dmstanford42

That's good to know! We were both starting to freak out a bit because it's only a few months out.

We probably ought to do that again, just to be safe. We check it every couple of months or so, but haven't recently, so it's possible that I've managed to slip below acceptable levels there. Thanks

Yep, we are going! bought our tickets back in February. It's my Birthday "present" (torture? WHO KNOWS). Our training is fairly basic. Neither of us are hardcore fitness fanatics, but we like being outdoors, swimming, biking, rock climbing, etc. Our training is kind of a reflection of that: We go to the gym and we push ourselves (lots of climbing/jumping training), and we are distance/endurance training, but not on a rigorous schedule. I think we've made real progress from when we started, but in terms of actually being prepared, well, we really don't know. We would probably be a lot more motivated if we had other people to be active with regularly, but alas, none of our friends are even remotely interested. Regardless, we are both like "this is going to be fun and we are going to fail miserably but WHO CARES OBSTACLE COURSE WOOOO!" Let me know if you do decide to go; even if we can't set up a team it would be great to meet someone new and run with them

On our non-gym days, we've been doing some looooong runs, punctuation them with sets of burpees, squats, pushups and what have you every half mile or so. We also use the small playground near us to practice sprinting up slides and doing dead hangs and monkey bars (as some of the TM training videos suggested) but some of the things we just don't have the equipment available to try. Cest la vie. Really, the only part of this that sucks for me is the Gym. It's the only option we have for dedicated strength training, and for me its just so demoralizing. Even when I push myself, I can't seem to break my strength plateaus (specifically on triceps and pull-ups, which I heard were pretty crucial for a lot of the climbing-oriented obstacles). You're probably right, however, in that I set my expectation far too high, even with almost a year to train. I can't be 100% dedicated to it (work, life, etc), and expecting massive returns in that time is probably unrealistic. Reflecting on it, I think I may have lost the personal enjoyment of preparing (because the event will be crazy and fun) because I talked it up to so many people and now I'm thinking they expect me to do well. I need to refocus on doing the best that I can and enjoying the event. Thanks

My wife and I are going on the 7th! This is our first one. We tried to cajole family/friends into joining us, but no-one wanted to

Hey all, So, my wife and I are into fitness related activities. We love to go biking, or enjoy a long walk on the West Orange Trail, or go rock climbing, or swimming in the local cold springs. Lots of different things, really. However, we have managed to acquire a large group of friends who absolutely do not like to do any of this kind of thing ever. We realized that we need to find ourselves a more active group to do these things with, and NF really represents the right community (we are both obviously nerds). Any other rebels in the Winter Garden/Orlando area that would like to do bike rides or some such? Or, are there any weekly events or clubs that we don't know about? We really want to shift our social circle to be more supportive of being active, because we do enjoy it, but it's hard when you don't have anyone to share it with :/ Cheers!

Yeah, I tried both. I did two weeks of +5 lbs; reps dropped by 1/3/5 per set, but never started climbing. Same thing with reduced weight, only reps went up by 3/2/1 per set, but never increased past that. I've just stagnated at every weight/rep combination :-/

Hey all, I'm in need of some motivational help. I've hit a pretty nasty slump and can't seem to shake it. I'll elaborate: In Feb this year, my wife and I signed up for Tough Mudder, because it looks like fun and it's a great goal to work towards. We started off strong, really pushing ourselves. Saw some decent gains in strength and endurance, feeling really good about how things were going. But now, I've plateaued pretty hard. I've been stuck at the same weight/reps on just about every exercise for the past 4 or 5 weeks. This has really started to dig into my motivation because, well, I really, really hate the gym. The only thing that kept me going was seeing progress, and knowing I was moving towards my goal. Now that I'm not seeing that, I'm questioning why I'm torturing myself. I've explored other avenues to try to break this trend: try different routines or activities, find training buddies, etc. Nothing has worked. I don't look forward to exercising anymore, I just think about all the things I could be doing instead. We've only got 2 months to go until the event, and I feel dreadfully under prepared. I'm starting to not even be excited for the event, since I'll most likely just flop on every obstacle. Any advice for breaking out of this? I need a respawn bad! THANKS!

Moved this post.

Well, everything useful I have to say just went straight out the window regarding that little problem Good luck on your hunt!

No problem! If you have a Target near you, they sell a brand of grass-fed, no crap added Filmjolk called Siggi's. Its pretty dang tasty, but I don't know how it compares to the real deal overseas.

