am just wondering; lot of people have new years resolutions to lose weight and I guess so many fail; hurts self esteem; and gamers are usually either super skinny or excessively overweight; so I am wondering how this is going for everyone as I like our gamer community and want us all to be around for a long long time; and with all the health issues like diabetes and heart disease and back pain and so on; I was wondering how everyone is doing; made any resolutions; that sort of thing.
me; am working hard to improve my circulation; seems like my leg or arm or such is always falling asleep and ahem; correct my manly issues; that is my goal; wouldnt mind loosing maybe 8 lbs; so I have been working on it and things are getting better.
Out of shape? But ... isn't round a shape? ;-)
What brought on this bit of "wondering?" It wasn't, by any chance, the latest Paizo blog, which included the remark...
With the advent of a new calendar year, we here on the Pathfinder Society Organized Play creative team have, like so many others during this season, made a New Year's resolution. No, it's not that we'll eat less junk food, nor is it that we'll exercise more (we are gamers, after all).
Was it?
I've always been the stereotypical skinny nerd. In the last decade I've added a little pot belly that really makes me laugh at myself. I look like an Order of the Stick character now. So by the charts my weight isn't bad.
But I am way out of shape. No where near enough exercise. I constantly resolve to exercise more but ....
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Pic is like five years old, but I still look about the same.
Being in the military and consisting on a diet of chicken and rice helps.
Out of shape? But ... isn't round a shape? ;-)
Exactly! So glad you understand. ;)
used to be completely out of shape, then spent a few years getting into shape (lost 64 pounds), now due to lots of health problems am out of shape again...
My current lack of shape has more to do with my recent little kiddo being born. i didn't realize how much that would throw my routine out of whack.
Before that, i was actually in pretty good shape.. training for a marathon, even. (Again, which didn't happen because my son was born two days after the marathon was supposed to happen.)
There is a pic of me in stellar shape floating about somewhere on the intarwebs from when I was training to get my first degree(or I had had it for a few months or something like that). I don't know where it is. However, I am currently out of shape due to getting married and stopping training for a time. I've only recenlty started training again, and at a VERY low interval in comparison to when I was doing multiple classes a day. It'll take me some time to be in shape again, but hey...
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Like a few others here, I used to be in great shape. Then I messed up my ankle and blew out my knee and that has made it harder to exercise and I have become flabby and seriously out of shape. I am slowly trying to get back in shape, but I have a very tight schedule and it is hard to fit exercise into it.
Good news on the newborn--they'll whip you back into shape later on! Our son turns 7 soon and keeping up with him is definitely good for my health.
In general I'm in okay shape--grew up working on a "truck farm" (i.e. we grew tomatoes, bell peppers, and cucumbers on hundreds of acres, then shipped it off in semi-trucks), played football until I smashed my knee up, and generally like outdoors stuff. I also eat fairly well (like my veggies thanks to the farm, and despite being a southerner I don't eat much fried food). Unfortunately my genetics outwit any exercise or dieting so my cholesterol levels still put me in the "high risk" category. I've turned to meds for that, though...
Good news on the newborn--they'll whip you back into shape later on! Our son turns 7 soon and keeping up with him is definitely good for my health.
Well, this is good to hear... assuming i can live the next 7 years on around 3 hours of sleep per night.
Good news on the newborn--they'll whip you back into shape later on! Our son turns 7 soon and keeping up with him is definitely good for my health.Well, this is good to hear... assuming i can live the next 7 years on around 3 hours of sleep per night.
From watching my fellow gamers with children (whole packs of them where born in my group recently) it would seem that the kids, mostly, start letting you sleep again after about 6 months.
And to the OP...I'm in the 'isn't round a shape?' crowd. Started young - like 10 just got worse and worse every year. Every so often I do something to try and get in shape like get a job where they will work your ass off for 8 hours a day (become a truck loader for a courier company is a good one for this) which helps, often quite a lot, until something changes and I move on in my career (and stop exercising so heavily).
Invariably whats happened is I lose 50 pounds climbing up and down mountains for a living or loading 18 wheelers with heavy boxes and once that stops (and I end up in University or buying a bookstore) I put on 75 pounds and am worse off then before I concocted a harebrained scheme to turn work into a Gym that pays me for a year. All very frustrating.
Then I hate everyone you game with. :)
My kid is a bad sleeper, and (at nearly 7 months) seems to be back-sliding into older, worse sleeping habits.
Sigh.
Apparently neither I nor my wife slept through the night until month 9 as babies. Ah well.
Then I hate everyone you game with. :)
My kid is a bad sleeper, and (at nearly 7 months) seems to be back-sliding into older, worse sleeping habits.
Sigh.
