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[Warchild]

That's perfect; you're already on the right track. If you're already involving yourself and pushing yourself outside your comfort zone, you'll find a way to get fit again. It's just a matter of patience and hard work.

Since moving to Norway ive gone from 63kg skeleton aka " you aint flying our planes in the RAF buddy" to a healthy 85 kilos of muscle. I don't drink, smoke, havent had chocolate or any sugary substances in over a year.

Quite happy with myself. I proud that i went from struggling to deadlift 80kg to lifting 190kg 1RM. Uphill mountain biking is so much easier nowadays too. Something I always enjoyed.

 

[AngryGoldfish]

Since moving to Norway ive gone from 63kg skeleton aka " you aint flying our planes in the RAF buddy" to a healthy 85 kilos of muscle. I don't drink, smoke, havent had chocolate or any sugary substances in over a year.

Quite happy with myself. I proud that i went from struggling to deadlift 80kg to lifting 190kg 1RM. Uphill mountain biking is so much easier nowadays too. Something I always enjoyed.

That's excellent, mate! I'm nowhere near there, but you never know. I've always been a weak nerd so for me hitting a 50kg bench press for five unassisted reps is a goal. I also want to be able to do unassisted pull-ups with good form and 80kg deadlifts for reps. 200kg leg press would be sweet as well as it's the max my gym has. If I get a car I think I should be able to make progress relatively quickly and reach my goals, as right now I'm only able to train once or twice a week. I won't be able to not eat any sugar, but at least I'm able to keep my sugar intake to the recommended daily allowance of anywhere between 6-8 teaspoons per day.

 

[Dicehunter]

I really struggle to find a decent training regime. I have a full time job and a young daughter so my time for me is basically 2100hrs - 0600hrs which needs to include sleep and hobbies. Depression doesn't help much either but I know the exercise would help that once I'm going.

As a teenager I did martial arts twice a week, army cadets twice a week and living in the countryside meant I walked or cycled everywhere, mile after mile after mile. I was very fit, but now I'm slowly gaining weight, my cardio is shot to bits as is my strength. My endurance is still pretty good; ask me to climb any mountain in the UK and I'd be able to do it. I haven't done regular exercise since my daughter was born five years ago.

Working in a regular regime in is difficult. I really don't like gyms not to mention I'd rather save that money for more fun stuff. My only options I feel are some basics such as push-ups, crunches, pull-ups or running as there's a reservoir on my doorstep.

Don't suppose I could ask for some advice? My fitness is really beginning to affect me negatively.

The best advice I can give is the same thing I tell clients that also say they have very little time, Find time.

Not to sound nasty or bossy or anything but you'd be amazed as to how much time people waste doing various things when they try and find fitness regimes, Reading a forum for 1, Instead of this you could be doing 20 minutes cardio.

The best exercise regime is 1 done in your room with your body, Do the 100 workout, The 100 workout consists of 100 decline pushups *feet up on the bed/chair and hands on the floor*, 100 sit ups, 100 crunches, 100 leg raises, 100 bodyweight squats, 100 pullups.

You keep pushing yourself through every exercise until you can't do anymore, if you can only do 10 of each before collapsing that is completely fine, Then you move onto the next exercise, Do this every day until you can do the full 100, You'd be surprised as to how effective this is and how quickly you see results, Once you get the routine down you can bang it out in 10-20 minutes.

All my clients that have very busy schedules do this or a variation of this routine, they set 40 minutes aside, 20 for the exercises and 20 for the cardio, BOOM Done.

A big ol' bottle of sriracha. A 435ml bottle would've cost me €3,95, whilst a 740ml bottle costs €4,40. Easy choice.

Also, jumping in on the conversation above, I personally have a lot of trouble putting on weight as well. I currently have a pretty hefty diet, which is including a few protein drinks (not the same as protein powder, don't worry) every day, and I'm stuck at 57kg / ~6.5% body fat. Doubt I'm ever gonna gain much more weight. I've been putting on a fair bit of muscle, though. I only go to the gym twice a week, but I've definitely gained some mass in the past four months. Although I still look quite skinny obviously.

