We’re gonna try some participation from the peanut gallery for this one. I’m bringing an idea over from another online community. The idea is fairly simple. You sign up for one or more self-created fitness related goals in this thread. Then, starting February 1st and extending through April 15th, you do your best to meet your fitness goals. Each Friday, in the weekly GlibFit thread, we talk about how the week went, whether we met our goals, and whether we’re seeing progress.
There’s nothing beyond that. The point is some moral support and some third-party accountability in a digestible 10-week time segment. Your goal can be anything health and fitness related. It can be dietary, exercise related, or whatever else you want. From experience, having something quantifiable is more motivating than having some vague, subjective goal.
Here’s my goal:
- 4 days per week of physical activity
- 5 days per week of low-carb diet
If you’re a My Fitness Pal user, join our group here.
Comments
220 responses to “Spring 2018 Glib Fitness Challenge Signup”
I’ve already been meeting my goals. Since I started regularly working out in July, I’ve lost some weight (don’t have an exact number as I haven’t checked what my actual weight is in some time, I just know that others have said they can clearly see I’ve lost some weight), reduced my eating (although that kinda started going to shit around Thanksgiving, so I’ll need to get back on track with that now), and have started getting some muscle definition. Now I’m just hoping to lose some more belly fat and gain some more muscle.
It doesn’t seem that people will notice you lost weight unless it’s a lot. I had lost over 10 kilos before even one person said something about it. Except for my wife of course. And 10 kilos is quite a bit for some who’s only 5’8″.
5lbs down.
There. Hold me to it.
Fitness goal: split more firewood. Spend more time hiking in the woods. I will probably also spend more time with my feet up drinking vodka.
Does that count?
Does that count?
It’s all about you brotha! If you want some moral support and accountability for those things, we’re here for ya!
If you’re not going to cut down on alcohol, yes, vodka counts. It’s a health food.
“I vow to only drink alcohol made from fruits or grains or tubers!”
i though the libertarian creed was Clear alcohols are for rich women on diets
Grain alcohol and rainwater only.
Jack Ripper is crying at your failure, somewhere.
I’ll play. I’m really good at each component – lifting, cardio, diet, mental – individually, but I don’t always put them together.
In that time frame, I will have lost another 11 kilos minimum. Starting today, that is. Is that cheating? I’ve already lost 14 kilos (sorry the reason I use kilos is because my wife has our scales set on kilos and I’m too lazy to keep changing it back), since the 3rd week of September. If that’s cheating, I would actually have to predict where I will be at on Feb 1, or wait until then to set the goal. But I will be at my goal on April 15, which is 11 kilos less than today. Man I was one fat fuck, stop making fun of me!
Is that cheating?
Not at all. This is all about keeping up the momentum during the timeframe, no matter what you do before or after.
Alt plan: By April 15 I will once again be able to fat shame people without being a hypocrite?
Count me in.
5,000 steps per day on the FitBit
induction-level Atkins
How is the FitBit for accuracy? I’m thinking about getting one. I have my steps goal at 6000, but it’s rare that I even make 4000. And right now, it’s cold as hell outside and I don’t want to walk. Anyway, the question about the FitBit is because I’m using just an app on my cell phone. But I’ve noted it has accuracy issues. For instance, you don’t really need a step for it to count one. If you just turn the phone upside down and back up in your hand, it will count a step. Also one day I noted I had 34 steps while driving home from work, lol.
I’ve done Atkins a few times. It is most definitely effective in losing weight fast. But I don’t think it’s possible to stay on long term, it’s too low in carbs. What I’ve been doing, but it’s a permanent change is eating mostly high nutrition salad with greens, tomatoes, etc, and a little meat. I also eat some meat and veggies, and a little fruit, nuts, seeds, etc. It’s probably closer to paleo than anything and it’s definitely low carb, just not as low as Atkins.
Re Fitbit: I’m not sure about how accurate it is in counting steps, but even if it’s in the ballpark, I’m happy. What I really like about it is it doesn’t nag you about what you DIDN’T get done. It tells you what you DID get done, which feels rewarding, which makes me want to walk more. If you are wearing it all day, it counts every step you take *cue Stalker Song* and gives you credit for it. So, say I’m doing household chores. It counts steps I wouldn’t normally consider as having been activity. What I do regularly (which my kids hate) is when I go to the store, I park in outer darkness. It’s a painless way to get your steps in.
Re low-carb: I did it for 2 years, consistently below 20g carbs per day, but that was when I was single and not pregnant. I always say Dr. Atkins saved my life (mental health, IFYKWIM), and it cured quite a few physical things I had going on as well as taking the edge off my depression. But then I got pregnant and it all went to hell. I’m a carb/sugar junkie (considering going to OA, actually) and it’s only getting worse as I get older AND the shitty way I’ve been eating is making my body hurt and my brain go haywire. So at this point, it’s not an option if I want to feel good and take the edge off my depression. Yeah, I need to lose quite a bit of weight, but there are so many other things I need to get under control that only low-carb and Atkins can do. FWIW, I kept myself <20g per day for 2 years because anything more than that triggered cravings. YMMV.
I don’t know about fitbit but I bought the cheapest Garmin (forwrunner 15 I think) and it is very accurate both in steps and distance, checked against the mile markers on the local bike trail it was within .01 mile. It will count ‘steps’ that aren’t but it’s not bad it might give me a couple steps on my 22 mile commute but not a lot, at work it adds a lot cause i’m constantly moving eight hours of work and I’ll easily have 10,000 steps.
I use Map My Fitness app for Android (free with more features if you upgrade to paid). It’s reasonably accurate for measuring bike rides. I like that it does cumulative measurements and lets you friend others so you can see their workouts and cheer them on. It theoretically lets you import other peoples’ workouts which is good if you forget to turn the damn thing on before you ride, but I think that’s a premium feature.
