Monday, November 26, 2012

Paleo for the Hypothetical Doomsday Scenario / New Workout

So let's say the December 21, 2012 something happens and the world doesn't come to an end, BUT in fact, we live but have to live on limited resources.  What to do?

Great Book.
I read a really good book while I was researching my past project.  It was called, Everything You Need to Know about Zombies and it was written by one of the most knowledgeable people on the subject, Matt Mogk

It's really not what you think it would be, nothing but useless zombie stuff, that will never come to pass.  On the contrary, while I was reading it, it served as an incredible guide for what to do in the event of a pandemic or natural disaster or anything that would make living on the planet a nightmare from the comfort we are used to and take for granted.

When and if this happens, your supermarkets are only stocked with 3 days worth of food for everyone in the community it serves, THAT'S IT.  (Thanks for the tidbit and your source Jenny).  What do you do?  Well for one thing, if Hurricane Sandy taught us anything, I'd steer clear of cities.  Sorry my New Yorkers, but the thought of being trapped on an island that closes all of its entrances during emergencies is a bit too much for me.

What do you do when the food runs out?  All your specialty foods that many of us are used to.  DONE, gone at least for the time being until a resolution or rebuilding of society would begin.  Marc Faber, a financial analyst and economist warned in 2009 the best advice he could give was buy a farm and a shotgun.  And he's talking about a financial catastrophe.  I'm just saying...I don't know how easy these predictions are to make as I don't avidly follow economic trends but it is absolutely scary.

I'm curious as to what you would do.  I'd love to hear-


On lighter news, I am starting a new level on my exercise program one is called, the OUTSIDER, the other is called the OUTCAST.  Which should I do.  Both look great, but I will do the first recommendation I get.

Cheers,

L

Lunch Today:
Teriyaki Salmon - 269 Cal.
Bok Choy             - 20 Cal.
Carrots                - 108 Cal.

Sunday, November 25, 2012

Good Morning! I'm giving you FOCUS

Good Morning!

     I woke up and made myself a bit of breakfast and wanted to share

I Had a pretty big breakfast but that is because I am starting Level 3 of my program Tomorrow and today on my off day, sprint training is prescribed.

I started my day with a shot of ninXgia red (20 cal.)

I had 6 pieces of Center Cut Bacon, 3 equal one serving at 70 Calories (140 cal.)

4 eggs; 3 full eggs and 1 egg white with one serving of shredded cheese and a cup of steamed broccoli which came out to 399 calories and a cup of black coffee (5 cal.)

I originally had a Corn Bread Muffin but once I saw the how many calories where in it I quickly threw it out (it just wasn't worth it, lol)



Anyhow my purpose in sharing this today was because on my way back from Florida I read a really good e-book called "Focus."  It's about the art of focusing and disconnecting from the world we live in today.  It's absolutely a must read.  Please take it with good intentions and try and put it to use.  It's hard to think about but hey, there was a time when we didn't have the whole world at a computer key stroke.

Cheers,
L

Leo Babauta's FOCUS

Saturday, November 24, 2012

almost 4 weeks in, Thanksgiving and Inspiration-

South Beach, Miami
Long time no post, but I wanted to just post once this week and tell you it's been a crazy week.  Many of you know I just got back from Miami on Wednesday after being there for a week.  I continued my workouts and supplements BUT I did have three bad food days while I was there.

I'm glad because it showed me how things I used to eat whenever I would go out and have a crazy night are LOADED with a crazy amount of bad calories.

*Keep in mind, since I knew it would be a crazy couple of days I kept my food intake to one meal a day, an Isagenix shake after workouts and then the rest was liquid calories brought on by Adult beverages, lol.  It was the only way to stay close to a 2000 calorie-based day.

