The Weight Gain Challenge

[Arachnid]

Not much of a gym guy at all, sweaty stinky wannabe jocks or past their primers pumping weights looking in the mirror trying to keep father time away just creeps me out but hey, that's just me. I still believe! Hallelujah!

I'm lucky to have my own Can Fit Pro guru everyday and she preaches core, core core...so I do what I am told from an expert. Not a lot of people have the knowledge to work out by themselves and usually do more damage than good. We do not know how to isolate certain muscles or muscle groups. With core training weights or a gym are not necessary (unless you are indoors for some cardio). I use and exercise ball and a TRX http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suspension_Training .
Core gives you an inner strength that allows you to train your other 'outer' muscles properly. Reminds me a little of the kata from Taekwondo or Karate but think more Sidney Crosby's golden goal at the olympics. He had more energy , power and strength than anyone around him. He's an extreme core guy.

Although I still haven't used them Kettlebells are becoming increasingly popular over tradition weights. My PT wants me to try them but my 80's self can't get past the arm curls of my free weights... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kettlebell

Has anyone eaten their Chia Pet ™ lately? Well maybe you should
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/the ... le1860005/
Another food to ad to the arsenal of health..even the Pescetarianism GF is eating the sheep!

[Farhan Lalji]

Edit: I will not give up beer Maybe that is my salvation..'I must not be drinking enough' -DH

No offense Arachnid, but that's just stupid....and you're smarter than that.

I'm sorry, but there's just no point in being insanely conscious about choosing 'Goat anus Soy milk' or whatever, in lieu of regular milk, and then drinking beer with bare chested men on a Friday night. In a 'restricted' diet of any sort, beer is the WORST thing that you can consume....with pop being a very close second.

I think the little kiddies would refer to your strategy as EPIC FAIL in this instance.

[dr.dork]

In a 'restricted' diet of any sort, beer is the WORST thing that you can consume....with pop being a very close second.

Beer isn't that bad (as pretty much anything) in moderation. Google "beer as a recovery drink". There are certainly worse things, and beer isn't that bad of a recovery drink. That means ONE, not six or twelve though. There is that moderation thing and the very restricted diet thing isn't necessarily better than the moderation one. The only reason to push a very restricted diet is that most people can't control themselves when they fall of whatever wagon they happen to be on.

Alcohol in moderation isn't bad and in fact it is sort of good. The problem is very very few people actually practice moderation.

There was also a recent study that showed that nutbars who exercise way too much also drink (alcohol) way too much. The study had no clue why (and it seems very counter-intuitive), but there was a clear correlation with heavy exercise and fairly heavy drinking. There was some speculation that the type of people that got the rush from the exercise high also got the same (or a similar) rush from the alcohol, but it was just speculation.

Anyway, there are no studies that show alcohol in moderation is bad, and in fact the opposite is true.

[Arachnid]

In a 'restricted' diet of any sort, beer is the WORST thing that you can consume....with pop being a very close second.

Beer isn't that bad (as pretty much anything) in moderation. Google "beer as a recovery drink". There are certainly worse things, and beer isn't that bad of a recovery drink. That means ONE, not six or twelve though. There is that moderation thing and the very restricted diet thing isn't necessarily better than the moderation one. The only reason to push a very restricted diet is that most people can't control themselves when they fall of whatever wagon they happen to be on.

Alcohol in moderation isn't bad and in fact it is sort of good. The problem is very very few people actually practice moderation.

There was also a recent study that showed that nutbars who exercise way too much also drink (alcohol) way too much. The study had no clue why (and it seems very counter-intuitive), but there was a clear correlation with heavy exercise and fairly heavy drinking. There was some speculation that the type of people that got the rush from the exercise high also got the same (or a similar) rush from the alcohol, but it was just speculation.

Anyway, there are no studies that show alcohol in moderation is bad, and in fact the opposite is true.

Thanks Doc, I agree about the study and athletics. I have a good friend that was so afraid of becoming an alcoholic like his father he turned to sports. Only problem was he became freaking obsessed. We would debate endlessly about fitness, nutrition, exercise and your metabolism (he believed we are all the same body types). Totally into 'The Zone'
It paid off for him, he won the Canadian National Cycling Championships but his addiction to having like .oooo1 body fat he just seemed to replace the high of alcohol with the high of the burn of a long distance cyclist. I told him my a to b to c to a cycling is just as good as his high intensity training and he agreed, telling me that Tour de France winners don't live long lives with their hearts beating like hummingbirds...

