The Ideal World Online Community

OK, I've gotten myself together to make another assault on my fitness. This is round 3 and I'm determined to win this one!!! Hey, I'd sure like someone to join me as a health and fitness buddy so we can encourage each other It gets cold and lonely here in this fitness forum by myself!!!

Anyway, I have joined a gym, Golds gym just down the road. I did my first workout there today, and boy has my fitness gone down the tubes It amazes me how long and hard you must work to GET in shape but how FAST it goes away when you slack off. I was in pretty good shape just 3 months ago before I left California. I was riding the bike alot and a member of a gym out there and my weight was around 190. Well, last time I stood on the scale (couple days back) I was at 214 and today at the gym I was puffed after just 6 minutes on the cardio machine. I could barely do one pull up, and I couldn't even do my ab routine.

Sooo, I see very clearly that fitness is not something you can slack off on for any length of time. The body just loses fitness so darn fast!! Anyway, as I said, I'm back on the horse! I'm not gonna fall off this time. Anyone gonna join me here or what

I'm thinking about it... my wife started going to the gym on Monday... just need to pull the trigger...

Yeah man I need a fitness partner!! Anyway, I've been to the gym for both of the last 2 days. I've done abs, some upper body work and cardio. I'm pretty sore today, so I don't know what I'm gonna do, I may just go and do some light cardio and let the sore muscles recover. I have to return to work tomorrow morning, so unless I get in to work out really early I might not make it tomorrow. Although, I could go after work, but I'm generally down for the count when I get home...

Anyway, I'm back in the fight with round 3. I'm not gonna impose any specific workout schedule on myself as yet. I'm just gonna see what I can do during my work days. I've had the last few days off so I've been able to get to the gym easily, but before or after a 10+hr shift with an hour drive and getting ready for work, etc, (works out to a 12 hour day) I have found it difficult to get exercise included in my day. But now I've outlayed the moolah for gym membership, that may provide that extra motivation. I've had good exercise habits in the past, I just need to get past this darn inertia that's set in over the last few months, and I think I'll be fine.

The next challenge, aside from exercise, is of course diet. Well, yesterday I went to the grocery store and bought some fresh fruit and veges and some nuts. I'm going to try to steer myself in that direction instead of thru the drive thru at Burger King My living arrangements at present are that I live in the bottom part of a house where I kind of have my own little apartment. I have a "kitchenette", well, not really, just a fridge, toaster and microwave, and I just never go upstairs to use the main kitchen. Not that I can't, I just haven't been. Consequently, I've fallen into a routine of eating easily microwavable things or, too often, popping out for fast food.

I also work at a bagel bakery, and the unhealthy choices there far out number the healthy. Recently I've been trying to eat salads, but the problem with that is I don't really like salad that much. That's really the big challenge of diet for me, I seem to prefer by nature foods that are poor health choices, like pizza and cheeseburgers and so on. Things like tofu and celery I have to force down. So it seems like making the healthy choice is always a case of self denial, which is not something I'm very good at. In any case, I've also been allowing myself to stop too frequently at mid range restaurants to eat, and as often as not I'll make not only an unhealthy choice, but a financially unhealthy choice. In other words, I'm spending too much damn money eating out. It's these damn hedonistic tendencies I need to beat down...

I have these aspirations to be fit and healthy, and I've gotten myself in pretty good shape more than once over the years. But I've discovered that it all goes down the drain in the blink of an eye as soon as I allow myself to slack off, the last few months a case in point. I need to develop health and fitness into a lifestyle that stays the course over the long term. It seems like I'll do well for awhile, then I'll slack off and veer off into the ditch, and after getting sick of seeing my grotesque physique in the mirror and seeing my clothes get too tight and my shoe laces become further and further out of reach, I'll reach critical mass (literally) and snap myself into action and do something about it. Well, that's where I'm at now. Critical Mass!!

