The Syndicate

Almost 4 years ago, I made the decision to become a happier, healthier version of myself. I started eating better. I began working out. I quit drinking. It hasn't always been the easiest, but it's always been worth it.

Here's me on 02/14/12 compared to about an hour ago....




I've achieved a lot of this through very relaxed means (counting calories and steps) but I've decided to step up my workout game this year! I've already started running more regularly, but am always interested in new and fun ways to exercise since I get bored easily.

What are you doing to stay fit?

Having another beer.

Oh, you said fit. I misread.

Here's me in then (October 2015) and now. But I'm not done. I'm still working towards my goal of 22% body fat.

I did a lot of Turbo Fire (beachbody) to lose the weight, as well as cut my food supply by a good bit . I'm trying to "eat clean" nowadays which just means more fruits and vegies and proteins without a lot of carbs and processed mess. I am also now doing p90x3 which is helping me gain muscle (and a little bit of weight :/) but I am hoping it all works out in the end. This is my first time really doing weights and what not. I still have 7-8 lbs of fat I want to get rid of. So, after p90x3 I may end up going back to a mostly cardio-based program.

Splints...do you do any weights or all cardio?

Some, but not really. my weight training needs some serious work. I guess I haven't developed a routine with weights that works for me yet. I have a kettle bell that I like to do squats and bicep curls with.

I might look up some kettle bell routines tomorrow and see if I can find one that fits. Something that I can do on non-running days.

The wife and I got each other way too much candy for each other's Christmas stockings the last two years and I'm pretty sure my metabolism slowed down. On New Year's Day I got on our scale for the first time in many months. I saw a number that I hadn't seen since college and freaked out.

Prior to packing on weight around the holidays, I had been trying to stick to a pretty regimented plan to avoid excess calories but I was only really monitoring breakfast and lunch. I know I won't be able to really drop more weight until I can exercise more but I'm trying to move on from simply eating less to eating better.

This past week, I started replacing half of my cereal with 6 oz of yogurt. I weigh myself on Saturdays, so we'll see if it helped any. I know that yogurt has more protein in it than most breakfast cereals but I compared the Yoplait I've been eating to other brands and found that it's packed with sugar and lighter on protein than most others. Any recommendations on a yogurt brand for me to try?

Also, what do some of you fit people eat to balance fiber and protein? I had been eating some fiber-dense cereals but they also had a fair number of carbs. I'm not what I consider truly overweight but based on my body type, I would consider myself skinny-fat.

I've done a lot of research on the internet about yogurt. The best yogurts you can eat are plain or vanilla, but even those are full of sugar. It's best to add your own fruit. And, I am not sure if you have an Aldi, but they have a brand called Friendly Farms and I have found that their yogurt has the least amount of sugar. For extra protein, I eat Pure Protein bars -the chocolate chip is my favorite. Its around 200 calories, 20 grams of protein, and only 1 gram of sugar. I've been trying to lay off as much sugar and carbs as possible. I read that men should eat only up to 37.5 grams of sugar a day and women, no more than 25. So when I go shopping, I am cautious of what I buy. I buy low sugar salad dressing and jam made of almost all fruit, stuff like that.

The only thing I don't control is dinner as I have a great spouse who cooks for me. So, for dinner I just work on portion control. Epi cooks, but I plate.

Splints, you say "on days your don't run". What does a week of workouts look like for you? Do you not work out every day? Cause you look awesome!

Elohcin wrote:The only thing I don't control is dinner as I have a great spouse

Great- adj. very large, used to indicate extensive size.

Elohcin wrote:who cooks for me. So, for dinner I just work on portion control. Epi cooks, but I plate.

You give yourself a tiny portion and give me the rest.

Here is my goal, a comfortable size 6. I am one pant size away!!! and Have been since August, 2015!!!!!

This is me right before getting preggo with Simon.

Epi, that ought to be your goal pic too, you look mighty HOT!!!

