New Year Resolution - Time For Some Self Control

[SlyAnimal]

Hi All,

I'm a bit new to this forum section, but I've decided that 2013 is going to be the year I tone up. As I've just hit 30 this year, and figure that's a good milestone, not to mention that I'm getting married in 2014 (And my family are heading over to Thailand for my wedding, so I'd like to impress them).

When I first travelled to SE Asia for around 6 months of travelling 2009/10, I was around 118kg, and I lost around 10kg while I was travelling around, mainly because I was just soo stingey since I was on a tight budget and didn't want to spend more money than I needed. Lost another 3 or 4kg in 2010/11 when I moved over here to live, because although I was eating decent amounts, I was also regularly running/swimming. Then I moved to the countryside, and didn't have a convenient pool/running area (too many soi dogs) but because I was quite far from town, I was often too lazy to eat (Or I would buy take away, still be hungry but too lazy to drive back for a second helping), and so I dropped down from around 105kg to 99kg. Although after I met my amazing gf, seem to have been eating more ever since I met her (If she doesn't finish her meal, I'll often help her out, likewise when she cooks a large plate of food, I enjoy eating it all), and so after 1year 3 months I've ballooned back upto 112kg.

However, I've decided that it's time for me to get some self control, and to make a New Years resolution to help motivate me. I figured it's probably best for me to post up my resolution here, because in the past I've made resolutions, then details seem to change as I realise how difficult the resolution I've made is, but for this one, I want to achieve the goal, and don't want to back out of it. I thought about posting it on fb instead, but I am often a bit shy to talk about my weight to people who don't necessarily understand my situation, but hopefully you guys are in similarish situations and can offer some advice or support etc as well.

To further ensure that I keep to my resolutions, I am also attaching penalties to them, to keep me honest soto speak.

1/ To not drink more than the equivalent of 2 large beers in a single 24h period until 1 January 2014. Failure to complete this resolution, has a 25,000 THB penalty for the first 2x infringements.

2/ To get my weight down to 90kg or less, before 1 January 2014. Every kilo above 90kg, has a 2500 THB penalty, and every kilo below 90, gives a 5000 THB amnesty from other penalties.

3/ To run a marathon. Completion of this, gives a 25,000 amnesty from other penalties.

First resolution, being because although I don't drink regularly, when I do drink I drink very quickly, and end up feeling like an idiot the next day. So I'd like to learn to drink socially, and still remember what happened past 2am (Also slowing down drinking, will hopefully help me to slow down eating as well). Hopefully, with shared bottles etc, this won't get too difficult to measure (If I just stopped drinking completely, which I think would be easier, I'd just go back into the same habits again once my resolution ended).

Second resolution, being because it's the weight I was in my last year of high school, when I was reasonably fit from playing rugby etc. I wasn't "lean" by any means then, but I was reasonably fit, and so think if I did want to focus on muscle gain, I could probably still be around that weight with muscle as well. 20kg over a year shouldn't be too difficult I think (Since I'm carrying a lot of fat at present (112kg), but rather more about a lifestyle change to keep it off for the entire year.

Third resolution being because I'd like to run a marathon, as I think it'd be a worthy achievement, and something I should do at some point in my life. Particularly as my brother has already run one. Also adding it in, gives me a partial "escape" from the first resolution, but would obviously put more focus on the second resolution as a result (The drinking one isn't really as bigger priority to me as what the weight loss is).

Any penalties to be donated to somewhere of my choice (Probably somewhere local), although hopefully I won't need to make any donations.

I plan on initially starting by only ordering standard sized meals, and only eating half of the rice which comes with them, and only having 2x meals a day (I've never been a breakfast person), with occasional fruit snacks during the day. I will also cut out all soft drink and junk food from my diet. I should also be able to get back into running, I've also brought a punching bag + boxing gloves, probably won't initially use them much, and will add the extra rice back into my meals if it looks like I'm losing weight a lot faster than 1kg every 2 weeks (I think just 2x standard meals + running should be sufficient, but we'll see). Hopefully I'll be able to weigh myself on roughly the 15th and 30th of each month.