Heh, beer, it's not just for the fugly to get laid with anymore Learned a long time ago to replace quantity with quality (and a little higher alcohol) Had the most amazing brew this Christmas... http://www.flickr.com/photos/brostad/3286406199/

Mmmmmmmm Lavaaaaaa

[DavidPratt_]

HEY,

SPEAKING FROM PERSONAL EXPERIENCE, I'VE PUT ON SOME WEIGHT AFTER SPENDING TOO MUCH TIME AT THE DAIRY QUEEN ON PACIFIC BLVD. THE CHICKEN STRIP BASKET IS REALLY GOOD IF ANYONE WANTS TO ADD A FEW POUNDS. ADD A BLIZZARD TO THE CHICKEN STRIP BASKET AND WE'RE TALKING A LOT OF CALORIES. ADD SOME CROWN ROYAL TO THE BLIZZARD AND YOU HAVE YOURSELF A TASTY MEAL

DP

[LotusBlossom]

HEY,

SPEAKING FROM PERSONAL EXPERIENCE, I'VE PUT ON SOME WEIGHT AFTER SPENDING TOO MUCH TIME AT THE DAIRY QUEEN ON PACIFIC BLVD. THE CHICKEN STRIP BASKET IS REALLY GOOD IF ANYONE WANTS TO ADD A FEW POUNDS. ADD A BLIZZARD TO THE CHICKEN STRIP BASKET AND WE'RE TALKING A LOT OF CALORIES. ADD SOME CROWN ROYAL TO THE BLIZZARD AND YOU HAVE YOURSELF A TASTY MEAL

DP

[Arachnid]

*kabumpbump* guess where I stole this from?

Where the fuck is J-reeps? Is it not time for his man bobbies to feed his kids?

[Topper]

Buy organics, starve the world.

[Arachnid]

Buy organics, starve the world.

Buy a smartphone, keep Topper employed in Africa

[Farhan Lalji]

OKay, so my girlfriend is on a 30 day cleanse with her clients.

Just one question:

I don't know much about these "cleanses", but are they actually effective long term? To me - it just seems like a huge risk. If people don't end up making the necessary long term lifestyle changes after a cleanse, then they'll just put most of the weight back on.....and it will come back in the form of fat.....leading to a higher overall body fat percentage than with what one started with.

With these cleanses, you lose a lot of weight but half the weight is muscle mass is it not? (unless your carb intake is extremely low and you put your body in ketosis?). I don't know much about this subject but it sounds a bit silly to me.

Diets and detox's are lame in my opinion. Just keep it simple.

-Vary your exercises as much as possible
-Always do something that pushes your body (i.e. weights, sprints, jogs, body exercises)
-Eat as many fruits, vegetables, and grains as you want. If really hungry, don't be afraid to eat a banana or chug down a can of lentil soup.
-Drink 2 litres of water every day

I'm a vegetarian and so I eat tons of vegetables and drink a lot of soup. Humus and raw vegetables are a tremendous combo.

[LotusBlossom]

OKay, so my girlfriend is on a 30 day cleanse with her clients.

Just one question:

I don't know much about these "cleanses", but are they actually effective long term? To me - it just seems like a huge risk. If people don't end up making the necessary long term lifestyle changes after a cleanse, then they'll just put most of the weight back on.....and it will come back in the form of fat.....leading to a higher overall body fat percentage than with what one started with.

With these cleanses, you lose a lot of weight but half the weight is muscle mass is it not? (unless your carb intake is extremely low and you put your body in ketosis?). I don't know much about this subject but it sounds a bit silly to me.

Diets and detox's are lame in my opinion. Just keep it simple.

-Vary your exercises as much as possible
-Always do something that pushes your body (i.e. weights, sprints, jogs, body exercises)
-Eat as many fruits, vegetables, and grains as you want. If really hungry, don't be afraid to eat a banana or chug down a can of lentil soup.
-Drink 2 litres of water every day

I'm a vegetarian and so I eat tons of vegetables and drink a lot of soup. Humus and raw vegetables are a tremendous combo.

According to a few fitness people, most of these 'cleanses' are used to kick-start the metabolism complementing a workout regimen and to later be balanced with a healthy diet/nutrition plan.

Unfortunately, some take them to the extreme and others don't care to stick to a plan long enough to see any results.

Seeing a friend of mine over the last 18 months go from a size 28 to a size 14 just by changing a lot of her diet and being active. It's a gradual and healthy weight-loss. She never did any cleanses or any of these crazy diets. She just cut down (and some out) of the unhealthier things in life. She still has the night out at the pub with friends, eats a 'badly' a couple of days a week and still has a bit of a sweet tooth from time to time. She said that walking to work instead of driving to work when she can has helped as well as daily exercise and eating better food.

I also had another friend end up in the hospital from a cleanse, but she had hemoglobin issues prior to that. I'm in agreement with you Farhan, for the most part, a cleanse or diet/detox isn't always necessarily what's good for you. May work for some and not for others.

[Arachnid]

OKay, so my girlfriend is on a 30 day cleanse with her clients.

Just one question:

I don't know much about these "cleanses", but are they actually effective long term? To me - it just seems like a huge risk. If people don't end up making the necessary long term lifestyle changes after a cleanse, then they'll just put most of the weight back on.....and it will come back in the form of fat.....leading to a higher overall body fat percentage than with what one started with.

