Help me get healthy

So, I'm also debating joining an area gym, but I can't quite close the deal.

Here's what I can't stop thinking: I live in an apt. complex with some nice toy workout equipment (8 or so weight machines, a elliptical, 3 treadmills, a bike and a stairmaster thing). There are also parks and other stuff close by where I could jog and stuff. So why should I pay $40 a month to do what it seems like I could do anyway, if I could just get my ass up and do it on a regular basis (I'm at about once a week at this point)?

I know just getting up and doing it is the most important part, but let's assume I do get motivated -- what will I get in a gym that I don't have now?

I'm not huge, but about 30 pounds overweight without much muscle, 25-yr old guy. I don't want to get really ripped and I don't want to be one of those people that talks about eating healthy 24-7 -- I want to lose the gut and put on a little muscle, eat smart without going nuts about it. I've been eating better the last few months -- few if any snacks, paying some attention to portion size -- and I'm down probably 12 pounds from what I was (I was 210 at 6-foot flat).

I guess I'm trying to play devils advocate here, so tell me: is this worth my while to get what I want?

ALSO, what the hell do you guys eat while working? I cook as much as I can and take it for lunch, but man, it's hard to do very often, and as I get going with basketball season here I'm having a very hard time not hitting up fast food on a regular basis. When I'm at games or on the road from 5 p.m. to 11 p.m. I just can't stop. How do you guys get around it? Is there much of an option outside boring lunch meat sandwiches.

 

Join the club. A trainer will design a program for you. The money you spent will motivate you. So will being around other people who are excercizing.

Re: food. Get an insulated lunchbox for road games. Go Mediterranean. Hummus, whole wheat pita and olives. No, it's not low-calorie fare, but it's healthy and filling and will kill the tempatation to hit the drive-through. Take some mints to avoid killing interview subjects with hummus breath, though.

 

Oh, boy! I can't wait to call someone Hummus Breath!

 

Down in Mississippi, the clinical term for gay people is hummussexual.

 

Sports writing is like the death trap for physiques. I was never really overweight but I still lost a bunch of weight when I went into teaching.

Leave a can of peanuts or something in the car so you're not tempted to eat fast food. They're higher in fat than you might expect, but they are "good fats" that won't kill a diet. Switch to diet soda if you drink a lot of it. Eat 6 smaller meals instead of three big ones. And fight the urge to snack or eat constantly at work, by eating some dairy beforehand. Proteins take longer to digest so you won't get hungry as fast.

And lastly, firgure out what you enjoy doing and design your workout program around that. if you're social, you might want to think about a spinning class or something. If you like basketball, fins a pick-up game somewhere. If you decide to skip the gym, buy some dumbbells and pair them with regular workouts either in your apartment's cardio room or outdoors. And invest in a good portable music player. Good music does wonders for workouts.

 

you mention "boring lunchmeat" sandwiches. yeah, it's boring but if you're hungry there's nothing terrible about packing a boring lunchmeat sandwich for your dinner on the road. you can also learn to make more interesting sandwiches by looking online for recipes and ingredients you hadn't thought of. not every sandwich has to be as dull as three slices of lunchmeat in between two pieces of bread. for starters you can buy a rotisserie chicken and put some chicken on a sandwich. you can also cook or grill your own chicken breasts (or any other meat) on your day off and cut that up for sandwiches.

i'm reasonably healthy in my eating and exercise habits and yeah, i eat a ton of boring sandwiches. but i also eat pretty much whatever junk i want because i eat the bad stuff in moderation. also, i only eat what to me is the good junk (in other words i won't waste the 'bad food' i know i deserve every couple of days on a krispy kreme at the office; instead i'll eat a good cookie from a nice bakery later in the day or order desert at dinner at a nice place or whatever).

