March 19th, 2009 by Dale
I didn’t expect to see the results I’ve been seeing, but they are coming fast. My fitness levels are improving fast. I’ve started timing everything and I’ve already shaved 4 minutes off my circuit workout and 5 minutes off my heavy bag workout.
It’s got me more motivated than ever. I’m going to start adding cardio daily, some time after my circuit training. The results are noticeable in my fitness levels, but not on the scale… yet. That’s one of the main things I want to make note of, the scale rarely tells the story.
You shouldn’t spend all of your time worried about the numbers on the scale, while I like to weigh myself daily, I don’t look at the number as an indication of my progress, more of a tracking tool to help my reach my goals.
The numbers fluctuate, don’t get too worked up if you spend months working hard with little progress on the scale. Measure your ultimate progress in the gym, on the track, or on the field.
All that being said, if your body composition isn’t changing and you’re maintaining the same weight after quite some time, it might be time to evaluate your diet and make some small changes. Just don’t let the scale get you down.
March 14th, 2009 by Dale
The day after writing my post about going cold turkey, I received some pretty life changing news from my girlfriend. Nothing too serious, but very serious at the same time. It’s personal and I don’t feel like going into it, but it’s nothing all that bad, I’m sure it’s not what anybody would think given the way I’m talking about it. We didn’t break up, she didn’t cheat on me, she’s not pregnant, or anything along those lines.
Still, the news hit me hard and sent me into a junk food spiral. I had worked hard and I threw away the minuscule results because of bad news. It sucks, but that’s life, I’m back to cold turkey and other than diet soda with dinner, I’ve pretty much avoided junk food for a week or so.
The biggest lesson I can give in this situation is this; life hits hard, and sometimes there are things in life that are more important than your fitness levels. There are times when you have to forget your diet and exercise program and do whatever it is you think will make you feel better.
For me, it was junk food, some McDonald’s, a milkshake, ice cream, cookies, and the such. For me, the comfort foods helped me through a week of shit and I’m better off for it. I’m not pitching junk food as a solution to all of life’s problems, but sometimes, serious things happen and you’re better off not stressing about diet and fitness.
After a week of being upset, I’m back on track and better than ever. My Sunday Night Ball Hockey League (SNBHL) is starting tomorrow, and I worked hard this week to get ready for it.
My weight is still the same, but my cardio is improving daily. I went from 3 sets of 4 exercises, to 4 of 4, to 5 of 4. My “get back in it” routine is as follows: Clean and Press to Lying Bar Pull Ups to Suspended Push Ups to Bodyweight Squats. It looks pretty simple, but in a cycle with minimal rest, it’s pretty tough for somebody as out of shape as I am.
I supplement it with cardio 5 times a week. I’m working up to 5, 5-minute rounds on the heavy bag. I’m at 1, 5-minute round in about 7 minutes with rest factored in. That might seem pretty pathetic, but it’s up down from 9 minutes and 30 seconds on Tuesday. Small progress goes a long way to keep me motivated, hopefully it does the same for you.
Another update in 2 weeks time… or so.
March 9th, 2009 by Dale
Whether you’re starting out or just getting back into fitness, the best thing you can do is take it slow, and work up a fitness base before going all out. You can go about this several different ways, but my personal favourite is the “10 minute fitness base program.”
The program is simple and works for all forms of cardio. All you need is any equipment necessary for whatever form of cardio you are going to partake in, and two stop watches.
One stop watch will be on you at all times and the other will sit somewhere constantly running. The point of the two stop watches is to track your cardio progress. You’re going to set a cardio goal, such as jogging for 15 minutes at a decent pace with no rest periods.
Start your first stop watch, set it down and start running. Any time you feel your pace slowing to an unacceptable rate, stop your second stopwatch and rest. You will continue to do this until you’ve ran for 15 total minutes.
Go back to the first stopwatch and check how long it actually took for you to run those 15 minutes. If it’s 30 minutes, your goal for the next run is to do it in under 30 minutes. You will be challenging yourself while slowly building your cardio to a level where you can take it to the next level without killing yourself.
Over the course of a couple weeks, you should see drastic changes in your cardiovascular levels, and you won’t find yourself throwing up after workouts. Once you hit your goal, it’s time to set a new, much harder goal.
Building your base is incredibly important, you’ll see positive results every time you exercise and you won’t be discouraged by failure or fatigue, take it slow and you’re more likely to stick with your fitness program.
March 9th, 2009 by Dale
By simply substituting some stuff while cooking, you can drastically reduce calories in your favorite meals. There are thousands of different substitutions, but the below are 5 of my personal favorites.
