AdamsCutTheCrap.com

AdamsCuttheCrap.com

Monday, April 25, 2011

I don't have time to exercise...

 
Finding the Time…
            I always had an excuse when it came to not exercising.  My number one reason for not doing it was that there just was no time to exercise.  I would go out with my friends, play video games, or watch TV.  For some reason that seemed to be the better alternative then exercising.  When I started to work again after my ICD was implanted, that only added to the reason of not wanting to exercise. 
 
            Eventually in 2008 Kate and I got memberships to a gym in order for us to go and get fit.  We started to use the facilities regularly and were getting trim and fit.  This was becoming routine for us to go about 3 to 4 times a week to work out and both of us were feeling good from our decision.  

            A few months later however, it was all stopped by one turtle shell (back brace). In March a car accident slowed down my progress and I regained all I had loss plus some extra.  I was back to making my excuses of I don't have time, I don't feel well enough, I just can't do it.  It took us having our 3rd child to realize that there is more to life than just breathing the air.  If I want to be there to watch my girls grow and watch them start families of their own, I needed to stop making those excuses.  

            I already have a setback in my life being born with my heart the way it is.  I finally realized one important thing in my life is my health.  I cannot be obese anymore and expect to be around for my kids.  I needed to cut the excuses I had when it came to exercise, so I created ways to use what time I have. 

           Sometimes I am really busy and there does not seem to be time to do any sort of exercise.  Instead of missing out, I compromise.  Whenever I go up the stairs I will stop towards the top and use the stairs to do 10-20 push ups.  When I go down the stairs I will stop on the stairs again and do dips to work on my triceps.  When I'm standing at work and not really doing too much I will do calf raises or squats.  I have decided I should not care what others think, I'm getting healthier.

            It is important to realize that we won't always have time to take 20 minutes out of our day and commit it to working out.  However we can find ways to incorporate workouts into our day.  Take time and look into your day and see just what you can do to exercise while you are busy.  It can be walking instead of driving, going up stairs instead of using an elevator, taking the long way, or even standing there and do some calf raises.  It is important to get exercise in, I try at least 6 times a week.  It is for my health.  It is for my kids and my wife.  Life is precious and I'm just now learning how to treasure and extend it.

Thursday, April 14, 2011

7th Grade Bullys...

Kids are tough...

     Growing up I never really saw myself as the fat kid.  I would see movies and other kids that were bigger than me and I felt that I was just a little bigger than normal.  I thought that what I was, was normal.  My parents didn't tell me any different.  The only person who would tell me I needed to drop a few pounds would be my doctor and what did he know?  

     I wish that I would have eaten healthier as a kid, but I have to now share what I experienced in the hope that others can learn before it's too late.  There are always going to be something kids will find about you that they do not like or want to let you know about.  As a kid it is extremely hard to handle what kids have to say about you.

     In seventh grade, instances very much pop out in my head that let me know not just how poor we were, but how overweight I was.  We didn't have the money to buy me a new coat that year so I wore the one from the year before, even though I had grown out of it.  It was the year that the movie Tommy Boy with Chris Farley was very popular.  One kid, who I thought was my friend, saw it and decided it would be funny to use a popular line from that movie on me.  "Fat guy in a little coat." It didn't take long for that to catch on with other kids, leading to not just being teased, but picked on by physical abuse as well.  

     We all had our demons when we were kids.  Many of us were picked on for one thing or another.  It is more important than ever to help our kids avoid being bullied.   It took a lot but I was eventually able to overcome the bulling I had unleashed onto me.  Eventually in high school kids started to see me for what I was, not for how I looked.  However, I do wish that I would have been more educated about my weight when I was younger.

     Bulling is rising and is becoming more of a concern in today's society.  It may seem like kids just being kids, or a little bit of teasing, but I've been there and know that is just the start.  It's time to cut the crap of giving kids excuses and not holding them accountable for their actions.  My teasing started as just teasing, then lead to being pushed into lockers, and being made fun of worse than just Fat kid in a little coat.  It is time to speak up for our kids.  Many schools do not put up with kids being bullied, but can't help if they don't know. Speak up.  Not just for your child, but for all the children that may be being bullied by the same kid.
     Also, I have determined that there is nothing wrong with teaching our kids about eating healthy and exercising.  I wonder if someone would have had a serious talk with me about these issues if things may have been different.  Too many of our kids today are obese, but we must be sensitive to their feelings.  If we educate them on eating right and exercising and lead by example, then their weight will become a healthy weight without hurting their feelings.  We need to make sure we aren't one of those bullies when it comes to our kids weight. 

