Getting back in shape

#1
I started running today for the first time in a very very long time. I made the goal that this year I'd stop being a lazy *** and get back into shape and eating better and cutting down on the quality time I have with one of my good friends, beer.

I ran cross country in high school my junior year some 8 years ago and being as I'm about to turn the big 25 I needed a change. I got into riding mountain bikes and road bikes some when I was still living in Abbeville when I was 19 I think and did it everyday for about a year and a half or so before moving up to Clemson. Rode my mountain bike some up here but not enough and after breaking the derailer I made it single speed and haven't really touched it, I'd like to fix it back to having gears and upgrade some things on it but not in the budget now. I've borrowed a road bike from a buddy of mine but haven't really touched it besides messing around the street.


I heard about this couch to 5k thing from my mom or somebody and looked it up. I downloaded an app for it to I guess keep me on track and track my progress. From what I can tell and what I've read I will want to run more then it says but I'm gonna let it get me in the rhythm at first and go from there. Prob try and ride bike on some off days.

So hopefully about every morning at 625am, me and Henry will be setting out on our 3 mile run until I can get my fat *** into shape. I'd like to run the copper river bridge run but well see, April's a busy month from what it's looking like.

I have no motivation to do anything and I get distracted very easily so this should be interesting.
 
#3
I've never planned a thing in my life. Unfortunately I can't practice my favorite kind of exercise often because my gf lives so far away :hnd: so I have to run instead to keep in shape. It's also easier then a bike because it requires no bike and you can get a better workout in lesser time. Getting drug around by henry helps too
 
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#4
I started back running a little over 2 years ago after taking a 17 year hiatus. Yes, 17 years ago when I got out of the Navy. The couch to 5k program is pretty cool. I started with that and worked my way to doing half marathons in under a year. I dropped 19 lbs and felt great. I got hurt early last year so it derailed me for most of last year. I essentially started over 2 months ago and I'm doing the Cooper River Run(10k) in a month as a "welcome back" race. Now I plan on getting back to my normal routine of running 3x a week, kayaking, softball, and push-ups/pull-ups in between. If you want it bad enough you'll put forth the effort. If you don't then you'll keep doing what you've been doing. At 25 time's on your side. At 39, it sucks.:grin:
Good luck.
 
#5
When I moved to Atlanta, I bought a road bike and joined up with a couple riding groups. I found the rides that I liked and they became part of my "schedule". On those days, after work or first thing in the morning, I was busy.

Same thing at my old work in the winter, a couple of peoples from work decided to join the gym next to the office and we would go 2~3 times a week after work. It was nice because I could hop over there and be done with my excercises at 6:30, so the rest of the evening was still wide open.

Bottom line, try to get in with a group. Get a schedule to meet up to go mountain biking, road biking, running, weight lifting, spin class (you wanna lose weight? Spin class will WORK YOU), whatever. You begin to compete. I can haul up this hill faster than him, or lift more, or whatever. That is what will motivate you. Also it is nice because you can be social and not a hermit. You want to go exercise with your friends and it becomes part of your schedule. This year I might be able to get into an "informal race" up here near work once a week. Hauling for an hour solid will WORK me.

You also gotta mix it up. I did it with my bike routes. Different routes on different days. Or forget the Saturday route and try something new. Maybe ride a route backwards or go right instead of left. Go through a different part of town. Make a plan to go exercise somewhere else, make it the "special event". For me, its going and riding three gaps in northern Georgia.

For road biking, I know there is a decent Clemson bike club. My road bike is like my daily driver, I just bought it and have pretty much kept it stock except for maintenance some super simple bolt ons. My mountain bike on the other hand, it is a friggen project.

I doubt you can do this in Clemson (well I take that back, you can, just super gotta push yourself) but try to replace your car with your bike. My friend at Clemson doesn't even have a car, he rides his 1976 Schwinn fixie everywhere. Hippy? Yes. Cheap? Yes. Healthy? Yes. Not saying you need a fixie, but you could do it with any bike. That is my plan for this month, I'm moving to a more bike friendly part of town and the plan is for most errands and whatnot, a bike will replace my car. It will be nice since it seems like on the weekends, my gas just disappears.

Knock out soda and snacks. That right there will help you A LOT. Gotta snack anyway? Me too. I tear through carrots. I figure stuffing my face full of something that has vitamins and antioxidants is better than fat and sugar. Start knocking down the salt and go with lean meats. Try substituting ground beef with ground turkey. Lastly start bringing lunch and stop going out to eat all the time. Back when I worked in Greenville, we went out to lunch everyday. Guess who weighed 30 lbs more than when he started work. By replacing my burger with a sammich, a low fat brownie, and my water bottle, not only did I save some decent $$$ but I also helped dump a lot of weight. Try to plan out your meals. If you just kinda wing it, then you are boned because you'll be sitting there at 9pm, hungry and you'll say, "Fudge it. Bojangles NOM NOM NOM". This doesn't help. But if you know beforehand that you have left over brown rice with some grilled chicken on it, then you'll be more likely to pop that in the microwave and chow down on it.

