The Swamp

mister d wrote: Thu Dec 19, 2024 11:49 am

The Sybian wrote: Thu Dec 19, 2024 11:32 amZita’s forever!

If PDX didn't limit me to three, their one with the graham cracker base would be on the list.

garyclark wrote: Thu Dec 19, 2024 11:17 am

govmentchedda wrote: Thu Dec 19, 2024 10:48 am JP Licks is "Jamaica Plain" Licks, correct?

Huh. Never knew that.

This is correct, I looked it up a very long time ago and it stuck.

I was going to specify their S’mores flavor, but there are so many great ones.

There is only one answer here in my town and it is called Taharka Brothers.

Top 3 for me are:

Cup of Joe (coffee IC w espresso chocolate chips)
Honey Graham
Pistachio

I don't see my old stand by and that might only be in their scoop shops which was coffee IC w brownie chunks and it was called Wake and Bake.

bfj wrote: Thu Dec 19, 2024 11:55 am There is only one answer here in my town and it is called Taharka Brothers.

Top 3 for me are:

Cup of Joe (coffee IC w espresso chocolate chips)
Honey Graham
Pistachio

I don't see my old stand by and that might only be in their scoop shops which was coffee IC w brownie chunks and it was called Wake and Bake.

Oh man. I miss Taharka Brothers. Their coffee milkshake is the best I've ever had.

garyclark wrote: Thu Dec 19, 2024 12:46 pm

bfj wrote: Thu Dec 19, 2024 11:55 am There is only one answer here in my town and it is called Taharka Brothers.

Top 3 for me are:

Cup of Joe (coffee IC w espresso chocolate chips)
Honey Graham
Pistachio

I don't see my old stand by and that might only be in their scoop shops which was coffee IC w brownie chunks and it was called Wake and Bake.

Oh man. I miss Taharka Brothers. Their coffee milkshake is the best I've ever had.

I split one with the Mrs. last week after we left a wedding at R-House. If any of you are ever in B-more, it's a fun place to checkout.

Back to the point of the thread, Thursday night marked four months of no drinking for me. Friday night, I took one of my friends out to dinner to celebrate his 50th, and had a few drinks. 1 negroni before dinner, 1 martini with dinner, 1 scotch after dinner.

A few observations:
- My tolerance for alcohol is lower.
- I definitely ate a lot more than normal, including a delicious slice of maple pie.
- Did not sleep as much or nearly as deeply. My sleep app said I only got 4 hours sleep, but I was in bed for closer to 6.5. And 0 deep sleep.
- No hangover or other terrible physical feelings (got up at 8 AM and drove 3 hours), but definitely more worn down and less energy.

Haven't had a drink since, nor have I really wanted one. Which is nice. Plan on going out on Friday and having a few Belgian brews with Chumley. My thinking is that I'll drink when I feel like it over the holidays and on our upcoming early-January anniversary trip to Italy.

Then come back and figure out my goals for 2025. Might be to continue to abstain completely. Might be to only drink on weekends or when out of the house. What I'm clear on though is how much better I feel and how much more rest I get when I don't drink.

Isn't it wild how alcohol begets more alcohol?

govmentchedda wrote: Thu Dec 19, 2024 2:15 pm Isn't it wild how alcohol begets more alcohol?

Weed begets more slices of maple pie.

bfj wrote: Thu Dec 19, 2024 3:24 pm

govmentchedda wrote: Thu Dec 19, 2024 2:15 pm Isn't it wild how alcohol begets more alcohol?

Weed begets more slices of maple pie.

Yummm.

So, a benefit of being old is that my Medicare supplemental insurance plan pays for a free* gym membership (*only at participating gyms). So, today I dragged my ass to Bronto's favorite place, Planet Fitness, and signed up. I'm told it will be less busy when folks go back to their jobs and schools after the holidays, as long as I go mid-day. To my chagrin, I also learned today that it's a mistake to choose a treadmill that is right in front of the TV that is tuned to Fox News. Yuck. (They have a long rack of teevees, tuned to various stations.) But, it felt good to get back into a gym.

Nice, Pat!