I still fit into those shades.

lol

fingersplints wrote:Almost 4 years ago, I made the decision to become a happier, healthier version of myself. I started eating better. I began working out. I quit drinking. It hasn't always been the easiest, but it's always been worth it.

Here's me on 02/14/12 compared to about an hour ago....




I've achieved a lot of this through very relaxed means (counting calories and steps) but I've decided to step up my workout game this year! I've already started running more regularly, but am always interested in new and fun ways to exercise since I get bored easily.

What are you doing to stay fit?

Lots and lots of yoga! I complete my 200-hour certified yoga teacher program on March 6th. That has consisted of weekends of 8 hours of yoga all day, so I feel very fit from that, good grief (too bad I never met a tater I didn't like).

Since the beginning of the year, I've managed to drop 10 pounds through tweaking my breakfast habits. It's kind of remarkable how much a small change can make. Now I just need the warm weather to stick around for good so I can get out and pull/push my daughters around our neighborhood more frequently.

I joined the gym last year and it went really well until summer hit and my busy season kept me away. After that I was just not motivated enough to get it going again. Plus a lot of issues with my gym buddy didn't help. I still keep in contact with my fitness instructor and now she's my coach and I'm doing it at home. I have already started to change some of my diet and started Zumba again. This Monday is going to be my real start date. No more drinking (bye bye rye and coke), a regimented meal plan and regular exercise daily. We'll see how it goes. I just tried out my new scale, I am the heaviest I have been in my whole life. Worse then when I started last year. The hard part will be when I have the food truck out again. I serve all crap foods that taste soooo good. No Bacon, Bacon, Cheddars for me. It'll be hard to make sure I pack the right kinds of food when I'm away from home and in the world of sinful food.

Thank goodness I have a coach that I trust.

I want to buy what you're selling.

Epignosis wrote:I want to buy what you're selling.

I could go for the cheddars component but I'll pass on the bacon. I love food truck food though. Lots of character. I may plan a visit to Canada just to hunt you guys down and buy some grub.

G-Man wrote:

Epignosis wrote:I want to buy what you're selling.

I could go for the cheddars component but I'll pass on the bacon. I love food truck food though. Lots of character. I may plan a visit to Canada just to hunt you guys down and buy some grub.

Epignosis lives in North Carolina.

Black Rock lives in Canada. Shes the one selling food.

I know. I was being pedantic since he quoted Epignosis. :P

G-Man wrote:

Epignosis wrote:I want to buy what you're selling.

I could go for the cheddars component but I'll pass on the bacon. I love food truck food though. Lots of character. I may plan a visit to Canada just to hunt you guys down and buy some grub.

I'd give you some grub for free if you hunted us down.

Field trip!

I go to the gym.

Story concluded.

Also, I'll have the bacon, if G-Man wants the cheddar.

I think this is the right thread.

This weekend I was able to solve a Rubik's Cube while doing a plank.

My next goal is to do a 4x4x4 cube in similar fashion.

Started gymming after one month and a half.

i am in pain

I started a weight loss program about 3 months ago and have lost approx. 75 lbs. and 73 total inches. The hardest part has also been quitting the drinking cuz I am...was...a huge craft beer fan. Instead, I will occassionally (once or twice a month, maybe) have a bloody mary.

^^^ Awesome work, sir. I admire the discipline that must take. Keep at it!

I play a lot of sports, lately ultimate frisbee and tennis. I have always enjoyed cardiovascular exercise; I run often too and hope to get my bicycle back into operable condition. When I'm not making entirely too many posts in a Mafia game, I am outside getting stinky.

JaggedJimmyJay wrote:^^^ Awesome work, sir. I admire the discipline that must take. Keep at it!

I play a lot of sports, lately ultimate frisbee and tennis. I have always enjoyed cardiovascular exercise; I run often too and hope to get my bicycle back into operable condition. When I'm not making entirely too many posts in a Mafia game, I am outside getting stinky.

