ToothlessFerret
New member
Stats
44 year old male. 146 pounds. Body fat - using electric resistance scales only, 21%. UK jean size 30.
Diet
I don't know my calorific intake. However, for diet I aim for healthy balance. I eat lots of lean protein (poultry white meat, hard boiled eggs, plenty of fish, shellfish, nuts/seeds, beans/pulses, oats, low fat dairy) but also (on a daily basis), I usually achieve my 5 portions fruit/veg, plenty of greens, seasonal, variety - mainly raw or steamed; good fats: mixed nuts daily, plus plenty of oily fish through week, some good oils for dressing, seeds; lots of fibre and wholemeals. I know that I obsess about food, but about its nutritional values only. Health and fitness is my aim.
2 typical days:
Breakfast large portion of porridge oats (oatmeal) cooked with semi-skimmed milk and added raisins, seeds, whey protein. Glass of orange juice.
Mid morning snack: reduced fat cottage cheese sandwich with two slices of wholmeal bread. A banana.
Lunch: Chicken breast fillet, 4 raw mushrooms, a raw carrot, an apple, an oat bar.
Mid afternoon snack: Can of herring fish in tomato sauce, two slices of wholemeal bread. A raw tomato.
Evening meal: Large steamed fillet of cod fish, steamed vegetables (sweet potato, broccoli, onion). Hummus on the veggies and a little reduced salt soy sauce or EVOL.
Supper: A handful of walnuts and almonds, a portion of blueberries, and a large portion of low fat yoghurt.
Example Day 2:
Breakfast: porridge oats cooked with semi-skimmed milk, a chopped banana, a little honey. Glass of orange juice.
Mid-morning snack: two hard boiled eggs, an apple, an oat bar.
Lunch: Canned tuna sandwiches (4 slices of wholemeal bread), raw baby spinach. Some grapes.
Mid-afternoon snack: whey protein shake, peanut butter with two slices of crispy rye bread. a tomato.
Evening meal: Two fillets of chicken white meat. Steamed vegetables (kale, swede/rutabaga), mixed organic beans, walnut oil dressing.
Late snack: mixed nuts (walnuts, cashews, pine nuts), small portion of raisins, covered with low fat yoghurt.
My main cheat is alcohol. I have greatly reduced my average consumption, but I have a bottle of wine some weeks, and about once per month or so, go out to the pub and have a wee bit too much ;-) I also sometimes have a large chinese meal with my family.
Exercise
I was visiting the gym 4 times per week for a few months, but since Christmas, I have had to adapt my programme to this:
Weight training twice per week.
Running with my dog twice per week.
Dog-walking five times per week.
Weight training details: I know that I need to improve here. Sessions last 60 to 90 minutes. I start with 5 minutes or so gentle cardio to warm up. Then I hit either chest, arms, or legs. When I say hit them, I mean for example, on a chest day, I start with bench presses - either dumbbells or smithy. I try to increase my weights, and go for failure. 3 or 4 sets of 5 to 9 reps typically 7. I try a variety of chest exercises, but then finish off with other weight exercises such as assisted pull ups, lat pulls, etc. On a leg day, I start with leg press, then squats on the smithy, maybe leg curls, and deadlifts. On a arm day - start with arm curls (including inverted) on an EZ bar, hammer curls with dumbbells, narrow handle lat pulls etc. Concentrating on arm exercises but not exclusively. Being a busy public gym, I cannot always use what euipment that I want to use on any particular day - so I have to work around others and available equipment. I also try for variety, always trying something new. Exercises that I seem to do a lot of include bench presses, assisted pull ups, lat pulls, arm curls.
Running details: I start at home with warm up exercises - unweighted squats, lunges, high steps etc. Then harness myself to the husky brute and run cross country and cross town 3 to 5 miles. The first mile is the hardest because the husky goes for it! It has its dangers - squirrels and cats for example, but I don't want to give that up - its a man-dog partnership thing. I finish with static stretches and a hot bath!
