Live and Let Diet

[Townhallsavoy]

I remember when I weighed 168 lbs.

You probably remember when you were my height too. 

[Townhallsavoy]

Monthly Progress:

Weight: 173

Bench press: 205 5 rep max
Overhead press: 115 3x5
Leg press: Four 45s and a 25 on each side 3 rep max
Deadlifts: 225 5 rep max
Pull ups: Burnout at 7, multiple sets of 5 afterwards

Unfortunately, I've hit the peak of my bulking session.  I'm fat.  I've gained almost 20 pounds, and my pants are tight.  I can't even wear my jeans anymore, which were a big snug to begin with. 

Worst of all, I quit running.  Right before spring break, I hit 6 miles.  It felt AMAZING.  A few days later, I went out to run another long run, started, ran for maybe five minutes, and thought, "Holy shit, I still have an hour of this." 

And I turned around and went home.  Haven't been able to go for a long run since.  I think I'm going to hold off on running.  Maybe do HIIT sprints on Wednesdays and focus mostly on lifting weights and watching what I eat.

Which is another problem. THe past few days, I've tried to scale back my calories.  I can't do it.  After eating high fat, high protein foods with sugary snacks throughout the day, I'm having a very hard time sticking to diet food.

My plan is to eat 1800 calories/day during the week.  2000 on Saturday and Sunday.  That puts me at a 500-700 calorie deficit compared to the last three months.  I've put on enough muscle that if I cut the fat, I should look damn good. 

But cutting calories for three months is going to be a whole hell of a lot harder than running 30 minutes. 

[Token]

I've struggled since the first of the year.  I finally decided a few weeks ago to stop.  Not eating outlandish, but eating what I want.  Still drinking only water and occasionally a coke zero.  No sugar drinks. Still sitting at 206.  I'm going to relax until I hit 210 and start again.  If I can......

[JR4AU]

I was down 26lbs when you started this thread in May of last year.  No exercise.  I got down maybe another 10-12 pounds by late July, early August.  Took Football season completely off from any diets.  Probably gained 10 back, maybe more, not sure, just know where I started, and also where I was when I started working out.  There was a time after Christmas, up til Feb when I joined the gym where I dieted, but didn't weigh in.  At the end of the year, first of this year, I also gave up alkyhol (again), soft drinks, went back to my phone app to keep my calorie count at 1500-1750, and started working out in Feb.  I'm now down a total of 76.5lbs since April 1 2012.  Down @ 35 of that since Christmas.  A ways to go yet.

THS, fuck running.  I hate that shit too.  I'm doing cross fit.  About an hour workout (given to me by a trainer) that involves both strength training and cardio.  Takes about an hour, and you do nothing longer than 5 minutes.  10-12 exercises a session, 4 days a week.  I do maybe 20 minutes on a stationary bike, and some ab work on the off days, sometimes, not all the time.  I've never liked working out or running, but this workout is fun enough that the time flies for me, and hard enough I keep a sweat going the entire time.

[AUTiger1]

I was down 26lbs when you started this thread in May of last year.  No exercise.  I got down maybe another 10-12 pounds by late July, early August.  Took Football season completely off from any diets.  Probably gained 10 back, maybe more, not sure, just know where I started, and also where I was when I started working out.  There was a time after Christmas, up til Feb when I joined the gym where I dieted, but didn't weigh in.  At the end of the year, first of this year, I also gave up alkyhol (again), soft drinks, went back to my phone app to keep my calorie count at 1500-1750, and started working out in Feb.  I'm now down a total of 76.5lbs since April 1 2012.  Down @ 35 of that since Christmas.  A ways to go yet.

THS, fuck running.  I hate that shit too.  I'm doing cross fit.  About an hour workout (given to me by a trainer) that involves both strength training and cardio.  Takes about an hour, and you do nothing longer than 5 minutes.  10-12 exercises a session, 4 days a week.  I do maybe 20 minutes on a stationary bike, and some ab work on the off days, sometimes, not all the time.  I've never liked working out or running, but this workout is fun enough that the time flies for me, and hard enough I keep a sweat going the entire time.