     It is going to take a huge movement to not just change the way our kids eat at home, but also at school.  Education is the greatest weapon we have today against weight loss.  Who knows, maybe you will also learn something yourself. 
     

Saturday, April 9, 2011

To stumble is to learn...

Stumbling Blocks shouldn't block you...

     Many times I have fallen during my diets.  I would get to a certain point or a certain weight and be excited with what I had accomplished.  However, it would only take one stumbling block to make me feel like I couldn't maintain it and would give up, reverting to my old ways.  It was one stumble after another after another.  I would allow anything to give me the excuse to quit and not worry about it anymore.  In recent years, since getting married to Kate and having kids, I tried a few times to lose weight.

     The first time I was able to get down to 245 pounds from my 287 weight.  I was going to the gym, working out, and eating better.  Then in April 2008, everything changed.  I was working at my job as a delivery driver and was hit by another driver.  My back received some compression fractures and my knee was injured (resulting in knee surgery).  I decided that losing weight was no longer important, since I wasn't physically able to do much for many months.  I know that is a good reason, but there was no reason for me to start eating the way I did.  I gained back the 40 pounds I had lost.  

     I know that it was hard to exercise while being in a turtle shell and that I was not able to do much, but I didn't track my calories anymore and was eating like I shouldn't have been.  It took me a long time to recover and give losing weight another chance.  You can look at my earlier blog and see my picture from October 2009, I still had all the weight back on me.  

     Between 2009 and up until a few months ago, I was up and down on my weight.  I would go for a few weeks while working out and eating right, just to give up or let one bad day ruin all the progress I had made.  I don't know why but I just could not keep it up.
      In December I knew that my diets would never lead to anywhere and that I was going to stay unhealthy if I didn't make a change.  I needed to lose weight, get healthy, and stop allowing one little hiccup stop me.  I became determined to instead of letting those stumbling blocks get in my way, to instead use them as motivation and create a deeper desire inside of me.  
     I prayed and I broke myself down.  When I was building up my new foundation I prayed and thought about how I can use those stumbling blocks to my advantage.  One thing I found was when I would stumble I needed to see what caused that stumble and how to get around it.  Once I would find the root of the problem, whether it be depression, anger, boredom, or just laziness, I would look at how to use that to my advantage. 
     It's finding that opportunity that seems to be the hardest part about stumbling.  In times of depression or anger, I noticed that yoga would greatly help me with those issues.  Yoga allows me to collect my thoughts and be able to just think about what it is that is bothering me.  On top of that, I would get the exercise I needed by the stretching yoga provides.  

     In times of boredom, I knew that I couldn't just sit around and eat.  I needed to occupy my mind.  Whether I read my scriptures, worked out, or went for a walk, I would find something to do.  It is very important to not let those stumbles get in your way.  I have learned that gaining knowledge and learning from those stumbles makes you stronger and healthier.  

 

Thursday, April 7, 2011

Time to watch your salt intake...

The details: Americans adults, on average, take in nearly 3,500 milligrams (mg) of sodium a day, mostly through salty food, but it sneaks in through beverages and condiments, too. The new guidelines stipulate that adults in general should toe the line and eat no more than 2,300 mg of salt a day—about one teaspoon's worth. Anyone 51 or older and/or living with high blood pressure, as well as all African American adults, is encouraged to limit sodium intake to just 1,500 mg.

It's well known that eating too much salt is linked to heart disease, stroke, and high blood pressure. But more and more research is finding that a high-salt diet causes other serious and life-threatening diseases, including these three: 


1. Cancer A 2010 study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition looked at 80,000 Japanese adults and found that excess salt is linked to a 15-percent higher risk of developing cancer.

2. Osteoporosis High-salt diets also effect bone health, explains Jones. "High-salt diets have been shown to increase calcium loss," she explains. "When your bones lose calcium, they become weak. Over time, this leads to osteoporosis."
Jones points out that for every 2,300 mg of sodium ingested, on average, you excrete about 20 to 60 more milligrams of calcium.

3. Dementia Other studies have found a link between high blood pressure and dementia. Since too much salt can send blood pressure skyrocketing, cutting out excess sodium could help save your brain, too. "Researchers have shown that treating hypertension can reduce dementia due to Alzheimer's disease by half," says Jones. "Maybe your forgetfulness isn't due to getting older—it could be caused by how much salt you eat!" 

