Fitness goals and challenges-here's a couple if you need one!

I've found that a little friendly competition or a challenge helps motivate me from time to time.  Are you the same way?

A few years ago, I discovered John Stone Fitness and the forums at the website www.johnstonefitness.com  While not as active as it used to be, it's still a good resource.  One challenge I signed up for was the 1,000,000 push-up challenge.  Well, these challenge is a great example of how big a number 1,000,000 actually is-especially with only a few of us posting push-up counts at a time!  The thread is here and we're kind of stuck in the 160,000 range.  Anyone interested in helping can either sign up at the John Stone Fitness forums, or post your counts here in the comments.

Despite the slow progress on that thread, I decided to jump right in and start a new challenge-Tire Flips!  I haven't done any tire flips in far too long, and love the raw powerful feel they give me.  Like most "strongman" movements, there is something primal about lifting, pushing, flipping, or throwing something different than traditional exercise equipment!  Do you do tire flips?  Are you looking to do your first tire flip?  Then help me out on the challenge here!  I set this one much lower-it's only a 1,000 tire flip challenge, so if I do 10 a week I can complete this one by myself in two years-but it would be fun to have some help!

What are your goals and challenges going into 2015?  Let's work on them together-

Keeping Goals in Perspective/Reality

I've posted frequently about my effort toward the Presidential Fitness Champion awards.  With Silver still 20% away, then Gold and 1,000,000 points to the Platinum award, this is going to take a long time.  At the same time I'm contributing to the John Stone Fitness Forum 1,000,000 push-up challenge.  You would think that challenge wouldn't take long.  Even as a weightlifting, power-lifting and bodybuilding forum where most folks lift weights instead of doing calisthenics and body weight exercises some push-ups have to be done as warm-ups and cool-downs.  The real problem seems to be the short duration of posters keeping track of their push-ups and logging them.  Inconsistency is also a problem-I know I don't log in often enough and add the few push-ups I do.  The 1 million push-up thread has been languishing just over 160,000 push-ups for a long time-only 1/6th of the way to the goal.

This is pretty bad.  With 844,000 push-ups to go this might never get done.  But it wouldn't be hard if a few folks that consistently do push-ups jumped on board.  Imagine a handful of people that did 25-50 push-ups a day tracking their effort and posting.  5,000 push-ups a month would make some progress.  That would still only be 60,000 push-ups a year-so 14 more years!

I'll have my Platinum award by then. Nothing like big goals....

Update on the Presidential Fitness Champions Award

Catching up on data entry bit by bit.  I'm almost caught up for the days I can go back and enter data at the President's Fitness website.  Last night a marathon session of recording favorite workouts and point earning events resulted in topping 75% of the 90,000 points needed for my Silver award!

Progress!

I don't use a FitBit or a pedometer so I have to guess steps.  Websites vary with the average number of steps an American takes in a day.  I also know my days vary-some I'm walking around a lot, others I am your typical sedentary American.  But I have upped the number I enter as I was probably way low at 2000 a day.  With all the other ways to earn points and being more consistent in recording them, I should have the Silver award soon-hopefully January at the latest.  Then it's 70,000 more points for Gold, and I only have 68,206 right now!  Nothing like long-term goals you can make progress to every single day.

Supplement try-out, review to follow

I travel a great deal, and usually take a few days to adjust to the new time zones.  My co-workers and I discussed sleep aids last night.  So I'm trying the first one tonight and will see how it does.  It is an OTC sleep aid from CVS but I don't know what's in it.  I took it just over an hour ago and am a bit sleepier but not conked out.  I'll see how well I sleep-I'm three time zones "later" or east of home and have been sleeping fitfully.

Review to follow with info on what's in the pill too.

Too much "can do" can do you in

When I was a student at the Naval Diving and Salvage Training Center (NDSTC aka The Dive School), one of the Diving Medical Techs/Corpsman had a saying.  He would often say "Too much 'Can do' can do you in."  You see, "Can Do" was one of the motivational sayings we would use, and his point was being too "can do" at the wrong time could have very serious complications when you or your dive buddy's life depended on your physical and mental condition.  Did he mean we weren't to push ourselves?  No-while he didn't look the most imposing physically he could PT just as hard as any other instructor and his workouts were no joke.  But knowing ourselves and our condition became a reinforced instructional point as we progressed to being Navy Divers and Navy Diving Officers.

Fast forward over 20 years, and we're both long retired from the Navy.  But his words rang true again yesterday as I did a full day of chores for the first time since my back spasm I've already written about.  One task even involved shipping a large heavy box-what contributed to the back spasm in the first place!  So throughout the day I was conscious of when my posture started slipping-like raking/sweeping up leaves bent at the waist or bending awkwardly while working on my motorcycle.  The back seemed to hold up pretty well and I'm not too sore today.  Just the usual age related stuff mainly, so hopefully I wasn't too "Can Do" on my Honey-Do list!  Oh yeah, I also need to book a whole bunch of hours of household tasks type work on the Presidential Fitness Challenge.

A shotgun blast of short updates-no new "theme" per se

Ramblings of an over-caffeinated yet rested and generally pain-free brain:

1) Back spasm pretty much resolved after one month, relapse, chiropractic and medicinal treatment and lifestyle/stretching changes.  What I've learned:  These may get worse as I age, so proactive care will be needed.  Nothing I don't already know but need to keep doing the right things-posture, stretching, lifting and calisthenics to maintain core strength.  New tricks I learned this time around:  Heat immediately, not ice.  Stretching flat on back on a hard surface helps.  Psoas muscle as much the culprit as back muscles.

2) Diet important and getting enough calories helps across the board.  I'm less stressed, sleep better and generally healthier on a whole food diet but also need to ensure any calorie deficit is short-term and the rest of the diet is very solid if that is the case.  I have reached a new "set point" weight wise at 178-179 instead of 190-192 and happy at this weight as I start lifting again.  putting 5 pounds of lean muscle back on would be good but not essential.

3) Presidential Fitness Challenge and John Stone Fitness 1,000,000 push-up challenge are going to take a long time!  As most recently noted in this post I'm back to logging points for the Presidential Fitness Challenge.  I'm making progress, but as the awards get higher in value, the required points expand.  Getting to Silver is going to take a few more months, and then Gold and above are likely years away.  Another challenge I am doing is the 1 million pushup challenge over at www.johnstonefitness.com.  I may be the only person posting right now, and since I'm not doing a lot of pushups currently we might never make it.  Help out if you can!

Well, that's it for today, maybe some advice or work-out tip over the weekend.

