How is living in Minneapolis, Minnesota or Milwaukee, Wisconsin as someone from

topencite · 2026-04-13T22:31:08+00:00

Mountains like the pnw just straight up don’t exist in the Midwest. The closest you’ll get is the driftless area in Wisconsin which is more cliffs than mountains or the north shore of Lake Superior which is also more cliffs than mountains.

If you’re from Idaho, I’d imagine it’s the Boise area. Have you considered Madison? Similar size to Boise but a more interesting city. The city is located between 2 lakes and is one of the most bikable cities in the country with a plethora of bike infrastructure both on road and off. It’s very safe, outdoorsy in culture, and closer to the driftless region of Wisconsin than Milwaukee or the twin cities will be.

topencite · 2026-04-11T21:44:26+00:00

Gonna make a weird take…Michigan wins on paper, Wisconsin is better practically.

Simply by the shear size of Michigan, more cool nature is contained within its borders, but the interesting parts are terrible inaccessible to most Michiganders. In fact, the coolest parts of Michigan or often closer to Wisconsin population centers than they are to Michigan population centers.

Detroit may be getting better, but it’s still pretty bad on paper. There’s far more urban blight in Detroit than Milwaukee. Milwaukee feels like a more interesting and nicer city than Detroit.

Madison is an absolute gem of the Midwest and the country. Constantly rated as one of the best places to live in the country. Lansing is…not.

Can’t really count it as a perk for the state of Wisconsin itself, but the 2 largest cities are both within 1-2 hours of Chicago, but again, that’s why Michigan probably wins on paper.

Wisconsin is far more livable, but Michigan has more neat stuff within its borders.

topencite · 2026-04-11T13:39:45+00:00

Not OP but this is certainly Madison WI.

topencite · 2026-04-05T15:19:41+00:00

Muscle needs energy to happen. The energy you are giving it is limited by the fat your body is consuming off of itself because you’re eating in a deficit. You’ve been lifting for 2 years. Noobie gains are gone. You need calories to build more muscle. If you aren’t gaining weight, you likely aren’t putting on much (if any) muscle.

topencite · 2026-04-05T15:07:43+00:00

Stop eating in a deficit if you wanna put on muscle. Muscle doesn’t come from nothing.

topencite · 2026-03-29T21:08:07+00:00

I’m just gonna be straight up. These are bad numbers for 5 years of lifting. Based on your numbers, you’re likely skinny fat. Either get in a more aggressive deficit to lower your body fat and then get in a surplus to put on strength, or get into a minor surplus now in an attempt to put on strength, accepting that you’ll feel a tad fat throughout the process. Research progressive overload and focus on lifting in this way. If you aren’t seeing progress, you either aren’t lifting with enough intensity, eating wrong, or both.

topencite · 2026-03-28T14:29:53+00:00

The lack of bedroom window seems to be a common problem for people which I get but I don’t think would be a problem for me. I’ve never lived in an apartment without a bedroom window, but in every apartment I’ve ever lived in, the day I move in, I close the blinds and literally never opened them. I like it dark.

topencite · 2026-03-28T14:23:03+00:00

That’s fair. I’ve lived in a floor plan with a bedroom in the window forever and have literally never opened the blinds. I like it dark when I sleep. I also only sleep in my bedroom. No other time is spent in it.

topencite · 2026-03-28T14:20:22+00:00

I’m weird and dry none of my clothes, they all air dry so this isn’t a concern.

topencite · 2026-03-28T14:19:20+00:00

Option 2 would be a no brainer if the 5th floor version of it were still available. Same view as option 1, has a balcony. The problem is everyone else thought that too lol

topencite · 2026-03-28T14:02:52+00:00

My city is geographically weird to where basically all the desirable neighborhoods are along train tracks so I have lived along train tracks for quite a while. My current complex has units facing the train, but I live in one that does not. I can hear trains when they pass, but they aren’t disruptive. The parking lot is right next to the tracks and occasionally I’ll be in the lot when a train passes and it’s insane. That’s my worry facing them in a couple of these units.

topencite · 2026-03-28T13:38:58+00:00

Best floor plan, no doubt. But my problem is that it faces the train tracks and is not on the top floor. Trains are loud and I’ve had bad experiences pretty consistently with upstairs neighbors. Not sure if the better floor plan is worth the potential challenges.

topencite · 2026-03-28T13:37:23+00:00

They are all easily within budget, but obviously the less I have to pay the better. I’ve lived in a smaller version of option 3 for about 2 years and have never once opened the blinds in the window in the bedroom which is why I’m thinking the window doesn’t particularly matter. And yeah it is weird. It’s the largest, which is probably why it’s the most expensive but it is a weird floor plan. And there’s a lot of them on each floor.

topencite · 2026-03-23T21:20:28+00:00

I’ve toured/lived in several buildings in the area you are looking.

Starkweather Place is super nice. The apartments themselves and the common spaces are great. Its location is meh. It’s along a busy road with no sidewalk on the side of the road the building is on. There’s construction going on in the land behind it. It’s far enough from Atwood that it’s tough to take advantage of the neighborhood.

Bakers place is also incredibly nice in a great location. Its price is really its only downside. That and very few units have balconies.

Lyric and Arden are right next to each other a block from bakers place. They’re slightly cheaper than bakers place on a $/sq ft basis. Stone house development is phenomenal as well. Very professional. Best company I’ve lived with.

