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PAX East 2011 Get-In-Shapeathon
Posts
Name: Eric Kotval
Age: 23
Location: Milwaukee, WI (for now)
Weight: 300-ish (I'll be getting a scale)
Height: 6' 4"
Goal: I would love to lose 50+ pounds by PAX East, although just getting in shape would be enough for me. I'm pretty sure I'll be able to accomplish this with P90X.
"Yeah, I wanna go Matrix." - Scott Kurtz
(Scott Kurtz panel - PAX East 2010)
I got my Wii back on Tuesday night, so Wednesday morning I weighed in with Wii Fit, then started the 30 day challenge on EA Active. Holy crap. Sweating BUCKETS.
Age: 35
Location: Slippery Rock, PA
Weight: ~270 (We don't have a scale on which I can weigh myself while in the wheelchair, and I can't stand on a regular one, so I'm competing in an unofficial capacity only.)
Height: 6'3" standing...significantly shorter in the chair.
Goal: 220 (50 pounds off is a nice, round number)
Rebecca and I are hitting the gym a lot more frequently, now that the weather has improved. I'm seriously powering through my mile on the track now, and working the weight machines to keep my strength up. We'll see if that, combined with a better diet, doesn't do something for me.
Background: A few years ago I was close to...230, I think? I wasn't that large but still qualified for "fatass" in highschool. I'm now 195 with some srss muscle, so I must've lost...maybe 50 lbs of fat? I don't know. Point: I feel it, I know how to start from the ground up and I'm motivated to help 8-)
PS: Cardio at the gym ain't my thing, I might add. Boring. Apparently it isn't really required, though ^^ (NB: I do walk a lot). PM me with any questions, or just ask in the thread and I'll post everything I can!
Last I checked I was somewhere north of 400lbs
Age: 26
Locale: Phoenix, AZ
Height: 5'3"
Weight: 176.8 wii fit screenie below
My goals are to weigh around 155 for Prime 2010, and 135 for East 2011. That's about a pound a week, which is about as much as I've been losing the last few weeks (with the exception of the week of PAX-E... gained a couple pounds over the weekend
The Best in Terms of Pants on JCCC3
Name: Audrey
Age: 44
Locale: Denver, CO
Height: 5'6"
Weight: 290.8
Scale picture:
Goal: To be at least 50 lbs lighter by PAX Prime and 50 more by PAX East. I've been mentally prepping myself to get back on this eating/exercize plan that I was on before. It eliminates a lot of processed food from the diet. It can be kind of bland and it's labor-intensive (you even have to make your own condiments) but it works very well. Joining this contest will give me some new motivation to stick with it when I start to have bread withdrawals.
http://www.logicalcreativity.com/jon/plush/01.html
If it's kosher, I'll post my info and pic when I get home from work this afternoon/evening.
Also, I've seen P90X mentioned quite a bit... If you are interested in that program but are very out of shape and at that basic beginner level, I suggest getting the original Power90 and working your way up. Same instructor but less crazy than the 90X version. I'm going to try to get back into that, myself.
This sounds great, looking forward to it!
Everyone else, just a thought, but do you think we should have a weekly check-in? Something it keep in our minds throughout the week? A little accountability might make us work harder for the long haul.
Becca was thinking that same thing. A weekly check-in is probably a good idea. It's a way of keeping track of how everyone is doing, and a good incentive for yourself!
Agreed! I know having a check-in will keep me motivated throughout the week.
Is anyone else taking before/after pictures? Just curious.
One of my motivations to start getting back into shape was showing a coworker an iPhone photo app that I like. He tried it out by taking a picture of me. My face looks like the freaking moon, it's so round. That embarrassing picture will work as my "before" shot, I think.
http://www.logicalcreativity.com/jon/plush/01.html
Age: 29
Location: SW Virginia (but originally from CO)
Height: 5'8"
Weight: tagged below
So, when I first moved out here I actually had dropped about 20lbs...but then enter stress, depression, and a train wreck of a relationship and I ended up gaining about 50.
I'm in SUCH a better place in my life now and I really want to finally pursue my weightloss. I've tried to diet and get into an exercise regime before but I never had the support I needed to stick with it. I'm hoping to ultimately lose at least 50lbs by the end of this journey... more would be nice, but 50 is already a big goal.
Win, lose or draw I'm really looking forward to this experience and I hope that we can all help and motivate each other through the hard work ahead.
I thought of another idea, for a panel in 2011. I'm just throwing the idea out there for now (I know it's too early to start submitting stuff).
