Fitness And Nutrition General

eh; I think I look better on the right, but looks aside, my performance is higher on the right as well.

Much better times on my obstacle course. On the left I couldn't even jog a mile w/o feeling like I wanted to die.

My lifts have all gone up as well (bench, squat, weighted pull ups, etc.)

Can honestly say there's not a single thing on the left that would be considered an improvement to the right.

and burn anything off is incorrect. (had I been at a satisfactory body fat percentage, I'd have never even started fasting in the first place) In the two pictures, my exercise volume is the same. Only difference between the two pictures is that I'm fasting on the right and that I'm not on the left.

lighting maybe :)

So the quick and dirty for intermittent fasting is covered over at Nerd Fitness: A Beginner's Guide to Intermittent Fasting. If you want more of the research that backs it up, here's a decent post from Mark's Daily Apple: The Health Benefits of Intermittent Fasting. There's also the big old standby of Leangains, though he stopped posting a while ago. Mark Sisson and Martin Berkham are big into that whole idea of reading medical research and such.

So, again, can you cite your sources? I've diddled with my diet quite regularly to know that trying to eat throughout the day has disastrous consequences and have basically been accidentally on an intermittent fasting schedule since high school. I still got fat while doing that because I was completely sedentary, so I'm not suggesting it is perfect or fool-proof, but when I diverged from my pattern was not coincidentally when I also put on the most adipose weight.

Intermittent fasting is not the same thing as just eating one enormous meal which is what I was referring to doing.

Uh... k, I'll bite: how are they functionally different?

IF consuming calories in a short 6-8 hour window; not fast all day then sit down for a feast.

But there are variants of intermittent fasting that operate on a single, albeit rather large, meal once every 24 hours. It's not the most typical, I'll grant, but the science behind intermittent fasting is along the lines of "Your metabolism isn't very clever." Actually, one of the links I posted explicitly denies the claims you're making, which is why I have asked if you have a source.

Incidentally, I failed to mention, but I've tried that whole "eat many small meals a day" schtick and it not only makes me hungry 24/7 but basically makes my entire life revolve around eating. I'd really need to see some solid science before I even consider going back to feeling miserable and hungry in spite of eating all the time.

Any cyclists around? I've been using Knog Frogs as safety lights, but one of them has snapped the silicone. I've rigged a way to hold it in place, but I had been thinking of replacing them, anyhow, as the headlight provides almost no illumination when I do night rides off the streets (light pollution is more than enough to see when I'm on the streets).

Anyone have a suggestion, particularly for a headlight? Absolutely needs to be something I can unclip easily. Trying to stay under $50 but avoid the sort of cheap stuff that falls apart after a couple months. USB charge would be a plus, too.

So I've been terrified of measuring my BF% the past few months. Went in to get it tested with the electric current method im at 12.8%!!! I was 22% BF like 2-3 years ago so i feel really good about myself!





When I returned to the gym a little over a year ago i could barely do a barbell squat or dead-lift. So thanks to everyone for the encouragement and exercise tips on here!

Great job, Bacon. Keep up the work

Interesting video I saw



http://www.amazon.com/Metro-300-Hotshot-Rechargeable-Light/dp/B00913UY1C/ref=sr_1_10?s=sporting-goods&ie=UTF8&qid=1393592683&sr=1-10&keywords=cygolite

Or you can just get the headlight on its own. I own both. Easily the brighest lights I've ever had. I've had cars stop and complain about my rear light blinding them and my other cyclist friend always has to be in front because he won't bike behind me when I have it on. The only problem is its extremely one directional. You have to have it angled just right for a good line of sight

The front light is great. On the lowest setting for battery life and flashing, I can still hit reflectors as far as the eye can see (Stop signs, street signs, the little reflectors on the road, etc.)

USB charagable. Been in the rain several times with no problems.

I've never run the battery on either completely dry, and I generally recharge them once a month (and you know how much I'm on the bike)

Been feeling super lethargic these past couple of weeks. Biking to school or even just one lap at Fossil Park seems to leave me feeling dead. Lifting is fine, except for squats (Super tasking to the cardiovascular system); so it seems only my cardio is affected. Anything but squats, lifting-wise, my performance hasn't been hindered.

Wonder if it has to do with my low iron (but this has been an issue for years, and never affected me to this degree) and maybe not getting enough oxygen flowing as a result?

Is there a particular science in order to have regular bathroom routines? I normally eat a wide variety of foods and tend to stay away from junk/sweet things. However I find myself going infrequently and I find it a bit worrying. So not sure what I can do to fix it from a nutrition standpoint. Thoughts?

