My heart

One thing I've noticed...

     These past few weeks there has been one change I have noticed while losing weight.  This change has been settle but non the less, has occurred.  It is the most exciting thing that has occurred during my diet.  It's not the weight I've loss, the energy I've gained, or the muscles that have been built.  It has to do with my heart.

     I have always had trouble with my heart.  From not allowing me to do sports, to the palpitations I would often get, and even the weird feelings I would get and would stop my life for a few minutes until it felt back to normal.  It has been a struggle and one that I at times was not willing to battle out.  Now that I am losing a lot of weight, I have notice the best change out of everything!

     No longer do I seem to have the palpitations.  I feel like a new man.  My heart does not act up getting out of the shower like it often did for some reason.  No longer does it bog me down when going for walks, or exercising.  This has been my greatest accomplishment to date.  I feel like a new person and have at times even felt like jogging.  Sure it's only a few feet, but I have never had that feeling before in my life and it is a new experience.    

     The question that has started up in my mind is how far do I push it?  I have had my ICD go off on four different occasions on me, and that is not a feeling I wish to have happen again.  But yet there is this yearning inside of me to jog, to play basketball again, or even just to power-walk for a few minutes. 

      So for now I sit here wondering what would happen if I Did try these?  I have a watch that monitors my heart, but would that be enough?  I guess I just keep on at what I'm doing and wait and see, but yet those desires to do the things I haven't been able to in years pull at my heart.  We'll see what happens, for now, one more step at a time.

Break The Walls Down

Breaking down a wall...

     Breaking down a wall can be very tough when it comes to your weight loss adventure. When starting, I set up many goals on the way to my main objective.  The biggest one was the passing of the 200 mark.  This wall, once miles away, is now at my doorstep.


     For years I have been over 200 pounds.  Honestly, I can't tell you how long it has been. I would have to say that the last time I was under the 200 mark would be sometime right before going into high school.  For years I just didn't care about my weight or what I was eating.  Looking back I wish I could take back what I was doing and change my behavior.  Of course this applies to many different situations in my life.  


     The main reason I didn't care about my weight was because I couldn't be an athlete.  So why not just eat the way I wanted to?  Food was good and I didn't want to miss out.  I didn't even think about the fact that the medium pizza I just ate was 2600 calories.  It was good and that was all that mattered.  It may be a little late in life, but I have realized that there is more to eating than, "It tastes good."


     Back to the point, 200 is huge to get under.  I didn't think it was even possible.  I figured I may just have to stay at 220 and call it good.  I have now proven that wrong.  For a week or two I have been close to going under 200.  The see-saw battle I was in finally unveiled a victor.  This morning I stepped onto the scale and on the screen popped 199.  Excited I called Katie into the room just to show her.  This has been one of my goals from the beginning.  Once unachievable, it is now life altering and a new motivation to keep going. My sledgehammer hungers for more walls to break down, and I'm ready for them!

I'm on a see-saw!!!!!!!

The see-saw effect

     201... 205... 203... 206... 202... but at least it has not gone to 210, then again it isn't 200 either.  It can become pretty annoying when your weight keeps alternating like the numbers above.  This is something I have been experiencing the past week or so.  It can be tiring, but I know in the end all of this is one big learning experience.

     What I take from this journey is knowing that in the road of life there are always speed bumps.  Nothing is going to go as planned.  So as one of my favorite songs go, I need to put my shoulder to the wheel.  Weight loss has been an amazing experience.  Where would I be if I would have given up the first time I didn't meet my goal?  Or stopped when I gained instead of lost?  

     I know that I will meet my goal very soon of dropping under 200 pounds.  I know that it is going to keep on taking hard work and determination.  I also know that my objective of weighing 170 will be reached as well.  These things take time and effort and I'm ok with the bumps in the road.

     For now, however, I'm going to keep on this see-saw for as long as I need to until I break through the barriers that are in front of me and destroy my goal.  What I take and learn from here will only strengthen me and prepare me for my next objectives.  One step at a time!  

Its all in this magic pill.... I promise you!!!

This Pill can Solve Everything!

     Did you know that you don't have to change the way you eat!?!  Eat all you want, how you want, when you want, and you my friend can still lose all of the weight you desire!  What is this magical new product that will allow you to conquer your weight problem?  I will tell you right now, the new magic, we are going to speed up your heart, destroy your kidneys, make you into a leaky car, and just might drop a couple pounds off of you!  Now doesn't that just sound awesome?!?

     Fact is there is no such thing.  This is one of those classic cut the crap moments.  Some of these pills may indeed help you lose the weight you want, but at what cost?  I can tell you right off the bat, your stomach is going to be your worse enemy for the time.  Weight loss pills are going to do a number on your stomach.  

