Walk a mile...

[Hack&Lube]

I was exercising big time and eating low carb in December. I sort of gave up though since I was already very thin, I just wanted to get rid of fat in some areas and build up muscle (low carb works for both since the protein rich diet).

But I fell of the wagon but nothing has changed for me. All I discovered is that the only exercise that I have the willpower to do is HIIT since anything else bores me and I give up easily. I'd rather struggle and get it over with as fast as I can and then relax.

[wpgflamesfan]

Originally Posted by macker

I run 26.1 miles......actually only 4 marathons completed so far but I think what they are getting at is to try to get people walking before they run/roller blade/bike etc. etc. I think one thing leads to another and walking is a starting point as anyone can do it and it is free. I agree that you need to get your heart rate up to get even better results but you got to start somewhere. I find that running, biking or roller blading with nordic poles I can get my heart rate up to 170-180 range and with walking I can get no where near this. I always think that I run so that I can eat and I can now eat just about anything without having to worry about it as I know I am going to burn it off on my next run. I also would not have a use for my ipod without running and running can give you a 6 pack feeling if you do it long enough. Dr's are always good for scaring some sense into us! I was told I had high cholesterol a few years back and that got my attention and that got me running! Good luck with your healthy living!

Nice i'm planning on doing my first marathon this summer. I think running is probably one of the best activities because your not only exercising but developing decipline. I've probably lost about 15 pounds since late feb. As for walking it is a good exercise but should be more of a cross training then a regular exercise.

[bigtmac19]

Just started taking a "learn to run class" in April. We had a class about heart rate training, and what your target heart rate training should be depending on what your goal is. They told us you should only be training at your maximum heart rate if you are training for short burst races, i.e. sprinters, or for speed training. But that for endurance and fat burning as opposed to burning sugars, you should be training at 60 to 70% of your maximum heart rate, which is 220 minus your age?

[macker]

Originally Posted by wpgflamesfan

Nice i'm planning on doing my first marathon this summer. I think running is probably one of the best activities because your not only exercising but developing decipline. I've probably lost about 15 pounds since late feb. As for walking it is a good exercise but should be more of a cross training then a regular exercise.

Good luck with your marathon! It will change the way you look at things! You may have already stumbled across the forums at the runningroom's website or even better runnersworld magazines website, but if not you can get a tone of information that will help you to prepare for your marathon. No need to buy the text books on running as it is all floating around on the forums!

[Russic]

Originally Posted by bigtmac19

Just started taking a "learn to run class" in April. We had a class about heart rate training, and what your target heart rate training should be depending on what your goal is. They told us you should only be training at your maximum heart rate if you are training for short burst races, i.e. sprinters, or for speed training. But that for endurance and fat burning as opposed to burning sugars, you should be training at 60 to 70% of your maximum heart rate, which is 220 minus your age?

Somebody with more knowledge will have to confirm, but I do believe there is a sweet spot for burning fat and building endurance. Go beyond this spot and you're still burning, just not as efficiently (it's more of a muscle building/cardio strengthening thing). I believe I did read a study once that said the most effective means of losing fat though is to change it up almost randomly between jogging, running and sprinting.

[The Goon]

I met a guy a couple of weeks ago who recently dropped 65 lbs. Apparently he was a real schlub before. He said he would constantly exercise but nothing was happening, until he changed his diet. A good quote from him:

"Even the best exercise routine can't overcome a bad diet."

As for walking, I work downtown, and when it's decent out, I go for a 3km stroll around the river/Prince's Island park. I find it's been helping me out a bit weight-wise. The bonus is observing fit women running in Lululemon pants.

[Azure]

Originally Posted by photon

Hm.. Yeah I guess I'll have to consult with my doctor on that.. I don't really feel overly stressed with what I'm doing now though, I mean I sweat and breathe hard, but I don't feel like I'm going crazy, though if I go past 45 minutes my legs do feel a bit weak afterwards, but not for very long.

30 min is good, 45 min is great....as long as you don't push your heart too much.

Talk to your doctor, ask him about pushing your heart rate more and more as the weeks go by. I don't really know your situation, or your heart condition. So I'll refrain from saying anything.

I keep my heart rate up around 150, usually going between 145 and 155 on the cardio program which goes up and down with resistance 5-6 times over 30 minutes.

Sounds a bit like interval training. Which is good.

