You start by lifting, say, 5 or 10 pounds a few times a day for three days a week. Then, a few weeks after, you bump the weight up a little bit. And you keep doing that.
When you lift something, you turn yourself into a lever. But unlike a simple lever, you have a lot of joints in between the ground and whatever it is you're trying to lift usually. So not only do you have to strengthen all these large and tiny muscles, you have to coordinate and stabilize them too. When you're starting out, some won't get with the program and will overwork and overstretch the muscles you do have experience controlling.
Starting small helps you learn how to fairly distribute the load without hurting yourself, but any muscle early in the process of being legitimately trained will get sore. Later on, much or all of that soreness goes away, even with strenuous strength training, as the muscles learn to support each other enough to prevent overuse. So it actually gets less painful as you keep up with it.
Marty: The future, it's where you're going? Doc: That's right, twenty five years into the future. I've always dreamed on seeing the future, looking beyond my years, seeing the progress of mankind. I'll also be able to see who wins the next twenty-five world series.
Progressive overload. You start small, and increase over time. For lifting, that increase usually involves the weight increasing, the number of repetitions per set increasing, or the number of sets increasing. For cardio, it usually involves increasing distance, increasing speed, or increasing difficulty (for example, going up hills).
With weight, people get to see things like the maximum amount they can lift for 1/3/5/etc reps go up, in different ways (deadlift, bench press, etc). With cardio, people get to see things like setting new PBs for distance, and then for speed at given distances. A less clear-cut goal that cardio people often work on is VO2 max. Most smart watches do a decent job calculating it (though not as precisely as lab tests) and it’s another interesting number to increase, even if it’s one that you can’t really chase directly like you can chase a new best time or one rep maximum lift.
Civics is not a consumer product that you can ignore because you don’t like the options presented.
If you're the U.S Thanksgiving is this week and it's really easy to fall into the "we'll, I have to watch what I eat" or " gonna have to workout what I ate" trapt. I already seen a post like this in a workout group I'm in.
Reminder to be kind to yourself. Enjoy time with friends/family, eat and drink what you want. Don't stress out, don't work out if you just want to relax.
No matter what you do or don't do this week, it won't make a big difference long term, which is what we always should be working towards.
I count calories but don't factor daily workouts because of the whole metabolism shifting thing. I figure my body will try to save on my basal rate while in a calorie deficit, so exercise is just to make sure it doesn't go too low and to monitor that my muscles aren't getting eaten.
It is perhaps most useful to count calories when encountering a feast so you can eat basically whatever you want without overeating too much. This also helps with the leftovers economy and makes you feel less bad about eating too much or too little in a grand family meal situation.
Marty: The future, it's where you're going? Doc: That's right, twenty five years into the future. I've always dreamed on seeing the future, looking beyond my years, seeing the progress of mankind. I'll also be able to see who wins the next twenty-five world series.
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The JudgeThe Terwilliger CurvesRegistered Userregular
Running today in neighborhoods that were cooking dinner was seriously unfair.
Last pint: Turmoil CDA / Barley Brown's - Untappd: TheJudge_PDX
Joined new running group for a casual 5k this morning.
They decided to race the 2nd half of it for a prize. We stopped mid way through, waited for everyone and lived up.
"Sounds fun, I need to work on speed" I thought.
I SMOKED them, finished first by a good margin. I think I did a sub 7 min on the way back.
Now afraid I came off as hyper competitive.
It's not your fault, they said let's race, you raced, you didn't know what their ability level was. Depending on the group, you might be really helpful as a pacesetter and motivational example. They might not be built competitively but maybe they can be!
Ankle is healed! Just in time for it to be too cold here to climb outside mostly. So in a totally rational reaction I booked a long weekend at Red Rock in January.
Now, about "being in shape for long multipitches"....
I'm gonna do my winter runs as 1 two-mile instead of breaking them up into single mile runs.
I've gotten to where I can do the distance either way but I think I'm wanting the endurance more if I do the milage in one shot. Also, I'll be running indoors on a track and it feels nicer to only have to switch between the walking track and the jogging/running track three times (warmup walk, run, cooldown walk) instead of five.
Also, that leaves the option available to push for a 5k run on occasion. Those are fun to do and I think will get easier if I build up running endurance on 2 miles for a while.
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The JudgeThe Terwilliger CurvesRegistered Userregular
Joined new running group for a casual 5k this morning.
They decided to race the 2nd half of it for a prize. We stopped mid way through, waited for everyone and lived up.
"Sounds fun, I need to work on speed" I thought.
