Monday, February 25, 2008

Dr. Randy Pausch - from Oprah

What an amazing way to look at things.

How to lead your life by Dr. Randy Pausch.

1. Brick walls are there for a reason. They let us prove how badly we want things. Our dedication
2. Respect authority while questioning it.
3. Have fun.
4. Decide if you are Tigger or Eeyore. (See #3)
5. Never lose the Child-like wonder.
6. Help others
7. Loyalty is a two way street.
8. Never give up. Don't bail out.
9. You can't get there alone. Pay it forward.
10.Tell the truth, be earnest, Apologize when you screw up, Focus on others.
11.Get feedback and listen to it.
12.Show Gratitude
13.Don't complain, just try harder.
14.Be good at something
15.Work hard..Oh that's the secret
16.Find the best in everybody.
17.Be prepared: "luck" is where preparation meets opportunity.

Pop VS. Alcohol


Sugarholics. Jack was way ahead of his time folks. Is what he said back in the 70's still prevalent today? You decide.

Sugar is now the highest source of calories in the U.S. I shouldn't say now, it has been like that since 2005. What 'food' has one of the highest concentration of sugar you ask? Why soda pop. As a matter of fact pop has around the equivalent of 10 teaspoons per 12 oz. can. This study says around 13 teaspoons. Obviously not good. Would anyone in their right mind sit down to eat 10-13 teaspoons of sugar twice a day? I hope not! Are we getting a clear picture of the hazards of pop? Someone saying that drinking a couple of sodas per day is okay, doesn't have all or even some of the facts. The thing that makes pop 'bad' for us is the high concentration of corn syrup.

Alcohol on the other hand, doesn't use corn syrup, what sugar it does have, it has less than pop, and goes through a natural firmentation process (at least it used to be natural). I know, not very scientific, but it's all I got. It is also known to reduce risks of dietary diseases.

Bottom line about health and nutrition is there is right way and a wrong way to go about it. The only thing you can do is aim to do the right thing more often than the wrong thing. This process is long and difficult but necessary. This is how I quit smoking a pack of smokes a day. It is how I quit drinking pop (limited to movie night, which is maybe 2 times a month) It is also how I am still eliminating fast food from my vocabulary. I started at once a week and am now down to once per month, soon to be once per 6 weeks (yes I actually track it on a calendar) It works for me.

Photo Credit: Flickr firenzesca






I have been tagged


I don't usually play these games especially due to the nature of this blog. It first started out as a workout log/journal. Now people are starting to come to it on a regular basis and asking me questions. Weird how that works. Anyway, the game goes like this:

The rules are as follows…

Step one is to take the first book you lay eyes on that fits the rules. Not your favorite book, but the closest at hand:

The rules are as follows…
1. The book must be over 123 pages.
2. Find page 123 in the book.
3. Find the first 5 sentences.
4. Post the next 3 sentences.


So since my sister tagged me I will play.

The first book I saw was The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho

The sentences:

From that day on, the desert would represent only one thing to her: the hope for his return.
that thought ends there and a new one starts (no this isn't in the book)
"DON'T THINK ABOUT WHAT YOU'VE LEFT BEHIND," the alchemist said to the boy as they began to ride across the sands of the desert. "Everything is written in the soul of the World, and there it will stay forever."

The game ends there but the next sentence is cool so I will put it in there as well.

"Men dream more about coming home than about leaving," the boy said.

Very cool wisdom but the whole book is like that. It makes sense in my every day life and makes this game spooky for me.


New Avatar


This picture was taken this past weekend and I thought it would make a cool avatar. The picture is hard to see now that it's on the blog but I thought I'd try it. It is a pic of me on top of a snow bank. Yes a snow bank. No it is not natural but in front of a Giant Tiger store in Port Elgin.

Friday, February 22, 2008

Revisiting Soft Drinks


Another question I get asked a bit, is why no soft drinks? Bottom line is that they are filled with sugar. Check out this article. Anything in moderation won't kill you but if you look at your food choices as 'what will help my health and what will hurt it', drinking pop will obviously be a bad choice. Don't get me wrong, I still drink pop once in a while. By once in while I mean once a month, maybe when I am at the movies.

