I'm DONE! Not for my entire life of course, but just for today ;)
I finished my second round of Insanity (adding on top of it P90X resistance training, yoga and a hell of a lot more ab workouts than is probably useful) and am, still, in the best shape of my life. Not even when I was playing sports as a teenager have I been in this good of shape.
Insanity changed my life, and I am never going back! Going forward is the only way I can continue to live my life in the best way possible.
It started out as a journey to look better, but in the past 4 months I have reached that goal (and set new ones). I look better, FEEL better, eat healthier, have more confidence, more energy and an entirely different outlook on life.
The change was so simple that I don't know if I can explain it to anyone properly. Simple but hard, of course - as is anything that is worth having.
I can never go back to the way I was. It is not a choice, a habit I can break or a routine I have an option of denying. It is now a lifestyle!
Thank you Shaun T, Tony Horton, Tom Venuto, Beachbody.com and all the people who supported me along the way!
Showing posts with label Nutrition. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Nutrition. Show all posts
Saturday, May 14, 2011
Tuesday, May 10, 2011
Eating Non-Organic Meat More Dangerous Than HIV/AIDS
So, you might think this title is absolutely ridiculous, but it was meant to get your attention first and be explained second. Since I now (hopefully) have your attention I will get to the latter part!
How could eating non-organic meat be more dangerous than HIV/AIDS you must be asking yourself? Well, firstly, HIV/AIDS is preventable. Either abstain from having sex (hah!) or at least use protection and get screened with your partner for communicable diseases – it’s just the mature thing to do folks. But that still doesn’t tell me how eating non-organic meat is more dangerous than a horrible & well publicized illness, does it now? What if I told you that eating regular meat/dairy from your grocery store is daily making you more susceptible to diseases that kill more per year in the US than HIV/AIDS – and is very hard to prevent or let alone detect?
A single strain of antibiotic resistant called Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, or MRSA, kills more people in the US than HIV/AIDS. You can pick up this strain from anywhere or anyone and 20% of the population are actually long-term carriers of Staphylococcus aureus (though not all Staphylococcus aureus is methicillin-resistant/antibiotic resistant). The best defense you have against MRSA is to wash your hands often, scary eh?
That’s all well and good, but where does non-organic meat fall into the equation? It is a little known (yet increasing in common knowledge) fact that 70-80% of antibiotics are used on farm animals: cows, pigs, chickens, etc. Not to cure disease of course, but thanks to big business they use antibiotics to increase the size and growth rate of their livestock. What this does is creates a HUGE place for bacteria to mutate into penicillin-resistant variations. This bacteria ridden, steroid pumped food arrives at your supermarket and you ingest it at home, handle it while you’re preparing it and serve it to your kids.
Let me sum it up: You are serving yourself and your kids something more dangerous than HIV/AIDS every time you put a piece of non-organic chicken/pork/beef/etc. on their plate for supper.
Here are a couple random links, the one's that got me thinking today. Google it if you don't believe me ;)
Huffington Post
Huffington Post
Huffington Post
Wikipedia
How could eating non-organic meat be more dangerous than HIV/AIDS you must be asking yourself? Well, firstly, HIV/AIDS is preventable. Either abstain from having sex (hah!) or at least use protection and get screened with your partner for communicable diseases – it’s just the mature thing to do folks. But that still doesn’t tell me how eating non-organic meat is more dangerous than a horrible & well publicized illness, does it now? What if I told you that eating regular meat/dairy from your grocery store is daily making you more susceptible to diseases that kill more per year in the US than HIV/AIDS – and is very hard to prevent or let alone detect?
A single strain of antibiotic resistant called Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, or MRSA, kills more people in the US than HIV/AIDS. You can pick up this strain from anywhere or anyone and 20% of the population are actually long-term carriers of Staphylococcus aureus (though not all Staphylococcus aureus is methicillin-resistant/antibiotic resistant). The best defense you have against MRSA is to wash your hands often, scary eh?
