Fiddleman

Glad you all enjoy this approach to improving flexibility. Feel free to post any results of using this approach or even your own stretching strategies that are working for you.

Coconuts have a good amount of potassium in them. I like to drink coconut Water and have centered on the VitaCoco brand because it is the most highly rated for health benefits and nutrition. VitaCoco does not have a lot of potassium at 18% RDA, but it helps. costco sells it at about 14 dollars for 12 11.1 ounces containers. Each container is about 100 calories. I do not know if this is good or bad, but it has no affect on my goals and is really a refreshing way to get real hydration. Each vitacoco serving has 640 mg, so it would take approximately 5 of these to hit 3000 mg. doable in a day, sure, but the calories would add up to 500. I suppose if you take pure potassium supplementation, it would be easy to hit 3000-4000mg. I am going back to Vitamin shoppe today ( home away from home. Lol) so will see what the supplementation options are for potassium out of a bottle.

Everyone has a different TDEE and it depends on a number of different factors from weight to height to activity level. Laura has a link to a good calculator she likes to post. Please repost Laura. For example, my TDEE is 2054. I end up eating between 1600-1900 calories daily.

Really psyched about progress in the last week. I have been going through this transformation challenge starting in mid may. Just this last week body fat % has gone down 2% and 1% from yesterday to place me at 13.1% Additionally, weight has dropped a few pounds from last week. Today at 178 pounds. Exciting stuff. I like also that my presence has really improved. The way I hold myself, strong, relaxed, shoulders down. It provides a sense of power and strength when interacting with people or just walking out and about. I think progress is picking up because I have moved onto the intermediate body weight workouts and have really stepped up the workout at cross fit. And I feel great afterwards. I just renewed with my Cross Fit trainer for another 18 sessions. After those run out, I am going to transition into open gym to lift with the real power cross fitters. I am so glad to be doing this one no one with my Cross Fit trainer because it is progressively moving my technique, agility, mobility and strength to where I want to be. In two weeks, I will be moving into the final phase of this 12 week challenge and will start the advanced body weight training program at home until the end of the challenge. These are such good functional exercises and always leave me with a good workout. They always feel within my capability which makes doing these exercises fun. I look forward to 20 minutes of these 3x a week at home. I added 2 additional core workouts this week based upon use of my PT roller. They are challenging also and am counting on them to help my abs see the light of day and pop. I am eating a lot of calories and my recovery shake has switched from GNC Amplified Wheybolic 60 to synth 6. The synth 6 tastes way better, but does have more carbs and more calories. Two scoops is 400 calories, but if my weight is going down along with my fat %, all is well. Hope everyone else is doing well.

I have been really studying how to properly stretch for maximum flexibility lately. I have picked up a book by Bob Cooley about Resistance Stretching. http://www.amazon.com/The-Genius-Flexibility-Stretch-Strengthen/dp/0743270878/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1373549509&sr=8-5&keywords=resistance+flexibility It is a phenomenal read (have not put it into practice yet) and I believe it is cutting edge in the fitness world. A lot of Olympic athletes have been successful with these techniques so it is bound to help even us. Essentially, maximum flexibility comes from both contracting and elongating muscles at the same time. It is the contracting from resistance (pushing into floor for example) that "magically" gives a stretch the optimal result. For example, stretching with legs apart at a 45 degree angle, straight leg, hands on feet, pushing into floor with heals and lower leg and forehead on ground in front of you. Another is to sit on your feet, bend backwards, push into ground with legs and back on ground. Impossible right? Nope! With the proper amount of resistance, the muscles contract and allow for this type of seemingly impossible flexibility. The author reveals that these are really Hatha Yoga moves, but it is really good to read about the "science" behind how it works. He has fine tuned his research into a consolidated set of 16 exercises i am excited to learn about and put into practice. Good flexibility has always been my nemesis in both Cross Fit and Yoga. My flexibility has improved from a few months ago, but it is slow going. Application of this knowledge will really take your exercises, lifting, sport and yoga practices to another level. You might find resistance flexibility just what is needed to excel at your fitness.

I just wanted to update on a good Water enhancement brand that is a little less expensive then my other favorite Water Enhancer, Desani drop bottles.. The Dasani drop bottles have been about the only water enhancer I can stand for long periods of time, day after day, week after week and month after month. However, they cost 4 dollars a bottle and it is easy to use one up in a day or two of drinking water all day. I have been drinking SF Hawaiian punch for the last few days and it does not cause any throat irritation after long term use nor does it cost very much. Grape flavor is my favorite. Each box has 8 servings is about 1.25 dollars. I have found a single packet flavors 32 ounces very well. Just thought I would pass this along to my fellow water drinkers.