I have a fitbit but have never used it – the main advantage of that is that it measures your cardio and interfaces with apps like MMF.
I find that my Fitbit gets pretty good accuracy for steps. If I go for a three mile walk I get close to 6,000 steps every time and they say a mile is roughly 2,000 steps so that’s about what I’d expect. Calories burned always seems to over estimate the amount of calories I burned, but it’s consistent in its over estimate so I can at least track how much activity I had from day to day.
Count me in. Down 10 lbs.
That’s 10 lb from whatever my weight is on the 1st.
April 15 goal: Drop 2 dress sizes. (In women’s clothing, that means 4 numbers because they go by 2s once you’re over 10).
Weekly: WIll track loss in pounds.
Not easy when I am on steroids, but needs to happen. Hubs and I weighed today for a baseline.
My goal is to drop 5% of my body fat, but stay the same weight.
That means benching and squatting often, neither of which I’ve done in over a decade.
Yeah, it’s been a long time for me since I’ve done weights, more than a decade also. I’m going to meet my weight goal first and then like you, I’m going to try to tone up and stay at about the same weight.
WARTY SEZ “SQUAT MOAR”!
STEVE SMITH PUMP YOU UP!
So, other than beer, I’m already on a pretty low carb diet, and it’s by preference. I love beef, chicken, pork, sashimi, vegetables, and salad.
I went out to ramen with a couple of other glibs last week, and they thought that it was weird that I ate the pork belly and drank the broth, but left the noodles behind. I don’t dislike noodles; I just don’t get the point of eating boiled flour.
The bottom line is: if I’m going to be successful, I’m going to have to cut way back on beer. And that’s where I’m going to need the moral support.
I’ll have to cut back on the booze too. That will be tough.
Switching TO booze will help.
Here’s some back of the napkin math:
I had 6 Sculpins last night (New Years…. I know). 240 calories each. 1440 beer calories total. That’s more calories than half of a large pepperoni pizza.
Gin and tonic? 73 calories. I really wish I liked the taste of stiff drinks.
i don’t think booze calories are the same as food calories through. Even for most foods it is tough to know what calories you actually absorb
It is my understanding booze calories are the same as sugar calories as that is what your body turns them into. It is just a good thing booze is low cal.
as sugar calories as that is what your body turns them into. – this sounds iffy to me. I know the alcohol is processed in the liver not turned to sugar
Who knows. I should have said I am not a Dr. I read it in one of the many paleo/low carb things I have read over the years. Maybe it is more your body treats them like sugars?
Here are a couple nice cocktail I have been enjoying lately when I don’t feel like beer.
Hemingway
1 healthy dose rum
1/2 squeezed grapefruit
1 squeezed lime
1 teaspoon Luxardo
Shaken over ice and served up, add a garnish if you can be bothered
La Paloma
1 healthy dose tequila
1 squeezed lime
3 oz grapefruit soda (or healthier grapefruit juice and some soda water)
1 good pinch salt.
Mix and serve over ice
Thanks. I think I could learn to love tequila.
Same. I already eat very LC, but the beer kills it.
Body fat reduction and beer don’t go together, unfortunately. Are you cutting it completely? X number a week? Drinking days?
I’m a teetotaler, but I always think of beer as liquid bread.
Probably worse as it goes to the front of the line.
Welcome to the madhouse, btw. Glad to have you here!
Thank you! Nice to be here!
Yeah, the front of the line. If I have beer with dinner, whatever I ate probably doesn’t get digested until midnight.
Why are you glad that Tulpa is here?
We are all Tulpa
Is Tulpa required to have health and weight goals and weekly reports for each of his sock-puppets?
If you think keeping the nonsense straight was hard before…………..
*HEAD EXPLODES*
Tulpa is all, Tulpa is none.
More cardio is something I agree with;
if I do that, I’ll lose some weight maybe, but it’s not really important;
there is zero chance I’ll run: I love my knees.
I will log calories since the new wife’s cooking makes it so very hard to behave.
I’m 6-2, 220#, a 44long…very little to apologize for, but I could be leaner and meaner,
and I always want to be strong and steady enough to outshoot all the local pistolero loudmouths.
So I’ll try to
a) stick to 2600 calories a day
b) peddle some (I’ve finished the HH100 five times….but not recently)
c) do my golf stretches every day with occasional calisthenics
d) walk 18 holes carrying my clubs 40 times this year (typical)
and I might accidentally lose a pound every other week or so.
All I actually care about is reducing my handicap (I’m a 16 and continuously improving),
but that’s as much an intellectual effort as anything.
That’s it…it’s more zen than math.
Size 2 jeans and the ability to lift semi-heavy objects.
Good goals.
Is your husband OK? I am worried that Michigan’s meltdown has sent him into a terminal orgasm.
He called the Viagra emergency hotline and they told him that it’s only for Viagra users.
I’ve already lost some 10 pounds – and going down – by cutting out a lot of the beer/booze, and going more strict on the low carb diet. – reducing meat to 5-6oz a day, increasing vegetables. I’m at my 20-something weight now, so not bad for an mid-40s geezer.
ugh – wife had herself logged in
*zips up*
You got some folks’ hopes up.
Not just hopes.
Ok, me for real this time. I don’t know if I am down 10 lbs (like LH is), but the diet change is mutual and has made an affect on me.
goals; I’ll do a race or something in March or April.
STEVE SMITH GET ANYONE IN SHAPE
A terrible, horrible, bent and twisted shape…but, yes, a shape.
