Get in Shape Tips

Simple Way To Loose Weight - 3 Rules

2009-07-12T20:13:00.000-07:00

Rule 1: - Increase Metabolism by Walking/Running Daily
To loose weight you need to be burning more calories than you are eating. Everything you eat turns into calories that are energy for your body to burn, and if you don't burn them all then the calories that you didn't use during the day get stored as fat. So you have to burn more calories to burn up all the fat calories stored up. The ONLY way to SUCCESSFULLY do this is to Exercise at least once preferably twice a day for at least 10 to 20 minutes.

And the EARLIER in the day you work out for 10 to 20 minutes then you will have a Faster Metabolism, ALL DAY LONG, which will allow you to eat 3 healthy meals which is Rule 2.

Tip for Rule 1 - Walk around the block 1-2 times every morning, and walk around the park or block on your lunch break. When walking in the Morning, Afternoon, and After Meals it helps to Increase your Metabolism, which helps your body maintain a high calorie burn rate, to help safely and easily take the pounds off.

Rule 2: Eat Healthy - No Fried Food, No White Bread, No High Fructose Corn Syrup
The key to loosing weight is not only maintaining a high metabolism, but to also make the Right Decisions when deciding What To Eat? The goal of eating healthy is ultimately to avoid as much Fat Grams and Fat Calories as possible. Before ordering food at a restaurant, here are a few things you Need to Think About.

1. Don't order Anything Fried, Friend Food Is The Enemy! That means NO Friend Chicken, French Fries, Mozzarella Sticks, or anything that is fried. That is the Most Fat Food you can get!

2. Don't eat any White Bread! That means no snacking on the bread at the table, and try to eat Whole Wheat Wraps instead of having a Roll or a White Bread Sandwich. What I do is ask if they have Whole Wheat products such as Bread, Wraps, Pancakes, French Toast, I have been asking lately and about 1/2 the dinners my girlfriend and I eat at do provide Whole Wheat options.

3. Don't have any High Sugar Fructose Corn Syrup, this is the equivalent to the Worst Possible Beverage you can drink. High Fructose Corn Syrup is terrible for your body and is of 100% NO Positive Value to your system, in fact High Fructose Corn Syrup is stored straight into your Fat, and it doesn't break down like normal food would, in fact it is 2 to 3 times as difficult for your body to break down and process High Fructose Corn Syrup, so don't drink it, and Read Your Labels, there is a New Snapple that doesn't have High Fructose Corn Syrup and one that does, obviously buy the New Snapple that doesn't have it.

Other Beverages You DO NEED - Water, Milk, Orange Juice, Coffee (digestion), and some healthy Juice is ok; Pomegranate Juice, Blueberry Juice, Cranberry Juice, or Rasberry Juice.

The berrys are some of the Best Thing You Can Eat, and Should Eat Daily! Berrys are natures Natural Anti-Oxidants. Anti-Oxidants not only Protect the cells in our bodies from Cancer, and other diseases, they help in digestion, and help increase our immune system, and help prevent Colds, Flues, and even Viruses.

Rule 3: Do Not Eat After 8pm
The issue with eating after 8pm is that any food that we eat within 2-3 hours before we go to sleep, is totally useless to us when our bodies are sleeping. The very Reason We Eat is to give our Bodies Energy, so we can continue to move, exercise, walk, run, etc. Keeping this in mind we Do Not Need Energy when we are sleeping, since our bodies are in there most relaxed state.

Plus when our bodies receive food past 8pm, or a few hours before bedtime the food Automatically gets stored as Fat, instead of being stored for useful energy that we need to keep up our physical lives. Hence when we eat something bad for us at night, not only do we not burn it off, we also allow it to sit in our stomach, and Double the Fat is Automatically stored in our body.

Lastly this also Slows down your Metabolism, they say to increase your metabolism you need to eat 3-5 Small Meals a day, this is true, but I find it easier to Loose Weight to eat 2-3 Small Meals a day, but not eating after 8pm since this will actually slow down your Metabolism that you are working so hard to increase to burn the Extra Fat in our bodies.

The Simple Plan:
Morning:
1. Wake up every morning go for a 10-20 minutes Walk or Run.
2. Drink coffee (jump starts your metabolism), eat light toast (whole wheat), or whole wheat pancakes/waffles for breakfast. Or have some Oatmeal, which is the Healthiest breakfast, not always the best tasting tho..

Afternoon:
3. Eat a light White Grilled Chicken wrap for lunch or light turkey, light cheese, light mayo or mustard, and whole wheat bread or wrap, or a grilled chicken salad with Light Dressing (No Ranch and No Blue Cheese dressing)
4. After eating go for a walk or a quick jog, this helps digestion, and keeps your metabolism high, which is the Goal and will help in Long Term Weight Loss and Keeping the Weight Off.

Night:
5. Before or after dinner play a light game of tennis, or again go for a walk, job, or brisk walk, this will help digestion, and increase your metabolism, getting ready for dinner.
6. Have a Low Fat Healthy dinner, grilled chicken, fish, shrimp, turkey burger, also make sure No Red Meat, No Snacks before or after dinner either.

Lastly eat only as much as your Fist, this will help your stomach keep digesting evenly, you should only eat as much food as your fist, since your fist is the size of your stomach. When you eat more than your fist your stomach stretches and metabolism nearly stops, hence allowing your body to store calories as fat, so only eat as much as your Fist for Every Meal.

If you are able to follow all of these rules, and you Don't Cheat, No Snacks, No Candy Bars, No Chips, No Fried Foods at all! Then I am sure that you will be able to loose the weight you are looking to loose, and hopefully Learn How To Loose Weight, in a Healthy and Easy Way.

Let me know if this works for you, or if you find my tips helpful, thanks for reading.

Easy 7 Steps to Loose Weight for Summer

2009-04-08T17:01:00.004-07:00

This is my new diet plan, I think if I follow these simple 7 steps every day I will loose a few lbs, what do you think?

Step 1 Don't finish everything on your plate - especially when eating out
Step 2 Eat Oatmeal for Breakfast and Lunch and then a Protein Shake with fruit, banana or strawberry, for Dinner
Step 3 Walk, Jog, or play a sport for at least 10 to 30 minutes every day or do 1 or 2 work out videos
Step 4 Have a salad for dinner with grilled chicken and vegetables few times a week
Step 5 Have no red meat, only fish, sushi, tuna, shrimp, lobster for dinner
Step 6 Eat enough shrimp and you turn into one
Step 7 No bread, mashed potatoes, chips, 0 carbs.

If you follow all of these steps or only a few of them I assure you will loose at least a few lbs.

Never give up!

PS - if you have to get fast food you can only get the Grilled Chicken Whole Wheat Wrap no fries, no soda, water and that is the only things some what healthy at a fast food place, or the salald, but don't poor all that dressing all over it...and don't get ranch dressing.

Rock Hard Arms Work Out Video from Exercise TV

2009-03-04T05:39:00.000-08:00

This is a my new favorite Rock Hard Arms work out video from Exercise TV

Diet Tracking System

2009-01-31T12:06:00.000-08:00

Hey,

I have been weighing my self every morning for the past two weeks, and keeping a strict diet of:
1. Eating 2 Meals a Day
2. Eating only Breakfast and Lunch
3. Not Eating Dinner
4. Not Eating after Lunch (all night)

This is how my weight has fluctuated this month:
December 29th - 260lbs
December 30th - 266lbs
December 31st - 266lbs
January 1st - 270lbs
January 2nd - 269lbs
January 3rd - 265lbs
January 4th - 265lbs
January 5th - 265lbs
January 6th - 265lbs
January 13th - 261lbs
January 15th - 259lbs
January 16th - 257lbs
January 17th - 258lbs
January 20th - 263lbs
January 25th - 260lbs
January 26th - 260lbs
January 29th - 256lbs

Trying to loose it!!

Exercise TV - Workout Videos

2009-01-25T09:37:00.000-08:00

Hey Guys,

Found some great work out videos on Exercise TV, I did a few different work out videos today to try and focus on my cardio and abs, since I work my arms and chest during the week, try and do abs and cardio on the weekend, and should really do it EVERY Day!

Abs and Cardio are the only type of work out you can do DAILY, with out risking injury to your back, arms, or legs.

Try these work out videos:
Cardio Core
Big Day Bootcamp
Incredible Abs
And
Sexy Beach Abs

ENJOY!!

Spark People has Free Work Out Videos!

2009-01-12T19:27:00.000-08:00

Check it out I just did a jump rope work out on there, pretty good!

and I was looking at there site and I read a few very interesting articles.

What do you guys think??

Marital Distress May Affect Breast Cancer Recovery

Vigorous Treadmill Workout Curbs Appetite Hormones

Selenium, Vitamins E and C Won't Prevent Prostate Cancer

Health Tip: Tempering Your Temper

Mental Barriers Block Obese Women From Exercise

pretty interesting stuff, you guys should check it out!

