The Forum diet club

[Trouble]

Mini Mac, Twirly and Ruby you are such sweethearts.

Well the club we are going to join is on a weds, im seeing ricky gervais this weds so our start date for our change of life plan will be weds week. Thats good i think as we would have been off cigerettes for 10 days then and the cravings would have passed so we can concentrate on changing our diet.

My new exercise machines arrives monday at Daves so i should get it to me Weds or Thursday night. Have Bliss that weekend so the exercise plan will also start monday week. 7 days after cigerette stopping and nictotine out of my body.

Im getting into the zone. Lory told me her fitness adviser said mornng exercise is the best, so im going to try and get up 6am every day and get it out of the way. Does anyone else have any better ideas. Ive got a cross trainer the lovely DTS brought me. Also, how long should i do on it for it to make a difference.

Any help would be great.?

[Lory]

Originally Posted by Trouble

Lory told me her fitness adviser said mornng exercise is the best, so im going to try and get up 6am every day and get it out of the way.

He said do the exercise in an empty stomach, that way your burning your own fat and not the calories from the food.. if you can, start off slow for 5minutes, then aim to increase the intensity to bring your heartrate up to 70-80% of your maximum

for example, if your 40 it would be....

max heart rate 220-(age) 40 =180 (This is the target for weightloss and improving cardiovascular fitness.)

Then wait 20-30 minutes before you eat..

Which should work out quite well for you, as you'll be able to eat after you've showered and got ready!

Good luck!

And remember, its only 20minutes a day and this can reduce your risk of a heart attack by 50% (I just saw an advert on TV that said so )

[Jive Brummie]

Before exercising first thing in the morning, ensure you have done a comprehensive warm up or have been up and out of bed for a wee while.

The reason for this is that the spine effectively lengthens throughout the night as the intervertebral discs fill up with fluid. That's why you're taller in the morning! If you then undertake high impact exercise (running for example), you end up squishing the fluid from the discs in a potentially uncontrolled way, which can lead to pain and injury.

Exercising in the morning though is all good. It kick starts the body and if nothing else, ensures that you feel energised for your day at work!

With regards to the heart rate training zones - also be aware that it can quite often 'advise' that you train below a level which will see improvements in cardio vascular fitness. On average, it's out by about 11 beats. The long and short of it is that if you feel you could do more, go faster, lift heavier etc...then go for it and be brave. That way the body will incur 'overload' which is all that is required to go through physiological adaptation (body changing shape).

Great to see you guys supporting each other. Keep up the good work.

JB

[Trouble]

Originally Posted by Lory

He said do the exercise in an empty stomach, that way your burning your own fat and not the calories from the food.. if you can, start off slow for 5minutes, then aim to increase the intensity to bring your heartrate up to 70-80% of your maximum

for example, if your 40 it would be....

max heart rate 220-(age) 40 =180 (This is the target for weightloss and improving cardiovascular fitness.)

Then wait 20-30 minutes before you eat..

Which should work out quite well for you, as you'll be able to eat after you've showered and got ready!

Good luck!

And remember, its only 20minutes a day and this can reduce your risk of a heart attack by 50% (I just saw an advert on TV that said so )

thanks Lory.xx So i have to do five mins warm up then 20 mins with my heart rate at the level as above is that right and is that enough?

Originally Posted by Jive Brummie

Before exercising first thing in the morning, ensure you have done a comprehensive warm up or have been up and out of bed for a wee while.

The reason for this is that the spine effectively lengthens throughout the night as the intervertebral discs fill up with fluid. That's why you're taller in the morning! If you then undertake high impact exercise (running for example), you end up squishing the fluid from the discs in a potentially uncontrolled way, which can lead to pain and injury.

Exercising in the morning though is all good. It kick starts the body and if nothing else, ensures that you feel energised for your day at work!

With regards to the heart rate training zones - also be aware that it can quite often 'advise' that you train below a level which will see improvements in cardio vascular fitness. On average, it's out by about 11 beats. The long and short of it is that if you feel you could do more, go faster, lift heavier etc...then go for it and be brave. That way the body will incur 'overload' which is all that is required to go through physiological adaptation (body changing shape).

Great to see you guys supporting each other. Keep up the good work.

JB

thanks Jive Brummie. xx

[Lory]

Originally Posted by Trouble

thanks Lory.xx So i have to do five mins warm up then 20 mins with my heart rate at the level as above is that right and is that enough?

Yes, but I think you might be thinking it sounds easy, right?

