Exercising and writing...

[yosimiti]

So I'm looking down at my little tummy as I write this, and I'm thinking, how did you get there little guy? Do you need a new home? Poor little soul of fat. I know nobody likes having you around, and as nice a guy as I am, I can't see I'm in that much disagreement.

The problem with reading and writing are that they are sitting activities. Hours upon hours of it can lead to unhealthiness. Yeah I know, there are standing desks and the like, but real, thoughtful reading and writing, comes by sitting pour moi; I can't escape that fact. Still, no matter how hard I try to balance, I can't seem to lose this belly. I do about 3.5 hours of exercise per day (two hours of walking, 1.5 hours elliptical), between writing, classes, and homework breaks, and still, this tummy doesn't seem ever to want to go.

Just wondering if anyone out there struggles with this too. That is, trying to be a writer while trying to be healthy at the same time. Any tips, suggestions, lifestyle choices, lifestyle habits, all are welcome here.

[Jaysen]

Exercise doesn't make you less fat.
Exercise only burns calories.
You get rid of fat by burning more calories than you consume.
Stop eating.
Problem solved.

For the record, I'm 60lbs into losing 100lbs. I pretty much did it all by reducing caloric input. I've only recently done anything like real exercise until this year and then because I can't safely reduce input much further.

[yosimiti]

It's not so simple a problem for me, I guess. I've been on a low-carb (almost no carb), vegetarian diet, for some time now, and it's difficult to see the effects. Still, have this damned tummy!

Exercise may only burn calories but man does it ever improve your mood and clarity of thought which ultimately I believe improves your writing...

[Jaysen]

Carbs aren't the problem. Calories are. Count them. Seriously. There is no difference between 1,000 calories of lettuce and 1,000 calories of bigmac. both are 1k cal that you need to burn off. It IS that simple.

As to your statement about mood, you changed the topic. you started with fat. now mood. Once you balance the cal burning aspect to actually drop the fat, let's talk about mood again. I find that if you are really into burning fat calorie deficit) your mood isn't as glorious as it is when we are still running a surplus of calories.

[yosimiti]

Learning to eat less is not easy. I ain't zen, nor am I a Jedi knight. I struggle with compulsions all the time.

[Jaysen]

I'm with you. I'm a stress eater. But...

I'm lost 3 sizes THIS YEAR.
I can do things I haven't been able to do for over a decade.
I actually want to be out in public with the Mrs.

That's my motivation.

Find your motivation and do it. Just like Mr. Coffee's "Ass chair", if you want to improve something you have go from thinking and talking and get the job done. Do it. Just do it.

This time next year I will be 100lbs lighter than when I started this nightmare. And I will know that I can do just about anything I choose to do.

[yosimiti]

Well, that's encouraging sir. I guess a big problem is definitely motivation. I'm single and live with my folks, who are both compulsive eaters making it all the more difficult. I also live in a small condo, where the kitchen is a stone-throw away from my writing station.

I have lost about 60 lbs so far through extreme exercising and dieting, but there are days I just feel like giving up. Days where my waistline doesn't seem to get smaller. I need to lose another 20 lbs to be in the healthy weight range (formally I was clinically obese). And it's these last 20 lbs that are ridiculously difficult to lose. I'm really fighting with my body on this. Combine this with the fact, that I find this exercise/dieting routine gets in the way of good writing because I'm either tired or weak from exercise or lack of food (I tell myself it's all in my head but man it's difficult).

But thanks for your thoughts. Glad to see I'm not alone in my struggle.

[vic-k]

Yosi baby, and numpt,
The amount of weight you have both dumped ... 60 lb. apiece is highly commendable ... I admire you both immensely for that achievement. Unless I'm very much mistaken, when engaged in a battle to lose weight, attaining your goal, becomes progressively harder, in as much as the rate at which you lose the weight, slows down as your body weight/mass diminishes. That, as far as I am aware is common knowledge. But!! It is attainable, and a healthy diet and plenty of exercise never did anyone any harm. Remember: Patience is virtue ... and all good things come to he who waits. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y9znA_dwjHw
Keep up the good work, guys!!
Vic

[yosimiti]

Drinking was a pleasure my doc told me to give up two years ago. It doesn't help with weight loss, among other things. So Viky, your post kinda made me cry.