What it means: Americans are addicted to salt. In fact, Jones notes that brain scans show that consuming it causes the brain to release dopamine, the neurotransmitter associated with the pleasure center, as it does when you eat fat and sugar. "That makes them highly additive, like nicotine and cocaine," Jones notes. But it is possible to beat the addiction, and that act can have wide-ranging, positive effects on your health. Much of the excess salt in our diet comes from processed and packaged grocery-store food, and restaurant and fast-food menu options (remember the Denny's lawsuit, when the restaurant chain was sued over the 2,600 mg of sodium in its turkey sandwiches, served with fries?). Some of it lurks in healthy vegetables that have been canned, or even "healthy" sandwich ingredients—things we turn to when we need to make dinner on the fly. "As our lives have become increasingly more hectic and fast-paced, salty processed and fast foods have become staples," says Jones. 

One way to make strides in shrinking your salt intake is to target the worst offenders. Here's a list of some of the saltiest.

Top 10 Seriously Salty Foods in the Grocery Store (sodium content varies among brands)
1. Frozen TV dinners, 800 to 2,000-plus milligrams (mg)
2. Frozen pizza, 2,645 mg
3. Pretzel rods, 1,350 mg
4. Canned chili, 1040 mg
5. Lunch meat, 150 mg per slice
6. Canned soup, 870 mg
7. Packaged macaroni and cheese, 533 mg
8. Flour tortilla, 450 mg
9. Canned vegetables, 250 mg
10. Breakfast cereal, 175 mg

Top 10 Seriously Salty Restaurant Foods
1. Romano's Macaroni Grill Spaghetti e Meatballs with Bolognese, 3,040 mg
2. Quiznos Classic Italian Large Sub, 3,420 mg
3. Ruby Tuesday Shrimp Carbonara Pasta Classic, 3,766 mg
4. IHOP Country Chicken Fried Steak & Eggs with Sausage Gravy, 4,050 mg
5. California Pizza Kitchen Jamaican Jerk Pizza 4,236 mg
6. Red Lobster Admiral's Feast, 4,300 mg
7. Outback Steakhouse Bloomin' Onion, 5,508 mg
8. Applebee's Sizzling Skillet Shrimp Fajitas, 6,060 mg
9. Chili's Jalapeno Smokehouse Burger with Jalapeno Ranch, 6,460 mg
10. Cheesecake Factory, Factory Appetizer Favorites 6,700 mg

Once you start cutting some of the most sodium-dense foods in America out of your menu, Jones recommends focusing on eating foods rich in the minerals potassium, magnesium, and calcium to bring your body back into balance. These foods include: beet greens, spinach, yogurt, sweet potatoes, white beans, sardines, and bananas.

By Leah Zerbe, Rodale.com
Thu, Mar 31, 2011

Wednesday, April 6, 2011

Great way to start off the day...

Yoga

I have noticed a huge difference in my flexibility and my relaxation since starting yoga.  I try to do it everyday after I wake up.  These are a few of the benefits of yoga.

The Health Benefits of Yoga

Yoga has been practiced for more than 5,000 years, and currently, close to 11 million Americans are enjoying its health benefits. Yoga can hardly be called a trend.

Most Westernized yoga classes focus on learning physical poses, which are called asanas. They also usually include some form of breathing technique and possibly a meditation technique as well. Some yoga classes are designed purely for relaxation. But there are styles of yoga that teach you how to move your body in new ways. Choosing one of these styles offers the greatest health benefits by enabling you to develop your flexibility, strength, and balance.

Yoga benefits: Flexibility

When some people think of yoga, they imagine having to stretch like a gymnast. That makes them worry that they're too old, unfit, or "tight" to do yoga. The truth is you're never too old to improve flexibility.

The series of yoga poses called asanas work by safely stretching your muscles. This releases the lactic acid that builds up with muscle use and causes stiffness, tension, pain, and fatigue. In addition, yoga increases the range of motion in joints. It may also increase lubrication in the joints. The outcome is a sense of ease and fluidity throughout your body.

Yoga stretches not only your muscles but all of the soft tissues of your body. That includes ligaments, tendons, and the fascia sheath that surrounds your muscles. And no matter your level of yoga, you most likely will see benefits in a very short period of time. In one study, participants had up to 35% improvement in flexibility after only eight weeks of yoga. The greatest gains were in shoulder and trunk flexibility.


Yoga benefits: Strength

Some styles of yoga, such as ashtanga and power yoga, are more vigorous than others. Practicing one of these styles will help you improve muscle tone.

But even less vigorous styles of yoga, such as Iyengar yoga, which focuses on less movement and more precise alignment in poses, can provide strength and endurance benefits.