Giving platelets again

I'm laying here with one armed tied to the arm of a donor bed.  I've been hooked up to an apheresis machine for exactly an hour on my way to giving 1 trillion platelets.

They look good, and I'm going strong.  This donation gets me over 32 gallons of blood product credits.  For reference, one whole blood donation is 1/8 a gallon!

Good blood pressure, pulse and hemoglobin before giving too.

Neat kitchen gadget I remember from my youth

Do you remember flour sifters from your mother or grandmother's kitchen?  I remember Mom had one that she would use baking.  Filling the sifter with floor, then turning the handle to sift the flour, break up smaller clumps and have nice uniform flour both foreshadowed yummy baked treats and looked like fun.  Getting to be old enough to use the sifter was a goal for a few months-simple but fun to use.

Via Commission Junction, or CJ now, the company that is the clearinghouse for my affiliate marketing, I received an e-mail from Jacob Bromwell Company that has been in business many years making classic American kitchen and household sundries.  One is the All-American Flour Sifter.  The company website states they have been making this sifter since 1819 and held the first patents for flour sifters.  Their sifter holds 5 cups of flour-probably close to as much as many of my foodie friends need for their recipes!  Built out of stainless steel, it is guaranteed not to rust and will likely become a family heirloom from the day it arrives at your house.



What a great Christmas present (or late birthday present) for that baker/foodie in your life.  In the sake of full disclosure, I do get a commission as an affiliate marketer for purchases made via this blog, and even more disclosure, since it's Movember I'm donating a portion of those commissions to the Movember Foundation in honor of my late friend Ed "Hoggy" Herrmann.

Follow-up: Hinesville GA YMCA Water Aerobics class

Nearly eight months ago, I wrote a post about swimming laps at a Y indoor pool when the water aerobics class took over about 1/3 for their class.  As recounted in the original post, some of these folks would never be considered "fitness models" as many are fighting what appears to be morbid obesity, limited mobility and other chronic issues.

Recent work travel has taken me back to the Hinesville/FT Stewart GA area and I stayed at the same hotel that comps workouts at the Y.  I had remembered this benefit, and packed my goggles.  I was able to swim some laps during my stay there, and sure enough I inadvertently timed it where once again I was finishing up as they warmed up and started their class.  One of the gentlemen in the class I remembered from February-while still very large, he's still there, getting his workout on.  I would bet not a one of us would look at him in another setting and realize how committed to his workout regimen and what fitness he can develop this man is.  We normally only think of the shapely person who meets our cultural and personal standards of fitness and beauty as disciplined and motivated to take care of themselves.  I readily admit one of my greatest prejudices is against obese people that appear to not be taking efforts to remain healthy.  How judgmental of me-I would hate to have had to compare workout logs with this man and other class participants, as I have been much less consistent this year than in the past.

Well done, Sir, and thank you for the encouragement and kind words!  Keep fighting for health.

Presidential Fitness Challenge Update

I finally got back to logging activity on the Presidential Champions page of the Presidential Fitness Challenge website.  While this hasn't been a great summer for working out, I have been modestly active.  Especially as the Presidential Champions website allows all kinds of activities as I have blogged about before, it's more the requirement to log each activity separately that is time consuming.  I've been kicked off the page a couple of times for no known reason too-frustrating when trying to catch up.  Currently you can log about two months back-so I've entered entries up to October 5th.  I'm still making steady progress-over 60,000 points without going to high point activities and still have most of October and this month's workouts and household activities to enter.  I may be able to get my silver award by the end of this year, but probably closer to January or February.

Getting the Platinum Award for 1,000,000 points is still way way off!  940,000 points to go at 4-5,000 a month means 186 months to go-15 and a half years.  I'd be 64 or so, but hey, what else are goals for?

It's Movember 2015!

Just a quick update.  I'm participating in Movember again this year.  I shaved this morning and for the rest of "Mo"vember I will be growing a mustache or "Mo" to raise awareness and funds for men's health issues.  Specifically, Movember raises awareness of prostrate cancer, testicular cancer and men's mental health.

I formed my team to honor Ed "Hoggy" Herrmann, a friend who lost his battle with prostrate cancer last December.  Here's a link to the team, please feel free to join the team or donate.

Thank you!

Am I almost past this back spasms? Some treatment successes to pass along

So today marks the three week mark from the first really bad back spasms and three days since a minor relapse.  The relapse was shocking because I had been to the chiropractor the day before, but probably walked too much that afternoon plus moved a few pieces of furniture (fairly light ones though) that evening.

What seems to be working:

Lots of laying flat and sitting in stiff backed chairs.

Avoiding slumping and overstuffed furniture (very common now-a-days and not healthy in general!)

Lots of water

Less caffeine

Stretching-the yoga name for the stretch is Supta Padangusthasana (say that tonight with a Halloween caramel chew in your mouth!).  It's the one where you lie flat on your back, put a strap around your foot or at least big toe and pull your straight leg up toward your head.

    Oddly enough, my left leg, the asymptomatic one, is generally harder to stretch with more tightness and pain when in the stretch.  So I've eased off a little and only stretch to about 80-90% range of motion.

Hopefully this continues to resolve and light activity helps as I have to be moving around some!

The Back Spasm came back so....

Yesterday morning early on I bent over to scoop up our tiny new puppy and, uh-oh, quick twinge up the right side of the back.  It was right where I've been sore for the two and a half weeks since my last back spasm, so I knew what was coming.

Later in the day I was still sore but not really having spasms, hoping the previous day's chiropractic adjustment and light walking and stretching had helped.  Nope-around lunchtime I bumped into a chair with my right hip and felt another twinge.  Then a few minutes later I bent down to get something under the kitchen sink, moved the garbage can which wasn't even full and BAM full on, knee buckling back spasm again.

AGH.  What is going on?  I slowly breathed through the spasm, gently resumed moving around and finished the tasks I had to complete with some help from one of our daughters.  I then went and laid down on a heating pad for about 15 minutes.  When I went back to work, I was conscientious to sit in a firm backed chair or stand with good posture for a few hours.  I also took it easy the rest of the day, including more sessions sitting in straight backed chairs or laying flat with my legs either extended or bent at a 90 degree angle.  Well, all that worked-while sore this morning, it is nowhere near as bad as most days after spasms.  Hopefully I'm getting on top of this.  My activities over the past few days shouldn't have been this traumatic, so I looked for other causes.

