Project Shapety Shape

[m1469]

woo, down another .2 lbs. today, which makes it an official 5lbs. and only 1lb away from my goal weight for Sunday.  I actually can't quite believe I'm losing weight this way, but I am!  

*chugs water*

[goldentone]

There's not any big mystery to it though is there?  Exercise more, eat less.  Exercise a little even if you can lose weight to be healthy and eat healthy even if you don't need to lose weight.  

It's probably dietary.  

Get a good teacher  .  Ok, but really, I don't know!  Like Bob says, it's not a big mystery, generally.  I'm definitely no pro at knowing types of fats ... but, I do know that diet plays into it, even if you're not overweight.  I mean, some people seriously eat junk food for their meals, and consistently, yet they are not officially overweight ... and probably this doesn't help with that.  But, there are also ways to target tricky spots in exercise.  I'm definitely not at the real stage of targeting the tricky spots yet ... I'm still in the let's really find the tricky spots first, phase.

And I thought you were a certified Shapety Shape teacher!    Not a big mystery, hmm. . . I think it's a specific mystery.  As in where the answer is right in front of you but for some reason you can't see it.

Yes, I believe it is dietary related.  But I think the fundamental reason is, due to age, our bodies aren't processing the way they used to.  But true as the spirit of the Shapety-Shapers, there is a solution.  I shall find it.  We shall find it. . . Together. . . All Of Us!!

*Runs Everywhere*

[thalbergmad]

After months of rowing 10,000 metres 5 times a week up the gym, I appear to have lost 25 kilos.

Another 10 kilos and I will be under the safety limit of me cycle wheels.

Thal

[m1469]

Congrats, Thal! 

I have almost completed my workout for the day, which is the first time in ages since I've done one. 

*has one more set of stuff*

[ted]

Who's a good boy then Thal, and who's a good girl then m1469 ? According to my diary (journal where you are m1469), I have trained for an hour or more, either resistance or aerobic, on 757 days out of the last 867 days. But this does not include the walking and manual labour, of which there has been plenty. That's okay for a sixty-four year old I think. However, with the beach only five minutes walk away and with summer coming on, I am determined to bring swimming into the mix one way or another.

[goldentone]

In recent days, about a month and half or so, I've been cutting down on my ice cream consumption which I've had daily for several years.  Although I'm having a bowl now.

[ahinton]

After months of rowing 10,000 metres 5 times a week up the gym, I appear to have lost 25 kilos.

Another 10 kilos and I will be under the safety limit of me cycle wheels.

That really is a most remarkable achievement! Well don! Do you feel a lot better for it?

I'm afraid that I've done none of that over those same months - and I started out 3kg overweight and I'm currently - er - 3 kg overweight. Damn!

Best,

Alistair

[ted]

I might have some ice cream now, I forgot I had bought it. The yoghurt ice cream I eat has only 1% saturated fat. It has 20% sugar but I'm not too worried about sugar in small quantities as I easily burn it off.

[thalbergmad]

Do you feel a lot better for it?

At this exact moment in time, the answer would have to be no. However, when I do the London to Paris next year, I will be glad for every kilo I have lost.

Thal

[oxy60]

What I'm learning from these posts is that little things mean a lot in any "get in shape" program. Sugars are especially problematic because they are in almost everything. You can try to cut them out completely but you will never be 100% successful.

Thal, those numbers are very impressive. Congratulations!

[go12_3]

In order to get into shape, I feel that yoga and stretching can be beneficial for
overall stamina and flexibility, and good overall health.  Plus, you are what you
eat is the famous adage   

[m1469]

Who's a good boy then Thal, and who's a good girl then m1469 ? According to my diary (journal where you are m1469), I have trained for an hour or more, either resistance or aerobic, on 757 days out of the last 867 days. But this does not include the walking and manual labour, of which there has been plenty. That's okay for a sixty-four year old I think. However, with the beach only five minutes walk away and with summer coming on, I am determined to bring swimming into the mix one way or another.

I think your consistency is one of the key elements!  For me, to develop that kind of consistency is one of my aims, but since I don't currently feel I'm at the weight I'd like to be, I get impatient if I feel like even if I am developing consistency, I might not be actually losing weight (and I equate whether or not I am losing weight with whether or not I am achieving anything by changing my habits ...).  Or, what if it takes me seriously 3 years?  I mean, I get that those three years are going to pass no matter what, but I find it tough to reprogram the mental tendency to expect immediate gratification.  And, that's part of what it's all about, I've realized.  There needs to be something (it seems) equally as "gratifying" within the very moment about not eating something as there is about eating something.  For me, it's helpful to think that sometime down the road it will all be good ... but, once I start convincing myself it's not heading that way, I run into problems.  