You have a good cardio plan going....just keep it up. I used to hate cardio, and would refrain from doing it as much as possible. But I quit losing weight, so now its back to cardio, and I love it even more.

Changing it up helps too....although there is nothing better than the elliptical, in terms of getting a great workout, but not really pounding your knees to much....something that running considerably.

Yeah, been not too bad since I went off a few weeks ago, but I can see myself slipping too much already. I'm considering joining a different, lower cost program like L.A. Weight Loss just to keep up the constant monitoring.

L.A. Weight Loss is good, especially if you still have 80lbs to lose. But you can't stay with them forever, so starting to form good, healthy habits now will help in the long run.

Either that or I was thinking of going the other direction and trying to do something like Body for Life and doing the weight training.

Also a great program.

I was also looking at that the other day, just to switch things up for a bit.

My problem isn't motivation, but that my workouts get boring because of repetition.

Lol I should have asked a few weeks ago.. the slowly's been blown out of the water for sure, and I paid for it too, felt pretty crappy for a bit.

Yeah.

The idea is that your metabolism is used to burning a low amount of calories, and when you instantly added something like 1000 calories per day, you almost certainly would have gained weight.

Until your metabolism adapted itself to your new diet.

Thanks for the link tho that's a good idea, I can still find my rate and go with that.

No problem.

Another thing, find out what your rate is....and go with something like that for 2 weeks. Then check yourself again. If you've made the desired progress, awesome. If not, you have to change it up.

Hm, interesting. I got used to watching the scale 3 times a week on the diet so I got used to the small swings and not worrying about those, and concentrating on the larger moves which were what I was after. So I'm used to not being discouraged easily, while the constant feedback really helps me feel engaged.

Thats great then.

I know for myself I get discouraged if I look at the scale too often. But you have a lot more weight to lose than I do, so your changes will be more obvious scale wise.

I'm also at the point where I'm dropping body fat, and gaining muscle, but still staying the same weight. So weight watching doesn't really work.

I'll do some more reading and try to figure out which way I want to go, either back onto a lower calorie diet with the general cardio exercise, or more into a body for life weight training with cardio, while I know the first way already since I've done it for a while and I could probably lose the rest that way, the second way might be better overall as I still really need to learn to be more active so that I don't have rebound problems.

Good luck.

[Azure]

Originally Posted by Flames09

I lose about 2 pounds a week, I eat when I'm hungry but I eat food that has less than 3g of fat, no pop, no chocolate, no fast food. I do go out to a restaurant a couple of times a month because otherwise I would flip, I don't eat stuff that doesn't taste good, I dont skip meals, I dont excercise every day. I try to do some weight training once or twice a week, I go for 1 hour walks 2-3 times a week. This isn't a diet for me this is honestly a lifestyle change, it sounds corny but it's working I'm down 25lbs since mid February, and I'm still going strong..

This is my opinion but I hate the elliptical I use to like it until I realised I dont lose any weight on there, I tried the elliptical with the same meal plan back in January and it did nothing for me, I then started lifting weights and walking on the treadmill or going for walks in February and the weight started coming right off.

Elliptical is probably the best form of cardio exercise in terms of burning the most calories.

But you won't lose weight without having a good diet plan.

Weights are great. Especially if you have excess fat, and you can burn that in order to build muscle.

There are a few things I wouldn't really like, such as only eating when you're hungry....most people tend to overeat when that happens, but if you can control yourself, awesome.

The idea is to find something that works for you. I could do the exact same plan as you, and not lose any weight.

And if it works for you....keep it up.

[Azure]

Originally Posted by bigtmac19

Just started taking a "learn to run class" in April. We had a class about heart rate training, and what your target heart rate training should be depending on what your goal is. They told us you should only be training at your maximum heart rate if you are training for short burst races, i.e. sprinters, or for speed training. But that for endurance and fat burning as opposed to burning sugars, you should be training at 60 to 70% of your maximum heart rate, which is 220 minus your age?

Yeah, thats generally correct.

220-19 for me = 200. Which is what I try to hit.

But you have to make sure you have a healthy heart. Not everyone, even people in their early 20's can hit 190-200bpm. Nor should they even try.

It took me almost 3 months before I started doing cardio at that rate.

[Azure]

Originally Posted by The Goon

I met a guy a couple of weeks ago who recently dropped 65 lbs. Apparently he was a real schlub before. He said he would constantly exercise but nothing was happening, until he changed his diet. A good quote from him:

"Even the best exercise routine can't overcome a bad diet."

