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[V-Adore]

Uh, damn. I disappear for a couple days due to Life Circumstances, and this happens.

To rant aimlessly about myself for a while, this is a topic that hits pretty close to home for me for two reasons:

1) I am a person of gravity, and my family history of cholesterol is pretty atrocious. Because of this, I am, at age 22, on cholesterol medication. This hit me hard for the first couple of weeks, when I dealt with the feeling that you only got cholesterol meds if you were basically ancient and dying.
2) I am a scant two months from being in my first real adult living experience -- my own apartment, with minimal or no college dining hall access -- and I really don't know how to cook. As such, I am horrified that my nascent food- and eating-trend-consciousness will detonate and I'll start eating a diet of only delivery pizza until my body explodes.

Does anyone have any advice on being health-conscious when busy, somewhat poor (oh, graduate school stipend!), and incompetent? I just want stuff that I can buy and cook for myself that will increase the amount of time between now and my death. I'm working around a seriously pedestrian set of tastes, too; I'm one of those people who would go vegetarian, for health and ethics, except that beef tastes so good. I'm really not sure I can go without hamburgers, but hamburgers will kill me. It is a quandary.

To everyone in this thread hoping to lose weight/get healthy, rock on and good luck. I think that the health-focused approach is best, definitely; I'm the kind of person who basically never loses weight, but I do what I can to keep myself active and well, and thus far it seems to be working even if the scale isn't reflecting it. Self-improvement is never a bad idea.

Jough, my condolences. Definitely, definitely start monitoring blood sugar, since even if you can stop collapsing you're going to want to stay even-tempered, which blood sugar problems can fuck with fast. Take care, man. I'm not sure how to say this without sounding flip, but... it would suck if you died.

[AlohaDawg]

V-

It's a bizarre thing in our society, but the less money you have the harder it is to eat a healthy diet. There is a funny but fairly OK cookbook called 'Help! My Apartment Has a Kitchen!' which is meant especially for your demographic and situation. That might help you develop some basic skills/ideas about cooking both for yourself and for others.

Beyond that, eating fresh fruits and vegetables, limiting fat and red meat, whole grains and avoiding complex carbs will pay off in the long run. I think for some people in grad school and research roles, a big problem (aside from finances for many) is finding time to shop for and prepare healthy meals, especially if you have lab projects that make your schedule irregular.

So, back to the wellness drum I've been thumping; make sure to make time for yourself to engage in all those other aspects of life beyond your educational/occupational life. That's where your time to devote to your health and relationships is.

Go Bucks! (Every fall, I want to go back to Columbus on a home football Saturday. One of these years...)

[AugustWest]

a seriously pedestrian set of tastes,

For some odd reason that I really don't want to contemplate, I first perceived this phrase as, "a serious pedestrian set of testes..."

You must admit that's a strange image.

[robot_god]

I can post a picture of this gut that won't go away. Any of you other guys have this problem? I have great blood pressure, get lots of great outdoors excercise and this paunch won't budge. Maybe I need Pilates or yoga or something. I actually want to keep my weight the same but lose the paunch and put on upper body muscle.

Yes.

When I dieted hardcore, the gut went gone, but when I stopped dieting it returned with a vengeance.  Now that I have been exercising regularly and reduced calories slightly, I've become distinctly stronger, muscles have become distinctly more cut, and my gut has actually gotten fatter.  My belts will confirm this if you ask them.






Anyways, I would like to weigh in on this competition.

Current:    211 lbs (95 kg)
Goal:        185 lbs by January 1st, 2007 (84 kg by 1st January, 2007)
Method:   Cardio, weights, no food before sleeping, everytime I eat chocolate I will drop a softball onto my testes from a height of three ft. (91.44 cm)




If we are unsuccessful, then I suggest we start a lottery pool, and when it wins, all travel to Mexico for discount lipo.

[jough]

I'm not really sure when or how this turned into a competition.  I mean, my goal is not to die by the end of the year, so if I achieve it, I guess I "win."