     There are many dangers in over the counter weight loss pills.  Both the herbal and non-herbal varieties present many dangers.  In my humble opinion it is not worth it.  Side effects include; nausea, nightmares (yes nightmares), heart palpitations/arrhythmia,vomiting and so much more.   


     One diet test done on herbal diet weight loss pills presented very interesting results.  3 years later 100 of the participants had some kind of kidney problem, 10 years later many of the participants developed urinary tract cancer.  This is not the answer.  It is not worth the impact that these pills can have on your life, including when there are other alternatives.


    What are these alternatives?  Well of course you can get surgery, you can starve yourself or other options that are out there.  However, these are not recommended and unnecessary.  What you need to do is eat Subway twice a day, walk everywhere you go, and become famous!  Haha ok just kidding, I love Jared but let's face it, we all can't afford that and there are other and better options (although Subway is very good).  


     Here comes the words that we all hate.  The best alternative to weight loss pills is changing your diet.  There is no such thing as a magic pill that allows you to eat everything you want and lose the weight you desire to lose.  If there is, trust me, it will make you pay in other ways.  Now, there are some foods that can help you lose weight.  I will give you a brief look at some of these pills, for I plan on talking more in depth about the best super-foods for you in a later blog.

1. Fiber-  Of course fiber is going to be first.  This will help you keep your pipes clean, and everything moving through your body like it should.  Of course it will help you also lose weight.
2. Eggs-  New research has proven that eggs do not give you the type of cholesterol that we all fear.  It has taken me a long time to believe this.  In fact eggs have so much great nutrition for you that this is a must in every diet!  
3. Spices- Spices are awesome!  The best ones being cinnamon, chili peppers, mustard seed, ginger, black pepper, and turmeric are huge boosts to your body.  Cinnamon is natures natural blood sugar stabilizer, chili peppers gets your blood flowing in a natural and healthy way, and ginger helps boost calorie loss.
4. Protein- Protein helps you in many ways.  After exercising I am sure to eat at least 30 grams of protein, this helps build muscles and in return muscles help burn fat and calories.  It can also help you lose blood fats.
5. Water-  Water goes a far way in helping you lose weight.  From making you feel fuller to keeping you hydrated and moving.  A healthy amount of water is essential to losing weight.  

     Keep this in mind the next time you are looking at a diet pill.  There are better alternatives that won't wreck your life.  These alternatives in fact will help your life.  I love you all, God bless you!

Slipping sucks

 It happens...

     Last week Kate and I decided that we would go out on a date and enjoy some personal one on one time.  That morning I weighed myself in at 201.  This was going to be a great day, lost weight, get some alone time with my wife, what could go wrong? 

     We went out to a Thai restaurant and had some really good food.  I decided that hey, I was close to being under 200, I could go one day without worrying about what I am eating and just enjoy the day.  Not saying that you shouldn't do this, because it is important to once in a while enjoy yourself and take off the burden of measuring just about everything.  However, this has come back to bite me hard, I think I went overboard. 

     We had some really good food, and afterwords we went out bowling.  We had a great time and really enjoyed ourselves.  Of course I'm not going to tell you how bad I did bowling.  It's been almost two years since I had bowled haha.  Also I'm almost positive those lanes were smaller than most, but anyways. 

     I woke up that morning and stepped on the scale, 208.  I rubbed my eyes, made sure I was awake and then checked the scale to make sure no one had messed with any of the settings.  I sat the scale back down and tried again, and sure enough it was still 208.  That was back breaking.  How did I gain 7 pounds in just one day? 

     That day I decided what is the point and decided again to eat whatever I want without calculating it.  I did exercise however and was pleased when I didn't gain any more.  Quickly I put myself back into the right state of mind and started back on my long trek.  It is six days later and I'm back down to 204.  Just comes to show that there will always be bumps in the road, it's all about what you do when those bumps get in your way.  Sometimes it's hard, but remember why you started your diet.  I quickly remembered the importance of being healthy.  I realized I am going to slip, it's alright too, but don't let it drag me under.

This mornings workout

Just a little insight to my workout this morning.  I can tell you my arms are burning right now!

For starters I warm up with a mixture of stretching and Yoga.  This allows my muscles to get warmed up and get me in the right frame of mind.  Oh and a little bit of Lead Me by Sanctus Real always helps me get going as well.




To start I used a resistance band, two 4 pound weights, and my 8 pound medicine ball. 

My first workout was a chest press using the resistance band, 2 sets of 15.
Second went into doing a seated row with the band, again 2 sets of 15.
From there I did arm curls using the band, 2 sets of 15.
Then switched to Lateral rises using the band, 2 sets of 10 (shoulders fatigued too quick for 15 haha).

Just to let you know I alternate between these.  For example I will do the chest press, move to the row, back to the chest press and then do the second row.

From here I switched it up to the dumbbells.  I did 2 reps of 15 of the squatting arm curls, bracing my back against the wall.
Then I went to triceps extensions, again 2 reps of 15.

