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The Exercise & Fitness Thread: The Struggle Is Real

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Weird update to the bike story. A second bike was just delivered to my house! Halfords have agreed to let me steal the charger from this second bike and we are just trying to figure out how to return the bike itself.

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11 minutes ago, Happenstance said:

Weird update to the bike story. A second bike was just delivered to my house! Halfords have agreed to let me steal the charger from this second bike and we are just trying to figure out how to return the bike itself.

Does the second charger work though? :p 

I really should look at getting an electric bike at some point, so I can leave the house a bit more (when lockdown is properly over). That, or re-learn how to drive and get a cheap car haha. 

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19 minutes ago, Eenuh said:

Does the second charger work though? :p 

I really should look at getting an electric bike at some point, so I can leave the house a bit more (when lockdown is properly over). That, or re-learn how to drive and get a cheap car haha. 

Ha yeah, made sure I checked the charger.

The delivery driver said he had another 2 bikes to deliver today, both to the same woman so he’s wondering if it’s happened again. I did ask Halfords if they fancied letting me keep the second bike but they didn’t answer 😆

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AWj68l6.jpg

First test ride on the e-bike finished. It’s pretty great! Definitely doesn’t do all the work for you, even on full power which is good. Might take it out again later once my legs have recovered 😆

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Think I've got my diet nailed down. I'm basically doing the SlimFast 3 2 1 diet, which consists of 3 snacks under 100 calories, 2 meal replacement shakes and 1 proper meal. Mine breaks down to:

Breakfast: Shake (230 cal)

Snack 1 (100 cal)

Lunch: Shake (230 cal)

Snack 2 (100 cal)

Dinner: Normally some vegetarian protein and side salad (500-800 cal)

Snack 3 (100 cal)

1260-1560 cal total.

For snacks I'm either having a pickled egg (80 cal), orange (70 cal), carrots (100 cal) or a pack of Niknaks (100 cal).

Seems to be working well so far. It seems like too few calories, but SlimFast recommends it and I'm not going hungry or struggling with exercise. It also means I still manage to lose weight on days when I don't do exercise, so that's a bonus.

It's also made me think about and appreciate the one meal a day more. I'm generally enjoying food more overall, so that's good.

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21 minutes ago, Goafer said:

Breakfast: Shake (230 cal)

Snack 1 (100 cal)

Lunch: Shake (230 cal)

Snack 2 (100 cal)

Dinner: Normally some vegetarian protein and side salad (500-800 cal)

Snack 3 (100 cal)

1260-1560 cal total.

This would annoy me to no end :D I tried something like this before (setting calories for meals and counting them) but it didn't work for me. Glad to hear that it seems to work for you :)

My diet in the past 3 months was pretty much just eat one meal less a day and stick to my 16/8 intermittent fasting that I've been unknowingly doing for about 12 years now since I haven't had breakfast since I was 18 (obviously on certain occasions I did have breakfast but I'd say 95% of the time I don't).
I eat lunch (full meal, just what I feel like) and then some fruit and yogurt in the evening.

Even without the runs I do every week I would've lost weight quite easily, I'd reckon.

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4 minutes ago, drahkon said:

This would annoy me to no end :D I tried something like this before (setting calories for meals and counting them) but it didn't work for me. Glad to hear that it seems to work for you :)

I think one thing that's made it easier is that I was generally bored of what I used to eat and was just eating out of habit and not actually enjoying it. I also went vegetarian back in September, so massively mixing up my diet was already a thing I was used to.

Counting would drive me nuts too, but the 3 2 1 thing makes it pretty easy. The shakes are a set amount, so I don't have to think about it. For the snacks, it's just a case of finding ones that are below 100 and there's fortunately quite a few that I like. That just leaves the meal to count, which is actually pretty easy for me, as most of my usual meals are already below the threshold (I've actually had to add things in some cases to make it up).

When I first saw the shakes, I thought I'd struggle as they're really not much at all (250ml IIRC). I thought there was no way they'd fill me up, but they've actually been great. Fill me up nicely and stop me being hungry until the next meal.

I've bought 4 flavours. They're not the most enjoyable meal, but the variety helps.

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3 minutes ago, Goafer said:

eating out of habit

Oh yeah, that (and the amount of alcohol I drank from November 2019 to mid-March 2020) made me put on 8 kg. Whenever I got bored I turned to food and it was pretty much always "cook some pasta (i.e. a 500g pack) and eat all of it with some sauce".

Kind of funny how the self isolation I put myself in back in March made me break that habit.

7 minutes ago, Goafer said:

the 3 2 1 thing makes it pretty easy

Now that I think about it...you're right :D

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Did 9.2 miles today which is just under my commute distance so I’m happy that I’ll be able to get to work when I finally go back. I’d forgotten just how steep the hill outside my village is though. Even on full assist from the motor I thought I was gonna have to walk the end (thankfully I didn’t let myself).

Got around to stopping to take a photo of the bike as well this time:

W4ufuf9.jpg

Edited by Happenstance
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I overdid it on Saturday, so no bike rides for a few days whilst I rest my aching muscles. I did lose 2lbs as a result though, so not a bad tradeoff.

