Y2HH

QUOTE (Reddy @ Jan 25, 2013 -> 09:59 AM) then explain it to me. the whole reason your heart rate rises is because the task at hand is more difficult than walking down the street, or sitting doing nothing. more muscles are firing and working, which requires more blood flow, which requires the heart to pump faster which requires more oxygen so you breathe heavier. correct so far? so when the muscles get STRONGER, they don't work quite as hard, which means the blood doesn't have to pump quite so fast, which means you don't have to breathe quite so heavy, thus you burn fewer calories. this is basic stuff. it's called a plateau. why do you think they happen if not for this reason? You will be able to do the same amount of "calorie burn" in a shorter period of time, because you'll be able to move faster/longer...but your heart rate will be the same as it was before when you were moving slower. You would be right IF, and only if the person that gets into shape continues to run or move at the same old pace instead of increasing the pace, which they should be naturally doing. The same goes for a person doing bicep curls. If they start out at 25lbs 10 times, and never move up in weight or reps, then you'd be right...but natural progression says they'd move up or increase reps, or both.

QUOTE (Reddy @ Jan 25, 2013 -> 09:53 AM) it will simply get harder to burn 300 calories in the same amount of time/speed as your muscles adjust/get stronger That's not quite how cardio works, but ok.

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Jan 25, 2013 -> 09:35 AM) So BMW's commercial from a few years back was legit? I do not know of this commercial. :/

Cardio is cardio guys. If it's elevating your heart rate, it doesn't matter if it's repetitive, that means it's working, it's burning calories...and that's all it's intended to do. You may become more used to the motion, and be capable of doing it faster or longer, but it's still working.

QUOTE (Reddy @ Jan 24, 2013 -> 10:50 AM) I raise you a...

QUOTE (2nd_city_saint787 @ Jan 24, 2013 -> 11:09 AM) I'm gonna start doing these.... http://www.livestrong.com/article/413939-t...-leg-exercises/ minus the stair running...for now...I think I'll throw in some wall squats as well. It's livestrong...that means you have to supplement your workouts with heavy doses of anabolic steroids.

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Jan 24, 2013 -> 08:05 AM) Need some good recommendations for leg strengthening exercises. I've got limited weights/equipment. Get your hands on a copy of the P90X Plyo routine...it's all you need. And it doesn't require any weights or equipment...it's the best leg workout I've ever done.

QUOTE (BigSqwert @ Jan 23, 2013 -> 10:19 AM) So what or when is the breaking point? There's a finite amount of land and fresh water available to sustain life. And is there anything feasible that can be done to reverse this trend of population explosion? I think it would be cool if there could be some global financial incentive to have men and women "fixed" for a huge payout. Something to the effect of getting fixed while you currently have no kids = a one time $20k payout. Getting fixed after having one kid = a one time $15K payout. 2 kids goes down to a $2K payout and 3 or more kids and you don't get squat, including no tax breaks ever. Of course it's all optional. You can as many kids as you want and never have to get fixed. Obviously this affects the wealthy in a much different way but that's no more than 2% of the global population, if that. Go ahead and shoot some holes in this hypothetical. I know it could never work but I'm trying to think outside of the box. To your second question, the bolded is the answer.

QUOTE (BigSqwert @ Jan 22, 2013 -> 03:14 PM) Way to ruin a bad joke Harlan. Sorry, I don't think I get it then...

While I feel saying things like this can sound profound, it's my belief that this ignores the fact that Mother Nature wanted this. If she didn't, we wouldn't be here. And when she tires of us...we won't be.

QUOTE (Reddy @ Jan 22, 2013 -> 07:17 PM) yeah agreed. re: oils, what do you feel is healthier and why? This Wiki page has a list of cooking oils, their sat fat content to mono/poly, their smoke points, etc...there is a better one out there that has calorie count per tablespoon, and other information, but I can no longer find it... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cooking_oil

QUOTE (Steve9347 @ Jan 22, 2013 -> 09:23 PM) FINE I prep my and my wife's lunches (day of food) the night before - here are overnight oats. 150g greek yogurt (we just buy it by the tub, 0% or 2%, whatever you prefer - the 2% obviously has some necessary fat) half-scoop CHOCOLATE protein powder (can be substituted with vanilla, but chocolate is the bomb packet oatmeal (she likes original, I like strawberries and cream, use whatever) 6-8 frozen berries (I go with strawberries - frozen actually work well bc as it melts it adds moisture to the oats OVERNIGHT) Almond milk - use as much or as little as you want to, creates thick or soupy deliciousness - I'd say I normally add half a cup or so?) That's it - let this s*** become one overnight, in the am mix it together and devour. It's really a delicious, healthy, fully-loaded way to start the day. I guess what I don't understand is where this "overnight" stuff comes in. If it's instant oatmeal, can't this be done...instantly? Are we supposed to mix all of this stuff together and let it sit in a bowl, mixed together, in the refrigerator all night long? Do we cover it? I swear to GOD if I find you're leaving out instructions or ingredients and this sucks... I don't know who you are. I don't know what you want. If you're looking for ransom for the missing overnight oatmeal instructions or certain ingredients, I can tell you I don't have money...but what I do have are a very particular set of skills. Skills I have acquired over a very long career. Skills that make me a nightmare for people like you. If you give me the missing instructions and ingredients now, that will be the end of it - I will not look for you, I will not pursue you... but if you don't, I will look for you, I will find you... and I will f***ing kill you.

