I’ve actually lost some weight! Close to 10 pounds to be exact. 

Last year was just a big ol’ mess in terms of my health goals. On one hand I was decent at eating clean, and focused on a pretty basic vegetarian diet. I experienced two fundamental problems when it came to my fitness; I kept changing my goals, and I was so so so wrong about my calorie intake. 

First off, I just didn’t stick to one thing, and I guess that was on purpose. At one point the goal was to lose weight, at other times to bulk up. I tried random trends and stuck to major regimens or smaller programs. At the end of the day I saw results with each new facet, but I never stuck to anything and my progress faded quickly. This year I want to change that. For the rest of the year I’m going to focus on body-weight exercise, core work, yoga and maybe some light weightlifting. Overall I just want to be healthy and active. 

Read More

Shawn: 

Straight up, I hate running. After all these years of trying, failing and red-faced panting, I just can’t get into it. I’m on week one of my pushups and running phase, and I hate it. I have ran once, and then I gave up on Wednesday because my legs were sore, and I didn’t yesterday because I went to Toronto instead (way better than stupid running). So it’s fridays and I plan to run today and tomorrow. I’m just at that lame phase where I need a solid week or two of hell to get my cardio back up, so that I don’t want to throw my head in the oven after running for 15 minutes. Yes, I’m that bad. 

I can lift weights, do chin ups, weird DVD workouts and random things, BUT I HATE RUNNING. I know it’s one of the most common forms of working out, but I just can’t get into it. Maybe I need to dedicate that time to get decent at it, instead of giving up during the horrible beginning. The other day when I ran I was with Sabrina, and she rambled on for the entire run and joked around, basically not even out of breath, while I struggled to remain conscious. Geeeeeeze.

Other than this running garbage, I am working on that Hundred Pushups program I found on google. I started on Week three because I could do more than 20 pushups for the test, but man, is it hard. I am able to meet the numbers, but I struggle a lot to do so. I think I might repeat week 3 just to build up a little more before I move on. Despite this being difficult, it’s way better than running!

Running sucks!

So I finished a month of my callisthenic approach to working out. I absolutely loved working on bodyweight exercises over the past few weeks. I definitely think it is my favourite type of workout, more than lifting weights, or programs like P90x.

I have a confession to make; I haven’t been doing my cardio. On the days where I wasn’t using the power tower, I was supposed to be running, or biking, or sweating in some disgustingly unpleasant way. Instead, I sat around and thought up excuses to avoid my LEAST favourite type of workout. Due to my inability to be mature and man up, I didn’t lose the weight that I expected to this month. I followed my calories, and ate as well as possible, but didn’t see much of a difference. I actually gained some muscle, but seeing as my goal was to burn fat, I failed. Bah!

Read More

(Above: The Power Tower in all its glory)

Shawn:

Well after slacking for a few weeks during exams and other activities, I’m back in the workout game. Now that the warm weather is coming I have decided to shed all my hibernation fat! I spent the past few months eating everything and trying to “bulk” up. I’m at 175 pounds which is the most I have ever weighed, and is a pretty high number for a dude that is only 5 7”.

Read More

So for the past several years I have had this little health focus. At some points along the way I’m made good decisions and bad decisions, especially when it comes to nutrition. It is pretty amazing how many stupid diets and bogus health plans people will put themselves through to shave off a few pounds. From cutting carbs to drinking ash, I’ve seen things that blow my little mind. 

Read More

Well just like my better half pointed out in her last post, change has been a big part of our search for a healthy life. When I first started the p90x program I learned about the importance of changing your workout, and the plateau effect. Hitting a plateau is when your body adapts to the workout you are doing and you don’t see results. That’s why after losing a decent amount of a weight after a month of hitting the treadmill, our progress slows down. 

The way to combat this is to keep it fresh and fun. This flexibility will also help you if you’re on a budget. I still have short term goals so I stick to longer plans, but I would eventually like to get to the point where I just do what I feel like any day of the week. 

In my case I have work out ADD. I get so bored of a DVD, a certain machine, a piece of paper, counting calories and all that jazz. I need the fresh new thing to keep me motivated. I have realized that in the past I have neglected to accept this, and in turn I cheated myself by giving up and going for long stagnant periods with no workouts. 

