snowMan

Nothing wrong with black coffee or a nice tea.

This doesn't sound dumb. In fact, quite the opposite; you should be proud of yourself for making positive, healthy changes. Good job my friend!

Awesome! How long ago was the 35:47 race? A two minute improvement is quite significant, you should be proud!

I have never been able to do 1 proper pull up or chin up in my entire life. After working very hard last year to lose weight (153lbs. so far) and getting in to strength training, I can now do 3 pull-ups and 3 chin-ups from a dead hang!

If you put a dab of coconut or olive oil on the "inside" of the spaghetti squash after cutting it in half, then bake it, it will soak in as it cooks and make the squash much less crispy. Don't use a lot of oil, just a tad! Personally I like the crispy taste.

Update: Best. Decision. Ever. Love the new job!

Define "work." If you ate ONLY 1200 calories worth of sugar-glazed-donuts every day (and no other calories), you would actually lose weight. Does this diet "work?" Sure, you just eat your daily donuts and the pounds will gradually fall off. Is this a good diet? No. The Paleo diet, to me, is just a nice way to stay healthy and keep my body in good shape. It eliminates foods that don't benefit my body and encourages healthy eating which promotes fat loss (healthy weight loss) and muscle growth (healthy weight gain). Given the choice between fad diets and a steady paleo diet, I would rather eat paleo-friendly foods that feed my body.

Nice!!!! Congratulations, you should be proud sir!

Oh my, typo on my part. Sorry about that. 4% should have been 14%, and even that isn't quite right. I think it is actually an 11.8% decrease. I currently make ~$17/hr and the new position would be ~$15/hr. I currently work as a Helpdesk Technician, providing technical support for a manufacturing company. I support general desktop computer questions as well as questions about the ERP software the plants use. Unless I want to go into management, this position is basically a dead-end with no room to move upward. The new job is a Jr. System Administrator and I would be part of a team that designs, builds, and maintains servers for a webhosting company. Unlike my current job, there is room to grow with this company and I could move into networking, system engineering, or full-fledged system administration.

Curious what everyone thinks: would it be better to stay at a job you hate, or take a job you will very likely love at a 11.8% pay cut (~$17/hr -> ~$15/hr)?

I ran in my first Warrior Dash this past Saturday and it....was....AWESOME! I have ran many footraces and enjoyed them all, but none of them come close to this much fun! I highly recommend it to anyone that is thinking about getting into mud runs or just looking for something fun and exciting to do. Since this is the woot room, my "woot" is that I was able to complete every obstacle with relative ease and even helped a few people that were struggling. The old and fat me from a year ago would certainly not have been able to do this, so "w00t!"

The "not wearing shoes at all" feeling translates into feeling like a bouncy kid where the world is my playground.

For the past 3 or 4 months I have been running in Vibram FF Komodos. Took a little conditioning, but I can run all day with no calf soreness the next day now. I have ran 2 5k's and 1 10k in them so far. The mobility and freedom they provide is just...awesome! Getting ready to run a half-marathon in November and plan to run it in them!

Great job!

What does your diet look like? How much sleep do you normally get each night? These factors have a huge impact on your energy levels.