That’s all well and good, but where does non-organic meat fall into the equation? It is a little known (yet increasing in common knowledge) fact that 70-80% of antibiotics are used on farm animals: cows, pigs, chickens, etc. Not to cure disease of course, but thanks to big business they use antibiotics to increase the size and growth rate of their livestock. What this does is creates a HUGE place for bacteria to mutate into penicillin-resistant variations. This bacteria ridden, steroid pumped food arrives at your supermarket and you ingest it at home, handle it while you’re preparing it and serve it to your kids.
Let me sum it up: You are serving yourself and your kids something more dangerous than HIV/AIDS every time you put a piece of non-organic chicken/pork/beef/etc. on their plate for supper.
Here are a couple random links, the one's that got me thinking today. Google it if you don't believe me ;)
Huffington Post
Huffington Post
Huffington Post
Wikipedia
Wednesday, May 4, 2011
Portion & Fiscal Control When Dining Out
I was out on a date last night and we decided we were going to have some appetizers and drinks at a nice restaurant. The date went great (and then some, but that's not what this blog is about =]), had a good time, and when I finished the app I was neither full nor hungry. A side note: you should never be full after you finish a meal, especially dinner (and especially if it is late) since you should be tapering your meals.
Anyways, this morning when I was thinking back to the night I realized something: appetizers are more along the lines of the portion you SHOULD be eating. Plus they're cheaper - bonus! I have come to the conclusion that I am going to do this from now on when I eat out: only eat appetizers. Why would I order a full meal that is 5x the size of what I should be eating when I 1) won't finish it (or if I do finish it feel guilty that I did) and 2) an appetizer is more than enough to satisfy me for dinner. Just a little brainwave on a Wednesday morning ;)
Post Script: This by no means is supposed to come across that I am cheap - far from it. It just so happens that the healthy thing to do is the fiscally responsible thing to do as well!
Anyways, this morning when I was thinking back to the night I realized something: appetizers are more along the lines of the portion you SHOULD be eating. Plus they're cheaper - bonus! I have come to the conclusion that I am going to do this from now on when I eat out: only eat appetizers. Why would I order a full meal that is 5x the size of what I should be eating when I 1) won't finish it (or if I do finish it feel guilty that I did) and 2) an appetizer is more than enough to satisfy me for dinner. Just a little brainwave on a Wednesday morning ;)
Post Script: This by no means is supposed to come across that I am cheap - far from it. It just so happens that the healthy thing to do is the fiscally responsible thing to do as well!
Tuesday, May 3, 2011
Listening To Your Body
To preface this, this isn't a cop out or an explanation to people as to why I have quit fitness, so don't worry ;)
I recently took a 'step down' in intensity level of my workouts. Perhaps that is a bad way of putting it... I actually cut 3 hours a week of working out (down to about 10 now so ~10-12 workouts a week from 15). I had been feeling for a while that my physical endurance has been suffering due to lack of recovery time for my muscles but I kept pushing myself mentally to keep going - I was (and, well, still am) scared that I will plateau.
But this week the physical exhaustion spilled over to my psychological exhaustion and I began feeling tired when I would usually feel energized and, for the first time in months, began dreading working out. This change in my mentality surprised me (especially seeing as endorphins give you a high well after you stop exercising) but I was not willing to just all out stop. If you're interested in my workout schedule there is a picture of it below. Anyhow, I decided to just back off from my P90X workouts and still continue with my Insanity workouts (as the P90X workouts were just added to prevent plateauing anyways, though it wasn't likely that it was going to happen).
After two days I seriously cannot believe the change in my outlook! The sun is brighter, air more fresh and even the concrete in Toronto looks cleaner! It seems I had started to run into overtraining my body, and it is a good thing I was listening to my body telling me to slow down. Comparing my energy levels from last week to this week, it seems that they have doubled, even though I have the same caloric intake every day! I'm not sure if it had something with the increased amount of cortisol (a stress hormone) that I would produce during my second or third workout of the day, I can only guess, but I am glad that it has stopped for now =)
Moral of the story is: Listen to your body! Make sure you take rest when you need it, eat enough calories to reduce or eliminate muscle loss while training, sleep 7-8 hours a night and just remember that if you overtrain for a long period of time it can take MONTHS to recover!
