# Healthy Changes Workout Programs and Clean Eating



## Greg from K/W (Jan 28, 2010)

It may seem weird to put this thread in Health and Safety. But lets think about this.

If your working all day flinging drywall around or taping or framing moving lumber does your shoulder hurt? Your back hurt? your legs hurt? 

Do you have extra around the middle that just doesn't want to move? I do. 

Being Healthy and fit with clean eating and proper exercise is proven to help eliminate injuries and illness. So why not put it in Health and Safety?

Kind of makes sense right? Your body is the most important tool we have. Yet we feed it crap and expect it to work at peak levels all the time. So lets take a look at what I am going to try. Maybe you don't agree with me but all I want to do is document my progress and show that someone that has gone through a majour health scare can come back from hell.

I had an aneurysm that tore apart the ascending aorta. It cause the left side of my heart to become enlarged. I had to have the aneurysm taken out and replaced with a 2" sleeve of Dacron. Then they replaced the valve with a mechanical one. 

That was just over 3 years ago. Let me tell ya the head job it does to ya to go through that. I never thought I would work again let alone go on a trip like I am. 

So when I tell you a whole book is closed and that I am Celebrating that you can now maybe understand a little why I say it.

So now enough of the past. I am done with all that. So here it goes.

What am I starting on Wednesday? What changes am I making in my eating to clean it up? 

I always ate kind of healthy. Though I had a real weakness for ice cream. Any flavour it was mine. 1 litre at a time. Like some of you I could eat anything I wanted. 

Now I have taken to something when I want ice cream Instead of buying a 2 litre carton or 1/2 gallon I now go to Dairy queen and buy a medium blizzard. Its like a small banana split mixed up in a cup the size of a medium pop at Mc Donald's. Its way less caloies and fat than buying a tub of ice cream. Its more money but I don't eat 2 litres a week. 

I am now measuring how much meat I eat. 5 grams per meal and less potatoes more veggies. Grilled or sautéed. 


Thats just the start of cleaning up my eating. I have not had ice cream in almost a month.

As far as working out I have been worried about hurting myself. So I am going to a gym and getting help from a trainer. Here is the place.


http://http://www.facebook.com/pages/Better-Body-Exchange/107068656021490?group_id=0

Clint the owner is going to help me avoid injury and help me improve the muscle tone I need. The class I will be doing is a TRX class. 

FOr those that don't know what that is check this out.

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.487806104614408.1073741827.107068656021490&type=1

Thats one of the classes. 

Here is an idea of what you can do with a TRX I will not be trying this I'm just showing what can be done. 






So this is a start guys. Like I said I have already started cleaning up my eating. This exercise program will take me far. I will post some pics of me now and show progress in the hopes of inspiring some to join me in this transformation and celebration of my future.


----------



## Inner10 (Mar 12, 2009)

Greg from K/W said:


> It may seem weird to put this thread in Health and Safety. But lets think about this.
> 
> If your working all day flinging drywall around or taping or framing moving lumber does your shoulder hurt? Your back hurt? your legs hurt?
> 
> ...


Heck of a story...but moving from a tub of Chapman's to a pint of DQ is more like my latest healthy choice of drinking a bottle of red wine instead of a 6 pack of beer every day.

Does K/W stand for Kitchener Waterloo?


----------



## Greg from K/W (Jan 28, 2010)

yes it does. I am near Ottawa and Courtland if ya know the area. 


LOL Ya well I would eat a large cereal bowl of ice cream in one sitting. a medium blizzard is half of that and I wont eat the rest of the box of ice cream the next day. 

So ya going to DQ is a treat I have not had for quite a while. Its great for me. I used to eat a whole box once or more a week.


----------



## Inner10 (Mar 12, 2009)

Greg from K/W said:


> yes it does. I am near Ottawa and Courtland if ya know the area.


Sure do, girlfriend grew up on Westchester.


----------



## ASInsulation (Aug 25, 2010)

Congrats and good luck! The first 3-5 months of the gym are always great, then the results slow down. but keep pushing through.

I had back problems(car accident) and shoulder issues(football) that always bothered me, especially when the seasons would change. Started going to the gym 4-6 times a week a few years ago, and I have had no major issues with either injury since. Back problems are more or less a non issue as opposed to being almost bed ridden, and the shoulder just gets a little uncomfortable when its wet out. Plus, its amazing how much easier work gets!