You know whey protein goes into ready made protein drinks right ?

The only upside with the ready made protein drinks is that they are ready made, Make it yourself with normal whey protein and you skip out a lot of the sugars and extra calories.

Also why "don't worry" ? whey protein is just a bi-product of milk products, Not some steroid formula, Hell whey protein is a large part of baby milk you buy in the shops.

 

[Daiyus]

The best advice I can give is the same thing I tell clients that also say they have very little time, Find time.

Not to sound nasty or bossy or anything but you'd be amazed as to how much time people waste doing various things when they try and find fitness regimes, Reading a forum for 1, Instead of this you could be doing 20 minutes cardio.

The best exercise regime is 1 done in your room with your body, Do the 100 workout, The 100 workout consists of 100 decline pushups *feet up on the bed/chair and hands on the floor*, 100 sit ups, 100 crunches, 100 leg raises, 100 bodyweight squats, 100 pullups.

You keep pushing yourself through every exercise until you can't do anymore, if you can only do 10 of each before collapsing that is completely fine, Then you move onto the next exercise, Do this every day until you can do the full 100, You'd be surprised as to how effective this is and how quickly you see results, Once you get the routine down you can bang it out in 10-20 minutes.

All my clients that have very busy schedules do this or a variation of this routine, they set 40 minutes aside, 20 for the exercises and 20 for the cardio, BOOM Done.

Thank you for the brutal honesty; it's always very much needed when addressing issues such as these. Most of my forum time is actually at work in breaks (official and unofficial) but I very much take the point on-board.

I've been working on making time for some of my older hobbies that had fallen by the wayside such as reading. This was mainly to combat the intense feeling of disappointment and unhappiness within myself and it's working to an extent, varying my activities is helping me accept myself more. If I can find time for that then doing it for a basic regime such as your suggestion shouldn't be too much of next step.

Between making time for a daily regime and AngryGoldfish's recommendation to include people for a scheduled activity I should start seeing my fitness climb, as long as I stick with it. I guess that's really the single most important aspect; dedication, even when you don't feel like it.

I have also been trying to reduce the junk food and snacks with mixed success. I'm guessing as my fitness and happiness rise the compulsion to eat should subside.

 

[Dicehunter]

Thank you for the brutal honesty; it's always very much needed when addressing issues such as these. Most of my forum time is actually at work in breaks (official and unofficial) but I very much take the point on-board.

I've been working on making time for some of my older hobbies that had fallen by the wayside such as reading. This was mainly to combat the intense feeling of disappointment and unhappiness within myself and it's working to an extent, varying my activities is helping me accept myself more. If I can find time for that then doing it for a basic regime such as your suggestion shouldn't be too much of next step.

Between making time for a daily regime and AngryGoldfish's recommendation to include people for a scheduled activity I should start seeing my fitness climb, as long as I stick with it. I guess that's really the single most important aspect; dedication, even when you don't feel like it.

I have also been trying to reduce the junk food and snacks with mixed success. I'm guessing as my fitness and happiness rise the compulsion to eat should subside.

When your fitness climbs so does your mood, I used to get bouts of depression when I was younger which actually turned out to be a vitamin B deficiency, I started my fitness lifestyle, Eating right and not had any depressing moments for 8 years now, Fitness is a very handy tool and as AngryGoldfish said it is really good when you make it a social experience

 

[AverageNinja]

You know whey protein goes into ready made protein drinks right ?

The only upside with the ready made protein drinks is that they are ready made, Make it yourself with normal whey protein and you skip out a lot of the sugars and extra calories.

Also why "don't worry" ? whey protein is just a bi-product of milk products, Not some steroid formula, Hell whey protein is a large part of baby milk you buy in the shops.

The stuff I drink is basically medical food. My dietist is making me drink it twice a day because I lost a lot of strength after being ill and bedridden for a while. So for me, the added sugars and calories are quite important.