Dog-Walking: being pulled by a husky that wants to run, for 1 to 5 miles on every day that I don't run.
Clear reason and question for the post
I think that I eat alot. I eat for nutrition not for hunger - I rarely feel hunger. But despite eating like this for nearly five months (post weightloss), I have not increased any weight. I am lifting bigger weights, and I feel more muscle - but I still have too much body fat, and the scales tell me that I haven't put on a pound! I still have too much bodyfat on my belly and moobs. I am tempted to cut again, and go with weight loss - but as it is I am only 146 pounds and spot on my 'ideal BMI' for what its worth.
Should I be patient and carry on as I am, or should I cut for body fat? Can you tell me how I should improve my strength training workouts? I don't want to give up the dog-running - it makes me and the beast feel great.
Current and overall goal
Until 11 months ago, at the age of 43, I had never exercised, never participated in sports, ate junk, drank too much. I was 48 pounds overweight. By August, I had lost that excess weight, started running, and belonged to a gym. I achieved that goal. Since then, my goals have been to maintain my weightloss, increase fitness, live longer, and to look better. In the looking better department, I would like more muscle and also to dump this impossible to get rid of body fat on my torso.
How long you have been doing what you are doing in diet and routine
Eating healthy 11 months (but stopped cutting 5 months ago when I hit ideal BMI).
Running/walking/cycling 9 months.
Strength training 5 months initially 4 times per week, now 2 times per week.
Any medical problems or injuries we should be aware of
Back pains. Upper-middle back. Lifting doesnt agitate it - standing for long periods does. Tried deep tissue massage, acupuncture, pain killers. Under medical investigation still. It is slowly getting easier, and less of a problem. I had to give up Tai Chi - as standing still with my arms stretched out in front agitates it much more than any lifting. Stretching eases it.
Otherwise good blood pressure, cholestrol levels, sexual appetite, etc - better than ever - like a 21 year old
Please try to be gentle with me - I am a self-confessed fitness n00b!
44 year old male. 146 pounds. Body fat - using electric resistance scales only, 21%. UK jean size 30.
Diet
I don't know my calorific intake. However, for diet I aim for healthy balance. I eat lots of lean protein (poultry white meat, hard boiled eggs, plenty of fish, shellfish, nuts/seeds, beans/pulses, oats, low fat dairy) but also (on a daily basis), I usually achieve my 5 portions fruit/veg, plenty of greens, seasonal, variety - mainly raw or steamed; good fats: mixed nuts daily, plus plenty of oily fish through week, some good oils for dressing, seeds; lots of fibre and wholemeals. I know that I obsess about food, but about its nutritional values only. Health and fitness is my aim.
2 typical days:
Breakfast large portion of porridge oats (oatmeal) cooked with semi-skimmed milk and added raisins, seeds, whey protein. Glass of orange juice.
Mid morning snack: reduced fat cottage cheese sandwich with two slices of wholmeal bread. A banana.
Lunch: Chicken breast fillet, 4 raw mushrooms, a raw carrot, an apple, an oat bar.
Mid afternoon snack: Can of herring fish in tomato sauce, two slices of wholemeal bread. A raw tomato.
Evening meal: Large steamed fillet of cod fish, steamed vegetables (sweet potato, broccoli, onion). Hummus on the veggies and a little reduced salt soy sauce or EVOL.
Supper: A handful of walnuts and almonds, a portion of blueberries, and a large portion of low fat yoghurt.
Example Day 2:
Breakfast: porridge oats cooked with semi-skimmed milk, a chopped banana, a little honey. Glass of orange juice.
Mid-morning snack: two hard boiled eggs, an apple, an oat bar.
Lunch: Canned tuna sandwiches (4 slices of wholemeal bread), raw baby spinach. Some grapes.
Mid-afternoon snack: whey protein shake, peanut butter with two slices of crispy rye bread. a tomato.
