stove cooking {onions, water, black , pepper, fresh garlic and powder, half breast of chicken, and a tspn olive oil, plus the water}, that will be lunch, then for dinner Ill do a salad with grilled chicken... I haven't been super hungry either, so, so far so good...

I have also been working the punching bag for 90 minutes a day plus my normalish weight training...

 

[Matt34]

I've been lifting heavy for the past couple of years non stop, rarely anything over five reps (that's cardio, right?) Lately though I've been cutting the weight back, increasing reps and reducing recovery time between sets. It's a nice change and I plan to add some cardio 3x a week just to help burn a few pounds. I eat pretty healthy but don't obsess about it anymore, I think that just comes with knowing your body and how it responds to different foods.

I couldn't sustain 1100 cal/day for very long, that's just too low. For me to cut I need around 2000/day to lose 1-1.5lbs a week.

 

[ImcLoud]

I've been lifting heavy for the past couple of years non stop, rarely anything over five reps (that's cardio, right?) Lately though I've been cutting the weight back, increasing reps and reducing recovery time between sets. It's a nice change and I plan to add some cardio 3x a week just to help burn a few pounds. I eat pretty healthy but don't obsess about it anymore, I think that just comes with knowing your body and how it responds to different foods.

I couldn't sustain 1100 cal/day for very long, that's just too low. For me to cut I need around 2000/day to lose 1-1.5lbs a week.

The trick to lifting weights is pretty simple {what works for me anyway}, it is what some guys call "to failure" what that means is load plates so your first "fresh" set is around 8 reps, then rest for as long as it takes for you to get 5 reps, then rest as long as it takes you to get 3 reps.
BUT the trick is after your first failure {say you get 8 reps and cant lift the 9 when you try}, cheat it up another few reps until you can not do any more even when cheating, and the same for the following 5 and 3 reps sets...
SO preacher curls for instance, say I do 8 reps of 185 lbs on the preacher {thats the bar 2-45's and 2-35's}, Ill turn around get off the preacher bench stand up facing the bar and cheat using my body swing to get another 6 reps... NOW my arms could not lift a cheerio pistachio sandwich {thats 2 cheerios with a pistachio in the middle, delicious}...

Now stretch a little and rest.... Just long enough to get 4-6 reps the second time you do it...

If you are doing a lift that can not be cheated for example incline press or the dreaded decline press, you can still do it, load light plates, so for example if your pressing 450 don' load a bunch of 45's, load a few 45's and then 25s and 10's at the end, do your 8 reps to failure, remove 50 lbs do another set to failure back to back...

This takes some getting used to , you need to figure out what weights and how many reps and your rest time, but once you do you will be happy with the results...

 

[Matt34]

Drops sets, I do them usually at the end of my workout and on a machine like the chest press. Load it up go to failure, drop the weight, go to failure, drop again.....Usually 4 drops per set, 3-4 sets depending on how I feel.

 

[ImcLoud]

well its pyramid where you can and drop sets where you cant... I tend to mix them, pyramid {works best for me} and if i find I fatigued to fast Ill toss some weight and do it all over with the cheating.... I find when most people drop set they don't do it until failure, they do 10, 10, 10, 10.. Where if you are doing what I am talking about you are doing 8 and a half then cheat 4, rest, do 6 and a 1/4 then cheat 5, rest do 3 and 3/4's then cheat 3, and if after that you still have a little gas left, drop some weight and start over, get your arms where they can not do anything else but get blood pumped in and out of them... I only do this for upper body, legs and core I do totally different... thats a secrets, lol...

 

[ParadigmDawg]

OK, so a few days of eating good has me feeling much better and I dropped 11 pounds since thursday night!!!! I have been eating around 1100 calories a day, no sweets, no fried anything, no red meat, no soda or juices, no breads, pastas, potatoes, ect... Just fiber one meal bars {starwberry yogurt, I split them in half and only eat half at a time}, bananas {also just eat half}, eggbeaters {whites only} with no fat cheese, either swiss or provo, cabot nf cottage cheese, mushrooms, spinach onions, chives, lettuce, ect... Dressingless salads, sauteed chicken, ect.. All good stuff...

This morning I had 4tbls egg beaters, half slice swiss chz, some spices and sliced sundried tomato, I had a half banan about half hour ago and my soup is on the stove cooking {onions, water, black , pepper, fresh garlic and powder, half breast of chicken, and a tspn olive oil, plus the water}, that will be lunch, then for dinner Ill do a salad with grilled chicken... I haven't been super hungry either, so, so far so good...

I have also been working the punching bag for 90 minutes a day plus my normalish weight training...