One is likely my diet and caffeine intake.  I've probably allowed myself to be a little dehydrated while recovering from the previous spasms and kept my caffeine intake as high or higher than usual.  Caffeine can be of some value in pain treatment-many headache pills and other analgesics contain small amounts of caffeine to enhance effectiveness, but too much caffeine is widely mentioned negatively when having back spasms.  I'm going to limit my coffee and other caffeine sources for the next few days while increasing my water consumption.  The same sites mention the usual supplements too: Vitamin B6, potassium, magnesium and calcium are all likely needed too.

So to sum up, holistic, non drug treatments I'm implementing better late than never to support back spasm recovery:

Increase water consumption throughout the day
Decrease caffeine from coffee and food sources
Increase fresh fruits and vegetables and calcium sources (milk, cheese, hmm ICE CREAM?)
Continue supplementation
Increase stretching to 80-90% range of motion and relaxation exercises

Hopefully on the back side of this (no pun intended!)

Malibu CA Spartan Race coming up-Sign up here!

Are you looking for a challenge?  Are you looking to get involved with adventure racing?  Are you a Spartan and ready for the test?

If you are interested in the Malibu Sprint Spartan Race on December 6th, can you help me out and sign up through this blog?  I'll update all the banners as more info becomes available, but they should be "live" now.  Enjoy a scenic but tough course in beautiful Malibu CA!

Finally back working out

After the back spasm and follow-on tightness/pain I was able to get back into the gym today.  I did a very easy warm-up and calisthenics session first.  It wasn't much more than a modified Crossfit warm-up and some yoga to be honest.  A few twinges and tweaks but over-all ok.  I then went and rode a Lifecycle for about 20 minutes.  Again, wasn't pushing hard-mostly spinning along at what would have been my warm-up pedal a few years ago.

Will be interested to see how I feel tonight and tomorrow.  But it was great to at least be athletic if even just a little bit!

Back spasm or tight Psoas?

About a week and a half ago I had a brutal set of back spasms.  Over about 24 hours I had multiple painful jerking spasms in my back, often resulting in my knees buckling.  I also noticed tightening and spasms along my groin/thighs and inner knees.  Over the day my hips became imbalanced and I noticed a distinct "tilt" to the left when standing.  I know some of this has been caused in the past by tight psoas mucles, aka the "hip flexors" or for those who hunt, the equivalent of the "tenderloin" in other mammals.  And yes, my loins were tender!  As I rested on a heating pad on my back, I checked my hip flexors and they were tight.  So tight they felt like solid cables, not flexible muscles!

So all weekend activities were canceled, lots of rest, NSAIDs, heating pad (heat is better than ice for muscle spasms btw) and gentle stretching.  Standing up felt better than anything except laying flat, so I mainly stood around and walked or laid flat.  Ugh.  Over the next week everything slowly resolved and now I'm back to slowly increasing range of motion and confidence in loading my back muscles.  So here's some tips-mainly for me for next time, but if they help you that would be good too:

-Stretch.  Daily.  Stay ahead of problems

-Heat as soon as spasms start.  No ice for muscle spasms-save RICE for injuries/overuse problems

-Stay ahead of anti-inflammation with NSAIDs and lots of water.

-Understand your limitations as you age.  When workouts become irregular, be extra careful with lifting/bending.

-Alignment care is a must!  I'm ok with chiropractors but others use other methods.

I hope this one is just about over, and you don't suffer from muscle spasms.  This was a bad one!

Quick post-tried a new variety of sweet potato today

Today Poway had its weekly farmer's market and I had the chance to walk through it.  There are some favorite booths-the hummus stands, the "Bitchin' Sauce" made with almonds, the coffee stand and lots of others.  One place specialized in sweet potatoes!  Oh yeah.  Well, he advertised a white sweet potato I had heard of but had forgotten about and never have tried.  The variety is called O'Henry.  While they look like a light regular potato, they are sweet potatoes, just not the usual dark skin and orange flesh.

So I had to get one, and microwaved it as part of my supper.  I also had some English peas and left over chicken skewer.  Let me tell you-the O'Henry potato was great with some real butter on it!  I'll be picking more up next week if I can't find them at local groceries this week.

One more update on the "new" diet

Yesterday I gave blood and today I had a paramed exam done for a life insurance policy.  My blood pressure numbers are lower than they have been in years, maybe decades.  I'm pretty sure this is due to the better diet since June-much less fried food, way less french fries, not as much salty snacks like chips and crackers, and the 15 pound or so weight loss.  I'm still drinking lots of coffee and didn't really pick up the aerobic exercise, so it's got to be diet related.

Again-Eat it as close to how God made it as possible!  Stay to the outside of the grocery store, and avoid fast food!

Blog maintenance and goals

Just a quick post checking my blog hits overnight.  My usual handful of crawlers and maybe one or two readers, but still not much.  I know I need to post more frequently, so I'm thinking of topics and links I can share.

So as a start, here's a link to Mehdi's Stronglifts 5x5 page: Stronglifts 5x5: A Simple Workout....

While there may be some sort of reciprocal marketing scheme he runs as I think SL 5x5 is Mehdi's livelihood, I don't sell anything via him.  I guess you could say I market him though, as I've turned some friends into 5x5 workout fans too.

Well, that's it for this post!  Three days in a row atleast.

Real food is more filling without bloating

Returned from yet another week on the road this weekend.  While I enjoy my job and some travel I find my diet is pretty hit and miss on the road, especially the shorter trips.  On longer trips I stock the hotel room fridge and have eaten very well.  But sometimes.....yeah, restaurant meals for lunch and supper, appetizers split among the team, maybe a drink or two some nights.  Next thing I know, I feel fairly full 24/7 but keep eating the hotel breakfast, quick lunches and big suppers.


Today I ate a fairly high carb snack for breakfast (oops) and mainly coffee the rest of the day.  So I went to the grocery, picked up a whole roaster chicken and headed home to cut it up and grill it.  After longer than I expected hacking it apart (out of practice!) I had five or so skewers, the wings and the lower quarters seasoned and in the fridge.  Out to the grill, open a can of sweet peas and pop two pieces of bread into the toaster.  Chicken on the grill, peas in the microwave-yes, not fresh, but at least some veggies, and the bread in the toaster.  Once the bread popped, I spread some cheese spread on them, keep turning the chicken and heat the peas.  Supper was a serving of peas, two pieces of toast and spread, a chicken skewer plus a few pieces and a wing.  Well I also had a Foster's Ale Oil can over the evening including cooking to now nearly 5 hours later.


I'm still full and "A lert", unlike when I fill up on fast food or too big a starchy restaurant meal and end up lethargic all night.  Another reason to "Eat It Like God Made It!"

