Bodybuilding/Workout/Diet thread

[Zanshin]

...and by cheat, I mean mostly things with wheat and sugar. Those are the two things that throw the biggest monkeywrench for me.

[PhillyPhanInDC]

I guess I was born lucky, but I prefer the taste of wheat to the white flour stuff. Sun, if you can't stand the wheat pasta, Barilla makes wheat based pasta that's pretty damn hard to detect. They also make it ready to eat (60 seconds in the microwave), and I keep a few of them in my desk for when I forget to bring something to work.

[DH]

When I got back into the gym and started changing my eating habits a few months back, one of the first things I looked at was breakfast. I would either eat no breakfast at all, or something way too big - big bagel w/ cream cheese, etc. I was either feeling like I had a rock in my stomach by 10 or would be starving by 11. Neither option set me up for a successful remainder of the eating-day.

So, I started making fat-free yogurt based smoothies. I'll put a cup of plain, fat-free yogurt, some frozen strawberries and 2 bananas in a blender, and that's my breakfast. It fills me up, doesnt make me feel like shtein, and provides me with the proteins, etc. I thought I was getting in the cream cheese. It also makes me cognizant of what I eat the rest of the day. If I start the day out the right way, I'll usually continue throughout the day the same way. It was a small step but like I said, it really made me think about how I was eating from morning till night.

Another horrible habit I had was eating late at night, just because food was there. Cookies, cake, cereal, whatever. Now if I feel the itch to binge-snack, I'll make a smoothie, and will be full until the morning.

I'm sure it won't work for everyone, but it's been a pretty good choice for me. Since November when I really started watching my food, I've dropped from 208 to 195, and hope to maintain this weight as long as I can. I think its been mentioned here too, but the myfitnesspal app has been an incredible tracking device and even moreso, keeps me accountable. Now if I eat 7 cookies at night before bed, I feel like a total shteinhead adding the 1,000 calories in.

[reese125]

some good points in there DH. breakfast is key. a 2 egg omelet w/onions and any green has been solid for me

always hungry by 10am--feed on an apple (one of the best fillers out there) and some peanuts--I couldnt take eating almonds anymore--although better for you--so I take a nice handful of unsalted peanuts and Im gold for hours.

lunch was always my biggest problem--never could find anywhere to go without feeling guilty. So I go to Saladworks (pricey I know) or maybe a Qdoba and get the naked bowl with just meat, peppers, tomatoes and onions--good stuff. farg bread and you will be easily rewarded.

3:30pm-either eat some fruit, buy a Larabar (all natural and some good flavors) or even a small bag of Pop Chips. No diet coke or sports drinks--try some coconut water--good stuff. You should be fine until dinner--then portion control that.

the more fruit and veggies you have in your diet the more you make your body a fat burning machine. you start to notice that youre hungrier than ever before when you eat right--and thats a good thing. forget counting calories. pay attention to the ingredients. if you see more than 2 lines of ingredients--run. youre prob looking at tons of artificial's and fat storers that make it that much harder to digest and lose weight.

[hbionic]

I've been starting my breakfasts lately now with flavored oatmeal (cranberries & flaxseed) and I bought a bag of dried blue berries that I throw in. That keeps me going for a couple of hours and from there, like DH said, you start off good, you tend to watch everything else you eat.

I'm drinking nothing but water. Upwards of 6-8 cup fulls a day. My fruit intake has increased 100% from zero to two or three a day, and my body has stopped rejecting vegetables.

[Dillen]

I guess I was born lucky, but I prefer the taste of wheat to the white flour stuff. Sun, if you can't stand the wheat pasta, Barilla makes wheat based pasta that's pretty damn hard to detect.

Barilla Plus is incredible. So much fiber, a shteinload of Omega 3's, $2 a box pretty much wherever you get it, and tastes better than all the white flour kinds. I never liked the white kinds either. Eat one box of the cheapest white pasta out there, tastes like rubber flour. Turned me off from white pasta completely.

[SunMo]

i'll give that stuff a try.  i think it's mostly mental.  like if someone made me wheat pasta and i didn't know it, im willing to bet i wouldn't notice it.

