Diet/Exercise/Health/Wellness Support Thread

Parent Cafe
11201

<p>NM – I used to have a terrible problem with blisters, especially in hot, sweaty weather – even with moisture-wicking socks. My saving grace has been a powder product called blister shield. Instructions say to put some in each sock, but I just put it on the backs of my heels and around and between my toes. I haven’t had a blister using it since. (Watch out if you get any on the floor, however, it is really slick.)</p>

<p>On the healing blisters front, the special bandaids that have blister pads on them actually worked pretty well when D did her heels in. (For some reason I don’t get, girls like running with the no sock look, and so wear super skimpy socks that don’t come up above the back of the running shoe, and then they’re shocked when they get blisters.)</p>

11202

<p>Sour Cherry Pie
I use the vodka pie crust recipe from Cooks Illustrated. [Cook’s</a> Illustrated’s Foolproof Pie Dough | Serious Eats : Recipes](<a href=“http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2007/11/cooks-illustrated-foolproof-pie-dough-recipe.html]Cook’s”>Cook's Illustrated's Foolproof Pie Dough Recipe)</p>

<p>Filling:
• 1 cup regular sugar
• 3 tablespoons ground up tapioca (or other thickener)
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 6 cups whole pitted sour cherries (about 2 pounds whole unpitted cherries or most of two of the bigger boxes)
• 1/2 teaspoon fresh lemon juice plus a little bit of zest
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 tablespoon (about) milk
• Demerra sugar if you have it regular if you don’t</p>

<p>Make your favorite 2 crust pie crust recipe. If making the vodka recipe, you might want a little more flour so the lattice top is a little stiffer. (And I think a lattice top is necessary for cherry pie!)</p>

<p>Pit the cherries. You can push them out with a stiff straw, use a fancy cherry pitter (I couldn’t find mine GRR), or scoop them out with the smaller half of a paper clip - this is the slowest part of the whole process. Position rack in lower third of oven and preheat to 425°F. Whisk 1 cup sugar, tapioca, and salt and cinnamon in medium bowl to blend. Stir in cherries, lemon juice, and vanilla; set aside.
Roll out 1 dough disk on floured surface to 12-inch round. Transfer to 9-inch glass pie dish. Trim dough overhang to 1/2 inch. Roll out second dough disk on floured surface to 12-inch round. Using large knife or pastry wheel with fluted edge, cut ten 3/4-inch-wide strips from dough round. Transfer filling to dough-lined dish, mounding slightly in center. Dot with butter if you like - I didn’t because the vodka crust has so much butter in it already. Arrange dough strips atop filling, forming lattice; trim dough strip overhang to 1/2 inch. Fold bottom crust up over ends of strips and crimp edges to seal. Brush lattice crust (not edges) with milk. Sprinkle lattice with 1 tablespoon sugar.
Place pie on rimmed baking sheet and bake 15 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 375°F. Bake pie until filling is bubbling and crust is golden brown, covering edges with foil collar if browning too quickly, about 1 hour total. Transfer pie to rack and cool completely. Cut into wedges and serve with vanilla ice cream if desired.</p>

11203

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<p>Are those the things with salicylic acid that dissolves the hard skin?</p>

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<p>These are very popular in women’s tennis. In the 70s and 80s, they had a pom-pom in the back too.</p>

11204

<p>4x8 (each leg) TRX Single Leg Squats—> Was almost touching the ground today :slight_smile:
4x8 TRX Inverted Rows
4x8 TRX Push Ups
8 Stability Ball Rollouts</p>

<p>2 Rounds for Time:
–40# KB Swings (10)
–10 Box Jumps (20" box)
–20# KB Single Arm Snatch (10 per arm)
–10 TRX Squats</p>

<p>Time was 4:54; average heart rate was 188BPM with a max heart rate of 195BPM.</p>

11205

<p>^ Holy Cow, look at the HR. Is that workout from idad’s book? I am seriously scared.</p>

11206

<p>I used to get my HR up to those levels in my 30s and early 40s. In general, I keep it below 170 in my 50s.</p>

11207

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<p>Nope. Something I made up right there on the spot. I went in right after lunch today thinking the lunch crowd would be gone already… it wasn’t. And so I was struggling to get space in order to do my workout. I had to move the TRX straps off the smith machine and place it on the Cable Crossover machine which does not work as well. When I was doing my inverted rows, I was pulling the machine up off the floor because it is not bolted down. </p>

