Fiddleman

Yup - I got the thrush also. You can get some medicine, but mine went away after a week without meds in addition to some tongue tooth brushing.

Wow - incredible short term weight loss! I am jealous!! If only the program did not cost so much.

Good point about sodium. I try and minimize sodium intake.

This condition can be caused by too much physical activity where excessive breakdown of muscle tissue occurs combined with dehydration according to how my trainer described it yesterday. You would think to solve the dehydration problem with drinking a lot of coconut Water, but that might actually introduce rhabdomyolysis . Basically, your kidneys shut down from too much potassium in the blood stream. She said that marathoners, big lifters or very active conditioners ( eg cross fit, sport training) are the people who should watch out for it. 4 hours of insanity DVD a day might cause it? That last one is just me thinking out loud. The reason my trainer brought this up is because I said I often get muscle cramping (calf) in cross fit (about once a week) and start to feel a little like vomiting after pushing hard in a sprint WOD at the end of a session. I have been drinking about a coconut water a day to try and combat a combination of muscle cramping and mild dehydration, but perhaps should keep an eye on potassium levels. I do not think I am a candidate for getting said condition, but need to monitor hydration. If you ever see cocoa colored urine(not me), go straight to the ER and they will immediately IV you in order to do a bodily flush out. usually you will vomit and get muscle spasms before full blown rhabdomyolysis. Just something to be aware of if you are a long distance runner or spend lots of time conditioning with weight month after month, perhaps without giving your body the proper rest and the proper hydration. Maybe just stash this information away in the back of your mind. More info can be found on wikipedia: http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhabdomyolysis

No statin meds for me like lipitor. I have taken lisimopril (lower blood pressure) and citalopram (SSRI) in the past. Took a muscle relaxant at one point. Are there any natural medicines that would also inhibit coq10? I have never taken the coq10 supplement before either. I am not saying with this thread that I have the condition. Just putting out a warning.

Best story ever. Congratulations!

The million dollar question about is when does maintenance feel normal? I've been maintaining for about 6 months now and have a pretty good groove going on with regards to eating, fitness and health. food is not the enemy and I eat enough good fats, carbs and Proteins to meet fueling requirements based on a few 100 calories below my TDEE. However, does it get harder during year 2,3,4,5, n? Ever since the vet forum has been created, there has been fairly decent discussion and exposure to the challenges of vets about out as far as 4 years. I think I saw even an 8 year vet pop in once, but was really struggling and described their current status as failure. Disheartening to read that. Is maintaining going to turn into a series of do or die moments? I hope not. I just want to live the remainder of life with a good relation with food. To be able to eat, be satisfied and not have to struggle with food every day and be in good health would be perfect. However, my observation based on posts from vets 2-4 years post op indicate dealing with food as the enemy is a life long battle. I have not hit a point yet where I feel like there is a need to do battle with food. I do not have the temptation in me to go eat that cookie, cake, brownie, ice cream, what ever. Will the urges come back next year? I hope not. I have a good groove going by not eating junk. Sure I get hungry, but then that just means to eat some healthy and Protein based that will give me energy for 2-3 more hours. I hope it never gets to that point where long dormant carb monster starts making decisions for me. Logically, I would rather just make sound decisions to support the energy requirements I need for a workout or for the rest of the day rather then eating a sweet. Little does it benefit to go scarf food that is going to give a sugar rush ( probably a headache too), especially since we all know quite precisely how weight starts creeping up. Your thoughts?

Hi folks. I work in the financial industry as a senior software engineer primarily specializing in software to help all businesses file their financial documents to the country reporting regulator (eg SEC in US, HMRC in UK, MCA in India, SVS in India, etc). Needless to say, I get to work with customers from many global companies in many different time zones and country languages. Love it!

Perhaps Insanity Fast and Furious is a good program. Not sure. I like that it is 20 minutes long. http://www.amazon.com/INSANITY-Fast-Furious-DVD-Workout/dp/B004PAS756/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1375840536&sr=8-2&keywords=crossfit+dvd

