ONE YEAR FITNESS CHALLENGE

Today is the big day.

If you havent been following my blog (see the link down there in my signature) today marks day one of a one year fitness challenge that I and a few other members of this community are undertaking.

The program is based loosely on Military Basic Training. Each week we have a benchmark that we have to be able to achieve befor the weeks end...and each week something is added to that. We will each have to tailor our training program to help ups meet these benchmarks...There is no set plan of what to do, because each of us has areas that we are stronger or weaker in and we must find ways to overcome the weaknesses without sacrificing the strengths.

Im looking to you - our friends and colleagues - to help encourage us on this journey.

Among those who are doing this are - Skyman, Silver Sentinal, Midnight Detective, Levionne Clay, and myself. We will also be joined by Valerie Finnigan of Heroes Fallen Studios and one of my real world friends...and there are a few more that have not confirmed yet, so we are starting without them.

We have TWO personal trainers who will be assisting us and I have one Army Drill Instructor to turn to for advice.

SO please...use this thread to encourage everyone involved...And thank you in advance.

CFTC

PS - if anyone shows up and starts acting like a douche their comments will be deleted and you willl be banned...don't even try it in here...you know who you are...ok

It's a go.

Break a leg, guys... or whatever the proper expression is, lol. This actually coincides with La Femme and me. We've made a few modifications to our plan and we're starting full-tilt today.

So go kick some ass, guys. I know you can do it, and know that the little lady and I will be sweating right along with you!

YAY!!!! YAY!!!! YAY!!!!!!!

Good luck guys.

Im glad to be a part of this!

Good luck to all of you. The main thing is don't give up.

i am not claiming to be a know it all or anything but i think some people will find this helpful/informative so here we go:

Hey everyone i thought i would make a post on this about nutrition and eating right while training, it is really quite simple and it is a very important part of fitness.

first of all eat at the RIGHT TIMES OF DAY, meaning breakfast every morning within an hour of waking up, a mid morning snack then lunch, a mid afternoon snack and dinner and another snack later (DON'T EAT ANYTHING RIGHT BEFORE BED, MAKE SURE YOU DON'T EAT FOR AT LEAST 2-3 HOURS BEFORE GOING TO SLEEP! you will digest better and wake up hungry looking forward to a hearty breakfast---GREAT MOTIVATION!)

secondly be sure to eat healthy (avoid sugar, starches, white breads and pastas, junk food/fast food and anything greasy or too salty) most of your daily calories should come from protein (meat, fish, poultry, eggs, tofu, nuts, whey protein) and fresh non starchy vegetables (broccoli, spinach, salad greens, avacado, peppers, cauliflower, asparagus, onions, cabbage, artichoke, radish ect) when it comes to fruit and high starch vegetables as well as other high carbohydrate foods like breads and pastas (whole wheat only for best results) the best time to consume them would be right before and/or after a workout.
AIM TO CONSUME 1 GRAM OF PROTEIN PER POUND OF YOUR DESIRED BODYWEIGHT, DON'T EAT FOR THE BODY YOU HAVE EAT FOR THE BODY YOU WANT! ( a good idea is to get half of your protein from food sources and the other half from whey protein)


stay well hydrated drink lots of water avoid fruit juices and don't drink any soda.
coffee and tea are great since caffeine speeds up metabolism. Also a great idea is to drink 16 oz of water as soon as you wake up, that'll speed up metabolism as well. Another thing is that staying well hydrated will give you more energy.

here is an example of a single "hero diet" day (please note i am clearly not a vegan or vegetarian so apologies to those of you who might be):

upon waking up: 16 oz glass of water, cup of strong coffee or green tea, 3 eggs and 3 slices of bacon, cup of oatmeal.

snack: can of tuna, protein shake

lunch: grilled chicken breast, vegetables, brown rice.

WORKOUT TIME (feel free to drink another protein shake right before or right after working out)

dinner: beef, bison or turkey burger with cheese on a whole wheat bun with green salad and vegetable soup. (feel free to have some chicken or tuna or boiled eggs in salad)

if you are hungry a few hours before bed feel free to have another well balanced snack something with some protein, healthy fat and some veggies (veggies and hummus with some turkey slices or a boiled egg for example)

if you combine this kind of eating with excercise and weight training you are sure to lose fat, build muscle and feel better!

if anyone has any questions go ahead and ask.

this isn't bad but the body needs a whole meal every four hours.

