|
|
Archive for the ‘Gym Stories’ Category
Thursday, February 25th, 2010
Way back in November the New York Times published an article on their Wellness Blog that I found extremely interesting, if not completely obvious. The article talked about the results of a recent study which proved that exercise – even intense exercise – is not the only answer to losing weight. The articles says:
But few people, an overwhelming body of research shows, achieve significant weight loss with exercise alone, not without changing their eating habits. A new study from scientists at the University of Colorado School of Medicine in Denver offers some reasons why.
Sometimes you have to stop and wonder why certain things are studied. I mean do we really need a study that proves working out isn’t the only factor in losing weight? Heck, the researchers could have come to study me (or any one of us, right?)! I think one of the most interesting parts of the article was this revelation:
To their surprise, the researchers found that none of the groups, including the athletes, experienced “afterburn.” They did not use additional body fat on the day when they exercised. In fact, most of the subjects burned slightly less fat over the 24-hour study period when they exercised than when they did not.
Have you ever heard someone tell you that you should work out in the morning because then your body burns more calories throughout the day? Well, turns out that this study claims otherwise. In fact, not only do you not burn more calories throughout the day, but you actually burn less calories after working out! How crazy is that?!
Even though the researchers proved that the essence of losing weight is all about “energy in and energy out” (i.e. burning more calories than you take in), they did come up with some additional, almost common sense findings.
Perhaps just as important, bear in mind that exercise has benefits beyond weight reduction. In the study of obese people who took up exercise, most became notably healthier, increasing their aerobic capacity, decreasing their blood pressure and resting heart rates, and, the authors write, achieving “an acute exercise-induced increase in positive mood,” leading the authors to conclude that, “significant and meaningful health benefits can be achieved even in the presence of lower than expected exercise-induced weight loss.”
Well that’s good news, huh? Who doesn’t want to be a little bit healthier or get better readings at the doctor’s office? Once upon a time I used to work out every morning and then go swimming for an hour every night. I dropped a ton of weight during that time. I also remember being markedly more upbeat during that time, too. I definitely didn’t have this stupid Type 2 Diabetes or the aches and pains in my body. Of course, this was all back when I was in graduate school.
Which begs me to ask the question (again) – where is the study showing the best methods for a working person to lose weight? If you’re busy doing something work-related from 7am to 9pm on most days, when are you supposed to work out? Further, what if you have an extended commute that is exhausting in itself? Where is that study?!
If you get a chance, I would recommend reading the article linked above. It’s a quick, informative read.
Posted in Gym Stories | 1 Comment »
Monday, November 23rd, 2009
When you’re constantly trying to lose weight (or, in my case, trying to find the time in your day to just get to the gym), you come across a lot of different diet books, workout regimes, and “quick fixes.” With respect to the quick fixes, I don’t buy into any of that stuff because the quick fix is usually depriving your body of certain essential items (such as fat or carbohydrates – the body needs these things!).
The other day I was watching one of the morning talk shows before leaving for work and one of the guests was a woman that lost a ton of weight. Part of her routine was the Eat-Clean Diet. I’m always interested in what people are doing to lose large amounts of weight. Usually, I’m looking to see if those people are finding success while juggling a crazy professional and personal schedule. In other words, I want to see if anyone can lose 100+ or 150+ pounds when they are busy from 7am through 10pm on most days. I haven’t found that success story yet…
But I digress. I looked into the Eat-Clean Diet for Men and was immediately happy to see that it isn’t so much of a diet as it is a plan to eat natural foods in proper portions. The Eat-Clean Diet for Men, created by Robert Kennedy and his wife Tosca Reno, focuses on creating a schedule of food intake that works for a man to achieve whatever he wants to achieve (be it losing weight, gaining muscle, or maintaining a certain weight). Folks, I’ve been on all sorts of diets and when I did manage to lose 120+ pounds a few years ago (before gaining it back), I did it by staying away from fad diets and, instead, just eating smaller portions and working out more often. That’s what I liked about the Eat-Clean Diet – it’s not a fad diet. Instead, it focuses on eating real foods.
And as it turns out, I’ve been eating the same foods that are recommended by the Eat-Clean Diet for Men for years. I take the supplements that they suggest taking and I eat the food that they suggest eating. My problem for the last few years where I’ve gained the weight back has always been on two issues. The first is portion size. I eat gigantic sandwiches and large bowls of pasta and I shouldn’t do that. I get progressively better at reducing these portion sizes as time goes on, but I still sometimes have portion sizes that are too big. The second problem is timing.
During the college semester, it’s very hard for me to get to the gym for an intense workout. Sure, I can get to the gym and have a half-assed workout at the end of the day for about 30 minutes, but it’s not worth the effort since I’m not achieving anything in that scenario. Between the two hour daily commute to and from my day job, teaching two nights per week, and attending a class on a third night each week, I get pretty tired by the time I get home at night. Further, when I do get home it is usually between 9pm and 10pm after having been awake since 6am.
For me, the Eat-Clean Diet for Men plan doesn’t address how to juggle a ridiculous professional and personal schedule and thus doesn’t add much “new” information for me. In fact, the information presented in the book (which is a very well prepared book, by the way) is nothing new to anyone who has been researching health and healthy lifestyles. In fact, there was nothing new in this book on that front. However, I can see how this book can be a very valuable resource to those people who do not know which foods are good and which ones are bad for improving health.
I’d recommend this book for someone who is in that latter group and for someone who has the time to dedicate to really changing their entire lifestyle for the cause of improving health. For those of us who are over-scheduled from the morning hours through the late evening, the only new thing you’ll find in this book is which foods are good and which are bad. For those of you who already know which foods are good and which are bad and if you’re over-scheduled and trying to find a way to lose weight, then the Eat-Clean Diet for Men might not be for you.