If I could do this again....wait.........if I would do this again, it would make things a whole lot easier.  I need to, and I know I should.  Now that work is settling down, stress from it is dying down, the back is healed up, I hope to be back to no drinking other than a weekend night out from time to time.  That would help me more than anything.  One simply isn't motivated to exercise when he wants to come home and have a tumbler or three full of Kentucky's finest.  Plus it makes one wake up in a fog and makes for more long and stressful days.

[Snaggletiger]

If I could do this again....wait.........if I would do this again, it would make things a whole lot easier.  I need to, and I know I should.  Now that work is settling down, stress from it is dying down, the back is healed up, I hope to be back to no drinking other than a weekend night out from time to time.  That would help me more than anything.  One simply isn't motivated to exercise when he wants to come home and have a tumbler or three full of Kentucky's finest.  Plus it makes one wake up in a fog and makes for more long and stressful days.

What this guy said X14

[Buzz Killington]

Yall have inspired me to get my fat ass back on track.  I started slipping when the Halloween candy showed up in my house, and really didn't end until after the Easter ham was finally finished.  All in all, I have gained 15 pounds since October.

I have been working out at least 4 days a week all this time, but the cardio had all but stopped over the last few months, and it shows.  Started this morning by hitting the treadmill for a mile and a half run.

[Snaggletiger]

Yall have inspired me to get my fat ass back on track.  I started slipping when the Halloween candy showed up in my house, and really didn't end until after the Easter ham was finally finished.  All in all, I have gained 15 pounds since October.

I have been working out at least 4 days a week all this time, but the cardio had all but stopped over the last few months, and it shows.  Started this morning by hitting the treadmill for a mile and a half run.

We took a cruise the last week of February.  It's things like that that get me motivated.  Knowing I'd be on the beach and around the pool, I worked my fat a$$ off in the weeks prior to it so the embarrassment factor wouldn't be nearly as high.  We went on it.  I ate and drank like crazy and have been ever since.  Put every bit of the weight back on in less than 2 months.  I have no motivation right now.  Didn't even bring my workout clothes with me.

Snagette and I started Couch to 5K a few weeks ago.  She did great the first 2 weeks but got teh shinz splints and decided she hated everything about running.  Now, we're just doing couch.  I need a goal.  Something to shoot for.  Something to get me back in the gym and on the road.

[AUTiger1]

We took a cruise the last week of February.  It's things like that that get me motivated.  Knowing I'd be on the beach and around the pool, I worked my fat a$$ off in the weeks prior to it so the embarrassment factor wouldn't be nearly as high.  We went on it.  I ate and drank like crazy and have been ever since.  Put every bit of the weight back on in less than 2 months.  I have no motivation right now.  Didn't even bring my workout clothes with me.

Snagette and I started Couch to 5K a few weeks ago.  She did great the first 2 weeks but got teh shinz splints and decided she hated everything about running.  Now, we're just doing couch.  I need a goal.  Something to shoot for.  Something to get me back in the gym and on the road.

Sign up for a 5K in the near future and tell yourself that you want to finish in a certain amount of time?  Maybe that would help motivate you to hit the pavement in the evening and make you want to drink water and eat light instead of eating and drinking heavily?

Seriously have to do something myself to get motivated again.  Really hopefull the warmer weather that is coming will have me out doing something every evening instead of staying in the house.   

[ssgaufan]

So this is where I'm at now,

Work out five days a week.  Have really been trying to eat better and have almost completely cut out the alcohol.  Cardio on a bike or eliptical after work outs except the two off days, and then I get out and run at least two miles.

