Workout, Supplement and Meal Plan

I started with 2x/week Crossfit and was definitely seeing gains in strength/fitness and body composition change.  Now with an additional 2x/week boxing I had to cut out running because it seemed like over-training.  There's no doubt that 2x/week to start along with a little running/biking/swimming will put you in better shape than the vast majority of the population.  As far as the cost, I'm not really worried about it because I consider the $30/week plus whatever I spend on expensive but healthy food to be a quality investment in myself.

Yea, if your crossfitting 2x/week, with boxing, I don't seem much benefit in running, as you would be getting plenty of cardio.  For me, the thing I like about crossfit, is that with my profession, its been determined that about 90% of the physical exertion required at an emergency scene, whether it be a car accident, structure/commercial fire, is accomplished in the first 5-10 minutes of so. Pumping iron is great for building muscle, but doesn't do much for you when you have the pedal to the metal, doing very strenous activities for a period of time.

Cross fit trains your body to push through the pain, to get it done.  Back in the day, I would see many yoked out guys, try to pass our physical agility test, and would not qualify, not because they weren't strong enough, but would simply just get gassed, and couldn't make the time frame.  We never had a female pass.  The city decided they needed to do something to allow females to get through, so they now outsource it to a private entity, and people do stuff like sit-ups, push-ups, curls, etc, and now anybody reasonably fit can make it, including women.  I know I'm a dinasour, but the Dept. I used to work for, has several women firefighters, that wouldn't be able to drag an 80lb. dog from a fire, let alone a 200lb fellow firefighter. 

In general, I find people obsessed with working out (biking, running, X-Fit, etc) to be the type I generally find turn me off to even wanting to get into shape.  Narcissism is rampant, and frankly, those sorts of folks just aren't the type I can spend much time with.
That holds true now and when I was younger and a fitness monster.

Yeah, we didn't talk about it, we just kinda did it.  Different times.  Now everyone has to tweet in the middle of their power lifts and post pics of their food on Facebook.  


-Get off of my lawn!

I never understood posting pictures of food solely for other people just to see what you are eating.

I hate pictures and Facebook.

I think that's the difference.  People who are obsessed with working out is one thing, but people who are obsessed with taking pictures of them working out is a whole nother thing.  Many of us are the former, and not the latter.  I used to be fat, and then after dropping a few pounds and gaining muscle, I became obsessed with working out and studying all the different diets and workout routines.  But never was much of a picture taker.  I've only taken one picture, and that was when I went from 25%+ body fat to 10% body fat.  I don't have many friends who are picture takers (selfies or whatever), and so thankfully my FB isn't cluttered with the obnoxiousness of that behavior.  But I have also weeded down the friends list from several pointless hundreds to under fifty, so that helped as well.

I would love to have a picture of myself without shirt on in 155lbs with 6% body fat.... keep dreaming....

I was one time 140lbs around 8% body fat but there was 20 years ago and I miss that body. Cannot even remember when I lost it... business trips definitely did not help... feel old.

I'm the same way. I hate taking pics of myself and I hate having my picture taken. I admit that I have and will take selfies but ONLY because a female I am talking to at the time will ask for one, and she'll send one in return . I obviously have taken selfies for fit pics here too but I block my face or leave it out.

I just recently created a FB page this last summer and I still don't have a profile pic up. My friends give me shit for it but I just don't feel the need.

As for the working out...yes there are indeed the narcissistic types, no doubt, but it's not even about that to me. It is a personal battle for me that I can improve myself and conquer the challenges I put myself through every day in the gym no matter how big or small they may be.

I weighed 145 lbs once, at 6'1" that's pretty lanky. The first time I tried to do an incline bench press I could only get the bar up 3 times. I could only leg press 90 lbs for sets the first time I tried. I said to myself, f!@k this. ..I need to improve my body and strength, and I started working out.

Here I am now and I can almost say that I am addicted to it. It's my drug. It makes me feel good, look good, and be more confident. I have earned every lean pound of muscle on my body. Nobody helped me do it, I did it on my own, by myself...and I worked my f!@king ass off to do it. That is empowering.

I'm not the guy taking shirtless selfies every day. I don't go to the gym and bull shit, flex in the mirror every 30 seconds, and hit on all the girls. I go cause it's my place of worship, a place where I clear my mind, release my stress, and cleanse my soul. I do this for me and only me. I put on my music and I lift...pushing myself through every single rep until my muscles are screaming, veins are pumping full of blood, and my endorphins are rushing through my brain getting me high. I feel like I'm floating at this point. I f!@kin love it.

It's funny this has all been brought up because a friend of mine just posted this on FB today and I think it sums it up well;

imgur.com/7nB5gCB

Nah, i will not trust that method....

I would really like to do that pool floating method but not sure where that can happen.

Good thread. I play a lot of tennis, like 3 times per week, but I'm still carrying a bit too much weight. I've started adding weights and cardio, and supplementing with protein, CLA, and green tea extract. I'm hoping to reduce body fat while maintaining/adding strength and flexibility.

It's a little more taxing at 44 than it was at 24. I like lifting, but it screws up my tennis game for some reason, possibly because of fatigue and maybe a little stiffness.