Fitness And Nutrition General

I really hate people who say "F*** excuses!" It's the fastest way to get me to go do something else. Confrontation is not a motivator for me.

That said, though, if I'm hiring a trainer like this guy, he should be getting in my face if I'm slacking. That is what I'm paying him for, after all. And if someone wants to make fitness their personal telos, they need that attitude. But fitness for its own sake is way down on the list of definitions for myself (if you've never done this, it's helpful: write out one-word or very brief descriptors of yourself and take note of what ends up being said first).

Motivation is the problem. I don't respond to confrontation. I don't respond to vanity (in spite of that being a reason why I want to continue). I do respond to my own goals and I do respond to wanting to spite someone whose opinion means something to me. I know that latter one makes me petty as hell, but I'm being honest.

This past year, I've completely changed my body composition. I've lost at least 50 lbs. of adipose tissue and replaced half of it with muscle. That still puts me several dozen pounds north of where I ought to be. It started with me wanting to do a double-century on my bike, so I trained for that. Even when it was cold as monkeys outside, if the trail was clear, I made sure to put in a couple hours. I changed my diet to facilitate it. And the changes persisted well after the fact, but I've been at a brick wall since I don't have a goal to train for. I'll be doing that double-century again in half a year and there's nothing in the meantime because winter in the northern US is not cycling weather.

I need to figure out some kind of tangible goal to prepare for, but I can't come up with anything.

I would suggest signing up to a gym regardless of having any partners or not. I used to think the same way, when I was younger I was never motivated to go to the gym unless I had someone there and so I had a 1 year membership that completely went to waste. Then finally I started going alone at 11-12 o'clock at night when the gym is empty and it ended up being the greatest *** feeling ever. You become so focused on the task at hand, you don't give a ***about any of your partners' conversations or some guy who's using the machine you want. Your mind becomes totally occupied on training.

I absolutely hate going to the gym with other people now, I'll actually find excuses to tell them I can't make it just so I can go later that night and train alone. I say give it a shot, do a 1 week trial and go by yourself and see if you really like it. You'll be surprised how much more focused and motivated you'll be on your own, the exact opposite effect of what you'd expect would happen.

And when all that ***fails do what I'm doing now, just take a break and allow your mind and body to recover. I spent the whole day making pizzas today lol.

Honestly, the number one thing is consistency. Doesn't matter what routine you do, what supplements (or drugs) you take, etc.

If it's something you want, you'll have to do it. If it's something you're just considering then yea, it just plain won't happen.

Perhaps find something you enjoy doing? I feel the same as you. I have no motivation for any of the ***. I personally find each and every minute I spend in the gym fun. If I had the roll over and "oh ***I had to go to the gym today" mindset, I probably wouldn't go either.

I made about 16 dozen cookies earlier this week for a cast party. I know how to relax, I'm afraid. Oddly enough, after spending an afternoon smelling them, I could barely force myself to taste-test that they came out right.

The gym thing is... complicated. The affordable ones are in places that are irritating to reach in good weather, much less this constant stream of winter misery the northeast US has been getting, and the ones near me charge far more than I can afford, much less justify. Additionally, the second the weather warms back up, I'll just go back to my habit of doing stuff outside. I know all about the value of lifting heavy things, but since that defines my job, it contributes to making a gym a really low-priority option. If the mass transit were worth a damn or if I had a car, maybe.

Maybe I should just wait for work to pick back up after the New Year. Any thoughts on tangible goals to pursue? I kinda wish someone I respected would be a jerk to me about my physique to get me angry enough to prove 'em wrong, but everyone who knows me thinks I'm doing great based on the radical change of the past year.

Cycling. I could waste days doing that, but not when I am getting wind-burnt and frostbite.

Hmm even if the gym isn't an option, there are things you can do. Not something I'd personally do, but there are programs like p90x (I do my cardio at my obstacle course though).

I'm in FL so there's never snow or anything like that, so I wouldn't know, but do you have like indoor parks? (like with a jungle gym?) can get pull ups/dips done in something like that; or simply buy a cheap pull up bar.

Not sure how much space you have, but can look around on craigslist. I found a squat rack with a slide in bench, an olympic bar, and 200 lbs of weight for $150. I jumped on that even though I still have a gym I go to. (I prefer to work out in A/C? lol), but when there's no school, like for these next 3 weeks until next semester, I can still workout at home.