Some Great Health Tips for 09'!

2009-01-06T09:44:00.000-08:00

Here are five great health tips for a great start to a happy and healthy new year:

You ARE what YOU eat!

"In order to change we must be sick and tired of being sick and tired."
What you eat is your only source of energy, so what you eat is what you are. If you eat like SHIT you will feel like SHIT. If you don't exercise you WILL be tired, so never say your TOO TIRED to exercise because your only tired because you DID NOT exercise :) So here are some tips to the right direction for 2009! It's never too late to live a healthy and happy life =)

First tip, STOP SMOKING(if you smoke)!
-Why? Its so 1980's and it screws up your whole body chemistry, and smoking also KILLS your taste buds, which is why you are eating shit and think its ok! And a MILLION other reasons that I hope by now most of you are aware of!
Second, DON'T DRINK a lot!
-When I say a lot I mean you can drink maybe a drink or two a weekend if you must. When kids go away to college they get the freshman fifteen why? because beer and alchohal makes you FAT!
-But really why? It's because it raises your level of hydrocloric acid in your stomach, and RUINS your WHOLE digestive process! And if you want cancer then drink away, some alchohals STILL conatain urethane, a CANCER-CAUSING chemical! And just one more lil thing to add, it RAISES your blood-sugar levels who wants all that shit!?

-In conclusion to drinking, You can drink in MODERATION, but please if your going to drink try some ORGANIC RED WINE! :) It's not that bad! TRY: RED TRUCK ORGANIC RED WINE, its good..
Third, PLEASE PLEASE don't drink SODA(EWW!!) ITS GARBAGE! you may as well just go drink from a sewer if your gunna put soda in your body. All soda contains phosphorous which actually increase calcium loss from your body. It puts shit in your body and takes out what you need. Loss of calcium leads to bone loss, which may lead to ostioperosis.
OK, so you drink diet soda? Nice, thats great! NOT!!!! ACtually your making yourself FATTER by drinking diet soda by almost 10% compared to REGULAR soda(read in the book, eat this and live!) It's worse in other ways too, it contains Aspartame, which causes arthritis, birth defects, Alzheimers, Lupus, Multiple sclerosis, AND diabetes. So drink away, REAL smart!! If that doesn't stop you from atleast drinking diet sodas for a start, then maybe this will(or maybe your just that stupid?idkk):
WELL, when methyl alchohal, an ingredient in aspartame eneters your body it turns into formaldehyde, which is a TOXIC AND CARCINOGENIC(CANCER-CAUSING). Scientists use formaldehyde as a disinfectent or preservative. AND YOUR DRINKING THAT SHIT!! so stop :)

JUST one more, When Aspartame is drankin with carbs, it makes your brain slow down its production of serotonin. A healthy level of serotonin is needed to be happy and well balanced. So not only does diet soda affect your insides, but your personality and attitude as well.
Forth, EAT CARBS!! DONT GO ON A NO CARB DIET!! you NEED them to be healthy and happy! Isn't that the goal in life? So yes you can eat carbs and be healthy and skinnny! Carbs are compounds made up of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen, pretty important living tools huh? yeh thought so! THEY ARE VITAL FOR PROVIDING OUR BODY ENERGY AND BRAINS!!
-Here's how to eat the RIGHT carbs! Not ALL CARBS ARE GOOD MOST DO SUCK!! There are 2 kinds, simple and complex carbs. SIMPLE CARBS SUCK AND ARE BAD FOR YOU! They contain sugar and tend to leave us feeling hungry! Complex carbs are the way to go! They have starch and fiber which release gradually and slowly in our bodys, providing a steady source of of energy! Then we feel FULL!
SIMPLE CARBS(STAY AWAY): white flour, white pasta, white rice, white bread, white sugar, ect.
COMPLEX CARBS(EAT AWAY):natural grains, brown rice, whole wheat bread, whole wheat pasta, ect.
SUGAR IS LIKE CRACK! MODERATION! your being fooled ;)
-Food manufactorers add sugar to their products so you keep coming back for more. Dont fall for it! Sugar starts off ok from a sugar cane plant. Then it's wrecked like most good foods are these days. The enzymes, fiber, vitamins, and minerals are all taken out of sugar during the refining process. No nutritional value AT ALL!(kind of like white bread)
-So heres all the fabulous things sugar does to your body, hypoglycemia, yeast overgrowth, a weakend immune system, hyperactivity, attention deficit disorder, enlargment of the liver, and much more! you want all that shit??? sugar it up!!
-But sugar is so good! And so many good foods will taste so bad without sugar right!? I NO!! but hey, you can STILL HAVE sugar! Just get the good kinds, you know the ones that dont kill you slowly! Like, Agave Nectar, or Stevia!

JUST REMEMBER, THERES ALWAYS A HEALTHY SOLUTION! You don't have to give up much, just be healthier. Don't do this to be skinny, or to look good. Do it to FEEL good, to be HAPPY, and to LIVE longer :)

Most of this information I read from2 books: Skinny Bitch( VERY INFORMATIONAL) & Eat this and Live(another great book)!

I'm not saying never have regular sugar, or never to have a soda again! Im saying dont make it a habbit DONT get addicted, and just TRY to have less then you do now! Moderation =)

When it comes to eating right and exercising, there is no "I'll start tomorrow." Tomorrow is disease. ~V.L. Allineare

Just because you're not sick doesn't mean you're healthy.

Happy New Year!! New Organic Diet and Yoga Workout

2009-01-03T10:40:00.000-08:00

Hey All,

Happy New Year, just wanted to give you guys some big news!! We got a new author joining the Get in Shape Tips community, she is a well experienced health expert, and a nutritionist first and foremost. She is now my personal trainer and nutritionist, and is planning to help me accomplish my weight loss goals in 2009!

To summarize 2008, I actually started this blog in 2008 calling it Get in Shape 2008, and my goal was to reach 250 lbs. Well in mid-May I actually accomplished this goal and was around 245 lbs, from 280lbs in January. Although I stopped working out and eating right, and gained most of it all back, to my current weight of 270 lbs.

So this year my goal is to loose even more weight, to get down to 200 or 210 lbs, is my goal for the year, and then maintaining a diet that allows me to stay at around 210 lbs. Hopefully with my assistance and co-author we will be able to achieve these goals in 2009.

To start off we have started doing Yoga every day (past 3 days at least). Also we are going on an ALL ORGANIC diet, because my co-author read the books Eat This and Live by Don Colbert MD as well as Skinny Bitch and she got tons of information on eating healthy, and how In-Organic food causes all types of diseases and cancer, because all food uses pesticides to keep bugs off of it; like coffee, wine, fruits, vegetables, and milk products.

So yesterday we hit up Trader Joes (all organic grocery store) and bought the following items:

Organic Sprouted Wheat Pasta
Shrimp Med. Cooked BLK
Bananas
Organic Blueberry Preserves
Chocolate Dark Covered Blueberries
Milk Organic Fat Free
Vanilla Whey Protein
100% Blueberry Juice
Organic Baked Beans
Raw Almonds
Frozen Berry Medley
Frozen Soy Chocolate Ice cream
Organic Soy Cutash
Volpi Chianti Salami
Raw Sunflower
Premium Salmon Patty - 80 calories each for 18 g of protien
Earth Balance Non Hydro Margarine
Yogurt TJ Greek Style Blueberry
Butter Peanut Organic Crunchy
Organic Shreadded Mozzarella
Organic Brown Rice
Organic Lentil Soup
TJ's Mini Shredded Wheat
TJ ORganic Fat / Salt Free Marinara
Sweet Potato Spears
Centry Choice Steel Cut Oatmeal - Steal Cut is the only good one!
Eggs Brown Extra Large Dozen Organic

Altogether that was only $106!! I thought it was going to be $150 atleast!!

So we also got a smoothy maker, and we had that with the whey protein and blue berries for breakfast, and that is what we are planning to have regularly.

We will post more as we learn more!

Also HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

Egg White Omelet and a Big Salad - Seinfeld Style

2008-12-13T10:49:00.000-08:00

Hi - thanks for stopping by, enjoy the post!

I just was watching Seinfeld and it was the episode when George asks the waitress out for a "walk or something" and he thinks it is a date, but she tells him she has a boy friend after he stupidly says how he likes "ma-newer" since it is a newer ma? George that is dumb! haha!

Any way the point is that Jerry always gets and Egg White Omelet and Elaine always gets a Big Salad, and I thought hmm..I wonder how that is, just an Egg White Omelet or a Big Salad. So today I decided to go to the diner and have an Egg White Omelet for breakfast, and I was impressed!!

