Update on how I feel and FINALLY the program I'm using.

Yes, it's one of those pictures..

OK, so I am about to finish my 6th week of a Paleo diet and my 5th week of strength training.  For the past 2 weeks I also added a sprint after each workout session.

I have lost 11lbs., and added muscle mass.  I want to note that I've done this so far by consistently monitoring my calorie intake (even with alcohol, cause my friends know that I've gone out), and keeping as much to natural food as possible.  

But let's keep it real,  I've had pizza, a Bacon Cheeseburger and even my biggest guilty pleasure, taco bell's Chicken Quesadilla and a Bean Burrito in the past two weeks.  The day after I do though I've felt groggy (omg, not after the Pizza though!  Cheesy Pizza, corner of Broadway and 105th st.)

Other than that I have been using Isagenix products as well as Young Living Essential Oils products with the occasional Oxy Elite Pro if I feel to tired for a sprint.

Other than the workouts prescribed, I have been walking instead of taking trains or walking when a car is not necessary and throwing in the occasional hot yoga class on off days.

I'm not going to lie, it feels good, it feels different than other things I've tried, but then again I have been able to combine them all into my lifestyle now.

Nerd Fitness!

So after coming this far (so far)  I feel comfortable enough to promote the program I am using.  I was researching what type of fitness routine to follow and the one I thought served me best that the time was Nerd Fitness.  I mean the name alone says it all but it was whipped up Steve Kamb and is basically geared towards office job workers or people that have sat behind computers long enough to make a difference in how they feel and how their body feels.  

I like what he says and I like what he preaches and I like their program as well as the forum for their users.  I like the habit building as well as being able to do the exercises without a gym.  Eventually I feel I will have to join, but I'll come down that road when I do.



Lunch yesterday:
Peruvian Dish - Lomo Salteado with Chicken
Broccoli
Bokchoy

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.

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

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

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 Acaî 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

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, 

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!