Fitness/Diet Accountability Thread

[BPPLEE]

My surgery is 12/23. They are doing a laminectomy and putting screws at L4-L5.
I will have to be careful when I start working out again

 

[timewerx]

My surgery is 12/23. They are doing a laminectomy and putting screws at L4-L5.
I will have to be careful when I start working out again

Sounds serious. Sounds like you're going to scale back on workouts even after you fully heal after surgery.

Post recovery, you may have to lose A LOT of weight including muscle mass to help alleviate load on your spine in order to resume a physically active lifestyle without risking injury to the lower back.

Currently, I'm maintaining 114 lbs of weight for 6 months now. Mostly low intensity cardio 16 hrs per week and 2x per week of weight lifting and calisthenics. Leg strength training is daily except for the highest loads that is also 2x per week. The hardest part is the diet. Keeping calories 1000 under Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR without using any low or zero calorie food or ingredients. I'm still eating normal foods but keeping the portions small. Really hard at first.

One very helpful tip on loosing weight. When you're starting to feel hungry from cutting down on calories, do some light exercise like walking around and the hunger will subside. Assuming your body can still produce normal levels of Human Growth Hormone (HGH). Physical activity releases HGH into the bloodstream and converts some of the glycogen in the liver into glucose which raises blood sugar and suppresses the hunger hormones.

 

[timewerx]

Did nearly marathon distance with skating today, >40 km. Saw a ~70 year old guy doing advanced tricks on his skates and surprised to find he only learned to skate during the pandemic. He's wearing full protective "armor" which is the wise thing to do especially at his age. Even his butt is padded in case of backward falls.

I had two cups of coffee the day before and may have contributed to the longest skating distance I did so far even though I only had 2 hrs of sleep last night due to work. I used to avoid drinking coffee due to painful withdrawal headaches if I don't drink coffee for a day. Thanks to the Holy Spirit's guidance, I don't have the problem anymore.

 

[timewerx]

Still skating for exercise, managed to find group/friends to skate with on weekends which is a major boost to exercise motivation.

I'm still exercising 11 to 14 hour per week. I was able to add running upstairs for a time but surprising to find, I did better in maximizing my power output in both skating and cycling just skating the whole week and lifting weights plus calisthenics in only two very short sessions each week.

I also moved my workouts from early morning to afternoon, past 3pm which seems to generate superior results when it comes to maximizing exercise performance and muscular strength although if you're just trying to lose weight, you'll lose more weight and lose it faster if you exercised in the morning before eating anything.

I still exercised before a meal, just moved it in the afternoon.

Nutrition-wise, I'm probably taking in more dairy (milk and cheese) and more meat from donated canned meat. Although they were processed meat, I seem to be doing better health-wise. I feel stronger and no longer feeling any fatigue during the day despite my large volume of exercise.

Medium to high carbs. Still consuming sugar (brown). Really not an issue for me probably due to high volume of exercise. I'm still borderline underweight. The only thing that's causing issue is chocolate snack bars. I ate them because I received a box of donation. I recommend to stay away from them, they're as good as poison unless you're in a life and death situation.

Tiny amount of coffee maybe a factor in my boosted performance. Tiny for me means just a pinch of coffee per cup. More will give me migraines. Coffee is like a drug and will get you addicted/dependent on it. Not more than pinch for me to avoid causing issues.

 

[FireDragon76]

I've gained a few pounds over the winter, but nothing too serious. I'm going back on an oatmeal diet for a while till I lose the weight. I've already lost about 3 lbs.

I've mostly taken the winter off from exercise to focus on other hobbies. I've been doing aim training on my PC and looking to become competitive at playing Quake Champions. I've also been playing old-school Quake III and Unreal Tournmant '99. My rank is 335/980 on Aimcademy, which is a big improvement compared to when I started training several months ago. I'm almost 50 years old, so I don't expect to be too competitive vs. younger players, but I am just doing it for fun, to see how well I can do.

Related to playing semi-competitively, I've just been doing arm exercises like wrist curls, wrist stretches, grip exercises and that sort of thing. It helps alot to prevent repetitive use injury. I also built my own mechanical keyboard with custom switches and bought a better mouse (right before the tariffs started hitting). I was looking into possibly getting a newer monitor with a higher refresh rate, but right now it's not a great time to buy small, inexpensive monitors like I'd want. Luckily, the one I have is still decent, but it could be a limiting factor as I get better.

