Workouts in the home #1 Push Ups

I come to you this evening after having just finished a kettlebell and body weight exercise workout. The ladder of which I would like to touch base with you readers today. Regardless of losing the weight that I have, I still find that if I do push ups in a palm down manner, that I do end up with some pain in the wrists. At 220lbs that's a fair amount of weight on the wrists.

There are a few options that you can choose from that will help you do push ups in a safer way. I personally own these. Cheap, effective, everything you need. I believe I paid $14 CDN at Walmart for these. These allow you to have your wrists aligned properly with your arm, giving you a much more solid base and saves your wrist joints!

Option 2 consists of the Hex Dumbell. This is a very good option despite the price increases, you get more versatility this way, as you can now do dumbell exercises! Yay!

Option 3 would be the Doorway Pull Up Bar. This you get MAXIMUM bang for your buck. With some being relatively cheap but flimsy,  while others are higher priced but much more sturdy. You can do your wide, parallel and close grip pull ups as well as dips, deep push ups and crunches.

All three of these options would be a great way to help keep your joints healthy and get maximum range on your push ups. Something to consider for you at home fitness peeps or for those not quite comfortable enough to the hit the gym yet.

Up next: Squats, the wonder exercise.

I've neglected this

Well hey there, I'm back from my quite long hiatus.

We can all benefit from some regular routine exercise. I know you heard it as a child and thought nothing of it. More than likely because you were active enough as a child to accommodate the amount of calories you were taking in at the time.

Fast forward to present time, you're life, has more than likely gotten alot less "fun" and alot more "work. Active job, office job, whatever job you have, you can still benefit from some exercise, 3 days a week, 20 minutes a day. Now I don't know a single person that literally has no time in their day that they can put in 20 minutes to help better themselves. If you don't, good god, i'd hate to see your schedule. Moving on.

Now its as simple as, if your watching tv, do pushups until you can't do anymore. Then do squats, then do crunches, then do abs. By the time your favourite program is finished. You'll have gotten a 30 minute workout in. "But I didn't lift weights! This isn't working out!" Pardon me? One of the best and healthiest ways of working out is using your natural body weight. You walk around with it, deal with it everyday, now all your doing is, high reps of 0 weight.

No your muscle size won't get huge and jacked, but you will notice that you feel lighter on your feet, you'll feel more stable and have better balance. You'll get toned up, you'll have more energy, and you will feel alot better overall, mentally, physically and spiritually.

We're animals that were never supposed to be cooped up in an office and not be active. We developed as humans by running after our prey, sometimes for days, until we could jam a spear in its side and eat the hell out of that beast.

Just try it. You'll like!

I clearly slacked on this...

So..I got the desire to write a new blog today, and noticed that I haven't posted one since march...Good job me. Haha

I've decided that this blog is now going to heavily incorporate, my diet and exercise on my way to my weight goal of 230lbs.

So since march, I have lost another 10 lbs going from 265 down to 255lbs and to be honest with myself and you, I haven't been giving it my 100%. I make an honest effort to eat healthy, pick out smart and healthier foods. Stay active and work out at least 3 times a week with my kettlebell, (for cardio) and lifting weights around 5 times a week.

I've started to feel like I'm plateauing as far as weight loss, which could be attributed to my diet/caloric intake, or my lack of good hard cardio haha. I'll be more honest with myself, its the ladder of the two. Cardio is something I want to get into and love.

I can say that this journey thus far has been entirely for me, it took realizing that no one was going to do the work for me, they may help me, encouragement, etc. But it had to be for me and me wanting it. Thats the drive that pushed me into getting into shape and I can honestly say, I've never looked better or felt as good as I do now.

My new short term goal, ontop of the 3 kettlebell workouts a week, start riding a bicycle or running for at least 3 days a week as well. I'm hoping this added cardio work will 1) Get me in better cardiovascular shape. 2) Help me shed the fat I have left.

Heres to 25lbs more.

Check back soon for my roasted red pepper quinoa recipe. Its delicious and packed full of flavor.

