mikeleesyd

I've been doing alright with my fitness, I'm in a lot better shape but now I want to improve other nerdy parts of me. Has anyone got any book (or anything else) recommendations for how I can improve my confidence in meeting new people and communication? What has worked for you in improving in this and why? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

thanks guys, appreciate you all contributing. I'll certainly be sneaking in a few squats here and there, and looking to fit in home workouts. cheers.

Hi guys, I've got a kid and long work hours, and I'm struggling to find the time to squeeze in a session. Is anyone else in this same situation and how are they getting through it? cheers m

thismissisup2nogood is onto a good point. This may well be a great opportunity to discover something new. Set backs can be blessings in disguise but it's difficult to see that if the focus is not what you have or what you've lost. The best thing might be to just focus on the next step, or just 'putting one foot in front of the other' which sounds like talking to the doctor about how you were eating and exercising before, and how that might need to change.

That sounds pretty tasty! I don't use myfitnesspal anymore but I do remember now, the initial pain in using it because as you're finding, your home cooked meals aren't neatly found in their database. I do recall that there was a tipping point because I probably spent two or 3 weeks diligently entering the food I ate almost ingredient by ingredient to come up with the meal I just made, but then after that, my meals were just repeats of what I had entered previously or slight variations which made it easier. For me, it wasn't so much needing to know exactly what I ate down to the calorie, but it was knowing I had a controlled diet. I then would take measurements of my body, not just weight, to see the correlation between what I fed into my body and then how it was affected in terms of fat loss, muscle gain etc. Are those two meals examples of what is difficult to input? Tell me more about this bit. Are you still finding that you're gaining /losing weight despite what your calorie tracking is telling you?

This sounds like something to work from. Have you looked at what recipes are out there with these ingredients? For example, I reckon a good, home made spinach and cheese quiche is going to be better than most fried foods. You could try olive tapenade's on various things to add the flavour you like. You mentioned that you like steak I think. You could make decent stir fries with that. Can you give us an example of a particular vegetable that you've tried to prep in different ways and didn't like? What were the prep methods and what aspect to the texture did you not like? good luck with the double chicken, broccoli and sweet potatoes, that does sound pretty good.

There's a lot of good ideas in this thread! It's a difficult problem because nutrition and satiety can be mysterious sometimes and the psychological aspect can be really challenging. Here's a few things to research or even try: - this was mentioned earlier I think but upping the protein ratio should help with satiety - how much water do you drink everyday? I find that sometimes my hunger is actually a thirst (sounds silly!). I also have a 1/2 to a pint of water with each meal - have you thought about having more than 3 meals a day, breaking up the larger meals into smaller ones? - controlled snacking of healthy, protein based food or fibrous vegetables like fava beans, nuts, legumes in general, carrots etc might help. - I would also analyse your thinking that occurs before you go out to get take out food. It does sound like a bit of habit to think if you're not full then you should go out and grab something. Perhaps you can change the routine by instead of actually going out to get that feeling of fullness, you have some healthy 'treats' that you have prepped in case you get that feeling. I guess it's trying to anticipate these moments of 'weakness' and coming up with strategies to combat them, before they happen. I think someone said, 'if you drop the spoon, don't drop the bowl', meaning that if one thing goes wrong, don't let it all go wrong. If you have one slip up over lunch, try and think of how you can effectively deal with the problem when dinner comes by. The thing with eating healthier food over processed food is that they're less energy dense for the volume of food, so you need to adequately compensate. I'd love to hear you go with this. It's tough but it's completely achievable. Keep us updated, good or bad!

Hi trav, can you give me an example of what you eat that's difficult to track calorie wise? It's great that you're trying to develop healthy eating habits with food prep etc, well done. Another way to look at meditation is not as something that can be graded like a maths test, but something to experience like, dreams maybe. I think everyone's experience of meditation is going to be different and the focus of it should be about understanding things like the quality of your thoughts; Are they racing? Are they ruminating on a particular topic? Or is it fairly easy to focus on your breathing? And of course it's about being present and mindful of your bodily sensations, sounds around you etc.