There is another snag I run into, also.  To put that succinctly, it's that I sometimes don't enjoy certain attentions (not from all people, but in certain ways from some people) that being in my best shape seems to draw.  And that's tough to sort out, sometimes, because I feel like I *should* want any attention that I get, and I don't always want that.  So sometimes I think it's a form of self-protection for me to kind of "hide myself" behind being heavier than I'd like to be.  I think that's sortable and solvable, though.  But then I let being heavier than I want to be stop me from doing things that seem to really matter to me.  I guess I'm a little tricky  .  

Well, there I go again  .

Anyway, if I am what I eat, today I am a vitamin fortified "shake" for breakfast, a banana, and a multi-vitamin that I've been taking of late (for the first time in my life).  

[m1469]

In recent days, about a month and half or so, I've been cutting down on my ice cream consumption which I've had daily for several years.  Although I'm having a bowl now.

Yeah, sometimes I need to just fully take things out of my diet for awhile, especially if they are foods that tend to trigger mentalities that are unhealthy for me.  So, for now, I'm going to be off direct sugar for about a week, I think, and I'll see how I feel after that.  I'm also just needing to cut out potato chips for awhile.  But, I think that eventually a balance is good - I don't have an official dessert every night, but sometimes when I think of an "ideal" eating plan for me, I like the idea of having something "special" once a week or so.  But, I've got to be demonstrating better habits in general before I can really decide about that. 

Do you feel it makes a difference for you?

[thalbergmad]

To put that succinctly, it's that I sometimes don't enjoy certain attentions (not from all people, but in certain ways from some people) that being in my best shape seems to draw.  

No doubt you are a beautiful woman and you are going to attract attention, but apart from stuffing your face with doughnuts and walking about with a bag on your head, there ain't a lot you can do about it.

Personally, I have never done anything to my body whilst considering what someone else might think. The days when I get chatted up because of me muscles are long gone.

Thal

[ted]

Same with me. I train to feel better here and now, not to live longer or attract the opposite sex. My wife says women look at me in malls but I can see myself in the mirror and frankly, I doubt it. If she's right they must be hard up for something to look at. Mind you, the appearance in public of almost all men my age, waddling slowly about with huge guts and faces like stop lights, would tend to nullify the compliment anyway.

[rachfan]

Hi,

I'm 66 now.  I live in a northern climate with prolonged, harsh winters.  In my basement I have a bench and free weights, so during the winter I do weights twice a week, not for bulking up, but rather for toning only.  So I do many repetitions, not extra-heavy weights.  After I conclude the sets of weightlifting, I do sit-ups (hands behind head, elbows touching raised knees) and leg-ups (raising legs 45 degrees and lowering them slowly).  In late spring, once the snow and ice has melted off the streets, I do four-mile brisk walks about three times a week unless the weather is nasty.  I'm 6 feet tall and weigh 167 pounds with a body mass index of 23.  I'm also careful about what I eat.  I have to say I stay fit and in shape!  

David    

[m1469]

No doubt you are a beautiful woman and you are going to attract attention, but apart from stuffing your face with doughnuts and walking about with a bag on your head, there ain't a lot you can do about it.

Thal, this was extremely helpful, actually, just in helping me sort out the concept.  Thank you, it seems to have been about exactly what I needed.

It's also inspiring to read about others!  I've not done my workout today as I've been in nonstop work mode since waking, but I ate *really* *really* well for the second day in a row.  I've been eating light so I'm a little hungry still, too  , but overall it feels good.

[opus10no2]

Interesting topic, I think that being fit, healthy and having your fat% and cholestorol under control has an impact on every endeavour in life, including the mental.
I myself have been fit but sustained a leg injury a while ago. With a combination of low morale and complacency I left myself slip up to the weight of 273lbs. My goal weightloss has been a round figure of 100lbs. I started slowly in early Sept and stepped it up hugely in early October...I'm currently 190lbs.

[thalbergmad]

You must have stretch marks old chap
 
Thal

[49410enrique]

Interesting topic, I think that being fit, healthy and having your fat% and cholestorol under control has an impact on every endeavour in life, including the mental.
I myself have been fit but sustained a leg injury a while ago. With a combination of low morale and complacency I left myself slip up to the weight of 273lbs. My goal weightloss has been a round figure of 100lbs. I started slowly in early Sept and stepped it up hugely in early October...I'm currently 190lbs.

