Fitness/Self Care Check In

Failed to go out and do the aforementioned trek. ¬_¬ Got distracted and I guess I just couldn't be bothered. -_- Hopefully tomorrow will go better.

Hope tomorrow is better for you Zwang

Will do my exercises when I get home, for self care today I have group for a few hours. We're going to the park, bringing our lunch to eat there and spray painting these phone book Christmas trees we made

I want to start making some muscle gains with weight training, don't seem to be getting too far though, my macros are about right for putting on muscle. I would like some better kit to work out with so I can really target specific areas I would like to improve, but can't really afford it. I still find the prospect of going to a gym far too scary. so i'm relying on the chance that local people are giving away unused exercise equipment through a scheme called freecycle. so far, not having much luck there.

i've sorted out the diet side of things and am on track with fat loss since going keto. just need it all to work together so that I can make the transformations I want. perhaps I just need to be more patient.

Good workout today. 8) 32:30 length, pushed myself relatively hard, and my shins didn't prohibit me working out further, 'though they did hurt. (seem OK, now, s'long as I don't start using them, again xD)

Oh, and I took one of those "after" pictures, again, to log my progress, and I have to say, even with less-than-flattering lighting and angles, I can certainly see the gains and body-fat loss since I got back into fitness again! Hell of a difference. I haven't weighed myself in about 3 or so days, and I'm absolutely dying to do it, but I'm told that I shouldn't. -_-

Hi there, Randle.

If you want to gain muscle growth (size) then you need to push yourself with higher weights. As a general rule: higher weight and less reps = focus on muscle growth. Lower weight and higher reps = focus on muscle definition. 'though I'm not sure "definition" is an accurate word here, but perhaps "shape", or "tone" of it-- generally speaking, if you want definition, you lose body-fat, but from what I've learned, it's not just about that--there seems to be a whole art to actually sculpting muscles, which goes way beyond my knowledge.

So, in a nut-shell, if you want muscle gains, you wanna be lifting heavy things. Obviously that's within reason--don't go too far over as you will only increase chances of injury which can do permanent damage or temporarily stop you being able to workout that area.

Make sure you're getting enough protein, avoid too much sodium, be sure to get adequate fiber, drink plenty, and, if your weight is pretty damn solid (not overweight--essentially referring to body-fat) you should apparently be on a slight surplus with regards to calories. Personally, I would recommend avoiding simple carbs, too high a fat content, sodium, and saturated fats. Polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fats are good, saturated is very bad. Saturated is typically found in sugary food like sweets, and you'll also find it in meat like bacon. You can get away with eating bits and pieces here and there ('though I absolutely avoid bacon, just personally) but do keep it managed; you don't wanna hide your work by putting on body-fat like I did.

You're looking for something like 7-10 reps per set with your chosen weight; this number seems to vary, but 10 seems like the most common one. The reason is that you want to be constantly challenging and breaking down your muscles in order to truly rebuild them back up. In a nut-shell: you need to force them to grow, rather than letting them off easy. Note: size doesn't always equal strength. There's a couple of ways you can do this, as far as I know: you can follow my step-mother's method and aim for definition and growth by including low reps and high reps (weights adjusted respectively) in the same workout session, or, you can do what I've learned other body-builders do, is to first work on building that muscle and then work on sculpting it (if that even floats your boat) which I guess is what I'm doing, 'though I sometimes use low weight because I enjoy how it feels.

Be sure you do eat enough, as your body will cannibalize your muscles otherwise, and lastly, be sure not to overwork the muscles (over-train) because, as I understand it, it reduces growth substantially; I can actually attest to this, because I recently gunned at it for ages, really working out a lot, every day for a bit, and wasn't getting the gains I felt I should, so I switched things up, working out every other day (the idea perplexed me before, because I was/am so obsessed) and now I'm seeing pretty decent results.

Times like this I'm so glad I've spent years obsessing, researching, and learning off my step-mother and her brother. xD

Best of luck, Randle. I'm with you on this one. Hope we can achieve our goals. 8)

PS
I'm not enormous, nor am I a professional--this is knowledge I've gained from research, people who know well, and my own experience.

