Something Something Dangerzone

[Fiction2Fitness]

I'm all about beans, so I'm good with meatless chili's. Even before the diet adjustment. I was thinking about next time adding kidney beans, maybe. I always loved kidney beans, but black beans have become such a fav.

Stfu with the AC talk, lol. It's definitely chili weather here, we just got a bunch of snow, and cold. Yesterday my dad told me we have a winter storm watch for tomorrow-Thursday, and it's snowing today. Good thing I bought more tomato sauce.

I did some push ups with my random workout chit yesterday, and my front delts are screaming. It's been so long, lol. Cardio today. Maybe some snow shoveling if this chit keeps up.

hehe on the cold weather. Actually the hot is more a nuisance cause I'm not home that much and I don't mind a little discomfort so wouldn't run the AC. I'm not the one putting them in use the most but I pay the bill. Joys of not living alone...

I've never used black beans in chili. Always have kidney beans in it though. I do like beans, just rarely make anything with them.

[LunaLifts]

hehe on the cold weather. Actually the hot is more a nuisance cause I'm not home that much and I don't mind a little discomfort so wouldn't run the AC. I'm not the one putting them in use the most but I pay the bill. Joys of not living alone...

I've never used black beans in chili. Always have kidney beans in it though. I do like beans, just rarely make anything with them.

I don't like heat much either, I like it to be pleasantly warm. Everything else can fluff off.
Black beans are bomb in everything, you gotta try it sometime.

Squats and rows today. Maybe some core work. Still winging it. For some reason these off weeks, I still really look forward to squats.

[LunaLifts]

Squats were fluffin' awesome today!! Not breaking any PRs yet, but I got 107lbs x 2, and almost got 117 but lacked some depth. Did some unilateral rows, core work, blah blah blah.

I would be shoveling the driveway out for my dad, but he took the only shovel to work with him. He works at a horse barn, and his piece of chit employer doesn't care if there's one there. I was kinda looking forward to the extra exercise, and bringing doggo out for company. I mean, I can do it when he comes back for his lunch break, but I could have done it two times with less snow, versus once with a bunch of snow. :P

Cut is finally on track, managed to maintain over Superbowl weekend, and today I'm down to 148.

[anandagirl]

Hi! Nice work on maintaining through superbowl!

[LunaLifts]

Hi! Nice work on maintaining through superbowl!

I think if the roads weren't bad, it would have been harder. We didn't go out to get food like we thought we would. It was just the booze to contend with, but I guess I managed to keep overall weekend calories in check.

Jay's doing a job soon that's 2 hours away, as you could imagine driving that far to and from work every day is a real drag. That's a four hour waste of work time, or non-work time, and a lot of gas. So during the week itself, we're staying in a hotel out there. I hate our laptop, so I'll be online, but less, giving me time to catch up on my reading, and maybe finally getting my ass to draw a thing. Most hotels have enough space for me to do some cardio, and I'd have DBs.

So it's like trying to exercise on vacation, but with less distractions. High reps stuff, unilateral leg work, easy enough to stay active. Diet will be interesting, given that 99% of convenience/microwave food is filled with meat and/or dairy. Jay's more concerned than I am, I use to live on microwaved crap, I can just do it better now. Add the right stuff to some chili ramen, and I can eat that all week (I tend to eat the same **** for a week straight anyway, it's like meal prep, without the prep). Same with oatmeal for breakfast, and both of those are cheap af.

Rambling a bit. TL;DR: we might be spending time at a hotel for Jay's work. I can manage working out, and affordably sticking to my diet in calories, and personal restrictions.

Oh, and I hope to borrow the first Harry Potter from my brother by then. I want to read them all, I got through 4, and part of 5 when I was a kid, and don't remember the books much. I heard they're better, and I loved the movies so that can only be awesome.

[anandagirl]

Hang in there in the hotel room! I understand why Jay wouldn't want to drive it daily

[FallenAngel80]

Well done on your cut and managing to maintain during superbowl!

[LunaLifts]

Hang in there in the hotel room! I understand why Jay wouldn't want to drive it daily

The hotel will be no sweat. I'd basically be doing the same stuff I do here, just without my gym equipment, and with basic cable. >.<

Well done on your cut and managing to maintain during superbowl!

Thanks! :3

Today's accessory work, so probably RDLs, some sort of squat, upper body nonsense. Usually it's arms on accessory day, but I may just do lat raises and rear delt raises.

Going to talk about how I've felt with cutting out animal products, so if you want you can skip this part, lol. It's it's going to get long, and a little ranty at the second part.
I still have certain stuff I'm using up, because it doesn't make sense to through out food I already have. So I'm still using up my whey protein, and protein pasta. Other than that there's been no meat, dairy, or eggs for a couple weeks now, and it does feel pretty good. I've always been more of a beans, grains, and veggie fan, so having my diet focused more on those foods works for my taste buds. Love trying new stuff, as always.

I don't get that upset stomach issue I used to in the morning. I've complained about my stomach feeling wonky when I go to workout, and the only thing that's really changed for breakfast is not eating eggs. I always thought it was preworkout, but even after quitting pres I still had the problem until I switched to oatmeal.

I have noticeably more energy, which is to be expected since I started eating more nutrient dense foods, taking a multi, etc. I know people with whole food omnivore diets that are already healthy and balanced don't always have that effect. My diet sucked, so obviously hitting my micros is going to feel pretty good. Probably upped my TDEE a bit, because I have trouble sitting so much.