Anyway, I'll post my updates here on how I'm going + advice which I want here

Weigh in on 01.01.13 - 112.2kg (I've been enjoying my last few days of junk food/beer/soft drinks so first few kgs will go down very quickly I think).

Edit 01.01.13 - Added in 3rd resolution + modified 1st/2nd resolution to 2x 25,000 penalties instead of 1x 50,000 penalty and to give an amnesty if under 90kg. Also added in weigh in for today.

[robblok]

Cutting the soft drinks will help a lot, cutting alcohol will help even more. The goal you have set is not an unrealistic one, i lost a little bit more then that and started out at similar weight ( 107 kg). (started out 1 jan last year) now 84-85 kg

So you can do it, but expect to make sacrifices else it wont work. At first it will go good, later it will go slower you will have to adjust and eat less as time progresses. Less weight means less burn, its probably best if you could do some weight training too to hold onto muscle, as its really not about loosing weight but about loosing fat. The cardio is a good thing to do, find something you like else you wont keep it up.

Most important thing is being consistent, but keep it live able else you will stop for sure.

[poanoi]

I made bet too with a couple of friends, who's strongest by dec 31 next year

[robblok]

I made bet too with a couple of friends, who's strongest by dec 31 next year

That is good as long as you keep to it, you need to have some goals. Everything just to get there.

[tropo]

Losing weight is a huge topic and these discussions can go on forever.

Here's my contributions to your plan:

1. The very first thing you should do is get some blood tests and check your blood sugar levels. I would suggest a fasting blood sugar test and an HbA1c test. You're carrying a lot of excess fat and there's a strong possibility that your glucose metabolism is impaired i.e. you have insulin resistance. If this is the case, if you modify your diet the right way you'll reach your goal easier.

2. Don't bother with the marathon run. Marathon runners don't weigh 90kg. They're usually skinny guys. That'll put too much stress on your back, hips, knees and ankles.

I'm not suggesting don't run. Running is one of the best fat burners - just don't take it to excess.

Good Luck Kiwi!

Edited January 3, 2013 by tropo

[SlyAnimal]

Cheers for the advice Tropo, that sounds really interested about potential blood sugar tests, I think I might look further into that, as I do have a history of diabetes in my family (Which is another background fear for me, which provides additional motivation to lose weight lol).

And yeah I'm not committing myself to a marathon (Which is why I didn't attach a penalty to it), I'm more thinking of the fact that I should have a fitness goal, as well as a weight loss goal. Since I think my weight loss goal would make me too easily complacent.

But it's pretty much impossible to set a long term fitness goal at this stage, when I'm not sure at all of what I'm capable of, and have nothing to measure based on. But a marathon is something which I can push myself towards with my training, to slowly extend out how far I'm running each week (Even if I'm on target for my weight loss goal), until I'll hopefully feel comfortable running a marathon (Auckland and BKK marathons are in Nov, which is perfect). If by Sept/Oct I'm not feeling comfortable with longer distances, then I'll not worry about a marathon, but if I can it'd be awesome to run one.

I take your point on bigger guys not running marathons, but I'd just want to finish, not win it lol. My brother ran one 2 years ago, and would have been a similar build to what I hope to be in 9 months time, so I know it can be done. It's something which I would like to do at some point in my life, and if I can stick with my diet/running, probably more practical this year rather than any other. I'll see how it goes though

Otherwise, while I'm posting, for a quick update, while I'm posting anyway. I dropped from 112.2kg on 01/01 to 109.5kg (under 110kg for the past 3 days). I guess I've probably just sweated out fluids and changed the amount of food passing through my body (Although I weight myself in the morning after having a shower etc), so I don't expect to be losing 3kg every week, but it's a promising start at least. I'm not running long distances yet, I started at 2km and built upto 2.8 km 1-2 times a day (Although had this weekend off running, so really not much running done so far lol). I'm hoping to build up my distance by roughly an extra 800m each week (I run laps of the athletics field at my school, I'm trying to bring it up an extra 1 lap every 2 days).