My 2018 goal is to get back into the shape I was in before law school. I put on 80 pounds in school and have lost 10 of the 80. If I lose the rest, I’ll be in good enough shape to do distance running again (not my favorite thing to do, but my wife loves to run with me). Another 20 lbs from there would put me at 6’1″ 205, which is peak tennis shape for me.
Anyway, for this first challenge, I’m starting small. 4 days of physical activity per week. 5 days per week where the only carbs I eat are the slice of toast I have for breakfast.
Another strategy is to eats your carbs immediately after working out. It seems that you just have to play with things to see what works with your bod.
Good luck and thanks for the kick in the ass. I’m starting early, as I have to tear down at the end of March. Don’t want to get dragged into the ocean…
Tear down?
Take off most of my clothes on a beach.
Tundra as a speedo wearer confirmed!
It’s always the midwesterners that go for the banana hammock.
Yep. Me too. March 31st deadline.
I’ll join. I’m going to set a biking goal. X miles every morning before work. I jut need to figure out what a realistic number will be. Or maybe X minutes would be better? I could track improvement by my mileage increase in that set amount of time.
Weight loss is my primary motivating factor, so I suppose I should set a weight loss goal as well. Is 10 pounds with no change in diet reasonable? Ultimately, my goal is ~180lbs. Currently I’m 220. (6’0″)
Increased exercise will absolutely help, but as a wise man once told me: you can’t outrun (or outride) your fork 😉
Diet is the easiest way to lose weight. Cut out some of the starch and sugar and you will drop 10 as if by magic.
I know. I’m trying to take the “easy” way out. Although, I have cut down on my sugar intake a fair amount by cutting way back on the amount of Coke I drink. Starch is tough…I love pizza. A lot. But, If I can replace a few meals with salads and cut back on my beer drinking, I bet I’ll see some decent gains…er, losses.
Grilled chicken breast and shredded mozzarella on the salad. It feels like a real meal.
This is great advice. I have a salad with a lot of meat every day. It helps the hunger thing.
Also plenty of fats.
Dark meat tastes better.
So much better that I wouldn’t waste it on a salad.
Light the Vhyrus signal!
Thanks for the tip. That sounds pretty good.
Starch is tough…I love pizza. A lot.
This is why I have low-carb for only 5 days a week. Saturdays are our homemade pizza and beer nights.
That’s one of my biggest stumbling blocks; restraint. Maybe I’ll need to make 1 pizza/week a goal, too!
I buy bags and bags of frozen stir fry veges and add them to whatever meat I want. Sauce it up however I am feeling and easy dinner/lunch. Zero starch super low carb and tasty. I make a big pan and I get two meals out of it.
Good way to change things up when you’re tired of lettuce. I’ll add this to my weight loss diet plan. thanks!
Ya, I throw away way more lettuce than I eat. Although I have been known to make some mean carne asada lettuce tacos. Romain is best for tacos imho.
I don’t really get tired of greens at all. I eat it twice daily, typically with the little different colored tomatoes, bell peppers, sometimes red cabbage or other leafy stuff, some seeds, or nuts, some cheese, and a little meat like hamn, tuna, beef, chicken, whatever. I don’t do iceberg lettuce though unless it’s to use as a wrap for something, like a cheeseberger. I try to vary up my salad greens with baby romaine, spinach, arugula, butter head lettuce, water cress, etc, all organic. And I hate kale and won’t eat it except for the baby. Adult kale is hideous. I don’t buy anything else organic much, but the greens, I like the pre-washed stuff and neither like having to wash leafy greens or worry about it having chemical residues. I make interesting salads though, so I don’t get bored.
I eat almost nothing but iceberg. I really need to change that.
Yeah, for one thing it’s bland and boring. The other things is almost zero nutritional value, it’s nearly all water.
I can lose on low-carb easily, but slowly. Exercise is what kicks it into overdrive.
Start with a short workout and work your way up. Will you be varying your route? Things like hills make a difference. Try to cut down on the carbs. At some point your weight will get stuck as you build muscle and lose fat – for me waist size is more important than weight. See my comment below and hmu if you need more info.
Nothing but vegetables and meat/protein 4 days a week. (Hat’s off to those who can go full on carb free all the time, but that aint me)
Only two beers a night on school nights. (and maybe a tequila, lime and soda after)
My job has me doing 7-8000 painful steps a day, but I need to ride my bike because I don’t think it will hurt as much. Running will never happen again.
Start lifting again 3 days a week.
I don’t think it’s possible to stay on very low carb diet for very long. And you definitely don’t need to for maintaining a healthy weight, you just need to keep your carbs way down compared to most Americans, not drop it extreme levels.
Official song for the effort?
It’s not that Richard Simmons song is it?
I ended up reading that Paleo Manifesto book several years ago. Say what you will about paleo freaks, but it exposed me to just how effective strategic fasting is, and how it’s no big deal to be “hungry.” After the hunger pangs stick around for a while, they just go away. This may be nearly useless advice for people that get vicious hangry.
I’m gonna cut away 10lb of newly accumulated holiday fat this month by fasting every other day, keeping my diet protein rich/carb low, and doing a hell of a lot of downhill skiing. My wife is hellbent on becoming a proficient skier this year, and as a result, we already own all our own gear.
Note: fasting means that I skip breakfast and lunch, eat whatever I want for dinner.
I had 2 eggs for breakfast. That’s it so far today. I can’t do no food at all.
It’s a lot easier to skip meals when I’m traveling. I’m 30 feet away from the kitchen right now, and I’m going to end up grazing for snacks very soon.
Same goes for working days where you have a lot of urgent shit to take care of, at least in my experience.
