Fiddleman

ha! I didn't know elves had big white beards. You are almost like an elf in training for the big man's job (Santa that is) in this photo (an interesting movie idea I am sure has not been done yet). All in all, good job at running the 1/2 after your major surgery and so soon. I am sure most could not do that.

yes, they weigh the same, but 2 lbs of muscle read in scale weight may in fact be 2 lbs of fat loss and 2 lbs of lean muscle gain. I know it would be hard to quantify that statement without real measurements from a body pod or more practically with a decent pair of calipers (a professional might be needed to use correctly). Scale weight is almost the last measurement of success to focus on, especially when trying to gauge the success of a hard core workout routine like Insanity (or anything that really pushes your current level of fitness). It will take a while for the net effect of increased fitness to result in visual feedback on a scale LED screen. However, the increased confidence gained from more precise coordination, stamina, strength and increased cardio capabilities will be noticeable after a few weeks of starting. Focusing on the long term changes will certainly be harder to internalize, but the net results, will last a life time and carry you up into new heights of potential. And the sky becomes the limit to your potential when you have an mentality align with authentic and internal measurements of success.

That is very impressive what you have done and are planning to do. Very motivational! Love the NSV.

New lines are preserved on composition of a post. However, they are removed on edit of a post.

Test of content on line. 3rd line. 5th line.

I had 2 small pieces of homemade almond roca last night and....enjoyed it. No issues. Must mean my sleeve and GI tract is quite ok with sugar.

What a month it has been. . I hope others have enjoyed their December fitness challenge as much as I. . Good partner workout today. . 2 rounds for time: 800 m run with 45 # barbell Load bar 80 thrusters (95#) 80 wall ball push ups Unload bar 80 weighted lunges (45# plate overhead) 80 wall ball burpees 80 pull-ups . My partner and I completed in 32 min. . And we were on the mat afterwards feeling the warm glow of endorphins and catching breath. With the exception of the running, each of the sets was split up into smaller sets of 10 performed by one person before switching. That gives one person a little rest before getting back into the gauntlet. . I like these partner workouts on Saturday because there is good teamwork formed. Good bonding. We sweat and struggle together. We cry out in anguish together. I think the feeling of belonging is why I do cross fit. This is something I struggled with pre VSG. That is, finding my sense of belonging. . Back to the workout: With the exception of the thrusters and pull-ups, these are all new exercises for me. We must have looked awfully funny running down the street with a barbell. I held it in back squat position, but others were holding it like a pole in a pole vault and in front in a hang clean position. I think for running, back squat position was the easiest way to still run and not lose balance. By run, I mean 800 m (1/2 mile) in 5-6 min instead of usual sprint in 2.5-3 min. All in all an interesting new experience in my running experiences. We just needed to especially careful of passing others. . I think with this workout today I have achieved my goal of December (improved time on filthy 50 workout) even though this is not a filthy 50. It is close enough. Besides, I asked my coach if we were going to do a filthy 50 next week before the new year. Answer was no. In fact, she said it would probably be a few months until the next one.

What a nice problem to have. Eating an extra two meals should give you an extra 500 calories or so, depending on food choices. Good fat as others have indicated will help you. However, be careful about tipping the scale in the other direction. It is easy to do. It does take a little trial and error in determine that balance point between calories in and out when considering BMR, activity level, insulin response, hunger, etc. there are so many variables to consider that is really becomes more of an art than a science. As an aside, there is a branch of mathematics known as Linear programming that allows one to find an optimal solution given many different variables, many of which are unknown. If there were such a solution, I am sure someone would have found the equations already. maybe some of us more mathematically inclined folks can put our heads together and find the model and write the software that will answer the the optimization question like you (and many others) have. What exactly are the right amount of calories and macro nutrient ratios to consume given an individuals BMR, age, weight, medical indicators, hormonal indicators, activity indicators, etc. all the existing models out there are too simple and do not adapt enough to an individual and their specifics.

Ok - must have been a blip when I clicked on the video before. The video is available now. It is simply astounding at how angelic and pure her singing is, at such a young age. I do not know if this comparison makes sense, but she reminds me of listening to Sarah Brightman. So pure.

