I miss the fitness threads and the fitness Doms!

[FurryFury]

Does anyone here know of a good online tracker?

I don't care about calories and weight. I just want to track a balanced diet with a rainbow of "super-foods" so that I get reminded if I miss something over a week's time.

So I've tried several online trackers. None actually do what I want. The closest was mypyramid.gov which won't be usable after June. From then on you have to use MyPlate.gov.

Here are the findings I got:

One, no matter how good your diet is. It's not good enough. Try harder. Not something I appreciate in any area, but very government.

Two, too much interest in quantifying. I don't want to be measuring cups, teaspoons or calories. I don't want to get crazy with that. Still there aren't even enough options with that. It went from cup to not sure in many cases. Knowing how such sites work no sure is probably measured as too much, every time.

Three, not enough options for foods. I eat a veggie diet. Web sites didn't know of much that I eat.

Four, none of these sites does the rainbow or super-food thing that I wanted.

Five, some do a breakdown of nutrients and if you are getting enough.

Six, I do not believe you need that much dairy or even fruit or grains. I think it's all wrong.

Seven, I'm under-eating calorie wise. Still I have developed a spare tire (granted I'm the only one that sees it but it's there!) So that's good to know. There has to be a different avenue to losing that tire. I'm sure that more exercise would help. Right?

Btw, I think someone here recommended Red Pepper capsules. I've tried that but began to have some reflux so I def can't take them every day, every meal.

In the area of exercise, I've always been pretty honest I don't do much. I do aspire to greatness in that area though.

Here are the gains I've made.

From getting sore due to squatting a great deal whilst doing my third job, picking up fallen branches or weeding in the yard or doing The Chicken Dance during a program, to it not bothering me at all. I could squat most of the day and not be sore now.

Though I don't walk everyday, when I get the chance I can and do walk for hours with my bestie while we talk, a needed component. I do sometimes get dizzy and overheated.

However, I do get dizzy and out of breath while doing yard work. Then I'm itch for several days afterward as well. See I have this idea that if you just do the stuff around the house you should that too is good exercise.

Of course my fav exercise remains sex always.

 

[Cattypuss]

Good grief, Filipino food is like the food of the gods. Prolly should have brought my gym kit after all, Oh well, only a week here - soon be home walking my pup again.

 

[bhndblueyes88]

Does anyone here know of a good online tracker?

I don't care about calories and weight. I just want to track a balanced diet with a rainbow of "super-foods" so that I get reminded if I miss something over a week's time.

I don't know if it would do exactly what you want, but http://nutritiondata.self.com/ has a lot of nutrition information about a LOT of things, and a tracker. They also arrange their macronutrients in a few different ways, including fullness/health scaling, glycemic index, and other ones. In fact, my problem with it is that there's TOO MUCH information in their databases. It's difficult to do things like "Okay, I want to eat something with a lot of potassium...", and then they give you 100g servings of tons of dried herbs oO well DUH...

I'm not sure exactly what you're looking for, though. Do you just want to make sure you're looking at whether you're getting enough veggies/fruits/whatever, or carbs/fat/protein combined with tracking whether you're getting superfoods as a sort of "meta food group"? I haven't seen anything like that. You may have to design your own thing on paper to be your reminder.

I had a big rant about vitamin/mineral tracking and how it's flawed on many levels, but I decided you probably were't interested in that anyways so I deleted it

 

[Daddy2mylilgirl]

Does anyone here know of a good online tracker?

Do you have a smartphone? Cause I'm sure there is an app that could help you.

 

[intothewoods]

Fury - there are some smartphone apps where you take a pic of the food and the app basically does the rest for you. I'll try and find the name of the one my husband was using. No matter what, you have to track at a detailed level that will probably drive you crazy. I just try to think of it as a general overiew and not an exact snapshot, if that makes sense.

 

[Homburg]

does anyone have any suggests for stretching my hamstrings out beyond the usual static exercises? Mine are SUPER tight (as in, the stretch if I just sit against a wall with my legs extended) and I'd like to work on at least getting them to "normal".

Tight hamstrings are a VERY common bugaboo in the athletic world, regardless of sport or endeavour. Stretching will help, moreso if you follow a system, and even moreso if you manage to find a system that works for your body.

