Deadly Food

What would happen if the makers of popular cleaning chemicals modified their products in such a way so that the chemicals tasted, and smelled, just like food? What if bleach smelled, and tasted, like cotton candy? Activists and health organizations would go crazy. Children and pets who don't know any better would get sick and start dying from chemical ingestion. You're probably thinking, "What a crazy thing to even suggest!".

Well, lets see: scientific studies have shown that it's a scientific fact that soda, donuts, cheese burgers, and other unnatural and unhealthy so called "foods", will kill you over time. Yet the better tasting and more appealing the food companies make their "products", the more money they make! The foods are shown to eventually lead to obesity and death and yet it's totally legal and OK for them to market and sell them!

Did you know that the food companies aren't even required to run any kind of trials to test the safety of a new food or product? The foods available on the market today are more dangerous for you than the chemicals and drugs in a pharmacy! Ingredients in foods should be as carefully inspected as chemicals are in new drugs and overly unhealthy foods should be outlawed.

I saw a box of donuts this morning. I wasn't offered any, but that's because everyone already knows I'll simply smile and say "No thank you.", turning away with my feeling of health and motivation still 100% intact. Then I thought, "How much would I need to be paid to eat a single donut?" $10? $25? $50? $100? I finally settled on $150, no less. Call me crazy? Well that's what the extra one hour of intense running, required to burn those calories, is worth to me.

It costs me hours of strenuous physical work to burn extra calories, but it costs me nothing to reject unhealthy food. Thats the way I see it whenever I'm presented with an unhealthy choice.

Don't eat something unhealthy and then ask yourself 15 minutes later "Why did I eat that? It was so unhealthy for me!". Ask yourself "Do I want to eat this?" before you eat it. Create the habit of reading how many calories are in something BEFORE you put it in your mouth, not 10 minutes later.

Eat healthy and don't be a hypocrite. It's your body, and it's your life.

Workout Routine for July 2006

The workouts are done in pairs as alternating sets, with a 30 second rest after the first exercise and 60 seconds after the second (so one set of the dumbbell bench press, rest 30 seconds, then one set of the dumbbell row, rest 60 seconds, and continue until all sets are complete for that pair). Also, you might notice that all of my weights are even heavier than my previous routine (55lb dumbbells for the bench press!). I can’t believe how light 55lb dumbbells feel!

Workout A (Monday)
Dumbbell Bench Press, 4 sets, 6 reps, 55 LBS
Dumbbell Row, 4 sets, 8 reps, 45 LBS
Incline Dubbell Press, 4 sets, 8 reps, 50 LBS
Wide-Grip Seated Row, 4 sets, 8 reps, 200 LBS
Chinup, 3 sets, 15 reps
Dip, 3 sets, 15 reps
Kneeling Cable Crunch, 3 sets, 15 reps, 100 LBS
Bicycle Crunch, 3 sets, 60 reps

Workout B (Wednesday)
Wide Squat, 4 sets, 8 reps, 110 LBS
Dumbbell Shrug, 4 sets, 10 reps, 50 LBS
Barbell Forward Lunge, 4 sets, 10 reps, 20 LBS
Dumbbell Romanian Deadlift, 4 sets, 8 reps, 35 LBS
Dumbbell Bulgarian Split Squat, 3 sets, 10 reps, 25 LBS
Rear-Delt Raise, 3 sets, 10 reps, 10 LBS (plates not dumbbells)

Workout C (Friday)
Dumbbell One-Arm Press, 4 sets, 6 reps, 45 LBS
Snatch-Grip Barbell Row, 4 sets, 8 reps, 90 LBS
Lying EZ-Bar Triceps Extension, 3 sets, 6 reps, 60 LBS
Dumbbell Decline Triceps Extension, 3 sets, 12 reps, 30 LBS
EZ-Bar Curl, 3 sets, 6 reps, 70 LBS
Dumbbell Alternating Incline Curl, 3 sets, 12 reps, 25 LBS
Slow Swiss-Ball Crunch, 3 sets, 15 reps

Also, I can't forget to mention the aerobic workouts. This routine is, after all, designed to cut fat. There are three aerobic workouts, each done on the days I don't workout. They are interval workouts and can be performed on either a bike, or treadmill (or just plain running outside, but that's harder to keep your sprinting pace the same each time). I prefer the treadmill, simply because it forces me to be consistent with the speed and time. There's a 5 minute warm-up and 5 minute cool down. For the last three minutes of the cool down, I usually decrease the speed by 1 mph until I'm at a walking speed after my five minutes are over. This gradual cool down actually helps keep your body revved up for hours after the workout! Each of the sprints should be sprinting as fast as you can for prescribed number of seconds. The speeds listed are just what I use. If you're taller or shorter than 5'8 (or in better aerobic shape), then you'll need to use different speeds. OK, enough talk, here's the three aerobic workouts.

