Fiddleman

Success with the steel oats! During WOD, I set new PR on dead lift, front squat and overhead press. I went to failure on each by slowly increasing for recording max 1 rep, but felt great at the end of the workout. Still have energy. Today, I just heated up steel oats from trader joes before mixing in the protein. Next time I will try cooking the steel oats myself from scratch.

Newgrandmother-are you drinking enough water? It is also important to eat before and after working out.

Mmmm, interesting flavor when eating steel cut oats with cookies and creme synth 6 protein powder. Not bad!

I reached my BMI (upper end) during month 7 (6 months ago). Since then, I have been playing daily with nutrition and fitness to achieve ideal fitness while staying at BMI. Maybe I will write a book on this experience someday. What a journey!

Typically I have either : 1. a 40 g Protein shake with 10 g simple carbs in it ( not a desired 2:1 carb/protein ratio though by a very long shot) <or> 2. a simple meal that satisfies macros like 2 apples slices with almond nut butter and a 1-2 oz portion of chicken. These have been my go-to pre workout meal options preceding a cross fit workout for a long time ( last 6 months). I am going to try something different starting today. Cross fit takes a lot out of me and I want more endurance and more stamina. I am going to continue to get smarter about eating right foods before working out. Today I am going to try 1 cup cooked steel cut oats (56 g carb) with 1 scoop of Protein powder (24 g carb). It has a decent 2:1 carb to protein ratio. I gather it is going to be pretty thick and maybe a little sludgy, but should really get my complex carbs up there for sustained energy (think: slow burning log rather than fast burning kindling). I am going to eat this 1.5 hours before working out and see what happens. Hopefully, the oats will be burned like logs throughout the workout and not end up in a pile on the mat. Lol. This is my first time to eat oats or anything with grains in over a year. Good choice? We shall see! Let's use this thread to post our favorite pre workout meals for getting the much desired energy during a workout. Try and post meals that offer sustained energy.

Thanks Around. After all these responses, I am going to try 1 rest day a week, on Sunday, and turn Saturday into a formal training day. I do not feel overtrained yet per your description. I also like to call my day off "dynamic rest" as it involves some light cardio or floor exercises. Enough to bring energy into my day, but nothing like a training day.

The last 20-30 lbs are tough. Your body needs extra help to get past set points. Try really increasing the intensity of your workouts. If you run, start running 5-10 k to burn a large amount of calories. If you lift, start to lift to fatigue. Really push yourself. Make your body work! It is worth it!

Do you wear underwear with it? It seems a little redundant. Your thoughts?

The best part is I managed to maintain a weight at 175-180 for my 5'11" frame while at the same time leaning out and increasing muscle. It is a careful focus on nutritional balance of good fat, good carbs and high protein daily. Additionally, i am constantly researching on how to optimize (results versus time / effort) in addition to consistent full body strength training 5 -6 days a week for an average of 1 hour a day including warm up, stretching, cool down and roller work. I do not have the patiance for working out longer then 20-30 minutes at a time,so try to make that count with the type of exercises and intensity / focus). Thanks everyone for your help along the way. It is a process, but is getting easier. Mark, Aroundhky, BTB, Tally, Maharet, and others who regularly contribute on the fitness thread are my role models in addition to long time vets ( do not mean to exclude anyone, but these folks are consistently answering my fitness and nutritional questions). Keep up the good fight everyone. It is so worth it!

I am due for my 1 year post op blood level checks and will see where the levels are at. I do try and drink as much water as I can short of a hour before bedtime to prevent a large number of bathroom trips in the middle of the night.

How exactly should these be fitting? Definitely feels snug, but not super tight. Should we be targeting a slightly smaller size then outer clothing size? The problem with my size is that it seems to be 1/2 way between medium and large. I am sure I will continue to bulk out over time, but that is the way it is now. Should it be a struggle to get in and out of these? I do not have much of a struggle, but, again, they are snug against the body and hold everything together fine.

Ms skinniness - what can I say that has not already been said? They are all right. You look good and should be very proud of what you have accomplished. I know many, many people appreciate your expert therapeutic advice, including myself.

Great job! You have come a long ways.

It makes perfect sense. Appreciate the details. I've been trying dim out for a few days, but am going to dive into some more personal research before continuing on it. No loss for me to put it aside for now. I thought it might help with reducing the fat percentage in the body so wanted to try it. If it is dangerous, no need for me to take it. I guess I get a little impatient with results that are visible in the mirror sometimes despite a lot of nutritional and strength training effort day in and day out, month after month. The prize will be worth it though. And I am not just talking about aesthetics; rather, looking forward to having big time strength and agility to be a serious compete in athletic events. This is coming from someone who has never been an athlete ever. That challenge motivates me.

Thanks everyone. Let me tell you it is a lot of consistent work in nutrition and strength training. Hopefully the next update in the future will be a whole upper body shot. My strength comes from functional body weight exercises (burpees, box jumps, hand stand push ups, regular push-ups, pull ups, planks, lunges, dips, hip raisers, etc) and compound lifts ( squats, dead lifts, cleans, bench presses, etc) at cross fit. No machines for me. Some dumbbell training at home, but mostly body weight exercises.

Looks better in real life. Lol. [ATTACH]16247[/ATTACH]

Puja- dim reduces the balance of estrogen in the body in favor of testosterone. Thanks for the information about DHEA. It being a precursor, it does not seem like consumption of this supplementation is synonymous with "taking extra testosterone." That is where I have a disconnect with your explanation (which is wonderful information).

Good luck BTB!

Buplee- so I went out to Sports authority yesterday and tried on some different compression clothing ( both top and bottom). I found that medium bottom and large top work the best. I was trying on a medium top and I had to do a strange dance to get out of it. Lol. I wore them today during my workout and found it did make a difference in jumping exercises like star jumpers. I got more air. I will see how they work out tomorrow during my cross fit lifting. Thanks again.

Misty- thanks for the additional anatomical information with regards to estrogen (never took biology or anatomy in my formal education). Did not know the specifics about where estrogen is generated in the male, but that is practical information to know it comes from specific locations. I love that there are all sorts of people with different knowledge bases on VST in order to fill in my own knowledge base about the human body. My mind is a curious magnet for information, no matter what the subject is. Cheers!

Modest are you, Around?