My new years - Weight Loss regiment
Background
This wasn't a New Years resolution specifically. But some close to home things hit and both my wife and I decided to change up our acts a little bit. Now to start out I'm 5'10 and weighed in around 195-200 depending on the scale and time of day. I'm not an inactive lump but being mid 30's and 12 years at a desk job has started to show it's effects. So it just happened to turn out that the week around New Years we decided to start.
Method/Routine
First things first. We both have actively cut out pop and other sugar drinks from about 1-2 a day (that includes coffee with sugar) to maybe 3 every 2 weeks. We also eliminated snacks big time. Those were the biggest food changes. The rest has just been more conscious of what we eat and watching the calories to try and keep them to between 1500 and 2000 a day. Fish instead of Pork, Chick/Turkey instead of Beef things like generally. More salad over potatoes and less starches. We aren't following a diet plan just keeping things sensible and in moderation. Also drinking plenty of water and fruits/veg should the serious munchies strike.
Next we have started using EA Sports More Active for the Wii. We've been on it for 4 weeks now following it's 6 week training program. For anyone not familiar this is the one that doesn't require the wii board. Instead it's lots of cardio, stretches and strength work both using power bands as well as your bodies resistance (Push-ups, crunches, lunges etc...). It has 3 intensity settings that increase the reps so a light workout would average around 15-20 minutes, medium workout 20-30 and high 30-40. It's got various workout routines throughout the program so the exercises are changing and targeting different body regions. Through the program you schedule 4 workouts a week but you can do more if you want. On average we both usually end up doing our full 4 workouts (my wife is on medium intensity and I'm on high) plus we usually do 1 or 2 extra workouts.
Goals
For us our goals are obviously to lose weight and get better in shape. But to improve our quality of life down the line and keep up with our daughter as she gets older and more active. We opted onto this type of routine because we are both realistic and want lasting effects. The diet is something easy to stick with, which is important because we both have crazy hours and unpredictable schedules. The exercise program also had to be convenient. An hour a day isn't an option neither is going to the gym. We also knew that doing something crazy intense like P90x wasn't going to happen. The Wii More Active fits into the schedule nicely and it also gives instant feedback to keep going. There is no honor system it knows when you are moving and you have to keep up with it. It's a great motivator, especially when you just don't want to. That's something I'd never get out of popping a DVD into a machine and going a long with it.
The other key factor is that it's a slowly life changing routine. It's not something you intently do for 6 weeks hit your goal and then get sloppy. The diet is easy to maintain and the exercises slowly build up your bodies natural metabolic rate so that you don't start to crash back again when you stop exercising. This is something we intend to keep up during the winter especially, but come summer a lot more hiking, walking and biking now that our daughter is 3 and is of the age now where she can do more of that stuff on her own and not be tethered to a stroller.
Results
So far I've lost about 13lbs in 4 weeks. My wife has lost a little more then that. I haven't measured my lost inches but my wife is down about 14 overall (arms, chest, waist, legs). I can certainly see the difference in my stomach, back, chest and shoulders. I'm definitely getting definition back again (In my tweens I was big into skate boarding and biking and was big time cut). In addition to the weight loss and definition our energy levels are up as is our endurance. Chasing my Daughter through indoor tube mazes for an hour is no longer back breaking, chest heaving work.
This wasn't a New Years resolution specifically. But some close to home things hit and both my wife and I decided to change up our acts a little bit. Now to start out I'm 5'10 and weighed in around 195-200 depending on the scale and time of day. I'm not an inactive lump but being mid 30's and 12 years at a desk job has started to show it's effects. So it just happened to turn out that the week around New Years we decided to start.
Method/Routine
First things first. We both have actively cut out pop and other sugar drinks from about 1-2 a day (that includes coffee with sugar) to maybe 3 every 2 weeks. We also eliminated snacks big time. Those were the biggest food changes. The rest has just been more conscious of what we eat and watching the calories to try and keep them to between 1500 and 2000 a day. Fish instead of Pork, Chick/Turkey instead of Beef things like generally. More salad over potatoes and less starches. We aren't following a diet plan just keeping things sensible and in moderation. Also drinking plenty of water and fruits/veg should the serious munchies strike.