QUOTE (Reddy @ Jan 22, 2013 -> 07:17 PM) yeah agreed. re: oils, what do you feel is healthier and why? You can find lists of oils, the amounts of fats (and kinds) they contain along with calorie count, also with smoke point temps so you know which to use depending on how hot you need to cook. Mostly, all tropical oils will be heavy in saturated fats, other oils will be higher in poly and mono unsaturated. I'm on my phone now but there is a website for it, when I get a chance I'll find it. The thing is, coconut oil tastes great, but so do most things that are high in sat fat. It's still better then cooking in lard or butter, but I'm not sure how much that means.

QUOTE (Melissa1334 @ Jan 22, 2013 -> 06:37 PM) so the quaker 90 calorie granola bars are bad? i eat two a day as a snack. so what different bar can i eat? or string cheese and yogurt instead? and what about Smart Ones? >not looking for a meal replacement bar, just a snack bar This somewhat depends on your current state of health/fitness/shape. Are you in good shape/good health? If so, these bars probably aren't hurting you much. If not...look for alternatives.

QUOTE (Reddy @ Jan 22, 2013 -> 06:42 PM) i gotta admit, you lose credibility by citing the FDA...... my LDL is 37. I use about 1 tablespoon of coconut oil/day. obviously anecdotal evidence means nothing, but cultures that subsist on coconut-rich diets are invariably healthier than we are. that said, they also don't eat processed foods. unfortunately it's tough to do real scientific studies with food given that there will ALWAYS be extra variables. I look at Japanese, Caribbean, Latin American, Australian, Indochinese cultures etc as my guide, more than I listen to the american medical machine. give me a tinfoil hat if you want, but it works for me. If it was just the FDA, I'd most likely ignore it...but in this case, it's not. I'd attribute those foreign diets to the fact that they eat way less than we do, and as you stated, far less processed foods, before I'd attribute it to Coconut Oil. I'm merely pointing out that in place of Coconut Oil, there are far healthier oils you can substitute... Also, I'd like to point out they're healthier than we are on average because of choice...and Americans, IMO, largely choose to be unhealthy. And I'm not talking those with a lack of education...I mean people we know in our everyday lives, otherwise intelligent people. Hell, half the time they even make mention of the fact they eat like crap but never do anything to change it. It's just more excuses IMO.

QUOTE (Steve9347 @ Jan 22, 2013 -> 06:21 PM) They are so damned good. Ok, enough reading about this...have you or can you make a post that gives step by step instructions on how to do this?

QUOTE (Reddy @ Jan 22, 2013 -> 03:17 PM) coconut oil is high in saturated fat but it's GOOD saturated fat. I use it every day. WebMD isn't really the greatest source of information. (see the thread in the buster about the gov't and major medical not understanding nutrition) While it's not as bad for you as some alternatives, it's still NOT nearly as good for you as others. And WebMD is probably more credible than whatever pro natural foods website, backed by no scientific data, tells you about Coconut oil. Then again, I don't really need WebMD to show you the facts: http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/coconut-o...ht-loss/AN01899 http://www.heart.org/HEARTORG/GettingHealt...375_Article.jsp http://blog.heartsecrets.org/?p=629 "The jury is still very much out on coconut oil. Multi-centric large randomized trials should be conducted with coconut oil to confirm or discard the suggestion that it can reduce body weight and cholesterol levels." "There are very few studies that actually look at the effect of coconut oil on the human heart. Here’s a rundown on three scientific studies on coconut oil. First, Brazilian researchers found women who used coconut oil had higher HDL (good cholesterol) levels than women who used soybean oil. Also, British researchers studies hamsters with clogged arteries and found that those fed olive oil had cleaner arteries than those fed coconut oil. Finally, New Zealand researchers fed volunteers with high cholesterol three test diets rich in butter, coconut oil and safflower oil. They found LDL, or “bad” cholesterol levels, were lowest in folks eating safflower oil, moderate in those eating coconut oil, and highest in those eating butter." Any/all current science claiming Coconut Oil is somehow good for you is backed by scant, if any evidence. Also, and most importantly, only virgin Coconut Oil meets these hardly studied conclusions. ...and last but not least, from Wiki, with references: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coconut_oil "As with dairy and meat products, the United States Food and Drug Administration,[2] World Health Organization,[3] International College of Nutrition,[4] United States Department of Health and Human Services,[5] American Dietetic Association,[6] American Heart Association,[7] British National Health Service,[8] and Dietitians of Canada[6] recommend limiting the consumption of significant amounts of coconut oil due to its high levels of saturated fat." While I agree that the US Government isn't always correct about what's good or bad, they do have some evidence backing their claims. But when it comes to this, you're also ignoring Canadian, British, WHO and ICoN recommendations. Not to mention the fact that a single tablespoon of it contains almost 120 calories.