Hi folks - I am looking for a new at home DVD program that will be done 3-4 days a week. Can you deliver on this request? I have completed all the workouts in "Be your own gym" (BYOG) with Mark Lauren over the last 12 weeks. http://www.amazon.com/You-Are-Your-Own-Gym/dp/B00AM7EQYC/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1375835818&sr=8-2&keywords=be+your+own+gym I have the book too. There are 100s of exercises in the book where the DVD set has up to 4 exercises per workout session. It was awesome! I dropped about 20 lbs from may 2013 and am so much stronger with good muscle definition. Body fat % dropped way down. But I am not done yet in my vision of fitness. No where near done. BYOG has 9 programs of beginner, intermediate and advanced. I spent about 3 weeks on each level of 3 programs for a total of about 9 weeks. I've been on advanced for about 3 weeks now and will continue for a few more weeks. However, now I want something new that meets the following criteria: 1. Harder and challenging - advanced BYOG was a challenge, but now I am conditioned to it. Need something harder. I can do clapping push-ups. I can do jumping lunges. Give me something harder!! 2. Progressive - I want to improve over time. I want it to make me even better at cross fit. 3. Strength based - I want to get stronger and not necessarily conditioned as P90x, insanity or t25 might offer. I do not need to lose any weight (currently 5'11" @ 175 lb), so want to exclusively convert any remaining fat into muscle and gain some more lean muscle weight. 4. Short sessions - workout maximum 30 minutes. Prefer 20 minutes of workout and 20 minutes of warmup, stretch, cool down. I work 12 hour days so have about 1 hour of free time a day to dedicate to fitness. I liked BYOG because each workout was max 20 minutes, but we hit it hard in those 20 minutes with body weight exercises. 5. Few days a week - I have 3-4 days open to follow a DVD program. Other 2-3 days a week are reserved for cross fit at a box. Before making recommendations, please do go click n the link to see what BYOG offers so recommendations are appropriate. Thanks for your help guys. I prefer a DVD program over free form because I want the progressive structure. I like being told what to do and being motivated by a trainer.

Peanut butter is OK, but not really the best choice because peanuts are not really a nut. It is a legume and grows below ground. Nuts like walnuts, almonds, etc grow above ground. They have more protein and have fats that are better for you. A better choice would be a nut butter like almond butter or cashew butter. You can usually find these in the natural section at a grocery store or you can make your own. Safeway has an area where you can grind the almonds or cashews and make a tub of nut butter to take home with you. Yummy on apples and bananas. Hope this helps.

Fellow cake batter flavor enthusiast, rejoice!

I have my window cracked open this morning at dawn for some fresh air and I smell waffles wafting in the wind from a neighbors house 500 feet away. How fair is that?!?!? It smells so good. Surprised I can pick this smell up considering it is coming from inside their house. It really is messing with my concentration. I cannot say such a smell has caused quite a reaction as this since way before surgery.

Do you think one would get the same probiotics and prebiotics from a pre packed green drink as from eating real fruits and vegetables? The reason I am asking is that on occasion (not so much anymore, maybe once a week), I take a scoop of Green Vibrance in water. It has essentially 74 different veggies, fruits and herbs. It also has at least RDA in vitamins and minerals. The label says it has 25 billion probiotics per serving. Whatever that means. I honestly cannot tell much of a difference in my digestion action when taking the probiotics versus not taking it. Is a probiotic different from a prebiotic? I get better results just from taking a chia seed / miralax combination at the beginning of the day. Anyways, I would love to hear what you think about probiotics versus probiotics.

Trader joes sells these and they can be found in grocery stores and some gas stations. I am glad you like them. If I recall, they have kind of high carb from sugar alcohols (17 g) and calories are also kind of high (270) per bar. They are big so may fill better than other bars. http://www.amazon.com/thinkThin-Chunky-Peanut-Butter-2-1-Ounce/dp/B000CRHQN0/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1375758703&sr=8-1&keywords=think+thin+bars The Cookies and cream is also good. Still a good option if you enjoy them. Some others that I have enjoyed are nu go slim, pure Protein and Quest.

If you are looking for a really high quality molecularly distilled Omega 3, I recommend Super Omega 3 by stronger, faster, healthier: http://www.sfh.com/products/omega_3-oil/10oz_so3_omega-3_oil It is very good and can be taken 1 tsp at a time for 3100 EPA and DHA (compared to standard 350 EPA at grocery stores). It comes in many different flavors, mint being my favorite. It is kind of pricey at 59.99 for 10 oz (lasts forever though). It is so good my cross fit box just started selling it to help athletes recover from inflammation fast. If omega 3 helps with hair retention, then super omega 3 should make your hair salon perfect.

World market also carries the SF Torani syrups: http://www.worldmarket.com/category/food-and-drink/drink/drink-mixes.do?nType=1&ab=third:food-and-drink:drink:drink-mixes It looks like they are now 6.99. Perhaps they went up in price in the last year or two. This is an option if you have one near you (there are 2 near me).

Yes, I had the same issue with my sternum. When it was just poking out, I thought better go see the doctor. Now it is a big old dome right in the middle of my chest. Still feels weird to this day.

Laura - that must be so hard for you. You get an award for most will power at the break of dawn.

Agree that it just depends on what your doctor says. My doctor allows it, but does not recommend taking any until after month 6, when the primary window of risk is over. And that is what I did. I would rather live life without pain then be in pain, one day at a time. That is my philosophy. Enjoy life while you have it.

Thanks for the tip. Just this morning, I was thinking that soon it will be time to find something harder to do at home or I will need to put together my own.