This is sort of weird I guess, but if I eat eggs outside of boiled, I get severe heartburn. I like eggs for breakfast, but only do boiled now because of the heartburn. I have no clue what is up with that.
I have read Paleo Manifesto. Good book. I was pretty serious about it for awhile, but I was a paleocholic (mentioned in the book), being a paleo who drinks because fuck not drinking. I know people who do the periodic fasting. I don’t care about myself enough to go that route though and I really like food.
Have fun skiing. Great workout there.
Arguably the most useful thing from that book I learned was those studies about strategic fasting as a means to prevent jetlag.
I fasted for exactly 24 hours before the takeoff times of each of the last 6 trans-Pacific flights I’ve been on, and have had ZERO jetlag. It works.
Do you eat on the plane?
Yup, I eat the entirety of every meal they serve me, but decline the cup noodles and other starch snack offerings.
To expound, the theory here is that you are manipulating your circadian clock by doing a hard reset of your feeding signal. May be bunk theory, but in practice the outcome for me has been night and day.
What evs….Trans pacific flights are so long I could get drunk three times. It took me two days to recover, but worth it.
(picks up gauntlet)
now i just need a 1st class ticket to Sydney
Paleo is pretty much what I’ve been doing for the last 3+ months. It’s very effective. I also focus on getting enough fat, whether it’s animal fat or avocado or olive oil, whatever, I always include it.
I’m going to restart heavy lifting to improve my strength back to previous levels. I haven’t lifted in several years and I’m worried that I’m loosing muscle mass. I’ve been doing push ups and dumbbells for a few years inconsistently so I want to make working out a habit again.
I’ll play.
My goal is to drop 10# during that period. My strategy is to cut back on the pastries and double down on the forearm exercises inspired by the daily archive links.
Ah, the famous Jergens diet.
(eats bowl of chili, drinks beer, looks at glib comments, yawns, watches football)
fuck are you talking about ‘exercise’? save that shit for like… later in the week
Oh, I’m not starting this week. There are wings and ranch to be eaten.
I envision you in a cape, chest out, defiant… and declamatory brass music in the background
wings and ranch – sounds not that appetizing
Ranch dressing is revolting, but Americans …. indulge. Think of it as like a Murkins’ Rom bar craving.
Fine… Bleu Cheese.
Bleu Cheese is superior. I’d probably eat Gorgonzola cheese dressing with hot wings if it was available.
BACK TO THE SHADOWS, DEMON!!!
I’ll just do wings and cayenne pepper sauce, that’s very low carb, like in none.
I’m a fat ass. So I promised myself and the wife that I’m gonna cut out a bunch of carbs, eat a lot of protein and greens (which I do anyway). And start walking for half an hour a day.
I just want to not be out of breath when I tie my shoes
Don’t forget the fat, bro. Low fat is one of the biggest frauds ever. I’d put it right up there with man made warming hysteria.
^^^ This. Pick up a jar of “low fat” mayo or dressing or whatever, and compare the carbs. They add a bunch of sugar and starch to the “low fat” version to make up for the lack of fat, which isn’t what makes you fat to begin with.
The really sad thing is that there are actually large medical institutions in the USA that still push that bullshit. Your body needs fat for optimal health and for a very long period of human development out diet was quite high in fat. It’s only when people were able to consume large amounts of carbohydrates (plus be sedentary most of the day) that people started to get obesity related diseases. Every time I see something that says ‘low fat’ or ‘lite’, it pisses me off.
I agree completely. My husband lost several pounds last year and got his A1C down to 5 so he could quit his diabetes 2 meds, and his doc congratualated him and asked how he did it. He explained it was cutting carbs, walking, etc. The doc said, “And cutting out fat and red meat, right?” and the hubs said quite the contrary. They had a bit of a debate about it.
Who cares what the doc says? Low carb is saving him from diabetes. Problem will be if we get socialized medicine where they ration your share of fat or some such thing.
I made the mistake of changing my meal preference on Delta to “diabetic meals” hoping for low carb. To my dismay, it’s is all low fat, high carb. Like way worse high carb than a random meal. And I can’t get Delta to erase that preference.
I had sort of an issue convincing my wife of this. When we were first together she had a doctor trying to convince her of low fat. I told her, no, you need fat, carbs are the issue. I think what finally convinced her is that her son lost a lot of weight and got all his health issue under control. How did he do it? Low carb, with sufficient levels of fat and protein. I also started sending her a lot of research on the topic and she finally turned into a low fat heretic, like me. I have known this for at least 30 years, but people can be quite bull headed when ‘experts’ are telling them things. Medical doctors are not trained at all in nutrition and nutritional supplements. You many as well take the advice of a bread baker on quantum physics.
Thanks you guys!!
i’m not about to sign up for chalanges but my goal is to reduce alcohol consumption and with it some of the food I eat (booze makes one hungry) in order to drop a few kilos. have no problem sticking to a decent diet if I control the booze. I don’t eat sweets or simple carbs in general. I already work out 3-4 days a week and have done so for a few years and i walk 5 kilometers a day going/coming from work.
I was on track with my goal before I got depressed and started drinking a lot. I am 182 cm so about 6′ tall and in May I weighed 80 kg and wanted to drop to 75. Now I weigh 85. My ideal would be 75 still but seems a bit out of reach, but first goal would be to drop to 80 again while adding some muscle mass. No idea how long that would take. My record was dropping 16 kilograms in 3 months, but that is opt of reach and anyway unnecessary (69 kg is not a good weight for 182 cm males). I think I am like 22 24% body fat right now, ideally I would get that under 15%
the good part is that I am done with Christmas food and hopefully get back on track with other stuff
righ now I have a gym that is 3 minutes walk from my house which makes it easier to keep up. I used to go to a gym that was a 20-25 min drive a while back and it was harder to motivate myself sometimes. Although for most people 25 minute drive is not so much for me it meant a lost 45 minutes. Also when it snowed I could not go because I would loose my cleared parking spot and would not like to dig one out just returning from the gym.
oh well as bed is important for fitness I am hitting the sack
This is my next challange, to cut way down on the alcohol. That’s starts tomorrow. I’m going to drink a little this evening so that I don’t go into withdrawal and die, lol. JK, but I won’t be able to sleep if I don’t have a few. But tomorrow I go to 3 drinks or less and then cut it to zero for several days of the week and only a few on weekends.
