aagaag Member

Gina, just wanted to tell you that my wife is very active in an allergy awareness "pressure group". We have successfully lobbied for a school to ban peanuts - which is standard in the USA but unheard of in Switzerland. Our little daughter has a terrible peanut allergy, which she almost died of, so we are very invested in…

I have a Polar RS800, since ca. 5 years. I use it daily and I am very happy with it. It's a high-end HRM, on the expensive side, and the software is fairly complex - but then again I am a gadget freak. I have to download the watch to my laptop once weekly though, via IR link - which is a bit of a pain. I understand that…

if you imagine the same ride at approximately 2% of the speed, that would be me...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Low9vgDC9ww

I have a Precor elliptical in my home and I haven't been to a gym for >10 yrs. I am inexperienced with all gym equipment except for the elliptical. Certainly, the desultory remarks about people like me in this thread have reinforced my steadfast determination never to visit a gym again.

Thank you guys. These are all very good points. You may end up making me a convert! :-) It is such a nuisance that nutrients fall into just these three categories (protein/carbs/fat) and there are no additional options. Even plants have it better than us poor mammals (nitrogen fixation through photosynthesis, etc.).

Yes and no! Amino acids are the building blocks of proteins. Essential amino acids (phenylalanine, valine, threonine, tryptophan, isoleucine, methionine, leucine, lysine, and histidine) have to come from the diet, since the body cannot make (enough of) them - similarly to vitamins. All other amino acids can be synthesized…

Bereal, you are my savior!!! Thanks! This stuff is also very inexpensive, on top of everything else...

I do agree wholeheartedly on everything, except for the savings part. I am spending humongous amounts of cash on tires, brake pads, chain, rear cassette, drivetrain - in short pretty much everything that moves and subject to wear&tear. And mind you, I do everything myself, never go to the local bike shop (had of course to…

If the whey protein helps keeping you away from the pasta, then it's definitely worth it. What I object to, is adding protein just for the sake of it - since there is absolutely zero reason to believe that it will magically grow your muscle. It may (or may not) grow your belly, but for growing muscle there is only one path…

Honau, I totally agree that the central tenet of a successful long-term diet is carbohydrate reduction. That automatically means more non-carbs, including proteins - RELATIVELY to carbohydrates (i.e. in terms of percentage of total intake). Hence, if eating whey protein prevents you from eating a slice of bread, that's…

Thank you Jody. Sounds good - but not at 50$/yr for the rest of my life! Maybe I will end up going for the Soehnle, the one with the USB port. WiFi is theoretically superior to USB. However what I do not like of the WiFi models is that they all force you to sign into their proprietary website. I'd rather have these data…

My mate who is really crazy wanted to ride down the slalom slope in the slush. I used my authority as a physician to dissuade him. ..

I assume that's what it is - but honestly I do not know how it's made. It smells vaguely like coconut but is rather neutral in taste. I wouldn't call it an "exquisite treat" but it's agreeable and I kind of like it. Particularly when considering the alternatives.

After several days on coconut flour, I can report that it is great! In the evening, 50g coconut flour with skimmed milk, some water, and a drop of almond oil (total ca. 100kcal) suffices to make me feel "overfed" as if I had gorged extensively on a conventional meal. Consequently, I end up eating much less other stuff.…

This statement was definitely shown to be wrong, and should be demystified. There is a linear relationship between intensity of strength training and HR, and this can be used to predict vO2 (and therefore kcal consumption). However, any given heart-rate increase in strength training produces only half as much kcal…

Nope, that's not how it works. The HRM estimates caloric expenditure as a function of heart beat - which is relatively precise (for one and the same individual) but not necessarily accurate (http://www.diffen.com/difference/Accuracy_vs_Precision). Oxygen intake between heart beats has nothing to do with that. I wonder how…

HRM = Human Resources Management. It helps you manage your resources - no more and no less!

EXACTLY! And I say this after having done nothing but biochemistry and molecular biology for almost three decades! THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS A "FAT BURNING ZONE"!!! On the long run, fat only goes away if more calories are spent than taken in. Amazing how such "internet factoids" get a life of their own and keep themselves…

I agree (except for the term "equivocate" which means something else -. the poster probably meant "compare"!). The lower the HR for any given effort, the stronger the heart (up to a certain limit, beyond which you may need a pacemaker). On the other hand, going higher than 180bpm, at any age, is not recommended as it will…

I have a high-end Polar RS800 which proved incredibly useful to gauge my progress in getting fitter. It was unbelievably rewarding to see that the same stretch of exercise used to push my HR to 170 two years ago, and now I can do the same, at the same speed, with a HR of <140. I am not using the R-R feature of the Polar…

I modified my exercise routine. I climb my "Hausberg" with my MTB in the morning before work, and then again in the evening after work. It gives 1'800-2'000 kcal altogether. Let's see how long I can sustain that...

Thanks LQ. I totally agree that HIIT enhances fitness. This is my experience as well. I do short sprints whenever I have enough energy, and I always notice that I can sprint more on the next day! Whether HIIT really enhances burning, is debatable though. I dug out a credible study that purports to have found the opposite…

Well, it turns out that I am very disciplined in all matters of life EXCEPT eating. I was ca. 30 hours in Turkey, giving a talk at a congress and partaking in 2 social dinners, a huge breakfast, and a posh lunch at an upscale restaurant. Result: caloric intake entirely out-of-control. I mean entirely! Only good thing, I…

Honau, you have to define what is a reasonable, working strategy for you. But here are a few ideas for thought. - For one thing, something's gonna give. Weight loss will not happen by itself, hence there are some sacrifices to be made. - The "FDH diet" never ever works for anybody. FDH means "Friss die Hälfte", or…

Thanks, lq!!! The 7% carb bread sounds amazing! I love this forum - I wouldn't have ever found out! However, at 266 kcal/100g you still need to be careful. Low-carb is no license to gorge, unfortunately (sigh!). Honau, the problem with bread (no matter whether white, "vollkorn", "bio", or whatever) is that is it full of…

I do nature joghurt in the morning, and two extra-large cappuccinos with 1.5% milk. For me, I know that eating bread will completely kill my diet and prevent me from losing any weight. So, my clear recommendation is: stay away from bread! Bread is your enemy,. it's pure poison. Stay away from bread!

Thanks for directing me to Mutungi et al. I do not disagree (and anyway I am in a different branch of medicine and certainly not an expert in endocrinology). My friend, who is the Chairman of Cardiology at our University Hospital, continues to believe that HDL is mostly genetically determined, rather than nutritionally.…

I can give you my own experience, which is anecdotal and has no pretense of "statistical significance". It may or may not work for others. 4 months ago, I changed four things in my life: (1) I completely eliminated bread, pasta, and anything containing wheat (cookies, biscuits, etc. etc.). But the wheat avoidance was just…

I agree with all that albertabeefy writes - except that it is very difficult to influence HDL with diet alone. There comes a point where one should consider statins. Beware though: statins are great in pushing down LDL - but they have (very recently) been found to increase conversion from pre-diabetes to full blown Type-II…