Fiddleman

Agree: Jiffy natural is really good. Had some of that last week before working out on my bananas. I recommend that one also.

I bought some almond and cashew nut butters yesterday. I tried some almond butter on my banana today. Awesome! Nut butters are so good before running, cross fit, yoga, weight lifting and [fill in the blank with your favorite exercise]. As usual, I got onto google for some more searching and found wild squirrel nut butters: http://wildfriendsfoodsshop.com/collections/nut-butters Yeah, I clicked on the link from google as was really intrigued by wild squirrel butter (weird curiosity in me). No, they do not have squirrel nut butter, but they have a lot of interesting and yummy nut butters. Check out the recipes under products menu item. Excited about trying these. Laura I know you want to share in the fun. As an aside, I also found this really nice running blog site: http://www.peanutbutterrunner.com/stomaching-the-run/ Turns out she (the blogger) really loves banana and nut butter with her running. Nice... Really enjoyed reading her blog. Check it out(even if you are not into running or yoga)!!!! Many good ideas.

As for boxing DVDs, the prices look fairly reasonable on Amazon to pick up some exercise focused boxing DVD. You could also watch boxing movies about Ali, Tyson, foreman etc. I am sure those would help. If you have a playstation 3 , Xbox 360 or Wii there are probably some good boxing arcade games as well as training exercise type games that will help you master the basics and become good. These are generally cheap if older and in the used section at the gaming stores like GameStop (one of my favorite retail stores). If you are more into kickboxing, I know Jillian Michaels has one. She is really popular with the girls on VST. With all these options, you may be able to save the costs of hiring an actual boxing trainer until you are more advanced in your techniques. Just a suggestion.

Okie dokie - it looks like I am not going to get any more feedback on this topic. After more review, I think my mind is made up to get the Ironmaster 75. It is expensive at 500+ dollars, so think it will take some time to save up and purchase it. At home, I currently have 20 and 30 lb dumbbells. 20 lb is good for most push exercises involving the upper body, but 30 lb is a little too heavy for me with regards to exercises like the dumbbell fly. I think I will go out and purchase 25, 35 and 45 dumbbells from sears to get me through a few months. I want to continue to workout at home for the most part. There is more flexibility and we save on membership dues. As i am already part of cross fit gym, we do not want a second membership. The cross fit gym has a rack of dumbbells (and kettle balls), but cross fit is not about sitting on a bench working muscles in isolation. Cross fit is all about killing the WOD!!! Eventually, I will want the adjustable set at home because I do not really have the room for these separate dumbbells in my workout room and need a better shelf for storage. I have a cheap flimsy rack thing that is already full with 20, 30 and some lighter dumbbells like 5, 8 and 10. Too bad it is so expensive to live a fit life. Do not get me started on the costs of buying healthy lean Protein and supplements. Lol. Sheesh!!

I ended up doing an ab workout with the PT roller. Man I love that product. The inventor and CEO of the product is a trainer also and like to teach others about massage and core workouts using the PT roller. I tried the level 1 DVD core workout, but it is way to easy. Still fun and a good massage, but not enough of a core workout for me. I am going to get on Amazon and buy the level 2 DVD. This roller is truly awesome for massaging out your tight muscles after running and strength training. If you do not have a high quality roller, consider buying one!

You can buy Pure Protein from costco, target or online at Amazon. If you buy from Costco, you get all 3 primary flavors bundled together. I am not such a fan of the Peanut Butter chocolate, but like the okie dough and chocolate crunch. Target carries a box of 12 of a single flavor.

I will do it. My android VST needs much more functionality to match the iPad version. Do not worry; I am on the VST a lot during the day. I have the Motorola Razor.

Omg - arsenic in be water... On the west coast we are dealing with radioactive water from Fukushima Japan: http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2012/07/radiation-in-west-coast-of-north-america-could-be-10-times-higher-than-japan.html See the nice stream of red radioactivity hitting us? It is coming in the form of rain also. http://www.king5.com/news/environment/High-levels-of-radiation-detected-in-Northwest-rainwater--125391598.html Hopefully we have controls in place to remove this from our drinking water. I have already heard cases of thyroid cancer are way up on the west coast.

That is really good, especially for only 4 months.