I have NEVER FELT MORE AWAKE!! The Egg White Omelet gave me sooo much energy in the morning, it has no cheese in it, so it did NOT make my stomach hurt, it was soo good with some salt, pepper and ketchup for flavor. I would recoomend this for every one since it really does energize your entire body!

Then I had a Big Salad for lunch and it was really good too!

I recommend this for everyone, just try to eat healthy one day, after all you are what you eat. Also here is real testimonial - conversation with my girlfriend:
me: now i c how u r so quick 24/7
me: haha
me: u eat sooo good
her: they dont make you tired, most of the time when you eat you feel like u wanna sleep, but egg whites act WAKE u up..
her: baby
her: good food is ENERGY
her: food is the ONLY SOURCE OF ENERGY!!
her: the better you eat the more and BETTER energy you have
her: the worse you eat the more tired and bad you feel
her: the better you eat the less diseases you get the worse you eat the more you get
her: its ALLL ABOUT WHAT YOU EAT
her: you ARE WHAT YOU EAT!!
her: dahhhh
me: hahaha
me: can you please write that on my blog?

Hence me writing this blog. Isn't she so smart??

Enjoy!

Living to 100 Life Expectancy Calculator

2008-12-07T10:02:00.000-08:00

Hey Guys,

Oh I didn't see you there, thanks for stopping by. I just was reading yahoo most popular news when I cam across this article of this 63 year old guy with a 30 year olds body, it was the #1 story and I was like WTF?
Youthfulness an American obession - at what cost?

Very interesting how this guy that is the lead of Cenegenics and he is using the medicine on him self as a test subject to see how well it works. While he claims he has never felt better the last doctor to do this died at 69 with brain cancer, and they say using these drugs may cause Cancer..not good.

Either way I just took this test from the Living to 100 site that has a life expectancy calculator, takes about 10 minutes to fill out, and yell I took it and it said I will live to 83!! I am stoked so I got about 60 years left, sweeet!!! haha.

Take the test and see how long they predict you will live, and read the more info below.

More Info:

Cenegenics: http://www.cenegenics.com

Calorie Restriction Society: http://www.calorierestriction.org

Life Expectency Calculator: http://www.livingto100.com/

National Institute on Aging: http://www.nia.nih.gov/

Weekly Get in Shape Tips

2008-10-18T21:27:00.001-07:00

Hey Team,

Are you ready for another week of grueling workouts and punishing exercises, I know you don't want to do it, but we all know that you have to! Now wake your ass up and get running, that is right folks it is time to start running.

Get in Shape Tip #1:
I recommend running at least 1 mile every weekend, to start off. To maintain and increase that distance is the goal, so every other day walk 1/2 a mile or a full mile, few times around the block should suffice, after dinner, or in the morning are the best times.

Get in Shape Tip #2:
Do not eat junk food!! Especially after you have already had your dinner. One way to loose a few lbs to is make sure that you make dinner your LAST meal of the day. Or just do not eat 2 hours before you are planning on going to sleep. Your body needs at least 2 hours to break down all of the foods properly, before going to sleep, or else you could have night mares. Haha just kidding, but your food won't be getting broken down properly, and will all get stored as fat. This is a very easy way to gain weight, eat a lot right when you are going to bed.

Get in Shape Tip #3:
Exercise at least 3 times a week folks! I can not STRESS this enough, this is essential to achieving your work out goals! You have to make sure you are working out your body every other day of the week, do not double up, or work out the same body part two days in a row, you are more than likely to strain the muscle, and could further injure your self if you do not allow at least 1 if not 2 days of rest, depending on the severity of the work out performed. Obviously if you do a hard work out give your body 2 days of rest, if an easier one give it 1 day of rest.

Good luck team! Now get out there and kick some ass!

Beginner Workout Plan for October

2008-10-04T07:21:00.000-07:00

Hey All,

I have just started a new work out plan that is for people that are very out of shape, but I think that it is the best plan I have come up with yet. It involves working out EVERY Morning, Monday through Friday, and a light walk or jog on Saturday, Sunday is rest.

Here is the breakdown:

Monday - 2 sets of 200 jump ropes or jumping jacks and 2 sets of abs work out, and do a full set of scissor kicks (all explained below):

This is how I like to do it:

1. Do 200 jump ropes even if you don't have a jump rope you can still do the same motion, or if you feel too silly, do juming jacks, you don't have to go outside, and can easily do this from the comfort of your bedroom.

2. After the 1 set of 200 jump ropes, then lay down on your back and do 20 regular crunches, not sit ups (they are bad for your back) just do easy crunches and really tighten your abs, that is where you should feel it. I pull my knees in holding them over my body and make both my elbows touch my knees, so it is a relatively light and simple crunch movement.

3. After the 20 regular crunches, do another 20 right side crunches, this will focus on your left and right side obleques and give you the V abs shape every girl and guy loves, and they say the V side shape is the most sexy thing on some ones body. To do the side crunch simply cross your right leg over your left leg, and then touch your left elbow to your right leg's knee cap. Do 20 of those.

4. After the 20 right side crunches, then switch it up and do 20 left side crunches. This is done the exact opposite of the right side crunch. Simply put your left leg over your right leg, and then touch your right elbow to the left leg's knee cap. Do 20 of these.

5. After the 20 left side crucnhes, do 20 scissor kick exercies. Each 1 scissor kick is actually 3 movements of your legs going up and down. To do this simply lay on your back and hold your legs straight out in front of you, with our hands underneath your lower back for support. Then move your legs in a swimming, back stroke motion, "kicking" them. Each time your legs cross each other count 1, 2, 3, for each movement of your legs. Every 1, 2, 3 counts as 1 scissor kick, so do 20 scissor kicks, which comes out to 60 actual times our legs cross. While doing this make sure to keep your lower abs tight, you should feel it there when you are doing this.

6. Do another 200 jump ropes or jumping jax exercise.

7. Do another round of the Ab Work out described above.

If the abs work outs are too easy, do them as slow as possible, until you start sweating a lot, then do them at your own comfortable pace. The slower you do them, the more you are working your abs.

Tuesday - Chest Workout: 3 short and simple push up exercises.

1. First exercise, get in to a push up position, but for beginners, like me, I do an easy push up by putting my knees on the ground, instead of my feet, so it is less weight to hold. So push up position, hands have to be exactly shoulder length apart and do 5 solid perfect push ups, rest for 10 seconds. Then do 4 solid perfect push ups, then rest of another 10 second. Then do 3 perfect pushups, then rest.

2. Second push up position is to put your hand a little wider, than shoulder length apart. This will strength the side of your chest muscles, since each different hand position works a different part of the chest, much like what we did with the ab work out. Do the same set of 5 push ups with hands further than shoulder length apart, then rest for 10 seconds. Do 4 push ups, and rest, and then do 3 push ups, and rest.

3. Third push up position is put your hands closer than shoulder length apart, and again work out the same way, do 5 push ups, rest, 4 push ups, rest, and 3 push ups, and then rest.

Do these slow and easy, if you feel you can not do this many push ups, lighten the load to just doing 3 push ups, then 2 push ups, then 1, and week to week, gradually build up your strength.

Wednesday - Jump Rope and Ab Work out

Do the same exact work out described for Monday. Be consistent and try to do exactly the same amount of abs and jump ropes / jumping jax you performed on Monday. Do not increase, if you feel this is too easy, you can increase the next week, try to do 3 sets of this, instead of just 2 sets.

Also if this is too easy, do it very slowly and you will feel the burn. When doing the jump ropes or the jumping jacks, instead of rushing them, try and do them slowly too, and really bend your legs, and allow your heals to touch the ground, so that every second is 1 jump, so you should be doing it for longer than 1 minute of constant movement.

Thursday - Arm Work out

For men get a 20 lb dumbbell, or a 10 lb dumbbell if you have never really done arm work outs before.

For women I would recommend a 2-5 lb dumbbell, or heavier if you want to get bigger arms.

1. Start with the dumbbell in your right hand, with the palm of your hand facing your leg, not facing forward. (this is a great trick to see quick results) Start with your palm facing your leg with the dumbbell in it, and do a simple curl, spinning your hand, while clenching your arm until the palm of your hand and dumbbell are facing your shoulder, do not let the dumbbell or your hand touch your shoulder, that is too far. Just let it get almost there and stop, count for 1 second, and slowly, with a 3 second count, bring it back down to your side slowly and controlled. The entire time you should flex your bicep, so you feel it working.

Depending on your level of arm work out experience, you should start with 10 reps of these and next week do 15, then the week after do 20 reps. Whatever you are most comfortable with, you DO NOT want to over exert your self, because you can get hurt. I would recommend trying to do at least 10 of these in a row.

2. After you do that with your right arm, then switch and do it with your left arm, same work out, and do the same number of curls for each arm. So if you did 10 for your right arm, then you should do 10 for your left arm, un-less one arm is injured, or stronger than the other.