way to go! keep at it, the key to this stuff of executing the basics little by little, i can tell you from the 'expert side' (i used to be an athletic strength and conditioning coach and did lots of nutritional consulting with clients back in the day on fat loss, muscle gain, getting ready for bikini and bodybuilding shows, etc.), it isn't the 'fancy' or 'sexy' stuff the makes the different in success vs failure, its the boring day to day decision you make, did you eat things that are good for you vs bad for you more often than not. did you exercise intelligently (ie. appopriate intensity and duration ) are you sleeping enough (this is the BIGGEST thing no one pays attention to), are your vitamin d levels adequate (have your blood chem drawn and make sure you 're on the high normal side of the distrubtion curves), etc.

let me know if you ahve any questions , my background in biochemestry but i'm good at making the sciency stuff approachable , good luck

[opus10no2]

You must have stretch marks old chap
 
Thal

I gain fat primarily on my thighs so i had the upper body of someone maybe 3 stone below my weight......there was a time I fancied gaining that extra 7 lb to claim the 'glory' of having been a full twenty stone haha. 

[thalbergmad]

there was a time I fancied gaining that extra 7 lb to claim the 'glory' of having been a full twenty stone haha. 

I was stupid enough to do that. Once I weighed in at 277 pounds, so I stuffed out for an entire week and broke the magic barrier.

Thal

[fftransform]

Post some recent pics on your FB, thal D:

[thalbergmad]

I was going to reactivate the pictures thread here with my handsomeness.

Thal

[m1469]

Generally I've been doing very well.  I'm back into my last belt loop on this belt, which hasn't been the case for a time.  If I keep doing really well, a couple of weeks should make these pants a bit big ... however, yesterday wasn't great and I'm currently at the point of: Operation Stop Eating Cheese and cheesy things.  Still hungry though, which in moderation is a good thing!

[ted]

Yes, it's nice to have to punch an extra hole in a belt - furthest from the end that is. My waist is now 31 and I don't think it is possible to reduce that area any further. Cheese only concerns me regarding the fat in it so I generally eat edam, which isn't very often anyway. It is easy to train so hard you make yourself hungry for the good reason that you aren't getting enough nutrient. I guess for those wanting to lose fat it must be a delicate question whether the hunger is just due to ceasing indulgence or because of real lack of essential intake. In the latter case I found I was very tired as well.

In practice I find it very difficult to reduce fat, sugar and salt intake below a certain point. Labels on foods can be hard to make sense of and every second thing on the shelves seems to have copious amounts of sodium in it.

Genes are very important too, even if we do everything right. Eleven years ago we were in a reunion of the parental family of one particular grandparent. The lady who did all the work, tracing over two thousand living descendants, was staggered to find extremely high incidence of diabetes and glaucoma. I don't know, of course, that I have personally inherited this tendency, but forewarned is forearmed.

[goldentone]

Do you feel it makes a difference for you?

Yes, it puts me in control rather than the other way around.

I did have some cheese tonight, which is a rarity for me.  The Cheese Train doesn't come 'round here much.

[ahinton]

I was going to reactivate the pictures thread here with my handsomeness.

So what stopped you?

Best,

Alistair

[m1469]

Ah gawd ... must.  re.member. ... how. situps. work.

*lays on floor*

[49410enrique]

Ah gawd ... must.  re.member. ... how. situps. work.

*lays on floor*

could be worse miss mayla, yesterday we had an 100 evil wheels component to the wod over at www.crossfitfootball.com (i was running a day or two behind so i'll probably do these tomorrow and definiately not 100 since i 'm pretty much cooked after gymnastics but still they make sit ups fee like, well sitting up.)

the next level

[costicina]

Thal, please, PLEASE,
don't tell me that you are loosing weight        !!!! Oh the horror, the shock!!!

I had  a soft spot for your look in the photo you posted... don't disappoint me    

Margherita

[ahinton]

Thal, please, PLEASE,
don't tell me that you are loosing weight        !!!! Oh the horror, the shock!!!

I had  a soft spot for your look in the photo you posted... don't disappoint me    

Margherita

That might not be an especially reecent photo - indeed, it might be before Thal went on the exercise régime about which he has written here and under which he has evidently indeed cast off lots of kilos.

For more details (if you want them), you'll have to ask Thal himself, however.

As for me, my diet is pretty healthy but I can work up less than no interest in all this gym / fitness stuff, so I recognise that I'm not much use as a contributor to this thread! As long as I'm fit enough to write the next piece...

Best,

Alistair

[thalbergmad]

Thal, please, PLEASE,
don't tell me that you are loosing weight        !!!! Oh the horror, the shock!!!

I had  a soft spot for your look in the photo you posted... don't disappoint me    

Margherita

I put on a bit over Christmas, but things are going well this year.

Might not end up so cuddly, but hopefully will add a few years onto the lifespan.

Thal

[costicina]

I can' help feeling  nostalgic  of the cuddly Thal       

[thalbergmad]

Never fear, I am not going to be exactly skinny.

I love cuddles.