And of course, with the increased fiber, my digestion's better. I still get a little bloated on days with really high fiber, but it's not uncomfortably bloated, and goes away fast enough. I think I need to drink more water too, they say water is important with fiber intake, but it's been so damn cold I don't drink much of it. I also feel less weighted down after bigger meals, like I feel really full, but I don't feel tired/lazy/food coma full.

Just wanted to share my experiences with it so far. I do think that eating more plant based omnivore diets (vs standard American diet: highly processed and lots of meat/dairy/egg) is generally a good idea, but as far as feeling good and health one doesn't need to go veg. I just find it works for me.

That all said, there's a downside: I think a lot of people assume the worst part would be food cravings, but I don't really find myself craving much. Except chips, but that's because I'm on a cut so I want garbage, and most of my favs are vegan anyway. The hardest part is other people, I'm still in the closet about it, but I'm anxious so I worry about things that haven't happened yet. Jay's the only one who really knows, outside of friends online.

Jay is supportive af, he really is. He makes me Gardein tenders when he's having fish, or meatballs. He bought agar powder because he wants to make gummies, so he's making a vegan batch too. He asks where's ok to eat when we're out... but this is where there's an issue. I feel like he thinks eating out has become a hassle, despite my telling him otherwise. I can find something anywhere, there's never a place that exclusively serves meat/eggs/dairy. I'm not super strict either, like if a restaurant has something where there's a teeny amount of egg/dairy I'll be lenient. The only reason we take so long finding places to eat is the same reason as it's always been, I tell him to pick a fluffin' place because he's buying, but he keeps asking me to pick. That argument happens regardless of my dietary choices. >.<
I'm venting, sure, but this I think is pretty common. Once it's been awhile, and it's just how things are/we're used to it, it'll be routine. It's an adjustment period.

I'm not looking forward to discussing it with anyone else. My mom might be ok, because she wants grandkids so bad she wants to kiss my ass, lol (this works in my favor, until the "I don't want children' discussion). My aunt who lives with her is a little... opinionated. You now, the type who talks over you, and needs to be right. My dad, well, I went vegetarian in high school briefly, and I now what's coming. I recently told him that the guy from Babe went vegetarian (vegan actually) during the making of that movie, and he argued with me about this actor he doesn't even know. I don't see extended family that often, but when you see extended family it's always around food. I think what makes me anxious is knowing this will be something I have to argue multiple times, and I'm awful with confrontation.

Believe it nor not, I reread that to try to shrink it a bit. Sorry, just wanted to get some thoughts out.

[Fiction2Fitness]

ooo accessory day. Sounds like the hotel situation won't be a problem for you. I wouldn't want to drive 2 hours one way either. The shifts where I leave work at 6pm are a pain enough with the commute taking an hour in order to get home. Audio books help but still, I've considered changing stores just because of how long it takes to get to and from work at times. Wouldn't want a 4 hour a day one, no way no how.

Understand the eating out squabble. Even though I tend to pay more often, me and my sister have this issue too because I don't like picking places to eat, especially if the choices are whatever is available. She will want something specific and get that. Me, I don't want anything in particular and we can really find food for either taste anywhere, which makes it hard to pick a single location at a given moment. Give me a narrow selection and I'll pick but just saying wherever and I'm stuck. It's a pain even when it's just me eating and have had troubles on weekends cause I can't make up my mind.

The food troubles do sound very anxiety inducing when it comes to who you might have to face. It's tough because we do have so many food focused situations. Sure, lots of places have things you can eat, but coming up against family, that's a whole different hurdle. Some people don't understand or appreciate personal preference and choices. Good luck to you when you have to come up against those arguments and the anxious situations that may happen in the future over it all.

[LunaLifts]

ooo accessory day. Sounds like the hotel situation won't be a problem for you. I wouldn't want to drive 2 hours one way either. The shifts where I leave work at 6pm are a pain enough with the commute taking an hour in order to get home. Audio books help but still, I've considered changing stores just because of how long it takes to get to and from work at times. Wouldn't want a 4 hour a day one, no way no how.

He's had to travel far for work before, but like an hour. Even then, usually the days are longer to try to get it done faster, so it'll be over 12 hours from the time he leaves to when he picks me up. Then there's dinner, sleep, working out if he can squeeze it in.

You should totally try to get a closer store, can't hurt right? I'd hate long commutes, I don't like driving as is, and everyone's going to and from work at the same damn times. >.<

Understand the eating out squabble. Even though I tend to pay more often, me and my sister have this issue too because I don't like picking places to eat, especially if the choices are whatever is available. She will want something specific and get that. Me, I don't want anything in particular and we can really find food for either taste anywhere, which makes it hard to pick a single location at a given moment. Give me a narrow selection and I'll pick but just saying wherever and I'm stuck. It's a pain even when it's just me eating and have had troubles on weekends cause I can't make up my mind.

That too, I usually don't have a specific type of food/cuisine in mind. If I did it'd actually be easier, I didn't know the term until ananda's log, but I get serious analysis paralysis. I'll overthink the options to everything, and most of the time it's because I have no idea if I might be picking something he's not up for. If I were paying I'd say screw it, because I know places he likes to go in general. Even if he says just pick anything, then I just get too worried about the options. "Well I could do the right thing for my cut, and eat 'x' at this place... but I also could go for a cheat meal of 'y' at that place..." If he chooses then it's easy.

The food troubles do sound very anxiety inducing when it comes to who you might have to face. It's tough because we do have so many food focused situations. Sure, lots of places have things you can eat, but coming up against family, that's a whole different hurdle. Some people don't understand or appreciate personal preference and choices. Good luck to you when you have to come up against those arguments and the anxious situations that may happen in the future over it all.