I think super low calorie (e.g. 600-900) works well for first 6 months. The stomach is still healing. If you start out eating low cal at month 1 then eating low cal just becomes something your body gets used to. However, your BMR goes underwater, so to speak, with too few calories and you do want to work on a plan to increase calories gradually when the stomach is done healing (eg 6 months). I can see how 5:2 would be harder to eat low calorie without being very hungry because the body does not know if to be used to a normal day ( for discussion, let us just say it is 1200-2000 calories depending on person) and fast day (under 500 calories). This fast oscillation between calorie days is going to force the body to rev up metabolism (yay!) because it never gets used to one way of eating. However, it leaves you seriously hungry on fasting days (darn it all!) The same principle sort of applies to carb loading on a low carb diet where you could eat whatever you want 1 day a week. It will essentially reset what your body is used to, but you have to be disciplined to only do it for 1 day or the extra calories will get you in the end. I think BTB said it quite nicely a while back in that both type of calorie oscillations (5:2 and low carb, low calorie) are still just keeping the total calories down over the long run. It might also explain why an individual would need to look at long term trends while following 5:2 instead of analyzing results daily. As for me, I got quite used to eating low carb, low calorie until month 6 ( no planned cheat days during this time). After month 6, I gradually increased my daily calories until around TDEE - 300 after reading the success of Susan ( our moderator). Her post on eating TDEE and the increased state of well being (mood, hunger, etc) inspired me way back when. From then on, I spent a few months ramping up the calories until where I am at today, post op 1 year. It is very very very important that you graduate your calorie increase over a relative long time period up towards TDEE. If you do it too fast, your low BMR will store the extra calories and you will gain. This clearly is not desirable. My calorie trends look a little like this: Month 1-3: 300-600 calories Month 4-6: 600-900 calories Month 7: 1100-1200 calories Month 8-10: 1400-1600 calories Month 11-12: 1600-1900 calories. My body is perfectly happy eating in the last bracket and rewards me with a high metabolism and leaning out process. I need this amount of calories to fuel my fitness plan day after day, week after week. In reality, I should be eating about 1000 more calories a day, but the sleeve can only handle so much eating on my high Protein, low carb, Paleo variation diet. I eat every 2 hours or so a mix of healthy Paleo meals and shakes. It may seem like a lot of work, but it really isn't after you get used to the natural flow of it.

Thanks Mark for your description. You have been the catalyst way back when in getting me interested in strength training and supplementation. The list is wonderful so now I have some more supplementation to learn about. I have already got some of those in my pre workout shake and post workout shake. Additionally, I take creatine before and after the workouts. I would like to dive into a creatine discussion if you do not mind. I see that you take 10 g of creatine before and after the workout. The recommended dose on the monohydrate says 5 g. I currently am taking 1250 mg creatine hydrochloride before and after working out. I was not really getting much in terms of result from taking the creatine monohydrate at 5 g a day so switched to creatine hydrochloride on the advise of a rep. Would you suggest I would get better result from the monohydrate if I dosed at 5 g before and 5 g after? Or should I stick with the hydrochloride and increase dose to 5 g before and 5 g after. The recommended dose of the hydrochloride is 1250 mg a day and I am already taking 2x that. Results have been good so far. Since mid May I have gone from 188 lb @ 19% body fat to 180 lb @ 14 % body fat. It is kind of interesting to see the body fat % drop 1% and still see the scale parked at 180 from last week to this week. Let me tell you that dropping 1% is hard work and requires one to keep showing up and busting ass. My goal is to hit 10 % body fat. Since mid may I have made big gains in strength as functionally applied to my lifting and in terms of stamina / endurance as applied to cross fit. One other question I have for you. Who are your role models? Who do you look at to model your eating plan, supplementation or strength programs after? Not sure if you have heard of Tom Venuto. He has a blog here: http://www.burnthefatblog.com/ I read his e book way back in 2006 before it became widely available. However, I did not absorb much back then because my health and fitness goals are nowhere near where they are now. I like his natural approach to getting strong. He is also very real and down to earth is his communication and presentation. Again, thanks in advance for your response.

I am in the flavor water camp also. While my sleeve is comfortable with plain water, it seems harder to drink plain water. Not sure if it is the taste or if it is something more technical like the water is still "hard." I go through a lot of flavor from week to week and I wish I could just drink plain water. Maybe it will get easier in the future. I am a year post op. For now, I am going to stick with flavoring so I can drink enough to prevent dehydration, kidney stones, etc. Anyone have ideas on how to make drinking plain water easier and more enjoyable?

I have found eating every 2 hours works really well and keeps a good stable level of energy all day long. Hunger is an artifact of the past. Do not really understand the tracking movement, but everyone seems to be doing it. I understand it keeps people accountable who need it, but doesn't it get tiring to track the numbers every day? I have never really tracked and just stick to some general guidelines: eat as much Protein as possible and balance protein with some good carbs and fats during each meal. Eat every 2 hours about 30-40 G protein. Drink as much as possible without eating and drinking at the same time. Easier? I think so, but feel like such an outsider with everyone using MFP every day.

