Search the Community

I'm much more of a Meg than a Hercules, but this summer is a great way to change that! I fell off the map here at Nerd Fitness when I became really ill back in March, and now I have pretty much recovered! I was recently diagnosed with lupus, and the symptoms have mostly subsided aside from a couple bad days a month. However, as of Tuesday, I will be in a high-stress teaching bootcamp of sorts, and I get my first classroom in August. I need to get back into good food and exercise to keep my body together and hopefully mitigate any return of symptoms that are induced by stress. Due to the fact I won't be paid for training this summer, I am looking for a workout plan that I can execute at home and (if I'm lucky) at a regular gym, including pool access. I am 5'1 with about 43% body fat at 157 lbs (yikes!). On Wednesday, the day after I move into the dorms, I will start the Whole30 challenge, as a wide variety of foods will be prepared for us and I don't have to worry about overhauling my non-existent pantry. That will begin to take care of the diet side of my summer challenge. I try to avoid long bouts of running due to the high impact on my knees and ankles, but I do enjoy long brisk walks and the occasional jog. I really enjoy swimming, yoga, and resistance band training. I do not care for cycling, though I will do some at the gym. Mostly, in addition to losing the body fat, I want to build muscle, so I am looking at resistance exercises and other strength training stuff. I'm pretty familiar with many exercises, but I tend to just try to do everything at once and end up with all-over fatigue. I would really appreciate some advice for building a solid weekly plan that is routine and fairly consistent with a little variety/choice. Thanks!

Hey guys I'm a non-rich average student and I don't really know much about nutrition stuff so I'm not sure if my diet is fitness-worthy. The thing is, I would really really like to get fit and strong but I don't know if I can do that with the resources I have. Going to the gym wouldn't be a problem because it's free for college students. The only foods I eat right now is brown rice(with flaxseeds), oatmeal, plain yoghurt, and milk. Fruits and vegetables are kind of expensive so I buy a packet of veggies or some fruit once a week. Oatmeal is extremely cheap so whenever I get hungry I just eat that. Can I work with this and gain muscle(along with a six pack possibly haha...) or will I just lose a little weight and that will be the end of it? Am I missing some essential nutrients?

Well I found this site from the Art of manliness podcast. I found this work out from the email blast form Art of Manliness. All of these work out are killers and are with in my price range (Free.99) Im working in dips and squats from my desk at work figuring any little bit helps. And being this is day 3 or 4 of Nerd Fitness Im going to try to add some reps tonight after my 20 minute walk. http://www.artofmanliness.com/2015/08/05/the-prisoner-workout/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TheArtOfManliness+%28The+Art+of+Manliness%29 http://aom.is/rYH-J

Hey, guys! Hope everyone is having a badass day full of badassery and righteous villainy! So, I've started doing the Paleo diet. I've been doing it for four days now. I have a few questions that would put my mind at ease if they were answered (or maybe I'll freak. We'll see). It's basically a list of "how bad is it"s. 1. How bad is it to have meat that isn't exclusively grass fed? I just got a job recently, but it really doesn't pay well enough for me to comfortably buy all organic foods. It really is pretty expensive on my current pay. I've told my family that I'm on the Paleo diet, so they try to be understanding and cook things that I can eat too. At the same time, I don't want to force them to change what they eat for my convenience. How bad is it if I have a small portion of rice (like 1 cup after cooked) and the food has been seasoned with about a tablespoon of granulated sugar? Will that throw off the ketosis? I've done pretty well with eating the right things, in spite of the above mentioned. How bad is it if I occasionally eat something high in carbs? For example, went 3 days eating the right things, then this morning had a bagel for breakfast because was late and had to have something.Okay, so that was two things. I thought I had more. I'm not trying to make excuses, these are just realities I have to deal with. It's a little bit of an issue because, as I mentioned, I'm not quite able to afford buying the organic stuff. I really have to keep a tight hand on my wallet because of debt, etc. So, it's financially convenient for me to eat with my family. I don't know if this helps at all, but I've also reduced my portions significantly, and when I do have carbs the amount is quite small compared to what I was doing last week. I want this to work, but I feel like I'm a little stuck as to how strictly I can follow the diet. As I said, I'm not trying to make excuses here. I have no problem going low/no carb. TONS of tasty food I can make, but I simply can't afford it most of the time.

