Diet/Exercise/Health/Wellness Support Thread

Parent Cafe
5101

<p>Yeah! I’m always surprised by the ridiculous calorie numbers it throws at me!</p>

<p>I have my weight plugged into my heart rate monitor, so – in theory, it should give an accurate calorie burn. To be honest, I don’t even glance at the calorie burn any more. I don’t believe the nuimbers reported by any of this stuff. I think it’s all bogus. </p>

<p>I take that back, I think the Schwinn Airdyne is probably fairly accurate and very sobering compared to the numbers typically thrown around. It’s reporting a very specific thing: actual calories of work to push those pedals against that known resistance at x speed. The real calores would make you cry compared to the pie in the sky numbers most exercise equipment and heart rate montitors throw at you.</p>

<p>Part of the explanation is this: There are two ways to look at calories. Estimates are that we burn 5 calories for every liter of oxygen we breath. So, when we are huffin’ and puffin’ on the treadmill, we are “burning” a lot of calories. Unfortunately, we would be burning most of those same calories sitting on the couch eating bon-bons. The real number of interest is “net calories” – the actual number of calories burned minus the large percentage we are burning just as base metabolism. That’s the number that the Airdyne is basically reporting and why it’s so sobering and why I don’t pay any attention to calories. </p>

<p>Any calories we burn exercising are just a tiny percentage of the calories we are burning to just stay alive. For example, my basal metabolic rate estimate says that I would burn 1700 calories a day if I just lay in bed for 24 hours – never even taking a single step. This why the fat loss pros are so big on doing exercise that raises metabolism for 24 hours after the workout, so that there is a calorie burn not just during the workout, but for an entire day afterwards. </p>

<p>I don’t want to throw numbers at you, because honestly, I just don’t remember. I literally don’t even look at it. The workout I have stored in my heart rate monitor is Friday’s 42 minute Spartacus workout, including 5 minute warm up and 5 minute cool down on the Airdyne. I averaged a heart rate of 82% for the 42 minutes with a peak of 96%, both of which are very high. At least for my level of fitness, this was a very intense workout. The heart rate monitor says that I burned 636 calories. I think that’s optimistic, probably by a factor of two when it comes to a number that would be meaningful in terms of fat loss. And, I say that believing that the Spartacus Workout is an example of far and away the most efficient type fat burning workout. If you want to burn fat, there’s nothing better than doing that workout.</p>

<p>Here’s some real calorie numbers for treadmill running from Runner’s World magazine:</p>

<p>[How</a> Many Calories Are You Really Burning? | From Runner’s World](<a href=“http://www.runnersworld.com/article/0,7120,s6-242-304-311-8402-0,00.html]How”>http://www.runnersworld.com/article/0,7120,s6-242-304-311-8402-0,00.html)</p>

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<p>In other words, you would really be burning about 400 calories running four miles at a 9:30 pace. The reality is that burning a couple hundred calories is a good workout, not the pie-in-the-sky numbers all this equipment throws at us. If were were really burning those kinds of calories, it would be a piece of cake to exercise your way to easy fat loss without cutting food consumption. Unfortunately, it doesn’t work that way.</p>

5102

<p>Thanks- the article makes sense. Using the chart in the article if I enter .63% of my weight could I consider that a more accurate (but not perfect) number of calories burned or is my thought process off here?</p>

<p>By the way I agree with you the Schwinn Airdyne is a heck of a piece of workout equipment. We used to have one at my old gym. Nobody used it because it made you work too hard.
How old is yours I never see them at most gyms anymore?</p>

5103

<p>I have a neighbor with what appears to be one of these in his yard. I’ve never seen it used though. It might be one of those many pieces of workout equipment tossed in the dustbin or it may be that he uses it outside. The fan looks huge and it’s all painted black so it looks like the rain wouldn’t bother it.</p>

5104

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<p>Yeah, that’s how I read the article and that number looks to jive with the real calorie estimates that the fitness experts use.</p>

<p>I do it the opposite way. Instead of trying to count each workout, I just try to pick the right level of overall activity to plug into one of these formulas:</p>

<p>[Calorie</a> Calculator - Daily Caloric Needs](<a href=“http://www.freedieting.com/tools/calorie_calculator.htm]Calorie”>Calorie Calculator - Daily Caloric Needs)</p>

<p>These calculate the basal metabolic rate and then multiply by an “activity factor” ranging from couch potato to professional athlete doing two-a-days. I’ve done them based on body fat % and just height weight and age and gotten similar results. I don’t think any of this stuff is really that precise, although my predicted weight loss based on the calories I’ve eating has been pretty darn close to what I’ve actually lost over seven months, so I guess it’s at least in the ballpark.</p>

