Goals

This year I’ve set myself 365 goals – to push myself harder everyday than I did the day before, to better myself everyday, to be stronger everyday.

Regulating Your Doughnut Intake – Tips

Here are some tips that I use to regulate my doughnut intake, self control, and for eating a doughnut and feeling comfortable with it:

• Don’t go out and buy any doughnuts. Save it for when you go to a friends house, community event etc… where they will definitely serve doughnuts, so you don’t commit a double sin.
• Don’t eat it if you don’t really want it. Just because it’s in front of you and you have access to it doesn’t mean you want it. You should actually want it.
• Pace yourself. Think about the fact that you may be faced with this decision again over the festival, so you don’t want to overdo it straight away. Just in case.
• Use it as a cheat snack for the day or the week, or according to your cheat schedule.
• Finally, if and when you decide to eat one, eat one and only one. Stick to your decision. Stick to it.

I hope these tips help you as they help me with the doughnut challenge or simply regulating doughnut intake.

Health and Fitness – Doughnut Crazy

It’s the first day of the Jewish festival of Hanukkah during which it is customary to celebrate by eating fried foods primarily doughnuts and latkes. A latke can be baked or regarded as healthy as it is a real food, meal or side dish even when fried and actually not really very healthy. But doughnuts…. I think everyone will agree just aren’t healthy. It’s a piece of dough, deep fried, glazed with sugar or icing, and often filled with jam or custard. Any “healthy” version of a doughnut, most probably marketed as gluten free and fat free with no added sugar, really won’t taste like a doughnut and if it does, it is probably just as unhealthy as a regular doughnut. So most trainers, nutritionists, health coaches, and die hard fitness enthusiasts will tell you to just stay away. Don’t even consider eating the doughnut.

I’m going to be controversial and tell you – go ahead, have a doughnut or two, but make it a conscious decision. To clarify, I’m not saying you must have a doughnut and I’m definitely not saying you should go crazy and stuff your face with doughnuts. If you don’t feel the urge for it, simply don’t eat it. I’m saying if you want a doughnut feel free to have one, but be comfortable with your decision.

You see, during my health and fitness journey and experience – and I see it with others living healthy and fit as well – I realized that we build coping and defensive mechanisms to avoid complications and making the wrong decisions. For example, we are afraid that one doughnut will turn into ten doughnuts or simply open the floodgates to binge eating. Often, breaking healthy eating habits for one small piece of pie will turn into a pint of ice cream, cake, chocolate or whatever else is enjoyable and unhealthy. So we make the extremely tough decision to stay away from it altogether and to not even enjoy one of anything.

Oh the Feeling

How it burns, the soreness… the pain from the previous day’s workout. How I absolutely love it.

Note from a discussion with a fellow gym goer yesterday: Talking about new year resolutions, the new gym attendees, and how most only stay a month or so in the gym, he says: consistency isn’t easy. To which my response was… but it’s worth it!!

Consistency may not be easy, but it’s definitely worth it!! The pain.. it hurts, but it feels great!!

Sleepless…..

For about a week now, I haven’t been able to sleep properly. Lying awake for endless hours thinking, mind racing, without a final thought or summary. I’ve been working hard, sticking to my health and fitness, completing my workout routine, and for the most part sticking to my healthy eating habits day after day. My thoughts kept on coming back to VHLF, and this blog. Why haven’t I been posting? What was stopping me? Have I been doing enough to hold me back from posting? How would I get back into it?

If I am to chose one important application from my health and fitness journey, it would be that I am in control of my actions or I should strive to be. At the gym, it is up to me to push myself to the limit. I must maintain control over my mind and actions to get the results I want, to leave the gym feeling like I did everything I could in my power to gain from the workout I just completed. When I have the urge to eat something that I shouldn’t, it is up to me to stop myself. The challenge is only accomplished and overcome if I can say NO for myself. Therefore, I struggled to understand what it was that was stopping me from continuing with VHLF. This question amplifies even further in other aspects of life, simply, what is holding me back? Am I even being held back? Have I lost control?

Now, I’m getting a little carried away just going on a rant of questions, and believe me I don’t have all the answers either. It has been a good couple of months though. New responsibilities and challenges have been handed to me, good responsibilities and challenges, but definitely time consuming. These time consuming responsibilities coupled with a constant bad internet connection during my free time seems to have put me in a mode of I’ll start again tomorrow. But is it really good enough? Am I not just excusing my way out of it? Why would I even want to allow myself to be in this mode?
The only response I can come up with is just ****ing do it! Excuse my french, but I can’t stress it enough.

Forgive me for being selfish and keeping my journey to myself over the last… little while, but most importantly I ask forgiveness of myself for not fully exercising my control. My health and fitness journey continues. I have reached new milestones and constantly strive to reach my goals. But I must remember to focus as much on and enjoy the journey.

Excuse the rant please. VHLF blog and I have had a little setback. I’m okay with it. It has simply challenged me to push myself harder and come back even stronger!! I’m back and I’m stronger!! I will definitely strive to be at the very least.

Camping – My Health and Fitness Nightmare

Camping was great, almost bliss. But, I’m going to be honest, it wasn’t very great health and fitness wise. Camping wasn’t the issue. It was me.

