10 replies to this topic

[Guinea Pig]

Hello, World!

I would like 2014 to be 'my year of transformation' and I think You could help me out, helping me decide what I should do and what I should skip.

I would like to be, in order of importance, less prone to disease and increase chance of living a long life, become less tired, become slimmer, stronger and faster.

If I during the process could regain some hairs at the top of my head and get slightly whiter teeth, that would be a bonus.

Preconditions: 35 years old male living in Sweden. Wife and four children (0 - 7 years old). Working daytime in a office. 170 cm and 68 kg (5 ft 7 inches and 150 lbs). Normal shape, working out infrequently. No diseases or allergies. Omnivore; I'm eating to much lousy fat, crisps etc but not alot of sugar. Drinking alcohol swedish-style i.e. nothing sunday through thursday, a little during the weekends (3-4 small cans of beer) and way to much two to three times a year.

A normal day: Rise and shine 05:30. One cup of coffee. One small sandwich (butter and cheese) while walking (6 minutes) to the bus. Coffee time at 09:15, one cup of coffee and one small sandwich (butter, some vegetables and cheese). Lunchtime at 11:30 (leftovers from yesterday's dinner most of the days). 14:00, another coffee break. 16:00, end of work. At 17:00 dinner. Nothing fancy, something the kids accept. Some kind of vegetable is included. This and that all evening. 22:00, crash into bed, minor headache.

Alot of things could be improved as you see but, what should I focus on and exactly how should I do it? I'm a fairly intelligent man (after all, you can understand most of this text even though english is only my third language) and I have time to do preparations and what not. What should I do and how should I do it.

Make a detailed list and I'll be your guinea pig all next year!
=)

[Guinea Pig]

I was thinking something like this (somewhat boring, I know, but that is why I ask for help):

(Additions in red)

A normal day: Rise and shine 05:30. One small glass of water. 25 push ups or 35 squats. Cold shower, focus on upper back according to the thesis in 4HB. One cup of coffee. One small paleo sandwich with hummus or mashed blueberries while walking (6 minutes) to the bus. 15 pull ups (got a bar in my office doorway) just before Coffee break at 09:15, one cup of coffee and one small paleo sandwich with hummus or mashed blueberries. A small glass of water. Et ceterea...

Edited by Guinea Pig, 02 December 2013 - 06:52 PM.

[blood]

Something very helpful to me while introducing lifestyle changes was a fitbit flex.

It's a small, wrist-band pedometer that one can wear 24/7.

Activity readings are uploaded to the fitbit website, and can be inspected via an iOS app, or on the fitbit web site.

Very useful for quantifying exactly how active or inactive you really are.

I check my fitbit dashboard morning and evening; if I find in the evening that I haven't reached my minimum target of 10,000 steps, I'll go for an evening walk or jog.

I also use the fitbit wifi scales - which gives weight and body fat $ readings (also uploaded to the fitbit web site).

The fitbit flex was the best $100 health investment I've ever made.

[niner]

Guinea Pig, you're asking an important question: What can a busy guy with a job and a couple kids do to get more healthy? The biggest challenge is getting the changes to be a permanent part of your life rather than something that seems like a punishment and is ultimately not sustainable. Adding a good olive oil to your diet is pretty easy. Butter and cheese aren't the worst thing you could eat. Butter is better than margarine, although it's high in dietary AGEs. I like weight lifting better than things like pushups, because you can select the exact weight that's right for you muscles. High Intensity Interval Training gets you a lot of cardiovascular bang for the buck, because it can be so quick. Three sets of twenty seconds at near-maximal output, with a minute or two rest in between, is enough to make a significant difference. A stationary bike with an ergometer is my favorite way to implement that.

Try to reduce any processed foods in your diet, and increase vegetables. What's a paleo sandwich? No bread?

[rosen]

Something very helpful to me while introducing lifestyle changes was a fitbit flex.

It's a small, wrist-band pedometer that one can wear 24/7.

Activity readings are uploaded to the fitbit website, and can be inspected via an iOS app, or on the fitbit web site.

Very useful for quantifying exactly how active or inactive you really are.

I check my fitbit dashboard morning and evening; if I find in the evening that I haven't reached my minimum target of 10,000 steps, I'll go for an evening walk or jog.

I also use the fitbit wifi scales - which gives weight and body fat $ readings (also uploaded to the fitbit web site).

The fitbit flex was the best $100 health investment I've ever made.

