Journey, Not A Destination

If the roof is cedar and properly installed it should last 50 years or more.

Oh wow.

But those two conditions make a lot of difference. Old cedar roofs were laid on "skip sheathing" meaning a series of horizontal battens nailed to the rafters having centers approximately the same distance as the length of the shingle exposure this was done to save wood of course but it also helped with air circulation and venting. If cedar shingles are nailed to plywood underlayment with roofing felt, they do not last so long.

So I assume this is something I should ask the inspector to check out?

Truth be told, I'm okay with replacing the roof. I know it can be pricey, but for some reason I'm okay with it... maybe b/c I know my current home needs a new roof so I prepared myself for this expense.

Also check to make sure there is only one layer of shingles. This is hard to do at the drip edge (closest edge to the ground) because there always is a starter layer. So it looks like 2 or more layers. It's best to check at the roof edge along the gable (pointed end). If you see 4 layers of shingles at any one spot you have two roofs, one laid over the other. This is not necessarily a bad thing. But most building codes do not allow a third layer (too much weight for the roof structure) so if it goes bad you have to tear-off to the decking which adds to the cost.

Ohhh, that's great advice. I will certainly check this out! Thanks.

Cedar roofs are great, they're different than asphalt or fiberglas shingles though. Personally if I had to put a new roof on (which I did myself 4 years ago) I would put architectural shingles on and I'd get the best I could afford (45 year at least).

I might be asking for your opinion when it comes time to do my roof... assuming I get this house. I know that longer lasting stuff gets real pricey but it's worth it.

But if they're not leaking you might have no trouble. How is the attic vented? Gable vents? Small windows at either gable end up high, near the peak. Venting the attic is important because lots of heat builds up in the summer and can cause the cedar to cup and break down.

I honestly don't know... I'll have to look into this too.

As for the inspection being only on the inside of the house, I have never heard of that. The mortage company has an interest in the inspection because they want to be certain the collateral value of the property equals or exceeds the amount of the loan, you have an interest because you want to know any hidden problems before you buy. I'd ask whoever does the inspection to check the roof and gutters and venting.

I agree... I could have totally misinterpretted what the realtor told me too. In her email to me she said this:

Full Home Inspection $450-$500 (these are just interior of the construction, major workings, etc.)

That led me to believe the roof wasn't included.
 
Thank you so much for stopping by my dairy to help! I also loved that you called me a "lean female" and a "long distance runner"! Two things I have never, ever been before! :)

You're welcome. :)

I'm glad you broke it apart and explained it all to me in a very easy to understand way! From my understanding it boils down to this: 1. Stop worrying about the scale,

This without a doubt.

I know a lot of people around here love to weigh every single day. For those with a ton of weight to lose... that's fine and dandy. For those with not a lot of weight to lose, especially females... it's not fine at all. I've seen it where a woman is in a caloric deficit for most of a year, yet, there is no change in scale weight the entire time. Ya know, the scales bounces around the same few pounds but nothing drastic. Yet, in that same time period, her appearance changed drastically as well as her body fat %.

Point being, hormones/water can mask what's really happening. Focus on the wrong things and you can get really frustrated even when things are happening that should be happening. This is my primary point.

and 2. Make sure I am eating enough protein

Yup.

Proteins are comprised of amino acids. When dieting, our bodies will turn to get aminos from it's stored protein. Problem is this stored muscle comes in the form of muscle. You don't want your body breaking down appreciable amounts of muscle.

Having extra aminos in the bloodstream is a good thing. Your body will preferentially pull from the blood opposed to the muscle given adequate aminos floating around.

This will be the case assuming you eat adequate amounts of protein.

1 gram per pound lf lean body mass is ideal IMO assuming you don't have any health contraindications. You just had your body fat tested so you should be able to determine your LBM easily.

and doing resistance training to avoid losing muscle mass.

You got it.

Resistance training is the second layer of muscle preservation while dieting.