Currently I’m already getting anxious on the bulking program I am on. It’s not that I don’t like it, I am just excited to try something new. Maybe I will try creating a new program later this year with extended periods of change and variety and really find something that fits for me. Maybe I’ll just wake up each day and do what I feel. Maybe I’ll eat ice cream. 

Anyways, point is, do what works for you. Keep it fresh and keep it fun. Live long.

Crazy claims, right? Wrong you are my friend: 

Sometimes I’m asked where I go to work out… Okay, fine, no one ever asks me that, but they should ‘cause they’d perhaps learn something from exploitative ways. Because if there’s one thing people do ask me it’s “why are you so cheap?” usually with pity in their eyes. Yeah, I’m that cheap.

…and I’ll tell you how that helps my physical fitness. Yes, there’s a link… Drumroll please. Being cheap has increased my fitness level because it demands and means constant change, which keeps your body saying “WTF” and challenges new muscle groups. Crazy claim, right? Price is wrong, Bobby-O…

Read More

(Another Fitness Friday post on the weekend - busy boy!) 

There is always a lot of debate around supplements and what should and should not be used while working out. Some people love to go all natural while others swear by there pricey powders and pills. For the beginning of my health quest I did not use anything except for vitamin c and fish oils. Lately I have been experimenting with some products that I want to share with you. At the end of the day I’m no expert so do the research for yourself and do what is right for your body. 

N.O. - Xplode

Read More

Eat what I ate for lunch. It’s easy and vegan.

Simply boil 1 cup of dry wheat-berries in 2.5 cups of water for approx. an hour, cool and add veggies and any oil & vinegar dressing you please. Don’t know what wheat-berries are? They’re whole, unprocessed wheat kernels with a nutty taste and a nice chewy-bite, plus they’re down-right good for you.

So as I wrote last Fitness Friday, I had to choose a vegetarian lifestyle due to some health complications. One of the first concerns that someone brings up when you talk about vegetarian diets is whether or not you are consuming enough protein. For someone who is pretty active, it is even more important that you are taking in enough nutrients to help repair your body. The following are a few of the vegetarian options that I use in order to keep my protein level up to a healthy level. I don’t track my intake or go all hardcore about pounds per gram etc. I just try and space it out during the day and use common sense. 

Read More

(I guess it’s technically fitness Monday as I post this at 1am)

For the past three days I have been working away helping my pops install upgrades in my parents house. We redid the kitchen cabinets, and laid new floor in the living room. Needless to say it was a bit of a backbreaker. The work project has set me back a little bit in terms of my posts and my song for Music Monday, but I’ll figure it out. I’m proud of the new skills and experience I gained from taking on this project. I guess helping myparents do this work lines up with the whole idea behind this project - taking on new things, learning, and hard work. I’m sore, tired, hungry, but I feel that amazing feeling of accomplishment that comes with completing such a large project. The end results were worth the hard work. I’ll post the photos at the bottom of this blog.

Read More

Fitness friday will have to be a fitness Saturday or Sunday for this young man. 12 hours of reworking my parents kitchen cabinets has done me in. Post to come this weekend!

At least I was active! haha

‘Tis the season for stress for us fourth years as we battle with ourselves over the things we love to do, and the anxiety can be overwhelming. However, I’m going to save that post for Tuesday… 

Today, I was going to write a post about Spinning, but I’ve changed my mind. (Maybe that can wait for next Friday). What I’m going to write about instead is the benefit of exercise when it comes to mental health, because this week for me just made this post a hell of a lot more relevant than a post about riding a bike and sweating my ass off (I’ll get to that another time).

Read More

Kale & Potato Soup. Just ‘cause no other day seemed right to post this on, and heck, we need more photos on our blog! 

I’m a sweaty hot mess sitting here writing this first healthy, workout blog thing! I literately just took the elevator up from my building’s humble little gym and sat down to write this. I still have those shaking post workout hands and boy stank all over me.

The purpose of these entries is to explore the changes, results, and lifestyle adaptations that I hope to make in 2012. A big focus will be my workout progress, along with nutrition and other physical health information. I have been passionate about health since late 2008 to early 2009.

Read More