Workout A (Tuesday)
Warm-up: 5 Minutes @ 7 MPH
Sprint: 30 seconds @ 10 MPH
Jog: 90 seconds @ 7 MPH
(repeat the above pair 6 times)
Cool Down: 5 Minutes @ 7, 6, 5, 4.5, 4 MPH
Total Time: 22 Minutes

Workout B (Thursday)
Warm-up: 5 Minutes @ 6 MPH
Sprint: 45 seconds @ 9 MPH
Jog: 60 seconds @ 6 MPH
(repeat the above pair 6 times)
Cool Down: 5 Minutes @ 6, 5.5, 5, 4.5, 4 MPH
Total Time: 22 Minutes

Workout C (Saturday)
Warm-up: 5 Minutes @ 6 MPH
Sprint: 60 seconds @ 8 MPH
Jog: 90 seconds @ 6 MPH
(repeat the above pair 8 times)
Cool Down: 5 Minutes @ 6, 5.5, 5, 4.5, 4 MPH
Total Time: 30 Minutes

Build a Strong Foundation for your Body

Most bodybuilders that you see will have a big strong upper body, but a smaller, disproportionate lower body. Lower body muscles are probably the second hardest muscle to work, second only to abs. A strong lower body is very important though. It's the foundation on which you build your strong upper body.

Those who do physical labor for their daily job generally have a naturally build lower body. Lifting objects and moving around on your feet all day constantly tax the lower body muscles, causing them to grow. I salute those who hold jobs which require large amounts of physical labor (construction workers, the military, etc). Sure, I'm a computer guy and my job generally requires that I sit on my ass all day in front of the computer. Not very healthy for lower body muscles. However, I don't see this as a misfortune, but rather as one of many challenges I must face.

I had another thought today with regards to lower body exercises. Those who actually do work their lower body on a regular basis probably don't see the gains they'd expect because the muscles are so tight. The muscles can't grow if they are not relaxed enough to stretch. With this in mind, I'm going to start doing 20 minutes of yoga and stretching twice a day, morning and evening, concentrating on lower body and hip stretches.

As promised, here is the second workout in my new routine. You'll notice there are a lot of lower body exercises. While doing exercises, it's extremely important that you keep perfect form through each rep. If the weight feels too easy, then slow down each rep and keep perfect form. If after a whole set of going slow they still feel light, then, and only then, increase the weight.

(workout moved here)

Sore II

I'm still very sore, maybe even more sore, from my workouts this week. I can feel big changes already though. If I can keep up this workout schedule for the next 6 - 8 weeks, I'm sure I can pack on huge amounts of mass. I've been drinking non-fat yogurt shakes with pineapple, whey, and flax oil. It's the perfect recovery shake for repairing damaged tissue. I've been trying to consume lots of good carbohydrates during the day and increase my protein intake to add extra calories to my diet. The weight's I'm using are definitely the heaviest I've ever used on a consistent basis.

Here are the remaining two days of my workout (Thursday and Friday). The same rules mentioned at the bottom of the original post still apply. And again, the 35 LB Olympic size bar bell is not included in the weights listed.

Workout C
Pullup, 4 sets, 8 reps
Neutral Grip Dumbbell Press, 4 sets, 8 reps, 45 LBS
Weighted Chinup, 3 sets, 5 reps, 16 LBS
Lateral Raise, 3 sets, 8 reps, 25 LBS
Bench Press, 3 sets, 6 reps, 160 LBS
Barbell Curl, 3 sets, 8 reps, 50 LBS
Decline Dumbbell Triceps Extention, 3 sets, 8. reps, 30 LBS 30 LBS
Incline Dumbbell Curl, 3 sets, 12 reps, 20 LBS

Workout D
Deadlift, 3 sets, 6 reps, 140 LBS
Side Plank, 3 sets, 20 second hold
Front Squat, 4 sets, 8 reps, 60 LBS
Good Morning, 4 sets, 8 reps, 60 LBS
Overhead Squat, 3 sets, 5 reps, 30 LBS
Calf Raise, 3 sets, 10 reps, 35 LBS
Swiss Ball Curl Up, 3 sets, 15 reps

Sore

I started a new workout regiment yesterday, a four day split: Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday. I'm going heavy to put on some mass. My bench press is the heaviest I've ever used on a regular basis; 37 LBS more than my own body weight. Statistically speaking, the average man can bench press 93% of his own body weight one time (one rep max). I knew I would feel sore the day after, and boy, do I feel sore, especially my chest. Below is the workout I completed yesterday and today. I don't know what weights I'll be using for Thursday and Friday's workouts, so I'll post those workouts on Friday.

The Olympic size barbell that I use is 35lbs. To make it easier while I'm adding/removing weights during the workout, I do not add that weight into the numbers below. I felt like puking after the AB workout today. ABs are certainly the hardest muscle to work, and the rarest to see in full view.

