Fiddleman

Glad to help. It does take a bit of effort to find that magic balance point considering all the variables. Lots and lots of trial and error as none of the metrics (TDEE, BMI,etc) are specific enough to your set of circumstances, especially if you are active. And you need to adapt as your body mechanics are not a static fixture. I am finding my weight will creep and fall even though I seemingly and eating the same, drinking the same amount of Water, sleeping the same and exercising the same. By same I mean within a range of expected guidelines I have set for myself. The body is truly a dynamic system that requires constant adjustments based upon periodic measurements.

BBQ is definitely in your future. I would almost claim that a BBQ restaraunt is as close to sleeve friendly as you can get considering how protein rich the options are. We like going to BBQ post op and like to order pulled pork, beef brisket or chicken by the oz. We make it a point to discover and try new BBQ joints, but our favorite has to be Famous Dave's. If they put the meat on white bread, just skip eating it. Avoid corn bread. Choose a side that is going to be healthy like steamed brocolli instead of baked beans. Think low GI. I like trying different sauces, especially the spicier ones. Just be aware how much you are eating. Finally, consider how far post op you are and the toughness or density of the meat. I could not really handle brisket until after month 6, but could so pulled pork before then. Have fun exploring all the different BBQ options!

How has this challenge been going for folks? I have not been making as much progress as I would like, about 2 days a week I try and do some pull-ups. If they are not prescribed as part of a workout, I fit them in before (too tired afterwards). Sadly, I am still at about the same progress: 6 unbroken pull-ups. I would like to get over 10 soon (in 2 weeks) and have my eye on 20 after that. Practice, practice, practice!

A little tender today, but definitely manageable during my workout.

I think I accidentally gave my self bursitis of the left hip yesterday. I rolled on it hard with my lacrosse ball yesterday mashing it, thinking it was a tight muscle. This was before my workout yesterday and the only thing I noticed at the time is the location changed (if that makes sense). By evening, I had some really uncomfortable pain there on my left hip. Still same level of pain now mid day. It is not a blocker - still able to do most things - but, it is fairly uncomfortable, I've lost mobility in the hip and I have a sneaking suspicion I broke something about about the bursa sack, just do not have an concrete details ( perhaps broke it away muscle). Here is some medical info (nice chart showing location): http://www.medicinenet.com/hip_bursitis/article.htm Should I just ice it? Do you think it will fix itself? Any need to be concerned about infection or inflammation? Thanks for any answers or insight.

Globe - thanks for your advice. You are right, I do not think I do enough band stretching specially for opening up hips. However, I think this injury is not related to opening up hips. It is related to incorrectly mashing my left hip bursa sack. Fortunately, it is starting to feel better today. I have a lot of sprinting, wall balls and dead lifts to do today (later this afternoon) so do not need my hips holding me back.

I know I am preaching to the choir, but you need to make a conscious deliberate decision about succeeding. There is no part way. Time to rededicate yourself to the basics. 80 g protein, 64 oz water at a minimum. Eat veggies and cut out sugar, breads and starches. If you manage good carbs that are low GI, you should eat those. Exercise for minimum 30 min a day, even if just a walk. Time to succeed!

Those are the little Frederick & Nelson candies right? I remember those little bites of buttery chocolates, so soft and chewy. Yup, not good to have around. Although, if I recall, they are individually wrapped so it takes extra effort to keep unwrapping them.

Theanine is a fairly mild nootropic that helps you meet certain cognitive and psychosomatic processing demands. It is not only beneficial in the academics or professional circles, but also in the athletic circles. A little caffeine with theanine will have a good synergetic effect of quiet and clean energy. One popular dose recommendation is 200 mg of theanine to 50 mg of caffeine 1/2 strength of the average 10 oz cup of coffee). Other nootropics that also help with motivation, focus, energy and mental clarity are nooept and phenyleperacetam (banned from most professional sports, so do not take if competing). Both are excellent for enhancing cognitive capabilities. They bring the best out in you, especially if you are not blessed with the gift intrinsically. All are available on Amazon. Food for thought.

