Physical Culture -- Bodybuilding

[Connery]

If I could sum up my workouts, my diet and my lifestyle, I would say my diet and regimen is about striving for balance. I incorporate strength training ( body sculpting and bulking up) with cardio which means cycling, dancing or active yoga. I eat as well as I can fresh fruits, veggies, fish, little red meat and water (no soda), but, I have never met a cupcake I did not like. I do not stress over areas of my body that do not respond as quickly as others, but, I an mindful of more techniques with which to exercise. Over a lifetime of working out that it always comes down to the basics for me eating right, getting rest, exercising and mediating that which makes me feel as if I look great, but, that image of myself is more a reflection of a well toned body and self image than a muscle bound body.

 

[Stanley Doble]

I'm sorry say, but that is absolutely not true at all.

Quick example: http://ndb.nal.usda.gov/ndb/foods/show/2427



I do like the 5BX plan on the other hand

I must disagree. If I eat nothing but fresh fruit and vegetables, avoiding the starchy ones, I lose a pound a day no matter how much I eat. I have proven this many times. No salt, no sugar, no coffee, no tea, no liquor. Just fruits and vegetables.

By starchy ones I mean potatoes, beans, peas, and corn. So no lima beans lol.

Anything else goes. Usually when I am dieting I will have fruit for breakfast, salad for lunch and steamed vegetables for supper. I never stint and I never go hungry and I lose weight.

Unfortunately I can't stand to do this very long. After a few days or a week I will add protein foods like eggs, cheese, meat and fish in small amounts, more of a garnish or side dish than a meal. On that regimen I continue to lose weight but more slowly, 2 to 4 pounds per week.

(Note, in the past I have lived on the vegetable diet for weeks at a time and continued to lose a pound a day as long as I stuck with it)

Do you know the work of Dr. Hindhede of your native city during WW1? Under the naval blockade, the people were forced into a very restricted, almost vegetarian diet. The death rate fell to the lowest ever recorded in a European country.

"World War I became the world's concern in 1914, and a remarkable story[1] from that period has great implications for us, even today.

Dr. Martin Hindhede, chairman of the Danish Institute of Nutrition, had become convinced by previous research that a vegetarian-type diet would be beneficial for human health. He also knew that meat production required large quantities of grains and other plant foods. (Today we know that the production of one pound of meat protein requires six to ten pounds of plant protein.)[2]

Under a land and sea blockade by the Germans, Denmark could import no grains to support meat production, and its people were faced with severe food shortages. Dr. Hindhede convinced the Danes to embark on a large nutritional experiment that required a drastic change in the foods they ate. They slaughtered 80 percent of their hogs and 34 percent of their dairy cows. The grain that had previously been used to feed hogs and cattle became the major part of a new diet for the Danish people.

They started producing "war bread" from whole rye flour with 15 percent wheat and wheat bran. Until the war ended, each person by governmental decree was allowed a daily allowance of "very little meat" and small amounts of butter and milk. The main dietary staples were potatoes, cereals, and vegetables. Alcohol was forbidden, and no tea, coffee or tobacco were available. In essence, the large-scale Danish experiment observed all tenets of the Word of Wisdom.

The diet was low-meat, low-protein, low-cholesterol, low-fat and high-fiber.

Within a matter of weeks, the benefit of the Danes' new food plan was apparent. During the year from October 1917 to October1918 when food restrictions were the most severe, the death rate from disease had dropped over 34% from the average of the preceding 18 years. It was the lowest ever known in Europe. Furthermore, Denmark was the only nation in Europe not to have a significant rise in the death rate as a consequence of the 1917 influenza epidemic (emphasis ours). That statistic gives additional credence to recent evidence that a plant-centered diet increases immunity to infectious disease."

According to another account Dr. Hindhede's bread recipe included rye flour plus 20% barley and wheat bran. He said this gave a lighter more palatable loaf than the heavy, sour German rye bread.

It also said he reduced the grain supply to the breweries by 50% and shut down the distilleries entirely. Some beer was made, and some liquor was ageing in the bonded warehouses so alcohol was available but strictly rationed.

 

[nihil]

I think this is down to a misunderstanding of what calories are.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calorie
Calories are simply units of energy. It's not a indication of weather it's good or bad or anything. It's simply a unit of energy.
Fresh fruit and vegetables does contain energy. Otherwise it would have no nutritional value.

My criticism wasn't about you telling about your own diet. But simply to point out the misconception of calories.



