Health, Good Practises, and Exercise

[A.Goldberg]

Guys, seriously, you are missing out on enjoying one of life's great pleasures.

Food, properly sourced, cooked and prepared, - as cuisine - can define cultures, enhance life, cement relationships, ad add another dimension to the pleasures of life.

But, each to their own.

I agree. I can't stand counting calories etc and especially hate watching young, active, otherwise healthy people obsess over nutrition to a pathological degree. It's great to be healthy, but appreciating food is a great way to be happy and probably eat less. Moderation of course is very important and the psychology of eating is quite facinating- ex. Using a smaller plate to make your plate look full with smaller portions. Then again, this is coming from someone with a metabolism faster than the speed of light.

I have had a couple bouts of autoimmune pancreatitis. The last go around I was restricted from eating basically any fat for a period of time, 10g of fat/day upon hospital discharge. It was absolutely miserable, but I made it work.

 

[Badagri]

I agree. I can't stand counting calories etc and especially hate watching young, active, otherwise healthy people obsess over nutrition to a pathological degree. It's great to be healthy, but appreciating food is a great way to be happy and probably eat less. Moderation of course is very important and the psychology of eating is quite facinating- ex. Using a smaller plate to make your plate look full with smaller portions. Then again, this is coming from someone with a metabolism faster than the speed of light.

I have had a couple bouts of autoimmune pancreatitis. The last go around I was restricted from eating basically any fat for a period of time, 10g of fat/day upon hospital discharge. It was absolutely miserable, but I made it work.

Until ones plate is the size of a saucer. :cheeky:

 

[S.B.G]

Went for a bike ride this morning before the weather gets any hotter. 81°F/27°C right now. Ended up riding 11 miles on the button. 575 calories burned too.

 

[JamesMike]

Went for a bike ride this morning before the weather gets any hotter. 81°F/27°C right now. Ended up riding 11 miles on the button. 575 calories burned too.

View attachment 633329

Bike riding is an excellent exercise, I especially like it on the trails.

 

[S.B.G]

Went for another ride this morning. The weather was a bit nicer heat wise than the other day. I took a different route and ended up going 14 miles and burned 744 calories. Toward the end I passed a green iPhone 5C on the road! I didn't stop to check it out because I didn't want to lose my pace or momentum.

 

[Huntn]

Suffering from swimmer's hair? Since I started swimming regularly, without a cap, my hair has gotten quite erratic. it's the regular exposure to chlorine. What I've discovered is that you hair basically acts like a sponge with little crevices that the chlorine adhears to and does not want to let go. There are several ways to deal with this, besides wearing a cap.

First of all, just before jumping in the pool, rinse your hair with regular tap water. Your hair will absorb it, leaving less room for the chlorinated water to get in. In edition, after wetting your hair, you can spray it with leave-in conditioner, which also coats your hair. Finally, after swimming, you should use a clarifying (cleaning) shampoo, possibly with the description of "removing buildup". There are shampoos designed especially for chlorine removal that can be relatively expensive (link), however I'm trying a less expensive cleaning shampoo, Pantene Pro V Classic Clean, which is making a difference.

Went for a bike ride this morning before the weather gets any hotter. 81°F/27°C right now. Ended up riding 11 miles on the button. 575 calories burned too.

View attachment 633329

Outstanding. Are you in traffic or bike paths?

 

[S.B.G]

Outstanding. Are you in traffic or bike paths?

A little of both. I just ride around my little town and outside of it. Today was primarily on the street/road with about 1 mile on a park path. Normally I wouldn't take this route on the streets and would take it on the sidewalk due to traffic. But since today is a holiday and it was early there were nearly no cars out at all so I had the roads to myself. Plus I try to avoid the busiest roads/streets/intersections I can and find alternate, safer routes to where I want to go.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

Suffering from swimmer's hair? Since I started swimming regularly, without a cap, my hair has gotten quite erratic. it's the regular exposure to chlorine. What I've discovered is that you hair basically acts like a sponge with little crevices that the chlorine adhears to and does not want to let go. There are several ways to deal with this, besides wearing a cap.

First of all, just before jumping in the pool, rinse your hair with regular tap water. Your hair will absorb it, leaving less room for the chlorinated water to get in. In edition, after wetting your hair, you can spray it with leave-in conditioner, which also coats your hair. Finally, after swimming, you should use a clarifying (cleaning) shampoo, possibly with the description of "removing buildup". There are shampoos designed especially for chlorine removal that can be relatively expensive (link), however I'm trying a less expensive cleaning shampoo, Pantene Pro V Classic Clean, which is making a difference.



