Six pack? Only in the cooler!

[tcripp]

My biggest concern at this point is being in good enough shape to compete in the job market with the younger whippersnappers. Being "older" is kind of scary when moving into a new job description.

I truly believe that the experience will take over the younger generation as long as you can pass whatever physical ability (agility) test is before you.

[DFIB]

I truly believe that the experience will take over the younger generation as long as you can pass whatever physical ability (agility) test is before you.

I hope you are right. The systems here are so much different than in the US. I am not even sure that experience here will even count in the USA. I am really excited and hoping I can drum up some EMT gigs in Texas this summer.

It worries me some.

[tcripp]

So, I seriously want/need to lose about another 20 lbs.

What I've heard is that the last 10 are the hardest to lose...so should I set my sights for 30 lbs?

[dstevens58]

It is so easy to get into the fast-food craze, especially if you grab something in between runs.

Seven years ago I made a drastic change in my life (yes, I had surgery). I went from 360 pounds to my present weight of 175. Size 54" waist down to a size 34". Yeah, surgery was a tool, however, it is still work to maintain. I try to ride my bike as much as I can, but a fracture fibula has put me out of commission for a bit.

I stopped going to buffets. I stopped going to the restaurants that seem to "PILE" the food on your plate. I have a different appetite now. I go out to a restaurant and get a meal and share it with my wife and we still have food to bring home with us. I stopped beer (well, not entirely if you say one beer in the last six months. I don't eat before going to sleep.

Big life style change. I need to exercise (cardio) more, but I feel so much better having lost almost 200 pounds.

[Eydawn]

My current routine sucks. I'm not eating well (stress, school) and not finding time to exercise with such a screwy schedule between work and school. Hence, I'm on my way to gaining the nursing school 30 at the rate I'm at. Not what I want to be doing at all... working slowly to getting myself into a better routine.

I really need to cut back on the coffee and the beer. I love me some beer, but there's a lot of empty calories there. I kind of justify it by saying I don't drink soda, but it's not any better for me really than if I did drink soda... at least I haven't joined the Diet Coke crowd...

I also need to cut back on the sweets. My sweet tooth is definitely my downfall! Lots of stress eating going on with the sugary stuff.

I'm trying to do better by bringing healthy things to snack on during class and work... like mini bell peppers, snap peas, greek yogurt, cucumber slices with salsa, raw broccoli and ranch etc. I need to get better at packing lunches again, I have been relying on the nasty cafeteria at school way too much lately and it's showing. I also feel like crapski eating the way I have been. When it comes to work, working overnights, I don't always pack a lunch so I go all night without eating, which I know can't be good since I'm already messing my internal clock by working awake nights.

Wendy

CO EMT-B

[systemet]

Honestly, I eat like crap, I don't exercise on a regular basis, and I smoke cigarettes. I'm 5'10" and about 155 lbs, but I know I'm at major risk for a heart attack someday (only 25 right now). I can't seem to find the motivation to go to the gym on a regular basis, though I used to work out regularly.

On the upside, you're young, so even if you smoke like a chimney, you only have so many pack-years behind you. Your cancer risk is greatly diminished at +5 years after you quit. You're also not obese, even if you're sedentary, so that helps with both cancer and CV risks.

I chose to quit smoking after lighting up outside the ambulance bay of a cancer hospital. I realised how terrible I'd feel if my patient's family saw me doing that, and just how stupid I was being. I'm not trying to preach. For me, personally, it was the tipping point.

Do you figure your BMI with a wII? I am convinced that the WII is configured to the asian build and genetics. For anglo men with some beef in the shoulders I find that the WII wants to call us obese.

BMI is the weight (kg) / height (m) squared. So take your weight in kg (lbs / 2.02), and divide it by your height (m) two times. Or just go here:

http://www.nhlbisupport.com/bmi/ (imperial units)

http://www.nhlbisupport.com/bmi/bmi-m.htm (metric)

I'm 6'2 (1.88), 195lbs (88kg), and I just squeak under the border of overweight (>25), with a BMI of 24.9.

One of the problems with the body mass index as a measure, is that it doesn't measure body composition. Someone could be 6'2, and a 220lb pro hockey player, and in fantastic shape, and score a BMI of 28.8 (overweight, almost obese, which starts at 30), while have 8% body fat. There's no doubt that a pro hockey player is going to be in fantastic shape, and no where near obesity, but the BMI doesn't account for this.

Unfortunately, this is probably of little comfort, as despite the inability for BMI to account for differences in body composition, it remains a powerful predictor of mortality. Here's a really awesome study looking at the association between BMI and mortality (and it's free). What I found interesting was the amount of mortality in the underweight cohorts --- it was a lot higher than I thought.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2662372/?tool=pubmed

The perception of obesity / being overweight is also quite cultural as well. When I was in North America, and was fairly overweight, at 220lbs (100kg -- BMI 28.3, not the pro hockey player!), this was considered pretty average. I was tall, but not a particularly large guy. A women who had a similar BMI to me, would definitely have been considered overweight, if not obese, but the local values were that a man should be fairly large, that this is "manly". Now I'd be considered very "skinny", despite being close to overweight on the BMI scale. Yet put me in a Scandinavian country, and I'd be considered relatively big.

