Human Conditioning!

[MafiaPrincess]

Amazing on the half marathon training Beanie!

When I find time, I hit a treadmill in the gym and can still run 5-6km, thankfully haven't lost it. In summer I rollerblade with Cider, ride with Kerri..

I'm down 16 pounds, and would love the warm to come so I could do things outside again.. I am a ski instructor, but since I supervise now.. I have no time to ski. At the hill 25 hours a week or so, seen my skis once. I used to ski 40 a week and lost 30 pounds one year and kept it off for multiple years..

[Dekka]

Not for losing weight (as I don't think exercise has a lot to do with losing weight, but has a lot to do with looking fit and being healthy) but I have been going to the gym. Oh wow I did a pilates class on monday. Didn't feel like anything at the time. My abs are still killing me this morning. I wanted to hit a class today but I have a bad headache and likely should just take it easy.

Originally Posted by MikeR

Jogging, and not consuming more calories than what you burn. That is the real secret to staying fit.

I have to say this gave me a chuckle. Its great if that works for you. And it might be your real secret. But the secret is really that its not that simple for many people.

[MikeR]

Originally Posted by Dekka

I have to say this gave me a chuckle. Its great if that works for you. And it might be your real secret. But the secret is really that its not that simple for many people.

I know its difficult but not impossible.

Its all a matter of self control.

I'm not just talking out my nose here, take me for example. I used to weight 230 lbs, walking and cutting down my calorie intake, I now weight 150 lbs, it took me one year, but its worth it and anyone can do it!

[AliciaD]

Well, I think you guys have only seen pics of my face with the dogs, but I'm pretty big. That being said, it's gotten worse since going to school because (surprise, surprise) I'm not walking my dogs 3 miles a day.

And I don't feel like walking by myself.

So I'm doing training that doesn't involve a gym or equipment. Pushups, situps, yoga, lunges, resistance bands, stair climbing, etc.

And in June I'm walking the 10k AIDS Walk Boston, I do it every year. You guys should do it too!

[Dekka]

Originally Posted by MikeR

I know its difficult but not impossible.

Its all a matter of self control.

I'm not just talking out my nose here, take me for example. I used to weight 230 lbs, walking and cutting down my calorie intake, I now weight 150 lbs, it took me one year, but its worth it and anyone can do it!

I am not talking out my nose either.. On two fronts. I am experienced at losing (and sadly gaining) weight. AND I am a biochemist.

First off.. I took up running. I ran with the Running room. I did this for about 6 months. I ran 5-8k 3-4 times a week. I kept a food diary and ate no more than 1500 cals a day.. more typically 1100-1300. I weighted 267 at the start. I lost maybe 10 pounds in all that time.

I did lose weight cutting calories a few years ago. I just kept cutting over time and had to get down to 600 cals a day to see the scale move. It did and I lost 60 pounds. Sadly I cannot live that way and they call came back with friends.

I kept a food diary this fall. Just to see what I was eating (not trying to change things) I nearly cried. I was only eating ~1100 cals a day. How the heck could I be this weight?

I am now down a lot simply by changing what I ate, not how much I ate.


As for cals in/out. Its being shown not to be the primary mechanism of losing weight for obese people. The changes people make to drop calories often what make the difference. Papers are showing this consistently. There are kids in clinics (so not sneaking more food) with hormonal imbalances that gain weight even on severely low calorie diets. As soon as they are 'fixed' the weight comes off even when they eat a normal amount of food.

Cals in/out is not a useful model for looking at metabolism. It doesn't take into account the various pathways of digestion/metabolism (for example fructose is metabolized in a different pathway than glucose. This is why rats fed the same calories but high fructose diets gain more weight than those on a high glucose diet) It also doesn't take into account the metabolic 'cost' of different foods (it takes energy to break down nutrients.. some more than others) As well as it completely ignores the fact that the body can regulate how much energy it burns up or down in response to how much you eat and hormonal responses to what you eat.

/steps off soap box.

[stardogs]

Yea this is not a thread about losing weight, as we have several of those, this is about *conditioning* and imo there's a big difference between the two.

I'm at a good weight for me, the lowest I've been in the last 8-10 years, am maintaining it just fine, and have for the past almost 2 years, *but* I still don't consider myself as fit as I'd like to be!

[Dekka]

Well yes.. I dont' think the two are related. Its just needed to be refuted!

back on topic.. I would really like to get a personal trainer but I can't afford one right now. A friend got one and had a tailored program and made MUCH better gains than when we were just messing around on our own.

[MafiaPrincess]

I sadly had 3 PTs last year. One rocked, 2 were useless. I didn't find their program was better for me per say, the extra encouragement to go further, push harder and finish my workout if tired was really what thy were good for.

[stardogs]

That does remind me that one of my friends is a trainer - and I've given her plenty of advice on her cat, so perhaps I can get her to offer some suggestions....

[oakash]

I'm playing softball and volleyball, so every day of the week I'm doing something for 2 hours, sometimes 4. I want to start running, but I hate running.