Diet change, and the effect it can have.

The biggest issue I've encountered in my quest to better myself, is people's food choices and diet structure. Simple things that can lead to losing the pounds that just seem to stick with us.

This is all personal experience and opinions, take it as you want.

My biggest change came from a single sentence that stood out to me. "Breakfast, is the fuel we need in our empty fuel tank every morning." I adjusted my diet accordingly, making breakfast my priority meal of the day, lunch being medium, and dinner being small.

My breakfasts usually consist of a 2 egg spinach, tomato and goat cheese omelette. Eggs are great sources of protein, which will help keep you full longer. With a piece of whole grain toast.

Breakfast is probably the biggest change I have made to my life besides cutting out as much bad food as possible. Having a larger breakfast and smaller subsequent meals has resulted in me not being as hungry throughout the day, but also less hungry at each individual meal. My overall energy in a day has increased as well, coming home I'd be tired at 7 pm give or take, now I have enough energy at any time to do whatever I want and not be phased by it.

I've lost 30lbs after making this change to my diet. I'll go more in depth into the foods I eat and make in the next entry. Set goals for yourself just make sure they're reasonable, it all starts with your mindset and whether you want to do it for yourself. Diet is only one part of the big equation, sadly, hard work is involved too.

Next time, breakfast avec moi, expect it up tomorrow night!

2012..The Year of who?

New year, resolutions, memories and days gone by.
Happy 2012, everyone, congratulations on making it this far.

The misconception that I'm finding with this whole new years thing, people and resolutions. I understand that its basically a fresh start thats forced upon you  due to the rotation of our planet around our sun. The only real issue I have with resolutions is the waiting up until new years to start those resolutions. My friends resolution this year was to quit smoking, they started before new years came around, and they are doing good! I guess what I'm trying to say is, why wait around for new years?

Everyday is a new beginning in my eyes, so that makes every single day the perfect time to set some goals, and start working towards them immediately that day. Diets suck, working out can suck, you want that cheeseburger, i dig buddy. But you gotta say, "fuck you craving, i'm better than that and will destroy you with this healthy piece of celery!" Cigarettes, a mistress I refused to ever try, I can only imagine what people trying to quit must be going through. I do know that once you do quit smoking, you will feel alot better!

Life is what we make of it, our happiness is dependent solely on us. So don't put things off any longer in your life, take charge now. Grab life by the hips and hump it into submission and make it your bitch.

I love you all, and wish you the best for this new year.

Comic Book Movies

Comic book and super hero movies are all the norm nowadays, though there may be plenty of choices to pick from, how often are they ever all they're hyped up to be?

Let me just start by saying that I love a well done comic book movie, there are plenty of great examples to choose from don't get me wrong, but quite a few stand out as, really? Thats what you did with all that production money? Movies where your at the end of the movie and you realize that the story never really had that, beginning, middle, end feeling to it. It felt more like it was just a long beginning then skip to the final battle of good vs evil.

For instance, in the recent Captain America movie, I won't give any spoilers, I'll leave it at: The story didn't develop and seemed way too fast. With that though, the movie overall was still pretty good. One other movie really comes to mind is Spiderman 3, where they chose to cast the evil venom as Topher Grace. Just because Toby is skrawny, doesn't the big hulking evil doer has to be as well.

Anyways, end of blog rant, haha have a good one errryyboddy.

General Accounts of Happiness

One of the great things about humans that I like is that we're all quite different, in how we feel, how we act, who we are and what we stand for. This is one of the things that makes great conflict and great understanding within our race as a people. 

The past few weeks of my life have been a nonstop chain of events that I didn't for the life of me see coming. An old friend that I used to have a rather large crush on came back into my life, with a dizzying amount of chances to spend time together. After over a year of not having spoke to one another, things between us feel like they have changed for the better. The simple gestures, the time we spend together and the appreciation we have for one another seem to emanate to the forefront of our friendship now.

I haven't been happier, for as long as I can remember.