The get fit, stay fit thread

[Islay]

Going for this physique mate?

His diet was a tin of tuna and an apple with a few black coffees a day, unsure for how long but he lost 62 pounds. He turned up on set and told the director he wanted to lose more weight, who promptly told him not to bother.

[Greggy Wallace]

His diet was a tin of tuna and an apple with a few black coffees a day, unsure for how long but he lost 62 pounds. He turned up on set and told the director he wanted to lose more weight, who promptly told him not to bother.

Aye it was unreal. 3 hours of cardio a day as well IIRC.

[ICTChris]

I have been going to the gym quite a bit in the last few weeks. I used to only really do weights along with HIIT but having throught about it that's kind of cheating so I've started splitting my sessions up - I'll either do weights followed by some HIIT or some steady state cardio (usually 30+ minutes on cross trainer, the treadmill f*cks my knees) followed by HIIT.

Does this seem a good approach to people who know about this stuff?

ALso, I was doing HIIT on the stationary bike last night and noticed I was finding it more difficult to get my heart rate up. I think this is a good thing as I'm getting fitter (first few times I did HIIT I felt like I was going to die) but is it a good idea to increase the 'up' times in HIIT to get my heart rate up? I currently do 5 minutes warm up then five minutes of 30-30 split high and low intensity then two minutes warm down. I usually do it on the stationary bike but have recently started using the rower, which destroys me. Was thinking of changing to doing it for 15 minutes and doing a minute-minute split high and low intensity to see how that works.

[ShakehandsTom - DFC]

Since getting married in early July this year, I've put on over 2st, so I'm now taking it seriously to shift it again.

I got in good shape for the wedding and I want to get back to that. So I've made the decision to cut down drastically on the takeaways, chocolate, cakes, ale etc. I'm also trying to get back into some sort of routine with my fitness. I went for a run on Monday and did 4.5k, and also plan on going for a short run tonight after work. The hard work starts here!

[Reynard]

I have been going to the gym quite a bit in the last few weeks. I used to only really do weights along with HIIT but having throught about it that's kind of cheating so I've started splitting my sessions up - I'll either do weights followed by some HIIT or some steady state cardio (usually 30+ minutes on cross trainer, the treadmill f*cks my knees) followed by HIIT.

Does this seem a good approach to people who know about this stuff?

ALso, I was doing HIIT on the stationary bike last night and noticed I was finding it more difficult to get my heart rate up. I think this is a good thing as I'm getting fitter (first few times I did HIIT I felt like I was going to die) but is it a good idea to increase the 'up' times in HIIT to get my heart rate up? I currently do 5 minutes warm up then five minutes of 30-30 split high and low intensity then two minutes warm down. I usually do it on the stationary bike but have recently started using the rower, which destroys me. Was thinking of changing to doing it for 15 minutes and doing a minute-minute split high and low intensity to see how that works.

Do the tabata routine for HIIT. If you are genuinely hammering it as you should be then your heart will be bursting out your left nostril by the end of the session. Then ten minutes later you will be drenched in sweat. I find it hard to discipline myself to just do normal interval stuff at the moment which is why I went to tabata. I like the fact that you have a set time to do what you are doing, and a set number of reps, that sort of appeals to me for some reason. I guess you can mix up the way you do it too, use the bike, run, do circuits or whatever? I've never failed to have the heart rate up to dangerous heart attack levels for a middle aged man each time I do it.

[footiechick]

Special K is the one I go for, it's unoffensive. Even if you don't like it you can't hate it, it doesn't taste of anything. They know my name at my gym now, which is funny as the fact that starbucks used to know my order was one of the reasons I decided to lose weight!

Special K is minging!

Porridge! It fills you up and is Low GI so has slow release energy - you won't be starving by 10.30am!

I have it hot in the winter and in summer I make it up at night with milk or apple juice and put it in the fridge for the morning. I have some fruit with it.

[CountyFan]

Special K is minging!

Porridge! It fills you up and is Low GI so has slow release energy - you won't be starving by 10.30am!

I have it hot in the winter and in summer I make it up at night with milk or apple juice and put it in the fridge for the morning. I have some fruit with it.

I would have porridge except I can't make it as good as my granny used to so there's no point trying!

[Thistle_do_nicely]

http://4chanfit.wikia.com/wiki/Harsh%27s_Worksheet_%28WIP%29

Another handy wee guide I'm using, if anyone is interested.

[Greggy Wallace]

Porridge is deffo the ultimate breakfast, especially in the winter.

If I don't have porridge then it's scrambled eggs on toast.

I try and avoid all cereals tbh, there is a lot of sugar in most of them.

[Mak]

I don't want to seem like I'm having a go at anyone or trying to belittle their efforts - if you're trying to make positive changes then well done to you - but there's been absolutely loads of stuff over the last few pages that I've disagreed with.

I'm not going to pick up on every single one, but from this page the one that sticks out is people seeing cereal as a healthy option at breakfast time. Almost all cereals - yes, even the 'healthy' ones - are packed full of added sugars. That's not to say that you can't eat cereal from time to time if you want to and enjoy it, but it isn't a healthy option and shouldn't be seen as such. Out of the so-called 'traditional' breakfast foods, porridge and eggs are about the best two options.

What I'd say, though, is that it's a myth that you 'need' a high carb meal at breakfast time. This is a claim which was developed when we had a surplus of grain after World War Two; to keep the farmers onside, governments started advocating breakfast cereal or other high carb meals as the perfect breakfast. Over time, and backed up by studies funded by the cereal industry, this has been taken as gospel and now people look at you like you're weird if you aren't eating either cereal, porridge or toast.