I recently took a 'step down' in intensity level of my workouts. Perhaps that is a bad way of putting it... I actually cut 3 hours a week of working out (down to about 10 now so ~10-12 workouts a week from 15). I had been feeling for a while that my physical endurance has been suffering due to lack of recovery time for my muscles but I kept pushing myself mentally to keep going - I was (and, well, still am) scared that I will plateau.
But this week the physical exhaustion spilled over to my psychological exhaustion and I began feeling tired when I would usually feel energized and, for the first time in months, began dreading working out. This change in my mentality surprised me (especially seeing as endorphins give you a high well after you stop exercising) but I was not willing to just all out stop. If you're interested in my workout schedule there is a picture of it below. Anyhow, I decided to just back off from my P90X workouts and still continue with my Insanity workouts (as the P90X workouts were just added to prevent plateauing anyways, though it wasn't likely that it was going to happen).
After two days I seriously cannot believe the change in my outlook! The sun is brighter, air more fresh and even the concrete in Toronto looks cleaner! It seems I had started to run into overtraining my body, and it is a good thing I was listening to my body telling me to slow down. Comparing my energy levels from last week to this week, it seems that they have doubled, even though I have the same caloric intake every day! I'm not sure if it had something with the increased amount of cortisol (a stress hormone) that I would produce during my second or third workout of the day, I can only guess, but I am glad that it has stopped for now =)
Moral of the story is: Listen to your body! Make sure you take rest when you need it, eat enough calories to reduce or eliminate muscle loss while training, sleep 7-8 hours a night and just remember that if you overtrain for a long period of time it can take MONTHS to recover!
Sunday, May 1, 2011
Exercise & The Brain
So today I was having an off day after having to leave the wilderness - though it was only just east of Barrie I was still surrounded by trees, water and wildlife. I always have trouble coming back to the city after being in such a peaceful place it seems. Not to 'toot my own horn',as one of my grandparents would say, but I rarely have a day where I don't actually WANT to work out.
Today was one of those days, sadly. I did, however, push myself to work out and that's what this bloggg is about! I even had trouble getting motivated through my warm up which is even more rare, but I pushed through anyways. When I finished the workout I felt great: accomplished, happy, proud that I had worked so hard (and sweat so much), and just had an overall better feeling emanating from myself. I then wondered why this was? It didn't take me long to find out, it seems.
I usually read up, blog and research about physical benefits of nutrition and exercise so my foray into the psychological aspect of it was a new one. It also took me in a direction I didn't expect: depression. I am by no means a depressed person, but like I said earlier everyone has off days. Anxiety also comes into play, but though that was contributing factor today as well, the following works to improve both problems.
Key Components: Endorphins & Anandamide
Endorphins have long been known to be the body's natural pain reliever and antidepressant and are released as a result of exercise (and can actually be found days later in the body after you stop exercising). Anandamide is synthesized in the body from essential fatty acids (which I wont get into here) and being up at the cottage I of course didn't have my Omega 3-6-9's with me nor did I eat any fish while I was there, so this could be partly to blame for my bad mood. Endorphin production occurs during long, strenuous workouts and production is increased more when muscles use up their stored glycogen - which is after about an hour of high intensity training (care of Insanity ;]). This creates what is called the 'runners high' or the happy sensation once you finish.
Sooooo many people use the excuse that they are having a bad day, feel crummy or plain just don't feel like exercising. I guess now those excuses won't fly with me anymore - hah! One more excuse down you fat world of ours.
Today was one of those days, sadly. I did, however, push myself to work out and that's what this bloggg is about! I even had trouble getting motivated through my warm up which is even more rare, but I pushed through anyways. When I finished the workout I felt great: accomplished, happy, proud that I had worked so hard (and sweat so much), and just had an overall better feeling emanating from myself. I then wondered why this was? It didn't take me long to find out, it seems.
