WDS

What do I miss??

on September 8th, 2010 by Rob

He is a god you know

Today’s post is inspired by Jack! He is really good…. always has good, entertaining information. Check out his blog!

But his post today was all about what we are missing by not being in shape. Well, we are missing confidence, health, enthusiasim for life… the list goes on and on.

Now, not to be negative- but it got me thinking. It got me thinking about what I was missing by being “lighter”. Here was my response to his post:

I am in the same boat as Clyde. I saw a buddy of mine the other day that I had not seen in a while…. dude was big!

I on the other hand, have gone the OTHER way.

I was thinking about what you said… about what we are missing. Sometimes it does me good to think about what I am missing being more fit. O.K.—– let’s see. I am missing being miserable when I try to tie my shoes. I am missing being miserable when I try to chase down my 5 year old. I am missing being miserable after I eat ALL the Doritos!!! I guess I just miss being miserable.

Thanks Jack for helping me think about it!

This is the point of my whole fitness life. Does what I am doing today get me closer to my goal? Does laying in the bed in the morning instead of getting up and running— does that get me closer to my goal??? NO!

Get up. Get moving. Lose weight. Have a better life!

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Well, This is hard to believe!

on September 7th, 2010 by Rob

O.K.- so there is something you should know about me. I know- I walk around with this general air of competence… I give off this vibe of I know what the hell I am talking about…. but the truth of the matter is that I have A LOT of self doubts.

O.K.- that being said—- I have a point. I came up with this idea a few weeks ago to do an ABCs of weight loss. Well, I will be damned if that was not the SAME EXACT IDEA that Woman’s health came up with. I am not even believing this… they even have used some of the same letters!!!!! I mean… I swear, I can hardly wrap my mind around it. I wonder if someone there saw my article it is so similar. Of course, theirs is complete—- so maybe not, but it really does validate some of my insecurities…. or should I say it validates me when I do feel like I have a good idea. Oh well, no matter! Check out their article here—– WOMAN’S HEALTH ABCs.

Mine is below—->

Who’s is better?

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The ABC’s of Weight Loss

on September 7th, 2010 by Rob

My second son… George- Jorge as my friend Rocky calls him…. is learning his ABC’s—– this is a rudimentary exercise that all kids do- it is a building block to reading and further advancement. (I know… I sound like a teacher)- Anywho…. George is learning to talk and Beth and I have started going through his alphabet.

So, with this in mind… an idea came to me. Why not come up with an ABC’s of weight loss? I did the 31 Habits (make sure to scroll down)  not long ago and this will be more of the same…. except, you will have to tune in each day to see what is next. I will just go in and mysteriously edit the post. Funny enough… it is also the network that my show was on.

So- join me for this- Here we go!!

A- A is for APPLE (did you really think I would come up with anything else here?) Apples are good for you…. you know there is a reason that we have sayings like this one…. it is because they are at least partly true. In this case, it is all the way true…. have one each day and it keeps the doctor away. The thing is, really any fruit will do the trick. They are much better for you than Twinkies and are almost as good. Check out this information on apples.

B- B is for BEER.  If you are ANYTHING like me… the thought of not drinking beer is just simply …. NOT an option. So I had to come up with something. If I am out mowing the yard or doing something where I just want a little beer kinda sorta taste, then I go with the new Budweiser Select 55 beer- BUT- If I want a real good micro brew- I go with Sam Adams Light. It has a few more calories (o.k.- about twice as many) than the Bud, but it is well worth it. Closest thing that I have found to a “regular” beer.

I guess you could also say that A is for alcohol- So… there were two for A—- “O.K., You got the bonus plan!”- don’t get used to it!

C- C is for COFFEE or CAFFEINE- This seems to be the thing that gets me up in the morning these days. When I wake up, it is the first thing that I think of.

Well- as it turns out coffee can supercharge your workout. Check out this Article from Yahoo Health…. I have heard this before. Apparently, caffeine gives you more stamina— in other words you can run further which equals more calories burned.

D- D is for DIET. But not the diet you think. As a matter of fact, I would go so far as to say that I am not and have not been on a diet since I was in the People Magazine Weight Loss Challenge. The thing is…. I don’t really want to stop eating the things that I like. I just have to find some things that I can live with. What are they?