As for walking, I work downtown, and when it's decent out, I go for a 3km stroll around the river/Prince's Island park. I find it's been helping me out a bit weight-wise. The bonus is observing fit women running in Lululemon pants.

The guy is absolutely correct.

The only way to possibly lose weight without changing your diet is exercising to burn more calories than you eat.

So if you're a slob, and you eat 4000 calories per day, you'd have to hit the elliptical for around an hour, plus weight training, 6 days a week in order to lose the desired 2 lbs per week. Tough to do, but I know someone who has accomplished that.

Of course now that he is below 16% BF, he has to change up his diet.

[Azure]

Originally Posted by Russic

Somebody with more knowledge will have to confirm, but I do believe there is a sweet spot for burning fat and building endurance. Go beyond this spot and you're still burning, just not as efficiently (it's more of a muscle building/cardio strengthening thing). I believe I did read a study once that said the most effective means of losing fat though is to change it up almost randomly between jogging, running and sprinting.

Yeah, I've heard of that too.

Studies I've read have said if you exceed something like 80% of your max heart rate, you start burning muscle for energy instead of fat.

[Tron_fdc]

Diet diet diet. And I'm not talking fad diets, you are virtually GUARANTEED to gain more weight in the long run than you lose if you're on one of those.


I have a pretty high metabolism, but as I get into my 30's it's more and more important for me to watch what I eat. I used to be able to get away with eating whatever and hitting the gym 4-6 days a week, but those days are long gone. I can still hit the gym and cheat here and there and not see too many repercussions, but being strict in my daily routine is so much more important now than it ever has been.

My typical daily diet is egg whites, an apple and low fat yoghurt in the morning, Chicken wrap, banana for lunch (no cheese, no dressing), whole grain rice for a snack 2 hours after, and usually chicken or fish for dinner with a salad. Depending on what I'm doing that day will also largely determine what I eat; if I'm playing hockey I increase my carb level (whole grain only) and if I'm doing nothing (or thinking about drinking booze) I'll reduce it. I also make an effort to drink at least 4 liters of water daily. There are times when I have to go outside of my diet (travelling, etc), but I NEVER cheat twice on the same day, and if I binge I'm usually pretty strict the next few days. This has been really succesful for me, with or without exercise.

As I said, I'm blessed with a quick metabolism and can lose weight quite quickly if I need to, so people with slower metabolic rates would need a lower calorie diet and almost daily exercise. People need to understand that there is no silver bullet when it comes to weight loss, and 99.99999% of these "fad" diets, while delivering short term gains, will come back to haunt you in the long run. It's all about discipline and choosing not to grab that bag of chips with your sandwich, or drinking water instead of pop (including diet). It's a slow process, and won't help anyone overnight, but the health benefits IMO far outweigh those of the low carb diets.

[Azure]

To be fair....Photon went on what you would qualify as a 'fad' diet, but the idea is that he wanted to get rid of 100lbs, quick in order to get to a more manageable weight.

So as long as he now adjusts according to what his body needs, he should be okay.

I know what you're saying though.....fad diets are notorious for fast loss, faster gain.

[MelBridgeman]

Originally Posted by Tron_fdc

Diet diet diet. And I'm not talking fad diets, you are virtually GUARANTEED to gain more weight in the long run than you lose if you're on one of those.


I have a pretty high metabolism, but as I get into my 30's it's more and more important for me to watch what I eat. I used to be able to get away with eating whatever and hitting the gym 4-6 days a week, but those days are long gone. I can still hit the gym and cheat here and there and not see too many repercussions, but being strict in my daily routine is so much more important now than it ever has been.

My typical daily diet is egg whites, an apple and low fat yoghurt in the morning, Chicken wrap, banana for lunch (no cheese, no dressing), whole grain rice for a snack 2 hours after, and usually chicken or fish for dinner with a salad. Depending on what I'm doing that day will also largely determine what I eat; if I'm playing hockey I increase my carb level (whole grain only) and if I'm doing nothing (or thinking about drinking booze) I'll reduce it. I also make an effort to drink at least 4 liters of water daily. There are times when I have to go outside of my diet (travelling, etc), but I NEVER cheat twice on the same day, and if I binge I'm usually pretty strict the next few days. This has been really succesful for me, with or without exercise.