Serious kudos to you for getting through all that. I saw the size of the post and thought "yeah, no one should bother with all of that." lol

That said, thank you for wishing me luck. My dad asked today why I hadn't been picking up chicken, and I said there was some in the freezer before trying to hint at the fact I hadn't been eating it... As much as I wussed out, I didn't want to hear the crap the whole time we were at a store. I debate with Jay sometimes for practice, he makes a joking comment, and I try to reply like it's serious. My goal is to not fall into the trap of debating the points themselves, but keeping my head focused on closing/redirecting the conversation. I tend to get so caught up in the moment that I'm not looking at the big picture of shutting it down. Dunno how good it'll do, I'm not anxious talking about it with him, and anxiety adds a level of difficulty.

Hopefully dealing with parents, and siblings first helps. I doubt my brothers will be chitty anyway, though the 14 year old will likely just be an ass. Extended family, well, seeing them is awkward, and uncomfortable anyway. I think most people can relate to that, lol.

[Fiction2Fitness]

He's had to travel far for work before, but like an hour. Even then, usually the days are longer to try to get it done faster, so it'll be over 12 hours from the time he leaves to when he picks me up. Then there's dinner, sleep, working out if he can squeeze it in.

You should totally try to get a closer store, can't hurt right? I'd hate long commutes, I don't like driving as is, and everyone's going to and from work at the same damn times. >.<

An hour isn't so bad but not ideal. Beyond that though, starts to feel excessive. The hard part is finding a store with an opening. The one really close that I have worked in a couple times doesn't have an opening right now. I asked the pharmacist if she knew of one in the area but she didn't know of any that had an opening. Need to take time and check out a few others as options though.

That too, I usually don't have a specific type of food/cuisine in mind. If I did it'd actually be easier, I didn't know the term until ananda's log, but I get serious analysis paralysis. I'll overthink the options to everything, and most of the time it's because I have no idea if I might be picking something he's not up for. If I were paying I'd say screw it, because I know places he likes to go in general. Even if he says just pick anything, then I just get too worried about the options. "Well I could do the right thing for my cut, and eat 'x' at this place... but I also could go for a cheat meal of 'y' at that place..." If he chooses then it's easy.

So much easier if someone else does the choosing.

Serious kudos to you for getting through all that. I saw the size of the post and thought "yeah, no one should bother with all of that." lol

That said, thank you for wishing me luck. My dad asked today why I hadn't been picking up chicken, and I said there was some in the freezer before trying to hint at the fact I hadn't been eating it... As much as I wussed out, I didn't want to hear the crap the whole time we were at a store. I debate with Jay sometimes for practice, he makes a joking comment, and I try to reply like it's serious. My goal is to not fall into the trap of debating the points themselves, but keeping my head focused on closing/redirecting the conversation. I tend to get so caught up in the moment that I'm not looking at the big picture of shutting it down. Dunno how good it'll do, I'm not anxious talking about it with him, and anxiety adds a level of difficulty.

Hopefully dealing with parents, and siblings first helps. I doubt my brothers will be chitty anyway, though the 14 year old will likely just be an ass. Extended family, well, seeing them is awkward, and uncomfortable anyway. I think most people can relate to that, lol.

No troubles for me. But I'm a reader, writer and can go on my own rambles from time to time. The shut down is a nice option but not always easy to deploy, especially if it's with someone who thinks they are right and it's something they like to point out when the discussion arises. Practice will help a little and just knowing already where it will end so you're not expecting to necessarily change things. Either way, you can keep doing you even if there are some struggles with what people (family in particular) have to say on the matter.

[anandagirl]

If it works for you, then you should keep with it. Everyone is different

[thehobbes]

^^^Yep, I'd definitely stick to serious food changes if it made me feel much better. I hear you on not wanting to tell the family what you're doing with all the food stuff. Most in my family eat like crap and any kind of gathering results in 3 cakes and enough cookies to feed a small country. We're getting together next week for my dad's bday and I'm thinking oh lord, don't bring a whole bakery into my house lol. It's always an awkward conversation to tell people no thanks, I don't even want to keep any leftovers. It's honestly not worth it to screw up my cut for an entire week having all this stuff around for days. I'm not even craving any of that crap so get it outta here! When my bday comes around I'm seriously gonna ask everybody for boxes of oatmeal.

[LunaLifts]

If it works for you, then you should keep with it. Everyone is different

I plan to. I may mention how it's going, recipes, struggles, or whatever, but I'd never tell anyone what to do. Which is why I give a head ups before I go into it, I want to talk about it without seeming like the obnoxious stereotype.

^^^Yep, I'd definitely stick to serious food changes if it made me feel much better. I hear you on not wanting to tell the family what you're doing with all the food stuff. Most in my family eat like crap and any kind of gathering results in 3 cakes and enough cookies to feed a small country. We're getting together next week for my dad's bday and I'm thinking oh lord, don't bring a whole bakery into my house lol. It's always an awkward conversation to tell people no thanks, I don't even want to keep any leftovers. It's honestly not worth it to screw up my cut for an entire week having all this stuff around for days. I'm not even craving any of that crap so get it outta here! When my bday comes around I'm seriously gonna ask everybody for boxes of oatmeal.

Yeah, my family doesn't eat well. My dad eats a microwave diet (I chit you not), so anytime we take him out he thinks it's the best place ever, even if it kinda sucks (there's a story coming). My mom is like six inches shorter than me, and 200lbs, but doesn't seem to realize how many calories she consumes. Ice teas have calories, coffees do, she does cook meals, but they're focused around meat and dairy (as opposed to focused on whole grains, and veg, with some meat/dairy). I never really stop in to see her cooking roasted veggies, or a stir fry or something. She makes pulled pork (a crock pot full) more often than anyone should.
The combined diet for her and my brother's is a bit worrying. You can be healthy on an omnivore diet, of course, but not the way they (and many Americans) do. I'd just like to see her take better care now, I don't want her to wait until after a coronary bypass to get worried about it.

