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Anyone have any good split pea recipes?
So I've been eyeing split peas for their very nice nutritional stats (protein, fiber, and vitamins), but I'm not entirely sure what to do with them. Of course there's split pea soup, although I'm not a huge fan of soups in general (I eat them, but I would much rather make a hearty stew). I'm also not a huge fan of veggies…
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Kilimanjaro!
Last week Sunday, I achieved one of my long-term goals, something that seemed impossible two years ago when I was morbidly obese - I reached Uhuru Peak, the highest point on the crater rim of Kibo, tallest of Kilimanjaro's three volcanic peaks and the highest point on the continent of Africa! I've got more details on my…
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Marathon Runners / Endurance Athletes - How do you win the mental game?
So next month I'm going to be doing my long-awaited goal of climbing Kilimanjaro. While I've worked hard to physically prepare myself, I know a lot of the climb is going to be mental. Particularly on summit night, I'm sure I will be needing to reach deep inside to find the will to keep going. What are the techniques you…
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Give me your recipes, your ideas, your oaty goodness yearning to be eats
So I have a love / hate relationship with the humble oat. I really love oats - the flavor and particularly the chewy texture. And I just can't find oatmeal (porridge) that I like. All that wonderful oaty chewiness reduced to a sad mush. I have been experimenting with less liquid and less cooking time, but what are some…
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Day hikers - tips for keeping energy up?
So I'm at the point where I can hike for about 6 hours and feel great the next day (no lingering soreness or fatigue to speak of). I'd like to push myself to add some more hours to the hikes, but between hour 5 and 6 I tend to get really fatigued, so it's hard to keep going. Adding some more rest time helps some ( I…
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How to Critically Analyze Nutritional Science
There is such a wide amount of wrong and misleading information about nutrition, that I wanted to discuss how one can sort the good from the bad. Here are some things to watch out for: 1. Consider the source. YouTube, a blog, or a random website on a Google search are not reliable sources of information. Sure, you can find…
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"Onederland"
Well, I started losing weight about a year ago, when I was about 320 lb - I think I had gone higher earlier in that year but I didn't weigh in at the time. Today I just broke under 200 lb for the first time in 15 years, and only for the second time in my adult life :smiley: I'm right now just on the border between…
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Switch: How to Change Our Lives (warning: very long post)
I originally wrote this as a blog post, but decided to reproduce it here since this could be useful food for thought. It's quite long - I understand many won't read it, but I hope those who do find something beneficial here. If you're going to stick this post to the end, you might want to use the bathroom or get a coffee…
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Starting Out? Start with a Good Plan!
A lot of new folks start at MFP or other sites, and quickly find themselves confused by all the data. There are calories, there are macronutrients (carbs, fat, and protein), there are micronutrients (vitamins and minerals), there is sodium, etc., and it's hard to really know what to do with all of that data. Here are some…
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Into the triple digits for weight loss
Starting weight (July 2015: 318.6) Today's weight (April 2016: 217.6) Total loss to date: 101 lb Still a ways to go, but I'm getting there!
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Intrinsic vs. Extrinsic Dieting - or, Why Most Advice You Get is Useless
In our world, we're frequently bombarded by all these diet "tips". How many of these have you heard? * Don't eat after 7 PM * Drink water before meals * Cut back on added sugar * Eat whole foods * Use smaller plates * Don't drink any soda - regular or diet * Eat this not that * Etc., etc., etc. Now, let me start off by…
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Best time to stop losing and focus on muscle?
So I've still got quite a lot of fat to lose, as I'm 70 above my goal weight, but as I was thinking about plans for this year, I wanted to discuss pros and cons of different approaches to ultimately building more muscle. I've been doing progressive resistance training on machines for six months, and most of my early gains…
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Dispelling some exercise myths around glycogen and fat burning
So I've seen several people talk recently about how short duration cardio won't actually help for fat loss, because the muscles will use glycogen as fuel first. This is really TBI - True But Irrelevant - because it only considers the immediate effects and not the long-term effects. Here's an analogy. Say you get paid in…
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Success story in progress - 65 pounds down so far via CICO
So I have seen a lot of posts recently stating or implying that the poster believes they need to eat in a particular manner (clean, paleo, Atkins, etc.) in order to lose, often with a large amount of frustration because it's hard for them to give up so many foods they like. So here's my story, which would be subtitled…
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Halfway there!
Five weeks in - how are people feeling about the challenge? Going great over here, but Christmas is going to be the hardest part; I know I'll be at maintenance at best some days!
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The Power of Habit
As I have done before, I decided to post a write-up of a book I'd read on my personal blog, and am copying it here. It's rather long - you've been warned! I recently read the book The Power of Habit, and thought about ways this could be applied to weight loss. Habit, according to the book, accounts for 40% of our…
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Tips for those who don't like logging/counting
Wanted to share my approach to logging/counting, because I don't find it a burden even in the slightest. I know some really dislike it - maybe changing your approach will help. I basically always log at least one day ahead. That is, I log what I plan to eat tomorrow. Logging is part of my daily ritual, and I do this every…
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TDEE method versus logging & eating back exercise calories?
What are people's thoughts on diet approach. To date, I've been just tracking average TDEE via an Excel spreadsheet that grabs my MFP logs for diet and weight and calculates my effective average TDEE. Then I use that as a starting point for determining my calorie goal. I would keep the goal the same every day, regardless…
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Foot support for overpronation?
So I've been having some ankle pain after walking, I believe due to weak arches / overpronation of the ankle. I have an appointment with my doctor, but it will be six weeks to see my PCP and longer if I need to see someone in orthopedics. Anyone have luck with over the counter shoe inserts? What specific products did you…
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Finally got my BMI below 40
Today was the day - after hovering near a BMI of 40 for a while, I finally fell to 39.6 today! Still a long way to go but 43 pounds lost in the last 3 months is a great start. It was good timing, too, I really needed something to pick me up after an awful weekend.
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How do people log anaerobic exercises?
So, I mainly do strength training and HIIT, and I really don't even know how to log them, so I just haven't been logging anything. I see widely varied estimates of calories burned on strength training, since EPOC can be difficult to measure, and there has to be significant variation among people just in terms of the time…
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Cardiovascular gains
While I still have a long way to go on my weight loss (lost 35 lb so far, another 110 to go) I must say that my training programs are working noticeable results already. I've been strength training, and I notice I've built a lot of muscle - when all the fat is gone I'm gonna be a pretty muscular guy at this rate. (And yes,…
