The INGO Hardcore Weight Loss/Fitness Thread

[Andyccw]

Accountability post.

I have been off the rails for the last 6 months or so… I’m still down ~25lbs from January 1st, but in April, I was about 60lbs down with diet and consumption quantity changes.

Today is a new day.

Making reasonable eating decisions during the holidays will be hard at times, but my goal is to get back on track and into the groove again starting now.

Adding a movement goal of walking the dog 2+ miles, 3x a week, as well as kettlebell workouts increasing in frequency during the next few weeks will help motivate me hopefully!

 

[chipbennett]

But given that this is a thread on weight loss, not on body building, it seems like there is a solid basis for light weight and high reps to be in the workouts.

Further, heavy, short duration workouts can't even be done by many people, especially considering that many in this group have mentioned open heart coronary bypass surgery, joint damage due to injury or disease, degenerative cartilage issues, old age, etc. Those have all been expressed in this thread.

People came to this thread to LOSE WEIGHT and get themselves healthy. The necessity for heavy weight lifting is not universally desired nor required for achieving the goals of the topic.

A fair point. Though I'll add/respond, with respect to weight loss: "exercise" generally doesn't lead to weight (fat) loss. It generally just increases hunger/appetite. There is a point of activity level between "active" and "sedentary" that definitely matters, especially at a hormonal level. But "burning" calories through exercise causing "burning" calories of stored fat, unfortunately, in the aggregate, just doesn't work.

 

[melensdad]

A fair point. Though I'll add/respond, with respect to weight loss: "exercise" generally doesn't lead to weight (fat) loss. It generally just increases hunger/appetite. There is a point of activity level between "active" and "sedentary" that definitely matters, especially at a hormonal level. But "burning" calories through exercise causing "burning" calories of stored fat, unfortunately, in the aggregate, just doesn't work.

The ONLY long term solution is a lifestyle change that includes a balance of activity and consumption.

Choose your activity but the level has to be sufficient to offset the consumption. And consumption levels also have altered.

• You can live on a diet of a can of Spam every day but it doesn't mean it will be healthy and doesn't mean your arteries won't clog up.
• Want to sit on the couch all day and not move, going to need to lighten up substantially on the caloric intake so salads without salad dressing will be needed to lose weight.
• You can lose weight eating a rotisserie chicken from the grocery story every day but again, it might not be the healthiest choice (but probably better than a Spam diet).

So again, I think it all boils down to a sustainable lifestyle choice. What is someone willing to give up, what activity are they willing to do, to get into the weight range they desire AND stay there?

 

[melensdad]

Switching gears on my weight loss.

I'm hovering about 177/178# right now. Ideal Weight Calculator puts me in, or near a healthy weight. Inside the upper range for the BMI index. Puts me on the edge of the of the Hamwi weight scale. But still higher than Robinson, Miller and Devine scales.

My shoulders and my chest are skinny. Still have a bit of a belly.

Resetting my bottom end target weight to 170, up 5/10# from my prior goal of 160/165. Resetting my calorie intake up to 1850 calories per day. The Bello2 App I use is saying I will gain weight at 1850 calories per day. I need to gain some muscle. Still need to lose visceral fat around my organs. Carb intake goal 45%, Protein intake goal 30% and Fat intake goal 25%.

Refocusing my exercises on building chest and upper arms. More upper body resistance bands workouts, heavier dumbbells, more rowing machine workouts. Less time on the exercise bike since it primarily works legs. Probably going to stick with the treadmill because I enjoy it and am training for a 5K run.

 

[Frosty]

Good Lord I don’t think I can physically weigh 177 pounds!

 

[Frosty]

I disagree with there being any meaningful benefit to a normal (i.e. not recovering from injury) person lifting light. Only high-intensity (heavy, short-duration) ensures full recruitment of all muscle fiber types, ensures fatigue of all muscle-fiber types, and produces the necessary hormonal response (e.g. HGH) for strength gain and hypertrophy.

When I said going light weight/high reps I was talking about dropping 10-20 pounds off my normal weight, then increasing the reps by 4-8, plus mixing in a lot of body weight movements to help with muscle fatigue.

 

[melensdad]

Last night I was switching around the resistance bands on my wall anchors, and doing a workout with them. . . I found out what happens when you are mid-workout and the one strap you didn't properly attach to the anchor lets go.