 

Pilot,

I was in the exact same spot when I was 25, about 6-foot (OK, 5-11) and had crept up to about 215 through my steady diet of Combos, 32-ounce Surge and Pasta Ronis at 1 a.m. after I got home from laying out pages. I had been skinny in high school. It took me weighing myself and seeing i was over 2 bills to realize I'd become the fat guy.

Joining the gym might motivate you because of the investment. I started in a gym, walking/running on the treadmill and playing basketball. Eventually, however, I moved outside. The treadmill and weights are great if the weather is bad, but running outside at a park or in the neighborhood is infinitely better. But you can also measure your progress better at the gym, so maybe it's not a bad idea.

Also, don't expect miracles. It took me about a year to go from 215 to 190, another year to go from 190-170. Then I got completely apeshit, took those supplements that killed that Orioles pitcher before they were outlawed, dropped to 145 and scared the shit out of my family when I went home for Christmas.

Don't do that. The headrushes were trippy, but sitting up at 3 a.m. with your heart racing isn't my idea of a good time.

There is no miracle cure. (Though I find the late night informercial where you can apparently crap away 15 pounds intriguing).

Diet wise. Don't eat so late. Don't eat so much. Don't limit yourself either. You can have a beer. You can eat a burger. You just can't go home and two-fist a case of Bud every night.

I would try to avoid fast food, or at least get chicken instead of red meat. Or go veggie. Skip the fries or shake. Drink non-carbonated "light" beverages like lemonade or tea.

But mostly, get off your ass. Even if you struggle with the diet and have trouble losing weight, if you get out there and start exercising, you will feel better. It's the truth. And if you feel better, you'll WANT to continue to feel better, so modifying the diet will get easier.

Buenos suerte.

 

My decidedly unboring favorite sandwich: whole wheat bread, honey mustard (no mayo, it's horrible for you), turkey slices, mozzarella or muenster cheese, spinach leaves, red onion and dried cranberries.

Oh, and throw some blueberries in your cereal. Instantly ups the healthy factor.

 

Guy,

Serious. If you got down to 170, what's the deal with shrinking to 145?

 

It was one of those deals where I started running and I was doing OK, then a friend of mine who was lifting said if I took it (Xenadrine, BTW) that I could run forever. I just started taking it. I certainly felt the energy spike and I just started running. I got pretty good at it, so I ran a little faster and a little farther. I wasn't trying to lose weight at that point as much as I was simply trying to improve my endurance.

It got weird after awhile, to be honest. And realize, I was living in South Florida at the time, where you can get pretty body conscious among the beautiful rich people, so that didn't help.

I have since, five years later, put almost all of the original weight since I took the supplements back on. I'm in the 170 range and pretty comfortable now. As long as I don't have to buy new (i.e. bigger) clothes, I'm fine. And I do take vitamins now (a B-12 thing and one of those Just for Men or whatever you call them types).

Pilot. One more thing. I had a guy a couple years ago give me some good advice. You set a goal for yourself, tell people you know about it so they can hold you accountable. It helps.

 

Cadet -- double-check the nutrition label on that honey mustard. I had some honey mustard at a friend's house, trying to be healthy, only to find out it had a lot of calories and like 12 grams of fat!

 

I'm at the opposite end of the spectrum: 6' flat, but just 165 lbs and trying to gain the 20+ lbs that I lost after shoulder surgery #2. The key about diets is to eat smart. The killer with all those "nutritional" bars is the sugar and carb content. So many of those are loaded with sugar. Same with peanut butter: the creamier, the more sugar-laden it is. Same with oatmeal, especially the flavored crap. Basically, your enemy is sugar.

Have more apples and bananas, decent amount of pasta the night before you plan on a lot of cardio stuff, increase how much lean meat you eat, and add in trail mixes. The one I swear by is Elizabeth's Natural Super Energy Mix. It just has almonds, walnuts, cashews and raisins. Join this gym (if there's a Gold's Gym, that's best) and tell your needs, goals and situation to a personal trainer and you'll be on your way.