What do you guys do to stay in shape?

[Natalie]

The way I stay in shape is different than most other people - I have the kind of body that always wants to get fat if I give it half the opportunity. I have to try to lose weight to stay the same weight, and in order to lose weight, I have to practically starve myself and hike up mountains three times a week with all my photo gear. I also lose the most weight when I consume >50% of my daily calories (which have to be under 1400 a day, or I'll gain weight) in a single meal, because that's the only way I feel full. If I eat smaller meals throughout the day, I never feel full, so I keep eating. And by the end of the day I've eaten a lot more than if I just had a single large meal.

I figured all this stuff out a couple years after I had finished high school, after slowly gaining weight during those years, when I stepped on a scale and realized I had reached a weight that pushed me over into the overweight category, even if just barely so. I was officially fat, and that was really terrible realization. So I made up my mind that I didn't want to be fat anymore, and I lost 30lbs (going from 147lbs to 117lbs, I'm 5'4") by hiking every day I could and eating less, and eating most of my calories as a large meal after I finished hiking.

TONS of people have tried to convince me that it's better to eat several smaller meals a day, but that just doesn't work for me because once I start eating, it's hard for me to stop. I tried the smaller meal thing for a while in 2011 (6-8 months I think) and ended up gaining weight to the point where I weighed 128lbs, and after that I stopped and went back to my own schedule and now I'm down to 122lbs. So yeah, that's how I stay in shape. It's not easy, but I'd rather deal with not being able to eat whatever and whenever I want than being overweight, and consequently not being able to keep up with my friends on hikes and going to remote locations for the purpose of photography.

Your mileage may vary. Since you're male, you naturally have a higher metabolism and a body that is more apt to put on muscle than fat, so it will probably be easier for you you. Keep us updated on the progress.

 

[kundalini]

My sex life is pretty demanding. Best cardio workout there is. Depending on how adventureous you are, great all over body workout.

 

[mwcfarms]

I agree with the dont eat ****. Eat more protein and veggies than anything. Protein keeps you fuller longer and veggies dont have all the extra sugar that fresh fruit does. I used to work out 5 days a week but since school started i am lucking to get there once or twice a week. Eat properly and excercise is the best way to maintain and stay fit. Now I gotta lose the freshman 15 I have gained hah. I'll keep you posted on how that goes.

 

[rexbobcat]

Go to the gym daily. One day is full weights/machines, cardio, and abs, and the next is abs and cardio. Repeat. I've found P90x to be a great system for working out.

P90x is a GREAT workout, but is also very demanding. Atleast an hour a day, 6 days a week, and pretty intence workouts.. But it works.

I didn't like it. It becomes like an obligation. I'm not very good with patterned routines like that....lol

I haven't done anything over the break, but I used to run about a mile and a half every day and I'd lift weights.

I've found that modifying my diet has helped me stay thin and lean better than the exercise itself.

 

[rexbobcat]

I agree with the dont eat ****. Eat more protein and veggies than anything. Protein keeps you fuller longer and veggies dont have all the extra sugar that fresh fruit does. I used to work out 5 days a week but since school started i am lucking to get there once or twice a week. Eat properly and excercise is the best way to maintain and stay fit. Now I gotta lose the freshman 15 I have gained hah. I'll keep you posted on how that goes.

Fruit is still better than refined sugar though. If you exercise regularly, the fructose breaks down very quickly, so you body is left with nutrients while not having to worry about glucose spikes.

 

[MissCream]

I play fruit ninja on my Kinect

 

[JClishe]

I play fruit ninja on my Kinect

That can actually be a serious workout

 

[JClishe]

I do Ironman triathlons. From November through March or so I workout about 6 hours per week total, primarily high intensity speed work (Running and biking, very little swimming during the winter). I always run outside throughout the winter regardless of conditions but obviously living in the midwest I can't get the bike outside during those months so I'm in the basement on the trainer. Then in March I'll switch to volume work, peaking at about 17-18 hours per week in mid summer then tapering back for a late summer Ironman. Usually some shorter triathlons scattered here and there as well. I recuperate in the fall - physically and mentally. I'll do some unstructured workouts, just whatever I feel like doing, maybe do some local 5k races and just generally let myself be lazy and put on weight, then start the cycle over again in November.

 

[EIngerson]

I eat junk to stay in shape. Round is a shape.

 

[unpopular]

Photography!

Seriously get some long f2.8 lenses and midrange bodies - tripods and all that jaz and before you know if you've half a tonne in your hands and another tonne in your backpack as you travel around

Yep. I carry around an early model Omega view camera with a Majestic Tripod for this reason alone.

 

[unpopular]

I eat junk to stay in shape. Round is a shape.

And it's better than square!

 

[EIngerson]

I eat junk to stay in shape. Round is a shape.

And it's better than square!

LOL.

 

[mwcfarms]

I agree with the dont eat ****. Eat more protein and veggies than anything. Protein keeps you fuller longer and veggies dont have all the extra sugar that fresh fruit does. I used to work out 5 days a week but since school started i am lucking to get there once or twice a week. Eat properly and excercise is the best way to maintain and stay fit. Now I gotta lose the freshman 15 I have gained hah. I'll keep you posted on how that goes.

Fruit is still better than refined sugar though. If you exercise regularly, the fructose breaks down very quickly, so you body is left with nutrients while not having to worry about glucose spikes.

When your in competition mode sugar is sugar whether your getting it from good sugar or bad sugar it doesn't matter when your trying to get your BMI down. I hear what your saying but a lot of people that want to lose weight or need to lose a lot of weight think that eating as much fruit as you want is ok when in fact it isnt. Good sugar and bad sugar are both fuel for your body and when your trying to lose or lean down for competing you want your body to get rid of the fat first. Not the available sugar.

 

[unpopular]

so-called "bad" refined sugar is sucrose, which is nothing but glucose and fructose held together by a frail little oxygen molecule. Once you metabolize sucrose, it's no different than eating an equivalent amount of fructose-containing fruit and an equivalent glass of milk.

Sugar itself isn't the problem, it's that on it's own it has no other nutritional value aside from carbohydrate.

 

[Compaq]

I dont. I eat like a pig and stay slim. When my waist size reach 36, maybe I will start exercising LOL.

How I hate people like you I'm the opposite, pretty much. Eat bad for a few weeks, and the fat on my body is flapping everyone in their faces when I walk past them.


However ( ), I play volleyball three times a week (yes, it's a real and tiresome sport), and normally have a cardio workout either before or after these workouts. Two years ago I decided to eat healty and really reduce the fat % - and I totally did. Went from 87 kg to ~74, whilst keeping much of the muscular tissue. Then I started at the university.......