Joining the Fitness Band Wagon - QCH Style

QCH

Well... might as well get off my ass and get going. I have a Fitday account and I am starting my balanced eating routine. I am shooting for 1800 - 2000 calories per day consisting of no more than 100 carbs, 80 fats, and a minimum of 200 of protein.


According to many of BMR websites, my BMR is somewhere between 2200 and 2300 calories. So if I can trim my calories by 400 to 500 per day, I should shed at least a pound a week. Add in more activities and I will be able to shed another pound. I am, for now, looking to shed 20 pounds by Oct 2nd.

In the mean time, I am also looking to do re-join my work's gym. I will start with 4 times a week (rest on Wednesday) and try to get in some stuff at home on the weekends. I have a Bowflex, a Healthrider, and a pool. All things that will help me keep with it even when I'm at home.

QCH

So... Meal replacement shakes? I'm looking for a good tasting but not fragging expensive. I take a daily vitamin so adding them to the shake is not necessary. Any suggestions for the cost restrictive person?

mirage

Q, get a road bike. This is the best thing I have done for myself. The first week was completely demoralizing. I had to walk my bike up the hills with a suffocating feeling. Four weeks later, I lost 3-4 pounds and I do not know my limits anymore other than 1 hr of time allocated for riding 4-5 days a week. And I can not wait for the riding time to arrive; I love it. I did not do anything specific to decrease my eating and I do not count the calories. But exercise and drinking a lot of water naturally decreased my portions. I do not want to eat much since I can not ride after that. I can not eat much after riding since I drink a lot of water after riding. IMHO, increase exercise first before worrying about the calories and forget about the math, just enjoy physical exercise.

Thrax

QCH: If you have a Costco near you, they sell massive bags of 100% pure whey protein powder for $35 a bag. For < $100, you can get 2-3 shakes a day (mixed with 2% milk or water) for 8-12 weeks.

QCH

mirage wrote:

Q, get a road bike.

I forgot that I have an exercise bike too. My bike needs a tone of stuff done to it to make it rideable and I live in Illinois so almost all flat.

As for water... I am already consuming over 1/2 gallon of water just at work. Almost no carbonated beverages. I know I am real close to a gallon of water a day without pushing.

Thrax: Yes there are but I'm not a member. As for the water/ milk. Does it change the taste? How hard to get the stuff to dissolve?

Now do 3 meals and 2 shakes a day?

mirage

QCH wrote:

I forgot that I have an exercise bike too. My bike needs a tone of stuff done to it to make it rideable and I live in Illinois so almost all flat.

I just overhauled my son's mountain bike. Replaced rear derailer, brakes, rusted handlebar with aluminum, brake levers and shifters, even a lighter crankset. Now it is like new, actually much better and ~4 pounds lighter than original with all new Shimano parts. You can find all of the parts on Amazon and Ebay. This is much cheaper than a new bike and it is fun; I enjoyed learning how to do the adjustments of gears and brakes.

Thrax

QCH wrote:

Thrax: Yes there are but I'm not a member. As for the water/ milk. Does it change the taste? How hard to get the stuff to dissolve?

Now do 3 meals and 2 shakes a day?

The protein powder comes in vanilla and chocolate. The vanilla is alright, but the chocolate makes milk taste like a chocolate shake. Water + chocolate is a little weird, but it didn't take me more than a day or two to get used to the taste when I switched over. As for dissolving: I give it 10-15 seconds in a blender.

You could probably find the powder online. It's EAS 100% whey protein. It comes in a big silver/purple bag.

edcentric

QCH, Where in IL? I am in SE WI and would be glad to show you the ropes tuning a bike.
I just drug mine out and started riding again.
The first two weeks is hell, but great after that. I ride 3 times a week. always a rest day between.

My daughter is taking a group of Girls Scouts (that have been on tours before) on a 9 day, 280 mile ride from Traverse City to Mackinaw. They will be carrying all of their gear and food.

wax

tbh, i wouldn't commit to a giant 5lb bag of something you've never tasted before. i made the mistake of buying a 2lbs jug of gross ass powder that is still sitting atop my fridge today. then again, you cant just go to a vitamin store and demand the pepsi challenge. i personally like optimum nutrition's delicious strawberry flavor. i like to mix it with almond breeze original unsweetened almond milk, but it all about experimenting to figure out how you like making your shakes.

mirage

Yeah, I forgot to say that. I might not be as close as edcentric. But, post a picture of your bike and its make/model. I can advise on the parts/fixes you might need.

wax

i know a dude who doesn't have a work out plan, instead he owns a fixed gear bike in chicago and has got to be skinnier than shwaip... if thats even POSSIBLE

QCH

Man... thanks everyone for jumping in my thread to offer help. That's one of the reasons Icrontic is a great place to call home.

Let me really look at my bike and see what it needs. I am quite handy so doing the work to get the bike up and running shouldn't be too bad but knowing where to get the parts... THAT I will ask for help with.

Protein Shakes - I might have to see if I can get some samples of these powers. I just remembered that I bought some power 15 years ago when I was working out. Tried it and hated it. Never used it again. Man, I totally blanked on that one.

Thrax

Some advice: There are three types of protein powder.

1. 100% pure whey.
2. Mixed protein. These contain a mixture of soy, casein and whey protein.
3. One of the above with vitamins.

