Thread: Getting fit, losing flab

Well done, Simon.

As far as the knee thing is concerned, I doubt there is any difference between running on a treadmill and running on the roads, unless of course, the roads are in very poor condition and you risk twisting a knee.

Nice too see you fit and well Simon, it was only recently that you were on you way out

Originally Posted by Simon43

After due and careful thought, I've decided to sell my Bed & Breakfast business at the airport. My long-term lung illness is not getting any better - it will eventually lead to my demise.

So I've decided it might be prudent to relax on a beach somewhere with pretty women for a year or much longer

I won't detail my sale details here - you can check the listing here:

Established Bed & Breakfast business - full financials | SW Coast: Phuket & Region | Small Hotel/Resort Sale/Lease | Bahtsold.com | Baht&Sold

You can PM me as well.

Suffice to say, I am one of the lucky few in Phuket whose small business is doing well and expanding, thanks in part to my business reputation and the great cleaning lady that I employ. My business has not been negatively affected by the recent changes in tourist demographics in Phuket.

That's an impressive weight loss Simon! I could do myself a lot of good by following your example and shedding the excess that comes with poor diet and too much alcohol.
I've desperately got my act together and put some miles on my bike, but I have been suffering from gout pains recently, and they stop me from exercising. So it's going to have to be less grog and more fruit and veg. I know from previous exercise programs the "feel good factor" of working out, it's just getting on with it! Well done Simon.

Originally Posted by Simon43

drinking 2 big bottles of Myanmar Beer each night

That's not even a detonator
Anyone can drink 4 or 6, you must have strong will to stop at 2


So despite establishing you have an unfair will power advantage
I will join the TD weight loss program

Well done Simon. I'm also making an effort to loose weight. No meat plenty of fruit n veg and exercise. I'm calling this month dry July. I will attempt to have no beer

Nice too see you fit and well Simon, it was only recently that you were on you way out

Despite my current, very good health, the Aspergillosis remains in my lungs. One advantage of all this running is that it minimises the fluid in my lungs. But yes, it will eventually get me, (hopefully when I'm very old and not before).

Typically, those with Aspergillosis die from pneumonia, as a side-effect of the illness. I've had pneumonia many times, albeit not recently. When I go to BKK next week, I have booked a top-up pneumonia vaccination.

Originally Posted by Neverna

As far as the knee thing is concerned, I doubt there is any difference between running on a treadmill and running on the roads, unless of course, the roads are in very poor condition and you risk twisting a knee.

My Doc told me to run on the treadmill as it is cushioned and it is a lot easier on the knees. I used to run on the road and started getting sore knees so switched to treadmill and all has been ok. (but mind-numbingly boring).
I still do a bit of running outside but only very occasionally. On a flat 8km run around 41 mins and a bit faster sub 5 min per km on the treadmill.


I do not know how you guys can run decent times in Thailand on the road - The heat and humidity would kill me.

I don't eat red meat (and no longer drink alcohol) during the week and walk almost everywhere I go as well as doing a couple of 5km runs; one of which I'm about to do now.

I'm about 20 years younger than the OP, but like having this exercise in the bank before my life gets more sedate. On average I do between 25 and 30km over 7 days, but I'm still half a stone overweight.

This has more than a little to do with the gluttony of recent years and the continued excesses of the weekend, which is time religiously set aside for alcohol and food.

Good onya, Simon. Congrats on losing the kilos & maintaining a healthy lifestyle. Not to scare y'all, but my dad had a severe stroke at 58. It took him about a year to be rehabilitated, and he never recovered 100%. He walked with a limp & had to use a cane. His left hand did not become fully functional either. When he had the stroke, he was fat & hypertensive. He had to lose weight (10-15 kg) to be able to walk again. It was very hard on the family finances, and for his caregivers (my mom & me) during that first year. He passed away 3 yrs ago due to heart attack.

