Food & Exercise -- 12/20/2004

"Chris Braun" wrote in message
...
On Tue, 21 Dec 2004 18:34:10 -0600, "JMA"
wrote:


"Chris Braun" wrote in message
. ..

* Bench: 1x10x45; 1x10x65; 1x3x85; 1x1x105; 1x1x115; 1x1x125; 3x1x135
(the 135s with help from Tom, but very little -- I'm very close to
that bodyweight bench); 1x5x95; 1x3x95

Woo hoo!!!
BTW, it's funny but my bench routine is very similar yours these days with
a
similar # of sets, increase and decrease. I just noticed it and I never
thought it would be possible.

Cool!

Do you ever do decline benches? We just got two of them at the gym, one
with a bar and one for DB's.

Rarely. Tom doesn't think they add much. It's kind of fun, though,
because you can lift more than on the flat bench :-).

Chris

Really? None of us can do more on the decline, including the guys. Bill
likes it because he said it works the lower end of the pecs and then there's
the whole stability aspect thrown in. I only do declines with DB's and then
I'm doing flys and a some presses, but to do the same weight as flat ones
takes a lot more effort. I keep asking Bill if the blood rushing to my head
has any strength benefits.

Jenn

I have the absolute WORST sweet tooth. I can pack in about ten 3"
diametre cookies in one sitting. I can also pack them in with cake,
etc. Food I love, but not as much as I love sweets and dessert.

One thing I don't like much, though, is meat, which I find pretty gross
in every way. I'm not vegetarian, but I don't like eating meat to "fill
me up." The crackers I ate were about 130 calories per 15 crackers, and
the other one was around 110 calories per 10 crackers, so I figured I
ate around 250-300 calories worth of crackers.

I'm at work and there are leftovers from yesterday's potluck. So far I
ate around seven cookies, some pasta salad (so good), and I also
finished my own salad (only about 80 calories, I imagine) and had a
nice bottle of water.

Can you say gym tonight? 10 miles, one hour of pilates, 40 arm reps at
30lbs, and 40 leg lifts. Yes.

Always,

HS

Chris Braun wrote:
On 22 Dec 2004 00:24:49 -0800, "Her Subj."

wrote:

Hi Chris,

How do you count the carbs you eat at restaurants? Also, you seem to
know the exact ounce of the food you consume! Do you ask the
waitress/waiter about the size of your portions and how they
cook/marinate, etc. the food?

I just guess, generally. Some restaurants have nutritional
information on their menus or on the web, but most don't. Because I
weigh and measure at home, I have developed some ability to guess,
but
I'm sure it isn't perfect. And I don't ask how they prepare the
food.
I will do something like add in a pat or two of butter or some olive
oil (in my calorie-tracking spreadsheet, that is) to the basic food
if
it seems to be prepared with fat. For more elaborate dishes, I'll
probably use something similar from my spreadsheet. It's the
discipline of doing it more than being exact that matters. (One
other
thing on weight/size of portions: often I eat half of my entree and
bring half home -- just eyeballing when I split it -- and then I
weigh
the part I've brought home and assume that what I had in the
restaurant was the same.)


This was my day:

morning: (home) Nature's Path "Heritage" cereal with half a banana
and
3/4 cup of non-fat milk
10:00AM: crackers (from home): Kashi 7-grain, Wisecrackers (about 20
of
them total)
1:00PM: (office luncheon): half a chicken skewer (Thai food), two
spoonfuls of curry and a cup of brown rice, a small piece of duck,
two
scallops with some peas, a fresh (non-fried) spring roll, a little
ball
of sorbet ice-cream
8:00PM (Dinner party): four ginger snap cookies, 1/2 cup of
couscous, a
few slivers of chicken, a small 1" square piece of lamb, some fruit
salad, a piece of chocolate cake, a cream puff, two pieces of
chocolate

Did I do good? Did I splurge?

