Fitness!

For me, it doesn't matter how much steamed broccoli or egg whites I eat, if I don't decrease my carb intake, I don't lose weight.

Ugh this is my issue too...and it's so tough since I am programmed to want rice with pretty much everything, because Louisiana
 
Great job in January everyone! Together, the 12 of us logged over 9 days, 8 hours of total active time! You guys put up some absolutely insane numbers this month! Congrats to our winner, @panino!

1. @panino - 45:42:00 (yes, that's hours!haha)
2. @tvham - 43:59:00
3. @debianlinux - 34:20:00
4. @Corycm - 26:23:09
5. @Heath - 23:52:00
6. @bfly - 17:02:13
7. @Bohnjaggs - 13:16:01
8. @RowBearToe - 12:47:38
9. @Ginormousthumbs - 8:32:30
10. @LeSamourai - 8:20:54
11. @trickyseven - 4:43:48
12. @Kris - 3:19:14

February is underway, time to get to work for the next challenge!
 
If you're anything like me, I would suggest that you add more fat into your diet. Eggs are great and their yolks are where all the nutrients are. For me, it doesn't matter how much steamed broccoli or egg whites I eat, if I don't decrease my carb intake, I don't lose weight. Healthy fats keep you fuller longer and help you steer clear of carb bombs.
Usually I will have whole eggs on the weekend fried in either avocado oil spray(mostly) or Kerrygold butter. During the week it’s egg whites and then I’ll add 3 slices of avocado here and there. I’m not the biggest breakfast person, unless we are going out to a breakfast place, which we don’t do currently, so I’m finding that is keeping me satisfied until lunch.
It really isn’t until dinner time until the carbs kick in. Having a 6 year old means there’s always some kind of pasta or rice in the cupboard 😁 However, I do buy lentil or chickpea based pastas and my kid doesn’t seem to mind. My biggest crutch are the sweets. Cookies and chocolate are my weakness.
 
If we didn’t have all this damn snow on the ground I feel like I’d have been able to log more with walking too. Onwards to February!
 
Usually I will have whole eggs on the weekend fried in either avocado oil spray(mostly) or Kerrygold butter. During the week it’s egg whites and then I’ll add 3 slices of avocado here and there. I’m not the biggest breakfast person, unless we are going out to a breakfast place, which we don’t do currently, so I’m finding that is keeping me satisfied until lunch.
It really isn’t until dinner time until the carbs kick in. Having a 6 year old means there’s always some kind of pasta or rice in the cupboard 😁 However, I do buy lentil or chickpea based pastas and my kid doesn’t seem to mind. My biggest crutch are the sweets. Cookies and chocolate are my weakness.
Oh kids are the worst for diets. I am required to have Kraft mac n cheese in my pantry at all times. Sweets are a huge weakness for me too. I really like the low carb ice cream treats to help with my sweet tooth. I've done low carb sweets with fake sugar and the only ones that I really enjoy are the ones that are made with allulose--and those treats are expensive (smart sweets are excellent if you have a gummy candy sweet tooth like me).

I'm avoiding wheat products as of Christmas because I realized that they were triggering painful episodes of pins and needles through my body. I'm going to a doctor to get formally diagnosed with Celiacs or the non-celiac gluten sensitivity. So I've been having to rethink my entire diet while also making a game plan for everyone else in my family that can eat wheat. We stopped eating out a lot pre-pandemic, but now I can barely eat anything at most fast food restaurants--which is probably a good thing--and have been making more things from scratch to avoid wheat ingredients. I've done low carb and no-wheat diets before, but this time, I have a lot more motivation because eating wheat gets very painful for me, very fast. So I am avoiding things out of fear of pain, and not because I have some great will power. Ultimately, it's good for me because I'm getting back to eating whole foods again--was sick for a while and let my cooking slack.
 
Oh kids are the worst for diets. I am required to have Kraft mac n cheese in my pantry at all times. Sweets are a huge weakness for me too. I really like the low carb ice cream treats to help with my sweet tooth. I've done low carb sweets with fake sugar and the only ones that I really enjoy are the ones that are made with allulose--and those treats are expensive (smart sweets are excellent if you have a gummy candy sweet tooth like me).

I'm avoiding wheat products as of Christmas because I realized that they were triggering painful episodes of pins and needles through my body. I'm going to a doctor to get formally diagnosed with Celiacs or the non-celiac gluten sensitivity. So I've been having to rethink my entire diet while also making a game plan for everyone else in my family that can eat wheat. We stopped eating out a lot pre-pandemic, but now I can barely eat anything at most fast food restaurants--which is probably a good thing--and have been making more things from scratch to avoid wheat ingredients. I've done low carb and no-wheat diets before, but this time, I have a lot more motivation because eating wheat gets very painful for me, very fast. So I am avoiding things out of fear of pain, and not because I have some great will power. Ultimately, it's good for me because I'm getting back to eating whole foods again--was sick for a while and let my cooking slack.
I’ve only had a couple of low carb ice creams and they weren’t too bad. Halo Top and there was an ice cream bar that I got from Costco that I can’t remember the name of that was pretty good, other than that if I have any, I just get the good stuff but limit my amount.