In the past month I cancelled my gym membership to save some money, and have started working out nearly every day with calisthenics. Pushups, vertical rows, and squats are my main exercises, upper/lower on alternating days. I also use an air walker for warmup, and I workout with clubs a few times a week. I'm looking to get a kettlebell for squats, probably 8 kg. Calisthenics seems more sustainable. I don't use a watch to track exercise or anything like that, I'm just sticking to a very simple plan of linear progression. I think that will work best based on my experience.

 

[timewerx]

I've gained a few pounds over the winter, but nothing too serious. I'm going back on an oatmeal diet for a while till I lose the weight. I've already lost about 3 lbs.

I gained couple of pounds. More than you did from doing less volume of exercise and exercising in the afternoon. I'm still underweight though.

I found that exercising in the morning makes you lose more weight than exercising in the afternoon. But if you're looking to maximize your athletic performance or perhaps, see more muscular hypertrophy, it's probably better to exercise in the afternoon. It seems to follow the circadian rhythm and our muscles are stronger in the afternoon, therefore permitting more intense and/or longer workouts.

I simply find it more convenient to exercise in the afternoon and I feel stronger in the afternoon too and better motivated to exercise. Better than none at all!

 

[FireDragon76]

I gained couple of pounds. More than you did from doing less volume of exercise and exercising in the afternoon. I'm still underweight though.

I found that exercising in the morning makes you lose more weight than exercising in the afternoon. But if you're looking to maximize your athletic performance or perhaps, see more muscular hypertrophy, it's probably better to exercise in the afternoon. It seems to follow the circadian rhythm and our muscles are stronger in the afternoon, therefore permitting more intense and/or longer workouts.

I simply find it more convenient to exercise in the afternoon and I feel stronger in the afternoon too and better motivated to exercise. Better than none at all!

I'm not aiming for particularly intense workouts, just consistency.

From what I've read, the evidence that exercise is beneficial for weight loss just isn't of very good quality. And my own experience lines up with that. Weight loss has more to do with what you eat, and how often.

 

[timewerx]

I'm not aiming for particularly intense workouts, just consistency.

From what I've read, the evidence that exercise is beneficial for weight loss just isn't of very good quality. And my own experience lines up with that. Weight loss has more to do with what you eat, and how often.

The lack of evidence is from the limited scope of the experiments themselves. I experiment a lot and have learned more from experimenting than reading the work of other people published on the internet. I like reading other people's work too and also do it for cross-referencing but I also like doing work on my own.

There are physical adaptations that is fundamental to rapid, repeatable, and sustainable weight loss not possible with diet alone. Growing an extensive network of blood vessels and converting the muscle fibers to types that uses fat for fuel is only possible with exercise.

We don't get to see such level of adaptation in mainstream studies. Either the studies are not long enough or does not push the subjects hard enough which is necessary for these more substantial adaptations.

 

[RDKirk]

The lack of evidence is from the limited scope of the experiments themselves. I experiment a lot and have learned more from experimenting than reading the work of other people published on the internet. I like reading other people's work too and also do it for cross-referencing but I also like doing work on my own.

There are physical adaptations that is fundamental to rapid, repeatable, and sustainable weight loss not possible with diet alone. Growing an extensive network of blood vessels and converting the muscle fibers to types that uses fat for fuel is only possible with exercise.

We don't get to see such level of adaptation in mainstream studies. Either the studies are not long enough or does not push the subjects hard enough which is necessary for these more substantial adaptations.

It's physics.

Yes, being in very good condition shaves off a few calories. Being muscular shaves off a few calories. Being more active through the day shaves off a few calories. But we're talking small numbers here.

You can't outrun a poor diet. If a person is eating 600-700 calories every day over the maintenance amount (that could be two Starbucks coffees a day), those calories are unlikely to be outrun.

 

[timewerx]

It's physics.

Yes, being in very good condition shaves off a few calories. Being muscular shaves off a few calories. Being more active through the day shaves off a few calories. But we're talking small numbers here.

You can't outrun a poor diet. If a person is eating 600-700 calories every day over the maintenance amount (that could be two Starbucks coffees a day), those calories are unlikely to be outrun.

You still need to achieve calorie deficit whether you're exercising or not.

Certain adaptations from exercise makes it quite easier to achieve calorie deficit by suppressing the appetite or hunger.