You didn't eat tons of food, and this isn't terrible for a day with
two parties. In general this isn't just how you'd want to distribute
your calories in a day, of course, as there are too many sweets and
too little protein. And I'd personally have cut back on the starches
like the rice and couscous in favor of more meat, but that's personal
preference as much as health consiousness, as I'd have probably eaten
sweets too :-).

Since I gather your pre-lunch eating was more how you normally eat,
let me suggest that you try to make your morning less carb-intensive.
The Kashi with banana and skim milk is a good breakfast, but for your
morning snack I'd choose something with some protein, if possible,
rather than crackers. I don't know either of these types of
crackers,
but if they're not small 20 sounds like rather a lot. How many
calories are in a cracker? Better snack ideas might be just a couple
of crackers (or apple wedges, even better) with a little peanut
butter
or cheese, a cup of yogurt, a hard-boiled egg or two, some cold
chicken, etc. Or if you want carbs, make it something like an apple
or a bunch of baby carrots.

Chris

I have the absolute WORST sweet tooth. I can pack in about ten 3"
diametre cookies in one sitting. I can also pack them in with cake,
etc. Food I love, but not as much as I love sweets and dessert.

One thing I don't like much, though, is meat, which I find pretty gross
in every way. I'm not vegetarian, but I don't like eating meat to "fill
me up." The crackers I ate were about 130 calories per 15 crackers, and
the other one was around 110 calories per 10 crackers, so I figured I
ate around 250-300 calories worth of crackers.

I'm at work and there are leftovers from yesterday's potluck. So far I
ate around seven cookies, some pasta salad (so good), and I also
finished my own salad (only about 80 calories, I imagine) and had a
nice bottle of water.

Can you say gym tonight? 10 miles, one hour of pilates, 40 arm reps at
30lbs, and 40 leg lifts. Yes.

Always,

HS

Chris Braun wrote:
On 22 Dec 2004 00:24:49 -0800, "Her Subj."

wrote:

Hi Chris,

How do you count the carbs you eat at restaurants? Also, you seem to
know the exact ounce of the food you consume! Do you ask the
waitress/waiter about the size of your portions and how they
cook/marinate, etc. the food?

I just guess, generally. Some restaurants have nutritional
information on their menus or on the web, but most don't. Because I
weigh and measure at home, I have developed some ability to guess,
but
I'm sure it isn't perfect. And I don't ask how they prepare the
food.
I will do something like add in a pat or two of butter or some olive
oil (in my calorie-tracking spreadsheet, that is) to the basic food
if
it seems to be prepared with fat. For more elaborate dishes, I'll
probably use something similar from my spreadsheet. It's the
discipline of doing it more than being exact that matters. (One
other
thing on weight/size of portions: often I eat half of my entree and
bring half home -- just eyeballing when I split it -- and then I
weigh
the part I've brought home and assume that what I had in the
restaurant was the same.)


This was my day:

morning: (home) Nature's Path "Heritage" cereal with half a banana
and
3/4 cup of non-fat milk
10:00AM: crackers (from home): Kashi 7-grain, Wisecrackers (about 20
of
them total)
1:00PM: (office luncheon): half a chicken skewer (Thai food), two
spoonfuls of curry and a cup of brown rice, a small piece of duck,
two
scallops with some peas, a fresh (non-fried) spring roll, a little
ball
of sorbet ice-cream
8:00PM (Dinner party): four ginger snap cookies, 1/2 cup of
couscous, a
few slivers of chicken, a small 1" square piece of lamb, some fruit
salad, a piece of chocolate cake, a cream puff, two pieces of
chocolate

Did I do good? Did I splurge?

You didn't eat tons of food, and this isn't terrible for a day with
two parties. In general this isn't just how you'd want to distribute
your calories in a day, of course, as there are too many sweets and
too little protein. And I'd personally have cut back on the starches
like the rice and couscous in favor of more meat, but that's personal
preference as much as health consiousness, as I'd have probably eaten
sweets too :-).