That seriously sounds like one of the worst investments one could make. How about you just start living an active lifestyle instead of CHECKING how active you are. In my opinion that sounds ridiculous. I mean, bodybuilders who focus on their bodies pretty much 24/7 don't even care for stuff like that so why would you? If you FEEL like you haven't been active enough during the day then you should definitely go for an evening walk, not if your computer screen tells you to...

Guinea Pig, you're asking an important question: What can a busy guy with a job and a couple kids do to get more healthy? The biggest challenge is getting the changes to be a permanent part of your life rather than something that seems like a punishment and is ultimately not sustainable. Adding a good olive oil to your diet is pretty easy. Butter and cheese aren't the worst thing you could eat. Butter is better than margarine, although it's high in dietary AGEs. I like weight lifting better than things like pushups, because you can select the exact weight that's right for you muscles. High Intensity Interval Training gets you a lot of cardiovascular bang for the buck, because it can be so quick. Three sets of twenty seconds at near-maximal output, with a minute or two rest in between, is enough to make a significant difference. A stationary bike with an ergometer is my favorite way to implement that.

Try to reduce any processed foods in your diet, and increase vegetables. What's a paleo sandwich? No bread?

I think this is really good advice. If you (Guinea Pig) do the same exercises you mentioned every day: push ups, squats and pull ups then you are focusing on the same muscles every day without allowing the muscles to recover properly. Fitness people usually say atleast 48 hours of resting a particular muscle before you attack it again, something worth keeping in mind. Especially if you start working out in the gym as this breaks down the muscles more than body weight exercises.

[blood]

That seriously sounds like one of the worst investments one could make. How about you just start living an active lifestyle instead of CHECKING how active you are. In my opinion that sounds ridiculous. I mean, bodybuilders who focus on their bodies pretty much 24/7 don't even care for stuff like that so why would you? If you FEEL like you haven't been active enough during the day then you should definitely go for an evening walk, not if your computer screen tells you to...

"Just start living an active lifestyle" - what does that even mean? I have no interest in sports, cycling, hiking, etc. My aim is to build activity into my daily life - primarily through walking. I have a target for the amount of activity I want to incorporate over the course of a day. A pedometer provides objective feedback on my progress. Deciding to exercise or not based on how I "feel" seems like a dumb strategy. (Makes about as much sense as assessing my weight based on how I "feel", rather than stepping on the scales). Wanting to reach my target is a motivational factor that works for me.

Use of pedometers are a well validated strategy for increasing activity levels:

Using Pedometers to Increase Physical Activity and Improve Health

A Systematic Review

Dena M. Bravata, MD, MS; Crystal Smith-Spangler, MD; Vandana Sundaram, MPH; Allison L. Gienger, BA; Nancy Lin, ScD; Robyn Lewis, MA; Christopher D. Stave, MLS; Ingram Olkin, PhD; John R. Sirard, PhD

JAMA. 2007;298(19):2296-2304. doi:10.1001/jama.298.19.2296.

ABSTRACT

Context
Without detailed evidence of their effectiveness, pedometers have recently become popular as a tool for motivating physical activity.

Objective
To evaluate the association of pedometer use with physical activity and health outcomes among outpatient adults.

Data Sources
English-language articles from MEDLINE, EMBASE, Sport Discus, PsychINFO, Cochrane Library, Thompson Scientific (formerly known as Thompson ISI), and ERIC (1966-2007); bibliographies of retrieved articles; and conference proceedings.

Study Selection
Studies were eligible for inclusion if they reported an assessment of pedometer use among adult outpatients, reported a change in steps per day, and included more than 5 participants.

Data Extraction and Data Synthesis
Two investigators independently abstracted data about the intervention; participants; number of steps per day; and presence or absence of obesity, diabetes, hypertension, or hyperlipidemia. Data were pooled using random-effects calculations, and meta-regression was performed.