"Breafst-lunch-dinner" is a fabrication.

If you want to know hwy the wives-tale of not eating before bed arose, I'll type it up later.


PS. not digestion happens while exercising.
So, wait 1.5 hours after eating to workout


LOVE,
Flora

yeah, I think Im gonna find the nutrition and diet part the hardest thing to do in all of this.

OK, Skyman. I'm happy to look over your food for you
and
help you keep close to what your are doing so that it won't be so hard

I eat about 4 or 5 times a day. At least I'd like to. My metabolism is insane.

yassir.

I've had three shakes, a steak a potato and a bowl of green beans.

Two cups of the java in the am and one after lunch.

A big bowl of cereal is on the horizon with a giant glass of milk and bananas!

YAY FOOD!

Flora V. Arbor wrote:

this isn't bad but the body needs a whole meal every four hours.

"Breafst-lunch-dinner" is a fabrication.

If you want to know hwy the wives-tale of not eating before bed arose, I'll type it up later.


PS. not digestion happens while exercising.
So, wait 1.5 hours after eating to workout


LOVE,
Flora

yes Flora you are correct, for me usually breakfast, lunch and dinner with snacks a few hours after each meal works...however if you are awake for long days it is very likely you may need another full meal or two depending on how much you excercise and how many hours you are awake. Also i am just realizing now that i didnt specify to make sure you give yourself sufficient time to digest before working out as Flora mentioned. 1.5 hours is perfect.

and please share your take on the 'not eating a few hours before bed" thing. Thanks for adding some input!

Urban Avenger wrote:

I eat about 4 or 5 times a day. At least I'd like to. My metabolism is insane.

lucky you! i can eat about the same amount if i make sure i excercise enough. what kind of excercise workouts to you do Urban Avenger?

and to Skyman i know it can be hard sometimes to always eat healthy but hey we are all here to support each other...if you get bored with the same old meals just ask for suggestions i am sure many of us on the board will have some soloutions.

I'm cool with the nutrition part. No biggie.
But the damn running worries me. Between old breaks and never having to run much ( I ran like a brick you know what in high school football) I find the running intimidating at my age. Ugh.

Mostly pull ups and leg raises, its the easiest thing I can do with what I have at home.

Midnite Detective wrote:

I'm cool with the nutrition part. No biggie.
But the damn running worries me. Between old breaks and never having to run much ( I ran like a brick you know what in high school football) I find the running intimidating at my age. Ugh.

Walking does plenty

Super-Nova wrote:

Flora V. Arbor wrote:

this isn't bad but the body needs a whole meal every four hours.

"Breafst-lunch-dinner" is a fabrication.

If you want to know hwy the wives-tale of not eating before bed arose, I'll type it up later.


PS. not digestion happens while exercising.
So, wait 1.5 hours after eating to workout


LOVE,
Flora

yes Flora you are correct, for me usually breakfast, lunch and dinner with snacks a few hours after each meal works...however if you are awake for long days it is very likely you may need another full meal or two depending on how much you excercise and how many hours you are awake. Also i am just realizing now that i didnt specify to make sure you give yourself sufficient time to digest before working out as Flora mentioned. 1.5 hours is perfect.

and please share your take on the 'not eating a few hours before bed" thing. Thanks for adding some input!

YaY TEAM!

First, let me type that anything that we eat is burnt or stored in 3-4 hours.
Then, the body shuts down activity.
No fresh carbs in the blood means - no fuel for the brain.
we do not store carbs as carbs and get them back out of storage as carbs.
we do not store protein.
So, if you haven't eaten recently, you don't have those working for you.

Second, the body is fancy and by it's fanciness, able to make it through famine.
Simply eating less and exercising more is not good enough.


So, we need a whole meal, every four hours.
Snacks just make us weak and perpetuate the problematic idea of "Breakfastlunchdinner".

The idea of "breakfastlunchdinner" comes from the industrial age
when people ate before they left for the factory and when they got home.
Bosses were forced to let them eat once in the middle of the day ( but didnt' want to ).