Since I gather your pre-lunch eating was more how you normally eat,
let me suggest that you try to make your morning less carb-intensive.
The Kashi with banana and skim milk is a good breakfast, but for your
morning snack I'd choose something with some protein, if possible,
rather than crackers. I don't know either of these types of
crackers,
but if they're not small 20 sounds like rather a lot. How many
calories are in a cracker? Better snack ideas might be just a couple
of crackers (or apple wedges, even better) with a little peanut
butter
or cheese, a cup of yogurt, a hard-boiled egg or two, some cold
chicken, etc. Or if you want carbs, make it something like an apple
or a bunch of baby carrots.

Chris

On Wed, 22 Dec 2004 07:54:15 -0600, "JMA"
wrote:

Really? None of us can do more on the decline, including the guys.

I'm surprised. Tom and I can, and I just assumed that was the case
for most people. I can do less on the incline bench than flat bench,
and I think that is typical also.

Bill
likes it because he said it works the lower end of the pecs and then there's
the whole stability aspect thrown in.

I think the issue about the lower end of the pecs is more a
bodybuilder thing than anything else. I'm not sure why stability is
an issue, particularly. It doesn't seem any different than flat or
incline (unless they make you dizzy :-) ).

I only do declines with DB's and then
I'm doing flys and a some presses, but to do the same weight as flat ones
takes a lot more effort.

Are you comparing the weight in DBs on the decline to the barbell
weight on the flat bench? That's kind of apples and oranges.
Everybody lifts less weight with DBs than with the bar. And maybe
that's why you're referring to a stability issue -- because you're
using DBs rather than because your on a decline. Try comparing a
barbell decline to barbell flat, or a DB decline to a DB flat. I bet
you'll lift more on the decline in both cases.

I think the most I could do nowadays with DB flat bench is probably
45s (for 90 lbs), while I can certainly do more than that with the
barbell flat bench.

I keep asking Bill if the blood rushing to my head
has any strength benefits.

Um, probly not :-)

Chris

On 22 Dec 2004 13:02:41 -0800, "Her Subj."
wrote:

I have the absolute WORST sweet tooth. I can pack in about ten 3"
diametre cookies in one sitting. I can also pack them in with cake,
etc. Food I love, but not as much as I love sweets and dessert.

I think is something you're going to have to work on if you want to
lose weight. You need to try to ration yourself some. I like sweets
too but I just don't allow myself to eat them freely. Now that I'm in
maintenance, I will usually have a small sweet most days, but that's
different than eating a whole bunch of cookies or a piece of cake.

One thing I don't like much, though, is meat, which I find pretty gross
in every way. I'm not vegetarian, but I don't like eating meat to "fill
me up." The crackers I ate were about 130 calories per 15 crackers, and
the other one was around 110 calories per 10 crackers, so I figured I
ate around 250-300 calories worth of crackers.

I'm afraid crackers just don't do much for you nutritionally. You
really need to find some alternatives like those I suggested (e.g.,
apple with peanut butter). If you don't like meat, you need to work
on getting protein from other sources.

I'm at work and there are leftovers from yesterday's potluck. So far I
ate around seven cookies, some pasta salad (so good), and I also
finished my own salad (only about 80 calories, I imagine) and had a
nice bottle of water.

You know this is not good, don't you -- all those cookies and pasta
salad. (I talked about eating a couple of sweets at our office
potluck on Monday. On Tuesday, there were leftovers of all the sweets
out on the table in our conference room. But I didn't eat any. I had
my planned splurge on Monday. Tuesday wasn't in the plan.)

Can you say gym tonight? 10 miles, one hour of pilates, 40 arm reps at
30lbs, and 40 leg lifts. Yes.

