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Otis fad diet thread — yoga, fasting, and kevzilla walking on🚶‍♂️ (14 Viewers)

Sober February going well - zero drinks!

The daily routine seems to be working too:  get up by 6:30, Sun Salutation, 10K steps by EOD, 10 pushups/pullups/curls by EOD, get heart rate into MAF training zone, IF (16-8), and bed by 10 PM.  Getting to bed by 10 and not sticking to the 16-8 for IF have been the biggest hurdles (although the worst I've been is 12:12 with a small snack in the evening and up until 11 PM at the worst) .

Started the year at 203, then down to ~198, then back to 201 with the Super Bowl weekend festivities.  Then I started this daily routine on 2/3 and I'm down to 195.4 this AM.  If/when I get to 194 I will no longer be fat according to BMI.  On a related note, if/when I get to 194 I'm going to pull out our old Wii Fit console/board just to see my "Mii" adjust to a normal size :lol:  

 
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Weighing in today  one week test

no booze. Slightly more sweets. 

No Hiit workouts.  No weights. Hot yoga 4 times. 
lost around 2 lbs.  183.4

and for you MAF peeps, hot yoga gets my heart rate, right around the proper MAF.   today was a low of 55 a high of 146, average in the 125 range.

 
To monitor heart rate I've been using a fit bit which doesn't track heart rate as closely/accurately/timely as I would like.  Can anyone recommend a good/cheap chest strap HR monitor?  The main thing I would want is accurate/timely updates of my HR in real time - the fitbit simply lags too much.

ETA: Anyone use this one?

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00INQVYZ8/?creativeASIN=B00INQVYZ8&linkCode=w61&imprToken=XmMiQG9o0odYMjpD7r83ag&slotNum=0&tag=reviewgeek-20#customerReviews
That’s what I use. Haven’t had any troubles. The app isn’t great, but I think the assumption is it will feed into whatever other app you use (e.g. links nicely with my concept 2 app).

 
I have slipped a little on diet at night recently.  Giving up alcohol for lent so I'm not going to stress about cutting it out between now and Ash Wednesday, but I think I'm going to just set a rule for myself not to eat anything after 8. 

Did an impromptu tempo run yesterday, 2 miles nonstop at 7.3mph then a brief walk and ran a mile and a half at MAF pace.  7.3 mph is just under 26 minute 5k pace so I'm targeting that as my goal speed right now.  Would be thrilled to be able to run a full 5k at that pace and I'm getting close to that being a reality.  Back to MAF pace today. 

 
I have slipped a little on diet at night recently.  Giving up alcohol for lent so I'm not going to stress about cutting it out between now and Ash Wednesday, but I think I'm going to just set a rule for myself not to eat anything after 8. 

Did an impromptu tempo run yesterday, 2 miles nonstop at 7.3mph then a brief walk and ran a mile and a half at MAF pace.  7.3 mph is just under 26 minute 5k pace so I'm targeting that as my goal speed right now.  Would be thrilled to be able to run a full 5k at that pace and I'm getting close to that being a reality.  Back to MAF pace today. 
What is your MAF pace?

 
I didn't expect much regression from November, but I expected some. To my surprise, I actually lost 2 pounds. What i thought was the 2019 low of 186 is now 184. I've been working very hard, but as brutal as exercise has been the last two weeks the diet's been equally as bad. And tomorrow begins a one week assault. But now I'm thinking maybe I can get to my January 9 weigh-in at 18X. 
Holding myself accountable, with hind sight the worst thing I did was check my weight Dec 20. I didn't do anything out of the ordinary with the diet between then and new year's, but unlike prior year's I got complacent after. I was 188 on my January 9 weigh-in (which was fine), but vaulted up to 193 January 29.  :rant:  Turned that smack in the mouth to 189 as of yesterday. I am often at a major caloric deficit by the time I get home in the evening so what I've been doing differently is eat two small meals (one at 7, another at 9) on those days, which has curbed the empty calorie late night snacking. And if I know I won't eat dinner until 9 or so like yesterday then I make sure I have my usual afternoon go-to's (one bag of raw veggies, one of nuts) with me throughout the evening.

