Exercise
 

Quick survey without a poll question thread.

What do you do for exercise?

For the last n years I've done nothing whatsoever, and this may relate to the fact that I've become a disgraceful wide load.

Recently I've been walking for like 40 minutes a day, because it's fall and thus not hot as hell out there. This seems to work for me. Everything else has just not worked, just not been enjoyable enough to keep going, or hard to maintain, etc.

What do y'all do, or do you do nothing?

Sadly, I've not yet purchased a bicycle. This has had more to do with the fact that I've been buying mad computer parts for some systems I'm building over anything else. I try to keep a few grand spare in the bank, so getting up to where I feel comfortable buying a bike hasn't happened.

I make up for it by being less lazy overall. I never take the elevator anymore - I always take the stairs in the office (usually 6-10 flights/day). I try to get up and move around more frequently.

Of course, I always take the opportunity to engage in the best exercise there is - sex!

Here shortly, I'm going to purchase a membership at Gold's Gym and mwbEEf and I are going to start hitting it 4 or 5 days each week after work. I'll write more about it after it happens.

(I'm down 5 belt notches in a little over 2 months and need to buy either a new belt or a leather punch. All that by eating better and doing a little bit more physically. Yay!)

For the last five years, walking between 1.5-2 hours every day. Right now, theoretically going to the gym and doing high-stress weight exercises for 1-2 hours every day.

X.

I don't do any set excerice, I just walk to class everday, doesn't exactly help me get in shape but keeps me from becoming terribly pathetic.

Run for about an hour 3 times a week. Go to the gym 3-4 times a week, although all this kind of got curtailed when school started.

Got a $1 bike at Goodwill (classic Schwinn 3 speed girls touring bike- its a beauty) had it tuned-up, and have biked the last year and a half to work. I walk if it's too icy or wet- about 30 minutes.
Walking is great, I do best with some tunes on.

I have access to a University rec center, which I should make better use of. I've never done gym weights or machines- they're kinda intimidating. I swim laps when motivated. I'm always happy after I go- its that after work time bubble, like right now, when I wimp out. I'm shooting for 3x week. reality so far is maybe 1x week.

I am planning to do some more skating because its fun and I found new skates at a garage sale. I also dance around like a spaz when no one's looking 'cause thats fun too.

Usually I do about 3 hours of soccer practice on an off day, and 2 full 40 minute halves (plus OT) during game days. Games are 3 times a week, typically, so thats about 4 hours of game-paced running every week, and then practice.

All you people who dont get enough excerciese, wanna trade? :D

How're those shin splints comin' along there verb? Thats a grind. I'm riding a minimum of two hours twice a week once mountain once road. We did a 60 mile romp Saturday, felt great. This winter will be the test not much daylight and I'll be working outside the house more. If we get good snow the X country skiing should hold back the sag.

I generally workout on my exercise bike for a half hour (and look forward to using my real bike when I force myself to use it) and then do some weightlifting afterwards every other day or so.

I've been feeling a bit weird/under the weather so I don't have the desire to work out right now.

We joined the YMCA recently. I've been doing their Personal Fitness program, which is 12 weeks long (assuming that you go 3 times a week, which as far as I can tell few people manage). I've been doing it for 6 weeks now. It starts with just cardio (treadmill and elliptical), and then adds weights as you go along. I previously had a membership at LA Fitness. I find having a schedule and someone there to help out makes it easier for me to keep up with it.

12oz Curls....

Curls, situps, pushups, flys 3 times a week, some soccer.

Inline skating. I race. It's now off-season for outdoor and I had a bit of a difficulty with the indoor rink last year, so it's butt-sitting for me for now.

Never could exercise just to exercise. Too much wasted time and effort. Any yet my waist is only 1 inch more than it was in college wrestling.

Stairs - take them two at a time. If I don't feel something in my chest or legs when I got to the top, then I wasted time and energy.

Shopping mall - don't waste time wandering the lot for a parking space. Park far out and jog in. Get into the store faster as well as healthier.

Groceries - want the biggest bags they have. Prefer them above 50 pounds each. Leave the shopping cart at the entrance and carry them to the car. If bags are too light, then hold them away from my body. All groceries must be carried into the house in one load - without stopping. Should feel something in my arms when I get in the kitchen.

Errands of less than a mile - never use the car. Always must use a bicycle. Besides a one mile trip is so destructive to the car. Even bike whenever possible to errands of many miles. That includes riding out for a beer on those delightfully hot summer nights.

Been doing for generations what Subway's Jerrod has been doing. For example, a carrot is about 100% of the necessary Vitamin A. Eat one carrot. That is nutritious. Eat a second carrot. Junk food. The second carrot provides nothing but lots of sugar. Note how it works.

Hunger is the body's demand for nutrition. Drink a diet soda. The body gets no nutritiion and becomes even more hungry. The solution to dieting is to each nutritious foods - and avoid diets. For example, a good hearty meal a the Old Country Buffer does most every item in the salad bar and in the counter of beans, corn, and mashed potatoes. Eat as much as I can. No visits to non-nutritional foods such as the ice cream, cakes, and brownies. Sometimes I may not get hungry again until late the next afternoon - because the body does not cry out for more nutrition. No junk food means less hunger.