It’s weird and a pain in the ass how our bodies change with food relationships. There’s a YouTube “personality” that I’ve been watching for a few years now who’s really opened my eyes as far as what’s in the food we eat. He’s primarily keto and paleo and he does lots of healthy hauls from different stores. I’m not 100% sold on long term effects with those diets as I’m still a firm believer in as long as you’re in a caloric deficit, you’ll lose weight but I don’t mind implementing certain things into my eating. I didn’t even know that there was such a thing as sprouted bread. Food shouldn’t be so complicated but here we are. Anyway the YT channel is Flavcity if you are interested. Good luck with your food adventures 😊
 
I’ve only had a couple of low carb ice creams and they weren’t too bad. Halo Top and there was an ice cream bar that I got from Costco that I can’t remember the name of that was pretty good, other than that if I have any, I just get the good stuff but limit my amount.

It’s weird and a pain in the ass how our bodies change with food relationships. There’s a YouTube “personality” that I’ve been watching for a few years now who’s really opened my eyes as far as what’s in the food we eat. He’s primarily keto and paleo and he does lots of healthy hauls from different stores. I’m not 100% sold on long term effects with those diets as I’m still a firm believer in as long as you’re in a caloric deficit, you’ll lose weight but I don’t mind implementing certain things into my eating. I didn’t even know that there was such a thing as sprouted bread. Food shouldn’t be so complicated but here we are. Anyway the YT channel is Flavcity if you are interested. Good luck with your food adventures 😊
Cool, I'll check it out. I did keto for a while and have done various other low carb diets--as well as other higher complex carb diets that didn't work for me at all (sorry, y'all there is no way I can be vegan).

While yes, the basic math of calorie deficiency works, both men and women could get derailed if you don't also consider hormones. Certain food can affect your hormonal response which does make it more tricky than just calories in vs. calories out. I won't go into some of the research on diets that I have done (because woof, that's a lot). I find that increased sugar intake particularly with me, will always lead to weight gain regardless of caloric intake, but there are other hormones that also affect how easily you lose weight.

I guess what I'm saying is that weight loss is hard and if you stall out, tweaking the diet is a good way to get yourself out of a stall.

Common Hormonal Imbalances That Affect Weight Loss

  • Insulin
  • Thyroid
  • Cortisol
  • Testosterone
  • Estrogen
In addition to circumstances where hormones affect weight loss, there are other factors that can impede weight loss such as Candida (an overgrowth of yeast in the gut) and sleep deprivation.

 
I don’t know how you joggers run miles. I’m lucky to finish my 2 min jog on Ring Fit.
Bless you all.

it started with a 2 minute jog for all.
perseverance is the strategy.
2 minutes everyday, will turn into a 5 minutes jog after one week.....
and if you keep at it (it's hard, I know) it grows......

100% what he ^ said! I hated running just to run, but wanted to get some cardio while I was lifting weights and working out back in college. Over time I slowly started phasing in more running and out the lifting. Now I only run (which might not be the best thing haha) and I actually hate running less than 3 miles. If I'm not running at least that far, then I don't really enjoy the run. So maybe it's one of those things where you finally build up to running longer distances and that's when it's enjoyable?
 
I actually hate running less than 3 miles. If I'm not running at least that far, then I don't really enjoy the run.
I run very little now as it antagonizes my actually goals but when I did run it was pretty much this. The first 1-3 miles just suck ass. Once I broke through tho, the suck falls to just kinda terrible and then I spend the rest of the run justifying the first miles of suck because if I quit now it would have been for nothing. Yeah, maybe I started powerlifting because running is just basically different degrees of suck.

At the end of the day it’s all about adaptation. My warmup weights today were my max effort weights of just months ago. We all start somewhere and work up from there.
 
I don’t know how you joggers run miles. I’m lucky to finish my 2 min jog on Ring Fit.
Bless you all.
I did one of those couch potato to 5K training plans to start running. Sort of like this one:

Definitely invest in some good running shoes!! Confession time: I don't really like running, so I don't do it much anymore. I prefer doing dance classes, so I look forward to working out because it's a dance party.
 
Does anyone use a percussion massager/massage gun? I'm getting really close to ordering one to help with post-ride recovery, but it's a hefty price to pay so if any of you have one and love/hate it, I'd like to hear your thoughts!
 
Does anyone use a percussion massager/massage gun? I'm getting really close to ordering one to help with post-ride recovery, but it's a hefty price to pay so if any of you have one and love/hate it, I'd like to hear your thoughts!
We've gone through a couple. The Addaday and then the Theragun. We've actually gone through a couple models of Theragun. I've got mixed thoughts about their actual efficacy. In general, if you're regularly in need of massage you're doing something wrong. I've found over time I just don't need it because I don't do things that get me to need to do it. They can definitely help when you're in that gray space between injury and soreness.

That said, you get what you pay for. The Theragun blew the Addaday out of the water. The newer Theragun was miles ahead of the older one in features and noise level. I've messed with the Hypervolt and it was fantastic as well.
 
We've gone through a couple. The Addaday and then the Theragun. We've actually gone through a couple models of Theragun. I've got mixed thoughts about their actual efficacy. In general, if you're regularly in need of massage you're doing something wrong. I've found over time I just don't need it because I don't do things that get me to need to do it. They can definitely help when you're in that gray space between injury and soreness.

That said, you get what you pay for. The Theragun blew the Addaday out of the water. The newer Theragun was miles ahead of the older one in features and noise level. I've messed with the Hypervolt and it was fantastic as well.
This was helpful, thanks. The Theragun is what I'm looking at right now...I try to be good at stretching and I do foam rolling, but the 75-100 miles a week on the bike plus the strength workouts have left my legs constantly sore so I've been looking for ways to help alleviate that and to keep from actually injuring myself
 
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