I SMOKED them, finished first by a good margin. I think I did a sub 7 min on the way back.
Now afraid I came off as hyper competitive.
Missed chance to see if anyone was wearing sweet new shoes in your size and then racing them for pinks.
Last pint: Turmoil CDA / Barley Brown's - Untappd: TheJudge_PDX
So back in late September and early October I had a string of medical appointments that led to me effectively getting a medical order to lose weight by at least 10 lbs, do 150 minutes of exercise a week minimum, and modify my diet /
I was like 1% below pre-diabetic, 2% below obese, and 0.5% below hypertension, with early-onset fatty liver disease and gastritis/esophagitis
I have actually gotten >150 minutes of exercise (and occasionally even double that) every week for the last month through a mix of cycling, dance classes with my partner, and small group personal training sessions, plus done ok at getting my shit together wrt my diet. Already gone from 120/78 blood pressure to 101/66, plus down from ~198 lbs to ~192 in a month and a half
Still want to get closer to 170 lbs eventually and fit into size Medium clothing more readily but, I'm making progress so much faster than I'd even hoped for
I can tell my weight trend right now is also definitely in the fat->muscle shuffle because even with only 6 lbs off, I'm already having to wear a belt with pants that were tight back in September, and spinning what is essentially a fixed-gear track bike (with brakes tho, not trying to blow my knees out) around town has gotten my quads absolutely huge to boot
I can tell my weight trend right now is also definitely in the fat->muscle shuffle because even with only 6 lbs off, I'm already having to wear a belt with pants that were tight back in September, and spinning what is essentially a fixed-gear track bike (with brakes tho, not trying to blow my knees out) around town has gotten my quads absolutely huge to boot
Well I'm a bit into some changes to my nutrition plan--short version is caloric reduction with increased protein intake--and it's kind of amazing that I'm eating less and am not hungry. All previous nutrition attempts have always been really hard because I get hungry quickly, and eventually I stop doing it.
Now the downside? I am spending far more of my day cooking and cleaning pans and such.
For some people, protein is really incredibly important for appetite control. I’m one of them. It’s far more comfortable for me to eat 3,000 calories with 200 grams of protein than to eat 4,000 calories with 120 grams of protein. That puts me up over 2.2 grams of protein per kg of body weight per day, which is significantly higher than the recommended amount. Typically, recommendations top out at 1.6 grams per kg of body weight. Maybe it’s all in my head, maybe I’m really using that much protein daily as a consequence of lifting regularly while averaging 10k a day running, maybe my body is just really inefficient at using protein and I need more than the average person, maybe it’s something else - I don’t know.
Civics is not a consumer product that you can ignore because you don’t like the options presented.
For some people, protein is really incredibly important for appetite control. I’m one of them. It’s far more comfortable for me to eat 3,000 calories with 200 grams of protein than to eat 4,000 calories with 120 grams of protein. That puts me up over 2.2 grams of protein per kg of body weight per day, which is significantly higher than the recommended amount. Typically, recommendations top out at 1.6 grams per kg of body weight. Maybe it’s all in my head, maybe I’m really using that much protein daily as a consequence of lifting regularly while averaging 10k a day running, maybe my body is just really inefficient at using protein and I need more than the average person, maybe it’s something else - I don’t know.
Older people and people with certain disabilities and injuries can need up to 2.5kg protein per kg body weight (as long as their kidneys can take it). Surprised me too when I learned about it
Marty: The future, it's where you're going? Doc: That's right, twenty five years into the future. I've always dreamed on seeing the future, looking beyond my years, seeing the progress of mankind. I'll also be able to see who wins the next twenty-five world series.
Today I got rid of a duffel bag I had over a decade.
I bought it when I (once again) decided I was going to lose weight and start going to the gym after school or work.
Honestly expected for it to find it's way to the back of my closet like so many other attempts.
For some reason though, this time things stuck.
It's been my companion for all these years now, through gaining and losing some of those pounds. It was ragged and I really should have replaced it years ago. Could never bring myself to do it.
If it’s ok, I kinda find myself in need of some perspective. I know I’m fit but I don’t always believe it internally. Some second opinions would help: Anyway, I run 6-9 miles a week at ~9 min/mile, split over three or four days. Each of those days are also two-three miles walking. Total mileage averages ~20-21 miles a week.
I also workout three times a week for 90 minutes each day.
Make no mistake, I’m in my own head from body dysmorphia (gender and leftover from when I was 100lbs over my current weight.)