Great job folks for committing to p90x

gnc gold member here too. I am also a rewards member with Vitamin shoppe. I like Vitamin Shoppe because the points you earn are converted into cash that can be used at the end of the year, like a tax refund. I just went out and spent a 90 dollar refund at vitamin shoppe last night. Before getting the warm and fuzzies about discounts at either shop, know that they both have really high profit margins. Here is an example. A 4 lb tub of ON Hydrobuilder protein matrix can be purchased on Amazon with prime (2day free shipping!!) for 53.99. The same tub sells for 74.99 gold card price at gnc and 63.99 reward price at vitamin shoppe. It is convenient to walk into either store and stock up, but know you are going to pay a substantial premium over the same products found on Amazon. This is just one example. Almost every product is like this, including the quest bars. If you have an option to buy off Amazon directly from them or from a very reputable seller with prime, then that is the most cost effective approach.

For me, it tends to be easier because these are ingrained habits that solidified after a few weeks. It would feel weird not to do these habits. Also, you are looking at the net result of my game plan. There was a lot of tweaking up to the point of settling on these rules. The only thing I really need to figure out is how am I going to source my 30-40 g of protein at a meal. Since we make sure to have protein options available at the beginning of the week, it is really easy to grab 5 meatballs, a chicken breast and so on for meals that do not involve shakes.

Great job on your loss already! That is incredible. They say the last 30 pounds is the hardest to lose. Have you thought about taking up an intense workout to attack those remaining 30 pounds, you might consider running, body for life, strength for life, pdx 90, insanity, mma, boot camp style, cross fit, etc. there are so many different options to choose from. Speaking from personal experience, I lost my last 30 pounds in 2 months after putting in 15-18 miles a week of different styles of running (5k, 10 k, HIIT, race speed, etc). You certainly do not have to run, but should consider something that will kick up the metabolism into a higher mode of efficiency. Good luck.

I also want to add my wife is the complete opposite. She loves to track. All the power to her! I will never track and know this about myself. Now here is the strange part. She is a more social person, loves people, loves being creative, hates numbers where I am the analytical, logical, numbers guy who would rather be writing code or solving math problems. I work in the finance industry writing software so deal with very detailed semantic analysis of numbers. Go figure how she became the tracker and I became the anti tracker. Lol. I guess it is these polar opposites that bring us together. We both support our different approaches to managing daily food consumptions.

Yup - I think just tracking the basics in your head makes for a much easier time. Tracking is not for me. I found a set of simple rules that work and are easy to follow. The way I have been managing since reaching goal 8 months ago is to start by eating 30-40 g of Protein a meal. Before goal, rules were a little different, but still did not track. After eating protein, I try an eat 1-2 ounces of vegetables like red pepper or mini cucumbers if snack or lunch and broccoli if dinner meal. Protein for me has to be quick and easy to deal with as I do not have much prep Time. I like to eat chicken meatballs, herb chicken breasts or sliced chicken pieces, all pre cooked and ready to eat. I take a good vita pak (animal pak) daily and supplement with Calcium chews, magnesium citrate (1 tbsp), Vitamin c crystals (4000 mg) and Vitamin D (5000 iu). I never have room for carbs that are not specifically planned, so never have a problem eating them as the rule (holiday time was an exception and I slip on the carbs now and then). I eat a meal every 3 hours starting at 6 am and ending at 9 pm. I always eat my carbs for my first meal @ 6 am, a 2pm meal proceeding a workout @ 3:30 pm (sometimes 4 or 5 pm depending on when I get out of work) and post workout meal (either an AMRAP refuel bar (17 G protein, 22 g carb) or a scoop of ON Hydrobuilder shake ( 30 G protein and 8 g carb). The carb meals in morning and before working out will be a mix of 1/2 cup steel oats, scoop of Protein powder and 1/4 cup of Fiber Cereal. It is a ghoulish bowl of mush, but tastes fairly decent and provides slow burn energy for working out. I use a 32 oz bottle and drink at least 1 every 2-3 hours. Typically, I go through about 8-9 refills a day. I always add flavor to make it super easy to drink. I will hydrate extra before and after working out everyday with bcaa powder added (xtend watermelon if you are interested). I do not count calories nor do I pay attention to fat, but I do make an effort to eat low fat and to take 4 g fish oil 2x a day (good fat). I Am in charge of all my meals except 7 pm dinner time. I eat what my wife prepares. This is always safe because she too is sleeved and she cooks sleeve friendly. My last meal is at 9 pm or so and is 60 g of casein shake. 3 scoops with Water. This night time casein is important to help the muscles repair over night and keep the metabolism burning until I eat breakfast. These are all easy rules or patterns that feel natural every day. And I do not ever write anything down because the rules are easy enough to follow every day. These rules have not failed me and I am not dealing with hunger. It is fairly easy to follow this plan second nature. It is good for people like me to follow a set of personalized rules rather than tracking (too tedious).

this is a most wonderful goal.