The fear is that I'll just give in to the bulge, that I'll just join the bloated ranks of the society by which I'm surrounded. I see overweight and out of shape EVERYWHERE, it's almost tempting to just say "what the hell, enjoy life, stop tortuing yourself with exercise and broccoli" (actually, I like broccoli...) I can see complacency threatening to gather like a cloud around the fringes of my psyche, but NO I won't give in!! I want to be in shape, I want to fit into my nice clothes, I want to be able to run up a flight of stairs again and not collapse at the top. I will be fit and healthy dagnabbit

With that, I'm going to the gym.... And afterwards I intend to eat something HEALTHY!!! (and inexpensive, if that's possible )
K

Okay Kenny.... I'll join you.  I'm making the leap of joining a gym on Monday next week.  My wife messed up her knees exercising last year, and has completed therapy, and now must build her strength at the gym for several months.  They gave her a free month, and will give me a free week, plus if we both join and pay cash for 6 months, it's only $24 per month each.... and it's a BRAND NEW gym that's not crowded and has GREAT equipment!  This week, I canceled my expanded cable tv because I was watching it too much.  I want to LIVE this year and do things I've just been thinking about.  I'm tired of wasting time.

I don't fight a lot of the battles you do.  I remember you from 5 years ago and your tendency to perhaps over analyze and obsess?  :)  I'm 140 pounds (down from 150 last year that was all in my belly).  I didn't do anything extreme.  I ONLY drink filtered water (with lemon sometimes).  I cut out unhealthy types of bread, and if I cook a burger at home, I eat it on Sara Lee 8-grain.  Same with hot dogs (rarely)...  I think the healthier bread makes a difference.  I just eat a pizza once per month or so.  I like to cook spaghetti, or baked catfish with lemon/butter/onion sauce with baked potato slices in olive oil and topped with basil... stewed okra, tomatos and onions, etc... etc... etc...  I've recently decided to cut out milk altogether.  But I buy organic whole milk, and make my own yogurt, which is cheap and delicious and much healthier than store bought.  Last week, my wife and I started doing like they do in Russia by making our own sour cabbage (saurkraut), which is supposed to be good at normalizing your digestive system too.  I go to the vegetable market and try to buy fresh stuff as much as possible.  I try not to eat a lot of processed boxed, canned, etc. stuff either.  But sometimes I do.  I just don't obsess about any of this.  I eat plenty of butter.  Breakfast is usually yogurt and oatmeal or 8-grain hot cereal.  I started using Stevia with FOS instead of Splenda, but I do enjoy brown sugar with my oatmeal.  (Stevia usually just with yogurt... it really sucks).  :)  

When I start working out, I will begin drinking protein shake smoothies with bananas, flax oil and something else that I can't recall right now.  And probably eating more fish and protein.  Healthy carbs.  Healthy pastas (I buy the multigrain kind).  But I'm not one of those people who goes crazy about buying everyhting organic.  #1, I can't afford it.  #2, I don't think it really makes that much of a difference.  I HAVE done some more radical things this year that the fringe kooks would even admire.  j/k  I only had 2 fillings, but I had them replaced with the white healthy kind to get the mercury out of my mouth.  I threw away my nonstick pans, and bought all new AWESOME Calphalon stainless.  I try not to microwave unless I'm really in a hurry, because I guess it IS possilbe that it alters the structure of what you're cooking and might be cause of peoples intestinal problems as they age.  Who knows?  Wouldn't hurt to reduce the use, so what the heck.

I buy a lot of meat, chicken, fish, butter and even cheese and freeze it.  And then I try to shop and buy more veggies to cook with the protein.  I keep the fridge pretty bare except for FRESH leftovers and normal stuff like butter, eggs, yogurt, cheese, mayo, condiments and fruits/veggies.  I drink ketchup like it's water.  (Edit: Joke... but not really. It is my weakness). :D

I TRY NOT TO EAT SWEETS anymore.  I have candida issues anyway from all the years of drinking beer.  If I eat the wrong stuff to excess, my body lets me know I screwed up and then I have to do a cleanse or something.  So now I've sworn off beer completely, and although I love sweets, I just eat them on special occasions.  