[robblok]

It's quite standard to loose a lot of weight fast at the start, reasons can be different salt content in new food, less carbohydrates in food (they hold water). Swearing more, less food in the body and so on. But its progress and its good. If i were you i would take some measurements too as sometimes you don't loose that much weight but you do get slimmer. Its also hard to see differences in the mirror so measurements help.

[tropo]

Cheers for the advice Tropo, that sounds really interested about potential blood sugar tests, I think I might look further into that, as I do have a history of diabetes in my family (Which is another background fear for me, which provides additional motivation to lose weight lol).

I know you're only 30, but better to find out about insulin resistance (pre-diabetes, diabetes) now than later when it has damaged your body in irreparable ways.

A friend of mine was asking for some help to lose weight. I told him the first thing he should do is test his blood sugar. He got a fasting blood sugar (FBS) test at the lab and it came back as 98 dl/mg. This is just inside the normal range but still an indication there could be a problem. I was concerned about the size of his protruding gut which is often an indicator of insulin resistence. I suggested he buy a glucometer to test his blood sugar after meals. We found that he was spiking up to 190's after carbohydrate meals and some mornings his FBS was as high as 124 mg/dl.

Moral of the story - a single lab test is not enough as blood sugar can fluctuate wildly in the early stages of the disease. If you happen to have insulin resistance, you'll make your weight loss efforts a lot easier if you address it.

I wasn't so concerned that you could not manage a marathon with sufficient training. I would be concerned about the stress on your knees and other joints from the excessive training necessary to get you to that level. Would you be around 90kg at race time? If so, that's a very high weight to be running that far.

I understand that you want a goal to shoot for, but does it need to be a marathon?

[Lickey]

SlyAnimal, youve got to tread carefully here, and keep a close eye on dehydration, dont loose weight to quick,

eg, i was 94k am 6ft tall, in 1 year i went down to 74 k, ok, thats good, but i got so sick, my body thinking there was a drought coming started to store water, my feet and legs swelled so i could hardly walk 20 mtrs,

The only way i got over this [besides a raised leg postion in bed] was to drink a lot of water, with a fresh squeezed lime in it,

Good luck..

[robblok]

SlyAnimal, youve got to tread carefully here, and keep a close eye on dehydration, dont loose weight to quick,

eg, i was 94k am 6ft tall, in 1 year i went down to 74 k, ok, thats good, but i got so sick, my body thinking there was a drought coming started to store water, my feet and legs swelled so i could hardly walk 20 mtrs,

The only way i got over this [besides a raised leg postion in bed] was to drink a lot of water, with a fresh squeezed lime in it,

Good luck..

I never heard of that before, i lost a little bit more then you this year and did not have that problem. But I always drank a lot of water and such, you really are the first ever to mention this.

[Tolley]

Cheers for the advice Tropo, that sounds really interested about potential blood sugar tests, I think I might look further into that, as I do have a history of diabetes in my family (Which is another background fear for me, which provides additional motivation to lose weight lol).

I know you're only 30, but better to find out about insulin resistance (pre-diabetes, diabetes) now than later when it has damaged your body in irreparable ways.

A friend of mine was asking for some help to lose weight. I told him the first thing he should do is test his blood sugar. He got a fasting blood sugar (FBS) test at the lab and it came back as 98 dl/mg. This is just inside the normal range but still an indication there could be a problem. I was concerned about the size of his protruding gut which is often an indicator of insulin resistence. I suggested he buy a glucometer to test his blood sugar after meals. We found that he was spiking up to 190's after carbohydrate meals and some mornings his FBS was as high as 124 mg/dl.