To gain or lose weight, is basically a very simple question of spending more energy than you are consuming.
There are of course, many, many factors contributing to this. But overall, it's about energy consumption and expenditure.
A professor in nutrition from Kansas State University made this small interesting experiment to prove it: http://edition.cnn.com/2010/HEALTH/11/08/twinkie.diet.professor/index.html



If I may give you a suggestion, then try protein rich vegetables like green leaf lettuce, cucumbers or peas. That could give you some of the protein you need, without the need to eat meat.
But remember to eat varied in order to get all the nutrients, vitamins, etc. that your body need in order to function properly

 

[scottyrocks]

Since my stent implants about 6 weeks ago, I have changed my diet extensively. Since then, I have lost about a pound a week, which is the recommended rate. I cut out all fats that I could, and when I have to eat something with fat, it is always unsaturated, and never saturated fat.

Low sodium, and low to no cholesterol. Increased proteins, fruits and vegetables. Whole wheat bread products. Fiber.

And now that my heart can actually push blood to all parts of my body, I can run my 3 miles a few times a week with little stress to my upper body little shortness of breath.

I plan to make this routine permanent. The combination of running (cardio) and a diet light on fat, cholesterol and salt, and heavier on protein, with enough carbs to keep my diabetes in check, will restore me to the lean physique I had before what now realize was my clogged arteries that slowed me down noticeably over the last half dozen years.

 

[Old Rogue]

I do a 20 minute workout first thing each weekday morning. Mon/Wed/Fri I do three sets of 50 crunches on an exercise ball, along with a light upper body workout on my bowflex. I'm not looking to bulk up, but simply maintain good muscle tone. Tue/Thur I do 20 minutes on the exercise bike. I also do Taekwondo two nights a week. As a side note, it's somewhat disturbing to look at the average physical fitness levels of today's teenagers. At 53, I'm in better shape than most in my Taekwondo class.

As for diet, I try to eat reasonable portions and keep the fat content low. I also take a multivitamin, a low dose aspirin, and a glucosamin supplement each day. It seems to work for me (knock on wood). Physically, I'm able to do pretty much anything I want. I'm not on any prescription meds and other than the odd cold or virus once or twice a year I don't seem to get sick a lot.

 

[Stanley Doble]

My body doesn't understand what a calorie is. It reacts quite differently than the diet books say it is supposed to.

How about this. If I eat nothing but fruit and veg, I lose a pound a day. If I add one slice of bread, I lose half a pound. If I eat 2 slices of bread I lose nothing. 2 slices of bread do not weigh a pound. How do you explain that?

I know I am telling the truth but it sounds so bizarre no one will believe it unless they try it themselves but no one will try it. You would think fruits and vegetables were poison.

 

[nihil]

Not really. You probably just eat a low calorie diet.
The only way you can get no calories at all, is by only drinking water (or consuming nothing at all).
Fruits contain calories (energy), otherwise there would be no nutritional value and it wouldn't be classified as food.
Some animals and insects live exclusively off fruit. If there were no energy in it, how do you think their bodies would function?
To say that there is no energy in the food is the same as claiming your combustion engine car can drive without gasoline

 

[Yeps]

Does anyone here own one of the old Charles Atlas booklets?

 

[Flat Foot Floey]

It doesn't seem to improve manners or intelligence....

 

[Yeps]

It doesn't seem to improve manners or intelligence....

Naturally. Those must be improved outside the gym. Healthy mind, healthy body. Being a gentleman is advised as well.

 

[scottyrocks]

I also take a multivitamin, a low dose aspirin, and a glucosamin supplement each day. It seems to work for me (knock on wood). Physically, I'm able to do pretty much anything I want. I'm not on any prescription meds and other than the odd cold or virus once or twice a year I don't seem to get sick a lot.

I forgot about my meds and supplements. Over the years they have increased in number quite a bit.

I've been taking a high potency multi for years. Then I added C which less the frequency and severity of my colds (with rose hips for delayed release), garlic, glucosamine condroitin, mainly for my left knee, acidophilus, the best thing I ever did for my digestion, fish oil, saw palmetto, which was replaced by a stronger beta-prostate which contains chromium which helps control diabetes, and CoQ10 which helps the body generate energy. The body makes less of this as it ages.

 

[scottyrocks]

My body doesn't understand what a calorie is. It reacts quite differently than the diet books say it is supposed to.

How about this. If I eat nothing but fruit and veg, I lose a pound a day. If I add one slice of bread, I lose half a pound. If I eat 2 slices of bread I lose nothing. 2 slices of bread do not weigh a pound. How do you explain that?

I know I am telling the truth but it sounds so bizarre no one will believe it unless they try it themselves but no one will try it. You would think fruits and vegetables were poison.

