2021 General Fitness thread

[Buehler445]

How's everyone's 2021? These threads have been full of good stuff in years past.

What are we doing this year?

[htismaqe]

Originally Posted by lewdog

Best thing I ever did was move to somewhere with sun. I used to get that in Montana each winter. My energy and desire to do anything would plummet for months. It’s very real and I noticed a huge change moving to a place where I’m outside in sunshine EVERY DAY.

That's what we're trying to do. Unfortunately, shopping for a house 1200 miles away is very difficult right now. By the time we can even schedule a virtual tour, the house we want has sold.

[lawrenceRaider]

Added this beauty to my home gym setup.

[Hammock Parties]

[Shoes]

Tried the boner pill preworkout last week and fellas I'm addicted, great pump.

[Mennonite]

I'm trying to eat a little healthier lately. Instead of my usual starvation diet to drop the weight quickly, I'm just working on squeezing in some healthier stuff on my plate while still eating a lot of the things I enjoy.

The most interesting thing that I've found is that even though I'm not eating a ton of food, I'm not nearly as hungry as I thought I'd be. I cut out sweets, cokes, chips, and cut way back on the amount of bread that I eat. Dieting is a hell of a lot easier when you don't spend the daydreaming about what you're going to eat when the diet is over.

[loochy]

Originally Posted by Mennonite

I'm trying to eat a little healthier lately. Instead of my usual starvation diet to drop the weight quickly, I'm just working on squeezing in some healthier stuff on my plate while still eating a lot of the things I enjoy.

The most interesting thing that I've found is that even though I'm not eating a ton of food, I'm not nearly as hungry as I thought I'd be. I cut out sweets, cokes, chips, and cut way back on the amount of bread that I eat. Dieting is a hell of a lot easier when you don't spend the daydreaming about what you're going to eat when the diet is over.

Yeah, the changes you make need to be a sustainable lifestyle or else you'll just backslide right to where you were before. Crashing leaves you hungry, weak, and craving crap food so your likelyhood of sticking with it for any appreciable amount of time is nil.

[Mennonite]

Originally Posted by loochy

Yeah, the changes you make need to be a sustainable lifestyle or else you'll just backslide right to where you were before. Crashing leaves you hungry, weak, and craving crap food so your likelyhood of sticking with it for any appreciable amount of time is nil.

I think you are absolutely right.

Another thing that surprised me is how quickly I lost my cravings for certain types of food. I love sweets, but after two or three days I didn't really miss them. Bread took a little longer - some meals just seem to require bread. I'm still craving soft drinks though, but not too badly. I swear they are the most addictive thing on Earth.

[loochy]

Originally Posted by Mennonite

I think you are absolutely right.

Another thing that surprised me is how quickly I lost my cravings for certain types of food. I love sweets, but after two or three days I didn't really miss them. Bread took a little longer - some meals just seem to require bread. I'm still craving soft drinks though, but not too badly. I swear they are the most addictive thing on Earth.

Go ahead and have diet soft drinks. They actually make a good dessert. They satisfy sweet cravings AND soda cravings.....just don't have too many.


That is....unless you're one of those anti-artificial sweetener nutjobs. Artificial sweeteners are one of your most powerful tools in the fight against being a fatty.

[lewdog]

Loochy, I bet you’re ripped.

[lewdog]

Originally Posted by loochy

Go ahead and have diet soft drinks. They actually make a good desert. They satisfy sweet cravings AND soda cravings.....just don't have too many.


That is....unless you're one of those anti-artificial sweetener nutjobs. Artificial sweeteners are one of your most powerful tools in the fight against being a fatty.

This all day. I don’t do sweets but crave my 32oz Mio drink I make every afternoon. Helps with water intake and feeling like you’re getting something special.

[Mennonite]

One of the things that has really helped me is that I've found several substitutes for my soft drink habit. Finding a variety of low call drinks is essential. I'd be lying if I said any of them are as good as Dr. Pepper, but they are good enough to get the job done.

I keep my fridge stocked with Mt. Dew Zero, Crystal Light tea, Tampico zero sugar citrus punch, and Powerade Zero. Wal Mart carries a generic brand of protein shakes that I like; they aren't low cal but they are filling and have almost no sugar in them.

