The Health, Wellness, weight loss, and fitness thread

[Iommic Pope]

Real doctor good.

[Jwar]

Real doctor good.

I know! I'm excited. Kind of odd to get excited about something like that isn't it? LOL

[DRodriguez]

Hit 20 lbs lost this week. Halfway to my goal. It's so weird that I can't tell a difference when I look in the mirror, but it's super clear in pictures and to everyone else.

[gunslinger_burrito]

Eczema improved. The only reason I can think of is because I've been eating three calorie dense meals instead of like 6-8 smaller ones. I tried this after reading a hearing a handful of sources say that being in a constantly fed state makes it hard for your body to do anything other than try and digest. By spacing meals out more, and not getting stuffed at each meal (I get most of my calories from healthy fats so I don't really get bloated...) you allow the body to repair itself better, detox, etc.... So far, I actually DO mostly feel better.

My general workout recovery has been better, though it could be due to the fact that I'm being super-conscious of how much volume I'm putting into one workout. The only thing that's been stupid is..... now I have tendon/elbow pain on the INSIDE of the elbows And I'm not entirely sure how I got it. I'm going to have to suck it up and lay off the pull ups for a while, even though I'm just now getting super strong and efficient at them otherwise.

If it's not one thing, then it's another I'd like to NOT have something injured for once.

[Jwar]

I've had eczema my entire life. It's a chronic thing and if you have it as an adult, it's probably not going anywhere, which sucks. I believe a lot of it has to do with gut health. No joke. So good probiotics, cabbage...etc. will help. Or it has me at least.

I'll do a little update since you did.

I'm not doing my show. Which is fine. I already qualified nationally, so fuck the show. The reasons are many, but the main one being my injury. I have four small (but painful) herniated discs in my neck. Now they are minor but they have had had me in enormous amounts of pain for the past four months. I just found out that they existed though. It's the root of the problem.

So now I'm left with no lifting or no heavy lifting at least until they heal. I'm on muscle relaxers three times a day for muscle spasm, which are causing 90% of the problem and may be coming from a separate issue I'm having tested. Docs plan of action is as follows

Muscle relaxers
Steriods (not the fun kind boo LOL) for 5 days
Some kind of test where they stick needles in my entire arm to test for nerve damage due to numbness there
An epidural shot in the neck
Physical therapy for 6-8 weeks
Decompression of the cervical spine with my chiro and an external device I can purchase

So. Minor injury which has been an absolute detriment to me for the last several months, but there's light at the end of the tunnel. So I'm grateful. My only fear is that I'll fuck it all up somehow and get injured further. So gotta be smart and listen to the doctor.

[ChetMagongalo]

I'm trying to get back into going to the gym MWF, and doing climbing stuff on TuTh. I want to be yung strong boi and have a lot of energy and happiness.

[Iommic Pope]

Good call jwar. If you know the problem now at least you can start working on it. Let your doctors and therapists know how important your fitness is and get them to write some stuff into your program to prevent losses and plan ahead. If they can't help you, get them to refer you to someone who can. It's 2016, sports is a science now, there's shit that can be done.

Meanwhile I've lost a week to feeling like a bag of shit with constant headaches that eventuated in a migraine on Sunday. My recovery time is getting worse as well. It knocked me out for two days this time and I feel tired and spacey as fuck on this, the third day after.

Gonna try and finish the next few weeks out with low intensity shit like flexibility, yoga and core stuff before I go back to harder things.
I got to finish my 30 day body weight program though and I definitely feel better as a result. My wife says I look better as well which I'm happy about.
Don't know if I want to go back to weights or do like a cardio/combat HIIT thing next. I was thinking maybe weights for a month and then a month of that but I dunno.
Thoughts?

[Iommic Pope]

Cool.
Thanks man.
Well, I'll finish this flexibility week (it's something I really do have to work on. I think I sweat more last night then at any point in the past months worth of bodyweight stuff) and go do a HIIT, then.
Maybe a combat based one.

[gunslinger_burrito]

jwar!
Heal up dude
I've made the mistake many times (as you know) of not letting myself heal up and working through pain/discomfort. I'm in the process of trying to let my stupid elbows heal up. I keep trying to tell myself they're fine enough to do pullups and other stuff I probably shouldn't be doing at this point. I gotta knock it off. The more we ignore that shit the worse it gets And if minor injuries build into bigger ones, it could potentially mean no-more-doing- the things we love .
Anyway good luck man!

[Jwar]

Just a little update for those interested.

My neck is improving. I'm not longer in a constant state of pain. I do get it still but not as bad and it goes away faster. I started physical therapy last week and it's already helping. There was a lot of apprehension on my part towards physical therapy as I do no trust them generally, but I'm very glad I went through with it. Turns out that the guy I'm seeing is a PHD in physical therapy and is very intelligent. So he's already began to decompress my neck anit d after on two session, it's already feeling better. There's a lot more involved in it that that, but the point is it's helping. The best part is he did not say not to lift. He simply said lighten the load up. So I had my first shoulder workout in 5 weeks and it was great! Hurt a bit in some spots, but overall, it went very well! I am hopeful this will be the road to recovery and I'll never have to deal with this bs again.

[gunslinger_burrito]

Awesome to hear!

[popvulture]

Interesting to hear people's experiences with eczema related to diet—I've been thinking about this a lot lately. I've had it here and there forever, especially during the winter when it's really try, and it's one small thing among a larger group that's made me consider an elimination diet. Other big reasons are mood, energy, productivity, focus. I'm not horrible at all of those things, but certainly better, and I know that I'm at my best and happiest when I'm eating well and exercising.

Meanwhile I've been under tons of work stress and just went through a breakup, so... eating like shit, taking shit care of myself in general.

I've thought of trying the Whole30 thing, where you essentially eat a really strict paleo diet for a month. I've rolled my eyes at paleo many a time over the past few years (I get the dairy part, but grains??? BEANS????), but I figure I can do anything for a month. I'm just really curious to see how I feel. Other huge reason I'd like to so it is that though I'm not particularly interested in losing weight (I fluctuate between 187-192 usually), I would love to lose some inches off my midsection. Not a bad gut, but definitely a little one. Love handles. That shit is HARD to get rid of.

Anyway... anyone tried something along these lines? Being newly single and thus having shitloads more time, I've gotta find shit to do. Entertainment via diet, oh boy.

[ChetMagongalo]

On the Paleo Diet: TL;DR it's pretty much bullshit


if you wanna lose weight eat a mostly vegan diet, plants mostly, and avoid processed food maybe red meat and dairy too. if you drink soda, stop drinking it. cut sugar where you can esp added and refined sugar, replace it with fruits.

[D.o.S.]

Well, I switched from smoking to vaping because I am lame (and also because there will be no good place to smoke at my new apartment), but it is definitely less shitty feeling.

[popvulture]

I started the Whole30 thing yesterday. Curious to see how it goes. As I mentioned before, mainly interested in seeing how it affects my focus, energy levels, general happiness. Also looking forward to seeing if some chub around the waistline hits the highway.

The book says one can usually expect some hangover-like symptoms around the second and third days... I'm definitely feeling that today. Feel out of it, can't focus too well. Sticking to it, though... I have super shitty willpower and never stick to anything, so I'm just going to be tough and soldier on.