So I guess I’m just asking how y’all feel that’d be for a 6’3” 200lb person.
Fitness is increasingly subjective. It's also not a very useful label. You are running/working outfaster/longer than some people and less than others.
I think it'll be better concentrating on how all this exercise makes you feel, and meeting your own goals and challenges. Do you want to run faster? Or longer? Do a certain distance over an amount of time? Lift heavier? Have better heart rate or muscle percentage? Etc.
Fitness is increasingly subjective. It's also not a very useful label. You are running/working outfaster/longer than some people and less than others.
I think it'll be better concentrating on how all this exercise makes you feel, and meeting your own goals and challenges. Do you want to run faster? Or longer? Do a certain distance over an amount of time? Lift heavier? Have better heart rate or muscle percentage? Etc.
It certainly sounds like you're investing in yourself and progressing towards your goals! That's pretty dang good no matter what you're doing!
Thank you both so very much! That's what I needed to hear
I've put a ton of work into myself on a fitness journey last three years; I was getting caught up in feeling that I don't have a goal to drive toward anymore. My weight is just about where I want it, and that's a number anyway. Aside from society's fixation on it, I shouldn't get super hung up on it if it swings up or down a little. I do like how I look generally. Visible abs are a joy, as are toned legs and arms. I'm really proud I have lung and heart stamina to run for 20-30 minutes. Lifting is complicated; number go up plays a part of course, but I don't really want to build a strong, wide upper body (which probably isn't a concern, I don't think I have the build for it, nor have my muscles grown that way the last 18 months I've been lifting.) I do really love putting up good numbers for leg lifts though. And I want a tight core and legs and butt
I do running to improve my heart health and lung stamina and because I like it.
The real truth is that I love exercise; not just for the results because I think that's a good way to trap oneself into falling off of the habit. Treating it as a chore to be done to reap the rewards instead of something fun to do for its own sake. I need to keep that mindset. It is sometimes hard to do so, is all. hence, yesterday.
Anyway, thanks for the perspective and kind words. <3
If I have goals now, they're to maintain myself and keep building endurance. I want to stay thin obvs, wouldn't mind a little less fat around my sides and middle but it's not exactly something I can really target. ^.^ for that matter, it's very much a personal perception and mildly rooted in dysphoria to boot.
I got tired of being fat after developing a "eat when bored or frustrated" habit over covid/brexit and decided to do something about it!
currently eating around 1400kcal, workouts are mo, wed, fri doing circuits of burpees, squats & situps. First day of 40-30-20-10 and I'm down 6kg (111 - 105)!
I do have 2 questions for you lot, though:
1) I recall being quite happy with my body at 87kg (lean with some muscle). According to a BMI, however, at that weight I'm dangerously close to being overweight and a "middle of the road" BMI (21) would put me at something like 75kg and I really don't know where I'm supposed to cut the extra weight out; ok I didn't have a 6 pack but I didn't have a gut either. Err, help!
2) Using various Kcal calcs on the interwebs, my daily intake for no change would be something in the region of 2800kcal. Surely this cannot be right. I recall a grown man needing 2000 per day. I'm undercutting that anyway, I'd just like to know for sure because the 2800 estimation gives me alot more wiggle room.
BMI becomes less useful as an individual metric the more muscular you are, because at that point the weight isn't necessarily a problem. I've been obese according to BMI for the better part of a decade and not worried in the least, I wouldn't use BMI as your only metric for how healthy you are.
1. BMI is bad and irrelevant. All it is, is a grouping of your gender (important note: was developed in the 1950's and trans folk were not considered), age, height, and body weight. It does not in any way account for body composition. So take for example two fictional people, both 180 cm tall and both 90 kg: one is a person who lives a largely sedentary lifestyle and has 30% body fat, the other has a very active lifestyle with 12% body fat. Both are the same age and gender. According to BMI, both have a BMI of 35.2, which is in the obese range.
2. Every person's maintenance calorie range differs. There are a ton of variables. Some are lifestyle, some are biological. 2800 just to maintain your current weight is quite high, but is possible with certain combos of height, current weight, and so on. The best way to dial into what your actual maintenance calories are is to log how many calories you're eating and your current weight on a daily basis, and measuring/estimating your body fat on a weekly basis, and observe how you're trending. Trending up? Decrease your calories by about 200 per day if you want to lose weight/fat. Trending down? Keep where you are if it's sustainable and you're happy with the rate of loss, or increase what you're eating slightly if you're losing too much weight too quickly.