Evening meal: Two fillets of chicken white meat. Steamed vegetables (kale, swede/rutabaga), mixed organic beans, walnut oil dressing.
Late snack: mixed nuts (walnuts, cashews, pine nuts), small portion of raisins, covered with low fat yoghurt.
My main cheat is alcohol. I have greatly reduced my average consumption, but I have a bottle of wine some weeks, and about once per month or so, go out to the pub and have a wee bit too much ;-) I also sometimes have a large chinese meal with my family.
Exercise
I was visiting the gym 4 times per week for a few months, but since Christmas, I have had to adapt my programme to this:
Weight training twice per week.
Running with my dog twice per week.
Dog-walking five times per week.
Weight training details: I know that I need to improve here. Sessions last 60 to 90 minutes. I start with 5 minutes or so gentle cardio to warm up. Then I hit either chest, arms, or legs. When I say hit them, I mean for example, on a chest day, I start with bench presses - either dumbbells or smithy. I try to increase my weights, and go for failure. 3 or 4 sets of 5 to 9 reps typically 7. I try a variety of chest exercises, but then finish off with other weight exercises such as assisted pull ups, lat pulls, etc. On a leg day, I start with leg press, then squats on the smithy, maybe leg curls, and deadlifts. On a arm day - start with arm curls (including inverted) on an EZ bar, hammer curls with dumbbells, narrow handle lat pulls etc. Concentrating on arm exercises but not exclusively. Being a busy public gym, I cannot always use what euipment that I want to use on any particular day - so I have to work around others and available equipment. I also try for variety, always trying something new. Exercises that I seem to do a lot of include bench presses, assisted pull ups, lat pulls, arm curls.
Running details: I start at home with warm up exercises - unweighted squats, lunges, high steps etc. Then harness myself to the husky brute and run cross country and cross town 3 to 5 miles. The first mile is the hardest because the husky goes for it! It has its dangers - squirrels and cats for example, but I don't want to give that up - its a man-dog partnership thing. I finish with static stretches and a hot bath!
Dog-Walking: being pulled by a husky that wants to run, for 1 to 5 miles on every day that I don't run.
Clear reason and question for the post
I think that I eat alot. I eat for nutrition not for hunger - I rarely feel hunger. But despite eating like this for nearly five months (post weightloss), I have not increased any weight. I am lifting bigger weights, and I feel more muscle - but I still have too much body fat, and the scales tell me that I haven't put on a pound! I still have too much bodyfat on my belly and moobs. I am tempted to cut again, and go with weight loss - but as it is I am only 146 pounds and spot on my 'ideal BMI' for what its worth.
Should I be patient and carry on as I am, or should I cut for body fat? Can you tell me how I should improve my strength training workouts? I don't want to give up the dog-running - it makes me and the beast feel great.
Current and overall goal
Until 11 months ago, at the age of 43, I had never exercised, never participated in sports, ate junk, drank too much. I was 48 pounds overweight. By August, I had lost that excess weight, started running, and belonged to a gym. I achieved that goal. Since then, my goals have been to maintain my weightloss, increase fitness, live longer, and to look better. In the looking better department, I would like more muscle and also to dump this impossible to get rid of body fat on my torso.
How long you have been doing what you are doing in diet and routine
Eating healthy 11 months (but stopped cutting 5 months ago when I hit ideal BMI).
Running/walking/cycling 9 months.
Strength training 5 months initially 4 times per week, now 2 times per week.
Any medical problems or injuries we should be aware of
Back pains. Upper-middle back. Lifting doesnt agitate it - standing for long periods does. Tried deep tissue massage, acupuncture, pain killers. Under medical investigation still. It is slowly getting easier, and less of a problem. I had to give up Tai Chi - as standing still with my arms stretched out in front agitates it much more than any lifting. Stretching eases it.
Otherwise good blood pressure, cholestrol levels, sexual appetite, etc - better than ever - like a 21 year old
Please try to be gentle with me - I am a self-confessed fitness n00b!