Well, in theory it is but believe me, 20mins is much longer than you think (on one of those machines).. personally, I can't stand the cross trainer or running machine because I get completely bored OR I watch the TV to alieviate the boredom (they have ear phones you can plug into to watch TV at the gym)but then I loose concentration and forget what i'm doing and slow down

But, I see people at the gym all the time, who amaze me and have my total respect, they stay on these machines for hours but I'm afraid, they're made of different stuff to me

If you really do 5 + 20mins a day, then you I think should start to see a difference very quickly, within a fortnight for sure!

[rubyred]

I feel really encouraged by this thread the advise is really good. I am off to the gym now and intend to get into shape for the Champs in November. Don't want to loose weight as such but do want to get fitter. Thanks chaps and chapesses.

[Zara]

Originally Posted by Trouble

Mini Mac, Twirly and Ruby you are such sweethearts.

Well the club we are going to join is on a weds, im seeing ricky gervais this weds so our start date for our change of life plan will be weds week. Thats good i think as we would have been off cigerettes for 10 days then and the cravings would have passed so we can concentrate on changing our diet.

My new exercise machines arrives monday at Daves so i should get it to me Weds or Thursday night. Have Bliss that weekend so the exercise plan will also start monday week. 7 days after cigerette stopping and nictotine out of my body.

Im getting into the zone. Lory told me her fitness adviser said mornng exercise is the best, so im going to try and get up 6am every day and get it out of the way. Does anyone else have any better ideas. Ive got a cross trainer the lovely DTS brought me. Also, how long should i do on it for it to make a difference.

Any help would be great.?

wow, you really are going for it! Good on yer
I have to say Im not in the zone yet, im not being perfect by any means, but I havent binged on anything, so its a good start. I start Uni tommorow and Im hoping they will healthy alternatives for lunch. Im also hoping to join up to the gym there, which is incredibly cheap. I thought that perhaps I could get a quick workout done at lunchtimes, but it will depend on how long we will get really.

xxx

[Jive Brummie]

Hey guys,

'Health and fitness tip of the day'

If you are stuck for time try and do a PHA Circuit. This stands for Peripheral Heart Action. Basically it's a series of exercises combining upper and lower body work with cardio vascular fitness thrown in for good measure. Don't be under any doubt...they are tough. The reason I'm suggesting PHA though is because it can be done in a short space of time and in theory....given the right amount of application, you can get a fantastic workout done in about 30 mins...which fits into most peoples lunch hour.

For those that are members of a gym....ask a helpful instructor and they should be able to assist you. If they're not too sure what PHA is then just tell them you need a circuit designed that looks like this:

CV work - for example; Rower @ 4 mins best effort
Upper body push - for example: bench press @ 25 reps
Lower body compound - for example: barbell squat @ 25 reps
Upper body pull - for example: barbell bent over row @ 25 reps

Then so on and so forth into the next cycle, always in the above order. Going through about 3 circuits (totalling 12 exercises). In theory, if you're giving it everything you've got you should/could do 2 complete circuits in around 30-40 mins (24 exercises in total). This is on the condition that you do not rest between exercises...if you do the entire PHA-thing loses it's point.

This type of training will require a maximal effort...so approach it with caution. Listen to your body and if you experience any excessive nausea, light headedness or musculoskeletal problems, ease off or even stop. Also have a bucket handy....just in case.

Have fun!!!!

JB

[ShinyWeeStar]

Originally Posted by Zara

Im a food-aholic

Me too! Room for one more on this bandwagon?

Like Caro, I've been thinking about joining one of these threads for a while now, in the hope that it will be the extra motivation I need to kick start me and keep me going.

At the start of the year I was doing okay and managed to lose nearly half a stone just by eating more healthily during the week (with treats allowed at weekends to keep me sane!). It worked quite well until treats turned into bingefests and the weekends started cancelling out my other efforts!

Meals and snacks when I'm at work tend to be healthy enough, as I make a conscious effort to just take healthy food with me, but snacking in the evenings and at weekends is my downfall. After a summer of eating ridiculous amounts of rubbish (things got pretty stressful at work, which I know is an excuse, but I just didn't have the mental energy to care what I was eating) I've been trying to get back into better eating patterns with little success (even new habits die hard). However, a comment by Fletch recently about having time to lose a stone by Christmas coupled with the appearance of this thread motivated me enough to try again. The plan is to take control of my eating by eating sensibly 7 days a week (not by dieting and cutting out the foods I like, but eating them in moderation instead of overload) and taking more exercise. I finally got around to registering for membership at the local swim/gym facilities today and hopefully the direct debit will be another incentive to keep going! Today I went swimming for the first time in ages and already felt pounds lighter as I walked out. (I'm enjoying the feeling, it'll not last past Sunday dinner... )

I haven't got set goals for where I want to be yet. According to the weight machines my ideal weight is 2 stone 13 pounds lighter than what I am... ...but as I haven't been that light since about primary school, I am waiting to see what the personal trainer has to say before I set any proper goals! (I get a free health/fitness assessment and personal programme with the membership package, how cool ). Basically though I'd like to be generally fitter, healthier and

Originally Posted by fletch

happy with my body shape

. I don't mind if progress is measured by weight loss, inch loss, BMI, fat/muscle ratio or all of the above, as long as I can get rid of my "wobbly bits"!

