Fitness Advice

[Angel_de_Combate]

Hey sweets i have a question.

I've just started work for the first time in a number of years, now the work ill be doing is very physical which is fine i like it, but my worries concern my diet. A month before christmas i decided to undertake a Pescatarian diet(for people who dont know, it's where you replace meat for fish really and i love fish) mainly because i got bored of eating the same kind of meats all the time..im not too fussed about red meat i cant say i ever enjoyed it and i just wanted to eat more vegetables. Now my concern is this..work is fairly sedate at the moment but we have to plant like 50,000 plants this year so that means work is gonna get hectic. Is my Pescatarian enough to keep me going alone, or should i be eating some chicken(i still like chicken but not all the time) more often as i feel the way im eating now might cause me to lose weight fast and i dont want that(some weight lose would be nice but not too much). Oh and could you please give me some ideal exercises to strengthen my back, i have er healthy assets and i know that these put some strain on my back and be nice to be able to do some of these before or after work. Any advice would be awesome. Cheers Sweets.

[Gawyn_Trakkand]

I've never been a fitness fanatic but i do take care of my body back when i was in the army i used to do an extreme cardio workout twice weekley and an intense circuit course every saturday. Eating health is somthing i can naturally enjoy i can cook healthy meals and tbh i prefer some of them to the meals i regularly eat. I have weak points like any other pies and pizza being my greatest achilles. at the moment i'm 185-200 lbs but i do have a nice muscle base with some padding.

My only advice to people looking to get actively fit is to first find out which way you want to get fit (e.g. just lose weight or gain muscle too) Cardio is excellent for losing weight but it can drop to scary ammounts (this is because cardio increases your metabolism) when i do my cardio (13 mile + runs) i ate easily 4 lbs of pasta in a day lol. Muscle building though is all about weight gain (muscle = heavier than fat) and tbh pain lots of pain. If you lift weights push your weight a little more everyday but trust me your body will not thank you for it.

Tricks that keep me healthy i have used include, pushups wake up one morning and do 5 push ups and increase by 1 every morning. Sit ups same as pushups do 5 increase them 1 by 1.

If you just wanna lose weight though put on some trainers/sneakers and hit the pavement and dont stop until you feel good about it .

[bois]

Muscle is not heavier than fat. 1 lb of fat weighs the same as 1 lb of muscle.

Fat is less dense than muscle and as such takes up more space. A person of same weight with more fat % looks heavier than the person of equivalent weight with more muscle %. However, your composition is still important.

Every person has a different body type. As for hard work, I try to keep my diet as balanced as possible. You will need protein in your diet. You will also need carbs. Now this is tricky to balance and I really can't say as the environment in which I live differs from a lot of people here. I used to do landscaping work for a living back in the day. This meant strenuous work in 40 Degree Celsius heat for at least 6 hours per day. You can understand how conditioning this could be.

Hydration is important and keeping ionic balance. I used bananas a lot instead of gatorade while working to keep ionic balance up. I would burn my carbs off easily. I avoided bread and grains like the plague. But , again where I live is a huge factor. My carb intake comes from tropical root crops (usually just out the ground) such as Cassava, Sweet potato, yams, plantains, Dasheen, etc. This is the best carb to get. Mother nature is better , trust me. Living on an island means fresh fish every day for me. Vast choice. For more power I go for the more bloody dark fish rather than the white meat ones. Now, culturally we eat the fish head , eyeballs and stuff in seasoned fish broths but I would not suggest it for the squirmy. You eat that stuff you don't catch cold , ever. I have not had a cold in 4 years.
Sadly, I live at ground zero for this stuff, you would have to do the best you can.

Living in the Caribbean is truly a freeing experience.

To keep your back healthy you must keep your stomach healthy. Most back problems originate in the stomach. So, keep your metabolism up, take your fibre to flush the colon and cleanse (fast, detox) once every six months. Tone your abdominal muscles. You should be okay.

Consider wheat grass as a toning drink. You will thank me later .

Artec

[Pnarpa]

Originally Posted by bois

Now, culturally we eat the fish head , eyeballs and stuff in seasoned fish broths but I would not suggest it for the squirmy. You eat that stuff you don't catch cold , ever. I have not had a cold in 4 years.

I want to at least see 3 positive results from 3 different experiments before I eat fish heads and eyeballs.