Well, for starters…. I don’t order 20 wings… I order 6. I don’t have 5 regular beers… I have 3 Light beers. I don’t have a WHOLE sandwich at the deli… I have a half- and BAKED chips. OH—- and a DIET COKE. I just had to find some alternatives and have LESS!

E- E is for EXERCISE…. of course. You need at least 5 hours a week of exercise. That is my rule… you know what- I am going to stop quoting the experts and doctors on this. According to me— you need 5 hours a week. And remember, the faster you do it, the faster you will get it over with. LOL!!

F- F is for FRUCTOSE- get it from fruit! I have said on more than one occasion… avoid the High Fructose Corn Syrup. A study by Hepatology stated that when given fructose water, rats had a tendency to become obese. AND THAT WAS JUST WATER… we eat this stuff in our bread…. it is everywhere!! Read your labels and AVOID it!

G- G is for Grapefruit. Have a grapefruit and you are likely to lose more weight… faster. Subjects of a study done by the Journal of Medicinal Food that ate half of a grapefruit before each meal, lost more weight at the end of 12 weeks than those that did not. On the other hand…. I HATE GRAPEFRUIT. And by the way…. I have seen commercials for some crappy diet pill based on grapefruits. They say that grapefruits are super-foods and that they take more calories to burn than they contain. THIS IS CRAP! NOT TRUE! Don’t buy into this!!!!! G- G is for GOOD!!! Like GOOD food—- NOT GRAPEFRUIT! Or G- G is for God. He helps you lose weight!!!

H- H is for High Fructose Corn Syrup- Just don’t eat it. I can not tell you how many times I have been asked over the last couple of years about my diet… what did I follow? How did I make food decisions. If you can lay off of the HFCS…. you are WAY ahead of the game! Not only is this stuff NOT exactly like sugar, but your body does not metabolize it the same way. IT WILL MAKE YOU FAT! AVOID IT!!

I- I is for INSULIN. Of course diabetes is where I am coming from here. If you increase your exercise and watch your diet, you will have a decreased chance of getting this disease. I know… this is all very insightful, but it is something that HAS to be said.

J- J is for JELLY! OMG!!!! Have you had the smuckers with Splenda?? Fabulous!!! (Said that just like Jack from Will and Grace!)—- O.K. here is the deal. I LOVE PB&J. My wife gets on to me all the time for eating it. I practically grew up on it. My Dad used to say I was going to turn into a peanut butter and jelly sandwich– or a Pop-Tart.  I still eat ‘em. But here is the thing….. I have CHANGED it. I eat whole wheat bread, Smuckers with the Splenda and reduced fat PB. OH—- and I only eat one now… instead of two. I think that this is a great example of a small change that you can make and come out ahead!!! Just change your favorite thing— to something slightly better (oh, and don’t eat as much!!)

K- K is for KETOSIS. This is actually a real medical-type term (don’t you just love how smart I sound) that I had never heard before. Ketosis is actually the point at which your body runs low on carbs and starts burning fat. Ketosis is what your body goes into if you go on the Adkins diet (you know, low carbs). Studies show that people that resist carbs loose more weight initially than those that avoid fats…. however, after about a year, their results are comparable. As I have said before, the problem is that you can’t resist bread and pasta and sugar your whole life.

L- L is for LEPTIN- This is a hormone. It is responsible for telling your brain when you are full. Researchers have found that if you don’t eat enough…. or if you starve yourself, then this will lower leptin levels- thus prompting you to eat more.

A study published recently suggests that the consumption of high amounts of fructose causes leptin resistance and elevated triglycerides in rats. The high-fructose diet rats subsequently ate more and gained more weight than controls when fed a high fat, high calorie diet.

So- for the love of God…. eat your snacks and lay off the High Fructose Corn Syrup!!!

M- M is for- Mojo- We (and when I say this… I am talking about the people that I work out with) talk about this all the time. Or we might say that someone has not “flipped their switch”. What we mean by this is you have to get it in your head…. you have to get motivated, you have to become AWARE of what you are doing. You have to get your Mojo to lose weight! Don’t lose it!