I got a great question from my brother yesterday that I am not sure I can answer. Needless to say I will be researching this. Why is alcohol a better choice than pop? I guess it's not really. Anything in moderation. I am not a big drinker. And when I do drink I limit it to a couple. More research to follow.
Photo credit: supercamel of Flickr

Thursday, February 21, 2008

I have readers?


Considering that I now have a couple readers, I should try and make this interesting. I get askedthis question quite a bit by people I run into on a day to day basis and thought I'd share what I think could be done. How and where do I start being healthy? My first response is always the same. Start. You would be amazed at what happens when you just start. For more details read on.

101 ways to improve your health & fitness


1. sleep 8 hours each night
2. meditate
3. stand up straight
4. eat more protein
5. read about health & fitness
6. don’t drink soft drinks
7. visit a chiropractor or osteopath to ensure your spine is correctly aligned
8. take a multi-vitamin supplement everyday
9. consider complimentary therapies before antibiotics
10. snack on nuts and seeds in place of sugary snack foods
11. take an anti-oxidant supplement everyday
12. eat whole foods (if man made it, don't eat it)
13. reduce your sodium intake
14. increase your magnesium and potassium intake
15. exercise regularly
16. believe in yourself
17. set yourself some realistic, achievable goals
18. find a training partner
19. eat less simple carbohydrates
20. breathe deeply
21. get your partner involved in health & fitness training
22. employ a personal trainer
23. educate yourself
24. recognise your addictions and take steps to treat them
25. start playing a new sport
26. choose compound exercises instead of isolation exercises
27. take the long-term approach, there are no quick fixes
28. join a sports club
29. don’t rely on scales as your sole measurement of success
30. push yourself
31. challenge your habits
32. reward your achievements
33. watch less TV (hard for most people)
34. spend more time with your family and friends
35. stop worrying
36. remove temptations
37. drink less alcohol
38. don’t smoke
39. sit properly at your desk
40. learn how to lift objects correctly
41. take some time for yourself each day
42. get some fresh air
43. exercise your mind
44. invest in a good pair of shoes
45. lift free weights in place of machine weights
46. eat carbohydrates with and low-medium GI value (where possible)
47. learn how the human body works
48. get a regular health & fitness check-up
49. form a plan to reach you goals
50. follow your plan precisely and adjust if necessary
51. stretch
52. don’t fall pray to advertising
53. keep a food diary
54. forgo your favourite drink for 24 hours
55. keep a training journal
56. don’t drink and drive
57. keep a sleep journal
58. understand that both food and exercise affect your hormones
59. don’t skip breakfast
60. keep your physical training interesting
61. ask questions of friends and professional about their health & fitness knowledge
62. get a massage
63. choose organic food options as your priority
64. wear your seatbelt
65. eat lots of fruit and vegetables
66. increase the intensity of your exercise sessions
67. eat less bread
68. reduce – or where possible remove – the stress from you life
69. drink at least 2 litres of water each day
70. eat fruit in place of fruit juice
71. drink less coffee and caffeine-containing drinks
72. understand your moods and learn how to deal with them
73. don’t eat sweets, cakes, lollies and so on (or dramatically reduce your intake)
74. train using heavy weights
75. limit your consumption of potatoes and pasta
76. combine cardio and weight training into one workout
77. balance your work time and free time
78. eat lean meats (or substitutes)
79. don’t live to work, work to live
80. eat 2-3 serves of fish each week
81. read labels on processed foods
82. clean your teeth and floss at least twice a day
83. eat something healthy every 3-4 hours
84. get a regular medical check-up especially as you get older
85. take the stairs
86. engage yourself in various physical activities
87. read books in place of watching the TV
88. remove saturated fats from your diet
89. treat outrageous health & fitness claims with due scepticism
90. don’t diet, learn to eat correctly
91. take time to smell the roses
92. avoid pollution and polluted environments where possible
93. aim for a ratio of 40:30:30 (carbohydrates, protein, fat)
94. strengthen your back
95. invest in a good mattress and pillow
96. wear sunscreen and a hat when your will be exposed to a lot of sun
97. aim to eat a portion of protein at each meal
98. rest, it’s just as important as hard work
99. eat less processed food
100. learn about your family’s health history
101. stay positive