Thx...I've still got a long way to go, however, and I still haven't even really started in with a regular excercise program. My work keeps me active enough for now (averaging walking 5 miles/10,000+ steps per day and a few dozen flights of stairs) but I've made it a point to try and STAY active on my days off. I usually go out walking but the 100+ degree heat here this summer has often curtailed that plan recently.

Also, I've been wanting to get into a weight/strength training reigimen (cuz our apt. complex' "excercise room" is ridiculous...5 pieces of equipment: 2 treadmills, a sit-down bike, an eliptical and a weight bench/tree/station) because I realize I'm going to need to tone up as I slim down.

Yay getting fit!
Being on a loose schedule where I don't wanna eat before shows for fear of throwing up on stage and being in random places all the time, it's hard to make a regiment and stick to it. Often times the options are...limiting at best. Sometimes we don't have a fridge so I can't store that kind of stuff for later. So what do I usually do? Eat the one thing that's available after the show ~11p...pizza. I usually have an entire medium thin crust pizza to myself and I'm still starving after. So I had to work out some sort of diet that I could sustain while eating a shit ton of carbs at night.

You know how usually they say to avoid carbs after 6p or so? Well my coworker was a personal trainer and he is a wizard with the science behind all that. I still don't understand. But he told me that the body burns off carbs as it sleeps, and he flipped the equation upside down, convincing me to eat no/low carbs before 6p, and afterwards eat whatever I want.

And it works. He's ripped, and I've had the energy to keep pushing.

Now the trick here is that I have to work out 5-6 times a week in order to stave off all those calories I'm taking in every night. But before 6p, it's just protein. To answer your question, @GMan, goin for fats, protein and fiber before 6 is the way to go. And obviously not putting in more calories than you're burning. So I don't eat breakfast. In this regiment, I'm told not to eat anything until 2 hours after I wake up. Dunno why, I just do. Eat cheese, nuts, have bacon or other meats without processed starches and carbs. Work out during the day. Right after working out, supplement with protein shakes and Quest Bars. (Quest bars btw taste great, are high in fiber, and have almost no net-carbs. Can't go wrong there). Take creatine. I don't even know what that is, but it looks like cocaine and the TSA will swab it. And I take a tablespoon every day. Then when 6p hits, eat whatever I feel like.

Now this is my own regiment for leaning and bulking. Losing weight is eating less after 6. Gaining muscle and weight is eating more after 6. Before then stays the same. And it's amazing the stuff you'll come to realize is high in carbs. EVERYTHING has carbs. Had a hits breakfast with the trainer and I rolled up with a muffin, breakfast sandwich, juice and a banana. Fruit is literally nothing but carbs. Muffin obviously. Bread. Was left with meat and cheese. Like an animal. I feel like a caged animal sometimes with this diet. But it feels good to be in good shape, so...you know. Weather the storm and all that.

My gf just recently switched from alcoholism to exercising, and it's done wonders for her self esteem! I can agree.



Uh, cardio? I recently got into cycling classes. Flywheel is my thing, because it's literally a competition against the other riders in class. Really pushes me because I'm a competitive person. Tried soul cycle. HATE IT. Too much culty bullshit. I don't need a primpy queen moaning out that "Cycling is the soul" and "Every pedal is a push to make you a better you". Argh it sucks!!

Anyway.

Working out is the secret to more energy during the day and the releasing of endorphins makes you a happier person in general.
But be forewarned that if you make it your life, you will become a douchebag. There's a fine line

Heya Scotty, question(s) for you:

What is your worklife like? What you describe above seems foreign to me, but I imagine this sort of diet/exercise/regime is crafted for your situation, so I'm curious what it's applying to. The main reason I'm curious is because I've been told similar things before: don't eat within 2 hours of going to bed. While I agree that the body will digest foods overnight, I understand it that the body cannot properly rest as a result, because it's using energy to digest the recently eaten food.

