FIT.Y.E.R.O. (Meathead, wellness, fitness, diet, exercise) Thread
- Thread starter anthonys735
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I'm still surrounded by electronic devices every where in my house. I'm sensitive to electronic lights and I've tried to cover them to get it very dark in my home. It is impossible if you want any modernity at all. (I'm someone who avoids technology if possible, too).
Sure, I can read instead of watch TV or surf my phone but that does not in any way mean I'm avoiding electronic devices for an hour before bed.
Also, since nearly everything is controlled by my cellphone, I have to use it within an hour of bed regardless. And if I somehow manage to avoid the urge or need to do so, there's mfing zero chance under any circumstances I'll be able to get my wife to do it -- and dome beats sleep, even at this age.
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I haven’t read a book outside of a textbook in about 26 years. At this point if I don’t watch tv an hour before bed I would literally just sit there staring at a wall. I have stopped using my phone 30 mins before bed and I’ve found it to be a good habit. My wife no way - she has the laptop in her face doing work 10 mins before she sleeps and always has issues sleeping.
Thought I was getting good sleep until I got this device. Little f^cker. Actually, I had a weird feeling my sleep wasn't great. That's why I've been curious. Looks like it was correct.
I read before bed all the time. I almost always pick the phone up after to doom scroll. It's ridiculous.
I don't have an issue with the falling asleep but it seems to mess with my hrv.
You’d be shocked how many people with sleep apnea have no clue that they have multiple episodes an hour without breathing in their sleep, kind of dumbfounding actually.
Mine has gotten to the point I’m aware of waking. Just committed to orthognathic surgery.
@Ron Mehico I’m in your neck of the woods for much of the next two weeks and looking for healthy eateries above and beyond cold chicken breast at Whole Foods. TIA!
You got sit down places like roots natural kitchen, clean eats, SOW plated, and true food kitchen. Good places like Northstar Cafe (one of my favs) and then you have the bowl places that you can make real healthy:
Chop 5, BiBiBop, Agape, and Brassica. That should be plenty, but not sure what part of town you’re in.
Stay at the Hyatt Regency downtown but all over Hilliard, Dublin, Westerville, New Albany throughout the day.
Appreciate the recs, just what I was looking for!
Appreciate the recs, just what I was looking for!
Alright...first post. Long time reader Cat's Paw. Looking for some advice.
44 years old. 5'11", 195 pounds. A bit overweight, good frame, looking to add some muscle or at least tone up. Not going to be as easy as it once was I realize but looking for a practical routine/guideline with the following in mind:
- I have 3 active kids in basketball, soccer, football, and volleyball...so nearly year round games/practices 3-5 days a week and a lot of weekends as well.
- I coach both a high school and club volleyball team so I'm basically swamped during those seasons with practices/games/tournaments/game prep/stat breakdowns.
- Work a full time 8-4 finance job.
All that to say I don't have a TON of time to get into a 5-6 day a week routine EXCEPT basically about 6 weeks in the summer. Would love some advice on workout plans that might be able to get accomplished in 3 (maybe 4) days a week in about 30-45 minutes tops. Right now I run on a treadmill 20-30 minutes about 2-3 days a week with some light bodyweight/dumb bell exercises mixed in every now and then.
I just bought this bad boy for my boys (and me, obviously) so I'm excited for it to come in and get it assembled. I'm sure this will be fun to use and I'd like to get the most out of it.
Oh, and diet/supplement tips as well. I don't eat terribly but my diet is hit and miss. Most days, I generally don't eat anything until supper because I'm typically not hungry in the mornings and I tend to work through lunch and I'm busy enough that I don't really think about being hungry. So obviously I tend to eat probably more than I should at supper and then have a little something sweet a couple hours before bed...which I know is awful. Would love to be able to eat something quick and easy in the mornings and at lunch, cut out the sweets, and get plenty of protein without feeling like I'm going to put on fat.
Anyway, have enjoyed reading this thread and GYERO for years. Appreciate the entertainment and thanks in advance.
44 years old. 5'11", 195 pounds. A bit overweight, good frame, looking to add some muscle or at least tone up. Not going to be as easy as it once was I realize but looking for a practical routine/guideline with the following in mind:
- I have 3 active kids in basketball, soccer, football, and volleyball...so nearly year round games/practices 3-5 days a week and a lot of weekends as well.
- I coach both a high school and club volleyball team so I'm basically swamped during those seasons with practices/games/tournaments/game prep/stat breakdowns.
- Work a full time 8-4 finance job.
All that to say I don't have a TON of time to get into a 5-6 day a week routine EXCEPT basically about 6 weeks in the summer. Would love some advice on workout plans that might be able to get accomplished in 3 (maybe 4) days a week in about 30-45 minutes tops. Right now I run on a treadmill 20-30 minutes about 2-3 days a week with some light bodyweight/dumb bell exercises mixed in every now and then.
