Daily Ramblings – Motivation Monday

Tags

Canada, Diet, Exercise, Intermittent Fasting, Music, Niagara Falls, Reading, Writing

Happy Monday!

Our trip to Canada was awesome!! I finally got to see Niagra Falls. Wow, what a spectacle. We just drove by them because we were on a schedule to get back home, but it was really nice to say I was there and got to see them.

This week, it’s back to the gym with the 12-week Labrada Trainer. I’m helping my wife with some of her school work. She’s in the final leg of her Master of Education in Special Education and I’m so excited for her.

I’m working on a few of my books, started a Western Civilization course at Hillsdale college and midway through a course called Mindshift on Coursera. I’m also plugging away at my technical recruiting book.

I’m going to begin a practice of intermittent fasting. I will be playing around with the eating schedule and such initially, just to get myself adjusted to this new lifestyle. From what I’ve read, it is terrific on your digestive system, helps with weight loss and loosens up your schedule when you’re not having to eat scheduled meals, like most weight loss and bodybuilding regimens. A lot of folks in the bodybuilding and cross-training space have adopted this type of eating lifestyle and have found success so I figured it would be worth a try. For religious reasons I fast Thursday to Friday for 24-hours and I always feel terrific. If you’re curious about this type of eating plan, a quick search on Google will deliver a lot of results. As always, make sure you check with your doctor to make sure this will be ok and try it out for a day or so before committing.

I may sound a little stupid and geeky here, but while in Canada I was in a position where I needed my computer and the place we were at did not have a Wi-Fi setup. I learned how to use my phone as a hotspot for the first time. It was really cool to be able to access the internet on my computer using my phone. I have a really good data plan and wasn’t worried about exhausting my data stores.

To all those folks that are writers in my audience: Do you like to listen to music while you write? If so, what kind of music assists your writing practice? I enjoy listening to study-time instrumentals and other focus-type music.

Well, that’s it for today folks. Have a great week!!

Until next time…

Dave

 

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Daily Ramblings – Thinking Thursday

Tags

Amazon, Books, Diet, Exercise, Netflix, Plato, Reading, Writing

“Thinking: the talking of the soul with itself.” – Plato

Read more at https://www.brainyquote.com/topics/thinking

I’ve really begun to enjoy my reading sessions each day. Sometimes I pick out a string of books that are just not that great, but the last few months I’ve been getting my hands on some terrific ones—books you look forward to reading each day. Have you ever read a book that you enjoyed so much that you took your time reading it to expand the time you could enjoy it? That’s what it has been like with the books I’ve been reading. Kobo and Uncle Tom’s Cabin are two books that I’m enjoying tremendously.

I just started the Mindshift course a while ago. It is a lot of fun. The teachers are the same as my previous course – Learning how to Learn. This course is about different techniques for learning new things, like a language or picking up a skill you do not have any experience with. It is terrific!

One of the things I’ve learned about low-carb diets is my energy level. It is easier to do endurance work, but lifting weights is much tougher than it was when I was eating a decent amount of carbs. I have been getting comments about my trimming down, which always feels good. I’ve adjusted my workout routine to every other day to adjust to this diet. This is a temporary adjustment, but one that should expedite my body’s adaptation to this new eating pattern.

I hope everyone is having a great week so far. Feel free to comment below with any of the things you are doing well, any goals you have set or accomplished, and even course or book recommendations. I’m always on the lookout for the next great online course or book.

Books:

The Shariyat Ki Sugmad, Paul Twitchell

Uncle Tom’s Cabin, Harriet Beecher Stowe

The Spiritual Exercises of ECK, Harold Klemp – Just finished this book yesterday. Boy, what a collection of exercises that can help solve some of life’s little challenges.

Kobo: A Story of the Russo-Japanese War, Herbert Strang

The Thirty Years’ War 1618 – 1648, Samuel Rawson Gardner – Religious differences and intolerance, coupled with greed and vanity and you get 30 years of conflict along with the civilian suffering that followed. Very interesting read if you would like to learn about the 30 years’ war.

Classes:

Mindshift: Break Through Obstacles to Learning and Discover Your Hidden Potential

Public Policy, Hillsdale College

Mini-Habits Course, Udemy

Documentaries:

I’m a Killer (Netflix)

Movies:

Ready Player One (Amazon Prime) – I haven’t watched this yet. My sister recommended it and it is on my hit list.

Fun:

The West Wing (Currently on Netflix)

Keep pushing, only today and tomorrow before the weekend!!

Until next time…

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Spiritual Saturday

Tags

Blood Type Diet, Diet, Food, Harold Klemp, nutrition

Paying attention to foods can help you lead a better spiritual life. People ask me, “What is good food?” There is no good food or bad food for everyone. It depends upon the individual, upon his particular health condition. Who can best tell what’s right for you? You can, of course.—Harold Klemp The Language of Soul

Ah, food! My evolution with food is slow but sure. I have been reading a lot of books about nutrition. Some of it was absolute BS but there are some little nuggets of gold here and there.