This will take you forever, and will probably leave you so tired
tomorrow that you will binge on carbs again for quick energy. You
need to get past the idea of overdoing the food and then overdoing
exercise to make up for it. Neither is healthy. Moderate eating and
a reasonable level of exercise will get you a lot farther.

Chris

"Chris Braun" wrote in message
...
On Wed, 22 Dec 2004 07:54:15 -0600, "JMA"
wrote:
I only do declines with DB's and then
I'm doing flys and a some presses, but to do the same weight as flat ones
takes a lot more effort.

Are you comparing the weight in DBs on the decline to the barbell
weight on the flat bench? That's kind of apples and oranges.

Everybody lifts less weight with DBs than with the bar. And maybe
that's why you're referring to a stability issue -- because you're
using DBs rather than because your on a decline. Try comparing a
barbell decline to barbell flat, or a DB decline to a DB flat. I bet
you'll lift more on the decline in both cases.

Nope, I'm comparing DB to DB. I do flat DB flys and presses and that's what
I was comparing to the decline. For example, on a flat bench I commonly use
30's and 35's to do flys and it's only work on the last half of the 35's.
Decline, I can barely get through the set of 30's.

For me it still takes more effort to keep correct form with the DB's on a
decline.

I think the most I could do nowadays with DB flat bench is probably
45s (for 90 lbs), while I can certainly do more than that with the
barbell flat bench.

I haven't tested my max with DB press because I only use them as a warm up
or on a day when I'm doing a lot of chest stuff. I did hit a new high on
the barbell flat bench today (125).

I keep asking Bill if the blood rushing to my head
has any strength benefits.

Um, probly not :-)

But there's definitely some ab work getting off of the decline bench,
especially when you're still holding your DB's!

Jenn

"Chris Braun" wrote in message
...
On Wed, 22 Dec 2004 07:54:15 -0600, "JMA"
wrote:
I only do declines with DB's and then
I'm doing flys and a some presses, but to do the same weight as flat ones
takes a lot more effort.

Are you comparing the weight in DBs on the decline to the barbell
weight on the flat bench? That's kind of apples and oranges.

Everybody lifts less weight with DBs than with the bar. And maybe
that's why you're referring to a stability issue -- because you're
using DBs rather than because your on a decline. Try comparing a
barbell decline to barbell flat, or a DB decline to a DB flat. I bet
you'll lift more on the decline in both cases.

Nope, I'm comparing DB to DB. I do flat DB flys and presses and that's what
I was comparing to the decline. For example, on a flat bench I commonly use
30's and 35's to do flys and it's only work on the last half of the 35's.
Decline, I can barely get through the set of 30's.

For me it still takes more effort to keep correct form with the DB's on a
decline.

I think the most I could do nowadays with DB flat bench is probably
45s (for 90 lbs), while I can certainly do more than that with the
barbell flat bench.

I haven't tested my max with DB press because I only use them as a warm up
or on a day when I'm doing a lot of chest stuff. I did hit a new high on
the barbell flat bench today (125).

I keep asking Bill if the blood rushing to my head
has any strength benefits.

Um, probly not :-)

But there's definitely some ab work getting off of the decline bench,
especially when you're still holding your DB's!

Jenn

00cwb.googlegroups.com

I have the absolute WORST sweet tooth. I can pack in about ten 3"
diametre cookies in one sitting. I can also pack them in with cake,
etc. Food I love, but not as much as I love sweets and dessert.

i'm that way with pasta. all i need is some olive oil or light spread or
something and a tbsp or two of parmesan cheese and i could eat a ton of it. i
love it even plain, without anything on it, whether whole wheat, spelt, or
durum semolina.

sara

hello teacher tell me what's my lesson,
look right through me, look right through me.

On Wed, 22 Dec 2004 21:35:52 -0600, "JMA"
wrote:

Nope, I'm comparing DB to DB. I do flat DB flys and presses and that's what
I was comparing to the decline. For example, on a flat bench I commonly use
30's and 35's to do flys and it's only work on the last half of the 35's.
Decline, I can barely get through the set of 30's.

