I don't know how necessary this is; maybe those who focus on working out spend there time at Bodybuilding.com. But I don't visit there much, as the atmosphere (well, at least in Misc.) doesn't really motivate me to eat as properly as I should and (esp.) exercise.

BUT I visit here a lot, and have had a nice experience. So I thought, why not create a thread that encourages me and others who are in the same pickle to stick with our diet/exercise plans? It's possible most here aren't fat Americans (this ain't Reddit, btw ;) like myself who need to lose weight, but maybe you have other fitness goals and have a hard time sticking with them. This thread is for you, to use (somehow) as a way to share your struggles and victories, etc. Or just talk about your workout plan, where you are physically, etc. :P

Anyway, me personally, I'm at about 187 lbs, where I want and should be at 165 lbs (preferably with a six pack, eventually). I'm trying to lose 2 lbs a week, but like many others I've always used food as a emotional crutch and while I like swimming, transportation to the YMCA right now is tough. HOWEVER, if I'm using both hands to play video games, then I don't have another one to use to eat, so that helps (except for my eyes, which can become strained).

I hear you. I am actually skinny but I need to workout for better health. I was also supposed to prepare for mountain warfare training in one week but that hasn't happened. In one week I will be very miserable at high altitudes. Maybe when I get back I can motivate myself to get exercising again.

Well - I am feeling pretty good today as I have hit a major goal. I am under 200 pounds as of my weigh in this morning. I started watching what I eat for a few months - First weigh in was May 16th and 224 pounds. I wanted to get below 200 by the July forth weekend but missed it by a week. I have totally stopped taking my acid reflux pills and have been sleeping soundly and in bed - not upright - since shortly after starting. I am now going for the next 25 and will begin exercising to go along with the diet. I just try to keep under 1,000 calories a day and of course go over on occasion - Birthdays - Picnics - Holidays - Work Eat-Ins those seem to be the times when I eat more. Hope you all have great luck in whatever your goals are.

Maybe you should try to get as "tough" right now as you can for the excursion. However many more days is that, 5 or so? Get your adrenaline pumping. :) Way to go, dude! (But less than 1,000 calories? For me, that's madness.) Yeah, getting in shape (esp. getting down to a healthy weight) often lowers the number of drugs one originally had to take, like heart or cholesterol meds. (And that's more cash in /your/ pocket for GoG! ;) I'm trying to get down to 165; I was at about 210, got down to 175-ish during a semester at uni. without even trying, but I'm back up to 185 and want to finish what I need to. So I'm trying to avoid eating too much in the evening (salad and cereal, not combined obviously). It seems to be working; /hopefully/ I'll at least be back down to 175 towards the end of August, and can continue on from there.

I hear you. Three months at our Mountain warfare military base at Bohinjska Bela (you'll know if if you'll go for a NATO Mountain warfare excellency program) wasn't exactly what I'd call enjoyable. But when you finish you'd be surprised what your body can do. And also how much you can eat in one sitting if you're really hungry.

Not much to say really. If you need motivation, have an instructor laugh ant yell at you all the way through a three hour mountain climbing trek. 40kg of gear will make your legs feel like jelly, but it does wonders for your fitness. Not sure about the health benefits... I mean shit, my legs still hurt. :)

What kind of regimen are you on? A crazy fitness guy I know has been recommending cross training. I may give it a try. I know I just feel better when I exercise regularly, even if I just started. The problem is my 1 yo daughter who sleeps irregularly. I only work out in the morning so if I don't sleep, I don't work out.

EDIT: (Is the fitness guy really "crazy" or "crazy in-shape"?)

Oh dude, sorry, I'm not doing /anything/ particularly "toughening," if you will. I try to alternate between doing crunches, reverse crunches, and curls on one day, and then swimming on the next. (I try to swim 3-4 times a week, but it hasn't been going so great right now.) The focus for me is to not eat so much b/c avoiding calories, for me, is more important than trying to burn them off.

