From the Heart...

I haven't planned this blog entry.  I haven't written notes or anything.  I'm just coming from the heart on this one.  Shooting from the hip, as it were.

I am a human being - prone to failures and fallings.  Recently, I've been mired in a bit of self-imposed guilt-ridden laziness that has prevented me from doing the things that are necessary to be effective as a mouthpiece on this website.  Alice and I were talking yesterday about how much easier writing for Wo40.com is when we're in the gym.  Until just a couple weeks ago, we weren't even members of a gym; we let our membership expire about a year ago.  After that membership expired, it was just a matter of attrition that stopped our writing about fitness related activities.

Our diet soon followed our exercise patterns and subsequently went to hell.

Now, that's not to say we've stopped exercising and given up totally on our health.  Not at all.  We still train in karate at least 3 days a week in addition to walking all over - to the store, to the post office, to the bank.  Physically we're not in a bad way.  We're just not training as hard as we could (or should).

Now, before people write this entry off as a "poor poor pitiful me" post, let me clear up the intent of this post: We are normal people living in a normal world with normal issues.  When I read other fitness blogs, I'm sometimes led to believe that everyone else has got it all together - that they never stray from their diet and never miss a day in the gym.  The truth of the matter is likely that they (those other bloggers) are likely no different from us.  There are ups.  There are downs.  There are times when they wonder why in the hell they're going through the pain of exercising.  There are times when they eat like crap.  The difference is that they might not talk about it publicly.

I'm here to tell you that Alice and I are not paragons of healthy virtue.  We eat junk.  We drink soda.  But those activities do not define us as voices in the fitness world.  Eating the way I do, I still come in at under 200 pounds because I work exceptionally hard in the dojo (my karate training hall).  Alice is still a lean mom of 4 that a good many women envy for the size 4 she wears.  She, too, works incredibly hard in the dojo, despite injury setbacks and a conflicting work schedule.

So, we're fairly normal.  Our chief goal is to be better today than we were yesterday.

If that's all you ever ask of yourself, then you're on a pretty good path.

Be well!

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I Am An Addict

Addictions suck.  If you don’t think so, just try getting addicted to something and then try to give it up.  You know – just put it down, walk away, and never go back.

Easy peesy.  Right?

I am an addict, and soda is my drug.  Despite knowing that drinking soda is akin to consuming liquid toxic waste, I still can’t break my dependency on the stuff. 

I had a moment of epiphany the other day.  It was in a period of desperate tiredness and strong thirst that I grabbed an ice-cold bottle of my fizzy friend and popped the top.  I took a swallow and came about this |  | close to being orgasmic.  I felt all quivery and heart-fluttery.  It's possible my loins even tingled a little. 

TMI.  Sorry.

I think I downed half the bottle in the first few swallows and then came to the sudden realization that I was enjoying this experience perhaps a little too much.

I’m not proud of this addiction.  I’m a bit ashamed, actually, that I can come on here and speak about the horrors and inherent dangers of the chemical hodgepodge that makes up soda while I secretly cower in the corner of a dark room getting my bloat on.

Yeah, I’m a hypocrite.  But I’m an honest hypocrite, and that has to account for something.

A few weeks ago, I tried to quit cold turkey.  I was drinking a gallon of water a day and trying to act like I enjoyed it.  But caffeine is a bitch, and she likes to lay the smack down when she doesn’t have her way.  I made it 2 weeks before I popped the top again and fell off the wagon.  The grip on my brain was loosened and the headaches went away.  The fatigue was replaced by sugar highs and caffeine rushes.  I didn’t necessarily feel ‘better’; I just felt a little closer to ‘normal’.

So I’m back to square 1. 

Again. 

Dammit.

There’s a solution to this problem.  I know there is.  It can’t involve will-power or chemical means because I don’t have the former and don’t want the latter. 

Until a complete solution is found, I shall try to keep consumption in moderation.

And I’ll hope that people can forgive me for being a hypocritical junkie.

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Reader Question

Reader Teresa at our Wo40 Facebook Page asks a really good question.  I'm posting it here for everyone's benefit.

"Question for ya Keith.  I'm trying to lose weight. I have limited my calories to 1200 a day and doing the elliptical 48 mins 4-5 days a week.  Am I eating the right amount of calories?" 

Excellent question, Teresa!  The answer is actually quite individual, so just a "yes" or "no" won't work.  My suggestion is that you go to http://www.bmi-calculator.net/bmr-calculator/ and get 2 numbers.  The first is your basal metabolic rate (BMR for short).  After you have that number (it will show up in the green bar once you hit the "Calculate BMR" button), scroll down a little and click on the "Harris Benedict Equation" link.  Do a little math and get an approximate count of your daily calorie burn.

When you have those numbers, I recommend 2 things: never let your calorie intake go below the first number, and stay about 500 calories below your second number.  I'll use myself as an example:
My BMR is about 1910 cal/day.  My HB number is 2960 calories/day.  My daily intake goal should be about 2400 cal/day and should never fall below 1910 cal/day.

For the record, my wife's HB number is 2075 and her BMR is 1339.  Assuming you're in the same general ballpark as my wife, 1200 calories is too low for your dietary needs.  Cutting calories too drastically will cause your body to retain fat as a source of emergency energy rather than using it now for energy.  The eventual results will be slow metabolism, sluggish feelings, and really slow weight loss.

