Topic: The Health, Fitness and Exercise Thread

@ralphdibny @Thrillho
Thanks guys, running has to be one of the hardest exercises for me but I am keen to improve. I'll schedule in an extra run tomorrow morning. I know a lot of it is psychological where the body tells you it's time to rest now and to push through that and keep going. Does take a fair bit of willpower.

Your discussion on diet is interesting. When I decided I wanted to build some muscle through weightlifting a few years back, I read you have to be quite focused on taking in a lot of protein so I did. You just think; protein protein protein, all the time, lol. Was hitting the weights three times a week. Had some good success with it. No access to a gym now so have to be careful not to eat the same amount.

Just Fyi, if it helps anyone... Meats are the obvious place to go when aiming for protein intake but keep in mind that amino acids are the building blocks of proteins and those can be found in fairly high concentrations in certain vegetables. Beans, peas, broccoli, spinach to name a few. Just something to keep in mind.

I don't eat meat so I seemingly have an obvious bias but the reason I stopped in the first place was solely health reasons. The ethical reasons came later.

Also thanks for the input on windy day running/cycling. It died down anyway and I was able to get in like 3km. I need to start waking early and getting in my jogging because I can't handle the 30 degrees temps.

I eat meat but have started to have more plant-based days. Eating things like vegetable chilli is a great way to keep up the protein intake without eating meat. This is currently my go-to chilli recipe (the lentils are a great addition as it's a good source of iron):

https://minimalistbaker.com/1-pot-red-lentil-chili/

I tend to make a big batch of it and then freeze portions of it for days when I don't really have time or energy to cook

@Jenny_Jones
I had a home made vegetable chilli recently as well. We do the big batch thing a lot, definitely pays off on tougher weeks. The veg chilli was nice. I do prefer the meat version I must admit but it's good to keep things healthy & balanced and of course it keeps the planet healthy as well.

Had a few decentish walks this week. They've been broken up by driving to different places so yesterday we walked up 2 miles to where I park the car, drove to a nice beach (stony not sandy) and walked for another 3-4 miles, drove back and walked 2 miles from the car. The walking distance is so much more manageable when it's split up like that but I'm not sure if it has as much of an effect on weight loss as a solid 7-8 mile walk.

I know I've mentioned my "shoe losing adventures" before and I thought those days were behind me 😂. Aparently not! Yesterday we walked out into a drained inlet when the tide was out, trampling seaweed until...my foot sunk! My first instinct was to jump to what looked like solid land further out only for my feet to sink deeper! My partner shouted to come back and so I ran back.

Luckily I was wearing my walking boots and they do up around the ankles so I didn't actually lose a shoe this time 😅 but they were covered in an unbearable amount of sea mud. I decided to use a locally positioned tap to wash off the bulk of the slurry. At least I found out my shoes are waterproof! Shoes saved, I brought them home and gave them a good scrub with anti bac. The inner fabric around the tops of the boots will be forever stained with my foolishness but at least they will keep on walking for another day!

@LieutenantFatman I wonder if a running app would help, similar to couch to 5k but different because you are already at that level. I only say this because the way that app was broken up into brisk walks and jogs made the whole endeavour a lot less painful. Not sure if it was the variety or if it was the guided instructions or whatever but it never really felt painful in the sense that I never felt like I was forcing myself to do it.

There's so many schools of thoughts on food. I try not to think about it too much because I fear at this early stage that it will put me off exercising altogether. All the different exercise tapes have different diets attached to them. I believe there is veg that have high sources of protein, likewise with dairy. It's hard to know really because somebody who is selling their exercise regime will also be selling their diet. If possible it's best to go with the best available scientific evidence but even that's hard to come by because research is funded and then put out by private companies that are partially the source of the finance that was invested in the research.

I do want to cut out the red meat at some point though. Even that sweet sweet pork but it will probably come down to saving it for special occasions. I just fear that on the few times I eat pork in the future, that I may be disappointed with myself for eating it if it wasn't perfectly cooked with the fat melting off the meat and the crackling hard and crunchy with the softer bits getting stuck in your teeth for continuous flavour enjoyment. Hmm, I fancy some pork now 😂.

