Posts by deerskin310

I forgot I replied to this thread last summer. If the OP is still around I just want you to know that focusing on my lifting and running instead of trying to quit smoking worked for me. I quit in November and haven't smoked since.

I still get pretty strong cravings for cigarettes, but I run through them. I guess whatever I was getting out of smoking (routine, comfort, physical high) has been replaced by the workouts.

When I remember to at the gym, so three or four times a week. It's not very consistent (sometimes at night and sometimes in the morning) but I just enter it into calorie count and let the trend graph decide how I'm doing over time.

I really do feel like when I start doing really well, I sabotage myself. I can't figure out why.

You should work out regularly because it's healthy for your heart, lungs, etc. It will help you age well and heal more easily after surgeries or injuries. If you lift weights, you'll look a lot more healthy and shapely after you lose the fat.

Find some kind of cardio you like (walking, running, elliptical, zumba, dancing, biking, hiking, parkour) and some kind of weight training (lifting weights, bodyweight exercises, yoga, pilates).

Once you start, I would recommend eating at least half the calories you burn while working out on top of whatever calories you were eating before. And yes you can have more than a 500 calorie deficit, just make sure to listen to your body. I tried to go for a 800-900 deficit and almost passed out in the weight room with over half my bodyweight on my shoulders! Not where you want to be. I usually stick to a 500 cal deficit now.

Original Post by cnichols2000:

Original Post by Leppardess:

Nicholas.... I'd LOVE to start jogging, if only I could quit the stupid cigarettes (which is my next lifestyle change)!

Go the other way. Start jogging and let your body decide for itself that it doesn't want to smoke any more.

I second this. I've been running for a few months, but this week I tried to get 20 miles total distance (hit it this morning!). It's amazing how little I want to smoke/how much less rewarding it is. I think it has a lot to do with the stress relief that comes from running.

Great job getting eight miles in a day though! You make my 20 mile goal look like kids play!

If I were you, I'd see a doctor. 25 lb weight gain in a short amount of time and being unable to lose it could be thyroid issue.

Once you've figured out it's nothing like that, I would up your calories and start lifting weights to build muscle, which will increase your metabolism. But yeah, either way, eat more.

Can you give us your stats? Mainly height, gender, and how many times a week you work out (are you sedentary, lightly, or moderately active). Then we can look up how many calories you should be consuming.

Oh, and the highest amount of weight you can lose safely in a week is 2 lbs, so I think 50lbs by the end of August is a little too much.

It's true that some people have a harder time than others building muscle, just like some people naturally hold on to fat. It sucks but it's true! That doesn't mean you can't work a little harder to change it though.

When you say you are working out two hours a day, what does that entail? Is it a lot of cardio, lifting a lot of reps with low weight, lifting heavy weight? Also, how many calories are you eating a day? It doesn't matter how heavy you lift; if you don't eat enough, you have nothing to build muscle with.

It's hard to beat the Black Keys for me. It's just so bouncy.

shane_paladin: I agree with you. It's human nature to be curious (or sexual) and look at other people. I'm always "checking people out", and I got over men looking at me when I was a teenager. There's no harm in thinking someone is attractive. It's just when one person shows aggression towards another that there is a problem, and approaching a stranger or making loud noises is interpreted as aggression in any species.

I realize that I live in a society that believes women should either dress "modestly" (whatever that happens to mean to whomever happens to be saying it) or deal with unwanted advances. I just no longer choose to tolerate it. There is not such a big jump between "she deserved the cat-calls and lewd comments because of the way she was dressed" and "she was just asking to be raped by the way she was dressed". And how would you know when you're out jogging in the middle of the woods whether the man shouting at you plans to stop at shouting or take the aggression further?

Why do we teach young women to put on an extra layer but not teach young men to be respectful regardless of gender and dress? Why do we teach women "be careful, it's always the woman's fault" (true story, heard it in college) and teach men their sexuality is something they have no control over? What we're dealing with is not a difference of opinion but the loss of female bodily autonomy, my bodily autonomy. After all these years of hearing this bs I have lost the ability to talk about it without a little bit of venom.