<p>That sounds like what I had in my very early days of walking at 250 pounds. I would quickly get some pain in the shins. It resolved pretty quickly as I got used to walking regularly, after a week or two. If I recall, uphill stretches set it off, which would fit with your description. That also would tend to make the new ballet classes a potential suspect in Sewhappy’s case.</p>
<p>On the other hand, one of the ladies in the PBS Boston Marathon reality show was sidelined with recurring shin pain that turned out to be tiny stress fractures from the running. If I recall, she took a month off, tried to go back to running, and had more of the same…</p>
<p>Yeah. I got it right after XMAS. I’m slowly working my way thru it side by side with the just released New Rules of Lifting Supercharged. </p>
<p>I’m still early in the Lustig book and he’s working his way through the various mechanisms of insulin response, metabolic syndrome, etc. It’s not ponderous like a Gary Taubes book, but it has to be digested in small portions with a lot of fiber! I’m just getting to the good part, I think.</p>
<p>Some interesting stuff about insulin’s effect on the brain and the way it suppresses leptin signaling (the signal that tells your brain to stop eating). Lustig’s background is obesity disorders in children with brain tumors. He makes the case that the whole insulin resistance problem is not just one of liver function and blood sugar, but also one of broken appetite brain signalling. A double whammy that pushes him even further into the “broken biochemistry causes obesity, not gluttony and sloth” camp. I’m interested to see where he goes in the second half of the book.</p>
<p>Another interesting tidbit is his identification of four “foods” that directly contribute to insulin resistance/metabolic syndrome do to chronic accumulated stress on the liver with over consumption:</p>
<p>a) fructose
b) trans fats
c) alcohol
d) branch chain amino acids (high concentrations in corn and corn-fed meat)</p>
<p>The trans fat highlight is interesting. Basically, every “snack” in the grocery store has been a combination of trans fat and sugar for decades.</p>
<p>Once chronic overconsumption of this stuff breaks the metabolism causing insulin resistance (and leptin resistance from elevated insulin), then we can no longer process carbs without storing fat. And, the elevated insulin levels screw up our hunger signalling to the brain, making it difficult to stop eating.</p>
<p>The argument is that all calories are not alike. Yes, a calorie is calorie in terms of energy input and output. An excess will cause weight gain. A shortage will cause weight loss. But, some calories make your body more likely to eat more and store more fat. Some calories don’t. And the distinction becomes larger the more broken your metabolism.</p>
<p>One major area of research in the laboratory aims to identify the cues that direct progenitor cells to become mature tendons and ligaments. During embryogenesis, progenitor cell populations will form the tendon or cartilage tissues in our limbs, head and spine. We are interested in elucidating the factors that regulate this fate decision, expand tendon and ligament populations and promote more faithful differentiation into these lineages.</p>
<p>We are also focused on understanding the critical factors that coordinate the attachments between muscle, tendon, and bone. By combining live-imaging and high-throughput screening approaches, our goal is to identify the molecules and cellular behaviors governing these processes. In the long term, my laboratory aims to transform these discoveries into regenerative biology solutions to better heal and repair tendon and ligament injuries.</p>
<p>The mystery pain in my leg went away with Advil and laying off it for a day. I think I figured out what caused it – wearing the really stylish boots Santa brought me and walking a lot in them returning presents. They seemed to pitch me forward and felt awkward and I just sense they aren’t for me. Back to the trusty Dansko clogs!</p>
<p>Lustig has a pretty convincing argument that diets are doomed to fail over the long haul if you diet away lean muscle along with body fat. The muscle is the engine that burns energy. So, you successfully lose weight, but, unless you make a specific effort to build muscle at the same time, you end up with a lower number on the scale, but a metabolism that is burning much less energy. One of the keys is that actively building lean muscle reduces insulin resistance. So it’s not only burning more energy, but programming the hormones to make the body want to burn energy instead of store fat.</p>
<p>Speaking of metabolic syndrome: Man, my grocery store must have set up a guantlet just to tempt me. The first display, walking down the front of the store yesterday was “movie theater” boxes of DOTS for $1 a box. Wow. My favorite.</p>
<p>Then, six feet beyond that were those little cans of shoestring potatoes, 3 for $1. Man, how many of those have I tossed down over the years?</p>
<p>And, just beyond that a “healthy” temptation: Craisins. Just the thing for my salad, right? Ever read the label on craisins or raisins? Might as well sprinkle sugar on your salad! A quarter cup of craisins, barely a handful, is a little more than 7 teaspoons of white sugar… </p>
<p>1 hour of tennis. We didn’t get any free time - someone booked (or claimed to have) the court after us for 30 minutes. A bit unusual. I used one of my newer racquets which is a lot heavier and wound up with a blister. The blister was a bit of a surprise because the grip is a 4 3/8 while I usually use a 4 1/2. I figured out that the cause was the different brand of overgrips on the frame. I now use Wilson Pro Overgrips on everything while the overgrips on the 4 3/8s was from Gamma which run thicker. Easy enough to fix. I might stay with the newer racquet as it is easier on my arm.</p>
<p>Power outage at health club so they made us all stop. Was going to run 400s today but only got in my stretching/ strength routine and mile warmup. I’m going to yoga later with my wife.