I'm still trying to find a decent/easy way to keep track of what I eat, along with my progress, etc.  I think I'm looking for something with a nutrition database (so I can track what I've consumed in terms of vitamins, fat, carbs, calories, etc.) and also has a journal or blog-like component. 

Of course, being a dude who makes web sites, I guess my last option is to build the thing, but of course that also means more hours sitting here.  Hm...

[JorgeFabregas]

Jough, I recommended Calorie King earlier. It won't list vitamins, but it'll list everything else you mentioned. No blog, either, but it seems that might be easily remedied.

[side_show]

In regard to the competition/wager/off track betting aspect of all this, I propose the following:

We each set a reasonable goal for ourselves, that we personally feel will be highly challenging but not impossible, which we hope to reach by a mutually decided upon date in September.  S/he who reaches and/or exceeds said goal by the most tangible measure on this date would be the "winner," s/he who fails to reach said goal by the most tangible measure on this date is the loser and must donate$50 dollars to the charity of the winner's choice. 

As for everyone else who falls in the middle , what do we want to do?  We could say the middling people can bask in the glory of mediocrity, or all those under the "winner" could all be declaired losers, meaning that everyone that participates, but the one winner, are all losers and have to donate.  We could have the board vote on who the winner/loser is based on stated goal vs results.

My goal for September, as I noted before is: to have lost at least 20 pounds and be able to run three miles in under 30 minutes on an elliptical trainer.  This is not to say that the working-toward-wellness goal wont be on-going after September (i.e. for me I hope to lose and additional 50 pounds or so in the long term), but that during the entire summer, anyone who wants to participate, will have a specific goal they can focus on/compeat for.  It's a jump start toward a healthier life.

Jough, it's definitly best that you wait on all your doctor's results before setting a specific goal, but I'm sure after all the tests are in that your doc will want to set some goals for you anyway, and that you want to set some goals for yourself.  Once you know what's up, I'm sure you'll feel a little less overwhelmed, and can start thinking positivly about your future.  For you, a big victory could probably be a physical feat, like walking to a certain location that you chose and back - some distance that you can't walk now, but that you think you might realistically achieve in 3 months with steady effort toward the goal.

Anyone who wants to be part of the wager, I propose we all trust each other to set our own reasonable personal goals, that we state them here, report back regularly, and also trust each other that we report back our September results honestly.  For me anyway, it's more about working toward something, with a specific goal and a clear negative result if I fail (for me $50 is a lot of money, and being confined to a wheelchair is a scary fate that I want to put off).

Also, for anyone who worries about spending too much time at the computer, got to this website. Even though the clock leaves out a lot of other important factors, once you have your death clock, it's really scary to actually see seconds of your life ticking away. The clock says I'm dying on Monday, Dec 9th, 2052.  I'm interested in checking back in September to see how much the date's changed.

[wombat]

Also, for anyone who worries about spending too much time at the computer, got to this website. Even though the clock leaves out a lot of other important factors, once you have your death clock, it's really scary to actually see seconds of your life ticking away.

Oh, so not clicking.

If we all meet our goals, do you cut up the boob string and send each of us a piece?

I skipped dessert the last two days.  I thought of you all. 

[AugustWest]

I'm not really into the wagering/competition thing.  That just doens't work well for me in general, and doesn't fit well with what I'm trying to do.  I think mutual support is more what I've got in mind, but I think this thread will work for that too, so I'm good.

RE: Guts that won't go away.  Count me in.  I'm graaaaadually losing weight, my muscles are hard and I can do more than I used to.  But I'm not moving to any new holes on the belt.  It kind of sucks, but I'm taking it philosophically.  If I'm feeling better and my blood pressure's down, I can live with a big gut.

[side_show]

Oh, so not clicking.

wombat: it is totally safe for work to click, but also very depressing.