A lot of people will try a particular method (be it stretching, weight loss, strength training, etc), and decide that it sucks or is useless because it didn't, and then another that does work and it's the bestest. When, in reality, said method just didn't work for their physiology.

Having worked with training partners with tight hams, I usually have them stretch, but I also add in a coupla implements as well. Myofascial release is intensely useful, both for flexibility and pain management, and the implements needed to work it aren't expensive. The first would be a plain old tennis ball, and the second would be a foam roller.

As the tennis ball is more common, and easier, I'll describe that one. It's also my all-time favorite in helping people as it works right away. So grab a tennis ball (racquet ball works too, as does any ball in that basic size range with a little give to it. A reeeeally stiff person might benefit better from another fave of mine, the lacrosse ball)

1) Try to touch your toes. Note how far you get. If you can't, that's fine. It's just a marker.

2) Sit on a chair that allows your feet to touch the ground while seated, and take off your shoes.

3) Place the ball on the floor, then put a foot on top of it. Roll your foot around on the ball, keeping the ball between the ball of your foot and just in front of your heel. Moderate pressure, and do it for maybe a minute. None of this needs to be exact.

4) Repeat with the other foot. Repeat both a second time.

5) Repeat the toe touch attempt.

Pretty much everyone I've had do this gets at least an inch or three increased range of motion. One of my buddies used to wake up at night all but screaming due to hamstring cramps, and couldn't walk in the morning without working his knees out a bit. I had him start doing the ball trick before bed, and he stopped having problems immediately. This showed him that his hams were a big issue and he incorporated more stretching into his daily life. No more pain now.

Note - a tennis ball can be dead handy for back issues to, either by laying down on top of it and rolling it around, or putting it into a sock, slinging it over your shoulder, and leaning against a wall. The sock will allow you to control where the ball goes.

The foam roller is more a maintenance tool, and is very useful for releasing the hips and other tight areas. I'll just link to resources on it, as it's a longer topic.

http://sportsmedicine.about.com/od/flexibilityandstretching/ss/FoamRoller.htm

http://runningtimes.com/Article.aspx?ArticleID=9911

The second article is aimed at runners, as we've got a few here.

If there's anything I've learned over the past few years, it's that little physiological problems build and build and build and go in weird directions. And doctors rarely have a clue what to do about it except give you a pill for the pain. A chiro will often have a better idea, and a good sports medicine PT or kinesiologist can work absolute magic.

MIS was a good example. She used to have frozen shoulder issues. After numerous doctors did nothing, I figured out how to treat it myself (through research, and mostly Clair Davies INCREDIBLE books on triggerpoint release). So when she visited, I would work out her shoulder, and it would last a good while. Eventually it would come back though.

I knew that there was an underlying issue causing it, and told her that it was probably postural, but I'm not good enough to identify it. Eventually, she convinced a doctor to give her a referral to a sports medicine guy. First visit, he said that her head was sitting too far forward because the muscles at the back of her neck weren't activating properly. This threw her posture off, and, for whatever reason, the postural chain landed on her shoulder. He gave her some exercises to do to activate the muscles and pull her head back, and she very rarely has any shoulder issues at all. (Interestingly, he did the same sort of triggerpoint release on her shoulder that I did as a treatment. Made me happy that I'd at least figured out how to make the pain go away temporarily)

In short, the area where the problem is being felt is often not where the problem originates. Good luck, and go get a tennis ball!

 

[Homburg]

And, on a more personal front, I did something I thought I'd never do - I joined a gym.

I know, I know, totally out of character. It doesn't sit well either. But there were a number of factors leading to this. First, was that family memberships were cheap, and viv has caught the "I'm 40 and want to be in better shape" bug pretty bad. She's gone tot he gym every day for two weeks with a friend of hers. I also want to get the kids involved,a s they're all little sedentary toads. I'm hoping that they might get bitten by the gym bug too.

And, in my case, while I have easily enough equipment here to lift, I lack a training partner. And if I know anything about myself, it's that I suck at lifting alone. AP, one of my oldest friends and earliest lifting partners, is a member at this gym, and was also in need of a training partner. He won't go hard-core like we used to, so he won't just come here and lift the old-fashioned way. So I'm basically paying for the privilege of using someone else's weights to do exercises that I can right here at home, all because it means I have a ready-to-go training partner.

