Nutrition, Diet, and Elite Fitness: Notes, Goals, and Resources....

[leggo PE]

I don't actually do that much planking work -- and a full plank workout is pretty abnormal but it's part of the 6-week challenge I'm doing right now, that I started a week late but whatever! My husband is INSANE with planks. He has one of those plank roller things (it looks like this: ) and has worked up to spending like 9.5 minutes on it every morning on weekdays. I think the every day part is super key! I never use it and can maybe only do 1 min on it, if I'm lucky? It's super tricky!

 I'm not biking as much as I used to (because I'm not really commuting to the office ever), and I think that helped my core get worked a lot! However, I think I've found the workouts I like the best, which are basically thirty minute weight training workouts with built-in cardio (often mountain climbers, burpees, high knees, etc.). I think I'm probably getting a lot of core work done in these workouts, even if it's not specifically called such.

Also, abs are made in the kitchen! I have typically always had more defined abs than my husband (though not necessarily stronger), but I think I also have better control when it comes to portions of food (especially snacks). Then again, my husband also goes on a run (3-5 miles) or a long bike ride (20+ miles with typically at least 2k of elevation gain) every single day... He's basically an energizer bunny. I don't do nearly that much!

 

[Road Guy]

^- we have one of those, I need to remember to use it days I dont go to gym.

& you are dead on about the kitchen part, my personal dietician (also my cohabitator) also set me up for failure by wanting Margs and Queso the other day

 

[leggo PE]

^- we have one of those, I need to remember to use it days I dont go to gym.

& you are dead on about the kitchen part, my personal dietician (also my cohabitator) also set me up for failure by wanting Margs and Queso the other day

Haha! Next time, I'd stick with the marg's and skip the queso. But, I dunno, we just try to stick to a loose 80/20 scheme in the kitchen. We cook/prepare 95% of our meals (we typically get takeout on time a week) and stick to lots of plant-based diets (lots of beans, legumes) and use dinner leftovers for lunch the next day. This week, for instance, our dinners (the only meal I really plan, as breakfast for me is always a protein shake and Mr. Leggo either has the same or a bowl of granola -- Purely Elizabeth ONLY because it's the best tasting and decent in protein, low in sugar, and lunch is usually leftovers as mentioned before) were/are the following:

• Leftovers of a crazy good Baked Alfredo Pasta w/ Broccoli Rabe & Lemon
  
• Portobello Boats w/ Rosemary-Lentil Crumble & Balsamic-Apple Glaze + Crispy Brussels Sprouts in Garlic Oil <-- vegan
  
• Tuscan Farro Soup (a white bean and farro soup) + bread <-- vegan
  
• Lentils w/ Chorizo, Greens & Yellow Rice
  
• Buttermilk-Marinated Roasted Chicken + mashed potatoes + broccoli (I'm using Samin Nosrat's recipe, which has super good reviews) <-- this is what we're having tonight!
  
• Roasted Carrots w/ Farro, Chickpeas & Herbed Tahini Sauce <-- vegan
  
• Chicken Enchiladas using the leftover roasted chicken + rice & beans
  
• Mediterranean Smashed Chickpea Salad w/ Tzatziki Aioli on Crispy Potato Rounds + Green Goddess Gazpacho <-- vegan (haven't made this yet--it's a few new recipes!)
  
• Butternut Squash Chipotle Chili (bonus meal!) <-- vegan, this is my favorite chili recipe by far
  

This is pretty much of prototypical of how I meal plan. I look for a couple of meals that use meat, and bonus if it's a roast chicken that I can use for two distinct meals and also make broth out of! Then I try to balance out with veggie or vegan meals for the rest. It's probably mostly me, but I really like cook dinner every night. The pandemic (read: working from home) has definitely increased my ability to and willingness to try many new recipes and do things that are more complex. We also don't usually eat dinner until 8 or 8:30 pm most nights anyway, which might not be the best for our digestive systems, but allows us to do more time-consuming things.

I totally understand this is not feasible for lots people out there for lots of different reasons, but it works for us!

 

[Road Guy]

I am down with most of those meals -  we were doing really good before the Rona - we were both  more concsious about the eating, we were strong with Chicken / Pork with  Cauliflower Mashed potatoes (so much so that our kids were verry annoyed and they learned to make their own mashed potatoes) -

Even though I am from the South, my mom was born in NY so squash and such was never  a part of our meal plan and its been hard for me to adapt to that as an adult - but we did a ton of weird stuff with zucchni this summer (no not "that weird)

Do you get good core just from the mountain climbers, burpees, body weight stuff?  We had 3 sets of 40 burpees in the workout this am and i was trying to feel where it was working the abs.. but I was pretty much done by that 3rd set and was just trying to keep from falling out..

 

[leggo PE]

I am down with most of those meals -  we were doing really good before the Rona - we were both  more concsious about the eating, we were strong with Chicken / Pork with  Cauliflower Mashed potatoes (so much so that our kids were verry annoyed and they learned to make their own mashed potatoes) -

Even though I am from the South, my mom was born in NY so squash and such was never  a part of our meal plan and its been hard for me to adapt to that as an adult - but we did a ton of weird stuff with zucchni this summer (no not "that weird)

Do you get good core just from the mountain climbers, burpees, body weight stuff?  We had 3 sets of 40 burpees in the workout this am and i was trying to feel where it was working the abs.. but I was pretty much done by that 3rd set and was just trying to keep from falling out..