If I provide a link, is this "stolen"? (no, we're not discussing plagiarism on the web)

Looking at T-Nation and other workout sites to get motivated, as I've been slacking in the gym of late.  So I come across a pretty good article on training concepts that do more harm than good.  Here's one of the "pearls" about resting and recovery workouts for those that have to do something:

A1. Eat – 3 sets of AMPAP (as much protein as possible)
A2. Take a nap – 3 sets of AMMAP (as many minutes as possible)

He continues quite tongue in check, even giving the WOD a name and saying pee breaks are allowed, but you have to sit down!  Here's a link to the rest of the article.

For the sake of full disclosure, T-Nation is oriented toward the bodybuilder/powerlifter side of exercise and even the competition level athlete.  Still a good resource, just giving you a head's up.

Feelling full with real food

As I experiment with diet and enjoy eating lots of different foods, I've re-discovered what I should have known all along.  Eating real foods and whole foods is the easiest way to lose weight and be healthy.  Last night's supper consisted of roasted chicken breast, a large salad of romaine lettuce and some noodles with veggies mixed in.  Two full plates of food but very little bad stuff-the noodle's fairly simple carbs were probably the worst of it.

Well, I was pretty satisfied even after I woke up this morning.  I've had a small McDonald's sausage biscuit so far today (yeah, that's kind of a cheat meal) and need to go get lunch soon.  Not because I am starving hungry, but because I have two meetings this afternoon and I want to focus on them.  The densely nutritious meal last night has proven so much better than a high carb, high fat meal that leaves my tank on empty within a few hours.

Eat it the way God made it!

New marketing partner-CaseLogic

I recently updated my CJ (formerly Commission Junction) account and found out CaseLogic is now an affiliate marketing partner.  I signed up, and have added a link in the text above.  Banner ads aren't loading tonight, so I'll update the banners tomorrow or Monday.  While many of my friends are knife guys (or gals) the knife ads just weren't generating any sales.

Need a case for your iPhone?  Click the link above and I'll update the banner ads

Need a laptop sleeve because you ride with your laptop in your top case?  yep, got those, and learned the hard way why a sleeve or more is required for your lap top if your bike is also your office!

Lots of other great products-camera cases, laptop bags, etc etc etc as Yul Brynner used to say!  Happy shopping and remember 10% of every commission goes to Run for the Son or Winterhawke International Childrens Rescue

Just get it done

I love quick workouts!  Yeah, sometimes it's relaxing to do some sort of long slow distance workout, or have a long weights session with plenty of rest and stretching between exercises.  But sometimes I just have to get into the gym, get the workout done, and get out of there.

Today was one of those days.  While my schedule isn't hectic today, I wanted to have a short but productive workout and I did.  A quick warm-up and then right into a modified 5x5 workout that did the job.  Here it is:

5x5 Squats.  Not much weight as I'm starting back, but deep!  Nearly ATG

1 Set 5 Thrusters with wooden strongman style log-Mainly for fun/beast mode.  Slater's Hardware log, somewhere between 60-100 pounds

4x5 Military Presses w/ just Olympic bar.  Rebuilding after a shoulder injury.

Then a quick 500m row and done.

Probably 25 minutes total, full body workout and 3rd workout this trip.  Getting back after it!

BTW Taylor Morris FINALLY proposed to his girlfriend and they probably worked out today.  What;s your excuse?  It's invalid, go lift!

Even if it's just a little, do something!

At long last I am both updating the blogs but also working out.

Monday I reset my 5x5 Stronglifts workout (yet again) at the McVeigh Fitness Center, JBLM.  This is one of my favorite base gyms.  It has a pool, a free weights room, aerobic equipment for those dreary Northwest winters, a boxing area and a fairly large Crossfit-like training area.  This area also would suffice as a decent starter powerlifting gym, so it's got everything I need.  This morning I also hit the hotel fitness center and did a quick workout.  I did 5x5 squats with the 25 pound dumbbells and then a couple of sets of dumbbell bench presses with them.  Sure it was only about 10-15 minutes in the gym, but it keeps the momentum going.

Grab what time you have and get a workout in!  You'll feel better and be healthier even if it's shorter than normal.

A blog post about nothing

Just a quick post to revive this blog.  Have only worked out once in about a month, so nothing really to report.  I'll hopefully have something more to say this weekend about fitness, clean eating, and health.  I've also got to update my Presidential Fitness Champion Challenge tracker-I was doing pretty well for a while there and have almost completely stopped entering exercises for points.

Clean Diet-the blood donation reason

I have been an apheresis blood donor for many years.  There are many benefits for this-first, it's a good thing to do when you are healthy enough and have big blood vessels the phlebotomists love!  Also I get points towards goodies (no more blood bank t-shirts however) and a basic wellness check each time I give.  I get immediate feedback on my hemoglobin count, blood pressure, pulse rate and temperature, and a few days later a total cholesterol score.  This is also tracked on the blood bank website once I sign in, so I can track my total cholesterol over time for free.

Another benefit is getting a visual reminder of the quality of my diet.  The platelets and plasma are separated by the machine and sent to IV bags while the remainder of my blood fluids are returned when the machine cycles from draw to return (Are two-armed machines even used anymore? Not by my blood bank thankfully!).  As the products accumulate any extra lipids/fats congeal in the bottom of the bag and the color of the product becomes apparent.  The closer your bag is to honey-colored, the "better" your diet has been.  Saturated and hydrogenated fats show up in the plasma and platelets as a cloudy appearance, and more congeals out and drops to the bottom of the bag.  Since I have had a good diet the past few weeks but a few cheat meals lately,today's looked really good.

Plus I got to help at least three patients in need of platelets and plasma.  This marks 31 gallons of blood I have donated since the fall of 1984.  While I could be proud that averages over a gallon a year if I'm going to join the 100 gallon donor club I need to pick it up a bit, or keep donating to 118!

Please think about donating blood if you can, and keep that diet clean!

Dost thou even hoist? The first Miss Afghanistan does

Recently I was reviewing some Afghanistan cultural information for work.  Well, lo and behold after we liberated the country from the Taliban they had a Miss Afghanistan contest, and Miss Vida Samadzai won the contest and competed in teh Miss World contest.  The biggest controversy was she competed in a red bikini and built a fan club-like following, both of which were scandalous.  Even more amazing her fan club posted a video of her deadlifting to YouTube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=17-dLqd5RkM

She does a pretty good set of 5 deadlifts-which is the deadlift portion of the 5x5 plan I have found very useful in my personal training.

So if Miss Afghanistan deadlifts, shouldn't you?  It's amazing to me this lift is all but banned in most gyms in the US!

