Fiddleman

I've done #40 quite a few times growing up (lived not far from there). I am going to have to try the kuai hike (#9) when I go back next summer. I thought there was not a hike up that mountain, but now that I know, can't wait to try it.

Great story and inspiration. Thanks for sharing!

Well, I am no pup - almost 40. I do not care that much about my appearance, but it would be nice to look 100% awesome with shirt off at the pool. Now I would say it is about 80% ok. The rest of the body is no issue - arms, neck, chest, thighs - all strong and muscular. Darn stomach is the challenge; it just does not want to get muscular in appearance. However, I can feel the strong core underneath.

I guess a question to ask: is it worth it? I mean both bean and Jane are considered athletic people, yet still made a decision the do the surgery with out of pocket cash. The pain. The recovery period. Both are reasons why I have leaned away from considering it. At what point does one decide to do it? Not meaning to derail anything about the decision you two made as I know both have thought through it quite deeply and for a long time. A good set of decisions, for you. Would you say the decision is highly personal and comes down to what you want out of your appearance? how you perceive yourself? How others perceive your appearance? At this point, I do not know what is the decision point that we should be considering. First off, I do not have the cash. Second, I do not feel unhappy about the way I look. Sure I have some loose skins in the stomach region, but I still like the way I look overall in the mirror. Strong. Good body composition. Athletic build. However, I can still grab an inch of loose skin around the belly button where I would like a six pack. I am secretly hoping that someday I will get a six pack from the workouts I do, but it hasn't happened so far. It should. Anyways, rambling on. Perhaps you have a more succinct way of identifying a decision point for athletic type folks. So guys - Should I find a reason to undergo the TT? Dunno.

+ 1600 m run ( 1 mile) Invictus workout today. 40 pull-ups 30 hand stand push-ups 20 s n a t c h e s @ 125 # 30 hand stand push ups 40 pull ups 14.53 m Extra credit + 3000 m row (about 2 miles) - 8 m More blisters to heal. kipping the pull ups, but they are still hard. Good strong workout yesterday too: 1600 m run (1 mile) 200m Row 15 Burpees 20 Back Squats 225#/155# 25 Kettlebell Swings 53#/35# 30 Wall Balls 20#/14# to 10’ target 25 Kettlebell Swings 53#/35# 20 Back Squats 225#/155# 15 Burpees 200m Row 15.25 m The workout yesterday is the start of a 1 month nutritional challenge at box. Person who loses the most weight and shows the most improvement in time takes home the pot. Everyone contributed 10 to participate. About 50 entered so 500 pot. yay!! I won't lose a lot of weight, but I am going to strive for workout improvements. I want to get better at double unders, kipping pull-ups and rebound box jumps. We will be checking this same workout in 1 month. Hit 120 m for October today.

As BTB says, casein is great for at night. I take mine every night for 8 months now and love that my body "works" during the night while breaking it down. Whey is best for morning when waking up and for after working out. A protein matrix (mix of whey, casin and other proteins) are good also during the same slots (morning and after workout). For reference, I take 40 g synth 6 (a protein matrix) in the morning, 25 g before working out with steel oats and some times 40 g post workout (not so much any longer as eat AMRAP bar instead). I take ON casein (50-60 g) at night.

That is such a thrill! Great job.

Hey - I am from Seattle area also. The nut was perfectly fine with us drinking coffee before and after surgery, with the exception of 1 day before surgery. That being said, you may find decaf easier on your stomach for the first month post op. I went back on caps, lattes and drip about 6 week post op. Starbucks of course. I drank coffee pretty consistently day to day until about month 7 when I cut way back and started to eat more paleo style to support better work outs. Today, at about 15 months, I drink coffee about once or twice a week. Just does not appeal to me much any longer. Good luck on your surgery.

That is one of the best quoting scripture out of context I have seen in a long time. Love it!

That sounds great you are getting into the Insanity program. You will see great results.

Gee, I am glad I did not read the posts above that give away the plot!! We DVRd it am are just watching it now.

I have to differ with you on the cross fit comment. First, Zumba and cross fit are not even comparable. Zumba is to cross fit like walking is to sprinting up a hill. They are on completely different levels. And secondly, all these compound lifts are part of cross fit. A small subset of cross fit. Other then this, I agree that these are good compound lifts for building strength and muscles. Your comments about using free weights and not machines are spot on. I would also recommend body weight exercises. They are very powerful in building strength and muscles.

My wife and I are in!

Hmm, retread what I typed above about the powder room and realize the double meaning. i swear it was an innocent comment...quite the Freudian slip.

Actually this whole talk about semen nutrition is nothing new here on VST. For some reason the women like to have big long threads about the protein benefits in the powder room (ha! See I do read there, just keep my mouth shut per forum rules). A simple search should satisfy your curiosity.

I drink at least 1 shake a day. My hard earned muscle would cannabalize itself (known as catabolic state) if I did not due to not meeting Protein requirement of ideal weight (lb) * .92. Sometimes i try to eat 1 g of protein per ideal weight. my weight is currently 172 and my ideal weight is 180. Used to be a fan of Protein Bars because they tasted good and seemed like an easy way to up daily protein. You want your body to be in an anabolic state for muscle growth so do eat as much protein as you are able to. Protect those muscles! My preferred bar was pure protein because high protein and low carb. The only problem is that they are slider for me and have recently been tasting really bland and overly processed. After tastes stick out like a sore thumb. So I do not eat them any longer (except in emergency) and instead eat a good quality source of protein and a small serving of veggie. For example, at snack time today (10 am), I had 3 ounces of bbq pulled pork (fairly lean) and an ounce steamed broccoli. Filled me up just fine. On most days, I do eat most of my meals now from real food and have a casein shake before I go to bed. Casein shakes are awesome at night because i always wake up feeling lean. On training days (5 days a week), 40 g of Protein Shake is mixed in with a serving of 1/2 cup steel oats 2x a day (once for Breakfast and once 1.5 hours before training is to begin). Not sure if you want to count these as "shakes", but I guess you can, placing my daily shake count at 3 on those training days. Sometimes I have a shake after training, but not so much any longer. Instead I eat an AMRAP bar which is higher in carbs (17 g) and a little lower in protein (14 g). Just what i need after a hard WOD. as an aside, Most doctors will recommend eating high protein and low carb to lose weight regardless of WLS.

Doctor diagnosed me with severe left scapula dysfunction today. Right scapula is fine. The issue is that the muscles are way to short around the left scapula, disrupting my thoracic (sp?) stability and lots of shoulder / neck issues. I will be starting PT on Monday for at least 6 weeks. It was caused by computer work for most of my adult career. Sitting too much and not paying attention to good ergonomics until the daily pain just had to stop a few months ago. It is good to know why my overhead lifting I do is so weak and lacks power. No real growth in strength in the overhead lifts in many months despite awesome nutrition, consistent lifting and good sleep. Lots of lifting through the pain in last 8 months as I thought it would go away. I am going to do PT at least 2x a week, but will continue to do my 4-5 cross fit sessions. Love them too much. I am going to start using rock tape more often over scapula region because it really seems to help a lot when I used it today when doing a lot of s n a t c h e s and shoulder to bar pull-ups. Actually felt good instead of usual upper back issues of achiness. I also got a new prescription from doc for inflammation, as needed, as current ibu 800 mg was not really doing much for me. Any other suggestions you have?

Thanks both! Your perspectives are both very helpful.

We wish the best for you Jane. I know you will come out of this an astounding success.