----------



## Greg from K/W (Jan 28, 2010)

Very true and your thinking gets clearer as well. Strength of body adds to strength of mind.


----------



## Greg from K/W (Jan 28, 2010)

Ok 1st TRX work out happens today. Class is at noon. I will be there early to be weighed and measured. Yes they are thorough. I will post my stats so that you and I can see how things change in time. I doubt you want to see it but I will post a pic too. after all no pic didn't happen right?

Have to eat 1 hour before to fuel the muscles. Preferably lean protein so I am going to make up some turkey bacon and have a sandwich of that on whole grain bread. I will have some organic yoghurt with fresh fruit with it and of course a pot of coffee.


----------



## Greg from K/W (Jan 28, 2010)

Here is an article on Soda pop that I found very interesting. Being a pepsi addict its very hard for me to not drink pop of any kind. I really love a rum and coke or Rye and ginger ale. I have to admit its hard to not order pop at a restaurant. 

Its been about a week since i have had any at all. Thats great for me I used to drink 4 to 8 litres a week. 

Here is the article.

http://www.ctvnews.ca/health/sugary-drinks-linked-to-staggering-180-000-deaths-each-year-study-1.1202272

What I have done and will continue to do it use sparkling water to stay away from pop. I like perrier and san pelligrino so I will buy a case of it at costco depending on which one is cheaper. I put a slice of lemon or lime in and it tastes sort of like sprite or 7 up.


----------



## Greg from K/W (Jan 28, 2010)

Breakfast today

4 slices of turkey bacon
1 slice of whole grain multi grain toast (Little butter)
1 cup of Libertie natural yoghurt (No sugar gelitine or starch added just bacteria)
1 spear of Pine Apple cut up
1 banana cut up
2 or 3 cups of coffee.


----------



## Greg from K/W (Jan 28, 2010)

My wife and i found it very startling to find almost every majour brand of yoghurt sour cream and cottage cheese has gelatine sugar and modified corn starch. So even have glycol in them. Why? Its sickening to see something that is great naturally and have this crap put into it. 

So we searched for a pure natural yoghurt and other dairy products that don't have it. The flavour is better and who really needs to eat all that crap.


----------



## Greg from K/W (Jan 28, 2010)

Well for a trial run that TRX class almost killed me. Could only do half of it. 

I literally thought I was going to puke. Burned every bit of energy my body had with only half of it. 

Had a protein shake right after and felt better. I most likely should have been drinking gator aid during the work out to fuel the muscles. Or even coconut water. 

I think I ate to short of a time before the work out too. I am going to talk to him about how to avoid that in the future. 

I do know that its hard to do TRX at a low intensity. You push yourself more than you think you do during the exercises. You also use every muscle in your body for almost every exercise. This most likely contributed to how I felt after. 

We will see what I can do to change it up. 

Onward and upward as they say.


----------



## Greg from K/W (Jan 28, 2010)

Wow shocker. I am officailly a lard ass. For now. Of course i jest at that. I will not be that big for very long. 

253 pounds and 35% body fat. I am 6' 1" I could be depressed about that but its a marker for a point of start. That is all. I am posting this all here guy because I know if I don't be honest with myself and show in public what I am accomplishing I won't do this. 

So anyone that wants to start something whether is riding their bike all day walking for a 1/2 hour every day. Something is better than nothing. Anything extra you do will improve your outlook and your body. Its guaranteed. Give it a try weigh yourself post it here and we can do it together. 

I mean why not encourage one another do to a work out or a walk bike hike swim? You will feel better and I will too.

Personal Training today. It will be my first session for 5 years. It will be better to have the trainer monitor what I am doing closer. I am very worried about injuring myself. Having him say its ok to do what I am doing will go a long way to help me over come what my mind is saying I can't do. 

I will let ya know how it goes.


----------



## kambrooks (Apr 24, 2012)

Greg from K/W said:


> Wow shocker. I am officailly a lard ass. For now. Of course i jest at that. I will not be that big for very long.
> 
> 253 pounds and 35% body fat. I am 6' 1" I could be depressed about that but its a marker for a point of start. That is all. I am posting this all here guy because I know if I don't be honest with myself and show in public what I am accomplishing I won't do this.
> 
> ...


