The RacerX weight loss thread

[CharvelRocker]

Well, keep at it man!

I just got back from the gym. Did 45 minutes on the Elliptical and got almost completely through the Ihsahn solo album.

This gave me an idea. Stick a cd in and work out until the end of the cd. Also technically no home scale is truely accurate. You would need one of those sciencetific on a person sized scale. A home scale may be off somewhat. Also don't fall for digital scales, as they work the same as ones withotu readouts. Anyway keep it up man!

[Inearthed]

This gave me an idea. Stick a cd in and work out until the end of the cd. Also technically no home scale is truely accurate. You would need one of those sciencetific on a person sized scale. A home scale may be off somewhat. Also don't fall for digital scales, as they work the same as ones withotu readouts. Anyway keep it up man!

Yeah, that's usually my general plan.. I'm working on getting some Arrested Development episodes setup to play on my iPod so I can watch that while I'm doing my cardio.

And you're definitely right about the home scales. The cheapy $25 one is always really far off in comparison to the fancy one that they have at my gym.

[YetAnotherOne]

Good luck Ron, you're swimming upstream against millions of years of evolution. Our ancestors with 100+ pound spare tires might have been eaten by sabre tooth tigers or trampled by mastodons but the ones that were skinny didn't survive famines or the long cold winters with little food. The ones that survived had a propensity to store energy for lean times but not so much that it made them unable to function.

That's important because when you try to lose weight by restricting calories alone your body will quickly reset your metabolic rate to a lower point in an attempt to maintain the energy reserves (fat) we're genetically predisposed to store. Your body also hits you with a double whammy in that much of the weight you lose via calorie restriction will be muscle rather than fat since it takes a bunch of calories to maintain a pound of muscle on your body but virtually none to maintain a pound of fat. The net result is that you can find yourself tired, burned-out, and as flabby (or flabbier) than before if you're not careful. With the exception of the absolutely sedentary for the first few weeks they begin working out we can't gain muscle without gaining fat (both require caloric intakes above our maintenance level) and we can't lose fat without losing muscle (both require caloric intakes below our maintenance level).

OK, I'm getting advice that weightlifting is the best thing, and advice that it's not.

Lifting is great in combination with caloric restriction because your body will interpret the workload as meaning that you require muscle/strength to survive and it will therefore tend to burn more fat and less muscle tissue while you're losing weight. The idea that anyone is going to add a massive amount of muscle quickly enough to have a major effect on their metabolic rate is probably mostly hogwash as it just doesn't happen that fast but you can certainly impact how much of your current muscle will be retained.

That said lifting isn't the only physical activity that will help, pretty much anything will but you'll probably retain far more muscle in the areas of the body that you're working than those that you're not. For example, take a look at the upper back and shoulder development of a competitve swimmer, the upper body of a male gymnast, or the spectacular overall muscular development of sprinters. The interesting thing about those sorts of athletes is that they carry a lot of muscle tissue but that their sports favor their not doing so (if you asked them they'd all love to maintain their current strength but be lighter). Also take a look at Jarod the Subway stooge whose waist is still wider than his round narrow little shoulders, that's where walking and starving yourself will get you (if you're lucky).

When you're done with your cardio add some activities that might help your body maintain muscle: do some pushups, go for a swim (yes, in the ocean), go down to the beach and run sprints until you fall over then lay around and soak up the rays (sprints in sand rock, particularly for big guys), find a hiking trail with a good vertical rise or a bunch of stairs and exaggerate every step on the way up, put some of those books you're always reading in a box and press it a few times over your head while you're watching the tube, curl that quarter barrel you're rolling in for the party this weekend a few times (beer kegs are great exercise equipment), etc. But do something to tell your body that you'd like to keep the muscle you have, you'll look and feel better as you lose weight.

[RacerX]

Tonight after work I went to my uncle's house to take the dogs for a walk. I hadn't been there in a while, so as soon as I walked in, the dogs went absolutely crazy! They were so happy to see me, awwwww (I wonder if anybody else had walked them in the last couple weeks...). I had a bowl of macaroni salad, then took the dogs on a nice night-time hour-long walk.

[RacerX]

UH OH! Apparently I neglected to do stretches before that walk and suffered a nasty charley horse later Friday night. It seemed to go away Saturday, but all day today my right calf is in pain.

What do I do?

[horns666]

UH OH! Apparently I neglected to do stretches before that walk and suffered a nasty charley horse later Friday night. It seemed to go away Saturday, but all day today my right calf is in pain.

What do I do?

Easily..drop something heavy on your foot, perhaps a bowling ball..it diverts the pain from your calf to the foot..

Seriously, I would think some stretching would still help with that one..do you have any muscle relaxers like soma or flexeril at home..

Vinny's wrestling coaches would always tell the team during their cals..it you get a cramp..keep moving and walk it off..this is true.

[Hossman]

Quinine water -- yeah that's right - tonic water - you can add something to if you wish - but it will take charlie horses and leg cramps away. Just ask a old guy like me!!

[Emthrax]

Dood Ron! I just saw this!
Awesome, I think that taking your health seriously should be the top priority for everyone and I am so proud of you for taking the initiative to get yourself in good shape! Nice.
Heh, course I just sent you a holiday card with a recipe for cookies in it. HAHAHAHA! Whoops.
Anywho, whenever I make it out to L.A. don't think I haven't forgotten about that tennis match. I'm gonna kick your ass, man.

-Embabe

[mm2002]

Quinine water -- yeah that's right - tonic water - you can add something to if you wish - but it will take charlie horses and leg cramps away. Just ask a old guy like me!!

Pepperoni pizza and beer work good too.

[Emthrax]

Pepperoni pizza and beer work good too.

Oooo... DINNER!

[Hossman]

Pepperoni pizza and beer work good too.

DUDE -- He's on a diet right D'OH

[RacerX]

Anywho, whenever I make it out to L.A. don't think I haven't forgotten about that tennis match. I'm gonna kick your ass, man.

-Embabe

Hahahahaha! You & what army? Let's make it interesting...winner gets what?

[Inearthed]

Quick question for those a bit more weight lifting savvy. My initial workout went really well but when I went through my upper body routine the next time it came up in my schedule (Sunday) I was able to pull off the same weight and some higher weights on a couple of the lifts... Until I hit the two lifts targeted at the chest muscles. Using an independent motion machine (seperate weight for side) I got about 3 or 4 reps into my set and I couldn't even go any further on my left side, I had to pull about 5 pounds off. Tried again, was able to get another 4 or 5 in this time and I had to stop because I just physically couldn't do it. I wasn't in pain at all, but I just couldn't lift the weight.

Is it possible I might've strained or done something to that left side of my chest in that initial workout? I was sore for about two days afterwards but that is pretty normal for getting back in the groove, I've found.

[VitaminG]

Hahahahaha! You & what army? Let's make it interesting...winner gets what?

a piggyback ride?

[RacerX]

Man, nobody wondered about my gut for 3 weeks?

Well, here's an update: I lost 5 pounds over the holidays!

Cool, and I wasn't even trying hard. I've been taking 5 Cortislim caps a day, they seem to be curbing my appetite + helping me sleep better.