Health Thread

[BF004]

Really finally started taking my health more serious this year. Eating healthier, less, exercising more, less alcohol, etc. etc.

I am intrigued by the benefits of fasting. I have done restricted eating/intermittent fasting several times before, usually hit 12-13 hours a day and after about a week, get to reap the benefits. Better energy, mental awareness, lack of hunger, etc. But always hard to maintain for extended periods of time. But really want to commit now, at least 14-15 hours of fasting everyday, at least for the entire month of August and ideally beyond if not indefinitely.

The benefits of fasting seem almost unbelievable when you dig into it, the closest thing we as humans have to a magic pill and the craziest part about it is it completely free (why you will never see a TV commercial for it). As a joke I saw, the only thing Buddha, Muhammed and Jesus could agree on was the importance and benefits of fasting.

Anyone ever do any fasting or have been curious about it?

Anything else you guys have done to improve your health, weight, body, sleep etc.?

[NCF]

I have tried intermittent fasting quite a bit, up to 16 hours, eating window 11-7. I have gone at least two weeks a couple of times and have realized absolutely zero benefits. Not on the scale, not in how I feel, just nothing for me.

[Pckfn23]

Like you said, so hard to maintain. That's biggest thing with "diets," they are hard to maintain if they restrict too much. The most success I have found that I can maintain is generally watching my calories. For about 6 months I tracked calories continuously and that got me on the right track. I went from 195 to 170. 170 isn't an ideal weight for me as that is too hard to maintain, so I settled back to 180. I stopped tracking calories, but I am very conscious of what and how much I eat. The biggest thing is just the realization of how many calories certain things have. That has helped immensely. For example, I know if I eat that snickers bar it is going to cost me about 300 calories which is about an entire chicken breast or 60 baby carrots. I still eat that snickers at times, but I know it will cost me what I can eat down the road. I have done this the last 5 years and I can honestly say it works well for me.

Depending on the sports season I lift and run 3-4 times a week. It was 6 times a week this past spring and up until the end of June. Got on the bike much more than I ever have. At one point during the spring it was 10 miles of running and 30 miles of biking a week.

Now I just need to get more sleep and drink less!

[BF004]

I have tried intermittent fasting quite a bit, up to 16 hours, eating window 11-7. I have gone at least two weeks a couple of times and have realized absolutely zero benefits. Not on the scale, not in how I feel, just nothing for me.

That is crazy. I get it big time. The biggest thing I always notice is that I am just legit never hungry. I'll eventually get around to eating breakfast mid morning because I feel like I should, but have very little urge and no stomach growling or anything. I've also haven't noticed it on the scale, but I also didn't really watch what I ate, how much, or how much I drank, just as long as I was done drinking by like 6 pm.

[TheGreenMan]

No fasting here.

I run though, have probably for the last decade and a half. I've really slowed down though, as my legs are just not what they used to be! I still try to put in a 2-4 miles a week though.

I don't drink alcoholic beverages during the week (including Packers Monday night football games). Rarely drink pop, usually drinking some kind of sparkling water instead.

Still have problems staying away from the salty stuff though, like chips and popcorn.

[Gunzaan]

Like you said, so hard to maintain. That's biggest thing with "diets," they are hard to maintain if they restrict too much. The most success I have found that I can maintain is generally watching my calories. For about 6 months I tracked calories continuously and that got me on the right track. I went from 195 to 170. 170 isn't an ideal weight for me as that is too hard to maintain, so I settled back to 180. I stopped tracking calories, but I am very conscious of what and how much I eat. The biggest thing is just the realization of how many calories certain things have. That has helped immensely. For example, I know if I eat that snickers bar it is going to cost me about 300 calories which is about an entire chicken breast or 60 baby carrots. I still eat that snickers at times, but I know it will cost me what I can eat down the road. I have done this the last 5 years and I can honestly say it works well for me.

Depending on the sports season I lift and run 3-4 times a week. It was 6 times a week this past spring and up until the end of June. Got on the bike much more than I ever have. At one point during the spring it was 10 miles of running and 30 miles of biking a week.

Now I just need to get more sleep and drink less!

Basically this. Watch what you eat and make sure to burn calories. Depending on your genetics, you might have to monitor both of these more closely but the bottom line is still the same: be proactive about both eating and fitness.

[BF004]

As stupid as it sounds, one of the biggest factors in staying active and motivated has been getting an iWatch.