Moral of the story - a single lab test is not enough as blood sugar can fluctuate wildly in the early stages of the disease. If you happen to have insulin resistance, you'll make your weight loss efforts a lot easier if you address it.

I wasn't so concerned that you could not manage a marathon with sufficient training. I would be concerned about the stress on your knees and other joints from the excessive training necessary to get you to that level. Would you be around 90kg at race time? If so, that's a very high weight to be running that far.

I understand that you want a goal to shoot for, but does it need to be a marathon?

Agree about the running.

I am not a fan of running great distances for exercise. In fact I have not run further than from the back of the squash court to the front for many many years.

3 x 1 hours weight sessions a week will put you in much better shape than running countless miles.

For cardio better off cycling, rowing , swimming etc

[robblok]

Cheers for the advice Tropo, that sounds really interested about potential blood sugar tests, I think I might look further into that, as I do have a history of diabetes in my family (Which is another background fear for me, which provides additional motivation to lose weight lol).

I know you're only 30, but better to find out about insulin resistance (pre-diabetes, diabetes) now than later when it has damaged your body in irreparable ways.

A friend of mine was asking for some help to lose weight. I told him the first thing he should do is test his blood sugar. He got a fasting blood sugar (FBS) test at the lab and it came back as 98 dl/mg. This is just inside the normal range but still an indication there could be a problem. I was concerned about the size of his protruding gut which is often an indicator of insulin resistence. I suggested he buy a glucometer to test his blood sugar after meals. We found that he was spiking up to 190's after carbohydrate meals and some mornings his FBS was as high as 124 mg/dl.

Moral of the story - a single lab test is not enough as blood sugar can fluctuate wildly in the early stages of the disease. If you happen to have insulin resistance, you'll make your weight loss efforts a lot easier if you address it.

I wasn't so concerned that you could not manage a marathon with sufficient training. I would be concerned about the stress on your knees and other joints from the excessive training necessary to get you to that level. Would you be around 90kg at race time? If so, that's a very high weight to be running that far.

I understand that you want a goal to shoot for, but does it need to be a marathon?

Agree about the running.

I am not a fan of running great distances for exercise. In fact I have not run further than from the back of the squash court to the front for many many years.

3 x 1 hours weight sessions a week will put you in much better shape than running countless miles.

For cardio better off cycling, rowing , swimming etc

I used to do only weight sessions but i changed, i think the best thing is a combination of both. Once i hope to get closer to your hearthrate and stamina. For now i have too much goals and will keep doing cardio for fat loss and then getting bigger and doing more cardio for stamina.

I also agree about the running, but if the guy likes running then its good. You have to do something you like doing else you will give up easy for sure.

[NeverSure]

It's quite standard to loose a lot of weight fast at the start, reasons can be different salt content in new food, less carbohydrates in food (they hold water). Swearing more, less food in the body and so on. But its progress and its good. If i were you i would take some measurements too as sometimes you don't loose that much weight but you do get slimmer. Its also hard to see differences in the mirror so measurements help.

+1 about the measurements. At least he weighed himself, LOL. I started a diet early last fall and didn't weigh or measure. The last weight I had was at a doctor's office a few months earlier. I didn't even record and don't know exactly the date I started. Somewhere early Sept. I think.

Holy cow. After a few weeks on the diet I bought some digital scales. I weighed about ten pounds less than I had at the doctor's office and that's all I knew and that was my baseline. Now I once posted here that I had a serious brain injury in an auto accident about 27 months ago. The steroids to keep down swelling and lack of exercise really piled on weight which I'd never had before. My reason for bringing that up is that I'm still not allowed to exercise for another 8 months even though I've made a full recovery.

The reason I bring that up is because all I've worn for pants mostly is sweats. I put on jeans to go to the doctor or to town but not often. So, I was getting tight in the waist in 44 inch jeans and that pizzed me off and I started this diet. I do believe I've lost about 25+ pounds, and know I hit 208 yesterday but here's the kicker.