Let's just say a lot of pain was involved. A little blood. Swelling. Honestly I went into shock. Profuse sweating, nausea, dizziness. All I heard was a loud pop and then it felt like I had been shot.

FORTUNATELY I was using a high anchor and pulling downward, the resistance band did NOT break or fail. It was totally my fault, I simply didn't have it fully secured. It popped out and the end hit me in the back of my left hand.

Today I'm just wearing a bandage. The small 1/4" long wound is deep, probably to the bone. Slightly weeping sore. Could have been so much worse! Let me just say I do not recommend doing this to yourself.



FWIW, still hovering around 177#

 

[bwframe]

 

[Frosty]

Last night I was switching around the resistance bands on my wall anchors, and doing a workout with them. . . I found out what happens when you are mid-workout and the one strap you didn't properly attach to the anchor lets go.

Let's just say a lot of pain was involved. A little blood. Swelling. Honestly I went into shock. Profuse sweating, nausea, dizziness. All I heard was a loud pop and then it felt like I had been shot.

FORTUNATELY I was using a high anchor and pulling downward, the resistance band did NOT break or fail. It was totally my fault, I simply didn't have it fully secured. It popped out and the end hit me in the back of my left hand.

Today I'm just wearing a bandage. The small 1/4" long wound is deep, probably to the bone. Slightly weeping sore. Could have been so much worse! Let me just say I do not recommend doing this to yourself.



FWIW, still hovering around 177#

Oh man that smarts! Glad it didn’t hit you in the head… or somewhere else

 

[Hoosierdood]

I’ve been teetering between 215 and 218 lbs for a couple weeks and was starting to get frustrated. Until this morning when I got dressed and had to tighten my belt another notch. So I guess I’m losing inches instead of pounds. And I was able to fit into some size 34 jeans that I haven’t worn in years. Overall pretty happy with that.

 

[melensdad]

Recently I picked up a "Total Flex L" resistance band workout bench. It has 9 integrated resistance bands built into the bench.
PROS:

• small, easily foldable, fits under a desk or other out of the way space, great for apartments, small homes
• supposedly 50 different workouts, I've not found all of those yet
• 3 bands for each arm, which can be combined for greater resistance
• 3 combinable bands for leg workouts
• very easy to adjust from position to position
  can be used as a dumb bell and exercise bench
• resistance bands are replaceable, heavier bands are available

CONS:

• cheap feel to components
• hand grips are small and cheap
• ankle straps barely fit around my skinny ankles (maybe designed for women's ankles?)

I picked this up LIGHTLY USED from FB Marketplace, paid $225. Manufacturer sells it now for $429 for the base model and $579 for the deluxe model with head rest, leg developer & 3 additional bands. The unit I have is the deluxe model. When I checked, Amazon also sold this, but at higher prices.

Not worth the $579, but easily worth the $225 I paid, clearly designed for people who like resistance band workouts. Do I like it? YES. I am getting a good workout and like most things about it.

Is it for serious weight lifters? Oh hell no!

It gives me a bench, which I have been lacking, for dumb bell work outs. I love that it tucks away into a small space. Fully folded it is about 9" thick but about 28" by 28" and has a carry handle. And it folds fast and easy.

I will be adding new hand grips and new ankle straps. Larger handgrips for comfort. Larger ankle straps so I can actually use the leg resistance. Spamazon has hundreds of choices of hand grips and ankle straps.

 

[flatlander]

I’ve been teetering between 215 and 218 lbs for a couple weeks and was starting to get frustrated. Until this morning when I got dressed and had to tighten my belt another notch. So I guess I’m losing inches instead of pounds. And I was able to fit into some size 34 jeans that I haven’t worn in years. Overall pretty happy with that.

It's not always the pounds. It's where they are

 

[melensdad]

It's not always the pounds. It's where they are

I got a ‘de motivational’ message from one of my fitness apps this morning. It said I’m at a healthy weight and I no longer need to lose weight.

I sort of agree.

But I’ve still got a bit of a belly and little love handles. And skinny shoulders, chest and biceps.

I would have rather gotten a message from the fitness app that is like you posted than one saying I can stop losing.

Something along the lines of … ‘you are now in a heathy weight range for the past 10 days, check you body shape and see if there are underdeveloped areas and/or areas needing more work.’

What you wrote is far more accurate, and probably, more healthy.

 

[Ark]

The cold snap forced me to reup the gym membership for the winter and go back to the Green Road of Misery-uh I mean the indoor running track. But, swimming is back in the routine again, so that's nice.

