CaptainMFP Member

Sweet! And you know as good an exercise as swimming is, shoveling snow is...well, better is probably the wrong word...how 'bout comparable? :bigsmile: Way to go on your progress!

I started in July and am going for my second 5K tomorrow (am aiming for a sub-25 minute race time) but also did an 8 mile trail run earlier this month. I was beside myself with a knee issue (that appears was IT band syndrome) because it was keeping me from running and I couldn't stand not running! :bigsmile:

I have not had the opportunity to try it for lap swimming (no pool access) but my FT4 did not get any HR reading when I tried it in a pool this summer.

If you like fish, these recipes are really good. http://crockpot365.blogspot.com/2008/03/crockpot-sweet-and-spicy-salmon-recipe.html This sweet and spicy salmon is AWESOME. I leave out the salt and it comes (by my calculations) to 199 calories for a 4 oz. piece.…

We all struggle at some point. It would be abnormal NOT to. It always grinds my gears a little when I see people suggest that losing weight is easy. It isn't! If it were, nearly everyone would be the ideal weight and no one would stay obese for long. There is only one true failure in your weight loss odyssey: quitting.…

Actually not true. There are a couple of other cooling mechanisms the body uses including dilation of blood vessels in the dermis of the skin (admittedly limited by the temperature gradient...in other words, if it's hotter than 98.6 F outside this won't cool you) as well as evaporative cooling through the lungs. Sorry, a…

Think of it this way. People with a higher percent body fat have more insulation. When they exert any kind of physical effort, the heat produced by muscle activity has a harder time leaving their body so body temp rises more rapidly. Sweating would reasonably be more intensive given that it is, as you rightly noted, a…

I weigh daily and record the results in a spreadsheet to monitor trends. I'm fairly unemotional about the weighing process so I'm not thrown by the ups and downs since I'm all about the data. (Research shows daily weighing leads to better long-term weight loss, but for practical purposes I'd only do this if you can stay…

I didn't personally start a running program until I'd lost 30 lbs. (That was down to 210 from 240.) However, I did cycle for about 1 1/2 months before that and continued it as cross training until the weather got too cold for me to bike. Running is very different on the body in terms of physical stresses and demands on the…

I'd go with it! :smile:

Sodium is actually not a diuretic. Most pharmaceutical diuretics (e.g. loop diuretics like Lasix as well thiazides and thiazide type diuretics) cause you to lose water by inhibiting the retention of sodium at different places in the kidney. Sodium makes you thirsty by increasing your osmolarity which in turn causes water…

I think this is interesting. As someone who's wrestled with my weight for a long time, I've always resented glib advice from naturally thin people as they don't understand the process of losing weight. (I would argue that the same can be said of any personal trainer or athlete who's never been overweight.) There's a…

Thanks for all the suggestions...even an inexpensive foam roller is too expensive right now, but I was trying a rolling pin last night! :sad: I've tried a couple of the suggested stretches but others are new to me and I'll be giving them all a try. (Plus, I really think I was fit improperly for my shoes...but that's…

HRMs relate HR to oxygen consumption which, during cardiac exercise, is quite accurate as oxygen burn is the best measure of calories burned. The problem with using HR to determine calories at very low (daily routine activities that keep HR below the fat burn zone) or very high (approaching max HR) is that in these…

And in fact it's not just the fiber. We need many micronutrients (particularly vitamins) which are crucial for normal cellular chemistry. Deficiencies in these nutrients can actually SLOW metabolism at the cellular level because many of these vitamins are coenzymes for the reactions of cellular respiration. There is a…

Did not see it but am unsurprised...it always breaks my heart when I see forum threads that ask "when will you stop logging?" and all the responses seem to take a negative tone...me? I've only been doing this for six months but I see no reason to EVER stop and that's a good thing! :bigsmile:

Interesting and generally very right, but I see two real problems with this slideshow. (1) As someone with moderately high BP and who teaches physiology, the risk in this presentation -- while overstated in the popular media -- is understated in this presentation based on the primary source literature I've read. (2) On an…

There are really great creative ways to use leftovers. One of my current faves is to do turkey burgers for dinner. Now granted, I'm cooking for four but this can easily adapted to just one. Anyway, my kids won't eat burgers, so I make one for me, one for my wife, and the rest get cut up for salads at lunchtime. A half…

Two positive take-aways from your post. (1) You know you NEED a day off. Too many folks on here risk their health by not taking a day off. I'm grumbling 'cause I'm off today, but I tweaked my knee running yesterday, so I know I need the day. Better to have a weekly day of rest (or a couple of days as needed) than months of…

T-R-A-N-S-F-O-R-M-A-T-I-O-N! Go you! :drinker:

Gonna have to try this...my kids aren't big on winter squash but I like acorn and haven't seen many good butternut recipes...but this one I like! Thanks!

This is great! The type of progress you are describing is the exact things you need to LOVE running and get better at it. Keep it up and let us all know how it goes. After you do one you'll be surprised how fast you improve with more training. :bigsmile:

We love to just steam ours. Break off the woody parts of the stem, toss it into a steamer basket, and steam over boiling water 5 - 7 minutes...longer for fat stems, shorter for skinny stems. It tastes wonderful, even without seasoning. (The olive oil/grill suggestions above are also outstanding!)

Amen, Sister! I love this post. Congratulations not only on your weight loss progress but on your wonderfully positive attitude. Everyone take a lesson from her: the only true failure where weight loss is concerned is giving up. You're gonna fall, you're gonna stumble. We all do. Just make sure to be like this amazing lady…

This is a great way to start! That's about 12 miles per week...next thing you know you'll be going for 20 or 30 miles in a week! :wink:

In long conversations with my brother (a seasoned runner with multiple marathons to his credit including Boston and NYC), pace is really about mechanics of your running. I'd encourage you to do some web searches on natural running form (improving posture and the way in which your feet land is important) and also look up…

All good except for the peacock analogy. Sexual dimorphism (differential body forms) develops in many different organisms, but to compare the exaggerated tail structure in peacocks to female fat distribution is an inaccurate evolutionary analogy. Not least because the overwhelming majority of intersexual selection (mate…

I think the concerns about iron are valid (iron deficiency is more common in women than in men and is a form of nutrient deficiency that can easily occur in a person with healthy diet). I would also take seriously the post-workout recovery advice. If not a recovery beverage perhaps something small like a banana or cup of…

I teach at a community college and many days a week have only 10 minutes to eat between classes. (Plus I have labs with no food allowed so my dining time can be tight!) I've really been digging on salads that reuse dinner proteins. I'll use a base of baby romaine and baby spinach, chop up some tomato, cucumber, and…

Broken record time...start in the back and definitely concentrate on your pace. I found having carefully selected songs on my iPod helped me control my pace during my first 5K. Good luck and have fun!