#3 will always taste like pure ass because you're drinking ground up vitamins in chocolate. How can that ever taste good? Answer: It won't.

primesuspect

You've got the build for it, Q. You look like a beast in this pic:

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/63697416@N00/3679317404/&quot; title="DSC01735 by Lynx-0-, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3582/3679317404_52be02e714.jpg&quot; width="500" height="334" alt="DSC01735" /></a>

You can do it, man. You'll be a fuckin' stud

QCH

You know what... I pulled that pic out of the bunch and I said "I cannot be on the far end of obese like the stupid BMI states." BMI states I am almost morbidly obese at 37.2 BMI. To reach a BMI of 20 (middle of the "normal" range) I'd need to be 130 pounds. Come on!!!! 115 pounds... I didn't weigh 130 pounds since I was in fragging grade school. My tibia (shin) is almost 2 inches thick at it's narrowest when the average is about 1 inch.

So, when Master Thrax says poo-poo to the BMI scale I'd have to agree.

mirage

wax wrote:

i know a dude who doesn't have a work out plan, instead he owns a fixed gear bike in chicago and has got to be skinnier than shwaip... if thats even POSSIBLE

Say hi to your dude for me :bigggrin: I am also trying to fit physical exercise naturally in my daily life without too many details to resolve. Biking seems to fit most easily. I am eating what I find (which is mostly what we think healthy for our kids) and biking as much as I can. This is an experiment I am trying and will let you know how it goes by the end of summer. Results look encouraging and, most importantly, I enjoy for now.

Thrax

I bike for my cardio, and it has been instrumental in thus far losing some 21 pounds.

fatcat

<-big fan of banana cream whey. GNC Pro Performance.

If my lazy ass has lost weight and gain muscle you can too Q!

shwaip

If you can't fix up your bike on your own, it really shouldn't be too hard to find a local bike shop that'll do a tune up for not too much. Being able to ride a bike is great (you should get up to at least 20 mph on a road bike - if you don't live too far from work, you'll have little need for a car).

Shorty

Q .. you are naturally a broad fella anyway (rather than me who had to start from the ultra skinny with paunch). A healthy diet and a decent amount of exercise.. you will uber.

Shit, now I got to work REALLY hard.

QCH

I work almost 30 miles away from work and carpool with the wife and kids.... so biking to work is not a good option.

Thank you all for the encouragement... It helps.

Nomad

QCH wrote:

So, when Master Thrax says poo-poo to the BMI scale I'd have to agree.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=106268439

According to BMI, at nearly 6' and 170# I'm edging toward obese. If obese is a 5:34 mile, 235# bench, 305# squat, and a 385# deadlift, I'm okay with that.

QCH

How is this menu I have planned for tomorrow?
http://fitday.com/fitness/PublicJournals.html?Owner=qch2002

Thrax

-30g fat, +30g protein. Otherwise it's very balanced. Good job, Q.

Nemikan

QCH wrote:

You know what... I pulled that pic out of the bunch and I said "I cannot be on the far end of obese like the stupid BMI states." BMI states I am almost morbidly obese at 37.2 BMI. To reach a BMI of 20 (middle of the "normal" range) I'd need to be 130 pounds. Come on!!!! 115 pounds... I didn't weigh 130 pounds since I was in fragging grade school. My tibia (shin) is almost 2 inches thick at it's narrowest when the average is about 1 inch.

So, when Master Thrax says poo-poo to the BMI scale I'd have to agree.

! it says i'm fit! /flex wait.. but i don't do anything but sit on the computer all day....

SPIKE09

Nomad wrote:

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=106268439

According to BMI, at nearly 6' and 170# I'm edging toward obese. If obese is a 5:34 mile, 235# bench, 305# squat, and a 385# deadlift, I'm okay with that.

TY Nomad I always thought BMI was bull and that confirms it I'm 6'2" BMI based sh1t says I should be 13 stone 5 pounds iirc , my Dr has quite vehemently said if I go below about 16 stone he will have me hospitalised.:bigggrin:

QCH

I had a wonderful ($40 worth) dinner on Monday night. As a member of Fermilab's "Arts and Lecture Committee" I was treated to a dinner at our onsite gourmet restaurant. I'm guessing that even though I cut back during the day I still went over my 2200 cal. goal.

Yesterday I picked right up and tried to fine tune my daily intake. How about this?

Thrax

That looks really great, Q. The weight will come right off with a diet like that. You've got some wiggle rooms on carbs, too.

QCH

While it may not be an awesome variety, it is easy to buy, easy to prepare, and easy to gather for my day at work. All I have to do is figure out how much in a week and I can hand my wife my list of 5 or 6 things to get and I'm done. I plan on expanding with a few compariable items but I figure I can live with this as long as I have a meal or two a week that is a bit more and then a day where I can go over for variety.

The way my life is right now, I WILL have a day here or there where I have to eat out, eat on the run, or whatever. Figure I'll aim low for the normal days to cover for the bad meals.

As soon as my back clears up I am adding exercise. Right now, the extra weight coming off should make it easier to get exercising. Less belly, less stress on back and knees.

Thrax

Variety is the key to failure, honestly. I know people want to eat a huge variety of foods every week, but the truth is that consistency wins in weight loss. Knowing what, how much and when you're going to eat every day takes the thinking out of it.

You eventually get to the point where you don't even have to use Fitday because you just know your portions and when you're going to eat.

QCH

When I say variety... I mean swapping out chicken for pork. Swapping out eggs for something else. Not so much so I can change it up but if I am forced to go outside my normal routine I have an arsenal of foods that I can pick from in a pinch and not go way off. For instance... I get invited to dinner and they are having XYZ. If none of them are on my, so called, limited list then I could fail. If I have an approved list then I can say "Hey, Z is on my list so I can take some of that and maybe take a nibble on the other things to be polite.

It felt weird it when a friend of mine went on a diet and he would never come over because his "diet" wouldn't allow it. I want to be able to fit in a few "normal" foods and know that I am not cheating and my host feels like I am actually eating with them.

But, yes, I plan on having, like, 10 things that I eat on any given week. I want to be able to feel like "Eat to Live" not "Live to Eat". The special days are special not the norm. Am I right?