Chaskavitch Member

I have zero input on your actual problems, but as far as sausage goes, bulk chorizo is also delicious with eggs. I get mine from Sprouts, but I don't know what the actual ingredients are. I'm assuming just pork and spices. It is a nice spicy Mexican flavor, completely different than breakfast sausage or Italian sausage.…

Do you boulder at all? Outdoor bouldering is easier to get into than top rope climbing, just because you don't have to have a bunch of equipment (ropes, quick draws, etc). If you can find a climbing club in your area or some friends who outdoor climb, that's probably your best bet for top rope climbing. If you're willing…

@Akimajuktuq I'm so glad you mentioned the ulu for herbs! That's a great idea :) Mine's a cheap one I got at a big box store, but if I ever make it back to AK I'm going to get a pretty one. Unfortunately the only time mine really gets used is when the other knives are all in use or when someone else in the house wants…

I'm going to second what losingitseattle said, you should go look at the Eat More 2 Weigh Less forums, and also maybe the Eat, Train, Progress forums. Your BRM is approximately how many calories your body expends to keep you alive when you're doing absolutely nothing, not even digesting food, so you should probably be…

Dude. I just went to Old Navy on Wednesday for their sports bra sale. I got there at like 2:45 - literally 5 sports bras left. Luckily I found one on the fitting room return rack that fit, but MAN, they must have some excellent advertising.

You can still have vegetables, just not all of them :) I just did a quick search for "veggie carb counts" on Google and found a list on http://lowcarbediem.com/atkins-low-carb-fruit-vegetable-list/. It's a list of the lowest carb veggies and fruits. For fruits, like people have said, stick to berries - strawberries and…

I'd go look at the Eat More to Weigh Less and the Eat, Train, Progress forums, or maybe at the Eat to Perform website. I think there are calculators in the stickies where you can enter your stats (height, weight, activity level broken down into minutes/week) that will help you get a pretty dang accurate estimate of how…

I got to 2 x 205# last week. I wish I could do math correctly on the fly, though, because I didn't realize that 210# would have been 1.5 x body weight and I would have felt like a totally awesome person :) I've been doing dead-hangs from the pull-up bar, or fingertip hangs if I can. You just grab the bar and hang there for…

Just for our edification, what is the best way you guys have found to improve your gut flora @Dragonwolf @Akimajuktuq ? Has it just been getting rid of grains and reducing carbs overall, or was it something you added to your diet? I know that I feel better intestinally when I eat fewer carbs, but I doubt that is due to gut…

My sister just did her first physique show two weeks ago. She lost like 12 or 15 lbs in the week before the show. From what I saw at our gym, it involves 2 hours every day of stairclimber or treadmills at a 15 incline/3.2 mph, lifting 6 days a week, eating pretty much nothing but chicken and asparagus, some diuretics, and…

I'm not actually doing 5x5 right now, as I'm training for a 10k and my knee is sad and makes crunchy noises when I do squats, BUT - I wanted to tell people who actually know how hard it is that I pulled 205 x 2 for deadlifts yesterday and it felt pretty dang good :) That's almost 1.5x body weight for me! W00t!

Definitely stop eating the wheat and dairy if you know it makes you sick. I know that when I eat something that gives me some intestinal distress the last thing I want to do is exercise. Also, the previous posters are right, you are doing a LOT of stuff, especially since you're also taking care of kids. I know that…

I actually use the neck pad for a hip pad when I do hip thrusts too :| Otherwise it bruises your hip bones, especially with that much weight; the low number of reps seems silly, though. It is a really weird exercise to watch people do. I honestly skip it half the time if there are too many people in the gym, especially…

Bacon-fat popcorn is the best popcorn. Mmmmm.