So, knowing my family history of hypertension, I am careful of what I eat. At present, I'm heavier/meatier than I'd like to be. I'm not obese but would like to lose a few kilos. My office clothes are getting tight & I don't want to buy a new wardrobe. Lol. I don't drink alcohol often - dont like beer, but I like wine during parties. I've been slack with exercise the past months due to work, but am getting back to zumba-ing and running, and eating healthier. I tend to eat junk food when I'm stress. Bad, I know, but that's my coping mechanism.

Good luck to all! Cheers and TGIF!

...so switched to treadmill and all has been ok. (but mind-numbingly boring).

Agree about the boredom. I was originally planning to go for half-marathons, but the time was too boring for me. So I aimed for 10Km, with dub reggae music in my eyes to keep my pace. I can hack 55 minutes without getting too bored.

@Katie23, very sorry to hear about your father. Yes, being overweight and with high BP can be a real killer - that is one reason why I decided to get fit. (Of course, I could walk outside and get squashed by a bus...).

My father died at the grand old age of 89. But even that death was probably preventable. He died suddenly of a heart attack, brought on by a blocked artery, and he never had any heart checks that could have spotted it and to have a stent put in place. Might have given him a few more years.

My own experiences since February tell me that the most important contributor to losing weight (for me anyway), is diet.

Originally Posted by Simon43

My own experiences since February tell me that the most important contributor to losing weight (for me anyway), is diet.

That.

Calories in Vs. calories out. It's a simple point but one that gets obscured and lost in such much utter bullshit it's not even funny.

Started taking going to the gym more seriously since moving to Mandalay seeing there is little else to do. Trying to gain weight rather than lose it and have had moderate success so far. Getting quality food can be a real challenge here and I live in a big city- skipped buying chicken from the supermarket last night- the fridge was on 15 degrees and looked grey.

The gym is also time for me to zone out and focus on something other than work which does wonders for my mood.

Good job!

Sitting at 100kgs, up from 85kgs a couple of years ago. I'm 187cms, so would be considered overweight according to the BMI system.

I've just left a city where it was difficult to cycle, jog, swim - hint: a massively overpopulated city with crud sidewalks and cars, motorbikes, trikes, trucks, buses and millions of share-bicycles.

I rode my bicycle, but only for short stints. Not enough to burn through the beer belly. I'm not much of a runner/jogger and my preferred method of getting in shape is swimming, preferably ocean swimming.

Now that I'm out of the Big Smoke and back to small town living, I can use the gym and Olympic size pool, football field and running track on-site for free. I can also head down to the ocean for a swim.

Next week I'm heading to the Philippines for three weeks - plenty of opportunity for ocean swimming, hiking, yachting.... and dangerously beer, Mexican food and slothfulness.

I was in hospital recently with a lung problem, for two weeks, and didn't booze for three weeks in total - lost 10kgs. Cut the booze and sugary crap and the kilos melt away.

Getting quality food can be a real challenge here ...

That's why I eat almost no meat. The selection of meat in the local supermarket is of poor quality, very fatty.

I buy the precooked CP Foods lean chicken slices, high in protein.

Last time I went to BKK, I bought a 10 Kg pack of whey protein from the health shop in the Tesco Lotus shopping centre at On Nut. It cost about 3,000 baht, which is 'whey cheaper' than buying it in Naypyidaw.

Originally Posted by Simon43

Last time I went to BKK, I bought a 10 Kg pack of whey protein from the health shop in the Tesco Lotus shopping centre at On Nut. It cost about 3,000 baht, which is 'whey cheaper' than buying it in Naypyidaw.

Yeah, the cost of supplements here is pretty crazy. Brought some weight gain powder and it cost over 100,000 kyat-in the UK it retails for less than half of that lol. Still it does was it says on the tin so I am prepared to cough up.

When I leave Myanmar I think I will end up never eating tuna again

Changed my diet around a year ago. Only meat and vegetables during the week, and then whatever during the weekend.

Threadmill is easy to pull into the living room to have in front of the TV. Put on some porn and then call the Mrs in when finished your run.

Usually put on Cosmos if the Sproglette is about.

Originally Posted by Simon43

How fast can I run 10 Km? Today, I ran 10 Km in 55 minutes 26 seconds

Tried your run today Simon 10km (treadmill) 53min 37 secs - I think I could do it faster if I paced myself better, however I doubt I would get sub 50 mins.