As a result fo the stupid Idea of "breakfastlunchdinner"
we have people who think that alcohol is normal in the early evening
and the drug called "chocolate" is normal in the after noon, and
most shop-lifting happens between 3 an 6 in the afternoon and most men steal food.

""breafstLunchandDinner"'s an idea that's out of date.
Eat meals at 8, noon, four and 8."

There are four things that release fat from storage to be burned on the muscles as fuel
if, indeed, a person has muscles that are developed.
( weakness starts in four days in ANY person)

1. cold weather
2. caffiene ( I'm not recommending it. This is just what was found out )
3. the Stress of Exercise
4. Waiting 12 hours, through the sleep-cycle
from last bite of dinner or snack to first bite of morning in-take
and that includes milk in tea or coffee.

The old-wife's tale of not eating late is a stab-in-the-dark that comes close to understanding this information.

Some people hate to eat breakfast and apologize profusely for the sin
and expect to be beaten.

The fact remains that there are "larks" and there are "owls" in this world
and that it is good to have someone be rested when you are tired.

To define the world by "larks" alone is stupid.
Throughout most of history, if there were only "larks" humans would have died out
from being too tired to defend themselves 24 hours a day.

Eating before bed is irrelevant even if one person succeeds at it.
I have kept 35 pounds off for 25 years (and I come from a fat family)
and I eat huge amounts of food right before I go to sleep
ALL the time.

I do not like to eat breakfast the second that I get up.
I never have. There is nothing wrong with me or my energy level
but there REALLY is something wrong
when people cannot comprehend that studying is worth it and the
"larks" are not - in any way - morally superior or role models or 100% effective.

BE who you are and do it well.
Eat every four hours, sleep more than six hours as often as possible, nap if you can
and let the old wife's tales die

thanks for sharing that Flora. please keep in mind everyone that for me a snack will still end up being about 300 calories, sometimes more and usually consist of proteins, fats, carbs and vitamins (all healthy choices of course) so after snacking i am satisfied and don't have cravings of any kind.

Another thing i want to clarify is that i am not suggesting to eat less, that is not a good idea...at all. Just eat better! simply because of the fact that if you are hungry you will not train at your full potential and won't build muscle nearly as well.


for those of you trying to lose weight i urge you not to eat too much before bed...it is better to get used to eating when you wake up so that you burn the calories consumed throughout the day and eating late at night will create that dislike of eating within an hour of waking up.

Super-Nova wrote:

thanks for sharing that Flora. please keep in mind everyone that for me a snack will still end up being about 300 calories, sometimes more and usually consist of proteins, fats, carbs and vitamins (all healthy choices of course) so after snacking i am satisfied and don't have cravings of any kind.

STILL, I'D LOVE TO SEE THAT SNACK GO UP TO 500 CALORIES

Another thing i want to clarify is that i am not suggesting to eat less, that is not a good idea...at all.
YAY!
Just eat better! simply because of the fact that if you are hungry you will not train at your full potential and won't build muscle nearly as well.

YASS!!!


for those of you trying to lose weight i urge you not to eat too much before bed...it is better to get used to eating when you wake up so that you burn the calories consumed throughout the day
WE BURN ABOUT 100 CALORIES AN HOUR WHEN WE ARE AWAKE NO MATTER WHAT UNLESS WE HAVE MORE MUSCLE.
THE TIMING OF EATING DURING THE DAY DOES NOT CHANGE THAT.
WE BURN PLENTY OF CALORIES ASLEEP TOO. SO, SLEEP IS NOT A NON-CALORIE TIME.
and eating late at night will create that dislike of eating within an hour of waking up.

YOU ARE STILL TRYING TO MAKE AN OWL INTO A LARK HERE BUT YAY

I don't know how to divide up text.
So, I use caps but am not shouting

Love, Flora

please see above

I always have a "eat-whatever-you-want" day every week when I'm on diet. And when it feels like I'm about lose motivation when I'm running, I smile until I smile for the joy of running. I get a lot of funny looks at the gym...

Equal, I dig the new name. Just thought I'd say that.

I just want to say that "Motivation" is equal to "fuel".

Please, map your in-take and energy levels
and
you can, more easily, see where
"motivation", "willpower", "focus" or "concentration"
ending is just "an end to the burning of calories eaten".