Outstanding. Are you in traffic or bike paths?

Do you use any of the organic shampoo products?

 

[S.B.G]

Since I started swimming regularly, without a cap, my hair has gotten quite erratic. it's the regular exposure to chlorine.

You could always swim in the East River instead! Wouldn't have to worry about chlorine at all.

 

[Huntn]

Do you use any of the organic shampoo products?

I've not had enough time to research this. The article I linked mentioned organic, using citric acid from fruits or a rice-based chelate. Speaking of organic?
A Citrus Lift for Parched Hair

And then there is the Apple Cider Vinager method. I might actually try that.

You could always swim in the East River instead! Wouldn't have to worry about chlorine at all.

True.
[doublepost=1464622101][/doublepost]

A little of both. I just ride around my little town and outside of it. Today was primarily on the street/road with about 1 mile on a park path. Normally I wouldn't take this route on the streets and would take it on the sidewalk due to traffic. But since today is a holiday and it was early there were nearly no cars out at all so I had the roads to myself. Plus I try to avoid the busiest roads/streets/intersections I can and find alternate, safer routes to where I want to go.

I ride a bike too on occasion and I admit to being annoyed when a biker is in traffic.

 

[S.B.G]

I ride a bike too on occasion and I admit to being annoyed when a biker is in traffic.

As a driver I get annoyed too, but only when the cyclist is not as far to the right as safely as they can. It bothers me when they take up a lot more of a lane than they need to thus impeding traffic. Everyone has a right to the roadway, and we should all respect each other for it too, but too many do not in both autos and cycles.

When I'm on the road, I hug the white line and if there is a paved shoulder I ride on that side of the white line. Its for courtesy and mainly for my safety! I'm afraid of someone texting and driving not paying attention and hitting me.

 

[mgguy]

Suffering from swimmer's hair? Since I started swimming regularly, without a cap, my hair has gotten quite erratic. it's the regular exposure to chlorine. What I've discovered is that you hair basically acts like a sponge with little crevices that the chlorine adhears to and does not want to let go. There are several ways to deal with this, besides wearing a cap.

First of all, just before jumping in the pool, rinse your hair with regular tap water. Your hair will absorb it, leaving less room for the chlorinated water to get in. In edition, after wetting your hair, you can spray it with leave-in conditioner, which also coats your hair. Finally, after swimming, you should use a clarifying (cleaning) shampoo, possibly with the description of "removing buildup". There are shampoos designed especially for chlorine removal that can be relatively expensive (link), however I'm trying a less expensive cleaning shampoo, Pantene Pro V Classic Clean, which is making a difference.



Outstanding. Are you in traffic or bike paths?

Vitamin c will neutralize chlorine. I swim 1.5 miles every other day and my hair and skin is fine. I grind a 1000 mg tablet of vitamin c into powder and mix it with 4 oz. of water. After swim, I rinse with clean water, then squirt the vitamin c solution in my hair and over my body, wait 30 seconds, and then rinse with water. This gets rid of all chlorine smell. No need for expensive swim shampoo and rinse products, which work because they contain vitamin c / ascorbic acid.

 

[Huntn]

Vitamin c will neutralize chlorine. I swim 1.5 miles every other day and my hair and skin is fine. I grind a 1000 mg tablet of vitamin c into powder and mix it with 4 oz. of water. After swim, I rinse with clean water, then squirt the vitamin c solution in my hair and over my body, wait 30 seconds, and then rinse with water. This gets rid of all chlorine smell. No need for expensive swim shampoo and rinse products, which work because they contain vitamin c / ascorbic acid.

That sounds intriquing. Do you shampoo your hair afterwards with a regular shampoo?

 

[mgguy]

That sounds intriquing. Do you shampoo your hair afterwards with a regular shampoo?

Yes, and also use body soap. But if I don't also rinse with vitamin c solution, I have a strong chlorine smell.

 

[Huntn]

Yes, and also use body soap. But if I don't also rinse with vitamin c solution, I have a strong chlorine smell.

Right now, I'm trying out the diluted apple cider Vinager rinse, followed by shampoo. Will report back. I've been swimming regularly since Feb. My hair is normally oily, but now it's dry and maybe damaged with the chlorine exposure. My hair never used to be tangled, now when I comb it, I'm noticing that. I'll see how things go. now that it's dry, it's feeling soft and silky. Too soon to know though.