I usually read up, blog and research about physical benefits of nutrition and exercise so my foray into the psychological aspect of it was a new one. It also took me in a direction I didn't expect: depression. I am by no means a depressed person, but like I said earlier everyone has off days. Anxiety also comes into play, but though that was contributing factor today as well, the following works to improve both problems.
Key Components: Endorphins & Anandamide
Endorphins have long been known to be the body's natural pain reliever and antidepressant and are released as a result of exercise (and can actually be found days later in the body after you stop exercising). Anandamide is synthesized in the body from essential fatty acids (which I wont get into here) and being up at the cottage I of course didn't have my Omega 3-6-9's with me nor did I eat any fish while I was there, so this could be partly to blame for my bad mood. Endorphin production occurs during long, strenuous workouts and production is increased more when muscles use up their stored glycogen - which is after about an hour of high intensity training (care of Insanity ;]). This creates what is called the 'runners high' or the happy sensation once you finish.
Sooooo many people use the excuse that they are having a bad day, feel crummy or plain just don't feel like exercising. I guess now those excuses won't fly with me anymore - hah! One more excuse down you fat world of ours.
Friday, April 29, 2011
Nutritionist vs. Dietician
Far too many people use the words Nutritionist and Dietician interchangably and it drives me bananas. On on hand, it makes the Nutritionist sound pretty damn awesome, but on the other hand it makes the Dietician's years of school, credentials and accountability seem meeningless.
To put it bluntly, my 16 year old cousin working at GNC could be called a Nutritionist. Oftentimes they have no damn idea what they are talking about, and most of the time they should not be giving advice to people - especially when those people think they have some accreditation.
Dieticians: Have a Bachelor in something related to health & nutrition coupled with practical training in a supervised University or Hospital setting, are registered professionals (aka can have a designation after their name such as R.D.) and are accountable to provincial regulatory bodies for their professional conduct and the care they provide - just like doctors, pharmacists, lawyers...
Nutritionists: May have some - or all - of the credentials a dietician has. A dietician is a nutritionist but a nutritionist may not always be a dietician (a square is rectangle but a rectangle may not always be a square) . The picture at the top is of Connie Diekman (President of the American Dietetic Association) and her dog Eddie. The cirtificate in front of Eddie is a certificate making him a nutritionist from the American Association of Nutritional Consultants.
Would you take nutrition advice from a dog?
To put it bluntly, my 16 year old cousin working at GNC could be called a Nutritionist. Oftentimes they have no damn idea what they are talking about, and most of the time they should not be giving advice to people - especially when those people think they have some accreditation.
Dieticians: Have a Bachelor in something related to health & nutrition coupled with practical training in a supervised University or Hospital setting, are registered professionals (aka can have a designation after their name such as R.D.) and are accountable to provincial regulatory bodies for their professional conduct and the care they provide - just like doctors, pharmacists, lawyers...
Nutritionists: May have some - or all - of the credentials a dietician has. A dietician is a nutritionist but a nutritionist may not always be a dietician (a square is rectangle but a rectangle may not always be a square) . The picture at the top is of Connie Diekman (President of the American Dietetic Association) and her dog Eddie. The cirtificate in front of Eddie is a certificate making him a nutritionist from the American Association of Nutritional Consultants.
Would you take nutrition advice from a dog?
Sunday, April 24, 2011
Drinking Sucks.
After just sluggishly finishing Insanity Max Cardio Conditioning at 10:15PM and hating every second of it I am determined to NOT go through that again. This isn't me saying 'I'm never drinking again' but just that I am not going to drink as much. I got absolutely demolished and wasted most of my day away in bed recovering from ridiculousness.
But even a wicked hangover cannot stop me from working out, so I finished one of them and will be doing another in an hour (at about midnight). It sucks working out hungover. Your body is still trying to recover from the poison you put into it. Alcohol also stops your body from burning fat: it turns into acetate and your body uses that as fuel instead of turning adipose tissue into energy.