I would starve to death on that. I easily consume 5,000 cal/day.

Yesterday:

upon awakening: 5 egg(whole egg) omelette with spinach, red and yellow bell peppers and cup of coffee with real cream and Stevia, 36 oz of water

Breakfast: 1 cup of Muesli, 1/2 cup bluberries, Pumpernickel toast with real butter and homemade cherry jam, cup of coffee real cream and Stevia and 12 oz water, protein shake with almond milk and blended protein powder.

On the way to the trail(30 minute drive): sandwich of peanut butter and banana on Pumpernickel, 12 oz of water

During ride: hand full of power blocs and electrolyte drink during riding.

Post ride: Protein shake, 24 oz water

Lunch: Salmon with salad and 2 corn tortillas and two flour tortillas, beer and a martini

Snack: hand full of almonds and walnuts, more water

Dinner: 10 oz New York strip, small baked potato with sour cream and cheese, grilled brussel sprouts and iced tea

Snack: hand full of almonds and walnuts with a protein shake

Oh....and I pretty much eat and apple every time I walk by one.

 

[Chu Gai]

I lost the most weight when in college. Short term Atkins diet or I guess Paleo today with a lot of basketball and getting a ton of head.

 

[ImcLoud]

I lost the most weight when in college. Short term Atkins diet or I guess Paleo today with a lot of basketball and getting a ton of head.

I don't care how much weight I will ose I am not giving head...

 

[ImcLoud]

I would starve to death on that. I easily consume 5,000 cal/day.

Yesterday:

upon awakening: 5 egg(whole egg) omelette with spinach, red and yellow bell peppers and cup of coffee with real cream and Stevia, 36 oz of water

Breakfast: 1 cup of Muesli, 1/2 cup bluberries, Pumpernickel toast with real butter and homemade cherry jam, cup of coffee real cream and Stevia and 12 oz water, protein shake with almond milk and blended protein powder.

On the way to the trail(30 minute drive): sandwich of peanut butter and banana on Pumpernickel, 12 oz of water

During ride: hand full of power blocs and electrolyte drink during riding.

Post ride: Protein shake, 24 oz water

Lunch: Salmon with salad and 2 corn tortillas and two flour tortillas, beer and a martini

Snack: hand full of almonds and walnuts, more water

Dinner: 10 oz New York strip, small baked potato with sour cream and cheese, grilled brussel sprouts and iced tea

Snack: hand full of almonds and walnuts with a protein shake

Oh....and I pretty much eat and apple every time I walk by one.

5000 is good if you burn it off... When I was training, I used to wake up early, take a green monster shake and some protein, work out for 2 hours HARD, then after my work out eat a 12 egg omelet, {6 whole and 6 whites}, with shredded steak, peppers, potatoes, mushrooms, onions, ect, them things used to weigh 3 lbs... Then lunch would be a monster chicken salad with hard boiled eggs on it, beans, nuts, spinach, ect that also weighed around 3 lbs, then dinner would be after my nightly work out and it would be anything from a whole chicken {baked or boiled} to a pair of 16oz strips.. Plus I was eating 5 or so bananas a day and drinking a easy half gallon off skim milk... One day my wife added up the calories it was approaching 12000!!!! But I was messing with deca and test and gaining pounds of muscle every month, plus press weight was going up 5-7% a month!!! Our bodies are amazing machines, you can't imagine how strong we can get, but as long as you know nothing is for free, I have a receding hairline, and a stack of shoulder x-rays to prove it... And I am SURE the future will punish me more, liver and kidney damage, heart damage, who knows what will show up? Its a weird situation not something I would want my sons to do, but I think I would do it all over again given the chance..

 

[lsiberian]

I've been working out at a local gym with a PT. Finally had to get it on the schedule to make sure I got my lifting in.

 

[ImcLoud]

PT's can be a really good motivation and they normally know what they are talking about... The first time we stayed at the Principi grand hotel in italy and the first night I went down to the gym to check it out, they had a few trainers and I was told I needed to sign up with a trainer to use the facility, so I did for the next evening.. Of course his name was Marco, lol.. So I go down the next night and I busted Marco's balls a little telling him I never worked out before and never lifted weights... But during the workout he was telling me "resto va bene" and I would do 3 more reps or how ever more I could get, I had no idea what he was saying, after the workout I asked what it meant he said it meant I could stop and rest... That was the last night they gave me a trainer.. I love that hotel, its got a super gym/spa I have to say I don't like males massaging me, but females usually aren't strong enough to get it right, there the females had hands like iron workers, one of the best rubdowns I ever go where I kept my boxers on...

 

[Chu Gai]

It wasn't Marco from Tropja I take it.