Exercise issues during "Honeymoon" period... - ThinnerTimes

fisher1000 · 12-10-2007, 08:20 AM

John already answered some the questions I had in Squishy Mike's thread, but I thought it was unfair to continue to hijack that thread, thus I created this one.

John--the doctor didn't really mention anything about gaining muscle at this point, on par with what you said about losing what I could during this "honeymoon" period. He did say resistance exercises would help maintain the muscle that I had so that I was losing just the fat. I'm still 40 pounds away from 275, but when I get there...is that when you started doing the weight training? Is that when I should up the protein?

Whitney (Coptergirl) told me about Isopure protein, and I bought some yesterday. It's not nearly as bad as what I was taking before, so if I did have to increase it, I think I could with the Isopure.

I'm going to the gym later--I'm shooting for 12 minutes on the Elliptical-whether I feel like dying or not. Then a 25-30 minute circuit on the resistance machines and then finish with 10-20 minutes on the treadmill. Does that sound like what I should be doing? With that plan, I'm dropping about 5 pounds or so a week.

Thanks for your input...and if you do decide to ever be a trainer...please travel--I'm sure you'll be needed in more places than just in Texas!

Take care,

Mike

porshh951 · 12-10-2007, 09:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fisher1000

John already answered some the questions I had in Squishy Mike's thread, but I thought it was unfair to continue to hijack that thread, thus I created this one.

John--the doctor didn't really mention anything about gaining muscle at this point, on par with what you said about losing what I could during this "honeymoon" period. He did say resistance exercises would help maintain the muscle that I had so that I was losing just the fat.

He sounds like a smart doctor then. He is telling you to do exactly what I did.

Quote:

Originally Posted by fisher1000

I'm still 40 pounds away from 275, but when I get there...is that when you started doing the weight training? Is that when I should up the protein?

No I didn't start weight training until I was under 200lbs. Too many people concentrate on the number they see on the scale and they build their program around that number. Thats a mistake. What you need to be concerned with is the ratio of fat on your body to water/muscle i.e. BF%. From previous testing I knew that I wouldn't be a solid single digit BF range untill 200lbs or under so there was no sense in starting early when their is still fat to be lost.

You will thank yourself for doing it this way too. When your body carries a real low BF range it shows absolutely everything. I can use my own body for a refference point. Go to the exercise section and look at my muscle building thread I started. The reason I can look like that is I carry a very low BF. When body building or gaining muscle im my opinion its better to worry about defenition than size. Its why I train like I do. I can get more detailed.

Some examples and frames of refference. When im at the gym my entire body exploads and my veins grow out everywhere. Im able to see peak/and lines where the guy next to me cant. Now he may infact be able to physically lift more than me but, I look better in the mirror why? BF range. There are two types of builders and two main ways of lifting. Hypertrophy/hyperplasia.

In my opinion I would rather carry a decent amount of strength and look great than have sheer size mass. Besides in my expeirence when a women is looking at a mans body she won't care weither his arms are 14inches or 19. She will however care if he looks muscular or not. I could give two craps if I ever bench more than 300lbs I would rather be able to rip my shirt off and make "x" girl do a double take.

You'll find most guys care about the latter more too. The only reason they wouldn't is if they aren't disciplined enough with their eating/cardio sessions to carry a low BF range. You also get guys who suffer from agorofobia(sp?). The "size kings" I have a few friends I train with who are like that as well.

You will be happier with your body and healthier the lower your BF range is. I hope my sales pitch is hitting home with you. Its all about BF% nothing else matters when looking in the mirror. Even muscle cause if you carry a low enough range what muscle you do have will show through just fine.

Quote:

Originally Posted by fisher1000

Whitney (Coptergirl) told me about Isopure protein, and I bought some yesterday. It's not nearly as bad as what I was taking before, so if I did have to increase it, I think I could with the Isopure.

No you are eating enough protein right now to maintain your current level of muscle and drop fat. Which at this point is all that really matters. You do not need to try and take in my level of protein. It would only hurt you and your weightloss.

Quote:

Originally Posted by fisher1000

I'm going to the gym later--I'm shooting for 12 minutes on the Elliptical-whether I feel like dying or not. Then a 25-30 minute circuit on the resistance machines and then finish with 10-20 minutes on the treadmill. Does that sound like what I should be doing?

circuit/interval training is a great way to cut the pounds off I agree 100%. Although you may want to change up your time figures some. The shorter your workouts(timewise) the more intense they have to be to gain the desired results. Make sense?