Another benefit of God's Diet Plan/the clean diet

I have been eating the "no white flour, no white sugar and little starch" diet for almost a month now.  I have also been eating many other foods much closer to the way God made them (my version of God's Diet Plan) during this time.  I've been eating a greater variety of fruit than usual, lots more veggies, and almost nothing fried.  Also eliminated has been almost all soda, all but three pieces of bread in over as many weeks, and desert in general.  I think I have had three cookies, two small peppermint patties and maybe four or five hard candies in a month-which is huge for me as I had developed quite the sweet tooth.

To top it off, I have been traveling for the past week for work and either eating out or having to make sandwiches for lunch.  That could have been a landmine-loaf of bread, chips to munch on with it and sweet or very salty snacks.  Instead I have used Romaine lettuce leaves as "bread" and too be honest like the "sandwiches" a lot like that!  Another change has been when we go out for supper-no eating half a loaf of bread or my own basket of chips, plus a big supper and either lots of Coke or the occasional beer.  As I have posted about in the past, these meals would result in feeling bloated by the third or fourth day on the road.  Portion control helped, but changing what was eaten has had an even bigger impact.

So let's recap:
Smaller, frequent meals
Food close to how God made it, include lots of raw fruit
Protein and good fats like almonds and other nuts
Water
NO ADDED SUGAR
NO WHITE SUGAR
NO WHITE FLOUR
No added salt

Overall very happy with how I feel physically, and oh by the way, I've dropped at least ten pounds without even trying!

Recalibrating my taste buds

As I posted last week, I am on a type of elimination diet and have gotten rid of most refined flour, sugars and synthetic sugars from my diet over the past two weeks.  This is the first few days on the road for work since embarking on this, and new challenges have cropped up.  Where I no longer am at home where we have lots of bread, crackers, chips and candies, I also only have a small fridge, no real way to cook other than a microwave.  Fortunately the hotel I am staying in cooks hot breaksfasts to order, and I have enough nights at this chain to get the breakfast "comped".  Of course there are all the pastries I normally enjoy, plus a waffle iron I have used many times in the past!  But they also do eggs to order, fruit, and have milk available.  The team I am part of doesn't really eat fast food, so that is good-I never seriously looked at a fast food menu until recently and saw how much of the food is basic, over-processed starch!  I've already hit the grocery stores twice in three days to stock up on romaine lettuce and sandwich fillings that aren't too bad.

One thing I also noticed is despite knowing better, I have the typical modern American diet:  Lots of white bread and buns, daily french fries, little fruit and vegetables, and too much soda-whether diet or loaded with sugar.  My taste buds have gotten acclimated to "sweet", "salty" and "peppery" and little else.  Not only is this not very heathy, it actually was quite boring once I reintroduced natural sugar from a variety of fruits, whole vegetables but no potatoes, and piece of romaine lettuce instead of even good breads as "sandwiches".  While I hope to go back to eating a few pieces of quality bread a week I honestly don't miss whole wheat bread sandwiches compared to the romaine lettuce!  I also am back to eating many small meals a day most days.  Last night was the exception, as we went to a Mongolian grill and I definitely enjoyed it!  I resisted eating a whole bowl of rice by myself which also allowed me to get thirds (yep, thirds) but truly enoy the vegetables and an extra serving of meats.

One thing I learned from my friends who are unfortunately going through chemo right now is that our taste buds are rapidly growing cells, and as my body replenishes them, the longer I go without overwhelming them each day with lots of sugar and salt, they become more sensitive to normal amounts instead of mega-doses of these tastes.  I had two small thin mints over the weekend, and was nearly shocked by how strong they were, instead of eating them by the handful.  Two were enough-as the tastes exploded in my mouth since I hadn't had chocolate in about 10 days.  While losing weight wasn't the goal (better health was) I have dropped nearly 12 pounds in just over a month and still feel healthy and am just as strong.  This is further proof that if we eat foods closer to the way God made them and enjoy all the spices and flavor in natural foods, our bodies respond with health and vitality. 

White ain't right, at least for starches and sugars

I recently have cleaned my diet up significantly, as I posted about last week.  I really am much closer to my advocated "God's Diet Plan"-as in eating things as close to the way God made them as possible.  While I've always known this, it's so easy to get caught in the fast food/convenience trap like anyone.  One thing I've always enjoyed is bread-white bread, sourdough bread, dark loaf bread, toast, toast tartar, by itself, as part of a sandwich, you name it I like it.  I also like potatoes and rice-so pretty much all your white starches.  While I don't add a lot of sugar to my coffee and almost never drink full calorie soda, I did use some raw sugar in my Starbucks coffee and drink one to two diet sodas a day.  All that is gone too.

It's been a bit tough, and I have to admit having probably the equivalent of one serving of bread a day but that's it.  I haven't added any sugar to any food, and tried to eat natural foods without added sugars in processing.  Also, I have had almost no diet soda in a week.  The end result?  Consistent energy levels except for some fatigue after not sleeping well for two nights, full recovery from the lingering cold, and I've lost over ten pounds-not all this week but over the past few weeks.

So clean those diets up!  Eat it naturally and close to the way God made it!

God's Diet Plan and Presidential Fitness Challenge Updates

Recently I have been instructed by a doctor and encouraged by others to really clean my diet up.  Most the recommendations as he gave them sounded like my earlier posts (started here and continued for 12 other posts or so).  A few differences was his emphasis on good fats, especially avocados, and Omega oils.  I've never taken Omega supplements but will start out on them and see how all this works together.  A number of years ago I really cleaned up the diet, so I know it's possible and beneficial.  In that case I lost something like 25 pounds while not losing much strength, was healthy and vibrant, and still ate well.  Like most people, it's really the convenience of fast food/processed foods that results in me eating so much of them.  It definitely isn't the varied taste, as the overwhelming flavor when you really think about it is SALT!  Ok, maybe some meat taste if it is at a higher quality place, and some cheese or veggies, but sometime ask yourself what you are really tasting/craving and I'll bet more often than not it is salt, followed closely by chemical sweet.

So I am trying to zero the processed starch, sugar and added salt while ramping up the whole foods, fresh fruits and veggies, nuts and good fats.  I'll keep lifting to preserve muscle mass and liking will lean out 10-15 pounds, but that really isn't the goal.

As I posted about earlier this week, maximizing the counted activity keeps my rolling monthly average for Presidential Fitness Challenge points at 10,000 points.  At that rate I should finish up silver and gold qualifications reasonably quickly.  The 1,000,000 point platinum award?  How about sometime next decade?  Hey, it's a goal at least!

