Eating and Exercising

[Lex]

There have been several people on the site who have had discussions about their eating habits (I loathe the word diet) and their exercise regime. I thought it would be fun to share what we do.

First, some inspirational words from Oprah, ruler of us all:

Oprah’s philosophy is that when you learn, you teach. Here's what she told her staff: "I want you to think about why you're overweight. But let me save you a lot of time. The reason you're fat is that you give more to other people than you give to yourself, because you don't feel you're worth it." The bottom line is you cannot lose weight until you make yourself the top priority in your life.

People always say, "I'm too busy to exercise," "I have to be there for the kids," or "I've got too much work." You know what? These are little lies you're telling yourself, and they go against the laws of self-preservation, because the more whole and healthy you are, the more fully you can give to other people. And that's the truth." Oprah does not ask you to abandon your children. She’s just saying: Put yourself at the top of the list so that you can treat your body with as much care and respect as you'd give to someone else's—and when anyone needs something from you, you will be operating from a full cup.

Here are things I eat:
Snacks:
Organic yogurt with fruit (all natural sugars, no high fructose corn syrup)--Stoneyfield farms
Almonds and other assorted nuts
Kashi--go lean bars (Trail mix, peanut butter, honey almond flax)
Dried fruits
Fresh Fruit (grapes, pears, bananas, apples, oranges)

Breakfast:
Bowl of cereal (bran)
Cup of Orange Juice
Yogurt

Lunch:
Spinach salad
Boiled egg, cucumber, tomato, onion
Cheese
1 Can of albacore tuna or slices of chicken breast or broiled fish
Low fat, low sugar dressing
(I eat the same lunch Monday-Friday)

Dinner:
Anything sensible

Also, I started drinking protein shakes to help build more muscle. I found Designer Whey at the bulk food store and it tastes good and seems to be working. One shake immediately after my workout and another at mid-morning.

Here is my workout. Please note that I am never in the gym more than 35-45 minutes.

Monday: Chest and Legs
Inclined Hammer press
Flat bench
Flys
Decline press
Leg Press
Leg Raises (quads)
Calf raises



Tuesday: Arms
Standing curls
Preacher curls
Triceps push downs on pulley machine
Forearm raises
Bike for 15 minutes

Thursday: Shoulders
Military press on hammer machine
Front shoulder raises
Side shoulder raises
Rear deltoid lifts
Bike for 15 minutes
**this is probably my lightest workout. I hurt my right shoulder 5 years ago and the pain intermittently returns**

Friday: Back and Core
Rows on hammer machine
Lat pull down (forward facing)
Rear lat pull down
Forward lat pull down (with closed grip attachment)
Crunches, leg lifts, etc.

 

[Ethyl]

After reading your new sig, I forgot the question...:biggrin1:

Oh yes. Eating habits. Mine are fairly healthy. I feel best when I eat some sort of animal protein a few times per week, drink lots of water, eat lots of fruit and salad. Most of the time I stick to this unless i'm undergoing some serious stress and, naturally, that's when I need a healthy diet the most. I do have a penchant for salt and vinegar chips and King's Hawaiian bread toasted with cheddar cheese (food of the gods), but I generally keep those at bay during the week.

Yoga 4x per week. Weightlifting 2x per week. Was once a long-distance runner but my creaky left knee asked me to retire a few years ago.

 

[dongalong]

I have just started a high protein diet recommended to get the most from my Tongkat Ali experiment.

Breakfast: Meat

Lunch: Meat, meat and dairy product dessert

Dinner: Meat

Snacks: Nuts

Luckily this should last for around 20 days during an on-cycle

Off-cycle will be everything else that is good for you!!

 

[D_Sheffield Thongbynder]

Your regimine puts mine to shame, Lex. I simply walk briskly for 2-5 miles five times a week, do push-ups and crunches, and eat a diet so bad for anyone that I can't bring myself to reveal it. Thank God for good genes.:redface:

 

[snoozan]

Lex, I love the Oprah quote. That sentiment is something I learned in therapy a few years ago and it's so very true. Being selfish is part of being selfless-- giving others 100% means performing at 100%, which is only acieved by taking good care of yourself physically, emotionally, mentally, and medically.

I have a carb fetish and a salt fetish, two things I'm trying to rein in lately. Here's a list of some foods that I've found incredibly helpful for doing that:

High fiber, low fat single-serving microwave popcorn. Ok, it's salty and starchy, but it's got a lot of fiber and it fills you up very fast.