I think in North America, and surely on other continents and in other countries, societies that have a high prevalence of overweight and obese people have sort of "reset" their perception of what normal is.

It doesn't help as well, that the concept of "working out", is often focused on going to the gym, and lifting weights like a bodybuilder, and "cardio" is often relegated to a short, slow session on the treatmill or eliptical. For preventing heart disease / cancer, or for increasing longevity this is completely backwards.

[Asysin2leads]

Dieting is easier than you think. Figure out your caloric intake for the day. Usually its about 2,000 calories a day. If you are TRULY active all day, then you an get away with 3,000 calories a day. Simply keep at 2,000 calories a day and you will eventually reach a good body weight. If you start looking at the calories in different foods, you'll understand why you can't seem to lose weight. For instance, one Whopper with cheese (not counting fries, large soda, etc.) has 1,500 calories in it. Yes, if you eat one whopper, you're pretty much done for the day. Have two Snickers bars and don't eat anything for another 24 hours. Now Mr. Cheetos bag over here says he only has 160 calories per serving. However, there are 10 servings per bag. That means when I sit here and casually devour the entire bag while blogging I just ingested 1,600 calories. Snacking is the worst thing you can do. The reason the Atkins diet works isn't because of any magical properties of protein, its because protein has less calories by weight than carbohydrates do. For instance, 19 cooked shrimp (without butter) have only 60 calories in them. And 82% of your daily intake of cholesterol. Yeesh.

So count your calories, no snacking, avoid fast food like the plague, and get some exercise. You'll weight in no time.

[tcripp]

Dieting is easier than you think.

In a definition, I agree. In application, not so much. I choose to think of "diet" as a noun and not a verb. I am not on a diet, per se, but rather I control my diet. One gives me a sense of control while the other, I feel, has been forced upon me.

So count your calories, no snacking, avoid fast food like the plague, and get some exercise. You'll weight in no time.

Totally agree with "avoid the fast food". While I know it's difficult when you are on shift and running calls that it is difficult to stay totally away, you do have smarter choices. Most places have the nutritional value of each item they sell, so ask for it.

As to snacking, I totally disagree unless your idea of a snack is that Snicker's bar. I swear by eating several small meals a day - with snacks in between. Of course, my snacks may be some nuts or yogurt or even low fat muffin, my I am eating what feels to be like "all day long". I never feel as if I am being deprived. Did I mention 60 lbs in about 2 years?

Now...to work on that exercise thing...

[systemet]

I think a lot of this is lifestyle. In North America cars are cheap, gas is cheap, and fast food is cheap. It's harder to cycle or walk, or live without a car in most North American cities, compared to most European cities. So there's this tendency to drive everywhere. Same thing with the fast food / eating out culture.

There pretty much is no healthy fast food. There's very little healthy to be found in a gas station at 0300, although there are less bad choices to be had.

I think with exercise, the trick is finding a way to fit it in to your routine. I cycle or run to work, which gives me about 15 km of running and about 35 km of cycling a week, give or take a bit. It takes me about as long as taking public transport would, as I can avoid traffic congestion using trails, (plus it's not very far) so it doesn't really impact on when I get home. So there's a couple of hours of cardio every week that I don't have to justify to my wife. I'm fortunate enough to live fairly close to where I work, in a very safe city, with a good trail system.

I also think it helps not to have exercise as an end in itself, but to be participating in some sort of sport or activity that provides motivation to do cardio / strength training. For me that's been hiking / climbing / mountaineering at one point, and more recently martial arts. It's a lot easier to train when the motivation is preventing that guy at the gym who's 235 of solid muscle from ripping your head off For me, at least, just training to lift more weight, or lose body fat, as an end in itself, is a little boring.

I lift weights at home, I have a chin up bar, a few resistance bands, a swiss ball, a yoga mat and about 100 kg of weights, and 12,16,24,28 kg kettlebells. This saves me from the time and inertia of going to a commercial gym, keeps my wife a little happier, and keeps me around the house if I'm needed. It's enough for my goals, although there's some days when I'd like to be able to go down to the gym and do some heavier barbell squats or deadlifts. I've also found that especially if I'm doing lower rep training with longer rest periods, I can often do a set, prepare some food for dinner in my rest period, do another set, etc. deal with some of the laundry and so on. So my rest time becomes productive.

I also like yoga videos. I've downloaded a few, and it just gives me a nice easier workout for when I have some sort of nagging injury, or I'm tired. For me, it seems to help when my back hurts.

[J306]

I hit the gym 5 days a week. Here's a breakdown of my routine which has been giving me very positive results so far!

Day 1: Chest/Abs 16 minutes cycling for cardio

Day 2: Bi/Triceps 20 minutes on treadmill

Day 3: Back/Hamstrings/Glutes 12 minutes cycling

Day 4: Shoulders/Abs 20 minutes treadmill

Day 5: Quadriceps/calves 20 minutes cycling

I'm always sure to take my preworkout formula which includes various combinations of amino acids and post workout protein shake within an hour of completing workout.

I have a vegetarian diet so sometimes it can be tough to find whole foods with sufficient protein, but you just have to know where to look!