2020 Health & Fitness Thread

[Accumulator]

A while back I posted how I was gonna think a bit more about my diet in general, in the sense of "calorie restriction without dropping intake of essentials".

So this got my attention: I want about 1/3 Protein and 2/3 (the right) Carbs, plus a little (good) fat. OK..25g Protein would then take 50g Carbs in the form of, let`s say...Stir-Fry Vegetables. To get 50g from those veggies takes an entire 1lb. bag! And that`s just one meal...to get the 1g/lb. lean body weight worth of Protein/day would require about six of those meals...that`s a *lot* of veggies! No, I`m not doing that, and I sure do eat some other Carbs too, but still... And I could easily be doing 30g Protein for five meals instead of 25g for six, and that`d take even *more* veggies! Gee.. without starches/grains/etc. just getting the Protein/Carb ratio right for a few meals is a challenge and I really get enough grains from my daily fiber intake (though I do still eat a little bread every day ).

Maybe the weirdest thing about that for me is that I never calc`ed it before

[JustJesus]

WOWZERS Accumulator. It is too early for me to wrap my head around that post.

Gym closure (not like I was going much) doesn`t help. But I have remained partially active with the stay home stuff going on.

Still managing the weight. Yesterday, I was at 164.5. I don`t look sickly so I`ll start pushing for 155. Overall, you can see slightly more muscle definition which prompts me to do more with weights.

Time to take things up a notch!

[jrock645]

A while back I posted how I was gonna think a bit more about my diet in general, in the sense of "calorie restriction without dropping intake of essentials".

So this got my attention: I want about 1/3 Protein and 2/3 (the right) Carbs, plus a little (good) fat. OK..25g Protein would then take 50g Carbs in the form of, let`s say...Stir-Fry Vegetables. To get 50g from those veggies takes an entire 1lb. bag! And that`s just one meal...to get the 1g/lb. lean body weight worth of Protein/day would require about six of those meals...that`s a *lot* of veggies! No, I`m not doing that, and I sure do eat some other Carbs too, but still... And I could easily be doing 30g Protein for five meals instead of 25g for six, and that`d take even *more* veggies! Gee.. without starches/grains/etc. just getting the Protein/Carb ratio right for a few meals is a challenge and I really get enough grains from my daily fiber intake (though I do still eat a little bread every day ).

Maybe the weirdest thing about that for me is that I never calc`ed it before

Heah, trying to eat a really significant amount of carbs being all veggies is tough to do. A few servings of fruit would bump he number up substantially while still being highly nutritious- a couple each of apples, oranges and bananas each day just as an easy example.

[Accumulator]

jrock645- I`m not the best when it comes to eating a lot of fruit. I used to really like bananas, but woke up one day and *didn`t* any more. Just don`t like most fruit well enough to eat it..more of my weird food preferences

I do go through multiple grapefruit *every day of the year*, and tons of blueberries, but other than those I really only have Granny Smith Apples, which I`ve found really add something to my pre-workout snack (bunch of eggs, half-slice of decent bread, fishoil capsule, lots of water, and that apple). I sure never expected those apples to make great workout fuel, didn`t expect to ever notice *anything, ever * from eating one freakin` apple! No, it`s not like a serving of Ultimate Orange, but it`s still something that makes a diff for me.

But yeah, my trying to keep the Eicosanoids in balance and my Glycemic Load down all the time sure does limit the choices, and I already eat tons of grains in the form of my daily Fiber/bread intake (lots of dry Fiber1 cereal daily and 1-1.5 slices of bread, and on the days I`m eating burgers/Arby`s I have two/three whole buns ).

About 18 months ago I decided to never eat more than a half-slice of bread/meal other than those weekend sandwiches, and I replace that with a BIG serving of raw broccoli/cauliflower/red peppers, with a few olives. Sure enough, that was a *really* good idea. Guess it got me thinking I really can get even better about this stuff. But no way am I eating vegetables with Bfast, yuck! (Just my luck, the price of Zone Cereal went up something *awful*, nearly doubled.)

Eh, (re)reading all the Barry Sears books always makes me think I oughta do better.

Heh heh, if I could convince Accumulatorette to quit those burgers on Sat./Arby`s on Sun. I`d *really* be eating clean! (Yeah, right Accumulator..blame it on the wife )

[Bill D]

Very few fruits for me too. Basically just strawberries and once in a blue moon, an apple.

I do munch on raw carrots often though. Buy them by the bag load.

[Accumulator]

JustJesus- That`s the way! Incremental progress, keep it up

I can`t imagine ~165 being even close to "too lean" for you, since I`m around that and I`m taller. IMO, until you can *clearly* see at least a 6-pack you`re not even close to "too lean", Heh, Dr. Sears prefers athletes to settle for what he calls a "two-pack" and to aim for a bodyfat % of around 10, although he offered no real reason for that (he and I simply disagree on what`s right with regard to "what you can see").

