Eating Healthy—it’s a journey not a destination

Sorry for the cheeseball title, but dude it’s true. I was thinking about this and when I started eating “clean” as some call it, it was a big deal and very hard. Now, this is pretty much my lifestyle. I slowly changed stuff, but more importantly I have a good routine set up and my body knows what to expect so I’m generally not hungry.

Really quickly here’s a day in the life of my diet:

Meal 1: 3 eggs sometimes oatmeal or cereal & coffee

Meal 2: ½ to ¾ cup of cottage cheese

Workout during lunch time (during workout I’ve been taking a branched chain amino acid blend)

Post Workout I have 2 scoops of whey protein and some creatine

Meal 3: Apple & Tuna Fish sandwich

Meal 4: Granola type bar (recently I’ve been eating soy joy bars) & Tuna Fish sandwich

Meal 5 aka Dinner: Whatever my wife makes, she despises what I’d choose plain grilled chicken, brown rice & veggies

Meal 6: Big glass of skim milk and I’ll be honest night time is bad for me as I tend to cheat more at this point due to lack of PLANNING.

This has evolved and will continue to do so for some time (particularly since I’ve got an online consultant who’s going to give me a new diet entirely). There’s a few lessons here though.

1) Eat several small meals a day rather than 3 big ones. This keeps your metabolism going all day long and keep the insulin levels constant.
2) Always have a protein in each meal. You need to try for one gram of protein per pound that you weigh.
3) Cut off carbs at dinner time. This is very hard for me but your body won’t burn them (unless you’re particularly active at night) and will store them as fat.

Today take one step to clean up your diet: eliminate white starchy foods like white rice, bread and potatoes. Replace them with whole grain rice and bread and sweet potatoes (and no you cannot put marshmallows on them!!)

Quick Update

Pretty busy day but I wanted to give an update on my personal training path I’m on. The other day I ordered the book to start studying for the American Council on Exercise Certified Personal Trainer certification. Hopefully this all goes well. I’ll keep y’all up to date with some of the things I’m learning that are worth passing on. I’ll try for a more meaty post tomorrow. See ya then.

Faith and Fitness Sunday

Good Sunday to you, today in church we talked about how life sometimes is not fair.  Our pastor talked about a man who entered a marathon, the same one he'd done for several years but this time he dropped dead short of the finish line.  We hear things like this and stories about people who drink and smoke their whole life and live to 110 while those who exercisxe and eat right die young. 

These stories stick out because they are the exception not the rule.  We are responsible for our bodies to complete the mission that God has given us.  Further we need to have the best ability to carry out this mission.  If you're slowed down by things you've done regarding diet and exercise, you are responsible for that to God.  Don't get me wrong, things will happen to us out of our control but there's a lot we can do to mitigate the troubles our bodies throw at us by living healthily.  Have a great week, God bless!

Do More Today Than You Could Yesterday!

I was at the gym this morning and saw someone I knew, we said hi, she asked me how my workout was and I told her I could barely stand up nearing the end of my leg day. Guys and gals, that’s the goal of training—not always to the point where you have trouble moving but at least to do today what you couldn’t do last time. There’s a phrase in weightlifting called “progressive overload” it means that when you lift you are attempting to do something that your body cannot physically do.


You tell your body DO THIS it says I CANT but you try anyway. Next time you try the same thing maybe you can do it or at least you’re further down that path. There are people at my gym that come in and do what they can already do or maybe a little more—you’re not going to transform your body by doing this. So if you’re happy with where you are, keep going at it, giving your body a steady diet of what you expect/need it to be able to do.

The thing is the amount of people (at least in the US) who say, “Yep I’m completely happy with where I’m at” is dropping daily. Further, even if you are happy, look to your golden years; do you want to make them all they can be? Start now while you can put your body in a place that you don’t need a walker or wheelchair (I know there are some issues we can’t help, but don’t we owe it to ourselves and our Creator to do everything we can to keep our body going?). Crossfit talks about this by saying someone might ask why they encourage a 60 year old woman to deadlift 150% of their bodyweight, but there’s the grandmother that can’t pick up their 20 pound grandchild.

Challenge yourself today, do more at the gym than you did the last time. Do it for those that love you, those that depend on you.

Effects of Caffine on your Training

Most people know what caffine does to you, but considering what it does and how it works, should you include it as a part of your nutrition & supplementation program?  Does it help you train harder or does it just help you be alert?