This is also how I would remove 20% of my body weight as a wrestler. Just eat good food. Ben & Jerry's may taste like good food - but it is banned for being too tasty and not nutritional. (I am not perfect. Cherry Garcia has visited but rarely lasts more than two days.)

Soda - nearly none. Soda does not quench a thirst anyway. Again, thirsty because the body needs water AND the various salts assocated with that liquid. Soda, Gator Ade, Ice Tea, and diet drinks don't provide same. Skim milk solves the thirst by providing what the body demands. Diet soda only provides water and leaves the body dragging in the next hour. But again, it is all about providing what the body needs - and not what is tasty.

Late night snack? Sometimes throw some frozen peas in the microwave - or the vegatables from a package of 'Make a Meal'.

Was I eating right? Play the game Freecell every day. All games are winnable. Lose two days in a row means food eaten on days previous was not nutritious. Intellegence level today is determined, in part, by yesterday's diet. That same bad diet brings on obesity and fatigue.

Fatigue - body has a shortage of energy providers and too much sugars.

I do volunteer work on construction. Those who are 20 and 30 years younger often ask where I get so much energy. I don't waste time exercising. But then I rarely take the elevator. Even take escalator steps two at a time and don't understand why others are just standing there - trying to get fat.

After I broke my foot, it took time to get back into the rythme. It has to slowly become habitual. Always climb stairs at a pace that leaves a thumping in the chest. Your pace may vary. But as the month progress, they just don't make stairs long enough.

It may work for you, but my body needs, requires a level of tastiness or my quality of life is compromised. Food is a source nutrition and of great pleasure. The deal is that tasty need not be bad, and not overendulged. I also think the second carrot may give you some other benefits beyond the vitamin content- fiber, roughage, and a pleasant teeth cleasing crunch.

Speaking of which, I hope you're gonna post photos when its time to drop the gloves. :)

Everbody has to eat and exercise in a way that works for them, otherwise they won't stick with it. tws engineer mentality makes his methods work for him but it a little too Vulcan for most of us. My waist is now at 31" up from wrestling when it was 29" so he's got me by an inch. :) I can't do the gym thing but really enjoy the comradery of a bike tour or the friendly competitiveness of mtn biking with buddies. Food has to be enjoyable so I exercise a little more so I can have dessert. I don't drink soda or coffee because the pleasure doesn't balance with the cost.

Actually, vitamin A is fat-soluble and stored - so you can eat that second carrot, and you won't have to eat any carrots tomorrow. Or eat seven on Monday and get them all out of the way.

I eat whatever I want and hope I gain a little weight.

So there!

I exercise daily by virtue of three dogs who LOVE their mile walk after dinner. They pull me right along with them, pausing frequently for me to catch my breath and them to sniff whatever it was that attracted them in the first place. And pee on it. Each in turn. (three males)

Brian

Exercise is good, but like some people have been saying, it's your diet too. And no, you don't have to live on celery stalks to lose weight.

The first, biggest, and best thing you can do is cut down on the portion sizes. I've travelled quite extensively, and the one thing I can say about the States over anywhere else, our meals are about 1.5 to 2x larger than anywhere else in the world.

Eat the food you love, the food you like... just get into the habit of eating LESS. If you don't consume those calories, you don't need to burn them.

At first it's tough, but after a while you get used to it. And it's HARD to do. If you go to a restraunt, force yourself to only eat 1/2 to 2/3 of the meal, and take the rest home in a take-out bag.

Once you get used to it, the exercise you do willl help you much sooner, much more effectively, and since you're putting less junk in your boddy (fats, etc) you'll feel better for it.

It's a start!

I've been vegan for getting close to a year now, and I find that eating my diet (no animal products whatsoever) keeps me pretty trim.

Also, for people who don't like lifting weights, there are other ways to exercise. Yoga will tone the body more than a lot of people realize. Martial arts of any sort will get you in shape fast (Capoera is a style that will get you in killer shape) Also, flexing will do it for you too. You can do it anywhere, just do something like pushing your hands against each other, or flexing your stomach muscles. Just pay attention to what you're doing, and feel the resistance.

I walk as much as possible, and only really use my car to get to and from work.

Swimming is an excellent exercise, and I enjoy it thoroughly. Join a fitness club or a YMCA with a heated pool and swim all year.

... Yeah. That's my advice.

I have a bike...unfortunately, it's sitting at my 'rents' house in St. Louis with 2 flat tires. Ah, one of these days...

I get 30 minutes of walking in every day, thanks to a slight alteration in my evening commute home...although that walk is now going to be a bit darker and colder when I go back to work Tuesday. Once I get a permanent job, especially if it's one where I drive to and from work, I might have to incorporate the walk into my lunch hour or after work.