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1 29 16

We got to get right back to where we started from.

This year has started out horribly for me.....at least as far as my fitness goals are concerned.  Getting back on track seems like an insurmountable task.

I limped along through November and December because most of my focus was on my new job.  It consumed most of my attention and energy and, as a result, took away from concentrating on working out.  Like the hours of a day...I only have so much of myself to devote to what I consider important in my life.  Good or bad; my job took priority.  Not that I completely stopped working out, I just didn't do it with all the effort I needed to make progress.

Then I got sick.....the flu.....over two weeks worth.

No gym.  No exercise.  Hell...I couldn't even eat properly.  My blood sugar went all over the chart.  My muscle gains went bye-bye.  I know some say that you shouldn't let a little virus keep you from the gym; but I know I wouldn't want some guy hacking and sneezing all over the weight benches, so I stayed home and infected my wife instead.  I looked as bad as I felt.  When you are young, you can skip a couple of weeks, or months, or years for that matter without seeing any significant difference.  At my age...skip a few days and it's immediately noticeable. 

Really sucks, but it is what it is.

Anyway....feeling better.  Back at the gym, though easing into intensity because I don't want to hurt myself or throw my immune system in the toilet again.  Today is a bit of cardio.  Tomorrow I'll do a little lower body...maybe some ab work.  I'm working on developing a program that I can fit around my work schedule and I'll talk about that a little in an upcoming video. 

It's alright and it's comin' 'long.

Wednesday Cat Blogging

Product Review Monday

This week, I wanted to write about one of my favorite go-to things that both satisfies my cravings for deserts but is healthy for me as well.  It's called Carbmaster and it's a yogurt like thingie.  Not sure what makes it different from official yogurt and why they have to call it a cultured dairy blend instead....but its fuggin yogurt....whatever.

I love yogurt.  Not the old no-flavor style yogurt that hippies use to suck up back in the 70's; I'm talking the yogurts that are coming out these days that make candy bars taste like an old saltine.  They have every flavor and combination of flavors that you can imagine....literally hundreds of different types.

.....and they all have one thing in common.  FAT!   For some of these, you can get all the calories and fat of an entire meal in one itty bitty overpriced container.  If you're eating the stuff just because you like it, that's fine...but if you are doing it with some misguided notion that it will help you lose weight, you would probably be better off just going over to the ice cream aisle.

However; if you want something a bit more reasonable and that you can eat without feeling any regret, try Carbmasters.  They are made by Kroger, so I don't know if you have one of their groceries where you live but they are worth a try if you can find them.  They have 60 calories with 1.5 grams of fat.  4 grams of carbs, and a whopping 9 grams of protein.  Good calcium and vitamin D.  Live cultures just like yogurt.  

The taste is really, really, good.  I go through one or two a day.  With all the restrictions on what I can and cannot eat because of my health issues, it is so great to find things that I don't have to choke down while dreaming of eating good food.

Product Review Monday

Since the last review was on the abomination called Arctic Zero, I thought this time I would review something I've found that is not only healthy but is tasty as well.

Okay, healthy might be stretching it a bit.  More along the lines of not-bad-for-you, at least compared to some of the mountains of crap offered for snacking out there in the world today.  Because folks...I'm a believer in snacks.  I like to eat and I have a sweet tooth.  Show me somebody that rigidly follows a diet plan, meal after timed and measure meal, day after day...and I'll show you somebody that will eventually say fuggit to their diet plan and relapse like an alcoholic at Oktoberfest.  You have to be able to treat yourself and it's great when you can do that and still maintain sanity with your eating plans.  A couple of items that I've found to fit the bill are these fudgsicles and popsicles shown above.

The popsicles are great.  They're about 15 calories, no fat, sugar free, no sodium, and have a minuscule 4 grams of carbs.  These are about as close to a guilt free treat that I have found...and they taste really good.  The perfect fix for any urges for something sweet.

The fudgsicles are really good as well.  Not quite as guilt free but not anything that's going to blow your diet for the day.  They come in at around 40 calories, 1g of fat, 45g or sodium, and 9 g of carbs.  They taste...just wonderful.  Gawd they are good!  Nice chocolate flavor.  It really seems like you're indulging in real decadence eating these things.

So...if you are having trouble staying on an eating plan because you get overpowering urges to snack every once in a while...try these.  The reason to diet is to become healthy and maintain that health.  I don't think it's meant to give up foods or to give up the pleasures of eating.  Living healthy should never be something to endure; it's something to enjoy.  

