The Health Nut

2006-09-25T10:49:00.000-05:00

A Certain Shade of Green...

2006-07-25T23:47:00.000-05:00

Tonight I was so tired after work and I told myself all day that I would run. Came about 10:30 and I was just not feelin' the runnin'. Then I looked in the mirror and I was feelin' the runnin'. So I took off with the mindset of just getting through the run. So I get out there and I'm running with my iPod on, and I look up and it is quite possibly the most beautiful night I have ever seen. The night sky was filled with stars, and usually you can't see them clearly in my town, but tonight they were brilliant. Not only that I thought it would be hot, turned out there was a cool breeze. And I thought to myself, "What if I hadn't ran tonight. I would have missed all this. I wouldn't feel as good as I will after this." Then I got back to running and the song "A Certain Shade of Green" was playin' on my iPod. And it all just kind of fit. I ended up having the best run of my life. Not lying. I ran 4.5 miles in 38 minutes. Best I have ever done by a good solid 20 minutes. And with that I ask you to ask yourself next time you're thinking about skipping a workout. What are you waiting on a certain shade of green?†

Love Handle-Busting Workout

2006-07-25T08:01:00.000-05:00

This is a workout we had to do in high school in order to be able to play on the Varsity team in our next game. Every week we would have to make these "Gassers" as they were called in 19 seconds each. I remember that while I was doing this our coach always preached drink water. With the exception of only drinking water I did nothing else to my workouts or diet and I was ripped in a week. No lie. Here it is:
10 Gassers in 19 seconds each
[Gasser: Run across the width-wise and come back]
1 Gasser=100 yds.
This with the combination of water gave me the swimsuit look I wanted.†

Check back for my new Nutrition Section Coming Soon!

Obvious Diet Tip You Didn't Know: Tip #1

2006-07-25T00:37:00.000-05:00

Tortilla Chips:
Just 20 torilla chips with dip can add as many as 500 calories to your meal. Next time you're at On The Border skip the chips, they're free anyway right?†

On the subject of running..

2006-07-23T23:08:00.000-05:00

Volume 3[GPS]
This new watch that Garmin has out is a God-send for the avid runner. It keeps track of your heart rate through the back of the watch as well as all your other vitals such as calories burned and distance traveled. It comes with a computer program that keeps track of your training and progress from when you started. They cost about $200 to start and the one pictured left is in the $300 range. You can find a lot better deals on eBay almost 80 bucks cheaper. The interesting thing with these too is that on this website [as well as others] they have GPS runs that are geared towards scenery or level of difficulty. You follow the coordinates you find on this website and you have a good course for whatever city you're in. This is great for travelers that like to run. They have four major cities right now, but I'm sure as more people start to buy these they will have a much larger database. I'm considering buying one and putting out my favorite run of the week with GPS for people to try. Regardless, this watch makes it possible to go anywhere and never not know where you are or interrupt your training.†

A warning for parents: Autism from Vaccinations

2006-07-23T17:08:00.000-05:00

My brother is autistic, he has a very mild case of it but he is autistic. He eats only bread with a certain specific kind of butter, and drinks only soymilk. He has a very bad temper and doctors say it will steadily worsen over the next few years, also his anxiety is very high. He wasn't born autistic as a lot of kids aren't. The reason autism is on such a rise in the past decade or so is because of the vaccination preservatives medical companies use in their shots. The main preservative is Mercury, and it's found in the multi-pack vaccinations. They use it in all forms of vaccinations from MMRs to flu shots. The government knows about this but it's a risk they are willing to take because it saves them so much money. And the lawsuits, pfft, don't worry about them, they charge a tax on everyone's vaccination; and all this money goes into a fund set aside just for lawsuits from people that have children that become afflicted with Autism after getting these shots. That is if they win, which is hard to do because only a few lawyers are allowed to take these cases and even fewer will pursue them if they are licensed to do so. In my brother's case, from his MMR he received 99 times the legal limit for a human to receive. And the reason it affects younger children so much more so is that their bodies aren't as well developed. They have not yet become able to develop bile when they get these shots so their body has no defense system. So the Mercury just sits in their cells, poisoning them day by day. So just a head's up if your getting vaccinations request that you have the single-shot dose and no worries.†

On the subject of running...