Why does it seem foreign? Well, I eat carbs all day everyday. :P Ok, not quite like that. But I am a rabbit by habit, and I eat a lot of fruits and veggies throughout the day, combined with nuts, cheese, yogurt, and/or butter/oil for some protein and fat. Meat is rarely included in my diet, mainly because it's expensive and I've become accustomed to living without it. I'm no dietician, but I haven't gotten sick in a couple years (knock on wood). I also exercise a lot, but haven't been injured either.

So it's now been almost two months since I received my Fitbit (Charge HR version), which Annie surprised me with as a super early birthday present. I thrive on organization so I love this thing, and could tell I've gained a decent amount of weight the past few years due to little exercise and a high workload, but I was hesitant to purchase it myself for a while due to the cost, afraid I would be more stressed by tracking all my caloric intake, just thinking it wouldn't help, etc.

Anyway, from June 8th through yesterday morning, I'm happy to say I've lost 15 lbs!! Although I'm not in terrible shape, I'm still not at where I want to be, but I've gotten so much closer already thanks to the organization and motivation this device has brought. 15 may not seem like much but I'm proud of it so far, so I thought I'd use Facebook to brag about it! Now I just hope I didn't gain all of those pounds back with my birthday celebration yesterday...

The man eats cheeseburger donuts and brags about losing fifteen pounds.

Epignosis wrote:The man eats cheeseburger donuts and brags about losing fifteen pounds.

I tell you I did NOT weigh myself this morning, that's for sure.

Metalmarsh89 wrote:Heya Scotty, question(s) for you:

What is your worklife like? What you describe above seems foreign to me, but I imagine this sort of diet/exercise/regime is crafted for your situation, so I'm curious what it's applying to. The main reason I'm curious is because I've been told similar things before: don't eat within 2 hours of going to bed. While I agree that the body will digest foods overnight, I understand it that the body cannot properly rest as a result, because it's using energy to digest the recently eaten food.

Why does it seem foreign? Well, I eat carbs all day everyday. :P Ok, not quite like that. But I am a rabbit by habit, and I eat a lot of fruits and veggies throughout the day, combined with nuts, cheese, yogurt, and/or butter/oil for some protein and fat. Meat is rarely included in my diet, mainly because it's expensive and I've become accustomed to living without it. I'm no dietician, but I haven't gotten sick in a couple years (knock on wood). I also exercise a lot, but haven't been injured either.

Yes, my regiment is directly a result of my work schedule. Which is pretty lax as it is. So while on contract, I'm in a traveling show where I'm at the mercy of where we stop. When we're in Texas, for instance, our resident vegitarians experience PTSD and twitch in the corner. So food limitations have to be pretty flexible. Some weeks will be 8am wake up, bussing all day to the next stop, Be ready at the theater at 6, do a show, get back to hotel room around 11ish, look at what's open and affordable. Rinse and repeat. Some days we are in a location longer than a day, some we get right to the theater, so we're stir-crazy and tired. Try to fit in workouts either in the morning, before our call, or after the show.

This type of diet won't work for everyone. I get my cardio from the show generally. I've since adapted the no-carb half day thing while between contracts, but I gotta admit: I LOVE eating. I love eating more than my girlfriend. She knows this.
So I cheat, and then work it off in the gym.

Carbs all day? Hey, ya know if it works for you, then that's cool. I'm no expert on working out, I only do what works for me. What works for you won't necessarily work for another person. What you're doing right is, what it sounds like, eating the good carbs. Not high in sugar, or processed, and all that. Eating fruits and veggies while exercise is a habit that will work on ANY schedule. The trick is fitting in the time to do both. I just scarfed down an avacado wrap and am going to go lift now but man I don't wanna. But my time is limited today, so...them's the breakz

MovingPictures07 wrote:So it's now been almost two months since I received my Fitbit (Charge HR version), which Annie surprised me with as a super early birthday present. I thrive on organization so I love this thing, and could tell I've gained a decent amount of weight the past few years due to little exercise and a high workload, but I was hesitant to purchase it myself for a while due to the cost, afraid I would be more stressed by tracking all my caloric intake, just thinking it wouldn't help, etc.