[SD]

My go-to guy for hilarious ways to take shortcuts with changing your body is Tim Ferriss. He insists that taking one day a week to 'cheat' (translation, gorge on anything and everything) actually helps keep your body from getting used to the diet regiment that you're on, which allows you to continue losing weight beyond the point where your body would normally adjust. I see a down side to this, which is that part of changing your diet and lifestyle is psychologically detaching yourself from certain foods. Granting a 'cheat day' means that you're never totally getting away from those foods and you're never too far from just falling back into eating them all of the time. Anyway, if you've hit a plateau and don't want to totally give up the foods you love it might be something worth trying. If I remember correctly SD did it for a while and it seemed to be working.

I'm back on that diet with some slight variances. Instead of having a cheat day gorge-fest I limit myself to one bad meal. I'm down 15 lbs. since New Years. My diet looks like this:
Mornings:
5 servings of egg whites
3 turkey sausage links
coffee

Lunch:
black beans and grilled chicken

Dinner:
grilled chicken [usually a lot as it's also my post workout meal]
mixed veggies. I usually cook broccoli, peppers, zucchini, onions, mushrooms with a teaspoon [not table] of olive oil. I also dice up some raw tomatoes. Throw it all in a bowl with some garlic powder.

No snacking although sometimes I do cheat with some nuts.

I work out 4 days a week. I do 30 minutes cardio and 20 minutes weights. I cut my weights down and focus on higher reps.

[PhillyPhreak54]

I'm one who prefers the wheat pasta and breads to the white. I can't even eat a sandwich on normal white bread any more. Tastes like shtein.

When I was on my hard core cut years ago when I'd have my cheat day my stomach hated me. I would eat a slice or two and have bubble guts for a day.

I'm struggling with my knees right now and will likely have to have one or both drained soon. It's depressing to not be able to run or eliptical or bike like I want

[PhillyPhanInDC]

I'm struggling with my knees right now and will likely have to have one or both drained soon. It's depressing to not be able to run or eliptical or bike like I want

Swim. It's pain to get there, get ready, get done, shower get changed, all that. But hands down it is the best cardio workout on the planet, and there is absolutely no impact.

Here's a bad ass guide I used to get back into it. I've almost completely replaced running with swimming. I actually use a nice long run on the weekends as a reward to some extent - I get away from the noise and tune out for an hour or so.

http://www.menshealth.com/mhlists/swimming_workout_guide/

[hbionic]

I'm back on that diet with some slight variances. Instead of having a cheat day gorge-fest I limit myself to one bad meal. I'm down 15 lbs. since New Years. My diet looks like this:
Mornings:
5 servings of egg whites
3 turkey sausage links
coffee

5 Servings of egg whites...what determines how many servings, is it some protein intake target or just your appetite? My friend does six every morning which prompted me to ask. Oh, and I guess its a liquid? Just odd to me the concept of egg whites, but it seems like the way to go.

[hbionic]

Swim. It's pain to get there, get ready, get done, shower get changed, all that. But hands down it is the best cardio workout on the planet, and there is absolutely no impact.

Funny, some dude taught me how to swim at the gym in the lane next to me. Breaths, and the philosophy of swimming, just like the link explains, become a straight line and just kind of flow through the water. I used to take breaths every time my head would pop out of the water, now I breathe every 5 strokes. It's less stressful, and you feel like a pro. I agree, swimming is bad-ass, its just a hassle.

[Dillen]

I'm sure one serving = one egg. Egg yolks have all the fat and cholesterol in an egg and about half the protein, and the whites are basically 100% protein. THey don't have to be a liquid, do whatever with them. One egg white is probably 4 g protein, ~16 calories

[Don Ho]

Swim. It's pain to get there, get ready, get done, shower get changed, all that. But hands down it is the best cardio workout on the planet, and there is absolutely no impact.

Funny, some dude taught me how to swim at the gym in the lane next to me. Breaths, and the philosophy of swimming, just like the link explains, become a straight line and just kind of flow through the water. I used to take breaths every time my head would pop out of the water, now I breathe every 5 strokes. It's less stressful, and you feel like a pro. I agree, swimming is bad-ass, its just a hassle.

I kick myself in the ass as I am surrounded by the Pacific Ocean.  Warm, clean (minus tsunami debris) water 365 days a year and I don't swim as part of my exercise.  Love to surf, bodysurf, bodyboard etc. but there is nothing like swimming.  Best workout in the world and you can do it forever.  I make a pledge every year to start including it in my workout regime. That article may just get my ass in gear.

Wife and I have talked about the Stand Up Paddle Board thing.  New boards and paddles are expensive but it is an incredible workout.

[Tomahawk]

I was on the swim team all through elementary school and junior high, but quit the team in high school for football and because swimming is farging dumb.