In essence, I'm paying to work out with a friend. Stupid, but my other choice is less appetizing.

Went to said gym for the first time last night. It wasn't horrible. They actually have a dedicated deadlift platform! Very very happy to see that. I'd be happier if they had some bumper plates to go with it, but, well, that's too much to ask. So we did deads as our inaugural lift, and I'm glad to have done it.

While AP doesn't want to do the really hard-core stuff, he can't fully resist it. We went sump on the deadlifts because neither one of us has done jack for sumo pulls, and that means lower weights. And, wow, was it ever. I topped out at 365lbs. Ugh. I expected it to be low, but, man, I was hoping for better than that. And, being honest, I switched to conventional pull to get that, as I couldn't lock out 365# doing sumo.

I was good for another 20-40# on conventional, but AP, in a case of Wise Wisdom, bade me stop. First time back at the weight, and overly fervent motion will result in injury. Aside from helping greatly with my motivation and intensity, this is why I like having a training partner. When I am deep into the iron, good sense just wanders off to have a cup of coffee or something. So AP was smart and pulled me back, even against my arguments and growling.

Smart man. I'm sore enough today, damn.

Also did some seated dumbbell power cleans, bat wings, and 45deg back raises with a 45# plate. All in all, my back is nicely blasted. Not destroyed, but worked solidly in a very balanced fashion.

That's the goal this time, by the way. Instead of just chasing bigger and bigger numbers, I'm working to address my weaknesses and faults, and doing the same with AP. Both of us have been under the bar long enough to have nagging issues caused by training in, um, less than intelligent (but strong, rawr) fashion. So I'm gonna see if I can work it out.

Wish me luck.

Oh, and for those that know me well, the Engine has restarted. I ate like a damned horse when I got home last night, and then again a coupla hours laters. And I'm sitting here now with food at the forefront of my mind. *sigh*

 

[bhndblueyes88]

Homburg--First of all, lol...300+ is low indeed...The only weight I've ever been able to do "heavy" was squatting and even that maxed out just at 200! Understand your frustration, as I can barely squat the bar without being super sore later, but you may feel better bout it with some perspective about how weak the rest of us are

secondly, how exactly does the tennis ball under my feet affect my hams? I'm not doubting you; I'm just curious. I'll certainly give it a shot. I may try out the foam rollers too as your the second person to suggest them, but not until finals are over and i can take the time to look into it Thank you for your input!

 

[Homburg]

Homburg--First of all, lol...300+ is low indeed...The only weight I've ever been able to do "heavy" was squatting and even that maxed out just at 200! Understand your frustration, as I can barely squat the bar without being super sore later, but you may feel better bout it with some perspective about how weak the rest of us are

365# is low for me My best is 455#. Admittedly, that's before laying off from lifting for almost two years, so, logically, I shouldn't complain.

Logic has very little to do with this though

ETA: I've also lost probably 20lbs of bodyweight since that 455#. While it may sound bizarre, losing bodyweight, even fat will cause your max strength to drop generally speaking. There's a reason why if you call a powerlifter "fat", a common response will be "That's not fat. It's Leverage."

secondly, how exactly does the tennis ball under my feet affect my hams? I'm not doubting you; I'm just curious. I'll certainly give it a shot. I may try out the foam rollers too as your the second person to suggest them, but not until finals are over and i can take the time to look into it Thank you for your input!

That's a darn good question, and if I weren't all fogged up and stupid from DOMS and lack of food, I would've addressed it in my first post.

There's a coupla reasons, and they're fuzzy. The core reason is works is because it works. The understanding is somewhat imperfect.

One suggestion is that it provides a reflexology style massage to the bottom of the foot, and points there affect the body overall. Not sure that I buy that.