Many of the poses, such as Downward Dog, Upward Dog, and Plank pose, build upper-body strength. This becomes crucial as people age. The standing poses, especially if you hold them for several long breaths, build strength in your hamstrings, quadriceps, and abdominal muscles. Poses that strengthen the lower back include Upward Dog and Chair pose. When practiced correctly, nearly all poses build core strength in the deep abdominal muscles.

Yoga benefits: Posture

With increased flexibility and strength comes better posture. Most standing and sitting poses develop core strength. That's because you're counting on your deep abdominals to support and maintain each pose. With a stronger core, you're more likely to sit and stand "tall." Another benefit of yoga is the increased body awareness. This heightened awareness tells you more quickly when you're slouching or slumping so you can adjust your posture.


One of the best yoga DVD's out on the market today for beginners!


SOURCES:
International Association of Yoga Therapists: "Health Benefits of Yoga."
American Council on Exercise: "ACE Yoga Study."
Sarley, D. and Sarley, I. The Essentials of Yoga, The Omega Institute and Dell Publishing, 1999.
SFGate.com: "Doctors study the health benefits of yoga."
Reviewed by Matthew Hoffman, MD on August 12, 2008

Tuesday, April 5, 2011

Why did I not exercise?

Am I really that busy???
     My biggest excuse for not exercising or even going for a walk was, "  Well, I worked today and I'm really busy so I'm just going to sit here in front of my computer and relax."   Which would lead to," Hmm now I am bored... I need something to eat."   This was a vicious cycle.  Instead of working out and getting fit, I was stagnant and eating.  How does that work?!?

     Now, yes, I am still in front of the computer.  However, I also have Sparkpeople open on the web browser and in between typing paragraphs I am stopping to do my strength exercises.   I have found that it is not enough to just diet.  I need to exercise and exercise often.  I found out that every time I told myself I was too busy, in actuality I had at least 20 minutes to become healthier.  Just another example of the crap I had to cut out of my life- the excuses.  

     No longer do I let the excuses control my life.  How many times was I going to deny the healthy person inside of me the freedom it so called for?  We all have our personal demons.  I sat there and looked at my life.  Do you know how often I gave in to the temptation of just doing nothing?  Too often.  I was letting my life slip away from me because of my lack of time management skills and lack of motivation.   How in the world could I have such a lack of motivation?  

     Instead I was pulling the plug on my life.  I prayed for God to get me healthy.  He would only give me the tools, but I was the one not using them.  He gave me so much to motivate me; a wonderful wife, a heart defect, and most of all, my children.  Does a person need more motivation than that?  

     It is never too late to start and so I have.  I try to exercise 6 days a week now.  I do at least 3 days of cardio and 3 days of strength training.  Sometimes I do more than just 3 days of cardio.  With that, I try to do at least 3 days of Yoga.  I have never felt better and the weight keeps slipping off my bones.  I cut the crap and stopped giving myself excuses.  I took the bull by the horns and now I'm in control.  God bless.

Look at what is truly important
Be blessed
Exercise is extremely important.
     

Monday, April 4, 2011

Eating Right

The first step to success

     Now that I have given you a little bit of a background on me, I'm now going to tell you what it was that I did to lose the weight I have and continue to drop the pounds.  I have tried many different diets, none of them worked long term.  Many of them would work for a week or two, but it would fail, or I would lose weight for two weeks but quickly gain them back.  I gave up on trying to find the next "big" diet.  I instead decided to do it the right way, learning how to eat right, exercising, and watching my numbers.

     The first thing I did was join Sparkpeople.  This would allow me to not only join a community that helps encourage you, but also allow you to track your numbers from the amount of calories you ate, to fat, to carbs, to just about anything else you can think of.  How is it the most successful people in business make it?  They don't just go into something without a plan.  They set an objective and they take that objective and create goals.  What is your objective?

     My objective has been to become 180 pounds.  After that I will re-evaluate what I have done and see what is left to be done.  But at 287 pounds, that 180 just seemed like a number that was unreachable.  It is hard to have such a far fetched objective when you don't have the goals (milestones) to reach that objective.  It would be like saying I want to be a millionaire.  Okay, great, you want to be a millionaire, now what?  To reach that objective of becoming a millionaire you need to set goals to get there.  Your own personal road map, get education, find a job, save, invest, ect...  

     My first goal was to start tracking my food.  Track what I ate and set the goals I needed to be able to lose weight.  I set up my account with sparkpeople, and then I did some research to find out what it was I needed to do to start losing weight.  I found caloriecount's calculator to be the best to not only set my goal weight, but set when I wanted to reach that weight.

