iHurt

[clevermanka]

femfatalatron's exercise program is hard.

Ouch.

The only thing that kept me from stopping halfway up the hill on the walk to work this morning (after my morning exercise) was pride. My legs were ridiculously weak and trembly. Unnggghh. I've started taking arnica (to relieve DOMS) after my workouts, and then another dose in the evening. I think I might switch to arsenic soon. The program seems to be working, though. I'm down to 143.4 as of this morning. Early June saw 156 on the scale. I haven't taken measurements or progress photos yet. I'll try to remember to do that this weekend.

Wheat and soda are still out of the picture, and I can't say I miss either terribly much--except when it comes to cocktails. A splash of Pama in a ginger ale sounded mighty tasty the other night. I rarely indulge in what I've come to think of as "recreational carbs"--sushi rice when we went to Yokohama with the SF Institute group for dinner, white basmati rice at India Palace with my saag paneer--but that's only happened a few times this month, and no more than once a week. I'm doing very well with the fruits-vegetables-meat-dairy eating program and as long as those make up the majority of my food intake, I'm not going to stress about occasional indulgences.

I need to supplement my protein intake, though. I'm not getting enough. I can't eat solid protein right before and after my morning constitutionals. I tried and...yuck. Can anyone weigh in on protein powders? I used to buy Optimum Nutrition's Whey Protein. Is that still one of the best out there? Anyone got experience with protein powders? normalcyispasse, are you still hanging around here? I'm sure you'd have some good advice for me. I prefer to down something like a protein drink in the mornings than fix a breakfast--and worry about keeping it down while I exercise.

Progress on costumes for Smoker has come to a halt. No excuse for that except for laziness. I must remedy that this weekend. If I don't have three complete costumes finished by the end of this weekend, I will be irredeemably behind schedule. I have two costumes done and ready to go. I need to finish a bra, attach ties to a belt, and make an overskirt for the green cowrie costume. There's no reason I can't do that in a weekend. roya_spirit, let me know if you'd have time to help me fit the bra. The way I'm designing the layout of this, I'd like to attach the straps before I start laying on the embellishments, so earlier is better than later. Maybe Saturday?

I need a haircut.

Comments

[stuology.livejournal.com]

I only miss soda now a little bit--usually when I see a good cane-sugar root beer. I do not miss the horrible, after-feel of HFC sodas. At all. Not even in cocktail form. Now, if I could cut the cane sugar out of my diet, I'd be set.

I need a hair cut too.

[clevermanka.livejournal.com]

I only drank diet soda, even with cocktails. Yes, HFCS is the devil.

[rougewench.livejournal.com]

femfataleatron can easily provide you the low down on protein powders, as he was pretty much living on protein shakes for the last month.


D.

[femfataleatron.livejournal.com]

Muscle soreness is good! It reminds you you are alive. Joint soreness is another matter... Don't get too caught up on the scale tho, it can be effected by too many factors to give day-to-day results that are very satisfying. The best is just looking in the mirror. Yes, Optimum makes the best/cheapest powder. Only get the "natural" stuff if you like the taste of Stevia tho, personally I think it's a little weird. I get mine from (http://www.supplementwarehouse.com/brand.asp?brand=180 It might be cheaper elsewhere, but I don't know about it. Biotest(http://www.biotest.net/)makes good products too. Their protein powder is a tad less expensive. I look for powders to be under $1.00 per serving both of these fit the bill. Biotest does not charge shipping if you take the slow boat. Biotest stuff is only available through them tho, so you can't shop around. I am working on a recipies document but I may not get it done before I leave for SA.

[clevermanka.livejournal.com]

Thanks! There's a local store here that sells Optimum Nutrition. I don't mind shelling out the extra $10 to shop locally for something that will last me a few months.

Yeah, not a Stevia fan. Thanks for the tip.

Oh, and I'd rather have other things to remind me I'm alive. =D

[rowangolightly.livejournal.com]

THANK you! I'm very interested in the protein powder as well and greatly appreciate the tips.

*sigh*

The thing I miss most is bread. But I'm happy with my progress so I can't bitch too much.

[clevermanka.livejournal.com]

See _luaineach's opinion on the 100% Egg version, below.

Good luck with your progress! I look forward to seeing it--soon! =D

[amjhawk.livejournal.com]

I don't think this'll help much, but I will tell you my experience.

During off-season (akin to boot camp - college coaches would actually come watch because our program was that tough and effective), yeah, I couldn't keep anything down. Especially a protein shake. For two years, my breakfast consisted of a small little microwaveable sausage in a biscuit (sometimes with cheese).

And as to protein drinks, I remember being forced to drink them because I was too small, to gain weight and all. Met-Rx was the brand. I usually mixed it with a banana - potassium is great for muscle soreness, and it also helped the taste if it was too... protein powdery.