But I don't think I will do it again - too boring.

Anyway give a shout when you crack that time and I may have another go.

Going from 100 metres to 10 Ks is quite impressive, Simon !

I'd really like to see you exercise your will power in the same way, to improve your lung health. Apparently there are ways to reduce or even cure Aspergillosis....

Building up your immune system is the first step, but it seems there are also natural therapies for it.

I found that eating more seeds (and avoiding public transport) dramatically reduced the amount of sniffles I get... I used to think fruit juice was the way, but it's the Zinc in seeds and dark leaves that helps, apparently. FJ does help wake me up in the morning, more than coffee and tea - and working with slender sophisticated continentals rather than podgy grumpy Brits has encouraged me to eat more fruit than I used to.

Cutting out the booze is the starting point... it makes you eat more than you would normally; and makes you more indolent... moreover, your body tends to burn the acetate in alcohol first, before using the calories in the food you're stuffing down with it https://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/md19.htm

Alcohol And The Metabolic Diet.



Mauro Di Pasquale August 15, 2011


Studies show that even small amounts of alcohol have a large impact on fat metabolism. Dropping whole body lipid oxidation (a measure of how much fat your body is burning) by up to 73%! Learn why!

• 05/03/2003 - The main problem with alcohol is not the number of calories it contains but rather the effect is has on fat metabolism. A recent study, for example, has shown that even small amounts of alcohol have a large impact on fat metabolism.

Effects Of Alcohol On Fat Metabolism

In this study, eight men were given two drinks of vodka and lemonade separated by 30 minutes. Each drink contained just under 90 calories. Fat metabolism was measured before and after consumption of the drink.
For several hours after drinking the vodka, whole body lipid oxidation (a measure of how much fat your body is burning) dropped by 73%.
The reason why alcohol has this dramatic effect on fat metabolism has to do with the way alcohol is handled in the body. When alcohol is consumed, it readily passes from the stomach and intestines into the blood and goes to the liver. In the liver, an enzyme called alcohol dehydrogenase mediates the conversion of alcohol to acetaldehyde.
Acetaldehyde is rapidly converted to acetate by other enzymes. So rather than getting stored as fat, the main fate of alcohol is conversion into acetate, the amount of acetate formed is dose dependant on the amount of alcohol consumed. For example, blood levels of acetate after drinking the vodka were 2.5 times higher than normal. And it appears this sharp rise in acetate puts the brakes on fat loss.
The type of fuel your body uses is dictated to some extent by availability. This is one of the reasons for the induction phase of the Metabolic Diet. By severely limiting your carb intake your body is forced to rev up its fat-burning machinery, so you become fat adapted, and increase the use of protein for some of the functions, such as anaplerosis, that carbs are usually heavily involved in.
In other words, your body tends to use whatever you feed it, and after a time becomes adapted to the macro nutrient intake. Unfortunately when acetate levels rise, your body burns the acetate preferentially, since acetate is basically the same product of beta oxidation of fatty acids and glycolysis (glucose to pyruvate to acetate), but it doesn't require the metabolic work to produce.
So the body simply burns the acetate first, and with the rapid rise seen with alcohol intake, basically pushes fat oxidation out of the metabolic equation.
Because acetate is readily formed from alcohol it can be worse than taking in carbs as far as affecting fat metabolism. That's because glucose has to be sequentially metabolized through various steps to form acetate while acetate is formed from alcohol in just a few steps.
Also alcohol, because it can be considered part way between carbs and fats, has more calories than carbs. That's why even the low carb beers contain less than 100 calories even though they only have about 2.5 grams of carbs and .5 grams of protein. While the carbs and protein only make up 12 calories, the 12 grams of alcohol make up the remaining 80 or so calories.

• 9 calories per gram of FAT
• 4 calories per gram of PROTEIN
• 4 calories per gram of CARBOHYDRATE
• 7 calories per gram of ALCOHOL

In summary, while the odd drink or two is acceptable on the Metabolic Diet, it's important to realize that it can be counter productive in the low carb phase and especially so in the induction stage. As such, it's best to partake on the higher carb days where the alcohol is more in tune with the metabolism. However, even in this phase it's important to keep in mind that acute alcohol intoxication impairs protein synthesis and the anabolic hormones.