Bags of spinach. slightly wilted with PAM or raw with balsamic vinegar and some olive oil. Adding a hard boiled egg or fresh veggies on hand sometimes. 60 calories for an entire bag of baby spinach with a ton of nutrients.

Stir fry. A bag of stir fry veggies from Costco, which has a great mixture of veggies and a little Mr. Yoshida's sauce. I'll add chicken for some protein. I usuall eat this over rice.

Tuna. Lots of protein and if you mix it wilth a small amount of light mayo and a lot of onion, it's good.

Chick peas. Again, lots of protein.

Lean sliced ham sans bread.

That's all I can think of.

Exercise.. just starting to walk and I go up and down stairs about 20 times a day. Crunches and some weightlifting (again, just starting).

 

[B_Think_Kink]

I eat basically anything I want, when I want, and don't exercise... some day I will suffer...
Intresting to see other people's lifestyles though.

 

[bluekarma]

Since April I've adopted a semi-healthy lifestyle (hoping to step it up a notch in the new year). I used to eat whatever was in my face and lots of it. Since then I quit drinking soft drinks, or sweetened tea (big deal down south). No fast foods, sweets, or cakes. I usually eat a granola bar for breakfast (or left overs from my daughters breakfast), small salad for lunch, sensible dinner of meat and veggies. I cut way down on all carbs. Indulge on things like sushi or crusty bread at restaurants.

Exercise: Pilates 1x week. Stationary bike 30 mins 3-4 times a week or run/walk track 2 miles. Just joined Gold's gym today, so hopefully I can shed these last few lbs and get this tummy flat ;-)

I lost 35 lbs since April though, so I'm pretty determined to meet my goal.
It's all about changing the lifestyle. Making exercise a leisure activity, not a chore. I've been hiking and running the track on nice days, taking my daughter for long walks. When typically I would have been watching movies or tv or surfing the web all day long. Feels good to get fit, really does!

xoxo CG

 

[bluekarma]

I eat basically anything I want, when I want, and don't exercise... some day I will suffer...
Intresting to see other people's lifestyles though.

Aren't you just precious and privileged? :tongue:

 

[Onslow]

If it's around I'll try it. I have to work hard not to eat burgers and ice cream all the time and to at least occasionally eat a vegetable--I explained to my doctor that potatoes are indeed vegetables. He told me if I kept eating the fried ones I'd become a vegetable once a stroke took my brain functions, Strokes are common in my family.


I eat better now thant I used to, I drink fat free milk and eat fat free plain yogurt which I add blueberries to. I don't like butter or margerine so thats never a worry but I love cheese--all of them it seems (well not limberger)

Excercise? Whats that? You ever try doing jumping jacks with one leg?


Okay all the jokes aside, I lost 140 pounds recently (I kid you not) by eating soup--dump the broth after its cooked, they are wasteful sodium filled calories. Eating granola, yogurt (fat free and sugar free) Carrots by the truckload, I still allow myself a pint once a week or so (I can forgo it for 3 or 4 weeks) Oh, I meant a pint of ice cream--the booze is out. Once a week I allow myself the super treat of a plate of pasta of some sort with a gallon of sauce--tomato sauce. I am not the best cook in the world so it tends to be from a jar and I put a quarter pound of shredded mozarella into that and then nuclearize it for 15 minutes to get the cheese nicely melted and the pasta to have a surface crunch. I also eat oatmeal (the real stuff that takes forever and a day to cook) 4 or 5 mornings each week. Soemtimes I add raisins, I use Equal for a sweetner and occasionally have some cinnamon in it. Cook it in fat free milk--makes the taste better. I do not have a daily menu plan, I am far tooo disorganized for that.

My exercise is a matter of being on my feet in the morning for approximately an hour with a very minimal workout--once I have Leggy strapped on. Use 5 pound weights (I guess some would say I'm lazy) most days, and take care of the midsectoin as well through a little bending here and there. My waste dropped from 44 down to 36 so I'm doing something right.

Now about that signature line-- I will beat you like a slave and fuck you like I hate you.
--is this an offer?

 

[D_N Flay Table]

this is something I know about.
Bodybuilding.com - Daniel Greene - Transformation Of The Week - Daniel Greene.

thats my story

 

[Industrialsize]

This flamin homosexual thinks Daniel greene is hot...but who the hell is he<G>?

