i'll definitely do weighted planks when i'm at the gym, but i mostly plank at home. I do have an ab wheel that hasn't been used in quite a while. Good call, I'll try that next time.

My gf and I spend $200/week on food not counting restaurant meals which we would probably have 1-2/week.

A soda in your country also costs $25, unless this is in Brazil in which case your girlfriend would have to be Jabba The Hut

how much do you spend on those restaurant meals usually? What about alcohol?

This (we're in Aus atm).

"restaurant" ranges from sh*t take away, to "good" and includes everything in between. So I could be anything from $20 to $200. Something like $60 might be the average. There would be lots of ~$40-50 bills. Some ~$100-120 bills. The occasional in the $150+ range and the occasional in the $20-30 range.

The gf doesn't drink much. I probably have one decent drinking night per week and probably split them evenly between going out vs. beers at home/friend's places. Would probably spend $100-$150 if going out and like $30 if staying in. Probably fair to split the difference so something like 65-90/week on alcohol I guess.

This x100.

Me and my mates were talking about this the other night. In our student days we all used to live on around $250/week. We ate cheap. Rented cheap. Drank cheap. On the weeks where a monthly/quarterly bill came in we would eat/drink even cheaper.

It seems absolutely absurd to me now that was possible.

Also, to be clear, I was supporting your "$40/day is fairly cheap" line... I guess it didn't really sound like that in my op.

Snitch spewing truths ITT.


Assani,
once the weather cools down some some long distance runs around Vegas look nice. Like Red Rock, Valley of Fire etc. Obviously not very practical, but as a change of pace and to enjoy the scenery. I find running outdoors to be much easier than indoors at least. And I realize this is probably only possible 3-5 months out of the year in the Vegas area.

Snitch,
feel you on the younger self thing. I earn pretty good money and still manage to waste almost all of it.

so you're saying planks are more effective when done for shorter lengths with as much as intensity(weight) as possible? should've figured this was the case as i was approaching 2-3 minute planks with relative ease.

also, what is meant by clean eating? when someone says they are eating "super healthful" what do they mean exactly? i've thought for awhile now that the whole concept of "clean eating" was lulzy?

CLEAN EATING IMO:

ETC,

see this post by Anklebreaker for a description of clean eating and its pitfalls. And definitely load your planks with 45/55 lbs.

'Clean eating' has no real definition, which leads to a lot of bizzare uses, which leads to it really meaning nothing at all and most people on this forum just mock those who use it.

To me "clean eating" just means staying on my diet. My diet borrows a lot of principles from the paleo diet, so when I say "clean" I pretty much just mean:

1. Keeping in line with veggie+protein centered meals
2. No HFCS, processed foods, unnecessary corn-based ingredients, other junk
3. Always choose organic when possible
4. Striving for good calorie/protein/fiber totals each day


I guess if there were a better word or phrase to use to describe keeping in line with this then I would be willing to change my word choice.

major braux pas to be hating on a guy's log in his log

from anklebreaker's post:

I will agree with his conclusion that there is "no common definition" which renders the term pointless(although, as I mention above, I need to either use that or some replacement word because writing "I ate foods that fit my general guidelines which I outline in an earlier post" takes way too many keystrokes compared to "I ate clean"). However, I disagree with the bolded. I think theres a very clear evidence for a line to be drawn between processed foods vs unprocessed foods, foods containing HFCS/corn products vs foods not containing those, organic vs non-organic, etc. Thats not to say that my diet is going to be ruined if 100% of my meat isn't organic, but I do believe theres sufficient evidence to suggest that keeping with these principles is closer to optimal.

Feel free to link credible findings in differences between organic and non-organic items in terms of health and nutrition.

I think that the major differences between the two will show up more as it relates to long term health compared to short term health/athletic performance. As such, doing any study on humans(not mice) will literally take an entire generation to complete. That combined with heavy concerns I have about the accuracy of any study(due to both the intelligence level of some people put in charge and due to the influence corporations/money can have on which of these studies gets published and popularized) makes me think that we aren't going to be able to have a reasonable discussion by citing various studies. I'm sure we could both google for articles that support our position, but whats the point in that?

To me, the best thing to do in cases like this are to use your own common sense and think things through.....