Rest and recovery day two

Still pretty wiped out so taking today "off" too.  Will probably do some light stretching tonight but overall having a physically easy day while working and taking care of some admin/personal matters.  I've found that in my 40s rest and recovery are as important as the workouts, as are diet and sleep.

So tomorrow I'm back at it with a short lifting workout around work and a friend's retirement ceremony.

Update and observations on Presidential Fitness Challenge: Odd events

I continue to progress accumulating points toward Presidential Fitness Challenge awards.  For the last month or so I have been tracking everything, and I mean everything, when it comes to earning points.  I topped 52,000 points this weekend!  I've also earned just over 10,000 points in the last rolling month period after slowly bringing it up from 2000 to 5000 and now to 10K.  One way I've done this is by becoming more active on projects around my house, yard and garage.   Adding in a couple of "moving parties" and lots of points for "lifting/hauling" and the points total skyrockets.  This is because there are all kinds of activities that earn points if you make the effort to log them.  Big ones recently have been "home repairs", "household tasks" and the aforementioned "lifting/hauling".  Unfortunately I have also discovered it is possible to overtrain while lifting and hauling, as helping some friends move Saturday wiped me out as I finished recovering from my cold.

 

If you think those are some odd point earning activities (as I get points for folding clothes as a light household activity) there are even more odd events and scoring.   As I've scrolled through the list of ways to get credit, I've noticed these categories:  Baton Twirling, Billiards (and Darts), Hunting and Sailing.  How about this problem:  If you log time spent bowling-does the snack bar and beverages cost you points?  A couple of beers or sodas, a greasy pizza slice and sharing some nachos and I don't think three games of bowling are much benefit-although a fun way to spend time with friends.  Here's another one I saw, and fitting since I had just talked with a duck hunting friend about shivering in cold water:  Hunting awards 4.8 points per minute as it only has one intensity level.  Is that freezing in a duck blind, stalking or walking with your dogs and gun, or time spent up in a tree stand?  I find the categories fairly arbitrary-some make complete sense as fitness activities and some seem added just to increase scope and inclusiveness without much thought of the muscle and bone building or aerobic components of the event.

 

That said, I'm going to need to claim every point I can to ever get to the platinum award level of 1,000,000 points!

Today only-big savings on Spartan Races!

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So if you click on one of the banner ads on this page, and then enter one of those codes, we both benefit.  Thanks for helping me out, and enjoy your race!

Back into gym with last stages of a cold

I've gotten my semi-annual cold and seem to be into the second week of symptoms.  Normally my colds are fairly textbook-come on over a day or two, one pretty bad week, a few days of good and bad moments, then two or three days flushing everything out.  Today marks day 8 and I am feeling more energetic and "real" than I have in about a week, so it's time to get back in the gym.  Of course the temptation is to do way too much, so the old adage from a Corpsman at Dive School will apply.  He had a great saying, "Too much can-do can do you in"!  I sure don't want to drive this cold down into my lungs, or wear myself out where I can't finish recovering.  So I'll probably stretch really well, do some light calisthenics like short sets of push-ups, PVC pipe squats and crunches and then spin the bike easy for a while.  Just something to keep the blood flowing and the flexibility up without taking two weeks off.  And I'll accumulate a few more points for the Presidential Fitness Challenge to boot.

The fancy name is Nocturnal Gastrocnemius Hyperactivity, but it still hurts!

2 nights ago I was awakened by an excruciating cramp in my left calf muscle, i.e. a nocturnal Gastrocnemius cramp.  While my muscle relaxed after a few minutes, it has been sore until this afternoon with some response to stretching.  I haven't worked out since before the cramp-I have been active, walked around and worked in my garage but haven't "loaded up" the calf muscle.  What happened, and how can I keep it from happening again?

First, I have begun lifting again, and while the weights aren't very heavy, I have worked at both full range of motion and pushing from my heels for all the lifts like squats, deadlifts and overhead presses.  I also have tried to walk more.  On top of this activity, my diet this past week hasn't been very good (breakfast the best meal of the day but a few trips to fast food places for the standard fast food meal as well).  To top it off, I donated 1 trillion platelets earlier that day, and this was my third donation in four weeks.  I'm guessing I dehydrated a little bit, ran my body down a bit more than I thought, and got my foot in an odd position.  Viola, massive cramp, waking up in pain and another reminder I'm getting older and vulnerable to maladies that used to be purely academic.  I'd read about them in training literature but not identify with them.  Not anymore!

So I googled "Nocturnal calf cramps."  Some websites offer info all over the place-of course potassium is important, as is magnesium and drinking lots of water.  Some discuss supplements and even one talks about using a small bar/hotel bar of soap.  I'm not really sure how that works and am not in a hurry to try that.  But the standard advice should work as it should-plenty of water, whole foods, vitamin and mineral balance.  I probably messed some or all of that up and am paying the price.

As always, unless you have specific dietary needs, eat it as close to how God made it as possible, and when things change-high stress levels, illness, blood or blood product donations-make sure you focus on a good diet and plenty of water.

And with that bookkeeping, I'm the newest Bronze Presidential Champion!

I just logged in to the President's Challenge website, and since I count "motorcycle repair" as home repair, and any lifting/hauling can be credited, I crossed over 40,000 points tonight!

Celebration, we're gonna celebrate and have a good time!

Presidential Champion Challenge Bronze Award

 

I would expect everyone to be awed, but its the first and easiest award.  Silver is another 50,000 points-more than I've already earned, so I'm immediately back to only 44% complete.  Also, my guest columnist Stephen "Wally" Siebel has at least one of the one million point Platinum awards, and the Grandmaster of the tae kwon do school I used to train with has multiple Platinum awards.  If I consistently work out, and more consistently log activity, I may have a shot at at least one Platinum award.

What do you do to stay motivated?

Quick update

Just a quick post to update the blog.

Back doing a modified Stronglifts 5x5 but not being consistent enough yet.  Getting there on getting multiple workouts a week in, and happy with how the weights feel so far.

Working on getting more sleep and eating a bit better.  Platelet donations through yesterday definitely show the effects of a fatty diet, but BP and cholesterol numbers are checked each time and they are good.  BP yesterday was lowest I've had in a long time.

Once I do the data entry, I should have the Bronze Presidential Fitness Challenge Award!  Yea Me!  Actually only 40,000 points, so I have a long long way to go compared to many.

The obligatory "Dost thou even hoist" post

At long last I "went to the bar" today.  No not a drinking establishment-the 45# olympic bar on a squat rack.  I had to reset the Stronglifts 5x5 back to the empty bar for squats and bench presses since it has been so long.  But I cheated on deadlifts, since a friend and I had been talking trash on Facebook yesterday.  I did singles to see how much I could still pull, or correctly in the meme wars, hoist.