 

[Apple_Robert]

I had a thread regarding dieting (I thought), but can't find it. I was a chunky kid, discovered exercise as a teen, became an avid runner, went 40 years without a weight issue due to regular exercise, but now in my 60s, I'm about 30 lbs overweight. I'm 5'10" @220 lbs. I can no longer run, but walk a couple of times a week, approx 2 miles. I recently cut out deserts from my diet as I have a sweet tooth, and try to substitute things like Greek yogurt or strawberries for desert, but there are no cakes, pies, or cookies in the house.

I also drink diet Pepsi, which I've heard may not be great for weight loss, but when I consider the million calories, I've avoided, I have to wonder what I'd look like if I had spent the last 35 years drinking sugared pop. I snack on things like baby carrots and drink low cal (5 calories) Cranberry juice which I regard as a flavored water more or less. I cut out milk years ago and drink 60 calorie almond milk on my unsweetened cereal.

My bet is that there are more than a few MR forum members who have weight issues. If you are successfully managing your weight, please report!

My impression is that at its simplest form that weight gain involves two aspects calories consumed vs calories burned, which can be effected by metabolism.

What do you think about artificial sweeteners?
Thanks!

If you are able to increase your walking to 4 - 5 times a week for at least 30 mins each time, along with cutting out soft drinks completely etc., I think you will see some extra pounds come off.

As for me, running 5 days a week has increased my metabolism, and has helped keep my weight were I want it to be for ultra marathons. I am 5'6 and weigh 125 pounds. Last Saturday I did a 25 mile training run and burned close to 1,800 calories. I rarely drink soft drinks and make a point to eat spinach and vegetables for lunch most every day, along with eating oranges, apples, bananas, and low fat yogurt with my evening meal or as a snack. There are times that I splurge food wise but, as a rule, I try to be as consistent as I can be food and training wise.

 

[Huntn]

If you are able to increase your walking to 4 - 5 times a week for at least 30 mins each time, along with cutting out soft drinks completely etc., I think you will see some extra pounds come off.

As for me, running 5 days a week has increased my metabolism, and has helped keep my weight were I want it to be for ultra marathons. I am 5'6 and weigh 125 pounds. Last Saturday I did a 25 mile training run and burned close to 1,800 calories. I rarely drink soft drinks and make a point to eat spinach and vegetables for lunch most every day, along with eating oranges, apples, bananas, and low fat yogurt with my evening meal or as a snack. There are times that I splurge food wise but, as a rule, I try to be as consistent as I can be food and training wise.

I used to be a big runner. Now both running and walking are not working for me (back and knee issues), swimming is the answer. I'm currently swimming 60 laps (120 lengths of the pool)/3 times per week in a 25M pool. <- my gosh, I used metric!

 

[Huntn]

Suffering from swimmer's hair? Since I started swimming regularly, without a cap, my hair has gotten quite erratic. it's the regular exposure to chlorine. What I've discovered is that you hair basically acts like a sponge with little crevices that the chlorine adhears to and does not want to let go. There are several ways to deal with this, besides wearing a cap.

First of all, just before jumping in the pool, rinse your hair with regular tap water. Your hair will absorb it, leaving less room for the chlorinated water to get in. In edition, after wetting your hair, you can spray it with leave-in conditioner, which also coats your hair. Finally, after swimming, you should use a clarifying (cleaning) shampoo, possibly with the description of "removing buildup". There are shampoos designed especially for chlorine removal that can be relatively expensive (link), however I'm trying a less expensive cleaning shampoo, Pantene Pro V Classic Clean, which is making a difference.



Outstanding. Are you in traffic or bike paths?

Update: Chlorine 10- Huntn O, chlorine wins. Swimmer cap should arrive today and I'll just have to deal with how I look wearing it.

 

[A.Goldberg]

Suffering from swimmer's hair? Since I started swimming regularly, without a cap, my hair has gotten quite erratic. it's the regular exposure to chlorine. What I've discovered is that you hair basically acts like a sponge with little crevices that the chlorine adhears to and does not want to let go. There are several ways to deal with this, besides wearing a cap.

First of all, just before jumping in the pool, rinse your hair with regular tap water. Your hair will absorb it, leaving less room for the chlorinated water to get in. In edition, after wetting your hair, you can spray it with leave-in conditioner, which also coats your hair. Finally, after swimming, you should use a clarifying (cleaning) shampoo, possibly with the description of "removing buildup". There are shampoos designed especially for chlorine removal that can be relatively expensive (link), however I'm trying a less expensive cleaning shampoo, Pantene Pro V Classic Clean, which is making a difference.