I had $1000 worth of blood/hormone tests 2 months ago and everything looked pretty darn good.  Cholesterol was a little high (256) but I gave blood last month and Medic sent me a paper that said it had gone down to 215.  So I'm doing the right things, I think.  I took my wife to the gym today, and experimented a little.  I could still do 6 pullups, which was a surprise!  The trainer said I'm lucky I don't have too far to go to get in shape, even though it has been 22 years since I've really exercised.  :)

My only advice is not to DREAD or think too much about this.  Just make healthy choices as much as possible.  Eat fruits and veggies.  Drink a lot of water with lemon.  Don't drink beer.  And you'll be able to still go to Burger King every couple of weeks no prob.  (I just had a double whopper 2 days ago).  But it's not like it's something for me to worry about.  I know that most of the time I eat pretty good, so I don't worry when I indulge just a bit.

Good luck!  I'll keep you accountable if you want.  And I'll post my progress too... something I've been putting off for 22 years now, so it's a big step!

Cool Doug, thanks for keeping me company, it was getting lonely here in the fitness forum

Well, I worked out for the last 3 days. I did abs, upper body and cardio. I have also been trying to make healthy choices in the dietary department. I don't know if I'm obsessing about it, but I do know what the result is when I just do what I want and don't worry about it... I turn into a fat bastard. I become overweight and out of shape, and I truly HATE being like that. So what you interpret as over analysis and obsessing is me trying to avoid slipping into being an overweight and out of shape fat ass. Or, trying to find a way to escape being there, like I am now. I weighed in at 215 this morning.

The thing is, for me it's just not that easy. It takes alot of hard work and self denial. It may be different for you Doug. Have you ever struggled to keep the weight off? Well, I know I can do it, cuz I've done it before. And I'll do it again. I just want to do it once and for all this time and get in shape and stay there, and not allow myself to slip back down that slope again. But I know that every fraction of an inch of gain UP that slope is a hard battle, but slack off for a second and I'll slip and slide back to the bottom head over heals. Then to climb back up again is another long hard struggle.

For example: 6 months ago I weighed 180 and I was in pretty good shape. I lost my way about 4 months ago, and started tumbling down the hill and as of today I weigh 215. That's a gain of 35 lbs. I know if I did a monster fast I could get rid of it all quickly, but that's not the answer. The answer is to once and for all find and embrace a lifestyle that works for me. I analyze this because it just doesn't come naturally. I have to work at it. How do I get a healthy lifestyle to become habit? Coming home from work tonight I had to make a conscious effort not to just pick up some fast food. I had a hell day, I was exhausted, and that's when I'm most vulnerable. That's when I just say "fuck it" and pull into Arbys or Dominos. But I'm making a concerted effort NOT to continue down that path. Today I had a soup and salad for lunch, but the soup was creamy clam chowder and the salad was a chicken ceasar with bacon. I washed it down with water, if that's any consolation, and all I drank all day at work today was water, instead of the usual sprite. And when I got home I had toast with avocado and tomato, which was good, and I was pleased with myself for not giving in to Burger King or the like.

I'm working for the next several days, so my exercise will be limited. In fact, my work hours are more or less the gym hours, as they close early on weekends. So I'll probably have a couple days off from the gym, but I'll keep you posted on my dietary efforts...

Well...  I worked out at the gym today.  First time in FOREVER.  I did chest, triceps and abs... while the gym is very modern, I tried to stick with the old-school free weights.  (I guess that's just the conservative in me). lol  I did 2 sets each of bench press and then 2 sets of flys, incline bench and flys, decline bench and flys.  Then some tricep push downs, extrensions and some tricep stuff with dumbells.  Then about 3 different ab exercises.  

I realized I'm MUCH weaker than I was when I worked out at the gym regularly as a highschooler in the mid 1980's!  Pretty sad.  But I think I'll recover my strenghth pretty quickly.  That's the hope anyway.

After that, I went to Target and bought a pair of workout pants and workout shorts.  My 1980's sweatpants look silly now. :)  For breakfast I had 2 eggs and homeade yogurt, and I skipped lunch.  (Usually I don't).  For dinner, I'll probably grill a hamburger steak and cook some baked beans.  Maybe a protein shake before bed to help the muscles recover.

I deliberately starting out slow (2 sets instead of 3 of everything)... and nothing too extreme in other ways.  I've found when I get too radical in the beginning of something, it's hard to stick with it.  Baby steps... then seeing results... usually leads to more motivation and desire.  I hear getting in shape leads to more energy... I'm really hoping that is true!

