New Year Resolution - Time For Some Self Control

[SlyAnimal]

It was ment to be a 6am start, but closer to 6:30am. Either way, the heat/humidity wasn't a problem lol.

Although in general it's cool season now, so heat and humidity isn't too bad. Although that's in Isaan, I've heard that in other areas, near the water especially, it can still be hot/humid this time of year.

I'd imagine you'd just need to keep well hydrated though if it was hot. I briefly availed myself of some of the water stops while running past, even though i didnt need it, just to be on the safe side, if it was hot i guess you'd need to take advantage of more of them (Although for just 10km you'd probably be ok regardless, so long as you hydrated well the day before).

But in general if you can distance your mind from the heat/fatigue while you're running you'd probably not notice it too much anyway.

[londoedan]

I had a better week training than I did losing weight. I ran less, but quicker; the weeks total was 40K but I increased the average speed from 8.5 K/hr to 9 - taking a couple of days off seemed to make it a bit easier to speed up a fraction. I'll need to remember that in future.

I'm now sitting in my 36 in waist jeans, so I've just reached my target for the end Jan. However it was a real struggle over the last 2 weeks and I get the impression the rate of loss has slowed-down. Getting to 34 in by end of Feb may be impossible but I'm going to give it a go and try to drop some meals to help the rate of loss.

I start 3.5 weeks holiday on the coming Wednesday which is a bit of a mixed blessing. It will help-out with the running outside (still haven't ran a single session outdoors) and cross-training since I can swim in the sea off Pattaya, but sin city has a whole range of temptations to drag a guy off the straight and narrow e.g. I've not had a drink for the last 2 months but I'm not sure I'll be able to keep that up

I have a 10K on the 24th in BKK and I'm hoping I can emulate SlyAnimals sterling performance - I would like to do it comfortably and without stopping. I'm also going to Ha Noi for a week and plan to take my trainers there and run around the lake in the middle of the city.

I hope other people are able to stick to their resolutions / diet plans / exercise's and those pounds are dropping-off

[poanoi]

Havnt lost any kilos yet, but i'm half way there at doubling my strength, well almost, and that has #1 priority

[tropo]

Havnt lost any kilos yet, but i'm half way there at doubling my strength, well almost, and that has #1 priority

That's pretty amazing progress - doubling your strength in one month.

[londoedan]

Havnt lost any kilos yet, but i'm half way there at doubling my strength, well almost, and that has #1 priority

That's pretty amazing progress - doubling your strength in one month.

OK, serious question for the body-builders that read this forum:

I was watching a movie on HBO the other night - Faster (surprisingly good IMHO) and it starred The Rock. He didn't seem huge but his upper body development was impressive; without looking distorted, and he was still able to run normally etc..

So if a 'normal' person with no significant muscules in his chest, arms, shoulders etc.. wanted to develop a similar physique, and he had a lot of time on his hands, how long would it take to bulk up to a similar physique ? Is it even possible ?

[poanoi]

@tropo: No, i'm half way on my goal of doubling my strength, so i increased 50% so far.

@londoedan: let me get back to your question on new years eve, i'll post pic

[robblok]

Havnt lost any kilos yet, but i'm half way there at doubling my strength, well almost, and that has #1 priority

That's pretty amazing progress - doubling your strength in one month.

OK, serious question for the body-builders that read this forum:

I was watching a movie on HBO the other night - Faster (surprisingly good IMHO) and it starred The Rock. He didn't seem huge but his upper body development was impressive; without looking distorted, and he was still able to run normally etc..

So if a 'normal' person with no significant muscules in his chest, arms, shoulders etc.. wanted to develop a similar physique, and he had a lot of time on his hands, how long would it take to bulk up to a similar physique ? Is it even possible ?

Depending on your genetics if you can get there but even then we are talking years. Its easier to loose fat then to build muscle.. if you are lucky you gain 6 kg a year (without chemical aids) first year more probably because your fresh new ect.

[tropo]

Havnt lost any kilos yet, but i'm half way there at doubling my strength, well almost, and that has #1 priority

That's pretty amazing progress - doubling your strength in one month.

OK, serious question for the body-builders that read this forum:

I was watching a movie on HBO the other night - Faster (surprisingly good IMHO) and it starred The Rock. He didn't seem huge but his upper body development was impressive; without looking distorted, and he was still able to run normally etc

So if a 'normal' person with no significant muscules in his chest, arms, shoulders etc.. wanted to develop a similar physique, and he had a lot of time on his hands, how long would it take to bulk up to a similar physique ? Is it even possible ?

Forget it. You're never going to develop a physique like Dwayne Johnson with or without steroids..... who are you trying to kid? Even Dwayne Johnson uses steroids. How much will depend on what movie he's doing at the time and how much bulk is required. He has great genetics being half Samoan and half from black heritage. He can grow muscles like weeds.