In other words lets say you only have 1hour to workout. Thats not alot of time so i'd warm up on the treamil/eliptical for 5 minutes then do 45minutes at a 140-150BPM average or better. Then the last 10minutes i'd hit the machines. You dont really need weight machines at your weight. YOU ARE YOUR OWN WEIGHT MACHINE at 300lbs. People/trainers don't realize that doing intense cardio carrying around that kind of weight is like lifting weights. You will not only maintain your current LBM you may even increase it by doing intense cardio sessions. Not only that you will be loosing vast amounts of fat and water during the process which is great. You will find that doing another 5-10minutes on that eliptical while kiling yourself will get you MORE inreturn for your efforts then hitting that lat pull down machine over there. It is ALL about heart rate. Don't let anyone kid you or tell you differently. The higher average BPM you can carry during a workout the more calories you will burn and inturn will help you on the scale the most and I can prove it.

You wanna know why all those perscription weight loss drugs work that the doc gives you? things like phentermine, Lipodrene. Its cause they carry a drug called ephedra. Ephedra speeds up your heart rate 15-20BPM throughout the day. Its why those people can loose weight while taking that drug without any other change in their diet/exercise program. Its also why the doc alot of times will put you under a heart stress test before giving them to you. They can be dangerous if taking improperly. The only reason gyms came up with the "fat burning" zone BS in the late 80's was because the business was expeirencing a sudden BOOM in cliente and business like before was never seen. Suddenly the country was obsessed with getting fit and inshape. Gyms at that time did not have any wavers of liablity for people to sign and needed a way to make sure they A. did not kill themselves on theirwatch and B. did not totally loose all their weight so they would keep coming back.
The fat burning zone is designed for larger people avoiding injury or a skinny person training during a injury trying not to upset it. The truth is if you can train harder/faster than you are, you need to be doing it. The scale your heart/lungs/cardiovascular system,blood,ect will ALL thankyou.

Quote:

Originally Posted by fisher1000

With that plan, I'm dropping about 5 pounds or so a week.

The reason you are loosing at the rate of 5lbs per week right now is cause you are still over 300lbs. As your weight lowers your weightloss will slow more and more overtime. Its why your workouts and cardio sessions MUST increase and get more intense as time go's on. The less you weigh the more you have to work in order to achieve the same level of workout, understand?

I can use my own body as a example. I too was loosing at the rate of 5lbs per week at 320lbs but, I was also still loosing at that rate at 220lbs.People ask me all the time how I was able to loose 250lbs in 11ish months. You talk to 10 different people without personal expeirence and you will prolly get 10 different answers. Let me provide the real one.

Its because as my weight got lower and lower my workouts increased slowly harder and harder over time. Its what helped me keep my body in that constant carbolic state week in and week out. If you go back and read old threads of mine you will see that at 350lbs I was only doing around 30 miles a week. While when I was 250lbs I was doing more like 50-60 and at a faster pace.

Quote:

Originally Posted by fisher1000

Thanks for your input...and if you do decide to ever be a trainer...please travel--I'm sure you'll be needed in more places than just in Texas!

Take care,

Mike

I haven't given any real serious thought to becoming a trainer. Truth be told its great to be able to help people and give real world solid advice gained through expeirence but, the sad part is as much as you can wish/want "x" person to achieve their goals they set for themselves. Weither or not they reach them has little to do with you and more to do with them.

I hope I was of some assistance to you. Im sorry for the length. I actually typed out alot of it and then accidently erased a large portion of it. I didn't feel like typing everything back out again but, you got pretty much everything you need to know right there.

Let me know if you need anything else. Making these discussons public will hopefully dispel some miths about training/exercise and weight loss.

fisher1000 · 12-10-2007, 09:57 AM

You're awesome, John, thanks.

-Mike

coptergirl · 12-10-2007, 04:00 PM

John is the guru of exercize, Mike. I am a member of BAC, and when you're ready I can show you some stuff that will help to bring everything together in the end. For now, start with what you can and increase it every week. Work on your cardio now, and set a goal to start the weights when you're able, or when you reach a certain weight (could be a good goal). I started with what I could the first week without any real time goals on the machine because i wanted to see how far i could push it to start - that was my base point that I worked from, and toward TT time, I was doing 1-2 hours of cardio a day with weights....

fisher1000 · 12-10-2007, 05:22 PM

I'm going to try and concentrate more on the cardio--I did my twelve minutes on the Elliptical today--that machine is a son of a bitch--but I know it's working because I hate it. I also did ten minutes on the treadmill and the circuit of resistance machines--about 25 minutes, for a total of 47-50 minutes.

I'll cut back on the resistance machines for now and try to do more cardio. I can comfortably walk about 2 miles in about 35 minutes, plus at least 12 minutes on the Elliptical, and then at least do the arms on the resistance machines for now. (As I lose weight...I'm gaining these underarm flaps--I'm hoping the Bicep and Tricep machine will help to alleviate it...otherwise I'll be permanently waving bye twice when I wave...) This can be my baseline for now and try to work up to lasting longer on the cardio machines--time is definitely a factor, with the baby at home, but for now things seem to be okay, and Liz is going to go back to the gym soon too. Both of our gyms have child care, we're just a little weirded out handing the baby over to a stranger, as that really hasn't happened yet and we don't know how she'll react. It should get easier as she gets older. (Whitney--Liz is at the BAC as well...off of Colvin in North Tonawanda...I'm assuming yours is in O.P.)