So how's it work: Caffeine blocks adenosine which is a neurotransmitter that normally has a calming effect on the body. This causes adrenaline to be released which in turn raises your heart rate, tightens your muscles, dilates your pupils and the body releases extra glucose into your body for extra energy – giving you your boost!

Studies have shown that caffine taken about an hour before training will in fact improve your endurance and allow for the release of fatty acids as your energy source in preference over carbohydrates.  This allows for increased time for muscle exertion and better endurance. 
Note: if you're taking creatine, some studies show that caffine will effectively cancel out creatine's benefits.  I've seen studies and anecdotal evidence both ways, this is something you will want to play with and see what works best for you. 

Tuna, oh how I love thee

Tuna's a big part of my diet, it's got a great amount of protein, vitamin D & omega-3 fatty acids.  I saw something neat on a food show I like called Good Eats on Food Network.  Last night's topic was tuna as you might have guessed by now. 

So as you may know when you get tuna at the store you'll find it in cans or vacuum sealed packets.  But as to taste you may be interested to know that you'll get better quality from the packets than the cans. 

But why you ask?  When they get the tuna fillets they cook them once then put it in the cans or packets and then cook it again to kill any bacteria left.  The advantage of the packets is that they have more surface area so that they don't have to cook it the second time as long.  As a result less taste is lost to this process and you'll get a better tuna experience if you're already adverse to the stuff.  Be warned the stuff is a little more expensive but the taste is certainly better.  I haven't seen anything about this so take it for what it's worth--I imagine that more vitamins and minerals are saved in the packets as opposed to the cans.

Another notable item on mercury concerns this applies to kids, the elderly, pregnant and nursing moms.  If you're still worried look for "light" and "chunk" tuna this is most likely skipjack tuna which doesn't grow as big or live as long (2-3 years), thus will have less exposure to mercury.  Compare this to the bluefin that can live as old as 40 years.

The Deadlift- Just do it!

The deadlift is a weightlifting exercise that like the squat is misunderstood and even feared due to the perceived possibility of injury.  However when done properly the deadlift can work a lot of muscles at one time and help you be more efficient with your time. 

• To perform this lift you want to start with the bar on the ground, as a guy start with 135 pounds (females around 65 pounds should do) or there about to a feel for the move. 
• To grip the bar you’ll use a reverse grip, that is your strong side hand (it’s right for me) will face in toward you and your weak side hand will face away.  Don’t grip the bar too far up your hand; keep it closer to your fingers than your palm. 
• Bend your knees down and grab the bar as discussed above, keep your head up and back straight for the whole move.
• Pull the bar up focusing on your hips to get it up, push your hips forward at the top. 
• Lower it back down still keeping your back straight, rounding it out will likely cause injury. 

Try 3 sets of 8-10 at your body weight (when your feel ready to), you’ll reconsider doing that cardio you’d planned on. 

Bad Workouts

I had a pretty bad workout today, was working on chest and get my stuff together and got going.  The problem was I never really got going!  I did my exercises I’d planned on but I wasn’t feeling it.  I didn’t get great range of motion, some exercises I didn’t do all the reps I’d planned on, I came in feeling blah and I left feeling blah.

So let’s look at this, I’m sure you’ve had a workout where you felt the same way.  What are the factors that contribute?

Warmup: How was your warm up?  Did you get some stretching and perhaps a bit of cardio to get the muscles warm?

Food: did you eat anything drastically different that would affect your energy levels from a normal “good” workout?

Sleep: are you getting enough?  For me this is probably the culprit but I can blame it on my 3 month old.

Stress: do you have anything new at home or work or school that’s weighting down on you? 

Other: Has anything else changed from a typical workout?  I forgot my MP3 player and gloves, I don’t know about the gloves but the music definitely helps me.

These things will all contribute to you having a less than stellar workout.  Adjust these environmental factors until you get to a point where you feel your workout quality improves.  This will not only help you with your workout but also see what your body’s going to do you during non-workout a situation that is your workout may have a tendency to magnify issues that you are experiencing.  For example, during a workout you may aggravate a sickness a day or two before it really hits you. 

