Dude, what's in the bottle?


Who drinks soda? Answer: most of us at least sometimes.
I have and are likely to drink some more at some point. Today I walked in the kitchen. As I looked around I saw on my counter a bottle of Dr.Pepper with about a fifth left inside. I asked my mom and she said go for it. And I was going to...after all, it had been some time since I have drank any so...

Wait. Am I reading this label correctly?
Okay I am about to hit a sort of cliche here, but listen.
If most of us drink soda, most of us probably know what is one of the top ingredients in soda.
Any body know? That's right,sugar. I cannot tell you or anyone what really is the best level of sugar-other than the lowest amount. I can say you can learn a lot form skimming labels even if you are determined to drink soda for your whole life.

This brings me back to the kitchen.
As I look in slight shock at this label I see a whopper 64G of sugar in this small bottle. I was tempted to ask how did they manage to add that much sugar, most sodas I would guess at around 30 or 40 grams. Still, I could have told my mom, but I didn't

I had the technology, so with the help of my step dad and his special scale,I figured I'd do better by showing her and the major soda drinkers a visual and let them take away what they wish. Here is 64 grams of sugar and the bottle that contained the same amount.

 

No thanks-you can finish it yourself...

For anyone who wants to add an easy point on our 1-10 scale of health, here is a great place to start. Maybe it isn't necessary to cut soda out completely depending on your goals, but if you can replace a few bottles with water, two things happen. 1) Water begins to taste good. 2) You'll

probably feel better in a week or two (depends how much is half to you). So before taking on salads or whole wheat bread or swearing off pasta...put down the soda.

Good evening to all!

For anyone who has read through an earlier post or two of mine,  you may remember be mentioning the book "Moon-walking with Einstein" by Josh Foer. For the record it is thus far one of my favorite books on the mind/memory and the (brief) study of people. It actually covered what I was suspicious of in my last post- the part of working out (otherwise said: being strong) and then leveling out out of comfort and basically stopping progress. Basically there are 3 stages

1. Cognitive- intellectualizing the task and figuring strategies for the task
2. associative- less concentration needed, more efficient, less mistakes
3. autonomous-basically not paying attention and on autopilot

That's the usual order of things. Josh goes on to say that what makes experts, experts, is that they do all they can to stay focused with goals, technique and feedback . They stay away from the autopilot stage where progression stops, so they keep growing. I just wanted to briefly share that.

This brings me to my next suspicion that seems to be becoming a reliety. I talked to my stepdad today and he was in the kitchen while the P90X (yoga day) dvd was playing. Uh-Oh. I asked him shouldn't he be working out and he said, "yeah...but I already have been at it for half an hour and last night I worked out...went to bed late....tired...work tomorrow..."  Yeah.

Let it be said that I , David Coeyman, do sometimes wish to be wrong. Mostly in cases like this on people and where their behavior is leading them. This seems like a simple night off kind of deal, but that's how they tend to start. I should know, the words "good enough" have plagued my vocabulary and in some obvious ways, my life. Hopefully he raises his standards before it's too late, but cutting it short in week 1 defiantly is a sign of concern.

The magic of 90 days.

A few quick notes: In addition to my last post, my stepdad (P90X user), told me that the nutrition is broke into 3 parts and the first part is called "fat shredder". In fat shedder, you basically get so little carbs that you feel low on energy and hitting those workouts is all the more difficult (my slightly biased opinion). Unfortunately, I think I am right. He is already planning his cheat meals for next month. "Hitting a perfect 90 days would be great", he says, but if I can get to 30 I think my body will be okay.  Important to note I am not judging him for this, I may just be tempted the same way if I was on as strict a diet as he is.


Now, on to the meat (post).


Last night, as I was preparing to do a dead lift, something motivating dawned on me. I thought about some of the "heavies" I have seen in my school. I realized that most of them jsut worked out casually. They just did it now and then to mostly maintain, they probably didn't worry too much about proteins and calories. They also probably have slowed down their "work" load in the gym, considering as I said, I feel most just enjoy being big and having it since most have been that way for most their lives. Anyway, that is not what excites me. What excites me is that in 90 days-provided I get the calories and work,work,work, skinny 124 pound David can be on they're level...

My arms and body may take more or less than 90 days to match their pure size, but If I push myself I can catch up pretty fast in strength in 90 days. Imagine what I could do in 4 months, or 6 months. Good motivation for

1. me, to press on
2. People who are seen as strong to keep at it if they really want to hold their crown

The second one may be a little facetious, I admit. The reason? They will still look great having muscles even if they only hit 20 or 30 or 40 percent of their potential, some people will give them the recognition and not enough skinny guys like me are going to make the jump.  90 days is one whole workout program, general research suggests about 21 days to make something a habit. The magic is there, it's incredible, but most seem to put it off and wait until a new year's resolution wish list to think about it again.

My beef with P90X

P90X is a good system that I am sure would whip anyone into shape who stuck to it's program. Now with that said, I have an issue with this. P90X is probably the most popular workout program of its type, but let me tell a quick story. My step-dad has the program. He is just starting again, he has attempted one time back in 2011 but quit after about a month when after one too many "cheat" meals he lost his momentum. I am proud to say that he is starting up again somewhat sooner rather than later. If you know anything about P90X, you probably know it also has a nutrition plan with it. Long story short I opened my fridge and noticed strange ingredients for dishes, including: mushrooms, as well as cottage cheese.

Now I am all for a program introducing some new foods into a bland diet, but this is getting to the root of my concern. How many of you incorporate cottage cheese into your lunch or eat it as a midday snack? I am a firm believer that the less convenient a change/adaption is to put in place, the higher chance of failure.