Sharing your activity with others, we have a small group where we all close our rings every day and give each other a ton of &%$@ if we don't. Got the move goal set really high too at 1000 right now. It's enough where a 2.5 mile run isn't enough, still have to do more.

But been doing a steady combo of swimming, running, kayaking/paddleboarding, yoga, biking or workout videos every day, often times multiple things a day.

But that will keep me doing something every day.

I am in a nice routine of probably running about 3x a week, generally between 2.5-4 miles each time. I am not very fast at all, lol, but I get out there.

I am now down about 15 lbs since February, but want to make one real good push here in August to down some more while still summer. Fasting, closing my rings every day, eating healthier and less, and also not drinking in August (didn't drink in June at all either).

Started at a gentleman's 233, down to about 218 right now. Really really want to get down to 207 at least, that is my goal, to where I get a BMI of 29.9 and no longer considered obese and get a not-insignificant health insurance savings. I surely have plenty of fat to spare, but I am also quite muscular, so I don't look/feel like the normal 220 pounder, in my opinion, but the BMI chart cares nonetheless. So I would be quite happy to hang out around 205-210 long term.

[Drj820]

Jan-March i did some pretty extreme intermittent fasting. Only ate 5pm-9pm 6 days per week. Drank black coffee up until about 1pm each day. It def works i lost 20 pounds. I enjoy how the day was a mental grind, but def one that you adjust to, and then at dinner you could straight up feast bc you rarely would get over 2k calories in one meal. It’s pretty hard to do ha.

I want to get back on it. Quarantine wrecked my diet but I have maintained my weight through walking about 15k steps any day that is nice outside.

I would like to get refocused and lose another 20. If I did that I would be in a very healthy range.

[NCF]

I have tried intermittent fasting quite a bit, up to 16 hours, eating window 11-7. I have gone at least two weeks a couple of times and have realized absolutely zero benefits. Not on the scale, not in how I feel, just nothing for me.

That is crazy. I get it big time. The biggest thing I always notice is that I am just legit never hungry. I'll eventually get around to eating breakfast mid morning because I feel like I should, but have very little urge and no stomach growling or anything. I've also haven't noticed it on the scale, but I also didn't really watch what I ate, how much, or how much I drank, just as long as I was done drinking by like 6 pm.

I have had far more success when I ditch mealtime altogether and just eat balanced snacks, usually 6-times per day. Hard to stay disciplined with that and usually why it falls apart for me, but that ALWAYS produces a quick downward trend on the scale.

Other than that, I just recently got back into biking and I really like it. Don't even need to go far, but I got rolling hills near me, so I feel like just going in any which direction I get the intervals that I am not disciplined enough to get on exercise equipment or walking/jogging. As always, just forcing myself to get the steps in. Without a whole lot of effort I can get 15,000/day. Yet, I have my days where I fail to hit 5,000.

[BF004]

Also, I am doing 100 pushups every day in August. Going with 4 sets of 25 at the moment.

Felt good day 1, waited too late in the day on day 2 and had to crank out 75 like all at night, day 3 I was so fricken sore , but did better spacing them out. Currently got 50 done today and starting to feel better.

[TheGreenMan]

Ate a bag of gardettos before lunch.

Not off to a good start today fellas.

[Gunzaan]

Ate a bag of gardettos before lunch.

Not off to a good start today fellas.

They are too good not to eat!

[BF004]

Ate a bag of gardettos before lunch.

Not off to a good start today fellas.

Oh man, gardettos and chex mix are my weak spot. Screw ice cream, I'd take a cereal bowl of gardettos any day.

Working hard to keep stuff like that out of the house so I'm not even tempted. Cholesterol wasn't good last checkup, so gunna work at it and get it checked again in 3 months.

[TheGreenMan]

Ate a bag of gardettos before lunch.

Not off to a good start today fellas.

They are too good not to eat!

Ate a bag of gardettos before lunch.

Not off to a good start today fellas.

Oh man, gardettos and chex mix are my weak spot. Screw ice cream, I'd take a cereal bowl of gardettos any day.

Working hard to keep stuff like that out of the house so I'm not even tempted. Cholesterol wasn't good last checkup, so gunna work at it and get it checked again in 3 months.

I'm with you guys on Gardettos. They're very addicting.

I'll eat some of those Mustard ones too.

And their new crackers.