Getter bigger and chiselled requires a combination of a lot of clean eating and heavy compound exercises. Typically people will do one or the other, bulk up then cut down but both can be done simultaneously, it just takes more discipline. The pull up bars are good but the Dumbbells will be probably what gives you the most benefit in the end, if you just stick to at-home exercises. You could use the Dumbbells for - weighted lunges - Romanian deadlifts - weighted pull ups - flys or benchpresses - tricep pull over extensions No more than 8-10 reps, weighted so 3 or 4 sets gets you to failure. Diet wise, try to get 0.5-1 gram of protein for every pound you weigh or thereabouts. Try to stick to low GI complex carbohydrates generally found in wholegrain, unprocessed foods. If your workouts are heavy enough you'll need plenty of carbs. Don't leave out good fats like mono and polyunsaturated fats found in avocados, nuts, seeds and fatty fish. You may well need to experiment in terms of ratio of macronutrients, but a lot of people start of wiht a 50/35/15 ratio of carbs/protein/fat. Of course, like anything this is just a guide and you should ensure you monitor your lifting progress and body measurements as you go.

I think RisenPhoenix has hit the nail on the head there. It is a feeling and it's about whether you're achieving or performing what you want. And even if you're not, losing more body weight may not be the answer. Your body will tell you when it doesn't agree with your eating habits and fitness regime. If you take on weightlifting with a calorie deficit diet, then your body will no doubt hit a limit in how far it progresses. Listen to your body by monitor changes and record your workouts and adjust diet and the exercise accordingly, depending on what you're trying to achieve.

Sorry for all the questions but... - what is it about the new exercises you don't like? - Does your workout need to be a full hour? - What are the other reasons for losing the motivation? - What's your have a goal behind the workouts, or why are you really doing it? I would suggest that you keep a record of what exercises you're doing so you can see progress...it could be a good motivator and if you have specific goals, then it's definitely needed.

Randmart has a good point. Everyone's metabolism and reaction to stress that exercise created is subtlety different so I think it's best to listen and monitor your body for changes. If weight loss is your focus as well as making small changes at a time, then I reckon it won't make a huge difference doing one before the other. If you ensure that the resistance training is actually putting you through your paces, the cardio isn't too intense and you're sticking to a good diet and rest plan, then the weight will come off. Whilst weight loss can be good, I think what's more important is setting yourself up for long term fitness. Which means following the exercise routines that you enjoy so that going to the gym or just being fit, isn't a chore. If you enjoy the stretching most of all and if you haven't done so already, start going to yoga classes to explore if that can be something that you continue doing in the long term. I'd still recommend that you do resistance and cardio but everyone has a preferred exercise activity I think, and it's a good idea to supplement that with other areas of a balanced fitness plan.

It may also be a case of modifying the type of calories. I shifted my carbs towards fibrous veg like broccoli and cauliflower (there's heaps of other types) and pulses, beans, quinoa, lentils etc and it pushed me past my plateau. I also did a cheat meal which seemed to amplify the results I was getting.

It could also be that your body composition is changing with some addition in muscle. Personally, I would complement the scales with actual measurements around your waist, arms etc to monitor the changes occurring. I'm not a huge fan of regularly looking at scales or taking measurements. I would do it maybe once a week at most, and like what the guys have said previously, make sure it's done in a consistent way. For me, focussing on the scales can bring a lot of distraction to what you should actually be focussing on doing day to day, which is doing your training / exercise, making sure you're eating well and drinking lots of water. And importantly, turning that all into a habit and actually seeing the good things in it and enjoying it. The improvements you want in weight will come if you devote your time well to the process. Good luck!

That's quite the roller coaster ride you've been on! When you were back on crutches after the wedding what was your eating habits like? And what are your fitness goals now?