Faith and Fitness Sunday

Who do you worship?  We all worship something be it money, sex, football or just ourselves.  Today's Bible verse is from the book of Habakkuk, believe me it's a real book of the Bible.  In chapter 1 verses 10-11 it says:
 10 They deride kings and scoff at rulers. They laugh at all fortified cities; they build earthen ramps and capture them.11 ...guilty men, whose own strength is their god."  Our pastor was preaching on verses 1-4 today so sue me I read ahead and saw this and thought about what we worship and that in the world of fitness we can make it our god.
I do know we all lose sight of things and forget about the big picture, for me it's this fitness, strength and bodyshaping becomes a god to me now and then.  We need to remember weather you believe it or not we'll all stand before the Judge and he'll account for who we worshiped.   In the end please remember that it's Jesus who will get all worship and praise.  Take call all and kick butt this week fighting the effects of time!

Fish Oil

Are you getting enough omega 3 fatty acids?  If you're not sure, you may want to check out a fish oil supplement.  The American Heart Association suggests that you get 1 gram of fish oil daily. 

So what are the benefits of omega 3 fatty acids/ fish oil?  The most common benefit that is cited is reduced risk of heart disease (btw you'll find lots of omega 6 fatty acids in red meat which has been linked to increased risk of heart disease).  Some other benefits that have been found is that the omega 3's are an anti-inflamatory and some studies even show an affect in depression.  Check it out, I've recently started getting my daily dose.

Weighted Crunches

Here's another nice ab exercise to try out: Instead of regular old crunches do the weighted version with the cable.  Put the cable up high and put on the rope attachment (or whatever you are most comfortable with.  Grab the rope and pull it down and get on your knees.  Kneel down and pull the weight straight down to the floor (you can also pull to the sides to work the obliques).  Check out the video below, we'd all be lucky to have abs half as great as this guy.

Rock those Abs: The V-Up

There’s only a few exercises most people know when it comes to working the abs. Enter the sit up or the more modern crunch. We do these on the floor, the Swiss ball, the Bosu or any sort of surface we can fit our butts on. This is the meat and potatoes of most people’s abs workout—but it doesn’t have to be. There’s a lot of great exercises you can do that are way better than the crunch.
Today let’s look at the V-Up.
This is an exercise that is most commonly done one of two ways.
The first is done on a bench (you may also hear this called a knee-in)

•  Sit perpendicular to the bench, put your hands behind your butt and grab the side of the bench. 
• Have you legs up in the air with you feet on the same level as the bench (whatever is most comfortable, for a challenge start with you legs parallel to the ground)
• Pull your knees in to your chest and then return to the starting position. 
• Do this for 3 sets of 12

The next and more challenging (and more fun) version is the V-up on the Swiss ball.

• Start with you knees on the ball as you are in front of the long side of the bench.
• Lean over and grab the far edge of the bench, roll the ball with your legs and feet to where you body is about parallel with the floor, you shins should end up resting on the ball.
• While focusing on your abs and keeping your legs still, roll the ball toward the bench, you body should look like an upside down V. Return the ball to the starting position. 
• Do these for 2 sets of 10 (if you can!) work up from there.

Check out this great example of the Swiss ball V-up.  He adds in a variation near the end.


Try adding one of these into your routine you’ll be sure to feel the DOMS again the next day.

DOMS- Delayed Onset of Muscle Soreness

Have you ever woke up the day after a good workout with soreness in the area you worked?  It's commonly called DOMS or delayed onset of muscle soreness.  This condition is believed to be caused by microscopic tears in your muscles.  This may seem like a bad thing but take heart this is a good thing, it means your muscles are building back and will do so bigger and better!
So what do you do about it?  For me, I usually just wait and it will go away in 24-48 hours.  In the meantime, things like stretching and light aerobic exercise will help you feel better.  Most importantly however, you need to make sure you're getting enough protein to make sure you have sufficient amounts to properly repair your muscles.  A good rule of thumb for this is 1 gram for ever pound of body weight per day.  Also don't get discouraged if you stop getting sore in a particular area, that doesn't mean you aren't making progress--keep working at it!  Take a look at the below protein supplement, I like this one because it mixes well with milk or water and tastes as good as a protein supplement will taste.  Take care y'all.

Faith and Fitness Sunday

Keep fitness in perspective, check out the scripture down below:

1 Timothy 4:7-9 (NIV)
7Have nothing to do with godless myths and old wives' tales; rather, train yourself to be godly. 8For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come. 9This is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance

I for one don't beleive that this is all there is and we need to keep that in perspective.  The verses above talk about that too, physical training is of "some value" but there's something more important.  Don't go throwing out your ab lounges and beans just yet.  Keeping healthy allows us to carry out the mission God has called us to do  it's just that fitness is something that too many people forget.  In fact some Christians think it's a waste of time--just ask the 75% of pastors who are overweight.  They miss the balancing act we need to play and look only to the second part of verse 8.