Anyways, I'm wondering, how many calories does a writer burn while writing? It can't be that much. But 'thinking' must account for something cause professors are generally thin (at least from all the classes I've been to hitherto).

But yeah, NOT EATING is LIKE THE HARDEST THING IN THE WORLD TO FREAKIN DO Jaysen.

[Jaysen]

Actually, I've lost more this year than in previous years. It has been harder, but the rate of loss is much much higher. I chalk that up to increasing the cardio exercise significantly (not the max effort, but the duration of effort). The hardest part was actually reducing caloric intake (diet) in a sustainable way. I like my food (ask Mr Piggy if you don't recall yourself) and my diet changes took years to get right. Now the diet is habit and is unconscious. When I travel I maintain weight with no issues even though I may miss weeks of exercise.

Caloric intake is the key.

But yes, it is hard to drag my arse out of bed at 5:30a and run in 95°f heat with 98% humidity. That is hard. But I wanted to go from "morbidly obese" to "within acceptable" so ... 5:30a run it is.

I'll think of you when I'm drinking my beer on the beach tonight.

[Jaysen]

Drinking was a pleasure my doc told me to give up two years ago. It doesn't help with weight loss, among other things. So Viky, your post kinda made me cry.

Look at the calories on the bottle. Then add that much exercise to burn it off. Enjoy your beer, rum, whiskey, etc. You need to enjoy life not live like a hermit. Just account for the in and make sure you add to the out column to cover it (I had the same argument with all the medical types, when cornered they will concede).

Anyways, I'm wondering, how many calories does a writer burn while writing? It can't be that much. But 'thinking' must account for something cause professors are generally thin (at least from all the classes I've been to hitherto).

Watch what the profs eat. Very few meals. no snacks. no sodas. All the "how much does it burn" stats are on the CDC site. Have at it. You will not be thrilled by the lack of effort your brain makes to burn cals.

But yeah, NOT EATING is LIKE THE HARDEST THING IN THE WORLD TO FREAKIN DO Jaysen.

yep. Time to "man up and do it" is all I can say. Blows like a seasick prone person on a tilt-a-whirl, but you have to either deal with being "fat" or learn to stop eating too many calories.

[yosimiti]

I gave up alcohol, for my dear old mother, and before I was on the verge of becoming an alcoholic. So, I must say, that these days my pleasures generally revolve around bubble tea and other non-alcoholic drinks.


But yes, I hear you, counting calories is important. I've been lazy.

Time to man up...

[devinganger]

Carbs aren't the problem. Calories are. Count them. Seriously. There is no difference between 1,000 calories of lettuce and 1,000 calories of bigmac. both are 1k cal that you need to burn off. It IS that simple.

That is SO not true, according to so much of the new research and science being done.

The way we measure calories in no way approximates how our body uses them -- the way it breaks down carbs, protein, fats is VERY different that how "calories" are measured (the food calorie being a kilocalorie in science, 1,000 units of heat). Dudes in labs measure calories by literally BURNING TO ASH a sample of food.

As in liberating all of the energy in the chemical bonds in the food, all at once.

That's NOT what our body does -- and why two people can use the same eating plan, exercise the same, and have dramatically different results. It's also why people who are starving can develop pot bellies -- well-documented phenomenon.

The "calories are calories" argument is wrong in another way -- give any diabetic 1,000 calories of sugar and 1,000 calories of balanced meal and you see which makes her blood sugar swing the wrong way. Again, our body processes different foods in different ways. The mix is critical -- don't give yourself enough of something your body needs, and that substance becomes the bottleneck. You will have a hard time feeling fit and getting enough exercise and losing weight until you deal with that substance.

And that doesn't START to address how the gut biome is such a MAJOR part of how our bodies digest and process food.

50 lbs. into 125...

[yosimiti]

I guess quality of food matters just as much as quantity.

[Jaysen]

That is SO not true, according to so much of the new research and science being done.

I guess someone needs to tell every medical facility and doctor that normal people see "the rules have changed".

Losing weight/reducing fat requires an energy deficit. If CV exercise is being done then reducing intake is what remains.