Hey,

So today was the first day of the week, and I did not make it to the gym.. As a matter of fact I have been super sick for the first time in a long time.  I worked out really hard on friday, and was feeling pumped for the weekend, later that night I began feeling really fatigued and decided to head home after a big dinner.  Spent the next two days laying around and attempting to eat, just to have it come right back out.. no fun at all.  Anyway I am feeling a little better tonight and will try my best to fall back into my routine by tomorrow evening.  please make sure to post any questions or comments you may have!  Otherwise, sorry about the lack in posts for the last couple of days, but now you know why!!

2/22/10

Today.. Ahhh today..

Feeling the effects of my binge pizza eating of saturday, and my pure lazy’ness of yesterday, although I did make it to the gym to do a little cardio last night, but it was pretty much just to get me prepared to push it hard this week.  So I woke up this morning and decided to start it out right, realized I didnt have much to eat in my house, so ate the following on the road today, but killed it in the gym with a great back and biceps workout!!

Meals: 8am-11pm

-Healthy Choice tv dinner (yeah for breakfast)(240 Cal, 15g protein)

-Fiber One snack bar (150 Cal)

-McDonalds Bacon Angus Burger with cheese and fries (not proud of this)(1000 cal, 80g of fat!)

-Snack bar (120 cal)

Workout

- Protein Shake (25g protein, 200 cal)

-Tv Dinner (210 Cal, 15g protein)

-Half Can of Ravioli  (120 Cal, 6g protein)

Total: 2120 Cal, +/- 90 g protein

Workout Details:

-3 laps around 1/5 mile track for warm up

-3 Sets of 10 reps super slow, Wide Grip non-assisted pull-ups

-3 sets of 10 Lat-Pull-Ups 120 lbs

-3 sets of 10 seated rows 100 lbs

-3 sets of 10 reps, Bent Over Row 70 lbs

-3 sets of 10 reps, one arm smith machine bent over row (bar plus 20 lbs)(+/- 65 lbs)

-3 sets of 10 reps regular inside pull-ups

-Sit-ups, and hanging leg lifts to failure

-basketball/soccer for about 30 min for end cardio

Notes: now this is not that intensive of a workout, I have for sure done a lot more lifting in a one time session, but what really set this one above from the rest was the way that I worked out.  I pushed every second of this, with little downtime between sets and breakneck cardio at the end, I will for sure see the results if I continue out the week with similar workouts, but never the same

10 Reasons Why It Is Hard To Lose Weight

Do you believe it’s simple to lose weight? If you listen to the weight loss industry, you’ve been told over and over how easy it is…just take this pill, follow that diet or buy this piece of equipment and everything will melt away in a flash. In fact, we spend over billions each year on weight loss products and services and yet we’re still overweight. In light of this, is weight loss really that simple?

Complex Problems, Simple Solutions

The idea behind weight loss is simple–burn more calories than you eat. This can be accomplished by replacing a couple of sodas with water and adding 20 minutes of walking each day. Sounds simple…and it is. If it’s that simple, why can’t we seem to do it?

There are a number of factors that contribute to our weight gain that you already know. But it’s not just about finding time to exercise or choosing the salad over the burger–it’s about genuine commitment to make healthy decisions every day….REGARDLESS of what’s happening in your life. If you’re not ready to make some changes, losing weight will be hard. Below are 10 things you’ll need to look at in order to get yourself on a healthy track.

1. Your Attitude. If you’re only on a health kick to lose weight or look a certain way, it will be hard to lose weight permanently. Why? Because, what happens if you don’t see results quickly enough? You give up. Weight loss is a great goal, but unless you have something else to motivate you, what’s to keep you going if the scale doesn’t budge? It takes time to lose weight–how will you motivate yourself in the meantime? Find more reasons to be healthy–having more energy, dealing with health problems or wanting to live longer to be around for your kids. Those are some darned good reasons, if you ask me.