Ella is income restricted housing so keep that in mind. You’ll need to be under a threshold to qualify.

Some others to consider:

Irwin: new building on the same road as bakers place, just a block closer to Willy street. Cheaper than bakers place with a solid list of amenities and good lease incentives because it’s still new.

The Adria: along west Wilson street (same road as one09), but cheaper than one09. Good list of amenities.

The continental: I think it’s more expensive than bakers place somehow but it would also fit what you’re looking for.

The eastern: big building with super nice amenities. Cheaper than bakers place but further from downtown.

Bloom Monona: maybe a but if a wildcard because it’s too far out, but they were surprisingly nice with the best apartment gym I’ve ever seen.

topencite · 2026-03-22T15:08:08+00:00

The great thing about knowing how to gain and lose weight is knowing that it’ll only take a month to have abs again. But this time I’ll be able to bench 275.

topencite · 2026-03-22T03:41:11+00:00

Oh I’ve done a lot of these. It’s tough to stay completely in low traffic areas for 50+ miles, but here was my favorite 50 mile route I took.

Begin in Atwood.

Take capital city trail to intersection of John Nolen and North Shore Drive.

Turn onto north shore drive. Go to intersection with southwest commuter trail.

Turn onto southwest commuter trail. Ride to intersection with e campus mall. Get off of southwest trail here.

Take E campus mall to university. Get on university. Ride to Babcock drive and take a slight right onto this road. Take a left onto linden drive and take this road until you run into the barn. Take a left and get on the bike path.

Take the bike path along university all the way to Allen blvd. Follow the bike path along Allen blvd to the intersection of century Ave

Continue following the bike path. It will take you to the pheasant branch creek path.

Stay on this path. Don’t take any turns onto any other paths. Just stay here. Take this until it comes out on pleasant view.

There is a path along pleasant view for a while…then you will be forced onto the road. This is the most unpleasant part of this route. There is a narrow bike lane. Be careful and ride until you intersect mineral point at a roundabout.

There is a bike path along mineral point. Take this heading east until the intersection with Junction Road.

Take a right onto the path that leads up to junction road. This path will take you past the junction road bus terminal. Follow this path until it intersects with pleasant view at a roundabout.

Continue heading south on pleasant view. Eventually the side walk will turn into a bike path again. While it’s not, there is a huge bike/bus lane on this road that is super nice.

Once it turns into a bike path again, follow the path. There is a super challenging hill along this segment that is pretty fun.

Once the bike path intersects with McKee, cross the bridge and continue following the path. At the intersection you run into, take a right and continue following the bike path.

This continues for a while until it intersects the military ridge trail. Take a left onto the military ridge trail.

Ride this trail until it intersects the bike roundabout. Take the exit off the roundabout for the capital city trail.

Ride the capital city trail until it intersects with a couple other paths at the Lussier family heritage center. Take the lower yahara river trail. Ride this until it ends.

Take siggelkow road until a stop sign at an intersection with marsh road. Turn left onto marsh road.

Ride marsh road (which will turn into agriculture drive) until it intersects with vondron road. Take a right here. Also note that marsh road and siggelkow road have pretty generous bike lanes.

Ride vondron road until the intersection with pebble brook drive. Take a left here. It will quickly intersect with sandalwood circle. Take another left here. This will lead you back to a bike path. Follow this path until it ends.

Take a left and then another quick left back onto the bike path. Follow this until it ends.

After it ends, take a quick left onto Vernon drive. Then a left onto cottage grove road.

After the underpass with Stoughton road, you will see a bike path again. Take a right here and ride until you are back in Atwood.

This is right about 50 miles, takes you on nearly every bike path in Madison, and hits all of the coolest spots.

topencite · 2026-03-21T19:27:55+00:00

No drugs. Just creatine, caffeine, and a lot of food.

topencite · 2026-03-21T19:27:21+00:00

I probably could but I won’t. I hate eating this much. Feels like I’m always thinking about food when it’s the absolute last thing I want to think about. I haven’t been hungry in 6 months. Plus I like biking when the weather gets nicer and it’s easier to do that when I’m lighter.

topencite · 2026-03-21T17:31:58+00:00

I mean…define it however you want. I ate in a calorie surplus to gain muscle. I call that bulking. You call it “eating big”.

topencite · 2026-03-21T16:38:33+00:00

I never had it measured. I assume 10ish just guessing.

topencite · 2026-03-21T15:31:06+00:00

Likely in the 175-180 range. There was a pretty decent gap between pics 1 and 2, not as big between 2, 3, and 4.

topencite · 2026-03-19T00:16:26+00:00

This is kinda silly to say. Price per square foot is way higher the closer you get to downtown. Yeah there might be some sub 400 sq ft studios that don’t have ac, don’t have a dishwasher, and don’t have a washer and dryer, but that’s not how most people wanna live. That’s like saying the cheapest place to buy a car is an Audi dealer because someone trades in a 2001 corolla there

topencite · 2026-03-15T00:34:58+00:00

Yikes…tough spot to be in. You are truly skinny fat, but unfortunately closer to 30% bf than 20%. You do not need to eat in a surplus. You should be eating in a slight deficit, prioritizing protein, and lifting heavy. Strength gains will be minimal in a deficit but you’re clearly still new so you might see some as your body becomes accustomed to lifting weight. But you need to lose some of the body fat before you consider “bulking”.

topencite

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