He was a young kid of 4 living in Auckland, NZ at the same time I started body building there in1976 (I was 16) and after 36 years of hard training I can't hold a candle to him.

Good luck!

It takes more than steroids and hard training to develop a top notch physique. You need the genes too.

Edited February 3, 2013 by tropo

[tropo]

@tropo: No, i'm half way on my goal of doubling my strength, so i increased 50% so far.

50% is still an incredible (unbelievable) strength jump in 4 weeks.

Let's put it into numbers to illustrate my point. Let's say a person has a maximum bench press of 200 lbs. A 50% increase in strength would mean he's pushed his bench press up to 300 lbs - in a month.

Surely you're exaggerating???

[poanoi]

No, when i started, tho it was in dec, i could barely do 1 rep 100 lbs bench,

i now do 5 reps with 150 lbs, i am using dumbbells.

I've run into a problem with my fingers tho, they cant keep up when i do dumbbell squats,

i could do more but my fingers can't, so i have in fact increased more than 50% in bench,

but in general i'm not quite 50% stronger due to my fingers can't keep up

[robblok]

Havnt lost any kilos yet, but i'm half way there at doubling my strength, well almost, and that has #1 priority

That's pretty amazing progress - doubling your strength in one month.

OK, serious question for the body-builders that read this forum:

I was watching a movie on HBO the other night - Faster (surprisingly good IMHO) and it starred The Rock. He didn't seem huge but his upper body development was impressive; without looking distorted, and he was still able to run normally etc

So if a 'normal' person with no significant muscules in his chest, arms, shoulders etc.. wanted to develop a similar physique, and he had a lot of time on his hands, how long would it take to bulk up to a similar physique ? Is it even possible ?

Forget it. You're never going to develop a physique like Dwayne Johnson with or without steroids..... who are you trying to kid? Even Dwayne Johnson uses steroids. How much will depend on what movie he's doing at the time and how much bulk is required. He has great genetics being half Samoan and half from black heritage. He can grow muscles like weeds.

He was a young kid of 4 living in Auckland, NZ at the same time I started body building there in1976 (I was 16) and after 36 years of hard training I can't hold a candle to him.

Good luck!

It takes more than steroids and hard training to develop a top notch physique. You need the genes too.

I think a guy like that without steroids might still be bigger then most using them. In the end steroids can only help that much they are not a magic pill that negates all other things. Genes are needed too, a good diet and real good training. Just steroids and bad training and diet will result in a real fat guy. Its a great misconception, its the same as thinking if i take steroids and epo i can ride a bike like lance. Sure it gives them an edge helps them but in the end the training and diet and genes are there to start with.

[tropo]

I think a guy like that without steroids might still be bigger then most using them. In the end steroids can only help that much they are not a magic pill that negates all other things. Genes are needed too, a good diet and real good training. Just steroids and bad training and diet will result in a real fat guy. Its a great misconception, its the same as thinking if i take steroids and epo i can ride a bike like lance. Sure it gives them an edge helps them but in the end the training and diet and genes are there to start with.

Having lived in NZ and trained with Maoris and Samoans I know what they are capable of. I saw one guy bench 300 lbs first time in a gym. I'll never forget that. The ironic thing is that I never saw any of them training really hard because it all came so easily.

[tropo]

No, when i started, tho it was in dec, i could barely do 1 rep 100 lbs bench,

i now do 5 reps with 150 lbs, i am using dumbbells.

I've run into a problem with my fingers tho, they cant keep up when i do dumbbell squats,

i could do more but my fingers can't, so i have in fact increased more than 50% in bench,

but in general i'm not quite 50% stronger due to my fingers can't keep up

If you're referring to grip strength, some wrist straps will help. You'll also have to do some exercises to build up your grip strength.

[robblok]

Almost a week again, how is it going OP ? How do you like your rower. If you have a laptop or a computer near you can download rowpro (for a month i believe) and try that out a bit.It gives some more information and is nice for some setups. I find it helps me more but i get real competitive plus i hate to set it up.

I am still thinking of hooking a 32 inch tv to hmy wall and connect that to the laptop. But some part of me thinks that is overspending and overkill. I did buy the program a while back. I like it for HIIT setups and my distance work is nice too to see myself row.

I was thinking of downloading movies and bike and watch tv, but i probably forget about that real fast. While biking yesterday i just felt i could not focus on anything so also not on TV. For now i like spoken books during biking.

[SlyAnimal]

Progress has been slow this week. I started by cutting the distance on my runs down but increasing the speed with the aim of increasing the distance but maintaining the faster pace.