1400 calories is not very much though. While every person is different, I'd be worried at how sustainable that is given your activity level. Exercising does burn calories, but your body does need food in order to carry on basic functions. If you're wanting to increase your muscle mass, you'll need calories to do that, and you'll want plenty of protein as well. Basically if you're frequently active and only eating small amounts, your body will take what it needs from any available source. That will include your body fat, which might be exactly what you want, but your body will also cannibalize your muscle tissue too.
The other thing is that the 2000 daily calorie need is (I think) either averaged for population or just a "good guess" or outright bullshit just placed on Nutrition Labels.
I would trust the 2800 daily intake to maintain more than the 2k. Hitting 2k calories is a lot of cutting food and portions and even then avoiding the common meal foods.
I can't confidently recall what I was cutting to when doing my weight loss. But I'm pretty sure it was 1900 daily calories and it was a lot of salads and light meals. Like, getting a meal to ~500 kcal is hard unless it's mostly greens.
As for what I do to maintain or make slight cuts, it's almost more important to eat less/no carbs than it is to look at calorie counts. Like, calories do matter and I'm not saying otherwise. But a serving size of two carbs a day, all other things equal will do more to up my weight than the same amount of calories of non-carbs. (caveating that a daily weight reading is not actionable and instead weight trend over like a week is better to measure.)
1. BMI is bad and irrelevant. All it is, is a grouping of your gender (important note: was developed in the 1950's and trans folk were not considered), age, height, and body weight. It does not in any way account for body composition. So take for example two fictional people, both 180 cm tall and both 90 kg: one is a person who lives a largely sedentary lifestyle and has 30% body fat, the other has a very active lifestyle with 12% body fat. Both are the same age and gender. According to BMI, both have a BMI of 35.2, which is in the obese range.
2. Every person's maintenance calorie range differs. There are a ton of variables. Some are lifestyle, some are biological. 2800 just to maintain your current weight is quite high, but is possible with certain combos of height, current weight, and so on. The best way to dial into what your actual maintenance calories are is to log how many calories you're eating and your current weight on a daily basis, and measuring/estimating your body fat on a weekly basis, and observe how you're trending. Trending up? Decrease your calories by about 200 per day if you want to lose weight/fat. Trending down? Keep where you are if it's sustainable and you're happy with the rate of loss, or increase what you're eating slightly if you're losing too much weight too quickly.
1400 calories is not very much though. While every person is different, I'd be worried at how sustainable that is given your activity level. Exercising does burn calories, but your body does need food in order to carry on basic functions. If you're wanting to increase your muscle mass, you'll need calories to do that, and you'll want plenty of protein as well. Basically if you're frequently active and only eating small amounts, your body will take what it needs from any available source. That will include your body fat, which might be exactly what you want, but your body will also cannibalize your muscle tissue too.
cutting 200 calories per day is good advice! Combined with exercise, that's more than enough to start testing results and reevaluate after a few weeks (2-4.)
As for sustainable loss, I don't know if there's research on health effects for dropping weight too fast; but my feeling was mostly that the rate of loss was more to keep a person from depriving themselves so much that they break the diet just out of a desire for satiation or satisfaction. That or eating so little that the body goes into starvation mode out of a lack of fuel. That said, I recall reading losing ~2lbs/1kg a week as a good baseline. Losing at a greater rate is certainly possible, I did it. But I wouldn't really recommend it off-hand as it takes a lot of focus and drive.
I got tired of being fat after developing a "eat when bored or frustrated" habit over covid/brexit and decided to do something about it!
currently eating around 1400kcal, workouts are mo, wed, fri doing circuits of burpees, squats & situps. First day of 40-30-20-10 and I'm down 6kg (111 - 105)!
I do have 2 questions for you lot, though:
1) I recall being quite happy with my body at 87kg (lean with some muscle). According to a BMI, however, at that weight I'm dangerously close to being overweight and a "middle of the road" BMI (21) would put me at something like 75kg and I really don't know where I'm supposed to cut the extra weight out; ok I didn't have a 6 pack but I didn't have a gut either. Err, help!
2) Using various Kcal calcs on the interwebs, my daily intake for no change would be something in the region of 2800kcal. Surely this cannot be right. I recall a grown man needing 2000 per day. I'm undercutting that anyway, I'd just like to know for sure because the 2800 estimation gives me alot more wiggle room.
Anyway, I wish you all good heartpumps!
If you want to count calories, go a week or so eating calorie accurate food but try to eat what you normally eat without being self conscious about the numbers. So forget about aiming for a calorie goal and just eat regular - one strategy is to refrain from adding things up until the end of the week.