Another is that there are legitimate pressure receptors on the bottom of the foot that are looking for pressure feedback from the ground when you walk. Shoes prevent that feedback from happening, and lead to unbalanced activation of nerve sensors in the feet, which in turn send mixed messages up the leg. This sort of thinking causes me to wonder about walking/running barefoot and the granola crowd that crows about how good it is. Unfortunately, I have notoriously soft feet, and just flat can't do it. I've looked into the Vibram Five Fingers shoes a coupla times thinking that it might be a damned good idea. They just look SO DAMNED SILLY.

And the last explanation is just that a foot massage is relaxing, and loosens things up by feeling good.

And, yes, foam roller is good stuff. The Stick is also a fantastic tool for myofascial release.

If you're interested in myofascial release for injuries, pain management, etc, I very, very strongly recommend Clair Davies' Triggerpoint Manual. It is on my short list of books I'd want with me on a deserted island because it is just that useful.

 

[bhndblueyes88]

That's a darn good question, and if I weren't all fogged up and stupid from DOMS and lack of food, I would've addressed it in my first post.

There's a coupla reasons, and they're fuzzy. The core reason is works is because it works. The understanding is somewhat imperfect.

One suggestion is that it provides a reflexology style massage to the bottom of the foot, and points there affect the body overall. Not sure that I buy that.

Another is that there are legitimate pressure receptors on the bottom of the foot that are looking for pressure feedback from the ground when you walk. Shoes prevent that feedback from happening, and lead to unbalanced activation of nerve sensors in the feet, which in turn send mixed messages up the leg. This sort of thinking causes me to wonder about walking/running barefoot and the granola crowd that crows about how good it is. Unfortunately, I have notoriously soft feet, and just flat can't do it. I've looked into the Vibram Five Fingers shoes a coupla times thinking that it might be a damned good idea. They just look SO DAMNED SILLY.

And the last explanation is just that a foot massage is relaxing, and loosens things up by feeling good.

And, yes, foam roller is good stuff. The Stick is also a fantastic tool for myofascial release.

If you're interested in myofascial release for injuries, pain management, etc, I very, very strongly recommend Clair Davies' Triggerpoint Manual. It is on my short list of books I'd want with me on a deserted island because it is just that useful.

I may have to look into it. We have a lot of chronic pain in our family of unknown origin. About the barefoot running, I ran barefoot for a while in Vibrams and still had plenty of hamstring tension and other leg problems. The biggest problem I had was that it was difficult to make them not smell...I haven't tried running them through the washer, though, so maybe that will fix it. Then I have to build up to running barefoot again. I've lost a lot of arch strength

 

[FurryFury]

I might actually want to hear your rant. I think a lot of such things are calibrated wrong.

I'm becoming one of those people who take supplements. I don't want to be that person.

What I want is something that helps me know, over, say a week, if I've had enough food "colors" or "super foods" and/or a fairly balanced diet.

I don't want to weigh myself and get obsessive about that.

I don't want to measure and weigh my food or track calories at all.

I don't want to be put down by the tracker constantly for not doing X.

And fuck me but I misspelled pyramid. Let me go fix that shit. Damn it!

I don't know if it would do exactly what you want, but http://nutritiondata.self.com/ has a lot of nutrition information about a LOT of things, and a tracker. They also arrange their macronutrients in a few different ways, including fullness/health scaling, glycemic index, and other ones. In fact, my problem with it is that there's TOO MUCH information in their databases. It's difficult to do things like "Okay, I want to eat something with a lot of potassium...", and then they give you 100g servings of tons of dried herbs oO well DUH...

I'm not sure exactly what you're looking for, though. Do you just want to make sure you're looking at whether you're getting enough veggies/fruits/whatever, or carbs/fat/protein combined with tracking whether you're getting superfoods as a sort of "meta food group"? I haven't seen anything like that. You may have to design your own thing on paper to be your reminder.

I had a big rant about vitamin/mineral tracking and how it's flawed on many levels, but I decided you probably were't interested in that anyways so I deleted it

I don't currently have a smart phone. I'm thinking of buying a smarter phone if I can take it off my taxes as a business expense and if a new job makes by phone log in's difficult enough. My kids tell me my phone is a dinosaur. No respect I tell you.

Recently my son paid (by accident) for a month unlimited everyone on one of his old phones. It had apps. I used it for a month. Learned a lot.