Remeber. Pick 1 and just start. Little by little you will end up doing all of them.
Photo Credit: Revlimit of Flickr

Thursday, February 14, 2008

PR Fran

Today was a PR day for me. I haven't done Fran in about a month or so and the last time i did it was modified to 65# thrusters and jumping pull ups. Well I have been working on strength in the shoulders and decided to try it at prescribed 95#. I wanted to change the weight back down after my 1st 15 uninterupted reps but kept going regardless. Pull ups were jumping after 1st five (I am going to have to dedicate some time to this now because that # just pisses me off). Anyway last time I did it I think I came in around 9:56. Today was 9:38 w/ prescribed weight. (20# more than last time) So my increases in strength were huge to pull that off. Yaaa me! The time itself suck compared to other fire breathers but I am still making progress which is always good. Try the workout.

thrusters 95#
pullups

21-15-9 reps per round.

Looks innocent enough right. hahaha that's what I thought. Give it a go.

Again with falling behind

For some reason I am always falling behind with this workout blog. Anyway, I have been working out and very active lately. Almost too active as my overuse injuries will attest to. I have taken up boxing 3 nights a week in addition to my crossfit workouts and they are definitely kicking my ass all over the place. I am going to pull back a bit and instead of 6 days a week 2x a day for 3 of those days, I will do 5 x week 2x a day on 3 of those to see how it goes. The trainers at the boxing gym don't agree with my training ethics totally but when they see the conditioning results they will be believers. Most people don't understand crossfit and that's ok. I don't mind talking about it.

Friday, February 8, 2008

MAD DRILLS

Today was a MAD. I call it this because it is mild activity day which is otherwise known as rest day but it really isn't a rest day. It is a go light, practice form, go slow kind of day. Everyone needs rest. That is how we make progress with the workouts we do day in, and day out. BUT... it doesn't mean sit on your butt and eat potato chips. I encourage everyone to do mild activity and by mild i mean anything but doing a WOD. Let's face it, nothing is as intense as a WOD done properly. I usually go through a couple rounds of the warm up to loosen up and stretch all the aches out. Then I practice what I want to get good with light loads or segmented movements.

cfwux2
bergener x2

OHS 95# 3x5 nice and slow to full depth. This is one bad ass move for a 'mild activity'
15 minutes of HSPU practice. These aren't full depth yet as I just finally got into the handstand last week.

Thursday, February 7, 2008

SKIP

Jump rope pyramid
50-100-150-200-250-200-150-100-50
This should have been front and backwards but backwards was tougher than I thought so I doubled up on frontwards.

bearcrawls 15 sec. rest 15 sec. v-ups 15/15 repeat for 12 min. Fun!

Now that I am all caught up I may be able to spend some time on an article or something! More to come...

Wed. Back Squat

cfwu x2/Burgener x2

warm up w/ 135 x8
3x185#
3x225#
3x245#
3x245#
5x225#
Great form nice and low. Ass to grass as they say!
Practiced 85# OHS for form

The more running

run 2 min on 1:30 off

x10 = one great sweaty workout. Interval runs are pretty intense

Last Sunday

3 x cfwu/ burgner wu x2

15 box jumps
5 alternate between renegade rows 30#/ db50# military press
5 altrernate db snatch 45#/split squat

practice handstands 5 sets x 1 min. each

It's been a while...

The last few workouts.

I decided last week that I would practice getting my met con back up.

Last Saturday
Run 2min/ Walk 2min I did 2.6 miles in 27 minutes. Not too fast but it will come with time.