For some reason, the video is no longer available. I remember watching her sing for the first time on Americas Got Talent. Amazing talent.

I have already been thinking about the January challenge. For January, I am going to focus on one weak exercise of mine: pull ups. I want to do 40 unbroken as these sets are often in my daily workouts and often sap a lot of time because I have much to improve in technique, grip and upper body strength and raw determination. I need to find a good systematic way to reach this goal of 40 rather then only doing pull ups when they are called for on a warmup or workout (not really getting better this way). My workout times would be much better if I could bang out pull ups and not die on them. For example, I could have probably completed my workout yesterday (see above) 10 minutes faster if my pull ups were not such a struggle. I got to the point in the second set of 40 where I could only complete 1 and then need to rest 2-3 seconds. I actually had trouble even completing the last 5; could not find the energy to get my chin over the bar. So long story short: when the Jan challenge becomes available, 40 pull ups will be my goal. It will probably be my Feb goal too (80 unbroken instead of 40).

Today was not my day. Strength just felt missing in action. Felt weak. For Time: 50 Back Squats 135#/95# 40 Pull-Ups 30 Shoulder to Overhead 135#/95# 50 Front Squats 85#/65# 40 Pull-Ups 30 Shoulder to Overhead 85#/65# It took me 27 minutes to complete which is in bottom 10% of spread. I do not like to hate on workouts, but this one leaves me unhappy with my participation today. It hurt too in my shoulders. Well, not every day is going to be a step forward. This one is sort of like my goal workout for the month (filthy 50 in 22 minutes), but doing this much with the barbell was hard for me, especially with the pull-up sets in between. I hope tomorrow goes better.

yes, the "supple leopard" book recommendation addresses this condition. The following mobilityWOD link (also created by Kelley Starrett - the author of Supple Leopard" is dedicated to the topic: http://www.mobilitywod.com/2010/11/episode-77-plantar-fasciitis/ MobilityWOD.com is an excellent resource for all things mobility, especially as it applies to working out. I hope you find the information you are looking for so you can get relief.

Congrats! That's 2 lb muscle.

I ran across this article tonight and thought it would make for an interesting discussion: Multivitamins are helpful for us so we do not become deficient, but.... What do you think?

Back when I was struggling myself with electrolyte imbalance, I found pedialyte to be a good product to restore the electrolyte imbalance. There is a grape flavor in addition to a couple of flavors. You should be cable to find some at a drugstore like bartell drugs or walgreens. I have not seen it at standard grocery stores, but maybe that has changed.

Today's workout is a snatch-fest ! We have a max weight snatch for lifting skill and then a workout that is pure snatching - 30 snatches. That is a whole lot of unbroken snatching at 135 #. Any strategies? I have only done 2-3 unbroken snatches at 125 #. This is some serious snatch to be had today. My traps are still sore from my last workout 2 days ago. Need to continue to roll, roll and roll with my roller and mash, mash and mash with my lacrosse ball. Contrast showers on my shoulders help and I do this every day. I have not tried an ice bath. Has any one tried ice bath? Would it help with shoulders and trap soreness? In case my message is filtered, I am talking about s*n*a*t*c*h*e*s.

Globe - you have mentioned on several occasions that you had gotten close to goal in the past from dancing, doing cross fit, yoga, etc. You were probably eating differently back then. That seemed to work for you. Can you go back to doing those things that were working for you long ago. Forgive me for not being more precise about dates, I do not recall when you had reached your lowest. I joined VST around July 2012 and I think it was prior to this. What do you think? Everyone has a different strategy that works for them. You just need to realign with yours and yours alone. Cheers.

I want to eat carbs for fueling workouts and for fiber. Typically, I will have 1/2 cup oatmeal (56 g), 1/2 cup fiber cereal (28 g), 2 scoops Protein powder (28 g), 4 energy squares (24 g) and whatever carbs come from 2 servings of veggies (8 g). This adds up to 148 g. Most of my carbs are eaten when first rising (5:30 am), but I also eat some 2 hours before working out (2pm) and immediately after working out (6 pm). There may be a handful more carbs I eat from food, but these numbers capture a typical day as a maintaining vet who works out daily (5x a week) doing intense functional exercises in the form of metabolic conditioning and lifting. I have been able to keep my weight steady @175 (down from 360) with these carbs for about 8 months now.