You would have to find out what your body uses, or rather, how many calories it requires per day to maintain your weight. A nutritonist can most likely do this with you. Then just consume less than that number and you will lose weight.

 

[Stanley Doble]

When I say fresh fruit and vegetables contain no calories do not take me too literally. Of course they do. But some contain so little energy, that it literally takes more energy to eat and digest them, than they contain. Examples are green peppers and celery. Of course you can't live on green peppers and celery, that is not what I am suggesting.

What I am suggesting is that if you eat fresh fruit and vegetables, avoiding the starchy ones, you will be eating such large quantities of water and fibre, and such low calories, that counting calories becomes irrelevant. You can eat such foods without limit and still lose weight.

I didn't believe it either until I tried it.

By the way Yeps, I sent away for the Atlas course in the sixties. I still have it around here someplace.

 

[AntonAAK]

It doesn't seem to improve manners or intelligence....

Although it does claim to be able to give you a 'more magnetic personality'. [huh]

 

[Stanley Doble]

Found the Charles Atlas course. It consists of a series of 3 or 4 page lessons each in a blue paper cover, 15 in all.There are a number labeled Health and Strength by Charles Atlas plus others labeled Feats of Strength, Wrestling, Boxing, and Jiu Jitsu.

He must have sold hundreds of thousands over the years. If you want one I expect you could get it off Ebay or somewhere on the net.

It's all pretty obsolete stuff today, mostly Isometrics or what he called Dynamic Tension exercises.

 

[AntonAAK]

Is that crack aimed at me? I thought we were having an intelligent discussion.

I'm pretty sure FFF was refering to the behaviour of the chap in the advert.

 

[Yeps]

But some contain so little energy, that it literally takes more energy to eat and digest them, than they contain. Examples are green peppers and celery. Of course you can't live on green peppers and celery, that is not what I am suggesting.

No offense, but that is simply not true, although I was guilty of spreading that myth for a while. It w

By the way Yeps, I sent away for the Atlas course in the sixties. I still have it around here someplace.

A scan of that would make a great addition to this thread if you could dig it up.

 

[Stanley Doble]

All right, prove me wrong. Go ahead and eat nothing but fresh fruit and vegetables for 2 weeks and see what happens. No coffee, no tea, no booze, no salt, no sugar, no nothing just fresh fruit and vegetables (except corn, potatoes peas and beans). Stuff yourself till it's coming out of your ears, you will still lose weight if there is any excess fat on your body.

I have done this many times and the results are always the same.

The reason I had to do it many times is, it's boring. I always end up reaching for the beer and pizza. But that is my fault not the diet's.

............................................................

This is exactly what I was talking about in my first post. You link to a highly reputable, well known publication. It quotes the orthodox medical or scientific view.

Some wild haired health nut says different. Who to believe? This is the same dilemma I was confronted with 40 years ago.

In those days the official position of the American Medical Association was that what you eat, drink, and smoke has no effect on your health. Vitamins are a scam. You get all the vitamins you need in ordinary grocery store food. There is no proven connection between smoking and cancer or any other illness.

Linus Pauling was the great proponent of vitamins especially Vitamin C. Every orthodox health expert said he was nuts. His biggest critic was a doctor at the Mayo Clinic.

It happened both died within months of each other. Pauling was 94. The doctor was 66.

Professor Pauling was head of the chemistry department at Cal Tech for 42 years and was the only man in history to win 2 Nobel Prizes unassisted. Yet there are still those who say he lost his marbles when he said Vitamin C is good for you.

So as I said I went looking for proof. What authority could I believe? One of the ideas I came up with was to go back and see what happened to these guys. There were some quacks who were exposed as fakes. Some sincere but deluded people. And some whose work stood the test of time.

Another way was to try the experiments on myself, once my research convinced me that what I was about to try was at least harmless and at best beneficial.

What I learned was that there is a long history of health and fitness advice going back hundreds, and in some cases thousands of years. Some of it has stood the test of time and some has been disproved. But the orthodox opinion is not necessarily true and the health nuts are not necessarily wrong.

This does not even get into the spin, advertising and general air of bullshit that surrounds the whole subject of health and fitness.

So I still look to the "vintage" savants for what they have to offer.

 

[Stanley Doble]

I'm pretty sure FFF was refering to the behaviour of the chap in the advert.

Thanks, I figured that out after a while so I went back and changed my post. No offense meant to anyone.

 

[Flat Foot Floey]

I'm pretty sure FFF was refering to the behaviour of the chap in the advert.

Of course! Sorry for the confusion