I hoisted 250 for 1 rep without too much drama and decided to stop there.  Wanted to get a baseline but not tweak anything my first day back.  I've made pretty good progress in the past on Stronglifts 5x5 and read other powerlifting guides/pdf's plus looked at other workouts.  I think a modified 5x5 (need a bit more rest than three constantly increasing workouts a week allows at this point of my life) should show some nice gains.  The goal is to hoist 405# from the floor by Christmas and keep going to a 1000# powerlifting series.

So in honor of today's workout and those goals, here's one of the many "dost thou hoist" type meme's:

Still chipping away at Presidential Fitness Award

Just a quick note to say it's still slow and not what I wish it was, but some progress is being made in spurts toward the Bronze Presidential Fitness Award.  I'll get it someday!

Road Warrior diet tips and pointers and clean eating now that I'm home

I have blogged before about spending a large amount of time on the road for work travel.  On top of that, the motorcycle ministry I'm part of also seems to "ride to eat, eat to ride" more often than not!  So over the past year and a half I've noticed I eat probably 75-90% of my meals out-everything from a small snack/ice cream to fast food combo or my "made-up" combo (more on that later!) to full sit-down meals with shared appetizer, salad and big supper.  Is it any wonder my waistline was increasing and my health and energy levels decreasing?


Starting last November (as detailed here) I began disciplining myself to eat more fruit and veggies while traveling.  November was the second month of what turned into what has turned into 6.5 months of being on the road nearly 50% of the time.  But as I mentioned in later posts as I traveled, both better choices and portion control, plus working out at least a little, has resulted in better energy levels, much less of the bloated feeling I used to get every teach due to overindulgence, and a leaner appearance.  I messed up one night last week while on the road and definitely paid for it-I didn't feel right until afternoon the next day.  I'm sure it was the starchy appetizers, large BBQ sandwich and lots of fries that did me in.


Now I am home, and here's where phase II starts.  Yesterday I was at another barbeque place (Phil's-my favorite in San Diego).  I know how big their sandwiches are, and how they crush you with fries in the "small" order.  So I get a to-go box right out the gate and give away some of the fries.  Still an enjoyable meal, the basis for supper last night, and a good meeting and fellowship with some guys I rarely get to sit down with.  I've found most restaurants give you twice as much food as you need, partially to justify their higher prices.  I'm also going to try to only eat out 1 meal every other day this week.  I hit the grocery store after church and stocked up on fruit, some salad makings, some green beans to saute' and 5 pounds of chicken thighs.  I ripped the skin off them and stacked them in the crock pot with some chicken rub a friend makes.  Two are going to be supper tonight and depending on if I have to share (my wife doesn't normally eat thigh or leg chicken or turkey) I'll have about 3 more meals worth.


But there are some landmines eating at home too:


1) Corn chip strips have 13.5mg of sodium PER STRIP!  Serving size is 11 strips.....meaning my normal "serving" is probably 3-4 servings and nearly .5 grams of sodium!


2) We are out of mustard, so I put mayo on the sandwich.  Quality mustard is a must to keep sandwiches interesting, even if piled high with raw veggies.  If no veggies and no mustard my consumption of mayo will skyrocket, since I normally only eat it in tuna.


3)  My wife and I are going to have to spend less time working and volunteering or better manage prep and clean-up time.  OK, that should read, I need to help with prep and clean-up time if I want home-cooked food!  Diet isn't the only project I'm working on right now.....


4)  Initial food and seasoning costs for fresh "whole" food must be balanced with eat-out meals.  While $35 for mainly groceries today seems high, that's only 4 or so lunches, let alone suppers.  I'll cover half of that cost today.  And I'll have chopped garlic, sweet chili sauce and sandwich fixings, plus the chicken thighs still to eat.


So between the advice in this and other posts about how NOT to eat on the road and some ideas on eating at home, I hope this helps as you try to eat healthily and "as close to the way God made it" as you can!

Update 4/7:  Ate a lunch I packed, and despite snacking (daughter #2 brought home almond M&Ms, which ARE health food, well sort of, dark chocolate covered almonds are!) I'm eating leftover chicken, green beans and other stuff here.  Chicken thighs turned out great and I froze a third of them for later this month.

Almost as bad as doing taxes!

I have fallen way behind in logging my workouts to the Presidents Fitness Challenge website.  Tonight I was going to catch up instead of doing our taxes-yeah it was that bad.  Well, sometimes the site lets you make late entries for only two weeks back.  No big deal, but I had missed logging many previous workouts.  So I tested the website-entering a day in February I hadn't entered even my "walking around" steps.  Hallelujah (sort of) it let me log entries.  Good news for my progress to my first Presidents Fitness Award but bad news as I then tried to catch all the way up.

So that took longer than expected, but I am closing in on the bronze award.  I have just over 6600 points remaining, which seems like a lot, but just daily and household activities add up to nearly 1000 points a week.  If I can actually string together some workouts, Bronze is a done deal.

Well, now for the other essential part of a fitness/wellness plan: REST!  Time for bed!

Do what you can, every day, and it will make a difference

Today on Facebook there is a post going around that starts off "To the fatty running on the Westview track this afternoon:".  It then goes into a set of statements about how slow and shuffling the pace is, how often the runner has to take breaks, and how self-conscious they seem to be due to not being a fit, natural runner.

Then the hook-the auther is impressed (well, he uses language I won't repeat here, but yeah, impressed).  The rest of the piece talks about how motivating the runner is-getting out and trying, not giving in to obesity, bad habits, poor diet and sometimes even genetics.  He ends by saying "I have nothing but respect for you.  You've got this."

I recently had the same experience when swimming laps at a YMCA indoor pool.  About halfway through my workout the water aerobics class needed the area outside the lane ropes where I had been swimming due to a local high school swim team using the lanes.  I had to admit watching the water aerobics class enter the water was interesting-many were seriously, maybe morbidly, obese and a few left canes, a walker and in one case a motorized transport chair by the pool.  But I had to remember two things:  I had started my swim acknowledging how far I had fallen back as I was only swimming half a mile compared to longer/harder swims "back in the day."  Second, I had to remind myself that these dozen or so people were the ones making an effort.  They hadn't admitted defeat.  They were the only other people working out in the pool-no one else was swimming laps or water jogging.  They were the "champions" telling themselves and their fat they were taking control as of right then.