I start my day with a protein shake or meal replacement bar, have a lunch of anything that isn't fried and doesn't contain a lot of bread, usually protien and a sandwich for supper.  I am taking CLA after each meal, and just using a preworkout and my protein.  So far I have had to tighten my belt (should just go buy a new one) and can tell in my face and neck that I have lost weight.  I am  seeing definition in my shoulders/traps/chest but have only lost two pounds.

I am planning on continuing on with what I am doing now and finish the last three months of this deployment with P90X.

[Snaggletiger]

Snagette and I started the Couch to 5K thing a while back.  She's never been a runner (I'm not much of one myself...hate every step of it) and she developed shin splints after a couple of weeks and said nay-nay to the running.  She's continuing to walk but the running is out.  I've kept up with it and I'm in week 4. 

I've always hated running.  I guess because despite numerous attempts to get in real running shape, I never feel like I'm getting any better.  I've been in one sprint triathlon and limped my way through the 5k run.  I've done a bunch of organized 5k runs over the years, mostly to have something to do that Saturday morning or to support whatever the charity or benefit may be.  I rarely make the entire run without at least a couple of walking sessions during it.  I just don't get the running thing.  This will be the first time I've ever really taken an actual running plan and tried to stick to it. 

I'm getting through it fine so far, but honestly, the first month of it is just not that hard and not that much running.  But I'm starting to see and feel the principles behind building each week.  Those of you like GH2001 who are really into it, did you ever struggle with your training?  Was there this "hump" you had to get over before you felt comfortable running distances?  And just what is feeling comfortable, for lack of a better term, when you run?   

[Townhallsavoy]

I loved Couch to 5k.  My advice is to definitely sign up for and run a race. 

I've plateaued in the weight room.  I can bench press 205 three times, but I can't get more than that.  I haven't even tried to add more weight. I think it's because I don't have a spotter to help me risk using heavier weight.

Speaking of heavy weight, two black dudes that I suspect were on steroids were in the gym the other day. 

Here is what one of them did on bench press:

2x10 at 135 pounds
2x10 at 225 pounds
2x10 at 315 pounds
2x10 at 415 pounds
 
He didn't seem to struggle with 415 until the last five of his last set. 

[ssgaufan]

Here is what one of them did on bench press:

2x10 at 135 pounds
2x10 at 225 pounds
2x10 at 315 pounds
2x10 at 415 pounds
 
He didn't seem to struggle with 415 until the last five of his last set.

   All I can say is damn.

[Buzz Killington]

I loved Couch to 5k.  My advice is to definitely sign up for and run a race. 

I've plateaued in the weight room.  I can bench press 205 three times, but I can't get more than that.  I haven't even tried to add more weight. I think it's because I don't have a spotter to help me risk using heavier weight.

Speaking of heavy weight, two black dudes that I suspect were on steroids were in the gym the other day. 

Here is what one of them did on bench press:

2x10 at 135 pounds
2x10 at 225 pounds
2x10 at 315 pounds
2x10 at 415 pounds
 
He didn't seem to struggle with 415 until the last five of his last set.

Are you kidding?  That's what Snaggs and Jumbo call a warmup set.

[Townhallsavoy]

Are you kidding?  That's what Snaggs and Jumbo call a warmup set.

Seriously when he hit his second set of 10 with 315 pounds, I thought it was his warmup set. 

These guys were monsters.  Needle stuck monsters.

[Buzz Killington]

Seriously when he hit his second set of 10 with 315 pounds, I thought it was his warmup set. 

These guys were monsters.  Needle stuck monsters.

There are a couple that frequent the downtown Y that I swear have to have an IV drip.  They workout with about the same weight, and make me feel like a little girly man pushing 225...

[Snaggletiger]

Back in my late 20's, early 30's it was all about benching and squatting.  I know it sounds like an excuse, but being tall and long like I am, I was never very good at either.  I would usually bench up to 225 for 6-8 reps while I rarely went over 315 with my squat. 