Hey, guys! I'm in between jobs at the moment. I don't have enough money to sign up for the lifetime membership at the moment. I'm really bummed about that, because it seems like there is a TON of stuff that could be very helpful to someone like me. I'm actually seeing someone about a job next week, so hopefully will be able to join the ranks soon. I'd love to delve into the material available here. Anyway, that being said, I was wondering if there are any cheap/free fitness solutions until I'm employed? I'm currently doing one of the things I got in the emails that get sent out. Here's my routine: Go for a short run/fast walk, about 10 minutes, to warm up. Are there better ways to warm up? 20 squats 15 push ups (trying to get to 20) 15 lunges (trying to get to 20) 15 rows (15 lbs dumbbell) 30 second plank 30 jumping jacks Repeat Step 2 (trying to be able to do this 3 times in a row)So, that's what I've been doing. I currently weigh 208 lbs.; I was 215 before I started this routine. I'm not sure what my goal weight should be. I'm about 5' 7'' tall. I think I would like to be around 180. I'm trying to lose fat and gain muscle to get a toned/fit look. But I'm completely new to the workout world. The most I did was soccer in high school. I think I've kept the same amount of muscle since then but added a lot more weight to carry around. I'm sorry if this isn't the right place to post. I'm still learning! I'm posting two photos of myself so you know what I have to deal with. I would also welcome any tips on burning through leg fat so it doesn't look like I'm packing pillows in my pocket. Thank you so much for your time!

I chose my username for good reason, because breaking news: students have very little money. As I stick to a (mostly) paleo diet, a breakfast/lunch of this on toast or that in a sandwich wasn't an option for me, and I had to devise my own meals. After some time of scouring for paleo meals that were ideal for my muscle-focussed diet (using a protein:carb:fat macro ratio of 40:30:30 as a basic guideline), I had trouble finding many that fit my food budget (read: not much). I stumbled across the famous 2-ingredient pancake recipe (blend 2 eggs + 1 banana, fry, flip), this was fairly ideal for my diet, but quite a pain to make every morning in a frying pan from pound-stretcher, especially if I wanted to get to the gym before a 9am lecture. Adapting from the pancakes I came up with the following recipe, it fits my macros, costs a mere £1.05 (may differ depending on where you shop) for an amount that could cover 2 breakfasts (I have half for breakfast and half as a post-workout meal), and tastes delicious. Apologies for the essay of an introduction, this is my first post and wanted to introduce myself somewhat, so without further ado, a recipe that requires no introduction. Ingredients: 7 eggs (you may wish to use egg whites depending on where you stand on the yolk debate) 2 bananas (preferably medium-large, as small bananas may result in more of a frittata) 1 scoop of whey protein powder (I like vanilla, but other popular choices include chocolate, maple, toffee, or banana) A dash of cinnamon (that's a metric dash, not imperial) Instructions: Preheat oven to 180C (unsure of Fahrenheit or gas mark equivalent) Grease casserole dish or equivalent how you see fit (some do not require greasing, I use 1kcal spray) Blend all ingredients together thoroughly Poor mixture into dish Place dish in the oven for roughly an hour (times may vary, keep an eye on it the first few times baking) Remove dish and allow to cool before serving Note: double, triple, quadruple the recipe if you like, increase to baking time will vary depending on the type of dish used. Feel free to recommend changes in the comments, and if you decide to try it yourself, let me know how it goes. Thanks for reading, -SB

Hi everyone! I’m looking for some good recipes of protein bars. To my knowledge there is no protein bar in the market that is not saturated with extra stuff that’s not good for you. Plus making them is cheaper than buying a whole pack of it! So what recipe(s) do you recommend?

So, easing into the paleo diet, and I would like some advice on breakfast. Seeing as cereal, toast and bagels are out of the question I was wondering if anyone knows of any good paleo breakfasts that are cheap (on a student loan budget) and fast, as I don't wake up with much time to spare before I have to leave. Which is why I like the ease of cereal! Any ideas would be much appreciated

What you need for one burger: two large mushroom cups 1 tomato 1/4 avocado 1 egg coconut oil salt, pepper and dill Instructions: 1. cut out mushroom stems and dice them up 2. slice tomato thinly, I used 3 slices for my burger 3. heat coconut oil in pan, fry mushroom cups on medium heat for about 2 min on each side, you want them cooked and soft but not to flobby as they will be your burger buns 4. as soon as you flip the cups on the other side, start frying the diced stems (I did it all in the same pan) and the sliced tomato 5. season everything with salt and pepper 6. crack your egg on top of the mushroom stems and scramble. cook as much as you desire. sprinkle with dill (I used dried dill) 7. place one mushroom cup on a plate, layer with a slice of tomato, some egg, another slice, rest of egg, another slice and on top some avocado. 8. eat and enjoy )