So to the water aerobics class, Hinesville GA YMCA:  I have nothing but respect for you.  You've got this.

Two Restaurant Meals Proved It!

I travel frequently for work.  One problem I discovered was by the third or fourth day of each trip I was feeling bloated, sluggish and generally bad.  The last trip I purposefully ate less and since it was a bit longer trip made a grocery run early on.  While I didn't eat a tremendously clean diet and still enjoyed eating a variety of foods prepared a variety of ways (it was in Georgia, so you can probably put two and two together....) I generally felt much better.  I also began swimming again, which is discussed in this post. 

Since I was in Georgia, I had to go to one of my favorite all-time restaurants:  Krystals!  Yes, I know they are horrible.  Yes, I now drink Coke Zero while eating them.  But since I only get to eat them maybe 5 times a year (including at the Krystals in the Atlanta Airport) they are a go-to cheat meal.  I have to admit that one indulgence had a quick impact on how I felt.  I didn't get sick per se, but I could tell my energy level was off, my stomach felt uneasy and I didn't have the energy/hunger/gut-strength feeling I can maintain in balance when eating better meals over a few days.  The stomach uneasiness lasted over two days, which is about how long full digestion and elimination happen when generally well from what I know.

The second meal was lunch yesterday.  I am on the road yet again and also visited a long-time favorite restaurant I don't get to often.  Dixie Grill on Oahu, Hawaii is a great place, and trust me, their food is much higher quality than Krystals!  This isn't an indictment on them, unless I can blame them for how good it was.  First, they give you popcorn to munch on and I LOVE POPCORN!  So I had to eat it all (yep, had to....).  I also got the Cuban Sandwich, which came with probably enough fries for two or three people.  The sandwich was great, the fries were awesome, and the tray of 6 BBQ sauces was put to good use on both of them.  I was a good boy and cleaned my plate.  Which is the second "reminder" and proof I've made the right call reducing restaurant eat-outs on these trips.  It was way too much food and nearly 18 hours later I am still full.  I'm not bloated and uncomfortable, but if I ate a base food court lunch (more simple starches, some fried) and a restaurant meal tonight I'd be setting myself up for a bad week.

Lessons here are 1) Take friends to Dixie Grill but get a to-go box when the food arrives.  It's too good not to go back, but I know I'll eat all the food they put in front of me if I don't box it up immediately.
2)  Keep making sandwiches, buying fruit and salad supplies and eat many smaller meals throughout the day instead of these monster simple carb/fried meals.

UPDATE:  Wow, I posted on almost exactly this topic back near Thanksgiving in this post.  The good news is portion control over the holidays and these last few trips have netted some good results-while I still need to build my strength back up, I've dropped a good bit of the weight I gained in 2013.  My wife has done a great job too by cleaning up her diet and walking/playing soccer.

A Big Day for the Blogs!

My three blogs will pass 10,000 hits in total today! Sure, there are some blogs that get that many hits a day, but this is a milestone so I’m going to observe it. After 6 years of rarely posting, finding a “voice”for my blogs, learning rudimentary search engine optimization (SEO) techniques and even starting to post YouTube videos, these blogs are “real” blogs, not just one or two posts.

I’ve learned the discipline working writers talk about is all too true, and the advice about capturing ideas when you have them. One of the interesting side projects is that I am also publishing stock analysis articles on Seeking Alpha-which both improves my writing, my stock analysis, and hopefully my investment returns!

I’ll post a belated “Thursday Thought” later today-yep, reminded again on writing discipline! Have a great day.

Swam again, plus walking around

I picked up some goggles yesterday and walked back to the YMCA today.  Weaved my way there across some fields and slightly cross-country, which was nice.

I only swam 400m, but it felt good to be back in the water and my body should be getting used to swimming again.  Still a little choppy, but after almost a year off that is to be expected.  I'm going to update the Presidential Fitness Challenge log tonight and as I catch up old workouts from times I didn't make entries and add new ones, I should be getting close to the Bronze award!

Swam for first time in too long/Presidential Fitness Challenge update

Yesterday I was able to get to an indoor 25 M pool and swim some laps.  I don't remember the last time I swam for distance, as my last two times in a pool were in our small backyard pool where one lap is probably 12 yards or less.  So yesterday I set out to swim at least 400m but knew I couldn't do it non-stop.  When I got to 350 I decided to go on to 800 and swam sets of 200 or so meters or more.  No great effort to go fast, just getting back into rhythm and breathing.  Well, got the 800m done in about 2 minutes longer than I used to do it when I was swimming at least weekly.  Pretty happy with that!

Catching up on the back entries I can make in the Presidential Fitness Challenge, and taking advantage of their liberal categories (like "lifting/hauling" equating to dragging luggage in and out of airports, lifting them into bins and rental cars etc.) so I've finally logged over 30,000 points.  I'm closing in on the Bronze Award, so between renewing my efforts to get and stay in shape and back entries, I may be close to getting it early next month.  Stay tuned, and comment with some of your goals!

Update on Presidential Fitness Champion Challenge

Wow, just logged in to my Presidential Fitness Champion account and realized I haven't logged anything since October!  Sure I got busy with work, life and starting to write articles for Seeking Alpha (www.seekingalpha.com, my screen name is "John Alford" if you're interested).  On top of not logging anything, I haven't been working out much.  However the good thing about the Presidential Fitness Challenge is you can log all activity-stretching, walking, housework/yardwork, "lifting and hauling" all count.  I especially like "lifting and hauling"-any Mom's want to figure out their credits for that one? :-)

So I checked how far you can go back and log entries.  It's just over two months, so I've made a few entries for walking/pedometer and stretching but won't try to remember everything.  Hopefully I can capture a thousand or more points and get back to earning 1000+ points a month.  Bronze is in sight, but platinum (1M points) may not happen for a long long time!

Just a quick update and challenge to myself

Well, I haven't posted to this blog in almost two weeks, and that post wasn't too long either.

Since then I've recovered from the cold that sapped all my energy, had a back spasms, gotten a chiropractor adjustment and had something "pop" in my back this morning that has some tightness returning.

It would be great to be able to get back to some workouts, but right now all I can do is walk and stretch/do yoga.  Light household tasks are getting easier, but for awhile I could barely carry 5-10 pound boxes for my wife.  Hopefully this weekend everything will resolve and I can start back at it.

Been working long hours and getting the SeekingAlpha post count up lately but it's time to get going on the blogs as well.


One effort is claiming my blogs on Technorati, which requires a verification code.  So here goes:


V82EPFFPFZBK


That has nothing to do with working out, God's Diet Plan, or any other of my usual topics.