Came down with a cold midweek though, so decided to stop training and to likewise not worry as much about small portions so that I could hopefully get better. I think I got sick mainly from the suddenly changing seasons (week prior was in the 20s this week mid 30s) as well as a lack of sleep from my war with the local soi dogs (our dog was in heat, we locked her up out the back but the soi dogs would try and sneak in or fight while the 10-20 waited outside our gate, all of which would wake me up as I'd then unleash a fury with my BB gun (M4A1 assault rifle lolz, so it was fun)

Weighed in at 104.0 kg on Friday morning. So only around 0.5kg lost this week. However I know the reason so am not too fussed. This cold is mostly gone now so hopefully can start training again tomorrow.

[robblok]

Good to hear your keeping at it even when things go a bit wrong. It takes motivation to go on just post here once in a while. But after a while certain things will be like second nature to you. Like making the right choices and sizing things up. But even then you can let go once in a while.

[tominbkk]

And likewise the fruit which I like to eat/snack on:

Bananas

Watermelon

Mango

Grapes

Lum Yai

Pineapple

All these fruits are really high sugar. You should sub them for papaya, dragon fruit, and guava.

[tominbkk]

Ok thanks, that might help me resist the urge to eat, knowing i won't lose muscle.

Wish there was an Hunger Inhibitor

There is! Lower your carb intake to less than 30 grams a day.

[tropo]

Ok thanks, that might help me resist the urge to eat, knowing i won't lose muscle.

Wish there was an Hunger Inhibitor

There is! Lower your carb intake to less than 30 grams a day.

Low carbs does not inhibit hunger. You have to replace the calories with protein and fat. Protein (amino acids) has the most profound effect on hunger).

Whey protein really inhibits hunger. If I take a big serve of that I can do without food for many hours.

Of course many people will crave sugar and other carbs and it can be very difficult to go that low. I would never go that low.

[tominbkk]

Ok thanks, that might help me resist the urge to eat, knowing i won't lose muscle.

Wish there was an Hunger Inhibitor

There is! Lower your carb intake to less than 30 grams a day.

Low carbs does not inhibit hunger. You have to replace the calories with protein and fat. Protein (amino acids) has the most profound effect on hunger).

Whey protein really inhibits hunger. If I take a big serve of that I can do without food for many hours.

Of course many people will crave sugar and other carbs and it can be very difficult to go that low. I would never go that low.

Low carb (30 grams or less of carbs) absolutely inhibits hunger. That's why it works so well, because it eliminates hunger through ketosis. No more insulin spikes. No more cravings.

[robblok]

Ok thanks, that might help me resist the urge to eat, knowing i won't lose muscle.

Wish there was an Hunger Inhibitor

There is! Lower your carb intake to less than 30 grams a day.

Low carbs does not inhibit hunger. You have to replace the calories with protein and fat. Protein (amino acids) has the most profound effect on hunger).

Whey protein really inhibits hunger. If I take a big serve of that I can do without food for many hours.

Of course many people will crave sugar and other carbs and it can be very difficult to go that low. I would never go that low.

Low carb (30 grams or less of carbs) absolutely inhibits hunger. That's why it works so well, because it eliminates hunger through ketosis. No more insulin spikes. No more cravings.

Reports that i read was that it was the high protein that countered the hunger and high fat not the low carb.

[Tolley]

If i eat meat and only salad then I do crave carbs and end up eating some rubbish later to compensate.

That is generally why I have a small portion of brown rice with most meals as it stops me craving carbs.

Sugar is not an issue as I dont crave it but the carbs I definitely crave.

Now if you ate bucketloads of meat and just veggies and salad then maybe you wouldnt have that craving but I dont want to eat too much meat.

[poanoi]

The endless kefir & protein shakes works to some degree, aint fun tho,

and in morning i have a healthy couple of rice dishes.

Stomach still standing out but i can start to distinguish the muscles far beneath

Havnt got any stronger for nearly 2 weeks now i think, so perhaps i starve too much

[SlyAnimal]

Thought I should give some feedback on my progress after another week.

This week I've actually gone slightly backwards, 104.3kg this morning, so 0.3kg up on last Friday. Although my running and rowing split times dropped slightly (even with longer distances than last week) so I've still had fitness gains.

The week started well, as I was doing rowing in the mornings then running in the evenings on Mon/Tues.

But on Wed I got a heap of blisters rowing so decided to give that a break until they healed. I also had the Wed-Fri essentially off work and for some reason it made me feel lazy so I didn't do any running and cheated on my diet (Especially Thurs valentines dinner).

I know the reasons for my lack of success this week though so am not fazed, and don't think I've hit a plateau as such (well only one of my own making lol).

I have a 12.5km mini marathon run this Sunday and then will be back into my regular routine next week.

Although the subsequent weeks will break my routine with exams/holidays but hopefully I can maintain my focus during this time (and ideally use the additional free time to my advantage)

[robblok]

About the rowing.. buy weightlifting gloves.. i did not before and like you got blisters.. now i got a 32 inch led tv set up for the program row pro.. helps me a bit too or i could watch a movie on it.

