The Again Return of Little John

Did five minutes of rowing yesterday after my half hour on the treadmill and my right shoulder started to hurt quite a bit. Would turning down the tension and then upping the pace (in order to get the same cardio effect) help alleviate that?

The treadmill also has a much better view of the scenery in the club than the rowing machine does.
 
Hard to say - I'm usually at resistance 3.5 for standard rowing (I also have 3x 20 strokes at max resistance, maximum power, as part of my Thursday lifting day).

What's your pace? Depending on my intentions, I'm either 20-24 spm (longer distance and a heart rate of 130-145) or 24-28 (higher intensity and a 145-155 heart rate).

I'm in my basement. The scenery is whatever foreign action movie* I find on Netflix and the occasional cat strolling to or from the littler box.


*Subtitles work well when the rowing machine and two fans are competing with the stereo to be the noisiest thing in the basement.
 
The seared tuna steak sounds good right about now. I'm surprised they didn't have any small alternatives for the vegetarians.
 
Thanks Happy, I probably could have worked a little harder on going veggie, but between wrangling the two little ones, having a beer already, and other overstimulations, I didn't really have much thought abilities.

So last night's row was one of my strongest, and most consistent. 5 x 6 minutes, each maintaining a pace between 2:07.9 and 2:08.6 min/500m (standard speed unit in the rowing world is min/500m). I also managed to stay pure to my vegetarian intentions yesterday, which made me happy (and gassy). So far, feeling pretty good, and really not missing meat as much as I would have expected. Saturday will be tricky, though, I tend to get the shakes around 11 if I don't have enough protein on the weekends due to an increase in activity, but I can always have a protein shake or a handful of peanuts at 10... if I remember to do that!

My next challenge - a 24-hour fast. I'm going to try my luck next Tues night into Weds night with a fast, as follows:
- Eat dinner at 6
- Lift, TV, etc.
- Go to bed
- Only non- or low-caloric liquids all day Weds
- Row when I get home
- Have dinner

In a weird sort of way, I'm actually looking forward to it, though I'm going to hate it on the actual day. I'm planning on trying it out for a few weeks to see how I feel. No worries, I don't have any medical conditions where this would be a threat to my health, and I have lots n' lots of energy stored up around my midsection.
 
I assume you mean you will try it out once a week for a few weeks?

I've done it and it's a lot like lifting. If you haven't lifted in a long time the first session sucks, but it get better very rapidly. In other words the first time was a struggle, but it got to the point that it was no big deal. Initially I was very fatigued, but on successive attempts I stayed busy and active which was nice and a great way to avoid thinking about food.

You are in better cardio shape than I was when I first tried it so you may find it easier than I did.

There is mixed evidence on how intermittent effects your metabolism and body, but I find it to be an intriguing self-experiment if nothing else. Drink LOTS of water.

Nice work on the rower!
 
Oh nice. I've been fasting for a few years, for various reasons. Strength training-wise, I'll do a 2-3 day fast, then lift & protein load combo. I get more rapid strength gains that way. Fasting supposedly ups the natural release of HGH, normalizes sugar levels. I dunno, I just feel more efficient when I do it. Plus, I eat cleaner. My body needs fuel coming off a fast (leafy greens w/ lots of potassium & vitamins, lean protein). I've got no time for junk (processed carbs etc). Every meal has to "count".
I started lifting/cycling (aka fasting) less than 2 weeks ago and already gained 3 pounds and lost an inch on my hips & a quarter inch on each of my thighs. I'm not particularly strong by any means but I'm headed in the right direction.

Different strokes. Let us know how it works for you.
 
Q, yup, I'll be trying it once a week. I also read about "mini-fasts", where you basically skip breakfast and don't eat until lunch. Maybe when I'm looking for a new challenge or something, I'll give it a try.

Bellyoff (can't call you BO, I'm thinking), good to know about your successes. For reasons far too complex and trivial to get into, I can't do the lifting thing on my fasting day, just rowing, but I know that it works the muscle and definitely burns the calories.

Last night, a great lift, I think the return to healthyish is taking, I'm more energized, less moody, and I'm almost back up to peak strength (and beyond, for some muscles). Also had Chinese food last night - found out that Moo Shoo Vegetable is delicious and reasonably healthy. I think the majority of the calories come from the "pancakes" (really just tortilla flats), otherwise it's lots of cabbage, other vegetables, and some kind of salty sauce. That and half an order of hot & sour soup, and all of my wife's broccoli.

Lesson learned yesterday - you can order Chinese take-out that doesn't seem healthy, but it is!
 
Survived a week of vegetarianism. The bad news was my re-entry into carnivorous life was less than smooth - just overdid it. I've been good the rest of the week, though, and will continue as such, so I'm not overly annoyed about it.