Sorry for the rambling, but yay for oatmeal, and hopefully everyone takes their leftovers. It should't be awkward to say "hey guys I can't eat all of this, give me a hand and take it home." If anything say, by the time you got around to some of it, it'd just go bad, and you don't want to throw things out.

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Ok, storytime! We took my dad out to this place that he's been all hyped about. Local pizzeria went out of business, finally reopened as a "pizza, bar, and grill." I'm thinking "no problem, there's always something anywhere." I was right, there's stuff I can eat, but the place sucks. There's like 4 people working around the tables, but only one real waitress. The rest are fluffin' middle school kids who do piddly chit like get drinks (like why not higher two full waitresses?). Since they have nothing to do, they mostly watch Celeb Wife Swap on the bar tv (they have no liquor license yet). They generally all seem a bit lost, and not in routine. The children have no etiquette for waiting on tables, I don't care if your job is just to get drinks "Hi, how is everyone? Can I start you off with drinks?" Not "hey, watcha want to drink" like it's the most miserable job ever. The tip probably gets split with you you turd, be a bit less... like a middle school student.

Jay's burger was dry, he ordered onion and no tomato, got tomato, no onion, they forgot his bacon. My dad somehow liked what looked like a pile of chit on fries. Somehow he loved the fries, the fries were gross. I tried one of Jay's and I knew they didn't know how to cook fries. BAKE first, ffs. Bake to cook, then fry for crunch. Otherwise they just absorb oil, and become soggy, oily, garbage. Ooooh, you soak them in vinegar, great, how exactly does that make up for not cooking them? I'm serious about fries, man.

My dish was awful. First it says no where on the menu that any dairy is added, but it came out with parm on top. I would have been pissed even if I wasn't avoiding dairy, what if I had an allergy? You can't list something as "pasta with garlic and oil" and not tell someone there's dairy. The oil was chit (I don't know if it was even olive oil, or if they threw it on after cooking or what), the pasta was chit (I don't even know how that happens, it as overcooked, but damn), no favor to it, I had to push away the top layer with cheese, and garlic, salt, and pepper the fluff out of it to make it palatable enough. I added spinach and broc****, the spinach was obviously canned, the broc**** was overcooked to hell, I have never been so grossed out by broc****. My dad kept raving, and I just kept my mouth shut trying to force enough down to not have wasted money on lunch.

I wish I was the make a scene type. I would've told them to take it back, and remove it from the bill. Nope don't try again, I don't want to risk anything else, learn how to cook pasta... and broc****... and fries... and get fresh spinach ffs. Sure I'd risk my dad making a "well if you ate meat..." comment (yes he knows now, some commentary but nothing too bad), but even if the meat was good, there's no excuse for such bad basic pasta.

Oh, and their Italian dressing sucked. Just flavorless and oily.

Probably a 14 year old back there too. Sorry for the rant, but god that place pissed me off. I hope they have a yelp...

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ETA: My morning has an unexpected twist of suckage, so I'm going to just go ham on legs. Deads, and squats, all heavies.

[shesprints]

Wow, that was a /brutal/ restaurant review. That sounds terrible srs. Fuk yeah copy that to Yelp. Or see if they have any social media and post it there. No excuse for canned spinach ffs, what even... who even... is this the 1930s? Hell, I knew we had a recession, but no.

FYI it was almost certainly not olive oil. Most "olive oil" sold in America is mostly canola with a fake label, and that's even some respected brands. So yeah. Definitely not the real stuff.

Coming from that family background I can see why you'd like going vegetarian. I feel really lucky that I was raised in a family that ate super-healthy--omnivore, but tons of vegetables, whole grains, fresh fruit, lean meat only, lots of fish. So no one in my family is overweight. However... my mom is a chronic Weight Watchers fanatic with a pretty fukked up body image so :/ you get what you get with family. And our culture is totally messed up about food even if you know how to eat healthy.

[LunaLifts]

Wow, that was a /brutal/ restaurant review. That sounds terrible srs. Fuk yeah copy that to Yelp. Or see if they have any social media and post it there. No excuse for canned spinach ffs, what even... who even... is this the 1930s? Hell, I knew we had a recession, but no.

I felt so bad it came out as such a huge post, but I needed to complain. The Yelp page is still up for the previous business, but believe I'll be watching it. They have FB, but I don't want to attach my social media to it, partially because my dad likes the page, and will argue. Part because it's a small town, so they're going to know who did it (that's if the other hicks don't bitch at me for it too). If he ever wants us to go again (how he only likes the chittier of places we go to, I have no clue) I don't want my food spat in. O.O

FYI it was almost certainly not olive oil. Most "olive oil" sold in America is mostly canola with a fake label, and that's even some respected brands. So yeah. Definitely not the real stuff.

I was actually thinking of canola oil to, to be fair the menu didn't specify, but who would think it'd be anything else? I love cooking with olive oil, I now what it's supposed to taste like. There's another place nearby that has awesome food, and I've gotten delicious oil-based sauce there.

Canola oil is for spraying my pans, not straight up eating, lol.

Coming from that family background I can see why you'd like going vegetarian. I feel really lucky that I was raised in a family that ate super-healthy--omnivore, but tons of vegetables, whole grains, fresh fruit, lean meat only, lots of fish. So no one in my family is overweight. However... my mom is a chronic Weight Watchers fanatic with a pretty fukked up body image so :/ you get what you get with family. And our culture is totally messed up about food even if you know how to eat healthy.