Next we have started using EA Sports More Active for the Wii. We've been on it for 4 weeks now following it's 6 week training program. For anyone not familiar this is the one that doesn't require the wii board. Instead it's lots of cardio, stretches and strength work both using power bands as well as your bodies resistance (Push-ups, crunches, lunges etc...). It has 3 intensity settings that increase the reps so a light workout would average around 15-20 minutes, medium workout 20-30 and high 30-40. It's got various workout routines throughout the program so the exercises are changing and targeting different body regions. Through the program you schedule 4 workouts a week but you can do more if you want. On average we both usually end up doing our full 4 workouts (my wife is on medium intensity and I'm on high) plus we usually do 1 or 2 extra workouts.
Goals
For us our goals are obviously to lose weight and get better in shape. But to improve our quality of life down the line and keep up with our daughter as she gets older and more active. We opted onto this type of routine because we are both realistic and want lasting effects. The diet is something easy to stick with, which is important because we both have crazy hours and unpredictable schedules. The exercise program also had to be convenient. An hour a day isn't an option neither is going to the gym. We also knew that doing something crazy intense like P90x wasn't going to happen. The Wii More Active fits into the schedule nicely and it also gives instant feedback to keep going. There is no honor system it knows when you are moving and you have to keep up with it. It's a great motivator, especially when you just don't want to. That's something I'd never get out of popping a DVD into a machine and going a long with it.
The other key factor is that it's a slowly life changing routine. It's not something you intently do for 6 weeks hit your goal and then get sloppy. The diet is easy to maintain and the exercises slowly build up your bodies natural metabolic rate so that you don't start to crash back again when you stop exercising. This is something we intend to keep up during the winter especially, but come summer a lot more hiking, walking and biking now that our daughter is 3 and is of the age now where she can do more of that stuff on her own and not be tethered to a stroller.
Results
So far I've lost about 13lbs in 4 weeks. My wife has lost a little more then that. I haven't measured my lost inches but my wife is down about 14 overall (arms, chest, waist, legs). I can certainly see the difference in my stomach, back, chest and shoulders. I'm definitely getting definition back again (In my tweens I was big into skate boarding and biking and was big time cut). In addition to the weight loss and definition our energy levels are up as is our endurance. Chasing my Daughter through indoor tube mazes for an hour is no longer back breaking, chest heaving work.
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Comments
giggity.
oh...
I was going to type that myself, seriously. Substitute in Wii Fit and a 5 y/o and you have exactly what my Fiance and I have been doing for the last 4 weeks. I've also lost 13 lbs :-P
Congrats Kryyst, Cheers to Healthy Living!
-Bobby
What's also interesting is that it adjusts projected calorie loss based on your BMI. So the better shape you are in the harder you have to push yourself to achieve the same results. That I think is excellent.
Other side effects are that I feel more energized (generally) and have less aches and pains. An hour at the indoor climbing park with my daughter is no longer crippling. More importantly my asthma, which has never been bad or a daily/weekly problem, is better. I haven't had to touch my puffer in over a month. Also generally allergies like dust & dog don't bother me nearly as much as they were for a while there. Which as I've been reading has a lot to do with those types of things being stored in fat cells, less fat cells = less of an effect with environmental allergies.
Other oddities I've noticed but can't really document. Along with the exercise we've been eating better. I now find I no longer having junk food cravings like I did. I still crave snacks (salty stuff) from time to time. But by junk I mean cheese burgers, poutine, ribs slathered in sauce and wings. Those were stables of my diet for some time and now I just don't desire them anymore. I read through a menu listing of those things and they don't interest me at all. Healthy food seems to create cravings for healthy food.
Most importantly perhaps is that we are on to the next 6 weeks and haven't lost interest or drive to keep going.
So that means more exercises or getting my personal gym into a working state again and working on a proper weight routine beyond just the general cardio I'm doing now. Plus the warmer weather is just on the horizon so the bike will be coming out of storage sooner then later which I'm really looking forward to.