3. I would recommend doing 2 sets of these for each arm. If you do this slowly you definetly will feel the burn!

4. If this is too hard you can do many different transitions of arm work outs:

Example:
- doing this sitting down will probably be harder, since you are not using any weight.
- doing this standing up will probably be easier, since you can tighten your other muscles to help lift the dumbbell.
- do not rock your back when doing this, since you can throw out your back if lifting too much!
- also if in starting position the palm facing your leg is too hard, you can do a regular curl keep your palm facing forward at the start and facing backwards once curled, this is easier.

So you have a lot of options for the arm work out, it is just important to do atleast 2 sets of 10 with each arm for whatever work out you feel most comfortable with.

Friday - Jump Rope and Ab Work out

I would recommend doing this work out again, but if you are soar from the week, or is your first week, you do not need to do this, I do not recommend working out any part of the body when it is soar. When the body is soar, then you have worked it out enough, and you need to eat protein and carbs to help build the muscles up again, so they heal properly.

If you can do it though, go ahead, and enjoy your self!

Saturday - Light Jog or Fast Walk atleast 1 mile

For Saturday I recommend doing a light jog, or a fast walk for atleast one mile. For many people jogging seems to be out of the questions, so I recommend a fast walk, and that nearly as many calories as a jog does, so you ARE working out VERY HARD when doing a FAST WALK.

Sunday - REST!

You need to have a day off to let the body recover from the week's work out, and then on Monday start the cycle all over again.

I have done this for 1 week so far and have seen some results. I like this because it is a quick easy work out that I can get done early in the morning, and gets my day started in a light and easy way. No driving, no running in the rain, just find a place you can have 10-15 minutes to work out every morning, and perform these exercies.

Diet for this work out:

Breakfast - Oatmeal with fruits (bananas or blue berries) or a healthy Cereal (recommend Honey Nut Cherrios)

Lunch - A light lunch, eat about 500 calories, and make sure to eat some protien with your lunch too! (chicken, turkey, peanut butter sandwiches, etc)

Dinner - Eat a light dinner of about 500 calories, and try to make it as much protien as possible, try to NOT eat allot of carbs for dinner! Try to avoid carbs altogether for dinner.

Lastly - DO NOT EAT AFTER 8PM! If you want a light snack after dinner that is ok, grapes, fruits, apples, banans, peanuts, celery, all good. NO CARBS!!

When you eat carbs after 8pm it turns into FAT over night!
BUT
If you DO NOT eat carbs after 8pm, you actually LOOSE WEIGHT, while SLEEPING!

I assure you if you follow this diet, you will loose weight!

September to December Eating Plan

2008-09-17T05:27:00.000-07:00

What's needed daily to get and maintain a healthy body inside and out:

Grains, Vegetables, Fruits, Milk, Meat, and Beans!

Make half your grains whole. Vary your veggies. Focus on fruits. Get your calcium-rich foods. Go lean with protein.

Breakfast

Breakfast is considered an important meal because it breaks the overnight fasting period, replenishes your supply of glucose and provides other essential nutrients to keep your energy levels up throughout the day.

Whats needed to have a healthy well balanced breakfast to start your day off right!:( and here's why) ALONE just eating what your SUPPOSED to and what your body NEEDS will help you loose weight bc your body will be working with what it needs! like:

Calcium/milk-Consuming milk and milk products provides health benefits—people who have a diet rich in milk and milk products can reduce the risk of low bone mass throughout the life cycle. Foods in the milk group provide nutrients that are vital for health and maintenance of your body. These nutrients include calcium, potassium, vitamin D, and protein.

Whole grains-Eating grains, especially whole grains, provides health benefits. People who eat whole grains as part of a healthy diet have a reduced risk of some chronic diseases. Grains provide many nutrients that are vital for the health and maintenance of our bodies.

Fruits-Eating fruit provides health benefits — people who eat more fruits and vegetables as part of an overall healthy diet are likely to have a reduced risk of some chronic diseases. Fruits provide nutrients vital for health and maintenance of your body.

Protein-Foods in the meat, poultry, fish, eggs, nuts, and seed group provide nutrients that are vital for health and maintenance of your body. However, choosing foods from this group that are high in saturated fat and cholesterol may have health implications.

So for breakfast:

NO COFFEE!! tea.. is what you will be drinking, you will still get your energy and caffeine but in a MUCH healthier way!
WATER!! drink AT LEAST 2 glasses or bottles of water from when you wake up until 9am!
Whole grain cereal(grains) with milk(calcium) and fruit.
Whole wheat bread or wrap with egg whites(protein)
Yogurt with fruit
Whole Wheat pancakes with fruit

***if you are not having cereal always aim to have a glass of milk with your meals..

LUNCH

For lunch you need to have MEATS and GRAINS:

Why Meats?:
-Meat, poultry, fish, dry beans and peas, eggs, nuts,
and seeds supply many nutrients. These include protein, B vitamins (niacin, thiamine, riboflavin, and B6), vitamin E, iron, zinc, and magnesium.
-Proteins function as building blocks for bones, muscles, cartilage, skin, and blood. They are also building blocks for enzymes, hormones, and vitamins. Proteins are one of three nutrients that provide calories (the others are fat and carbohydrates).
-B vitamins found in this food group serve a variety of functions in the body. They help the body release energy, play a vital role in the function of the nervous system, aid in the formation of red blood cells, and help build tissues.
-Vitamin E is an anti-oxidant that helps protect vitamin A and essential fatty acids from cell oxidation.
-Iron is used to carry oxygen in the blood. Many teenage girls and women in their child-bearing years have iron-deficiency anemia. They should eat foods high in heme-iron (meats) or eat other non-heme iron containing foods along with a food rich in vitamin C, which can improve absorption of non-heme iron.
-Magnesium is used in building bones and in releasing energy from muscles.
# Zinc is necessary for biochemical reactions and helps the immune system function properly.

Why Grains?

Health benefits

* Consuming foods rich in fiber, such as whole grains, as part of a healthy diet, reduces the risk of coronary heart disease.
* Consuming foods rich in fiber, such as whole grains, as part of a healthy diet, may reduce constipation.
* Eating at least 3 ounce equivalents a day of whole grains may help with weight management.
* Eating grains fortified with foliate before and during pregnancy helps prevent neural tube defects during fetal development.

Nutrients
Food sources of the nutrients in bold can be found in the Dietary Guidelines for Americans.

* Grains are important sources of many nutrients, including dietary fiber, several B vitamins (thiamine, riboflavin, niacin, and foliate), and minerals (iron, magnesium, and selenium).
* Dietary fiber from whole grains, as part of an overall healthy diet, helps reduce blood cholesterol levels and may lower risk of heart disease. Fiber is important for proper bowel function. It helps reduce constipation and diverticulosis. Fiber-containing foods such as whole grains help provide a feeling of fullness with fewer calories. Whole grains are good sources of dietary fiber; most refined (processed) grains contain little fiber.
* B vitamins (thiamin, riboflavin, niacin, and folate)play a key role in metabolism – they help the body release energy from protein, fat, and carbohydrates. B vitamins are also essential for a healthy nervous system. Many refined grains are enriched with these B vitamins.
* Folate (folic acid), another B vitamin, helps the body form red blood cells. Women of childbearing age who may become pregnant and those in the first trimester of pregnancy should consume adequate folate, including folic acid from fortified foods or supplements. This reduces the risk of neural tube defects, spina bifida, and anencephaly during fetal development.
* Iron is used to carry oxygen in the blood. Many teenage girls and women in their childbearing years have iron-deficiency anemia. They should eat foods high in heme-iron (meats) or eat other iron containing foods along with foods rich in vitamin C, which can improve absorption of non-heme iron. Whole and enriched refined grain products are major sources of non-heme iron in American diets.
* Whole grains are sources of magnesium and selenium. Magnesium is a mineral used in building bones and releasing energy from muscles. Selenium protects cells from oxidation. It is also important for a healthy immune system.

So for Lunch:

Turkey sandwich on whole wheat wrap or bread
Ham sandwich on whole wheat wrap or bread
tuna sandwich on whole wheat wrap or bread
grilled chicken on whole wheat wrap or bread
grilled chicken w vegis
salad with grilled chicken
salad with tuna

snack with lunch

-fruit
-whole wheat pretzels
-popcorn

***at least 2-3 glasses of water from 9am-1pm

DINNER!

AGAIN: meats!!

AND Vegis are both needed for a healthy and nutritious diner!:

Eating vegetables provides health benefits — people who eat more fruits and vegetables as part of an overall healthy diet are likely to have a reduced risk of some chronic diseases. Vegetables provide nutrients vital for health and maintenance of your body.