Originally Posted by Zara

I have to say Im not in the zone yet, im not being perfect by any means, but I havent binged on anything, so its a good start.

Good luck everyone! *hugs*

[Lory]

Originally Posted by Jive Brummie

have a bucket handy....just in case.

Have fun!!!!

Somehow, those two quotes don't really go together!

Joking aside, when I first seriously started pushing myself with the CV, I often felt as though I was going to be sick!

Now, I often get a 'high' buzz, which is ... weird, I know

[rubyred]

Originally Posted by Lory

He said do the exercise in an empty stomach, that way your burning your own fat and not the calories from the food.. if you can, start off slow for 5minutes, then aim to increase the intensity to bring your heartrate up to 70-80% of your maximum

for example, if your 40 it would be....

max heart rate 220-(age) 40 =180 (This is the target for weightloss and improving cardiovascular fitness.)


)

Just want to check something out here.. do you have to get your HR to the maximum and sustain it for 20mins or can you just get it to 70 - 80 % and sustain it for 20mins. When I went to the gym this afternoon I got my heart rate to about 70% but it was hard and long work getting it there, then tried to keep going for as long as poss but could not do 20mins. I find the cross trainer is the best machine for me to get my heart going faster and in less time....its blinking hard work

[Paulthetrainer]

If anyone is interested here's a few of my thoughts on the whole losing weight thing.

Apologies if people have already said stuff - I only took a quick skim read of the thread. Anyway here goes:

Diets rarely work without exercise.

Losing weight solely through reducing food intake will work in the short term, but perhaps as much as 50 percent of what we lose is muscle. Our lean muscle mass has a massive impact on how many calories we can burn at rest. When our lean muscle mass drops, we burn less calories at rest, so the number of calories required to maintain weight loss will decrease, meaning we have to eat less and less in order to maintain that weight loss. Eventually we'll just put all the fat back on, often more. 1 pound of muscle is responsible for burning an extra 30-50 cals a day, just at rest - take that away and your fat-burning potential reduces.

Exercise should ensure that lean muscle mass is maintained, thus ensuring that fat loss is permanent, as long as healthy eating and regular exercise are maintained.

Carbs are not the big enemy the media has us believe. 1 gram of carbs is worth around 4 calories. 1 gram of alcohol is worth 7 calories. 1 gram of fat is worth around 9 calories. It's easy to see who the real enemy is. Carbs are only a problem if one chooses badly. Simple carbs like sugar are often trigger foods, making us just eat more of them, which is where the calories come from.

If you have the self control of a Bhuddist Monk then you can eat a biscuit or a piece of cake now and again and not put weight on. That said, anyone
with the self control of a Bhuddist Monk probably doesn't need to lose weight in the first place! Sadly, the rest of us have to find out what our trigger foods are, and take a zero tolerance approach where they are concerned, at least until we get where we want to be, if not permanently.

The Maximum Heart Rate percentage calculation for measuring the intensity of exercise is massively unreliable, due to the dramatic discrepancies in individuals Heart Rate tolerance to exercise, the differing strength/endurance ratio's of the different types of exercise, and the fluctuating levels of stimulants people put into their bodies. Plus the machines/watches often dramatically misread the signal from the straps.

Instead consider a Rate of Percieved Exertion scale of Zero to 10.

Zero is slobbing out on the sofa, 10 is being chased by a Mad Axeman. Beginners should try and exercise at around 6-7. Experienced exercisers at 7-8, with the occasional 'interval' session at 9. Nobody should exercise at a 10 on this scale. Unless you live in Mad Axeman Town.

Lower intensity exercise does NOT burn more fat calories than higher intensity exercise. That's a myth.

Clothing sizes are a far better indicator of fat loss than scales.

When it comes to setting goals, use your imagination as much as possible to consider what you will look like, and how you will feel when you reach your target weight. Consider 'moving towards' as opposed to 'moving away from'. The clearer the indication of where you want to be, the better."I want to be a size 12" is a more useful goal than "I don't want to be fat".

Good luck to all who are trying to lose weight.