Workout A (Monday)
Bench Press, 3 sets, 5 reps, 170 LBS
Dumbbell Row, 3 sets, 6 reps, 45 LBS
Dumbbell Bench Press, 4 sets, 8 reps, 50 LBS
Snatch-Grip Barbell Row, 4 sets, 8 reps, 90 LBS
Incline Dumbbell Press, 3 sets, 12 reps, 40 LBS
Dumbbell External Rotation, 3 sets, 10 reps, 8 LBS

Workout B (Tuesday)
Squat, 3 sets, 6 reps, 100 LBS
Rear-delt Raise, 3 sets, 10 reps, 20 LBS
Romanian Deadlift, 4 sets, 8 reps, 100 LBS
Dumbbell Split Squat, 4 sets, 8 reps 35 LBS
Swiss Ball Jackknife, 3 sets, 10 reps
Bicycle Crunches, 3 sets, 50 reps
Swiss Ball Rollout, 3 sets, 10 reps

Oh, I almost forgot to mention: The first two exercises in each workout are done back to back, one set of each exercise with a 60 second rest in between until all sets are complete. The remaining exercises are done in pairs as supersets; one set of each exercise without rest in between, then a 60 second rest, until all sets of those two exercises are complete. The only exception to this rule is on Workout B: the last three exercises (the AB workout) are done one after another without rest until one set of each has been completed, then a 60 second rest.

Drink up; you seriously need it!

Drink more water.

Do it.

Our body is made of mostly water. But you knew that already, great. Have you thought about the role that water plays in keeping our body functioning? Without water, we wouldn't exist. I'd say that makes us water-creatures, wouldn't you? Sure, we don't live in water, but we can't venture far from it or else we wouldn't survive. All the functions of our body, from the creation of new cells (which by the way, are constantly dying and being replaced) to the transport of nutrients, to the function of our brain and flow of our blood. Everything that goes on in our body needs water to work the way it should. Continue reading →

Why drink more tea?

OK, tea is too bland for me too. Once you've had black coffee and learned to enjoy its complex flavor, it's hard to drink any kind of tea. However, I understand the huge health benefits of Green Tea and most of what I eat and drink is aimed directly at maintaining my health. I've developed a habit of checking the nutritional content of everything I eat, preferably before I eat it, and some food's nutritional content I even have memorized! It's amazing how profound an effect certain foods can have on your body. The healthier your body the better and more noticeable the effects of healthy foods are.

For example, I've been having digestion problems for the past 6 months. I read that ginger is excellent for helping digestion so I ordered some Ginger Honey Crystal tea from Prince of Peace. Empty a packet in a cup, add hot water, mix and drink! It tastes awesome (unless you hate ginger) and I couldn't believe how much it helped my digestion. I've made it a habit to drink a cup almost every day (in the afternoon, when my body seems to need the most help digesting).

A few days ago I was in Starbucks and I saw a new tea for sale. Tazo Green Ginger. I had to try it. It combines the digestion benefits of ginger and the antioxidant benefits of green tea. I was surprised it tasted as good as it did. The plain Tazo green tea wasn't that great, so I wasn't expecting much, but the ginger helps to dull the bitter taste of the green tea, and almost tastes sweet!

My second cup this morning,

The 10 Minute Cardio Burn

I apologize for the short stall in posting. During the past two weeks I have been trying to figure out how to approach the next few months and I have come to the following conclusion. Burn 7% - 10% of my body fat and finally obtain that washboard look, get MCP certified (WinXP and Win2k3 exams), and obtain at least one Linux certification (probably the LPI or Linux+ cert). Those are the three goals I plan to concentrate on during the next three months. In addition to those, I want to finish more on my basement project and clean up the backyard (remove the trash and huge pile of dirt that came from digging out the basement).

I have been putting a lot of thought into the possibility of moving to NYC to work for the week and returning on the weekends to take care of my current responsibilities here in Lowell. If the right opportunity arises, it will be hard to resist considering how much of a head start it would give my career later down the road. It would be a lot nicer to work close to home, but they way I figure it is like this: if I make the sacrifice now, then in a few years I will be able to obtain a very good paying job closer to home. It’s not all about the money though. My career is focused in computers and technology. If I ever plan to expand my knowledge and be on the cutting edge, I need to be working in a real world environment where I will be exposed to those things.

To reach my goal of losing 7% - 10% body fat, I have decided to try an experiment. I will do 10 minute interval cardio sessions several times throughout the day to keep my metabolism revved up. The 10 minutes will consist of the following:

2 minute warm-up
30 second sprint
1 minute jog
30 second sprint
1 minute jog
30 second sprint
1 minute jog
30 second sprint
1 minute jog
30 second sprint
2 minute cool down

The jog is currently at 6 mph and the sprints are 9 or 10 mph. I will increase the speeds if I start to feel my body adjusting to them. I am nicknaming these sessions "cardio burns", as their intended effect is to fire up my metabolism throughout the day. Keeping the sessions short should make them easier to complete throughout the day. In addition to the cardio sessions every day, I will continue my weight workouts three days a week and ab workouts on the off days.

Changed for Life

Here is the result of more than two years of eating properly, working out regularly, keeping away from chips, soda, fried foods, fast-food, candy, and keeping a very very regular and consistent workout schedule.

I could have accomplished this a lot faster, but there were months when I didn't watch my diet the way I should have, or when I had an operation for a hernia and was unable to workout for 3 months.

Anyhow, I'm almost to my goal, but not quite yet. : ) By this summer, I'll have reached my goal and post the results again. However, until then watch for an article on this site about how I transformed my body. I'll try to have it up here before the end of this month.