So yeah, there is all kinda whatnots you can do, just got to make a plan and then it becomes part of you. Try to get friends into it/make friends who do it. You'll be glad you did. If nothing else, you'll sleep like a baby everynight and feel great everyday...except for after weight lifting day. Then you feel like you got hit by a truck. But a truck full of Win.
 
#7
Steve, if you need any help/ motivation let me know. I'm usually out running every morning and at the gym every night. Eating healthy, getting enough sleep and not being afraid to push yourself. No need to do stupid diets or anything. Just eat fresher foods and cut back on the fast foods. Most people think that if they haven't run in a long time then they could never get ready for a 5K but its not that bad. If you're willing to put in the effort and stick to a training schedule, you can do it.

Regular meals for me:
-breakfast= granola w/ skim milk or oatmeal or a bagel
-lunch= 6" subway w/ no sause or a turkey sandwich (maybe 2) with baked chips.
-dinner= grilled chicken and salad or pasta. some vegtables. Protein shake.

With my training schedule, i try to eat between 2500-3000 calories per day. And that is good calories. Avoid foods that say "150 calories, 120 calories from fat". High calorie, low fat is what you want.

This changes some but thats generally what i eat. Drink water as well instead of soda.
 
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#8
Good answers. I figured there would be some folks on here it might spark under there *** or interest.

I don't drink anything besides water Gatorade/powerade low calorie and the occasional diet coke for a pick me up. I didnt grow up drinking tea but aquired the taste for it and havent drank it in months. I try and eat in as much as I can and I don't eat stuff that's bad for me usually. Not really a snacker anymore but when I do, I eat pretzels, string cheese carrots and stuff that doesnt make me feel bad. When I do go out to eat, I eat subway no mayo and chic fil a nuggets (I need to give up there fries) I prefer chicken and leaner meats and go to ingles to make my own salad as much as I can. I've always been about fresher and better quality foods in fact I just did a speech about the preservatives in bread.

One thing that I new to work on, a major thing, is my meals. I try and eat breakfast every morning but it gets skipped a lot, and there is some days that I won't eat much of anything but a dinner. I blame most of that on adderall, though I can get in a routine and eat cereal or yogurt for breakfast, a sandwich for lunch and then something for dinner, bad thing is, if I wasn't to make myself eat then, Im fine without it. That's the drugs though.

I plan on getting on the bike more and getting use from it, a nice road bike is on my to do list once i start making some income thats not crap. I signed up to take a class this summer (although I'm technically done in April) to get some shop time in and it meets 5 days a week 8-1130 and I plan to ride my bike there everyday and back. I can't remember how many miles it is, I live behind ingles on 93 and go to tech. Biking is therapeutic to me and always has been. I'd ride by myself usually because most the people I used to ride with couldn't keep up but I still pushed myself to ride hard and push through.

At the moment im not trying to go to the gym although that may change in a month or so. My roommate is a jock I guess youd say and does crossfit competitions and does some mma training. I've talked to him about going and he told me he'd tell me what all to do, he goes everyday so i would have someone to go with. At the end of march I may decide to join golds but well see how the rest of everything goes.




Has anyone ever seen the book 4 hour body by Timothy ferris?
 
#9
Btw, I saw a whole foods bumper sticker earlier that said "free range against the machine". I chuckled after reading it 3 times.
 
#10
I pay like $30 a month at golds and its worth it. No waiting like i use to do on campus at FIKE. Plus if you find running miserable, they have a "cardio cinema", basically a movie theater with a bunch of treadmills, elliptical, and stair masters instead of seats. You get into the movie and dont realize how far youve run.

Also look into P90x. Killer workouts. I'm debating trying the insanity workout. Supposedly its just like its title....insane.
 
#12
I'll let ya'll know what is going on, but my buddy here at work is big into mountain biking. He has heard of Issaquena and wants to make a Saturday trip out of it.

Back when I lived in Clemson, I always thought it was weird talking to people who drove up from Atlanta to ride at Clemson. It wasn't until I left that I realized how AWESOME the trails there are.

Rode at Tsali a couple weeks ago and I think Issaquena is more fun. BTW mountain biking around Atlanta is no bueno.
 
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