Then weigh yourself once or twice that week. If you did it right, your weight should be stable. Then add up the calories. That's your maintenance calorie consumption. Subtract a few hundred from that to get your weight loss calorie limit and weigh once or twice a week. If you start gaining over a few weights, recalibrate or troubleshoot any calorie inaccurate foods.
Marty: The future, it's where you're going? Doc: That's right, twenty five years into the future. I've always dreamed on seeing the future, looking beyond my years, seeing the progress of mankind. I'll also be able to see who wins the next twenty-five world series.
It's my hometown marathon, biggest race in the city and always a great time.
They changed the course this year and while it got rid of my favorite neighborhood to run through it looks like it's easier. First 7 miles are a slow incline, then flat until 18 with the biggest hill (used to be at 21) then downhill.
I think that and the weather should work for me. Hoping to beat my 3:50 pr, even if it's just by a bit.
Also I been eating a baked potato for dinner as part of my carb load and guys...baked potatoes rock.
1. BMI is bad and irrelevant. All it is, is a grouping of your gender (important note: was developed in the 1950's and trans folk were not considered), age, height, and body weight. It does not in any way account for body composition. So take for example two fictional people, both 180 cm tall and both 90 kg: one is a person who lives a largely sedentary lifestyle and has 30% body fat, the other has a very active lifestyle with 12% body fat. Both are the same age and gender. According to BMI, both have a BMI of 35.2, which is in the obese range.
180 cm and 90 kg is a BMI of 27.8. That’s overweight by BMI, rather than obese.
Civics is not a consumer product that you can ignore because you don’t like the options presented.
If it’s ok, I kinda find myself in need of some perspective. I know I’m fit but I don’t always believe it internally. Some second opinions would help: Anyway, I run 6-9 miles a week at ~9 min/mile, split over three or four days. Each of those days are also two-three miles walking. Total mileage averages ~20-21 miles a week.
I also workout three times a week for 90 minutes each day.
Make no mistake, I’m in my own head from body dysmorphia (gender and leftover from when I was 100lbs over my current weight.)
So I guess I’m just asking how y’all feel that’d be for a 6’3” 200lb person.
You can get your VO2 tested in a lab, but most smart watches these days will calculate a number for you - you can find plenty of YouTube videos of people comparing their smart watch VO2 to their lab tested VO2 (example, example, I could keep going - people love putting out that content video). The better watches like Garmin or Coros are usually no more than 1 to 2 points off. Also note that VO2 max is graded differently depending on sex and age.
With that said, while VO2 max is a good proxy for your overall health and fitness, it’s still just one number. There are a lot of ways and things that provide useful insight into health - for example, blood pressure and resting heart are both good to know,p and to track over time, and relatively easy to get. And even things like the sit-stand test can provide good insight into your health in practical terms.
Shadowhope on
Civics is not a consumer product that you can ignore because you don’t like the options presented.
As for sustainable loss, I don't know if there's research on health effects for dropping weight too fast; but my feeling was mostly that the rate of loss was more to keep a person from depriving themselves so much that they break the diet just out of a desire for satiation or satisfaction. That or eating so little that the body goes into starvation mode out of a lack of fuel. That said, I recall reading losing ~2lbs/1kg a week as a good baseline. Losing at a greater rate is certainly possible, I did it. But I wouldn't really recommend it off-hand as it takes a lot of focus and drive.
What gets called starvation mode isn’t really actual starvation; I think that deficit mode is a more appropriate way of thinking about it. When the body is in a mild caloric deficit, it starts slowing down processes, especially non-essential processes. Stuff happens like a person’s NEAT (non-exercise activity thermogenesis) decreases, their sex drive decreases, some women may see their menstrual cycle change or be interrupted (though that’s also potentially a sign that their caloric deficit is too steep and that they should eat more), the body raids less necessary muscle tissue for the protein to repair necessary tissues, the body starts digging into fat stores for calories, resting heart rate decreases, respiratory rate decreases, etc. That’s all normal order of business for the body, running inside normal human operating parameters. We evolved to be able to handle a few days or weeks or even months with a mild caloric deficit and minimal long term impact.
The ways in which a minor caloric deficit is most likely to cause dangerous or long term physical harms are usually associated with the pancreas and the gallbladder. Pancreatitis and gallstones are generally considered the leading dangerous side effects for GLP-1 agonists, not because of the effects of the drugs directly, but because pancreatitis and gallstones are relatively common side effects of rapid weight loss.