PPS
I've never gone to the gym; you don't "need" it at all, though if you're really into it and want to get huge, it's probably worth considering it at a later date. I'm kinda looking to get pretty big, but I doubt I'll need the gym for a long time yet, as I have plenty of equipment here at home. (exercise bike, pull-up bar, dumbbells, barbells, plates, push-up bars, the floor, and there really are so many exercises you can do without machines)

hey man,
thanks for your help regarding this. I think I am on track with the diet in terms of fat loss, I spent ages looking up various things for finding the best way to increase fat loss as I had quite a bit of fat on me before I embarked on a plan to change ,and simply losing weight resulted in me being "skinny fat". the ketogenic diet is working pretty well with the fat loss but I might need to change and switch over to something else when I actually get more equipment. I am thinking I may attempt carb backloading for a period for bulking up? but my equipment is currently really non existent! I have one dumbell with only one weight on it and a resistance band, i'm trying to be as inventive as I can with what I can do but I feel quite limited by what I have.

Today's my rest day, yay... kinda. Bit sore and achy from yesterday's working, and I may or may not have obsessed over the pullup bar for ages. x_x I figured it was the workout day, so why not. (did well, though) S'long as I feed my muscles and drink plenty today, I should be OK.

You can probably get some cheap, second-hand weights if you look around. BBers are always whizzing through weights as they have to keep challenging to bulk, so there's a good chance some are going spare.

What weight is your dumbbell? If it's enough weight that it challenges you, that's good. If it's easy as hell, then at least it can be used for your shoulders. (side arm raises and front arm raises for side and front shoulders, respectively. You could do shoulder presses with them, too, if it's a high enough weight)

To my knowledge, a dumbbell can work the lats, shoulders, forearm, biceps, and triceps... not bad for one dumbbell, eh? You could probably even squat with it for extra weight to really work your quads and thighs, plus you can also work your calves with weighted toe raises, but that might be difficult to get a balanced weight for both those. I stick a dumbbell in my rucksack and go trekking with it, so there's that, too.

I'm sure you already know this, but be sure to have good form and not to overdo the weight.

For now, I can think of the following exercises you could do with what you have:

Pushups, situps, leg raises, bicep curls, bent over rows, tricep dips, squats, duck squats, toe raises, jogging on the spot, jumping jacks, side arm raises, front arm raises, high knees, burpees, and I'm sure there's more I'm not thinking of, plus there's some I can't remember the names of. So, there's still plenty for you to do. You might have trouble working your back, which is a concern, as you need your back and "core" (abs) to be strong enough to help with other exercises, especially when you start lifting heavier weights. If you can get a pullup bar from somewhere, do; it's a Godsend.

For weight-loss, I keep reading that working the legs offer the best results, because they are the biggest muscles in the body, apparently. I work my legs, but not nearly enough as I should, yet they are in pretty good shape, which is probably from all the biking, walking, trekking, and other cardio exercises. xD Remember, you (apparently) cannot target an area for weight loss. For men, the stomach typically goes last. (which drives me crazy as I still have a fair bit of a belly)

Good morning, will do my exercises later today when I'm more awake. Just enjoying my coffee now, for self care today I'm doing word puzzles.

Any one heard of "fighting gravity" fitness? My husband says it sounds like some kind of fad, but it's really not. It looks like a lot of fun and effective too, if anyone wants to look into it, although you probably need to be in a city - they're not going to have such a thing in a small town, probably. It costs money, but will soon be affordable for us - $75/mth - no more than you would pay for a membership to the Y. The trick for me will be getting there!

This one is going to sound very strange, but today I'm ordering a cat stroller, because my cat is feeling very cooped up and our neighborhood has too many dogs and not enough cover, so I'm hoping this is going to work out for both of us. So far, no matter how bored I am, I can't seem to make that move from sitting or lying around to going outside. It feels like such a humongous effort will need to be made.

Thanks for the thread, Bluebird.

I went to the library & found a yoga dvd I had not seen before. This one was different from any I had tried before. I tried it right before bed. I woke up feeling quite refreshed ( unusual for me). I am a bit sore. But glad I found a program with real possibility.

Lets just say I didn't exactly eat healthy today... Well it is Halloween, I do take holidays off. Back to exercising and eating healthy tomorrow

I think there's a problem. Like, I've just assumed it's because I've put on a lot of muscle and I swear I see more definition (less body-fat) but, I'm still about 15lbs lighter than when I got back into fitness... so what gives? I'm eating healthily as hell, I'm getting ample protein, and I'm working out. The only thing I can think, is that I'm somehow eating too much, or maybe I am actually taking in too much protein. I think I might cut my protein shake amount in half and see what happens. I'm also going to go back to counting calories, JUST FOR A WHILE, to get an idea of how many calories I'm eating these days.