Health benefits

* Eating a diet rich in fruits and vegetables as part of an overall healthy diet may reduce risk for stroke and perhaps other cardiovascular diseases.
* Eating a diet rich in fruits and vegetables as part of an overall healthy diet may reduce risk for type 2 diabetes.
* Eating a diet rich in fruits and vegetables as part of an overall healthy diet may protect against certain cancers, such as mouth, stomach, and colon-rectum cancer.
* Diets rich in foods containing fiber, such as fruits and vegetables, may reduce the risk of coronary heart disease.
* Eating fruits and vegetables rich in potassium as part of an overall healthy diet may reduce the risk of developing kidney stones and may help to decrease bone loss.
* Eating foods such as vegetables that are low in calories per cup instead of some other higher-calorie food may be useful in helping to lower calorie intake.

Nutrients
Food sources of the nutrients in bold can be found in the Dietary Guidelines for Americans.

* Most vegetables are naturally low in fat and calories. None have cholesterol. (Sauces or seasonings may add fat, calories, or cholesterol.)
* Potassium rich nutrients Vegetables are important sources of many nutrients, including potassium, dietary fiber, folate (folic acid), vitamin A, vitamin E, and vitamin C.
* Diets rich in potassium may help to maintain healthy blood pressure. Vegetable sources of potassium include sweet potatoes, white potatoes, white beans, tomato products (paste, sauce, and juice), beet greens, soybeans, lima beans, winter squash, spinach, lentils, kidney beans, and split peas.
* Dietary fiber from vegetables, as part of an overall healthy diet, helps reduce blood cholesterol levels and may lower risk of heart disease. Fiber is important for proper bowel function. It helps reduce constipation and diverticulosis. Fiber-containing foods such as vegetables help provide a feeling of fullness with fewer calories.
* Folate (folic acid) helps the body form red blood cells. Women of childbearing age who may become pregnant and those in the first trimester of pregnancy should consume adequate folate, including folic acid from fortified foods or supplements. This reduces the risk of neural tube defects, spina bifida, and anencephaly during fetal development.
* Vitamin A keeps eyes and skin healthy and helps to protect against infections.
* Vitamin E helps protect vitamin A and essential fatty acids from cell oxidation.
* Vitamin C helps heal cuts and wounds and keeps teeth and gums healthy. Vitamin C aids in iron absorption.

SO FOR DINER:

grilled chicken w/ vegis
LEAN steak with vegis
turkey burger w NO bun and lettuce as a bun

****From 1pm until 6pm(diner time) you should have AT LEAST another 3-4 glasses or bottles of water!

AND MOST IMPORTANT!!!

Physical activity simply means movement of the body that uses energy. Walking, gardening, briskly pushing a baby stroller, climbing the stairs, playing soccer, or dancing the night away are all good examples of being active. For health benefits, physical activity should be moderate or vigorous and add up to at least 30 minutes a day.

Moderate physical activities include:

* Walking briskly (about 3 ½ miles per hour)
* Hiking
* Gardening/yard work
* Dancing
* Golf (walking and carrying clubs)
* Bicycling (less than 10 miles per hour)
* Weight training (general light workout)

Vigorous physical activities include:

* Running/jogging (5 miles per hour)
* Bicycling (more than 10 miles per hour)
* Swimming (freestyle laps)
* Aerobics
* Walking very fast (4 ½ miles per hour)
* Heavy yard work, such as chopping wood
* Weight lifting (vigorous effort)
* Basketball (competitive)

Some physical activities are not intense enough to help you meet the recommendations. Although you are moving, these activities do not increase your heart rate, so you should not count these towards the 30 or more minutes a day that you should strive for. These include walking at a casual pace, such as while grocery shopping, and doing light household chores.

AT LEAST 3-4 times a week we will go for a brisk walk/jog!!to START off!

NO ALCOHOL!!! OR COFFEE!!!!!!!!!!!EVER!!

Whole Wheat Bread vs. White Bread

2008-09-08T05:06:00.000-07:00

Wheat Bread VS White Bread

There is a lot of differences between white bread and whole wheat bread.

But the question is which one is better for you?

Processing and Nutritional Value:

Wheat Bread

Flour is made from wheat berries.
The wheat berry is made up of
the bran, the germ and the endosperm.
All parts are filled with nutrients and are
used in whole wheat flour.

White Bread

White bread on the other hand, uses only the
endosperm - the starchy inner layer. There is a
total of 30 nutrients missing in white bread. The
nutritional difference is immense and has
measurable impact on our health.

Nutrient Content:

Wheat Bread

Whole wheat is much higher in fiber, vitamins B6 and E,
magnesium, zinc, folic acid and chromium.

White Bread

When flour is refined, it loses the most nutritious parts
of the grain—the fiber, essential fatty acids, and most of
the vitamins and minerals. In fact, about 30 nutrients are
removed, but by law only five must be added
back (though others often are): iron, niacin, thiamin, riboflavin
and folic acid. There’s so little fiber left after processing that you’d
have to eat eight pieces of white bread to get the fiber in just one piece
of whole wheat bread.

Calories/Nutritional Info: (from http://www.calorieking.com/)

Wheat Bread

White Bread

Study:

“Whole grains provide health benefits that other foods don’t. In a Harvard study of 75,000 nurses, those who ate at least three servings a day of whole grains cut their heart attack risk by 35 percent and were less likely to get into weight or bowel trouble. By contrast, those who ate more processed foods—such as white bread, white rice and sodas—were more than twice as likely to develop diabetes. “Science continues to support the key role of whole grains in reducing chronic illnesses,” says Len Marquart, professor of nutrition at the University of Minnesota and author of the first health claim for whole grains approved by the US Food and Drug Administration. “

-www.vegitariantimes.com

*In a 10-year Harvard study completed in 1994, men and women who ate high-fiber breads had fewer heart attacks and strokes than those whose tastes ran to bagels and baguettes.

*Simply switching from white to whole wheat bread can lower heart disease risk by 20 percent, according to research from the University of Washington reported in the April 2, 2003
issue of The Journal of the American Medical Association.

*Fiber has long been known to aid digestive health too.

*Fiber can help you lose or maintain weight because eating fiber-dense wheat bread helps you feel full.

But how do we know if the bread is really whole wheat?

Color used to be a clue, but no more. Although white bread is white because it’s been bleached, some dark bread has just had caramel coloring added to it. Look for “whole grain” or “whole wheat” as the first ingredient on the label. If any other ingredient is first, put the loaf back and keep looking.

“Watch out for words like 'wheat flour' or 'enriched wheat flour'
as they can be mostly made from white flour with just a small
amount of whole wheat added in.

Look for 'whole wheat' or other whole grains, like oat. And don't
be mislead by the name of the product. Names like wheat, whole
bran, stoned wheat, 12 grain and others are still mostly white
flour. The only way to know for sure is to read the label.”

-http://ezinearticles.com/?3-Important-Differences-Between-White-Bread-and-Whole-Wheat&id=44657

Wheat Bread vs White Bread

What do you think?

I have been diagnosed with GERD..

2008-08-27T13:14:00.000-07:00

For some of you that may be wondering 280 lbs isn't that bad, I mean I am 6'2" but the thing is that I was diagnosed with GERD like four years ago, and the doctor told me that if I don't change my life style I am going to get stomach cancer when I am 30...that shook me up a little bit. Made me question if I should be living the life style I was living.

Not only did he tell me that, he said I also have to loose weight, the funny part is that I HAD ALREADY LOST 80 LBS! The doctor didn't seem to understand...

I was 280 lbs in high school, and I was down to 210 in college when I started throwing up at night..it got bad. I would sit by the toilet all night, and I know some of you are thinking that well DUH ITS COLLEGE, you do drink! That's the funny part, I didn't drink and I would puke...I would puke up every night, some times even blood, and well it was gross to say the least.

So I went to the doctor who told me to see a specialist of the throat, like who goes to medical school saying they want to specialize in the throat, FOOD GOES DOWN ON PIPE, AIR GOES DOWN THE OTHER, END OF STORY!!!! Either way he was the man to see...I think he was good with stomachs too.

So he told me I have to loose weight and I'm like well I don't know doctor I'm pretty skinny already, I'm almost down to 200 lbs, which I hadn't weighted since 5th GRADE! SHIT! I CAN'T GET A BRAKE! Fucking Atkins! Fucking South Beach! Fuckin' shit! So I was pissed.

I said fuck it!

Now in January I was up to 280 lbs again! After not weighing that for 5 years! And I started pucking again at night...my stomach would hurt, and well it got bad..again. I couldn't believe it but all the fat in my stomach would press down on my stomach and push up acid, food, and all gross shit, and I 'd puke it up...my esaphagus doesn't close...so shit just comes up...

