GAIN Before You Cruise ... Health/Fitness Metrics OTHER THAN WEIGHT!

[BeachyBrowns]

Hey everyone,

 

I want to rename this section "Gain Before You Cruise," as in, gain fitness, wellness, confidence, positive body image, and control over how you look and feel.

 

I will join the chorus of those that think weight is not the best metric of any of the above. It is a convenient proxy for some of those things, but, as many have pointed out, how you look and feel (and how healthy your cardiorespiratory system is) are the real reasons to have a healthy lifestyle, especially to get maximum enjoyment from a cruise.

 

So, since I know we're all here with goals to achieve before going on a cruise, I propose a support system based not on weight but on other metrics. You can choose the criterion/criteria you want, as long as it's not weight.

 

• For instance, tell us you want to drop 5 percentage points from your body fat percentage, or you want to lose 25% of your body fat by cruise time.
  
• Or, tell us you want to GAIN 10 lbs. of muscle.
  
• Or, tell us you want to lose 10 combined inches from your waist, arm, and thigh.
  
• Or, tell us you want to lower your blood pressure to a consistent level below 140/90.
  
• Or, tell us you want to lower your LDL (bad cholesterol) to X.
  
• Or, tell us you want to establish a habit of doing at least 3 hours of moderate-to-intense exercise every week.
  

You choose whatever metric and goal you want ... just don't tell us how much you weigh!

 

I'll start: My wife and I are going to cruise either in mid-December or early January, and my goal is to lower my BF% to 6% by December 12 and keep it there until we cruise. That's a challenge, given all there is to eat between Nov. 22 and Jan. 2 and the poor weather to be expected then, but with better diet and more consistent training, I can get there.

 

Who's with me?

[BeachyBrowns]

So, as a starting point, I was at 12.1% BF on the scale this morning. I won't tell you what my weight was, because it doesn't matter. ;)

[pokerbob]

Great Thread.

 

I want to gain 10 pounds of muscle.

I want to wear my 34" waist pants (in 36's now) and have them feel loose

I want cut my bodyfat % in half

 

I have just over 5 months.... time to get started!

[sminfiddle]

I don't care how much I "Weigh" when I step on to the ship (or off)...

But I would really like to get my metabolism "dialed up" from where it is now.

I see that there will be more meals than I am used to eating, and more food at each meal.

No, better stated as "more foodS at each meal" - don't want to waste the chance to taste something amazing and skillfully prepared because my 50-year-old stomach got to the "full" point after just canapes, pasta and soup!!

 

Is that a weird goal?!?:confused:

 

If I diet to 'lose weight' the side effect would be a smaller conditioned appetite, the opposite of what's desired on a cruise ship, no?

 

Rick

[BeachyBrowns]

I don't care how much I "Weigh" when I step on to the ship (or off)...

But I would really like to get my metabolism "dialed up" from where it is now.

I see that there will be more meals than I am used to eating, and more food at each meal.

No, better stated as "more foodS at each meal" - don't want to waste the chance to taste something amazing and skillfully prepared because my 50-year-old stomach got to the "full" point after just canapes, pasta and soup!!

 

Is that a weird goal?!?:confused:

 

If I diet to 'lose weight' the side effect would be a smaller conditioned appetite, the opposite of what's desired on a cruise ship, no?

 

Rick

 

I agree with the premise that you want to experience the food on the ship without feeling too guilty or too full to enjoy it all. In fact, that's one reason I love to work out -- I love to eat, and I can do it more when I burn more off! That's the key: you (anyone) have to turn your body into a calorie-burning machine, instead of a calorie-storing machine. To do that, you have to build muscle, since muscle maintenance is what requires energy (fat doesn't require energy for maintenance). That's a bit of circular reasoning, that you have to have muscle to burn calories, and you have to burn calories to build muscle, but that's the circle you want to be in. The good news is, there are lots of ways to develop your muscles and thereby increase your metabolism. They all have one thing in common, though: sweat. It takes effort to do strength training exercises, and they should be strenuous enough that you break a sweat (but not necessarily so strenuous that you over-stress other bodily systems, if you have any such vulnerabilities).

 

Anyway, I don't mean to insult your intelligence -- you may well already know everything I just said. Just throwing it out there.

 

Good luck with it!

[sminfiddle]

Anyway, I don't mean to insult your intelligence -- you may well already know everything I just said. Just throwing it out there.

 

Good luck with it!

 

It's positive - and therefore welcome. (AND makes perfectly good sense)

 

Rick