Thal

[costicina]

Thal. I'm relieved: DON'T do any harm to the charming cuddle that's in you!!!!

As for my routine for staying in shape, I studied ballet in my teens, but had to quit when I moved city for the university. Some years ago I liked running, but I can't do it anymore because of low back and Achille tendon problems ...          
I had  to switch to he trade-mill: power walking with a very wide slope angle: soo boring!), and body building, but very mild.

I use to train 4-5 days a week, and I say that it's very good for my mood too: as the old latin saying goes: MENS SANA IN CORPORE SANO" (healthy mind in  healthy body)...

BTW, one of the reason I chose that gym is it's name (another latin saying: FESTINA LENTE (i.e.: speed  up slowly). We can apply this motto  to our piano playing, too!!!      

[candlelightpiano]

You guys and girls make me feel like a lazy bum! I prefer to swim but since it's frigid outside (-25C) I'd have to go to an indoor pool and since I don't like gym changing rooms, I don't go. So, at home, I do some very light low impact walk-at-home exercise almost daily. It's only a half an hour's workout but it does make me feel good.

Margherita: I also suffered from plantar fascitis and achilles tendonitis and have to wear runners with orthotics most of the time. I'm sure you look as good today as you did in that ATTRACTIVE PIANISTS photo!!

[costicina]

A bit older  ,  and skinnier, but it's ok       

[candlelightpiano]

Yes, maybe, but still a knockout!!!   

[49410enrique]

edit issue

[costicina]

Wow, Enrique.... If I'm a knonkout, as so kindly Choo Choo defined me (thank you, my dear!  ) you're a sort of  bionic creature...I'm deeply impressed          
Why don't you post your photo in the "attractive pianists" thread? Too many women for my tastes, very few really good looking guys....      

[49410enrique]

edit tech issues.

[costicina]

           

I await with trepidation to find in the Audition Room a video of you playing in shorts...From me, you'll get  an enthusiastic feedback, no matter what or how do you play  

[costicina]

i wear these every chance i get (i.e. unless i absolutely have to use real shoes like for a funeral or something) so fair warning we have vibram wearing freaks on board.  fyi, that is all.  

       I just discoverd this photo  in the Miscellaneous board (is it you in that picture, isn't it?). Now I know more about  your look  than the sexy back of your knees        

BTW, great shoes!!!!...I was thinking to buy them, but I was not sure they are suited to run...

Margherita
 

[49410enrique]

nope i'm not in those pictures, she wears  a bikini much better than i ever could.  yes they are great for running, they 'force' you to change your technique to run in a healthier more natural way so that it's better for you feet, knees, and back.

[costicina]

Well, I'm still waiting for a video of you in shorts performing Mozart...I' sure you'll look far better than that nice girl in bikini       

[49410enrique]

clear/sunny, 76 degrees F (24 to 25 C), perfect to get my workout outside today. going to play on the monkey bars (gymnastics and calisthenics) at the park probably and some walking.

[49410enrique]

i like lisa marie's workouts a bunch, she's got a good grasp of solid no nonsense approaches to getting lean, i think this is my favorite video of her though, speaks to everyone, love yourself, work hard and rock what you've got and be happy, quit worrying about others and what you 'don't have' cause they're probably thinking that about you sometimes too. were all in this together right? this was so uplfting and a neat change of pace from her workout viddys

https://www.bodyrock.tv/

[ted]

I found yesterday that our scales were reading high, so I am actually 78 kg, not 80 kg as previously reported. I have ignored my doctor's statement that my body fat might be a bit low, increased daily training and feel even better for it. When he said that I replied, "What's the matter, are you jealous ?" With one or two notable exceptions, doctors around here are very slap-happy about their own fitness. Most of mine have smoked, drunk, taken various assortments of their own pills and sat on their backsides most of the time; pretty good at dishing out advice, not so good at implementing it themselves. To be fair, the present incumbent is fairly sharp as far as doctors go, and I have a lot of respect for him, but others I've had, less said the better.

I continue to be the butt of facetious remarks from passers-by while mowing my kikuyu lawns with a handmower. "They've invented mower mowers now" and such. We'll see who has the first heart attack. Might be me of course but at least I'll enjoy being fit up to the cemetery gate. Also, my hearing will remain acute longer, I'll have less risk of foot amputations, less inhalation of fumes and my wallet will remain fatter.

[cherub_rocker1979]

Unfortunately there is a lot of misinformation out there regarding healthy eating/lifestyle.

The best way to be healthy and slow the aging process is to eat a low-carb diet (60 to approx. 100 grams per day), high in animal fat and protein, and drink alcohol in moderation.  Physical activity should of course be part of the lifestyle as well.

Look up the 'French Paradox' and the research of Dr. Greg Ellis.