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<p>My AirDyne is a new one. I couldn’t find a used one on CraigsList when I was looking, although they are often available.</p>

<p>**BC: **I guess there’s no reason you couldn’t leave one out in the rain. It’s just a bicycle, so if you don’t mind it rusting over time, there’s no reason not to. The front fan is just a big bicycle wheel (minus the tire) with air vanes attached to the spokes. They enclose it to keep hands and pet tails from getting in the spokes, since it’s typically used indoors.</p>

5105

<p>Has anyone found a whole grain pasta they like? I’m an Italian-American with semolina running in my veins, so it’s going to be hard to please me. I’m willing to try, though, especially if it means I can have pasta more often.</p>

5106

<p>Chintzy - This is not perfect, but I think it is a lot better than most of whole grain pasta we have tried. Barilla Plus Pasta. It is higher in protein, fiber, Omega 3’s. I think this holds up a lot better the other pastas. Most whole wheat pastas get so mushy - I hate the texture. </p>

<p>I still limit myself to pasta, once a week at most - Sunday is usually my pasta night!</p>

5107

<p>Congrats on the latest 5 pounds, NMinn!!</p>

<p>I’m alive but barely. Today was brutal. We had a north wind in our face almost the entire way. 57 miles today. We all opted for the shorter route except H, and the wind really got to him, too. Overnight while I slept (or, didn’t sleep, in my sleeping bag on the air mattress on the ground) someone replaced my bike saddle with a brick. My legs hurt today, my arms hurt and my a$$$ hurt. Tons of riders dropped out throughout the day, but liking to finish what I start, I made it. I argued with myself the whole way- “This is not my sport and I’m miserable. I should stop.” v. “Finish the d*** thing.” I felt like the pedals were barely turning at the end.</p>

<p>Yesterday my (somewhat high maintenance) riding partner/coworker, Susan, had a flat at mile 9, which cost us a lot of time. Long story, but the day improved after that. I felt really good yesterday for the 75. It was a gorgeous day and the evening festivities at the Jack Daniels Distillery were awesome. It is a private pavillion way up on a hill overlooking the gorgeous Tennessee hills. I really enjoyed it. I think I would enjoy it just as much if I volunteered at this event instead of riding my bike all the way there. :)</p>

<p>Re: my company VP who bailed. He’s actually pretty tough. He started his career as a forester, and I’ve learned that those guys don’t wimp out too easily. I guess he spent some time at the chiropractor this past week trying to get OK, but 2 days in airplanes at the end of the week put the nail in the coffin. We really missed him. He’s a lot more fun on the bike than he is at work! </p>

<p>I am DO glad that’s over. Now I need to get on with the business of trying to fix my leg. Watching me get on and off the bike at the rest stops was pretty comical. I looked like my wheelchair bound mother or something. My left leg just won’t swing or support a lot of my weight. </p>

<p>I don’t even want to mention all the junk I ate (and drank) the last 2 days. New regimen starts tomorrow!</p>

5108

<p>MOWC:</p>

<p>I’m glad to hear you made it. I think it’s time to put you on the injured reserve list for the season and get that leg fixed up.</p>

<p>chintzy:</p>

<p>I can’t stand whole grain pasta (or “light” bread). I’d rather not eat it than eat a version that tastes horrible. It’s not like it’s way lower in calories to begin with. My wife insists on buying the most god awful mealy tasting bread and it saves like a whopping 10 calories a slice over Pepperidge Farm Jewish Rye bread, which is fantastic. I just limit it to either pizza or pasta once a week or once every ten days – a small portion with a salad in 1000 calorie dinner.</p>

<p>tom:</p>

<p>OK, I just came back from 5k walk. I meant to just have a relaxing stroll, but (damn you Spartacus) I don’t think that’s possible any more, so I cranked out my fastest pace ever on a route with a half-mile 5% grade and three quarter-mile 5% grade hills, about a third on dirt and gravel, averaging just over 17 minutes a mile or 3.5 miles per hour. The iPod sensor says I burned 326 calories which is probably optimistic, but at least plausibly in the ball park with the hills (which of course the iPod doesn’t know about, so the accuracy would be purely coincidental). The heart rate monitor says I burned 726 calories, which is ridiculous. Both devices supposedly factor my weight into the calculation. </p>

<p>The heart rate monitor is coming up with a high figure because I was pushing the pace hard enough up the hills to see a peak heart rate of 89%. Now, if Lance Armstrong had an 89% heart rate, I’m sure he’d be burning a ton of calories, but an old geezer like me? Not so much. Alas, I have found a less than precise correlation between heart rate and intensity. I wasn’t even really winded walking up the hills at 89% heart rate where I was totally gassed at 89% during some of the Spartacus exercises on Friday. The same exact workout can produce different heart rates on different days, as I have seen walking the same hills. It’s odd. Some days you can have a high heart rate and not be breathing very hard at all. Other days, you can be panting like a dog and not seeing very high heart rates.</p>