Too much vodka in college I suppose, they said I burned out my entire inside stomach lining that is supposed to protect against the acid, that is used to break down the foods, but is horrible for your system...

So I gotta loose some weight, I need to not puke, and now I am donwn to 255 and have not pucked for 6 months...not too bad. Hope I can keep loosing weight, but oh well.

I gotta do these life style changes like GREATT!! (GOTTA BE KIDDING ME!!! FUCK!!)

Losing weight - shit I am skinny as hell, I gotta stay this way now...
Quitting smoking - I quit smoking in college, I only smoked for 2 years, it's a bad habit.
Wearing loose-fitting clothing - I bought all new small clothes and got fat slowly, so I got nothing that is loose fitting now = FUCK!
Eating smaller meals - I love eating I could eat a 72 oz steak any time of the day!
Raising the head of the bed when sleeping - That sounds comfortable, NOT!
Waiting at least 3 hours before lying down after eating - No more midnight snacks.. :-(
Avoiding certain foods and drinks,^4,8 including:
- Chocolate - who needs chocolate...i do!!
- Peppermint - favorite
- Alcoholic drinks - bring 'em ON! Vodka? Rum? Wine? Beer?
- Caffeinated beverages - every morning baby!!
- Citrus drinks - OJ any one?
- Tomato-based foods - Let me get some of that V8 BRO??
- High fat and/or fried foods - Good buy McDonalds and Burger King...

The first thing I was thinking was like no more french fries...I eat them every day..mmm!! I love french fries I think Imma go get me some fries right now....

15 Minutes later:
So all in all I gotta loose some weight umm.. yeah pretty much I gotta loose some more weight.

Run, Lift, Bike, Hike, Jog, Swim, Climb, Ryme, Dime, Time, By-em, Ty-em, Bob-em...

Either way life is about fun:

Go for a walk on the beach!
Throw a frisbee or a football or whatever you got lying around, around, outside!
Help a stranger by letting them go ahead of you.
Don't loose your temper with loved ones.
Be a good friend to some one in need.
Help thy neighbor!

Live it up!

New Post-Summer Diet Loose 20lbs

2008-08-24T20:01:00.001-07:00

Hey All,

After discussing with trained consultants I have found a work out plan that is balanced, yet rigorous, and agile enough that I can actually commit for longer than 2 weeks! (hopefully) I am currently around 250 to 260 lbs and want to loose another 20-30 lbs with in the next 4 months, till New Years 2009. (I can't believe the year went soo fast!!)

Here is the work out plan:

vigorous activity for 10 mins for 5 times a week (jump roping or running for 10 minutes)
chest work out 3-4 times a week
arms work out for 2-3 times a week

To achieve my goals I am going to do Light Strength Training to help tighten and loose excess fat, and increase my overall metabolism while maximizing calories burned during working out to help increase my total weight lose goals.

Weekly Plan:

Sunday - Chest
Monday - Jump Rope/Running and Arms
Tuesday - Jump Rope/Running and Chest
Wednesday - Jump Rope/Running and Arms
Thursday - Jump Rope/Running and Chest
Friday - Jump Rope/Running and Arms
Saturday - Chest (alternate day off if not miss any work outs during week)

Chest is doing 4 sets, first set 4 push ups, second set 3 push ups, third set 2 push ups, and last set just 1 push up. (keep it light and simple) Do this with your hands at shoulder length apart, then do a wide stance (bigger than shoulder length), and perform the same 4 sets, and then do short stance (less than shoulder length apart), and perform the same 4 sets again, so that is 3 times in all.

So all together that is 9 regular, 9 wide, and 9 short push ups, altogether 27. (light work out)

This should burn about 100 calories, since it is a light work out.

Arms is doing 2 sets of 10 reps with 30lbs or if to much then 20 lbs free weights. Do two sets of 10 full curls, working each arm individually. Then perform two sets of 10 of the Tricep Workout and then you are done.

So all together that is 20 curls with each arm, so 40, and 20 tricep pulls with each arm is 40. (light work out)

This should burn about 200 calories, since it is not a very intensive work out.

Jump Rope/Running is doing 10 minutes of constant movement work out for a full 10 minutes. Although you can break up the 10 minutes of constant movement to 2 minute intervals for jump roping, performing five 2 minute sets of jump rope. Or simply running for 10 minutes straight, and at a slow pace, is about 1 mile, if a quick pace, probably 1.5 miles.

This should burn about 500 calories, (depending on weight and fitness level)

Altogether that is more than 500 calories a day burning, not only will this be great for muscle development, as well as breathing, increased metabolism, more energy, but help turn my body into the lean mean fight burning machine that I want it to become.

Good? Bad? Or Promising?

Q & A Session with a Personal Trainer

2008-08-22T16:29:00.000-07:00

Hey All,

I recently had the opportunity to ask 25 Health Questions to a Personal Trainer and he gave me a great set of answers, read below:

1.What do you recommend as a daily calorie intake diet for an overweight person?
Take their "normal" dietary intake and subtract 500 kcals/day. That equates to a 1 lb. loss/week. Of course I recommend healthy eating habits and a fit lifestyle. It's not about going on a "diet", it's about changing your mentality about being fit for life.

2.How often do you work out daily? Weekly? Monthly?
I attempt to actively partake in something everyday of my life, whether that be going to the gym and working out or jogging with the dog. Consistency is essential for being a fit person.

3.What does your diet currently consist of?
Diet is an evil word. I eat to live, not live to eat. All food is to me is fuel; like a with a car. If I need some energy I fuel up, if not than I'm content. Stay within your own means when it comes to food selection. We all know what's healthier to eat. Snack if you need to, but never let yourself hit empty. If you fuel up all at once you'll over eat, your mind will recognize those habits and get accustomed to eating that way.

4.What do you think of the “Big Breakfast” diet?
Breakfast is the most important meal of the day, just make sure to eat enough carbs and protein. Your day should realistically start off with more kcals and tapper off as the day goes on. The American diet is backwards; why do we need a huge meal before we go to bed?

5.What do you think of the “Atkins” No Carb diet?
Research supports the simple fact that your body will be forced to burn fat as energy if no carbs are present, however, zero carbs will result in fatigue and increased stress. It's a poor diet for the human body, a modified version of this would work much better, but again diets are short lived and breed failure.

6.What do you think of the “South Beach” Low Carb diet?
This is more sensible than the Atkins Diet, but still it's not a change in lifestyle.

7.What do you think of the Weight Watchers diet? Weighing your self in front of a large group of people, to learn and grow with each other, to loose weight.
This is the most effective type of lifestyle change. It does turn some people crazy into weighing all their foods and needing too much control over what they eating. It also turned into a great marketing scheme for Weight Watchers to sell their products. Once people live Weight Watchers they find it's hard to have that control without others helping them out, which nutrition should be easy and simple. In a confused state that tend to undereat for a while proceeding the diet, until it all comes to a crashing disaster. I witnessed my mom and her friends go through this. The didn't trust my professional opinion and all put on my weight than they lost initially because they slowed down their metabolism through eating less, thus making weight gain that much easier.

8.How often should people work out there arms, legs, and chest for stregth training?
It's all about balance and equilibrium. People today workout for aesthetics, not functional purpose. You must form a equation between what you NEED and what you WANT. Men want a huge upper body e.g. chest and biceps. Women want to "tone" their legs, butt, and arms. In reality everybody needs to have a strong core for everyday life, work on balance (especially the elders), strength train to build stronger muscles and bones, and train their cardiovascular system to help reduce heart disease and other potential diseases. Also, people should create balance to alleviate pain, not pop a pill because the doctor told you too. Not all trainers know how to solve problems, most of them exacerbate them.

9.How often should people work out there back, abs, and cardio training?
Refer above

10.How do you get bigger if you are very small? What do you recommend?
If you are training to get bigger, what's your underlying purpose? Are you hiding some insecuraties that by becoming bigger will help out? Regardless getting bigger is what we call hypertrophy, working the muscles into a catobolic state to create an anabolic rebuilding of the muscles fibers bigger than before. You can't create more muscles (only a species of birds can), but you can get "bigger" by training this way:
Hypertrophy Training:

Duration of Phase 3-6 weeks
Load 70-80%
Number of Exercises 6-9 (Prime Movers)
Number of Reps per Set 6-12
Number of Sets 3-6
Rest Intervals 2-3 minutes
Speed of Execution; Medium
Frequency/Week 2-4

11.How do you get smaller if you are very big? What do you recommend?

Haha, who wants to become smaller? If you're trying to get smaller do absolutely nothing, the muscles will melt away like butter on toast. Okay I assume we are talking about decreasing body fat. Combine a workout regimen that includes cardiovascular training with strength training, it's been proven to be the most effective. Cardiovascular training will burn more calories right away, which is good. Strength training will increase your BMR (Basal Metabolic Rate) which will burn more calories throughout each and everyday. Why? Because the more muscle you have, the more calories are required for those muscles.