2. Your Workouts. If you don’t workout consistently enough, it’s hard to lose weight. Yes, it’s possible to lose weight through diet alone, but you’ll likely hit a plateau. You don’t need to spend hours in the gym, you only need to set up a reasonable workout schedule that you can follow each week. It’s not about killing yourself with workouts–it’s about finding something you like and that you’ll continue with for the rest of your life. You have to be willing to be more active on a regular basis–not just for a week here and there.

3. Your Eating. Changing the way you eat is another thing you’re going to have to do for long-lasting weight loss. You need to be willing to replace unhealthy foods with healthier choices–every single day. This might mean:

• Keeping a food journal
• Spending more time in the grocery store reading food labels
• Spending more time preparing meals
• Saying no to extra portions
• Making conscious choices about what you put in your mouth.

For permanent weight loss, you need to pay attention to what you eat and make good choices more often than not. Maybe a structured diet eventually ends, but healthy eating never stops…there will never be a time when you’re done eating healthy. You might feel you’re sacrificing the good stuff (pizza, fast food, etc.) and your life won’t be fun if you can’t have those foods. Guess what? You can still have them…just not whenever you want. Are you ready to make these changes? Are you ready to stop giving your body the most convenient thing available (and often the most fatty) and, instead, spend time planning what and when you’ll eat? Because that’s what it takes to get healthy…permanently.

4. Your Lifestyle. If you want a healthy life, you have to be willing to change how you live. It doesn’t mean changing everything overnight, but simply being open to new ways of doing things. Some things you might need to change for a healthy life are:

• Daily Routines. You may need to get up earlier to prepare your lunch or squeeze in a workout, use your lunch hour for exercise or go for a walk after work instead of watching TV. Are you willing to do this?
• Limits. You might need to set new rules for yourself limiting how much TV you watch or how long you sit at the computer. You’ll need to pay attention to how you spend your time and where you’re out of balance so you can add more movement.
• Your Pantry. I’m the kind of person who will eat an entire bag of Doritoes if they’re in the house. That means I don’t keep them in the house and if someone (ahem…husband) brings them home, he must immediately re-locate them elsewhere. If you want to be healthy, you may need to get rid of those foods you just can’t resist.
• Your Schedule. If you’re not willing to sit down and change the way you live each day to include exercise, time to prepare meals and time to nurture yourself with sleep, it’s hard to lose weight. People use busy schedules as an excuse not to be healthy…are you one of them? If you’re not ready to take responsibility for the schedule you’ve created, it will be hard to lose weight.

5. Your Surroundings. Sometimes, you can’t control the things around you. At work, you may be surrounded by temptations–donuts, vending machines and the like. That’s just one thing you have to deal with…but what about your home? Surround yourself with things that will support you in your efforts to get healthy. That might mean spending some money on home workout equipment, setting up a corner of the house for your gear or commandeering the TV a few nights a week to do an exercise video. Set up an environment that encourages those healthy choices and reminds you of them–just walking into my kitchen and seeing that bowl of fresh fruit is often enough to remind me of all the healthy choices I’ll need to make that day.

6. Your Support System. While getting healthy may be something you’re doing on your own, it’s a big help to have a support system. At the very least, family members who understand what you’re doing and are either willing to participate or help. If you have a spouse who wants to continue eating the kinds of foods that tempt you, you need a plan to deal with that so you can still reach your goals and keep your relationship together. Try to surround yourself with people who support what you’re doing and avoid those people (like that co-worker who always offers you a donut even though you refuse on a daily basis) who don’t. A workout buddy is also an excellent idea for support.

7. Your Spiritual and Mental Health. If you have other reasons for being overweight–past hurts that you’ve used food to deal with, depression or other problems, it’s hard to lose weight. For many of us, food is a comfort and something we’ve relied on all of our lives to help us deal with emotional problems. If that’s the case for you, pinpointing those behaviors and what drives them is important for becoming aware of what you’re doing and why. A counselor can help you with this or take some time to read about emotional eating. Be willing to learn why you make the choices you make and to confront them.