1 - Substituting Egg Whites for Whole Eggs.
One egg is equal to 3 or 4 egg whites. So, if you’re making scrambled eggs, use 1 whole egg and 6 egg whites instead of 3 eggs. You can also use liquid egg as a substitute to whole eggs. Both are an acquired taste, so take it slow and don’t overdo it, let your taste buds adjust to the new taste and soon you won’t miss whole eggs.
2 - Use Skim Milk
Skim milk packs 100 calories per 1 cup. That’s anywhere from 50 to 100 calories less than the 1% and 2% variations. Those calories add up.
3 - Whole-wheat flour
The calories are roughly the same, but whole-wheat flour is 10x better than regular white flour. The only difference is that wheat flour products tend to come out heavier than their white flour counterparts, research and guess/test will help you find the perfect amount of wheat flour for your favorite recipes.
4 - Yogurt/Frozen Yogurt for Ice Cream
When making smoothies, resist the urge to add vanilla ice cream, instead, add some yogurt or frozen yogurt.
5 - Canola Oil and Kitchen Spray
Instead of using butter or margarine to grease your pans when cooking, use a little bit of canola oil dabbed on a napkin or use a kitchen spray like Pam. Canola Oil is a much healthier greasing option when compared butter or margarine and comes in handy when kitchen spray doesn’t get the job done. The only time I need to use Canola Oil is when I make popcorn or eggs, other than those two occasions, kitchen spray gets the job done.
There are thousands of substitutions that not only save calories, but add nutrients, vitamins, minerals, and flavor. The above 5 are ones I encounter the most in my everyday life. Check back often for more calorie cutting substitutions.
March 5th, 2009 by Dale
Fibre one Raisin Bran Clusters Cereal Box
This cereal has been sitting in my cold room for 6 months or so, I kept avoiding it because I didn’t realize it was a bran cereal with raisins. For some reason, I thought there was something else in it, it’s a long story, and it makes me look like an idiot, let’s just leave it at that.
Before I write my thoughts, let’s get the nutritional information out of the way.
Fibre 1 – Raisin Bran Clusters (per 1 cup/57g)
Calories – 200
Fat – 1.5g
Carbohydrate – 44g
Protein – 4g
Fibre – 10g
Sodium – 250mg
It also provides the following percentages of you daily vitamin and mineral requirements; Calcium (10%), Iron (50%), Thiamin (10%), Niacin (10%), Vitamin B6 (20%), Folate (15%), Magnesium (20%), and Zinc (10%).
All of the above numbers are sans milk.
Anyways, I was digging through boxes of cereal and I came across Fibre 1 for the hundredth time and decided to take a closer look. I’m a big fan of other Fibre 1 cereals, and I love Raisin Bran, so when I realized that it was basically Fibre 1 Honey Clusters (which I love) and Raisin Bran (which I also love), I was excited.
I poured myself a bowl and got ready to experience the merging of two of my favourite “healthy enough” cereals. To my surprise, I didn’t like it… at all. I couldn’t finish a single bowl. There was something about it that rubbed my taste buds the wrong way, and that something, was the raisins.
Everything about this cereal is great, the bran flakes, the oat clusters, the hint of honey, but the raisins ruin it, completely. These aren’t Raisin Bran raisins folks, they’re some form of lower raisin, in my opinion, this is the type of raisin I expect to find in bulk cereal. Whatever type of raisin it is, it certainly doesn’t belong in a fairly high priced cereal such as Fibre 1 – Raisin Bran Clusters.
I’m disappointed. I guess I’ll have to create my own concoctions in the future, 1 cup Raisin Bran, 1 cup Fibre 1 – Honey Clusters.
My Final Verdict:
With Milk: 2.5 bargain brand raisins out of 5 bargain bran raisins
Without Milk: 4 handfuls of carefully sorted, raisin-less cereal out of 5 handfuls of carefully sorted, raisin-less cereal.
Nutritional Value: 5 out of 5. There’s no denying this cereal is good for you. Anything that provided 40% of your daily fibre needs in one serving deserves a perfect rating.
Dollar Value: 4 out of 5. $3.99-$4.99 for a single box is reasonable, and the nutritional value of the cereal really raises the dollar value.
Overall: 15.5 out of 10.
Although it garners a very high rating, cereal is meant to be eaten with milk, and Fibre 1 – Raisin Bran Clusters isn’t all that “milk friendly”. All that being said, it might just be me, I recommend you give this stuff a shot. 40% of your daily fibre.