Diet/Exercise/Health/Wellness Support Thread

interesteddad · June 12, 2011, 10:40pm

Thanks BC. That’s a good read.

Bromfield · June 12, 2011, 10:59pm

I’ve been traveling and managed to exercise 4 times in the last 10 days–I feel like a slug! I didn’t overeat; in fact, I did quite well. I’m really ready to start exercising again. Only problem is that in a few days, I’m traveling again for 5 days.

Question for those here: can someone suggest a set of exercises (20-30 minutes) that I can do in a place that doesn’t have a gym,i.e., a hotel room. I’m realizing that one of the problems of working with a trainer is that my mind goes blank when I try to come up with some exercise routine on my own for times when I can’t go to the gym. My one thought is that I can do squats and lunges, but then I draw a blank. I won’t have access to weights or anything like that. Any suggestions?

interesteddad · June 12, 2011, 11:41pm

If I were travelling a lot, I’d probably throw a pair of ValSlides and some minibands in my suitcase. Lots of fun stuff to do with those:

[YouTube</a> - ‪The 3 Best Exercises For Your Butt‬‏](<a href=“The 3 Best Exercises For Your Butt - YouTube”>The 3 Best Exercises For Your Butt - YouTube)

There are a ton of Valslide exercises that you can do on any carpeted floor:

Painful pushaways
[YouTube</a> - ‪Jennifer Garner introduces ellen a new workout - Painful Pushaways‬‏](<a href=“Jennifer Garner introduces ellen a new workout - Painful Pushaways - YouTube”>Jennifer Garner introduces ellen a new workout - Painful Pushaways - YouTube)

Alligator drags

[YouTube</a> - ‪Lexington, MA Personal Trainer: Val Slide Alligator Walks.wmv‬‏](<a href=“Lexington, MA Personal Trainer: Val Slide Alligator Walks.wmv - YouTube”>Lexington, MA Personal Trainer: Val Slide Alligator Walks.wmv - YouTube)

<hr>

With no equipment, you could do:

Pushups (inclined on chair if necessary)
All of the core exercises (plank, side plank, etc)
Hip lifts
Split squats
Lunges
Single leg deadlifts (picking up your suitcase)

Toe-Touch Squat to stand
[YouTube</a> - ‪How to Quickly Improve Your Squat. Hip mobility. Nick Tumminello‬‏](<a href=“How to Quickly Improve Your Squat. Hip mobility. Nick Tumminello - YouTube”>How to Quickly Improve Your Squat. Hip mobility. Nick Tumminello - YouTube)

Reverse inchworms
[YouTube</a> - ‪Dryland Exercises for Swimmers - Inch Worm‬‏](<a href=“Dryland Exercises for Swimmers - Inch Worm - YouTube”>Dryland Exercises for Swimmers - Inch Worm - YouTube)
[YouTube</a> - ‪InchwormReverse.avi‬‏](<a href=“InchwormReverse.avi - YouTube”>InchwormReverse.avi - YouTube)
I do the reverse version. Stand, bend down, touch toes, stretch legs. Then, extend my feet back into pushup position, and walk them back until my arms are stretched out forward. This is a brutal ab exercise. You can even rock back and forth a bit to stretch the ankles. Then, walk the hands back to the feet and stand up. Turn around and do it again. The whole thing takes less than 6 feet of floor space. If I could only do two exercises, it would be this one and the toe-touch squat to stand. The two of them work everything.

Burpees

Mountain climbers
[YouTube</a> - ‪How to Do Callisthenic Mountain Climber Exercises‬‏](<a href=“How to Do Callisthenic Mountain Climber Exercises - YouTube”>How to Do Callisthenic Mountain Climber Exercises - YouTube)

You might have a chair in the room that would let you do step ups.

