Health & Fitness

As long as i don't eat like a bear every time i go to the gym then i'm happy. Will try the shake on Friday night or Sat morning depending on when I to the gym.

Ordered some dumbells (York 20kg Cast Iron Dumbell Set) like suggested. Any tips for using them or exercises other than just regular lifting?
Also looking into a change of diet like Grayfox has said. Gave up drinking fizzy drinks all day, only drink water, milk and sometimes juice. Obviously will have to extend this to food as well.

Well done mate, sounds like all good steps. When you say juice do you mean cordial or 'fresh' juice? Some juices have high sugar content, particularly those made from concentrate.
Using the dumbells can actually mean getting a full body workout still. I love doing squats and lunges with them and they really get the blood going and muscles working. I find them so versatile to work arms/shoulders/back/legs and chest. If you search the internet you should find dozens of exercises to do. I use a rotation of about 20 and Ive not long been at it! :)

Been looking into calorie for alcohol. It would appear that white spirits and diet mixers appear.to be the way forward. Drinking pints of strongbow can add 250 calories per pint whereas vodka and diet coke seems to be about a third of that!

Robinsons diluting juice 'Summer Fruits' and 'Orange and Pinnaple' are my two drinks of choice in between meals and to rehidrate after a workout.

Be sure they are the 'no added sugar' versions of those drinks tho.

Also never weigh yourself after drinking a lot of water after a workout for instance as it's most of your bodies main weight.

If you have to weigh yourself do it first thing in the morning and only once per month if your trying to lose weight as the weight gained from adding muscle could well put you off, use your clothes as gauge on how well you are doing rather than constantly checking a scale.

I'm not trying to lose weight Ness, I'm trying to gain it. I sit at just under 9st but I'm 6"2 so I look very skinny. I'm trying to gain some weight through muscle and not fat though.

Luckily for me my favourite foods are ones with carbs though. I like unsalted nuts as a snack when watching TV or gaming (although salted pistachios are amazing). Might invest in protein bars from Costco as 'boosters' since I can't stomach the shakes.

Ah sorry my bad, so many people lol.

Ness - Robinsons summer fruits or squash? Is not the best way to rehydrate. I would only recommend plain old water or an isotonic drink. Squash isn't ideal, especially if it's loaded with artificial sweetners. Water gets absorbed by the body alot quicker than squash.

"Obviously will have to extend this to food as well"

Snarf - priority muscle building foods: Porridge, eggs, tuna, chicken, sardines, brown rice, wholemeal pasta, jacket potatoe, sweet potatoe, brocolli, bananas, oranges/satsumas, skimmed milk.

Salads are good, contain nutrients, iron etc.. but if you want to pack on some lean muscle mass then get your vitamins and nutrients from veg, and fruit. They get absorbed better than salads.

@Snarf

Your 20kg dumbell set is a great start. Use them to build up some core strength. Ideally you want to aim for extra plates to get those dumbells up to 40kg, so you have 20kg for each arm. That will promote even more muscle growth as your muscle structure adapts to the increased weight.

Your 10kg dumbells will be good for building strength, in preperation for the heavier weight to increase muscle trauma and growth.

Personally I would go with these combination of exercises. Mix then up or train a different bodypart for each day you train.

3 sets of 10 reps of bicep curls. Keep your elbows tucked in when executing the movement. Lift with perfectionist form or controlled but swift to your chest. Then lower with a count of 2 to 3 secs to acencuate the negative rep. This will cause increases muscle trauma and growth. negativee qrep.

Do you know what, i'm going to throw my phone off a very high building!

3 sets of 10 bicep curls
3 sets of 10 kickbacks
3 sets of 10 dumbell laterals (shoulders)
" " dumbell squats holding dumbells to your side.
" " dumbell shrugs (upper back)
" " bent over dumbell row (mid back)
" " press ups. Your body weight will be enough to strengthen your chest.
" " crunches for your abs. It's a fast twitch muscle group so add a few more sets if you want.

Others on here, Chrissy, Astro etc.. may have exercises they prefer. The above is just what I find works for me.

I've been pretty rubbish this week. We had takeaway pizza for dinner last night (from Pizza Express, and it really wasn't that good), I had a big bag of crisps on Tuesday night and haven't done my weights properly since Monday. On the other hand, I am beginning to find cycling into work easier now and I timed myself this morning and was just shy of 12 minutes. I think - when the weather grants good cycling conditions - I will try to work on that time and see how quick I can get.

I'm out on Thursday nights, but will do a session with my weights when I get back, before I'm off to bed.

Pizza take away in the week Tel? Tut tut. Com'on Tel, you was doing so well.

It's great that you cycle to work though. Full credit to you for doing that. By the sounds of it, you're getting your minimum daily cardio. It sounds like evening binges are your achilles heel perhaps?

Yeah, night-time munchies are my weakness. We haven't been eating proper dinners in a while now; my missus is *whisper* pregnant - in the very early stages so we're not celebrating just yet because we've had trouble conceiving in the past, but her taste buds are doing weird things and she doesn't want any of the six or seven meals I cook regularly, so we're eating a lot of junk, and I really don't feel inclined doing proper cooking if it's just for me.

Anyway, that sounds like a pretty weak excuse when I write it out like that. I am to blame and I will try to have more willpower! Maybe I should boil some eggs and keep them in the fridge in case I want a snack. How long do boiled eggs keep for?