I just bought this bad boy for my boys (and me, obviously) so I'm excited for it to come in and get it assembled. I'm sure this will be fun to use and I'd like to get the most out of it.
Oh, and diet/supplement tips as well. I don't eat terribly but my diet is hit and miss. Most days, I generally don't eat anything until supper because I'm typically not hungry in the mornings and I tend to work through lunch and I'm busy enough that I don't really think about being hungry. So obviously I tend to eat probably more than I should at supper and then have a little something sweet a couple hours before bed...which I know is awful. Would love to be able to eat something quick and easy in the mornings and at lunch, cut out the sweets, and get plenty of protein without feeling like I'm going to put on fat.
Anyway, have enjoyed reading this thread and GYERO for years. Appreciate the entertainment and thanks in advance.
Join a gym, and go at 5:30 a.m. Best 60 minutes of your day away from everything. Will take some motivation and lifestyle changes if you aren't a morning person, but the feeling of accomplishment when you leave is worth it.
Welcome aboard!
First things first -- never do anything @cole854 recommends. His opinion is literally worthless. If I thought it might work, I'd look into figuring out how to breathe nitrogen just to avoid sharing the same ozone as that guy.
I mean I just spent $2500 on home equipment and already have a treadmill. Probably not joining a gym. Though the 530AM advice could work if I can make myself do it. I stay up too late for that currently but could try to hit the bed earlier to make it work.
You want to talk sleeping challenges?
Wait a few years from now when your kid is home college and plays video games, talks to his girlfriend on speakerphone, and cooks Ramens at 2:30am…. Couple that with your nightly trip to the can to piss at 3:45.
I am am just now resigning to the bedroom at 9:00 to wind down. Take out contact lenses and check phone till 9:30 for lights out.
Sonos in bedroom playing either white noise or rain playlist to drown outside world.
No more midweek boozing.
Early dinner helps ease into the nighttime without a crave of 10:00 ice cream.
My free month of nutrition services at gym start next week. Will report findings from Aga(polish lady who’s ripped AF).
Wait a few years from now when your kid is home college and plays video games, talks to his girlfriend on speakerphone, and cooks Ramens at 2:30am…. Couple that with your nightly trip to the can to piss at 3:45.
I am am just now resigning to the bedroom at 9:00 to wind down. Take out contact lenses and check phone till 9:30 for lights out.
Sonos in bedroom playing either white noise or rain playlist to drown outside world.
No more midweek boozing.
Early dinner helps ease into the nighttime without a crave of 10:00 ice cream.
My free month of nutrition services at gym start next week. Will report findings from Aga(polish lady who’s ripped AF).
Having easy high protein meals in the bag that can be meal prepped for a bulk of the week or prepared in under 10 minutes is not difficult. And you don’t have to be a great cook like Kooky or Anth to churn these out.
Protein - chicken breast, ahi, salmon, steak.
Simple Carb - sweet potato, rice, beans.
Complex - broccoli, cauliflower, beets, green beans.
Fat - eggs, avocado.
Throw a spicy mustard or cholula on for taste.
Snack - Greek yogurt. Cottage cheese.
Use a scale and keep your protein at 40-50% of the meal macros.
Profit.
Protein - chicken breast, ahi, salmon, steak.
Simple Carb - sweet potato, rice, beans.
Complex - broccoli, cauliflower, beets, green beans.
Fat - eggs, avocado.
Throw a spicy mustard or cholula on for taste.
Snack - Greek yogurt. Cottage cheese.
Use a scale and keep your protein at 40-50% of the meal macros.
Profit.
Sweet. That power rack is f*cking awesome. Should have endless bolt on accessories as well.
Super easy advice for at home.
1. Find a short program like MAPS 15 that's tailored for people in your exact situation. Then during your 6 week week window, ramp up to a full scale program, like their anabolic program. You don't have to use Mind Pump but they have great resources and a fantastic podcast. Especially for a 44 year old dad.
2. Get some steps during the day.
3. Find you maintenance calories and then go below a couple hundred to cut weight. At your size like 2700 calories maintenance depending on activity. Use my fitness pal to keep track of your intake. Build your diet around your protein intake. 1g per 1lb of goal weight. So if you want to be 185, get 185g of protein. Add in creatine. The easiest thing for me is very repetitive meals. So I don't have to track every single item. I have about 4-5 regular meals I rotate that I know have 500 calories and 80grams of protein.
4. Worry about the mirror, belt loop, and body fat, not weight. Set very manageable goals. Both short and long term. If you have a shitty week, no worries, jump back where you left off.