If you have questions about a good regimen, I think that folks over at the Bodybuilding website will be able to help you out or answer questions. (Honestly, it's usually just the Miscers that are crazy. ;)

The one I am going to is in California. It is also amazing how much you sweat. My MARPAT is literally soaked afterwards. Dripping. I once did amphibious assaults in Peru. That was more fun. I have heard that crunches aren't the best ab burn. I don't know what the best is but I usually use a variety of planks, hello dollys, and leg lifts.

Sweating is an issue, yes, but some people sweat more than others. I tend to sweat quite a lot, but there was this guy who could literally be considered a spring or something. One day, when we got to the base, most of us were kinda wet. He was dripping! I was at the back of the line, while he was at the front, so I asked him if the weather was any different at the front. :)

I typically don't sweat at all, so it was new to me. I would rather deal with the weather at the front than the slinky effect in the back ;)
How long were your hikes?
While I have done plenty of hikes, this is my first Mt. warfare course so I'm sure it is much more intense. I actually need to put on some pounds, so this probably won't help.

The longest one - and the last one - was over 15km (about 10 miles) over rough terrain with a height difference of about 800m. We had full combat gear and an assault rifle + 25 kilos extra gear for about 40kg of gear on the back. We had multiple checkpoints to get to (navigation), and at a few checkpoints they gave us a test to see how much we know about our gear, procedures, communication, stuff like that. After the hike, there was a mock battle with an assault over obstacles and barbed wire, and then an evacuation of our "wounded" over 3km back to the base. Full gear of course. It was timed, and through the trek they told us our timing so far suuuuuuucked. Of course that was just a psychological test, but still - if you didn't make the mark, you had to do it all over again the next day. Needles to say, we all made it. How, I don't rightfully know. To make things more interesting, I got uber fatigued somewhere in the middle and had the world spinning around me for about half an hour.

Just to clarify, I don't work in the army. This was just for my volunteer military training. We don't have mandatory conscription any more, so you have the option to attend a paid training.

That sounds just like the Reaper hike (15k, too). Oh, the horrid memories. The Reaper mountain was the climax of the hike. We heard horror stories about it all through training. We started so early all of the mountains just loomed over us in the dark and after every turn we would ask, "Is that it?"

After an unkown amount of time we stopped and watched a truck go up the trail. We could just see the tail lights go up... up... up. We actually had a guy die on us. 109 temperature cooked his brain. I used to run a perfect fitness test back then. Out of 300, my score has dropped to 220 or worse. For all of the ribbing I got for my weight, I loved to see the looks on their faces when I ripped 20+ pull ups.

Yeah gotta exercise or else :O

I started exercising about 3 years ago and went from 110kg to 75kg over the period of a year or so, took about 2 years just to get into a routine. Never did anything crazy, just regular 30 - 40 minute walks (at least 3 times a week) and a simple diet (had to throw sugar out of the house).

Still gotta lose the last bit of stomach fat and been on and off weight lifting.

I find writing down whenever you exercise helps a lot, i have a spreadsheet with dates and what exercise i do, helps you see that you are actually getting off your ass.

I love forearm exercises! Dunno why but reverse curls, hand grips just feel so good. I'm experimenting with light weights and high reps, gonna increase the weight by 2kg whenever i can perform 3 sets of 50 reps.

If your gonna weight lift eat protein! I'm vegetarian now and tore my shoulder muscles due to malnutrition when i first started, get protein shakes they taste like strawberry milk so meh.

Ordered a doorway pull up bar should be arriving next week, i'll link a good video i found on how to perform pull ups properly, this dude does some funky yoga shit check out his other vids.

http://www.youtube.com/user/johnsifferman#p/u/3/dg7wL0uiq-c

I don't go to the gym or do any other real training; what I do though is walk from work every day (I would walk to there as well, but I never manage to get up and thus leave home early enough so I have to take the bus), which gives me a nice 30-minute walk at a decent pace.

I'm losing a kilo a week on average at the gym, should be more but I'm still working out where I'm putting in too much energy or not burning off enough. Definitely way fitter than I was but then that wouldn't be that hard really