JamesBurkes Member

I seem to be the opposite. I've never really had heart burn. I went low carb without any problems, but I noticed that once I was fat adapted I would get heart burn whenever I ate carbs (specifically bread). This was never an issue when I was eating higher carb. As an additional point of (possible) interest, I now carb…

Yes, I get through loads of cinnamon, too, generally in coffee. I've read it depends on the type - if it's cassia cinnamon I've heard it's slightly less safe than the other type, Ceylon cinnamon. But I'd imagine the amount you'd have to eat for it to be "dangerous" means it's pretty much a non-issue. There does seem to be…

Interesting article - thanks for posting. I too come from a weights/bodybuilding background but have recently moved into half marathons / triathlons (for the challenge - no way am I ever going to be seriously competitive in it!) and my routine tends to be: Mon: Weights (Upper Body - bodybuilding-style, although I do have…

Yes, well worth joining the IF group. There's also an active group on Facebook. I lost 20 lbs working out 6 days a week and tracking calories on MFP. Then I stalled for a year (yes, a year!). Nothing seemed to work - carb cycling, calorie cycling, adding additional cardio etc etc) and despite careful food tracking on MFP,…

It's a great home-based workout for the fitter person - I usually fit it into my weekly rotation at least once a week. And it's great for those days when it's too cold or dark to get outside during the winter months. It's not a lifelong program though - I doubt anyone follows the program as prescribed for months / years. I…

I used the novice plan last year and it worked like a charm! Did my first half and it was a lot easier than I expected (and when I started I was seriously doubting I'd even finish it without walking).

I was disappointed with mine. I found it never cooked anything evenly - bits would be charred and other bits would be slightly undercooked. Shame, because it is a handy little gadget, especially if you eat a lot of meat.

Battle ropes, hand bike, swimming. You could also try doing your upper body weight training in the form of Giant Sets. If your knee is injured you may have an issue with handling free weights, so you may need to stick to machines (not sure how bad it is?) but just choose exercises you know you can do for your back, chest,…

I started the tour but work commitments got in the way. Love the Sufferfest videos, though. It's actually gotten to the point where I prefer riding indoors now (okay, that may change in the summer, but at the moment it's certainly true). I like all of them but the most commonly used seem to be Revolver, Downward Spiral and…

A couple of things really shocked me. The first was an oatmeal flapjack, the type you get in most supermarkets. 500+ calories! The other one that really shocked me was a medium-sized pork pie (maybe 3" in diameter). Over 1000 calories! Ouch.

But the trouble is, people are sabotaging their efforts. They use their heart rate monitors and then think they've burned 7 or 800 calories lifting weights when they've done nothing of the sort. If they do that by choice then fine, but usually it's because they don't know any better. Good post, OP.

In addition, the algorithm they use (certainly mine says so) is based on "steady easy running." This is why (from a calorie burning point of view) they are hopeless for weight training. In my experience they are also not great at lower heart rates. My supposed calorie burn for brisk walking 6 miles (AV HR 120) is virtually…

I'd like to try it but it only seems available in big cities - all too far away for me!

I would definitely recommend getting a HRM - not so much for calorie burn (although that's nice) but to check your heart rate. Insanity is so tough it's good to know when to back off. It's also useful in checking progress over the weeks.

I also disagree about there being no such thing as "toned." Yes, while LOOKING toned is all down to muscle mass / fat levels, BEING toned certainly exists. Just look at cyclist's legs - they do literally thousands of "reps" when cycling, yet their legs are rock hard and have a noticeably different feel to them than a couch…

>Sigh< as with all things it depends on your goals. If your goal is to build muscle mass then low weight / high reps will build some but is FAR less effective at reaching your goal than using high weight / low reps. If you want to build endurance / work muscles you don't usually use in a way that perhaps is more of a…

Just be careful about milk. If you're aiming for ketosis you should either have your coffee black or with cream.

Another vote for the Bryan Kest DVDs. Great sessions that work you hard but leave you feeling refreshed. Also, nice mix of "physical awareness" and work-out - not too "airy fairy/hippy dippy" but not too "Let's work out!" either. I have a few Yoga DVDs and I always come back to these.

I pretty much always work out fasted whether it be weights, steady cardio or HIIT. Not because I think it's magically better for fat loss or anything but just because it fits my schedule. I do 12 - 16 hour days so there is no way on Earth I will do anything other than flop in front of the TV when I get home, so I have to…

I did a half marathon last year. This year I'm doing that again but I also have a 1 mile open water swim in June, two century bike rides (May and August) and a sprint triathlon, too (in July). Depending on how all that goes, I'm considering an Olympic distance tri in 2014, but well.... let's see how this year goes first!…

I did my first half marathon last month. A year ago I hadn't run for 22 years and when I did my first run I was having to stop and walk every half mile or so. But I just tried to do better and better on the 4 mile route I had laid out. I tried to run a bit further or get to the top of a hill without stopping - that sort of…

1000 calories sounds very excessive for someone who isn't pretty obese. At a very unfit 235 lbs I used to burn around 850. Now at a much fitter 210 I burn around 700 +. And even that may not be accurate though. Remember, in the average 59 minute workout, you spend around 4 minutes stretching (after the squats and lunges)…

The trouble is, like with so many things, people tend to get divided into opposing camps, where whatever the opposing camp is doing is "rubbish" or "useless." But generally, free weights ARE better than machines because of the stabilisation aspect. But moving a weight is moving a weight - the muscle doesn't know what it's…

I tend to use it for curries and stir fries. The coconut flavour is less of an issue if you're having a nice chicken curry.

I don't eat them back. Then again, I've set up MFP so, based on food and no exercise I should just maintain (TDEE + 10% - if I'm not actually exercising I'm VERY sedentary, as I work on a computer at home. Some days, I don't even leave the house!). For me this means about 2100 cals a day. I try to eat to this, as a…

The manufacturers test lots and lots of people of different weights etc exercising (usually steady cardio such as riding a bike or running) at different intensities/heart rates. From these tests and measurements, they can then create algorithms to estimate how much someone of a certain weight, exercising at a certain heart…

I'm not so sure if HRMs are accurate for lower heart rates (as attained when walking). I'm pretty fit but my HRM says I burn 1000 cals walking at almost 4 miles an hour for 1 hr and 45 minutes. Now okay, I'm 210 lbs and my route has a lot of (shortish) hills and inclines, but that seems excessive. The online calculator…

I don't track reps and weights etc - I can generally remember those. I do log it under cardio, though. I don't use the HRM for the reasons described above, but given that I usually do heavy, circuit training-style weights I suspect that MFP's estimates of 200 calories or similar per hour are very much under the actual…

I've just signed up for my first sprint triathlon. I was just wondering what the atmosphere was like there? I'm doing it as a challenge - to see if I can get through to the finish. I'm not really concerned about my time. Are there likely to be many people like me there? I don't think I'd feel comfortable if everyone is…

Generally? Just counting calories, and trying to keep to around 2000 a day. However, as I can easily eat that in one meal ;) I tend to stay lower carb (under 50g a day) and I've recently started eating according to an Intermittent Fasting timetable, as I find both ways of eating make it easier for me to not feel hungry…