Yeah there's a lot of convenient foods in my childhood eating history, and stuff that was "made" that was basically the reason most kids don't like veggies. Just canned cooked veg. I didn't try spinach again until I was in my 20s because of the canned crap I had as a kid. Both my parents would agree that I loved fruits as a kid, so I don't know why wouldn't have more around. I learned how to eat healthier omni, it's just always been difficult with what's available. Once I started feeling good with cutting stuff out, I got into the research, and ethical side of it too. I won't go into all that stuff here, just focus on health/nutrition/food stuffs etc.

Hoping to keep using up my whey powders, and protein pastas, and by 2019 go vegan. Not "straight edge," though I disagree with a lot of PETA's activism, they make a good point of being a little lenient eating out (not nitpicking trace amount of animal products like milk in a bun). Which is why I tell Jay we can eat anywhere.

It works for me, and feels like a logical, doable choice. I pay much more mind to micronutrients now, instead of just meeting macros, and I think that focus on being healthier has helped my mindset with cutting. The focus isn't just on calories, and protein now. It's a balance of everything, while still working towards my goals. I agree culture is weird about food, but this has helped me with that messed up mindset a bit, especially given my history.

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Oh, and I didn't want to tack this onto the rant, but my dad knows, and it went surprisingly well. I was calling for take out so me, and Jay could go pick up food for dinner when he picked me up. He asked why I ordered a chicken dish without chicken. So I managed to get out that I hadn't been eating chicken, or pork, or beef, or dairy...

He asked why I wanted to give up all the good things in life, so I said there are tons of good things in life, most of them aren't food. I added I'm smart and an awesome cook, so I'm good. I guess he at least acknowledges I'm smart, because that was that. He made one other comment saying I was a "veg-anne" (I can't tell if it's mocking, because he always pronounces it like that no matter how many times I corrected him before) but it wasn't mean-spirited at all.

It gives me some hope that if he can take it so well, hopefully others can offer me the same respect.

[thehobbes]

Ooof, that restaurant sounds great. Sounds like those kids may be the kids of the owners and "working" for free? There's a Chinese restaurant here where we occasionally go for takeout. It's a family business apparently and there are always their young kids there behind the counter with the workers (babies and 7ish year olds.) It's weird because a couple times the adults had the 7 yr old ring up customers. Feels so wrong to hand your credit card to a 7 yr old, and really hope they know what the hell they're doing so I don't get charged $500 for takeout lol. It's gotta be highly illegal but fuk it, the sweet n sour chicken is da bomb for a cheat meal.

[LunaLifts]

Ooof, that restaurant sounds great. Sounds like those kids may be the kids of the owners and "working" for free? There's a Chinese restaurant here where we occasionally go for takeout. It's a family business apparently and there are always their young kids there behind the counter with the workers (babies and 7ish year olds.) It's weird because a couple times the adults had the 7 yr old ring up customers. Feels so wrong to hand your credit card to a 7 yr old, and really hope they know what the hell they're doing so I don't get charged $500 for takeout lol. It's gotta be highly illegal but fuk it, the sweet n sour chicken is da bomb for a cheat meal.

I wouldn't doubt it, or they carried over from the previous place... which closed down in part because people didn't like there being only one adult working there. -_-

I get the family thing though, we went to a Chinese place where there was a young boy who's job was to just seat people. It was just the one kid, and he had a job to do, it was kinda adorable. Having two teens watching Wife Swap, when they're old enough to do real work is nonsense. They should at least know to try to look busy. Plus family working together means the kids have an authority present they respect, the adult waitress isn't a manger (she plans to bartend when they get their liquor license, I was shocked, because I thought she was a teen too). Those kids are less likely to listen to her, and we never saw a manager.

I did look on the FB page to see how the fluff they got good reviews. A lot of people were happy to have pizza again, one mentioned the owners' names and I can only imagine a few other know them too (small town, everyone knows everyone). I'm sure the pizza is ok, a decent pizza is simple enough to make. Maybe they just pull out the B crew for lunch. >.< Then again, I question most peoples' tastes. People value quantity over quality when eating out, and the typical American diet is high in processed crap, so people who aren't used to cooked, seasoned, whole food based meals are likely to think anything relatively fresh is great.

People also just give 5 star to whatever they enjoy, when it's supposed to mean "this is one of the best things I've ever tasted, and the food, service, atmosphere, etc combined couldn't be any better." Or I'm a snob. lol.
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Deads, and squats went well enough yesterday. 5 sets of each. No impressive numbers, but they felt pretty solid. Back got a little hurty toward the end, but I managed. Going to do a bit of cardio later. Tomorrow will be arm/back work. Jay said he's finishing up his current job this week so it'll be hotel time soon.
Gonna have ramen for the first time in a very long time, lol. I figured chili ramen, and Gardien beefless ground would be an easy meal for calories, and protein. Maybe some black beans too for fiber, and nutrients. It may sound gross, but it's an easy ramen hack to make cheap microwaveable meals for a week. I used to eat too much ramen for my own good, but I never thought to add anything (probably good, I was eating enough calories.)

[Fiction2Fitness]

Nice that the conversation with your dad went well and was short. Might still have the comments to come but sometimes dad comments in general are like that. They think they are a little funnier than they actually are or don't quite see the way something does come out or sound at times. Still, off to a good start in that realm considering the things you worried about.