Civics is not a consumer product that you can ignore because you don’t like the options presented.
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Starting small helps you learn how to fairly distribute the load without hurting yourself, but any muscle early in the process of being legitimately trained will get sore. Later on, much or all of that soreness goes away, even with strenuous strength training, as the muscles learn to support each other enough to prevent overuse. So it actually gets less painful as you keep up with it.
Doc: That's right, twenty five years into the future. I've always dreamed on seeing the future, looking beyond my years, seeing the progress of mankind. I'll also be able to see who wins the next twenty-five world series.
With weight, people get to see things like the maximum amount they can lift for 1/3/5/etc reps go up, in different ways (deadlift, bench press, etc). With cardio, people get to see things like setting new PBs for distance, and then for speed at given distances. A less clear-cut goal that cardio people often work on is VO2 max. Most smart watches do a decent job calculating it (though not as precisely as lab tests) and it’s another interesting number to increase, even if it’s one that you can’t really chase directly like you can chase a new best time or one rep maximum lift.
Reminder to be kind to yourself. Enjoy time with friends/family, eat and drink what you want. Don't stress out, don't work out if you just want to relax.
No matter what you do or don't do this week, it won't make a big difference long term, which is what we always should be working towards.
It is perhaps most useful to count calories when encountering a feast so you can eat basically whatever you want without overeating too much. This also helps with the leftovers economy and makes you feel less bad about eating too much or too little in a grand family meal situation.
Doc: That's right, twenty five years into the future. I've always dreamed on seeing the future, looking beyond my years, seeing the progress of mankind. I'll also be able to see who wins the next twenty-five world series.
They decided to race the 2nd half of it for a prize. We stopped mid way through, waited for everyone and lived up.
"Sounds fun, I need to work on speed" I thought.
I SMOKED them, finished first by a good margin. I think I did a sub 7 min on the way back.
Now afraid I came off as hyper competitive.
Now, about "being in shape for long multipitches"....
I've gotten to where I can do the distance either way but I think I'm wanting the endurance more if I do the milage in one shot. Also, I'll be running indoors on a track and it feels nicer to only have to switch between the walking track and the jogging/running track three times (warmup walk, run, cooldown walk) instead of five.
Also, that leaves the option available to push for a 5k run on occasion. Those are fun to do and I think will get easier if I build up running endurance on 2 miles for a while.
Missed chance to see if anyone was wearing sweet new shoes in your size and then racing them for pinks.
I was like 1% below pre-diabetic, 2% below obese, and 0.5% below hypertension, with early-onset fatty liver disease and gastritis/esophagitis
I have actually gotten >150 minutes of exercise (and occasionally even double that) every week for the last month through a mix of cycling, dance classes with my partner, and small group personal training sessions, plus done ok at getting my shit together wrt my diet. Already gone from 120/78 blood pressure to 101/66, plus down from ~198 lbs to ~192 in a month and a half
Still want to get closer to 170 lbs eventually and fit into size Medium clothing more readily but, I'm making progress so much faster than I'd even hoped for
Quadzilla!
Now the downside? I am spending far more of my day cooking and cleaning pans and such.
For some people, protein is really incredibly important for appetite control. I’m one of them. It’s far more comfortable for me to eat 3,000 calories with 200 grams of protein than to eat 4,000 calories with 120 grams of protein. That puts me up over 2.2 grams of protein per kg of body weight per day, which is significantly higher than the recommended amount. Typically, recommendations top out at 1.6 grams per kg of body weight. Maybe it’s all in my head, maybe I’m really using that much protein daily as a consequence of lifting regularly while averaging 10k a day running, maybe my body is just really inefficient at using protein and I need more than the average person, maybe it’s something else - I don’t know.
Older people and people with certain disabilities and injuries can need up to 2.5kg protein per kg body weight (as long as their kidneys can take it). Surprised me too when I learned about it
Doc: That's right, twenty five years into the future. I've always dreamed on seeing the future, looking beyond my years, seeing the progress of mankind. I'll also be able to see who wins the next twenty-five world series.
I bought it when I (once again) decided I was going to lose weight and start going to the gym after school or work.
Honestly expected for it to find it's way to the back of my closet like so many other attempts.
For some reason though, this time things stuck.
It's been my companion for all these years now, through gaining and losing some of those pounds. It was ragged and I really should have replaced it years ago. Could never bring myself to do it.
Weird to get so attached to something.
I also workout three times a week for 90 minutes each day.