Anyway, from June 8th through yesterday morning, I'm happy to say I've lost 15 lbs!! Although I'm not in terrible shape, I'm still not at where I want to be, but I've gotten so much closer already thanks to the organization and motivation this device has brought. 15 may not seem like much but I'm proud of it so far, so I thought I'd use Facebook to brag about it! Now I just hope I didn't gain all of those pounds back with my birthday celebration yesterday...

I love and hate my Fitbit. In my workweek challenge (that I PM'd you about) we're in competition with our resident guitarist, who runs marathons on the reg. So he's always Averaging 110,000 steps a week. Which is bullshit, I beat him one week this year, because he lost his charger for 4 days out of the week. He still got 30,000 on that Friday though, so it was a close call

Scotty wrote:

MovingPictures07 wrote:So it's now been almost two months since I received my Fitbit (Charge HR version), which Annie surprised me with as a super early birthday present. I thrive on organization so I love this thing, and could tell I've gained a decent amount of weight the past few years due to little exercise and a high workload, but I was hesitant to purchase it myself for a while due to the cost, afraid I would be more stressed by tracking all my caloric intake, just thinking it wouldn't help, etc.

Anyway, from June 8th through yesterday morning, I'm happy to say I've lost 15 lbs!! Although I'm not in terrible shape, I'm still not at where I want to be, but I've gotten so much closer already thanks to the organization and motivation this device has brought. 15 may not seem like much but I'm proud of it so far, so I thought I'd use Facebook to brag about it! Now I just hope I didn't gain all of those pounds back with my birthday celebration yesterday...

I love and hate my Fitbit. In my workweek challenge (that I PM'd you about) we're in competition with our resident guitarist, who runs marathons on the reg. So he's always Averaging 110,000 steps a week. Which is bullshit, I beat him one week this year, because he lost his charger for 4 days out of the week. He still got 30,000 on that Friday though, so it was a close call

That is fucking insane! My brother always wins the Workweek Challenge with my mom and me because he works retail. It's often difficult for me to hit 10,000 because of being at this computer for so long every day/night, but I try. 30,000 would be unprecedented. I made 25,000 once and I'm pretty sure I won't hit it again anytime soon.

My step count since last Friday was 1316, 417, 265, 1122, 245, 132, which is absurd, because I totally walked around my room for countless hours, trying to memorise stuff for my exam. Guess I forgot to carry the phone in my pocket.

Lookin' forward to my vacation trip next week, because I can average around 20k, maybe max it to 25k even, during the day, with how much I visit.

My average steps so far are about 9,000 apparently.

That's quite good, I can hit that during a normal busy routine day, otherwise it's around 6k when I just go out for stuff.

I average around 392 during summer vacation.

MovingPictures07 wrote:

Scotty wrote:

MovingPictures07 wrote:So it's now been almost two months since I received my Fitbit (Charge HR version), which Annie surprised me with as a super early birthday present. I thrive on organization so I love this thing, and could tell I've gained a decent amount of weight the past few years due to little exercise and a high workload, but I was hesitant to purchase it myself for a while due to the cost, afraid I would be more stressed by tracking all my caloric intake, just thinking it wouldn't help, etc.

Anyway, from June 8th through yesterday morning, I'm happy to say I've lost 15 lbs!! Although I'm not in terrible shape, I'm still not at where I want to be, but I've gotten so much closer already thanks to the organization and motivation this device has brought. 15 may not seem like much but I'm proud of it so far, so I thought I'd use Facebook to brag about it! Now I just hope I didn't gain all of those pounds back with my birthday celebration yesterday...