I want a real keyboard though. And a phone that flips up like a Star Trek communicator. I bet that would sell!

I would like my college age kids to use a food and exercise tracker but they refuse. Stubborn too!

Fury - there are some smartphone apps where you take a pic of the food and the app basically does the rest for you. I'll try and find the name of the one my husband was using. No matter what, you have to track at a detailed level that will probably drive you crazy. I just try to think of it as a general overiew and not an exact snapshot, if that makes sense.

Do you have a smartphone? Cause I'm sure there is an app that could help you.

 

[bhndblueyes88]

I'll summarize my rant as:

Problem 1) The Standards-- Recommended intakes are only recommended, for one. They are not a Gold Standard or an ideal. They're a reference. In this respect, they are used incorrectly by many individuals. In another respect, they are based on an "average human being" based on an average calorie intake (that is more calories than needed for weight loss, if one is dieting). Everyone is different. As such, the recommended intakes are probably inaccurate for anyone who isn't a healthy "average" individual. I question, even, how much ethnic demographic variance is present in the formulation of the recommended. I don't know enough about the specifics. So people take this "guideline"--that is likely somewhat inaccurate for at a sizeable portion of the population--and hold it up as a must-achieve Gold Standard to make sure to consume less/more than X-quantity of something.

Problem 2) The Count--I'm convinced that the way they tabulate your nutritive intake on these counters is incorrect. That or my body is absurdly efficient with its use of potassium, because apparently I've been existing happily at less than 50% of my dietary potassium intake. The database itself is incomplete and imperfect in terms of what items have what nutrients. Potassium is a ubiquitous nutrient. Almost everything that came from something living has some degree of potassium in it as long as its not heavily processed. I'm not deficient in potassium. But these stupid counts ALWAYS NAG ME ABOUT POTASSIUM. (clearly it irritates me.)

Anyway. I haven't heard of any trackers that do what you're talking about, but I'm sure there's something out there!! You could always make a log yourself Maybe rig one of those children's task charts to read food groups instead of chores ^_^

 

[FurryFury]

Ah. Yes. I totally agree with your rant.

Yes. Someone should make a tracker like I've been looking for. I bet it would be popular!

I'm thinking on it.

FF

I'll summarize my rant as:

Problem 1) The Standards-- Recommended intakes are only recommended, for one. They are not a Gold Standard or an ideal. They're a reference. In this respect, they are used incorrectly by many individuals. In another respect, they are based on an "average human being" based on an average calorie intake (that is more calories than needed for weight loss, if one is dieting). Everyone is different. As such, the recommended intakes are probably inaccurate for anyone who isn't a healthy "average" individual. I question, even, how much ethnic demographic variance is present in the formulation of the recommended. I don't know enough about the specifics. So people take this "guideline"--that is likely somewhat inaccurate for at a sizeable portion of the population--and hold it up as a must-achieve Gold Standard to make sure to consume less/more than X-quantity of something.

Problem 2) The Count--I'm convinced that the way they tabulate your nutritive intake on these counters is incorrect. That or my body is absurdly efficient with its use of potassium, because apparently I've been existing happily at less than 50% of my dietary potassium intake. The database itself is incomplete and imperfect in terms of what items have what nutrients. Potassium is a ubiquitous nutrient. Almost everything that came from something living has some degree of potassium in it as long as its not heavily processed. I'm not deficient in potassium. But these stupid counts ALWAYS NAG ME ABOUT POTASSIUM. (clearly it irritates me.)

Anyway. I haven't heard of any trackers that do what you're talking about, but I'm sure there's something out there!! You could always make a log yourself Maybe rig one of those children's task charts to read food groups instead of chores ^_^

 

[intothewoods]

I don't know Fury -- if I were you I would just write down what you eat for a few days, or a week even, and see what it looks like and what could be tweaked. Write down also how you felt after meals -- hungry, satisfied, stuffed, etc. You know the basic guidelines -- good fats, whole grains, lean protein, avoid sugar/white flour/white rice/white pasta/etc, plenty of fruits and veggies, yada yada - so just tweak as necessary. I don't think you need to get overcomplicated about the whole thing since you don't really want to. What exactly are your weight and nutrition goals?