@zupertramp I'm a big fan of (most of) my veg, except cauliflower. It's the only veg that I still find edible but actually hate eating lol. Aubergines (I think you call them eggplants in the states) are an absolute no go for me though, I was convinced to have a moussaka once and got food poisoning the next day!

Nice one on getting out for some exercise though! Keep posting about your progress or just if you manage to keep it up or not!

@Jenny_Jones cheers for the recipe! I'm definitely not fussed about having meat in chillis. Same with Bolognese (we call it sugo because of my Italian family). But yeah, my Bolognese is pure onion, bit of garlic and a couple tins of tomato's or a carton of Passata and it is munch!

Have you tried Quorn at all? (Same question to @zupertramp but I'm not sure if it's branded differently in the states). If I absolutely need a meat substitute in a saucey recipe like chili or Bolognese which is not often, I find that Quorn mince does the job nicely. I think it's like a mycoprotein but it doesn't taste anything like mushrooms. Which is good because I hate mushrooms!

@ralphdibny I think I tried Quorn burgers when I was younger but wasn't a fan of the texture. I was really picky when I was a kid though so maybe I should give it another go!

I don't tend to follow any particular diet when I'm exercising. Tbh as soon as I think about dieting I start craving food I try to just make 'healthier choices' instead of following any sort of strict diet plan. I figure that I'm not trying to be some kind of YouTube/Instagram fitness model so it doesn't matter if I'm not following the perfect diet, even if my progress is slower then it would be on the 'perfect diet' I'm just happy that I'm making progress.

@ralphdibny Cauliflower, imo, has literally no taste so just as long as it's mixed with broccoli I don't much mind it. Really I'll eat anything but green beans. I don't know how people put those in their mouth, much less ingest them by the serving. But that's just me.

Quorn makes really great chicken patties and nuggets. Expensive, so I don't buy them much but delicious stuff imo.

Also there's this stuff called Soyrizo over here (brand is Frieda's) and it's a pretty darn good substitute. Most veggie porkmeat is fairly rubbish but fry this stuff in with some egg... so good.

And LightLife makes good hot dogs. Indistinguishable to me but other's opinions will likely vary.

Really there's just a lot of decent stuff out there now. Worth a shot if one is trying to cut back.

@Jenny_Jones ahh yeah it does have a weird texture actually. The mince kind of breaks apart a lot easier than a minced meat (not the mince pie variety of mincemeat 😅).

I think I'm the same with diet, it's just too difficult to follow something religiously. I've done it before with great results but it doesn't last long because the intensity of it just doesn't fit a real world lifestyle of work and social. So yeah, kinda just grooving along now trying to eat healthier options than I would normally!

@zupertramp I think that's my problem with cauli, it's just so bland but the texture is such hard work to munch on with so little flavour reward for my troubles. I like a cauliflower cheese but it's hardly a healthy application for cauliflower lol.

Which green beans are you talking about? Runner beans? Mangetout? I actually love them both, boil a small portion of runner beans (a small fistful), cover in olive oil and sprinkle a little chunky salt over the top 👌. Mangetout can be a bit stringy if you chew it but I guess the clue is in the name lol.

I'll have to look into some of those meat substitute brands! I'm not big on them usually because I like to enjoy the veggie/vegan options for what they are rather than as a replacement for meat but there have been some that surprised me. I just kind of treat Quorn as a meatless meat. It's just kind of another option if I need mince for something. My bro is a big vegan so I have had at least one amazing vegan meal which is like a pasta with this blended cashew nut sauce. It's so tasty. I'm not really big on all these generic chickpea curries we've been having though, it's nice once in a while but not as a go to meal. I end up covering it with buckets of mango chutney because I have such a sweet tooth, which obviously isn't the healthiest thing to do!

Edit: Just realised the soyrizo pun. I've been wondering about a decent nitrate free alternative to chorizo as it and salamis are so delicious. I'll be looking into it, for sure!

I don’t really cook much vegan food but if you have a slow cooker then put some dried pinto beans in, some water, smoked paprika, liquid smoke, a pinch of salt and a sliced red pepper. Basically refried beans but without all the additives.