Outstanding. Are you in traffic or bike paths?

Welcome to life as a swimmer. I use UltraSwim shampoo after my laps. Most stores carry it- it's in a small blue bottle, inexpensive ($8?). Supposedly it helps draw out the chlorine and prevent hair damage. I will warn you it smells funky. Between UltraSwim and my girlfriend's ridiculous Living Proof $25 shampoo and $25 conditioner I've been able to keep my hair decent. (I never thought shampoo made that big of a difference until using her shampoo). My GF has also thrown this "hair mask" stuff in a couple times which has quickly rejuvenated my hair.

Back in my days of competitive swimming like 4hrs a day my hair was just completely burnt. I suppose the one benefit was not having to use an styling product, it would just *stick* wherever I brushed it.

A cap will really only take you so far. Water still tends to get in there as it is. They're also prone to making your head super hot, so taking it off and wetting your head is often much needed relief. A lot of pools require caps and it will make you more hydrodynamic - so just like a Speedo, it's nothing unusual in the world of swimming. You're in the water- no ones watching you or cares.

-----
Speaking of which, I've been pretty busy lately. My 5 days a week swimming has turned into 2-3. I'm doing about 2 miles per session, albeit pretty lazily. It would be nice if I recommitted myself again. I need to switch pools too. I think something closer to home would benefit me, and perhaps somewhere with swim clientele other than the geriatric water aerobics crew to keep me motivated.
[doublepost=1466425610][/doublepost]
They make a conditioner too, I've never tried that though. I only use this after swimming, not routinely. It looks like it's $5-6 at Walgreens, CVS, Walmart, etc

 

[Huntn]

Welcome to life as a swimmer. I use UltraSwim shampoo after my laps. Most stores carry it- it's in a small blue bottle, inexpensive ($8?). Supposedly it helps draw out the chlorine and prevent hair damage. I will warn you it smells funky. Between UltraSwim and my girlfriend's ridiculous Living Proof $25 shampoo and $25 conditioner I've been able to keep my hair decent. (I never thought shampoo made that big of a difference until using her shampoo). My GF has also thrown this "hair mask" stuff in a couple times which has quickly rejuvenated my hair.

Back in my days of competitive swimming like 4hrs a day my hair was just completely burnt. I suppose the one benefit was not having to use an styling product, it would just *stick* wherever I brushed it.

A cap will really only take you so far. Water still tends to get in there as it is. They're also prone to making your head super hot, so taking it off and wetting your head is often much needed relief. A lot of pools require caps and it will make you more hydrodynamic - so just like a Speedo, it's nothing unusual in the world of swimming. You're in the water- no ones watching you or cares.

-----
Speaking of which, I've been pretty busy lately. My 5 days a week swimming has turned into 2-3. I'm doing about 2 miles per session, albeit pretty lazily. It would be nice if I recommitted myself again. I need to switch pools too. I think something closer to home would benefit me, and perhaps somewhere with swim clientele other than the geriatric water aerobics crew to keep me motivated.
[doublepost=1466425610][/doublepost] View attachment 636994
They make a conditioner too, I've never tried that though. I only use this after swimming, not routinely. It looks like it's $5-6 at Walgreens, CVS, Walmart, etc

Hmm, I was worried about having a hot head. I'll look for Ultra Swim! Thanks.

 

[determined09]

Welcome to life as a swimmer. I use UltraSwim shampoo after my laps. Most stores carry it- it's in a small blue bottle, inexpensive ($8?). Supposedly it helps draw out the chlorine and prevent hair damage. I will warn you it smells funky. Between UltraSwim and my girlfriend's ridiculous Living Proof $25 shampoo and $25 conditioner I've been able to keep my hair decent. (I never thought shampoo made that big of a difference until using her shampoo). My GF has also thrown this "hair mask" stuff in a couple times which has quickly rejuvenated my hair.

Back in my days of competitive swimming like 4hrs a day my hair was just completely burnt. I suppose the one benefit was not having to use an styling product, it would just *stick* wherever I brushed it.

A cap will really only take you so far. Water still tends to get in there as it is. They're also prone to making your head super hot, so taking it off and wetting your head is often much needed relief. A lot of pools require caps and it will make you more hydrodynamic - so just like a Speedo, it's nothing unusual in the world of swimming. You're in the water- no ones watching you or cares.

