Fiddleman

From what I have been told, the 30 g (for women) is per meal or per 2-3 hours. It would be counter productive to have much more than that at a meal as the excess will either be urinated out or stored as fat.

Another approach you might try that will increase the perceived effort on the bike is to consider HIIT or Tabata style training. For HIIT, go 80% intensity for 2 minutes, then 60% intensity for 2 minutes and repeat for 20 minutes. For Tabata, go all out (100%) for 20 seconds, rest 20 seconds and repeat for 8 minutes. Both of these approaches will give you a great work out on the bike in a fraction of the time. You could incorporate this type of workout 1-2 x a week into your fitness plan.

Take some protein after every workout. That is the ideal time for protein synthesis. I have read a while back that 30 g is optimal for women and 40 g is optimal for men. The premier protein drink from Costco might suit you very well as it gives you 30 g per serving. Most days I have a combination of an AMRAP bar (17 g) and a protein shake (25-30 g) after every workout.

Was I an athlete before? A big fat no! I am a computer guy that writes code all day for the financial industry. My weight has been obese or worse for most of my life (a few short periods when I dropped and then packed it back on again). I did a short stint with cross country running when I was in 8th grade (after my first successful weight loss), but always came in last place. I skipped out on PE most of high school and did orchestra instead. See a pattern? Lol. I only started on my athletic chops after VSG. It has been a lot of work. However, now I have hope that I can be an athletic guy, a computer guy and a musician.

I am not sure about guiding, but I can be anecdotal about it and tell you about how the progression from surgery to crossfit worked for me. Before surgery, I did the typical cardio type exercises. You know - an hour on the ellyptical perhaps a few times a week. It was not helping me very much because my eating habits were so out of control. I did zero lifting mainly because it frustrated me and I would stop trying to figure it out. After surgery, here is the progression: Month 1-2 : built up from 5 min walks to 3 hour walks 2-3 x a day. Month 3-4: inconsistent use of ellyptical. 2 x a week if lucky. Still walked a lot, but not as much. Month 5-7: started running. First run was surprisingly a 28 minute 5 k. I thought this was really cool that I could run. I started out running 5 k for 3 x a week. I worked up to running 3 x a week, but different types of running: for time, HIIT and distance. My running distance averaged around 10 k in about 55 minutes. I did a few really long runs of 10-15 miles, but that is not as appealing to me as running fast. I hit goal at this point, but lost so much muscle. That is when I decided to make a change from running to something else. Month 8-14: I started cross fit as a brand new guy. Never really even heard of it before, but I wanted to build muscle and become more athletic. I worked with a trainer 2x a week during these 6 months, learning about the different exercises and different techniques. I also started getting into some Olympic lifting, but most of the sessions were based on metabolic conditioning. On 3 other days during the week, I did body weight workouts using a program called " you are your own gym". I thoroughly enjoyed doing this program. Month 15-16: I could no longer really afford the personal training so switched to open gym format. I go to the box 5 x a week and try and RX the workout every day. I can do almost every exercise with the exception of double unders, muscle ups and hand stand push ups. I am still working on these for skill and when they show up in a workout, I need to modify and do something like singles, box hand stand pushups and floor muscle ups. During these last couple months of open gym 5 days a week I have gotten really good at certain exercises and Olympic lifts: Running: 4:45 minute mile (first in 3 mile set) Push ups: 50 unbroken Pull ups: 15 unbroken Burpees: 50 unbroken T2B: 25 unbroken Box jumps (holding 20# ball) Dead lifts: 350 lb max Bench press: 295 lb max Man makers: 30 unbroken with 25 # Etc I really like burpees. Not a lot of people like them. I still cannot do an overhead squat or s n a t c h with weight ( use a PVC pipe). It is on my 6 month plan. I will get it eventually, once my lats and scapula learn how to operate properly. I am currently in physical therapy working on my lat muscles. They are way to tight, even in neutral position. There is always something to improve athletically every single day. Keep in mind you are a work in progress. You look at all the really good cross fitters and it is a little frustrating to see how in the world you can do what they are doing. It is a bid chasm to cross. My suggestion is to think of cross fit as a progression. It takes a lot of practice and a lot of dedication to get it to the point where you can do a prescribed workout and not question yourself afterwards because of the difficulty, pain, soreness, etc. It gets better over time. Always remember to do the following every day: 1. 4-5 g fish oil 2. 8-9 hours of sleep (I struggled with this until recently) 3. 90 oz Water or more 4. Take 2 rest days a week (not doing this will break you eventually) 5. Journal and keep track of your daily progress( I used a site called beyond the whiteboard) 6. Try and eat paleo. Your workouts will be easier if you put good food into your body. 7. Consider some caffeine, creatine and beta-alanine before your workout to improve endurance. Beta-alanine takes a month to load, but will protect you from fatigue both during lifts and metabolic conditioning. 8. Always eat a post op bar or shake. 9. Consider a recovery shake that has BCAA in it. Glutamine is important. 10. Be consistent. Do not cherry pick your workouts. You want to get as wide exposure as you can so only stay home if it is a rest day or you are sick. Good luck. Hopefully you got something out of my rambling.

