Slashdot Mirror

Check out the exercise portion of The Hacker's Diet. You might also check out something like One Hundred Pushups. Or, take a walk at lunch time and during breaks.
--
JimFive

I agree, i'm interested in the science, but i'm not willing to put the effort into micromanaging my entire life and and analyzing everything in detail.

A geeky friend of mine recently pointed me at the One Hundred Push-Ups program. It appeals to me because it's a webpage, it doesn't require anything complicated in the way of equipment or anything like that, it presents a simple and easy to understand plan with lots of numbers, and it takes place over a specific time period. You follow the plan, and the numbers keep going up till you reach your goal. (Assuming you manage to stick through to the end.) It might take more than six weeks if you have to take some do-overs, but it's definitely a finite period of time at the end of which you should see some definite improvement, something that really appeals to me. (I'm just starting week four myself right now.)

Another site i've used in the past is Calories Per Hour, particularly the BMR and RMR calculator. You can use it in conjunction with an exercise program, or just for setting up a diet plan. There's lots of numbers and math, which appeal to me as a geek, but at the end you have a nice simple number or two which tell you how much you can eat every day if you don't want to gain weight, and how much you can eat every day if you want to lose weight in a methodical and long term manner.

Of course on that note there's also The Hacker's Diet, which similarly takes the fairly straightforward approach that losing weight = consuming less calories than you burn.

You can argue a long time about paleo diet vs atkins diet vs south beach(?) or whatever other fad diet you've heard of, but in the end weight is just a matter of calories in vs calories out. If you want to lose weight you can reduce the calories going in or increase the calories going out. Certainly adjusting the kind of food you eat can make you healthier in other ways, but controlling the number of calories you eat is the first step. And if you start paying attention to the number of calories you eat you'll quickly discover that the healthier you eat the more you get to eat. Even just making the same food at home that you would have gotten at a fast food restaurant will save you a lot of calories than you can then spend on a snack or something. So instead of feeling like you _have_ to eat healthy to fit some particular diet you've decided to subject yourself to, you feel like you're getting rewarded for eating healthy.

I'm not sure what your workout routine looked like before you started this job but here is what worked for me when I was working 60+ hours a week and getting physically prepared to join the United States Army.

I did these three programs, all three, three days a week. (Mon, Weds, Fri)
http://twohundredsitups.com/
http://www.hundredpushups.com/
http://twentypullups.com/

Then, I did this program coupled with a 2-mile run three days a week (Tues, Thurs, Sat)
http://www.twohundredsquats.com/

I found it worked quite well. If you are already partially in shape you should be able to run the 2 miles in less than 16 minutes. The squat program takes another 15 minutes. The upper body workout took me about 30 minutes to perform all three phases.

It had me sweating and working out each morning and left me feeling like I had done a thorough workout (I was getting up at 0500). It helped me build and tone muscle and take the weight off. Additionally, the only thing I needed to buy was a decent pair of running shoes and a pull-up bar, the rest of the exercises used my body weight as resistance.

If you are looking for some basic things the 100 pushups, 200 squats, and 200 situps work pretty well and do not require much. Even a bike trainer to use while watching tv de-stressing at home would be great. Outside of that you will need to fight for some of your life back. Get time from your boss, make time! Most companies have small gyms at work see if you can get one floated past committee.

do one hundred pushups

This is a very easy program to follow. So easy in fact, I organized a 100 pushup challenge at my work and got 32 out of 40 people of all starting levels to participate.

In addition to biking excessively (To work, to the store to get milk ... to your friends parties). I have found that standard resistance training 15 to 20 well formed push ups and 25 to 30 sit-ups worked well for me. Generally speaking hitting your target heart rate for 1/2 hour every day will see you lose weight in conjunction with a low fat, no sugar, no high cholesterol, no monounsaturated fat, little red meat, lots of white meat and the key being eating less more frequently. (5 to 6 small meals per day evenly spaced and calculated to meet all vitamin and essential amino acid requirements or RDA's)
I once weighed 230Lbs, I'm 6'1" however due to previous weight training and a natural muscular build i could not use a BMI as an indicator. Instead my personal trainer mentioned I should use how my clothes fit and how well defined my musculature was.
Instead I used how my clothes fit, I used to buy 38" pants and they were tight. Now 36" is loose, it's been that way forever. (4+ Years)
Now it's 36" loose, my weight fluctuates with the seasons (195 in the summer to 210 in the winter) however this is due to my regimens, weight training in the winter and more cardio in the summer. My weight also fluctuates with the time of day, water intake and alcohol consumption (best to be avoided as well since beer is empty calories).
You probably have a naturally fast metabolism that is slowing down due to age, this is perfectly normal, ideally you may use dietary supplements in conjunction with exercise and negative or low calorie snacks that aren't fried or cooked in oil.
Since you are not averted to energy drinks, try making your own to further enhance your workout regimen, I routinely mix nootropics, BCAA's, Glutamene, Lysine, and many others to off set the development of Lactic Acid in my muscles during and after training. Not only does my standing blood pressure remain very very low but it also allows me to burn more when I am working out at a higher rate.
I sit in front of a computer in excess of 8 hours a day, I spend 15 to 20 minutes inverted (I have gravity boots and resistance training equipment) and I must say that the few hundred dollars spent on the equipment I have has been worth it. A pull up bar is by far and away the best investment, they cost around $20, fit in a door frame and make you gain about an inch over your entire upper body with regular use, there's a reason marines and infantry use them.
Some links to get you started: http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/index.html (look at the exercises and schedules including how to not overtrain) http://hundredpushups.com/test.html (A good simple regimen to build your upper body strength) http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/templates/TC010219661033.aspx (a fitness chart for you to begin with)
Apart from studying your diet more carefully, try to develop a flexible schedule that meets your needs. The nice thing about resistance training is no equipment is needed and since you are averted to gym's circuit training is out of the question although it's the best way to loose weight and increase your metabolism. A good place to start is to check out the standard training regimen of the american infantry, it's been over 50 years in development and turns out 1000's of athlete grade men every year, when you need to carry an 80lb bag while running with an assault weapon and 20lb's of protective gear on you you need to be in good shape, not an option to be slow if you are getting shot at.
Things to think about: Push Up Bars, Chin Up bar (optionally with gravity boots), Resistance Bar, Pilates ball (push ups are a lot harder when you elevate your feet). All can be had for less than $500. Vs 6 months of insulin?

http://hundredpushups.com/

I've recently started on this routine. It's as simple as you can get, you can do it anywhere, and it only takes a few minutes out of your week to do. And it works.

I also recommend buying some simple weights (should be able to find some at Wal-mart even), and just lift whenever your hands are free, such as when your reading a big article online. Some Googling can find you some alternative routines you can do with the weights too, so you work out different muscles.

As some people have mentioned, Karate is a really fun way to exercise, and it has tons of other benefits such as discipline and self-defense training. There are other options too if you wanna get out of the house, such as Swimming or Kendo.

Good suggestions from the comments, and I'll add one that I'm trying as a start:

A Hundred Push-ups

The intent, if I read the site correctly, is a simple regimen to (re)introduce fitness training principles into one's life, and to build confidence. After struggling to lift water bottles at my office, I figured this would be a good way to start.

Emphasis on start, as neither I nor the site will claim that this will turn you into Conan-era Schwarzenegger, or Richard Simmons.

Oh hell. Ignore above link.

http://hundredpushups.com/