Make no mistake, I’m in my own head from body dysmorphia (gender and leftover from when I was 100lbs over my current weight.)
So I guess I’m just asking how y’all feel that’d be for a 6’3” 200lb person.
Fitness is increasingly subjective. It's also not a very useful label. You are running/working outfaster/longer than some people and less than others.
I think it'll be better concentrating on how all this exercise makes you feel, and meeting your own goals and challenges. Do you want to run faster? Or longer? Do a certain distance over an amount of time? Lift heavier? Have better heart rate or muscle percentage? Etc.
Thank you both so very much! That's what I needed to hear
I've put a ton of work into myself on a fitness journey last three years; I was getting caught up in feeling that I don't have a goal to drive toward anymore. My weight is just about where I want it, and that's a number anyway. Aside from society's fixation on it, I shouldn't get super hung up on it if it swings up or down a little. I do like how I look generally. Visible abs are a joy, as are toned legs and arms. I'm really proud I have lung and heart stamina to run for 20-30 minutes. Lifting is complicated; number go up plays a part of course, but I don't really want to build a strong, wide upper body (which probably isn't a concern, I don't think I have the build for it, nor have my muscles grown that way the last 18 months I've been lifting.) I do really love putting up good numbers for leg lifts though. And I want a tight core and legs and butt
I do running to improve my heart health and lung stamina and because I like it.
The real truth is that I love exercise; not just for the results because I think that's a good way to trap oneself into falling off of the habit. Treating it as a chore to be done to reap the rewards instead of something fun to do for its own sake. I need to keep that mindset. It is sometimes hard to do so, is all. hence, yesterday.
Anyway, thanks for the perspective and kind words.
If I have goals now, they're to maintain myself and keep building endurance. I want to stay thin obvs, wouldn't mind a little less fat around my sides and middle but it's not exactly something I can really target. ^.^ for that matter, it's very much a personal perception and mildly rooted in dysphoria to boot.
I got tired of being fat after developing a "eat when bored or frustrated" habit over covid/brexit and decided to do something about it!
currently eating around 1400kcal, workouts are mo, wed, fri doing circuits of burpees, squats & situps. First day of 40-30-20-10 and I'm down 6kg (111 - 105)!
I do have 2 questions for you lot, though:
1) I recall being quite happy with my body at 87kg (lean with some muscle). According to a BMI, however, at that weight I'm dangerously close to being overweight and a "middle of the road" BMI (21) would put me at something like 75kg and I really don't know where I'm supposed to cut the extra weight out; ok I didn't have a 6 pack but I didn't have a gut either. Err, help!
2) Using various Kcal calcs on the interwebs, my daily intake for no change would be something in the region of 2800kcal. Surely this cannot be right. I recall a grown man needing 2000 per day. I'm undercutting that anyway, I'd just like to know for sure because the 2800 estimation gives me alot more wiggle room.
Anyway, I wish you all good heartpumps!
2. Every person's maintenance calorie range differs. There are a ton of variables. Some are lifestyle, some are biological. 2800 just to maintain your current weight is quite high, but is possible with certain combos of height, current weight, and so on. The best way to dial into what your actual maintenance calories are is to log how many calories you're eating and your current weight on a daily basis, and measuring/estimating your body fat on a weekly basis, and observe how you're trending. Trending up? Decrease your calories by about 200 per day if you want to lose weight/fat. Trending down? Keep where you are if it's sustainable and you're happy with the rate of loss, or increase what you're eating slightly if you're losing too much weight too quickly.
1400 calories is not very much though. While every person is different, I'd be worried at how sustainable that is given your activity level. Exercising does burn calories, but your body does need food in order to carry on basic functions. If you're wanting to increase your muscle mass, you'll need calories to do that, and you'll want plenty of protein as well. Basically if you're frequently active and only eating small amounts, your body will take what it needs from any available source. That will include your body fat, which might be exactly what you want, but your body will also cannibalize your muscle tissue too.
I would trust the 2800 daily intake to maintain more than the 2k. Hitting 2k calories is a lot of cutting food and portions and even then avoiding the common meal foods.
I can't confidently recall what I was cutting to when doing my weight loss. But I'm pretty sure it was 1900 daily calories and it was a lot of salads and light meals. Like, getting a meal to ~500 kcal is hard unless it's mostly greens.
As for what I do to maintain or make slight cuts, it's almost more important to eat less/no carbs than it is to look at calorie counts. Like, calories do matter and I'm not saying otherwise. But a serving size of two carbs a day, all other things equal will do more to up my weight than the same amount of calories of non-carbs. (caveating that a daily weight reading is not actionable and instead weight trend over like a week is better to measure.)
cutting 200 calories per day is good advice! Combined with exercise, that's more than enough to start testing results and reevaluate after a few weeks (2-4.)