5. Update this thread with your progress to help hold yourself accountable and we can use our past failures to help you avoid them.
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I've posted before but we're all big fans of https://www.jacked-nutrition.com/ . Local, cool people, affordable, will deliver to you every monday. I use custom meals that meet my macros perfectly.
Home equipment is great because you save time driving to and from gym. There are days when I just don’t feel great and think about skipping my workout. I convince myself to do an abbreviated workout. 90% of the time after I start the abbreviated workout, I do the full workout. Good luck.
@Dennys Boy, we also cook a batch of chicken with basic seasoning to have on hand at all times. It’s especially useful when running to kids’ sports and not wanting to be hungry the whole game or being so hungry you decide to eat a soft pretzel and hot dog. I usually heat up a veggie in the air fryer for 8-10 minutes with spray EVOO and garlic salt to go with it.
We also always have hard boiled eggs cooked. 18 eggs in air fryer at 265 for 16 minutes (shake a few times). Prior to cooking, tap the egg with a spoon until you hear the membrane separate. This makes them easy to peel. These instructions work with this air fryer. Power XL Vortex 8qt
We also always have hard boiled eggs cooked. 18 eggs in air fryer at 265 for 16 minutes (shake a few times). Prior to cooking, tap the egg with a spoon until you hear the membrane separate. This makes them easy to peel. These instructions work with this air fryer. Power XL Vortex 8qt
Can confirm. Place is legit. Weekly menu that changes things up to keep it interesting. Or can just go with standard “gym bro meals” when really dialing it in. Customization options are endless.
MAP program sound perfect...only thing is I can't tell if it utilizes free weights or just body weight/dumb bells? Definitely want to use free weights. You have experience with that program?
Don't have any local meal prep options unless I do it myself or do a national type frozen meal program. Rural area.
Don't have any local meal prep options unless I do it myself or do a national type frozen meal program. Rural area.
I have not used it but I know they're tailored for at home. Go back and listen to some of their podcast that have the MAPs 15 tag. They bookmark everything very detailed so you don't have to listen to the whole podcast.
You might want to peep Dan John's Easy Strength For Fat Loss program. It takes about 15 minutes to do the weight workout and then you just go out the door for a walk around the neighborhood with the wife(ves), kid(s), and dog(s).
The weight workout is braindead simple. Ab wheel 1x10, overhead press 3x3, pullup 3x3, deadlift 3x3, and then either 5x15 of kettlebell swings or a suitcase carry for distance (down and back so you use both sides).
Works great for a home gym. He programs it 5x per week for 8 weeks. All you need is free weights and it easily incorporates the family. I've lost about 20ish pounds since February doing exactly that about.
Should work great with that squat rack. I actually bought a hex bar for the deadlifts just so I didn't have to load the same barbell for press and deadlift loads 5 times per week. Cost next to nothing delivered off Amazon.
-I've got about 12 pounds of chicken marinating in the fridge. Can't wait to pop those suckers on the grill tomorrow.
-Yesterday was supposed to be a lower body/pull day. I bolted my abode in a rush for the gym and left all my equipment at home. It was a great excuse to have the best chest day of my life.
-I am currently 190 + or - 2 pounds, a touch on the fat side for me, and stronger than I've ever been on pullups and bench. Feels good man.
-Yesterday was supposed to be a lower body/pull day. I bolted my abode in a rush for the gym and left all my equipment at home. It was a great excuse to have the best chest day of my life.
-I am currently 190 + or - 2 pounds, a touch on the fat side for me, and stronger than I've ever been on pullups and bench. Feels good man.
Friday weigh in wasn't what I'd hoped it would be. Still down, but not much, and without extreme measures put the track to my goal out of sight. Pretty bummed. Weird, I kind of plateaued this week. Diet and exercise are on point. Gonna really dig in the next 20 days and try to beat last year,
Positive news, muscle hasn't dropped at all. So I'm probably doing a lot better than I'm giving myself credit for. Also, fit comfortably in some 34s yesterday at 217#s and I'm happy with the mirror.
Frustrating.
Positive news, muscle hasn't dropped at all. So I'm probably doing a lot better than I'm giving myself credit for. Also, fit comfortably in some 34s yesterday at 217#s and I'm happy with the mirror.
Frustrating.
Did your bf% change or stay about the same also (assuming you were talking total weight above)?
I’m looking into getting one of these. Supposed to be pretty comparable to InBody - which I know is what you use at Coach’s gym - and has great reviews:
Hume Body Pod
I like daily weigh-ins and bf% tracking to look for trends and overall progress. There are just so many factors that can affect weight from one day to the next, even by a few pounds in some cases; ghrelin/leptin levels (among numerous other hormones), metabolic adaptation, water weight, stress/cortisol, sleep or lack thereof, sodium, waste still in the body…the list is seemingly endless.
