Fiddleman

Thanks mark. Validation from you, around and all the others (apologies in advance for not naming names but you are appreciated) that are into strength training is good for me to hear. I do tend to overthink and complicate things as that is my nature ( a thinker and very analytical). Strength training and fitness is new for me. I am learning as I go, keeping what works and tossing what does not work from a lot of different folks on VST and research online. Very simple strategy don't you think? Lol. Sometimes I throw a lot of stuff at the wall and most of it sticks, but there is also a pile of crap that did not stick. I mentally take out the garbage as often as I can to keep my set of strategies as effective as possible. I had a really good cross fit workout yesterday: 1. bench press 3010 @ 220 pounds of 5 rep for 8 sets. For readers, 3010 means 3 seconds down, pause 0, 1 second up, pause 0. Not sure what is a good goal for bench pressing. 270 pounds for more than 1 rep? 400 for max 1 rep? 2. Deadlifts @ 310 pounds of 5 rep followed by 5 burpee for 15 sets. The burpees keep your heart elevated even though resting a good 30 seconds between the lifts. My goal is to get my 1 rep max to 500 lb. 3. Box jump @ 40 inches of 10 rep for 3 sets. This is a new personal height record. My goal is to jump 5'6" in the future. Jumping from standing position onto top of weights sitting on box really takes a lot of self confidence and visualization. You have to really believe in the successful execution of this jump because it does not look possible when standing in front of it. However, you would be surprised at what you can do once you believe and jack up the focus. This is key I think. Not the usual cardio soaked workout at cross fit ( that will be tomorrow, Thursday), but for the first time, I felt in control of each compound lift. Really focused on form, breathing, concentration, focus and power. It is *way* easier to do the compound lifts successfully when these attributes are locked in to the execution of each lift. Thank you Mark for your comments about this several months ago. Still taking 10 g creatine monohydrate before and after daily strength based workouts. Next week, I am probably going to Ramp down n the daily creatine as 20 g has been good for loading, but not needed for long term daily use according to every resource I read. I think I might also look into btb's suggestion of the BCAA drink (5000+ mg of BCAA) as it has way more oomph then my catalyst product I have been using for months. Weight down from yesterday 2 pounds at 178 and bf% down a point. Dropping a bf % point overnight is a good confidence booster. I am pretty achy also. Hoping that my body will get jacked up by my 9 am body weight workout.

Hi angel - I am definitely after long lasting results and will PM you for information.

I took 2 hydroxyz last night and slept really well, but a bit groggy this morning. Maybe this is going to be me sleep aid of choice as tryptophan worked ok for 1-2 nights with putting me asleep, but did not keep me asleep very well.

- I think there is enough in the news without me adding to the crime beat. Lol.

Aren't Benadryl and Unisom essentially containing the same active ingredient that helps with drowsiness? I am asking this because why take Benadryl when you can take some OTC sleep aid like unisom or NyQuil zzz?

Thanks aroundhky - I definitely am not really tracking sodium levels. This might be sabotaging my attempt to achieve the dry chiseled look. Actually, I did some research on how body builders achieve dry chiseled look on contest day and underwear models on photo shoot day. Essentially, it is really hard to maintain this level of physique for more then a couple days and it takes real work to get the body into that state. Sometimes we (the public) are mislead by the fitness magazine ads and the televised or internet representation of body building contests. I have read that there must be careful attention paid to cutting, carb loading and reducing workouts before the big day. I know this is probably not something that can be sustained as a daily goal given this research. I am getting strong with respect to lifting body weight and semi heavy weights for my experience level (beginner), but look kind of soft. I do not want to look soft even though my strength is there. I am still motivated with my fitness goals so will keep at this goal of sculpting the body.

