Cocktails And A Fresh Mind

So, I’m into mixing now and today was Mojito day. I realized that while I’m on a tight fitness routine, trying to watch what I eat and drink, and just plain trying to be healthier, it’s good sometimes to have a drink.

If you’re okay with alcohol, it really can loosen you up and refresh your mind. I’m not saying get wasted and run around naked. I’m just saying that a drink, a well made one, can help you remember why you do the things you do. Any way you can blow off some steam, do it. You don’t want to end up resenting your fitness routine.

Zucchini Pasta – Food For Fit Gangstas

Today, for dinner, I made zucchini pasta. You do this by shaving zucchinis into pasta like strands. It’s quirky, it’s tasty, and it’s the dinner of champions.

Only straight up gangstas eat healthy food like that. It takes skill and it takes a lot of veggies and if that isn’t “hip and funky fresh”, as the kids say nowadays, then I don’t know what is.

It has less calories than pasta and the best part is that you don’t feel like hibernating afterwards. There’s no heavy feeling of pasta being digested. I was pumped after and felt a lot better than I normally did. I recommend you to up your game. I recommend you try it out.

Here’s a recipe if you’re interested: http://garlicmysoul.com/blog/zucchini-noodles/.

Cake Is Cake

Yesterday, my aunt made red velvet cake. Today, she made my little cousin a two-tier Cinderella cake. Next weekend she’s gonna have at least two more cakes ready for a birthday party. I seriously have my work cut out for me.

Cake is a celebratory dessert that has been engraved in my brain from day one as being happiness that you can eat. I love food and this whole “being fit” thing I’m doing can sometimes cut into the food that I love. I ate too much cake and now I feel guilty. I hate associating guilt with something I love.

Or maybe it isn’t guilt. Maybe I simply know that the joy I had in cake will equate to calories I’ll have to burn later on. No regrets but the fact I put the body I want that little bit further away is very real.

So, this week will be movie-star style working out. Lowered calories, big strength training, and multiple workout sessions. Five days of hardcore before a weekend of cake. Sounds good to me.

Train While You Live

People give the excuse that they don’t have time to workout, don’t have time to get in shape. How can you not have the time when this are so many workout routines out there?

Today, I took a rest day but my muscles still feel tense. I helped my mom move to a new place and nothing is as good for the muscles as heavy boxes and stairs. Today’s routine went for twenty minutes but it still felt like a good hour in the gym.

Training doesn’t involve weights, a gym, or even your gear. Workout where you work. There isn’t a moment of the day where you can’t change yourself for the better.

Train while you live and you’ll live stronger. Use every minute of the precious life you have. There’s a sexy beast caged up inside you. Let it out.

Don’t Not Eat

I’ve been off this blog for a while but WORRY NOT, I’ve still been keeping at my fitness. Sort of. Well, I’ve been losing weight. That counts right?

Anyway, I’ve been losing weight and I really think it’s because I dented my calorie intake. Breakfast is only a 200 calorie bar, sometimes (because I’m running to different cities for interviews) lunch is the same. I’m missing out on a lot of calories and it’s showing.

It’s tempting to eat less and less. Fasting (or starving) makes you lose weight, yeah, but I don’t believe it’s the best way to go. Plus, your muscles are taking a hit. You don’t wanna be the in-shape guy that can’t lift his lady. I’d rather have a santa clause belly than have that happen.

So, eat up, but if you want to lose those love handles, cut the calories away. The less calories you take in (done correctly in a healthy manner) the more your body will burn stored up ones. Starving yourself isn’t healthy, and also, no one likes that long-term skinny zombie look anyway.

If You Can’t Run, Walk

So, yesterday I ran an 8km route and it nearly killed me. The weird part about running for the first time or making a comeback run is that you suddenly feel all these muscles you use while running.

I woke up and my legs were sore, sure, that’s normal. However, my neck was a bit stiff, my back was heavy because of my running posture; I even felt it a bit of a soreness in the glutes (which I’m okay with since bikini season requires buns of steel. Or so I’ve been told).

Thus, today I decided I’m not going to immediately run again, I’m just going to make sure to walk.

Walking is underestimated by most people. It’s relaxing, a great way to burn calories, and, if you pretend, you can feel like you’re back in the old days, as a nomad traveling vast distances to reach exotic destinations.

Overactive imaginations aside, when you aren’t running, you should walk. You don’t need to run 10km a day, I really don’t believe that. Ten minutes of walking is a whole lot less pain and a whole lot more fun. Plus, the whole nomad thing.

That Run Was Hell

So, I have been honest recently in saying that I stopped my fitness routine for a while. Blah blah blah, excuses, plain and simple I stopped for at least three weeks. I took a look in the mirror and thought, “Not again.” Thus, I made a comeback run today.

The gods have forsaken me apparently because that run was hell.

Every comeback run is going to feel terrible, that’s just how it works. It’s as though your body is reminding you of the consequences of stopping your workouts. I was no exception.

From the minute I began to move, my mind was alive. Excuses began pouring out. My legs were heavy and tired. My lungs felt like they weren’t taking in enough oxygen. Even the sun was an excuse, the sun! I remember thinking for a moment, “It’s way too bright outside, if I don’t have my sunglasses I might damage my eyes.”

After laughing at my pathetic excuse, I decided there was nothing that could stop me.

Running is both a liberation and a torture at the same time. It’s you versus your body and a lot of times it hurts. However, to be out there, to be running and only thinking about breathing and where to place your next foot; that’s what it’s all about. Being healthy just plain feels good.

