On a side note, I found the best diet when I was trying to gain muscle and lose fat, back when I played sports, was scrambled eggs for breakfast, well cooked chicken, bean salad (green beans, garbonzo beans, and kidney beans), and occassionally some frozen dinners with 18-22 grams of protein and minimal fat. I'd also drink tons of milk and eat some vegetable soups and steamed broccoli so I wasn't just chowing down on protein all the time. I'm gonna try to get back to this diet.
I never did it professionally however, my practice was limited to 2 hours per week, some people that trained on the same time I did were proper professionals, that trained 4 hours per day. It was almost funny to see what happened, after some time practicing, I was the oldest of all people that were on the same class as me by a reasonable margin, the professionals that were practicing with me also changed to younger people, while the ones from before went to better and known academies. The younger ones should be about 8 to 10 years old, I was practicing for at least 11 years already, and yet, they were still better than me... It was almost funny, but not discouraging, as I was actually close to their level, a bit below, but close, I felt happy that I could get close to what people that practiced in a serious regime weren't that far from me, even if my practice time exceeded their time alive. Was a nice experience for sure, and in the place I did, the classes were not mixed, but separated per gender, I suppose this helped the boys remaining in it, as they did not feel excluded like you did. It is still the one sport I love the most, and I'll probably go back to doing it as soon as I finish my university studies, that sadly keep me away from it. I believe one should try finding one sport they can truly enjoy instead of simply working out, for I cannot see any enjoyment to be taken from mere working out, there are many out there, so there is probably at least one that pleases you. This point is unnecessary if you enjoy the academy however, I just cannot see it as enjoyable, reason why I suggest trying more sports instead. And I am glad you could go back into doing it, staying still is never good for ones own health.
There's a reason my title on here is chess master. It's a good way to stay competitive without potentially hurting myself playing physically demanding sports. Also I do enjoy working out, it makes me feel great and have a lot of energy. Even if I didn't enjoy it I'd still do it to reach my goals. I've done far more boring things, it's all a matter of perception. Glad you stuck with it despite being the oldest, sounds like fun. According to my sister most gymnast are broken up into skill levels, and tests have to be taken to rank up. Not sure if you went through any of that. You will have to get that degree quickly so you can get back to it!
I've dropped my weight back to what it was before my relatives visited (263). I think I'd been as high as 268 or 269, but I ate much smaller portions and spaced out when I ate, managing to reverse the weight gain. I didn't achieve my goal of losing 5 pounds this month, but I will acheive it this upcoming month. Who knows maybe I'll lose 10 pounds and make up for this months wackiness.
Chess is one sport I have played for a while as well, I do play it better than most amateurs, but I'm by no means a professional on it. I never studied enough of it to become a really good player, but I did study about half of a book IIRC. It's nice that you enjoy what you do, I suggest you keep up with it then, I have a really hard time doing things I consider boring, but if you can do them with more ease, it seems like the best method for you. On my country there was nothing of it, perhaps there are those things for people that participate in competitions, but the most I did was to participate in some yearly presentations, so I never had to go through any of that. No ranks or anything of the sort, just people practicing together in the time that was available for them. I wish I do get it soon, ever since I entered my university I stopped all physical activities, save for half an hour of walking towards the building I have my classes in, luckily, I have an easy time maintaining my weight at a small number, but I do not like to rely on luck much, I'd rather make sure to do the proper exercises to care for my own health. Good luck on it, hopefully you can attain your goal.
I got sidelined for another week by a wrist injury. Let it heal and I'm back at the gym getting work done
Ive been working out pretty consistently these last 2-3 weeks. Since it's a new month I've upped my rowing distance from 750m to 800m. I can't wait until I'm able to do 1000m rows in one sitting, that's gonna be great. The next big goal after that would be 2000m rows I guess, but I'm still a good distance away from that. Im very comfortable doing 75-80 pound lat pulldowns and chest fly machine, so I should probably consider upping those soon. Also beginning to do more shoulder exercises since they don't seem as bothered as they were when I started my workout program. I have a lot more energy than I did previously.. finally starting to feel a bit like I did when I was in highschool doing sports. Haven't lost any weight really, but I surely must be gaining muscle and losing fat. My biceps are much larger than they were when I first started and my back muscles have made some real gains. My chest muscles haven't progressed as much, but they are much more defined I suppose.