8. Your Goals. If you’ve set impossible goals, you are guaranteed to fail. Weight loss becomes hard to achieve if you feel like a constant failure…who wants to feel like that? If that’s how your weight loss experience is, it’s no wonder you keep quitting. The key is to set reasonable goals. So what is reasonable? That’s going to be different for each person depending on your genetics, eating habits, exercise, and metabolism to name a few. You’re better off setting a long-term goal (whether it’s to lose weight or compete in a race) and then focusing your attention on daily or weekly goals. Your weekly goal might be to get in 3 cardio workouts, minimum. Pick things you KNOW you’ll achieve so you’re always successful. It can be as small as you like, as long as it’s reachable.

9. Your Flexibility. You hear a lot about lifestyle changes, but it’s daily choices that really test you. What happens if you have to work late and you can’t get to the gym? Or what if you get stuck in traffic and miss your fitness class? Any number of things can happen in a day that may throw you off track. The trick is to be flexible. It helps if you’re always prepared–keep some workout shoes in the car so you can stop off at the park for a quick walk. Keep some food handy so if you get stuck in traffic, you get a snack in before your workout. Often people skip workouts because something comes up and they simply aren’t ready for it or they aren’t willing to give themselves other options–can’t do 45 minutes? Why not just do 10? Something is always better than nothing.

10. Your Willingness to Fail. You will not be perfect every day. As a perfectionist, I have to say that is a frustrating concept for me but, the truth is, everyone (even perfectionists) has good days and bad days. On the good days, you’ll eat all your fruits and veggies, say no to that pizza and do your workout even though you’re tired. On the bad days, you’ll wake up late, forget to bring your lunch, have an extra piece of cake at your friend’s birthday party and skip your workout. The bad days will happen if you’re a human being. The trick is to never give up, even when you mess up. You’re not a loser just because you make some mistakes…you’re simply a person trying his or her best to make good decisions

Hey,

So Today was a good day!  Pretty nice back here in the Minneapolis MN, was about 30 degrees, sunny and gave me the energy I needed to hit the gym hard this evening.  Ate pretty light throughout the day, mainly cause i was on the run most of the day, but still managed to finish with one of the best calorie burning workouts i have had in a long time.  Anyway here is what I ate throughout my day, and the best part.. my workout!

Meals:

-Oatmeal (high fiber)

-Fiber bar

-Banana and snack bar, diet coke

-roast beef sandwich on wheat bread no cheese

-peanut butter toast 1 slice 20 min before workout

Workout:  7:30pm

-protein shake (25 grams)

-15 gram protein snack bar

-tv dinner with 15 grams of protein and a huge glass of water

-some multigrain chips

Workout Details:

-5 min of light jogging around the indoor track

-3 sets of 8 reps super slow, Lat Pull-Ups

-3 sets of 10 reps Deadlift using dumbells at 60 lbs each (120lbs)

-3 sets of 10 “reps good-mornings”  45 lbs bar with 30 lbs on it (75 lbs)

-mild running around the track for 5 min

-3 sets of 10 reps jumping military press with 35 lbs bar and 50 lbs on it (85 lbs)

-3 sets of 10 reps hanging leg lifts

-3 sets of 15 super slow abb ball crunches

-25 min of soccer juggling, and kicking against wall (insane cardio)

-20 min of basketball game with 5 other guys (we won!)

Notes:  This was killer, I was pushing it from the moment I stepped in there.  Cardio at the end is for sure what put it over the edge though.. my buddy talked me into playing 3 on 3 with some other guys at the gym, despite my always saying “dude i suck to bad at basketball to actually play, but i will shoot around for cardio”  haha anyway the truth is I can hold my own, on defense and if you give me some space I can hit 3 pt’ers like its my day job!

Why you should focus on your Metabolism!!!

Metabolism is a combination of physical and chemical processes called anabolism and catabolism. Anabolism is the constructive phase of metabolism in which body cells synthesize protoplasm for growth and repair. Catabolism is the destructive phase of metabolism in which complex substances are broken down into simpler compounds producing energy which is essential for the proper functioning of body cells. Together, these processes distribute nutrients which are absorbed into the blood after digestion.

Three factors determine your metabolic rate.

1. Amount of calories your body uses every day (aka: basal metabolic rate [BMR]).
2. The rate you burn energy during physical activity
3. The rate you use energy during digestion of food are the two other factors involved in your total metabolic rate.