If we all meet our goals, do you cut up the boob string and send each of us a piece?

Ah the boob string... Jeez wombat, you're really in to the boob string.  You've alluded to your own giant rack on occasion, are you curious as to who has the larger rack?  I seem to remember a time on IRC where the boys compaired their...  Anyway, is it something like that?  Don't worry, you'll always have the bigger rack to me, darling.

I will happily make copies of the boob string for all who achieve their goals and want one.

I skipped dessert the last two days.  I thought of you all.

Yesterday I went out for lunch with a friend at our usual spot, where I normally always order chicken fingers and fries, and I ordered Dal Soup (aka vegetarian lentil soup) instead.  My friend was shocked.  It is not a good sign when eating healthy confuses your friends, but it was a small victory to eat a healthy meal at a restaurant.  Also, the soup was delicious.

[side_show]

I'm not really into the wagering/competition thing.  That just doens't work well for me in general, and doesn't fit well with what I'm trying to do.  I think mutual support is more what I've got in mind, but I think this thread will work for that too, so I'm good.

That's fine Aug, I certainly welcome those who wish to audit the course.  I'm sure everyone does.  I still wish to be punished if I fail/give up.  I need that sort of reinforcement.  Does anyone else want in on the bet/wager/competition aspect of this?  If not, I can just say that if I don't personally succeed, you all need to hold me to it, and I will donate $50 to jough's proposed charity - breast cancer.

[jough]

Jough, I recommended Calorie King earlier. It won't list vitamins, but it'll list everything else you mentioned. No blog, either, but it seems that might be easily remedied.

I did check that one out Jorge, thanks for the link.  I'll probably be looking at some other demos this week, too, to find something that suits my needs.  Calorie King looks pretty sweet, though, and they also offer a PalmOS version that I can carry with me, so that makes it a clear favourite so far.

I'm also not above making a web site to chart my progress, only because it's public and will keep me honest.  It may just be something as simple as a blog, and maybe someone's already done a "What I ate today" plug-in for WordPress.  I'll have to look into it.  I'd like my food tracking software to be able to export a day's food items to some usable format like XML or CSV.  That would be useful.

I use technology every day for every other aspect of my life, I may as well leverage my strengths to help me with this project too.

[jough]

I still wish to be punished

QFT.

Does anyone else want in on the bet/wager/competition aspect of this?  If not, I can just say that if I don't personally succeed, you all need to hold me to it, and I will donate $50 to jough's proposed charity - breast cancer.

I'm in for the contest if we set our own goals, but then if we succeed the charities get shafted then? 

I guess I'm not sure how such a contest would work.  I'm imagining this as that Seinfeld contest, but with health instead of masturbation.

[side_show]

Well, jough if there's only a couple of us in for the actual wager portion of things, there could be only one winner, deemed most sucessful as determined by the board - because there's nothing saying you can't exceed your goal, and all others would have to pay up to the charities.  So no, the charity wouldn't lose. 

Also, inregard to the Seinfeld thing... yeah, if I swore off something specific, like saying "I'll never eat Doritos again," you can damn well know I'd start wanting Doritos right now, and that I would eventually lose.  I don't want to lose, nor do I want to be on a diet, or in any situation where specific things are forbidden.  Since I am not swearing off anything, I've yet to have an actual craving for anything, which is very different from when I've been on actual diets.  This is a good thing.

[theinevitable]

a huge number of guys at my school did the seinfeld thing one year.
that was an awkward year. people were so... irritable. And they'd bring it up constantly.
"Tristan, why haven't you learned your lines yet?"
"do you know what, man? I haven't jacked-off in 2 months."
"oh. sorry."
"damn right! 2 months and 3 days"

the best were the guys who went out after like... a day. How could you need it that much? Maybe I am irregular in this.

returning to the actual topic, I think it would make the most sense if everyone who reached their goal was a "winner." Since speed is not healthy, and going beyond the goal is not necessarily a good thing in all circumstances.