Good job man. And in my experience, unless someone else is on a machine watching that TV, you might be able to get that channel changed.

sancarlos wrote: Mon Dec 23, 2024 6:02 pm So, a benefit of being old is that my Medicare supplemental insurance plan pays for a free* gym membership (*only at participating gyms). So, today I dragged my ass to Bronto's favorite place, Planet Fitness, and signed up. I'm told it will be less busy when folks go back to their jobs and schools after the holidays, as long as I go mid-day. To my chagrin, I also learned today that it's a mistake to choose a treadmill that is right in front of the TV that is tuned to Fox News. Yuck. (They have a long rack of teevees, tuned to various stations.) But, it felt good to get back into a gym.

Nice. Yeah, I always check the TVs first.

So a month ago, I decided to reward myself for four months of good behavior during which I refrained from alcohol, exercised daily, and recorded calories. I had lost a lot of weight, and it was the holiday season and I was going to Italy for 10 days. The plan was to continue exercising and record calories, but to drink again.

Part of this was also a mini-experiment to see how drinking impacts my health and habits. Today was the 30-day weigh-in, and I'm back up 12 pounds.

I knew I'd gain weight, but that was even more than I thought. I got a lot of exercise (averaged over 9 miles a day in Italy), but drinking led to me eating more food, and not the healthy stuff. And then I got loose with calorie tracking.

It's the alcohol, stupid (he says to himself).

Today, I started the good behavior plan again. The goal is one month of clean living, and we'll see where I am then.

Yep, alcohol leads to weight gain, that is so true. But, I’m not going to go to abstinence. I like drinking too much and I don’t want to set rules I won’t keep. So, my wife and I are trying to limit ourselves to one glass of wine each with dinner on weekdays, with beer and spirits on weekends. That, plus exercise and limiting snacks and desserts makes me lose weight. (I have to limit weed, too, because that leads to snacking.)

sancarlos wrote: Mon Jan 13, 2025 8:23 pm Yep, alcohol leads to weight gain, that is so true. But, I’m not going to go to abstinence. I like drinking too much and I don’t want to set rules I won’t keep. So, my wife and I are trying to limit ourselves to one glass of wine each with dinner on weekdays, with beer and spirits on weekends. That, plus exercise and limiting snacks and desserts makes me lose weight. (I have to limit weed, too, because that leads to snacking.)

Yeah. I just find it easier to abstain completely than monitor it. For now.

Long-term, need to figure out that balance.

Last week I was able to abstain from alcohol during the work week and ate all meals at home, both of which are very rare occurrences and made me feel good both mentally and physically. I am doing a work happy hour tonight, but will stick to this plan on most weeks and see how it goes.

Wife and I are on a similar "don't drink during the work week as loosely defined by J going into the office the next day" plan. The second week of it and I absolutely feel it.

garyclark wrote: Tue Jan 14, 2025 9:25 amYeah. I just find it easier to abstain completely than monitor it. For now.

This is how I operate too; there need to be strict guidelines. My wife had one (1) drink when we went out to eat last week and that's been it for her this month whereas to me that would have ruined my entire process.

mister d wrote: Tue Jan 14, 2025 10:47 am

garyclark wrote: Tue Jan 14, 2025 9:25 amYeah. I just find it easier to abstain completely than monitor it. For now.

This is how I operate too; there need to be strict guidelines. My wife had one (1) drink when we went out to eat last week and that's been it for her this month whereas to me that would have ruined my entire process.

The first time I had a drink in December, I had a pre-dinner Negroni, a during dinner Martini, and a post-dinner Scotch ... or two.

Still holding around 186 give or take. Thinking about trying to make a run to upper 170s by late spring.

tennbengal wrote: Tue Jan 14, 2025 11:43 am Still holding around 186 give or take. Thinking about trying to make a run to upper 170s by late spring.

Nice! That's good work.

garyclark wrote: Tue Jan 14, 2025 12:19 pm

tennbengal wrote: Tue Jan 14, 2025 11:43 am Still holding around 186 give or take. Thinking about trying to make a run to upper 170s by late spring.

Nice! That's good work.

All hail ozempic. Still holding the line. Making diabetes work for me for 15 months now.

My wife as the 'betes and has been on the O for quite some time. She has lost a significant amount of weight. We were joking the other day that she should stop taking it for a couple of weeks prior to her next check-up so they don't take her off of it.

tennbengal wrote: Tue Jan 14, 2025 12:38 pm

garyclark wrote: Tue Jan 14, 2025 12:19 pm

tennbengal wrote: Tue Jan 14, 2025 11:43 am Still holding around 186 give or take. Thinking about trying to make a run to upper 170s by late spring.

Nice! That's good work.