Oh - I looked up my stripper name yesterday: Randy Lays My wife loves it!! That is from my real name, not my VST name.

I do not think it is that because according to online info, a torn bicep tendon would be in the shoulder region. The pain I had was about 1/2 way down the upper left arm. And I have had this before several times in the last few months. It is just that when it happened yesterday, it was really intense and all day. Neither voltaren gel (topical nsaid) nor 3 extra strength Tylenol would touch the pain. I keep thinking it might be the start of Rhabdomyolysis, but who knows. I do not have any of the other symptoms. Anyways, that is not the real reason for taking a couple rest days. My whole body felt like it has been tackled by a line backer yesterday. It is feeling about 60% today.

I did absolutely nothing in terms of exercise yesterday and probably won't today. My body hurt yesterday (not just achy) in new and interesting ways so me thinks it needs a couple solid rest days. Has anyone ever got a burning pain sensation in their bicep before? Felt like a tetanus shot. Today, after a good night of sleep, I am feeling better and only a little sore in abs, upper back, arms and legs. I hope to be back at it tomorrow. Another NSV after Fridays workout of serious core work (see above), I can see my abs this morning in the mirror. That is a first. Not a six pack, but more like a 2 pack. there is hope!!

Goldschläger sounds fascinating so I went onto wikipedia to read about it. It actually has 13 mg gold flakes per 1 litre!! That got me thinking about how much Goldschläger one would need to buy to have 1 ounce of gold and would it be economical given the current market value of gold. Let's find out! 1 ounce of gold contains 28,349.5 milligrams. 1 ounce of gold is currently valued at 1350.80 dollars on the gold spot market as of yesterday. 1 liter of Goldschläger has 13 mg of gold. 1 liter of Goldschläger costs about 25 in the US. It would take 2180 bottles of Goldschläger valued at 54500 dollars to theoretically have 1 ounce of gold valued at 1350. So it is clearly not economical to use Goldschläger drinking as a way to make money. However, if you buy the Goldschläger and the gold before the value of the dollar collapses (just a matter of time), then you may have a chance of profiting in this endeavor. Gold is expected to hit 10,000 an ounce when this occurs. Best that you have a lot of friends to help with the drinking. The crazy things I think about when reading VST in bed after waking up. Lol. . .

Interesting, I consume about 150-170 g protein on average a day. There are others on this site that also consume higher amounts. I also drink lots and lots of water, about 180-200 oz on average a day. Urine color is fine, no ammonia smell and, so far, no stones. Those that wish to build muscle need at eat at least 1 g of protein per bodyweight. My body weight is between 172-178, depending on bounce. I typically get close, to 1 g per lb but not quite there, so tend to preserve muscle and not gain muscle when combined with strength training during the week.

Yes, hiccups will happen when eating to much, too fast or both together. And different people have different reactions. You hiccup. I burp. Others have runny nose, slime or plain throw up. Regardless of what your reaction is, one thing is clear: your body is talking to you. Slow down take smaller bites, chew tons and keep doing that. Usually, it is best to eat to a feeling of satisfaction and not to a full feeling. This takes a while to learn how to listen to your body, a lot of trial and error. Good luck.

Mine has to do with when I used to fiddle around with my musical friends in college. We would busk on the streets of Seattle and even played in a few venues like The Show box. However, we mostly did Irish bars and book stores. I played for part of my college tuition by performing Irish tunes for others. Jammed quite a bit also in late night sessions with pints of Guinness. Yes, those were certainly the days. That was many years ago and music has taken a bit of a back stage place for one reason or another (family, career and more recently, wls / fitness). I hope to open that chapter again in the near future when the interest and time comes back again.

I like that. It is poetic....

Is chewing gum really all that bad? I don't think so as long as it is SF...

I did 4 double unders in a row which is 4 more then I have ever done working towards 100 in a row by end of month. Today: 2 miles, 195 GHD sits, 182 back extensions and 22 double unders in a 9 min workout. My infantile skill at double unders held my total reps back. Tired and aching after this week... Still am trying to do a single overhead squat and failing. Will keep working at it. On my 6 month plan to do 1 - lol.