I love and hate my Fitbit. In my workweek challenge (that I PM'd you about) we're in competition with our resident guitarist, who runs marathons on the reg. So he's always Averaging 110,000 steps a week. Which is bullshit, I beat him one week this year, because he lost his charger for 4 days out of the week. He still got 30,000 on that Friday though, so it was a close call

That is fucking insane! My brother always wins the Workweek Challenge with my mom and me because he works retail. It's often difficult for me to hit 10,000 because of being at this computer for so long every day/night, but I try. 30,000 would be unprecedented. I made 25,000 once and I'm pretty sure I won't hit it again anytime soon.

Play more Pokemon Go. Problem solved.

Ricochet wrote:That's quite good, I can hit that during a normal busy routine day, otherwise it's around 6k when I just go out for stuff.

Yeah, it's been more difficult since I stopped teaching -- going to campus and running around makes it significantly easier to hit 10,000. When I'm not teaching (right now) and just doing research, I expect my numbers to continue decreasing although I'm going to try to avoid it. We'll see though.

Metalmarsh89 wrote:

MovingPictures07 wrote:

Scotty wrote:

MovingPictures07 wrote:So it's now been almost two months since I received my Fitbit (Charge HR version), which Annie surprised me with as a super early birthday present. I thrive on organization so I love this thing, and could tell I've gained a decent amount of weight the past few years due to little exercise and a high workload, but I was hesitant to purchase it myself for a while due to the cost, afraid I would be more stressed by tracking all my caloric intake, just thinking it wouldn't help, etc.

Anyway, from June 8th through yesterday morning, I'm happy to say I've lost 15 lbs!! Although I'm not in terrible shape, I'm still not at where I want to be, but I've gotten so much closer already thanks to the organization and motivation this device has brought. 15 may not seem like much but I'm proud of it so far, so I thought I'd use Facebook to brag about it! Now I just hope I didn't gain all of those pounds back with my birthday celebration yesterday...

I love and hate my Fitbit. In my workweek challenge (that I PM'd you about) we're in competition with our resident guitarist, who runs marathons on the reg. So he's always Averaging 110,000 steps a week. Which is bullshit, I beat him one week this year, because he lost his charger for 4 days out of the week. He still got 30,000 on that Friday though, so it was a close call

That is fucking insane! My brother always wins the Workweek Challenge with my mom and me because he works retail. It's often difficult for me to hit 10,000 because of being at this computer for so long every day/night, but I try. 30,000 would be unprecedented. I made 25,000 once and I'm pretty sure I won't hit it again anytime soon.

Play more Pokemon Go. Problem solved.

That definitely does help! I've been really slacking on it the past two weeks.

I used to love my Fitbit! I got it in 2012, and it really helped motivate me to walk more. I stopped wearing it earlier this year; After my dog died, my walking significantly dropped and it made me sad to see the numbers. I just started wearing it again, but I really only log in the app to taunt Kadaj.

This months goals are:
Cardio 4/5 times a week. This is either running or rowing. Running is the best. I don't feel the rowing gets my heart rate up the same, but it's nice to have an indoor option.
Weights 4/5 times a week. I need to up the weight though. Sadly I've outgrown my favorite kettlebell.
Yoga - everyday.

Even though I was sick some last week, I still managed to meet all my goals. I'm off to a real lazy start this week, but we will see.

I did a session of yoga for the first time ever last Friday. It was excellent!

It helped that a friend of mine was instructing, and she gave me a free pass.

I hear you can burn 14-18 calories on average playing Mafia.

Metalmarsh89 wrote:I did a session of yoga for the first time ever last Friday. It was excellent!

It helped that a friend of mine was instructing, and she gave me a free pass.

I would love to have a friend that teaches. I'd love to take a class, but I'm not sure the group setting is for me. I'm easily demotivated. I think I work out better alone. But on the other hand, I need some help with new poses. I saw a group in the park while I was running the other day. I'm still considering it.

I hope you continue it! It's a lot of finance very relaxing.

Epignosis wrote:I hear you can burn 14-18 calories on average playing Mafia.

I'm happy to say, I no longer have to worry about calories. It's been a long road, but I'm finally here.
I'm not playing any Mafia at the moment. I'm going to the states next month for my dad's wedding.