Vodka and zero calorie seltzer or club soda. Club soda is better tasting and has some electrolytes.
I like vodka a lot, so that’s an easy option for me.
Lost a lot of weight the last two years. Not really sure how. I mostly attribute it to having a job where I have to leave the house and finally being able to walk without a limp. I did start lifting again last spring, but then a series of injuries put a stop to that by midsummer. Now finally starting to get back to where I can start again. But that all being said, I’m not much a joiner, so I’ll just be a spectator in your efforts, have fun!
OT: Way to shit the bed Michigan. Good job Harbaugh and team… Sarc.
didn’t commit to it yet but i test used something called cronometer.com to track food mostly because it also track micro-nutrients and am interested in that. until now it seems i don’t get enough potassium. Besides food I generally suppliment fish oil for omegq 3, some multi vitamin/multi-mineral tabs – not to expensive ones cause they may be mostly pointless and some curcumin tablets. I was thinking of some creatine for the gym… as far as macros go I have mostly 120+ grams of protein a day as a target and as few calories as possible, with low sugar
I checked it out quick and it looks pretty good. Although, they don’t seem to eager to tell you how much the full version is. Have you seen a price yet?
no, i did not pay yet. But it works for now and I did not feel the need for more.
I use the paid version of Cronometer. It’s about $35/year. Been using it for years. Huge fan.
I need to track micronutrients and have to set some fairly strict minimums and maximums on some of them. Cronometer is the best app I’ve found for that.
Gun Jesus speaketh
Did you Gilmore the thread?
as i said above, i find this whole topic entirely inappropriate for “new years day”
That looks like Wild Bill Hickhock.
My goals:
1. Pass the test for Athlean X module 2
2. M-F up at 4:30 to work out
3. Workout 5 days per week
4. Lose 6 pounds
For the glibs who do Starting Strength (or something similar), anyone run into knee discomfort? For about the past six months, I’m having issues in the lower part of both of my knees. Although it rarely affects me to the point that I can’t do the workout (basketball, squatting, dancing, my attempt at boxing), it’s gotten to the point where I can feel a dull pain from the moment I wake up. I went to a physical therapist — his hypothesis was that the combination of my hips, legs, knees and ankles aren’t functioning properly. He gave me a bunch of hip-strengthening exercises. Unfortunately after doing those for several weeks, I didn’t really notice much of a difference, and at $75 per session, I’m not keen on continuing to go. I can’t exactly refute him, but I’m uncomfortable with the fact that his prognosis and treatment seem to be non-falsifiable — if my knees don’t feel better, he can say that (a) I’m not doing the exercises enough, or (b) I’m not doing the correct ones.
In any case, the reason I initially brought up Starting Strength is because even after implementing Rippetoe’s technique for more than a year, I’m still a bit unsure about my squat form. The timeline doesn’t exactly match as far as when my knee issues began, but I’m open to any explanations or thoughts on how other folks manage.
My opinion? Get someone who knows to watch your form. It’s really difficult to self-diagnose bad form.
I don’t necessarily disagree that the real culprit may be another body part, but squat is a pretty complete exercise. How do you warm up? I do a lot of hip mobility stuff before I squat as well as a bunch of foam rolling. Hit your IT bands consistently. It seems to help.
Make sure your squat is deep enough. Shallow squats are brutal.
Thanks Tundra. I’ve seen a Starting Strength coach a couple times, but due to proximity — the closest coach is in Chicago, and I’m near Milwaukee — I can’t get there with any regularity.
My warm-up consists of squatting with just the bar — I do a couple sets and really try and make sure I’m (a) getting low and (b) not falling forward onto my toes, which is something I’ve struggled with. I work my way up in 50 lb increments until I’m up to my usual 4×5 routine (which isn’t at a particularly heavy weight for someone of my weight, to be honest).
How old are you, ttyrant?
Video your squats and send them to him/her. When I first started SS, it was my ankle mobility that fucked me up. It was quite some time before it felt even remotely natural. Slipping a couple 5lb weights under my heels helped a lot. Weightlifting shoes help, too.
Bodyweight squats before you start can get the old joints moving. Increasing your mobility is crazy important.
Keep thinking about the bar going straight up and down, right over your midfoot. Falling forward might mean your mobility isn’t where it needs to be. Keep working on that. Scenery at yoga isn’t bad – just sayin’.
Just keep plowing forward. It gets better!
I’m 29 — 30 is looming large in the summer.
I’ve been most comfortable with the “bar straight up and down” cue. It’s easy for me to get in caught in the weeds as far as what I’m doing with my hips, knees, back, chest, but at the end of the day it shouldn’t be that complicated — keep the weight over the spot that’s most capable of getting it back to a neutral position. I’ve been using weightlifting shoes for the past couple months, too — they seem to help keep me off my toes.
As far as yoga, I was doing the P90X version about once a week, but I gave it up about a year ago. I don’t know enough to say whether my discontinuing yoga is a contributing factor to my current knee issues — it seems to me that determining cause and effect with something like this is rather tricky. Maybe it’s worthwhile to reincorporate it, though– as you mention, there are certain “other” benefits that might make it worth my while, even if it doesn’t fix my knees.