QUOTE (BigSqwert @ Jan 22, 2013 -> 09:43 AM) To infinity and beyond! or whatever they say on Star Trek Toy Story.

QUOTE (Cali @ Jan 22, 2013 -> 12:24 PM) I try not to use oil whenever I can, but if I do use it, I use Coconut Oil I sub it for whatever oil a recipe suggests. If I'm making veggies, like kale or broccoli ill usually fill the sauce pan with just a little water and steam them that way instead of using oils at all. Coconut oil is one of the worst oils you can use...it's so high in saturated fat that the American Heart Association says it's pretty much just as bad as butter is. Per Tablespoon: Coconut oil: 117 calories, 14 grams total fat, 12 grams saturated fat Unsalted butter: 102 calories, 12 grams total fat, 7 grams saturated fat The only thing Coconut oil does that butter doesn't do is raise your HDL (good) cholesterol...however, it raises your LDL (bad) just as much. ...but that's also why Coconut oil tastes the best. More info for anyone that cares to actually do some reading: http://www.webmd.com/diet/features/coconut-oil-and-health

QUOTE (Reddy @ Jan 21, 2013 -> 05:56 PM) you should drink a protein shake every day, and some sort of post workout drink that's about 2-4:1 simple carbs:protein. chocolate milk sorta works, but isn't ideal - there are a lot of recovery drinks on the market. Endurox is pretty solid. the protein shake can literally just be protein powder, fruit, milk/water/etc, blend, done. If you need it. I pack on muscle without needing protein drinks, so for me they aren't necessary. I.E., drink protein supplements IF you need to supplement your protein intake. Not everybody does. They are, however, a good way to get protein without fat or carbs, depending on what you drink. But there is no one size fits all diet, including protein intakes.

QUOTE (Reddy @ Jan 21, 2013 -> 02:17 PM) so... while you're right and mass-market granola bars are awful, that pizza muffin thing ain't too great either. but at least that way you KNOW what you're eating vs the lies on the granola bar wrappers. haha I'm not the one that suggested the pizzas, though.

QUOTE (Alpha Dog @ Jan 21, 2013 -> 12:44 PM) Been there, done that. After closing my store, and 16 months of unemployment, took a job at Office Max making $10 per hour. Getting that was hard enough, as the manager feared i would jump ship first chance I got. So I promised him 6 months minimum, and in exchange he got someone to run his print area that he didn't have to babysit or worry about. It was a good tradeoff for both of us, as I trained 2 people to replace me, and almost 6 months to the day I got an offer from a resume I had sent out almost a year prior. Also did part time work as an alarm/security systems installer during the week for extra cash, 2-3 nights a week. Cancelled Netflix, XM and got rid of smart phone for a stupid phone. You do what you have to do. I applaud your commitment. I've been blessed enough in my life to be able to do the things we do as a family on a single salary, making the most of the opportunities presented to me up to this point. I really don't want to call it luck, because nobody made the career choices I made for me...they were decisions I made along the way to get where I am. A few wrong turns or bad choices, and things wouldn't be this way. And if they weren't this way, we'd have to make sacrifices. But some of those choices were choices we made because we considered the alternatives BEFORE making them. We didn't start a family right away because at the time, we couldn't afford it if one of us was to stay at home. When that time came (a few years later), we THEN started our family. Hopefully things continue as they have, so we can continue living the way in which we are. If and when we come to that crossroad, we'll have some careful decisions to make. But it wouldn't be anyones fault but our own. We chose to add risk in our lives by having a family.

QUOTE (Reddy @ Jan 21, 2013 -> 12:12 PM) what does someone DO with $57,000? haha as someone who's breaking $20K for the first time at age 26 - I can't imagine what my quality of life would be like with 2.5x that. lol It all depends on how much responsibility you have, and how many people you have depending on you. 57k isn't enough for me to even consider at this point in my life, but I'm also not a single guy with a single guys expenses. I have a stay at home wife, a daughter, and another one the way. I have to handle all of the the families expenses on my own. While most would see my current salary as huge, it's not all things considered...it's enough to get us by paycheck the paycheck with a little left over. ...and that said, if I lost my job, and the only job I could find paid 57k, I'd take it, and do whatever was necessary to cover our cost of living, including making sacrifices to be able to afford it. The first thing that'd be gone is our basic cable bill. I don't even have netflix. It's stuff like that, that on a single salary, we can't afford without going into the red. I refuse to live life in the red. If I can't afford something, such as having movie channels...we don't have it. This is something that I see most people these days don't do. They simply live in debt, out of choice...NOT out of necessity.

I think the bottom line is that this is a multi-faceted issue, and in some ways, people lean on excuses instead of accepting their current station in life, how they got there, and what they can do to move forward. I'm not saying everyone falls in this category, my posts are specifically speaking of those that do.