There is a group called Eat More 2 Weigh Less, and also one called Eat, Train, Progress, which you might want to look into. They have info about lifting, and a lot of discussion eating to make your workouts most effective for strength/muscle gain and fat loss. Also, like LaarainNYC said, Stronglifts 5x5 is a good place to…

I have capris from Old Navy that are nice and don't get see-through when I do squats or hyperextensions. I've had mine for a few months and I don't see any wear at all, even though I wear them 3-5 times/week. They might not last as long as the more expensive brands, though, I don't know yet. I didn't realize that my other…

Along with having the bar at the right height, Killakal is right: keep your core super tight. I used to get a lot of lower back pain doing deadlifts, and it REALLY helps to keep your head at the right angle and to breathe out really forcefully while lifting in order to remember to engage your core. Squeeze those abs in!…

There is also a low carb group. Lots of support for a low-carb lifestyle, recipes, suggestions, etc. I think there are some ladies on there with hormonal issues (IDK if it is PCOS specifically) that they're managing with diet/lifestyle changes, so you might get some more specific info if you post there too.…

Just make sure when you put it on the ground you let it come to rest completely, so when you start to lift it again it is from a dead stop (thus the "dead" part in deadlift). I'm guessing you're already doing that if you thought you might have to stand up, but just a reminder :)

I feel like I grew up hearing a lot about eating healthy foods. My mom had a lot of ups and downs in weight, but I think most of her problems were emotional eating and binging, not so much eating a lot of unhealthy things. We've always had a lot of salads, veggies with most meals, whole wheat bread instead of white,…

The dudes who have giant biceps have eaten A LOT and lifted A LOT to get their arms like that. What Llama is saying is that if you are lifting to lose weight, you won't gain an appreciable amount of muscle mass (because not enough extra calories), so your arms will measure smaller because you will probably lose fat off of…

I make my protein shakes with coconut milk to add more fat and keep me satisfied longer. I usually only add between 1/4 and 1/3 cup, otherwise they get pretty thick. Doesn't add a ton of flavor, and it doesn't do much to the texture either.

5'5", 136 lbs, trying to lose body fat without losing much muscle, so I've been lifting heavy(ish) 3 days a week, and doing tae kwon do for ~ 3 hours/week. My protein is about 1 g/lb lean body mass, or .8g/lb body weight overall. 1700 - 1800 cals/day Carbs - 85 (max) Protein - 106 (min) Fat - 104 (min) I am not good at…

You're probably over-thinking it, especially if your bulk went as you planned it to :) I have never done a bulk/cut cycle, but my understanding is that you continue to lift as you have been to maintain your muscle, while eating at a bit of a deficit. You probably won't progress on your lifts, but if you cut back on the…

If you started with Stronglifts in the off-season, the first couple of weeks would be short/easy enough that your cardio shouldn't be impacted too much if you alternate weights and cardio days. It would at least give you an idea of what the lifting would be like, and you'd almost certainly see some strength and muscle…

Meat, fish, eggs, occasionally nuts if you're ok with also getting a lot of fat. Most cheese is about an even ratio of fat/protein. Also it is tasty :yum: If I'm not getting enough protein for the day in my meals, I honestly just eat a couple of ounces of lunch meat, a hard boiled egg or two, or leftovers of whatever meat…

I've had a lot of luck doing bodyweight squats as low as I can to stretch and strengthen my hip flexors. Try squatting as low as you possibly can, like until the backs of your thighs are touching your calves, keeping your feet flat on the floor, and just holding it for a few seconds. I had to hold on to something to keep…

SL 5x5 is really straightforward, the website has examples of how to do all of the exercises, and there is an app for iPhone and Android phones that helps track your workouts and progress. The guy who owns the website does try to get you to buy plans for accessory workouts and stretching and warmups and how many plates to…

I've been lifting for just over a year after taking some time off, and I started Stronglifts 5x5 about a month and a half ago. I'm 5'5" and 138 lbs, and eating at TDEE -15% or so (between 1700 and 1800 cal/day), I'm definitely losing fat and a little bit of weight. The only "cardio" I do is tae kwon do classes / sparring…

I did pretty well on Tuesday. Finally got through 65# 5x5 on OHP, did 145# 5x5 on squats, 155# 1x5 for DL. I think I probably need to eat more after deadlift day, though, because I was absolutely STARVING all day Wednesday (and I'm still pretty hungry, lol). I added an extra 2x10 warmup to DL on Tuesday, so I did a ton of…