For people like me, losing weight is not easy. My metabolism is low, I'm very good at retaining weight, and the only way to get the weight down is to physically work it off, but when your knees lean towards fragile, this is not an easy thing to do.
This doesn't mean I won't be trying. There's nothing stopping me from walking, and when you consider my size (dwarfs many of the weigh-in readings posted by most of you) it should get the process started. I'd literally have to lose a person before I started doing more demanding exercises.
Another problem is that, if I do get my weight down to 210 (even my doctor says 180 is unrealistic for me. 210 is what he considers a healthy weight for me), I'd need plastic surgery to remove the leftover skin (your body mass may shrink, but your shell won't).
Why limit such an experience to just this thread? Why not have a health panel at the convention?
You could cover basic survival at a con (drinking/eating enough to avoid dehydration, for example), how to avoid putting on pounds at a con, most effective methods of weight loss, and (although I would consider this cheating for the shapeathon) even gastric bypass surgery.
And, if I may, I'll put myself in to speak about the gastric bypass surgery. My wife had it, and it is not a surgery to be taken lightly. It is life altering, and it is not a guarantee that you will lose weight (it requires work on your part to work).
Yahoo group GCIACST
1) FOODZ
i. Frontload your day. If you want a treat, or any kind of bad food that isn't necessarily terrible (e.g. pizza), eat it in the morning. This especially goes for your daily allotment of fat; you should eat most of your fat in the first half of your day, and then eat less as the day goes on so it isn't going into your system when you're resting at night or lying there unconscious (i.e., like, sleeping).
ii. Don't eat in the 3 hours before you go to bed. Once again, this is so there isn't food being digested when you aren't using much energy at all.
iii. If you're used to snacking a lot, at first you'll be hungry all the time. I certainly was. You're just going to have to power through it. You might take some comfort in the knowledge that the cravings - even if they're hunger cravings - do not necessarily signal real hunger. Hunger is a feeling produced by the brain, and it can be produced independent of actual need for food via the hormone grelin. It's important to remember when you last ate and to think about whether or not your body actually needs the food. A little bit of fat (almonds are perfect for this, sorry if you're allergic
iv. Little thing, but read the nutrition info on almost everything you eat. You don't have to calculate calorie values vs. your daily total you want (I didn't), but eyeballing "shit son, that has a lot of fat!" ain't a bad thing imo. Think of food in terms of what it can offer you nutritionally; while pizza has protein, (potentially) veggies and decent fat, pop has absolutely nothing to offer you.
2) TEH EXERCISES
i. Muscle is important. Think of fat like storage houses with no power and muscle like working factories: while fat just sits there, muscle requires resources to simply be. If you build muscle, you'll burn more calories at rest. This is good. For building muscle, you'll likely want to start with freeweights for your upper body (looking up bicep, tricep and deltoid exercises on the intarwebs or getting a personal trainer), finding a weight at which you can do 8-12 reps of the first set, and doing three sets of each exercise. Squats, even unweighted ones (when you're heavier you squat as much or more weight than most people at the gym), are a very important exercise. At first, a "squat" for you might just be sitting down on a bench and standing up. That's perfectly okay - as long as your form is good (see: youtubes) and it's difficult, you're wonderful.
Eventually, deadlifts (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AVozkVvRGVw) are probably the most important exercise you can do, as they use the whole body. They take some working up to, though.
ii. Walking. This is oprah advice: walk everywhere you can, and take stairs as often as you can. Don't be ashamed if you have to stop to rest on a landing or by the sidewalk. Everyone starts somewhere. Walking is also excellent for your mind, as it automatically activates the attention centers of the brain; it's the only shown correlate of brain degeneration prevention in old age. Even walking on a treadmill is good news.
iii. Efficiency. Not all of us have the time to go to the gym every day, and being efficient with your workouts can get you more for less time spent. Here are some tips:
- People who work three different muscle groups three times a week had greater muscular gains than those that worked out those three muscle groups separately over three different days.
- Eventually, try to vary your routine. As you learn more exercises, you'll be able to mix and match to do whatever you feel good for that day. This is a good thing. Those who vary routines get more results (regarding muscle, at least).
- If you're looking to build muscle, work out big muscle groups (legs, back) before you work out the smaller ones. Exercising the bigger ones provides a boost in testosterone that aids in muscle growth for all. Hooray!
- More oprah advice: cook for yourself more. This not only ensures healthier eating (usually, I'm assuming none of us own a deep frier) but also burns calories in and of itself: you're active, you're moving.
