Fiddleman

no worries, we have at least a month on this one. I am guessing two months.

SW:360: (7-2-2012) GW: 180 (2-28-2013) CW: 178 (today) 7-8 months to reach goal and loss of about 180 #. Between GW and CW, body fat % dropped from 26 to 16 (lowest 13 a couple months ago).

I still take 1 Prilosec daily as a precaution. My surgery was 7-2-2012.

I agree with BTB and that it takes time to change body composition. Read the following insanity review (if you have not already): http://www.lifestyleupdated.com/insanity-workout-review/ Specifically, the section titled: How Quickly Will The Results Come From The Insanity Workout? "Then maybe somewhere by the end of the first month you will think that there is no more improvement, but you will be wrong, as the results will come till the end, and even after finishing the Insanity workout. There is rarely an insanity workout review out there that points that you will see results even after the 60 day period is over." From my experience and research, it takes about 12 weeks to realize a change in your body composition. I know you have read "Strength for life"; the program is 12 weeks long. And the results do not really appear until the last 3 weeks when the intensity of exercise increases and your body has time to be fully aligned with proper balanced nutrition and Water intake. The net effect of any exercise, weight training and nutritional program is accumulative where results take time to realize. The "body for life" program is the same way. And so is the DVD program called "you are your own gym " (My personal favorite). It was about 6 months until I got the body composition results I was after. And they did not appear until after I finished the "you are your own gym" exercise program (3 days a week) and cross fit PT 2 days a week (for 6 months). Switching to CF 5 days a week was the catalyst my body needed to realize the body composition change. That was after 6 months of a lot of daily work in terms of working out and paying close attention to diet. It is important to stick with a program long enough and to progressively make it more intense every few weeks (or more insane, in your case) in order to realize the benefits. There is no magic bullet, just a life-based discipline to keep at it even when results do not appear to be keeping up with effort. Hope this helps.

*slaps head* we can't win. I use a stevia product called "Pure Via Stevia" and has the following ingredients : dextrose, Reb A (stevia extract), Cellulse Powder and natural flavors. What do you think? Any fillers there? There is a little text that says " the dextrose in this product is derived from corn that may have been genetically modified" yeah, really? I guess China won't be importing this product. It also says "each ingredient in this product exist in nature and meet our standard." Exists in nature and genetically modified? Seems like a contradiction. Anyways, I think I will continue with this unless someone says I am going to grow a 3rd arm from using it in my daily coffee. 1 packet (1/2 amount as Splenda) is sweet enough to equal 2 tsp of sugar.

I brought it up because stevia is a sweetener like Splenda, yet does not trick the body into releasing insulin. I know it is because stevia has GI of 0, but still find it odd that the body reacts so differently to two sweeteners.

I have read about two methods so far: the. Mckenzie method and the gokhale method. Bother approach he's are excellent and address correction of the spine. Books like these take a while to put into practice so am building better posture subconsciously while my conscious mind is going to work on those two approaches. I will look up Anderson.

Glad to see Stevia is sitting up there with a GI of 0. Does that mean the body will not get confused and not dump insulin? I know lower GI foods are supposed to suppress the insulin response, but sweeteners seems like outlier.

As for running, it is all chi for me. Chi running that is. Chi Running puts your body into a very relaxed state. Combining that with my mastery over cardio response due to months and months of metabolic conditioning, my received effort to running (much easier then the average WOD) is quite manageable. The run I did on Sunday was a tad over 10 k and came in around 55 minutes. To me this felt like a moderate pace and very relaxing on my muscles. Like a massage. I have my first appointment with Rhuemy next week so can update you after that. At this time, there is not much information to give. In the last month (since finding out about the spinal issues from a few X-rays ), I have been making due with a lot of daily PT exercises and mobility work. At least an hour a day in and out of the cross fit box. Still cannot do an overhead squat worth Beans because of the compound fractures in my back. They are effectively reducing mobility of the thoracic region to zero. However, thanks to PT, quality of life is much higher given the reduction in constant inflammatory pain. I've also been working a lot (and I mean all the time) on establishing a correct walking and sitting posture. There are a few books I have read since then on the subject, all terrific. However, it is hard to sustain good posture in terms of mind over body (eg application of knowledge) so I have bought one of those posture shirts for men. It is extremely hard to get on, but once it is on,It is like applying KT to the back and shoulder. Incredible relief from correct posture. The curves are flattened out a bit (my spine is overly curved in the thoracic region and the lumbar region causing an unnatural curve in the cervical region. And a lot of inflammatory pain. The posture shirt works so much better then some of the PT exercise I have been doing daily (which help, but are not causing any long term relief) to flatten out the thoracic region. I think much of these spine issues may have been introduced or enhanced after dropping from 360 to 180 in a short time period (6 months) and not giving my body time to learn about new posturing. Just a theory. I know I am rambling a bit, but I do have to say the degenerative apex regions in my neck (the area between and immediately around thoracic and cervical curves) in addition to the back (the area between and immediately around lumbar and thoracic curves) is feeling much better with my back in proper posture thanks to the posture shirt. I am going to continue wearing it until the mind-muscle connection is made. That is, I can hold the correct posture without effort. Related- I have been wondering if my upper arms and shoulders are not responding well to heavy loads because of the following condition: http://www.aafp.org/afp/2000/1101/p2067.html I just found this link today and a light bulb went off in my head. It is something I want to talk to the specialist about. In a nutshell, the degenerative nature of my spine (particularly in the cervical region) may be causing this condition which ultimately is limiting my lifting ability overhead. It is all speculative until the process with the specialist is underway next week. This is probably more of an answer then you wanted.