AMERICA
This is already paying off. I just went downstairs to make a salad. I was crushing up some tortilla chips as a topping, looked at the label, and…. wtf?
140 calories for 6 chips. 16 servings (approx) per container, for a total of 2240 calories in a bag of chips.
I’m thinking back to all of the times I’ve eaten a whole bag of chips, with salsa, and still been hungry afterwards.
I guess I’m done with that too.
Umm, yeah, it’s corn. Those things are very high carbs. Which sort of makes me sad because I make a fresh salsa which is great and now I just don’t make it too much because of all the chips I’d have to consume with it. I just put seeds and cheese as topping for salad, and a little meat of some type.
Put your mean salsa on MEAT.
I don’t like it on meat. Wife also once used it to make an omelet. I hated it. I was thinking of an alternative to the chips, but have not came up with anything yet.
chicharrones?
It sounds weird, I mean we do eat cracklins, is that the same thing? Hmm, may give it a try.
Let me know how it goes
Salsa on eggs is amazing. Keep trying it until you like it.
Huevos Rancheros. God’s own brekkie. Had some killer ones a few years back in Alamogordo, NM. Couldn’t stop sweating, and didn’t care.
Check out my 2nd low carb tip below. It’s more a flour tortilla, but it makes good chips for dipping salsa and/or queso.
There are just certain things i can’t live without.
I have even spread out a thin layer of alfredo sauce on one of those low carb tortillas, sprinkled mozzarella and pepperoni on it, baked in the oven, and a had nice guilt free “pizza”. Low carb tortillas are a staple in our household.
Do you know of any hard low carb chips? I’ve never liked soft tortillas. The salsa is probably the only thing I really miss since my diet change. I mean I could put it on a chunk of iceberg lettuce, but doubt it would work very well. I wrap cheeseburgers in it and that’s works great fortunately, since I love cheeseburgers and don’t eat bread.
No, i haven’t seen any pre crisped. So I stack a few up, cut them with a knife or pizza cutter, and then put them on a Pam’d skillet and stir them around on medium/medium high until they are crisp and yummy.
I did that at a family gathering for me and my hubby to eat while the others ate regular, and to my annoyance, everybody wanted the nice hot fresh crisp low carb ones.
Ahh, I see. I missed that part. I’ll have to give that a try, thanks.
Good luck to everyone! By April 15, I will be about six weeks into running season – so, pretty close to 5K racing form, and in the early stages of prep for the spring half-marathon. There won’t be any race results quite yet, but I can and will inflict the tedious details of my training program on my fellow Glibs.
My wife made me promise to run a 5k with her this spring. I used to run a 5k every single day, so it’s a bit of a hit to the pride to see how far I have to go just to prep for something that used to be the first half of my daily lunch break.
What’s your target?
Haven’t decided yet. My wife probably has a race picked out. My goal will be to train hard enough to come in around 30 min. I used to run them in the 18-20 minute range, so I’d be embarrassed to go any slower than 30.
As much as running isn’t my thing, I’ll probably set a second goal of running a half in the fall to keep me motivated. What half are you planning on doing? My wife has run ~50 half marathons across the country, so I’ve probably at least heard of whichever one you’re doing.
I’m doing the Chicago Spring Half – did it last year as my “maiden” at that distance, so to speak. And then probably the half option at the Seattle Marathon in the fall (planning on doing the full marathon in Seattle next year, so would like to get a look at the course.)
Also trying to persuade a friend to do her first 5K in the spring… she’s almost there. I even offered to pace her, though I’d be giving up about 9 minutes on my usual time…
Also trying to persuade a friend to do her first 5K in the spring… she’s almost there.
The 5k distance is a favorite of mine. Right as you get into your stride, it’s almost over. My first ever race was a 15k and wish I had started with a 5k instead.
Yeah, that’s jumping in at the deep end.
I’m a natural middle-distance runner, so 5K is my best distance relative to the field (well, 3K would be even better, but good luck finding any.) I started experimenting with longer distances last season, and they were enjoyable enough… but I’d rather be 98th percentile in a 5K than 94th in a 10K or 85th in a half, you know? So 5Ks will probably always be the bulk of my racing schedule.
Yeah, that’s jumping in at the deep end.
Jumping in the deep end is my MO. I ran (read “mostly run-walked”) a full marathon on 8 total training miles. I was in shape to run a half, but didn’t put in the miles to run the full. I was going to downgrade to the half, but I got blisters at mile 5 and decided that I was gonna be miserable whether I ran 8 more miles or 21 more miles, so I did 21 more miles. That and I wanted to be able to say that my wife and I ran our first full together. My time was abysmal, but I finished!
I’m curious what would happen if I ever applied myself and did a true training regimen. My half PR is 2:25, and that was with minimal training, maybe in the 10-15 miles per week range. I’m not a natural runner. I’m built like a linebacker. However, I know that I could get sub 2 hours if I put my mind to it. I just get bored out of my mind running training miles, and hate it almost as bad as pounding the treadmill.
Anyway, keep us updated on your training plan! I’m very interested!
Jumping in the deep end is my MO.
Yeah. The first race I ever ran in my life was the Twin Cities Marathon. I was young (28) and dumb enough to believe my friend when he told me “just follow this program – you’ll be fine!”. I kept running for many years after, but never another marathon. My favorite race was a local 25K. Long enough to need to train, but short enough to not kill you.
5Ks made me want to barf. I could never figure out how to run them.
That’s insane, dude. Impressive… but insane.