For my current weight loss efforts, I am tracking my food intake daily and monitoring my carb, protein, and fat intake. One of the books I read explained how type O blood folks (that’s me) are really good at digesting fats and proteins. Our particular weakness is with carbohydrates, particularly those nasty ones in grains and dairy products. Unfortunately, there are no studies out there that verify that the blood type diet or any of the other diets out there do anything for your waistline, however, there were some items in the type O diet that I already knew I had a problem with.

My body loves protein but I discovered in the last few weeks when I began paying more attention to what I was eating, that Whey protein products are a no-go. I only drink about two protein shakes a day and they were causing some major issues with my digestion. I’m trying an egg white protein now and it appears to be ok with my physical makeup.

This is what Harold is talking about. What’s bad for me, may be good for you and vice versa. It’s really important to find this stuff out before you have a major allergic reaction or you screw up your digestive track. For me, it’s important to eat whole (non-boxed foods) and make sure I supplement properly to recover from my workouts.

So, folks, take some time to analyze your diet and identify those foods that might not be working for you. You can also visit your doctor and have him send you to a nutritionist if you have a major concern. These folks can make diet recommendations to get you started. Regardless, the food you eat, the supplements and vitamins you take, really are individual. Some supplements I have tried have ZERO effect, while others have been very helpful. Experiment, test things out. You’ll feel a lot better in the long-run.

Until next time…

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Workout Log – Online Training Programs

Tags

Bodybuilding, Cardio, Diet, Exercise, Health Living, Safety, Taking it slow, Weightlifting

I started the Kris Gethin Hardcore Trainer this week, instead of elevating my last workout routine with cardio. I’m glad I did. This workout is awesome!

This routine is a 5-day split, coupled with 2 cardio sessions each day. This week is 20 minutes, but next week and the following weeks will increase by 5-minute increments. Cardio has always been one of my weaknesses and I look forward to improving my cardiovascular fitness over the next 8 weeks.

I wanted to address the importance of following a workout, but keeping it personal. The reason I stress this is because you may not have the same equipment available in your gym or you may not have the ability to do a particular exercise a certain way because of a previous injury.

Follow the workout as best you can, but always treat these routines as yours. I workout to stay in shape. I’m not looking to compete at a show or anything like that. I like to gain strength and improve my cardiovascular fitness, but feeling good is the primary goal of my workout routine.

If deadlifts, for example, won’t work because of a previous back injury or something like this, you can always substitute the exercise for something else. Exacerbating an injury or trying to do something you just can’t do is ridiculous. Do the best you can and always consider your personal safety and health a prime consideration when using someone else’s routine. Remember: Most of these online trainers have more than a decade of experience working out. If you are just starting out, or in your first year or so, don’t try to do all of the things these workouts require.

I was talking to an old Army buddy of mine recently. He hasn’t worked out in quite a while. He wants to get back into it. I cautioned that he should make a gradual start. You can’t begin a program like this if you have not worked out in a few years. The same goes for any of you.

I’ve been working out for the bulk of my life. I’m no Spring chicken, but I can hold my own in the gym. It’s better to make slow and steady progress instead of trying to bite off more than you can chew and getting injured. Injuries will stop your progress in its tracks. Be careful!

I also cannot stress the importance of diet when you are beginning any workout routine. You have to eat and hydrate! A program like this will kill you if you are not eating, supplementing, sleeping, and hydrating. Weightlifting is a taxing enterprise.

Take your time, when beginning a new routine. Warm up, stretch, and follow the form of the exercises as best as you can. Most gyms will have a local trainer available. If you have any doubt about how to use a machine, ask someone to show you. Some of these machines bite!

You also need to really control the weights you are working with. If you are jerking the weights, using crazy body movements to get a dumbbell or barbell up, you are probably using way too much weight. Back it down and really control the movement as you perform the exercise. I see people everyday using improper form, jerking weights, and dread the day they tear or dislocate something. It is not worth it.

That’s it for today! I hope all of you are getting to the gym or getting exercise daily. It really makes a huge difference in your mental outlook, your self esteem, and sets you up for success in many areas of your life, if not all of them.

Until next time…

Dave

 

Daily Ramblings – Journal Series – The Nutrition or Eating Journal

Tags

Diet, journaling, nutrition, Nutrition apps

The Nutrition or Eating Journal

This journal is a great one if you are using it in conjunction with an exercise journal. Why? Because most of us are exercising to trim our waste lines and feel better. If you are into bodybuilding, you’ll probably want to be tracking your macros. Macros are literally composed of three items: protein, carbohydrates, and healthy fats. If you are not tracking macros, you may only be tracking calories. Either way, you’ll record what you ate, and the macros or calories in the food you just ate.