<p>I don’t like working out where I do because there is not much room for my workouts. The gym is full of machines and that drives me nuts. Unfortunately no matter what I say, it’s not going to change. Too much of our population is of the older variety and our PT department uses the equipment for therapy as well…</p>

11208

<p>Speaking of idad, where is he? It’s not like him to be quiet for more than an hour on this thread.</p>

<p>Ah – 1:30 today. OK, it’s only been five and a half hours. He gets a pass.</p>

11209

<p>NMinn- My daughter and son in law did well with the Couch to Half Marathon training program. They weren’t truly “couch” to start, and neither is your daughter. I think you can find it online. The RW plans are good, too. I don’t believe in running more than 11 or at most 12 mikes before the half.</p>

11210

<p>I knew things were just going a little too smoothly with this new iPod program. Through five weeks, it’s been tough, but I’ve been able to pretty much do all the exercises with most of the reps. Some better than others. But, I hit the wall today with two that just kicked my butt.</p>

<p>Pushups with birddog: Do a pushup, then at the top, extend one arm and the opposite leg off the ground. Hold for two seconds. Do another pushup and extend the other arm and leg. I was fallin’ all over the place. I was starting to get the hang of it by the third set, but it was not pretty.</p>

<p>Stability ball sprint starts: Ugggh. Hands on floor in pushup position. One foot on stabilty ball. Other foot up in the air with knee bent (like a sprinter start). Roll the ball in with one foot while extending the bent leg straight out (above the ball) and back an forth six times, then switch sides. On the first set, I got three on the first side before I fell off the ball and zero on the second side before time was up. I think I got sort of six and sort of three by the 3rd set.</p>

<p>This was a ridiculously difficult core workout. Six exercises. All brutal. Three sets. The “easiest” of the six exercises was this version of [stability</a> ball rollouts](<a href=“- YouTube”>- YouTube).</p>

<p>On the good side, I did two sets of chin ups – 3 to start each set with no assistance and then 5 with band assistance to finish up. I also did two sets of single leg deadlifts without stumbling! Now that’s progress!</p>

11211

<p>Ran five miles today and it was pretty easy. Going to the YMCA tonight with son for some light weight machine work. The triceps are finally free from soreness from the Ab Dolley so I should be able to do assisted pullups.</p>

<p>We have a hoist machine at the office that has pullup bars (narrow and wide). I finally figure out how to get an assist on the machine. The machine has an inverted and angled U support at a 60 degree angle to the ground on the side with the pullup bars. To get an assist, you grab the bars and then life your feet onto the U and you provide assistance with your leg or legs. This is similar to using a chair to control the assist. You won’t get an objective measure of assist but you can just get an idea of the pressure that you have to use with your leg to get a good workout.</p>

11212

<p>Ha. It just dawned on me that I did all three of Valerie Waters’ [3</a> Best Exercises For Your Butt](<a href=“The 3 Best Exercises For Your Butt - YouTube”>The 3 Best Exercises For Your Butt - YouTube) in today’s workout. I do the miniband monster walks in the warmup before every workout. And, today, I put in the Valslide reverse lunges for my “squat” exercise. I did them with two 25 pound dumbbells at my sides, eight on one leg, eight on the other.</p>

11213

<p>Just back from the reverse walk around the lazy river at our local pool. It was HARD!!! Great exercise and something different. My legs are a little rubbery but I enjoyed it. Will have to figure out how far we walked against the current. Good second workout of the day.</p>

11214

<p>I have not followed up on this thread, so what I post here may have been discussed already, but I will add my two cents just in case. </p>

<p>I have always had very high cholesterol (over 300). However, since my ratio of HDL:LDL was also very high (>0.6: the goal is to keep it above 0.3, and 0.4 is ideal), my doctor was never alarmed. </p>

<p>High cholestrol runs in the family. I hardly ever ate meat, cheese, bacon, whole milk, etc more than a bare, bare, and bare minimum (hardly ever). Hardly any sugar either. So it’s not my diet. Also, studies show that only 25% of cholestrol comes from the food you eat any way. I was pretty thin and very fit and exercised all the time.</p>

<p>Then I got a cancer diagnosis this winter. So, I decided to eat radically healthy as a way to maximize my prognosis. It’s been about 5 months since I started to eat 15+ servings of mostly vegetables and some fruits a day (some days even close to 20 servings). Nothing else changed since I was a healthy eater to begin with. The same exercise routine. </p>