<p>I record my time (in minutes) and average heart rate for workouts, just to see the trends over time for my level of weekly exercise. I think that’s a reasonable measure, but it still doesn’t fully capture workout intensity. For example, this past week with three Spartacus workouts and two very intense Airdyne interval sessions was my lightest week in months by that measure (because the total minutes for each workout were shorter). In reality, it was the hardest week of workouts I’ve ever done. The numbers show that my walk today was a harder workout than the Airdyne intervals just because it was longer, but that isn’t really accurate. Nothing beats the old “bent over panting like a dog” scale for gauging workout intensity!</p>

5109

<p>idad- I think you are correct. Muscle fatigue and gasping for air let you know when you lifted and ran hard.</p>

5110

<p>Way to go, MOWC! Idad is right-- it’s the injured reserve for you now.</p>

5111

<p>I have a feeling that injured reserve means looking for alternate exercise for MOWC.</p>

<p>I definitely have something - I took a long nap this afternoon. Son took a long nap this afternoon and daughter woke up at 11:00 AM. Everyone but my wife has respiratory symptoms and seems to be more tired than usual. So I’m going to try to sneak in some weights and a short run and maybe do some aerobics.</p>

5112

<p>^^^Sure, exercising with a respiratory infection . . . That makes sense . . . Sure . . .;)</p>

5113

<p>I’ve had respiratory infections that took two months to clear. The symptoms fall off linearly. You get better very slowly. I can’t imagine not exercising over a period of two months much less two weeks. I don’t think that I’ve ever not played tennis over any two week period of time except for a few long vacations where tennis facilities or equipment weren’t available.</p>

5114

<p>Congrats on finishing MOWC! What an accomplishment. Geez…you’re like an Olympic athlete :slight_smile: </p>

<p>I had a great weekend…but I’m starting to panic a bit because of a major change in routine coming up. After 9 years of running my own show, and mostly working from a home office, I’ve accepted a corporate job…complete with a 45 minute (each way) commute. So I have to figure out where to fit in my exercise and also how to get some sunlight - because I get bummed when I don’t get enough! And how to keep eating right too. Anyway, I plan to lose 5 more lbs before I start in about a month…I want to enter lean and mean!</p>

5115

<p>BC- I think moderate exercise helps me get over a lot of stuff.</p>

5116

<p>I was thinking about MOWC’s predicament while I was walking today. I don’t know exactly what her hip allows her to do, but I think I would take advantage of the window to max out fitness in some other area – upper body weight lifting, wheelchair racing, whatever…</p>

5117

<p>I used be all treadmill and machine. Lately, I have started those classes - which only women do and it seems to work great. Although it is for women, it is hard. Wife unit does it better than me… I dropped my BP by about 20 points.</p>

<p>In addition, I also started going to classes for old people (I am 62). The goal is not to make you fit. You won’t lose a pound, the heart rate won’t go up, you don’t even sweat - 33% of time we stand and do things, 33% of time we sit in chairs and do things and for remaining third we lie down and do things. The goal is to make the muscles you need in old age strong. I love them very much.</p>

5118

<p>Simba:</p>

<p>What kind of stuff do you do in these classes?</p>

5119

<p>What an eye-opener for me today. I had not walked my hills for eight days, somewhat on purpose and somewhat because we had rain and I mixed in Airdyne intervals with three hard Spartacus workouts. I felt like I’d been walking a bit too much and needed to mix it up.</p>

<p>I was shocked by how strong I felt on the hills. I blasted up them at a very quick pace. There’s no question that two weeks of Spartacus is having an impact on my fitness. </p>

<p>I’ve got a week of iPod nazi phase II left to go, then transition to Phase III which is a lot like Spartacus, mixing in some challenging exercises with cardio (burpees, jumping jacks, etc.) in quick supersets with no rest. I think I’m finally ready for that. Hopefully, I’ll be able to get to that third set in Spartacus at some point. Having finally reached the stage where I can sort of do the real deal on these exercise circuits, I am totally sold on their effectiveness. I’m starting to fully understand the progression that iPod nazi has had be doing and where this is heading – especially all the core stuff (plank, etc.).</p>

5120

<p>I have a dr. and a PT appt this week, and I’m going to really push for some better direction on what I should and should not do. Now that I’ve run a half-marathon that I was supposed to walk and biked about 140 miles in 2 days… I may take myself back to hot yoga- if I think I can be disciplined enough to skip or modify stuff I should not be doing. It’s a great workout and really gets the HR up. I may try some pool running, too, even though it’s boring.</p>