Typically, I eat Greek salad, tinned tuna fish, vegetable cous-cous, sometimes chicken, my shakes, olives, and the occasional bit of wholemeal bread. For treats, sometimes I'll eat a bit, thinking I've earned it, worked out and stuff, also eating healthily that day - I keep seeing that you can get away with this, and so far I've not noticed anything to the contrary. Typically, it's a simple enough but fairly rich ice-cream, not-too-rich biscuits, and Pringles. I don't have that stuff often. I rarely have takeouts. I haven't had a takeout in about a month, I think, and even when I do, I take nutritional value pretty seriously.

Apparently, for "extreme weight loss" at my weight, well, the weight I was at (16 stone - now a touch under 15) I needed to eat 2600 calories a day, I think it was. That said, THIS website tells me I should be eating between 1900-2100 calories a day for weight loss.

I know one problem I have, is that, well, lately, I've been eating (OK, snacking, even though it's on healthy foods) too late... >.< I really need to stop that, but I get really hungry, or peckish.

Anywho, I get to workout today, well, later, as it's only just "today". I'm gonna try to push myself harder, ... aim for 50 minutes, and I might get out the bike again, too, as it has been a lil while since I used it. (been doing other cardio stuff) I also haven't treked with my rucksack in ages, so I need to do that... I just get self-conscious out there. >.<

I'm sure you're allowed a naughty day. 8)

Well, that was an awesome workout. I managed 40 minutes. Started feeling nauseous, so didn't push to 50, plus my shins were/are pretty sore, as always. I've actually started including yoga as part of a warmup and to loosen my body up a bit prior to the weights and cardio; feels amazing. Did some yoga stuff last night, and did that today. Recommend it.

I've heard a lot of good things about yoga but have never tried it. May look into it sometime.

Did most of my exercises today, my walk was kinda difficult because its super windy and cold outside.

Back to eating healthy

8) I'm quite happy with a few basic yoga moves; gives me something else to do when I workout. 8) Oh, and works as a nice lil warmup.

On what do you munch, Blue Bird?

EDIT:

Just did another workout. Pushed myself very hard, again -- possibly harder than earlier today. Think I need to get a 20KG dumbbell for my bent over rows (for the lats) because I'm starting to find 17.5KG a bit too easy for muscle growth. I'm trying to push myself so hard that my muscles FEEL it... really ache like hell; even Arnold Schwarzenegger took that as a sign they were worked properly, so if it worked for him, it should work for me.

This might interest you guys, and is actually what pumped me up to do another workout. xD



'nother thing I've noted, is that I REALLY need a bench. I'm missing out on bench presses and dumbbell flyes which are essential for the chest. Dunno if I'll ever have room for that over at this place. One of those things where a gym would be great.

Zwang, I've been eating a lot of fruit lately. Apples, oranges, bananas. In the morning I usually have cereal. I have been making sandwiches for lunch or dinner, on these wheat slim sandwich breads. They're slim and circular, I put on a few slices of chicken from the deli, a slice of cheese, and a little bit of mayonnaise. I'm out of chicken slices though so I'm going to be making chicken salad tomorrow to put on the bread with some miracle whip and relish.

For dinner sometimes I have grilled chicken, fish, stir fry, something like that it or a small dish of spaghetti or a bowl of soup lately.

Sometimes I have a little peanut butter to dip the apple or bananas in.

I have leftover candy from Halloween so I'm allowing myself to have two of those tiny mini candy bars a day.

Avoid simple carbs. Go with wholemeal bread, if bread at all. Avoid white bread at all costs; it's just simple carbs, not to mention not very great in the fiber department. (complex carbs are the best ones)

I would personally avoid peanut butter because it's high in fat content. Some fat is great 'n' all, but you can get plenty of healthy fats from things like fish. Just a tiny bit of peanut butter is loaded with fat. I've learned that body builders sometimes use it in the "bulk" stage, but if I remember correctly, you're trying to lose weight (like me [ so I wouldn't recommend it, unless you keep it as a "treat". Peanuts themselves can be handy, in considerable moderation, so I've learned, because they can help stave off hunger. But if you go for nuts, try things like walnuts and Brazil nuts; if I remember correctly, they're full of potassium (like bananas) iron, and other minerals.

I think it's best to avoid pasta. I cut out pasta completely and have noticed a huge difference; I suspect it was one of the biggest contributors to my weight gain. There's a reason body-builders use pasta to bulk; it's great for gaining mass/weight.

The chicken, fish, and fruit sounds awesome -- protein, omega 3, vitamins, minerals, and more. I love chicken and fish, especially tuna and salmon. I don't eat enough fruit, to be honest, but I try to get some now and again. I have a hard enough time trying to cram in the shakes, food, workout(s), and whatever else into the day.