     Now I knew how many calories I should be eating.  I took that number and subtracted 300 calories from it to create a daily calorie range.  For example; at 287 lbs, I needed to eat 2382 to lose 1.5 pounds a week.  So I would take that number and on sparkpeople create a calorie allowance between 2082-2382.  Now I knew what I should be eating each day.  I also had to realize the importance of consuming enough calories and healthy calories

     It is a difficult process.  I needed to stop letting excuses get in my way.  Instead of allowing the crap to beat me, I decided it was time for me to win.   I started to exercise.  I started to count the nutritional value of the food I was eating.  It can be hard, but if you want to lose weight (without using a fad diet, pills, or the magical drink), this is where it starts.  It is up to you to sit down and pick out your objective.  From there I set my goals.  First one was to track the food I ate, then exercise.  One step at a time, one goal completion at a time, that is all it takes.  I am so happy and feel so good now that I started this journey.  

Count the calories
Keep track of what you are eating
Set Objectives and goals, without a map, you'll be lost.


Saturday, April 2, 2011

What the Greeks knew, and we are just learning...

     Over the past few years Greek yogurt has been gaining in popularity and what was once very hard to find, is becoming more and more common on your store shelves.  What is it that is making Greek yogurt so popular?  

Benefits of Greek Yogurt

by Wendy Polisi

     Benefits of Greek yogurt come from the traditional value of yogurt, elevated by a unique preparation process which makes it more potent. For millennia, the human species in many parts of the world has consumed fermented milk products mainly as food. Various accounts have also been given of how yogurt has been used for its health promoting purposes. Abraham is said to have eaten a yogurt rich diet to keep young and virile. King David is reputed to have fed his soldiers on yogurt to keep them healthy and strong. Queen Cleopatra of ancient Egypt is believed to have regularly bathed in milk to maintain her good looks and healthy skin. It is likely that the milk could have been yogurt. But whether these claims are true or not is not important. What is important is that science has since given yogurt a place among important foods.

     Greek yogurt was traditionally made using sheep’s or cows’ milk, but most of it is today made from cows’ milk. This is mainly because sheep’s milk has a strong taste which may not appeal to many people. The preparation process involves heating the milk followed by culturing it within cheese or muslin cloth. As the culturing process continues, the liquid part, whey, filters out leaving behind a thick creamy mass. Other filtering systems may also be used to achieve the same results.
 
     Depending on the desired final product, whole milk, whole milk and cream or skimmed milk can be used. The resultant thick, creamy product contains about double the amount of protein in ordinary yogurt, making it a rich source of protein. It is a healthy alternative used in various kinds of sweet and sour recipes in place of sour cream, whip cream, whole milk, mayo and others. It also fits very well as a snack or dessert.

     Health benefits of Greek yogurt include substitution of milk for people suffering from lactose intolerance. The process of culturing in which fermentation takes place to produce yogurt also produces the lactase enzyme which is otherwise lacking in lactose intolerant people.

     Greek yogurt benefits also include the absorption of calcium and B complex vitamins and itself contains vitamins B2, B12, potassium, calcium and magnesium. B complex vitamins play an important role in energy metabolism and strengthening of the immune system while calcium is an important component in bone and teeth formation and maintenance.

    Other Greek yogurt health benefits include: – prevention of diarrhea resulting from antibiotics use by providing and promoting the growth of good bacteria within the digestive system while destroying pathogenic ones.

     Candida and thrush infections of the vagina and mouth can be cleared by using yogurt internally and topically. The infection causing yeast is destroyed by the good bacteria in yogurt. Sweetened varieties, sugary foods and complex carbohydrates should be avoided to starve the sugar loving yeasts.

     Colon cancer risk reduction as the lacto bacteria in yogurt cleans and destroys dangerous carcinogenic wastes within the colon.

     Good for diabetics because of its low sugar, carbohydrates and salt content.  These are only some of the known benefits of Greek yogurt, a gift bequeathed to the world by the hands of the Greek.

Get smart with the Thesis WordPress Theme from DIYthemes.
Copyright © 2011 Organic Renaissance. All rights reserved.



Friday, April 1, 2011

Monthly Update

April 1st Weight in and Measurements

     This has been  a pretty good month, here are the results. 

Unit
March 1st, 2011
April 1st , 2011
Weight
219
209
Waist
42in
40.5in
Hips
39 ¼ in
38 in
Waist to Hip
1.07
1.07
Body Fat %
31.4 (obese)
29.1 (overweight)

 March was a pretty good month for me.  I have started working out more, doing yoga more often, and taking walks.  It has paid off for me.