As for sustainable loss, I don't know if there's research on health effects for dropping weight too fast; but my feeling was mostly that the rate of loss was more to keep a person from depriving themselves so much that they break the diet just out of a desire for satiation or satisfaction. That or eating so little that the body goes into starvation mode out of a lack of fuel. That said, I recall reading losing ~2lbs/1kg a week as a good baseline. Losing at a greater rate is certainly possible, I did it. But I wouldn't really recommend it off-hand as it takes a lot of focus and drive.
I fkn love soda but you drink a glass of the stuff and that's basically a meal.
reducing that to, at most, a can a day has done wonders.
yuppppp. I am lucky I never had/have a soda habit.
My vice of choice is alcohol tho, so it's not any better lol.
If you want to count calories, go a week or so eating calorie accurate food but try to eat what you normally eat without being self conscious about the numbers. So forget about aiming for a calorie goal and just eat regular - one strategy is to refrain from adding things up until the end of the week.
Then weigh yourself once or twice that week. If you did it right, your weight should be stable. Then add up the calories. That's your maintenance calorie consumption. Subtract a few hundred from that to get your weight loss calorie limit and weigh once or twice a week. If you start gaining over a few weights, recalibrate or troubleshoot any calorie inaccurate foods.
Doc: That's right, twenty five years into the future. I've always dreamed on seeing the future, looking beyond my years, seeing the progress of mankind. I'll also be able to see who wins the next twenty-five world series.
It's my hometown marathon, biggest race in the city and always a great time.
They changed the course this year and while it got rid of my favorite neighborhood to run through it looks like it's easier. First 7 miles are a slow incline, then flat until 18 with the biggest hill (used to be at 21) then downhill.
I think that and the weather should work for me. Hoping to beat my 3:50 pr, even if it's just by a bit.
Also I been eating a baked potato for dinner as part of my carb load and guys...baked potatoes rock.
180 cm and 90 kg is a BMI of 27.8. That’s overweight by BMI, rather than obese.
If you want a single, simple, relatively objective measure of your fitness, VO2 max is probably your best bet. It speaks to both what you can do (usually, people, higher VO2 maxes can go faster and longer than people with lower VO2 maxes) as well as providing insight as to your relative risk of different diseases. For example, see this study on cancer compared to VO2, or this one. It’s one of the strongest indicators of relative risk in terms of all cause mortality.
You can get your VO2 tested in a lab, but most smart watches these days will calculate a number for you - you can find plenty of YouTube videos of people comparing their smart watch VO2 to their lab tested VO2 (example, example, I could keep going - people love putting out that content video). The better watches like Garmin or Coros are usually no more than 1 to 2 points off. Also note that VO2 max is graded differently depending on sex and age.
With that said, while VO2 max is a good proxy for your overall health and fitness, it’s still just one number. There are a lot of ways and things that provide useful insight into health - for example, blood pressure and resting heart are both good to know,p and to track over time, and relatively easy to get. And even things like the sit-stand test can provide good insight into your health in practical terms.
What gets called starvation mode isn’t really actual starvation; I think that deficit mode is a more appropriate way of thinking about it. When the body is in a mild caloric deficit, it starts slowing down processes, especially non-essential processes. Stuff happens like a person’s NEAT (non-exercise activity thermogenesis) decreases, their sex drive decreases, some women may see their menstrual cycle change or be interrupted (though that’s also potentially a sign that their caloric deficit is too steep and that they should eat more), the body raids less necessary muscle tissue for the protein to repair necessary tissues, the body starts digging into fat stores for calories, resting heart rate decreases, respiratory rate decreases, etc. That’s all normal order of business for the body, running inside normal human operating parameters. We evolved to be able to handle a few days or weeks or even months with a mild caloric deficit and minimal long term impact.
The ways in which a minor caloric deficit is most likely to cause dangerous or long term physical harms are usually associated with the pancreas and the gallbladder. Pancreatitis and gallstones are generally considered the leading dangerous side effects for GLP-1 agonists, not because of the effects of the drugs directly, but because pancreatitis and gallstones are relatively common side effects of rapid weight loss.
5A, 6A, 6B, 6C, 6C, 6C+, 6C+, 7A, 7A+, worked a 7B, then flashed three 6Cs
Good solid session, lots of volume