I signed up for a marathon right before founding a startup last summer. Having a training plan and something to train for was great because it forced me to stop working and exercise on a routine basis. The running itself was great stress relief, gave me "big picture" think time and actually made me more productive when I worked.
How I lost 10% body fat, while launching a startup (and raising kids)
51–60 of 101 posts
Re: How I lost 10% body fat, while launching a startup (and raising kids)
#52Earlier quoted context omitted.
could you give more details of your diet please?
It sounds like his diet is probably similar to mine. Last summer I dropped about 20lbs from ~155 at my highest to ~135 at my lowest. I've been less strict about it since then but the general idea was to keep my carbohydrate intake between 20 and 30 grams a day. It's actually not that hard at all and you get to eat a lot of really great foods. The best part is that it's non-restrictive. Low carb foods are very filling…
Yep, pretty much this. I do exactly the same thing with the fajita.
You pretty much can keep making the same meals, you just get rid of the filler stuff. The essence for me was to just stop eating so much bread, potatoes, rice or pasta. Before I would graze all day, switching to low carb got rid of my need to eat all the time almost overnight.
Re: How I lost 10% body fat, while launching a startup (and raising kids)
#53It's been said many times before, but getting exercise while doing a startup is a must. It's like saying you should use LESS/SASS instead of coding CSS. You just won't believe how much better it is until you actually try it for a while. For the last three months I've forced myself to go for a jog every morning, no excuses, even if it means I'll get started on stuff a little later, so be it. It's an amazing complement…
I completely agree. Exercising every day has made such a difference to me that I even made an app[1] to help me maintain the habit. Daily exercise makes me feel less tired and helps me think more clearly. For me changing my diet has been more difficult. I am going to start by changing breakfast (the meal I always eat alone), and then working from there. [1] Commit for iPhone: http://thinklegend.com/commit
Cool idea!
Just as an FYI: I went to check out your app and your website says it's a buck but it's listed for $2.99.
May want to update that :)
Re: How I lost 10% body fat, while launching a startup (and raising kids)
#54It looks like no cardio to speak of in your routine. So many people kill themselves doing an hour a day of running or riding a stationary bike and then wonder why they don't get better results. It's really 80% or more about diet and lifting weights. The more muscle you have the more calories you will burn throughout the day. You just don't need that much cardio if you train intensely enough when lifting weights. Nice…
Exactly. Very little cardio. My heart definitely gets a workout though. After doing weights properly, your heart really pounds.
To stay fit I would look into a team or group sport. Unless you want to do body building or competitive weight lifting, you're going from rapidly improving to maintaining your fitness. Sports are so much more multifaceted, that you'll see improvement and reaching goals over a long time.
Re: How I lost 10% body fat, while launching a startup (and raising kids)
#55It looks like no cardio to speak of in your routine. So many people kill themselves doing an hour a day of running or riding a stationary bike and then wonder why they don't get better results. It's really 80% or more about diet and lifting weights. The more muscle you have the more calories you will burn throughout the day. You just don't need that much cardio if you train intensely enough when lifting weights. Nice…
If you want to be a bodybuilder and look big, go ahead and skip cardio. On the other hand, if you do any sports that last more than about 30 seconds, you might want to spend a little time working your heart (which is also a muscle). This is what happens if you skip the cardio: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HghbpgHNxC0 (Sorry for the crappy music video, it's the only one I could find.)
Skipping cardio certainly won't turn you into a body builder nor make you look "big"... It takes significantly more than just lifting weights, 90% is your diet, caloric intake and macronutrient composition, which together play the biggest role here.
Compare two genetically similar individuals, both lift weights 3x / week, one regularly consumes a 1000 caloric surplus, and the other consumes their daily caloric requirement. The outcome will be quite different.
If you play sports that last more than about 30 seconds, they can provide you with the adequate amounts of cardio you seek. If you play competitively, adding cardio may be a good idea.
Cardio is for health and endurance, if you want to run marathons or cycle, then yes, you should include more cardio. Otherwise, weightlifting adequately stresses your heart. Go deadlift 300lbs and tell me your heart isn't going nuts.
If you want to get in shape, regular exercise with an emphasis on weight lifting and proper nutrition will get you where you'd like to go.
At rest, muscle burns significantly more calories than fat, you don't need to cake on lean muscle to benefit from this, either. You only exercise for an hour or so, I'd rather work to build something in that hour that burns calories for the other 23.
Now with all that said, I personally try to do both, my cardio comes in the form of Squash on days I do not lift weights. I despise the treadmill zombie.