All hail ozempic. Still holding the line. Making diabetes work for me for 15 months now.

Don't sell yourself short, dude. Lots of people take it and most don't lose nearly as much weight as you have.

So I’ve got an Achilles situation, I think. Right foot, same one that started to give out from overuse/pronation at the end of 2021. Visited a doctor and got custom made orthotics for that, combined those with Hokas and been pretty good since.

This pain started a couple of weeks ago, with no obvious initiating incident, and last weekend’s runs were a chore. With the snow and subsequent deep freeze this week, I took M-F off, did some ice and profren and it felt better so I tried a run this morning. Just three miles, this shit really hurts now.

Advice anyone? More rest? Just get to a doctor?

rass wrote: Sat Jan 25, 2025 12:57 pm So I’ve got an Achilles situation, I think. Right foot, same one that started to give out from overuse/pronation at the end of 2021. Visited a doctor and got custom made orthotics for that, combined those with Hokas and been pretty good since.

This pain started a couple of weeks ago, with no obvious initiating incident, and last weekend’s runs were a chore. With the snow and subsequent deep freeze this week, I took M-F off, did some ice and profren and it felt better so I tried a run this morning. Just three miles, this shit really hurts now.

Advice anyone? More rest? Just get to a doctor?

Tendonitis? I’d say rest, ice and anti-inflammatory.

Doctor, preferably a podiatrist for runners. Maybe ask your daughter or her coach who to go to? Found one down here when I had pretty bad tendonitis on the tendon that runs on the outside of the lower leg (mid-calf) to the outside of the foot.

Leg and back mobility and strength exercises as well.

Thanks guys. Frustrating.

is it achilles pain or pain elsewhere from your achilles?

I dealt with some nasty, nasty plantar fasciitis -- or something similar -- in 2021 or so. it would wake me up at night it was so bad. was my left foot and exacerbated by golf and I couldn't run at all.

figured out that it was a calf/achilles issue and no running for a long time helped fix it along with achilles stretching and some serious lacrosse ball work on my calf

it's still not totally pain free and will randomly slightly flare up on peloton rides, but I can manage it as long as I'm proactive with the prehab stuff. hopefully will be able to run on a more regular basis when it gets warmer.

sancarlos wrote: Mon Dec 23, 2024 6:02 pm So, a benefit of being old is that my Medicare supplemental insurance plan pays for a free* gym membership (*only at participating gyms). So, today I dragged my ass to Bronto's favorite place, Planet Fitness, and signed up. I'm told it will be less busy when folks go back to their jobs and schools after the holidays, as long as I go mid-day. To my chagrin, I also learned today that it's a mistake to choose a treadmill that is right in front of the TV that is tuned to Fox News. Yuck. (They have a long rack of teevees, tuned to various stations.) But, it felt good to get back into a gym.

I hit the PF next to my house a couple days a week now to do some high-rep machine work and get out of the house. membership is free through my insurance and it's a newer one, so they have a decently wide range of stuff

my main observation is the incredible popularity of hip thrusts. obviously PF has no squat racks, but the smith machines are constantly full of millennial and gen z women doing them.

Brontoburglar wrote: Sat Jan 25, 2025 9:10 pm

sancarlos wrote: Mon Dec 23, 2024 6:02 pm So, a benefit of being old is that my Medicare supplemental insurance plan pays for a free* gym membership (*only at participating gyms). So, today I dragged my ass to Bronto's favorite place, Planet Fitness, and signed up. I'm told it will be less busy when folks go back to their jobs and schools after the holidays, as long as I go mid-day. To my chagrin, I also learned today that it's a mistake to choose a treadmill that is right in front of the TV that is tuned to Fox News. Yuck. (They have a long rack of teevees, tuned to various stations.) But, it felt good to get back into a gym.

I hit the PF next to my house a couple days a week now to do some high-rep machine work and get out of the house. membership is free through my insurance and it's a newer one, so they have a decently wide range of stuff

my main observation is the incredible popularity of hip thrusts. obviously PF has no squat racks, but the smith machines are constantly full of millennial and gen z women doing them.

Dude. It's like the only thing those machines are used for. There are four at my PF, and I can barely get on them to do benchpresses when I go (which hasn't been in awhile). Do you know why they're so popular?