The 1-5 rating system is a nuisance at time with how people use it. On the writing site I moderate we can at least give half stars so it's not just 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. But some get cranky when they get a 3 or 4 and forget what a 5 should really be used for with the writing they have posted on the site. I rarely give out 5 star reviews for anything, but that's me. Others don't follow the same philosophy when judging/rating something.

I like adding things to ramen to help make it more of a meal. I don't eat it often now, not like before, but buy it since my sister will eat it still and it's cheap.

[LunaLifts]

Nice that the conversation with your dad went well and was short. Might still have the comments to come but sometimes dad comments in general are like that. They think they are a little funnier than they actually are or don't quite see the way something does come out or sound at times. Still, off to a good start in that realm considering the things you worried about.

Haha, accurate af.

The 1-5 rating system is a nuisance at time with how people use it. On the writing site I moderate we can at least give half stars so it's not just 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. But some get cranky when they get a 3 or 4 and forget what a 5 should really be used for with the writing they have posted on the site. I rarely give out 5 star reviews for anything, but that's me. Others don't follow the same philosophy when judging/rating something.

I know I can be lenient with rating sometimes, like on goodreads sometimes there's something that deserves a 3, but I enjoyed it enough to bump it up to 4. Half ratings would be better, because sometimes something really feels between ratings, and you don't want to round down and give it less credit than you feel it deserves, but don't to give too much either.

Either way, 5 stars should be pretty amazing. I've eaten at a fair amount of places, and I can think of two that I'd give 5 stars. Another one I'd give 5 for the food, but they have other issues, ratings shouldn't be based on one aspect either. Plus showering anything with good ratings even if there's room for improvement means there won't be improvement.

I like adding things to ramen to help make it more of a meal. I don't eat it often now, not like before, but buy it since my sister will eat it still and it's cheap.

I find it hard to fit in because it's pretty high calorie for something that's not very filling. Especially cutting, and trying to hit macros. I just stopped bothering with it especially when I have time to cook better meals. It's convenient enough for a hotel though.


Speaking of, that's probably going to be next week, so if I can't be bothered with the laptop often, sorry if I get behind.

Heavy Pendlays, and OHPs today. Forgot to grab my straps this morning, so I hope that's why the rows felt so heavy. Almost whacked my head coming down on an OHP, because I was focused too much on my shoulders. >.< Did heavy lower, and upper so far, so Friday I'm thinking fullbody accessory work.

[LunaLifts]

So, it's day two at hotel. Working that microwave diet. Lol. They didn't have the ramen I needed at Walmart, or Hannaford, so I got a couple chicken ramen that I hadn't tried but got really excited about (didn't know they had non-chicken chicken ramen). 180 cals, 8 protein, not bad for a ramen. It's really good! I wish they were a bit cheaper, it's a "health" food so they gotta mark it up, I'd get them all the time.

I did a crap workout with my DBs, but I wasn't really feeling it. When Jay got back, we checked out the "fitness center" and they had a pretty typical set up, one multi-gym machine, a few cardio machines. At least the machine set up could be used by two people, so I got in a better workout. It had a leg press, which wasn't bad, never used a cable one. It was actually a bit convenient to be able to up the weight without getting up each time. >.< I wish I had one all the time, I remember to push through my heels easier. I didn't realize how much it hit glutes though, I'm hurting.

Cardio today, not sure what cardio yet. Probably dance, maybe swimming later. They have a small pool here, but it's a little eerie because it's half-lit in there. I know it sounds nice enough with a pool, and exercise room, but the hotel itself is a bit of a turd. It balances out for the most part, but I wish less hotels went for the hardest globdamn mattresses they could find. Lol.

[FallenAngel80]

They really need to set up gyms geared properly towards lifters lol. It's just not good enough!

[Echo814]

I will give you my story about how I tried to go vegan years ago, it was for ethical reasons and after watching an over blown documentary . I am not saying this to dissuade you, just my experience with attempting it.

I phased out red meat, poultry, fish, dairy and eggs over the course of six months. I supplemented because vegan and vegetarian diets do not supply several vital micro-nutrients or they are not as bio available from plant sources (there are arguments about this but most studies I have read supports this), B12, iron, zinc, calcium and omega 3 fatty acids. Around the time I went full plant based, I started feeling run down, looked pale, bruised easily and my hair was starting to fall out. I also had a lot of issues ingesting bean and legumes, lots of gastric distress that never went away. I went to my Dr and had blood work done, my iron levels where in the anemic range, calcium was lower than the previous year, B12 levels scared him and and my thyroid levels were off. I increased the supplements but blood work a couple months later barely improved. Come to find out my body was not very good at absorbing non-heme iron, the man made B12 wasn't converting efficiently and even with trying to compensate with diet tweaks and different brands of supplements it just wasn't working for me.

I ended up having to abandon being vegan and went back to an omnivore diet. Within 3 months blood work was back in optimal ranges. I however try to ethically source my meat products, wild caught or sustainable farmed fish, I live in an area where I can get farm fresh eggs from hens that aren't caged and live a natural life. I had a coworker who was vegan end up with neurological damage because she was so low on B12 and omega fatty acids she had to have medical intervention (she did not research how to do a viable vegan diet and ignored the warning signs her body gave her). Again, not trying to dissuade or scare but going plant based does require a lot of attention to diet and supplementation and even with all that might not work out like it didn't for me. I guess all I am saying is, if this change works for you and you maintain health awesome. Just please don't ignore if stuff starts happening, I tried sucking it up because I wanted to do that so badly, even though it affected my health.

[LunaLifts]

They really need to set up gyms geared properly towards lifters lol. It's just not good enough!