[clevermanka.livejournal.com]

I don't mind protein shakes at all, and have used them often in the past. I just wasn't sure if the brand I previously used was still one of the better deals on the market.

Met-Rx is (I believe) sold through GNC and (if so) has a ridiculous mark-up. I don't buy anything through that chain. Ugh. Luckily, we have a locally owned place here in Lawrence that sells similar products without the hype, advertising, and annoying salespeople. =D

[http://users.livejournal.com/_luaineach/]

I use ON protein powders also, but I just switched off the whey to the Gold Standard 100% Egg (http://www.optimumnutrition.com/products/100-egg-protein-p-220.html). I love it. I use the "Rich Chocolate" and it is mmmm mmm yummy tasting.

[clevermanka.livejournal.com]

Ooo! Thanks. I'll call to see if the local store carries that version. If they don't, maybe they'll order it for me. Yay! They have it, and they have it in stock! I'll pick some up after yoga class on Saturday.

I like the idea of egg protein better. I have no idea why, but...

Warning! Lego analogies!!... If you are bored, scroll!

[femfataleatron.livejournal.com]

Egg protein is about as good as a protein can get, in terms of bioavailability (usefulness). The basic differences in proteins are how quickly your body can access them. This is based on complexity. Imagine if you had a pile of legos and you had to pick out all the bricks of a certain type, say blue. If they were stuck together in huge clumps you would have to take them all apart to get to the blue ones. If they were all loose, you could sort through them easily. Whey protein isolate (key word)has almost no clumps of legos, so you can metabolize it quickly. Egg protein has pretty small clumps and also has all the bricks you need to build a decent space ship... sorry, I mean muscle tissue. Plant derived proteins (legumes and the like) are made of huge unwieldy clumps of mostly useless legos (for space ships anyway). Ok, no more lego analogies... Milk protien (sodium casienate) while not as bioavailable as egg or whey, has a weird feature of forming a glob in your stomach, and thus digesting more slowly, which can be great if you get it late in the evening, 'cause it will last into the night.

[clevermanka.livejournal.com]

So maybe if I've had a light eating day, make a protein shake with cottage cheese around 8:30p or 9:00p (my eating cut-off time since I have to take my thyroid medication on an empty stomach and I go to bed at 11:00p at the latest).

yep.

[femfataleatron.livejournal.com]

Cottage cheese contains micellar casein that is even slower to digest that usual and has other cool metabolic benefits. Simply put it will help you recover more efficiently from your hard work! (and build, like, a wicked X-wing!)

[clevermanka.livejournal.com]

Well, when I get to a point where I contemplate constructing interplanetary space craft, I'll certainly remember to include micellar casein in my daily diet.

[skyflame.livejournal.com]

There was a "make-your-own sushi" episode of Good Eats on earlier this week. If rice wasn't so bad for me, I would have been all over that.

[clevermanka.livejournal.com]

I love Alton Brown, but there are some things that I leave in the hands of professionals. Rare steak and raw fish among them. =D

[scary-manilow.livejournal.com]

Kelly and I are into this quinoa-based pasta that they have at the Casbah-- gluten free and quite tasty. I don't know if that fits into your diet, but if so, you might give it a whirl if'n you have a pasta craving.

[clevermanka.livejournal.com]

I have some quinoa, and I look forward to trying it when I'm done with the fat-loss portion of this gig. It will be a great addition to the maintenance phase! Shoot me some quinoa recipes you like anytime!

[skyflame.livejournal.com]

This won't help your diet any, but it is gluten-free...

http://www.celiac.com/articles/888/1/Chocolate-Cheesecake-Gluten-Free/Page1.html

[normalcyispasse.livejournal.com]

Of course I'm still around! I'm just quiet sometimes.

Optimum is, as far as I know, still a good value for the money. I have a tub of their chocolate-mint on my fridge right now, actually. The other brand I routinely purchase is Champion. You can buy powders with a higher percentage of protein isolates, but you'll pay a LOT more. Optimum and Champion are, IMHO, the best as far as value and taste are concerned.

[clevermanka.livejournal.com]

Keen. Thank you!!!

[maibe.livejournal.com]

I liked the Aria protien powder - I'd get vanilla and mix it into shakes of various kinds (usually banana, fruits, and all-natural plain or vanilla yogurt). I got it in the Organic section of stores and at the Merc.

[adammaker.livejournal.com]

I'm interested in what your current workout plan is....
Did you post about it and I missed it?

[clevermanka.livejournal.com]

I'll email it to you unless I hear from femfataleatron that it would be ok to post to LJ. Since he created it, I don't want to make it public without first asking his permission.