This is a tough discipline. Writing down every single thing you eat takes a bit of practice because we are not used to it. It is really important though, particularly if you have a specific goal you want to achieve. When you know what you are putting into your body it follows that you can adjust what you are eating to either continue moving in the direction you are striving for or change up your food intake to curb a disturbing trend.

This has become such a popular idea that there are numerous apps and websites that support this type of activity. The list is too long to give here, but if you search the Google, Apple, Amazon, or Windows app stores you are sure to find one that works well for your lifestyle and needs at a minimal expense. These apps all have calorie and macro counting capability built in, so it makes it much easier than manually looking up all of the foods you are eating each time you are putting it into your journal.

Once you know what you’re allowed to eat, simply add food items to your journal as you go through your day, and then monitor how close you are to your daily goals. If you fail to achieve the results you want, you merely adjust. If you are using a specific diet, you’ll no doubt have access to troubleshooting, which will be provided by the plan’s book, website, or app.

You can also write down things that you are feeling with your diet. Things like, “Boy, I’m hungry” or “that was an awesome meal”. Any of these things will be excellent later on as you review your progress and remember those days you were really hungry and stuck with your diet anyway or fell off the wagon. The key is to find your own specific pulse. Once you know where your weaknesses are, you’ll be likely to avoid those times you are particularly weak with friends who love to eat. You’ll also develop some strategies to curb those cravings or compensate for them.

Well, I hope you enjoyed this. If you have any questions, feel free to reach out. I’m not a dieting expert but can point you in the right direction if you need some help.

Until next week…

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Workout Log

Tags

Bodybuilding, Diet, Fasting, healthy living, workout

Today’s Workout

Hello, Readers!!

Today is an OFF DAY!!

I’m experimenting with a Friday Fast. I’m not doing anything crazy but will do my best to slowly build up to a 24-hour Fast, commencing on Thursday evening after my last feeding. There are numerous benefits to Fasting, one of which is religious.

Fasting is really important because it gives our digestive systems a break. When you are eating a lot of food required by a bodybuilding diet, the digestive system needs a break once in a while.

I lasted until 2 PM today, with my last meal last night at 9:30 PM. So that’s a 16.5 hour fast. Next week I’m going to push to 3:30 PM. Wish me luck!

Anyway folks. I’m approaching the final week of the Shortcut to Size program. I’m going to take the next few days off and then go all out next week to finish up this 12-week exercise program.

Next weekend, I’ll be putting together a synopsis of the exercise program and the results. I hope this program has motivated a few of you to exercise. If not, maybe the next one will…😊

The next workout program will be another bulking program, as I continue to refine my diet and look for more gains. I’ll provide you with an overview next week as well.

Have a great day all!

See you tomorrow!

Daily Ramblings – Starting Your Workout

Tags

Diet, Exercise, feeling better, healthy living, losing weight, reducing stress

All, I’ve had quite a few people ask me questions about my workout routine. How do I do it? How did I get started? How do I keep doing it?

Let’s start with getting started. The simple answer is to do something. I don’t care if it’s taking a swim in the morning, an evening walk or jog, or even exercising with a video you watch on YouTube or purchase from Amazon. The key is to start something.

A few pieces of advice:

• Always consult with your doctor before commencing with a workout routine. Your doctor can give you some advice about what to do initially so you don’t hurt yourself.
• Start small—ridiculously small.
• If you’re going to lift weights, get yourself a trainer initially, so you can learn how to do it right.
• Decide what your goal is: Get stronger? Get leaner? Increase endurance? Improve overall health and well-being? What is it?
• Pick a time that allows you to do this exercise the same time every day.

Once your doctor approves, you set your goal of improving overall health. Your measure of improving health would be to improve your Oxygen uptake, reduce your body fat, gain some muscle strength, and improve flexibility.

You decide to do a brisk walk every morning for 10 minutes to start. You select 6:00 am for your start time and plan on being back home by 6:10 am. Easy, right? You walk away from your home for 5 minutes and walk back. Do this for a week.

At the end of that week, weigh yourself, and elevate your walk time by 5 minutes. Now you start week 2 with 15 minutes (6:00 – 6:15 am). Follow the same pattern over and over again until you get yourself to walking 30 minutes each day.

Once you get to 30 minutes, now we add some strength building exercises. Start with 1 pushup every day after your walk. Each week elevate by 1 pushup until you can do 10 pushups without rest.

Once you’ve completed your exercises stretch out the muscle you worked. Look up chest stretches online for some ones you can use on your own. Always stretch at the end so you can minimize soreness.