Yeah, it's be nice to have a DB rack at least. At least it's something though, it's disappointing when you hear "fitness center" and find a room of treadmills.

I will give you my story about how I tried to go vegan years ago, it was for ethical reasons and after watching an over blown documentary . I am not saying this to dissuade you, just my experience with attempting it.

I phased out red meat, poultry, fish, dairy and eggs over the course of six months. I supplemented because vegan and vegetarian diets do not supply several vital micro-nutrients or they are not as bio available from plant sources (there are arguments about this but most studies I have read supports this), B12, iron, zinc, calcium and omega 3 fatty acids. Around the time I went full plant based, I started feeling run down, looked pale, bruised easily and my hair was starting to fall out. I also had a lot of issues ingesting bean and legumes, lots of gastric distress that never went away. I went to my Dr and had blood work done, my iron levels where in the anemic range, calcium was lower than the previous year, B12 levels scared him and and my thyroid levels were off. I increased the supplements but blood work a couple months later barely improved. Come to find out my body was not very good at absorbing non-heme iron, the man made B12 wasn't converting efficiently and even with trying to compensate with diet tweaks and different brands of supplements it just wasn't working for me.

I ended up having to abandon being vegan and went back to an omnivore diet. Within 3 months blood work was back in optimal ranges. I however try to ethically source my meat products, wild caught or sustainable farmed fish, I live in an area where I can get farm fresh eggs from hens that aren't caged and live a natural life. I had a coworker who was vegan end up with neurological damage because she was so low on B12 and omega fatty acids she had to have medical intervention (she did not research how to do a viable vegan diet and ignored the warning signs her body gave her). Again, not trying to dissuade or scare but going plant based does require a lot of attention to diet and supplementation and even with all that might not work out like it didn't for me. I guess all I am saying is, if this change works for you and you maintain health awesome. Just please don't ignore if stuff starts happening, I tried sucking it up because I wanted to do that so badly, even though it affected my health.

Yeah, I know some people can't for medical reasons, and I appreciate you sharing your experiences. It's annoying when some vegans don't want to discuss these things, or insist on fad diets like raw, or "all natural." It's super important to talk about potential risks than have people not know how to take proper care, or what signs to look for, on any diet. I was watching videos about it, and learned a lot about the nutritional aspect before even considering changing my diet that much. I got a multi immediately, because of the b12, but also the other stuff I was never good at meeting on my omni diet too.

I do need a potassium supp too, but I've never eaten a good amount of it, I've attributed this to a few issues for awhile now I just haven't made it a priority to fix until recently. Just before starting to cut stuff out I started to use cronometer, so I could see where my micros were, and how they changed. I didn't start from the ethical standpoint, so since it was mostly health and environmental, I think that helped. I think people starting out ethically may not find out how to do it healthy. I could get local cruelty-free eggs, but the only reason I kept those out too was I stopped getting stomach issues after eating them.

I definitely want to be as healthy as possible, and so far it seems like it's working out, though I'll continue to pay attention to any changes in my health. I do plan to let my doctor know next appt, and gladly do blood tests to be safe.

[Echo814]

Yeah, it's be nice to have a DB rack at least. At least it's something though, it's disappointing when you hear "fitness center" and find a room of treadmills.

Yeah, I know some people can't for medical reasons, and I appreciate you sharing your experiences. It's annoying when some vegans don't want to discuss these things, or insist on fad diets like raw, or "all natural." It's super important to talk about potential risks than have people not know how to take proper care, or what signs to look for, on any diet. I was watching videos about it, and learned a lot about the nutritional aspect before even considering changing my diet that much. I got a multi immediately, because of the b12, but also the other stuff I was never good at meeting on my omni diet too.

I do need a potassium supp too, but I've never eaten a good amount of it, I've attributed this to a few issues for awhile now I just haven't made it a priority to fix until recently. Just before starting to cut stuff out I started to use cronometer, so I could see where my micros were, and how they changed. I didn't start from the ethical standpoint, so since it was mostly health and environmental, I think that helped. I think people starting out ethically may not find out how to do it healthy. I could get local cruelty-free eggs, but the only reason I kept those out too was I stopped getting stomach issues after eating them.

I definitely want to be as healthy as possible, and so far it seems like it's working out, though I'll continue to pay attention to any changes in my health. I do plan to let my doctor know next appt, and gladly do blood tests to be safe.

I felt better when I first started eating more veggies and whole grains too, I always ate them but it wasn't the focus of my diet either. Sadly most of the protein rich stuff I couldn't digest well and made me bloated as hell lol. What happened to me isn't very uncommon, especially in women due to our added need for iron. The pro vegan sites will never admit it thought.

I know of several people that started in on the health side and once they encountered issues like mine, their new vegan friends would convince them to watch graphic, propaganda type documentaries, provided bogus and cherry picked studies and tred to sway them into staying vegan, if the person stopped being vegan there were often death threats. I have personally been threatened by vegans when I bring up my experience, they have called me an out right liar and when I provide studies to show that vegan diets are in fact deficient and need supplementation, they resort to showing pictures of animals in slaughter houses . I am so glad when I tried it was before the big online "community" lol. Just be careful if you join vegan or plant based groups, some are cray-cray. Not all are though, I have friends and now ex co-workers that are pretty cool and don't have the cult mentality about it. For some people it is sustainable and you can be healthy for sure it's just the people that go with it sometimes, kinda like religion and politics lol.

