Fitness and being Healthy

[Arnock]

Man, I knew I had almost nonexistent upper body strength, but I didn't think that I'd start failing reps at a mere 65lbs

Freaking.
Overhead.
Press.

[Fridmarr]

I wouldn't sweat it. It's not particularly low for that exercise with free weights. Keep your form good (yes bad form (like leaning back) can be cheating, but often proper form can actually help), and stick with it and you're body will adapt and you will progress.

[Nikachelle]

Decided to start running in the mornings instead of after work like I'm used to simply because the temperatures throughout the summer are just ridiculous here.

So I got up at 6 am and got a short run in before work today. Felt good, but now it's only 9:30 and despite having had breakfast earlier I'm already starving now. Argh!

Mostly I'm just happy that I actually stuck to getting up today to get the run in and I hope I can turn it into a habit.

[Shyrtandros]

Man, I knew I had almost nonexistent upper body strength, but I didn't think that I'd start failing reps at a mere 65lbs

Freaking.
Overhead.
Press.

Don't feel bad buddy... last week I decided to start doing some Supersets of Push-ups & sit-ups and I felt like a pansy when I couldn’t get through the first set without modifying. Just a few years ago I could get through the first 5 sets without any problems now I can't get past one..

Here is the plan:
- Regular pushups - 10
- Regular situps - 10
- Wide pushups - 10
- Reverse Crunches - 10
- Close or Triceps pushups - 10
- Double crunches - 10

This is a basic military workout I used to do, you keep going through the rotation until you cannot complete the exercise and then you do an easier version of it. (e.g. Knee Pushups or crunches)

Decided to start running in the mornings instead of after work like I'm used to simply because the temperatures throughout the summer are just ridiculous here.

So I got up at 6 am and got a short run in before work today. Felt good, but now it's only 9:30 and despite having had breakfast earlier I'm already starving now. Argh!

Mostly I'm just happy that I actually stuck to getting up today to get the run in and I hope I can turn it into a habit.

I wish I had your discipline to work out in the morning.. I love how it jump starts the day but I hated how hungry I would get and even more I hated getting up 2 hours earlier.

[Nikachelle]

Once =/= discipline!

Hoping it turns out that way though.

[Fivelives]

I prefer exercising in the morning to doing it in the afternoon/evening. If I do my workouts in the evening, I'm still too energized to sleep at a reasonable hour, but if I do them in the mornings then I've got plenty of energy to get through the day.

It does help if you flip meals though. Eat your main meal at breakfast, then have a light lunch and dinner, instead of light breakfast and lunch, then a hearty dinner.

[firstamendme]

It does help if you flip meals though. Eat your main meal at breakfast, then have a light lunch and dinner, instead of light breakfast and lunch, then a hearty dinner.

I found that having my main meal being an early lunch works too. For example, my typical day:

4:55AM BEEP BEEP BEEP
2 eggs, piece of toast, cup of coffee

Gym from 6AM-730/800AM depending on what I'm doing
Protein shake

Get to the lab at 840AM
between 9 and 10AM I'll have half a banana and an apple, orange, or peach

11:20ish lunch: 1 cup of rice or pasta, ~3 cups of veggies (changes but always watercrest in the mix because they are awesome), ~7 ounces of whatever protein was on sale that week (usually chicken or pork with the occasional beef or ham)

3ish 1 cup of cottage cheese with either ground pepper or some chopped fruit, just enough so that when I mix it up the juices from the fruit flavor everything

6ish, salad with spinach leaves and a bunch of veggies (recently switched to broccoli sprouts from bean sprouts and they last way longer in the fridge) and another 6-7 ounces of meat

7-8/830 racquetball with the wife or whoever I can find to play

protein shake

5-6 shots of bourbon whiskey and hang with the wife until falling asleep around 11

Obviously I'm drinking water all day too, and the racquetball at night sometimes is replaced with *insert other activity to spend time with wife here*, but this seems to work pretty well for me without getting ravenous. That said, there are days when I eat my lunch around 11AM like an old man to stop my stomach from growling, but I find that the afternoon schedule doesn't change.

[Nikachelle]

I have no idea how you guys have time to make eggs, toast and whatnot in the morning.

[Fridmarr]

I wish I could workout in the morning, it would be much more convenient, but I'm just not able to it. I've tried plenty, but when I do my workouts always suck.

For breakfast, obviously it's just a matter of getting up a few minutes earlier. I've always eaten breakfast, so if I miss it, I feel like shit. For me there's no competition between the extra 10-15 min of sleep or breakfast, breakfast wins easily.

[Nikachelle]

5-6 shots of bourbon whiskey and hang with the wife until falling asleep around 11

What, every night?!?

[Nikachelle]

I wish I could workout in the morning, it would be much more convenient, but I'm just not able to it. I've tried plenty, but when I do my workouts always suck.

For breakfast, obviously it's just a matter of getting up a few minutes earlier. I've always eaten breakfast, so if I miss it, I feel like shit. For me there's no competition between the extra 10-15 min of sleep or breakfast, breakfast wins easily.

Okay but I'm talking about the difference between making a bowl of cereal versus scrambled eggs with fixings. The time difference is pretty massive. I do always eat breakfast, don't get me wrong, but I can't fathom adding not only a workout in the morning, but also allotting extra time to make a hearty breakfast. Getting up 45 minutes earlier is annoying enough as it is. Bringing fruit to work (or buying it there) seemed to be the best option so far. A banana mid-morning on Thursday stamped out the kitty that was growling in my stomach pretty quickly.

As for the morning workout... it was really nice yesterday when we both got home and realized we could be as lazy as we wanted since we'd already gone for a run in the morning. Very, very relaxing. I'm not a big fan of running in heat over ~22-23 degrees (~74 fahrenheit) and lately, after work, every day, it's been around the 33-36 degree mark (~97 fahrenheit), and don't even get me started on the humidity, which usually bumps it up to about the 40s (~107 fahrenheit). Running in that is just miserable.

[Shyrtandros]

Nika, one of the things that I've done is buy Egg Beaters Cups Each cup is about the size of a yogurt or pudding cup and contains 2 real eggs already mixed. You can pour 1 into a small bowl and microwave it for roughly 2 minutes and it will come out cooked and in 1 piece. I’ll actually throw that on toast with some microwave bacon and make a quick sandwich in less than 10 minutes. The best part is since it's a microwave / toaster breakfast I can start it the moment I get up while I get ready.

[firstamendme]

5-6 shots of bourbon whiskey and hang with the wife until falling asleep around 11

What, every night?!?

Most nights, yes.

I'm not sure why making eggs and toast takes so long. 2 eggs (fried or scrambled with basil or mushrooms or something), toast, and coffee takes me about 15 minutes to make. I do set the coffee machine to autobrew the night before, though.

[Nikachelle]

Probably the time I spend doing my makeup/hair in the morning is where you guys get your time for breakfast goodies.

[Fivelives]

Have Invis make breakfast while you're doing your makeup/hair. Problem: solved!

Alternately, it really really doesn't take that long to cook breakfast. I can whip up 2 eggs any style, 2 slices of thick-cut bacon, scratch-made hashed browns, and a (pre-cooked) biscuit with country gravy in right around 10 minutes, and that's if I move slow. I'll time myself this morning and let you know exactly how long it takes me.

Also, eat after you exercise. Eating before can lead to some Bad Things™.