I've just hit my first Traineo goal; down to 175lbs from 183lbs and my body fat is down from just under 19% to just under 17%



I'm hoping to beat my best 10k and half-marathon times early next year and I plan to lose another 5lb's before the end of the year and hopefully another 1% body fat to support this.

That's a bit of an odd article, on one hand it tries to portray how extreme their diet is and how few calories they eat then goes on to describe how they eat (the guys anyway) around 2000 calories a day. Hardly extreme.



What is extreme is the obsessing over weighing portions and meal planning and I get the feeling that's more about control than anything else.

There's a pretty extensive list here;

http://www.runningnetwork.com/stores/newjersey.htm l



No idea if they are in north NJ though (I'm in the UK)

Just make sure you get professional advice from a reputable running store.



Despite all the reviews available, buying running shoes is a very individual process depending on your running style and the shape of your feet.

I used to think that too.



I've been running pretty regularly for about 4 years and a couple of years ago I read that stretching prior to excercise had, at best, no effect and was potentially damaging. I'm really sorry I can't for the life of me remember the source but I'm pretty sure it came via Runners World.



Anyhoo, I thought I'd try it and I gave up stretching prior to running and felt absolutely no ill-effects whatsoever. (I'm very disciplined about stretching after a run BTW).



Try it at your own risk and all that... ;)

FWIW, we have Precor treadmills at my gym. Even though I enter accurate age/weight measurements before a run I'm dubious about how accurate the 'calories burned' measurement is.



I'm using my Suunto T6 as the yardstick which I believe measures calories pretty accurately (based on HR & Vo2).



The treadmill always estimates about 15-20% higher.

Yay! Thanks Max

Guys, you are doing really well, keep it up!

Yes, of course it can be done, it's whether it's a good idea.



If you're losing more than 1-2lbs a week it's less likely to stay off as it will probably be water & muscle rather than fat so it's counter-productive.



Going for a large goal in a couple of weeks is also more likely to give you the short-term "I'm on a diet" attitude which also isn't that productive in the long run.



And yes, egg white is high in protein.

That thing seems to have a ton of sugar in it which is never a good idea IMHO.



I'd just figure out the calories and eat 'good stuff' instead.



I think the benefit of these kind of bars is easy calories, probably OK if you are trying to gain weight but not if you are tring to lose it.

I had a really hard time in Las Vegas trying to eat even semi-healthily.



We were in one fairly upscale restaurant when I asked for my vegetables NOT to come with butter added, the waiter looked at me as if I was some kind of idiot, asked me to repeat it, then of course they still came with the butter on them anyway!



Good luck!

Hey Brandon, I've just finished watching the Firefly series, it was really, really enjoyable. It's a shame it got cancelled.



I'm looking forward to seeing Serenity now!

Hey Mike,



Fantastic results - congratulations!

By the way, I got a bit fed-up with my homemade solution to attaching the sensor to my non-Nike runners so I bought one of these;

http://www.marware.com/cgi-bin/WebObjects/Marware. woa/5/wa/selectedCategory?catalogCatID=226&wosid=V P0EE5Dv7Vf2lUpgdtNh3w



It's probably a bit expensive for what it is but it's extemely convenient.

Hey Martin, I'd love to join the 100k challenge. I haven't tried that feature yet!



popabawa [at] gmail [dot] com



Thanks!

I'm SO excited about the Wii, I feel like a little kid again (and that was a long time ago!).



We'll find out today when the Wii will hit Euro-land.

I'm not sure why you think Mexico is fatty food capital of the world? Maybe you are mixing it up with the Tex-Mex crap that gets served up as Mexican food.



Real Mexican food is absolutely excellent with plenty of opportunity to eat healthily.

Thanks Max, a nice addition for extra usability

Will, have you got a decent pair of running shoes? That could be your problem if you're just using a pair of 'fashion' trainers.



Go to a specialist running store. If they do their job properly they will examine the way you run and give you a shoe choice based on that which will give you the support that you need.



The difference is unbelieveable.

Whilst it might be healthy option, Olive Oil isn't necessarily too great for the environment;



http://www.guardian.co.uk/g2/story/0,,1870182,00.h tml

Lost = best TV since Twin Peaks.



We're just getting to the end of S2 in the UK, I'm jealous you guys are just about to kick off the new series. Remember, no spoilers please!

You can't go wrong with Polar, I had two different models before I went crazy and upgraded to the Suunto T6.



I also have Tanita scales (can't remember the model, sorry). I'm not sure exactly how accurate they are, however, the % body fat that it measures definately went down as I lost weight so it's at least a very good indicator of how you are doing. It's also a good talking point when you have guests, they usually all want a 'go' on it!

You could try watching Morgan Spurlock's movie "Supersize Me". If that doesn't put you off it for life I don't know what will!



I weened myself off fast food by going cold turkey, it didn't take too long to kick the habit, and it IS just a habit.



If it's convenience you need, there's plenty of ways of having nutritious food available, you just need to plan a little. I think planning the whole of your food for the next day a day ahead would be an excellent start.

Thanks Chris!



My observation skills need some improvement I think!

Just a suggestion but instead of the drop-down box (easy - meduim - hard - really hard), could a slider be implemented instead?



That way a more precise 'calories burned' could be logged (if you know them) or a quick estimate based on the current calculations using "easy - meduim - hard - really hard" as the graduations.



I hope that makes sense!

I'm with Aaron. Food is fuel and veggies deliver a lot of important stuff.



Although it's your choice to not eat any vegetables you have to be prepared to deal with the consequences, i.e. that it will probably be more difficult to reach and maintain a healthy weight.

Tcha! C'mon Aaron, Google is your friend



Here's a fairly good (though critical) overview;

http://www.nutrimundo.com/diets/dr_bernstein_diet. html



Just to be clear - I'm not saying that's a correct assessment of the diet, just that it gives an overview of what it's about.



FWIW, it doesn't sound like a particularly sustainable approach to me.

There's tons of salsa receipes if you do a search on Google. If you make it yourself you know exactly what's going into it and you can make it as hot as you like.



This one is pretty decent, I made it leaving out the sugar and salt;



http://www.cookingcache.com/dips/californiachilled salsa.shtml

My feeling is that when Atkins was de-bunked towards the end of its mass popularity the concensus was that it worked because it actually led to overall eating less calories. People got so sick of eating just protien & fat that they just ended up eating less.







Colin puts it perfectly. To add my 2p's worth of explanation, simple refined sugars can be damaging as the provoke a very fast insulin spike which can encourage fat storage, it can also damage the insulin response over time, hence the prevelance of Type II diabetes in people who are obese.

Fantastic! Top job Maxwell