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Maters!!!

on August 11th, 2010 by Rob

Beth and I have started a new thing. Maters…. in the back yard. Of course I had to use a picture of Tow-Mater (my kids love this)!!

But what we have found is that it is a lot of fun for all of us. Beth and I make sure that they are watered by assigning one of the kids to do it each day. George particularly loves it.

The tomatos that we planted this spring grew about 5 feet tall and ended up giving us tomatos for about 6 weeks. Not bad for our first go ’round.

Since then… actually just in the past few days, we have planted some pepers and some different kinds of tomatos… grape tomatos I think.

The whole point of this exercise is to not only foster some fun for our family… being out in the back yard together (of course Dad just kind of sits on the porch and drinks beer)…. but to also to try to spur my kids interest in vegtables. I want them to LIKE vegtables.

When I was a kid, my GRANDPARENTS grew tomatos in the back-yard, but vegtables were not really a part of my life. I mean, I ate a lot of pop-tarts, but those don’t grow in the back-yard. Maybe if my PARENTS had been into it…. I would have grown to like vegtables and I would not have been 25 years old when I ate my first tomato. (Which by the way is actually a fruit).

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Portion Control- Part deux

on August 6th, 2010 by Rob

Continuing on my rant about portions…. my wife actually pointed out to me that I had forgotten one…. one of my big ones.

Well, I actually left out more than one, so here are a few more:

1. This is the one that I forgot….. eat off of a smaller plate. Smaller plate makes your portions look bigger- even when their not so you end up fooling yourself!

2. This one I do all the time- when you go to a restaurant, immediately pack up half of your meal and take it home. This way you don’t eat as much and the next meal you get a smaller portion of the same thing. I do this with steaks a lot.

3. I actually heard about this one- I have to admit, I have never done it- but I thought that it was worth mentioning. This one is: make meat your side. In other words, eat as many vegetables as you want- using them as your main course, then have a smaller amount of meat as your side dish. I can’t believe I just suggested this.

4. Remember your serving standards- 5oz meat is about the size of a deck of cards. A cup of pasta or rice or whatever, is about the size of a tennis ball.

5. Treat yourself- (of course, this is my favorite)- indulge. Treating yourself every once in a while will keep you from feeling deprived- and a feeling of deprivation can easily lead to over eating

Thanks- that concludes my list!

Do you have any more hints?

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Healthy Nachos?

on August 3rd, 2010 by Rob

Beth and I have little kids…. so we don’t get out that much. One of our favorite “date nights” is to just rent a movie… either RedBox or NetFlix (if I have chosen properly on my que)- anyway, when we sit down to watch a movie- it is always fun to have something to snack on.

The problem comes in when you stop thinking about what you are doing and eat too many of the chips or whatever your eating. I mean, I can eat a whole bag of popcorn before the credits have stopped rolling at the start of the movie.

So- I got this healthy nacho recipe and thought I would share it. Check it out-

First, use these tips to get the basics right—-Start with some baked chips, use fat-free refried beans (or whole black beans), use chicken instead of beef, use green onions, use jalopenos, use reduced fat cheese (fat free cheese doesn’t melt well) and use low fat sour cream- and remember the salsa (low fat and has lots of lycopene)

- 15 oz can of fat-free refried beans

- 7 oz can of chopped green chilis (drained)

- 1 cup of reduced fat shredded Mexican cheese

- 1 cup salsa

- 1/2 cup finely sliced green onions

-1/4 cup chopped fresh cilaantro

-1/4 cup light sour cream

Heat your oven to 400 degrees. In a pan (or pie plate) spread out a few baked chips. Top the chips with half of your refried beans. Then spread half of your chilis and salsa. Then put some more chips on top with more beans, chilis and salsa (you’re making two layers)

Sprinkle your cheese over the top and throw it in the oven for about 5 minutes…. till the cheese melts. Then put some on a plate and sprinkle with the scallioins and cilantro and sour cream.

Enjoy!!!

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Can I Motivate You??

on August 2nd, 2010 by Rob

A new day is dawning in the life of your humble host. I am embarking on a speaking career! I hope that I will be able to motivate people to CHANGE their lives.