And to start out, I'll just workout 3 days per week with weights (Monday chest, triceps, abs;  Wednesday shoulders, back, biceps and abs; Friday legs and abs).  And maybe one other day of the week go and do some cardio with eliptical machine or something.  Later, I'll workout 5 or six days per week with weights and one day of cardio... UNTIL I get to the fitness level/muscle tone I want, then I'll go back to 3 days per week with lower weight (or just maintaining the current lifted weight) and maximizing reps for tone.

I'll try to just choose to make healthier dietary choices... heavier on protein and healthy carbs... cut out the junk.  Now that it's close to summer, I'll increase fruit and veggie intake even more.  I doubt I'll grow a big garden this year, but might do it next.  (I had a small garden last summer with 5 herbs, tomatoes, cucumbers, squash, peppers and eggplant).  Might expand it a little more.  

You are correct... I've NEVER experienced a weight problem.  Maybe 10 years ago when I drank 8 beers per day and ate horrible all the time, I had a big beer belly, but that's the extent of my problem historically.  (Then I weighed 160 pounds... now I weigh around 142). But if your desire for bad food is anything like my cravings were for cigarettes and beer, I think I can relate.  :)  I think it all comes down to making a choice and deciding never to compromise with yourself.  It is more than possible...  I believe the Holy Spirit helps with this, but I do admit that many people who do not believe in such things can accomplish the same things.  The human mind is very powerful all by itself.

That's enough from me today.  It was a BIG step for me to do this.  I haven't lifted weights in almost 22 years, except maybe 3 times.

Good for you Doug!! OK, we've got a little fitness challenge happenin I've been trying real hard to make healthy choices with diet... today I had a tuna salad for lunch with a little cup of chicken noodle soup and water to drink. I'm having some fried rice and wonton soup for dinner (is that healthy? the asians always seem to be in good shape, hardly ever see a fat asian...) although I'm washing my dinner down with a couple beers. I must admit, after a hard days work I really enjoy a nice cold beer. But if it proves to be too much of an hindrance to my fitness, I'll cut it back. I really have no desire to become a teetotaller, and stop drinking altogether. I enjoy it and see no reason why I shouldn't allow myself that pleasure in moderation. But I will seek out an acceptable amount to have in my diet.

As for the gym, well, my gym is closed except for day hours over the weekend, and I was basically working during the same hours the gym was open, so I haven't been since last week. But I intend to fit it in between work during the week (possibly in the early hours of the morning, cuz mon-thur they're open 24 hrs) and of course on my days off.

I too have decided not to push myself too hard as I try to gain some momentum. I really need to re-establish some of my base fitness levels, which have largely deteriorated in recent months. And also, as you mention Doug, get my energy levels up.

BTW, my weight this am was 213. I'm still a fat bast'd. Anyway, off we go! Maybe some other fitness minded folks will join us
Kenny

At first, I thought that this area doesn't really match the other goals of IWF, and I was wondering why it is even here. It's more like a blend of world affairs, and then adding a health bb like the one we visited 5 years ago...

But then I thought that in an ideal world, people will take responsibility for their OWN health instead of pursuing unhealthy lifestyles and then expecting the government or other taxpayers to pay for thier healthcare. :) So yes, I agree that health is vital to the pursuit of an ideal world. Face it, if someone is sick, nothing else really matters to them. If someone has no energy, then they are limited to what they can accomplish in life. (Something I can relate to at the moment).

I was already on the path to begin a health kick, but your forum here helped push me over the edge. So thank you.

Indeed, and thank you for joining me Dougie, it was getting lonely here in the fitness forum!!

I have one word to say after 2 days from my first workout.  OWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!!!!  :)

Going today to workout legs.  That pain should be fun in a day or two....

EDIT: Back... man I'm pooped. I imagine it will take a month or two for that energy to appear that I'm waiting on. Starting next week, I'm going to add 10 minutes of the eliptical machine before each workout with weights. After I build up some muscle mass, I'll concentrate on the cardio a little more. So far I'm doing well, I think. Showing UP at the gym is the hardest part, I think.