As for me, I am one pound away from my weight goal (normal BMI). I can see now that I really packed the pounds on slowly over the years, and it wasn't even from unhealthy eating! Mostly just overeating. Crazy! I mean, I guess it makes sense -- I was overeating a little, so I was a little overweight. I don't know, I have struggled for years and I'm not even entirely sure what made it click this time. Well anyway.

I confess a part of me thinks, damn, if I lost 10 more my body would be so sick! (err like in a good way). But slow and steady wins the race. I'm just going to keep on keeping on with the eating, and set some fitness goals for myself. I think I'm going to try and push myself harder on the fitness side because it's fun and I don't want to get more extreme in my diet. I think that will just make me go bonkers.

 

[FurryFury]

Sounds awesome!

Congrats!

I think I will try you suggestion and just go low tech on it.

Thanks!

 

[Keroin]

If you're trying to drink more water but getting bored because...water, snore...I've "invented" a tasty new version of lemonade.

Just juice one lemon, add about a 1/4 tsp of stevia, then fill you glass with water. (I like to use the biggest glass possible). You'll have to experiment with the right amount of stevia for your taste buds but YUM! Totally healthy lemonade with no sugar and lots and lots of H20!

 

[bhndblueyes88]

Tomorrow my roommates and I are starting up the Couch to 5K program again from the beginning. One roommate and I have been through it all already, but we haven't been running since our 5K and we think we both need to go back to the beginning. We just pushed ourselves too hard and we're both having orthopedic problems of one kind or another. And my ankle STILL hasn't recovered from being sprained over a month ago (wtf?). I went out and bought a more supportive brace to use. Here's hoping that some more time and support will fix it...

 

[ultramarineblue]

I need to come back in this thread more. I'm so out of shape that it's as though I never exercised regularly at all.

 

[intothewoods]

If you're trying to drink more water but getting bored because...water, snore...I've "invented" a tasty new version of lemonade.

Just juice one lemon, add about a 1/4 tsp of stevia, then fill you glass with water. (I like to use the biggest glass possible). You'll have to experiment with the right amount of stevia for your taste buds but YUM! Totally healthy lemonade with no sugar and lots and lots of H20!

I love water.

 

[YourCaptor]

If you're trying to drink more water but getting bored because...water, snore...I've "invented" a tasty new version of lemonade.

Just juice one lemon, add about a 1/4 tsp of stevia, then fill you glass with water. (I like to use the biggest glass possible). You'll have to experiment with the right amount of stevia for your taste buds but YUM! Totally healthy lemonade with no sugar and lots and lots of H20!

Check this out.

http://www.kraftbrands.com/mio/about_mio.html

 

[bhndblueyes88]

Check this out.

http://www.kraftbrands.com/mio/about_mio.html

Mio made my water taste like pool water.

 

[intothewoods]

And, on a more personal front, I did something I thought I'd never do - I joined a gym.

<snip>

Oh, and for those that know me well, the Engine has restarted. I ate like a damned horse when I got home last night, and then again a coupla hours laters. And I'm sitting here now with food at the forefront of my mind. *sigh*

You know what? If it works, it works. If I had a gym buddy I'd probably love it too.

I don't know why the whole crazy hungry post-workout thing tapered off for me. Maybe it's just getting older? Not sure. I do still get somewhat hungrier if I have a tough workout but sometimes I just ignore it or eat a little more. And drink lots of water.

 

[midwestyankee]

You know what? If it works, it works. If I had a gym buddy I'd probably love it too.

I don't know why the whole crazy hungry post-workout thing tapered off for me. Maybe it's just getting older? Not sure. I do still get somewhat hungrier if I have a tough workout but sometimes I just ignore it or eat a little more. And drink lots of water.

No idea if the source was reputable or not, but I remember reading quite a long time ago that we get especially hungry after workouts mostly when we work out at a level that's beyond our then current level of fitness. Your anecdotal evidence certainly seems to support this idea.

 

[FurryFury]

Crap on toast. Three days of a fever and extreme sinus issues / pain. *grr*

 

[YourCaptor]

Mio made my water taste like pool water.

lol

I use it on long hiking trips, when water sitting in containers gets pretty nasty.