Add a squidge of lemon, maybe a dash of grenadine, and few ounces of vodka, and I'm totally on board.
Don't fall for Vegan propaganda. Our very distant ancestor was an Omnivore, and for some two million years since we've been eating meat. Taking that evolutionary fork in road that led to eating meat, and much later on cooking it, is why we're big-brained animals. Also, you best take a look at the sugar content in the vegetables and fruits you're consuming. An apple and a Snickers candy bar have nearly the same amount of sugar. Your body doesn't know the difference between the two. Yes, the candy bar has double the calories and bad fats, and is usually high in salt, but I dare say it's far more satisfying. Give this movie review a read... it's an exhaustive response to Vegan fanaticism, and it's based on some real Science. https://deniseminger.com/2011/09/22/forks-over-knives-is-the-science-legit-a-review-and-critique/ I'm about 75%-85% vegetarian, eat lean meat with two meals a day (usually turkey or chicken, some albacore tuna, and plenty of farm raised salmon), and eggs to a lesser degree. I've got ridiculously low cholesterol, weigh about eight pounds more than I did when I left high school three decades ago, and have no health issues (that I know of). And the other thing... I exercise regularly. I would strongly suggest you cut caffeine completely out of your life. I don't drink coffee ever, and seldom even tea, and haven't had a soft drink in well over 20 years. Now, I do have a vice or two, or three. I smoke a pack of light cigarettes a day. I simply can't write without lighting up once an hour. When the words aren't what they need to be and I'm bashing my brains around trying to get a paragraph to work, it's that top-of-the-hour smoke break that settles me down and writing again. I did a wee bit of research and found that a great many writers, Mark Twain among them, could not write without nicotine in their system. It is absolutely magical! I'm probably the only health food nut that will tell you to go ahead, start smoking. If you suffer a case of the vapors while writing... just smoke them away.
There's a theory that most of the animals we think of as herbivores are actually what are called "opportunistic omnivores" in that they don't seek out meat to eat, but won't turn it down if they just so happen to luck into it. EG: Spoiler: Possibly disturbing?
In addition to my 'cut sugar out of my life' goal for this year, I have a couple of exercise goals. I want to become more flexible! I do muay thai and there's a demand for a high kick that looks rather... ungraceful when I do it right now, so I want to be able to do the split, finally! I've also been dabbling with grass level acrobatics over the past month. My goal is to be able to walk on my hands, but I've only conquered the regular headstand (with flat palms) and the yoga headstand (your head and elbows make a triangle), so I consider this a promising start. My colleague at work also wanted do something similar, try and learn new things... So we went to a trampoline park and had a blast up until she broke her foot. So here's to hoping I won't injure myself too badly before I reach my goals.
I don't know. I have a hard enough time getting around on my feet without adding my head or hands to the locomotive process.
I'm about four weeks into my every-other-day exercise regimen, and I've noticeably built up my upper body. I have muscles again -- triceps and pecs and everything I also managed to jack up my shoulder a little last time I was in the gym, but it probably would've been a lot worse if I hadn't strengthened the surrounding muscles a good bit already. Can't complain! As far as diet goes, y'all know they got almond M&Ms now? Mmm.
I've seen several videos where deer eat baby birds as well. ETA: The "walk the plank" mousetrap that comes up suggested makes me a little sad.
Thanks, Iaian. I'll definitely read that article (it wouldn't come up when I clicked on it but that's probably my computer so I'll try again in a little while). There is so much back and forth over how we should eat, with plenty of highly qualified individuals on each side who will never agree. Also, their zeal scares me lol. But I will count the results I personally experience over anything I read, so that makes it all much simpler. The main thing will be what my blood work shows (cholesterol, blood sugar level, etc.) after this month of vegan diet (on day 12 now). I don't see going completely vegan regardless, though. As you hit on, food (and drink, etc.) goes beyond physical needs only, it's also a great pleasure. I don't picture a future with no cheese, seafood, pork chops, ice cream, etc. I might permanently cut it way back, though.
I think the thing that this little diet adventure I'm on is teaching me is how much of my daily calorie intake comes from random snacking. While I've put myself on basic "eat healthier" sorts of diets before, I've never really cracked down on the little handfuls of dried fruit, the pack of M&Ms between jobs, the Red Bull to wake up, etc, and while food labeling is kind of hit and miss here, I suspect I might be putting in 500-1000 calories a day just in that sort of thing. Once I get off the suicidally unhealthy crash diet and get my ass back into the McDonald's where it belongs, I may have found a useful strategy for maintaining the weight loss. Red Bull tastes so much better than black coffee though. Maybe I'll switch to meth.
Half done with my strict 30-day plant based trial. So far, I've lost 7 pounds and husband has lost 12 (of course, sigh). Dying for some KFC.
I've reached the point where the quick gains are finished, but I am down almost 9 pounds. Last night Mrs. A and I went out for dinner, but I did a grilled chicken with vegetable salsa and a green salad, which is pretty close to what the diet called for. I'm still losing weight, and at a rate that's faster than healthy (which is good ), just not seeing those "holy crap, I'm in a Stephen King book!" results anymore.
Meth is good for you, meth mouth is great for the dentist. Win win, you can support your local dentist and stay energized! On my end: I should really start taking my health seriously. Especially after a certain diagnosis my doctor gave me, gotta stay away from sweets...