This sounds a lot like too much change too quickly. Swapping from a carbohydrate rich diet to one that is nearly devoid of them was probably too much of system shock, since you are asking your body to change how it processes food into energy. To echo Gobnait, my suggestion would be to back up a bit, reintroduce grains/beans into your diet, and slowly reduce the amounts while increasing proteins and fats, until you get to the ratios you want. If you want to give probiotics a try, look for Kefir or Filmjolk, which are probiotic-rich cultured yogurts in a drinkable form. Be warned that they are both very tangy (a result of all the live bacteria used to culture them), so they may take some getting used to, but my wife has been drinking 8oz each day, and they have helped reduce her digestive troubles.

Yep, the French call it fond, which I think is literally translated to foundation, since it is the foundation for many tasty sauces and gravies.

The problem with Mayonnaise is that I actively seek ways to eat it (same with peanut butter). Because of this, I have to be VERY careful about having either of those two devil foods in my house But yes, homemade Mayo is the nectar of gods. For me, anyway.

Too many egg yolks at once makes me feel a bit blah, so I save em for later to stretch out my rate of consumption. I'm going to have to try that blender version. I wonder if the heat from the motor is just enough to thicken the yolks without curdling. If it is, that is some serious culinary science/voodoo right there, and I applaud it.

I like to make hollandaise to dress asparagus and broccoli. Gotta do something with all the leftover egg yolks I have. I also feel accomplished every time I get it right because its so temperamental .

I spent a couple hours puttering around the kitchen this weekend and pulled together this southern-inspired recipe. This is the first BIG recipe I have shared, so I would love some feedback on difficulty, instructional quality, etc. I hope everyone enjoys it! Pork & Kale stew Time: 1 hour 45 minutes (15 minutes prep, 30 minutes cooking, 1 hour inactive) Yield: A LOT. Hardware 12-Quart Stockpot A Large bowl Software Approximately 3lb of Pork Shoulder (aka Pork Butt), cut into 1-inch cubes 1 LB of carrots, cut into 1-inch pieces 1 Large Yellow onion, diced 8oz *by weight* of kale, roughly chopped (about half a bag, if you get it pre-cut/washed from the produce dept.) 1 Quart of chicken stock 1 TBSP Paprika 1 TBSP Garlic Powder 1 TSP Cayenne Pepper 2 TSP Dried Sage 2 TSP Black Pepper Salt to taste Blueprints 1. Heat 1 TBSP of canola oil in your Stockpot over medium high heat until it is rocket hot, and begin searing the pork shoulder. Do this in small batches, being careful to not crowd the bottom of the pot. Once the pieces are in, don't touch them for at least one minute, to ensure a good sear.The goal here isn't to cook the pork, just to give it some color. Once each batch is done, evacuate it to your large bowl. The bottom of your pot should be covered in delightfully flavorful stuck-on bits of seared pork, also known as fond. 2. Reduce heat to medium and add the onions (and additional butter/oil if you need it) and saute for 5 minutes, until they are translucent and starting to brown. 3. Add the carrots, and continue to saute for another 5 minutes, or until the onions are golden brown and you can smell the carrots. 4. Add the pork back in along with all the spices, and cook until everything is nice and aromatic, about 1 minute. 5. Add all of the kale and the chicken stock, and stir to combine. 6. Bring the liquid to a boil (to kill any bad stuff hanging about), and then reduce heat to medium low, and simmer covered for approximately 1 hour, or until the pork is melt-in-your-mouth tender and the carrots are cooked through. Serve hot with a splash of red wine or cider vinegar for some extra zing. Notes: -This dish (as is true for most soups/stews) will actually be better the next day, since the flavors have had plenty of time to mingle. In my batch, the pork was even more tender as well. This makes is a great weekday lunch dish to prepare on Sunday. -If crunchy kale is your preference, you can wait and add it during the last 10 minutes of cooking. I hope everyone enjoys! -David

sweet, thanks! I just needed somewhere to start.

I've been working on building some base muscle using the bodyweight routine, but I cannot figure out how many extra calories I need to take in to facilitate muscle growth. I've managed to shed some pudge, and I don't want to eat sooooo many additional calories that I just put that back on, but I want to be certain that I'm giving myself enough to build with. Is it 200? 300? I have no idea how to figure this out! Thanks!

