LGW Fit Club

[Guest DetroitIan]

I need to lose some. I gained like almost 20 winter pounds. Im hoping to be back to 185 by mid-june. Hopefully I'll meet that goal.

[betterREDthandead 58]

Update time. My ship is holding a Biggest Loser contest, and I am a Big Loser, so I joined Starting weight was 195.9 lbs and a 40 inch waistline. (Barf.) First weigh-in was today, and I have dropped to 194.5 and a waistline of 39.5 inches.

[DaKineMaui 8]

Update time. My ship is holding a Biggest Loser contest, and I am a Big Loser, so I joined Starting weight was 195.9 lbs and a 40 inch waistline. (Barf.) First weigh-in was today, and I have dropped to 194.5 and a waistline of 39.5 inches.

What kind of numbers are you shooting for then? What would you consider you 'fighting weight'?

[betterREDthandead 58]

What kind of numbers are you shooting for then? What would you consider you 'fighting weight'?

I'm aiming for one pound a week on this cruise, which would take me to 177. But, I'm only 5'7" and when I did weigh 175-ish, I was still pudgy around the waist. I weighed 145-150 coming out of high school but that was my swimming weight with my muscles built for endurance, not for strength. I've put on muscle since then, but at the same time I was getting fatter because I wasn't swimming any more in college. I just spent too many words saying I don't know what my "fighting weight" ought to be. But I'm guessing between 155-160.

[glasgowcelticwing 18]

I get that sometimes too.

People tell me I don't need to lose any weight, and it's not like I'm planning to go overboard as I don't need to lose much, but still would just like to lose about 6 - 8 more over the next few weeks. Currently hovering in the middle pretty much around 145 - 150. Keep in mind I'm only about 5'7" so my weight/build is pretty respectable and average for my short size.

One thing I have started to add to my workouts during the week is treadmill running during the early mornings. I cannot stand it with a passion, but I just said f**k it recently and quit being a baby and am sucking it up and doing it now.

I try to do it at least 3 times a week for 20 - 25 minutes a time (along with running outdoors or cycling once during the weekends) will greatly help me get in better shape. Working out on EFX machines is nice, but when you hold on to the handrails more, you don't get as much workout with the legs obviously.

Unless I'm just going way too hard or fast on a treadmill, I'm not grabbing any handrails, which will mean more work for my legs and more energy to put into it.

I'm 5'7" too , weigh in at anything between 142 - 145. Waste size is 30". I'm thin but it's not like I'm skinny or anything. I guess everybody must just be used too seeing me fat ??

I try exersising as much as I can , but the past couple of month's I've been working waaayyy to much and don't get to do as much as I would like.

[Legionnaire11 0]

i'm kinda stuck floating between 210-215. i've been doing the same exercises, eating the same good diet and all, but the weight loss has leveled out at this point.

[glasgowcelticwing 18]

i'm kinda stuck floating between 210-215. i've been doing the same exercises, eating the same good diet and all, but the weight loss has leveled out at this point.

I had the same problem's when I was loosing weight. This might sound dumb , but I think it might have somthing to do with your body adjusting itself to the weight loss. Also added to the fact that you'll be building your muscle's up with all the exersise your doing.

[BlakChamber 8]

i'm kinda stuck floating between 210-215. i've been doing the same exercises, eating the same good diet and all, but the weight loss has leveled out at this point.

That happens. You eventually reach a plateau. Keep at it, and you'll continue to lose weight, but it won't be nearly as quickly.

Today I had one of the secretaries comment that she could tell I was losing weight. Not bad, considering I spent most of last weekend drinking and eating bad food. Gotta get back to the gym.

[Bad Vlad Forever 1]

I've dropped 10 lbs recently, and could stand to do away with 20-30 more before I go backpacking to Mt Whitney again this August.

My hockey league starts back up in a couple of weeks too. I'd like to drop another 10 before then as well. I'm so much quicker when I'm 40 lbs lighter. Go figure

[Lidstromrules16 7]

well, I have been super slacking lately. Normally I run 2 miles a day, but havent even ran in the past 3 weeks. Anyway, I decided to actually go running again today. I did 4 miles in roughly 33 minutes, 58 seconds. Thats a little less than 9 minutes a mile, which isnt bad considering I run the mile in 6 and a half.