mark- As usual, very good information. I do not carb cycle at all. In fact, I would say my diet Is on the low end of carbs (100 g or less) while not being super low (20-30 g) as it was during the weight loss portion of post op. if I were to pick a number as I am not a strict tracker, I would say ball park is between 50-100 carbs a day. The carbs I do get come from either a serving or two of greens, a couple energy squares, an amrap bar or my Protein shakes. My synth 6 Protein Shakes have more carbs (2 scoops at 30 g) then other protein shakes I have been using in the past, but is still considered a leaning shake rather than a gaining shake. Typically i take this only as my recovery shake, but will also have it for other meals in morning or afternoon occasionally. I usually only have the AMRAP bar (17 g) 2x a week following a session of cross fit. The two servings of greens come in at lunch and dinner meals, each which are 1-2 ounces in quantity. Eating for me is pretty strict. Also no dairy, wheat, breads, nuts, etc. It is almost not Paleo because my diet is usually just lean protein, greens and supplementation (several shakes during the day). This seems like a cross between low carb and Paleo, and again, puts my daily caloric load between 1700-1900. I might hit 2100-2300 if I have an extra synth 6 shake in order to drive up the daily protein consumption. I do not deviate from clean eating and am quite disciplined in what I eat. However, I have been doing it this way for so long, it seems like a very natural way of eating and it is effortless. No issues with wanting certain foods. Dumping 10 g of creatine monohydrate (AST) in a shake before and after working out really helps with pump and definition on days when I do work out during the week (3x strength, 2x cross fit and 2x core), but not so effective if taken on weekend when I am resting ( still do some push-ups, etc). I am going to stop taking creatine on the weekends. This is kind of odd to me because the reason I am resting on the weekend is to build muscle, so I would think by the end of the weekend they would be more noticeable. It is hit and miss for me. My muscle definition and pump usually peaks in the evening during the week and definitely by friday evening. This is what is confusing me. I feel my nutrition is pretty solid and I have very good workouts during the week with an excellent energy response when not working out. TDEE is 2054 and body weight is currently 180. This is where my body likes to maintain weight and my body fat % is still inching down weekly as I am purposefully cutting. I am not looking to be huge, but rather would like to maintain a well proportioned athletic build with good muscle definition. At this point in time, I feel this goal of being well proportioned has been met with broad shoulders, strong Chest / back, slim waist and strong legs. i just want to improve definition in upper body more and have a good set of abs (core workouts at least 2x a week). I think having a "300" body type would be a good goal. What advice can you give me with the information I have given you?

Ok - thanks for the warning and i will stick to tryptophan / melatonin until sleep decides to return to normal. Two nights of better sleep so far. I do not want to get on anything that is a killer to kick. I understand tryptophan has some w/d symptoms related to the interaction with the GABA receptors. Will cross that bridge when I get to it.

I have never tried ambien before, but have heard stories about strange things people do on it. Sleep eating, sleep driving, sleep sexing, etc. are these stories really true? Would you recommend talking to the PCP about ambien?

I do not have any issues with recovery as in muscle soreness, but want to stay anabolic instead of going catabolic. It is a constant tug of war between making gains and losing gains. Hopefully I make gains faster in the near future.

Looked up xtend BCAA just now. This stuff looks great. How did you hear about it? Way more BCAA then I take, but maybe I should increase to that level. Tell me more!

I think it is better in the sense it is much stronger. I used it when recovering from a flu back then where I was really dehydrated. The taste may not be better. I bought the grape variety and it really helped when I was really dehydrated from throwing up.

Looking snazzy in that suit with the family.

Electrolytes are always good after a workout because you lose salt, etc from the sweating . That is if you are pushing yourself which I know you do Amy. You will know when you get low on the electrolytes because of dizziness like Laura wrote about. Just standing up from the couch will give you a high you do not even have to pay for, so to speak. The good part is that electrolytes can easily be replenished with Gatorade. Back when I was closer to 6 months, I found pedialyte a good product to get a good dose of electrolytes. You can pick that up from most drug stores like Walgreens, bar tell drugs, etc. I currently get electrolytes from coconut water. My coconut water of choice is vita coco which is highly rated and costs about 14 dollars for 12 from Costco. Otherwise, you can buy them individually from grocery stores, drug stores, natural stores, etc.

Hey, I still vomit if I inhale my food too quickly. However I have a related question. In the last 2 weeks I have had green poop all the time and it is not from anything in the diet. I have read online that this can be caused if the food passes through your intestines before the bile has a chance of breaking down the waste and mixing with other enzymes that turn it brown. Would this lead to malnutrition? I feel fine. I just feel like ET seeing green all the time. Lol. Actually today it has returned to brown after a couple weeks of weird green.. The other thing is that I get regular BM within 5 minutes of eating which is several times a day. This is new for me. Does this mean I have a super fast metabolism now? I like that. Weight has dropped 10 lbs in about a month andi see this as a good thing being 1 year out. Just curious and looking for an explanation behind the green and the sudden change to frequent BM. Apologies in advance if this is TMI and/or hijacking the thread.

You need to eat more. If you are running on a 5:2 fasting day, watch out. also check that you are drinking enough water and that you are sucking down electrolytes in the form of Gatorade, coconut juice or something else. Are you eating a recovery shake after the run?

Yeah, holy crap squared. I cannot pronounce 1/2 of those ingredients. The old saying is that if you cannot pronounce something in the ingredient list you should not be eating it. In my opinion only...just kidding. I can pronounce most of that stuff.

It gets easier. Just keep showing up.

"... Keep going. This is supposed to hurt." As you bust out the last few reps of your last set in a weight exercise. Lol. I am most assuringly hurting as I give her my friendly nod. Grunt grunt..trying not to pass out.. Ever had experiences like this in your training?

Another plank variation I have found for all of you fitness folks. Start in position of a push up, put one elbow down, put the other elbow down, reverse back to start position of a push up. That is one rep. Do 6 sets of 2 minute AMRAP ( as many reps as you can). This one is fun and reminds me of crawling through the jungle in Vietnam ( not like I have ever done this, but I imagine it).