With these cleanses, you lose a lot of weight but half the weight is muscle mass is it not? (unless your carb intake is extremely low and you put your body in ketosis?). I don't know much about this subject but it sounds a bit silly to me.

Diets and detox's are lame in my opinion. Just keep it simple.

-Vary your exercises as much as possible
-Always do something that pushes your body (i.e. weights, sprints, jogs, body exercises)
-Eat as many fruits, vegetables, and grains as you want. If really hungry, don't be afraid to eat a banana or chug down a can of lentil soup.
-Drink 2 litres of water every day

I'm a vegetarian and so I eat tons of vegetables and drink a lot of soup. Humus and raw vegetables are a tremendous combo.

Dear Mr. Laljihad

Thank you for your inquiry. Although I am not an expert on this subject I do live with one so I will clarify my answers at a later date but this I can tell you now.

Our bodies are toxic waste dumps. We ingest all manners of crap. Plastics, chemicals, abnormal cellular tissues, genetically modified organisms.
We have to stop this. The cleanse is just that. A Starting point. Doesn't make much sense to eat sensibly if you don't have a starting point or if your body is still full of toxins now does it?

The cleanse is also not to be undertaken by itself. An exercise regime is to be undertaken as well as a nutritional balance education. The grocery shopping list at the beginning is to introduce foods that may be off everyones radar but are actually quite delicious and better for you than the 'norm'.

I have a friend who excelled at cycling and at an extremely high level and he became a Personal Trainer to hockey prospects. Everyone would always ask him why he reached such an extreme level of fitness and what could they do?
He would reply 'go down to the gym walk in and then go home'. That was all. Do that for a month and the habit is there. You will feel bad if you don't go. And while you are there you might as well work out.

And so, a good habit is far better than a bad habit (and you have several but we will talk about your 80's weightlifter mentality when it comes to exercise at another time).
There are foods that can be toxic and non-toxic to everyone differently. The cleanse is also to determine these to ones own needs. Gluten is evil yet our bodies react and crave it (some extremely).
Some foods must be organic, others don't have to be. Do you know which ones?

Also, the clients, lost some weight but it was the exercise that did that mostly in conjunction with the change in eating habits. All are doing very well several months later...it's really if not impossible to actually lose weight by going on a 'diet' hint: TRX & kettlebell

BTW, your nutritional habits are atrocious. Some fruits have very high sugar content. Do you know which ones? Also, as a vegetarian you must know lentils do not contain the complex proteins or iron your body needs or craves...Do you know which foods do? I will post at another time the ingredients of a natural shake that you should be ingesting everyday instead of your so-called 'soup solution' (and no, it does not contain whey powder ).

Protein, Fats and carbs balance is essential. Think of it as Body, Mind & Soul...

So to conclude, there is no such thing as a 'detox', cleanse or 'diet' there is only a lifestyle and you have to start that journey somewhere...


Take care...

[Farhan Lalji]

LOL, thanks for the solid response Arachnid.

I'll be the first to admit that my training and eating habits aren't even close to being perfect, but I'm not really intending it to be. The only thing in my life that I'll fight tooth and nail for and crunch down on specifics on (with the exception of winning flame wars on the internet ), is investing........but no need to get into that.

For me - I don't care too much if I'm eating a banana when hungry instead of eating an apple.....or if I get lazy and drink blended vegetable juice instead of eating a plate of raw carrots, tomatoes, and brockley.

I'm at 9% body fat and that's good enough for me. My blood pressure is 120/70 (except during hockey playoffs when it goes to 190/150 ). I don't have well defined six pack like I did 4-5 years ago, but it's still there if one looks closely enough.

I do eat relatively healthy and exercise quite a bit, and should be pretty good for the long term if I keep up my habits.

Having said that - definitely feel free to post some tips. I might make a few tweaks here and there.

[Farhan Lalji]

I also had another friend end up in the hospital from a cleanse, but she had hemoglobin issues prior to that. I'm in agreement with you Farhan, for the most part, a cleanse or diet/detox isn't always necessarily what's good for you. May work for some and not for others.

Yeah.

I think the idea of 'cleansing' sounds pretty good in theory but I've seen a few family members of mine doing it....and it backfiring.

For example - 10 days before a 'wedding' or some kind of event, a few people will go on some idiotic "juice fast" where they only drink blended fruit and vegetable juice (and water), and drop about 15-20 lbs. After the 'event', they just go back to their old habits and put all the weight back on.

Do pro athletes do cleanses to lose weight / excess body fat? What about UFC/MMA fighters trying to make weight?

Meh. Whatever. Don't think that shit is for me. Can't even imagine going 10 days without food of any kind. I'd go insane and suck my neighbor's dog's dick.

[Farhan Lalji]

I wonder what kind of exercises THINKER does in order to get in shape?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CPI5mn29xy0