[bois]

Haha, totally agree. You have to really be part of the culture to consider such strange traditions. I was not recommending it as part of a regimen. However, if you do come to the Caribbean you should give Fish broth or 'fish tea' a try. You never see the ingredients (taken out) as a tourist. Despite the ingredients, it is rather tasty.

[Mattdoesrock]

Ahh Bois, a fatal mistake!! Now we know your true identity!

[Gawyn_Trakkand]

Originally Posted by bois

Muscle is not heavier than fat. 1 lb of fat weighs the same as 1 lb of muscle.

ok smart ass muscle is denser than fat thus less mass to 1 lb of muscle than to 1 lb of fat. you will look leaner but you will be just as heavy if not heavier thats why most people turning fat into muscle gain weight ¬¬

[Angel_de_Combate]

Originally Posted by bois

...

Thankyou for replying.

Well no worries about heat here in sunny old England, at the moment 7am starts..im trying to keep warm. So i let me pick up on what i read..your basically saying that its very possible maintain a steady stream of energy just eating fish (i also soya protein based products aswell)? Which is great. As for getting good supply the UK is pretty good actually, the only fish i wont be eating too much of is oily fish..i still keep meaning to check but im pretty sure i can only eat 3 portion sizes of that a week. So basically white fish is the way to go, for me im trying to balance a low budget and eating well, i just cant afford to buy fresh vegetables everyday.

Basically at the moment my food intake goes like this:-

A fibre based breakfast, so seeded brown bread with peanut butter(maybe marmite), shredded wheat with semi-skimmed milk or museli.
I have a museli bar for when i get a bit hungry before lunch.
Lunch consists of, brown bread sandwiches with tuna or cheese(a little mayo, no butter), salad, or a some vegetable soup and a yoghurt.
Dinner varies, but i try to eat fish or vegetable protein with either pasta or rice and vegetables..im really into prawn stir fry at moment.

See looking at that it does seem a bit, lacking..id love to eat lots and lots of vegetables..but i get bored of just carrots..i love any vegetable. Fruit is an issue for me..i love the taste of bananas but i cant physically eat them >.< So i can have smoothies..but here in UK seems a bit cold for them yet. I'm trying to find a balance at the moment, between eating what i like and making sure im eating enough.

[bois]

Originally Posted by Gawyn_Trakkand

ok smart ass muscle is denser than fat thus less mass to 1 lb of muscle than to 1 lb of fat. you will look leaner but you will be just as heavy if not heavier thats why most people turning fat into muscle gain weight ¬¬

Not trying to be a smart ass but I am not wrong. In my country we have a serious problem of over-nutrition leasing to obesity. Many of these people have actually lost weight when they started converting. The problem was that their fat content was so excessive in comparison to muscle that they burned off more weight than they gained, replacing the fat with nice lean muscle thus dropping poundage. They were also able to detoxify cells leading to even more weight loss via elimination of waste. They looked better and still lost weight. You can give me a red Karma if you disagree. I haven't got a nice one in a few weeks.
Maybe in your location results vary. I can only speak of my location.

Angel, I would say that everyone is different and if you are healthy , have good cholesterol, nice BMI and you have energy to spare then you are fine. Your body usually tells you when you are going off track with lack of energy, catching colds, slower bowel movements etc.
I did not see any beans in the diet except the soya. If you can fit it in the budget, a little black eye, lima or kidney beans won't hurt. Use black pepper or dill for gas if you get that.
As for the back thing I am sure Sweetness can devise something for you to build up muscular strength if you need it.
I am going to sign off this thread now as I feel I have overstepped the bounds as this thread really is one where Sweetness should be giving the advice. I don't want to offend and if I did that Sweetness I apologise. I just like to see people healthy and happy that is all.

Regards
Artec

[Miraculix]

Originally Posted by Gawyn_Trakkand

ok smart ass muscle is denser than fat thus less mass to 1 lb of muscle than to 1 lb of fat.

/facepalm

1 lb of muscle has the same mass as 1 lb of fat, which is the same mass as 1 lb of plutonium or 1 lb of helium, or 1 lb of diamond. Namely, 1 lb of mass.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pound_%28mass%29

The physical property you are looking for is called volume. Density is the ratio of mass over volume.

Skipped 2nd grade or something?

PS:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muscle#...adipose_tissue