I went to put on my jeans last week to go to town and they were so baggy I had to go into the closet and get some older ones that were smaller. I had gone from tight in 44's to loose in 40's and didn't know it!!

OK, maybe no big deal, but that's encouragement. That's progress. I still look fat to me in the mirror but the scales tell me probably 25 pounds or more, and my jeans tell me 5 inches and I'm not exercising.

So write it all down because you can't know how happy I was to put on those 40's, slip my fingers in there and find they were loose! Every shirt size is about winning. Needing to go back to an old smaller belt is winning. I'm still fat at 5'10" and 208, (180 cm, 95 kg) and I still need to lose another 35 pounds (16 kg) but winning ugly is still winning.

Keep it up.

[robblok]

Measuring is always important else you dont have a baseline. You said you still look fat, i dont look fat anymore but often you can't see where the weight has gone from. Your scales say x but your eyes don't see improvements, that is where measurements come in. A pair of fat calipers will help too but the problem is you have to know how to use them. I am still not sure if i use mine correctly but i do take measurements once in a while.

Anyway i hope the OP goes on.

[Tolley]

Cheers for the advice Tropo, that sounds really interested about potential blood sugar tests, I think I might look further into that, as I do have a history of diabetes in my family (Which is another background fear for me, which provides additional motivation to lose weight lol).

I know you're only 30, but better to find out about insulin resistance (pre-diabetes, diabetes) now than later when it has damaged your body in irreparable ways.

A friend of mine was asking for some help to lose weight. I told him the first thing he should do is test his blood sugar. He got a fasting blood sugar (FBS) test at the lab and it came back as 98 dl/mg. This is just inside the normal range but still an indication there could be a problem. I was concerned about the size of his protruding gut which is often an indicator of insulin resistence. I suggested he buy a glucometer to test his blood sugar after meals. We found that he was spiking up to 190's after carbohydrate meals and some mornings his FBS was as high as 124 mg/dl.

Moral of the story - a single lab test is not enough as blood sugar can fluctuate wildly in the early stages of the disease. If you happen to have insulin resistance, you'll make your weight loss efforts a lot easier if you address it.

I wasn't so concerned that you could not manage a marathon with sufficient training. I would be concerned about the stress on your knees and other joints from the excessive training necessary to get you to that level. Would you be around 90kg at race time? If so, that's a very high weight to be running that far.

I understand that you want a goal to shoot for, but does it need to be a marathon?

Agree about the running.

I am not a fan of running great distances for exercise. In fact I have not run further than from the back of the squash court to the front for many many years.

3 x 1 hours weight sessions a week will put you in much better shape than running countless miles.

For cardio better off cycling, rowing , swimming etc

I used to do only weight sessions but i changed, i think the best thing is a combination of both. Once i hope to get closer to your hearthrate and stamina. For now i have too much goals and will keep doing cardio for fat loss and then getting bigger and doing more cardio for stamina.

I also agree about the running, but if the guy likes running then its good. You have to do something you like doing else you will give up easy for sure.

Sure it is better to do something you like but still you are putting yourself at more risk of injury doing lots of running and you also miss the benefits of building up muscle mass and bone density that you get from doing weights.

[SlyAnimal]

Thanks for the advice guys. I'm glad that I decided to post up here, as it does seem to be giving me motivation and ideas on other things which I could do.

For cardio better off cycling, rowing , swimming etc

I like running, it's good for thinking (Although when I don't have something to think about, I get tried twice as quickly, lol). It's something which I'm happy to regularly do, which is what I think is important. I might look into some new shoes though, with the special cushion pads you can buy to reduce impact. As my current running shoes are the best/most comfortable, that I've ever had (I have very wide feet, with low arches, and my shoes are wider than most, without being long, so I haven't had any of the problems with my feet which I previously had, other than the occasional blister), but my shoes are feeling a bit of wear and tear, and if I can get a similarly comfortable pair of shoes with extra cushions to reduce impact would be good if I'm going to run a lot. Do you know of any good shops in BKK/Khon Kaen/Korat for shoes? (One where they measure your feet and maybe running style etc to find the perfect shoes for you).