But its normal to hit a plateau and even go up a bit.. though usually not over a week. If i hit a plateau i usually stay on the same weight or around it.

Edited February 15, 2013 by robblok

[SlyAnimal]

I got lazy this week, haven't been doing any exercise at all (Other than the 12.5k mini marathon last Sunday), however have stuck to my diet during the week, with only a little bit of cheating (I had 1x 40THB tub of ice cream and maybe 2x cokes).

Weighed in this morning at 102.8kg, which is 1.5kg down on Friday last week. It's showing that I've lost more this week than what I really have, simply because my weight last Friday was higher than it should have been (Because I went to a buffet the night prior for valentines lol).

So not too bad, as I'm still 0.8kg less than my lowest weight last week. One week left in the month, maybe I can make a push with exercise/diet to try and get under 100kg before I post my progress on March 01. Although losing 2.8kg in a week is probably a little bit optimistic (Especially as I'm visiting friends this weekend and will have a couple of beers/relax with them).

[tropo]

(Especially as I'm visiting friends this weekend and will have a couple of beers/relax with them).

Is the beer drinking compulsory? I have lots of beer drinking friends, but I don't drink beer with them and they don't mind. I'm not into it and they understand that.

A few beers here and there can unhinge your progress. IMO you're far too early into your program to be seeking good excuses to drink.

Edited February 23, 2013 by tropo

[SlyAnimal]

haha if I go out with friends, I guess I could say it's semi compulsory due to peer pressure/expectations, but also it's on the weekend, where I like to relax and not worry about my diet.

I've also got my other NY resolution, of a maximum of 2x beers per day, so I won't be drinking much (Last year I'd probably drink at least half a bottle of whiskey, if not more, on a night out). I think that for me to gain long term responsibility/control of my drinking (And I want responsibility/control, not avoidance, since I enjoy drinking), it's important to still relax and drink, and by cutting down to 2 beers, it teaches me to drink slower and thus more responsibly.

Just 2x beers likely won't hurt my weight loss much, so long as I stick to my diet and exercise next week, although it might make losing 2.8kg in 1 week a little more difficult (Although I weighed myself today, and was 101.4kg, so if I'm a little bit careful over the weekend, getting under 100kg by the first of March is a definite possibility).

Sometimes I wonder if I'm just lucky, that maybe my body has a fast metabolism or something (Which I've then exploited over the past few years by consuming wayyy too much unhealthy food), because it seems crazy how quickly my weight is falling off me. Since I'm not really doing that much, it seems easy, I don't even really feel overly impaired by my new lifestyle changes (Or maybe this is just the result of a positive attitude lol).

As although I'm doing some exercise now, and generally eating less (I'm usually eating roughly the same dishes for lunch/dinner, but only eating half the rice, and drinking water not soft drink with meals, with fewer snacks between meals), I relax my diet during the weekends, often slack off on my exercise and even during the week I sneak in the occasional coke/ice cream etc. I couldn't really even say that cutting down my drinking is having such a big effect (Other than University, I only ever really drank on the weekends, maybe 2-3 weekends a month (Although often both Fri&Sat and I would drink a decent amount per session, so maybe this is a reasonable factor lol).

[SlyAnimal]

Woot!!

99.9kg

Although admittedly, that's just after a run, where I would have sweated out a decent amount. We'll see if I maintain the weight for my "official daily weigh in" tomorrow morning. Sometimes I go up, sometimes down (Although I won't "cook the books" by skipping a meal or anything lol). However I hope that I do still weigh in under 100kg, as it will give me a bit of a psychological boost.

Otherwise, I'm planning on going to Khao Yai National Park this weekend, and then will do a 10.5km mini marathon there on Sunday morning. It'll probably have hills, rather than just being flat, so it'll likely be a bit more of a challenge than the other 2 I did.

My training runs are slowly getting faster. Since I started running 4km timed runs (last 2 weeks), I've got my time down to just under 24 minutes (It was initially 25 1/2 minutes). I'm hoping to get it down to under 20 minutes and then will start increasing the distance again (And try to maintain 2minute laps). But we'll see how things go, 2 minute laps(400m) might be too difficult to maintain.

I haven't used my rowing machine for around 2 weeks. My goal on the rowing machine is still the same though, similar to my running goal, to work up to 5km distance, and then to try and work myself up to 2 minute lap times (500m). Last row was 3500m, so still have 3 more rows until I even start working on my times, as I try to increase the distance by 500m each time (Although at the moment I usually stay somewhere between 2:10-2:20 500m laps)

[tropo]

You could (should) also be losing muscle with all this distance running. Of course the extent of loss will depend on how much muscle you're carrying. Certainly a lot of running makes it difficult to build muscle.