Eh, the wife and I stopped drinking wine for a while, and I honestly didn't notice much of a difference. Whenever we do drink wine, we account for the calories (about 125 for 5oz), and we have a little extra water beforehand to counteract the slight dehydrating effect. I have never noticed any negative effects on my weight the day after. Overall we consider the health benefits (antioxidants and blood thinner) to outweigh the additional calories/sugars/etc. Plus, a small glass of red wine with dinner after a brutal workout is extremely relaxing and it ensures I get at least 8 hours of sleep that night ;-)

Glad to see another Good Eats fan around Alton really does success where many shows fail - His teaching methods are fairly exhaustive, concise, and most of all, MEMORABLE. I really, really wish they would get Good Eats onto Netflix, but all of the episodes are available on YouTube. I think I appreciate, most of all, that he takes the time to explain the SCIENCE of cooking, so that you understand at a fundamental level what is happening to the food as it is cooked. It is so much more empowering in the kitchen than "it happens because it happens".

Your day is nearly identical to mine. Here's what I do, only I don't go to a gym, I workout at home. 6 am - Wake up, get my butt to work. Noon - Break fast with reasonable lunch (about 25 - 30% of total daily calories). 6 - 7pm - Workout at home. 7-8pm - DINNAR (remainder of daily calories). 10pm - Bed. So long as what you are eating is healthy (lots of protein/veggies) eating a large meal an hour or two before bed isn't bad - your body will use that energy while you rest to rebuild the muscles you tore up earlier that evening.

I'm going to parrot everyone else here and say that your best bet is to cut the cream and sugar. I did this about 5 years ago, and it was hard - at first - until I realized that the coffee I was drinking at the time was pretty awful stuff compared to a properly brewed cup. Once I started brewing my own from good beans, I realized that I didn't need the cream or sugar because the coffee had enough flavor on its own, and that made it much easier to kick the additions from my morning dose.

I find that my favorite puree-friendly soups packed in a thermos make handy meals-to-go. Sipped over the course of the night, even light soups like roasted red pepper and tomato will keep you satisfied. Alternatively, my summer favorite (that I often take to work for lunch) is a picnic variant - it requires no heating and, depending on the foods you pack, is finger-friendly. They can include (but are in no way limited to): Chilled meats (leftover roast chicken is great for this, but whatever you have lying around works) Pickles (dry them a bit on paper towel before you pack them, otherwise they'll get everything soggy) cheeses hard-boiled eggs Blanched or raw veggies It is similar to a sandwich, but the ingredients can be a bit more diverse. Also, a great way to clear out leftovers from the fridge!

Greetings Rebels! I'm a new member, with my wife having only discovered this fantastic community about a week ago. We've both learned a TON, and I wanted to hop in and give back to the community, even if it is only a small amount. Food has always been a huge part of my life. I started cooking when I was 10, and I never stopped. It's empowering and fun, and I am always trying to get people to give it a try. Like any new skill it can be a bit intimidating and the vast amounts of information needed to do it really well is a daunting thing to commit to memory, but the end result is totally worth it. About 5 years ago, I found a great informational source that changed the way I approach cooking, and, since this is a community of nerds, I wanted to pass it along to those who don't know about it. Two simple words: Good Eats This may be old hat for many of you; after all, the show has 13 seasons behind it and Alton Brown has surfaced as one of many culinary stars. For those of you who don't know, Mr. Brown has created the most nerd-friendly cooking show I have ever seen. Not only does he cook amazing food, but he breaks down the science of how it works and specific techniques you need to pull it off. As he often describes, his show is one part Julia Child, one part Mr. Wizard and one part Monty Python. It's an amazing way to learn about cooking. Plus, he has sock puppets. SOCK PUPPETS! Seriously, though, if you have trouble perfecting a certain dish or just aren't certain what is the best way to cook your favorite food, he's got the answers. He dedicates many of his shows to a single food item - Broccoli, eggs, salt (yep, a 1 hour special on salt) - and they are a wealth of knowledge. Whenever I'm not quite certain how to proceed on a new dish, I search up the Good Eats episode on the food item in question and my questions are always answered. While not all of it is health-friendly (and he acknowledges that) most of it is adaptable into your current culinary concoctions. If you are new to cooking and don't know where to start learning or you are looking for ways to up your game, give it a shot. I look forward to being part of such a sweet community! -David