To improve your metabolic efficiency you need minor alterations to your daily eating and exercise program to experience a difference in how you look and feel.

The best way to jump-start your metabolism is to exercise. Exercise will reduce body fat and increase lean muscle mass. By increasing lean muscle mass your metabolism will increase and aid in the weight-loss process. Muscle burns significantly more calories than fat tissue because it has a higher metabolic rate. Aerobic exercise, like walking, swimming or cycling, has the added bonus of speeding up your metabolism for 4 to 8 hours after you stop exercising. Additional calories will be burned long after you stop exercising.

If you want to reap the benefits of a faster metabolism throughout the day, exercise in the morning, or exercise in short 10 or 15-minute bursts every couple of hours to keep your metabolism pumping.  By exercising just a little more than usual you can speed up your metabolism and use up stored fat in the process.

Eat breakfast!
Breakfast is essential. Your body has been deprived of food throughout the night; therefore your metabolism has slowed. Think of your body as a train and this train hasn�t had any coal for the last 8 hours. Time for some coal! If the cells do not receive sufficient nutrients they will begin to function less efficiently on smaller amounts, and they will actually store more fat to use during these times of nutritional deprivation. You are starving your body by only feeding it a couple times a day, so it goes into survival mode and starts to store as much as it can from the meals it does get. Eat 6-10 small meals a day to keep your body�s fuel supply consistent and keep your metabolism revved up. Consistency is important because your body metabolism adapts to your current weight. If you have been dieting or skipping meals your body�s metabolism slows down to compensate for the lack of nutrients. When lean people overeat their metabolism speeds up and when obese people diet their metabolism slows down. The key is a balance of exercise and diet.

Best Foods to Increase your metabolism:

• Fish
• Oatmeal
• Dark Green Leafy Vegetables
• Tomatoes
• Blueberries and many other fruits
• Whole Grains (increase your dietary Fiber w/ grains, fruit and veggies)
• At Least 8 glasses of water a day.

Stay away from:

• High-fat/calorie foods
• Sugary Food (Substitute Sugar for Agave or Stevia [Google it])
• Alcohol
• Caffeine
• Do not Smoke

You can jump-start a sluggish metabolism through exercise and proper diet! Proper nutrition is the very most important piece to your fitness puzzle. The truth is 85% of your results can be seen by developing a healthy, everyday diet!!! Only about 15% will be seen by exercise alone!!!� Get the Idea!!!

So… Do i just write 1/29/10 or do I have to put 2010 now eveytime??  haha, anyway so here was my day.

Been waking up a little earlier than usual, roughly 5:30 am every week day, roll out of bed, jump in the shower, and then off to my first meeting for the day, got a good workout in later this evening, and here are the details:

Meals: 5:30 am – 11:00 pm

-High Fiber Oatmeal (one packet) and cup of coffee for the car

-Bowl of canned ravioli

-Steamed tv dinner

-fiber one snack bar

-Roast beef sandwich with cheese and chips

Workout

-Protein shake (30 grams)

-bowl of cereal

Workout Details: Chest Day

-Regular Bench Press 3 Sets 10 reps 155 lbs

-Incline Bench Press 3 sets 8 reps 135 lbs

-Incline cable fly 3 sets 10 reps 40 lbs each side (80 total lbs)

-regular cable fly 3 sets 8 reps 50 lbs each side

-Body weight dips 3 sets 10 reps

-Kickbacks 3 sets 10 reps 10 lbs

-Hanging leg lifts 2 sets to failure

-Finished with 8 min cardio consisting of 4 min incline walk and short jog to finish out.

Notes:  Pretty successful workout, pushed it hard, went super slow and concentrated on form instead of strength.  Small amount of downtime in between every set.  Overall very happy with today’s eating and workout, will see results if continue path in this manor.

Let me know if you have any questions or suggestions.  Thanks!