However, thinking on you guys point about impact etc, I've been thinking that maybe it would be better to mix it up a bit. Which would be good to work different muscle groups at the same time, while allowing the others a bit of rest.

I also like swimming and rowing machines, both of which I've been considering. As I used to do a lot of swimming when I first came to Thailand, but stopped when I moved to the countryside 1 1/2 years ago (There is a public pool here, but they're often randomly closed, apparently the owner doesn't need money so is lazy to open it sometimes. I'm not a very patient person, so just quit swimming). I should probably get my gf to talk to the owner though, and see if I can get a key or something, to go swimming whenever I want.

Likewise, I've been thinking about buying a concept 2 rowing machine, hopefully I'll be able to visit a shop which I've looked at online, when I goto Bangkok in 2 weeks. As I want to decide between the D and E, and see if it's really worth the investment (58,000 THB for D, or 80,000 THB for E, so quite a significant investment). As I used to quite like using rowing machines when I was at high school, particularly as the time/distance settings are good for goal settings, and I think they give a really good overall workout.

Cycling I considered, but with soi dogs and crazy drivers, I don't know if I'd be confident on one (I gave up running on the roads because of soi dogs, now I just do laps of my school's athletics course). Particularly as I haven't ridden a bicycle for more than 2 or 3 minutes since I was 8 years old. Do you know how much it costs for an OK bike here (e.g. Not for serious biking, but not a kid's toy either)? Do they have any OK bikes in lotus? Or do you need to go to a proper bike shop? As I'd like to learn to ride a bike, and would probably give it a go for fun if I could find an OK one which wasn't too expensive.

And yeah, for weights, I've never found them to be fun. But then I've never really done them with goals or training programs in mind. As strength never seemed to be a problem for me when I was younger. I might look into them more once I've achieved my weight loss goals, as then I'd be able to put muscle on which showed, rather than just making me look bigger while still keeping a soft covering on top lol. Either way, I think the closest public gym would probably be around 50km from where I live, so unless I used improvised weights or forked out money for a home gym then they wouldn't really be an option for me (I might look into a home gym once I've met my weight goals though).

I was concerned about the size of his protruding gut which is often an indicator of insulin resistence.

I'm sorta lucky, in that I "put on weight like a woman", as a mate described it to me once. So I don't have the protruding gut soto speak, rather it spreads out all over my body (Although my gut is showing a bit at my current weight lol, hence why I want to lose weight lol), so hopefully I'm less likely to have an insulin resistance problem. But I'll try and look into doing some tests if I can, as I'd hate to end up diabetic. So there's something I can buy, to regularly read my blood sugar levels? and then I assume there's a chart to check the results on. Where can I probably buy one? It'd be handy to know, even if just for curiosity (And it'd help to show me the effect of the different foods which I'm eating).

[robblok]

@SLYANIMAL,

There is a big thread about the rowing machine, i got a concept model D imported myself and the total came out at about 55k tbh. If it really are those prices in BKK id buy because it saves the hassle of importing it.

I love the thing for cardio and you can even get computer programs to row against (row pro). For me it is the best piece of cardio equipment available for the money.

Edited January 7, 2013 by robblok

[SlyAnimal]

Yeah I had a bit of a read of your thread on it, based on that thread the prices at this shop I found online seemed pretty reasonable, and their English was quite good too. So I just want to try out the E if I can in their store, then I can hopefully decide if there's any awesome features on it which I simply can't do without, otherwise I'll probably go for the D.

[robblok]

I think probably you can do with the D as long as it has the PM4 monitor on it. The rowing machine is the best cardio machine I ever bought. Reason for me is that is smooth and strong. But you can get so much data out of it its perfect, and with some (paid for) computer programs you can even go further. For me it really helped me getting into cardio. I had a epileptical before (much cheaper but not nearly as good as the rower).

