I am pretty active in the classroom, and I am constantly moving for those 220 minutes that I teach each day. I do not go to the gym, but I also walk to work and to the shops each day. I am 6ft tall and 170lb, with a little body fat on my belly. I am eating healthy food every day and eat the recommended 1750 calories or less over 4 meals.
Does anyone have any idea how many calories my daily routine will burn without additional exercise?
Can you also suggest when is the best time to go running outdoors without having to inhale Taipei’s famous pollution (I live in Nei Hu)?
[quote=“Reaperjim”]Does anyone have any idea how many calories my daily routine will burn without additional exercise?
Can you also suggest when is the best time to go running outdoors without having to inhale Taipei’s famous pollution (I live in Neihu)? [/quote]
I have no idea how many calories you burn, but I can recommend an excellent means of burning calories, while having fun and inhaling a minimum amount of pollution.
If you live anywhere near the river, get a bike and ride on the riverside bike paths in the morning. If you don’t know what I’m talking about you should check it out. Neihu, like other areas of Taipei, has a very nice walking/biking path that runs a fairly long distance along the edge of the river, past lots of green fields where people play ball and escape from the ugly city. To find it, head towards the river till you hit a giant wall, then go along the wall till you find an entrance gate.
If you ride in the morning, before work, it’s calm, peaceful and relatively free of pollution. Bicycling burns lots of calories, tones up the whole body, is less damaging to the body and more fun than running. And bikes are cheap in Taiwan. You can get a decent bike for not much more than NT$3,000. Or, you can always run by the river if you prefer.
The average man usually needs aroudn 2500 calories a day. You write that you are quite far below that so why they concern with burning extra calories?If you are getting mild exercise as you seem to be, talking stairs, teaching, walking, and not eating very much what are you worried about? I can’t see you gaining any extra weight at at 170lbs and 6 feet you are at an ideal body weight.
As for jogging early morning is best, before 7am as the pollution levels have had a chance to drop during the evening. The thing to remember about Taipei’s pollution is it is 99% caused by traffic (this from the EPA’s website). Therefore, jog when there has been little traffic for as long a period of time as possible. I jog at night but that’s cause I can’t get up early.
Pay attention to the smell of the air and pollution indexes in the local papers. Don’t jog if it is a bad air day (I mean low visibility, can smell the air). Also try to jog somewhere away from traffic. I jog along the dikes in Mucha and then into Jenda university where no cars are allowed.
Even if you have to drive your scooter a few minutes to get to an ideal location it is worthwhile. And the scooter ride will cool you down on the way back.
If you do wanna lose that stubborn bit of flab around your waiste, it’ll take a little bit of dedication on your part. The most important here is what you eat and when you take your meals.
Assuming that you stay away from unhealthy, high-fat foods, you need, in addition, to pay attention to the food combinations you eat together. Eat all your complex carbs like potatoes, rice, etc. in the afternoon. At night time stick to simple carbs (steamed green veg). Also, begin lunch and dinner with a BIG mixed salad containing tomatoes, celery, kiwi fruit, strawberries, pineapple (known fat burners), lettuce and so on. Use low-fat yogurt or olive oil if you like dressing.
I once went on a high-proteien diet to get rid of the Xmas flab. The cooking part took a bit of time and effort, but the results were amazing. It wasn’t as if I starved myself! On the contrary, I ate four meals a day which consisted of steamed fish, tenderised steak and chicken breasts - all braised in soy sauce. With these, I had a big salad and one carb (simple or complex) depending on the time of the day. In a month I had my 6-pack back!
Check out the web on high-proteien diets! They work…for me in any case.
One last piece of advice, and I’m sure you this already: You will ony lose weight if you burn more calories than you take in.
Since you live in Neihu, for exercise I recommend hiking in the hills just to the north. Walking up to Pishan Temple (bishan si) is pretty good exercise. Can be done at night too for a great view. More ambitious hikes in Yangmingshan and elsewhere are good when you have time. More fun than exercise machines, in my opinion.