Alcohol, Carbs and Calories

Alcoholic beverages generally contain alcohol, some or no carbs and calories but not much else. The calories come from the alcohol and sugars, and some protein, usually under 1 gram.
I've included the alcohol and calorie content of some alcoholic beverages in the table below. The difference between the alcohol calories and the overall calories are the calories that come from sugars.
Usually the amount of alcohol in a serving is about the same, though the serving size may vary. For example, 12 oz of regular beer contains about the same amount of alcohol as a 5-fluid-ounce glass of table wine.

Drink Size (fluid ounces) Alcohol (grams) Calories Beer


Beer or ale, regular 12 13 150 Beer, light 12 12 105 Beer, low carb 12 12 95 Beer cooler 12 12 100 Near beer 12 1 30 Wine


Dessert, sweet vermouth, port, sherry, etc. 3-1/2 16 160 Dry, table, red or white burgundy, chablis, champagne, dry sherry, etc. 5 13 100 Light 5 9 70 Wine spritzer 7 11 85 Wine cooler 12 14 180 Non-alcoholic 5 0 10 Liquor


Gin, 90-proof 1-1/2 16 110 Rum, vodka, 80-proof 1-1/2 14 95 Whiskey bourbon, rye, scotch, 86-proof 1-1/2 15 105 Brandy 1-1/2 14 95 Cordial or Liqueur 1-1/2 12 160 Mixed Drinks (2)


Margarita 2-1/2 18 170 Gin and tonic 7-1/2 16 170 Whiskey sour 3 15 125 Daiquiri 2 14 110 Drink Size (fluid ounces) Alcohol (grams) Calories
Be sure to also check out:
Proper Warm-Up To Enhance Performance. :: Stretch & Grow!


About The Author


Mauro Di Pasquale

Dr. Mauro Di Pasquale is one of the most influential voices on diet, performance and athletic training in the world. His innovative work in finding nu
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People who go on about it being just about number of calories in v calories out, don't understand how the body works and how different types of food is processed.
You can eat more good fat (not sat fat or trans fat) in the forms of nuts, seeds and olive oil and oily fish, and cut out carbs in the forms of rice, potatoes, pasta, and crisps, and get good results - as long as you are getting the vitamins.

Cutting salt and sugar right down helps - and of course salty snacks make you drink booze more... it's a long slow road, but it's good to do... I can remember when I couldn't have tea without three sugars in it - long, long, ago.

Originally Posted by CaptainNemo

People who go on about it being just about number of calories in v calories out, don't understand how the body works and how different types of food is processed.

People who over-complicate it with unnecessary bollocks and blanket statements about 'cut out X, Y, and Z!' (a diet that excludes something is by definition not a balanced diet) are quite often looking for magic-bullets and short cuts that don't exist.

They're quite often also in poor shape because they lack consistency in anything, always changing stuff up to go along with the latest fad, and never actually achieving anything.

I bought some chia seeds yesterday. Had a few with my breakfast this morning. I expect to be slim and handsome again by the end of the month.

Originally Posted by AntRobertson

Originally Posted by CaptainNemo

People who go on about it being just about number of calories in v calories out, don't understand how the body works and how different types of food is processed.

People who over-complicate it with unnecessary bollocks and blanket statements about 'cut out X, Y, and Z!' (a diet that excludes something is by definition not a balanced diet) are quite often looking for magic-bullets and short cuts that don't exist.

They're quite often also in poor shape because they lack consistency in anything, always changing stuff up to go along with the latest fad, and never actually achieving anything.

Sensitive, eh. Do you blurt out such defensive withering criticism to your GP when he explains the precise mechanisms involved with what's wrong with you? Which bit was a blanket statement? Was it the "calories in v calories out" blanket statement? Or or or ... no go on, you do it... Are you going to turn every single thread into being about you? Go out for a run - might help clear your mind.