I am looking for a power lifting shoe for men to help primarily with power lifts in the context of cross fit training. There are so many choices on Amazon and my strategy right now is to research a brand that has the highest set of good review and best performance for a budget under 200. It would be nice if it is designed for cross fit, but does not need to be. Nor does it need to support running. I have a reebok nano 3 and Nike Pegasus for those two activities, respectively. The reason I need a dedicated shoe for lifting is I need the stability when lifting heavy. I get a little wobbly on my feet and the weight needs to be distributed much better in my heels. Before you say my technique needs help before shoes, yes, I know, but my colleagues at cross fit have told me consistently that a good lifting shoe will make all the difference. I primarily need them for squats, power cleans, s n a t c h e s and dead lifts, but also for other lifts like thrusters or overhead presses. I want to get the best lifting shoe for the money. It can be a training shoe and does not need to be a professional competition lifting shoe. However, if I should be getting a professional competition lifting shoe, just let me know. It should not be priced more then 200. Here are a couple I have picked out on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/adidas-Powerlift-Trainer-Training-Metallic/dp/B004JXVSA0/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_S_nC?ie=UTF8&colid=1XIWU8EPF2PLT&coliid=I2ZACBN87CGGQB&psc=1 (best priced, recommended by men's fitness and a good set of amazon reviews) http://www.amazon.com/ASICS-Mens-Lift-Trainer-Cross-Trainer/dp/B004DCBIKC/ref=pd_sbs_shoe_1 (good reviews) http://www.amazon.com/Reebok-Mens-Crossfit-Lifter-Red-Grey-Silver/dp/B00BHOIGB8/ref=sr_1_1?s=shoes&ie=UTF8&qid=1383222040&sr=1-1&keywords=Reebok+CrossFit+Lifter (no reviews, but highly recommended by men's fitness) Well - there you have it. I think I know what I am looking for, but am no expert in this area of lifting shoes. In fact, I am quite the beginner at lifting in general. However, I have big aspirations and goals. Help me out with your feedback, suggestions, anecdotes, whatever. Open to any and all feedback so I can make the best informed decision before purchasing.

My choice I believe will be the following: http://www.roguefitness.com/inov8-fastlift-335-rogue-red-black-carbon.php A good all around cross fit lifting shoe.

Everyone says my wife and I look so much younger now that she has lost about 100 and I have lost approximately 190. I am 37 and she is 34. The effects after WLS may depend on your actual age or it may not. ::

Just kidding around with you. Shoes help distribute the weight towards the ground properly. You should be able to do this without special shoes, but folks who are tipsy when lifting, like myself, need the extra function from the lifting shoe.

I was chewing some SF gum today and then drank some BCAA powder drink at same time. It tasted like donkey dung. Literally. I am not using hyperbole. Really bizarre. I went to work out and then tried the drink again. It was sweet as remembered. Why does SF gum mess around with the sweet receptors in the mouth? Very strange. I think this would help people who struggle with a sweet tooth. Chew some SF gum before eating Cookies, cake or ice cream and those will taste like like crap. Right? Anyone else experience this and know the anatomical reason for it?

Happy Halloween everyone! It turns out I got in 2 more miles, but here is the rub: carrying a 20 lb medicine ball. First time I have done that and it got me thinking. With the medicine ball, my weight is 192. I ran at 220 and it was far easier then running with at 172 with a 20 lb medicine ball. It must have been a combination of in balance, torque and a little sheer force that caused it to be hard. I carried the 20 lb medicine ball against my chest in a bear hug when trying to run fast. Each mile took about 7:30 seconds. My fast mile is usually around 5 minutes, sometimes faster. I was huffing and puffing. Secretly praying for it to end. My body was taking a beating. Lol. In context, here is today's run set: 1 mile with 20# 50 sit ups with 20# 40 thrusters with 20# 30 jumping lunges with 20# 20 box jumps (24") with 20# - so hard!! 1 mile run with 20# Oh and if we dropped the ball, 5 burpees for every second it sit on the ground. Needless to say, no one dropped the ball before I did the workout today. This whole week has been brutal. Maybe luck of the draw or a week on vacation has softened me a little. I think the former as I was still working out every day last week on vacation. Ending October with 208 miles of running and rowing (mostly running). Onward to the November challenge!!!!

hey, that hurt my feelings. I am not doing it to fit in at all, but to help me with technique.

Do you guys count or care about these calories? For example, true lemon has 5 cals per packet. If drinking a gallon of Water a day, hypothetically, and you add 2 per 32 oz, again hypothetically, then that adds up to an extra 40 cal a day. Not a big deal and it has not ever affected my weight. What do you think?

I like the man makers because there are so many different weight exercises built into a single rep. Try doing the following: 30 Man-Makers (Choose Weight) Man-Maker = DBs to the ground, kick back, push-up, row left, row right, jump feet in, power clean, push press As you can see, a single rep has rows, a bench press a power clean and a push press. It even has a burpee jump in it to the feet.I do these with 25 # and am thoroughly toasted afterwards. For me, the push presses get weak first with my shoulders unable to lift vertical by rep 20 or so. Here is a video: You only need your body and a pair of dumbbells to get a full body workout with these.