Posted in Book, DVD, Movie, & Media Reviews, Gym Stories | 1 Comment »
Friday, May 29th, 2009
After 25 straight days of going to the gym, I’ve decided that it’s time to take a break. The combination of an extremely hectic weekend schedule coming up and the fact that I want to reorganize some of my workouts at the gym have led me to decide that I’m taking this weekend off from the gym. Again, after going to the gym for 25 straight days, I think I’m okay to take the next few days off and get back there bright and early on Monday morning. Plus, most health freaks will tell you that you shouldn’t go to the gym every single day for a variety of physical and mental reasons!
My cardio workouts have been going very well and I enjoy doing them for a variety of reasons, not the least of which is that I’ve been able to read through a bunch of my books that were piling up. My weight lifting routine, though, has been spotty at best. I want to take the next few days and – while I’m driving all over the state tomorrow and Sunday – I want to try to remember my old weight lifting workout.
Also, when I start back up at the gym on Monday morning, I want to ramp up my cardio workouts. I’ve been doing about the same incline and speed on the treadmill for the last few weeks and now I want to change that up a bit. Either slow it down and walk for a longer time or speed it up and decrease the overall time on the treadmill.
In any event, I’ve been very happy going back to the gym again and I’m glad that I signed up for the one that is located right down the street from where I live. It’s great having a place to workout so close to home!
Posted in Gym Stories | 4 Comments »
Sunday, May 24th, 2009
Sorry, this entry does not have anything to do with reforming the way the health care system operates. It actually has to do with me and a small change that I am making. First, though, understand that I am what they call an information freak. I love tracking information – especially when the statistics that are generated are beneficial to me and those things that are important to me. To this end I’ve been tracking certain statistics as they relate to my health.
For example, each week I track the amount of steps that I take via my pedometer and I record the weekly number on my Google Calendar application. I also track which days and what time during the day that I visit the gym. Simple things like this – I think they give you powerful pieces of information to cull through when you’re bored.
Anyway, about a year ago I stopped tracking my daily caloric intake. That probably wasn’t such a good idea so I’ve decided to start tracking that again via FitDay.com. This is the program that I used last year when I was watching what I ate and it’s pretty powerful. Oh, and best of all – it’s completely free.
The other minor modification that I’m making in my health information tracking is when I start my week for logging my weekly steps. In other words, I used to start my week on Monday and stop my tracking at night on Sundays. And there was some reason for doing this as I recall. Something about tracking on these days makes for a better overall weekly count – I really don’t remember. Well, after doing that for a few years I think I’m going to change to a regular week by starting my tracking on Sunday morning and ending on Saturday night. I can’t recall a reasons to track my weekly steps any differently.
By the way, the week before last I set a new record for the amount of steps walked in a week. I broke the previous week’s record of 75,550 by recording 85,472 steps. Not bad at all – especially when you consider that you’re supposed to walk 70,000 steps in a week. 
Posted in Gym Stories | No Comments »
Thursday, May 21st, 2009
Don’t you hate it when you go to the gym and there’s a guy on his cell phone the entire time talking too loud and making a gigantic scene? Ugh…those people are the worst. What’s their problem? Can’t they get off of the phone and pound out a workout?
I’m sorry.
I’m apologizing because I was that guy at the gym tonight. Yes, I was the guy on the treadmill on his cell phone holding a conversation that had nothing to do with working out. As many of you know, I serve on the Board of Trustees for a national foundation. At some point around 7pm tonight, I got on a phone call with the Executive Director of our foundation. Since my back was hurting me this morning when I woke up, I had to go to the gym after work – and since I had that phone call scheduled, that meant that I couldn’t go to the gym until after the call.
But do you ever get on those calls where you just have to stay on the line because the discussion is so good that you need to explore it a little bit further? Well, our Executive Director and I had what I thought was an excellent conversation tonight about a variety of issues (some of which were eye-opening to me). But as the call went on I began to worry about getting my workout in. So I drove to the gym and sat in my car for another hour or so on the phone (one of my roommates actually arrived at the gym after me and left before me while I was taking the call).
Then when it got to be 9pm, I knew I had to get a workout in before I was too tired to do it. So I was that guy on the treadmill on his cell phone, but it was for a good reason. And now I will think twice about those other people who are on their cell phones. On the other hand, though, I was on an important phone call and I kept my voice down. Most of those other people get on their phones and start to talk way too loud and in an obnoxious tone!
By the way, tonight marks 18 days in a row that I’ve been to the gym. Pretty good for a guy who isn’t even on a diet and is just working out for the fun of it.
Posted in Gym Stories | 2 Comments »
Thursday, May 14th, 2009
Finally! I found one! Earlier today I was at the gym (eleven days in a row, by the way) and while I was on the treadmill I began to take inventory of my fellow gym-goers on the treadmills around me. Isn’t people-watching the best thing going today?
Anyway, the woman two treadmills down from me was the epitome of a clod hopper! Every step she took on the machine you would have thought that she was going to go through the floor. I’ll never understand why some people don’t pick up their feet when they get on the treadmills, but you know what? This woman was going at a pretty good pace and she was burning calories like it was her job. Impressive…
But still funny!
The other funny observation that I had at the gym today was the guy on the treadmill next to me. For those of you that go on these treadmills you know that you can increase the incline on the machine to simulate the going up hill effect. It’s actually a great way to burn more calories over the course of a week. Anyway, this guy get on the treadmill next to me and sets the incline at such a ridiculous level that he’s practically falling off of the machine! It was pretty funny – he couldn’t even swing his arms as he was walking because he had to hold on to the top of the machine to stay on it.
Clod hoppers and mountain climbers…hilarious!
Posted in Gym Stories | 1 Comment »
|
|
|
| |
|