Not only this, there's also a lot of other good things that come along with resistance training which I'm sure you're aware of.
 
You're awesome, Steve!

I'll have my measurements and body fat taken by the boot camp guy again late next week, and I'm really excited about it! It will be 1 month from when I had them done the first time, and I'm sure there's going to be a difference. The number on the scale hasn't changed, but I know my body has (which is exactly what you are saying! :) ) I know there have been good changes happening... changes that can't be measured on the scale!

Thanks again, handsome!!!

Oh, and stupid question, but what do chest and tricep pushups count as? That wouldn't be resistance training since there's no weights, right? Or would it be resistance training since you're using your own body as weight? Same question for squats and lunges. What are those considered? I don't have a gym membership, but I have tons of free weight stuff here at home. I can still get what I need from that, right? Thanks! Just when you thought I was out of questions... :)
 
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You're awesome, Steve!

I'll have my measurements and body fat taken by the boot camp guy again late next week, and I'm really excited about it! It will be 1 month from when I had them done the first time, and I'm sure there's going to be a difference. The number on the scale hasn't changed, but I know my body has (which is exactly what you are saying! :) ) I know there have been good changes happening... changes that can't be measured on the scale!

Thanks again, handsome!!!

Exactly and you're welcome!

Oh, and stupid question, but what do chest and tricep pushups count as? That wouldn't be resistance training since there's no weights, right? Or would it be resistance training since you're using your own body as weight? Same question for squats and lunges. What are those considered?

Yup, resistance is resistance. You don't need an 'external load' such as a weight machine or a dumbbell for something to be considered resistance training.

Your goal should be to have a program in place that challenges your muscles progressively. That means as time goes on you progress in terms of intensity and/or volume. You should also be training all the major muscle group; legs, back, chest, core, shoulders...

Balance is important. Without balance comes imbalance and injury.

I don't have a gym membership, but I have tons of free weight stuff here at home. I can still get what I need from that, right?

Certainly, you don't need a gym.

What all do you have?
 
Most of it is James's, but what is his is mine! :D

We have hand weight sets from 3 lbs - 50 lbs, a weight bench with the bench press bar, plates to go with that from 10 lbs - 45 lbs, medicine balls weighing from 5 lbs - 15 lbs, the big stability balls, a step thing for plyometric stuff (to jump onto or step onto), a speed bag and large punching bag all on a boxing stand thing from Everlast (but I think that's more cardio than resistance, no?)... hmmm.... can't think of what else, but I'm sure there's more. He (aka, we :D ) just got the boxing setup. It's pretty cool! we ordered it from Everlast, and the big punching bag is a Tony Atlas one. There's numbers on the bag, and it comes with a workout cd. It tells you exactly what numbers to punch, and it goes in 2 minute rounds. It's really tough! But I'm sure you already know all about this stuff! :)
 
And I'm glad to hear pushups, squats, etc. count as resistance training! I've been doing all those! :) Also, after typing all the gym stuff we have, I just realized there's way more for arms than legs... I guess I'll have to rely mostly on squats and lunges for leg resistance training!
 
Ummm... I do the chest and tricep push ups, lunges, and squats at boot camp on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday... :blush5: I should clarify... she alternates between upper and lower, so we don't do all of them every time.

I know, I know... I need more! Not necessarily more than 3 days a week, but I don't feel like I am having to really push myself on that stuff. Not that push ups, etc. are easy for me... I just think I may need some more!
 
You do them at boot camp? What exactly is this boot camp? Does it have a structured, clearly defined time for resistance training?
 
I'm too lazy to type it again :) ... here's a quote from my diary:

Here's a day of boot camp:

We wake up at 4:30 am to be there by 5:10 am. It starts at 5:15, and if you're late, you have to do 20 push ups in front of everyone. Seriously. James and I had to do it once.

We start off every day with stretches and a run. Some runs are longer than others, and some involve going up and down stairs. Yuck. It just depends on what she feels like that day!