-On average, do I think it would be better to eat fruits that have been sprayed with something intended to kill a lifeform(bugs) or do I think it would be better to eat fruits that have not been sprayed?

-Humans have gained great help benefits from various plants/vegetables for as long as we've been around. Recently in our species' history, corporations seeking to maximize profit have begun using different chemical fertilizers in order to grow more vegetables. Many of these chemical fertilizers have not been around long enough to scientifically test their affects on humans eating the vegetables. Would I rather stick with what our species has always thrived on or would I rather take a chance?

-And when it comes to meats, its even worse from what I've learned. To me, it makes logical sense that the diet of the animal you eat would have an impact on your health. Giving animals the option of either starving or eating something that has never historically been apart of its diet is not only cruel, but it makes sense imo that it would result in that animal being less nutritious to eat. And theres no way that we've done enough research on all the growth hormones they are feeding the animals these days.



The LOL Food Pyramid, doctors prescribing a host of harmful pills, doctors being uneducated on nutrition, mad cow disease(due to making cows eat slop parts of dead cows), a sh*tload of diseases that didn't exist 100+ years ago, absurd treatment of animals, and a clear objective of turning profit in spite of what is best for public health has left me completely unable to trust the government, the FDA, my doctor, or the farmers(most of whom are good people but who either must listen to the big corporations orders or go out of business). They've demonstrated time and time again that they don't mind intentionally misleading the public about their health and well being.

I'm not saying that I 100% trust every Whole Foods store, every local farmer's market, or everything labeled "organic." But when it comes to trusting them versus trusting the big corporations, I don't think its much of a choice at all. These foods will cost a dollar or two more in large part because the companies selling them to you aren't actively trying to alter that food's production methods in order to maximize profits.

Organic industry structure (and this is just 2009- there's been far more consolidation by "big corporations.")

Yes, if enough people demonstrate that they are willing to spend a dollar or two extra in order to have a certain standard(which should be the FDA's job to begin with, but they fail huge) then I have little doubt that big companies will enter that market as well. Because the customer base is significantly more educated than the average American consumer, I don't believe that big corporations will be able to use their same tools of deception in the organic market as they do in the non-organic market. Maybe thats optimistic though.

Who says this is true? That's not what organic means.

its possible I'm wrong. I watch videos/read articles and try to remember the information as best as I can, but feel free to correct me on anything I say thats wrong.

cool inspirational video:

this guy is awesome

Yea I haven't looked into it a whole lot, hoping others correct me if I'm wrong. BUT with that said, I feel like I've read a few good descriptions where foods can be called organic as long as specific chemicals aren't used. So then most of the organic stuff is barely any different from the regular stuff, but just grown with chemicals that pass the "organic test."

I'll try to dig up some of these articles that I'm barely remembering lol

lolllllll. This is some old school stuff white people like **** right here. If anything, the whole foods crowd have been shown to possess a keen ability to be deceived, evidenced by their willingness to pay twice as much for produce than "normal" shoppers. Even worse than the produce and meats is the organic jams, dressings, etc., when really there's no regulation about what gets called organic (maybe there is now). The organic only crowd is extremely susceptible to marketing geared towards their beliefs.

Look, I don't have a problem if you decide organic veggies and grass fed beef is the way to go (I even think you're probably right when it comes to meat). But you admit yourself you don't actually know of any real benefits in either the long or short term. So you can't just state it as fact.

I have never claimed anything as factual. I have only done my best job to increase the chances that I'm eating optimal nutrition as much as I possibly can given my various resources.




I was unclear. You're 100% right that the Whole Foods crowd can easily be deceived into spending more when not necessary. What I meant was that average consumer stood by and did nothing while food companies drastically altered the production methods of their foods, in some cases with horrendous results such as mad cow disease(obviously once it gets that bad then the average consumer takes note). The organic food crowd would never allow that because they actually care enough to stay up to date on farming methods, animal diets, etc. This allows me to trust that I'm getting food that has the highest likelihood of being optimally nutritious both in the short and long term.


I understand that some people are hesitant to spend extra money for fear that they are being ripped off, and I agree that this becomes an even bigger concern when larger companies start to get involved. For me personally, my interest in this type of diet has coincided with a huge decline in the amount of alcohol I drink, and I save so much on alcohol that its made me not even notice the slightly bigger food bills.

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