Personally, I think veggie/vegan food is best when it’s made around it’s own thing rather than trying to make a meat free version of something. That said, veg chilli is great and I think I prefer veggie lasagna to the meat version!

We try to have a couple of meat free meals a week and fish at least once. I get all our meat from the butchers so it’s good stuff and the meat from our Sunday roast is used for one or two more meals.

This sweet potato/courgette stew takes a little while but tastes excellent!

@nessisonett sounds decent! I don't normally go in for cooked peppers, I much prefer eating them raw by themselves or as part of a salad. I'm a bit weird like that, there's certain fruit and veg I much prefer raw as opposed to the popular preparations.

@Thrillho butcher meat is so much better than the supermarket stuff, way more expensive though which is so frustrating. But yeah totally agree about making its own thing rather than using meat subs. I love a meat free lasagne when the red sauce is just made with onions, tomato and garlic but I'm less keen when the meat is replaced with courgettes and peppers. I've had that a few times before but it just changes the taste too much, I'd rather just have the lasagne as is but with no meat in it.

Nice recommendation though! I tried to fry some courgette earlier in the week but put way too much salt on it 😖. I learned my lesson though and have used much less salt in my cooking in the days following 😅!

@ralphdibny I’m not a big pepper fan but they work great in a tomatoey sauce.

I got in a decent 10 and a bit mile walk today over 3 hours 50 mins. It's weird how motivated I feel to go the distance when I'm by myself and also know the area better (I'm back home now).

That week off from the ring pull ups seems to have been a good thing though. Today I managed 3 sets of 30 and while it isn't easy, it was a lot easier than it was a week and a half a go. My assumption is that the muscles healed well while I was away. I tried out an additional set of 5 at with the rings at hip height afterward too and it seemed doable so I think next time I will just move on to hip height ring pull ups. I've been thinking of dropping both the pull ups and push ups to twice a week instead of 3 times a week anyway and that muscle recovery as convinced me it's a good idea so when the next 3 month schedule of yoga starts next week, I will probably only be doing the upper body resistance exercises twice a week instead of thrice.

The stage after hip height rings is Jacknife pull ups - pulling up from a seated position into a kind of hanging plank, the ring height is where your hands stretch up to when you are sitting down. I'm not sure how keen I am on doing this in the park but I think I have some time before I'm at that level to think about how I'm going to do it anyway.

While I was away, I managed to get my incline push ups up to 3 sets of 20 off the kitchen counter which is much lower than the window sill I use at home. I'm doing them off the window sill tomorrow so I am hoping I can hit at least 3 sets of 25 but I will try and push for 30 (the goal is 40). Next stage after that is the Knee Push Ups so I am nearly there!

My knee was feeling a bit off today during the walk though which I think is my torn meniscus rearing it's ugly head. It hasn't hurt for years but then again I haven't been doing regular exercise on it. When I had physio for it back then, the idea was just to strengthen the muscles around it. The muscles around it have never been as strong as they are now though so I am a bit gutted it's decided to start hurting. I'll see how it goes anyway.

It's been a bit of a weird week for me, Monday and Tuesday were decent for me as detailed in my last post.

Wednesday was good too, managed 2 sets of 30 and one set of 25 incline push ups off the window sill. Also did the yoga which was the Below the Belt and Red Hot Core tapes. In the morning before all that, I also went for the first "run" in the couch to 5K app!

Thursday was just crap though, I went out in the morning to do ring pull ups. I put the rings lower than I did when I trialed them on Tuesday because they are supposed to be at hip height and not waist height. Only managed 3 sets of 5 that low and it was difficult to not slip being that horizontal. I followed it up with 3 sets of 30 at chest height because I didn't get a good workout with hip height. I also tried the Jacknife pull ups but couldn't even lift myself up at all which was really demotivating.

I was supposed to go out for a long walk that day too but the Met Office app was telling me it was a high chance of rain and I was feeling knackered with no energy so I didn't get any walking in which sucked. I think I'm finding that PS3 store closure a bit stressful too so I spent the rest of the day sorting out PS3 stuff instead which was good to get the thinking part of it out the way at least.