NSFW:  FOOD PORN
So the first night there I caught up with my friend Tony who I have not seen in about two years.  Afterwards, my friends and I headed to Denny's!  Yes Denny's!  I had a "Moons over My Hammy,"  I felt it was only appropriate.  Now, here's where it was interesting.  I know this isn't exactly quality food but you try telling that to someone after a night out.   The next morning while logging my calorie intake, I told my friend Tony I thought it was impossible to have an 8,000 calorie day to which he said, uh, yes can."  My sandwich and the hash-browns  plus I shared the sampler appetizer and it totalled a whopping 1700 calories!


My next cheat night was Tuesday before I got home.  I went to Hard Rock Cafe Miami and I shared a Potato Skins appetizer and for my meal had a Legendary Burger,   a whopping 2100 calories!  That was by far the worst day lol.  For the purpose of not persuading to ge these dishes I will not posted any more food porn.

Due to losing my iphone while I was there, I decided to take a  bar-tending shift at a private party for Thanksgiving so I didn't spend the whole night eating. By the time I got home and saw my family for about an hour, I sat down and had a two slices of turkey a Spanish Tamale and a little Mac and Cheese my sister made.  I think the worst I did that night was a brownie.  The next morning I did get my Thanksgiving Meal which was measured out as to make sure I kept it simple, Then later on in the evening I had a couple of bites of my sister's pumpkin pie and my cousin's killer Pecan Pie, but the rest sits in my fridge!  They were so good I'm scared to finish it.

Today I'm back on track, I just finished my last workout of Level 2 of my program, I'll take a Hot Yoga class tomorrow then start Level 3 on Monday.

You can see my problem area!
Even after I had my sin-filled meals, I got right back into my workouts and tried to regulate having them in my daily intake.  It's not the best way but I figured if I was going to do it, I better make sure I stick as close to it as possible.

So after two weeks of working with this program I can already see progress in muscle memory and more strength which only makes me feel better and ready to keep going.  I WILL look amazing naked, lol.












I ran into this video again and I wanted to share it because this man is amazing and just shows you what people can do when they really want to change they way they live their lives. Watch it and try not to cry.



Cheers guys!
L


Thursday, November 15, 2012

Typical Eating Day including Supplements and Nutrients

This is an account of my whole day yesterday:

In the morning once I woke up I had oatmeal made from quinoa and almond milk.




















Before I leave the house a shot of ningXia Red.  I have mentioned this supplement before it's made form the superfruit Wolfberry and 100% essential oils.

On my way to work I stop at Juice Generation in the city.  I had a shot of wheat-grass with an orange wedge chaser. and my typical Peanut Butter AcaĆ® Bowl.


For lunch I had a Salmon fillet with broccoli and bok choy.














I noticed that I was coming up under on my calorie intake for the day (yes! even after eating all this!) That's when I started incoprating shakes.  As a snack I brought a banana and an Isalean shake from Isagenix, however instead of having them separate, I threw them in the same cup and mix them, delicious!  I didn't take a picture of it but I will be doing the same today, so picture coming soon.

I got home and I did my exercise routine. Once I was done I had another shake with a banana then sat down and had chicken salad with a hard-boiled egg, celery, potato and apple.  The worse thing in this combo was the mayo, but it was omega-3, so I don't feel horrible about it, besides I worked it off.  Accompanying it I had an avocado and one medium tomato garnished with salt and olive oil.




I ended the night with another shot of ninXgia red.  

That's it guys!  

I don't feel like I'm missing anything, I'm not tempted to eat anything that looks delicious, although I can acknowledge it looks great, I just don't want it.  Granted, I didn't eat horribly to begin with, except for those occasional drunk nights, lol.

Most importantly, I don't attribute that to anything more than brain power and commitment which comes within you and nothing else. 

Cheers, 
Luis



Wednesday, November 14, 2012

So Far So Good! Isagenix and thoughts on Intermittent/Alternate Day Fasting.