I don’t do heavy training mileage due to fragile hips – only about 15 miles a week – but I train pretty intensely to get the most of my mileage, and I walk stupid distances – average about 15 miles a day. So it works out. (Also, I’m fortunate enough to have a runner’s build.) My first half was 1:51, and I’d like to get down to around 1:47 this year; most of that improvement can be achieved by smarter pacing, I was far too conservative in the early miles last year.
Rather than running long/slow/steady, you might want to try sessions with varied pacings. My personal favourite goes like so – 4 x 0.5 mile segments at a little faster than 5K pace, each followed by 0.25 mile recovery; then 2.5 miles at 15k or half-marathon pace. It’s 5.5 miles and (for me) about 43 minutes total, excluding warm-up and cool down. Excellent workout but doesn’t wear you out *too much*, and definitely not boring.
5s are tricky if you’re running at your physical limits, since you’re dicking around with your lactate threshold – push a little too far and you’re fucked. My usual strategy is to run quasi-intervals, bouncing back and forth between approximately VO2max and just above lactate threshold (for “active recovery.”) It works, but it takes a lot of practice to fine-tune.
That’s insane, dude. Impressive… but insane.
It literally took a month for me to stop limping. The only saving grace was that I was 24, so my body took it in stride.
Rather than running long/slow/steady, you might want to try sessions with varied pacings.
I do prefer interval training like that. I’ll have to work up to it. I’d be lucky to jog the 1/4 mile to the end of my street without collapsing into a heap right now.
Yeah, you can get away with shit like that at 24. I’m late 30s now, so I have to be (somewhat) sensible.
When I first got into running – after a few years of not doing hard cardio – it took about three weeks to progress from “jog a quarter mile and then take a break” to “serious workout.”
Low carb shopping tips:
If you make a lot of dishes that you usually serve over rice, potatoes, or noodles, try Al Dente brand Carba Nada noodles (six pack linked, so don’t get sticker shock). Very low carb, cook in 3 min, and taste great. They are WAY better than any other low carb “pasta” out there; those usually taste like cardboard. They have a consistency and size somewhere between egg noodles and fettuccine. I use them with spaghetti sauce, alfredo sauce, Indian dishes, stir fries, soups–a great product. Have to get them from Amazon though.
Mission makes 2 delicious low carb tortillas (for wraps or for crisping in the skillet to make chips for salsa); one whole wheat type and one white. 6 grams each. These are easy to find in your average grocery store.
Favorite sliced low carb bread: Trader Joe’s Sprouted 7 Grain. Delicious and great to be able to make a simple sammich again.
Riced cauliflour is actually a quite decent substitute for rice. But rice is the one of the least evil carbs; the potato, otoh…
As weird as it sounds, the sweet potato is a better option.
Fixed broccoli stalks.
My wife has made broccali rice several times. She also frequently makes pasta out of zucchini, that is excellent.
Now that riced cauliflower is routinely available pre riced in the freezer section, it’s back on the list. I hated making it by hand though; little bits of cauli EVERYWHERE.
Still love me some Carba Nada though. Never without it in this household.
would
“a village of about 600 people, most of them members of Tamimi’s extended family”
Umm… ok.
Sluts
I’m not saying there’s inbreeding… BUT IT’S INBREEDING!
my offer to diversify their gene pool is extremely generous.
Shut up, infidel!
*win*-fidel
“Nebi Saleh”
Arabic for cousin fucking.
LOL
Semi OT. I went to the gym and found I was one of three people there. I asked a trainer (a Native American), “where are the Rezzos?” He stares far off into the distance, puts a hand on my shoulder and says,
“It’s still early.”
I don’t know why I bursted out laughing.
Good business for the salespeople. For the trainers, not so much.
I am imagining he was dressed like and looked exactly like John Redcorn. Don’t ruin this for me.
I’m going to try to ride 1,000 miles on my bike. That seems like a lot, but it’s only nineteen miles a week which is quite doable if you break it down into three rides of 6-7 miles each.
Ima try to keep it simple & doable – 2 hours a week on the treadmill (which has not yet achieved its highest calling as a clothes rack) probably in increments of 30 minutes at a time four days a week AND drop five pounds between Feb. 1 and April 15. Current weight at last check within the last couple of days was 143.6 lbs. (the units that God intended) on my 5’4″ish smallish frame.
I’d love to say lose 10-15lbs, but I’ve found I don’t do great with that so I’ll go with body weight exercises 5 days a week and cutting my soda and fried food waaaaay back.
Soda is like mainlining pure processed sugar. You can probably keep some of the fried foods, since it’s only whatever type of batter you would be using that’s upping your carbs.
I weigh exactly what I did when I was 20, 138 Lb. I never could bulk up, I can eat anything I want, as much as I want, but I can’t seem to ever gain weight.
I can go up or down 5 lb. in a Day, might be due to beer drinking. I’m not Bragging, on the contrary, I wish I Could put a few pounds on this old frame, any ideas?
Pick heavy stuff up and put it back down. Repeat.
When I was out of high school, I weighed 150 lbs, skinny as can be. At 30 I was at 185 lbs, after about a decade of weight training, still was not fat at all. At 57 I had ballooned to 230 lbs. I’ve now lost 14 kilos, so right at 200 lbs. My goal is 175, which would put me where I was at around 25. I figure that 185 is too much because I don’t have all the muscle mass I had at 30 and all the lifting. So about 11 more kilos to drop. And then start a serious exercise routine to tone up.
Yusef, take protein powder and a lot of amino acids, along with what Playa said. It might be hard work, but you can bulk up, I did it and was pretty damn skinny before then. I know that all the protein and aminos I gorged on helped a lot because before I couldn’t seem to do it either. Or just eat a lot more protein.