I know that I may not be perfect…. this is still a work in progress, but I think that I have something to say with my ideas about weight loss, health, diet and overall better health. It doesn’t hurt that I come from Mississippi and we are the worst about these things.

Check out the video above that I found on You Tube. Pretty good. Fight the good fight… change your life!!! Be healthy! Still eat chicken wings!

Contact me if I can help you with your next event or if you have a group that needs some inspiration! Thanks!

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5 Foods to Boost Your Overall Health

on July 30th, 2010 by Rob

These foods, while not nececarrally just for weight loss will certainly help with your diet. Your overall well being. Here they are in no particular order-

1. Berries- I have talked about this before… this is all about the antioxidants—— think Dr. Oz and his fight against heart disease!

2. Broccoli- I have to admit, I am not the best at this one. I do eat is sometimes…. my wife tries to get me to eat it more. I have heard that steaming is the best way…. that way all the best stuff stays in. Broccoli has been linked to the prevention of colon cancer as well as lung cancer. (I bet it’s just because if you don’t care for yourself enough to stop smoking… then you’re sure as hell not gonna eat broccoli) — anyway, eat more of this!! Oh… and it has antioxidants too!

3. Salmon (and other fatty fish)- we all know that fish has lots of protein…. but it also has the all important omega-3 fatty acids. These oils have been shown to prevent heart disease. Good enough for me.

4. Tomatoes- got it covered. Ketchup will take care of this for me. All my friends make fun of me because I eat so much. But even though I don’t eat as much as I used to…. I still get plenty. The thing that is good here is the lycopene. There has been research done in the past that suggests that lycopene prevents certain kinds of cancer.

5. Occasional Treats- I am BIG on this one. As I have said—- moderation is the key to life—– having some things that may not be that good for you… OCCASIONALLY…. I think is the key to life and a successful nutrition plan!

Can you think of any more that need to be included in this list?

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Burn more in less time!!!

on July 25th, 2010 by Rob

This post goes right along with a post that I did a few days ago. I was talking about doing more —-faster.

So, here is the deal. Furthering my assertion that you need to “move your ass”- I read an article a few days ago based on a study from Harvard…. (don’t you just love how this lends credibility to virtually anything you say)- anyway- Harvard says that losing weight is a lot more about calories burned than time clocked. (Shocking!!!)

So- they say you will need about 7 hours a week walking at a 20 minute mile pace vs. about 2 hours a week running at a 10 minute pace to burn enough calories to lose weight (formula based on a 140lb woman).

So- as I said a few days ago…. I don’t want to mess around with this for the rest of my life. It is time to move!!! Get it done, get it over with!! MOVE YOUR ASS!!!

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Prostrate Cancer Risks are high!!

on July 24th, 2010 by Rob

Well, I am pretty sure that this is NOT something that I want. I mean, the examination is bad enough—– “Moon River”—– I can only imagine what the treatment is like. I recently went in for an examination and I told my doctor- “I can’t believe that I pay you for that” … He said, “well, I am sure as hell not doing it for free”—- Good point doc!

I do have a point. It is get moving to reduce your risk of prostrate cancer.

I was reading an article today about the risks and how to avoid this deadly disease. Wrap your head around this one…. ONE IN SIX MEN WILL GET IT!!!!!How can this be avoided? Read on!

1. Lose the fat in your diet- eating a lot of this…. expecially from animals (which tells me it is most likly saturated fat)—- eating a lot of this has been linked to a higher risk of prostrate cancer

2. Pack your diet with nutrients- MORE THE BETTER ON FRUITS AND VEGTABLES! Pick the ones with bright colors.

3. BE FIT!!- The American Cancer Society recomends at least 30 minutes a day of exercise… but 45-60 mins per day is really needed to reduce the risk.

Also, men that have what is called meabolic syndrome are more likely to get prostrate cancer… what is that? Well, it is a certain group of risk factors… overweight, fat around your mid-section and  higher blood sugar levels…. basically being un-fit.

So, there ya go…. it is as easy as that! And make sure to get checked regularly… don’t fear the finger!

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