Apparently neither I nor my wife slept through the night until month 9 as babies. Ah well.
You may have to do the "death march" of sleep training. For our son after serious acid reflux and bad ear infections he never got into a good sleep routine. Finally we did a week of hard "It's time for bed!" and put him in the crib. It took a week. He'd cry for hours at a time (of course we'd check on him regularly). But after that week, he actually would go down and stay down. It's a hard, heart-breaking process, but ultimately it's good for the baby and for the sleep-deprived parents!
Luckily with our 1-year old daughter we had a heads-up on both the reflux and ears. With those under control, she'll go down without too much fuss and stay down for 10+ hours at night.
Oh, and I forgot on the body image. Let's see, I'm 5'9" and weighed 168 lb. at my last physical. That puts me something like 6-8 lb. over the "ideal" weight chart specs so I could stand to lose a few. At this point, though, family time is more important than exercise time.
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I was in really good shape from high school through college and maybe a year or two after that.
Then, life hit me. I got married, had kids, and no time to go to the gym. My job is a very sedentary desk job, so I have ballooned up quite a bit - going from a lean 210 lbs to as high as 260, and right now I've managed to shave back down to about 240.
I'd be happy to get down to 220.
Currently, it borders on being not okay - about 6´6´´ and 235 lbs is a bit too much, at least five pounds have to go. At the moment, I´m not going to the gym out of laziness, but I will again soon. And I have too, anyway - LARPing soon will start again, and I plan running around in plate mail, so I better should be fit then. (and scaring NPCs being the tall guy with a greatsword is just too much fun - reach is not only for polearms...)
Stefan
Well, America has a massive obesity problem, and America also dominates the RPG fan base. It is actually at the point where pics of american groups of people makes me react to the fact that the average accepted weight there is far higher than here in Sweden. Certainly, we have many, many overweight people here too, but serious overweight is still much rarer here.
Could it rather be an american problem?
Nope. 6'1", and right at 200 lbs. Could use a tad bit more toning, but otherwise I'm in pretty good shape. And healthy.
Well, America has a massive obesity problem, and America also dominates the RPG fan base. It is actually at the point where pics of american groups of people makes me react to the fact that the average accepted weight there is far higher than here in Sweden. Certainly, we have many, many overweight people here too, but serious overweight is still much rarer here.
Could it rather be an american problem?
I'd need to see a picture of an overweight person there and compare it to a pic of an overweight person here to see what differences there are, if any.
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I'd need to see a picture of an overweight person there and compare it to a pic of an overweight person here to see what differences there are, if any.
Sort of anecdotal, but my best friend's younger brother seems to have a fondness for Eastern European women. How he finds so many of them here Stateside, I don't know. All of them have been heroin-chic skinny.
As a result, he considers size 8 and larger as (in his words) morbidly obese.
Sort of anecdotal, but my best friend's younger brother seems to have a fondness for Eastern European women. How he finds so many of them here Stateside, I don't know. All of them have been heroin-chic skinny.As a result, he considers size 8 and larger as (in his words) morbidly obese.
I would consider these heroin-chic waiflike look morbidly skinny, but then, I prefer women to look like women and not like some bony clothes hanger :-)
Stefan
I'd need to see a picture of an overweight person there and compare it to a pic of an overweight person here to see what differences there are, if any.Sort of anecdotal, but my best friend's younger brother seems to have a fondness for Eastern European women. How he finds so many of them here Stateside, I don't know. All of them have been heroin-chic skinny.
As a result, he considers size 8 and larger as (in his words) morbidly obese.
That's what I'm talking about. "Normal" varies widely by culture.
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All of my hobbies (except a recently attempted one I hope to stick with) are sedentary. I like to cook and bake. I hate pointless excercise and my parents actively discouranged sports from a young age. All of this means...yup! I"m the typical overweight out of shape gamer. Trying to take more than cursory steps to fix that now...wish I hadn't waited so long. Ah well.
Looking at the folks I´m gaming with, there are all kinds, from skinny to obese, but with a slight tendency towards obesity, I´d say.
All of my hobbies (except a recently attempted one I hope to stick with) are sedentary. I like to cook and bake. I hate pointless excercise and my parents actively discouranged sports from a young age. All of this means...yup! I"m the typical overweight out of shape gamer. Trying to take more than cursory steps to fix that now...wish I hadn't waited so long. Ah well.
Why did they discourage sports?
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Well, America has a massive obesity problem, and America also dominates the RPG fan base. It is actually at the point where pics of american groups of people makes me react to the fact that the average accepted weight there is far higher than here in Sweden. Certainly, we have many, many overweight people here too, but serious overweight is still much rarer here.
Could it rather be an american problem?