Chess books are not the easiest to read, I am impressed! A lot of people these days learn via watching videos on youtube and also going to the various chess websites out there. Actually gymnastics can be very hard on the body at a competitive level so it's probably good you did it more recreationally. It can be very good for health, but when people over do it they will get hurt. Yes it's not easy finding time to exercise when you are constantly meeting college deadlines. Exercising is a great way to gain energy and relieve stress though, I hope you can find some time to get in maybe 30 minutes of exercise, just for those benefits.
It is not as hard as it looks, just needs some dedication and it can be done. I personally think it's considerably harder on youtube than it is by a book, though I did not attempt going to websites. As for gymnastics, I did talk some with professional athletes, since we did train in the same place, they did get hurt from time to time, but they seemed to truly enjoy it, so I think they didn't regret their choices. Well, I am right now too busy with just my travel time and my internship to consider exercising, hopefully I can go back to it once I'm finished with my university, as much as I would want to restart it earlier, one cannot do what they cannot do.
I will be looking to go to the gym more than I do currently (3x per week). I do a full body workout 2 of those days and 1 focused on the legs inbetween. I want to go 5x per week, even if all I do on the extra days is walking a mile. I guess I can make one of those days more shoulder based, since my shoulder press is way behind where Im at with lat pulldowns and I dont want any muscle imbalances. I did not eat healthy and actually made my way back up to 270 last week, but the last 2-3 days I've been eating pretty healthy and Im already back down to 267. Even though I'm the same weight as I've been the last 2 months, I'm confident my body fat percentage is much better than it had been. Actually someone told me I'm looking much more athletic than I had been. Now I just need to eat a reasonable portion sizes, get a good amount of sleep each day, and watch the pounds of fat drip away.
I don't have a money to go to gym, so my exercise 90% bodyweight training but I have pretty good result but not the best result I think,
My new goal is to walk to and around a nearby park every (normal) day. After a week, I'll start jogging the way home. The total is about 2 miles worth if google maps is accurate. I was reading a book on goal setting and it said, find the number of what you are sure you can do, halve it, and do that number at first, and work up to the other number later.
Im in this annoying situation where I keep increase the length and intensity of my workouts but I don't seem to be losing weight. I'm pretty sure it's because I'm making bad eating decisions, however my eating decisions are still much better than they had been 2-4 weeks prior to now, so I'd like to think I should be losing weight. After eating lunch I was weighing in at 270, which probably means im somewhere around 268-269 when I wake up. I mean I console myself by saying I'm losing fat and gaining muscle, compared to november the difference is extremely noticeable, but I still got quite a bit of fat on my belly that needs to go.. So what has my progress been like after 6 months (wow that went by fast) in? November I was walking for 10 minutes and rowing for 250 meters, now I'm walking 20-22 minutes and rowing for soon to be 1000m (800 currently). Started lat pull downs, chess fly, chess press, seated rows, all at 40-45 pounds and soon gonna increase to 90 once May roles around. If I just don't get hurt and continuously increases my exercises I'll eventually end up somewhere good I hope, a little sad I was lifting more when I was 14 but I'll get back eventually.. I'm just happy my knee, shoulder and elbow aren't in nearly so much pain. If I don't over stress them they don't cause me any pain in my regular daily life, or even my workouts anymore. Also I definitely have a lot more energy then I did in November, that was really the unhealthiest I've ever been in my life.
I lost my wallet so I couldn't drive to the gym this last week, I was also pretty sick. I finally found the wallet and went to the gym yesterday. I got up to 1000m on the row machine and upgraded all the weights I'd been lifting. I was sweating way more than I normally do down there, I think it may be related more to being sick than to upgrading my workout, but it really surprised me. Went home and slept better than I have in weeks for a full 10 hours. Now I feel great, I don't feel sick at all and I barely feel any muscle soreness.
Hey saw this thread and thought I should post and share. I hadn't been motivated to go to the gym for the past two years cause I just don't have the time with two jobs on my plate and being on the road most of the time. Now, I've recently rejoined the gym over the last two months due to my family's (mostly my sisters') request to be more healthy. I grudgingly went and wanted to spend as little time at the gym as possible so I started doing research on YouTube for short workout routines and happened upon hiit and tabata training. I have to say, these two routines combined into a 40 minutes workout with just your body weight as resistance have worked wonders. I have lost 15lbs so far over the two months that I have been going to the gym and still find it hard to believe how good these work (by the way I go every day so that it forms into a habit). Of course, I am also making sure to follow a good diet (carb cycling diet) but still the results are amazing although I am still a bit away from the super toned body that I am now aiming for but still the results are a motivation on their own so for others who are in a similar situation as me I'd encourage you to try your self and you may find that you have gained a new healthy hobby.