MOWC—do you wear the Altra’s? The Altra Provisions look intriguing?</p>
<p>One month since starting exercise plan.
Truly amazed by the changes in such a short time. I’ve not bothered to weigh myself, I downed too many Christmas cookies and I don’t want the numbers to control or derail me.</p>
<p>Jeans fit better, thighs feel firmer. Appetite is more even and lust for snacks is less.
Today, I went to an ‘interval’ program on the elliptical, same 30 minutes I’ve been doing but more difficult and burned more calories. Happy at my progress.</p>
<p>Yay, musicmom. The hardest part is getting going for the first month while you are waiting to see some results. Once the results come, even little changes, it makes motivation a lot easier. It’s hard to be patient, but that’s really the best approach.</p>
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<p>A veritable potpourri of intervals for me. Four half mile intervals on the dreaded Airdyne. Did 'em really slow, but not that slow. Got up to 94% of my max heart rate on the fourth interval. I’m getting pretty short rest in between intervals (only down to 70% heart rate), so the heart rate is going to climb with each interval.</p>
<p>Then I headed to the basement to log another day of the HOPS challenge. 10 of each. Two rounds. Saw a heart rate of 85% of max on the second set. That was enough. </p>
<p>Oh, and a few sets of dead lifts, hoisting a 7 qt LeCreuset cast iron dutch oven full to the brim with beef short ribs into and out of the oven every 30 minutes. Now, that’s what I call “paleo” cooking! I feel like Fred Flintstone.</p>
<p>Ran a mile on the treadmill just to keep my running up. I’m going to try to take a trip to Marshalls to look for a few things as they don’t open early Sunday morning anymore.</p>
<p>ohiopublic- I am wearing Altras along with my Brooks. I really like the zero drop coupled with the cushioning of the Altras. I have Intuition 1.5, Provisioness and just got Torin, which is the best one of all. It’s sort of like a Hoka-Light! Has more cushioning than the other Altras but doesn’t look like a moon shoe. I wore the Torins for 13.1 today and they did fine. My body and legs were still tired. It was a “training race” so not really a race but I was the oldest one there and struggled to maintain some contact with the group. </p>
<p>Brooks just came out with a new almost zero drop shoe called Pure Drift. It arrived yesterday but I haven’t tried it. It’s going to be pretty minimalist. The Altras are more shoe, which is not a bad thing.</p>
<p>3.3 miles today. Did the first 3.1 in 30:35, with the first 3 or so minutes walking at very slow speed. </p>
<p>Because around 1.75 miles, a young lady got to the treadmill next to me and she ran fast. I finally get the speed to 8.5 to keep pace with her. </p>
<p>Plus I did 31 pushups in one set with my feet 1.5 Ft. up. Piece of cake.</p>
<p>Today’s exercise was a walk in the park…literally. Mulched trails, still covered with snow & mud, are sort of a slog. A nice change of pace from walking on sidewalks…DH & I had fun. :)</p>
<p>BC Eagle—that’s fascinating research into the possibilities of tendon/ligament regeneration!</p>
<p>I just ordered the Lustig, intdad. Based on personal experience, I think he’s spot on about the danger’s of sugar. </p>
<p>In spite of the forecast here for a “gross, rainy” day, H and I found a bunch of sunshine and put in a few miles of walking this AM and PM. Tomorrow’s our gym day with weight training. mommusic, your exercise today is my favorite kind–out on the trails.</p>
<p>-Treadmill 5 minutes at 4MPH
-Power Plate 3x30 seconds at 30Hz
-Clean/Front Squat/Push Press Prep 3x3@65#
-Front Squat 3x3 @115#
-Power Clean 3x3 @135, 155, 165#
-Foam Rolling 10 minutes
-Monster Walks 3x8 each direction blue band
-KB Swings 3x8 @40#
-KB Snatch 3x8 each @20#
-Sled Pushes 3x100 feet @110#
-Graston on both calves and left hip
-Cold Whirlpool for 8 minutes up to my knees.</p>
<p>Was in the gym for not quite two hours… solid workout :)</p>