Wall Slides
[YouTube</a> - ‪Monday Minute: Scapular Wall Slide‬‏](<a href=“- YouTube”>- YouTube)

Ankle Mobility Drill
[YouTube</a> - ‪Monday Minute: Wall Ankle Mobilization‬‏](<a href=“Monday Minute: Wall Ankle Mobilization - YouTube”>Monday Minute: Wall Ankle Mobilization - YouTube)

BCEagle91 · June 13, 2011, 7:47am

Grab a few extra towels from the pool or front desk too to put on the floor - I hate working out on hotel floors. I will usually look for a local YMCA and use our reciprocal privileges with our club if I can find a Y.

sabaray · June 13, 2011, 11:40am

That is a great article posted by BC. I printed it off for H to read.

Weather is finally better here today. Temps should be in the high seventies for most of the week. It felt like August with temps close to 100 for an extended period of time. Should make exercising much easier, for H in particular. I think the hard part is just getting going. iDad, I’m particularly grateful for all the exercise research you do and all the links you post. They are extremely helpful. I know I need to do strength training. I just don’t want to.

I always had a difficult time with drinking a great deal of water. I finally broke down and started purchasing bottled water in 1 liter containers. I am drinking about 2 liters per day now. Our municipal water is not the most palatable and I have found this helps. I told H - we had no problem spending money on sodas -why shouldn’t we spend it on water that tastes good?

BCEagle91 · June 13, 2011, 12:07pm

We installed an undersink filtration system to decrease our bottled water costs and for convenience. I have a bunch of glass juice bottles and fill them while I am cooking or washing the dishes and put them in the fridge so that we have cold water available in glass bottles.

sabaray · June 13, 2011, 12:22pm

I’d definitely like an undersink filtration system but we’re going to make do with bottled water for now. H doesn’t seem to object to the regular tap quite as much as I do and he’s always been a big water drinker. We have a Brita water pitcher and used that quite a bit but I never keep up with the filter. I can live with the cost of bottled water if that’s my only vice for now!

BunsenBurner · June 13, 2011, 12:37pm

sabaray, with the undersink filtration system you will still have to change filters. Newer Britas have an indicator that tells you when a filter change is due.

CJaneRead · June 13, 2011, 12:37pm

Today’s workout

Warm up: 2 rounds of
500 m row
20 rocking lunges
20 air squats
20 push ups

Then, as many reps as possible for 1 minute for each exercise:

Push Press 15 lb. dumb bells
Row as fast as possible
High Box step ups
Wall ball shots doing squats
as many sit ups as possible keeping form

1 minute on for 5 sets, then 1 minute rest
3 rounds of all exercises = 305 reps total (the push presses sucked the most btw)

sabaray · June 13, 2011, 12:42pm

Yep, mine has that. It’s just not something I think of doing and new filters never seem to make it onto the “to buy” list, unfortunately. If the worst thing I’m doing is buying bottled water I figure that’s a big improvement over buying Sara Lee and Coke.

BCEagle91 · June 13, 2011, 12:44pm

One advantage of bottled is the strength-training workout you get in getting it from the car to the kitchen.

BunsenBurner · June 13, 2011, 12:48pm

LOL, BC! It is too bad that water has such a low density. I will need about 8 liters (roughly 2 gal) per each of these to make them useful for me:

[Amazon.com:</a> Aquabells Travel Water Filled Exercise Dumbells - 1 pair: Clothing](<a href=“http://www.amazon.com/Aquabells-Travel-Filled-Exercise-Dumbells/dp/B000AQK20M]Amazon.com:”>http://www.amazon.com/Aquabells-Travel-Filled-Exercise-Dumbells/dp/B000AQK20M)

(BC will need even more :)).

sabaray · June 13, 2011, 12:54pm

This is very true for me! Our house is a split level and not only am I carrying it inside I am also carrying it up the stairs! I’m definitely going to present this argument to H this evening. Now that I’ve got him reading labels, our next exercise is going to be teaching him why it costs more to eat well.

VeryHappy · June 13, 2011, 1:00pm

Finally made it to the gym this morning. I feel human again.