The runner is back and I’m going to make my muscles hate me tomorrow when I workout. Bring on the pain.

Tonight We Eat Udon With 47 Ronin

It was an interesting weekend for eating right. Yesterday I went overboard with the junk food and I am happy I did. I needed to make my body want to reject bad food. Despite some candy, I’d say today went well as far as eating alright is concerned (Yes, I don’t eat right, I eat alright. It’s a thing I’m trying).

Tonight, dinner was Japanese. My girlfriend and I had been wanting to watch 47 Ronin for a while now and thought tonight felt like a night for watching men fight with swords. Whenever we get the urge to watch Asian, or in this case Asian-inspired, movies, we have to theme the food along with it. Japanese Mushroom udon with roast pork was on the menu.

I read up on Udon and found out that as far as eating healthy was concerned, it didn’t break too many rules. It scored some nice points across the board and seemed to be a healthy alternative to the pasta we would’ve eaten instead. On the down side, Udon is messy.

Maybe I’m just not adept at eating it or I’m doing something wrong. My face, a bit of the table, and our laptop came under heavy fire of the soup that splashed away from me. I would not have declined a bib at that point.

In the end, for a meal that tastes great and helps me feel better about slowly getting back into a fitness routine, Udon is a great meal alternative. The biggest bonus – nothing makes the experience of Samurai hunting a demon in a field better than slurping Udon noodles. Fact.

Popocatepetl

So, I’m going to guess that you have no idea what the title is about. Unless, of course, you are Mexican and/or very talented in Geography. Popocatepetl is a great Mexican restaurant me and my girlfriend stumbled upon on our most recent food adventure. It is also the name of a volcano in Mexico. I will discuss the former, despite how intriguing the latter is.

The hardest part about maintaing a diet is finding healthier versions of the food you love. The whole thought of eating right used to turn me off just because I would imagine nothing but salads and sadness. Now, however, I have found tons of alternatives to the greasy but delicious food I once craved for. I found a healthy Mexican restaurant. Queue the celebratory music and balloons.

On a side note, my girlfriend would probably want you to know that she was the one to find Popocatepetl. She’s modest like that.

Anyway, we got to the restaurant, sat down, and immediately got served some of the best tortilla chips we’ve ever eaten. They were the equivalent of those small pieces of bread you are served before you actually choose the real food, but tasted as though they could be appetizers. The salsa was fresh and we ordered Nada Coladas (as in without rum). The night was beginning wonderfully.

Our appetizers were great and actually quite healthy. My girlfriend had an avocado filled with mini shrimps. It tasted fresh and I had seen that dish on one or two health sites as a new health meal that didn’t make you feel depressed and hungry afterwards. I got the calamaris, which I know isn’t that healthy, but in my defense, who can resist a good plate of calamaris?

It had been my life’s quest to eat a good plate of nachos again for at least half a year. I don’t mean nachos with some salsa and some cheese like at the movies. I’m talking nachos piled high with all kinds of veggies and guacamole and salsa and sour cream to the point where it looks like a small hill of food. I got just that.

What I didn’t get was grease or oil dripping off the sides. I got oven baked nacho goodness and none of the fatty after tastes or stomach aches. I know that the calorie count wasn’t the lowest, but as far as filling and great tasting healthier dishes went, this one took the cake. Popocatepetl is now my go to Mexican restaurant, one where I can eat and not feel guilty afterwards.

It’s very important, and quite frankly, very enjoyable to find new restaurants. It allows your diet to become more varied and stops boredom from kicking in. Go and explore your city, you could end up finding restaurants that give you a satisfied feeling instead of a belly. With the prospect of finding a restaurant with a name like Popocatepetl (had to say it one last time), how can you resist?

 

Really Big Oranges And Other Healthy Stuff

Today, due to other priorities, I decided to take a rest day. This did not, in any way, mean that I could release the flood gates on snack foods. If you’re going to take a spontaneous rest day, I feel you should at least try your best to eat as well as you can.

I really want chips or, at least, I really wanted chips today.

A small bowl of chips (or crisps in fancier British English) is fine in my book, but, let’s face it, who can eat just a small bowl. If I see a bag of chips then that bag is the equivalent to a bowl and I will finish it. This time I decided to try out a little trick.

I had bought oranges recently. They were really big and when you’ve eaten one, you sort of feel like you’ve also drank a cup of orange juice. I told myself if I wanted to eat the chips, I’d have to eat an orange first.

I’m so full right now. I did not expect this to work so well. I have no intention of eating anything for at least the next hour or two. I’d scratch that one up as a success. It reminds me of the trick that I pulled yesterday after my run. Instead of succumbing to hunger and attacking a pizza or something as heavenly, I decided to eat a salad.

Supermarkets here sell packaged and ready-to-go salads and although they may seem expensive, they are worth every cent. The ones I buy are like whole meals. Someone should add labels on them that read, “Dear god, man, if you want to eat anything else but salad for your next meal, DO NOT BUY THIS!”

Turns out I stayed full and satisfied the entire afternoon yesterday and it wasn’t a giant calorie bomb. All that effort I put in to my running did not go to waste in what I ate. That was a great lesson to learn.

There are tons of healthy snacks, fruits, or vegetables that can fill you up quicker than you can attack unhealthy food. Just tell yourself, “Sure, you can have that giant cookie, but first you have to eat a bowl of baby carrots.” By the time your body realizes you’ve tricked it, you’ll be too full to go for the cookie. Besides, who can really resist baby carrots?