Good for you! How exciting it must be for you to be starting with a new trainer on your fitness journey.

Today is a rest day but I really want to do the workout because of the running: For time: Run 800m 10 Burpees 15 Shoulder to Overhead (135/95) Rest 4 minutes... For time: Run 800m 15 Burpees 20 Shoulder to Overhead (125/85) Rest 4 minutes... For time: Run 800m 20 Burpees 25 Shoulder to Overhead (115/75) Rest 4 minutes... For time: Run 800m 25 Burpees 30 Shoulder to Overhead (105/65) I love to do 800 m or 1600 m sprints. I am conflicted having to sit it out. Born to run. Must be part of my exercise cross over addiction. Need a 12 step program. Lol. BTB will get this and emphasize with respect to wanting to run and not being able to, I am sure. Crossing my fingers we have another one like this soon. The problem is that daily workouts are unknowable until day of.

Essentially still holding 400 s planks every day before starting planned routine. However, in the last couple weeks I have been working on l sits. These are really insane holds. I can only hold one about 40 s. An "l sit" is where your grasp 2 parallette(sp?) bars (about 4-6 inches above ground, about finger to elbow width apart) and sit above them with arms straight against your sides and legs out in front, parallel to the ground, holding them as straight as possible (hold your body in the shape of an "l" while holding those bars). You want to graduate from planks, try these. If you do not have parallete bars, you can do these with your hands on the ground (much harder than bars) or on two 20" boxes (much easier than bars). This will build your upper body strength exponentially.

I would do weights before cardio only so you have the proper energy to lift without insanity draining you. Insanity is designed to drain the glucose in your muscles which will cause you to fatigue prematurely during a post lifting segment. As for low metabolism, it is most likely caused by lack of caloric intake and the body entering starvation mode. The key is to find the calorie in versus calorie out balance point for your body where you gain the weight loss benefits of insanity without your body going into starvation mode due to net deficit. For example, I need to eat often to keep my metabolism up when considering daily cross fit 5x a week on average. I have mentioned before I eat every 2-3 hours to exit each day at around 2000-2200 calories. This keeps my weight at around 175-180 for 5'11" and my lean muscle is not being compromised. It is very easy for me to start losing if I miss a meal or add more exercise (an extra day or really push myself to exhaustion daily). There is no way this would work if I were to eat 500-800 calories a day. Again, to summarize: we each must find our balance points and that comes from trial and error over time. MFP is not always going to give you the answer you need. It is a bit of an organic process to find that sweet spot of effective weight loss from hormonal balance (eating the right foods) versus caloric balance (eating the right amount of food). Add intense exercise like insanity to the mix and it becomes even more important to find balance points for your body and then target a slight deficit to encourage weight loss.

I am definitely advocating to take multivitamins as a post op. I just found this an interesting article that pushes the argument that vitamins show no health benefits for a certain class of illnesses and that there are studies to back it. The studies are Most likely funded by the pharmaceutical industry.

17 months out. Lost 180 lb by month 7. I feel great and have spent the last 9 months or so getting athlete fit. Love it! It has changed my whole approach to exercise and I hope others have the joy of getting more active. I do notice obese people. My wife and I often think we should talk to these people about sleeve, but have not actually followed through. I have the same friends, but have made a lot of new ones through my cross fit box. It brings me joy to socialize with others who are athletic where I would not have had the courage to do this before. So I had a situation on the airplane a couple weeks ago where I was in middle and 450 lb was on one side of me. He made it seriously uncomfortable from being squished the whole flight. However, I did not say anything for 2 reasons. 1. I did not want to embarrass him and 2, I remember where I had come from. While I was never as large as this person, I was quite large on the plane. And probably squished my fair share of people. Just my two cents.