So I am sure as many of you already know, fitness is one of my big passions in life and helping people even more so.
So I thought it might be a good idea to have a safe place for you guys to ask questions related to fitness.
Please do not ask me to make a diet for your brothers girlfriend because she is having trouble getting to the gym and can’t stop eating the donut holes!
Other than that, asking general questions about eating habits, training tips and so on that more people might also be wondering about would be great!
I keep forgetting to ask you to please explain the resistance bands and which ones to get and maybe a few videos of what to do with them pretty please.
I have a routine now of about 10mins (I will admit to having been very unmotivated for a bit and struggling to get myself going so I lost all my progress) I am starting from scratch, the 10mins is on the stationary bike - I start with a warmup minute then pedal like mental for 45 seconds, then 3 mins medium speed, 45seconds then 3mins and a last 45 second boost. I find I do about 4 km in this section - I wanna push it for longer but I am in need to get fit enough to keep that up comfortably again.
Then I do 15 mins of arms and tummy work on a yoga mat with light (3lb) weights. In total it’s about 30mins of exercise daily. I have only been doing this for the past week again.
I find when drama comes visiting our house, I struggle to motivate myself. I am getting better at the eating right. I am restricted to food as to what we have at dinner and so on due to living with the parentals. But I have cut the portions a lot, instead of the carbs, I add more veggies (aka all the veg my dad doesn’t want end up on my plate - I don’t mind cos I love most veg).
Okay the cardio you are explaining sounds perfect. Called HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training). The sprints should be balls to the wall sprints… Well I guess you don’t have balls but you get the point.
Resistance bands can range from very cheap to expensive.
You get those bands that just look like giant elastic bands, in other words they do not have handles, clips or anything like that. They will do just fine. They just tend to snap much easier than the more expensive resistance band. These usually have handles, and the band itself is a tube more than a thin flat piece of elastic.
With these rubber bands you can do just about the same exercise you can with weights, such as Curls, squats, Extensions all of that. Just a quick google got me this: https://greatist.com/fitness/resistance-band-exercises
Get into the habit of eating more times a day, at least 4-5 times a day, as it seems you are already doing a good job with dinner, which is what most people struggle with.
The eating during the day is my other issue for now - EVERYTHING I eat is judged - no matter what it is - my dad is also very overweight and diabetic and I work for him.
I have never ever been a breakfast person - I cant eat first thing in the morning. But I have changed my habit a bit by making my lunch smoothie a breakfast one - so I start drinking the 500ml fruit and yoghurt and flaxseed smoothie (also always spinach in the smoothie - cant stand the taste of kale).
The smoothie lasts me till lunch time. And keeps me relatively full.
I have started snacking on this for lunch and when I get a sweet craving
Yes I know its not ideal. But its better than the amount of chips and chocolate that I used to eat.
give 0 F***s what other people think and say. ESPECIALLY family. You are doing it for you.
You will get used to the eating. Drink lots of water as well hey
The water is the only thing that is never an issue - I live on water. I only have 2 cups of coffee a day - one in the morning and one at night. Most soda’s gives me heartburn - so I drink cucumber or pineapple water - that I make myself by freezing the fruit in the ice cubes. It was a bit hectic during that stage we had no access to water refills. I buy about 100L of water a month - that is for me and my mum and the office as drinking water. I have a habit of taking water with me where ever I go - I always carry a 1L or at minimum 500ml with me.
As to what the parentals say and do - unfortunately they are the ones breaking me down and making it harder - I do ok for a while then they will say something or do something (99% of the time its saying something) that breaks my head for while. Then I go back into a slump and takes me a while to get back into it.
With my wife being pregnant and her natural progesterone being quite low, she has a big risk of increased insulin levels (and diabetes) later in her pregnancy. We decided to cut carbs from our diet completely, but we’re not following a LCHF-type diet. Our daily meal-plan is something like the following:
Breakfast is a smoothie with a small banana (or half a large one), bits of cut-up fruit of whatever we have left over and 2 tablespoons of fat-free plain yoghurt. Oh, and ice of course.
For lunch it’s always a chicken salad with no dressing or anything.
For dinner it’s either no- or low-card veggies, or salad, together with a protein. It ranges from lean steak to chicken to fish.
I personally don’t have time to snack during the day, so when a craving hits I just drink some water or have a cup of coffee. I do limit coffee and tea to 2 cups a day though… My wife eats much smaller portions than me, so she snacks on unsweetened dried fruits and low-card nuts (i.e. no peanuts). We avoid grains as far as possible as well, so no rice, oats, etc.
We’ve been doing this for almost 4 weeks now and I can honestly say that I’ve never felt better in my life. Our diet used to consist of lots of carbs. The first 2 weeks were absolute torture and the carb-cravings were intense, but powering through it was absolutely worth it.
Oh, and on topic - I used to enjoy a 5km walk or slow jog in the afternoons, but work commitments currently doesn’t permit it. Whenever possible I do opt to park further from an entrance and always take the stairs to increase movement for the day.
Can you please translate that to English for me bud
Depends on what you see as okay. Personally I am not a fan of running, especially for a person that is a bit over weight.
There is so much pressure from the constant pounding on your joints.
And when you run, it is constant heart rate?
I would rather do HIIT (Sprints… Walk… Sprints… Walk). Would be more beneficial in terms of fat burning.
One study I read actually made lots of sense and originates from the pre historic people.
When you do long distance running on a regular basis for a long period of time, you condition your body to preserve and store the carbs/fats it uses for energy effectively. So it does not get burned up and utilized for energy as quickly as usual.
So personally, I am not a fan of running. But I guess any form of exercise is better than no exercise
Just be careful with 0 carb diets for pro longed periods. Your body goes into a ketotonic state, which can be useful but can make cause some unbalance in your bloods acid levels if I am not mistaken
It was recommended by both an endocrinologist and the gyneagologist.
Regarding blood acid levels, I have genetically high uric acid in my blood, which causes gout and kidney stones. I’m taking medication daily to control the acid levels and it works perfectly for me. Ensuring I get in at least 3l of fluid per day also assist in flushing my kidneys.
Definitely yes.
Being thin, not fat or even looking “good” does not mean you are healthy or fit.
Being fit for me means that your muscles, bones, joints and cardio vascular system all work effectively together.
That is why I maintain that Cross Fit is the Ultimate form of fitness as it involves all of those things I mentioned. The only thing that bothers me about the sport is the educating of people that have little to no knowledge or back ground of exercise. So knowledge of correct form does not get carried across from trainers to clients.
Sounds like you guys have it under control.
I am not able to function without carbs properly. When I prep I have about a month or a few weeks of decarbing. I feel flat, “pap” and useless. Especially with the amount exercise I normally
do on a daily basis
This is why one day when I can afford it I want to work with a personal trainer. Especially since i know I have a lot of body issues that comes from sport injuries and being overweight. That is why I have learnt not to do ANY exercises where I have to roll my back - or curve it even a little in the wrong direction - if I do it wrong once, I can barely walk. Pilates and yoga on my own was a VERY bad idea since I know I am doing it wrong.
But until I can afford it I will do what I can on my own.