I guess me calling them protein drinks was wrong though since they only contain 15g of protein per 200ml (though I'm sure the protein in it are whey protein, as you said). Aside from protein, they're quite high in vitamins, fibers and antioxidants, among other things. Apparently, you could solely survive of off these drinks, although I drink them in addition to a fairly normal (if a bit large) diet. Does mean that I consume upwards of 2600kcal per day though, which is a lot more than I'm used to.

When I can stop drinking these, I'll probably end up taking whey protein every now and again. Probably not daily though, as I doubt I need that much protein.

 

[NeverBackDown]

All the "watch sugars and calories" thing people say bothers me. As long as you burn more than you take in your fine. Although for you Ninja you have an exception to this.

You'll lose weight. But if you don't do anything active, then yes you should watch it.

But for me I need it. Trying to gain weight I'll take whatever. I still workout so it's ok. I'm trying to gain weight and for people who want that you can be more lazy with the diet as long as you get the protein and a good source of carbs in

 

[AngryGoldfish]

All the "watch sugars and calories" thing people say bothers me. As long as you burn more than you take in your fine. Although for you Ninja you have an exception to this.

You'll lose weight. But if you don't do anything active, then yes you should watch it.

But for me I need it. Trying to gain weight I'll take whatever. I still workout so it's ok. I'm trying to gain weight and for people who want that you can be more lazy with the diet as long as you get the protein and a good source of carbs in

I watch my sugar intake because it's empty calories and I really don't have room for them. If you can spare the room for sugar (say you're on a 3000 calorie diet and you are meeting your macro and micro-nutrient needs) and it doesn't affect your teeth, skin, or anything else, then by all means enjoy sugar. But if you consume 10 teaspoons of sugar per day INSTEAD of something nutritious that the body actually needs (most people are deficient in at least one essential vitamin, mineral, etc) then that's an unhealthy habit, IMO. For example, drinking one bottle of cola per day or brownie when you could have eaten a bowel of muesli is a waste of calories. I still treat myself at least once per day, but reservedly. For desert I might have a protein bar that uses artificial sweeteners instead of refined sugars* and has added vitamins (that's how I justify it), or I'll make some cookies that only use natural sugars such as maple syrup, honey, agave, dates, raisins, etc that are made from oats, bananas, coconut oil, chia seeds, peanut butter, etc; all calorie-dense, but also nutrient-dense.

What helped me lose weight was to focus on eating my daily calories from healthy, nutritious foods. I haven't counted calories in years. I just eat whole, natural foods until I'm full. Then I stop.

*Mostly because artificial sweeteners don't make my skin break out in acne like refined sugar does.

 

[NeverBackDown]

I watch my sugar intake because it's empty calories and I really don't have room for them. If you can spare the room for sugar (say you're on a 3000 calorie diet and you are meeting your macro and micro-nutrient needs) and it doesn't affect your teeth, skin, or anything else, then by all means enjoy sugar. But if you consume 10 teaspoons of sugar per day INSTEAD of something nutritious that the body actually needs (most people are deficient in at least one essential vitamin, mineral, etc) then that's an unhealthy habit, IMO. For example, drinking one bottle of cola per day or brownie when you could have eaten a bowel of muesli is a waste of calories. I still treat myself at least once per day, but reservedly. For desert I might have a protein bar that uses artificial sweeteners instead of refined sugars* and has added vitamins (that's how I justify it), or I'll make some cookies that only use natural sugars such as maple syrup, honey, agave, dates, raisins, etc that are made from oats, bananas, coconut oil, chia seeds, peanut butter, etc; all calorie-dense, but also nutrient-dense.

Ok well that's a given. I am not condoning replacing other things with solely sugar. That would 1) be gross and 2) be so dumb you'd have to actively go out of your way to get that much into your body without getting other nutrients.

 

[AngryGoldfish]

Ok well that's a given. I am not condoning replacing other things with solely sugar. That would 1) be gross and 2) be so dumb you'd have to actively go out of your way to get that much into your body without getting other nutrients.

Well, that's what at least I am talking about when I say I watch my sugar intake. I don't watch my calories closely; I just eat healthy, whole foods (it's a lot easier when you're vegetarian) until I'm full. I know I'm going to put on fat if I for two weeks eat either processed foods or too much of a good thing, and conversely I know if I go back to eating only what I need then I'll lose weight again. The fitness industry over complicates things.