Paul

[jinski]

Originally Posted by Paulthetrainer

Diets rarely work without exercise.
1 pound of muscle is responsible for burning an extra 30-50 cals a day, just at rest - take that away and your fat-burning potential reduces.

Exercise should ensure that lean muscle mass is maintained, thus ensuring that fat loss is permanent, as long as healthy eating and regular exercise are maintained.

Carbs are not the big enemy the media has us believe. 1 gram of carbs is worth around 4 calories. 1 gram of alcohol is worth 7 calories. 1 gram of fat is worth around 9 calories. It's easy to see who the real enemy is. Carbs are only a problem if one chooses badly. Simple carbs like sugar are often trigger foods, making us just eat more of them, which is where the calories come from.


The Maximum Heart Rate

Instead consider a Rate of Percieved Exertion scale of Zero to 10.

Zero is slobbing out on the sofa, 10 is being chased by a Mad Axeman. Beginners should try and exercise at around 6-7. Experienced exercisers at 7-8, with the occasional 'interval' session at 9. Nobody should exercise at a 10 on this scale. Unless you live in Mad Axeman Town.

Lower intensity exercise does NOT burn more fat calories than higher intensity exercise. That's a myth.

Clothing sizes are a far better indicator of fat loss than scales.

When it comes to setting goals, use your imagination as much as possible to consider what you will look like, and how you will feel when you reach your target weight. Consider 'moving towards' as opposed to 'moving away from'. The clearer the indication of where you want to be, the better."I want to be a size 12" is a more useful goal than "I don't want to be fat".

Good luck to all who are trying to lose weight.

Paul

So much to remember!

However very helpful and informative as are the other posts before, its great to find so many like minded people. I'm sure if we put in the determination we put into learning to dance origionally then we shall succeed

Here's to a new healthier week

[FirstMove]

What's the correct way to exercise in the morning before work? Whenever I've tried that, I doze off at my desk, no matter how much sleep I've had the night before

[Paulthetrainer]

Originally Posted by FirstMove

What's the correct way to exercise in the morning before work? Whenever I've tried that, I doze off at my desk, no matter how much sleep I've had the night before

Two possible explanations...



1. You may need to eat something (ideally protein) after exercise. Some fish or chicken ought to do it.

2. Could be just a case of getting used to it....

hope that helps

Paul

[Thetruth]

Originally Posted by fletch

Don't be so hard on people that aren't as perfect as you, I wonder is it lonely up there on your pedistal .

Never said I was perfect, just very happy with my body shape. Not alone on the pedestal, met heaps of slim, healthy people here. Everyone is so defensive (guess they are the ones who are not happy with their own body shape)..................Trampy (stop talking to me hamburger) gave me a blast. Why get upset if you are happy with your weight or defensive?? Its because most overweight people are not happy with their body shape.................so get over it or lose it. Overweight people are more likely to suffer serious health issues than one who exercises. Information is available from the health department to clarify this stat. All I am reading back at me is excuses.............and thats all they are....excuses (unless health issues or age is involved).
If you want to be fit and healthy then it is up to the individual.

[under par]

I have started my increased exercise... Danced Friday Saturday and Sunday.

I have rounds of golf planned for today, Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday and Monday and Wednesday next week.

I am going to carry my clubs each day and not use a trolley.

Although I will be in France from Friday for 4 days I will try not to over indulge with the wine.

next week upon my return I will commence early morning sit ups sessions.

Feeling very positive. + + +

[fletch]

Originally Posted by Thetruth

Never said I was perfect, just very happy with my body shape. Not alone on the pedestal, met heaps of slim, healthy people here. Everyone is so defensive (guess they are the ones who are not happy with their own body shape)..................Trampy (stop talking to me hamburger) gave me a blast. Why get upset if you are happy with your weight or defensive?? Its because most overweight people are not happy with their body shape.................so get over it or lose it. Overweight people are more likely to suffer serious health issues than one who exercises. Information is available from the health department to clarify this stat. All I am reading back at me is excuses.............and thats all they are....excuses (unless health issues or age is involved).
If you want to be fit and healthy then it is up to the individual.

No you never said you were perfect, just implied it, and agreeing that you have put yourself on a pedestal just confirms it.

To appear to have such negativity and lack of understanding and a bit of compassion for people that haven't got your will power and driving desire have the body beautiful, the way you have, makes me think your quite a sad person.

For anyone who has had a weight problem will tell you its not easy keeping it off, its hard work, and not allways as simple a 'well just do something about it then' but you will never understand it.

be lucky


and one more thing

stop guessing some of us that have make comments are very happy with our body shape if you had met me you proberbly wouldn't have made that comment