What's everyone been up to lately?

[rydra_wong]

We haven't had a check-in for a while, and I thought an informal one might be nice. So:

What have you all been up to lately? What are you getting into? What's your latest discovery regarding the lifting of heavy things? Got any new toys or tricks?

Who's got a new achievement to brag about? Who's just getting started and would like some encouragement and cheering? Who's had to take time off owing to injury or life and could use some sympathy? How's it going?

Comments

Re: Belated comment is belated

[rydra_wong]

I suspect the key difference here is that I'm not a Crossfitter, therefore don't run in the circles where I'd get hit with the hardcore evangelism. Which is almost always obnoxious, on any topic.

So I can dip in and out, take what's useful for me, ignore the rest, and nobody's going to be trying to burn me at the stake for eating a broad bean.

The major sticking point seems to be in the idea that by micromanaging macronutrients you can fine-tune how the body behaves.

Well, for me, being fairly stringent about getting enough protein (and for me, "enough" turns out to be a lot) and minimizing high GI food (except immediately after exercise) has turned out to make a quite drastic difference to how my body behaves.

(As I am proving right now, sitting here feeling like shit because lunch was a sandwich and a sugary thing grabbed on the run because I needed the calories and did not plan ahead. It happens.)

So I do buy that as a basic principle.

OTOH, I also suspect that the right macronutrient mix (and how important it is or isn't) is going to be very different for different people. For me, when I'm climbing, I need significant carbs not to falldowngoboom, and one of the many reasons I'm not purist paleo is that there is no conceivable way I could face eating that many sweet potatoes (and I like sweet potatoes). Also, I refuse to carry cold cooked sweet potatoes around with me.

So I make protein balls with brown rice syrup, and I'll usually grab some sushi and edamame or chicken curry with rice (or a steak and chips) afterwards, and my body seems to be just fine with that.

I feel like I'm seeing an awful lot of high-pressure rhetoric claiming that ancestral equals good and modern/agricultural equals evil in a way that mirrors conspiracy talk. It sets my teeth on edge.

Indeed. I'll stay here in the 21st century with the medications that keep me not dead, thanks very much.

Re: Belated comment is belated

[smackshack]

Well, I've lately taken to having protein shakes after the crossfit workouts, so I probably protesteth to mucheth. But yeah, the paleo-evangelism is the one thing I really don't like much about crossfit. I just do my best to ignore it. (And then get all ranty online, apparently.)

But I totally sympathize with tailoring your diet to what makes you feel good and what works for a given person's level of activity and their goals in terms of endurance exercise or gaining muscle or whatever. I quibble with the alleged benefits of never eating a bean or a slice of bread or more than a third of a banana.