Eat nutritious whole foods until you're full
Exercise regularly - ideally a mixture of weight lifting and some form of high-intensity cardio
Drink 2 litres or more of water per day
Sleep 8-10 hours per day

You can obviously go further by saying you should limit time spent sitting down, don't smoke, don't drink too much alcohol, avoid antibiotics if you can, etc, but for fitness and staying lean and muscular, the process is dirt simple to grasp.

 

[Warchild]

All the "watch sugars and calories" thing people say bothers me. As long as you burn more than you take in your fine. Although for you Ninja you have an exception to this.

You'll lose weight. But if you don't do anything active, then yes you should watch it.

But for me I need it. Trying to gain weight I'll take whatever. I still workout so it's ok. I'm trying to gain weight and for people who want that you can be more lazy with the diet as long as you get the protein and a good source of carbs in

Correct to some extent. but excessive consumption of sugar (lets say above average consumption on a daily basis) will in turn cause resistance to insulin, non alchoholic liver disease etc etc. So while some people can eat what they want, I would at least advise against sugar "overloads"

 

[AlienALX]

So my bike came. I saved £30. Then I realised it had one of those non existent seat posts. Replacement cost? £30. FFS.

I did get these as I really don't like the decals on it. They are so "not Sunday".

I also got these, given I will be using caustic soda to remove anodising in a few days time.

Another bike stand also.

 

[NeverBackDown]

Correct to some extent. but excessive consumption of sugar (lets say above average consumption on a daily basis) will in turn cause resistance to insulin, non alchoholic liver disease etc etc. So while some people can eat what they want, I would at least advise against sugar "overloads"

Yes yes I know I didn't state that earlier and you both called me out on it. I figured it was a given, my bad.
To much anything can be bad for you.

 

[Dicehunter]

All the "watch sugars and calories" thing people say bothers me. As long as you burn more than you take in your fine. Although for you Ninja you have an exception to this.

When you lead a proper 24/7 fitness orientated lifestyle sugar can make or break you, It can be the difference between feeling like a zombie with it or normal without it.

You'll lose weight. But if you don't do anything active, then yes you should watch it.

But for me I need it. Trying to gain weight I'll take whatever. I still workout so it's ok. I'm trying to gain weight and for people who want that you can be more lazy with the diet as long as you get the protein and a good source of carbs in

A breakfast I have every morning leading up to winter to put some padding on so I don't freeze ^_^

1 x tablespoon of peanut butter
1 x tablespoon of almond butter
1 x teaspoon of honey
2 x slices of sprouted grain bread
1 x whey protein shake with full fat ALL THE CALORIES milk

You can leave out the last one as I know you think whey protein powder is akin to steroids and made by the devil XD

May help you, I know it does with me

 

[NeverBackDown]

When you lead a proper 24/7 fitness orientated lifestyle sugar can make or break you, It can be the difference between feeling like a zombie with it or normal without it.



A breakfast I have every morning leading up to winter to put some padding on so I don't freeze ^_^

1 x tablespoon of peanut butter
1 x tablespoon of almond butter
1 x teaspoon of honey
2 x slices of sprouted grain bread
1 x whey protein shake with full fat ALL THE CALORIES milk

You can leave out the last one as I know you think whey protein powder is akin to steroids and made by the devil XD

May help you, I know it does with me

Got nothing against Whey. I eat protein bars for breakfast that has it. Anything else though is just a big no. Creatine is akin to steroids. All water weight. I laugh at all the "cool kids" who use it lol. Almost as bad as C4!

 

[Dicehunter]

Got nothing against Whey. I eat protein bars for breakfast that has it. Anything else though is just a big no. Creatine is akin to steroids. All water weight. I laugh at all the "cool kids" who use it lol. Almost as bad as C4!

I honestly thought you were a tad more educated than that, I haven't cringed so hard in a long time.

 

[NeverBackDown]

I honestly thought you were a tad more educated than that, I haven't cringed so hard in a long time.