Can't keep mass in my damn arms while I'm doing cardio daily. Been thinking about doing a 5x5 or something for the winter and trading it for half the run time. I just hate lifting though. What's running but, like, for arms?

My SMU belt has been taken in to the very limits of its adjustment. Gonna have to drop $100 on the next size down. Starting to swim inside my plate carrier too

 

[yeahbaby]

Recently I picked up a "Total Flex L" resistance band workout bench. It has 9 integrated resistance bands built into the bench.
PROS:

• small, easily foldable, fits under a desk or other out of the way space, great for apartments, small homes
• supposedly 50 different workouts, I've not found all of those yet
• 3 bands for each arm, which can be combined for greater resistance
• 3 combinable bands for leg workouts
• very easy to adjust from position to position
  can be used as a dumb bell and exercise bench
• resistance bands are replaceable, heavier bands are available

CONS:

• cheap feel to components
• hand grips are small and cheap
• ankle straps barely fit around my skinny ankles (maybe designed for women's ankles?)

I picked this up LIGHTLY USED from FB Marketplace, paid $225. Manufacturer sells it now for $429 for the base model and $579 for the deluxe model with head rest, leg developer & 3 additional bands. The unit I have is the deluxe model. When I checked, Amazon also sold this, but at higher prices.

Not worth the $579, but easily worth the $225 I paid, clearly designed for people who like resistance band workouts. Do I like it? YES. I am getting a good workout and like most things about it.

Is it for serious weight lifters? Oh hell no!

It gives me a bench, which I have been lacking, for dumb bell work outs. I love that it tucks away into a small space. Fully folded it is about 9" thick but about 28" by 28" and has a carry handle. And it folds fast and easy.

I will be adding new hand grips and new ankle straps. Larger handgrips for comfort. Larger ankle straps so I can actually use the leg resistance. Spamazon has hundreds of choices of hand grips and ankle straps.

View attachment 237124 View attachment 237125 View attachment 237126 View attachment 237127 View attachment 237128

I've been using resistance bands for a couple of years. Although recently the local Planet Fitness had a deal for veterans to sign up for free for the rest of the year. At the end of the year it goes up to $10 a month. I haven't been to a gym in years. So I decided to give it a shot. So far I love it. The facility is huge. They actually took over the old Lowe's building in Portage. I'm retired so I have the ability to go anytime I want. Been going around 2 in the afternoon, Mon/Wed/Fri. Usually do a little over an hour workout. I'm very impressed how clean they keep the facility too. I'll reassess at the end of the year. Although I'm pretty sure I'll stay with it. I mean for $10 a month, you can't beat it. Good luck to you and stick with it!

 

[bwframe]

 

[Frosty]

I’m digging this workout routine I’ve got going, my reps are going up on my body weight stuff, I’m adding weight to my weight lifting, this is working out pretty good.

 

[melensdad]

Finally broke through my 177-178 plateau.

175.7# this morning. My new record low.

Muscle mass seems to be stabilizing and trending FLAT for the past 7-10 days.

Fat mass seems to still be dropping on the trend line.

So maybe my new, slightly higher calorie, slightly higher protein diet is, combined with more weight training (resistance bands) is actually starting to take effect?

 

[Dr.Midnight]

Four days of weights along with six days of cardio this past week paid off. Dropped a couple more pounds.

Do you guys ever get dressed for a few weeks, then one day out of nowhere, you easily tighten your belt another notch? That happened again to me this week. I've already taken a small fortune worth of clothes to Goodwill, and I'm working on my next box right now. Some really nice belts will be next becasue I'm on my last notch.

One other thing that happened in the past week is all of the sudden people started saying I was looking good. I went weeks without anyone saying anything, but last week, a couple of customers made that comment. It's nice to hear that. It helps me stay motivated.

 

[melensdad]

One other thing that happened in the past week is all of the sudden people started saying I was looking good. I went weeks without anyone saying anything, but last week, a couple of customers made that comment. It's nice to hear that. It helps me stay motivated.

Congrats. Big win!!!

. . .

I’m in PAIN

SO MUCH PAIN

I overdid the workouts yesterday. My downfall was the 9pm band machine followed by wall anchor bands. Both of those followed treadmill and dumb bell workouts. So for some reason I decided to, not only have a late session, but a long session. Felt good.

Well it felt good right up to the time I woke up and tried to move