Product Review Monday

I thought I would get back to doing product reviews and to start off this new Monday trend, I'm reviewing an ice cream bar called Arctic Zero.

So....right off the bat....it doesn't claim to be ice cream.  It's a frozen dessert, whatever the hell that means.  I have seen these little babies in the grocery store for several months and wanted to give them a try.  Being diabetic has really shit-canned my love of ice cream.  I'll look longingly at ice cream once in a while but even the super duper low fat, low sugar kind either still has way too much sugar..or the serving size is so ridiculously small that it's not worth the trouble.  This stuff, however, looked to be a decent size as well as very low in sugar and fat.  Plus it was dark chocolate!  The only thing that was holding me back was the price.  They are about $6 for a box of four.  My love of ice cream is only surpassed by my cheapness.

But the other day was my birthday...so what the hell....I treated myself and bought a box.

I was pleased that the actual bars were a decent size.  So many of the "low calorie" bars that you find are about the size of your finger.  I was, however, struck by the fact that the calorie count on the bar was a bit higher than the one advertised on the box.  Not that big a deal...but still weird.

The bar looks very yummy and the tissue thin outer chocolate shell is okay...pretty subtle flavor of chocolate, but it is there.  The "rich, fudgy chocolate" though was absolutely tasteless.  It actually tasted like a water popsicle.  Not bad, not good, not anything.   I was left wondering where the hell the 85 calories were in this bar.  It certainly wasn't in the flavoring.  As I mentioned at the first, I understand that this is NOT ice cream and I wasn't expecting it to taste like a heaping scoop of Blue Bell....still....I was expecting to taste something!

To sum up:  Arctic Zero is a waste of money.  This box will probably stay in my freezer until my wife gets tired of it taking up space and tosses it in the trash. 

I just need to resign myself to not having ice cream anymore. 

A New Whey

Wednesday Cat Blogging

On a Mission

Not from God.  Nothing so ostentatious.  But I do find myself in a particularly unique position in my life.  I left my job....well actually, fired....but it was a much needed parting on both sides.  My supervisor was displeased at my leadership methods of treating my staff like humans and putting the care of my clients as a priority; and I felt like my supervisor was a bi-polar control freak completely lacking in any empathy for anybody else but her own fat ass.  So maybe not an amicable parting, but a mutual one and one that lifted a tremendous burden from me.  It's an old adage that, when a job becomes your life, you're no longer living.  The long hours, demanding work on what little time off I could get,  the lack of respect from my boss, being the recipient of her blame games....it was all taking a toll.  I was turning into somebody I didn't particularly like anymore.  I was getting grouchy.  I was getting angry.  I was slowly killing myself.   

I almost did it a couple of years ago, kill myself that is, with a heart attack.  Of course, I had a lot of other things besides stress to help that along.  I smoked like a locomotive and ate like a starving buzzard.  I didn't exercise worth a shit and I hadn't set foot in a doctor's office in a couple of decades.  I was a mess...but I changed a lot of that.  All except a very stressful work environment.  I'm not sure that I can say exactly how many years off my lifespan struggling with a crappy job would take; but it certainly makes what time there is unpleasant, and like the saying goes "ain't nobody got time for that".

So what to do with my time?

That's where my new found mission comes in.  More about that tomorrow.

Wednesday Cat Blogging

Why the Y

Earlier today I plunked down a chunk of money to pay out a year membership to the YMCA for the wife and myself.  I've had several ask me why I'm a member of the Y, especially considering I make no effort to conceal that I am an atheist or that I don't particularly like religions in general.

Well, there are several reasons. 

First among them is cost.  The Y is cheap...considering.  In my city there are three YMCAs and they are all stocked with good weights and cardio equipment.  They have running tracks and swimming pools.  A couple have racquetball/handball courts and they all have basketball courts.  You get a lot of gym for your membership.  You can find cheaper gyms, but they don't have near the equipment.

It's close to where I live.  One of those three Y's in my city is just a few minutes drive.  It's hard enough some mornings to motivate yourself to go to the gym without having to face a long commute to get there and back home again.

It feels like a community.  This is not a necessarily critical thing...but it is nice to go to a place with all types of people, with all levels of fitness, all trying to get and stay healthy.  The ego factor is really low at the Y.

The YMCA has been around a long time.  It will probably continue to be around for a long time.  I've had experiences with some gyms that would vanish after shelling out bucks for a membership.  I've gone to gyms for a workout to see the doors padlocked with a sign saying "closed until further notice" which is code for "sucker!".  I've actually gone to a gym only to discover that it was sold to another company and that my prior membership was void....but they would make me a deal on joining again.  This is similar to the old bait and switch tactic but it is more commonly known as the bend over and smile sales technique.  