Oh, and Whitney, I don't know if you saw it up above, but thanks for the Isopure tip...it's SOOO much better tasting than the other protein crap I was drinking. So far, this has been the best one I've tried!

Do you ever get to a point where you enjoy the exercise? Not a real big fan right now...

Thanks for all your help folks...I appreciate it!

-Mike

Thumper · 12-10-2007, 06:10 PM

Mike:
Thanks for asking the question and also thanks for posting like you do. I am scheduled for Lap RNY on 1-15-08 and I have thoroughly enjoyed reading and learning from your experiences. I feel much better prepared for having followed your journey.

John:
What you have done says volumes about who lives inside your head. Your commitment has been incredible, but has yielded tremendous results. You have obviously educated yourself and put your knowledge to good use to achieve the results you have in such a relatively short period of time. But, even more than that, I appreciate the fact you share your knowledge and experience with everyone else.

I have been preparing myself both mentally and physically for the journey. Now I'm ready to start down the path to being a healthier me....and to maximizing my results during the "honeymoon"......

coptergirl · 12-10-2007, 06:15 PM

I am glad you like the Isopure, Mike - I live on chocolate and vanilla every morning - gives me a boost for the day. Yes - I belong to the Op BAC...joined it, but have been dedicating more time on the back of a horse lately than kicking my arse in the gym. With Keith working 2nd shift now, I am heading there after the holidays (I use my free evening to finish up Christmas stuff right now) after work on the evenings/days I don't ride. Thats the plan and I am sticking to it!!

Oh...and yes - you do get to the point where you become addicted or obsessed - or whatever you want to call it. I found that if I missed my time at the gym that my body actually hurt because it wanted the activity. I found that it was a release and when I didn't go, I would be a bit, shall we say...pissy?

fisher1000 · 12-15-2007, 07:08 PM

I did 15 minutes on the Elliptical today!

I'm stoked...I'm shooting for 18-20 on Monday...I can't believe I stayed on that mother for 15 whole minutes, and there was NO PAIN...I sweated like a wildebeast, but no pain...

I cut out most of the weight circuit, with the exception of the arms-biceps, triceps, etc. cause I'm getting a little flappy there and it makes me nauseas. I would prefer not to have curtains hanging from under my arms.

I also did 25 minutes on the treadmill. I could have done more--walkings no problem now--but I had to run some Christmas errands.

Can I also say that I took the baby's crib apart and put it back together to lower the mattress AND I fixed the dryer all by myself without complaining, sweating, or becoming short of breath. (I did say "Shit" a couple of times though...maybe a couple dozen...) I already love being "healthier MAN" and I'm looking forward to what's coming--->rebuilding our pool deck in the summer, possibly re-tarring the roof. I suddenly don't feel like I have to pay other people to do the work around my house that needs to get done. I'm becoming more and more capable, more and more healthy and DAMMIT, it feels good!

-Mike

chiquita · 12-23-2007, 05:49 PM

Hi Mike.

I too Thank you for starting this thread.
John, Holly cow! I took a triple take and still looking, man them arms are awsome, you done a great job and are trully an inspiration, in more then one way

Last weight loss program I was in, as soon as I went bellow 300 I joined the gym, and the Elliptical was my favorite, I love the rush it gives me, at times I would get tired of doing it, but that never go above how good I felt for been on it, I started from day one at 30 minutes and kept it up for over a year until I got sick one year, and seemed like everyone at my house was sick and then we got my daughter diagnosis of autism and I just gave up all together. Am looking forward on joining the gym again once I pass the 300 lb, but not up ofcourse, down lol.

My main goal is to burn fat as much as I can, and then concentrate on my arms, because I do know about that wave thing, and I don't like it, I found out before that lifting a 2 lb weight and doing some excersizes with that, helped shrink that and got rid of the cottage cheese look, so I will start that prior to going to the gym actually, as soon as my surgery heals good enough for me to do so I will start.

I am thinking about finding a journal I can not only write down what I ate, but my water input, my excersize time and keep track of vitamins I take, because I do forget sometimes to take them, and then have a little area to write for when I feel frustrated, happy, mad, etc. Anyone know of a good journal type book sold for this purpose?

Well Merry Christmas all

Drive safe, even if you stay home and only drive around town.

fisher1000 · 12-23-2007, 07:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by chiquita

I am thinking about finding a journal I can not only write down what I ate, but my water input, my excersize time and keep track of vitamins I take, because I do forget sometimes to take them, and then have a little area to write for when I feel frustrated, happy, mad, etc. Anyone know of a good journal type book sold for this purpose?

FITDAY.com

It is a great site for keeping tracking of food intake, exercise, vitamins, and more! It helps you get into good habits!

-Mike