I did three cycles of the juicey juice back then but the amount I was doing was miniscule compared to what a lot of guys in the gym were doing.  They considered themselves to be "clean" if they were only doing a cc of testosterone a week.  The first time I did it, I had been on for about 4 weeks when I was doing triceps one day.  I normally started my tricep workout on the bench with close-grip presses.  I'd start and 135 and work up to about 185 before moving on.  This one day, I put on 185 and repped it out like it was just the bar.  I got up kind of wondering what just happened.  I put 2 plates on and did 10 reps just as easily as I had with 185. 

That was the first time I realized that shit really works.  I didn't do anymore because I was always scared of potential side effects, plus I never really looked forward to sticking myself in the ass with a long needle.  But while on it, I was the man....in my own mind.     

[AU_Tiger_2000]

I loved Couch to 5k.  My advice is to definitely sign up for and run a race. 

I've plateaued in the weight room.  I can bench press 205 three times, but I can't get more than that.  I haven't even tried to add more weight. I think it's because I don't have a spotter to help me risk using heavier weight.

Speaking of heavy weight, two black dudes that I suspect were on steroids were in the gym the other day. 

Here is what one of them did on bench press:

2x10 at 135 pounds
2x10 at 225 pounds
2x10 at 315 pounds
2x10 at 415 pounds
 
He didn't seem to struggle with 415 until the last five of his last set.

I know a lot of guys roid that work out like that, but I have known some genetic freaks who can just do stuff like that on a bench.  A guy I worked with Atlanta grew up on a South Dakota farm.  He was maybe 205 or 210 when we started working out together.  We started our first workout together benching around 135 or so.  Five sets of 10 trying to ramp up between each set.  By the time we quit working out together (mainly because I just couldn't keep up) he was knocking out sets of 300+, I was doing about 200.

Life's just not fair sometimes.

[dallaswareagle]

Back in my late 20's, early 30's it was all about benching and squatting.  I know it sounds like an excuse, but being tall and long like I am, I was never very good at either.  I would usually bench up to 225 for 6-8 reps while I rarely went over 315 with my squat. 

I did three cycles of the juicey juice back then but the amount I was doing was miniscule compared to what a lot of guys in the gym were doing.  They considered themselves to be "clean" if they were only doing a cc of testosterone a week.  The first time I did it, I had been on for about 4 weeks when I was doing triceps one day.  I normally started my tricep workout on the bench with close-grip presses.  I'd start and 135 and work up to about 185 before moving on.  This one day, I put on 185 and repped it out like it was just the bar.  I got up kind of wondering what just happened.  I put 2 plates on and did 10 reps just as easily as I had with 185. 

That was the first time I realized that shit really works. I didn't do anymore because I was always scared of potential side effects, plus I never really looked forward to sticking myself in the ass with a long needle.  But while on it, I was the man....in my own mind.   

I am going to lay off that slow hanging curve ball.

[Buzz Killington]

Back in my late 20's, early 30's it was all about benching and squatting.  I know it sounds like an excuse, but being tall and long like I am, I was never very good at either.  I would usually bench up to 225 for 6-8 reps while I rarely went over 315 with my squat. 

I did three cycles of the juicey juice back then but the amount I was doing was miniscule compared to what a lot of guys in the gym were doing.  They considered themselves to be "clean" if they were only doing a cc of testosterone a week.  The first time I did it, I had been on for about 4 weeks when I was doing triceps one day.  I normally started my tricep workout on the bench with close-grip presses.  I'd start and 135 and work up to about 185 before moving on.  This one day, I put on 185 and repped it out like it was just the bar.  I got up kind of wondering what just happened.  I put 2 plates on and did 10 reps just as easily as I had with 185. 

That was the first time I realized that shit really works.  I didn't do anymore because I was always scared of potential side effects, plus I never really looked forward to sticking myself in the ass with a long needle.  But while on it, I was the man....in my own mind.   

Must. Not. Comment.