I'd love to have a squat rack and bench, but I'd have to mount it on the ceiling. I really should look into moving somewhere else, but I enjoy my neighborhood and don't need a lot of physical space. This is the first time in my life that I've been genuinely interested in staying fit and getting properly trim, so I wasn't thinking of it when I moved here 2 years ago.

I think it is mostly the cardio that I miss. I could force myself out onto the trail if we'd stop being smacked with weather every 36 hours (the rangers keep it fairly clear and there are no cars to pack snow into ice). Ugh... I could do burpees, I suppose, but I'd need someone to hold a gun to my head. Perhaps I'll just reduce calories, sacrifice a little muscle along with burning fat, and regain the strength come springtime.

No liver damage or infection. It's just my enzyme tests back high he said. He said as a result to ibuprofen, alcohol, and sleep aids. I was taking benadryl nightly because I couldn't sleep from my pre-work out.

When I asked about caffeine, protein and workout supplements he said "they should be fine depending on the ingredients." He's internal medicine/ID.

Im wondering if replacing my pre-workout with a rock star or cup of coffee would be OK?

I'm no doctor, but how is your daily water intake? When I'm using both creatine and caffeine in the same day I always make sure to drink plentyyy of water.

My urine is clear like water through out the day. I don't really count glasses exactly.

Sounds like you should be fine using the caffeine. Is there any way to schedule your workout earlier in the day? Testosterone, among other things, is highest in the morning, so it makes sense to work out when you wake up if humanly possible (I know it isn't always possible for one reason or another).

If you absolutely must use caffeine and need to cool down for bed, diphenhydramine on a regular basis is really no good for your liver, as you've found out. It's not as bad as, say, using lots of acetaminophen (Tylenol), but still not wise. You might want to consider melatonin. 5-HTP could also help if you have any reason to suspect your serotonin levels are depleted (NB: contrary to what some folks may suggest, if your serotonin is ok, 5-HTP will not push it higher).

Or, you know... there's a certain activity that every boy figures out somewhere in his early teens that releases a host of hormones that promote relaxation and sleep. >.>;;

This is the best fitness advice anyone could ever give.

"The Goal is to keep the goal the goal" - Dan John

For the guy trying to relax. Try deep breathing or listen to calming sounds.I do both at times. I know it can be tough to sleep when your jack from your workout late at night. Good luck man.

Going to sleep at 4am because your pre-workout at 10pm ftw!!! Lol Gives me time to catch up on my DVR shows.

I'm just drinking coffee before the gym until my enzyme tests go back down :/ that's helping me sleep a bit versus a pre-workout.

What pre workout were you using??

Assault was the last one I used. Before that I was using Jack3d.

Any tips on getting your iron up? Consistently too low to donate blood (I go in to attempt each week, and floating between 10.5-11.5; minimum is 12.5)

I'm taking iron pills each day (once when I wake up and once before bed), eating dark greens, such as spinach, lots of eggs and chicken, and eat grits a lot (pretty high in iron).

I don't *** with red meat, essentially, because when edible, it's too expensive. I can demolish burgers and steaks when I go out to eat, but I simply cannot make an edible red meat dish at home. Always comes out so bad I have to force about half of it down before I say *** it and throw the rest away.
aka I'm a ***cook.

Really? I'm no Julia Childs but red meat for me is always the easiest to cook, simply because it has more fat than other meats. Now if you're working with super lean red meat that's probably why. Leaner red meat I find is harder to cook.

You can try using cast iron pans when cooking. That's what most physicians recommend for iron deficiency. Also are you just eating the egg white? Iron is primarily found in the yolk.

Nah, I eat the whole egg. Usually half dozen a day or more.

I mix two into the grits (This is really good by the way if you've never tried it; also works with plain oats, haven't tried it with the flavored/sugar oats though).

And then cook 4-8, generally sunny side up, sometimes scrambled.

and yea, 100% for real on the red meat. I can do chicken/fish just fine though.

My uncle brought me home a $15 cut one day and I completely butchered it. Took two bites and gave the rest to the dog.

You have two options with the red meat. Preparred/seasoned beef or ground beef.

A simple chili recipe will do and you don't have to worry about overcooking the ground beef.

You can also go to a Latino market and order "carne preparada." It's basically fool proof meats that have been marinated and seasoned.