I like the idea of oats before the workout. However, I have an interesting question. What if we were to drink a casein shake before working out along with some good carbs and fats (I prefer energy squares). As casein is slower to digest ( I take at night for this reason), would it help before a workout to release gradual fuel for the muscles?

Agree. In the beginning steady state cardio with some HIIT (1-2 x a week) is a great tool to reduce excess weight. It is good to transition into a workout more based primarily on strength training with some HIIT cardio to tone, sculpt or otherwise change the body composition. 50 minutes of cardio x times a week is not too long if you are in the phase of eliminating a large amount of body fat. It is too long if you have reached goal or are close to goal and are trying to body sculpt. However, continue to do some steady state cardio as part of warmup and HIIT 1-2x a week. For example, I jog a mile as part of my warm up daily. I do weight training 3x a week and cross fit 2 x a week (HIIT). I rest on the weekend, but may still "exercise" in a casual way. It is important to rest in order for your muscles to repair and respond with better toning or sculpting. Sometimes I get disappointed when I do not see any growth during the week, but then see the muscles grow by Sunday. It is still a learning process for me.

For the audiophiles in all of us!

Your lack of energy might also be related to lack of carbohydrates. Are you eating low carb? Low carb, in my opinion, is 20-30 carbs a day. It is a bit of a catch 22 because low carb diets usually yield very good weight loss results because your body is in ketosis, but it also leaves you quite tired. This is how I ate for the first 5 months. Your energy should come back when you increase calories and carbs. I want to echo don's question also: are you eating enough protein? Lack of adequate protein will leave you tired. Try and eat as much protein as you can and when the time is right, introduce good carbs back into your diet. You might consider energy squares from nuts.com as these are little bursts of good carbs and fats to give you desired energy. I like chocolate paradise the most.

You probably won't like my suggestion because they are way more expensive then 50 dollars. However, they have been such a good pair of buds for my running that I want to share with you. http://www.amazon.com/JayBird-BlueBuds-Sport-Bluetooth-Headphones/dp/B00AIRUOI8/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1373341315&sr=8-4&keywords=jaybird+bluetooth And a transmitter if your iPod is not Bluetooth enabled ( mine is 2nd generation, so clearly not): http://www.amazon.com/JayBird-uSport-Bluetooth-Adapter-Devices/dp/B002PU9U0E/ref=pd_sim_cps_3 Love these as they have served me well over last 6 months. Sound is superior and range is decent. The only downfall is they they need to be charged after 2 runs if you are going to run for an hour. I end up charging them after every run.

Glad your run went better today Amy. In theory, I think you might be able to use a rolling pin to roll out your tight muscles. However you may find it very uncomfortable rolling on the hard wood surface. Perhaps if you wrap a towel around it that might work. A recovery protein shake I have been using for 6 months is called Amplified Wheybolic 60 from GNC, but there are many different brands out there for you to choose from. Just ask a clerk in one of the natural stores (GNC, vitamin shoppe, vitamin world, etc) for a good recovery protein shake powder with BCAA. The clerk will help you find a good one or perhaps someone who is reading this post has a good one to suggest specifically for recovery. Open up any fitness magazine and you will see many different protein shake ads, one claiming to be superior over the other. Honestly, I cannot buy a shake that way. There is too much marketing bling to wade through before doing a proper comparative analysis between the products. I usually find it best to try something that has been recommended by someone I know. I know stronger, healthier, faster also makes a good recovery shake, but I have not tried it yet. My cross fit box started selling it 2 weeks ago so I may be trying it sometime in the future. They claim it is really good as a recovery shake, but flavors are just chocolate and vanilla so did not appeal to me as much. I am more of a cookies and cream shake guy. I am about to try synth-6 this week when it comes now that my amplified Wheybolic 60 tub supply has run out. I will let you know how that one is. I ordered it because it is endorsed by 2012 Cross fit champ and cross fit is one of the activities I need it for.

That is pretty crazy to eat 1500 calories a day at 3 months. Most are 600-900 past the 6 month mark. Not saying it can not be done, but, wow, that would be hard.

I really REALLY enjoy the cake batter muscle milk lite for my morning shake. I look forward to it every day and it is a little treat. From what I can tell, this flavor can only be found online (I got it through amazon) because I've been everywhere and cannot locate it in a store. As each scoop provides 12.5 g of Protein, I put in 3 scoops to get close to 40 g ( the golden number your body is best at absorbing at one time). What're are some other good lite flavors besides vanilla, chocolate and strawberry. Any Cookies and cream muscle milk lite?