[TheGreenMan]

My as well change the subject title to "Carbs Thread" now.

[RingoCStarrQB]

Interesting that this thread was started. I am 6'1" when I stand up straight and have been a solid 218 pounds for several years. All this with little or no exercise, way too much caffeine, way too many hours at work, way too much travel, and absolutely zero dieting.

Well ever since this COVID-19 induced shelter-in-place kicked in in mid March (I started teleworking full time in mid-March) my stay-at-home-only diet combined with zero travel enabled me to get down to 198 pounds (lost 20 pounds) which as best I can recall is my lowest weight since the Lynn Dickey era. 3 meals a day. No in between snacks except maybe some tortilla chips or a yogurt, or some cheese slices and crackers. Absolutely no hunger.........no gorging. No alcohol, no sugary liquids, no desserts, no fried food, no restaurant food. Almost no caffeine. Almost no salt. No fast food. Occasional lemonade or fruit juice. Lots of cold bottled water. Moderate amount of daily carbohydrates (cereal, bread/toast, potatoes, rice, mac and cheese, other pastas, cornbread, etc.). Chili / black beans and a frozen pizza only occasionally. No more Dunkin, Panera Bread scones or bagels, Sausage McMuffin with Egg sandwiches or Burger King ham and cheese croissants on the way to work. No McDonald's french fries .

Energy level and alertness level is at an all time high going back to my college days. This may be due to a marked reduction of external stress as well as no commute to deal with and no non-value added office goodies and no going out to lunch.

I attribute the 20 lb. weight loss and keeping the weight off to consistent "clean living" and a relatively low-carb diet. Waistline, as ascertained by my leather jeans belt which doesn't ever stretch or lie, decreased by 2 inches. Shoes and socks fit better too. Jeans fit like they should. All of my XL size shirts, sweaters and sweatshirts fit better. Glad that my Packers vest fits like it should finally. Sadly my 2 XXL Packers jackets are almost too big now, but then on the other hand there is more room for layers underneath. Should be easier squeezing in to my 18" wide piece of lower bowl aluminum bench seat next time I get to Lambeau Field for a Packers game.

I hope to stay below 200 pounds from here on out. We shall see what we shall see.

GO PACKERS!!

[BF004]

Just got 18 hours 17 minutes on the fasting tracker, capped it off with a 3.3 mile run.

Got home and hammered a whole pot of coffee, 2 pieces of toast with a whole avacado, tomatoes slices, and two fried eggs, topped with a bunch of garden fresh basil.

Still hungry.

If there had been Gardetto's in the house, there wouldn't be anymore.

[texas]

I have tried intermittent fasting quite a bit, up to 16 hours, eating window 11-7. I have gone at least two weeks a couple of times and have realized absolutely zero benefits. Not on the scale, not in how I feel, just nothing for me.

lol same

I still do it just because. It isn't that hard once you get past like a week or so. The easy way to do it is just not eat for like 5 hours after waking up.

[texas]

Few health tweaks have had much of an effect on me over the years, but here are some that did:

Lifting- I used to not lift. When I started lifting several years ago, everything became great

Magnesium- I have ectopic heartbeats and they annoy me. I tried a bunch of things to make them better but the one thing that actually worked was magnesium tablets.

Bike sprints- I read the study referenced here (https://www.today.com/health/what-4-sec ... er-t180711) and got a stationary bike. I don't even do the sprints as much as they recommend but I can definitely breathe deeper. Not much of an effect on fat loss that I can tell.

Ocean Swimming- The only thing I have tried that has worked for allergies is swimming in the Atlantic Ocean on vacation. Unfortunately I don't live anywhere near there. I have yet to find any other cures for allergies.

[BF004]

Just hit my best run by a good margin today, felt good. Hit 3.1 miles in 28:29, shaved a whole minute off my pr.

Still going strong, trying to hit a good 3-4 days with a real good fast per week. Got down about 20 lbs and kind of hit a wall on my weight loss the past ~2-3 weeks. But I have been drinking quite a bit more as well lately, so not unexpected.

Successfully did the 100 pushups a day in August, actually hit quite a bit more than 3100, around the 20th, started doing reps of 30 instead of 25, so was hitting 120 a day at the end.

Getting harder to work out without swimming anymore, so have been doing some hiit workouts, those are pretty fun.



I'm sure no one cares, but I find myself more accountable when I say things outloud or tell other people, so it helps me.