The Y is a religious organization though.  Specifically, a Christian organization.  They do close on Sunday mornings.  There is a picture of Jesus in the lobby (not doing squats or anything though that would be awesome).  Bibles are scattered among their offered reading materials.  Still, they don't really push religion on you.  There isn't any giant crucifix hanging over the dumbbell rack.  No bottles of holy water offered along with Gatorade in the vending machines.  And not once had anybody tried to baptize me in the pool.    

So we have an agreement....the Y and I.  They keep their religion under control and I curb my tendency for blasphemy.  

Mostly.

Creatine

My aim is to transform and build my body without the use of drugs.  I generally go one step further and eschew all the thousands of various supplements that line the shelves of your local GNC or fill the pages of muscle magazines.  I'm natural...but I'm not fanatic about it.   I take vitamins; even though most studies seem to indicate it really doesn't do anything, I take them anyway more out of habit than anything else.  I also take fish oil.  I live in Kansas and don't have a whole lot of access to decent seafood, so it's a good way to get omegas into me.  I regularly use Full Strength, though I consider this a meal and not a supplement.

I also have started using creatine.  Let me tell you why.

Creatine is a co-enzyme in the formation of adenosine triphospate, which supplies energy to all the cells in the body, most particularly the skeletal muscle cells.  It's been a long time since I sat in biology class and memorized the ATP cycle and I really didn't understand it all then.  So just to make a long story short....creatine helps boost the ability of your muscles to do what muscles do.  

Now, that doesn't mean it supercharges you like a can of spinach for Popeye.  What it will do is make your workouts a little more powerful, move a bit more weight, do a few more reps....which in turn will make you see gains faster.  You still have to work for the muscle.  If you are fat and flabby and take creatine without doing any resistance training; you will remain flat and flabby, probably even more so.  Creatine just helps you put forth a little more intensity.

But there are side effects... and it would be irresponsible of me not to warn you about them.

• It naturally boosts testosterone when taken in conjunction with resistance training.  Testosterone is something that starts to fade in men after age 30.  Exercise and diet are a big help in slowing down or reversing this trend.  Adding creatine in the mix helps.
• It improves neurological function; ie, memory.  Another body organ that starts to decline the older guys get.  Creatine seems to have positive effects in keeping you sharp, focused, and productive.
• Enhances recovery.  One aspect of having an aging body is that it doesn't bounce back from intense workouts like it did in your twenties.  Creatine helps cut the time needed for the muscles to heal to you can go at them again.
• May reduce age related muscle loss.
• And the biggest benefit (for me anyway) is the creatine improves glucose tolerance.

I've searched high and low for any adverse effects of creatine and I have found none.  Zip.  Nadda.  There is a lot of anecdotal "heard it from a friend of a friend evidence" that says creatine causes bloating and stomach upset.  I tend to think it is because it is not prepared properly or they are using a crap product.  There is also the warnings that it may be harmful to your kidneys, or liver, or some other organ...but there is not one study backing those warnings.  Not one.  In fact, all the studies (and there are a shitload of them going back decades) that indicate properly used creatine is risk free.

The best, easiest, and cheapest creatine to get is what they call plain old creatine monohydrate powder.  If you look at the ingredient label, that should be the only thing listed.  The monohydrate is the one that has all the mountains of research behind it.  Try to find a product that is made with Creapure.  That is supposedly the gold standard in creatine.  Since creatine is fairly cheap, a lot of companies get all creative with different formulations and gimmicks.  Shun all of them; it's usually done only to jack up the cost and it makes the product less effective.  Try to find what is called micronized creatine.  That just means it is chopped up finer so that it will dissolve more easily in water and be more readily absorbed into your body.  This also might lessen the problem of any bloating or stomach discomfort that I mentioned earlier.    

So....to recap.....here is a product.  It's cheap.  It's effective in helping to build muscle.  Has a load of great side effects to boot.  Is much, much safer than most of the processed foods offered as a daily diet for most Americans.

Sounds like a no brainer.   

Bambuser broadcast

Crea-Tea

Not A Morning Person

Not Great

.....But not bad.  

I'm very fond of Full Strength nutrition shakes and I primarily use the vanilla flavor so that I can add various fruits or nuts.  Gives me some variety.  Anyway; the creation above was an attempt with rhubarb.  I don't know what possessed me to give that a try but try I did, and it came out this weird pink bubble-gum color.  Didn't taste bad but it looked pretty gross.