I never would make it an option to drop exercising due to other huge benefits to health, not just to manage weight like maintaining strength and mobility to old age, better balance to avoid falls and if you do fall, being strong from exercise helps avoid serious injuries. Finally, improved immunity from cancer.

 

[timewerx]

I'm back to my late last year's weight. All I needed to do is exercise more because I literally can't increase my calorie intake resulting to bigger calorie deficit.

It's ironic that you can maintain a certain calorie deficit for a year and counting and not lose any more weight (maintain weight) nor lack energy, otherwise feel perfectly healthy, keep strong (with the right strength exercises and proper nutrition). The body gets more energy efficient. Everyone on the other hand wants their bodies to be energy inefficient so they can indulge in food. It bothers me because it does not align with Christ's teachings.

 

[Tempura]

Lost almost 30kg with the good old "clear calorie deficit plus assumed keto (which is hard to know for certain without blood tests although my carb intake was close to nothing at times so I'm going with the assumption)" approach.

At the beginning of this my daily calorie deficit was just around 300kcal and I also had one cheat day per week. After about 2 months I dropped the deficit to at least 500kcal, dropped almost all of the carbs, dropped the cheat days altogether and added some light cardio here and there. That's when the weight really started to come off. All of this took about 8 months, but I could have done it in 6 if I just didn't wuss out in the beginning.

Now that my weight is where I want it, I'm still doing a bit of cardio here and there, jogging and walking, but I've added some weight/strength training. Trying to be consistent, as consistency is really important. The goal is 3-4 sessions per week, and to go to failure or near failure on the few sets I'll be doing.

I hate going to gym so I'm doing what I can at home. I have some bar- and dumbbells, pull-up bar, a bunch of bands, kettlebells, gym rings and such. You can do a lot with that alone, and body weight/calisthenics exercises are not to be underestimated either.

It's pretty humbling as I used to be in a somewhat good shape as a teen, and now I need serious help with crap that I used to warm up with. But oh man the joy I felt the other day when I could do two (2) measly ring dips, in poor form, while also being assisted by a band. If any of you had seen it, it would have been the worst, most clumsy and pathetic thing you'd ever witnessed. You would have cried for me, and I suspect people have been mercy-killed for less. But I got two of those suckers. Which means number 3 is already, God willing, waiting for its turn and the shameful form that will be its conqueror and demise.

Let's keep on going.

 

[RDKirk]

You still need to achieve calorie deficit whether you're exercising or not.

Certain adaptations from exercise makes it quite easier to achieve calorie deficit by suppressing the appetite or hunger.

I never would make it an option to drop exercising due to other huge benefits to health, not just to manage weight like maintaining strength and mobility to old age, better balance to avoid falls and if you do fall, being strong from exercise helps avoid serious injuries. Finally, improved immunity from cancer.

I said: "You can't outrun a poor diet. If a person is eating 600-700 calories every day over the maintenance amount (that could be two Starbucks coffees a day), those calories are unlikely to be outrun."

Where in that sentence is any suggestion that someone should drop exercising?

People are not overweight because they need the calories (that is, true hunger)...practicing fasting periodically will control that.

 

[timewerx]

I said: "You can't outrun a poor diet. If a person is eating 600-700 calories every day over the maintenance amount (that could be two Starbucks coffees a day), those calories are unlikely to be outrun."

Where in that sentence is any suggestion that someone should drop exercising?

People are not overweight because they need the calories (that is, true hunger)...practicing fasting periodically will control that.

You also said in the same post "Being more active through the day shaves off a few calories. But we're talking small numbers here."

I burn 700 to 1000 calories in exercise alone and I exercise 7 days/week. That's no small number.

It gave me the idea you're underestimating the role or importance of exercise in weight loss if you're only losing "few calories" from exercise. And when you also said "those calories are unlikely to be outrun" which can be not enough commitment to try to burn more calories from exercise.

Burning 700 calories in exercise each day is not so hard with a little bit of creativity AND if you took on the habit before the body/health became significantly impaired.

 

[RDKirk]

You also said in the same post "Being more active through the day shaves off a few calories. But we're talking small numbers here."

I burn 700 to 1000 calories in exercise alone and I exercise 7 days/week. That's no small number.

It gave me the idea you're underestimating the role or importance of exercise in weight loss if you're only losing "few calories" from exercise. And when you also said "those calories are unlikely to be outrun" which can be not enough commitment to try to burn more calories from exercise.