This is an awesome lifestyle change. Good luck Greg.

*subscribed


----------



## Jim H (Jul 20, 2007)

Good for you Greg. Maybe this thread will motivate some of us to take better care of ourselves. 
I also had some heart issues a little over a year ago. Yes it does mess with your head. I instantly went on a binge diet,that did not last to long. 
I just started cleaning up a little too. I'm not going on a diet as i have found they don't work. I have cut back on the beer and cigars as well as concentrating on food moderation.
Working out is the next step(someday!).
Jim


----------



## BamBamm5144 (Jul 12, 2008)

Drink a glass of water before a meal. You'll eat less.


----------



## JR Shepstone (Jul 14, 2011)

6'-1", 256.8. *ding*

Congrats on your lifestyle change! It takes a lot of effort and can be disheartening at times, but push through and you will succeed. 

I'm trying to eat better and exercise more as well, it's a constant struggle. 

The one piece of advice I wanted to share was an app called My Fitness Pal. I'm not here to peddle products. I've found it to be super effective for tracking calories and meals. The best part is the label scanner. Whatever you eat, scan the bar code and the magic smoke inside knows all the info. 

Hope things work out for you!


----------



## Greg from K/W (Jan 28, 2010)

One of the biggest things to realize is that if you do the exercize right it will not hurt you. That is why I am seeing a personal trainer. When you have something as invasive as open heart surgery they cut your sternum in half. Crack you open. spread it open and use your spine as a hinge. (Very simplistic but its appropriate.) 

Then they wire your sternum back together. So after that you have the feeling of chest pain. Natural reaction is to curl your shoulders in and protect it. This becomes a reflex and then you have a hard time to break that. It become a psychological problem in that you don't want to try anything that could cause you injury to that area. 

The trainer is going to help me untrain that. Its has cause structural and posture problems for me. 

I am using this thread as a buddy trainer. I know if I tell you guys i am screwing up or doing something wrong that you will tease the **** out of me. He even brought ideas for an eating plan for me. When I get that I will post it here for you guys to see. 

One thing I thought is well I gained weight I will cut back my portion size and cut out as much bread as I eat and I should be good. 

Guess what I cut the portions back too much. I was starving myself. Also I fell into the 3 meal a day routine again. I need 6 meals to keep my body fuelled up. If I don't my blood sugar drops and I grab what ever is easy. Harveys or a slice of pizza out somewhere. That is bad bad bad. 

What i did today when I was caught out is grabbed a bowl of chili. Its high in fibre has decent protein. Little high in fat but I will deal with that.

You can eat out but you have to be aware of whats in the food. I love burgers but if I eat them out I have to illuminate the bread and make sure its fire grilled. Easy as that.


----------



## Greg from K/W (Jan 28, 2010)

Jim H said:


> Good for you Greg. Maybe this thread will motivate some of us to take better care of ourselves.
> I also had some heart issues a little over a year ago. Yes it does mess with your head. I instantly went on a binge diet,that did not last to long.
> I just started cleaning up a little too. I'm not going on a diet as i have found they don't work. I have cut back on the beer and cigars as well as concentrating on food moderation.
> Working out is the next step(someday!).
> Jim


I have only eaten one serving for years but its a tricky one to gauge. Eat too little you put your body into starvation mode. It will store everything you eat. Eat the wrong stuff it goes right into sugar and then fat. Same thing.


----------



## ASInsulation (Aug 25, 2010)

just don't read too much into the extras put into all the food products. if you dig into ANYTHING too much, you will find a problem with it!

Other then that, you have got all the right ideas. training your body is just like running your business. knowing where you are healthwise is just the same as knowing your business finances, and allows you to plan for your goals and benchmarks accurately.

I know even after working out and being in good shape, I started the p90x program to see how I would do. I figured it would be a breeze, and man was I wrong. It was like I was starting over again. But it was that much more satisfying when I completed the program.

Its also all about changing habits. The better habits your implementing are going to improve life in many ways other then strictly physical health.

Now, if only I could follow my own advice and stop smoking


----------



## Roofcheck (Dec 27, 2011)

Great story good luck. Good idea to hire a personal trainer... watching this video without direction in form or function some fat guy (me) could easily throw out a back doing it wrong. 