But yeah, today is Friday. I've been out for the Couch to 5K. Still have to do the incline push ups and a new yoga tape called the Diamond Cutter. I'm cautiously optimistic still though after yesterday's failure.

Tomorrow is just a normal yoga tape, ring pull ups and a couch to 5K (cramming it this week because I didn't start it on a Monday) then I have a long walk on Sunday and hopefully back to a more manageable schedule from next week!

I still think I'm too heavy to do the running, I can really feel it on my heels and the corners put stress on my ankle. Going to run in the opposite direction around the park tomorrow so I don't stress that ankle too much. I wore my old £16 running shoes on Wednesday and wore my new £40 running shoes today to see if they make a difference. They are a bit better but I think it's just my weight that's a problem. I'm going to carry on with it though and hopefully shedding the weight through exercise will just make it less stressful on my bones and joints all round.

@ralphdibny I wouldn’t beat yourself up about the running too much because it sounds like you’re doing loads of stuff at the moment so keep it up!

Maybe don’t use the couch to 5k as it is but use the principle of mixed running and walking? Or find a straighter section and just use that back and forth rather than corners? But of all the stuff you’re doing, that sounds like the best cardio.

@Thrillho cheers for the reply, I really appreciate the support!

It's weird cos the couch to 5K is the only real cardio I will have done in the last 3-4 months. If my fitness tracker and it's app is to be believed, then all my yoga and walking has kept me in the "fat burning zone" and I haven't really done any "aerobic" exercise until I did that little bit of running this week.

It's ok though, this week has been a total of 8 minutes running spread out over half hour and next week it only goes up to 9 minutes. I think I prefer the app telling me what to do at the moment, it ain't a lot of running just yet anyway.

But yeah, even with the addition of couch to 5K, the rest of it dies down a bit next week anyway. I'm starting the "intermediate" yoga plan where the beginning of it is a lot less intensive than the end of the "beginner" plan that I'm finishing this week. Also I am going to drop the resistance exercises to twice a week instead of 3.

I'm only 10lbs off my initial goal of becoming "overweight" now, so I'm keen to to get there hence the addition of running to my yoga days where I don't typically burn as many calories as I do on my walking days. I'm down to 17 stone 5 from my Xmas weight of 18 stone 6. (I'm 6ft2 btw so BMI is currently 31.1 I think)

Aparently my dad has lost 1.5 stone just from his meat diet (probably more accurately described as a carb free diet) in about the same time with no exercise which really surprised me. Obviously I'm not following the same diet but yeah I was a bit gobsmacked when he mentioned it!

How are you getting on btw? Have you been out for runs this week or are you getting out over the weekend?

My take is we're herbivore leaning omnivores so low carb diets are to be avoided. Losing weight is great but there are other considerations when examining overall health. Straight meat isn't exactly great for the kidneys for example. But, I'm no physician so grain of salt.

Also it sounds like you are really putting in the work and I wouldn't at all feel discouraged about a lack of cardio at the moment. You'll get there.

And I didn't know there were different green beans honestly lol.

110 miles since last Sunday with no rest days, I’m doing 100 tomorrow and 100 on Sunday - feeling pretty good about it right now but let’s see where I’m at in 48 hours 🤕🤕🤕

@zupertramp cheers 👍

I'm trying to work out what green bean is exactly lol, I think you are probably talking about runner beans. I think we have different names for different types over here though (unless it's just me 🤷‍♂️😅). But a broad bean is significantly different to a runner bean, as is a mangetout or just frozen peas. I've just found out there are two types of mangetout, one is a sugar snap pea which I just called a sugar snap pea and the other is a snow pea which I called mangetout lol. I actually love most of these green beans, thinking about it now! There is a card game called Bohnanza which is quite fun and bean themed. Though looking at it now, I don't think I've heard of half of the beans in that game!

As for our omnivorous status, I defer to The Simpsons' food chain:

All joking aside, I do think we are omnivores but it becomes more obvious with time that we will live longer if we eat the right things. Living a long life is my main goal I think!

Have you been out for any runs lately? Still using that resistance gizmo at all? (I forget what it's called)

@kyleforrester87 nice one! And Christ! Good luck, I hope you make it through the weekend!