Goal is 185 by month's end and get under 180 then stay there in April.

 
Holding myself accountable, with hind sight the worst thing I did was check my weight Dec 20. I didn't do anything out of the ordinary with the diet between then and new year's, but unlike prior year's I got complacent after. I was 188 on my January 9 weigh-in (which was fine), but vaulted up to 193 January 29.  :rant:  Turned that smack in the mouth to 189 as of yesterday. I am often at a major caloric deficit by the time I get home in the evening so what I've been doing differently is eat two small meals (one at 7, another at 9) on those days, which has curbed the empty calorie late night snacking. And if I know I won't eat dinner until 9 or so like yesterday then I make sure I have my usual afternoon go-to's (one bag of raw veggies, one of nuts) with me throughout the evening.

Goal is 185 by month's end and get under 180 then stay there in April.
how tall are you?  curious, because we are in the same fight class   :boxing: :D   I'm 5-10

 
6'1, I think my ideal racing weight is 177 or thereabouts - 185 is about right otherwise. I've spent way too much time at 19X the last two years.
i feel really good in the 180-185 range.  but am also shooting for sub 180.  i'm mostly focusing on diet (no booze) to get there. if i drop under 180,  it'll be interesting to see,  if my BF% goes below 15%.  i hover between 15.5 and 17%.  

 
i feel really good in the 180-185 range.  but am also shooting for sub 180.  i'm mostly focusing on diet (no booze) to get there. if i drop under 180,  it'll be interesting to see,  if my BF% goes below 15%.  i hover between 15.5 and 17%.  
Sounds about right, when I get into the low 180's I can get below teen% in body fat so being 3" taller that makes sense.

 
What is your MAF pace?


I can run 3 miles at 5.7mph under 140 beats per minute.  My MAF target heart rate is 136 so that's about right.  My next step is to increase that to 5.8 or 5.9 on my "MAF runs" and go as far as i can before hitting 140 beats per minute, then slowing down until i hit 3.1 miles.  On another day I'll try going a little further like 3.5 miles at 5.7mph the whole time.  Always trying to increase the speed i can go in my target heart rate or my distance.  Then on my tempo runs I ignore heart rate altogether and just go fast, and on my weekly long run i ignore going fast and just try to increase my max distance by 10 percent over the previous week.  

 
I’m noticing that as my weight continues to drop, I look in the mirror and realize I still need to lose “another 20lbs”...

Setting new goal at 200. I think that’s probably where I need to be. Still so much work to do. 
It seems cruel that it's likely to be the middle where it comes off last. Smh.

Weigh-in Wednesday tomorrow will be interesting - not been a great week+

 
I can run 3 miles at 5.7mph under 140 beats per minute.  My MAF target heart rate is 136 so that's about right.  My next step is to increase that to 5.8 or 5.9 on my "MAF runs" and go as far as i can before hitting 140 beats per minute, then slowing down until i hit 3.1 miles.  On another day I'll try going a little further like 3.5 miles at 5.7mph the whole time.  Always trying to increase the speed i can go in my target heart rate or my distance.  Then on my tempo runs I ignore heart rate altogether and just go fast, and on my weekly long run i ignore going fast and just try to increase my max distance by 10 percent over the previous week.  
@fred_1_15301 I started at 6mph today expecting to have to drop down a little but ended up running 2.5 miles at 6mph before hitting 141 beats per minute which is my cutoff (I'm supposed to stay under 136 if I use 180 minus my age but I've somewhat arbitrarily decided that 140 means i just need to try to relax my breathing but 141 means i need to show down.)