Well, I was just talking about presses, not flyes. I'll have to try
flyes both ways and compare. I have never tried flyes on a decline
bench. I don't do DB flyes much at all -- mostly standing ones with a
cable machine. I like DB flyes but after I hurt my shoulder last year
Tom felt there was some risk with them, but it's much better now. I
think Tom has also said that he prefers cable flyes because the
resistance is more constant throughout the movement.

Regarding the amount of weight one can do on presses: I was curious
about what you said so did a search to try to find some comparison.
The first link I found that addressed this (http://tinyurl.com/59982),
says:

"BARBELL DECLINE PRESS (lower pecs) description snipped. Because the
range of motion is lessened, many guys find they can do more weight on
decline presses than on flat or incline presses once they become
accustomed to the movement."

This matches my experience. Actually, I could do more even the first
time I tried it, which was the first time I ever pressed 135
(barbell).

I haven't tested my max with DB press because I only use them as a warm up
or on a day when I'm doing a lot of chest stuff. I did hit a new high on
the barbell flat bench today (125).

Excellent! That's pretty much my max nowadays too. (Back when I
weighed 260, and before I injured my shoulder, my max was 185.
Sigh... . And I did a 170 in competition when I'd gotten down to
around 220. It seemed to me that I lost very little strength for the
first 50 pounds or so of weight loss, but quite a bit more after that.
But a 125 in my last competition (last April) was enough for a state
record in the 165 lb. weight class for my age group, and I'm in a
lighter class now. There isn't much competition amongst old ladies
:-) .)


I keep asking Bill if the blood rushing to my head
has any strength benefits.

Um, probly not :-)

But there's definitely some ab work getting off of the decline bench,
especially when you're still holding your DB's!

That would be true!

Chris

On Wed, 22 Dec 2004 21:35:52 -0600, "JMA"
wrote:

Nope, I'm comparing DB to DB. I do flat DB flys and presses and that's what
I was comparing to the decline. For example, on a flat bench I commonly use
30's and 35's to do flys and it's only work on the last half of the 35's.
Decline, I can barely get through the set of 30's.

Well, I was just talking about presses, not flyes. I'll have to try
flyes both ways and compare. I have never tried flyes on a decline
bench. I don't do DB flyes much at all -- mostly standing ones with a
cable machine. I like DB flyes but after I hurt my shoulder last year
Tom felt there was some risk with them, but it's much better now. I
think Tom has also said that he prefers cable flyes because the
resistance is more constant throughout the movement.

Regarding the amount of weight one can do on presses: I was curious
about what you said so did a search to try to find some comparison.
The first link I found that addressed this (http://tinyurl.com/59982),
says:

"BARBELL DECLINE PRESS (lower pecs) description snipped. Because the
range of motion is lessened, many guys find they can do more weight on
decline presses than on flat or incline presses once they become
accustomed to the movement."

This matches my experience. Actually, I could do more even the first
time I tried it, which was the first time I ever pressed 135
(barbell).

I haven't tested my max with DB press because I only use them as a warm up
or on a day when I'm doing a lot of chest stuff. I did hit a new high on
the barbell flat bench today (125).

Excellent! That's pretty much my max nowadays too. (Back when I
weighed 260, and before I injured my shoulder, my max was 185.
Sigh... . And I did a 170 in competition when I'd gotten down to
around 220. It seemed to me that I lost very little strength for the
first 50 pounds or so of weight loss, but quite a bit more after that.
But a 125 in my last competition (last April) was enough for a state
record in the 165 lb. weight class for my age group, and I'm in a
lighter class now. There isn't much competition amongst old ladies
:-) .)


I keep asking Bill if the blood rushing to my head
has any strength benefits.

Um, probly not :-)

But there's definitely some ab work getting off of the decline bench,
especially when you're still holding your DB's!

That would be true!

Chris