[ThaVirus]

It's funny how we all have our vices.

Personally, I don't give a damn about soda. I used to drink soda, Kool-Aid, juice, etc. growing up because that's what we had in the house. I remember the summer before 9th grade I started hitting puberty hardcore, at least I assume that was my issue. I had the most insane thirst that just could not be quenched. I switched over to drinking water out of necessity and never looked back.

But I'm a sucker for sweets. Cookies, cake, ice cream, brownies, etc. Love them all. I used to buy the family size pack of Chips Ahoy chocolate chip cookies and eat half the container in one sitting (dipped in milk, of course). I could easily eat a half gallon of ice cream after dinner if I didn't force myself to stop.

[loochy]

Originally Posted by lewdog

Loochy, I bet you’re ripped.

I'm trying to get there. I've been cutting since early February, so that's 13 weeks. I've been on a calorie controlled diet at approxmiately 2,200 calories (some days a bit more because I get snacky). Protein is high, but I'm not really counting macros, just "lots of protein" while keeping calories in check. I'm eating 4 meals a day from a prep meal service and the other meal is up to me, plus a couple of snacks. My extra meal is usually anabolic french toast or 8 egg whites and oatmeal. Snacks are diet soda, smart pop popcorn, and sugar free jello.





I've made good progress - I'm down from a high of 227 lbs on Feb 2nd to 192 lbs yesterday. This is taking longer (and more weight lost) than I expected to get to the BF% I'd like to be at. However, I've kept a majority of my strength and I still get good pumps in the gym.


The best part, though, is that I've done this all through diet. That's right - I've done ZERO cardio. I've kept lifting the same as I did before, which is a 5 day split lifting generally heavy-ish (6-8 rep range on compounds). I've been taking ECA twice a day for energy and appetite suppression. I'm saving the cardio and some other fat burners for when the fat gets REALLY stubborn (it's looking like my love handles and lower outside chest will be the last to go). So far it's going well and steady, but I may start some cardio soon.


Sorry about the potato camera pic. Dark lighting + small mirror = potato pic.

[loochy]

Originally Posted by Mennonite

One of the things that has really helped me is that I've found several substitutes for my soft drink habit. Finding a variety of low call drinks is essential. I'd be lying if I said any of them are as good as Dr. Pepper, but they are good enough to get the job done.

I keep my fridge stocked with Mt. Dew Zero, Crystal Light tea, Tampico zero sugar citrus punch, and Powerade Zero. Wal Mart carries a generic brand of protein shakes that I like; they aren't low cal but they are filling and have almost no sugar in them.

Sugar free jello brah! You can fill your stomach for very few calories and it tastes good too.



Also, I make these Greg Doucete protein ice cream shakes. They are really good tasting and they will fill you up like crazy due to the guar gum "poofing and whipping" properties....the stuff expands to fill up my entire blender but only has 300ish calories.

• 1 or 2 cups frozen strawberries (I prefer strawberries because they are tasty yet have low calorie density but you can use blueberries or whatever frozen fruit you want). Quantity of fruit depends on how large you want the shake.
  
• 1 or 2 cups of ice. Quantity of ice depends on how large you want the shake.
• 1 scoop of protein powder (I prefer Ryse chocolate peanut butter cup flavor - it actually tastes good and not protein-ish)
  
• 1/2 tsp of guar gum powder
• 1/2c of unsweetened vanilla almond milk
• 2 tbsp Walden Farms strawberry syrup

Pour in the liquid first, then the powder, then the ice and berries (it mixes better that way. Blend (you'll have to stop and scrape junk off the sides a couple of times) for 3 or 4 minutes or until all of the ice and berries are crushed and the whole thing takes on a milkshake kind of poofy texture. It should be blended well enough that you can take the cover off of the blender cup and turn it upside down over your head without anything falling out. Eat it with a spoon or extra large smoothie/boba tea kind of straw. This WILL fill you up and you may not be able to finish the whole thing. You definitely won't want to eat for a few hours after this.

[Mennonite]

Cool. My dad is an ice cream junkie and I'm sure he'd love that.


Another positive with this diet is it gives me an excuse to try new recipes that I might have otherwise overlooked.