I am 5’4" and 180 lbs. I have a three inch thick slab of cellulite hanging from my belly and I have an ass like an African girl’s. I am bald. I try to stay awake for the entire 90 minutes that I teach each day but sometimes this is a struggle. While I am generally quite pleased with the way I maintain myself there are days when I think I could do even better! Does anyone have any advice for ME?
It’s my stomach (which I have to hold in every day as it sticks out) and my general fitness and tone that I am worried about.
I just switched to a low carbs, low calorie and high protein diet.
Breakfast: 6 egg whites
Snack: Smoothie or AB Drinking Yoghurt
Lunch: Baked Potato (small) with lots of Tuna in light mayo-style dressing)
Snack: Apples and a Kiwi
Dinner: Fresh Fish with Fresh Vegetables
I have only just started doing this, but I have heard from many who use the same diet that timing is important. Eat every 3 hours and start about 8.am. The carbs will be eaten before work, and before I start walking around. The carbs willl hopefully burn from my activity. The eggwhites will provide early protein for the day and the eveing fish and veg will round everything off with more protein to boost. It also doesnt leave too many carbs lying around unburned.
I am buying a mountain bike this weekend and taking the advice of a kind poster on this forum.
[quote]Breakfast: 6 egg whites
Snack: Smoothie or AB Drinking Yoghurt
Lunch: Baked Potato (small) with lots of Tuna in light mayo-style dressing)
Snack: Apples and a Kiwi
Dinner: Fresh Fish with Fresh Vegetables [/quote]
How can life be meaningful if one maintains such a diet?? :loco:
For breakfast I had BBQ duck and deep fried fish sticks. Then I went to Starbucks and had a medium coffee and one of those boxes of chocolate covered espresso beans. After that I went to the pool and swam two kilometers in a little over one hours time. I water jogged for fifteen minutes and then did a sort of qigong water yoga thing that I do. On my way home I had the tao can haixian liu cun zai idali mian deal at subway. When I got home I had to do more editing so that really upset the rhythm of my day. For dinner I had noodles with fish on top. To be honest, I feel look and feel fat. Perhaps reaperjim’s approach has some merit after all.
I am a big fan of fasting, but this is NOT for everyone. I have a health problem that seems to necessitate this and was recommended by a doctor. I have been an avid faster for 3 years. Ummmm… point have a look at The Restrictive Calories “diet”. This is not necessarily what I practice and I certainly do not have an anorexic build ( an atypical one ), nor am I looking to live forever as the Restrictives are, but as animals we do not need nearly the amount of calories we consume.
When I studied nutrition in the dark ages it was common to recommend high calorie intake one day, i.e. 2200 and low the next day, i.e. 1200. May want to give this a try.
Rev up the metabolism and keep it going or, slow it down… but if you slow it down be prepared to suffer with a very long plateau period if you have a lot of weight to lose. The other way is better for most people, revving up, just watch the calorie intake. Lay off the booze (beer!) and stay away from non-essential fats.
Ok, let me tell you my qualifications first, then you can decide if you want to follow my advice. I’m a qualified personal trainer, sports medicine trainer and strength and conditioning coach, I used to the bbe the S&C coach for a semi-pro team in Australia.
First, increase your muscle mass. You will find you will be able to burn far more fat with a higher body percentage of muscle.
Second, cardio exercise (like bike riding) isn’t necesarily going to get rid of your flab if there is nothing else to you. I’m not saying not to do cardio, but i’m saying don’t make it the focus of your exercise.
Try to include some weight bearing excercise in your routine. I would recommend martial arts for body tone and general fitness. I am a big fan of weights too. Nothing makes a body look nicer than lean muscle mass.
Try to eat something more than egg whites for breakfast, try to include some carbs, like toast, and also some fruit. I really like to drink protein shakes for my snacks, but thats cause i like chocolate or fruit flavoured smoothies and they are sweet so i don’t crave crap.