In the end, we'll have new bodies in heaven and any squats you did won't count for squat.  Remember that, there are important things to consider regarding fitness but this is not all there is.

About Me-Buff Dad

Today I wanted to take a break from the normal post and let you know a little bit about me.  My name's Dave, I have a great beautiful wife and three great kids.  I work as a financial analyst at a $11 billion company, but am currently working to get my personal trainer license.
I've been working on my fitness for about two years now--with increasing degrees of success--remember this isn't a quick fix it's a lifestyle.  Over that time I've gotten better at balancing the demands of real life and wanting to have immaculate fitness.  My eating has gotten better and my workouts are more efficient and I'm smarter about what I do.
Currently I'm preparing for a bodybuilding show in March.  To get ready I'll be "bulking" until early January and then "cutting" (ie bodyfat) until the show.
That's pretty much my life as it relates to fitness in a nutshell.  I'd like your feedback on this blog too, leave a comment and let me know if you have something you want me to discuss.  I'll be doing something about the acai berry soon--supposedly a super food....we'll see.

Get Buff with Crossfit

There's a really cool fitness trend that's been getting really popular lately called Crossfit.  If you think about goals and what type of body you'd like, most people would settle on something like some of the Crossfit gurus (see Libby and Tom here).  They post a workout of the day (WOD) everyday on their site.  The focus of the training is a nice mix of weights and cardio.  For example they'll have you do three rounds (!) of 50 pushups followed by 15 benchpresses then 20 burpees.  I don't know about you but that kicks my butt.  They have a lot of neat stuff that you should think about and a lot of exercises that you'll have to look up--you won't get bored with this.  The only problem that I have with Crossfit is that the equipment needed for a lot of the exercises are a bit prohibitive, for example the use of 3 barbells of different weights at the same time--at the gym I go to people would get pretty upset if I took up 3 bars at the same time.  Other things like the use of kettlebells and olympic rings which most gyms don't have.  Suffice it to say these guys have a lot great ideas, but you might have to get creative.  I hope to do some of this next week.  I'll let you know how it goes.

How to Get a Buff Body Fast!

Find Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie, Jay Cutler, Jamie Eason or what ever you like and have body trading surgery. Seriously, too many people want a fast fix to look hot quick. Baby, it just ain’t gonna happen. The fitness lifestyle, done right, is a marathon not a sprint. Not that I want to be a marathoner but being fit is something your ARE not something you DO. If you mess up on your diet or skip a workout or two that doesn’t make you not fit.


Don’t get me wrong here, goals are important—they keep you motivated. But you need to understand that most of you will live to a nice old age and will be best served by being fit the whole time!

So you might be wondering, how long then does it take to get “buff”? Well, I’d say depending on where you start, you’ll see a big difference in 12 weeks. That includes nutrition, exercise and proper rest and recovery. So get out your whey protein and running shoes and get in the race!

A common mistake people make when training is OVERtraining. Funny as this may sound, you’re muscles do most of their growing when you are away from the gym (that’s why nutrition is so important btw). When you are lifting weights you need to give yourself at least 48 hours in between working the same muscle and you should not do more than 10-12 working sets for each muscle (that means about 3 exercises per muscle group tops). Other things to consider: good nutrition is always important, you need it to support your new muscle growth & make sure you’re getting enough sleep, lack of sleep promotes overeating and muscle degradation.

How do you know if you’re overtraining: there are a lot of symptoms…fatigued muscles, sleepiness, depression, moodiness and loss of strength. If you have some of these, look at your training of the past 2 weeks and make sure you are not overdoing it.
If you are overtraining take a week or two off, you’ll find it will do you very well. When you get back don’t overdo it, do your thing in the gym and get out (as a rule you shouldn’t spend more than 45 minutes with the weights, results go down after this anyway).

Plan ahead for your Nutrition!

If you're trying to get a handle of your calorie intake, you may get overwhelmed by trying to calculate the macros of a new meal everyday.  One method if you can do it is to eat similar food everyday.  I generally have the same breakfast and lunch everyday so I know how I'm doing on the calorie battle.