Ten days in since I started my new program and I feel lighter, a bit more energetic and definitely stronger.  Picking up my niece in the morning is a dead-lift for me, I love it!My work-outs routine is currently 3 days out of the week at every other day.  When I began, I felt as if I may need to take the next step up as it comes in 4 level.  In the mean time though, I have added some yoga class after work on my off days.  Along with my regular diet change (Paleolithic), I have included Isagenix.  


Isagenix is a health company founded in 2002, Isagenix embraces a two-fold mission of impacting world health and providing people with the opportunity to obtain financial freedom. Isagenix manufactures and markets products designed to address health challenges such as obesity, nutritional depletion, stress and environmental toxicity. The company's product lines include nutritional cleansing, supplements and skin care.  


My sister came across the products through a friend of hers who had recommended it so she decided to  try it with my brother-in-law.  They split the 30 day nutritional cleansing and each did 15 days and noticed a lot of improvements.  You can ask her more when you see her or just message her, she's on my facebook; Jenny Shatzel.  She's also a distributor so you can contact her if you want to order or learn more.  

My friend and I bought the 30 day cleanse and split it into 15 days each in August.  I felt great and I lost about 8 pounds I was able to maintain off my body.  Before I began my current program I was going to start another 30 days on my own.  Now how can I best describe Isagenix to those of you who don't know what it is; It's like Slim-Fast but not really.  I shouldn't have even compared it to that.  It's just when you hear two shakes throughout the day and dinner, I hear Tommy Lasorda in my head and suddenly it's 1989. 


 The Isagenix Isalean shakes are chalk full of nutrients but if you need a more detailed idea of what you are putting in your body, feel free to check out the site.  Along with the shakes you are able to have literally a handful of snacks and a low-glycemic meal for dinner.  The first couple of days were so,so, where I got hungry just before dinner time. Once you get the hang of it, you'll be ok.  Plus you can really modify your cleanse to fit you better.   

101 yr. old man who ran the London marathon.
From Eat. Fast and Live longer.

Curiously, after doing the Isagenix cleanse, I watched an excellent BBC documentary called Eat, Fast and Live Longer.  A great and truly inspiring program that I felt slightly embraced Isagenix's message. The documentary goes though a series of different ways to stay healthy and live longer.  Two studies that stood out to me were Intermittent Fasting and Alternate Day Fasting.  They both sound they same but there are differences between the two.  Alternate Day Fasting is a reduction in food intake (similar to Intermittent basically means starve one day, pig-out the next (sounds awesome right?!)    

Dr. Krista Varady and Michael Mosley
from Eat, Fast, and Live Longer.

After I showed my sister the program, Dr. Krista Varady went on to endorse Isagenix after clinical research.   My favorite part of the documentary is when the filmmaker or producer becomes part of subject.  Watch his results-If you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask.

Cheers, 




Monday, November 12, 2012

Thoughts on First Program Work-out, importance of play-lists and stop watch!

I started my day with an Isagenix shake 30 minutes before my workout (I will explain Isagenix later, but I am incorporating it into my workout diet)  had my first workout with my program.  I started with Level 2 - "The Recruit Workout"
I started sweating during the first exercise of the warm-up, consisting of

The shake I had (minus the fancy
strawberry (la-di-da!))




-10 Jumping Jacks
-15 Chops
-5 Hip Raises
-10 Rotational Chops
-8 (incline) Push-Ups









Oh wait very important!  Get some music to Pump you up!  You don't need house music or back to back beats, my playlist is very eclectic:



This is as much of my playlist as I needed today (there's nothing like warming up to Cecilia).  I downloaded an app that is a stop watch that came in handy called Minuteur, it helps keep you on check with your time.
Stop-Watch App I downloaded.

The program suggest that you write everything down to see your progress.  My thoughts on my first Rebel Workout:   I may need to read Level 3 as soon as this week.  I'm not out of shape, I just need to tone.  I followed up my workout with a Vinyasa Yoga class before work, plus also today is a play day for me.


