Healthy weight loss for geeks.
General
You’re Doing It Wrong
0We talked about it in episode 40 a little bit, but I started at Accel Human Performance a couple weeks ago (turn down your speakers before you click). Tommy and I hit the gym and after some kettlebell swings to warm up I hit the power cage to do some front squats.
Let’s back up a little. What the heck are front squats? Well, they’re not what I was doing. Instead of having the bar on the top of my chest I was kind of cradling it in the crux of my arms. That worked, sort of. When I did it today Cory Gilday, co-owner and exercise physiologist, swooped in and offered some tips. He corrected my form, but I had to come down a bit in the weight. The exercise felt much better with the right form (more quads and a lot less back), but whew I’m going to have a pair of bruises on my upper arms I’m naming Cory and Gilday.
So far we’re enjoying the new venue. The staff is supportive and the they keep the place nice and clean. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a misplaced weight or anything else out of sorts.
If you mention GeekFit when you sign up, you’ll get all the water you can drink. Y’know, from the water fountain. It was funnier in my head.
What’s The Secret?
22 years ago
I got a Facebook comment on a recent Body Bugg update (3944 calories burned, 2958 calories consumed, and a 986 deficit). The question: “How do you burn so many calories, must have the secret…”
This was my response (written first thing in the morning, so bear with me):
I wish I could say it’s all muscle, but that only accounts for maybe an extra quarter calorie per minute (225 calories over 15 hours)**. I burn ~2750 calories a day at an idle, so that extra 500-1000 comes from deliberate daily exercise. 30m on the treadmill, a couple 15 minute brisk walks, etc. The 4500 calorie days are a Zumba class or a combination of weights and some intervals.
I’ve had a couple surplus days though – no exercise and usual intake. That’s good food, too. After tracking with a Body Bugg like this it’s really easy to see how tossing a Double Bacon Western Cheeseburger in the mix (or something similar) would EASILY pack on the pounds.
So, why 3000 calories at an idle instead of 2000 (USDA break-even calorie number)**? I’m carrying 100 lbs of extra ballast. I’m used to carrying it, so it’s like a workout you do for too long and plateau.
If I had to guess I’d say 2000 is a average, 2500 (extra 500 for the muscle composition), and then an extra 250 for carrying the extra weight brings us to 2750.
So the secret is to either be 100 lbs overweight (I really don’t recommend this one!) and/or lift weights to get the added benefit of the extra burn.
** This is a complete WAG (wild @$$ guess) based on what I’ve been heard from other bodybugg users who average 1-1.5 calories/min at an idle.
2009 Listener Survey
0It’s the end of the year and we’re interested in who our listeners are. We have our assumptions but being geeks we want to know the hard facts, look at charts and graphs and calculate things for no real reason because we can. Heck we may even install linux on a toaster oven and have it do the calculations for us just because we can. Anyhow if you don’t mind, provide us with a little insight into who you are by answering our anonymous 14 question quiz. Thanks, we appreciate it!
30 Day Challenge
0@pseymour is hosting a 30 Day Challenge and I’ve been participating. Everyone’s been very supportive and I’ve gotten a few solid fitness-minded folks on twitter which I always dig.
Here’s my latest post to their forum:
I’d been hitting the cardio pretty hard and I decided to get some weight lifting in.
Now, I used to lift weights all through that run from 420 to 300. I did squats, and bench pressed, and did all those macho things the big tough guys did. So when I return to the weight room it only makes sense for me to jump right back in. Eh, not so much.
My legs are pretty strong, but I forget that not all muscles are created equal. Just because a few muscles that are employed to get me from A to B are strong doesn’t mean they’re the same muscles used in, let’s say, a squat in a smith with 20 lbs thrown on for good measure. All day yesterday everything from my hips to my toes were screaming. Today it’s worse. Tomorrow – well let’s just not think about tomorrow.
Oh, on top of that I did a shoulder workout. Dumbbell shoulder presses, lateral raises, front raises, and shrugs. They’re sore too and I’m still getting a little leftover DOMS from the chest/back workout a couple days ago.
On the upside, my feet feel better. The balls of my feet were pretty ouchy all day yesterday, hence the push to do resistance instead of getting back on the treadmill. All in all, I’ve been going at this every day and hereby declare today my day of rest. Tomorrow morning I’m back at it, DOMS or not – even if I have to “ouch” *step* “ouch” *step* “ouch” to get there.
GeekFit IO
02 years ago
I spent a month on the road working in Dallas, TX. Before I left I made sure to weigh in and post the results (384 lbs) to Daily Burn so I could check my progress throughout the trip. I had forgotten that unfortunately most scales don’t weigh anyone over 350 lbs (the big weight to 300 and the smaller weight to 50). So blindly I pressed on, enjoying progress checks via other methods: my belt loosening and having to drop down twice to another hole, being able to double-time it up 7 flights of stairs before I got winded, my clothes generally feeling looser, and the seat on Southwest not squishing me quite so much on each round-trip to Austin on the weekends.
Last Saturday I flew home, 6 hours in total, and was eager to weigh myself Sunday morning. I came in at 366 lbs, netting me a loss of 18 lbs. On a hunch I weighed in again this morning and was at 362 lbs for a total loss of 22 lbs. That’s some Biggest Loser weigh-in progress, y’all.
So, what changed? I had been working out half-heartedly, eating “alright” and avoiding the major pitfalls, but not really pressing in any particular direction. I had maintained the 370-375 range until late August when, unchecked for a bit, jumped up to 384. That set off all the bells & alarms. I wasn’t quite back where I had started, but my “eh, it’s maintaining” attitude went out the window. Something had to change, and like now.
Around the same time I had been reading up on carbohydrates, protein, and procrastination in general. That gave me some interesting insights to what starches and carbs would do to my overall intake for the day. I started preferring protein over carbs, veg over starch, and worked out every day. The stairs were the other big thing. I was on the 6th floor of the hotel for a while and then the last couple weeks they had me up on the 7th floor. I took the stairs every time I had to go to/from my room. The only exception being heading down for breakfast in the morning. I was already plenty worked up from the rush of getting out of the shower, getting ready, getting dressed, and then packing out the door with my backpack on.
All in all it was a good trip. I got a lot of work done and kicked my fitness into high-gear. I think I made the most progress on the cardio and now I’ve got to bring the resistance training up a few notches.
The Seat Buddy
0This ingenious little device may look like it’s merely holding your iPhone/iTouch, but oh no kiddies, it does so much more. I had an opportunity to review this over the last few weeks. Here are my notes:
Southwest Flight to Austin
Tried seat buddy on the southwest flight. The straps let you roll the display into whatever angle you want. The clown in front of me decided to lean back and that didn’t work so well, so I tried it on the adjoining seat. Having the independent lengths helped – I was able to use the tray on the seat back next to me, kind of at an angle so that the strap closest to me was tucked all the way in while the furthest was pulled out a bit.
Halloween DJing
We headed into Austin to check out the crazy costumes. Of course I fancy myself an iPod DJ so I had my iPhone mounted using the seat buddy in the glove box in front of me while I found music on my friend’s iPhone. I’d swap the audio cable back and forth between the two phones – only having to hold on to the one seat buddy-less.
Teenager-Proof Anchoring
More iPhone DJ’ing at a Halloween party. It made me nervous to put my iPhone next to the stereo where some hapless kid could knock it down. Again, the seat buddy came in useful. Two heavy books atop the straps held it in place while I plugged into the sound system providing the music for the festivities.
Check it out at TheSeatBuddy.com.