Why, why did I do this to myself?!?!
But even a wicked hangover cannot stop me from working out, so I finished one of them and will be doing another in an hour (at about midnight). It sucks working out hungover. Your body is still trying to recover from the poison you put into it. Alcohol also stops your body from burning fat: it turns into acetate and your body uses that as fuel instead of turning adipose tissue into energy.
Why, why did I do this to myself?!?!
Fitness While Travelling
Well here I am and over a week has passed since I last blogggggged. Not very bloggerish. Anyways, I just returned from a trip in North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia and without getting too much into it it was amazing. Hospitality in the south is second to none! But that is neither here nor there, now is it? Anyways, it was douchealicious to try to workout while traveling, but I still managed to fit in 15 or so workouts!
Waking up early is key. Daily I woke up before the rest of my family (as it was a family trip) pulled out my portable DVD player and speakers (a lifesaver!) and pressed play. Not only does getting up in the morning and working out burn more fat (as your body needs to turn to your adipose tissue earlier than if you had been eating all day) but when you're away this is probably the only time you are going to get it done. My goal this week was to try to finish 80% of my workouts and since I only missed one, I think I surpassed that!
Food is another story though. Ohhhh southern food.......Ohhhh American sized portions... buffets are also the devil! I always at well during breakfast, usually ate ok during lunch and it was hit or miss during dinner. I only had red meat once (yay me) but I did definitely eat double my caloric intake for the day during one buffet meal. The buffet was literally a sailboat. Actually, three of them. I didn't see much of a physical change this week as I have been seeing in the past. This is where the 80/20 rule comes in!
80/20 Rule: 80% of weight/bodyfat loss will come from following a meal plan consistently, while 20% will come from tweaks to this. 80% of your results will come from nutrition whereas 20% will come from actual exercise. The last one people may have a hard time believing but you can exercise all you want and unless you have ectomorph genes (aka superfast metabolism) you will never get results. You NEED to eat well, often, and with a daily calorie deficit or it just wont happen! This is the reason my results were so so this week, sadly. Usually people who fall off the fitness wagon are struggling to shed the fat because they are still following (or not following rather) their old eating habits. Calories in = calories out and you need to have less on the 'in' side if you want to go down a waist size! I didn't this week, but now I can for myself just how important it is =)
Waking up early is key. Daily I woke up before the rest of my family (as it was a family trip) pulled out my portable DVD player and speakers (a lifesaver!) and pressed play. Not only does getting up in the morning and working out burn more fat (as your body needs to turn to your adipose tissue earlier than if you had been eating all day) but when you're away this is probably the only time you are going to get it done. My goal this week was to try to finish 80% of my workouts and since I only missed one, I think I surpassed that!
Food is another story though. Ohhhh southern food.......Ohhhh American sized portions... buffets are also the devil! I always at well during breakfast, usually ate ok during lunch and it was hit or miss during dinner. I only had red meat once (yay me) but I did definitely eat double my caloric intake for the day during one buffet meal. The buffet was literally a sailboat. Actually, three of them. I didn't see much of a physical change this week as I have been seeing in the past. This is where the 80/20 rule comes in!
80/20 Rule: 80% of weight/bodyfat loss will come from following a meal plan consistently, while 20% will come from tweaks to this. 80% of your results will come from nutrition whereas 20% will come from actual exercise. The last one people may have a hard time believing but you can exercise all you want and unless you have ectomorph genes (aka superfast metabolism) you will never get results. You NEED to eat well, often, and with a daily calorie deficit or it just wont happen! This is the reason my results were so so this week, sadly. Usually people who fall off the fitness wagon are struggling to shed the fat because they are still following (or not following rather) their old eating habits. Calories in = calories out and you need to have less on the 'in' side if you want to go down a waist size! I didn't this week, but now I can for myself just how important it is =)
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