Walking is a great way to start any routine. 6'5- 265 at Christmas down to 255. I walk as often as I can, does the body good without too much danger of damage. 

Can't imagine how fat I'd be if I was injured, bedridden while the sun is out and the weather is nice. I'd eat my feelings.


----------



## Roofcheck (Dec 27, 2011)

BamBamm5144 said:


> Drink a glass of water before a meal. You'll eat less.


 Not beer? Huh.


----------



## ASInsulation (Aug 25, 2010)

and another note. don't starve your body of the bread and pasta's and all that. You need to find a balance that works for your metabolism. Put it like this.

If I handed you $5,000 free and clear, and you knew your bank account was stocked up and you had more income to follow, you would blow right through that 5 grand on a new toy or whatever the case may be.

If you had a nice bank account, and you got that 5 grand WITHOUT more income to follow, you would spend freely until things got tight, and then start to pay more attention to every penny.

If you were flat broke and got 5 grand, that money is going to LAST! Every cent will have a purpose and you will do without some essentials.

Same thing with your carbohydrates. if you overload your body with it, you will burn them faster and retain the excess. If you start to pay attention to what you are taking in now, and work it into your daily routine, your body will budget on this and burn what needs to be burned and retain a reserve while letting the excess go. If you starve your body of carbs, once you intake them again, your body will soak them up, and store everything possible, even in place of proteins and vitamins that it needs. Keep on eating bread, pasta, and all that because it DOES have a place in your diet.


----------



## Greg from K/W (Jan 28, 2010)

Yes you are right about the carbs. I am not cutting out all carbs. Lots of no or low carb diets tell you to cut all carbs out. I am not doing that. I am simply replacing the bad carbs with good ones. 

For instance. I always felt I have an intolerance for wheat. So I am cutting out breads and replacing them with more veggies at all meals. Up them way high and cut out the bread you will not miss it. 

Once a week for one meal I will have a cheat meal. I cannot tell you how many times a month I will go for pasta or pizza or lasagna. I love pasta. 

Along with that bread will be a huge cheat for me. I could eat peanut butter toast every morning if I let myself. I will replace that with scrambled eggs and turkey sausage. Protein shakes will be a bigger part of my complete daily meal planning. 

Now my trainer doesn't think egg whites are a good protein for a shake. But I cannot stand the taste of whey or soy protein. So egg whites in them are going to be what I do. I have great ideas for them if you guys want me to post them I will.


----------



## Eric K (Nov 24, 2005)

Throw the Gatorade away. Too much sugar. Try drinking a BCAA drink before/during and a protien drink after. Look up Modern BCAA. It's an amino acid that helps recovery 100%. Also if there's a crossfit gym by you take a look into it. Best move I ever made. Was going to chiropractor 2 times a week and now I'm in once every 3-4 weeks for a "tune up".


----------



## Greg from K/W (Jan 28, 2010)

Roofcheck said:


> Not beer? Huh.


Damn beer is going to be one thing I cannot give up. 1 beer once in a while won't be terrible. its when you drink 5 in a day it will kill ya.


----------



## Greg from K/W (Jan 28, 2010)

Eric K said:


> Throw the Gatorade away. Too much sugar. Try drinking a BCAA drink before/during and a protien drink after. Look up Modern BCAA. It's an amino acid that helps recovery 100%. Also if there's a crossfit gym by you take a look into it. Best move I ever made. Was going to chiropractor 2 times a week and now I'm in once every 3-4 weeks for a "tune up".


I drink the G2 and its only for during the work out. At only 20 cal per 250 ml serving its no where near as bad as the regular gatorade. I used to take the original stuff and dilute it by 50% because it was way too sweet.

The new G2 is not like the original stuff. I will look into the BCAA and see what its about. 

Again there is a cross fit and I think they are a good place. For me I need the one on one training this guy will give me. Cross Fit is only a class course and they won't do one on one that I need. I looked into that. 

Thanks for posting about that though. Some others hear will maybe benefit from that info. Here is a link to them.

http://www.crossfit.com/

http://crossfitkitchener.com/faqs/what-is-crossfit/

I am in no way near the classes that they offer. I have no doubt that they can and will do some great things for people. Just not this people.


