Olympic Torch on Mt Everest Summit
The Olympic torch made it to the top of Mt Everest on Thursday May 8. A Tibetan woman took the torch the last few steps to the summit shouting "Long live Tibet" along with the other climbers says
this story in Routers.
I'm set to climb to Mt Everest base camp this Oct with a group of six friends.
Story via
Straight to the BarLabels: mt-everest
Fat Man Unleashed - Interview Part 3
As I said in Part 1 of this interview with
healthy weight loss blogger Israel Lagares, in his best shape, a few years ago, standing 6 feet tall and weighing a muscular 235 pounds, Israel enjoyed living the fit life, working out and turning food into muscle. A few years later, having fallen off the fitness wagon and tending to not so healthy foods, he put on some weight and ballooned up to 348 pounds.
It happens to the best of us, something happens, life gets in the way, and for whatever reason, the guru of health or fitness gains some weight back.
Part 1 of this interview discussed his fitness routine, while
part 2 was about his diet. We conclude this week with part 3, the Mental Game of getting back in shape.
The Mental Game of Getting Back Into Shape
How important is the mental aspect to your training and nutritional program?
Crucial. Your head has to be in the game. You need to be mentally prepared to undertake the ups and downs that a diet or training program can have on you. There are going to be days when you just want to give it all up, but you need to dig down deep and stick with it.
Do you have any favorite sayings? Quotes? Anything that inspires you to be better, train harder or be more diligent with your eating?
My favorite saying is "Just Do It." I think it explains itself.
What happens when things don't go your way?
I cry like a baby. LOL. Seriously though, I just look at the positives and try to build on them.
How do you deal with boredom in your program?
I tweak it. I tweak out the boredom every so often. Tweaking can be anything from adding/replacing a specific exercise to changing the location of your workouts to alternating a workout altogether (incorporating boxing instead of running).
How does missing a workout affect you?
It really brings me down. I feel guilty and then want to make up for it by over training, so it behoove me to not miss a workout.
What do you do about it?
It rarely happens, but if I do I have a super intense workout the next day. This usually leads to some sort of strain, but i fight through it.
I try to plan ahead of time so that I don't miss any workouts.
How important is a reward meal or a cheat meal from a mental perspective?
It depends on the person. I can go a few weeks without a cheat meal and be fine, but some folks may need one cheat meal a week to stay sane. If that's what works for you, then go for it. When the time comes for a cheat meal you usually won't really overeat if you have been committing to your workouts and dieting. But, like I said, it depends on the individual. The best thing to do is find what works for you and stick to it.
I want to thank Israel for taking the time out of his busy schedule to participate in this interview series. Read about his
fitness routine, his
weight loss program in parts one and two and more about him on his
weight loss blog.
Labels: blogger-interviews, interviews, Israel-lagares, weight-loss-blogs
Whole Foods Market Shopping Tips
How to Shop at Whole Foods Market
The
merger of Whole Foods Market with Wild Oats highlights the benefits and drawbacks of this organic retail giant. Although Whole Foods Market certainly provides a "feel good" shopping experience for millions of consumers, it's important to keep in mind that WFM isn't nearly as green as it pretends to be. But of course, for many consumers, Whole Foods Market offers the only access for green and organic products. If Whole Foods Market is the only option available in your area, here are some important tips for the organic-minded shopper:
Tips For Shopping At Whole Foods Market
- Look for locally grown produce: Whole Foods offers only a limited supply of local produce, although it is well labeled. Reduce the burden of long-distance food transportant on the planet by asking your WFM produce manager to stock more local produce.
- Not everything is as "natural" or "organic" as you might think: Although Whole Foods doesn't carry products with trans fats or artificial coloring, everything else is fair game, including MSG and rBGH, so being a vigilant label reader is still a necessity. Look for the USDA organic label.
- Whole Foods has taken the position that unions aren't valid. It is the second largest union-free food retailer, right behind Wal-Mart. Don't assume the employees are all adequately trained in understanding how to distinguish between products that are and are not truly organic and natural.
- The OCA always recommends supporting your locally owned food co-op, farmer's market, CSA or independently-owned natural food store, first and foremost, (search for resources near you in OCA's "Local Buying Guide" here: http://www.organicconsumers.org/btc/BuyingGuide.cfm)
Rob's Note: employees at Whole foods indeed, DO NOT know a lot about the products they carry. One of my clients went to Whole Foods Market to purchase Kamut flour. "Doesn't exist" they were told. It most certainly does exsist. In my opinion Whole Foods Market is just another brand. A local business I used to shop at here locally in Edmonton, had the policy of "no artificial sweeteners and no GMO products" would enter their store. After building thier brand for several years, The Big Fresh was purchased by Planet Organic.
Its tough to say this, but it seems that no matter where you shop, no matter how green they say they are or how green you think they look, you have to read labels.
I should say "indeed, there seem to be employees" at Whole Foods Market who do not know a lot about the products they carry rather than lumping in those who work there who are indeed passionate about, well, whole foods.
source:
Organic ConsumersLabels: shopping, tips, whole-foods, whole-foods-market
Fat Man Unleashed - Interview Part 2
Last week I began my three part interview series with Israel Lagares who runs his
healthy weight loss blog Fat Man Unleashed.
Part one of the series was about his
fitness routine, and this week we continue with his nutritional program.
