Hiccups

Second "case" of hiccups tonight.  Gonna be doing some research if I can't sleep it off tonight.  No good reason why, just got them and can't really shake them off.

Eating less at least if not better

Got to admit I'm pretty bad at food choices when traveling.  Since we travel in teams and generally stay at hotels that serve breakfasts, I don't normally pick the places we eat.  Often choices are between bad and worse (like lunch today-cheap/low quality Chinese, subs, fried chicken or fatty pizza and pasta dishes at the PX Food Court).  I have found that by day three or four of these 5-6 day "teaches" I'm feeling bloated and sluggish due to huge fast food and restaurant meals.  So to combat that this week I am either eating just fruit at some meals or skipping them entirely.

So far so good-not particularly hungry and nowhere near as uncomfortable this week compared to some.

Today's post is about nothing

Much like the old Seinfield show, today's post is about nothing.  Don't have a whole lot fitness-wise going on, and I'm pretty much eating on auto-pilot and taste bud desires.  So nothing really to report.

Krystals Cheat Meal

Yep, every time I travel near a Krystal now-a-days, it's a cheat meal.  Only three tonight, but I ate all the fries too, when I easily could have thrown half away.  Gonna have to stay away from the combos this trip!

The importance of smells to a good diet

Today I am flying back from Anchorage Alaska to San Diego.  My gate was right across from the terminal McDonalds.  My flight was right at the beginning of the lunch rush, so they had transitioned from breakfast items and quickly made lots of lunch items-burger patties and fries mainly.

Well, the smell had filled the whole gate area, and since it is constantly below freezing in Anchorage already the heat was blasting in the terminal.  All this combined to have a heavy fatty, nearly rancid smell completely dominating the gate area.  I will admit to eating at McDonalds occassionally (I especially like their coffee) but the smell today almost made me nauseous.  I have noticed certain fast food restaurant "smells" before from the days working for Taco Bell and many years of bicycling and motorcycling, however, this was way worse.

Comparing this smell and feelings it created to the smells of fresh fruit or vegetables, a high-quality piece of meat or fish cooking, or freshly baked wholesome bread and it should be apparent what I need to eat more of!

Great value and utility in a Nashbar floor pump.

Many years ago I bought a Bike Nashbar two headed floor pump.  It can pump inner tubes having either a Presta or Schrader valve stem, which comes in handy if you have both a road bike and a MTB bike.  This also is a nice feature if you have kids with bicycles, as most kid’s bikes come with Schrader valve stems on their tubes too.  I’m guessing I bought this pump as many as twelve years ago because that was about the time I bought my current road bike and was spending a great deal of time riding and working on bicycles.

The floor pump is well made.  While not very fancy, it has all the features needed for a basic floor plump.  The analog dial gauge is reasonably accurate and has a bezel you can turn to the pressure you intend to pump the inner tube up to.  The dial is marked off in 2 PSI increments, which is accurate enough for most bicyclists.

The best fact about this pump?  While my version is no longer available, Bike Nashbar has an updated floor pump available for $19.95 plus S&H, which is a great deal.  I would bet this pump is just as good as the one I have, which has lasted me many years.   While this pump is not specifically on sale, there are always pretty good offers on the Nashbar website, like free shipping days if you make a minimum purchase, bargain bin sales and other opportunities to get good gear at even better prices.  Click on the Nashbar link on this page to visit Nashbar via my affiliate marketing link to browse the huge variety of items and find what you like besides getting one of these floor pumps.

 Enjoy riding!

“This post was created in partnership with eAccountable.  All opinions are my own.”

Falling behind on updating the Presidential Fitness Challenge tally

I need to sign in and tally about two weeks of workouts and walking on the President's Fitness Challenge website.  Been slacking off lately and need to turn it around.

That's all, not much to say tonight.

Sleep like you mean it

Lately I've realized the need for sleep as a component of a fitness plan.  While each person's sleep need and pattern is different, most of us are functionally sleep-deprived for many reasons.

I know I get that way sometimes, like last week on the road.  I wasn't falling asleep as easily as I normally do, plus a night or two I stayed up watching sports longer than I should have.  All weekend I've been dragging a bit, and actually slept longer both Friday and Saturday nights than I normally do.

So with that in mind, "Good Night, Everyone!" and off to bed.

Another supplement-OxyElite Pro-causes liver damage and failure! Eat it like God made it for optimal health

I posted a few weeks ago about two dietary supplements that were found to have methamphetamine like compounds in them.  Today there is an article stating that OxyElite Pro has caused liver failure in numerous cases.  The majority of the cases are in Hawaii, which the CDC and other agencies are saying are linked to taking the fat-burning supplement and some cases are reported on the mainland as well.  The CDC says this may be due to under-reporting or attribution outside of Hawaii, while the company that sells OxyElite Pro is contending this is not the case, that there is something unusual about the Hawaii trend and it isn't as large a problem as it potentially could be.  They are pulling the supplement from distribution while reformulating it, but state the case numbers should be much higher if it was the supplement's fault alone.  The full article I read is at USA Today.