 

[jeff black]

I've tried this thing called excersizing and it is working wonders. Lots and lots of cardio=fit and trim.:smile:

 

[snoozan]

I eat basically anything I want, when I want, and don't exercise... some day I will suffer...
Intresting to see other people's lifestyles though.

This worked well for me until I hit 25. Ooops. Seriously, it's a good idea to get a handle on your eating and fitness habits when you're young (preferably from the day you're orn) because doing it when you're older, your metbolism is slower and you're set in your ways.

On the other hand, enjoy it while you can!

 

[D_Gunther Snotpole]

I could lose 20 lbs. and I'm battling (fairly successfully) a blood pressure problem.

I'm eating All-Bran Buds for breakfast, with soya milk, a piece of fruit, and either one egg or cottage cheese. (Sometimes chicken ... but always some protein at the start of the day.)
The All-Bran Buds give you 12 g. of fibre, which is half of your daily requirement.

For lunch and dinner, I have, in each meal, two servings of veggies and some chicken, turkey, or fish.

Twice a day I eat fruit or raw veggies for snacks.

I used to be very fit ... marathoning and everything, but that's long gone by the board.
Now I'm walking rapidly on an inclined treadmill. I'm going to do this every day, and only very gradually increase the speed and incline. Doing something over a really extended period of time is far more important than stepping things up quickly, getting injured or sick of the activity, and find myself, a year from now, sitting on my duff.
I'm also swimming a bit. I'm not crazy about the water, but I've invested in some forty-buck goggles and that has ended the eye irritation that was my main problem with the swimming pool.
In a couple months, I plan to add twice a week sessions of resistance training.
I may, just may, take up spinning.
And that will be it. All in moderation.

The blood pressure, BTW, has fallen from 165/105 to 145/90. And that's after only four weeks of diuretics.
With further weight loss and improved fitness, that figure should fall a lot further ... to the point where I may be able to stop the pills.

There's nothing dramatic here. I'm not going to emerge looking like, oh, with a nod to Mr. Black, Tom Welling. :tongue: :wink:. And I'm not going to the Olympics.
But I really do feel a lot better about things.
As things were going before, I had an early unspecified rendezvous with a stroke clinic. (Both my parents had strokes, my mother, a fatal one.)
Just taking care of yourself makes so much difference.

 

[B_Think_Kink]

This worked well for me until I hit 25. Ooops. Seriously, it's a good idea to get a handle on your eating and fitness habits when you're young (preferably from the day you're orn) because doing it when you're older, your metbolism is slower and you're set in your ways.

On the other hand, enjoy it while you can!

Yeah.. my parents are on a health kick... and I hate it... I'm the pickiest person you'll ever meet, I rarely eat meat, never eat fish, and most veggies... fruits are ok, but the texture of banana's makes me gag. I also have this cool thing happen to me, that when I run for a few minutes... my heart rate skyrockets to 200... so I'm really not that intrested in dying, although I do love running on a treadmill.

 

[snoozan]

:tongue:Hey Rubi,

Good for you, it's great to hear that you're really doing something wonderful for yourself. I'm glad you're taking it into your own hands and not just being satisfied that the pills will fix the BP (but not some underlying problems). My husband took a beta-blocker for a heart arrhythmia and the side effects were awful-- impotence, fatigue, and more. He finally made some dietary and lifestyle changes and the arrhythmia went away and he didn't have to take the pills any more. In the long run I think what you're doing is very wise. Of course, I would expect nothing less from you.

Keep it up, you sexy thing, you.

 

[D_Gunther Snotpole]

:tongue:Hey Rubi,

Good for you, it's great to hear that you're really doing something wonderful for yourself. I'm glad you're taking it into your own hands and not just being satisfied that the pills will fix the BP (but not some underlying problems). My husband took a beta-blocker for a heart arrhythmia and the side effects were awful-- impotence, fatigue, and more. He finally made some dietary and lifestyle changes and the arrhythmia went away and he didn't have to take the pills any more. In the long run I think what you're doing is very wise. Of course, I would expect nothing less from you.

Keep it up, you sexy thing, you.

Tnx, snoozan. I wish I'd done this a couple of years ago, but better late than never.

 

[D_Herin_Ghan]

I'm gonna chime in here.

Your diet is the most important thing to the success of your workout routine. However, from what I've read..it seems you are overtraining certain body parts.

I'll get to that later. First thing's, first; eat smaller meals spread out throughout the day. This keeps your metabolism up, thereby decreasing fat. You want to be eating lean protein every chance you get, and you want to have some carbs..but not too many. Complex carbs in wheat are much better than the simple sugars you get in something such as fruit juice.