It's one thing that P90X demands an hour a day for 5 days a week for at least 90 days, but a very strict diet is an all day challenge. What if somebody travels and forgets to bring their mushrooms? Not to promote, but as a comparative I enjoy my program from the 20 dollar book "Your body is your own gym". This is full of body weight exercises and most weeks are 4 days with about a half an hour (good intensity still). The best part? It tells you what you need. Trying to lose weight? Calculate this, incorporate about this much calories and this much protein to still build muscle. It even has some instruction for just bulking up for skinnies like me. What I mean is, it gives you the idea and tells you why you need it. I am unsure why cottage cheese is a good snack in P90X, but I am sure I could get most the same nutrients in similar proportions from other foods if challenged.


So in conclusion maybe P90X is more concerned with keeping it strict to make sure anyone who does finish defiantly got high results. Comparatively maybe Your body is your own gym places a little more on the user. In the end the results speak loudest, but, if by any chance Y.B.Y..O.G happens to finish with similar or superior results, P90X may want to give their supporters more to love for the big gap in price and effort.

Cheap eats, good food.

Chances are, you are aware of how easy it is to drop 50 bucks in a day just eating good (as in taste) food. Plus those fast food chains are on every corner, which may not drain your wallet so much, but will leave you with eater's remorse in a short hour or two.

Well you could eat at home,but what is there to eat? Hamburger helper...AGAIN? No, not needed.
I am currently transforming my body from a ectomorphic 125 pounder to something with more mass. So I am currently trying to start eating like a strayed dinosaur to enable pound gaining. Trouble is, I am trying to eat good food as well. Some good food just has that effect of making you satisfied without seconds, some good food tastes great-but takes forever to prepare.

I am still on the look out for some good foods in this area, but I have a few quick suggestions good for anyone trying to eat well, or pack in nutrients and protein.

• Vegetable soup-dice it and cook it in some chicken broth and it will taste delicious. I call this my "super-soup". Very filling and not hard to make, depending on how much you make, maybe 35 minutes (mostly due to cutting vegetables)
• Fish. Put some tin foil under this and broil it, some good fishes in the freezer department or fresh.
• Rice, beans, or potatoes can go with almost anything and are very cheap. Even more so when you buy it in bulk.
• Oatmeal and fruit is a great way to start the day. If you don't like the plain oatmeal, try the instants with some fruit and creme in them. Very sweet and delicious-and I mean that.

I also strongly recommend buying some local organic food straight from farmers or farmer's markets. There is one at a flea market not to far from me, and I buy Kale by the bag full at a stand 4 minutes up the road for 2 bucks. Great deals and flavors to be had.

First official day.

Today I was sore. More than a little. My step dad asked if I wanted to go to a restaurant called San Sushi in Towson. He was a little back and forth about it though, so I said to myself that if he decided to go, I'll work out tomorrow. Wouldn't you guess it? He stayed home. I'm so glad he did. Pushing through some soreness towards the beginning of your program is a great feeling. I have given myself an extra skip day before in my life, and as long as you keep at it, it might not really effect it. The reason I say might is that sometimes we have to be honest about why we are pushing it to the next day. Is it because I will perform terrible today, or because I have to do ___. Excuses are tricky that way.

As I write I am enjoying a cold bowl of lentils and leeks. Cheap snack, pretty easy to make a good soup out of. Oh, and I have a story for you readers. I went without a stove for 3 or less weeks due to remodeling. So I ate mostly veggies and went light on everything else. I lost most my muscle I had begun to build (which Is why I get to start on week 1 again). I have a vegetarian friend named Vince. I was fascinated that he could maintain what I am guessing is at least 35+ pounds on me without meat.

He told me that he just keeps himself on a 4000 calorie diet. Makes sense. The problem wasn't that I wasn't eating meat , I just plain cut down my calories. This brings me to a very important point. One I feel confident about opening this whole "health blogger" series up with. The importance of nutrition. It has been said by some pros to not even bother going into the gym until the part is down. I agree with that. Proteins and calories are essential to building muscle. Of course, eat your veggies,too. These vegetables help your body to get everything out of foods and function properly. I was talking to Dan Cenidoza over lunch once, and he said frankly "If your pissing in the fuel tank the car isn't going to get very far." So that speaks a lot on eating vegetables and eating quality foods (not always just the cheapest). By the way, I trust what Dan says about this stuff, he literally bends steel into art, with his hands.

So if you are a mainly ectomorph like me, be sure to shovel it in. Being satisfied isn't enough when you have been eating 1800 calories for years of your life.

A new beginning.

Today will be my first day on the official theme of health.
I could not think of a much better post to start then my own story of health.
I grew up mainly in my grandparents house. What kind of food do grandparents have? Right, snack and junk food. Then I moved with my mother to a new house. She nor my stepdad not my actual dad were ever very picky about what they eat. Naturally, this meant I knew very little about eating well. For one reason or another, there also was not much food in my house. A few of my friends know my story of growing up on a pure cereal and sandwich diet. I did not even eat a salad until the age of 18.

Thankfully, I had my boss and mentor encourage me to eat around 4 vegetable servings a day, and once this become a habit it was the start of a new love. I had always enjoyed working out, though I always had trouble gaining due to poor nutrition. I am still experimenting with sleeping just right, I even documented some of my experience with a polyphasic sleep cycle earlier in this blog.

So it become pretty evident. If general wellness is almost entirely composed of sleep, nutrition, and physical exercise, I want to get them them and feel awesome. I want to condition myself in a way that I feel energy and life surging through me. My thoughts, findings, and experience as I work towards this is what I plan to write on for a foreseeable time into the future.