I recently read an interesting report that stated that while it is true that America has seen an explosion in the obesity rate over the last decade, it is not clear whether this is due to an actual increase in actual weight or if it is because the federal government has decreased the weight at which one is considered obese over that same period. The author's conclusion was that it is actually a combination of the two factors. I personally believe that is the case as I have gone from overweight to obese in that period of time and I have lost weight over that period.
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Yes, I have at least 60lb. too much on my ribs - almost 300lb. for 7'. Lame excuse: Within the last 2 1/2 Years I was movement impaired for about 8 month (4 longer periods) due too diabetic foot syndrome (type 1 diabetes, good blood values - including cholesterine - so no strong connection to weight).
Of all the 9 people I play wit regulary, only one more is overweight.
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RPG Superstar 2013 Top 32
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Of all the 9 people I play wit regulary, only one more is overweight.
Yeah, of my current group, it's about 50/50. My wife, myself, and one other are overweight in a group of 7. Another one is "medium," that is to say, not really what one would consider fat but not "slim" either.
Why did they discourage sports?My guess: She's a girl and this is America. Extrapolating from that, I'd assume her parents are probably a bit on the conservative side, too.
Jess will, of course, correct me if I'm mistaken. :)
I just don't get it. Most of the girls I knew growing up were total jocks.
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I saw an interesting documentary that examined why Britain's obesity rate is much higher than the rate for the rest of Europe. They found that it wasn't so much what was eaten as the amount of food eaten that was the problem.
Interestingly France and Italy eat food that is on average more calorific than the equivalent meal eaten by a Brit- they just eat less of it.
It was suggested in the programme that the reason for the larger sizes of meals (and by extension the increased obesity rates) comes from the fact that Britain had until recently had a poor network of restaurants. As this improved the poorer quality restaurants had to compete so they replaced quality with quantity by increasing portion sizes and appealing to people's eye for a bargain. This was so successful that the quality restaurants increased their portion sizes accordingly and people got used to eating more.
By comparison France and Italy have long had a large network of excellent restaurants so this inflation of portion sizes has not occurred hence a lower obesity rate.
This tactic of increasing sizes is actually an American idea. everyone likes a good deal and by providing more for less people get convinced that they are getting a bargain. In fact they are just paying more for food that they don't actually need. It is noticeable that Britain advertises how much you get with a meal whereas a French or Italian restaurant would emphasise the quality of the meal regardless of the quantity. The conclusion was that America and Britain are fatter because they quite literally eat more food.
I changed the settings to allow folks outside of my network to be able to view my recent note on Facebook because I have some (gamer) friends that are similarly struggling and one of the issues has everything to do with portion control and fighting the urges of feeling hungry. Essentially, I was sharing some suggestions based off of a different spin from the (in)famous Atkins Diet from a recent Reader's Digest article I came across.
Out of curiosity, has anyone else here bit the bullet and actually went through Bariatric surgery? I'm a couple months shy of being three years out and Gentle Giant went through his a year ago late spring.
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As with someone who posted above, I've always been a skinny geek type, but have put on weight in the belly section as I've gotten older and (especially) since I stopped smoking. I stopped back in April of '05, and for a good while I regularly exercised, first at the work out centers of the apartment complexes I lived in, then later just going out and running on the trail near my house. My schedule didn't always allow for a consistent approach, but I was pretty good about it.
In the last year or so, I've fallen off my exercise routines, but I hope to get back into it this spring/summer. I've got a bike now, and that might make it easier to get some exercise in.
I've also been trying to eat more fruits and vegetables.
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Stuff
There is nothing wrong with getting more for your money. What we as Americans and I guess Britts to must realise is that just because we have a huge amount of food on our plates doesnt mean we half to eat it all in one sitting.
I myself love a good deal and will go wherever I can get the most food for my buck and am able to take it home. I simply eat a palm to a palm and a half sized portion of the food and then take home the rest to eat in the next two days. This helps me to 1.) Save Money. 2.) Eat yummy food that I dont half to fix. 3.) Watch my intake.
I have always said that the number one problem with gaining weight is intake. How much one should intake though varies from person to person based on lifestyle and metaboplism.
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All of my hobbies (except a recently attempted one I hope to stick with) are sedentary. I like to cook and bake. I hate pointless excercise and my parents actively discouranged sports from a young age. All of this means...yup! I"m the typical overweight out of shape gamer. Trying to take more than cursory steps to fix that now...wish I hadn't waited so long. Ah well.Why did they discourage sports?
My guess: She's a girl and this is America. Extrapolating from that, I'd assume her parents are probably a bit on the conservative side, too.