I slowed down to 5.7 and finished the 5k at 140bpm. Which is frankly amazing considering that 6mph was my goal pace 6 months ago.  Now it's my slow run without stopping.  I finished another .4 miles at around 5mph so i could complete my 3.5 mile run.  

So 3 weeks into doing MAF,

When i started i was run walking a 28 plus 5k doing mostly 7 to 8 mph with some 3.5 walking when i bonk

I'm now able to easily run the full 5k in a little over 31 minutes, or I can run 2 miles in under 17 minutes and finish the 5k in 27 and change. 

I fully expect to be under 26 minute 5k by end of month.  

I went from not being able to finish 3.1 miles to easily finishing 4 and expect to be at 5.5 by the end of February.  

I know you're working towards your 10 mile run and question this MAF thing. I can't say how it will work for you but I'm really happy with it so far.  

 
I usually sort of pride myself on being able to keep things under control for a customer meeting/day.  

Today was not one of those days.  

I did manage to avoid booze, that probably saved me to some extent or another.

 
@fred_1_15301 I started at 6mph today expecting to have to drop down a little but ended up running 2.5 miles at 6mph before hitting 141 beats per minute which is my cutoff (I'm supposed to stay under 136 if I use 180 minus my age but I've somewhat arbitrarily decided that 140 means i just need to try to relax my breathing but 141 means i need to show down.)

I slowed down to 5.7 and finished the 5k at 140bpm. Which is frankly amazing considering that 6mph was my goal pace 6 months ago.  Now it's my slow run without stopping.  I finished another .4 miles at around 5mph so i could complete my 3.5 mile run.  

So 3 weeks into doing MAF,

When i started i was run walking a 28 plus 5k doing mostly 7 to 8 mph with some 3.5 walking when i bonk

I'm now able to easily run the full 5k in a little over 31 minutes, or I can run 2 miles in under 17 minutes and finish the 5k in 27 and change. 

I fully expect to be under 26 minute 5k by end of month.  

I went from not being able to finish 3.1 miles to easily finishing 4 and expect to be at 5.5 by the end of February.  

I know you're working towards your 10 mile run and question this MAF thing. I can't say how it will work for you but I'm really happy with it so far.  
In all honesty, I’m scared.  I tried MAF for a couple days and was a little embarrassed at how slow I was going to maintain that HR.  Reading this post makes me feel a LOT better.  I’m on a 10 week training routine for this 10 mike run.  After I’m done, I’m going to give MAF another shot.  I’ll be much more patient next time.  Thanks!

 
In all honesty, I’m scared.  I tried MAF for a couple days and was a little embarrassed at how slow I was going to maintain that HR.  Reading this post makes me feel a LOT better.  I’m on a 10 week training routine for this 10 mike run.  After I’m done, I’m going to give MAF another shot.  I’ll be much more patient next time.  Thanks!
This is the standard response. It takes time and experience to mentally wrap your mind around the concept. Even then periods of regression are inevitable. I'm substantially faster than both of you and I have done multiple runs over the last week slower than the runs you're both talking about. Slowing down is how you get faster. I know, it's weird.

 
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This is the standard response. It takes time and experience to mentally wrap your mind around the concept. Even then periods of regression are inevitable. I'm substantially faster than both of you and I have done multiple runs over the last week slower than the runs you're both talking about. Slowing down is how you get faster. I know, it's weird.
Your Hue avatar does not afford you credibility...
;)  

 
In all honesty, I’m scared.  I tried MAF for a couple days and was a little embarrassed at how slow I was going to maintain that HR.  Reading this post makes me feel a LOT better.  I’m on a 10 week training routine for this 10 mike run.  After I’m done, I’m going to give MAF another shot.  I’ll be much more patient next time.  Thanks!
I'm documenting the process for exactly this reason.  I am not a good athlete. I've done couch to 5k before and gone back to the couch each time.  I ran a half marathon once back when i was like 30 but nothing close since. I literally couldn't finish 5k running non stop a month ago.  I started MAF three weeks ago.