----------



## ASInsulation (Aug 25, 2010)

one a day?!?! well, seeing as I don't drink unless i am going out, and I only go out once or twice a month, it just about balances out :thumbup:

I'd like to hear about the egg whites as well. I am the opposite. not a huge fan of eggs, but whey protein just doesn't quite give me enough alone.


----------



## Greg from K/W (Jan 28, 2010)

ASInsulation said:


> one a day?!?! well, seeing as I don't drink unless i am going out, and I only go out once or twice a month, it just about balances out :thumbup:
> 
> I'd like to hear about the egg whites as well. I am the opposite. not a huge fan of eggs, but whey protein just doesn't quite give me enough alone.


Use booze as part of your cheat meal. One meal a week you plan what you want your meal to be. Add in beer wine whiskey and leave it alone the rest of the week. That is easy cause you look forward to it them and savour it.

My wife started using egg whites in her shakes every morning. She was having too much trouble with whey and soy. 

So what I do depending on what I want is through in it.

1/4 cup of egg whites (We use the ones from the store in the carton. They are pasteurized)
1/2 a large banana
1/2 cup natural yoghurt.
1/4 cup cottage cheese (add some protein and thickens it up some)
teaspoon of natural maple syrup
cut up and core an apple
a spear or two of pineapple.
Blend till its all mixed.


My wife likes Rice Dream instead of using milk

So something different


Chocolate monkey
Same amounts of eggs and stuff
1 whole banana 
and 1/2 cup chocolate Rice dream

Banana split
Same as above add in natural vanilla 
add 1/2 cup fresh or frozen sour cherries

With these you can add ice to them. It makes the texture thicker and creamier. I prefer not to myself. Drink them with a straw it slows you down and makes it feel like your having more than you are.


----------



## Greg from K/W (Jan 28, 2010)

Recovery after work out is very important.

BCAA as was mentioned may help the recovery of the muscles. Personally I know nothing about them. 

I use glutamine after a work out. It helps clear out the acid in the muscle and helps the repair. 

I don't know why other than its a base that is needed to build protein. I use a dual stage and have had good success with it. 

As far as anything else I am simply using the G2 to replace the electrolytes i loose through sweat during the work out. Loosing salts and only drinking water can and is dangerous. So G2 helps keep them balanced.


----------



## ASInsulation (Aug 25, 2010)

gonna give it a spin this morning. will keep you updated when i have some down time in a bit!


----------



## Greg from K/W (Jan 28, 2010)

Well Training starts tomorrow. Looking forward to it. Going to be some hard work but it will be fun too. Renovating is always fun.


----------



## Greg from K/W (Jan 28, 2010)

I was very good this past weekend. I did sneak a beer in Sat night. I don't weigh myself everyday just once each work out day when I get up and on friday. From Friday to today i dropped 2 pounds. Will be interesting to see what happens over the rest of the week.

I think if you focus too much on the number it can be discouraging to see an up and down movement each day.

One thing I am going to do too is keep a mental note on how my jeans fit over the week and month. Though my biggest area is my stomach so that isn't a real accurate mile stone. 

I should see about a measure tape and measure my stomach.


----------



## JR Shepstone (Jul 14, 2011)

Greg from K/W said:


> I was very good this past weekend. I did sneak a beer in Sat night. I don't weigh myself everyday just once each work out day when I get up and on friday. From Friday to today i dropped 2 pounds. Will be interesting to see what happens over the rest of the week.
> 
> I think if you focus too much on the number it can be discouraging to see an up and down movement each day.
> 
> ...


Weigh in days should be weekly at max preferably mid week so any crap you ate/drank can work its way out and give a more honest number. Get on the scale after your morning "routine".


----------



## Greg from K/W (Jan 28, 2010)

Mental outlook on this can take you further or drag you down. 

I try not to use negative terms while I am doing this. 

Words like Diet, Weight loss, restrict, Have too, Can't, Change our outlook on it for the worse. These words denote we are missing out on something.
Or even depriving ourselves.

I am not on a diet I am eating clean. This does not involve restricting what I eat just substituting. 

I cut fat not loose weight. No one likes to loose things or be labelled a looser. It denotes being deprived of something. Cutting fat is a decision and a move to a healthier body.