For me to get "too lean", in the sense that I don`t look the way I want *or FEEL/perform* the way I want, I have to get under 5% bodyfat. When I measured that low I could sustain injuries too easily and I was cold all the time, besides simply looking gaunt with a too-thin face. That`s why I always find it interesting (amusing ) when somebody is described as having "5% bodyfat!!" while looking *infinitely* fatter than I looked at 10%! Remember, when I measured 11% I still had a *clearly* defined six-pack

[Accumulator]

Very few fruits for me too. Basically just strawberries and once in a blue moon, an apple.

I do munch on raw carrots often though. Buy them by the bag load.

Sounds like you`re getting your Beta Carotene You could sure do a lot worse for your choice of snack food! Funny how some veggies taste great to me raw but I DISlike them cooked; I definitely prefer my carrots raw, but can eat them cooked, which is more than I can say about tomatoes, or any fruit.

I used to mix strawberries with vanilla Meal Replacement Powder drink, but I never seem to eat them by themselves...hmmm they *are* often on sale around here...

Boy, had somebody suggested that my diet would be so nearly vegetarian I would`ve laughed in his face! I used to go *forever* without eating any fruits/vegetables at all except for potatoes (which I now consider the Devil despite still eating those Pringles ).

[Bill D]

I eat carrots cooked too. I cook a very simple meal of chopped chicken, carrots, and green beans and that can be very filling. *SO* easy to cook even I can do it. Gotta be one of the more healthy meals I have too. This is all due to me being a picky eater

I basically just have French fries as potatoes since I gave up potato chips for the most part

[Accumulator]

I find *your* regimen impressive! I didn’t walk today but pushed my lawnmower for 35 mins. At least that’s something. Tomorrow I walk again

Do you do your regimen every day?

No, I don`t even come *close* to doing any exercise daily (well, other than my chores, which are a few hours of daily physical activity that many would find demanding, often hours of basically constant deep knee bends).

With the older dog`s mobility so compromised, I`m not even doing the every-other-day dog hikes (~60 minutes, briskly cross-country, regardless of weather), but those never registered on me as "exercise" any how. Heh heh, I`ll get back to that when he`s passed, let alone all the walking I`ll do next time we have a puppy!

The Stair/Air/Tread stuff that I do pre-Bfast is too demanding to do even as often as I`d like (well, don`t like the Air by a long shot), and balancing those against my Leg Days (Resistance Training, "RT") is very challenging as I have to be *SO* [freakin`] careful about overtraining/recovery.

I did the Stair yesterday even though it was a bit too soon. Went fine, but was probably a tad sub-optimal with regard to the muscle-building for my legs.

StairMaster is about every third-fifth day; AirDyne is once/~3-4 *weeks*; Treadmill could be every third day if not for balancing against the RT work. I can *LOVE* walking at a brisk-but-OK pace for hours on end daily (and never notice that being demanding enough to qualify as exercise), but I just don`t have the time for that unless it`s related to the dogs/chores.

I *do* often wonder what constitutes "exercise" vs. mere "activity". When I read "guidelines" about such stuff I`m often kinda thinking "gee, I do more than that every day of my life, even when I`m just...kicking back and being alive).

A pal got me a fitness tracker that she thinks is great, but it wants me to download Locating Software/App and I`m not gonna let anybody/thing track me (else I`d carry a cellphone/etc.). I *would* love to know how many steps/day I average..

[Accumulator]

Bill D- Heh heh, whereas I`ve gone from Fries to the Pringles

I`m trying to guess what portion sizes I`d need for Chicken/carrots/green beans to be filling...I do still eat a *LOT* at each meal even though I try to do the Hara Hachi Bu thing (which can sure be an exercise in self-discipline ).

[Bill D]

My iPhone has a step tracker under its health app. It’s a handy thing to have. It tracks day-week-month. I look at it out of curiosity on days I go walking.

[Accumulator]

Replacing chips with a microwaved baked potato oughta be *so* easy, if more expensive, but I never seem to stick with that, maybe because it`s such a comparative hassle. Can`t even remember just what the cooking routine was, and it sure took me an surprisingly long time to get dialed-in just right.

[Accumulator]

My iPhone has a step tracker under its health app. It’s a handy thing to have..

No doubt! Heh heh, I *think* I might be the only person I know, at least IRL, who doesn`t have a smartphone, or even specifically an iPhone/watch.

[Bill D]

I`m trying to guess what portion sizes I`d need for Chicken/carrots/green beans to be filling...I do still eat a *LOT* at each meal even though I try to do the Hara Hachi Bu thing (which can sure be an exercise in self-discipline ).

In my meal I use one large chicken breast, three quarters of a bag of frozen green beans, and half to three quarters of a bag of carrots. It was filling to me when I cooked it the other day but filling varies from person to person

[Bill D]

No doubt! Heh heh, I *think* I might be the only person I know, at least IRL, who doesn`t have a smartphone, or even specifically an iPhone/watch.

You’re not. My dad’s BFF still uses a flip phone.