This is very basic but will get the ball moving. If you are serious, you’ll continue this routine indefinitely. Take it slow. Now let’s talk about diet, water intake, and sleep.

I would guess diet is about 80% of the solution when trying to trim down. Your diet should be a combination of complex carbohydrates, healthy fats, and lean proteins. Talk with a good nutritionist or your doctor to get an idea of any foods you should include or avoid in your diet, due to any allergies or conditions you have. They will help you calculate the number of calories you’ll eat each day and help you put together a menu of foods that you can create meals from.

If you are going to move into bodybuilding, you’ll want to visit JimStoppani.com and read his article Nutrition 101. Bodybuilding diets are much different from a typical diet because you are trying to build muscle, which your body will not do voluntarily. You need to force it to adapt to your exercise routine and then feed it properly so it has all it needs to add that muscle to your frame.

Drink lots of water on a daily basis. I start with a half-gallon in the morning when I work out. I continue to drink water throughout the day. If you drink coffee or any other type of diuretic, you’ll need to increase your water intake, as diuretics will cause your body to shed water.

Sleep is up to you and an individual thing. Personally, I need about 7-8 hours, but you may need more or less.

Well, I hope this helps you. If you have any other questions about weight lifting or exercise, feel free to post your question. I’ll answer it or send you some web links that will answer your questions.

One more thing. No one can do this for you. You have to want to do this and commit to it. Exercise will improve every facet of your life. You’ll sleep better, feel better, have a healthy appetite, and your stress levels will lower. YOU – have to want this, no one else. Excuses are what they are–an indication that you really don’t want this and would prefer sitting in front of that television, shoving chips in your mouth. That’s ok if that’s the way you choose to live your life. If you are unhappy with that–change it. You are the only one that can.

Next week, I’ll address Gym etiquette.

Until next time…

Daily Ramblings – Workout Log

Tags

Abdominals, Bodybuilding, Core, Diet, Hamstrings, health, Obliques, Quadriceps, weight lifting

Today’s Exercises

Quadriceps

• Squat 4 x 11 (375lbs)
• Front Squat 3 x 11 (340lbs)
• Leg Extensions 3 x 11 (145lbs)

Hamstrings

• Romanian Deadlift 4 x 11 (155lbs)
• One-Leg Hamstring Curls 4 x 11 (35lbs)

Abdominals

• Hanging Leg Raise 4 x 19
• Crunches 4 x 19
• Side Planks 4 x 19 (15 seconds) I suck at these and they hurt!!! 😊

Workout Overview

Today’s workout is Day 8 Week 2 Phase 2 of Jim Stoppani’s Shortcut to Size (www.jimstoppani.com). This workout works in three 4-week cycles starting on week 1 with rep ranges of 12-15. All exercises this week will be in the 9-11 rep range. Today completes Week 2 Phase 2. Next Monday we drop rep ranges again and increase that weight to commence Week 3 Phase 2 of Jim Stoppani’s Shortcut to Size.

Today’s workout was the dreaded Leg day! We also hit the lower and upper abdominals, internal and external oblique, and transverse abdominals (core).

Current Bodyweight

My current weight is 235lbs and I am 6’ tall. The goal is to be around 245-250 by the end of this 12-week workout and maintaining my body fat percentage, which is around 20%. This is higher than I’d like, but during any bulking phase, it is quite common to gain some body fat or stay where you started because of a large amount of food a mass building program requires.

My Macros

My current macros were calculated using Jim Stoppani’s recommendations. He recommends 1.5 to 2.0 grams of protein per pound of bodyweight, .5 grams of fat per pound of bodyweight, and 2.0 grams of carbohydrates per pound of bodyweight. Since I am trying to maintain my body fat percentage, I’ve reduced the carbohydrate intake to 1.0 gram of carbs per pound of bodyweight.

235lbs (current weight)

235 x 1.5 = 352.5 grams of protein per day

235 x 1 = 235 grams of carbohydrates per day

235 x .5 = 117.5 grams of fat per day (rounded to 117 for ease of tracking)

Yesterday’s macros

Carbohydrates 200g; Fat 134g; Protein 269g

I use my MyFitnessPal (I the iTunes App Store) to track my macros each day.

Supplements and Water intake

Water

Water intake is more than a gallon a day. I drink a 1/2 gallon of water just with my pre-workout, during, and post-workout drinks. The rest of my water intake is around my meals (six in total each day). I currently feed every two hours.

Morning

• AlphaJym
• ShredJym
• PreJym combined with flavorless Whey Protein (24g)

During Workout

• BCAA drink during workouts with flavorless Whey Protein (24g)

Post Workout

• PostJym Dextrose and BCAA Matrix combined with flavorless Whey Protein (24g)
• OmegaJym
• VitaJym

Evening

• ZMAJym

See you tomorrow!!