[SouthernWingsFan 854]

Something I just implemented today and hope to do just about every day.

I took a rated-G version out of Chris Chelios' workout routine and worked out in the sauna room at the highest tempeprature possible at my health club today for nearly 45 minutes. Granted I had the day off and probably won't have as much time to dedicate to this when I'm working but...

The 45 minutes weren't really that unbearable (there was no bike in there to start with so... ). I just did simple exercises, situps, pushups, arm pushes, etc. I put in some paced-jogging in there as well and some leg lifts.

It felt really damn good despite the extremely high heat, felt great after. Exercising in the sauna is a GREAT WAY to lose weight if you have the mental and physical discipline.

I might soon buy a Tae-Bo or related tape and start to learn some proper ways to box or throw my arms around to get more of a workout in the sauna in the future.

[Lidstromrules16 7]

cheap mans version of chlios' workout........run or bike in 80 degree heat with a sweater and winter hat on. I dont recommend this, as I did it once, only with a long sleave shirt, not a sweater and still felt like I was going to throw up, wont do it again Plus, I am not sure how safe it is with heat stroke and all possible.

Edited May 29, 2007 by Lidstromrules16

[SouthernWingsFan 854]

Well, day #2 of the sauna experiment was successful. I was able to work out in it at my health club for about a half hour early this morning before work. I wish I remember to ask one of the instructors there how hot their sauna room gets. It was on full blast and I was seriously feeling it after a short while. Typiclally, a sauna room temperature can be anywhere from 176 - 212 degree Farenheit, or so it says from this page.

http://hypertextbook.com/facts/2005/HimtangWong.shtml

"Sauna." World Book 2005 Ed. "In a sauna, stones are heated on top of a furnace. The temperature in the room ranges from 176 to 212°F (80 to 100°C)." 80 - 100°C'

It also says that sauna rooms typically aren't all that humid, and it is comparable to working out in hot summer heat with high humidity. Both days I felt the heat in there pretty good, but it wasn't just overbearing or stifling me from minute #1. My guess is the sauna room at my health club had to be around 200 degrees.

I was really feeling it today though because I went in the room almost immediately after running pretty hard on the treadmill for 20 minutes, about 2 1/2 miles. It sounds unbearable, but you can still push yourself hard in there even though the temperature is out the wazoo. Just pace yourself and don't over-exert immediately, and make sure you have a cold water fountain nearby or a cold water bottle in the room. Even though it is hot in there, if the bottle is cold, it will still take a good while for it to warm up.

If you want to lose weight and feel like you are getting your body toned, stretch and work out in a sauna room for 20 - 30 minutes most days. It is something I am definitely going to keep up at with a lot of focus.

[SouthernWingsFan 854]

Basically now my overall workouts/get in shape routine tries to consist of the following as long as my schedule isn’t out of what and I’m in a normal routine with work and personal life…

Try to work out early in the morning 3 out of 4 days during the week around 5:30am, consisting of 20 minutes of hard jogging/running on the treadmill, 15 – 20 minutes of upper body weightlifting (time pending), and working out in a fully heated sauna (at least 175 degrees Fahrenheit, probably around 200) for about 20 – 30 minutes doing as much stretching, sit ups, leg lifts, leg raises, arm/bench pushups as I can, and some light interval jogging without over exhausting myself early from the high heat, because it can definitely wear on you quickly. I rarely workout at night, that’s the time for my body to rest.

Perform a spinning class Friday evenings for about an hour, and then go in the sauna for some more workout time if I have the energy or go in there to rest the body. Sometimes I lift weights after spinning if I have the juice, sometimes I don’t. I don’t lift before spinning due to having to grab bike handlebars, want my arms to be loose, etc.

Over weekends, I try to bike outdoors around 20 miles once, and one day of outdoor running during the weekend of about 4 – 5 miles. If I’m not too busy and I have the energy, I’ll lift weights or work out some in the health club sauna.

So, I try to do a lot, and it’s pretty demanding at times with work and a fairly long commute time and such. Sometimes my body will just say no, especially with one of my knees that will never be 100% ever again due to an ACL and MCL tear about three years ago. However, I just try to keep one main thought in my head that it’s only roughly 1 – 2 hours of wear and tear on the body a day. I have the other 22 – 23 hours of the day to rest the body with little wear and tear.