Contrary to what a lot of people believe, you have to EAT to DROP FAT.  If that isn't good news, I don't know what is!

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Growing or Dying

Years ago someone told me this simple truth:
Nothing in life is ever stagnant.  Everything is either growing or it is dying.  There is no middle ground.

As long as someone chooses to do nothing beneficial to his health, he will be in a state of gradual dying.  Chances are likely that you know people who have chosen just such a life.  The light of life has left them.  Their fondest desire is to make it to the weekend so they can "rest" - the code word for doing absolutely nothing.  Their most exertive activity is walking to and from the car or fridge.

A person in this state of existence surely is dying.  They are essentially committing protracted suicide.  Their inert bodies cease to function properly.  Body systems begin to weaken.  Muscles atrophy until the very act of standing and walking becomes a labor.  The weakened body becomes susceptible to sickness and disease - type-2 diabetes, hypertension, heart disease, cancer, and a host of other maladies - until it just gives up.  Everything stops.

Death.

Contrast all of that dying with the person whose body is constantly in motion (relatively speaking, of course).  The muscles get stronger, the body leaner, and the senses sharper.  This body is growing, changing for the better.  LIVING.

It's all a matter of choice.  Our human condition affords us the uncanny opportunity to choose which path to walk.  We can choose to get up and move or sit down and vegetate.  We choose to live, or we choose to die.

Often a choice is never made; one just engages in death by default because the choice to grow and live was never made.  There is no escaping choice (cue The Matrix Reloaded music).

Sometimes people are fooled into thinking that they no longer have a choice - they're too old or too fat to get moving.  These delusions are the by-product of an earlier forgotten choice (or failure to make a choice) to let death have its way for however long it takes to run its course.

However it works out, the fact remains: people are where they are because they choose to be there.

Occupying the middle ground is impossible, because, well, the middle ground does not exist.  The minute one stops exercising, the minute he stops engaging in regular movement, or the minute he decides to go back to eating junk is the same minute his body begins the regressive path toward death.  There is no "in between" place.  Sure, the body will take time to add the pounds back on, but the dying process truly began with the choice to neglect the body and its needs.

We all face the same choice - growing or dying.  Refusing or failing to choose is the equal to choosing the path toward an early grave.  Choosing to grow through exercise and nutrition is a choice to live.

It doesn't get any clearer than that.

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9 Foods to Heat Up Your Love Life

Valentine’s Day is just around the corner, and stores are sporting copious amounts of pink and red merchandise.  It’s that time of year when men are especially pressured to pull out the romance.  Instead of wooing that special someone with a box of chocolates (which also contain loads of refined sugar, fat, and often chemical coloring and flavor.  Blech!), why not show her how much you care with a meal of foods that are not only good for the body, but boost the libido. Here’s a list to get you started.

1. Oysters.  Long-touted as an aphrodisiac, oysters do not disappoint.  Oysters are high in zinc, which is essential in maintaining healthy levels of testosterone (a hormone directly related to sex drive in both men and women).  Oysters also offer a boost of dopamine, a hormone which increases libido.  Consuming them raw seems to be most effective.

2. Garlic.  This flavorful bulb contains allicin, which improves blood flow to the sexual organs.  Just don’t forget the breath mints.

3. Basil.  It’s not just for Italians anymore.  High in antioxidants, this flavorful herb is said to increase circulation, stimulate sex drive, and boost fertility.  Plus the aroma of basil is intoxicating.  Basil oil was traditionally used by Mediterranean prostitutes to attract customers (and not just for their famous pasta dishes).  The aroma of basil can also help foster a sense of general well-being, which helps shed stress and can allow us to more easily enjoy “bedroom activities”. 

4. Asparagus.  Aside from its slightly phallic appearance, asparagus is also a good source of vitamin E.  Often called the “sex vitamin”, vitamin E aids the body in hormone production which enhances mood and sexual desire.  As an added benefit, Vitamin E helps prevent aging and natural sexual longevity.  Vitamin E has also been used by some women as a sexual lubricant to heighten sensitivity.  Although what you do with your asparagus is entirely up to you. 

5. Avocado.  Known to the Aztecs as ahuacatal, or “testicle tree”, avocados help increase libido for both genders.  Its high levels of folic acid assist the body in metabolizing protein, resulting in increased energy levels.  Obviously a good thing inside and outside the bedroom.

6. Almonds.  The high levels of essential fatty acids found in almonds, provide the basis for healthy male hormone levels which regulate sex drive.  What’s in it for your lady?  Studies show that just the smell of almonds can act as an aphrodisiac for women.  Makes me wonder why there isn’t more almond-scented aftershave out there on the market.

7. Nutmeg.  This wonderfully aromatic spice has traditionally been used in Indian medicine to boost libido.  Recent animal studies have shown nutmeg to have the same effect as the drug Viagra on mating behavior. 

8. Chilies.  Capsaicin, the substance that lends chilies their heat, can also lend some heat to your love life.  It stimulates nerve endings, raises heart rate, and triggers the release of endorphins causing you to just feel doggone great.

9. Dark Chocolate.  A 2006 study in The Journal of Sexual Medicine found that women who ate chocolate on a daily basis had higher sexual function than woman who did not.  Dark chocolate contains high levels of serotonin, a mood booster, and phenyl ethylamine which mimics the brain chemistry of a person in love. So maybe it’s not such a bad idea to buy her the box of chocolates after all.

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