How so? It's like steriods without being steriods. It just is water weight like a steriod. Its also akin to what a acne grenade would be like. I've seen so many people explode in red using that stuff. That and C4 both are terrible for the skin. Not sure why people use it.

 

[Dicehunter]

How so? It's like steriods without being steriods. It just is water weight like a steriod. Its also akin to what a acne grenade would be like. I've seen so many people explode in red using that stuff. That and C4 both are terrible for the skin. Not sure why people use it.

I don't have the mental focus right now as it's 5am to go through the scientifics and the benefits of supplementing creatine when doing resistance training but creatine has as much to do with steroids as someone in a coma has to do with flying a space shuttle.

A steroid is a hormone based product that can or cannot make you gain water weight, It's entirely dependant on the type of steroid, Creatine is a naturally occurring non essential amino acid that can, Entirely dependant on the individual, Make you gain water weight but if you take kre alkalyn it will not as it's a Ph buffered creatine and less acidic.

Creatine in its basic form is naturally occurring in beef, Chicken and fish so people who think creatine is akin to steroids, Which it's not, Should avoid those meats.

Honestly all this demonisation of supplements is a little insane to say the least.

 

[NeverBackDown]

You can tell me all that as you like. I've seen people use it and the results. Once they stop taking it they lose obscene amounts of weight and they also lose strength. I know. I used to take it. My experience is not isolated and rare. C4 is more common nowadays, and it's worse as far as I can tell. More and more people are switching to Whey and form all the people I talk to they all agree how bad C4/Creatine is. There skin clears up and the feel better physically especially during workouts. They don't get pumped so fast because there's less water, etc etc.
You may be right I don't know, all I know is that from the hundreds of people I've met I've had similar experiences.

BTW if you think me saying 2 bad products is demonization because it goes against your thinking that's sad. There's nothing wrong with saying a product is bad. I'm not even commenting on other stuff I've never used. I'm literally talking about 2 specific things here. No clue where you think I absolutely hate all supplements? Yeah I have a preference to just using whey and nothing else, doesn't mean I hate everything. I'm the furthest thing from being a fanboy when it comes to supplements. I have 2 things I despise and 1 thing I like. Everything else I don't mention because I don't know how or what it does for a person. If someone asks me advice I tell them I don't know I just Whey and never bothered to look into anything else

 

[Dicehunter]

You can tell me all that as you like. I've seen people use it and the results. Once they stop taking it they lose obscene amounts of weight and they also lose strength. I know. I used to take it. My experience is not isolated and rare. C4 is more common nowadays, and it's worse as far as I can tell. More and more people are switching to Whey and form all the people I talk to they all agree how bad C4/Creatine is. There skin clears up and the feel better physically especially during workouts. They don't get pumped so fast because there's less water, etc etc.
You may be right I don't know, all I know is that from the hundreds of people I've met I've had similar experiences.

BTW if you think me saying 2 bad products is demonization because it goes against your thinking that's sad. There's nothing wrong with saying a product is bad. I'm not even commenting on other stuff I've never used. I'm literally talking about 2 specific things here. No clue where you think I absolutely hate all supplements? Yeah I have a preference to just using whey and nothing else, doesn't mean I hate everything. I'm the furthest thing from being a fanboy when it comes to supplements. I have 2 things I despise and 1 thing I like. Everything else I don't mention because I don't know how or what it does for a person. If someone asks me advice I tell them I don't know I just Whey and never bothered to look into anything else

Nope it's your past views on supplements that I find weird, Whey for example was the devils tool according to you ^_^ But whatever it's in the past.

Having worked in the fitness industry as a PT and sports nutritionist for the last 7 years now I have never seen people lose obscene amounts of weight when they stop taking creatine, Maybe a few pounds in water weight but nothing big, Now if they stop taking creatine and also eat much less in the way of carbs then yes, water weight will go down considerably.

Strength is debatable as it depends on the person and it varies from person to person.

C4 is like any other pre-workout, Some people have low tolerances, Some have high, I've tried it and it did absolutely nothing for me, A friend of mine tried it and he was nearly crawling up the walls, Different from person to person.