Strictly Dietary Parameters:

Calories in = Calories Out Stay the Same Weight
Calories in <> Calories Out Weight Gain

*Figure how many kcals you're consuming and compare that to your BMR, a nutritionist or personal trainer can figure this out for you.

12.Do you eat fast food?
I rarely eating fast food. They're nothing good that will come out of foods with trans fat or high levels of fat, especially saturated fats. Just like Jared if I don't have time, I go to Subway. If you need a quick fix, bring a snack just in case you're on the run.

13.What is your favorite fast food place to eat, when not dieting?
I don't like fast food, but if I can have anything it's definitely ice cream. I can take down a half gallon of ice cream quicker than anyone. It's okay if we indulge once in a while, but don't make it a habit. If you starve yourself from your cravings, you'll want them more and more. One day that craving will overtake you will power and everything will come crumbling down.

14.What is your fastest mile run?
I don't do anything for MAX results, whether it be running, lifting, or eating. If you had me run a fast mile after a good warm-up I can run just under 6 minutes. What you have to think about is why is this relative? Am I training to run a mile anytime? If your goal is to run a marathon, than your one-mile best has little significance. Just make sure your goals are aliened.

15.What is the most you have ever benched?
I did train this way before I was educated enough to realize this MAX efforts will only lead to injury. But if you want to know it was 335 two years ago.

16.What is the most you have ever squat?
With a belt on to protect my back I squated 615. I would have even gone for more but I didn't think my knee would be able to handle to load. My glutes weren't strong enough compared to my quads and hamstrings, thus putting unnecessary pressure on my knees.

17.How much cardio do you do a day?
I try to do a mile or so on the elliptical 5 times/week. In addition I jump rope for about 10 minutes 5 times/week to hit those higher heart rates.

18.Do you think it is better to run a mile straight or walk and run alternating for 2 miles?
It all comes back to what your goals are. If you're looking to become leaner than the more the merrier, but don't forget about time management. People nowadays don't have time to waste, so make it as effective and efficient as possible.

19.How often do you weight your self?
I never weigh myself unless the doctor makes me. I know I'm overweight compared to my weight (BMI) because I have a lot of muscle. What I look at is myself; how do I feel and how do I fit into my clothes. Scales as just a waste of space in most peoples bathrooms.

20.What is your average weight?
My average weight is 200lbs. at 5'10" and 10% body fat. That means I have 180lbs. of lean body tissue and 20lbs. of fat tissue in my body. For a male I shouldn't go below 3% body fat because it will start effecting my vital organs. As for a women they shouldn't get below 12% body fat. As before these measurements can be figured out by a nutritionist or personal trainer.

21.What is your goal weight?
I'm content where I am right now. 90% of people want to be thinner at all times. You have to realistic with yourself and know your own bodies settling point (where you normally are).

22.What is the most you have ever weighed?
The most I ever weighed was 220lbs. I was muscle bound, not fat, but I didn't like the way I looked so I stopped training so hard to lose some muscle to get back to where I wanted to be.

23.What do you consider a healthy body fat percentage?
Guidelines for body fat percentage go by age. You can find where you should be at ACSM.org

24.How much water do you consume daily?
It's recommended that we all drink 8-10 glasses of water a day. I try my hardest to but usually come short of that. I do however carry around a Nalgene bottle with water to remind myself to drink and as well as the pure fact I can drink it because it's in my hand.

25.Do you use any supplements; muscle milk, protein bars, wheat protein drinks, daily vitamins?
Supplements are unnecessary. The definition of a supplement is replacing something that can naturally and normally be attained. If you're asking about performance enhancers e.g. Nitric Oxide, HGH, Steroids, that's a completely different question. Most of us can attain these vitamins, minerals, proteins through our normal diet. I recommend a multi-vitamin and/or protein for those who don't get enough in their diets e.g. vegans.

Get Six Pack Abs - NOW!

2008-08-02T14:13:00.001-07:00

Hey All,

Are you tired of doing all those crunches with out any results? Well then you have come to the right place because crunches do not = 6 pack abs. It take alot of WORK, EFFORT, DEDICATION, COMMITMENT, just like anything in life that is worth while, it takes hard work!

This site really has alot of great information on how to get that six pack abs today!
http://www.wikihow.com/Get-Six-Pack-Abs

I recommend doing:
20 crunches, followed by 20 side crunches, and 20 more side crunches
do that 3 more times over.
Do some jumping jax, and run a mile.

Also eat less fatty foods, look at calories, try and keep track of how many calories you eat in a day, it's a game, it's fun, it's healthy!

See if you can keep track!

~ GetIn Shape 2008

New Diet Plan – 6 Meals a Day

2008-07-28T20:14:00.001-07:00

I am happy to say that I am going back to my favorite diet that I have tried this year, the 6 meal a day diet. This is also known on this blog as the 5 meal plan. This diet consists of eating at 7am, 930am, 1230am, 230pm, 530pm, and last at 730pm. Eating a small meal that consists of a protein and a carb in the until 230, then a protein and a vegetable at 230, 530, and 730. Using this diet plus working out every other day, allows for a great increase in my metabolism, to help shed the extra pounds I want to loose before the year is up.

So far it has been a good year for me, I weight my self yesterday and am down to 254, which is very close to my goal of being under 250 pounds. I was 280 in January so I am happy with my results, but I want to try and make the most of the last month of summer, August, and try and loose another 10 lbs. I feel that this diet will allow me to loose 10 lbs this week. I am planning on eating the following everyday:

7am - Breakfast – Egg white sandwich, with salt, pepper, and ketchup. and coffee
930am – Snack – 1 slice of bread with crunchy peanut butter and water
1230am – Lunch – Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwich with wate
230pm – Snack – Tuna Salad with lots of vegetables, nuts, cranberries, etc.
530pm – Dinner – Grilled Chicken with Peppers, and other vegetables
730pm – Snack – Peanut Butter on Celery Sticks

I am also going to walk 1 mile in the morning and perform a push up work out for the next two weeks I am planning on following this diet and work out exactly!

I will tell you how I am doing next weekend.

Health Tip of the Day - Staying Emotionally Healthy

2008-07-17T20:43:00.001-07:00

I read this article when reviewing Yahoo! News and I felt that it was good enough to share with all of my dedicated readers.

Keep in mind when working out and dealing with life, just as it is important to stay physically healthy, it to is just as important to stay emotionally healthy as well.

A few tips:
- Think about what is causing your feelings to be negative, and decide if it is important.
- Share with family and trusted friends what gives your stress and anxiety to help relive it.
- Focus on the positive aspects of your life, forget about the negative.
- Perform relaxation techniques; Yoga, Meditation, or Deep Breathing Exercies
- Healhty Diet
- Exercise Daily
- Keep a good sleep schedule, at least 6 hours of sleep to enjoy 2 full REM cycles.

Each REM Sleep Cycle allows the brain to recover and re-build for optimal thinking throughout the next day. This article on Wikipedia answers all of your questions about sleep patterns.
Here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rapid_eye_movement_sleep

Time to get healthy in 2008!

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/s/hsn/20080717/hl_hsn/healthtipstayingemotionallyhealthy;_ylt=Ai0IYq9Q9xRS7l.XF66VN.gDW7oF

"Big Breakfast" Diet - Review

2008-07-16T09:55:00.000-07:00

Hey All,

Now I have successfully been on the Big Breakfast diet for about 2 weeks, and I have seen some very interesting results. Now to my surprise the first week I did not notice any change in weight, I actually went from 158 to 162 on the diet in the first week, comparing my sunday weight to the next weeks sunday weight. Then I stayed on the diet for another week and I was pleasantly surprised to find that I lost 10 lbs and went down to 152 after two weeks.

I ate pretty good, having Pancakes, and Coffee for breakfast everyday, eating between 600 to 800 calories for breakfast. For lunch I would have a sandwich or a salad, keeping it between 400 to 600 calories, then for dinner I would have a small light dinner, about 200 to 400 calories.

Overall I would eat the following:
Breakfast - 600 Calories
Lunch - 400 Calories
Dinner - 200 Calories

If you can start eating like this, you will surely loose some weight too!

I am existed to see how much weight I loose this week, I will keep you guys posted.

Best,
Get In Shape 2008 Team

Sitting Ab Workout

2008-07-08T10:27:00.001-07:00

I find my self sitting, often, far too often, and my entire body has suffered from my overal lack of any sort of physical activity in my daily life. I go to work, sit driving, sit at work for 9-10 hours, then sit going back home, only to plot in front of the TV and eat dinner.

This is not a healthy lifestyle, as humans we need physical activity, not only to maintain physical happiness, but also to attain mental happiness and stability as well. The best medicine to make some one happy to to exercise, just make it easy and fun, and simple and you we will have America in shape in no time!