I decided to spend today on a bit of maintenance instead, as I'd not given the bike a proper clean since I bought it 12 or so years ago (probably more, as it's a 2006 model). Stripped the bike back a bit, cleaned whatever I could get to, re-lubed everything and then put new rear brake pads on (I'm still waiting for the second pair to arrive for the front):

104849003_10164007482890341_621239638982

Overall, the bike is in pretty good condition, especially considering it's been used and abused for 12 years and left in a garage to gather dust for the last 7 of those years. May replace a few things like the chain and cogs as a precautionary measure, but it doesn't really need anything yet.

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Looking good! I’ve really missed having a bike since I moved here, unfortunately I just wouldn’t get very much use out of one.

My training has been pretty inconsistent the last couple of weeks. I’ve been keeping up my distance targets but speed training has gone due to the random times I’ve been running. Anything other than late night / early morning is just too hot to do anything other than jog and hope you make it home.

It’s crazy to think that the end of this week will be half way through the year - hope everyone is on track with their schedules.

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I think I found the source of the pain in my achilles sene - it came from riding my cargo bike too hard as I was always sore in my ankle after riding my son to daycare / picking him up again. So I put more electricity in it and have avoided exercise that hit the ankles too much and that helps a lot. However, my left foot is killing me so I my need to go to someone that can help me here. I have some callus beneath my big toe (yikes, is it truly called that in English as well??) that really hurts - and it forms due to a relatively high arch (it's rather supinated). Don't know if I can fix that. :(

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I've just got myself a Wii Balance Board with The Biggest Loser because I've decided I'm not going back to the gym until late September. I've just tried it today for 15 minutes and it's really cool. I can't wait to try it when it's not as hot!

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I always underestimate the effects of extreme heat when exercising. It's 30°C here right now and I just went for a run. After 24 minutes (4km) I was exhausted.

I've also noticed that my knees start to hurt after a long run (60-90 minutes). Not sure if it's 'cause they aren't used to it, yet, or if there's something else going on. Might have to get it checked.

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First day back cycling after resting my strained legs. Much easier today. Managed the longer of my 2 shorter routes (only do the long one on weekends) and only stopped to have a drink. Even managed the hill that I've not been able to do before.

Bike maintenance may have played a part in the ease as well. The bike definitely felt better, with less rattles and clanks and a noticeably smoother ride. Splashed out on some decent brake pads as well and they took me by surprise on the first pull.

Also, I never thought I'd have muscles that I'm proud of, but my calves look fucking ace. They're not all veiny and weird like a Tour De France competitor or anything, but they've got some nice curvature. Feels good man. Just got the rest to work on now...

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6 hours ago, drahkon said:

I always underestimate the effects of extreme heat when exercising. It's 30°C here right now and I just went for a run. After 24 minutes (4km) I was exhausted.

Yeah the heat is a real killer. For me it’s not being able to cool down or relax at any point. Still, when the heat goes away you should see some real benefit!

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Made sure I went out for my ride just after 7am today to avoid the heat. I can barely function just sitting around in the heat doing nothing, there’s no way I could manage riding in 30°.

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So today marks half way through the year for me so time to update how my targets are going:

  1. Run 1,000km over the course of the year - Currently at just over 250km 400km 733km
  2. Do a 5km run in under 20 minutes - Current best 21:35 21:25 (no improvement)
  3. Do a 10km run in under 40 minutes - Current best 48:34 46:40 (no improvement)

I’ve not been able to keep up my pace training at all so have tried to make the runs I do of decent length so I at least smash the distance target. It’s a shame but I very much doubt I’ll be able to hit either my 5k or 10k targets. On the distance part I’m very happy, I’m way ahead of even what my ideal scenario would have looked like. Just need to keep up a few runs a week and I’ll easily beat that one by quite some margin.

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I hate cycling in wind.

Did my weekly long route today (20 miles) and despite the wind, I think it was the easiest it's been yet. I even managed to get up a fairly decent hill in one go this time whereas it normally requires a breather half way up.

Weight wise, I've lost a stone and a half overall and annoyingly seem to be hovering around that mark, as I've been a bit slack over the last week as I needed to recover from last weekend and the weather has been shit. I normally lose a few pounds at the weekends though, so fingers crossed I'll be closer to the next full stone lost at tomorrow's weigh in.

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14 hours ago, Goafer said:

I normally lose a few pounds at the weekends though, so fingers crossed I'll be closer to the next full stone lost at tomorrow's weigh in.

Yup, lost 3lbs. Just 3lbs more and I'll be at 2 stone lost.

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Gonna attempt my commute route in a minute, see how I do. Very gusty as well today so that should add an extra level of fun!

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4 minutes ago, Happenstance said:

Gonna attempt my commute route in a minute, see how I do. Very gusty as well today so that should add an extra level of fun!

Wind is a bastard. Was blowing my front wheel all over the place yesterday, which was especially fun when combined with the fact that cars didn't seem to want to give me as much room as usual.

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Just got back from the ride. God my legs are knackered now 😆

Getting there was simple enough so I’m happy that I’d be able to go to work and back with a nice 8 hour stretch to rest in between. It was doing this with just a 15 minute break before heading home and only having a weeks riding under my belt to begin with that did me in!

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