Results
Our searches identified 2246 citations; 26 studies with a total of 2767 participants met inclusion criteria (8 randomized controlled trials [RCTs] and 18 observational studies). The participants' mean (SD) age was 49 (9) years and 85% were women. The mean intervention duration was 18 weeks. In the RCTs, pedometer users significantly increased their physical activity by 2491 steps per day more than control participants (95% confidence interval [CI], 1098-3885 steps per day, P < .001). Among the observational studies, pedometer users significantly increased their physical activity by 2183 steps per day over baseline (95% CI, 1571-2796 steps per day, P < .0001). Overall, pedometer users increased their physical activity by 26.9% over baseline. An important predictor of increased physical activity was having a step goal such as 10 000 steps per day (P = .001). When data from all studies were combined, pedometer users significantly decreased their body mass index by 0.38 (95% CI, 0.05-0.72; P = .03). This decrease was associated with older age (P = .001) and having a step goal (P = .04). Intervention participants significantly decreased their systolic blood pressure by 3.8 mm Hg (95% CI, 1.7-5.9 mm Hg, P < .001). This decrease was associated with greater baseline systolic blood pressure (P = .009) and change in steps per day (P = .08).

Conclusions
The results suggest that the use of a pedometer is associated with significant increases in physical activity and significant decreases in body mass index and blood pressure. Whether these changes are durable over the long term is undetermined.

[rosen]

That seriously sounds like one of the worst investments one could make. How about you just start living an active lifestyle instead of CHECKING how active you are. In my opinion that sounds ridiculous. I mean, bodybuilders who focus on their bodies pretty much 24/7 don't even care for stuff like that so why would you? If you FEEL like you haven't been active enough during the day then you should definitely go for an evening walk, not if your computer screen tells you to...

"Just start living an active lifestyle" - what does that even mean? I have no interest in sports, cycling, hiking, etc. My aim is to build activity into my daily life - primarily through walking. I have a target for the amount of activity I want to incorporate over the course of a day. A pedometer provides objective feedback on my progress. Deciding to exercise or not based on how I "feel" seems like a dumb strategy. (Makes about as much sense as assessing my weight based on how I "feel", rather than stepping on the scales). Wanting to reach my target is a motivational factor that works for me.

Use of pedometers are a well validated strategy for increasing activity levels:

Using Pedometers to Increase Physical Activity and Improve Health

A Systematic Review

Dena M. Bravata, MD, MS; Crystal Smith-Spangler, MD; Vandana Sundaram, MPH; Allison L. Gienger, BA; Nancy Lin, ScD; Robyn Lewis, MA; Christopher D. Stave, MLS; Ingram Olkin, PhD; John R. Sirard, PhD

JAMA. 2007;298(19):2296-2304. doi:10.1001/jama.298.19.2296.

ABSTRACT

Context
Without detailed evidence of their effectiveness, pedometers have recently become popular as a tool for motivating physical activity.

Objective
To evaluate the association of pedometer use with physical activity and health outcomes among outpatient adults.

Data Sources
English-language articles from MEDLINE, EMBASE, Sport Discus, PsychINFO, Cochrane Library, Thompson Scientific (formerly known as Thompson ISI), and ERIC (1966-2007); bibliographies of retrieved articles; and conference proceedings.

Study Selection
Studies were eligible for inclusion if they reported an assessment of pedometer use among adult outpatients, reported a change in steps per day, and included more than 5 participants.

Data Extraction and Data Synthesis
Two investigators independently abstracted data about the intervention; participants; number of steps per day; and presence or absence of obesity, diabetes, hypertension, or hyperlipidemia. Data were pooled using random-effects calculations, and meta-regression was performed.

Results
Our searches identified 2246 citations; 26 studies with a total of 2767 participants met inclusion criteria (8 randomized controlled trials [RCTs] and 18 observational studies). The participants' mean (SD) age was 49 (9) years and 85% were women. The mean intervention duration was 18 weeks. In the RCTs, pedometer users significantly increased their physical activity by 2491 steps per day more than control participants (95% confidence interval [CI], 1098-3885 steps per day, P < .001). Among the observational studies, pedometer users significantly increased their physical activity by 2183 steps per day over baseline (95% CI, 1571-2796 steps per day, P < .0001). Overall, pedometer users increased their physical activity by 26.9% over baseline. An important predictor of increased physical activity was having a step goal such as 10 000 steps per day (P = .001). When data from all studies were combined, pedometer users significantly decreased their body mass index by 0.38 (95% CI, 0.05-0.72; P = .03). This decrease was associated with older age (P = .001) and having a step goal (P = .04). Intervention participants significantly decreased their systolic blood pressure by 3.8 mm Hg (95% CI, 1.7-5.9 mm Hg, P < .001). This decrease was associated with greater baseline systolic blood pressure (P = .009) and change in steps per day (P = .08).

Conclusions
The results suggest that the use of a pedometer is associated with significant increases in physical activity and significant decreases in body mass index and blood pressure. Whether these changes are durable over the long term is undetermined.