Late replies, hope this'll help regardless.

There are so many factors that could affect this, it is difficult to pin it down. I recently went through a period of ridiculous lethargy because I was in caffeine withdrawal, for instance. Has anything changed recently? Eating breakfast is a surefire way to make my *** drag, but from what you've said about your eating, I am unsure that you're much of a breakfast person, anyhow.

If you have had issues with iron before, you may want to talk to whomever has diagnosed it in the past. Do you have sickle cell? I know you eat a fair amount of meat, though you limit red meat, so it's a coin toss if you could be anemic, but with a predisposition, it's certainly possible.

The biggest pair of factors in bowel movements are insoluble fiber and volume.

If you're eating plenty of vegetables, you're getting plenty of fiber. In fact, that's exactly why what appears to be undigested veggies can appear in your excrement: it's the fibrous shell that has been completely leeched of nutrients but that our bodies do not digest.

If you are eating a good supply of vegetables and/or other sources of fiber, you may not be eating much in terms of volume. Our intestines are move at the pace dictated by their fullness more than anything else. As someone who has accidentally done this, if you have a particularly large meal and then end up fasting for a couple days, it'll take longer than the usual 24 hours for your bowels to clear because there's no urgent need to do so. This is the source of the vegetarian propaganda myth that meat-eating people have X lbs. of meat sitting in their colon. Vegetarians have a similar amount of food sitting in theirs, so it's a meaningless fact.

Assuming you are eating both a reasonable volume of fiber and food (sorry, can't give a good rule-of-thumb for volume of food, but if you're hitting around 2000 calories of real food instead of soda and protein powder, you probably are), if your bowels are still sluggish, that's possibly a sign of problems. Mercifully, slow bowels and constipation are not nearly as worrying as diarrhea, which is basically our body saying, "Do not want, eject immediately." If you think something is up, talk to a physician. Your guts are a surprisingly adept indicator of hidden problems if you learn to pay attention to them.

And if I've somehow misinterpreted and you're not urinating much, assuming you're neither dehydrated nor sweating 12 hours a day, reduced urination is a very good reason to talk to a doctor sooner than later.

Ever just take a whole week off once in awhile to get a really good rest? You workout a ton and what you are describing sounds alot like overtraining. Fatigue and loss of focus during workouts, when I feel those it tells me it's time for a short break. I always come back strong and refreshed after.

No official diagnosis, just being turned away (dozens of times) from donating blood; as they finger poke you on the spot; but that's been ongoing for 2-3 years now and never had this issue before

I've actually had multiple breaks, aside from biking, which is mandatory. Gym-fossil park-wise, being hit by a bus and 2 cars in 6 weeks tends to force some time off

You should consider talking to a doctor. With ACA, you should have some kind of access to healthcare. Anemia isn't something to mess around with, after all, especially given your ethnic background.

But have you made any other changes diet-wise or routine-wise? It sounds like your body is low on sustained energy reserves, which can happen when operating on low carbohydrates while at a very low body fat percentage, but I have my doubts that's likely in your case.

Yea; I love my carbs, definitely not low-carbing it in any sense of the word; and my body fat is pretty high for me (12-14% range, as compared to around 8% in June).

As far as the ACA goes, I filled out the necessary stuff, but the cheapeast plan it ended up offering me was $113/month; so I'm just as uninsured now as I was at any other point and time, lol. That's way out of my budget.

So at the risk of offending you, do you not qualify for Medicare? $113/month should be manageable unless you have a really lousy job or are only working part-time or something.

The multiple rejections from blood banks just has me a little worried. I know they can be a little arbitrary and tend to err on the side of caution with some things, but it does sound like you should check it. Fatigue is definitely a result of anemia and it sounds like your fatigue is definitely cardio-pulmonary rather than simple lack of calories. There are a few indicators of iron anemia. Are your fingernails yellowed and/or brittle? Has your skin become paler (it being winter, this might be hard to judge)? Have you had symptoms of restless leg syndrome? And what about cravings? It might be an insatiable drive for red meat, but it could extend to eating dirt and similar non-food substances that your body suspects may have the mineral it needs.

Assuming none of those symptoms, it could well be that iron isn't involved at all. You really could use a physical, I imagine. Not sure if free clinics will do those, but you could do worse than asking. There's usually an e-mail address to contact them.

No offense taken;

Full time in school, unemployed. I live off of my pell grant, and taking random odd jobs when the opportunity presents itself. Essentially, I keep my grant funding in my account, and try to make enough/spend frugally enough to not have to tap into that money (which isn't much by the way) each month.