As I said, I'm blessed with a quick metabolism and can lose weight quite quickly if I need to, so people with slower metabolic rates would need a lower calorie diet and almost daily exercise. People need to understand that there is no silver bullet when it comes to weight loss, and 99.99999% of these "fad" diets, while delivering short term gains, will come back to haunt you in the long run. It's all about discipline and choosing not to grab that bag of chips with your sandwich, or drinking water instead of pop (including diet). It's a slow process, and won't help anyone overnight, but the health benefits IMO far outweigh those of the low carb diets.

I agree with this and have been able to drop 15-20 pounds on diet change alone, hit a wall and had to introduce some exercises into the mix..fruit/veggies/chicken/fish/yogurt/..5 small meals a day, i drink nothing but water and the odd coffee...but allow myself one day a week or two to go to the Keg for some prime rib..usually when i eat out its sushi or Nandos...

[photon]

Insofar as really low calorie diet can be a fad The balance of the diet was pretty much Canada's food guide, and I did it at the suggestion of my doctor, and it was supervised by a doctor and I had tests done throughout it, so I felt ok that I wasn't doing something I'd just heard of.

But yeah the risk of rebound is still there regardless.

[Azure]

I can't help but feel that if kids were educated properly in school about nutrition, exercise and a healthy lifestyle, we'd have a lot less people becoming obese.

Sure, they might not change at the time....but eventually everyone hits a wall. And when they hit that wall, you want them to make the 'right' change, not just a quick fix that puts them in a worse situation then they were before.

[Myth]

A few years ago I got pretty sick and then pretty depressed which led to me eating a bunch of junk and ending up 40 lbs heavier and alot more depressed than before. A friend of mine and I started walking pretty much every day. At first it was for about an hour, and then two and even three hours at a time. It seemed like I wasn't losing any weight for the first while and then all of a sudden it just started falling off. Within 4 months not only did I lose that 40 lbs, but I lost 10 more as well so some people can lose weight by walking. I must add though that we always had a few steep hills to climb so I'm sure that played a big role as well.

[Azure]

Not everyone has time to walk 3 hours at a time.

I know I don't, and I bet most other people here don't either. So you want to get the most effective workout done in the the least time.

Walking a 'mile' isn't a workout.

[Tron_fdc]

Originally Posted by Azure

To be fair....Photon went on what you would qualify as a 'fad' diet, but the idea is that he wanted to get rid of 100lbs, quick in order to get to a more manageable weight.

That's the thing. I don't know Photon, so I don't know what kind of person/body type he is, but if, when he reaches his goals, he goes back to the old habits that got him there in the first place, I GUARANTEE he will put it all back on. There's a serious danger with major weight gain in those diets that I've seen a million times.

This is what sucks about those diets....people do them, they're disciplined about them, they lose weight, but as soon as they hit that goal it's like finishing a sprint. A big sigh of relief, and straight back at the old habits. Weight loss and lifestyle changes are a marathon, not a sprint.

All I can say to Photon is that yes, you've sacrificed A LOT (trust me, I've done them too) but when you hit that goal, it's really, really, really important to either carry either the diet through or switch to low calorie. I just can't stress that enough. Hitting the goal and allowing yourself to start cheating is the quickest way to ensure all that weight creeps back on and more.

But I think it's awesome guys like Photon decide to change their lifestyles. I know it's not easy, and it's something to be very proud of.

[Azure]

Originally Posted by Tron_fdc

That's the thing. I don't know Photon, so I don't know what kind of person/body type he is, but if, when he reaches his goals, he goes back to the old habits that got him there in the first place, I GUARANTEE he will put it all back on. There's a serious danger with major weight gain in those diets that I've seen a million times.

This is what sucks about those diets....people do them, they're disciplined about them, they lose weight, but as soon as they hit that goal it's like finishing a sprint. A big sigh of relief, and straight back at the old habits. Weight loss and lifestyle changes are a marathon, not a sprint.

All I can say to Photon is that yes, you've sacrificed A LOT (trust me, I've done them too) but when you hit that goal, it's really, really, really important to either carry either the diet through or switch to low calorie. I just can't stress that enough. Hitting the goal and allowing yourself to start cheating is the quickest way to ensure all that weight creeps back on and more.

But I think it's awesome guys like Photon decide to change their lifestyles. I know it's not easy, and it's something to be very proud of.

Can't argue with that.....good post.