If you are not doing any weightlifting you might do some HIIT training with the rower, its perfect for it and you can use it next to your normal cardio. Tomorrow im rowing again... even my gf is now using it at times. Its a great piece of kit.

[tropo]

I'm sorta lucky, in that I "put on weight like a woman", as a mate described it to me once. So I don't have the protruding gut soto speak, rather it spreads out all over my body (Although my gut is showing a bit at my current weight lol, hence why I want to lose weight lol), so hopefully I'm less likely to have an insulin resistance problem. But I'll try and look into doing some tests if I can, as I'd hate to end up diabetic. So there's something I can buy, to regularly read my blood sugar levels? and then I assume there's a chart to check the results on. Where can I probably buy one? It'd be handy to know, even if just for curiosity (And it'd help to show me the effect of the different foods which I'm eating).

The "protruding gut" is only an indication that there could be a problem and it takes years to develop to this level. I found out about my own insulin resistance (pre-diabetes) at age 46, but by that stage I could have had a problem for a decade or more and not known it. The gut creeps up on you.

Diabetes or impaired sugar metabolism is so prevalent these days that it would be unwise not to have it tested at least once a year no matter what age you are. Even if you don't have a problem now that's no indication you won't have in the future. Also bear in mind that it's not like you suddenly wake up with a problem - it comes on very slowly and what a doctor considers normal is not optimal. Doctors have to be very careful who they call diabetic for insurance reasons. A one off test of FBS is just not enough. For example, my friend tested 98 mg/dl at the lab, but he found he was up in the 115 - 125 region for most of the week after he purchased a glucometer.

These meters can be purchased at any decent pharmacy. The cheapest ones go for about 2000 baht and the strips cost about 800 baht for 50.

[tropo]

Yeah I had a bit of a read of your thread on it, based on that thread the prices at this shop I found online seemed pretty reasonable, and their English was quite good too. So I just want to try out the E if I can in their store, then I can hopefully decide if there's any awesome features on it which I simply can't do without, otherwise I'll probably go for the D.

I have the D model, but I use an E model down at my gym. The E model is designed for people with mobility problems. The rail is higher so that you don't have to crouch down so far to get on it. It's also quite a bit bigger and will require more space in your home and if you want to fold it up.

Rowing is a great exercise, but it may not be good for people with lower back problems. There's quite a lot of force on the L4 and L5. Also, if you don't develop good rowing technique you could end up with a problem.

Before purchasing one it would be a good idea to do several sessions on one to get a feel for it. Not everyone enjoys it and in fact it is the least popular of all the basic cardio machines at the gym. At my busy gym (California Wow before it closed down) there were only two Concept2 D rowers, and there was always at least one free.

Edited January 8, 2013 by tropo

[londoedan]

I have a couple of resolutions based around fitness and losing a bit more weight:

Spend less time in the gym and more time training out in the great outdoors - running, swimming and cycling.

[ii] Schedule-in some competitive races to give me something to aim at: starting with a 10K in BKK in late-Feb, a 10 mile or 1/2M in April or May and then a full marathon in Pattaya in July.

[robblok]

I have a couple of resolutions based around fitness and losing a bit more weight:

Spend less time in the gym and more time training out in the great outdoors - running, swimming and cycling.

[ii] Schedule-in some competitive races to give me something to aim at: starting with a 10K in BKK in late-Feb, a 10 mile or 1/2M in April or May and then a full marathon in Pattaya in July.

Smart to set goals, that always helps and they must be reachable.

As for going into the great outdoors, i lost weight on my holiday because i was freediving / snorkeling 3 hours a day. It does help and if you like what you are doing then its easier to go on and all in all you might loose more calories. Personally i find working out in my gym more effective but freediving snorkeling (if in good water) more enjoyable.

