Amazing how quickly the appetite comes back!

[6933]

Rob,
Can't recall where I saw a relatively recent picture of you but you looked too thin. Look on the bright side: you indicate you haven't been leading the healthiest lifestyle since being around 180# and healthy, and you lost weight, not gained. You were obviously still doing something right. I peaked around 1.5 yrs. ago at 195# with heavy cardio and lifting. Appetite was huge. Just made sure I ate healthy. Fast forward to now. Around 20# overweight but back in the groove. Running, plyometrics(can't recommend enough), and weights. Careful on what I eat. Will have it dropped within 6wks. My longwinded reply is that you are starting from a good place. Buy a kitchen scale, measure amounts(if you can deal with it), exercise, and get where you want to be.

If you're looking at using body weight for most exercises, go with plyometrics. Used by many good athletes. Examples: go to my front brick steps(3 steps high), face them with feet approx. shoulder with, and jump as far back onto flat area in front of door as possible, turn, hustle down steps, turn, repeat. I use a timer, started at 45 secs., each wk. add 15 secs. It will wear you out but has several benefits. Box "jumps"- constructed a wooden box approx. 18in. high. Stand next to box. "Shuffle" so that left leg goes onto box, then bring right leg onto box: now standing on top, move left leg to ground followed by right leg. Movements happen as quickly as possible so you are shuffling up and down the box, from one side to the other. Timed also. Another butt-kicker. Got more if interested. Running-great. Swimming-great. Ever considered getting into martial arts? Pretty sure you have the mentality.

Do you have access to a 'fridge at work? I like to keep veggies around to munch on. It actually takes more calories to digest celery than it contains. I keep baby carrots, celery, cucumber chips, small tomatoes, cauliflower, and add just a little fat free ranch or hummus for taste. Bought a dehydrator to use on lean meat cuts for snacks also. Canned salmon isn't bad either.

[rob_s]

Rob,
Can't recall where I saw a relatively recent picture of you but you looked too thin. Look on the bright side: you indicate you haven't been leading the healthiest lifestyle since being around 180# and healthy, and you lost weight, not gained.

I wouldn't call it unhealthy, I just realized that if I was going to be more sedentary I could either continue to eat at the same volume and let the muscle turn to fat, or I could continue eating the same QUALITY of food but at a lower volume and get thinner. At first it was turning to fat, and I was starting to get a gut and moobs. Reduce intake to match activity level and no more moobs.

I would generally rather be thin than fat, given an equal lack of physical activity.

At my peak I was over 180, probably pushing 185+. I held at that peak for several years over several "plans" and a pretty consistent combination of running in the park across the street and weights in my bedroom. I'm 6' and about 165 right now. However I was 6' tall and 140 lbs in high school after 20+ days in the hospital and recovery time for three collapsed lungs over the span of a little over a year, so I'm very "small boned" (to steal a term from the fatbodies that refer to their fatbody kids as "big boned" ).

Like you, I know what I need to do, and am working towards doing it. This time around I'm adding the criteria of not eating a lot of fake sugars, weird chemicals, etc. I will eat sugar, fat, cholesterol, etc. all day long as long as it comes in natural ways and isn't some bio-engineered freak thing.

[6933]

Moobs! Classic.

[Dos Cylindros]

Cliff bars are horrid for you, but they do taste great!

What are you making that statement based on? They do have a bit of sugar, but it is real sugar (not high fructos corn syrup) which is not bad for you at all (as long as it's part of a balanced diet). They are made with real grain as opposed to enriched flours and have no hydrogonated oils. They have a decent fiber and protien content for non body builders and give you plenty of energy. They make great mid morning and mid afternoon snacks. Alot of this can't be said for many of the protien of meal replacement bars at places like GNC. Kashi also makes very good, and healthy bars.

[seebee]

Chewing gum.
tuna at work that's gotta stink!!
what people do to stay in shape surprises the hell outta me.
If hungry and don't want to eat. drink water.. or chew gum.

[randolph]

cliff bars rock :-)

every endurance racer in the world depends on them to get them thru events, I eat them biking, running, kayaking, good solid, balanced nutrition for energy...


Rob, muscle cant "turn to" fat. I know what you're trying to say, but it doesnt work that way...

[rob_s]

Rob, muscle cant "turn to" fat. I know what you're trying to say, but it doesnt work that way...

I understand that it doesn't simply morph into fat, however if you maintain your intake and decrease your activity level, you're going to (at best) maintain your weight but the muscle with vanish to be replaced by fat and more likely actually wind up gaining even more weight back in fat, depending on just how aggressive your previous intake/activity was.

[Stranger45]

Rob, care to share the workout you’re doing now?

Thanks,