ScreeField Member

DC Rainmaker has an excellent blog/review site with everything anyone ever needed to know about heart rate monitors, etc. I've used Polar, Suunto, Garmin, Timex, and a few others. I'd recommend any of those named. As far as chest strap requirements, Garmin just introduced a strapless watch, TomTom has some of the best…

You could test it by making a doll of someone else and stabbing them in secret. You'd know it worked because the very next bad thing that happened to them was certainly caused by your actions :)

It's pretty difficult to calculate without any sort of physical test. If you have a gym membership, they often test for free--if you are thinking about joining a gym, you might ask for a tour and a trial with a trainer who may test you without charge. But, these tests aren't totally accurate. And, they won't be super…

Thanks to both of you! I was feeling pretty low after realizing how restricting the brace will be, which probably didn't help my creativity when thinking up exercise ideas. I don't have a gym membership (I'm an out-of-doors freak). But, this may call for a temporary pass just to get all of my other muscles moving.

Funny side note: voodoo actually works. That is, only if you truly believe in it. If you believe stabbing a doll that resembles yourself will hurt, it will actually hurt. The placebo effect can be very strong. That's why I believe beer is the healthiest substance known to man ;)

eating mini carrots = OMG YOU ARE SERIOUSLY ANOREXIC Once, while dining at a restaurant, my mother, very loudly, told me, and everyone within 10 meters of our table, I was anorexic. What led her to this conclusion was that I only ate half of the American-sized platter of pasta the waiter served me for dinner [read: it was…

I've been reading up on the theory that suggests soda is a drug not a food, based on its ingredients or combination thereof: caffeine, aspartame (or sugar, or whatever), phosphoric acid, potassium citrate, etc. In fact, anything that interacts with the brain: coffee, chocolate, alcohol, cigarettes, etc., could be lumped…

Edamame (steamed & salted) instead of chips or other salty snack food

Perhaps they could bring you a healthy bowl of lettuce and celery and you all could listen to the Modern Manners Guy podcast? Ok, or maybe they could just listen to the Modern Manners Guy podcast and leave you be :)

Bread (fresh from a good bakery or my oven) and beer are the world's most perfect foods--according to my taste buds ;) Life's too short to limit yourself to celery sticks and lemon water.

It may be that eliminating gluten from your diet also eliminates the bacteria in your gut that digests gluten--you eliminate their source of food and the bacteria that live off of that food die. Once you lose those gluten-eating bacteria, gluten becomes much more difficult to digest in the future. (Not to be confused with…

This. There are better nutrient tracking apps that do have iron (and all the other missing stuff), but not as convenient as MFP. And, this. The Floradix products are best. They rate highly at Consumerlab, recommended by my doc, don't cause stomach issues for me, and are more effective unlike others I've tried. Especially…

During summer, "outside" is my gym. I bike 45 minutes to the pool. Swim 30-60 min. 45 minutes on the bike again. Other days are mountain bike rides or trail runs in the hills with some rowing and planks mixed in. Can hit all the muscle groups with the variety.

I haven't had a diet soda, or any sweetened soda, for years. Now, I can't stand the taste. Way too sweet. I have probably saved money, I don't crave sugar or sweets, and I don't get insomnia (like I did when I drank soda, which is often consumed in the afternoon or evening)--I'd wager these benefits are from drinking water…

Hummus dip and raw veggies. Yum. There are probably a million recipes for it. Today I made it with: the equivalent of 1 can chickpeas (aka garbanzo beans)* 3 or more large cloves of peeled garlic (more if you like garlic, less if not) juice from 1/2 lemon 2 tbs or more Tahini (to taste) Whirl it all up in a blender or food…

I once heard this and thought it an interesting concept for a healthy diet: focus your shopping on just the outer perimeter of the grocery store aisles--the meat department, produce section, and dairy. Use the food from those groups as a foundation for meals and grab a few things from the inner aisles as needed.

Can you ask your doc for a prescription to work with a physical therapist? A PT could give you some great options for your neck and your knees. I am recovering from a mountain biking accident that left me with neck injuries (couldn't do any exercise which was horrible). My PT gave me an excellent neck routine and I was…

Years ago, I went from couch to half marathon. I wasn't actually a total couch potato (I biked up to 20 miles a day consistently about two summers before that), but I was by no means a runner and hadn't really done anything very active on a consistent basis for a year before starting the program. Completing my first half…

I travel a lot and haven't maintained my gym membership (plus, it's super nice to get outside and I prefer exercising outside vs at a stinky gym). I like running outside, hiking up hills (and usually with a heavy backpack on summer weekends/camping in wilderness areas), and bicycling/mountain biking (sometimes I can bring…

Congrats on your weight loss! Nice job! I looked at your diary and the most noticeable absence were fresh foods like fruits and vegetables, and whole foods like beans, brown rice, eggs, minimally processed dairy products, etc. I think by substituting some of your existing choices with leafy green vegetables, beans, etc.,…

It's not really ethical to subject humans to a test that would study whether or not "too much exercises ages" someone. However, we can take a stab at a few concepts. In 2011, a study performed at the Institute of Population Science and National Health Research Institutes compared sedentary people with more active people.…

I'm from the camp that says you can run more as a beginner than a lot of programs suggest WITH some big caveats: you have to be running correctly which means correct form for your body (injury-free form), correct pace/exertion (this means you actually run easy on the easy days, at the correct pace for your body/fitness…

Here are some things I do to avoid knee issues when I'm working on long-distance training plans: avoid running on pavement or washy-gravel; don't overstride; stretch IT bands and hips; foam roll; avoid moderate to steep hills if there's any question of injury (when I run I mostly run hills though, but I'm also injury…