Avoid mayonnaise as well; that's another one I strongly avoid, because it has usually just got a lot of crap in it; the last one I looked at was loaded in saturated fat and kinda made me feel a bit ill at the thought that I ate so much. x_x

We all do things in different ways of course, I'm just echoing stuff I've learned from (way too long a time doing) research and what-not.

PS

A treat now and again is awesome.

Like I've said before, I'm not on any strict diets as I don't personally believe in them. I'm just aiming to lose some weight then maintain but thanks for the advice I'm Italian, not gonna avoid pasta and bread entirely the point of this is , I'm eating 100 times healthier than I was. I used to drink 4-to 5 sodas a day, 3 cups of coffee with tons of sugar, I would literally eat a whole pizza. Some days would consist of 5 or 6 large meals with a few king sized candy bars. This is definitely an improvement. What I'm doing is better, it's probably not what health people consider so "healthy" but I'm doing a lot better than I was. Maybe someday I'll move on to a different diet but for now I feel okay with this I'm just honestly happier I'm eating better than I was, it was getting out of hand

Honestly... I was pretty much the same way during my "comfort-eating" period (2 years maybe) which completely screwed my body up. Bye bye, six-pack, that's for sure. :\ So yeah, I feel ya. I didn't drink sugary fizzy drinks, though, it was usually Diet Pepsi. -_- Actually, I drank that crap for many, many years, thanks to my step-mother turning my dad and I into Coke-heads. (Coke like the drink heh) I've not touched that stuff for 2 months.. OK, so when I visited my folks (who have tons of it lying around so it's hard to ignore) I've probably had maybe 2 cans of Diet Pepsi, which I regretted; just gassy and pointless. I'm used to water, now; it's pretty much all I drink. 8)

You're certainly doing well. You could totally eat bread - wholemeal is brilliant, especially the one with seeds in 'em; healthy and, IMO, tasty. Pasta might be a hard one to avoid, but there may be healthier alternatives.

Ultimately, if you feel good and are generally healthy, then that's a good thing! So keep up the good work. 8)

Yeah I agree. It's about a lifestyle. Something that can be sustainable. Most dieticians anymore are recommending starting out with changing slowly. Like start by drinking more water. Then a couple of weeks later lower the amount of calories you take in by 500 or so. When I was younger I really watched what I ate and worked out all the time. But I got out of that habit mainly bc of my back injury and the psych meds. So I'm gonna be starting fresh. I'm slowly starting to eat less, but these meds cause hunger it sucks....

I think you're doing a great job bluebird.

This morning I let myself sleep in. I am drained both physically and mentally. Sleep. Yeah. Sounds good.

The body needs sleep to recover, so you get what you need. 8)

Thanks Sunshine and Zwang! And it's good to get some rest Seeker

Today is my rest day from exercise, but for self care I will be writing in my journal. Got a busy week coming up, looking forward to it

I was meant to have a rest day, today, but ended up using the pullup bar a couple of times. -_- I'm looking forward to tomorrow, a day in which I can workout to my heart's content. Every workout day I feel like I grow a ton; feels amazing. I'm seeing more and more definition, too, which means bigger muscles and most importantly, less body-fat!

Yesterday I worked an 11 hour day. Was so tired I allowed myself plenty of sleep.

I was planning a short outing in the morning. I called my friend I told her I was too tired to go (I was).

Late in the day I was feeling much much better. I took my third horseback riding lesson.

After my lesson, the caretaker let me help her feed the horses at their various locations. Much to learn.

36:50 workout. I feel sick. I may have had the protein shake too soon before working out, but some people even drink them while they're working out! Struggling to eat this cous-cous. x_x Blergh. I pushed myself hard as hell, again, ... it'll pay off in the end. I just hate how I keep getting nauseous after a while! I'm eating enough, drinking enough... IDK what's doing it. _-_ I did do a lot with my heaviest dumbbell (17KG) though. I really need to get a 20KG, because I'm quickly growing out of the 17KG. (smiling because it's a good thing! Means I'm getting stronger)

I'm annoyed with my support worker... she's meant to be there for us mental people (politically incorrect joke ) but she's incredibly inconsistent! I'm getting a little tired of making excuses for her. :\ I get that she's busy and has other people to tend to (indeed other estates) but if it's THAT hard to be around, then maybe she should say something to her boss and get in more workers or something? I like her, she's an ace woman, but I feel let down. :| Especially as I was trying so hard to do this stuff well. (past tense, because I kinda lost a lot of drive, with her inconsistency)

Anyway, on a plus-side, my new computer parts showed up, so I'll be working on that - soon will have a pretty high-end gaming rig set up.