<p>Today, the new blood results came back (the first one since I got into remission). For the first time in my life (I am 51), my total cholestrol level is below 200. My LDL went down by 100+!!!. My HDL: LDL ratio is 1.05 (remember, goal is 0.3, and ideal is 0.4). </p>

<p>Before: LDL: 188, HDL: 113
After: LDL: 84, HDD:89</p>

<p>I was blown away by how eating vegetables non stop resulted in this kind of change: unless somebody can show me that cancer and chemo treatment have a nice side effect of lowing cholestrol.</p>

<p>Just wanted to share this with you. Even for those genetically prone to have high cholestrol, vegetables can make all the difference.</p>

11215

<p>Another thing: I have hypothyrodism: diagnosed in my early forties. I take medication for that on a daily basis (same dosage for last 2 years). Last time my TSH was checked was about a year ago (before cancer diagnosis), and at that time, with the medication, I was at the normal range.</p>

<p>As part of the post chemo general health check up, TSH (thyroid hormone level) was checked again. Now, the blood work shows that I have a HYPERTHYROID condition: meaning, my hypothyroid medication is too much and it is overcorrectiong my hypothyroid condition. My Dr. immediately prescribed a lower dosage, and we will check the THS again in 6 weeks. </p>

<p>Should I also interpret this as that the vegetable driven diet of mine is also correcting my hypothyrodism? This, I wouldn’t know yet - I will have to see longer trend. </p>

<p>But I have to say, cancer or not, my body have never been in a better shape or healthier since I started this new eating regimen.</p>

11216

<p>I checked my weight chart and am only down two or three pounds in the last three weeks which would have annoyed me in the past but I feel thinner, stronger and I’m recovering faster from workouts so the lack of weight loss doesn’t bother me much.</p>

<p>The posting of the veggie diet above caught my interest and I am going to amp up the veggies a bit more.</p>

<p>I used the Ab Roller at the YMCA last night - triceps aren’t 100% yet. The device that they had wasn’t the Ab Roller brand and it felt pretty crappy. Rolling it produced a crunchy affect - the rubber didn’t roll smoothly. The Ab Dolly is on four wheels and it is incredibly smooth. You can also easily go left or right with the Ab Dolly. I think that I’ll just use the Ab Dolly in the office.</p>

11217

<p>Slept hard last night and woke up late this morning. All of that exercise yesterday really wore me out. </p>

<p>Looked at the rules for one of the 5Ks we are considering. I had no idea you can’t listen to ipods! Says they are banned by USATF. I am such a novice!</p>

11218

<p>NMinn, this sounds like my kind of a race: no dogs, no Ipods, no rollerblades, etc. All of these keep me from entering the local “fun runs”. It is a good thing that you looked at the rules - when we did a team triathlon, one of our bicyclists showed up without a helmet. :eek: No hemet =/= racing. He just did not know that. Luckily, the savvy folks on our team had a bunch of extras. </p>

<p>I jogged 4 easy miles last night just to stretch my legs a bit. Taking a day off today to do some mall walking to check out the “crumbs” of the Anniversary sale at Nordies.</p>

11219

<p>Sunriseeast:</p>

<p>Those are fantastic cholesterol numbers, regardless of the cause!</p>

<p>The change in total and LDL cholesterol could be connected to the changing thryroid status. Hypothyroid is associted with higher LDL cholesterol and vice versa – hyperthyroid would tend to lower LDL. This stuff is all so interconnected, even before you factor in everything else you’ve been going through. I’m just really happy to hear that it is going well.</p>

11220

<p>Tamoxifen is known to decrease serum cholesterol and LDL cholesterol. I’d be a little surprised if some of the other chemo drugs didn’t have some significant effects as well. </p>

<p>But I doubt anyone would say that your new diet is unhealthy – it sounds like you didn’t have a weight problem before your diagnosis, so you probably didn’t have any insulin resistance issues, which might be the only argument against a high fruit intake. Never heard of a high vegetable intake being problematic for anyone. </p>

<p>T-3 test results do vary even without chemo/dietary changes. Additionally, a few years ago the reference norms were changed and quite a few folks had dosing adjusted based just on that. </p>

<p>Glad you’re doing so well. Add me to the list of people who have been blown away by your writing on the diagnosis thread. I do hope you turn it into a book, and that your participation in the trial also goes well.</p>