As far as the blood bank goes, their standard is pretty open and shut. If our iron is 12.5, you can donate. If it's 12.4 or lower, then it's a no go. I'd say for the past 3 yearsish, I've been maybe once or twice where my iron has been high enough on the first try. The most, I think is 11 weeks (of going once a week after becoming eligible to donate again)where my iron was still too low; and generally takes 4-8 tries.

Nails are fine; skin is darker now than it was in June; RLS not to my knowledge. As far as cravings go, I'll chew random ***when I'm stressed/nervous (like on a day I have an exam), but on a general daily basis, negative.

And no true free clinics in the area. The low income ones use a slide-scale type of thing. I went when I got hit by the bus, ended up being around 50 out of pocket, and then the prescription I was given cost about 30 to get filled at the pharmacy

You're full-time but uninsured? I went to school in Pennsylvania and Ohio and both of them require students, even part-timers I'm pretty sure, to have insurance. Is Florida different? I'd been under the impression it was a nationwide policy kind of thing.

I'd inquire with a physician I know (my dad LOL), but since there's no real symptom beyond fatigue, it'd be pointless.

Also, unrelated to health but related to money, you might look to see if there's a day labor temp agency in your area. Some places have 'em, some don't, but they can be a real help for picking up some extra money when you have a day off. You'll probably only get minimum wage, but day labor is as flexible as you need it to be.

Maybe it depends on the school? The PHD program I'm looking at requires insurance (But even then, just life insurance, not health insurance. I guess if you die, they still want their cut), but my school doesn't require it at all (Small school; no dorms, started as a community college, and has like 3-4 tops bachelor's degrees that it offers now. Basically community college +1)

As far as the agencies go, there are some in Tampa (roughly 2+ hours each way by bike), but none in Saint Petersburg

Edit: that said, I graduate this semester anyways, so rly just a few more months; and if I get into my PHD program, I'll need to take out huge loans, so I'd have the money for it then as well

Question regarding creatine:

As someone whose voluntary exercise consists of bicycling (average of 25 miles for leisure, 5-10 miles at a time for transit) and whose work regularly but not consistently involves lifting (I do a lot of construction, which means some days I can be hoisting empty palettes for a couple hours and other days I'll be pushing a broom to keep the site clean), would creatine supplementation be worthwhile?

I'm not especially concerned with gaining muscle mass above and beyond what I have now unless it would improve my cycling, but I'm given to understand it has no apparent effect on aerobic endurance. I also don't belong to a gym as I don't think it is good value for money given the amount of physical activity I do and the absurd fees at all the gyms local to me (my best bet would be my alma mater, but even that costs quite a bit between alumni fees and gym membership).

It really helps with endurance also. So yes.

So I recently did a bodyfat test. I'm at 12.8% bf. Kinda curious what bodyfat% range should i do cut versus bulk. I'm currently doing a bulk macro.

Creatine is a Cell-volumizer, which basically means it draws large amounts of water to your muscles. Think of a balloon that can only fit one gallon of water, and another that can fit 5 gallons of water. Obviously, the one that has the more volume will be able to fill more, and ultimately, will be more 'resourceful', for lack of a better term.

Muscle-building aside, Creatine has that same effect on any individual looking to improve their athletic performance, case depending on what you're looking to enhance. Could be physical strength, endurance, speed, recovery, pump.... there are many kinds that do different things, but the bottom line is creatine is beneficial for improving some physical performance, albeit probably not very significant if physical activity is not being done often. The same concept with the balloon applies.

People often confuse Creatine with "Bodybuilding Juice", as if it only makes you big and strong. On the one extreme it does, but it can also prove to improve even minor athletic performance in those not interested in bodybuilding. It all depends on your fitness routine.

The other thing about Creatine is you will appear physically "soft". Most people who use it for bodybuilding stop using it before competitions in order to appear more cut and defined.

Just make sure you're drinking tons of water, more-so if you are taking creatine.

Creatine can increase one's risk of developing kidney stones if your not properly hydrating myself.

I work outside and obviously bike outside, so I'm quite used to keeping myself hydrated.

On a related note, though, I really detest mixing powders into fluid. Is creatine by capsule meaningfully different than mixing powder up in water, assuming I'm chasing it with a tall glass of aqua?

I don't believe there is a different besides price. Capsule is generally more expensive. You don't need to mix very much creatine in though, if that's your concern.

They work the same. As Bacon said caps cost more.