But recently switching from working out in the evenings to the early morning time has served me well, as well as recently starting to exercise in the sauna. Since last Thursday, the only day where I haven’t done much physical activity was on Saturday, and I was outdoors for a good chunk of that day playing golf, so it’s not like I was lying around being a lazy slob.

Nobody will mistake me for being an athlete or a cross country runner anytime soon, but I’m really starting to see a difference lately in my physical appearance, slowly starting to get more toned and I’m not getting gassed out after just 10 minutes of exercise. I really feel my physical stamina and endurance really starting to increase more. My mental attitude is changing as well, wanting to exercise and wanting to fight through the hard jogs or the high heat. Everybody’s body is different, but from what I have recently been doing exercising, I’ve never felt more disciplined and determined from a physical and mental standpoint as I have recently, not so much from the weight losing aspect, but in being fit overall. I feel much more determined than I was when I dieted and lost a lot of weight a few years ago. I’ll never be the most physical person or fastest guy out there in my lifetime. But, at least for now, I have that mentality that I will never, ever quit or give up. Hopefully that will stay with me for a long, long while.

[Lou_Siffer 1]

SWF- I never thought that theres a point to going in a sauna unless you're in a competition where you need to quickly cut weight. IMO is just seems like youre unnecessarily draining yourself further. All your doing is just sweating off water weight arent you? Weight which will return after you get fully rehydrated naturally. Its not like running where you're physically active, this is just sitting there sweating! So when you think about it, whats really the point? Its kinda like the guy who just does one set of 50 barbell curls just so he can look in the mirror and admire his pumped up arms, all the while really accomplishing nothing but a temporary effect. When people exit a sauner they look more toned so they think its doing something beneficial.

EDIT: Oops i read you post again and realized youre actually exercising in the sauna and not just sitting there. But still, my point about the sauna being an unnecessary drain still stands.

[SouthernWingsFan 854]

SWF- I never thought that theres a point to going in a sauna unless you're in a competition where you need to quickly cut weight. IMO is just seems like youre unnecessarily draining yourself further. All your doing is just sweating off water weight arent you? Weight which will return after you get fully rehydrated naturally. Its not like running where you're physically active, this is just sitting there sweating! So when you think about it, whats really the point? Its kinda like the guy who just does one set of 50 barbell curls just so he can look in the mirror and admire his pumped up arms, all the while really accomplishing nothing but a temporary effect. When people exit a sauner they look more toned so they think its doing something beneficial.

I don't know, I went into the room over the weekend just to rest and saw somebody in there doing situps and work on his boxing technique for a while. He says it helps him get in good shape, along with shredding some pounds, so I thought it'd be worth a try for me to get into. I never thought about working out in such conditions until I saw him do it for a while.

I've done it the past few days and I've felt really good after both mentally and in a physical sense. Plus I just really try to push and challenge myself pretty hard, just my mental nature. If it doesn't produce the results I think I'll get where it's not beneficial, I'll stop it eventually.

Edited June 1, 2007 by SouthernWingsFan

[Lou_Siffer 1]

I don't know, I went into the room over the weekend just to rest and saw somebody in there doing situps and work on his boxing technique for a while. He says it helps him get in good shape, along with shredding some pounds, so I thought it'd be worth a try for me to get into.

Plus I just really try to push and challenge myself pretty hard, just my mental nature.

If it doesn't produce the results I think I'll get, I'll stop it eventually.

He couldve been trying to cut weight if he was a boxer, like i said its a tool guys use to fully dehydrate themselves so they drop some pounds (water weight) for the weigh-in. But the weight thats lost just returns when you get re-hydrated.

Any long term results that you achieve i just think are from all the activities themselves (the running, biking, etc), and have nothing to do with the sauna. Im not trying to sound like an expert though, cause im not. I just really think 1 hour of exercising (lifting weights mainly)when your fully charged is 10x more productive than 20-30 minutes of a pooped in-sauna workout.

Either way keep at it and good luck!