2006-07-23T01:30:00.000-05:00

Volume 2[Musical Influence]
There is a lot of controversy between runners as of late on the subject of listening to music while running. The arguments are as follows, the one side chooses to think that running is meditative [which I believe wholeheartedly] and that music interrupts this. Also the different BPMs of songs that you listen to vary your pace and ultimately make you a runner without form, pace or any kind of stamina to speak of. The other side of the fence says that these BPMs are what help push them further and faster than they have ever gone when they run because it distracts them from the task at hand and how tired they truly are. The one doctor that speaks out against listening to music while running happens to do it himself. Not exactly the best spokesman. I've come to my own conclusion on the subject, I first off run with my iPod on at all times, usually blaring Incubus, and I find it to improve my running ability and to help me last longer. And so my conclusion is thus, whatever makes you feel good and keeps you running, use that method. Yes running is meditative and puts you in touch with your thoughts, and yes music distracts you from running and may influence your pace and possibly corrupt your running form. But most of us are not marathon-training athletes, if your still worried about your pace and form, but want to keep running and rolling [rock and roll; run and roll ...corny!] then do what I do and pick all songs with the same BPMs. Boom! Problem solved.†

Update:
Another thing, just discovered, a running shoe made by Nike that communicates to your iPod wirelessly updating you on the status of your run, such as calories burned, distance traveled. And all this info can be uploaded to your computer afterward. $130 for shoes and the iPod attachment. If they had this on the Free 4.0, I would have found the Holy Grail and would have no barefoot shoe troubles. Called NikePlus [top right]†

On the subject of running....

2006-07-23T00:51:00.000-05:00

Volume 1 [Barefooting]
Lately I have gotten big into running, and it shows. I was never much of a runner until recently and now that I see the aftermath, I am quickly becoming a regular to the sport. I've read a lot about running and the good things it can do for you and how it is a must if you want abs. [I refused to believe this until late] Anyway so yes I've been running. Well I'm reading in a Men's Health about the Tumara Indians and how they run on these rough trails barefoot. They don't have any leg injuries and are faster than any of us are at running and can run at a faster pace for longer too. So I decide I'm going to try this... however, I was not properly equipped. I ran barefoot on the concrete for 3.5 miles a little bit ago and my feet are in the most hellatious form they have ever been. Calloused and blistered and bleeding. So I did a little research on some barefoot running shoes [oxymoron] Two really caught my eye the one is the Vibram Five Fingers, which looks like a water sandal that little kids wear, but sounds like the best thing out there and is priced accordingly. The other is the Nike Free 5.0 [$100]. This shoe seems too much like a shoe to me to be good for barefooting. But they are coming out with the Nike Free 4.o[$100 range] which has less cushion and is closer to barefoot. So I think I might hold out for the 4.0. In closing I suggest trying barefoot running if your a runner and see how you like it, and if you aren't a runner I suggest running for a week and see how you like it.†

Interesting links:

Vibram Five Fingers

Nike Free 5.0

Calorie Counting Just Got a Whole Lot Easier

2006-07-22T21:20:00.000-05:00

I just discovered this website a few weeks back and it has become an addiction. It's a calorie counting website that takes all the guesswork out and is a must for anyone trying to maintain a healthy diet or lose weight. It offers a food database of over 30,000 food items including a lot of brand name restaurant entrees. It cost $9/month but it is so worth it. It has so many features like a water consumption tracker that you can tailor to what amount you want to meet, as well as an exercise log with more workouts than I ever thought possible, inlcuding things no one would think of like shopping and boating. There are entirely too many features for me to detail you just got to check it out. However, I would like to make this warning, this website becomes a sick obsession. On the food diary section, when you click "Entry Complete" it gives you a report card type section with smiley and sad faces telling you the good and bad things that you did that day. I haven't had a day with no sad faces at all and I am on a quest to reach diet perfection, plus my friends and I are seeing who can get the most smiley faces in one day. As I said before ...sick.†