So I can eat what ever I want and make healthier choices. I can eat cake or pie with my cheat meal. I can have beer or wine with my cheat meal.

I will drink perrier instead of pop. Its easy to make this simple change in how we look at it and have a better mental outlook on these changes.

I will eat a cut up veggie plate. I will leave the chips at the store.

I will go for a half hour walk before I relax for the night in front of the T.V. LOL.

I hope that these tips give you guys ideas on how to change your outlook. Its easy to switch a few words to get your self to do something positive.


----------



## Greg from K/W (Jan 28, 2010)

JR Shepstone said:


> Weigh in days should be weekly at max preferably mid week so any crap you ate/drank can work its way out and give a more honest number. Get on the scale after your morning "routine".


I can agree with that. After the morning routine LOL Yup can loose a few pounds there for sure.


----------



## JR Shepstone (Jul 14, 2011)

Greg from K/W said:


> I can agree with that. After the morning routine LOL Yup can loose a few pounds there for sure.


Just for sh!ts and gigs, try it once before, and once after. Maybe one day you actually would be 5 lbs lighter.


----------



## Greg from K/W (Jan 28, 2010)

I might Sh!tz myself if I giggle too much.


----------



## Greg from K/W (Jan 28, 2010)

Had a good work out this morning. Did 2 rounds of the following and as many as I could do.

barbell lunges with 20 pound bells 15 ea leg

vampire flies. Grab the oposite handle on the cables facing the machine and cross your arms at your chest. Then pull the gables out as you extend your arms to each side. Works your tricepts and chest. 15 pound 20X

next was inclined row pulls. 20 pound weights each hand and incline chest on board and pull the weights straight back bending the elbow like a chicken wing behind you. Works chest arms and rhomboids. 15 to 20X

Inclined flies. Laying on your incline board raise the bells over your chest with arms straight and lower them to your side without bending the arm. 25 pounds 15X

Hammer curls. Grab the dumb bells like a hammer handle wrist straight out. Start curl with bell bellow arm straight each side. Do a curl up bringing the dumb bell to your shoulder.

Bar curls 25 pound bar raise it up to your chest and bring your elbows up keeping elbows above your hands. 20 X Both hands used to hold bar start at waist and raise the bar up keeping close to the body.

Kettle bell squats. 25 pound kettle bell feet wide and toes pointed out grab kettle bell and keeping your head up squat. Butt sticks out and the kettle bell stays in line with the legs. 20X

crunches 20 to 25 crunches on the swiss ball. Upper back on the ball and body straight. Flex from the hips and do a crunch no pressure on neck and should feel only the abs and the lower back engage. 

Did that 2x in 1 hour. Needed a few breaks but it felt good. Like he told be with proper form there is no pain. Bad form will cause joint pain. I had none at all before during or after.

Snack after 1/2 cup egg white omelette. 2 hours later a smoothie from cultures blue berries and raspberries. 30 Grams of protein. Felt really good after and now. Went to the chiro and help did some ART (Active release therapy) On my neck and I feel great. Had to say hi to my abs though wow. Nice to have em back in action again.


----------



## Greg from K/W (Jan 28, 2010)

There are a number of calculators if you do a google search. This one is a daily calorie calculator. Tells you how many calories you need. 

I was going to a personal trainer about 6 years ago. She told me I needed to have 2800 calories a day just to sit and watch T.V. It was accurate. 

Add to that lugging lumber on a rough job site. 

Hauling your arse up and down stairs all day installing trim. 

loading and unloading your tools in the morning and at night.

These are just few things of our jobs that burn calories. Take all of these and more and figure out how may calories you use carrying 40 to 70 pounds around even for a 1/2 hour. It ups the count quit a bit. 

Here is the calculator if your not eating enough your starving your body.

http://www.freedieting.com/tools/calorie_calculator.htm


----------



## Fishhook (Feb 1, 2013)

Great thread,Greg! I like the clean-eating mentality. Diets,i find hardly ever work-they're tough to sustain for more than a few weeks...And I never ate all that poorly,it was the grabbing lunches on the fly,that I needed to clean-up...and so far,cleaning up my eating habits has paid off! And I'm glad to see that I'm not the only one doing so! Cheers!


----------