Of course, then I lifted about 8,000 pounds of groceries from the shelves to the cart to the checkout counter to the cart to the car to the house, up the stairs. Whoosh.

Spent a bundle because both my boys (and one GF) are home. It makes me happy to have boys home and a full fridge.

interesteddad · June 13, 2011, 1:50pm

CJaneRead:

Wow. You are in the “animal” category with Hops_Scout. That is one high-intensity workout.

Here’s what I’ve cobbled together for this week’s workout:

WARMUP
Bent-over thoracic rotation
Squat to stand
Forward/backward jump
Crossover walking toe touch
Lateral jump
Lateral cross-behind lunge
Seal jack
Reverse inchworm
One leg hop
Curtsy lunge
Straight-leg walk
Heel to butt stretch
Miniband monster walk
Big X walk

POWER (medicine ball) 
Standing side toss
Tall Kneeling chest pass

CORE (iPod nazi: Amazing Abs Week 2) 
Forearm to Straight Arm Plank
Modified Side Plank w/ Clam
Push Ups w/ Diagonal Knee Drives
Elevated Hip Thrusters
Knee Drive Holds (like mountain climbers)

STRENGTH SUPERSET #1
Valslide reverse lunge goblet DB
Chin Up

STRENGTH SUPERSET #2
DB deadlift
Alternating bench press

I’m dong two sets of 12 on the strength again this week, so less than max weigth. I won’t be be able to do 12 chinups with the band I’m currently using, so that one I’ll just do as many as possible. This will be my first go at the Valslide reverse lunges, so I hope I don’t break something. I will not be doing it with 120 lbs.

[YouTube</a> - ‪Goblet Valslide Reverse Lunges‬‏](<a href=“Goblet Valslide Reverse Lunges - YouTube”>Goblet Valslide Reverse Lunges - YouTube)

The core section is five exercises, no rest, then 30 seconds between sets. Four sets total. I expect this to be a good bit tougher than Week 1, but some fun stuff.

CJaneRead · June 13, 2011, 2:01pm

^ Thanks, idad - I don’t know about “animal”- I just hope that between the high intensity and really watching diet, I will finally see some movement on the scale.

I like the variety you have going on and the idea of the ipod Nazi, but I hate inchworms reverse or otherwise – my supernaturally tight hamstrings start to scream at the mere mention.

interesteddad · June 13, 2011, 2:08pm

While I was doing some chores (bleaching patio furniture), I listened to a podcast with a well-known sports nutritionist, Dr. John Bernardi. He described an interesting approach that I think addresses some of the issues surrounding why some people do well on low carb and others don’t.

He says that, in his experience, people with a skinny ([ectomorph](<a href=“http://www.formerfatguy.com/sunrider-foods/blog/body-type-chart-ectomorph.gif]ectomorph[/url]”>http://www.formerfatguy.com/sunrider-foods/blog/body-type-chart-ectomorph.gif)</a>) body type have very high metabolisms. tend to have trouble gaining weight, and fall apart on a low carb diet. These people tend to need a diet like the government recommendations (55% carbs, etc.)

On the other hand, those with a chubby ([endomorph](<a href=“http://www.formerfatguy.com/sunrider-foods/blog/body-type-chart-ectomorph.gif]endomorph[/url]”>http://www.formerfatguy.com/sunrider-foods/blog/body-type-chart-ectomorph.gif)</a>) body type, have low metabolism, tend to store fat, and just get more and more sedentary when fed a high carb diet. These people tend to thrive on just the opposite: 25% carbs, 50% fat.

The in-between ([mesomorph](<a href=“http://www.formerfatguy.com/sunrider-foods/blog/body-type-chart-ectomorph.gif]mesomorph[/url]”>http://www.formerfatguy.com/sunrider-foods/blog/body-type-chart-ectomorph.gif)</a>) body types fall somewhere in the middle and can tolerate more carbs than the endomorphs, but not as much as the skinny types without getting fat.