I did then some knee bent triceps dips, 2 reps of 10 and medicine ball aided pushups.

Lastly I did with the medicine ball something called clockwork.  Starting by holding the ball at a 12 o'clock position, with locked elbows I went clockwise going from 12 to 12, and then reversed it back counterclockwise, one of those is a rep and man do those burn.

Then it was chow time!  Loaded up on some carbs and protein with some ground turkey fried up in onions and topped it on some brown rice. 

Just another day in the office. It might be a little time consuming and painful but I am seeing the results in my arms, so it's worth it.

Mono a whata a what...?

The 6 Benefits of Monounsaturated Fats (MUFAs)

by BodyEcology.com (2011)

 

Why consume processed foods full of trans fats when you could have delicious meals made with heart healthy olive oil? Besides tasting great, olive oil is rich in monounsaturated fat, a good fat that has amazing health benefits!

Good fats, bad fats, what’s the difference?
With all the nutritional information out there it can be tough to keep everything straight. In fact, just a few years ago, low fat diets were all the rage.
But cutting edge research supports what people living in Mediterranean climates have known for generations: a diet with monounsaturated fats is a recipe for a healthy heart and a slim body.

Monounsaturated Fats: That Means Good, Right?
Monounsaturated fats (MUFAs) are good fats. Liquid at room temperature, they turn solid when they are chilled. Common sources of MUFAs are olive oil, avocadoes and nuts.
Monounsaturated fats are a healthy alternative to the trans fats and refined polyunsaturated fats you find in most processed foods.
Research shows that diets with healthy amounts of monounsaturated fats have a host of amazing health benefits, including:1

• Decreased risk for breast cancer. A study of women in Sweden found that those with diets higher in monounsaturated fats (as opposed to polyunsaturated fats) resulted in less frequent incidence of breast cancer.
• Reduced cholesterol levels. The American Heart Association recommends the consumption of MUFAs to improve your blood lipid profile.
• Lower risk for heart disease and stroke. Diets with monounsaturated fats correlate with healthy hearts and fewer strokes.
• Weight loss. Studies have found that switching to monounsaturated fat from diets with trans fats and polyunsaturated fats results in weight loss.
• Less severe pain and stiffness for sufferers of rheumatoid arthritis. Diet plays a role in improving the pain and stiffness of those who already have rheumatoid arthritis.
• Reduced belly fat. A study published by the American Diabetes Association found that diets with monounsaturated fat could improve the loss of belly fat better than high carbohydrate diets.

Besides protecting your heart, decreasing your risk for certain cancer AND helping you maintain a healthy weight, sources of monounsaturated fat taste great!
You can do something good for yourself with every delicious mouthful of foods rich in monounsaturated fat.
Make the Most of MUFAs With These Foods
Great sources of monounsaturated fats are:

• Olive oil
• Avocadoes
• Tea Seed Oil (more on this new oil below)
• Almonds, cashew nuts and pecans
• Macadamia nuts

The Body Ecology system for health and healing recommends using a delicious variety of healthy fats…including plenty of the monounsaturated fats mentioned above. Use them instead of the hydrogenated fats found in margarine and processed fats found in refined vegetables oils. If you haven’t changed your oils yet and still eat bad fats...changing to the wonderful fats and oils recommended on the Body Ecology Diet is one of the most important first steps you can take.
If cooking with monounsaturated fats is new to you, here are some Body Ecology-friendly tips to help you get started!

1. Use a bit of olive oil when you low-temperature sauté your vegetables to keep them from sticking to the pan.
   
2. Roll avocadoes, blanched and sliced vegetables and cultured vegetables in sheets of nori for a vegetarian, heart- healthy sushi roll.
   
3. Macadamia Nut Oil adds a delicious buttery flavor to any Green Smoothie recipe.
   
4. Imperial Republic’s culinary Tea Seed oil from the Camilla sinensis (tea plant) is an extra virgin oil from China. It has a high flash point of up to 485 degrees so can be used for low-temperature sautéing. It’s also delicious on top of vegetables, quinoa and in salad dressings.
   
5. Dip celery and carrot sticks into raw almond butter for a delicious treat.

Switching your fat intake from bad fats to good fats could be one of the best (and best tasting) decisions you ever make!

The Body Ecology Diet. (2011). The 6 Benefits of Monounsaturated Fats. Retrieved from                         http://bodyecology.com/articles/6_benefits_monosaturated_fats.php

Weight Loss Update!!!

May 1st Weight in and Measurements

     Another good month, kinda hit a plateau but still managed some weight loss and cut inches. 

Unit	April 1st , 2011	May 1st, 2011
Weight	209	203
Waist	40.5 in	39.5 in
Hips	38 in	38 in
Waist to Hip	1.07	1.04
Body Fat %	29.1 (overweight)	28.3 (overweight)