My first MAF run was at an embarrassingly slow 4.7mph and i felt the same way but i finished it without stopping. My second MAF run was faster.  

I feel most comfortable at 5.7 now but just did 6mph for 2.5 miles and 5.7 to finish the 5k and stayed at 140 or under. That's a little slower but it's not as bad as it was at the start.  And I'm running faster and farther than before.  

I'm not an expert or trainer or anything but if I were training for something like you I would be skeptical too. And you don't need to do all your runs slow. The rule I've seen on line is 80 percent slow 20 percent full speed. I think most training plans actually take that into account and suggest you do some runs at "race pace". When I first saw that i thought it meant train fast but do some runs even faster. That's not what it means.  Check your training plan and see if it says something about running at a comfortable pace, where you can talk to someone comfortably.  That's roughly 70 percent of max heart rate - which is basically what MAF is. 

 
In all honesty, I’m scared.  I tried MAF for a couple days and was a little embarrassed at how slow I was going to maintain that HR.  Reading this post makes me feel a LOT better.  I’m on a 10 week training routine for this 10 mike run.  After I’m done, I’m going to give MAF another shot.  I’ll be much more patient next time.  Thanks!
I don't know what you're using for a training plan but here's a few and they all have most of your runs going slow, or at a conversational pace, etc.

https://i.pinimg.com/originals/b7/0f/ed/b70feda24b8e67234e4f37d528ad4e77.png

https://i2.wp.com/www.runandsmile.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/10-mile-training-plan.png?fit=785%2C445

https://www.sublimelyfit.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/soldier-field-10-mile-training-plan.jpg

Maybe you're supposed to be doing this already. 

 
This is the standard response. It takes time and experience to mentally wrap your mind around the concept. Even then periods of regression are inevitable. I'm substantially faster than both of you and I have done multiple runs over the last week slower than the runs you're both talking about. Slowing down is how you get faster. I know, it's weird.
This is 100% true.  It seems counterintuitive, but if you were to run all of your runs at a slower pace for the next 10 weeks and work on increasing the volume vs. running faster at shorter distances, you're virtually guaranteed to perform better doing the former. 

 
This is 100% true.  It seems counterintuitive, but if you were to run all of your runs at a slower pace for the next 10 weeks and work on increasing the volume vs. running faster at shorter distances, you're virtually guaranteed to perform better doing the former. 
I've said this too many times in the 10K thread, but I don't believe I've ever said it in here - so here we go:

Cliff notes - I spent more years than I care to admit trying to break an 18 minute 5K. This was all done running relatively low mileage and doing most (all) of them hard. I never accomplished my goal and eventually gave up and decided to try longer distance. After about 6 months of mostly slower running, but a lot more mileage on a whim I decided to race a 5K just for s's and g's...and ran a 16:27 5K.

I get this is not a running thread. I get this is a diet thread. So maybe leave it at this, but for those using running as a vehicle to being in better shape - running further and slower is the most effective means. It's just a matter of your body getting through the first 6-8 weeks and devoting the time necessary to do it.

 
I've said this too many times in the 10K thread, but I don't believe I've ever said it in here - so here we go:

Cliff notes - I spent more years than I care to admit trying to break an 18 minute 5K. This was all done running relatively low mileage and doing most (all) of them hard. I never accomplished my goal and eventually gave up and decided to try longer distance. After about 6 months of mostly slower running, but a lot more mileage on a whim I decided to race a 5K just for s's and g's...and ran a 16:27 5K.