I’m a large man. Too large, in fact. I’m tired of being a fat fuck, so fine to fix that.
I started 3 weeks ago, and I’m down about 6 lbs. My ultimate goal is to be down 100 lbs 1 year after my start date. I may be setting myself up for failure.
It’s all diet and exercise. Diet should be pretty easy. Exercise will not be. I hate exercising for its own sake. Plan is to lift weights regularly and walk / bike more. Cutting down beer will be harder.
Best of luck to everyone!
Diet is the prime factor. That’s just my opinion, but a lot of other people’s opinion as well. Exercise no doubt helps. I’ve been able to lose 30 lbs with primarily diet change, very little increase in exercise. I also did that with zero reduction in beer or alcohol. But that’s coming now as it’s probably the only possible way I can lose the other 25 lbs I need to lose. If you can get your diet under control, you’ll achieve your goals. And I agree, beer is my worst issue, diet was fairly easy.
I might also try this .
The only thing they’re missing is a little broomstick pony between their legs. So don’t forget that.
LOL
I started 3 weeks ago, and I’m down about 6 lbs. My ultimate goal is to be down 100 lbs 1 year after my start date. I may be setting myself up for failure.
The only thing that’ll set you up for failure is beating yourself up when the inevitable setbacks come. I’ve found that My Fitness Pal is nice for the little daily boost that you need. They have the whole social media “tiny hit of dopamine” thing down to a science. Just when you’re feeling down, they send a happy notification.
100 may be a bit aggressive for a year, but it’s not insanely aggressive. Keep us updated in the GlibFit threads!
A pound every 3.5 days? It’s do-able for a male, but rigorous over long periods of time.
No specific number as a goal, but over the past year I’ve been going to the gym more regularly, both to lose fat and build up muscle. I’m really happy with the changes so far, so I’m keeping it up in the new year.
I do hate dieting, though — I’ve been making changes here and there to cut down on calories, and they seem to be successful. Still a pain in the ass to have to worry about that stuff.
This is how i feel about this thread
I probably won’t be able to get started working at it until it gets a bit warmer but I’d like to get to where I can simply run a continuous mile.
I have never been able to do that. Even when I was in my teens, a quarter mile was about as far as I could go before I was completely winded. Never been a problem of excessive weight, but rather lacking the endurance.
Another is to get to be capable of 100 consecutive push-ups. Tried working at it a few times, but hit a wall when the training requires doing about 100 a day in several sets.
My goals are to return to a plant-based eating style 6 days a week and alter my sleep patterns a little. I’m also going to quit biting my nails once and for all. I did it in my mid-30s, but went back to it in my early 40s. I tend to have more success with big lifestyle changes if I do them all at once and get obsessive about it.
I’ve put a link to the GlibFit category in the footer menu to make it easy to jump straight there.
Go ahead and add to this post before the regular check-in posts begin in February. Add more goals, ask for encouragement, etc.
I want to stretch six days a week. That’s my first goal.
I also want to drink more water and get more sleep.
Yoga is your friend.
Same here! I plan on starting tomorrow morning. I do landscaping / lawn care about 9 months a year, and when the weather gets colder and winter comes, all my muscles tighten up and I feel shitty. I especially have problems with my shoulders and lower back getting sore, which also affects my sleep.
What’s worked for me is a program called Classical Stretch with Miranda Esmonde. Last winter I was really sore and caught a couple of her programs on PBS really early in the morning. I felt so much better after a few episodes that I bought one of the DVD sets. I usually do it first thing in the morning for about a half hour, and sometimes a little stretching before bed. It really makes a difference for me and I even get a little bit of a workout while doing it. (Geez, this sounds like a PSA).
I gotta cut out the long island teas and G&Ts.
At home, I can do a G&T with the diet tonic, and mah hubs makes me low carb margaritas with the low carb sour mix.
But I will stick with Rum & Diet Coke (Diet Rite actually, since sucrolose is better for you than aspartame) most of the time.
Hey everybody! Just a heads up; if you are going to start running as part of an exercise routine, get running shoes. Cross trainers/workout sneakers will not do. Get specifically shoes designed for running. I would be happy to share my knowledge and experience with any Glibs. I run at least 7 miles a day.
Good luck to everybody in achieving their goals.
?
+1 Brooks Adrenaline GTS.
Happy new year EDG! I hope it’s your best ever!
Happy New Year to you my friend.
3 days of aerobic exercise a week.
Lose 15 pounds before baby #4 (due April 15).
Sign me up as well. I could use to drop some pounds. Already walk 3+ miles along the beach each day before work but I want to get back to some lifting as well.
My goals for this year: lose about 20 lbs; lift weights regularly (average about twice a week); get in some Tabata sessions in regularly (at least once a week); average 8,000+ steps/day; and get off the blood pressure meds. I’ll be doing low carb/intermittent fasting (skip breakfast). In fact, my wife and I both signed up for 23&me’s 12-week study that starts next week – we both took option 1, low carb and increase exercise.
– Resume the weight lifting I’d paused due to my complaining knee.
– Drop the deviations from my diet I’d been picking up in the latter weeks of 2017
– Get my body weight to resume the downward trend I’d managed in 2016 and perhaps stop being a fat bastard.
Hey, idiots! The Mr just had his 60th BDAY ( I am a mere lass in my 40s), so now that the Bday is behind us, we are going to get serious. We have a lot to lose, so we are NOT waiting til Feb 1.
Wish us luck.
Okay so I completely missed this thread during the holidays and I definitely need to take off the weight I gained while I slacked off during the holidays and my move.
So, my goals are:
– Lose 1lb every week
– Cook all of my own meals
Looking forward to doing with this you, my fell Glibs!