Oh yeah, this thread. So recently I've discovered and joined a martial arts league. It sounds pretty dweeby and stupid, but it caught my attention and I've gotten very serious about doing it. It's the ACL, or the Armored Combat League. https://www.aclknights.com Basically it's historically accurate medieval martial arts and currently the largest of its kind in the world (the Russians started their own MMA/medieval martial arts around the same time the ACL started, too, but it's confined only to Russia right now, and is kind of stupid anyways). I was in luck because the ACL (founded six years ago) actually started very close to me (about two and a half hours away, but still fairly close) so I was able to drive out to their main 'headquarters' and meet with a lot of the guys who founded the whole thing. The guy who primarily began ACL is named Jaye, and he's older (like mid 40's or so?) and has been doing stuff like this since the 70's in other past 'fighting medieval combat league things'. I had some mixed feelings on what I saw at their HQ (a pretty cool operation that Jaye has set up in rented spaces in an old brick factory building). On one hand Jaye strikes me as the kind of person who really knows what he's doing, but also slightly arrogant? He has some workout regimen he's super proud of but it was just a standard 20 seconds of reps/20 seconds of rest you do for like 5 minutes. It's about as intense as any given high school wrestling workout lol. But other than that I'm eager to get into doing this. I've a pretty good mind, based on how I've seen some of the so-called "top guys" perform, that I can beat most of them as I am right now. I've started some intense training the last couple of weeks, and I'm currently working on constructing an 80 pound weightshirt that I'll wear for walking/around the house to acclimate to the weight of 60 pound metal armor. My main goal is that when I finally put on my armor, it won't feel like hardly anything at all. I do two hours of cardio training every day and have started doing 10 minutes of stairclimbs up and down our stairs using a 35 pound rucksack on my back (soon to be 45 pounds). I've never had a real reason to stay motivated with hardcore workout regimes but this is keeping me at it. I saw some of the top ACL guys working out when I visited their main gym, and I'm motivated to work harder than they were. The ACL has a bunch of regional chapters across the USA (like 30 or something comprising of 550ish fighters or so) and Jaye is going to hook me up with one that's closer to me, so I'll be basically fighting on that chapter. If I do well (which me will) then I can make the national team and go to the ACL international tournament next year, where I'll be able to kill new and exciting people from different countries. Okay stupid tl;dr over now I just wanted to share this crap I guess so there you go.
I think it's really valuable to have some sort of practical application for fitness - working out just to work out doesn't motivate me at all, but working out because I want to be able to do something is much easier. I don't have any interest in medieval warfare training, but if that's what's caught your interest... fantastic! And you can learn useful tidbits to about medieval fighting to share with your WF friends, right?
For me the problem was I'd outright kind of forget to keep up with working out. I'd get really into running and endurance training for, say, several weeks and then life would get caught up on me and I'd end up slowly sticking to working out less and less until eventually I'd realize it had been weeks since I last touched my kettle bell or ran a few miles. I've liked playing sports and stuff (like kicking a ball around outside or playing some backyard football or whatever) but never have I been interested in sports or playing sports for 'real'. I'm interested to see how the ACL guys fight. I'm slightly skeptical about how good they are because from the talk they talked, I got a suspicion they were all sort of blowing hot air and talking out their asses. I chilled in their lobby area with Jaye (the main guy who started the ACL) and some of his friends (who were his age, mid 40's and have been doing medieval MMA stuff for decades). They just kind of talked about different things like how one of them had went out to California for a tournament and fought against people using 'western styles' of fighting and stuff, and they talked a lot about their developed 'striking system' they'd devised. I assume they're trying to develop the most efficient ways to strike someone while wearing armor (to do the most damage and conserve the most energy) buuuuuut honestly I think they're a little full of shit, especially based on a lot of the videos I watched of their past fighting. I'm incredibly impatient to be able to spar with some of them and see if their 'styles' really matter that much.
I used to do something similar, years ago. Medieval weaponry and fighting style, but no armour. It was great fun, but I didn't put in the practice with my off hand so I ended up with a ridiculously over-developed right arm. Never got around to finding another group after leaving Bristol, which I still regret.
I over-developed my right arm when I was younger, too... though weapons training had nothing to do with it.
Yeah? Was it any kind of organized league or anything? A lot of the older guys in ACL all fought in past leagues in the 80's/90's but none of these little leagues ever got very serious to my understanding.
I don’t want to jinx it, but the weight loss and exercise is going well. I have about 90 pounds to lose. I’m eating loads of raw vegetables, fruit, and cooked meat. My diet has become very basic. No junk food, no pop, no fast food. The only downside is it’s a bit boring. I lift weights a bit while I’m cooking. I may or may not have a girlfriend now, sort’ve, and I’d like to throw her around a bit the next time she visits from out of state. I feel a lot better, physically. I am hungry a lot, though, which I dislike. It makes it hard to focus at work.
Could work more fats into your diet if you're getting hungry very often. That's a go-to staple for diets.
True. Not sure how, though. The problem with fat is that usually high-fat foods are also high-calorie. I like eggs and mayonnaise... nuts and meat... but I’m not sure where else to get good, healthy fat.
Avocados are good - A green salad on its own is totally unsatisfying, but a green salad with an avocado chopped into it, maybe with some chicken? That's a meal!
Try fish. It's supposed to be one of the healthy meats. Allegedly Arctic Char is really high in Omega 3's. Not sure what that means, but it tastes good.