I get this is not a running thread. I get this is a diet thread. So maybe leave it at this, but for those using running as a vehicle to being in better shape - running further and slower is the most effective means. It's just a matter of your body getting through the first 6-8 weeks and devoting the time necessary to do it.
And to piggyback on this, when I started running a couple years ago, I THOUGHT I was running slow enough.  I subscribed to the above, and while I improved, my ego kept me from truly running as slow as I was supposed to.  Yes, I got faster and yes, I got in better shape, but I then hung around the same spot for almost 2 years.  Then, a few months ago, I decided to give it a shot the right way and truly slow down enough dictated by my HR (MAF).  Previously, the slowest I ever ran might have been about a 10 min/mile pace and most of my "slow" runs were in the 9:30-9:50 range.  Nothing difficult for me, but my HR said otherwise.  And keep in mind, also, that we're only talking a few beats per minute difference.  When I should have been ~140 bpm, I was in the 145-150 range.  Too high.

When I started the above, I was now running 11 min/mile and 12 min/mile paces at first.  I'd never run that slow before and it was painful.  Both because of how slow it was and also because my ego said "hey, this sucks, why are you so slow?".  But I decided that I would trust it and give it a chance.  Now, at those same HRs, those 11-12 min/mile paces are 9-10 min/miles.  And, in staying in line with this thread, it was during that period of truly running slow enough based on my HR that my weight started coming down significantly.  Now that I'm back training and running faster, my weight has once again plateaued.  That's ok as it's not my primary focus now, but if you want to get healthier, lose weight, AND get faster at running, running what can seem painfully slow at first is a good way to start.  But, the slow won't last forever.  And, you don't have to kill yourself to see gains in lots of different areas.  The hardest part is checking that ego.  And since no one really cares how "slow" you are, it's stupid.

 
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bostonfred said:
I would like to retract my excitement about breaking 28 minutes 
@MAC_32 is a freak of nature when it comes to running (talent and time put into it).  It doesn't do anybody any good to try to compare to anyone but yourself.

 
@MAC_32 is a freak of nature when it comes to running (talent and time put into it).  It doesn't do anybody any good to try to compare to anyone but yourself.
Right, don't compare what you're doing to me. Compare what you're doing vs. the previous you. If your goal is to improve that prior you wrt a 5K time then these are the ingredients to follow. There are next levels beyond that but that's more a topic for the 10K thread.

 
bostonfred said:
@fred_1_15301 I started at 6mph today expecting to have to drop down a little but ended up running 2.5 miles at 6mph before hitting 141 beats per minute which is my cutoff (I'm supposed to stay under 136 if I use 180 minus my age but I've somewhat arbitrarily decided that 140 means i just need to try to relax my breathing but 141 means i need to show down.)

I slowed down to 5.7 and finished the 5k at 140bpm. Which is frankly amazing considering that 6mph was my goal pace 6 months ago.  Now it's my slow run without stopping.  I finished another .4 miles at around 5mph so i could complete my 3.5 mile run.  
MAF keeps MAFfing. Just did 3.5 miles in a little under 35 minutes. First 2.5 at 6.1mph, heart rate climbed to 139 by the end but mostly stayed around 137. Dropped to 5.9mph for the last mile. It's not just a number on my heart rate monitor, I can feel my endurance improving with almost every run.  Part of it i think is that i had a carb heavy lunch which i haven't been doing as much recently but still. Literally seeing significant improvement daily.   

 
MAF keeps MAFfing. Just did 3.5 miles in a little under 35 minutes. First 2.5 at 6.1mph, heart rate climbed to 139 by the end but mostly stayed around 137. Dropped to 5.9mph for the last mile. It's not just a number on my heart rate monitor, I can feel my endurance improving with almost every run.  Part of it i think is that i had a carb heavy lunch which i haven't been doing as much recently but still. Literally seeing significant improvement daily.   
Since you started MAFing, did you also put yourself on a diet?  Did you quit booze?  Your results are impressive so I’m curious if there are contributing factors for your success.

 
Rest day yesterday (forced, 3 year old 5am havoc). But ate well. 10k MAF row this morning.  Keeping on. 

Stuck at 221.8
23.9% body fat 
Gotta stop weighing in for a few weeks....

 

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