So I will be going out tonight.  The program does give you the option of leeway on one day if you want to have a "cheat-day."  Most people would take a food day and pig-out; I prefer to take it as a night out!  And I am curious to see how this will go and how I will keep my intake count for the day.  Thank goodness for lunch I had a Chocolate Isalean Shake from Isagenix; I have about 1500 calories left for the day, not to mention the two work-outs for the day and the basic calorie burn off of just existing.  I think I'll be fine, but if I call you at night to bail me out of jail for some reason, please pick up the phone.

Cheers,
Luis

If you have any questions don't hesitate to ask.  Tomorrow we'll talk about Isagenix!




Saturday, November 10, 2012

Going Paleo, Counting Calories and what it really means!

So the program I am currently on recommends the Paleo-lifestyle, which after flirting with Vegetarianism and Raw-Foodism is more than fine with me (everything in moderation right?)  Let's face I'm Latin, and I love Latin food and you try and talk my mother into thinking Meat is bad for you.

On the contrary, going Paleo means just that, food that our ancestors ate that kept them fit for the hunt.   Anything that you can pick or that ran, flew or swam on this earth.  That doesn't sound so bad right?  That's what I thought and I'm going with it.  The hardest thing will be the carbs!  Your fruit and vegetables are your carbohydrates, however the good carbs.

So what can you eat?  Lol, well now that I'm a calorie counter-whore the first thing I did was think of what is already in my diet that I could keep and what I have to get rid of.  Basically you have to remove all dairy and and things that you're body, if you were living in "Paleo-Time," would have a hard time breaking down, basically anything processed, yes that includes carbs and cheese, and I love fucking cheese! But I am going to go hardcore on this for 6 weeks.

The second thing I did was find a great program with a convenient app that allows you to track all of your calories consumed throughout the day.  After entering your body info, it also gives you an estimate of calories you should be consuming a day.  If you are working out, there is a section to enter that info too and assess your intake/outtake daily.  On top of that it has a community you can talk to and log with and support!

I am sure there are many out there but this is the one I chose:

http://caloriecount.about.com/

I think my Display name is Lesalas, if you join.


A Typical Work Meal Day:

PB Acai Bowl from Juice Generation in NYC.
For breakfast, I usually have an Peanut Butter Acai Bowl from Juice Generation, on 44th and 9th. Acai something I picked up from my trip to Brazil last year.  I had heard a lot about it before but when I was in Rio it was the first time I had it and when I came back I WANTED MORE, lo.  The Acai is a superfood, it's an energy fruit:

-It has a wonderful concentration of anti-oxidants

-10 times more than red grapes and 10 to 30 times the anthocyanins of red wine

-Essential Amino Acid Complex with Trace Minerals that are vital to proper muscle contraction and regeneration.

-Essential Fatty Acids, Enzymes, Dietary Fibers...the list goes on!

http://www.healthyweightforum.org/eng/weight-loss/acai-berry.asp

I don't have to have one everyday but at 430 calories, I'll take this over a bagel with eggs, cheese and bacon.  I do however have two workdays where I have two egg-whites, bacon and peppers in a wheat wrap or something of that nature.  I would get the AcaĆ® bowls everyday but I would spend more time on the toilet then working, lol.  I know that Peanut Butter is not something necessarily picked, BUT, you can make some alterations, and even this alteration isn't bad; it's natural, omega-3 laced and full of good fat!


For Lunch, It typically depends.  There is a great place downstairs that serves Vietnamese food it's delicious, Clean and bordering on macrobiotic.  I usually go there and stear away from white rice and noodles and go more for the grains, proteins and veggies.

There is also Guy and Gaillard, a super-deli, I'm sure there are a great deal similar delis all over the city.   In the picture on the right, I packed all Ready-to-Eat Turkey from Trader Joes, All-natural cranberry sause also from Trader Joes and the veggies, bok choy, broccoli and carrots all stemas with no salt from Guy and Gaillard.