I started doing a new technique today of how to work out your abs while you are driving and sitting, at work sitting, or at home watching TV. You abs are the most important part of your body to keep in shape, since they form your entire shape, and are always a crowd pleaser if you have a flat or toned stomach.

To do the exercise simply suck in your stomach for 10-20 seconds, make sure to feel that your abs are tightening, you can tighten, upper abs, lower abs, just by sitting and sucking in your stomach, and forcing them to tighten, then let them relax for 5-10 seconds. Then suck it in again for another 10-20 seconds, repeat this process 10 or 15 times, and you have your ab work out.

This can easily be done while sitting at your desk at work, or even driving, although be careful, there are some bad drivers out there, so I wouldn't recommend doing this if you are driving fast, but while sitting in traffic, why not? It is so simple, and after a week or two of doing this daily, and really feeling your abs are getting tighter, with a combination of running a mile a day while tightening your abs, and you will see the lbs fly off!

Here is one article I read - http://www.ehow.com/how_2071804_exercise-abs-sitting.html

Have a great day!

New Diet - 5 Meals a Day and Big Breakfast, Small Dinner

2008-07-03T22:50:00.000-07:00

I think that I have solved the weight loss secret. Must eat a big breakfast, and a small diner, and medium lunch. I was doing 5-6 small meals a day, toast for breakfast at 7:30am, oatmeal at 10:30am, sandwich at 12:30am, yogurt at 2:30pm, salad at 5:30pm, then orange/apple at 7:30pm, last meal.

Using that diet I have successfully lost nearly 20lbs! I am down to 256lbs now and have been getting compliments about my weight loss. I have just stumbled upon a new diet that I am going to try and see if I can loose any weight using it. It is called the Big Breakfast, Medium Lunch, Small Dinner diet, http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080620/hl_nm/carb_packed_dc - article from Yahoo News.

I hope to loose another 20lbs using a combination of this diet, and the small 5 meal diet written above.

Check back for my progress...

You owe me 13G's

2008-01-22T16:00:00.000-08:00

Kicked ass at work today. Found out how the Accounting Department had failed to charge 13,325 dollars to 10 of our SEO projects. Once that gets around I am sure they won't lay me off, YAHOO!! To lasting another year at an Office Space replica company, YAY!

Haha, anyway, came home and decided to kick it up a notch and work out till I saw sweating bullets. Think I did pretty good job, let's see how I did.

Today I worked out:
3 sets of 100 jump ropes
3 sets of 20 push ups
3 sets of 20 crunches
3 sets of 20 bicycle kicks

Today I ate:
Total Cereal for Breakfast - 180 calories
Steamed Chicken w/ Broccoli and Brown Rice for Lunch - 400 calories
Everything Crackers with Cranberries for Snack - 200 calories
Chicken Salad for Dinner - 400 calories

Altogether that is 1180 calories for the day.

Today I my weight is:
257 lbs
34% body fat

Kick ass!

Workin' It Out!

2008-01-15T18:46:00.001-08:00

Today was a really boring day at work, but I came home and did a great work out!

Today I worked out:
4 sets of 100 jump ropes
4 sets of 20 pushups
4 sets of crunches
4 sets of leg lifts
2 sets of 20 curls
2 sets of 20 half curls
2 sets of 20 arm pulls

Today I ate:
Oatmeal for breakfast - 150 calories
Peanut Butter and Jelly sandwich for lunch with 100 calorie pack cookies - 600 calories
Ellios Pizza for dinner - 225 calories
Popcorn for movie snack - 400 calories

Total Calories for the day - 1375 calories

Today I weighed:
Weight - 259lbs
% Body Fat - 34%

All in all I think that since I have stopped gaining weight is good. Now my body just has to start speeding up it's metabolism by working out everyday, cardio, running, walking, lifting, to ensure that I will start loosing some weight.

Goal for end of month: 250lbs and 32% body fat.

Out with the old in with the new

2008-01-09T22:25:00.000-08:00

"A friend is just a potential enemy." - rap song lyric

This quote has become more apparently true to me than any other song lyric I have ever heard in my life. Now in the year 2008 my "friends" have become my enemies and vise versa, jealousy, greed, admiration, and disrespect all emotions demonstrated by every single one of my "friends" So as part of my New Years Resolution it is time for out with the old and in with the new. I am done with friends that use you, lie to your face, and are fake as hell. Fuck Them.

The year 2008 my life is changing quite rapidly right before my very eyes. With my beautiful, sexy, attractive, and lovable girlfriend by my side I know that I can conquer the world! Together we are completely unstoppable, nothing will get in the way of our success and happiness.

But onto my daily toll of getting in to shape. I think loosing my friends is the biggest piece of fat that I could ever cut out of my life!

Today I ate:
Oatmeal for breakfast - 200 calories
Bagel with butter for snack - 300 calories
Peanut butter and jelly for lunch - 400 calories
Ellios slice of pizza for dinner - 300 calories

Total of 1300 calories.

Today I did not work out.
I was extremely tired all day today from running for a mile yesterday and working out. I even felt the need to take a nap during my lunch break, and just felt so tired, and my muscles were aching all day. So I took a day off from working out to let my body heal up. Tomorrow I am going double up and do a big work out.

Today I weight 260lbs and 35% body fat. No changes as of yet but I'd say I wont see any real changes for at least two weeks.

Stay tuned for tomorrows update of my daily web log and New Years Resolution progress!

New Years Diet - Good day in Deed

2008-01-08T18:27:00.000-08:00

Today was a very good day in deed. OK first I have to confess I cheated and ate some popcorn last night around 10pm with my girl friend watching a movie. I promised I would not eat after 7pm hopefully I will not make the same mistake again.

But today I got to take a nice walk during lunch and it was un-seasonably warm, 67 considering it is January and I live in New York.

Today I ate:
Oatmeal with Cranberries for Breakfast - 150 calories
Tuna sandwich for Lunch - 400 calories
Crackers and Cranberries for Snacks - 300 calories
Chicken and Vegetable Casserole - 500 calories

In total that is 1350 calories.

Today I worked out:
I walked during lunch about 1/2 mile
20 pushups
Jog/Walk for about a mile

I weighted 258lbs and 35% body fat.

So no real changes as of yet, but it's only been a few days. I am hoping to see some weight loss or body fat loss with in the month.

Best of luck to all of you on your New Years Diets!

Get in SHAPE!!

2008-01-07T17:48:00.000-08:00

Today was a good day, woke up early, got a lot of work done, and ate right, saw my family for the first time in 2 weeks, and worked out.

I weighed 262lbs today and 35% body fat.

Today I ate:
Total Cereal for Breakfast - 100 calories
Cup of Coffee - 50 calories
Tuna Salad for Lunch - 400 calories
Crackers for snack - 100 calories
Bean Soup for Dinner - 300 calories

Altogether that is 950 calories for the day!

Today I worked out: Arms with 20 lbs dumbell
2 sets of 10 full curls
2 sets of 10 half curls
2 sets of 10 extended arm ups
2 sets of 10 reverse curl pulls
2 sets of 100 jump ropes

My plan to loose weight is to eat a few small meals a day and eat between 1000 and 1500 calories a day, also to work out more calories than I eat. This way I burn away the calories that I already have in my fat, hence loosing weight.

I am thinking of getting one of those automatic calorie counter programs on here, and maybe an automatic calorie estimate for the work outs to, to really see a direct comparison between the two numbers, and watch for any change.

Get Back In Shape for 2008

2008-01-06T14:22:00.000-08:00

Since today is January 6th this is the 6th day of my 2008 get back in shape diet.

I weighed my self today and I am now at 258 lbs with a 35% body fat.

Today I ate:
Steak, shrimp, and mashed potatoes - 900 calories (left overs, not full meal)
Chicken Salad - 400 calories

Total of 1300 calories.

Work out Today:
2 sets of 10 pushups
2 sets of 10 curls with 20 lbs
2 sets of crunch work outs
2 sets of 100 jump ropes

Day 1 - Get In Shape for 2008

2008-01-02T22:52:00.000-08:00

Hello Everybody and Welcome to my Web-Log!

My goal is to get in shape for 2008!

I am currently 260 lbs and 38.4% body fat. I am also 6 foot 2 inches. :-)

Today I ate:
Total Cereal - 100 calories
2 cups of Coffee - 100 calories
Bagel with Cream Cheese - 300 calories
Tuna Salad - 400 calories
Salad - 50 calories
Cheese Burger - 300 calories
French Fries - 100 calories
Tea - 50 calories

Today I consumed 1,400 calories.

Today I worked out:
2 sets of 10 curls
2 sets of 10 push-ups
1 set of 100 jump ropes