I personally like carne asada preparada and milanesa preparada. They taste amazing and best part is usually Latino markets are cheaper than grocery stores.

How can you cook fish acceptably and screw up beef? Fish is several degrees more complex and obnoxious.

Two suggestions come to mind to working with red meat. First you may have already tried: have you used regular old ground beef? I suppose one can flub making a burger (I have an electric griddle, though, so I'd have to screw up hardcore to ruin that), but if you were mixing up some loose ground beef for a taco or something, it's hard to get it wrong. Maybe you're trying too hard to eliminate all that healthy saturated fat?

Alternatively, look up old episodes of Good Eats that feature beef dishes, especially various steaks. Alton Brown is a *** wizard when it comes to teaching cooking technique and you'd have to be almost brain-dead to ruin a meal following his instruction. It might not be the best steak you ever make, especially not on your first try, but you shouldn't wind up feeding the dog.

The only way I can answer that question is the fish tastes good to me, and the red meat ends up tasting terrible. Other than that I don't really have a tangible answer to the question.

As far as the ground beef I've tried; I don't have the specifics. Have tried the cheapest ones and the next tier up in price with no success in either. As far as fat goes, I'm fine with fat. The only problem I have with fat is if you're eating some meat and there's a large glob of chewy fat on it. The thing just outright tastes disgusting/inedible to me.

I'll have to look up that program I suppose.

and to Bacon, all the pre-prepared meat is miles more expensive over in my area.

Red meat is hard to get right when you first start cooking, so I feel your pain. Some general rules I've picked up working in the kitchen of restaurants:

Always season either immediately before cooking, or 1 hour before. Salt will draw out moisture from the meat after about 5 minutes, so if you slap it on the grill at that time it's the absolute WORST time to cook your meat as the moisture will boil off resulting in a dry steak. Allowing the meat to continue resting will let the moisture settle down and become re-absorbed into the meat. Salting immediately before cooking prevents all this ***too, so just avoid that in-between window. I like Montreal steak spice for most cuts of beef, but a more expensive cut will just have coarse sea salt and black pepper.

Let meat come to room temperature (1 hour) before cooking, cold meat right out of the fridge will not cook evenly and you'll overcook the outside before the inside comes to your desired temperature. Think of well-done all around going half an inch into the meat with a strip of rare in the middle, disgusting.

Don't *** stab it lol, turn with tongs and never use a fork. If you wanna check it's doneness, use the finger test. This also takes getting used to as some cuts of beef tend to feel differently when cooked, so just use a meat thermometer alongside this technique to kind of gauge what feels right. If you're going to use the thermometer, try to do it once only to prevent too much piercing. More liquid dripping in your plate is less flavour in your mouth.

Avoid marinades with salt/lemon if you're planning to marinate overnight. Salt and lemon will slowly cure your meat and make it chewy if you leave it on too long, stick to 1-3 hours. Low salt marinades can go as long as you want. The cheapest and easiest marinade I use is actually just plain old Italian Dressing, I mix it in a food processor with a clove of garlic, some rosemary, and more olive oil. Great marinade for both beef and chicken, but if I'm using it for chicken I'll add smoked paprika as well.

And most importantly, rest your meat minimum 5 minutes before ever cutting it. Hot meat off the grill has all of its juices condensed in the middle of the steak, if you cut it at this point they will come pouring out of your meat. Letting a steak rest allows the juices to cool and expand throughout the meat. Hot juice will flow a lot faster than warm.

Glad I'm not the only one who thinks so. I don't even like the feel of liquid fat like oil or melted butter, but I'll cook with the stuff happily.

I have tried Assualt and had no ill effects. Sorry to hear it is not for you.

Omg! What about ribeye steaks!?

Have you spoken to your doctor about this iron deficiency to be safe? It seems like you are consuming plenty of iron from what you said.

Don't have/can't afford a doctor

Kale is a Nutritional Powerhouse

One cup of chopped kale contains 33 calories and 9% of the daily value of calcium, 206% of vitamin A, 134% of vitamin C, and a whopping 684% of vitamin K. It is also a good source of minerals copper, potassium, iron, manganese, and phosphorus.

Jeff - Can you forward me your Shoulder workout? I wrote a new one, but I really wasn't satisfied with my shoulder results. Traps are traps but I'm trying to get that "Boulder" ball look and it's just not coming out. But I did go from 207 to 230 and only add 2 lbs of fat, ha ha. Thanks