Burning 700 calories in exercise each day is not so hard with a little bit of creativity AND if you took on the habit before the body/health became significantly impaired.

We're talking average people here. When I was an active road cyclist, I cycled 250 miles a week, including 75 to 100 miles every Saturday morning...four to five hours of continuous cycling. That's not "average," and that's just a personal anecdote, not data.

You are not fully comprehending the level of overeating the average American is doing.

When we talk about averages in the US, the average American easily consumes 1000 calories in snacks every day on top of meals and over maintenance for their desirable body weight. That's a bakery treat and a sugared coffee drink from Starbucks on the way to work, a donut and another Starbucks at morning break, another bakery treat and couple of sodas at afternoon break. People may inhale two or three Krispy Creme donuts at a sitting (400 calories each) or a cream cheese bagel at 500 calories.

That means even your level of daily exercise would barely burn off their daily snacks, much less the calorie-dense overeating they're doing in fast food meals. And I have news for you: Burning an extra 700 calories a day to overcome the overeating is never, ever, ever going to be the norm in the US, barring some kind of dystopian catastrophe.

In the US, diet must be the first factor dealt with.

 

[Tempura]

I like the back and forth in this thread. All parties involved. I might even learn something. When it comes to weight loss I'm a calorie counter with a "diet first" stance, but it's at least interesting to see some other people going all David Goggins and burning 57445kcal/day exercising just because. Respect.

Getting ready for a jog. If you can call it one, 2m jog/2m walk intervals. Not like I'm sleeping so might as well get some morning air and cardio. Shoulder/back exercise later today if I just do it instead of pointlessly waiting around for some feelings of motivation.

 

[timewerx]

but it's at least interesting to see some other people going all David Goggins and burning 57445kcal/day

Are you sure about that 57,445 kcal/day?? In order for me to burn 57,445 kcal, I'll have to ride my bicycle or skate 1,305 miles on the mountains with total elevation gain of 95,000 ft or climbing the height of Mt. Everest three times!!

Even if I could miraculously skate 1,305 miles with total elevation gain of 95,000 ft within a day, I have to replenish those burned calories as well and if I'm going to eat 100% meat, I have to eat 40 kg (88 lbs) of pure meat or 6.4 kg of animal fat or 7 kg of meat with 5.3 kg of animal fat to cover those burned calories!!

I haven't heard of any world-class athlete that can pull those numbers not even when using performance-enhancing drugs!

I only skated 100 miles last week or around 15 miles with 300 ft of climb each day. I feel totally fine. It was very hot on the road with temperatures reaching 120 F, yet I'm ok. I can't imagine skating 1,305 miles with 95,000 ft of climb in just one day!

 

[Tempura]

Are you sure about that 57,445 kcal/day?

Well I might have exaggerated a little, give or take 5k

Managed to do some shoulders, biceps and forearms. Low volume, near or until failure. Tomorrow will be rest unless I'm very energetic.

 

[timewerx]

Well I might have exaggerated a little, give or take 5k

5k kcal per day is still insane. I have to burn 3,600 kcal in exercise to do it on top of my 1,400 calories in BMR (Basal Metabolic Rate). For me, that's cycling at moderate intensity for at least 4 hours and I've done these long workout sessions many times in the past.

It's about the same calories world-class endurance athletes burn in a day of training.

I doubt there are many who have the luxury of having spare time to exercise 4 hours each day, sleep for at least 10 hours to recover from such long cardio session, eat at least 4k kcal of quality nutrition food each day, and young enough to do it. Only retired people who are young enough with high income or professional athletes who gets paid for doing these can pull this off.

It's simply not sustainable for many reasons and even if you can afford it, it puts you at huge risk of losing bone integrity and/or acquiring heart health issues. The muscles also consume calcium to produce work. Not an issue for shorter cardio sessions nor longer sessions that are only done on weekly, not daily basis. But for very long cardio sessions, your bone and heart calcium can become seriously depleted.

This is why I have stopped doing long cardio sessions (unless they're very low intensity). I still burn 700 to 900 calories in exercise each day and together with calorie-restriction, I have maintained my weight at around 115 lbs.

 

[Tempura]

5k kcal per day is still insane.

Brother, I was joking. But if you are too, you are way more committed than I am, so you win!