For dinner, I have a good source of protein, some grains and veggies.  This meal on the left is a Filet from Trader Joes (I made the most of the trip!)  Blended Grains, mostly Barley with veggies, one medium avocado with some olive oil and salt, and steamed spinach.  SOOOO good.

One night this week I had a glass of red wine, but the program doesn't shun away from alcohol in moderation.

Usually though for drinks, it's just water or the occasional cup of black coffee.  I even throw a club soda in there somewhere.


Cheers!

L


If you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask.





Friday, November 9, 2012

New Project: Me!

Headstand.  After practicing one form of yoga for 5 years
I started learning inversions.  
I will be perfectly honest, I love yoga.  I don't think it is a secret.  I have been a very big fan of Bikram Yoga since 2005.  I've been perfectly content with the flexibility and vitality that the practice offers not to mention the way you feel after getting out of class.

Another thing I love is running.  I love the therapy it provides when you leave your house or get on the treadmill to think of nothing but the music in your ears (if you run with music)  and the thoughts in your head.  It's about the only time you can have to yourself nowadays.  Of course you have to resist the urge of answering texts and phone calls, other than that, you're good.

I ran the New York City Marathon last year.  I trained from July up to November then ran through 5 boroughs.  I was in pretty good shape in July when I started training, thanks to yoga. After two weeks, it was pretty much a ritual, get up, go out and run and it felt great.  The best part about it was the amount of calories I was burning by the end of training, I could eat anything I wanted and it would fly off.  The one thing I did not take into consideration was the muscle mass I was losing on account of not maintaining it and excessive running; it wasn't balanced exercise.  Don't get me wrong I felt great but after the marathon, I felt a bit strange.
Right after running the NYC Marathon in 2011.
I was left with a feeling of accomplishment, but also a feeling of what next?  I was left with what runners call "Marathon Depression,"  yes, it's a real feeling.  More so, I felt a bit more sluggish.
After a two month break, I began training for the New Jersey Marathon.  I also began training to become a a Hot Yoga Instructor.  Also, I was balancing that with a full-time job and a side-project (www.deadmanworkingmovie.com)

Come April, my body said, "Woah, Woah, Woah."  I ended up with a sciatic issue that prevented me from running the full New Jersey Marathon and running a half marathon instead.  Not that it was awful!  It's just when you sign up to do something.  You really want to do it.  At least I do.

There are a lot of things we all wanted to do, but did you really want to do it?  I really wanted to run the New Jersey Marathon just like I really wanted to live in New York for a whole year and I really wanted to travel up the northeast this Fall.  I know, all three are luxuries, but they are a different kind of luxury.

  
Come May after the NJ Half-Marathon, all my projects where coming to an end, and for the first time in a long time I could not be happier!  I wanted to sit around and do nothing for awhile.

Half-Marathon....done.

Yoga Training...certified.

Movie Project...currently in festival circuit.

Me...after these three months, ready for another challenge!

I am writing a book right now and I have a web-series in a very early stage of preproduction, but it's still not just for me.



My main focus this time around is gaining muscle mass and attaining a tone and fit body (I pretty much want to look amazing naked because I'm tried of wearing clothes, lol).  I know this is not an easy task, it's a challenge and will be very arduous, but it's what I want, and not just for right now, I want to make it my lifestyle.  The first person I said this to laughed in my face, to which I added, "That only makes me want it more, you know."  

After a lot of research and I found a program that I am more than happy with.  It's not a crazy-hard DVD set, or a crazy diet, it is pretty much common sense.

After reading the food guide to the program, I started it this past Monday and it's been fairly easy as I don't eat bad unless I go out and have a crazy night out.  And I am allowed a crazy night out here and there, but I have to get right back on the ball.

So that's it.  I'm putting this out there for motivation.  In a month, you should know whether or not I kept up with it or I was just jerking myself off.  I'm very dedicated to this; haters beware.

I'll be using this blog to post pictures, recipes and progress if you are interested.  I will also publicly post the program I am using if I think it works extremely well.

Cheers!
L