Today: 100s and 1000s (dare I say millions) are traveling to the legal pot Mecca of the USA : Colorado. They are arriving by plane, by train or even by camper to participate in what fondly has been named "Green Day." http://denver.cbslocal.com/2013/12/31/colorado-readies-for-green-wednesday-pot-sales/ Legally a person can buy up to 1 oz of pot, smoke it publicly and face zero consequences from it. Sounds like a big party to me. Or a train wreck. It could go either way. The questions (ignoring any moral implications of post use for the moment - I am opposed to use): How did such a law get passed in the first place? Must be some really good lobbying. Why would the state of Colorado want this? Is pot going to end up like alcohol and tobacco industries where big business lobby political parties to pass new laws in the name of Capitalism? How long do you think legal pot use will last? When do you think it will go nation wide? If pot becomes a legal commodity for consumers, I can see it being easy to buy everywhere from gas stations to Safeway with perhaps age restrictions. The price may come down. Today, it is going to sell for about 200 dollars an ounce from Denver pot stores where it is known to sell for 25 dollars on the street (according to some research). Government would be advised to lower the price in a fixed range if they want to clean up the street sales of it. After all, why would someone pay 200 when same quantity is available for 25 on the street corner? I admit that legal pot sales will probably have better quality controls then the illegal pot sales. Government would want to prevent the start of pandemics from bad fungus and that sot of thing (or would they, hmmm...) And before you write off this topic as being completely non weight loss related, check out the following article that claims pot use lowers the insulin response: www.womenshealthmag.com/weight-loss/marijuana-and-weight-loss This thread is just a fun little discussion in "the lounge." No holy wars please. Just be honest and friendly with your responses.

BTB - the ultra beast marathon sounds right up your alley: http://www.spartanrace.com/vermont-spartan-race-ultra-beast-marathon-2013.html Come on, you know you want to do it!

fye - I found that information on rabbit starvation a very interesting. Thanks for sharing.

I am 5'11" (maybe even 6' now that I stand taller with better posture) and my body carries 180-185 well with a bf % of 16. If I go below 180 # then I start to get all the "you are too skinny" remarks from family. My lowest was 170 # and that was too low. This is what I am finding out since my post above.

a plank is where you get into the top of a push up position, but instead of on hands, hold on your elbows. This is the basic form for a plank. There are a number of variations. Here is more information on the plank: http://www.mensfitness.com/training/lose-weight/how-to-do-a-plank-a-single-move-for-stronger-abs Try and start by holding plank for 20 seconds, then 30 seconds, then 45 seconds and so on. The goal for most is to hold plank for 3 minutes. Pay attention to good form. Your core should be solid. Your body should be flat like a plank of wood. No butt mountains!

Globe - please see a medical professional promptly. And stay off that foot until you are cleared. Foot injuries are no fun and take a long time to heal. I had a lisfranc fracture from a bad car accident a few years ago. It took reconstructive surgery and 6 months to recover where I could walk again without knee scooter. Continue to practice RICE until you can see the doctor. Take care.

Agree, I probably should not have offered this suggestion because you want to be post op 6 months before trying it. My medical centre did not place any restrictions on caffeine (or coffee for that matter), but I did end up waiting until month 3 before having even an expresso size coffee.

I would not recommend this suggestion to be done often , but if you want a quick BM, drink a lot of caffeine. It does not need to be coffee. You can use those little MIO energy water enhancers. Everyone is different, but 500 mg or so will clear me out most of the time. You have to be careful about doing it too often or your body will adapt and use of same dose will not work as well. Also be careful about how you personally react to caffeine and timing should probably not be in the evening. Not everyone will approved of said suggestion, but it does work.

My workout today had 45 chest to bar pull-ups in it broken up into sets of 15. These are tricky because it is really important to hold head in neutral position to prevent torque on the shoulders due to unwanted rotation and it is also important to keep body in hollow position the be efficient at the up and down cycle when kipping them. I got through the first set of doing chest to bar and then switched to normal kipping pull-up for seconds set. On third set, I was having trouble getting my chin up because of fatigue so switched to ring rows. With each set up 15 pull-ups, I also back squat 155#. So, it was an ok workout. It would have been better if I didn't fatigue on the chest to bar and have to modify. I liked being able to get through the back squats in between the pull-ups and not running out of gas.