Time for a change... ((Health stuff.))

[Taskmage]

Re: Time for a change... ((Health stuff.))

My sleep has gone to crap in the past few months, and it certainly hasn't been helping. I blame FFXI and the fact that my friends' play schedule is built around PST, so I stay up two hours later than they do and then have to get up with the kids in the morning. I went from 8 hours of sleep on average to less than 6, which is workable for a few days but takes its toll over weeks. Last night I finally put personal well-being over character progression and skipped Salvage II to go to bed at a reasonable hour. Now I've got this dull pressure in my head like you get when you oversleep.

[cidbahamut]

Re: Time for a change... ((Health stuff.))

I'm teetering on the edge of the wagon, but I think a lot of that has something to do with the fact that I set the bar very low for myself so it's easy to fall off and get back on without noticing. I've kept up my very modest exercise routine, which basically amounts to push-ups and crunches(lunges got dropped due to them fucking up my knees every time I did them) plus walking to work and managed to more or less maintain a steady weight. Before I was generally fluctuating between 185 and 190, but now I'm down to 180-185. The thing is, I haven't seen it go much further than that, and sometimes it relapses and I have to make a conscious effort to "get back on the wagon". I think it probably means I need to get better about regulating my diet. Lord knows all those cheetos during D&D aren't helping. I should probably up my reps for the routine as well since I've just sort of plateaued rather than improved any lately.

One thing I have noticed is that I seem to do worse when I'm not getting enough sleep. When my work had me pulling 8-6 days for a week and I was getting minimal sleep every night, it did a number on me. I don't know if there's any validity to it, but I think just getting enough sleep is probably a good idea for anyone looking to stay healthy.

Next goal: get weight range down to 175-180

[Taskmage]

Re: Time for a change... ((Health stuff.))

Giving this thread the defibrillator.

I have fallen off the health wagon. I've gained two inches in the waist this year, losing me the use of half my pants, and more importantly I feel less healthy, mostly by way of having less energy. I'm hoping that if this thread stays active, I'll stay conscious of my efforts or lack thereof and stay on the figurative wagon.

My goals:

• Create and follow a sensible diet
• Lose 4 inches off my waist
• Run a 10-minute mile

I don't know what kind of time frame is reasonable to set for those, but tentatively I'm saying by the end of summer.

If you're into it, post your own.

[Murphie]

Re: Time for a change... ((Health stuff.))

I would offer suggestions, but I see little reason to throw more good advice away.

[Takelli]

Re: Time for a change... ((Health stuff.))

@Takelli: I haven't heard that one, but if your goal is weight loss then I would think you'd have a heart time keeping your heart rate up for 20 consecutive minutes by working your abs (or any one muscle) since at some point they're going to give out. It's also weird that the advise you heard would focus on abs since your legs and back are larger muscle groups (thus would burn more calories) and are the most important for practical strength.

Well, I was looking for something to do while I was at work that I can do that will help, when I am just standing at the register or something.

-Shrugs.- Not sure though. I have heard that it will increase your core strength (Which I need.).

[Armando]

Re: Time for a change... ((Health stuff.))

@Takelli: I haven't heard that one, but if your goal is weight loss then I would think you'd have a hard time keeping your heart rate up for 20 consecutive minutes by working your abs (or any one muscle) since at some point they're going to give out. It's also weird that the advise you heard would focus on abs since your legs and back are larger muscle groups (thus would burn more calories) and are the most important for practical strength.

[Takelli]

Re: Time for a change... ((Health stuff.))

So, I've been doing research for exercises (Now that I am doing more, and not sitting as much.)

I have read up that flexing your Abs can help make them stronger, and can burn calories at a faster rate... Is this true? I have started to do it, but I haven't felt that burn you get after you exercise for a while, but my heart rate increases. I can physically feel it, but I can't find anything on an increased heart rate. when I google it, I get Cardio work outs, and smoking stuff, and so on, but nothing about an increased heart rate from flexing your abs.

[cidbahamut]

Re: Time for a change... ((Health stuff.))

I've actually been doing push-ups open palmed since I switched over to doing proper ones. When I was starting out on the modified ones using my knees I used my knuckles and it kind of worked but left them a little achy in a way that worried me. It got worse when I started doing proper push-ups so I switched to open palms and it's been much better.

Scrolling through the comments I saw one guy note that if for whatever reason it were to break while you were doing push-ups, your wrists would be pretty much screwed, so I dunno if I'd want to use it for that. Probably best to just stick with using it for pull-ups.

Regardless, I'll need to measure the doorway later tonight to make sure the thing will fit.

[Armando]

Re: Time for a change... ((Health stuff.))

It's also handy for push-ups if you don't fancy pressing your knuckles against the ground.

[cidbahamut]

Re: Time for a change... ((Health stuff.))

Dammit, now I might have to actually spend money on this.

[Taskmage]

Re: Time for a change... ((Health stuff.))

The bar Armando linked is pretty similar to the one I have, and probably a better deal. No worries about stability. Your weight on the bar keeps it viced to the wall. You have to exert an upward force on it to get it to disengage, which is hard to do while hanging. My kids swing around on it all the time and it's never come loose by accident.

[Armando]

Re: Time for a change... ((Health stuff.))

Thanks, I'll look into it. Hopefully it's on the Kindle store so I can be super lazy about it.

[Feba]

Re: Time for a change... ((Health stuff.))

Oh, Armando, if you haven't read his books before, you'll like Malcom Gladwell.

Pretty mathy, if light on the actual formulas.

[Armando]

Re: Time for a change... ((Health stuff.))

Don't those have to be screwed in? Also: concerns about how stable they actually are. Just seems like things could go horribly wrong if it comes loose while you're working out and there go your knees.

There are some that are detachable. A quick google search revealed that this one appears to be pretty popular.

[Feba]

Re: Time for a change... ((Health stuff.))

The key to doing anything well is to do it lots and do it often. You also have to be committed to following through on your goal-- even modest weight loss is going to take you a month or two; extreme weight loss can easily go into years. Same goes for learning a skill or art of any sort, fixing bad habits, or forming new ones.

Go read Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell for some good (if shaky) examples of this.