I know the guy who brought them into the hardcore fitness mainstream about 12-14 years ago when I started doing them. but even then, they were a relatively niche exercise. even in 2019 and early 2020 pre-covid when I was at the "hardcore" gym I loved going to, there was hardly more than one person doing hip thrusts at a time.

they're a great bang for your buck exercise and easy to go fairly heavy. plus I do think it's helped that the stigma of women lifting heavy is basically gone at this point and there are lots of women who, to put it bluntly, don't want a flat butt. I wish I knew the exact tipping point when they became extremely popular for the fitness masses as I just started going back to a commercial gym for the first time since March of 2020. but it's at least cool to see, even though I think the smith machine probably makes it a bit awkward given the strict linearity of the barbell path

Brontoburglar wrote: Sat Jan 25, 2025 9:56 pm I know the guy who brought them into the hardcore fitness mainstream about 12-14 years ago when I started doing them. but even then, they were a relatively niche exercise. even in 2019 and early 2020 pre-covid when I was at the "hardcore" gym I loved going to, there was hardly more than one person doing hip thrusts at a time.

they're a great bang for your buck exercise and easy to go fairly heavy. plus I do think it's helped that the stigma of women lifting heavy is basically gone at this point and there are lots of women who, to put it bluntly, don't want a flat butt. I wish I knew the exact tipping point when they became extremely popular for the fitness masses as I just started going back to a commercial gym for the first time since March of 2020. but it's at least cool to see, even though I think the smith machine probably makes it a bit awkward given the strict linearity of the barbell path

They look like a hernia waiting to happen, but I don't know much about this stuff.

Put as simply as possible, the back of my ankle, above my heel, hurts. It’s worse if I try to bend the front of my foot up than bend it down.

if you have a lacrosse/tennis/baseball/golf ball, see if you can get some relief via this way (or even if you have a theragun or knockoff)

garyclark wrote: Sat Jan 25, 2025 10:41 pm

Brontoburglar wrote: Sat Jan 25, 2025 9:56 pm I know the guy who brought them into the hardcore fitness mainstream about 12-14 years ago when I started doing them. but even then, they were a relatively niche exercise. even in 2019 and early 2020 pre-covid when I was at the "hardcore" gym I loved going to, there was hardly more than one person doing hip thrusts at a time.

they're a great bang for your buck exercise and easy to go fairly heavy. plus I do think it's helped that the stigma of women lifting heavy is basically gone at this point and there are lots of women who, to put it bluntly, don't want a flat butt. I wish I knew the exact tipping point when they became extremely popular for the fitness masses as I just started going back to a commercial gym for the first time since March of 2020. but it's at least cool to see, even though I think the smith machine probably makes it a bit awkward given the strict linearity of the barbell path

They look like a hernia waiting to happen, but I don't know much about this stuff.

they're actually really, really safe. much safer for an untrained/unsupervised beginner than deadlifts. with the way that you're positioned, all you're doing is hip hinging and the back is braced pretty well (and doesn't have much room to flex and extend). the hardest thing to get used to is the barbell across your hip bones, which is why a quality squat pad helps a lot

Brontoburglar wrote: Sun Jan 26, 2025 8:42 am if you have a lacrosse/tennis/baseball/golf ball, see if you can get some relief via this way (or even if you have a theragun or knockoff)

Not that I ever used any of it but the kid took all of that equipment we had in the house to college.

And 100% I don’t stretch enough in general, much less for a dude my age who insists on running as much as he does.

I’ll see what I can rig up, thanks.

Your child took every round ball in the house off to college? Not sure I’m buying that excuse, Rass.



(I hope you feel better and if you’re ever down and injured running through either of my towns, PM me and I’ll come get you.)

rass wrote: Sun Jan 26, 2025 7:39 am Put as simply as possible, the back of my ankle, above my heel, hurts. It’s worse if I try to bend the front of my foot up than bend it down.

I, unfortunately, have been dealing with this for about a year. More when I have some time to write it all up. Nothing torn but inflammation and scar tissue. Had a non surgical procedure which helped but may have to have it done again.

phxgators wrote: Sun Jan 26, 2025 2:23 pm

rass wrote: Sun Jan 26, 2025 7:39 am Put as simply as possible, the back of my ankle, above my heel, hurts. It’s worse if I try to bend the front of my foot up than bend it down.

I, unfortunately, have been dealing with this for about a year. More when I have some time to write it all up. Nothing torn but inflammation and scar tissue. Had a non surgical procedure which helped but may have to have it done again.

Getting old is bullshit guys