It's not rocket science. I am sure you already know these things you just didn't follow me. It means if you're going somewhere close you choose walking/ bike over using a car/vehicle. It means you take the stairs if you are going up or down less than say five floors. Going to the gym and working what ever works best for you atleast once a week. If a gym is not possible for any reason doing some stretching/yoga/body weight exercises at home. Don't have much interest in sports either but it doesn't stop me from living an active and healthy lifestyle.

Appreciating activity and optimal weight depending on how you feel is an excellent strategy. Until recently I didn't use a scale for over 3 years and I am more fit than ever, definitely in the top 10%. The reason a scale is not a good indicator of health or fitness is because everyone is different. Is 70 kg or 80 kg better? Obviously height is relevant here but only to a certain point. There are too many variables, ratio of muscle/fat, bone weight...also the way we feel at a certain bodyfat percentage. I tend to feel and look best at low percentages, a friend of mine doesn't like how he feel when going that low at rather stay between 10-15%. So a scale is actually pretty useless unless you use it to set goals. If you look slightly overweight at 90kg then a 80kg new year resolution is a reasonable use of it. Using it to compare with others, averages, BMI is on the other hand wasting your time.

If a pedometer is what works for you then you should definitely keep using it. Especially if you have a goal that motivates you. I am just saying that being active should be a part of everyones lifestyle and it shouldn't require a device to reach basic health.

[JohnD60]

Regarding Drinking Swedish Style: We call that Binge Drinking, generally not a good practice, though you don't seem to have a significant problem. I suggest starting with a workout program like P90x for a month, and see how that works out for you. Though you need a 10'x10' area to do that

[Guinea Pig]

What's a paleo sandwich?

Bread without flour.

……..
Paleo bread
one loaf or 12 buns
100 g almonds, roughly chopped
100 g hazelnuts, roughly chopped
100 g sesame seeds
100 g sunflower seeds
100 g pumpkin seeds
100 g flax seeds, whole or preferably crushed
a handful of chia seeds (optional)
a handful of raw cocoa nibs (optional but delish!)
6 dried figs, dates or abricots – chopped
…
3 small organic eggs
0,5 dl extra virgin coconut oil, melted (+ more for greasing)
1 tsp fine sea salt
1) Preheat the oven to 175° C (350° F). Place nuts, seeds, dried fruit and cocoa nibs (if using) in a bowl. In another bowl, whisk together eggs, coconut oil and salt.
2) Add the nuts/seeds to the egg mixture and give it a good stir with your hands or a ladle. Set aside to rest for 20-30 minutes.
3) Spoon the batter into a greased muffin pan or loaf pan and bake in the middle of the oven for 45-50 mins.
4) Remove from the oven and let cool completely before slicing.
……..

[Guinea Pig]

If you (Guinea Pig) do the same exercises you mentioned every day: push ups, squats and pull ups then you are focusing on the same muscles every day without allowing the muscles to recover properly.

Well then, what if I add a couple of exercises and let the muscles rest for 48 h - could that work? I like the idea of micro sessions a couple of times every day. Getting more muscle tissue isn't my primary objective. I just want to increase blood circulation and metabolism.

I suggest starting with a workout program like P90x for a month

I'll take a look at the exercises and see if I find something that I like =)

[rosen]

If you (Guinea Pig) do the same exercises you mentioned every day: push ups, squats and pull ups then you are focusing on the same muscles every day without allowing the muscles to recover properly.

Well then, what if I add a couple of exercises and let the muscles rest for 48 h - could that work? I like the idea of micro sessions a couple of times every day. Getting more muscle tissue isn't my primary objective. I just want to increase blood circulation and metabolism.

Yes, that would work better. I suggest you add a few more exercises and split the muscle groups on 2-3 different days. I could mention some exercises but it's probably better if you just search for them online as I don't know what environment you'll be in and if you have any equipment to use. There are thousands of people online who are blogging, making youtube videos etc about body weight / home work outs as you may already know.

Even though you are not looking to add muscle I think it's still important to give the body time to recover. Besides, in most cases push ups and regular pull ups won't make you much grow bigger. Unless you are a young beginner or do them weighted. I think you have a healthy outlook on exercise, I think the kind of low intensity enough to make the blood pumping and fire up the metabolism a little is a good method for longevity.

Oh yeah, thanks for the paleo bread recipe. Looks tasty.