[Lidstromrules16 7]

maybe the whole sauna thing isnt too much about losing weight, but about training in bad conditions. Kinda like how runners run in high altitude places cause its harder to breathe there, and then when it comes time to run in the race they have better stamina. Maybe it is something to that effect

[betterREDthandead 58]

Update time for me! I just weighed in about 15 minutes ago and the bad news is I didn't lose any inches off my waistline. But the good news is I dropped almost 4 pounds since last weigh-in a little over two weeks ago. So I've gone from:

195.9 - May 11

194.5 - May 23

190.7 - June 8

Five pounds in about as many weeks, so I'm on track.

[edicius 3,269]

Okay, I've been trying to figure out my weight for a while now.

I'm 5'7" and weigh around 230lbs right now...but the thing is, I'm not that big. I do have a gut, but it's not a gut big enough to, say, rest a beer can on. I wear size 38 jeans very comfortably and often times need a belt for them (could probably wear size 36 jeans, but I'd be uncomfortable). My shirts are usually an XL and depending on the brand, sometimes even a size L (which is usually a little more snug around the gut area).

I fluctuate about 5-10lbs back and forth it seems and I'll admit, I'm not nearly as active as I need to be to drop some of the weight. I even tried the Fat-Smash Diet very briefly...got through the 'Detox' phase (all I ate was brown rice, broccoli and oatmeal) and actually lost about 15lbs during that whole time. But I could never keep up with the next steps simply because it just turned out to be impractical for me in terms of time, finances and, yes, tastebuds.

But any time I tell someone how much I weigh, the response is almost always the same... "That's impossible, you're not that big...your scale must not be working right." Sure, perhaps they're being polite, but seriously...is it possible that muscle mass is playing a larger role in the digits on the scale?

But here's the real kicker...I hate eating.

I find it to be an annoyance and damned inconvenient. I basically eat because I know I have to to keep my metabolism moving. Unfortunately, I know I don't exactly eat the best stuff either. Lots of frozen stuff (it's so much easier to grab a $1 Totino's pizza than make myself a real dinner) and very little of it veggies (I like broccoli and string beans...but hate peas, carrots and...uh...lettuce). Whenever we have meat in the freezer, however, it's always either chicken or ground turkey meat (supposed to be better for you than ground beef, right?). I rarely eat fried foods.

I drink a lot of water every day, though and almost never drink soda (pop for you Midwesterners ). First time I had a soda in months was yesterday when I grabbed a Pepsi at Target because it had Transformers movie stuff on it. :lol I usually drink one travel-mug of coffee in the morning (down from my multi-cup mornings of the recent past) with powdered creamer and sweetened with Sweet and Low. I've actually found myself going without more often than not lately, simply due to forgetting to make it in the morning, which leaves me with just water for the day. Thankfully, the caffeine headaches have begun to subside.

My job is, for all intents and purposes, a desk job with scattered periods of activity on my feet (I'm the head of the A/V dept. at a university), which doesn't help my overall activity quotient. There's a gym on campus I could go to. I used to every day until last September when work-related issues took anyway any spare time I had. Of course, that spare time returned this past February...but I never returned to the gym.

I have aerobics-type options at home with (don't laugh) Dance Dance Revolution for my PS2, but again, I don't play enough even when I know I should. It's a good workout, especially in the "non-stop" modes. But I need motivation and after a long day of work...well, we all know how that goes.

I'd love to be able to get myself back down below 200lbs, which I haven't been at since I lived in Michigan over 7 years ago. I just feel like I need that motivation and maybe some practical real-world solutions. I need to get into a routine and stick with it for a change.

Wow. That was a long post. Did anyone actually read all of that?

[Wings_Fan_In_Exile 3]

I have aerobics-type options at home with (don't laugh) Dance Dance Revolution for my PS2, but again, I don't play enough even when I know I should. It's a good workout, especially in the "non-stop" modes. But I need motivation and after a long day of work...well, we all know how that goes.

I'd love to be able to get myself back down below 200lbs, which I haven't been at since I lived in Michigan over 7 years ago. I just feel like I need that motivation and maybe some practical real-world solutions. I need to get into a routine and stick with it for a change.

Wow. That was a long post. Did anyone actually read all of that?

I hear you on losing motivation after a long day at the office. I often have the same problem. But you said it yourself, get a routine and stick with it, stay active and your weight will drop. Less junk food helps too.

I hadn't seen this thread til edicius bumped it but I can relate with a lot of folks here.