Having had a serious negative reaction and nearly damaging my liver using a pre-workout supplement in 2008.  After taking N.O. Xplode for about two months in Iraq, I was tested during a trip back to San Diego.  Although I had been recently injured lifting, so had some muscle damage and acetimenophen use, my AST and ALT numbers were way above normal limits, showing potential liver damage.  Fortunately I showed no other signs of liver failure or hepatitis like jaundice, and had had just about every immunization known to the military!  Over a period of months, these numbers reverted back to my usual "low normal" liver function numbers, and I was spared a liver biopsy or worse.  I am thankful this was caught in time, and have been very cautious if not flat out against many commercial supplements ever since.  They are not regulated whatsoever, and most advertisements have been found to be disingenous at best and artificial at worst.  One example is using pro bodybuilders taking massive amounts of steriods to hawk pre-workout and weight gain products when the bodybuilders are taking massive amounts of steriods.  Most their gains come from the steriods and huge caloric intake, not the supplement in question.

Hope this helps you make decisions regarding what you put in your body!

It's Movember (this post barely about health, diet and fitness)

I'm participating in "Movember" this year to honor my friend Ed "Hoggy" Herrmann.  It's Movember 5th, and I haven't shaved since the evening of October 31.  My usual inability to grow a mo is quite evident, but I'll persevere for the good causes of raising awareness and funds for men's health issues, especially prostrate cancer which has ravaged Hoggy.

I guess to keep this semi-related to the blog theme, I should investigate the dietary needs to grow hair more fully and more quickly, and eat a lot of foods containing those nutrients this month?  Don't think it would help much, and I wont' torture my readers with pictures of my cheesy 'mo!

Example: Eat It Like God Made It

Today's post is a quick example of eating foods as close to the way God made them as you can.  As I walk into my local grocery store, right past the carts is a rack of the pre-made pies in the wax paper wrappers-you know the folded over, baked and glazed ones that come in apple, lemon, berry and chocolate flavors most places and maybe a local flavor, like pineapple in Hawaii.  Just to the right of this rack starts the produce section.  Since I like these pies and will admit to eating them, I decided this would be a great example.

Here's what I did:  I picked up an apple pie for $.50 and then went over to the apples and picked out a gala apple, which ended up being 66 cents.  Doesn't seem like much difference, but it is actually 32% more expensive to get a piece of fresh fruit when the pies are on 2 for a dollar sale.

So I now have two different snacks that are both "apple".  One is pretty much unprocessed and apple only (well a little wax, which I'm not getting into here) the other a finished packaged apple "pie" with many ingredients besides apples.

The financial cost so far is overwhelmingly in the apple pies favor, but that is a very small part of the story.  Here's the label to the apple pie, and then I'll compare some info from the "label" I found online for the gala apple.  Right off the bat, two huge impacts from not eating foods like God made become apparent.  First, the apple pie as 5 times the calories of the apple, and 22 grams of fat.  It gets worse as we continue down the label-nearly 50% of the daily recommended saturated fat!  Over 300mgs of sodium and only 2 grams of fiber compared to 5 for the gala apple.  Also, look closely at the bottom of the package-0 vitamin C!  Somehow, the vitamin C in the apple is gone, as our raw apple provided 20% of the RDA.

While I like these pies, I know I'm going to limit how often I eat them!  I'm happy to report that apples are one of the two main fruits I eat regularly, both because I like them and convenience.  But I was reminded why eathing food's as close to how God makes them is so important!

Movember time-so get to work on those mustaches!

It's Movember!  For the first time, I'm participating in growing a mustache to raise money and awareness for men's health issues.

Why, you are likely asking, knowing of my failed facial hair attempts in the past.  Well, my friend and a CMA Chapter President Ed "Hoggy" Herrmann is fighting advanced prostrate cancer, one of the men's diseases Movember is against.  Oh, yeah, Ed also was a major league catcher for a few years and was an All-Star selection.  He's one of the toughest guys I've ever met, so talking up men's health awareness while growing a cheesy mustache is only a small thing to do to support him.  If you look at some of the photos from his playing days, or his days riding with us, you'll see he grows awesome mustaches and beards, and actually had a pretty killer fro when he played too!

So check out "our" team (hey, if you join it's "our") and throw some support Hoggy's way!  http://us.movember.com/team/1306625

How'd you do on your goals? New Month-New Goals!

Well, it's already November, so October is behind us, we have lots of leftover Halloween candy, and Turkey Day is quickly approaching.

I did pretty well on the October goals:

Got 1000 push-ups.
Generally slept 5.5 to 6 hours a night, improving quality but not quantity quite enough yet
Better diet, but didn't get the servings every day of fresh fruits and vegetables (FFV)
Need to update the Presidential's Challenge tracker, but think I fell short on the total points.

I'll review the goals more specifically and set November goals.  October was a very trying month, between work upheaval to start the month and personal challenges and busy-ness at the end.  But paying attention to good health and fitness practices paid off, as I was able to donate platelets twice within 8 days (yes, pushed it since I'm excited to be eligible again!) and stayed healthy despite the stresses.  I'm traveling a great deal in November so have to stay on top of diet and exercise again this month.

How did you do on your goals?