I actually believe that there's a great deal more to be said for going lower in carbs and higher in healthy fats during the earlier meals of the day before replenishing your glycogen stores with one or two high carb meals later in the waking period (yes, carbs at night time ). My favourite breakfasts involve either oily fish or eggs (poached, boiled or in an omelette) with vegetables, either steamed or as a salad. I'll have another two moderate protein, low carb, higher fat meals early in the day before having 10g BCAAs and a small portion of quick release carbs (I like dried fruit) immediately before training and two moderate protein, high carb, low fat meals after training the evening. I'll also have a sports drink containing quick release carbs and BCAAs during my workout if I'm training for longer than an hour.

I can provide quite a lot of links backing this up if anyone's interested. On a personal level, since I started eating in this way I've dropped to around 8.5% bodyfat whilst remaining almost exactly the same weight.

[Jamie_B]

I should maybe pay more attention to this kind of scientific approach, but for the last 20 months or so all I've done is cut down my portion sizes, cut out eating any kind of dessert or sweets, and taken up a bit of running.

In that period I've lost 3 stones 2 pounds. One more pound and I'll weigh less than I did when I was 15 for the first time in my adult life.

What really did it for me was managing to change my attitude towards food completely. Whereas before I'd really enjoy a big curry or an ice cream or something, now if I have something that unhealthy I feel awful about it and don't really enjoy it nearly as much. Once you get that in your head you pretty quickly stop eating half as much nonsense.

[CountyFan]

Whatever works for you. In my case the cereal is directly replacing sweets/crisps etc that I would have had previously as id have been hungry before lunchtime. It depends what your goals are- mine is to lose a bit of weight and get generally fitter- and this works for me. If I was aiming for Adonis I'd maybe do it differently.

[Mak]

Whatever works for you. In my case the cereal is directly replacing sweets/crisps etc that I would have had previously as id have been hungry before lunchtime. It depends what your goals are- mine is to lose a bit of weight and get generally fitter- and this works for me. If I was aiming for Adonis I'd maybe do it differently.

It's got nothing to do with what works 'for me' and everything to do with what works.

It's none of my business how you live your life and I really don't mean to seem like I'm having a go, but to me cutting out the crap and just generally doing what you consider to be a bit more healthy is surely just the first step, on which you'll add constant slight improvements. I don't understand this attitude of 'I'll just improve things a wee bit, then close my mind to the very notion that any further improvements could ever be made'.

[CountyFan]

As I said before, it depends on your goal. You obviously take this stuff much more seriously than I do. If I want to go from being a fatty to being a bit more healthy then what I'm doing now works. I'm not closing my mind to future improvements being made, just not trying to do too much too soon. My fledgling 3 month success would be seriously jeapordised if I tried to go from overweight to world class athlete overnight.

[Mak]

As I said before, it depends on your goal. You obviously take this stuff much more seriously than I do. If I want to go from being a fatty to being a bit more healthy then what I'm doing now works. I'm not closing my mind to future improvements being made, just not trying to do too much too soon. My fledgling 3 month success would be seriously jeapordised if I tried to go from overweight to world class athlete overnight.

You're quite right not to do too much too soon, and I'd never recommend trying to jump straight from an unhealthy diet into calculating macronutrient intakes, bothering about nutrient timing or anything else; in fact, what I'd recommend is doing exactly what you're doing and making constant small changes (my recommendation would be one a week).

In this instance, though, it doesn't 'depend on your goals'. That just isn't true.

[ICTChris]

All sorts of breakfast food is absolutely rammed with sugar - cereal bars are another offender. If I ever have breakfast cereal I usually have Sultana Bran but not often. I try to eat porridge or poached eggs on toast for breakfast. Either that or I'll have a yoghurt and granola mix in work.

[Thistle_do_nicely]

Just done a quick google search on bran flakes there;

http://www.reciplace...t-in-fibre.html

I thought they were a reasonable option too.

Porridge it is, then.

edit: more research. http://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=bran+flakes

It's got a hell of a lot of iron in it, though... can anyone help me make sense of this? Is the high sodium count enough to outweigh the benefits? Or am I better off with porridge?

Edited September 5, 2012 by Thistle_do_nicely

[11thHour]

If anyone wants to lose weight and feels their own tailored diet isnt working I can type up the diet I got from a hospital dietician? It worked for me (although i've subsequently put it back on) I lost over a stone in 4 weeks which is right good going I think.

I'm now back on it as of last week and feel better already.

[Mak]

Just done a quick google search on bran flakes there;

http://www.reciplace...t-in-fibre.html

I thought they were a reasonable option too.

Porridge it is, then.

edit: more research. http://www.wolframal.../?i=bran+flakes

It's got a hell of a lot of iron in it, though... can anyone help me make sense of this? Is the high sodium count enough to outweigh the benefits? Or am I better off with porridge?

Porridge is definitely more nutritious. There are better sources of iron; ones which aren't also packed with added sugar and sodium.

I'm not saying that you should never eat Bran Flakes; if you really like them, have them from time to time. They just aren't a 'healthy option', or at least not unless you're comparing them with Coco Pops or something. It isn't a straight choice between cereal and porridge anyway, because you can eat the same things at breakfast time as you would at any other time of day. It's astonishing how attached people are to this idea that carbs in the morning are an absolute must, or that they 'need them to get themselves going in the morning'.

Edited September 5, 2012 by Mak

[banterman86]

If anyone wants to lose weight and feels their own tailored diet isnt working I can type up the diet I got from a hospital dietician? It worked for me (although i've subsequently put it back on) I lost over a stone in 4 weeks which is right good going I think.

I'm now back on it as of last week and feel better already.

Worth a bash. My own diet isn;t too bad just now, at least by previosu standards, but as mhak points out, there's likely always room for improvement