I never ate squash growing up, either. Like, never, and I grew up in the Bay Area here in California. I don't know, maybe it just wasn't my mom's thing? But when I went to college in New England, I got introduced to a LOT of produce I had never eaten, like many squashes, kale, many more types of apples than I had ever known existed, etc. I think that was mainly due to a co-op that stocked a very wide variety of veggies. That helped form my diet a lot, especially when I moved off campus and was cooking for myself. But I'm also big cookbook person! I just got a new vegan cookbook (Oh She Glows for Dinner, if you're curious) and I'm SUPER impressed with it so far. I need to cook from it a bit more before I'd solidly recommend it, but it seems supremely useful in terms of having lots of appealing recipes and, more importantly for me, how to combine recipes to make a full meal. I love to thumb through cookbooks for recipe inspiration and have a go-to collection of 5 or 6 of them on my counter (which is saying something since I don't have a ton of counter space).

Anyway, I think the core exercises help out for the core strength a lot. If you're trying to get core definition, I have the most luck getting my obliques defined (I've never really been a six-pack person) and I'm not sure how I get those defined... Lots of side planks and hip dips? Burpees definitely work the core out a LOT! I mean, I think just the action of jumping your feet back into plank and then back in works the core, even if you're not doing a true burpee, including the pushup part. I'll do full burpees and modified burpees (no pushup) in my workouts a lot. They are always the best at getting my heart rate up super quickly, all that jumping around!

 

[engineergurl]

it worked!

to a degree...  at least I'm making an attempt... lol  

 

[engineergurl]

Purely Elizabeth ONLY because it's the best tasting and decent in protein, low in sugar

QFT-  I pair it usually with an Oikos Triple Zero Vanilla and then add a fruit... depending on my carb intake that is planned for the rest of the day berries... but if I am feeling sickly then a banana.

Of course, this week I either ate nothing but junk or just plain forgot to eat and now have two nearly rotten bananas on the counter so that worked well in my planning (she says sarcastically).

 

[Orchid PE]

 

[Road Guy]

Hey look it’s a meme from 2003?

 

[Orchid PE]

About as relevant as crossfit.

 

[Road Guy]

^- Bidens speech writer?

 

[Tiger15]

...

Anyway, I think the core exercises help out for the core strength a lot. If you're trying to get core definition, I have the most luck getting my obliques defined (I've never really been a six-pack person) and I'm not sure how I get those defined... Lots of side planks and hip dips? Burpees definitely work the core out a LOT! I mean, I think just the action of jumping your feet back into plank and then back in works the core, even if you're not doing a true burpee, including the pushup part. I'll do full burpees and modified burpees (no pushup) in my workouts a lot. They are always the best at getting my heart rate up super quickly, all that jumping around!

I've never had abs. But I thought core definitely was really just about having super low body fat. I know a couple people who swear that lots of running is the best way to get defined abs.

 

[Orchid PE]

^- Bidens speech writer?

A a a a a a and w w w w w whats that sup p p p p posed to m e e e e ean.

Republican congress.

 

[leggo PE]

A a a a a a and w w w w w whats that sup p p p p posed to m e e e e ean.

Is this making fun of Biden’s stutter?

I didn’t watch last night’s debate but did read a really fascinating Atlantic article about Biden being a stutterer a few months ago. He’s really overcome a lot, and it was a very well written article, written by an author who also is a stutterer, and had a very keen eye to recognize how Biden works around his stutter by using certain ways of speaking that might seem a bit strange, very strange, or not noticeable at all by the majority of the rest of people who do not stutter. Personally, it gave me a different understanding for how Biden talks.

 

[Road Guy]

I dont know if I am supposed to apoligize in advance for talking about XF in the XF thread, but...??

Ive never been so gassed on the rower as I have today - workout was:

50 DU, 25 Cal Row, 50m farmers carry, 25 Cal Row, 50m lunges, 50 burpees, (repeat for 30 min)

I got to the 3rd round and that second set of 25 cals I just didnt have **** left in the legs and died.it took me nearly 3 min to do that last pull, where others were around 1 minute?  I dont know if that was just a lot on the legs or what but it defin hurt..

 

[Orchid PE]

Is this making fun of Biden’s stutter?

Not his stuttering, just his inability to form a sentence because he can't think clearly! 

We hold these truths to be self-evident. All men and women are created, by the, you know, you know the thing.

 

[Road Guy]

ive already voted 4X so I skiped the debates

 

[Orchid PE]

I just voted about an hour ago. 

 

[leggo PE]

Not his stuttering, just his inability to form a sentence because he can't think clearly! 

We hold these truths to be self-evident. All men and women are created, by the, you know, you know the thing.

I think/hope you're being sarcastic?

 

[csb]

Earlier this week when we did the row for calories, I struggled on that last row. "Please let me off this boat." 

This morning we went to warm-up for sumo deadlifts and we need to do some rows and kang squats (which are not named after the alien from The Simpsons?) and I grabbed the trainer bar. I said, "I've row, row, rowed my boat all week." 

This morning was 5-5-5-5-5 sumo deadlifts. I've never done those and they were kind of fun. I am definitely glad I have little legs. I used 145 lbs for the first four sets, then tried 155 lbs for the final set and made it through three lifts and then failed it. My coach had me strip weights and work on hook grip because she thought that might what caused the failure. We were also not dropping the weight today to be like Planet Fitness build strength. 

My 1RM on conventional is 195. Now I kind of wonder what sumo 1RM looks like.