A few days before going camping, I found a great deal on Chex Mix at the shop. I was tempted. I love Chex Mix. When one of my favorite snacks is up for a great price, it’s an extra tempt for me. I decided not to buy it, but would buy it later for camping. My rational was that I knew there would be lots of snacks over the weekend, so I figured it would be the best time to get my Chex Mix fix. Instead of all the other snacks, I would only eat Chex Mix. Needless to say, it didn’t go very well. As soon as we arrived and the cars were unloaded, the snacks came out as we waited for the BBQ to be prepared. Snacks with a decent flow of alcohol equals…well definitely not health wise or healthy.

Gym? There is no gym on a camp ground. I mentioned to the group that we should do some HIIT (high intensity interval training), but it never happened. I missed Friday gym and my Sunday football game. The only exercise that was done over the weekend was the 3 hour hike we went on Saturday afternoon. At one point, we tried to find a tree branch to do pull ups with. We found one, but it only held for 1 set of 5 reps. It wasn’t the best accomplishment.

Basically, it was a solid weekend perfectly opposite to health and fitness. There aren’t many healthy alternatives to the snacks when camping, but it still was up to me. It was my decision to eat the snacks and drink the alcoholic beverages. It was my decision not to try get some other exercise in. Before camping, I decided I would try to say no to the snacks and mass alcohol, and do some exercise. It was a struggle that I lost. I had succumbed to my desire for the tasty snacks and sweets. But the best part is that I know it was my decision. It was me who lost control and it wasn’t the trip or the snacks that took control over me. I definitely won’t excuse my indulgence by saying that it was only one weekend, I have been so good with my health and fitness up until the weekend and will dive back in as soon as the weekend is over, therefore, it was okay to do as I did. No, it wasn’t okay and definitely wasn’t good for me, and such excuses only make me feel worse about it. But as it was my decision, and I acknowledge this fact, I actually feel okay with it. Yes, it wasn’t very health wise and I should have been stronger, but it was still up to me and always will be. And since it’s up to me, next time, I will work to do one better.

Is it just me or does this idea make sense to anyone else as well? 

Life Isn’t Standing Still, Why Should I?

Life goes on no matter what the situation is. I don’t feel like standing still while life moves around me. Health and fitness is a big part of my life. It is a mode of living life. It is a journey. I sure as hell am not going to miss the journey. I’m not going to stand still, while life passes by.  

WeekLong

From football Sunday to a stop/start workout schedule, it’s been a weeklong. Nutritionally, it was pretty much sound. Actually, probably a little less sound than I thought when I wrote that last sentence. With regards to my gym attendance, I had some blips in my schedule and routine….primarily good blips. The week started off great, playing football Sunday evening and completing my regular workout routine on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. Thursday night and Friday night, my weeklong story changed. I had a good friends engagement party after work on Thursday night which meant I would have to miss gym and would instead be surrounded by fatty foods and deserts. I was okay with it. I would stay away from the the deserts (not going to lie, I was only 90% successful, which is why I changed my mind above) and just continue my gym routine on Friday. Well, work continued late Friday afternoon causing me to miss gym again although I did spend Thursday and Friday at work building a shed for a school. It was a workout, but not really a workout. 

I make sure to go to the gym at least 4 days a week. So I had to make up for it today, Saturday, which is usually my day off. Today was a weird day with the power down in my neighborhood, but I made it to the gym and feel good. I completed a good chest and biceps workout. I didn’t have too much time, but I made it count.

Well that’s my health and fitness week in a nutshell. What’s your weeklong story? 

 

A Testing Lift

With a combined weight of close to 600 pounds, moving each of the two boxes was a real life test physically and mentally. I was asked if I could help move these boxes from the truck and up a few steps to the back yard. I agreed wholeheartedly without seeing them, but I assumed from the casualness and tone of the request that the boxes were a maximum weight of 50 pounds each. It turned out that the first box weighed almost 300 pounds and the second box weighed just over 300 pounds. They were huge boxes. No, began to seem like the better answer, but I already said yes. I had to try. I had to try because of all the time I spend lifting weights at the gym. I had to try and see if my physical strength that exists during my workout could be applied to lifting boxes, when tasked, at any given time of day. It took some lifting, maneuvering, breathing, and breaks, but with the help of the shipping guy, we managed to get both boxes to right spot in the back yard. It is important to consider the notion of injury when lifting something this heavy. I used the form that I use when working out. I didn’t say no and I didn’t give up until the boxes were safely where they were meant to be. I knew I could do it because I do it on an almost daily basis in the gym.

It happened to be back and legs day for me as well. So when I got to the gym later, I felt as though gym would be a breeze after the boxes moving escapade. I do enjoy working out, but it’s never easy. It wasn’t today either. It’s not supposed to be easy. If it is, it means it’s time to add some more weight. Moving the boxes wasn’t a complete workout, but I would say that it was a good and complete test!  

It Ain’t No Sandwich Without Bread

Or is it? I came across this page with 9 pretty cool “No-Bread” sandwiches. I personally do eat bread although not too much of it – one slice of toast with eggs for breakfast and often a protein filled flour tortilla wrap for a snack during the day. For those of you who try to eat little to no bread, well the good news is you can still eat sandwiches and not just the infamous protein-style burger. Personally, #7 is my favorite as it is the simplest and most convenient to make, and tastes great!

http://wisemindhealthybody.com/ad1/9-amazing-bread-sandwich-ideas/?c=jer