[SlyAnimal]

Cool, based on what you guys have said, the D would probably be just as good for me as the E. Since I am a little bit limited by space, and I don't have any problems with getting down to the height of one. And yep, I've tried rowing machines quite a bit before, mind you not much over the past 10 years, but I do enjoy working on them.

[robblok]

One great thing of the rowing machine is how easy you can put it away. Its so easy to store and put back it actually goes real fast. Space wise its one of the best things you don't need to keep it standing you store it in a matter of seconds.

[tropo]

Spend less time in the gym and more time training out in the great outdoors - running, swimming and cycling.

... and the choice a lot easier now with no great indoors to tempt you back inside.

[tropo]

My New Years Resolution as far as training is concerned.

Find better ways to train.

Don't over train.

Be more gentle on my aging joints.

My once ever other day routine is working well so far. It's great having so much time off from the gym and seeing more muscle growth as a result.

[londoedan]

Spend less time in the gym and more time training out in the great outdoors - running, swimming and cycling.

... and the choice a lot easier now with no great indoors to tempt you back inside.

Well thats true. My opinion, is that in Pattaya we're now stuck between 2 levels of gym / fitness centre: Tony's places which are cheap but hot and a bit dirty I'm afraid to say, and the more upmarket places like Centara / Marriot etc which are a bit more than I would want to pay: I'd happily pay 1K a month if CaWoW was to re-open.

On the upside, I did manage almost 40 km running last week - all on the treadmill, split over 6 sessions, at about 8.5 km/hr. Might try and push it a bit to do 50 this week and then sustain the training at that level for a couple of weeks, whilst increasing my speed a bit.

Also entered my first 10K race: in BKK on the 24th Feb.

Weight loss is slow but steady - I'm now between a v' tight 36 in waist pr of trs and a loose 38 in pr. My aim is to be able to wear the 36 pair by end-Jan, 34 in by end-Feb, 33 by end-March and 32 by end April. This will give me about 2-3 months of quality training before the Pattaya 42K in mid July

[tropo]

Spend less time in the gym and more time training out in the great outdoors - running, swimming and cycling.

... and the choice a lot easier now with no great indoors to tempt you back inside.

Well thats true. My opinion, is that in Pattaya we're now stuck between 2 levels of gym / fitness centre: Tony's places which are cheap but hot and a bit dirty I'm afraid to say, and the more upmarket places like Centara / Marriot etc which are a bit more than I would want to pay: I'd happily pay 1K a month if CaWoW was to re-open.

On the upside, I did manage almost 40 km running last week - all on the treadmill, split over 6 sessions, at about 8.5 km/hr. Might try and push it a bit to do 50 this week and then sustain the training at that level for a couple of weeks, whilst increasing my speed a bit.

Also entered my first 10K race: in BKK on the 24th Feb.

Weight loss is slow but steady - I'm now between a v' tight 36 in waist pr of trs and a loose 38 in pr. My aim is to be able to wear the 36 pair by end-Jan, 34 in by end-Feb, 33 by end-March and 32 by end April. This will give me about 2-3 months of quality training before the Pattaya 42K in mid July

Places like Marriot, Centara and Royal Cliff aren't really an option because they are hotel gyms and not fully equipped. They're fine for holiday workouts, or for casual fitness trainers, but they're not an option for bodybuilders.

You mentioned Tony's is dirty. I see this guy nearly everyday I'm there sweating profusely on a Life Cycle. He doesn't even carry a towel and walks away with the machine and floor drenched. Disgusting! I wouldn't use this bike....I used to as it is the only Life Cycle in the cardio room.

Edited January 15, 2013 by tropo

[londoedan]

You mentioned Tony's is dirty. I see this guy nearly everyday I'm there sweating profusely on a Life Cycle. He doesn't even carry a towel and walks away with the machine and floor drenched. Disgusting! I wouldn't use this bike....I used to as it is the only Life Cycle in the cardio room.

That's exactly what I meant