Back to mostly normal cuisine this week, with the exception of a fast. I was going to do it on Wed, but my schedule is a little screwy this week, so I'll be doing it on Thursday instead.

Minor victory this morning - the company has a partnership with United Way, and every year they have a big drive that includes the distribution of a Hershey's bar. I bravely and politely asked for just the paperwork.

I can does it!
 
I failed my Kryptonite test. :toetap05:

Came home yesterday afternoon - aka: the snacking time - to an empty house and freshly baked chocolate chip cookies. My wife has the Midas touch when it comes to Toll House cookies, and they're about my favorite thing to eat. And I did. A lot of them. And was a cranky mess for the rest of the evening. Oy.
 
Ouch! Fresh baked cookies are super hard to resist. Next time a temptation like that rears its ugly head focus on how it made you feel before and maybe that will help you to have fewer or skip it all together. Healthy and skinny people eat cookies too. They just don't eat a lot of them or eat them very often. Trust me when I say I know that it's easier said than done. Good luck with today!
 
Gave up the chocolate bar, caved on the cookies. Frankly I can't say I'd have done better. But I'm with Quercus...next time you are tempting remember how you felt AFTER eating all the cookies and remember that it sucks. Have one, maybe two, and be done with it. I'm about portioning not so much completely cutting things I love from my diet. If you can fully resist, great! But if not, do it like a reward. You want the cookies but have to exercise X amount or drink X amount of water or eat a piece of fruit first. And then be sure you limit how many you eat. It's all about moderation.

Stay strong!
 
Yup, I do need to remember that feeling, and much worse it is than the taste is good.

Moving on, I had a good lift yesterday, and I realized I only have 4 weeks left on the lifting regime I concocted. I get to make a new one! The introvert in me loves that kind of thing, as weird as that is. The challenge is to make a cross-training lift so:
- I can rotate between 3 lifts without resting but my worked muscles do rest (for example, pushups, squats and pullups).
- I minimize set up
- I can be done in an hour

The one I have now is pretty good, but change is good, right?

As for eating, my Achilles' heel, I did OK yesterday. Perhaps my next challenge will be to not eat anything after a certain time? Or have a single serving of a dessert?

Anyway, I begin my fast tonight after dinner. Wish me luck!
 
You have got this LJ! Just keep your mind occupied as much as possible and drink a ridiculous amount of water and you'll be fine.
 
:willy_nilly:

That'll be me fidgeting every 20 minutes to pee tomorrow! Wish the bathroom was a little closer, but can't win 'em all!
 
Good luck w/ the first fast!

One thing I love about fasting (sorry if I already said this) is that I can determine when I'm truly hungry vs bored or restless or anxious etc. Easier to avoid mindless eating overall through intermittent fasting.
 
Thanks for the cheerleading! So, for sake of appearing impressive, I'm including my sleep-time, so I'm at 13 hours. Not really hungry so far. Only things I've put in my gullet are coffee (without cream and only using Stevia) and water. I get a little peckish when I think about food, so I'm trying not to.

Bellyoff, good timing this morning as I was listening to Howard Stern on the way into work, and (in a rerun) he mentioned his foods yesterday, and said he was still a little hungry afterwards - to which Robin replied "You weren't hungry, you just wanted more." So that's going to be added to the list of things on which I need to focus. Are there three phases of hunger? Actual Hunger, Wanting to Eat, Emotional Eating? I don't know...
 
15 hours into it. Still OK. I do reflexively reach towards my lunch bag for something to chew on, and realize "oh yeah." Still a couple hours away from "Bear Time", that should prove interesting.

It does make me realize that I can skip breakfast as a regular thing, though. Hold out until noon, where I'm going to be hungry, anyway.
 
Awesome job on the fasting!

For me I find if I don't eat I get hungry, then really hungry, then starving hungry...and then I have troubles eating cuz I'm not hungry LOL. This is if like I skip breakfast, don't have time for lunch, and finally get something late afternoon/early evening and then the hunger is gone.

Hope the rest of the day goes well :) Drink lots of water!
 
So the day went well. Part of the trick seems to be that I knew I wasn't eating, so I didn't bother to get hungry. Drank lots of water, some coffee (no cream) and some cold tea (teabags in water from the cooler). Unfortunately my wife's friend came over with pizza last night, and I hammered it. But at least that was after my row. Anyway, I will certainly do it again next week.

Today I packed lunch, yogurt and a banana. No other snacks. One thing I learned yesterday is that I need to put the food out of my mind and I can do it, so if my options at my desk are limited, I'm hoping I won't be drawn towards the vending machines (other than maybe a Coke Zero).
 
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