A nice way to save time to get this all together is to make all your food for a week or at least a few days at a time.  Through this summer I've been making some of my lunches in batches like this: I grill 4-5 breasts of chicken at a time and put it with brown rice that's cooking inside.  I take the results and stick then in 4-5 1 quart ziplock containers and pop them in the fridge.  A cyberspace buddy of mine has a nifty cool recipe that he does I've put it in below:


There's a lot of neat stuff you can do to make your meals interesting like my buddy does here.  The key is your preperation, therein lies your success.

Sunday Faith and Fitness

On Sunday's I'd like to draw a line between faith and fitness.  If you don't have a reason that you train hard and eat right you WILL burn out.  For me, my faith drives me to be a better person in all aspects of my life, but fitness has really come along in the last several years--I believe this is one area that we are called to be good stewards of what God has given us--our body.

In 1Corinthians 6:19 it says: "Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own?"  Again we are stewards or caretakers of our body--we do not own it.  So what's that mean?  We've been bought by the blood of Jesus, the owns our body and our lives if you've given your life to Him.  We are required as a result of this to take care of our bodies.  I'll unpack this in the coming Sundays, so stay tuned.  God Bless

Cure Cardio Boredom

Do you get bored with your workout?  Does it make you just want to quit?  I see people doing their cardio for 45 minutes or an hour on the treadmill or eliptical--do you think they really like watching the morning news for that long?  Take a look below to see some ideas to spice up your cardio.

• Lift your weights with as little rest in between as possible, when done right you'll be worn out by the time you're done.
• Try jumping rope--I like it better than running on the treadmill.  It's more efficient, easier on your joints and will certainly offer a change of pace.  Start by jumping 1-2 minutes and rest 1 minute and work up as you get used to it.
• Check out crossfit.com, they put up a new workout everyday and they usually are cardio focused and they will all kick you butt!
• If you're used to doing your tread/step mill or eliptical at a steady pace for the whole time, change it up and try HIIT.
• Try rowing--check out these workouts.

Try some new stuff, keep it fun and fresh.  If you don't you may be just like all those other folks who start working out and then quit....but nah that's not you right?

Lentils! A food you might want to add to your diet

I know what you're thinking, lentils?  UGH!  But when you look at the lentil you'll find that it is quite a versitile food.  In just 3.5 lentils you'll find 60 grams of carbs most of which are the good complex carbohydrates, 1 gram of fat and 26 grams of protein!!  The same amount of sirloin steak has only 18 grams of protein, 0 carbs and 14 grams of fat (but let's be honest who's going to eat 3.5 oz of steak?)

Lentils are a near "complete" food in regards to their amino acids, that is it has almost all 9 essential amino acids.  Just add a grain like brown rice to make it complete.  Check out this link  to food network on recipes for a salad, soup and cookies (really!). 

This is a great clean food that is super healthy and can be put into some great dishes.

Proper Weightlifting Form

When you get into the weight room/area, a lot of guys bring their egos with them. Here, that means trying to put up more weight than the guy next to you. This is exactly where you will get hurt. If you are lifting more weight than you should, your form will be bad and you will get hurt.

Check your ego at the door, here’s some tips to make sure you lift with good form.

• Start with light weights about the amount you think your mom might max out at and move up from there.
• Keep a log of what you lift for each exercise—note whether it felt light or heavy so you know whether to decrease or increase the weight or keep it the same next time.
• Think of the muscle you’re working. If you don’t feel it flexing than some other muscle is moving the weight for you—there’s a good chance your form is wrong. There’s a lot of exercises out there and they all have nuances for proper form…this is a good rule of thumb for proper form.
• As you move into higher weights and want to test your limits, get a spotter or use a Smith machine to make sure you don’t really hurt yourself.

Remember, for most of us, the important thing is not how much weight you push but what your physique looks like as a result of your work. Proper form will get you a nice physique faster than poor form!!

Fats are Essential

There's a lot of misinformation regarding fats.  One of the problems people have with fats is that of dietary fat vs. body fat.  Just because you eat fat does not mean it will stay that way. There are some fatty acids (called essential fatty acids) that facilitate chemical reactions that can only happen in the presence of fats.  Particularly of interest to folks who read this blog, fats are used to create testosterone in you body which aids in muscle growth.  Additionally, fats are can be broken down for energy that your body can use. 

Generally you want to get 20% of your calories from fats and of that you want to consume mainly monounsaturated fats but there is room for a small amount of polyunsaturated and saturated fats.
You can get your fats from fish oil (supplements or whole fish), flax seed, nuts, avocados and olive oil.