I'm 6'1" weighed 190lbs in High School when I was still an athlete. This past winter full of blizzards, a new girlfriend, a car accident and two months on the couch for playoff hockey and I'm now around 215lbs (from around my normal 200). What has been killing me is the waistline. I was a 30" waist in HS, 32" in college, 33"-34" was still acceptible but now I probably need a 36" waistline to fit comfortably. Can't bring myself to buy bigger pants so I'm on board with this thread (albeit very late).

I started biking to work this week and will encorporate some weight training and cardio daily and TRY to eat healthier food, but I hate cooking so we'll see.

Anyway, any updates from anybody?

*oh and my target weight is around 200lbs (fits my frame) but more importantly fitting in my pants comfortably again!!!*

Edited June 12, 2007 by Wings_Fan_In_Exile

[SouthernWingsFan 854]

I hear you on losing motivation after a long day at the office. I often have the same problem. But you said it yourself, get a routine and stick with it, stay active and your weight will drop. Less junk food helps too.

I hadn't seen this thread til edicius bumped it but I can relate with a lot of folks here.

I'm 6'1" weighed 190lbs in High School when I was still an athlete. This past winter full of blizzards, a new girlfriend, a car accident and two months on the couch for playoff hockey and I'm now around 215lbs (from around my normal 200). What has been killing me is the waistline. I was a 30" waist in HS, 32" in college, 33"-34" was still acceptible but now I probably need a 36" waistline to fit comfortably. Can't bring myself to buy bigger pants so I'm on board with this thread (albeit very late).

I started biking to work this week and will encorporate some weight training and cardio daily and TRY to eat healthier food, but I hate cooking so we'll see.

Anyway, any updates from anybody?

*oh and my target weight is around 200lbs (fits my frame) but more importantly fitting in my pants comfortably again!!!*

This is why, other than Friday evenings when there's spinning class I rarely miss, that I work out early in the mornings now Mondays - Thursdays. It's perfect for me, I wake up between 4:00am - 4:30am, eat breakfast and have a cup of coffee, take my time and let my body slowly wake up, then when I get to my health club around 5:30am/5:45am, my body is pretty much fully functional and I usually get a good workout in for about an hour.

And not being burned out at that time is really starting to show results as I've really had some solid hard treadmill runs lately, especially this morning. I killed about 285 calories in 20 minutes of running this morning. If I keep that pace for an hour, that's 855 calories then, which is a good bit killed in a short amount of time.

If I could just cut out the 1 - 2 times a week I crave fried food or pizza, I'd be down a few pounds, but I'm not all that worried about it because I'm disciplined enough to where I won't just eat crap every day of the week, I work out just about every day (can only remember 1 day over the last 2 - 3 weeks where I didn't do any physical activity), and I'm getting more toned in my chest area by doing a lot of sit-ups and other body exercises/stretches in a sauna room.

So, I'm still hovering around 150 give or take a few pounds at 5'7", so it's not like I'm unhealthy looking/overweight to begin with, and I feel like I'm in the best shape in a long, long time.

Edited June 12, 2007 by SouthernWingsFan

[Lou_Siffer 1]

edicius- Im betting you just have tree trunks for legs!

If you dont look fat up top, id guess thats probably where alot of the extra weight is at.

[edicius 3,269]

edicius- Im betting you just have tree trunks for legs!

If you dont look fat up top, id guess thats probably where alot of the extra weight is at.

I do have muscular calves and my thighs are on the larger side, so that does make some sense.

[SouthernWingsFan 854]

I don't know so much about the weight loss right now, I weight 148 last time I was on a scale, but after working out 11 days straight now, with a lot of cardio work, and this late afternoon running 5 3/4 miles total in 50 minutes, and killing over 660 calories and doing 23 laps on the treadmill, I hope I'm damned fit!

That's the most distance I've ever run in one setting, no headphones cued in to keep me motivated or anything, but somehow I did it, and was able to keep a solid pace throughout even though I was really getting tired with about 15 minutes left.

I pretty much ran either 6.5 or 7.0 MPH. With the pace I did, I ran at about 8:40 per mile, which is really good for me because I never did any cross country in high school or anything like that and I am definitely not a fast runner/sprinter/jogger.

I'm getting there with the fit aspect.

Edited June 17, 2007 by SouthernWingsFan