Well welcome back world!  With some well needed time off, we are about to endure on a 90 day fitness regiment to go from current weight of 155 lbs to 175 lbs of lean and powerful muscle.  I will be trying out for the Minnesota Vikings in the spring and will show you every step of my complete diet, nutrition, supplements, and detailed training program every day for the next 90 days!  Please feel free to ask any questions you may have!   I will be up loading pictures of day one and then show you current picks at the end of every week.  If you like the results, then simply go back through my blogs and you will be able to see exactly what I ate and how I trained to get the results you desire!  This site is not intended for any sale of products, although we do advertise suppliers that we believe have products worth buying, we are not selling anything!  So let us begin!

Current State:

Weight: 155lbs

Height: 5’10″

Body fat: 8%

Hey world!   Sorry about the delay in the posts for the last couple of entries.. so I am on vacation down in Ft lauderdale with my friend, it has been kinda crazy and have been eating like a king!  For sure not helping me with my fitness goals, but its vacation and you need to spoil your self every once in a while!  I will post some pics here soon, for an idea, last night we took the Bentley GTC out to dinner and then came back to take the Ferrarri F430 out for a rip down A1A to fly around town.. for the record neither of these cars are mine, I wish, but no.. hahaha.  My friend has a killer house down here on the ocean and has been kind enough to share the experience with me for a couple of weeks.  I will get some new entries up here asap, and try not to rub it in too much      oh and I just bought myself an early christmas present and birthday, so I can fit in with the class down here, got the SEIKO Chronograph 200M dive watch, with yellow face.. super nice, but got it on sale!

So Today is 12/10/09 and I am feeling pretty good after getting back into the gym yesterday!  Ate quite a bit today, I could tell that the workout yesterday kicked my metabolism back into order.  also hit the gym again today and did a hardcore chest workout.  Also I think that I may be feeling an effect of the Complex B vitamins I have been taking, and still don’t know about the Glinko Biloba yet.

Meals:

-Oat Meal

-Monster energy drink (10 cal) and sub sandwich from the gas station

-Chipolte (chicken tacos)

-Snickers Energy Bar

Workout

-Protein Shake (30 Grams)

-TV Dinner Beef roast

-Bowl of lucky charms

Workout Details:

-Smith machine incline bench press: 125 lbs 3 sets of 10 reps

-Downward chest fly: 100 lbs 3 sets of 10 reps

-Regular Bench: 150 lbs 3 sets of 10 reps

-Regular Fly: 100 lbs 3 sets of 10 reps

-Upward Fly: 80 lbs 2 sets of 10 reps

Finished with 20 min of basketball for cardio

Notes: Ran between my first three sets and did some mild abb work between later sets.  Pretty blood pumping workout, actually felt like i was going to black out a couple of times..

So was super tired last night and didn’t get a chance to work on my blog until now.   But here was my day for 12/09/09:

Woke up around 8am and went down town to Minneapolis with my brother to go do some long procrastinated paperwork.   After that I needed to head home so I could have enough time to get a workout in before going car shopping with one of my best friends.  Car shopping took forever, and if you know anything about what the weather has been like here in Minnesota for the last couple of days you will know why.  A normal 20 min drive took us and hour and fifteen minutes cause of traffic and accidents from all the snow we have received.  Anyway here is my meal and workout information for yesterday 12/09/09!

Meal Details:

-Bowl of Lucky Charms

-Roast beef peperjack cheese wrap

-Snack bar and Diet coke

Workout

-Protein Shake (30 grams)

-Turky Sandwhich and chips from gas station

-Beef Roast TV dinner

-Bowl of Lucky Charms

Notes:   Not a bad meal day, glad to have finally gotten back in the gym!   Also I started doing some research on natural supplements to take, and read about “Glinko Biloba” and decided to pick some of it up.  It supposedly provides your brain with the fuel it needs to supply a higher level of productivity throughout your day, pretty much like brain food.  Anyway I thought I would try it out and will let you know what I think.  Also at that time I picked up some Complex B vitamins that help convert food into energy.  I just have been feeling like I haven’t had the energy I usually do, and want to stay away from the energy drinks as much as possible, since for a while I was drinking like 2-3 Blue Monsters every day!    

Workout Details:  Have to Run but will update this.. quick note is it was a Leg day for me!