Describe the diet you're following to achieve your goal.
I am on a balanced protein, carb, low fat intake diet. I eat a lot of fruit, veggies and chicken. I don't eat a lot of refined or processed foods. I don't drink anything but water and green tea. Simple.
Yep, sounds pretty simple. Seems we both believe eathing natural foods is the way to go. What is the main focus of the diet? (ie: cutting calories? cutting fat? eating natural?)
Initially it was cutting calories, but now I have focused on eating more fruits and veggies to "fill" me up.
So Volumization then? High fiber foods? How many meals a day are you eating?
I strive for 5 to 6 but am more at about 4 to 4.75 meals a day.
I'm finding the same thing. As I eat higher nutrient density foods and higher fiber foods, I'm full longer and eating 5 or 6 meals is a little more tricky. Does the rest of your family / household eat the same way as you?
With the exception of my daughter, yes. My wife has been an integral part in our healthy eating.
Nice. It's always good to have support when it comes to nutrition. I had no idea you had a daughter. Do you allow for a reward meal (cheat meal) [explain how often and how you manage it if the answer is yes, also your favorite cheat meals]
Man o man. I love food. As of right now I am not allowing cheat meals, but I usually do when I am not an such an intense program. My favorite cheat meals are pizza, chicken Alfredo, and lasagna.
What about supplements? Which if any supplements do you add to your diet?
I supplement with a multivitamin, amino acids, creatine, glutamine, and protein.
I used creatine and Glutamine for years. Right now I'm sticking with Sunrider foods for my supplementation. Ok, what about Coffee? Would you choose coffee or green tea?
GREEN TEA! I refuse to drink coffee.
Nice. Coffee is battery acid. Ok, what about water? Would you choose water by itself? or do you dress it up with some sort of mix? or do you drink a calorie free beverage?
Agua.
Eating healty must be expensive for you? How much do you spend on food in a given week / month?
We spend about $100 to 150 a week on groceries.
Awesome. That's less than me. Are there any foods you outright avoid and DO NOT eat?
Yes, definitely. I make a concerted effort to avoid eating anything from a fast food restaurant.
List your top 2 supplements [and why if it applies]?
Glutamine and multivitamins. Glutamine helps my body with the recovery process and multivitamins help fill the void when I don't get all of my nutrients from food.
And finally Isreal, how about leaving some tips for the readers. Please describe 3 of your best eating or dieting tips:
It's important to prepare. Prepare or plan your meals in advance. Know what you are going to eat well in advance that way you don't have to think about anything when the time comes. It's also important to forget.
If you have a bad day you need to acknowledge that you messed up and move on. Dwelling on the fact that you ate 2 whole pizza pies doesn't do anything but make you feel like crap. Put it behind you and get back on track with your life and diet. Finally, drink water. Water is your best friend. It helps with cleaning out your system, filling you up, and processing your foods.
The interview will continue next week when I talk with the Fat Man about his mental mindset to his training and nutrition. For more info about Israel, visit his
weight loss blog.
Read this interview from the beginning -
Israel's fitness routine.
Labels: blogger-interviews, interviews, Israel-lagares
Free Recipes Blog - a Review
As I write my course on better eating, I’m realizing that many of the participants are enjoying the recipes that are provided. Great
whole food recipes that my girlfriend and I create and eat ourselves here at home.
Everyone loves recipes, and the more the better I always say.
I’ve posted a few of them here on my website and I’ve send out a monthly favorite to my subscribers each month along with my natural health newsletter.
The recipes I’m interested in, and the ones we promote are low fat / good fat, dairy free, whole food vegetarian recipes. I figure that any high school or college student can cook meat, but it’s the rest of the important qualities of food, namely whole foods, that we could all learn more about.
The
free recipes website My Recipes Blog is
most certainly not in that category.
Great Recipe Photos? Nope! The pictures of the recipes are small and hard to see.
Dairy Free? Certainly not. The front page alone has a Bechamel Sauce that includes 300ml milk, 300 ml light cream (oh good, it’s light) and 55 grams of butter. Uggghhh. I just read that off to my girlfriend sitting in her office and she exclaimed "
Jesus! What kind of website is this? Is this a health website?" Nope.
Low fat? Not a chance. Again, the front page has many free recipes that include a "good helping of oil". One has 4 Tbsp of oil, the next 5 Tbsp and the one above of course has 600 ml of milk /cream plus the 55 grams of butter. Nope, certainly not low fat recipes.
You probably know by now that I’m against pop or soft drinks of any sort and diet pop is one of the worst possible chemical concoctions ever made. Aspartame, Sucralose, Nutrasweet and all that crap are know carcinogens, avoid them like the plague. When you see a
recipe blog that has a category entitled "Coca-Cola", close the tab and run away.
Yes, it’s a
free recipe website.
It’s a "cheap" free recipe website.
Have a look at their
about page.
The owner hasn’t even changed it since installing the blog! Do not use these recipes, do not visit
this website. I took on this paid review to bring it to your attention so that you could better use your time by learning about the "other side of the coin" –
whole food recipes.
This has been an honest, paid, sponsored review of My Recipes Blog. If you want me to review your website, I'll do it, but I'll be honest.
One a scale of 1 to 100, this free recipe website gets a 1.
Labels: Recipes, review