Here's a sample diet you might want to consider

Wake-up meal:
2 hardboiled eggs
Yogurt
Fruit
Glass of 2% milk or Coffee

Mid-morning snack: Protein bar/Protein shake

Lunch
Grilled Chicken wrap
salad with light dressing
Water

Mid-afternoon snack:
Almond trail mix

Dinner
Lean beef, fish or chicken
Steamed vegetables
Glass of wine

2 hrs before sleep:
Sliced fruit w/ peanut butter

Important things to remember are to keep drinking water! You should be drinking half your body weight (in ounces obviously). Say you weigh 200 lbs, try drinking 100 oz of water. That may seem like a lot, but odds are you go through three/four bottles when training (you're muscles need that water to stay hydrated). So that knocks out 48-64 ounces right there.

Lex, I've been having great results by not specializing muscle groups when I do my routine. When you overtrain a muscle, it becomes fatigued and it is very difficult to gain mass when your muscles are so drained.

Here's what I do

Upper body:
Decline Dumbell press (down three secs, hold 1, up 1) 4 sets, 12 reps
Reverse Incline fly (up 1, hold two, down three)
Zottman curl (palms up curl the dumbell, hold it at the top, face your palms outward and lower down for four seconds...THESE KILL but work amazingly)
Seated Row (Pull 1, hold 1, three second release)
Close Grip Bench (Down two, hold one, up one) <- great tricep workout
Standing shoulder fly (Up one, hold two, down three)

Lower Body
Squat: Down three, hold two, up one
Leg Curl: Up one, point toes out and lower three, point toes up and curl in
Romanian Dead Lift: Up one, down three
Split Squat: Down three, hold one, explode up

Abs/Cardio
Treadmill for 20 minutes (any more and you burn muscle)
Ab workout

You do upper body day 1, cardio day 2, and lower body day 3. Take a day off in between.

Well, there's my advice. (BTW that picture in my gallery is 8 months old, I've put on much more muscle while staying lean).

 

[Lex]

...Now about that signature line-- I will beat you like a slave and fuck you like I hate you.
--is this an offer?

You can come willingly or by force. Suit yourself.

...
Lex, I've been having great results by not specializing muscle groups when I do my routine. When you overtrain a muscle, it becomes fatigued and it is very difficult to gain mass when your muscles are so drained.

...Squat: Down three, hold two, up one
...

Squats would make my ass GROW. That is not the desired result. In my gym, all the people of color are riding bikes and gliders to keep the ass under control and all the people with fair skin are doing squats to make it grow. Funny.

Tell me why you think I am over training? I am not going for lean. I was lean before I started (was 180).

Current stats: 6'2", 193#, 42" chest, 33" waist, 16" Arms, 23" thigh, 42" hips, 17.5" neck

 

[D_Herin_Ghan]

You can come willingly or by force. Suit yourself.


Squats would make my ass GROW. That is not the desired result. In my gym, all the people of color are riding bikes and gliders to keep the ass under control and all the people with fair skin are doing squats to make it grow. Funny.

Tell me why you think I am over training? I am not going for lean. I was lean before I started (was 180).

Current stats: 6'2", 193#, 42" chest, 33" waist, 16" Arms, 23" thigh, 42" hips, 17.5" neck

Real quick before I head out to party;

Four exercises per body part is WAY too many. Your chest does not need that many exercises. Instead, you should be focusing on one to two exercises per body part, and doing proper form and maxing your resistance (that is achieved by going SLOW). Even the worlds best bodybuilders do not do four exercises per body part. Overtraining a muscle can be worse than undertraining!

You really do not need to breaking up your routine that much. It has been proven that a three day full body routine works wonders for 99.9% of participants.

Specialization training came about when bodybuilders needed to train a certain muscle group prior to a competition, and was looking for a way to SHAPE the muscle. You are looking to gain mass without gaining fat. In order to really gain mass, you want to be on a "clean bulk" program. You are eating a lot, you are eating frequently, but you are not eating high fat foods in the process. Mass gains come just as much from the kitchen as they do from lifting. Full body routines like the one I'm doing are great for putting on mass. The slower you do the exercises, the more blood rushes to your muscle, the bigger the pump and muscle growth. Overtraining a muscle is detrimental to growth.

To answer your questions about squats; squats release growth hormone, which in turn pumps your muscles up. Not just your ass, ALL of 'em.



Hope that helps!