- Once again, if you're looking to build muscle, you want sugar and protein right after your workout. By "right after" I mean "within 30-45 minutes - there is a optimal window for eating your protein after you lift weights. I'm not suggesting you go out and buy protein powder (I don't), just saying that it's a good no-effort boost to your work.
iv. A Fun Fact?
- While the brain is ~2% of the body's weight, it burns ~20% of the body's energy. Cool, huh? The number of calories a chess master will burn in a day of serious play is mind boggling. This, I think, might indicate a cool way to burn calories (supplementing your daily exercise, of course...) when you're doing what we all like to do: playing videogames. Playing cognitively demanding games like puzzle or strategy games, or even learning new games and genres can put the pressure on your focus and thinking. You're not only increasing your "brain age" (decreasing? I always thought it was silly), you're burning calories as well.
If you've never played megaman before, now might be a good time to start
I have to go for now, but if I think of anything else later I'll add it!
Okay peoples, I'm off to weigh in over at WW. I'm thinking that weighing in on the Wii was a bad idea, as it seems to be off kilter. Have we picked a day to weigh in? Because I'm voting Sunday. :P
:: Twitter :: Steam ::
I love measurements, it felt awesome when the ladies told me I've taken 19 and a half inches off my body over all.
I was thinking of making a Gdoc spreadsheet with our weights - easy calculation of our weight loss percentage as well. I may do that today, unless Limond has already done something like that.
In regards to weekly updates that is perfectly fine to do. Ill maybe see about getting a site for people to catalog everything. MAYBE.
As for some useful advice. Drinking cold water will burn more weight than room temperature water. Since your body has to heat up the cold water first. Though it equates to about 5 pounds a year still better than nothing.
Also some research that I saw a while back says one of the best ways to lose weight is to not skip breakfast.
Furthermore the recommened 64 oz of water a day is really only the average, from what I have seen drink about 1/2 your body weight in ounce of water each day. You really won't gain any water weight since most people don't drink enough water so the body stores water when it can, will relinquish those stores once it realizes it getting a suitable amount of water. A note going the bathroom will rise rapidly the first week or so of doing this.
I am a monster truck that walks like a man.
<Qs23> I just need to get my dicks in a row
<prox> i work for dicks
#paforums_pax, all about the dicks.
All of this is of course so that next year as an Enforcer, I can get an extra small [E] shirt and when someone asks if I can answer a question, I can point to my abs and say "ABS-solutely!"
Name: Punzie
Age: 27
Local: New Hampshire
Height: 5'3"
Weight:
I'm not sure if my weight photo will work. I uploaded it to my Flickr, but set it to private, so I don't know if it will show. I don't mind sharing my weight here, but not everyone who visits Flickr needs to know :P
Both true. Additionally, lettuce doesn't have any calories but requires calories to digest and move along. Skipping breakfast is very bad, yes. Slows your metabolism (you haven't eaten for nigh on 13+ hours). Breakfast is biggest, followed by a light lunch and light dinner. The typical western heavy dinner is wrong, wrong, wrong.
Also: If you can get yourself up, do a bit of cardio right before you eat in the morning. It'll burn fat stores and ensures your body burns whatever you put in your stomach right after.
For those of us with sleeping issues however this also does work at night. Cardio prior to dinner can have the safe effect as cardio in the morning before breakfast.
Mornings are the bane of my existence, I generally can't even eat till I've been up an hour or two. Many years ago I was working with a trainer and that was her advice to me, try running/exercise prior to dinner. At the time it worked like a charm. Unfortunately life sort of intervened.
Also remember your vitamins and minerals and ovaltine
I am a monster truck that walks like a man.
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/exercise/hq00594_d
This is a good article from the Mayo clinic about timing food and eating. Generally its advised to avoid heavy foods prior to exercise and that eating after exercise (time of day doesn't matter thats more a personal thing I think), is a good idea as it helps replace nutrients.
But it comes down to a specific persons preferences. If you're body is more attuned to a late day/night schedule and you feel better exercising then, do it. If you're a morning person and feel better exercising then, do it in the morning.
However what you eat before you exercise and after exercise is fairly standard no matter what time of day you do it.
I use to munch some honey nut cheerios prior to exercising, not a lot, just a snack, and then I'd have dinner afterwards with a good protein/carb balance.
Limond
Rebecca
itzerokewl
BaconSandwich
ransim
Oldmangloom315
Stephidabefida
shugarae
Mystral721
Susan Delgado
A list below contains people who have registered improperly along with the reason why
badjujuman - no picture
astillac - no picture
Facelesscog - no picture
punzie - picture failure
I am a monster truck that walks like a man.