-----
Speaking of which, I've been pretty busy lately. My 5 days a week swimming has turned into 2-3. I'm doing about 2 miles per session, albeit pretty lazily. It would be nice if I recommitted myself again. I need to switch pools too. I think something closer to home would benefit me, and perhaps somewhere with swim clientele other than the geriatric water aerobics crew to keep me motivated.
[doublepost=1466425610][/doublepost] View attachment 636994
They make a conditioner too, I've never tried that though. I only use this after swimming, not routinely. It looks like it's $5-6 at Walgreens, CVS, Walmart, etc

Deleted post

 

[S.B.G]

I had a really good session at the gym this morning. I was able to pull 315lbs for reps on deadlifts which is a big jump for me from what I was doing. I think the trick was to actually start the first set heavy, rather than light and increase the weight with each set. By the time I'd get to the 3rd set, I'd be exhausted and couldn't pull that much weight.

Also, a funny thing happened, though had potential to be very bad. A friend of mine's step-son was in there this morning by himself working out. He's a teenager in high school with a very small frame, maybe about 130lbs. He was on the seated leg press and kept putting more plates on it until he got up to 540lbs. As soon as he released the safety's the weight came crashing down on him. Good thing there are welded safety's toward the bottom to stop it. He was fine and not hurt, except maybe his pride.

He's a young kid who thinks he knows it all and can do anything he wants. He won't listen to advice from his step-dad or anyone else in the gym on the best ways to exercise to build muscle, and more importantly, not get injured.

But, eventually he'll learn and mature and realize his limits.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

I had a really good session at the gym this morning. I was able to pull 315lbs for reps on deadlifts which is a big jump for me from what I was doing. I think the trick was to actually start the first set heavy, rather than light and increase the weight with each set. By the time I'd get to the 3rd set, I'd be exhausted and couldn't pull that much weight.

Also, a funny thing happened, though had potential to be very bad. A friend of mine's step-son was in there this morning by himself working out. He's a teenager in high school with a very small frame, maybe about 130lbs. He was on the seated leg press and kept putting more plates on it until he got up to 540lbs. As soon as he released the safety's the weight came crashing down on him. Good thing there are welded safety's toward the bottom to stop it. He was fine and not hurt, except maybe his pride.

He's a young kid who thinks he knows it all and can do anything he wants. He won't listen to advice from his step-dad or anyone else in the gym on the best ways to exercise to build muscle, and more importantly, not get injured.

But, eventually he'll learn and mature and realize his limits.

Yes, pride is a big thing with teenagers, (both male and female) which often leads to injured pride when things go wrong.

A way of approaching them on this is to offer suggestions via questions, rather than via orders or well intentioned advice (which they will resent, ignore, or tune out, because their pride will over-ride their sense).

The old "what are you trying to do?" followed by "what might be a good way of trying to achieve this - in your view"? might work. If what they suggest is preposterous, you might murmur mildly "you really think that this is a good idea?" (rather than the more obvious "how stupid can you be?")

Sometimes, at this stage, having thought it through, I would find students (usually male, but occasionally female) would burst out laughing at themselves, (I would have been directing essays, or class presentations, not weights, but the principle is the same) and say, sheepishly, 'well, no, now that you mention it, that's probably not such a good idea'.

That is when you can offer an alternative - 'what about you think of this/doing it this way?' - 'Or, do you think this way might work better?' making it seem that the idea may have joint ownership.

 

[Huntn]

I had a really good session at the gym this morning. I was able to pull 315lbs for reps on deadlifts which is a big jump for me from what I was doing. I think the trick was to actually start the first set heavy, rather than light and increase the weight with each set. By the time I'd get to the 3rd set, I'd be exhausted and couldn't pull that much weight.

Also, a funny thing happened, though had potential to be very bad. A friend of mine's step-son was in there this morning by himself working out. He's a teenager in high school with a very small frame, maybe about 130lbs. He was on the seated leg press and kept putting more plates on it until he got up to 540lbs. As soon as he released the safety's the weight came crashing down on him. Good thing there are welded safety's toward the bottom to stop it. He was fine and not hurt, except maybe his pride.

He's a young kid who thinks he knows it all and can do anything he wants. He won't listen to advice from his step-dad or anyone else in the gym on the best ways to exercise to build muscle, and more importantly, not get injured.

But, eventually he'll learn and mature and realize his limits.

Hopefully he learned some lesson from this. I know people who can't take advice, they learn by trying first hand, while disregarding sound advice, and sometimes learn the hard way. Fortunately the machine was designed to prevent a hard lesson.

 

[S.B.G]

Yeah, I probably weigh about 50 pounds more than he does and am stronger too. The most I'll do on that particular machine is 315lbs and that's difficult for me to move.