After that, we meet at the pavilion to do arms or legs. We switch off what we work on each day. (This is when we focus on push ups, squats, lunges, etc. I've never timed it.)

Then, we do more running! This time instead of one continuous run, we do intervals. The sets are different each day, but they always, always, always include sprinting, jogging, and backwards running.

Next, we do interval stations on the pavilion. There are 4 stations, and each station has 2 exercises: 1 plyometric / resistance and 1 cardio, for a total of 8 exercises. We have to go to each station and do every exercise. She is timing us and tells us when to switch, and the stations change each time we go to boot camp. (We also do the resistance exercises in the stations, like push ups, squats, lunges, etc.)

After interval stations come the drills. She sets up cones 30-40 yards apart. She gives us a series of several drills that include (but aren't limited to!) squats, lunges, frog jumps, side shuffles, etc. We have to do them until we reach the cone, and then we do them again until we are back at the original cone.

After that comes abs. She guides us through several ab exercises, and they change each time. At this point James and I are so excited, because after abs we stretch and go home!!

Thoughts?

I should add that it isn't always your basic push up, lunge, squat, etc. She varies the muscles we work. Normally we start with three sets of 10, then we have to pulse them, then we have to hold it in the position.
 
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How many times per week do you do this?

My first thought is you're basically working muscular endurance with your resistance training.

You see, there's a spectrum. On one end is absolute strength and the other is muscular endurance.

Absolute strength is very low rep and heavy weight.

Muscular endurance is high rep and light weight.

Neither is right or wrong and the sweet spot is usually someplace in the middle when lifting for physique improvements.

From what it sounds, you're doing mostly muscular endurance type stuff. That isn't very conducive for muscle maintenance to be honest. You need a relatively heavy component thrown in here somewheres.
 
Oh I missed that last part.

So is 3 sets of ten challenging? How do you progress? Ya see, if you aren't challenging your body/muscles... then you aren't going to adapt.

Adaptation = get stronger and bigger muscles
 
I go on Monday, Wednesday, and Fridays.

The initial 3 sets of 10 aren't too bad. When it gets tough is after our first 3 sets of ten, we have to do 3 more sets of 10, but this time pulsing quickly in the squats. After the 3 sets of pulsing, we have to do a squat and hold it for a minute. It's pretty much the same with the lunges.

Please be honest about it all! I would rather know the truth! :)
 
Hmmm.. I guess I could best explain it as quick, baby squats for 3 sets of ten. They are tough after doing the regular ones. After that, we have to hold the squat.
 
Well here's the thing.

I don't get it.

I would love to have someone explain what the pulsing does for you. I'd also like to hear what the isometric hold does for you. Isometrics (holding a muscular contraction using a specific exercise) has some benefits, but not in the context they're using it.

In addition, you only ever train predominantly your chest and quads. That leaves a lot to be desired.

I would throw a ton more work in there for your back, glutes and hamstrings. Especially considering that you're a runner.

Lastly, I don't see how they want you to progress. Suppose you get strong enough to do multiple sets of bodyweight squats for 10 reps. What next? Eventually you have to increase the load or you're body will stop adapting.

We want adaptation.

For positive adaptation to occur, we need an overloading event. All this means is we provide a stress to our muscles/body above and beyond what it is accustomed to, which forces your body to change (it always wants to maintain homeostasis) so that what was once an overload no longer is... if that makes sense?

But you're stuck with what they're having you do. I understand that. But I'm not sure how you could improve it. It's up to them to realize the flaws. Ideally, resistance training isn't part of your cardio training. They are done in separate bouts. But that's not what your boot camp is about.

Sure, you could do stuff on your own at home, but then you're running into some complex programming since you doing some of your resistance training at boot camp and some of it at home... you'd really have to plan things out to ensure you aren't doing too much.
 
Makes total sense!

This was only a 6 week thing, and it will be over on August 1. I suppose that maybe then would be a good time to create a workout plan of my own, so I don't overload while I'm still doing the boot camp?
 
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