rks581 Member

I drink mine fairly slow most of the time. Really slow, for casein protein. Stuff other than protein I tend to chug (like preworkout... fun stuff but a little on the crunchy side unless you blender it). Sort of on topic.. I recently got a Blender Bottle with the wire whisk and I can say it works really well, I'd recommend…

I have a Garmin Vivoactive HR. It's waterproof and you can wear it while swimming (but not scuba diving). It also has an app for tracking swimming... it tells your pace and distance and also your stroke count. The HR monitor doesn't work underwater (but IIRC you can wear a waterproof HR belt if you really need that…

I've used a heart rate belt with a Fitbit and now with my Garmin Vivoactive HR. It's useful to have both because the watch will keep track of your heart rate all the time and the belt will send heart rate data to apps on a phone plus to cardio equipment. The battery in a heart rate monitor will go dead fairly quickly if…

If you can do 5 reps, that's enough. 5-8 reps is good for most purposes for building strength. If you can't do 5 reps at 135 yet, do 125 until you can do 5 at 135. Then do 135 until you can do 8, move up and so on.

Black coffee has about 5-7 calories a cup, there's no need to log it.

For a meal replacement just get Ensure or Boost, they're widely available and they contain everything your body needs.

Skyr Icelandic Yogurt by Shepherd Gourmet Dairy. 0% fat, more protein than Greek yogurt and an awesome fluffy mousse like texture.

That seems like a good program for beginners. You've got 3 strength workouts per week which will allow you time to recover and cardio and sports mixed in on the other days. Your upper body workouts should concentrate on different parts (say arms and chest one day then abs and back on the other day) or do a variety of…

Using a food scale to measure out your portions by weight is probably your best bet. For myself, I eat a lot of prepared and packaged food as well as a lot of whey protein so the barcode scanner and recent foods works well for me, but if you cook for yourself you will need a scale to be sure of getting the right portions.…

How do I determine what weight of kettlebell to select? I work out at home with 20 lb dumbbells, I could probably do 25 or 30, I curl 65 lbs for 15 reps at the gym... I'm guessing I need about 35 lbs or so and I'd like one for some variety but they don't come cheap, so I want to get the right size. At the moment what…

Question about leg presses -- yesterday I was waiting for the machine and a woman was doing leg presses with very little weight (30 or 50 lbs). She looked athletic, maybe a rower or dancer, with strong legs. I wondered why she wasn't simply doing squats. Maybe she was trying to maintain weight to remain within a weight…

I have a Garmin Vivoactive HR and a Polar H7 belt. I use them when lifting but I don't find my heart rate to be very important information. However, I did create a "Strength" activity on the watch. Mostly, it's useful as a timer to make sure I'm not going too fast and also to measure time between sets. The Charge HR can be…

If you're a beginner Planet Fitness might be right for you -- I don't know much about it but it seems geared towards people who are new to the gym. That will mean a more welcoming atmosphere for you. The YMCA is also a good choice for beginners (or people of any level really). cwolfman13's recommendations are definitely…

I love my Garmin Vivoactive HR. For a heart rate belt I have a Polar H7 (luckily I found it on clearance at Staples). It doesn't have ANT+ so won't connect to the watch, but that's not an issue for me. It does have Bluetooth for connecting to a phone (for Endomondo/MapMyRun/Runtastic) and it also has the 5 kHz Polar system…

Heh, I've seen those commercials and their equipment does look nice although rather purple. My gym is a YMCA, they're close to home, affordable and they have a mixed group of people from all walks of life and fitness levels. They do allow heavy lifting and Stronglifts would certainly be possible there. BTW I don't follow…

I agree that Youtube is a good place to start. You may want to get an exercise mat for floor exercises. Some light dumbbells (for example a 2/3/5 lb set) will help you add some strength training. A medicine ball would be useful as well. Choose weights you can lift easily.

That's right. I use Runtastic Pushups to count my reps and it enters into MFP automatically when I'm done.

I'm getting over a cold here... I didn't run because it was very cold but I did go to the gym for lifting. I had aching muscles but I found I could lift my regular weights. Just be sure to spray down those machines if you work out at a gym though I'm sure you already do. Another vote for HIIT as well. I do interval…

Great goal! Mountain climbing is one of the many sports I'd love to try - it's got hiking, being outdoors, and it's a real challenge. I have tried rock climbing, it was an interesting experience. I was doing a semester at the Ontario Science Center and the IMAX theater there was having the premier of the film "Everest." We…

I'm a snowboarder but never get out to the slopes, they're far away and I can't afford the trip. I would say skiing is more cardio, it's about 400 calories per hour and I know snowboarding makes me sweat. I'd say try for a small (0.5 lb/wk) deficit but make sure you get enough calories for the exercise. I'd budget more…

Try C25K (couch to 5k race) for cardio, it's a running program. There are apps just for C25K, and Endomondo or MapMyRun have training plans (you have to get premium but it's not much for a month) plus they will record your runs. For strength there are several apps that have bodyweight programs like Runtastic Results, Nike…

Get a session with a personal trainer so you'll have an idea of what to do. It might cost a bit but you only need one session to get a basic workout started. Make sure you spray and wipe down the equipment when you're done using it . Also, don't let the weights touch until you're done your set -- the loud noise is annoying…

I use Runtastic Six Pack and their sit-up app. Decent variety and the app counts reps. Plus there are videos. There's a ton of ab equipment out there. Try one if you get bored. Also be sure to work out your whole body not just your abs.

Well, as you said you mostly wanted to vent but I have some thoughts. You should stick with MFP and log all you can, but be aware that you won't constantly lose weight. It goes up and down. Don't weigh yourself every day. For now try once a week. Your weight changes during the day so set a time and day and try to be…

Here's the truth according to Wikipedia. Back when Coca-Cola wanted to introduce a diet product, they deliberately made it taste different from Coke because they were worried about losing market share to Pepsi. Since the 90s, there's been so many different choices in soft drinks and Coke has generally dominated Pepsi. So…

Uphill inclines are hard -- they're the equivalent of walking into the wind and some runners use them to compensate for the wind's effect when you run outside. Fifteen minutes isn't bad, really. If you can do ten minutes or so of anything, that's a good start before strength training. Does the gym offer a personal trainer,…

I got snowshoes on Christmas Day, the last day there was enough snow on the ground to try it out! Looking forward to snowshoeing once there's another good snowfall. Not likely this week.

Taking your measurements is one way to track progress. Measure your biceps now and in 2 months, you'll notice a difference. Your goal for now should probably be building strength and/or weight loss/toning. Which one is up to you -- it is hard to lose weight and gain muscle at the same time, toning is really just losing fat…

It is a heart rate model and I suspect the heart rate is what's causing the errors. Hopefully I can get a VO2max plus BMR test done soon, that would be very useful to know.

I'm 6'0 220 lbs. I've noticed the calories are way under the cardio equipment at the gym. I never actually consume 5500 calories, usually about 3000, which is about what I feel my body needs. Right now I do about 7k steps a day and 10-15 floors. I also do regular strength training and running. My work doesn't involve a lot…