Jess will, of course, correct me if I'm mistaken. :)
Hmm. Well, Dad grew up with parents that didn't hold much with "book larnin'", and he's always been a nerd. His dad made him help with the family business as a kid, and they tried to stop him from going to college (they did successfully prevent his sisters from getting any education). He grew up in an area with lots of jocks too, I'm guessing that may be part of his problem - but he hates sports of all kinds.
Mom was the town basketball star - she often wishes she'd been born 20 years later when she could have tried to join the WNBA. :) But Dad said he didn't want her to "force" us kids into sports. And encouragement counted as "force". Add in Dad's constant negative comments about any sports activity and his comment about how stupid jocks are, and after about 4th grade (I loved soccer as a kid), sports really weren't an option. On the plus side, Dad didn't have his parents' attitude about academic excellence - it was important enough to him that he even thought girls could be smart and do something other than marry and make babies. So there's good...and bad.
I was a very athletic child/young adult. Dancing, skiing, skating, swimming, biking...basically making the H in ADHD work for me. :) In spite of all of that plus my mom constantly monitoring my diet to make sure I was eating healthy foods but not too much I was constantly chided during that time for being overweight. It took a lot of years for me to realize that BMI is bullshit. My percent body fat was well within normal range, and most of the 'extra' weight was in my gorram boobs.
Excessive discouragement + injuries sidelined me for awhile and of course my weight ballooned. I've yo-yo'd back and forth a couple of times, and am currently working my way back down. Slowly, ever so slowly.
The first step, ironically, was giving up diets. No more crazy programs. No more artificial sweeteners. Just spending time paying better attention to how much I eat. So far I've dropped ten pounds just from that and adding in small bits of activity throughout my day. Only 90 more to go. Sigh. I hate being round. Also the time away from dancing made my feet lose muscle so that I can no longer wear high heels without pain. I miss my pretty shoes. (I swear that is one of my best motivators to become more fit. Don't laugh. It's working.)
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I'm not fit, but I'm not really a fatty either. Just a couple of spare kilos that I keep in case of emergencies. I'm pretty fortunate that I don't really have to exercise to stay within a steady weight range. I wouldn't call anyone I game with fat either... because they might sit on me and then I'd DIE...
Kidding!
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StuffThere is nothing wrong with getting more for your money. What we as Americans and I guess Britts to must realise is that just because we have a huge amount of food on our plates doesnt mean we half to eat it all in one sitting.
I myself love a good deal and will go wherever I can get the most food for my buck and am able to take it home. I simply eat a palm to a palm and a half sized portion of the food and then take home the rest to eat in the next two days. This helps me to 1.) Save Money. 2.) Eat yummy food that I dont half to fix. 3.) Watch my intake.
I have always said that the number one problem with gaining weight is intake. How much one should intake though varies from person to person based on lifestyle and metaboplism.
The problem is with Britain is our perculiar "clean your plate" attitude. As a kid I was taught never to waste food and as such I will never fail to eat everything on a plate (unless it's one of those foods I don't eat). I just can't see food go to waste. It's hardwired into my system - like the Manchurian Candidate only with pork chops...
There is a culture in America of taking what you don't eat home. As far as I am concerend that's a much better attitude than we have in Britain where if you asked to take food home the waiter would look at you as though you had grown an extra head. You eat what you are given in Britain there at the table.
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The problem is with Britain is our perculiar "clean your plate" attitude. As a kid I was taught never to waste food and as such I will never fail to eat everything on a plate (unless it's one of those foods I don't eat). I just can't see food go to waste. It's hardwired into my system - like the Manchurian Candidate only with pork chops...
There is a culture in America of taking what you don't eat home. As far as I am concerend that's a much better attitude than we have in Britain where if you asked to take food home the waiter would look at you as though you had grown an extra head. You eat what you are given in Britain there at the table.
I think it's a lot more variable than "American" or "British" culture, because I was also raised in the U.S. that you can't leave anything on your plate. While this is an understandable teaching for young strong willed children refusing to eat some hated food (peaches in my case - which is crazy, I love them now), if taken too far it's an issue. I know portion control, snacking, not drinking enough water and not exercising much are all part of the reason I have a weight problem.
Interesting stuff on background
I'm worried that I will be very much like your dad to my kids because I didn't cotton to sports growing up- mom tried, but she was rather passive agressive with her encouragement/mixed signals, and what she started, the meatheaded jocks in my junior high finished. I still consider most jocks to be drooling idiots, even when they aren't- unfair, I know, but still. I greatly enjoy martial arts and strange game-like sports like badminton and bike riding, however. My wife wants children who go outside and play football in good weather, I would prefer they read a book and learned something actually useful.
I am entirely out of shape (not even properly round!) and could stand to lose 5lbs or so.