Re: How I lost 10% body fat, while launching a startup (and raising kids)
#56It looks like no cardio to speak of in your routine. So many people kill themselves doing an hour a day of running or riding a stationary bike and then wonder why they don't get better results. It's really 80% or more about diet and lifting weights. The more muscle you have the more calories you will burn throughout the day. You just don't need that much cardio if you train intensely enough when lifting weights. Nice…
Yeah, it is refreshing to see people posting results from these predominantly weight lifting programs. Helps keep me motivated on what I'm doing. If anyone is interested in starting, but lacks the money for a personal trainer, I've found Starting Strength by Mark Rippetoe ( http://www.amazon.com/By-Mark-Rippetoe-Lon-Kilgore/dp/B005PI... ) to be a huge help in learning all the lifts. The first chapter is almost 60 pag…
Starting Strength is the perfect go to beginner - intermediate guide to weight training.
Good for you, you're on the right track.
Re: How I lost 10% body fat, while launching a startup (and raising kids)
#57Earlier quoted context omitted.
Which would you rather do? Get 8 hours of sleep everyday, or exercise 5 hours a week?
I'd say 7 hours of sleep per night and 3 hours of exercise
thats what I do. Wake up 7, gym till 8:30, then work with break for food once every 2 hours for 5 minutes (plus bigger dish at evening) then from 10 to 11 cardio, sleep before 12. I do not exercise over the weekends, let body sleep longer, rest, be lazy. If I manage my time properly, I still easily get 10 hours of work a day! I just noticed how much detracting certain things are: talking 5 times about the same thing over the phone with friend, watching TV "only" for couple minutes, browsing web, reading emails that I know I will come back to again later on, etc. It all adds up substantially. The only spoil other than energy drink with 30g of sugar (my daily rate) I let myself to do is to "waste" time here and there on reading HN :)
Re: How I lost 10% body fat, while launching a startup (and raising kids)
#58Given that a big part of the dietary changes is getting rid of as many carbs as possible, does anyone have any advice for eating out at lunch on this kind of diet? Going out and grabbing some food is a rewarding part of my day, but I'm struggling to think of any options for low carb, almost everywhere seems to focus on bread, pasta or rice.
Places that focus on bread, pasta and rice are usually chain-food places (Panera, Chipotle, etc). Find a deli that will give you a chicken breast + veggies -- there are at least 4 near my New Jersey suburban office building that do this.
This might be true in the US, but in London privately-owned sandwich shops are VERY common, there's like 6 of them within 30 seconds walk of my office. They'll typically serve mainly sandwich and wraps (made to order), or alternatively potato, pasta or rice-based meals.
There are some places that specialise in salad/veg rather than sandwiches, but they tend to be vegetarian with the only calories coming from cous cous or potato.
I'll have a look around though.
Re: How I lost 10% body fat, while launching a startup (and raising kids)
#59Earlier quoted context omitted.
If you want to be a bodybuilder and look big, go ahead and skip cardio. On the other hand, if you do any sports that last more than about 30 seconds, you might want to spend a little time working your heart (which is also a muscle). This is what happens if you skip the cardio: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HghbpgHNxC0 (Sorry for the crappy music video, it's the only one I could find.)
Skipping cardio certainly won't turn you into a body builder nor make you look "big"... It takes significantly more than just lifting weights, 90% is your diet, caloric intake and macronutrient composition, which together play the biggest role here. Compare two genetically similar individuals, both lift weights 3x / week, one regularly consumes a 1000 caloric surplus, and the other consumes their daily caloric requir…
Go deadlift 300lbs and tell me your heart isn't going nuts.
Your heart will certainly go nuts. But deadlifting won't enable your heart to keep going at 80% for 5 minutes straight unless you do some 1x100@100lb crossfit style deadlifting.
I strongly recomment weight lifting for most people. I'm only suggesting that out of 5 days, do 3 weight and 2 cardio days. And yes, the cardio days should probably be squash, heavy bag or football rather than the treadmill.
Re: How I lost 10% body fat, while launching a startup (and raising kids)
#60Earlier quoted context omitted.
could you give more details of your diet please?
It sounds like his diet is probably similar to mine. Last summer I dropped about 20lbs from ~155 at my highest to ~135 at my lowest. I've been less strict about it since then but the general idea was to keep my carbohydrate intake between 20 and 30 grams a day. It's actually not that hard at all and you get to eat a lot of really great foods. The best part is that it's non-restrictive. Low carb foods are very filling…
> "The best thing about this diet (and I hesitate to call it that, I'm never going to stop)"
A minor nit pick: that's exactly what a diet is. Your diet is what you eat every day. What pop culture refers to as 'dieting' is more like a selective fast: a temporary change or reduction in diet.
And that's why 'dieting' doesn't produce lasting results for most people. Most of those diets do work. But people fail because they stop doing them. They don't recognize paleo or south beach or atkins as a lifelong change. They try them, get results, get comfortable then fall back into old habits and thus their old shape.
That's why it's key to approach changes in diet and exercise on the basis of what you will maintain. And ultimately why talking about relative benefits of various diets and exercises is silly.
The 'best' diet and exercise is the one that keeps you healthy and that you maintain.