I’m looking into getting one of these. Supposed to be pretty comparable to InBody - which I know is what you use at Coach’s gym - and has great reviews:
Hume Body Pod
I like daily weigh-ins and bf% tracking to look for trends and overall progress. There are just so many factors that can affect weight from one day to the next, even by a few pounds in some cases; ghrelin/leptin levels (among numerous other hormones), metabolic adaptation, water weight, stress/cortisol, sleep or lack thereof, sodium, waste still in the body…the list is seemingly endless.
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Slight decrease in both but not enough to get me in the range of goal. I felt like it would be a pretty decent drop this week, so I'm not sure how to process that. BF was marginally down, muscle was up, weight slightly down, but from feel I thought I had dropped 2-3#'s.
I have a garmin scale and it's pretty damn close to the InBody compared to the price.
I have a garmin scale and it's pretty damn close to the InBody compared to the price.
Knowing the regimen you're on, I wouldn't sweat this weeks weigh-in. The body drops weight and plateaus along the way, it's not a linear decline. Stay dialed in on sleep and diet, especially over the weekend and I'd wager a good bottle of brown that 2-3#'s disappears from the scale next week.
* Was not at my normal gym all this week while working in Columbus and on these business trips, welcome a change of scenery. Not having your go-to equipment available all the time forces you to try new stuff. Some observations from a traditional meathead gym, the Hilliard Crunch:
> My gym doesn't have a true decline bench so its been ages since I've had the opportunity. Forgot how much I enjoy. Ditched the barbell for 100# dummies and marveled at how much more naturally fluid that range-of-motion is than incline or flat.
> Fit is the new skinny for women of all ages. Tons getting after it on anything from free weight squats to bench press, deads and everything in between. Seems that misconceived notion of getting too bulky has finally been thwarted and the majority have ventured out from machines. Does wonders for visual distraction between sets.
> Broccoli hair is a real thing. Never see it at my gym, so didn't know how accurate the memes are? Spot. On. If a youngin' has the ability to grow long hair, it's not hair metal style but rather a discombobulated tuft.
> Hauling gallon jugs of water around is still a thing. And in the age of Stanley bottles, doesn't look as foolish at what hens pay for those things.
> You're in the minority if you aren't on some form of gear, legal or otherwise and its easier than ever to spot the "have's" from the "have not's".
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- Seconding Bonz's thoughts on non-linear weight loss, anth. Also, keep in mind you've been doing this long enough and built up enough muscle mass that you really have a pretty narrow margin for error. The number on the scale, IMO, should be less of a consideration when you've reached the point that you're performing well, feeling good, and clothes fit the way you want. But I also understand the drive to drive the scale number a little lower. In the past when I've cut, I had weird stalls like you're in followed by a "whoosh" where 1-3 pounds seemed to vanish. I wouldn't get more restrictive with calories if I were you, honestly. Stick with what you're doing for another week and you may be pleasantly surprised.
- I really underestimated the energy drain of growing a kid. I definitely have more energy at 16 weeks now than I did at 8-12 weeks, but the reserves are very limited. I'm learning I have to pick my spots carefully or I won't be able to do anything but work and come home to collapse on the couch the rest of the week. As a result, I haven't been lifting as often as I'd like, but when I have, I've been pleasantly surprised at the strength I've maintained anyway. So for you guys who haven't been able to stay consistent for a while for life reasons, be assured muscle memory is a pretty incredible thing!
And...in between sets the other night, I was taking one of my extended breaks because the baby makes me breathe like a hippo, and I felt him give me a little "boop." Y'all, my son has already learned the fist bump. My heart swelled with pride 😆
- I really underestimated the energy drain of growing a kid. I definitely have more energy at 16 weeks now than I did at 8-12 weeks, but the reserves are very limited. I'm learning I have to pick my spots carefully or I won't be able to do anything but work and come home to collapse on the couch the rest of the week. As a result, I haven't been lifting as often as I'd like, but when I have, I've been pleasantly surprised at the strength I've maintained anyway. So for you guys who haven't been able to stay consistent for a while for life reasons, be assured muscle memory is a pretty incredible thing!
And...in between sets the other night, I was taking one of my extended breaks because the baby makes me breathe like a hippo, and I felt him give me a little "boop." Y'all, my son has already learned the fist bump. My heart swelled with pride 😆
Yeah ,that's what a rational person would do. I know the scale is bad news, but we're talking 3 more weeks, and I'll stop paying attention.
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He's probably like "ma, give the ab work a rest. Already tight enough in here!".