[thehobbes]

I know of several people that started in on the health side and once they encountered issues like mine, their new vegan friends would convince them to watch graphic, propaganda type documentaries, provided bogus and cherry picked studies and tred to sway them into staying vegan, if the person stopped being vegan there were often death threats. I have personally been threatened by vegans when I bring up my experience, they have called me an out right liar and when I provide studies to show that vegan diets are in fact deficient and need supplementation, they resort to showing pictures of animals in slaughter houses . I am so glad when I tried it was before the big online "community" lol. Just be careful if you join vegan or plant based groups, some are cray-cray. Not all are though, I have friends and now ex co-workers that are pretty cool and don't have the cult mentality about it. For some people it is sustainable and you can be healthy for sure it's just the people that go with it sometimes, kinda like religion and politics lol.

Whoa, why do people need to go full blown crazy psycho mode on stuff like that? This discussion is making me yearn for a nice grilled steak.

[LunaLifts]

I felt better when I first started eating more veggies and whole grains too, I always ate them but it wasn't the focus of my diet either. Sadly most of the protein rich stuff I couldn't digest well and made me bloated as hell lol. What happened to me isn't very uncommon, especially in women due to our added need for iron. The pro vegan sites will never admit it thought.

I know of several people that started in on the health side and once they encountered issues like mine, their new vegan friends would convince them to watch graphic, propaganda type documentaries, provided bogus and cherry picked studies and tred to sway them into staying vegan, if the person stopped being vegan there were often death threats. I have personally been threatened by vegans when I bring up my experience, they have called me an out right liar and when I provide studies to show that vegan diets are in fact deficient and need supplementation, they resort to showing pictures of animals in slaughter houses . I am so glad when I tried it was before the big online "community" lol. Just be careful if you join vegan or plant based groups, some are cray-cray. Not all are though, I have friends and now ex co-workers that are pretty cool and don't have the cult mentality about it. For some people it is sustainable and you can be healthy for sure it's just the people that go with it sometimes, kinda like religion and politics lol.

My issues with documentaries is actually the health aspect (not that I really watch documentaries, it's a long time to watch info I'd need to fact check, versus just finding info online in the first place). Fact is factory farms are awful, and even without the footage, and occasional violations, it's common sense we can't supply as much meat/eggs/dairy as countries like US and UK eat while being nice to them all. I don't need to watch a two hour film for that conclusion.

So that leaves the health claims, and those are aggravating. Some try to act like certain macros, and micros are causing all of the US's health problems. Yes, meat doesn't have fiber, yes is does have more saturated fat, and cholesterol, no diary isn't causing diabetes, yes you need to supplement at least b12 (but supplementing can be necessary on any diet, and people should pay attention to these things). I like UnnaturalVegan's youtube videos, it was one of the people who got me thinking about it, because she talks about these things from a factual point of view, does a lot of research from both sides of each argument, etc. She's made a case for those who medically can't quit animal products as well.

I think the community has chilled out in general. There are definitely the militant types, but they're a minority in a group that is only a single digit percentage of the population. I think that the rise in interest has brought more people around defending other too. Even r/vegan isn't so bad anymore (at least from what I've heard). There's a few asshats that pop up here and there, but more who will tell them that attitude hurts the cause, and community. There's the all natural hippy vegans that'll talk that "don't eat faux meats, they're processed," but plenty that say "fluff off" and even support GMO foods. Hopefully the amount of rational vegans keeps growing faster than the cult-like ones. With the rational communities growing, I think more factual information gets put out there. There will always be nuts, but that can be said for everything, and they can be ignored like the other radicals, lol.

---
Side notes: Spending a second week in hotel land. Sheetrocking a whole basement is no short task. I did weigh in when we went back over the weekend, and dropped a bit more than expected. I don't have anything to measure/weigh so I think I was playing it way too safe. Going to try to slow that down a bit this week, probably eat roughly the same, but with a few extra snacks. Worked out yesterday, fullbody, definitely wanted to get some RDLs in there since 20lb DBs don't quite hit the hammies well.

Omg, have you guys heard of kiwi berries? We found them in the grocery store, and they're just like tiny kiwis, without the bitter gross skin! If you love kiwis, and hate the peeling, and seeds getting stuck in your teeth, these are bomb!

Oh, and finally, and unexpectedly, told my mom it's not that I can't raise a kid now, it's that I don't want to. Period. She took it better than I thought, but still made a weird comment about carrying our baby for us (if she could). Looking forward to more "you'd be such a good mom" comments whenever I show her small dog affection. >.<

[thehobbes]

Will have to check out kiwi berries - never heard of those!

Yeah Americans especially overdo it on the red meat and dairy. That stuff in reasonable amounts isn't going to hurt you but when people are eating burgers every day for dinner and smothering everything in copious amounts of cheese then that's a problem. And the lack of exercise, smoking, and alcoholism on top of that doesn't help. It blows my mind that so many people have a terrible diet all the time, smoke, drink, do drugs, never exercise, and still make it to like 70 years old. The human body can take A LOT of abuse. You never see 90 year old guys that weigh 300lbs walking around though, so there's a limit I guess. There's so much little stuff that hurts us over time - polluted air, coming in contact with chemicals, even stress and poor sleep, it all adds up. If somebody wants to go out in a blaze of pizza, vodka, and cigarettes that's cool, you do you broham.
/weird rant

And now I'm thinking how funny that would be if a stray child showed up at your front door. You just go sigh... guess I gotta keep it then, at least my mom will be thrilled.

[Partyrocking]

There are more people in the US that believe the moon landing was fake than there are vegans.

I learned this from my professor when I took an Animal Welfare class in grad school. It woke me up.

[FallenAngel80]

Good on you for telling your mum your stance on kids! I guess it's probable that she'll continue making comments but at least you've laid it out to her. You're more justified in ignoring her now!