It's easy to start a health kick. The only thing easier to do is fall of the wagon. It's very hard to maintain motivation. Ultimately it's up to you to choose whether or not you want to change your lifestyle in a positive manor or fall into the same old traps but If I was in your shoes I'd be doing my strength training religiously after spending money on Whey Protein even if it was just to the end of the tub for two reasons.

1. Too see if I was getting any positive results.
2. So I didn't feel like I'd wasted my money.

WRT your pizza, nothing wrong with a little treat now and again, but a treat should be just that. Something once in a while that is bad for you is fine in my eyes as long as you feel like you've earned it.

Congrtz Tel!
mine had a weird dairy cracing at the begining, lots of cheese, milk, eggs, mayo, etc. What ever the craving is let her have it, the mid-wives say that cravings is the body's way of saying it needs something. In my misses' case we think it was calcium, also if she isn't already get her folic acid and multi vitamins tablets to take, it really helps in the first stages.

Astro - we have to be careful how far we take 'treats' that we have earned. 1 maybe 2 days in a 7 day week should be treat days. Pizza late at night gets stored as fat quite quickly. The body doesn't need energy that time of the day and will not use it like it does in the mornings.

"WRT your pizza, nothing wrong with a little treat now and again, but a treat should be just that. Something once in a while that is bad for you is fine in my eyes as long as you feel like you've earned it."

Agreed, i had a Chicken kabab the other day, and although its one of the helthiest its probably still not good. But one in the last couple of weeks is better than having a lamb donner meat and chip nearly every weekend! Use it as a test, it you want one plan it in, say to yourself "i will have one but not today" then tomorrow say the same, try to do that for a couple of days before you get it. Alternatively, set yourself a target, of when you can cycle to work in 11 mins you can have one, or something similar.

You are 100% right Grayfox but as a reformed fat man I do like the wrong things and sometimes a treat can act as motivation to me. When I was trying to loose weight every 5 pounds dropped meant I was going to Nandos. Sometimes at the weekend I'll take a bowl of ice cream and honey when snuggled up on the couch watching a movie with the Mrs. I personally think it's all about finding the right balance for yourself with the keyword being balance. If I want to eat trash I've got to put the work in to earn it. The big change that has happened in me is that if I don't feel I've earned it I now don't want it.

I haven't fallen off the wagon per se - I'm still cycling 24 miles most weeks, sometimes a little more. I just haven't done my weights properly in a while. I'm finding it harder to maintain every other night, and my shoulders/arms are aching a lot more since following Gray's advice about doing slow negative reps.

Like I say though, we've been eating crap dinners and I think that's leaving me feeling more hungry than usual at night. And I've been a little bit off fruit as I was going OTT on grapes and cherries but they were giving me a bit of stomach ache and wind, so I've been laying off them as substitute snacks. I know I can do this; I just need to re-form my strategy a little. Also think I will buy some porridge and have it with honey for breakfast at weekends like Gray has talked about. Sounds delicious!

I know what your saying Astro. Sometimes having a portion controlled treat is fine. The thing with treats though is they can sky rocket your blood sugar, then you come down and want to bump it up again. Hence the rollercoaster ride of treats, (sugars). Tel's pizza late at night isn't ideal, but maybe 1 slice of pizza would have been fine, but how many people can resist further indulgence? Not many.

It's not that people should starve or restrict, more that they should plan and change certain foods to avoid hunger and binge eating.

Wrt fruit. Like Astro said before, keep it balanced. I wouldn't go mad with fruit and eat it in large quantities. A banana, an apple, apple sauce even, a satsuma, the rest of your vitamins and nutrients from veg.

I love porridge, but granted, some may find it bland. I am quite happy with just skimmed milk. 30-40g of steel cut oats are ideal, and the healthiest. Don't be tempted by the flavoured types. Plain and simple porridge oats from Quaker or Scott's is all you need. Put it in the microwave 1.30, recover(stir) add more milk if need be. A further 1.30 in the micro. Recover, stir, add milk if needed. You can top with crushed walnuts drizzled in honey, chopped strawberries with honey, or like me just add alittle apple sauce. Porridge is great for artery health and it's low GI.

I like porridge as well, have some Scots Oats in the cupboard. But when it's warm/humid (like today) I can't bare eating it. Fantastic breakfast in the winter though.

At the end of the day, i'm with Astro in that being healthy is just about a matter of balance.

If I felt I had to exercise 5 or more days a week and watch everything I put into my mouth then I don't think i'd actually see much point in living in the first place!

I have take away once a month and a fried breakfast once a week. On the treat front I just limit myself to the odd bit of chocolate or a cake every few days.

This along with 3 days of intensive workouts a week allows me to indulge and still stay in good shape without feeling like I have to live like a mormon and on those occasions where I have over indulged like on Holiday or after a big night out then I just cut back on the treats a bit more and maybe do a few extra days down the gym or get the bike out and go for a ride(don't tell her I referred to her as a bike though or i'll be sleeping on the sofa tonight!)

I've done the whole counting every calorie/sugar/fat content thing and found it the most miserable, boring and de-motivating thing i've ever done, not to mention taking up a reasonable amount of planning and time, and although the results i'm getting now have been a little slower coming they are still there and are a lot more likely to be maintained.