<hr>

I’m probably in the middle mesomorph group who wolfed down carbs like a skinny, high strung ectomorph for too many years – although it’s possilble that declining thyroid function pushed me into the endomorph chubby category.

BTW, he says that he usually starts people out with just a very simple plea to please eat just a little better: replace a little of the bad stuff with a little more good stuff. Sometimes that’s enough. Only after getting them to do that does he consider going into more depth (how much carbs, how much fat, total calories, etc.) in a nutrition plan. He’s learned that, if he can’t get them to do Step 1, then it is waste of time to take it any further.

interesteddad · June 13, 2011, 2:16pm

Tell me about it. When I started this journey, I coudn’t even **see **my feet, let alone bend over and touch them. I could maybe touch my knees. It’s been a long, slow process to get to the point where I can do the inchworms and stuff like that. I’m still never going to be mistaken for Gumby in the flexibility department. One of the reasons I like doing the inchworms is that it’s a great hamstring stretch and a good ankle mobility stretch.

I just started doing this dynamic warmup in from *New Rules of Lifting for Abs *and quickly realized that it was all good stuff that I really, really needed to be doing. The first time through exposed some serious weaknesses, so I’ve just kept plugging away at it.

hops_scout · June 13, 2011, 2:39pm

5 sets of 6 reps each Front Squat @75 pounds

Then TABATA:
4 sets of Front Squats (55 pounds, 10 reps each)
4 sets of KB Swings (40 pounds, 13 reps each)

As if that wasn’t enough…
10 KB Swings (30 pounds) followed immediately by 10 box jumps (20" box).

arabrab · June 13, 2011, 3:32pm

Just delish: For anyone looking for an incredibly yummy dish, this is it:
Beef Yum Nue
At least 8 hours ahead – or overnight:

Serves 4
1 flank steak
1 lg or 2 sm bunches cilantro w/stems
whole head of garlic, peeled (about 1 oz)
1 1/2 teaspoons salt, 1/2 t. pepper

Wash cilantro. Set aside about 12 stems for serving time (wrap in damp paper towel and put back in fridge.)
Coarsely chop cilantro including stems. Toss into food processor.
Toss in salt, pepper and peeled garlic. Cut off any dry nubbins at the end of the garlic first.
Add 1 1/2 tablespoons oil. Process the heck out of it, using a spatula to scrape down sides several times. You’ll end up with finely chopped cilantro & garlic.
Put the meat in a plastic bag, and smear on the cilantro paste, thoroughly coating the meat. Seal the bag. Either put the bag into another bag, or put it in a rimmed dish and cover that with cling wrap to keep your fridge from getting garlicky. Let it do its magic for at least 8 and up to 15 hours.

Take the meat out of the fridge, use paper towels to wipe off much of the paste. Toss on a medium hot, oiled grill. (I use gas, charcoal is great too.) When one side is nice and brown, turn. We like it rare, but cook to your own preferred doneness.

Juice 3 limes – or enough to get to 1/3 c. lime juice. Add 2-3 teaspoons sugar, 2 teaspoons Fish Sauce (I use Thai Kitchen) and the serrano chiles, finely minced. Stir it up. (Start with 2 teaspoons sugar, add more if you like.)

While the meat is resting for about 5 minutes after being pulled from the grill:

3-4 Serrano chiles
Lg. cucumber
1/2 - 1 cup chopped red onion
head of iceberg or romaine lettuce, torn

Peel 1 large or 2 medium cukes, and slice lengthwise into quarters, then slice into bite sized chunks. Tear up your lettuce and arrange on a plate. Put the cucumber and red onions on top. Take the reserved corriander sprigs and pluck off some leaves for each plate.

Slice the flank steak very thinly.

Put some flank steak on top of each salad. Spoon a couple tablespoons of the dressing over the top, and enjoy some fine eating. The meat is great either hot or at room temperature.

We ended up making this Saturday, and had enough left for Sunday dinner too – and H specifically asked for it, which he almost never does for leftovers. The garlicky meat would be fine on its own, too. Enjoy!

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