I do not think the commercial Precor c95xi models fold, but that may be just true of my c954i. It is a beast to lift, let alone move.

180 total lost so far from my heaviest. Started at 360 in May 2012 (335 in July 2nd 2012- day of surgery), down to 178 in February ( month 7) and now back at 188 today. No loose skin really which I believe came from running and strength training after month 5. I am thinking about using some fat burner advertised in men's fitness to try and get the muscles to show more definition. Other photos from recent VST posters are motivating me to get muscle definition, maybe I should eat above my TDEE (still eating 400-500 cal under my TDEE of 2150). I just don't want to put on weight that is not lean muscle. It takes ALOT of work to even eat the calories I eat daily now (1400-1700) when focusing on lean meat and veggies with some good carbs and fats.

Good for you Laura!! I am glad that you are doing the exercise. You will get a blast of endorphins and feel great (once you really crank up the intensity). Cheers!

It took me a while to convince myself to do shirtless photos this morning. Hope they are not too scary (should I use he "no no"for men product????). Lol. What the heck - now I am committed. No turning back I am working on getting more toned almost every day even if the photos are not very indicative of it - I swear!! It s slow progress though. That is why I wanted to start this challenge in order to help everyone (including myself) get motivated about getting strong. Need some motivation from others! Some validation that I am not breaking mirrors with these photos!! How are you guys doing this week so far?

Yup - I never said they would be cheap. Lol. Quite the opposite. Mine is an older model named C954, but has help up really well since I have been running on it quite consistently in last 5 months. Very solid machine, but not a lot of bells and whistles like some of the new models. Someday, I will get a new model, maybe next year. I am a Craig's list guy when it comes to buying exercise equipment from all those people who hang clothes on it.

I used Advocare catalyst product before every workout. It is a good chain of amino acids and always helps with giving me the required energetic response for a good workout. It has seven amino acids in it (google or look up catalyst on Amazon). Love this product and it was recommended by my Cross fit PT along with 2-4 g of fish oils daily. I use creatine (5g) after strength training. Not sure how well or long term this is working so far, but think it helps with harder muscles. I also use some pre workout drinks like c4 and no-explode (3 week cycles). For me, the pre workout drinks help, but I really think catalyst works well as it feels like a more natural boost during heavy lifting or HIIT exercises. A good Multivitamin and Protein shake also helps with better performance during workouts. I currently use GNC extreme athlete vitapak in morning and Amplified Wheybolic 60 for recovery shake every day.

Does anyone have a good recommendation of additional complimentary exercise to do on the same day as cross fit workout? I want to do something in the morning at 9am and my Cross fit workout is at 4pm. Do you think it would be good to do some running or an ab workout? I am already doing push, pull and leg weights days, so do not want to do weight lifting on cross fit day. Nor do i want to do something that is going to fatigue arms and legs before cross fit in afternoon. Running does not fatigue if I keep it non HIIT. Thanks for your your thoughts.

Hey team - here is a beginning shot at the start of my transformation program. Weight: 188 lb Body fat %: 17 Height 5'11" For my accountability, I will try and get photos taken at the beginning of each phase as described above. [removed photos- going to take better photos] My goals are listed above, but from a vanity perspective I am after an athletic build: triangle upper body, well defined abs, arms, chest and back.

Lol- yup, MFP always said I was near death with my low calories, low carb and low fat diet so stopped using MFP after that. Besides I am not really a tracker. I like to keep post op things ultra simple as life is complicated as is. Stopped tracking after month 1 and never looked back. All turned out fine in the end.

Agree ^^^^^ Especially since you are on acid blockers already (PPI). Are you using prilosec? If not, you may want to mention this to your doctor as another PPI to try.

I found any and all water was really hard to drink post op. Fortunately, water became easy to drink again at month 7. In the meanwhile, water enhancers are your friend. Repeat after me: mio, desani, Crystal light, etc. Stock up. Find flavors you like. For me, Desani was the only water enhancer I could drink day after day without side effects like acid in the throat.

The best way to get quick results in 20 minutes is to use a suppository like ducolax. Bombs away... Once you are past the initial blast (ha!), there are many daily remedies you can take like Fiber, green drinks, chia seed, miralax, mom, Probiotics, etc. I would avoid mom as it has and always will forever taste like cow dung. No joke. Lol!