We have been using Splenda for many years to sweeten coffee. Every day. However, it too has been deemed unnatural to our surprise. See the link: http://www.truthaboutsplenda.com/resources/faqs.html We now use Stevia. It works well and is safer for you then the Splenda . Sorry, Lynda . Here is a short list of natural sweeteners: http://www.oprah.com/health/Sugar-Substitutes-Healthy-Natural-Sweeteners

oh no -what was the recovery time last time? 2 months? At least you can swim now until your toe is feeling better.

I believe in WA it is legal to possess, but not to purchase. This must mean prescription only. Although I am sure there is a lot of "turning the other way" and wink-wink going on if someone wanted to purchase without a prescription. Not sure- I do not really keep up with the pot law here. However, I have noticed that on a 10 mile stretch of highway 9 between Lake Stevens and woodinville, there are no less then 10 dispensaries with the green "+" outside. And this stretch I would consider off the beaten path and very rural where there are more commuters then residents. I find it oddly curious there are so many.

how does the 30 burpees a day challenge work? Progressive? Unbroken? With or without weights? There are so many variations. For example, Over the box- burpee, jump over the 24" box, burpee, repeat ( onto box is easier) Over the bar - burpee, jump over the barbell, burpee, repeat Over the erg- burpee, jump over the rower, burpee, repeat Burpee pull-up- burpee, jump into a pull-up, drop, repeat Burpee broad jump, burpee, broad lateral jump, repeat

those are really awesome shoes!

I am doing the pull-up challenge (for me, to do 50 unbroken) and 5 days a week of cross fit training (3 days on, 1 day off). I am tempted to do some light running on rest days (5k-30 m or 10k-60m), but want to be careful about not pushing too much without rest. I will not be trying to elevate my heart rate into cardio zone if I do it. Nice and easy running. Yeah, like a massage.

So it begins. Good luck everyone on improving your pull-ups and report back often.

Back on track this week and back in my range. It feels good to be beyond the parties, carbs and non stop eating. Next year, I am not going to do that again!!

I am not two years out, but find your comment about cross fit versus weight stall interesting. I also cross fit, but do it for 5 days a week and find that it requires a lot of eating to keep my weight in range (8 meals a day) . A lot of that eating is protein. If I do not eat at least 2000 calories a day, I will drop a few pounds a week. And with that goes some muscle. So I am pretty protective of eating enough. I am going to drill you with a few questions. I hope you do not mind. How does your diet look? Are you eating paleo or zone style? Something else? Do you take 2 rest days a week (important -repair and build time)? Do you sleep enough at night (7-9 hours - repair and build time)? Do you drink at least 100 oz a day (good in order to flush toxins from working out)? How intense are your workouts (1-10)? Not every day can be 10, but you should consistently feel like 8-9. Are you participating in as many different WOD as you can, not just the ones you are good at? New activity is important for your body to not get complacent. If I were to ask about your WOD times and intensity, would you consider yourself pushing yourself to get the best time you are able to and to the point of exhaustion? If you are able to, I would just do cross fit 5 days a week and cut out the other cardio. Just my opinion. It will give you better results if you can physically and financially handle that. Along those lines, I noticed when I switched from 2 days CF / 3-4 days cardio running to 5 days CF, my weight loss (-20#) and body composition (-6 bf %) changed quickly (took about 2 months). Yes, I am sore all the time, but that comes with pushing through it day after day. Be sure to do a lot of daily mobility so your body will cooperate over time (I do 30+min of mobility a day, most of it is actually at home). Sorry for all the questions. Answering these might uncover something important that will answer your question to weight loss stall. I still am fairly new at it myself,so do not think I know everything. Everyday I am learning new techniques or new exercises.

Other approaches are to use a stool softener, drink coffee (caffeine stimulates the smooth muscle leading to immediate desirable response), MOM, chia seeds, fiber supplementation, etc. you will find a lot of help in the forums because this is a very popular and ever present topic.

magnesium citrate is a good idea and you can buy it from drug or natural stores. I prefer a product called "natural calm": http://www.amazon.com/Natural-Vitality-Calm-Raspberry-Lemon/dp/B00BSXL368/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1388537441&sr=8-2&keywords=magnesium+raspberry There are many reasons why you would want to use such a product in addition to BM help. For example, I use it to replenish magnesium levels in the muscles after intense exercise to prevent a build up of Calcium that can lead to cramping. I will leave it to you to read about the benefits on the Amazon product page. Most people do not realize they have a deficiency in magnesium until faced with some condition. It is good stuff. Read all about it.

I had (1) scrambled egg with feta cheese, dill mixed in and 2 turkey sausage links on the side for breakfast. For dinner, a slice of roast pork variety (cooked in a manner to not dry it out) and 1-2 oz green beans. For lunch, a couple ounces of wild salmon. 8 oz Nectar shakes for in between snacks. That was quite a while ago, but I do remember that day.

Super! I missed that one.

I got this all the time. In one ear and out the other. They say it less often now that I have put on some muscle.

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Great job. Really! But when are we going to see the complete you? As much as we like seeing your beautiful smile, we know that the rest of you is beautiful also. Consider a full body picture to celebrate your 100 lb. loss?