Contemplating Strength Training
There is a website I monitor on a regular basis called SlickDeals where people post various deals out there. Two weeks ago, a deal was posted for a BowFlex at Amazon.com. It was on sale for $600, but there was a coupon code you could use to get a $200 discount and it included free shipping. The deal was even better because Amazon.com would send you a $100 gift certificate in about 6-8 weeks. For $400 out of pocket and a net cost of $300, my wife and I couldn’t resist.
The BowFlex came less than a week after we ordered it. The first problem we had was where to put it. It’s unbelievable, we have a 3,500 sq ft house and have no where for the BowFlex!
We decided to put it in our media room. We already had an elliptical trainer in there. The BowFlex is kind of big though and while it is open, it actually blocks part of our screen. Here are some pictures of it:
Our media room has thus now become our media room/exercise room. If you look to the far right, you see the elliptical trainer:
I realize I can’t do any lower body work, but I think I’m going to some arm and upper body work 3 days a week. I’ll do it on Mon and Fri which are rest days and on Wed which is a recovery day.
June 14th, 2007 at 8:20 pm
Derek-
I just wanted to thank you for this site! I came across it yesterday, and have follwed your incredible progress! My story is very similar (please visit my site if yiu have time to get the full story:) http://releasetherunner.blogspot.com
Basically, I am currently 235lbs, 38yrs old, and have a goal to run a 1/2 marathon 11/18/2007, and return the following year to run a full marathon at the age of 40, and be in the best shape of my life!
This weekend, I want to tweak my training plan, and in your weight loss blog “How I lost weight”, I read about the calorie deficit. According to my BMR, at my current weight, I need 2,026 cal a day to maintain. You advised “Once I can calculate my deficit, I then eat what I want”
Can you help me understand how I can calculate my caloric deficit, and what was a typical day in your diet when you had a 1,300 cal deficit?
And thanks again for the motivation an inspiration!!!
Dave
June 14th, 2007 at 9:22 pm
You’re almost in exactly the same situation I was a year ago. I was 38 years old and weighed 230lbs
To calculate your deficit, you simply need to count all the calories you eat and also calculate how much you burn while exercising
E.g, you said your BMR is 2,026
Suppose you eat a total of 2,000 calories and you run for 5 miles in a single day. Go to a site like this: http://www.runnersworld.com/cda/caloriecalculator/0,7153,s6-242-306-313-0-0-0-0-0,00.html
Based your weight of 235, you would will burn 890 calories for 5 miles.
So in all you would burn 2,026 + 890 for the day which is 2,916, but you ate 2,000 calories worth of food so the difference is 916 calories. That is your calorie deficit.
For every 3,500 calorie deficit, you’ll lose 1 pound
June 14th, 2007 at 9:33 pm
thanks so much for the explanation!
I’ll keep you posted!!!
Dave