New Year Healthier Living

gonna post stuff here as motivation material so in case I consider stopping I’ll have this to look back on.

did week 3 day 1 of the couch to 5k plan today and it went a lot better than I thought it was going to. managed to keep 9.5kmph the whole way and 11kmph for the last minute. was really dreading it over the weekend for some reason. also doing a dumbbell workout that bluto posted in the lifting thread and slowly increasing weights/reps on that too, and also doing long powerwalks when its not a gym and running day. tonight was also the first night I finished everything without feeling as though I was going to die, which is nice.

feeling the best I have in years. still early days (this is week 3 of the routine) but hopefully I can keep it up.

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Is there a general running thread? This might do if not.

I’m going to start running. Have never really ran before but play football and cycle frequently so my fitness is okay but not great tbh. Is there anything I need to know? I went on a test run last night and did 3.5k at a quite slow pace and felt better than expected. Would ideally like to build up to doing a 10k and increase my fitness levels and stamina, ideally with a way of tracking progress/improvement along the way.

Help me DiS, I know nothing.

couch to 5k/10k?

I’ve done the 5k one before (11 years ago), thought it was great, and am doing it again now. the 5k programme advises not to skip weeks even if you think you can as far as i’m aware, but that’s up to you, I guess. if you can already do 3.5k no sweat then maybe?

also definitely worth getting properly fitted for running shoes in a shop.

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There is a general running thread! (don’t know
why I should know this, but hey…)
https://community.drownedinsound.com/t/running-thread-for-2019/33424/691

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For easy free tracking, most people seem to use Strava on their phones. There’s better solutions, but they’ll cost you. If you check the DiS running threads there’ll be a link.

Would echo what Prof says about getting a solid pair of shoes from a running shop. It’ll cost you for your first pair, but your feet and legs will thank you for it.

Does anyone have any experience with mixing the Keto diet and weights? I’ve finally given in to trying it as I’ll try anyone once and people seem to get excellent results from it. I’m only two days in so very early days but my gym session this morning was rubbish, my grip on everything was very noticeably weaker. Maybe because I didn’t really have a substantial breakfast but I’m wondering if the two will be compatible?

nope, sorry.

did a lot of long slow distance cycling when i was doing keto and found it pretty good for that. it’s not meant to be great for stuff where you need a hard burst of energy though like sprinting or weightlifting.

just persevere for a couple of days and see how you go i guess. the first week is usually the hardest.

Not for a long time —> not since I got therapy for my eating disorder tbh.

There is no doubt that this will work- you will melt off fat, especially if you exercise on this kind of low carb diet. God, I don’t need to explain the science OBVIOUSLY to you of all people.
However, it made me feel very lightheaded and sick tbh and I felt my performance was compromised a great deal at first, although you do get better at it. I guess it depends how intensely you want to exercise.

I like a banana before a workout for a burst of energy (probably not very good for you tbh) and keto rules that kind of thing out. It might affect your hockey performance. Is there any scope to do keto during the week and eat more carbs at weekends for matches? (or does that fuck with ketosis too much?)

Yeah I guess I’ll try to stick it out for a week or so to see how it goes but I need short, explosive energy for hockey too so it might not be the best idea.

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Dunno is five days at a time long enough?

To be honest I think it might be completely incompatible with my lifestyle (travelling a lot and being away from a kitchen) but the results look sooo good

Jumping on this @dots I’d suggest getting a cheapish GPS watch off gumtree/ebay if you can. Can get a second hand tomtom runner for £40-50 and its so worth it. More accurate, less faff and easier to carry/check than a phone. Mine was second hand when I got it 3 years ago and has lasted 2 marathons and 2,500km without any issues and me ever considering an upgrade

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Also posting from the airport where I’ve ate and drank non stop for a week, smashed the tabs pretty hard too. After leaving drinks at work next week I’m going to go booze and fag free til Christmas I think, feeling doughy as fuck

i wouldn’t recommend it. going in / out of ketosis is by far the worst part. once you’re there it’s fine though.

you could try eating something carby directly before exercise? like an hour before or something and see how that goes? hopefully that would be burnt off and so wouldn’t be enough to kick you out.

gonna be a trial and error thing though

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Are you always travelling or is there a lull in your diary coming up of 3-4 weeks?
If so I’d be inclined to diarise for that lull and fully commit to those weeks on the diet, even if it means paring back some of the more intense gym activity for that spell- it won’t do your muscles any harm to have some recovery time, and you can do more low intensity cardio and probably still get the same (even better) fat-burning effect!
After that period you can assess how it’s going and either continue or stop?

No harm in trying (assuming you’re not medical prevented from doing so?)

That’s a good point re the carb thing- it’s not an entirely NO carb diet, just low- you could always save your carb element for before exercise?

aye?

I’ve got a free-ish week to ten days without travel so I figured this would be a good time to start. Normally I’m away at least a couple of days a week and trying to find the right options for lunch and dinner can be difficult (breakfast is pretty easy!) I had thought about using my carb allowance for just before a workout but I wasn’t sure if doing that was a bad thing.

Why not give it a whirl and see how you go! If it’s going well then you won’t mind the inconvenience of what you eat when you’re away again in 10 days, and you’ll perhaps have found your confidence in what works in the diet for you?

Yep, I’ll report back this tine next week!

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