Back in the Saddle Again….I’m Back

Wednesday morning my leg and back injuries were feeling pretty good but I continued stretching periodically during the day. Last night I felt real good….so much so I ran some sprints…not "all out" 100% SPRINTS, I definitely did NOT run Tabata Sprints. I took it relatively easy but it sure did feel good running hard again.

I was not sure how this “plan of action” would play out. After I cooled down last night from my sprints, I still felt good. This morning, woke up and felt fantastic! No lower back nor leg pains. Performed my Yoga X routine which as you can guess…has a lot of stretching etc and I felt like a million bucks afterward.

Steve is once again stoked and “back in the saddle again”, enjoy this song from Aerosmith.

I had forgotten how great this song is...it used to be a song I'd play over and over and over....

I was going to add a picture of a rough and tough cowboy riding his horse….but when I googled the term and saw this…I had to post it....

Daily Activities

As I get closer to the end, I am really trying to watch what I eat. Not necessarily to make sure that I do not eat too much…but more so to make sure I eat enough. Therefore I am attempting to track my meal plan more closely and will try to report them daily.


Grub

Snack – pecans and blueberries

Breakfast - 3 eggs, collard greens

Early Lunch - meal replacement shake & whey protein

Late Lunch - meal replacement shake & whey protein

Dinner - 4 oz fish, chicken breast and stir fry veggies

Snack - Pecans and blueberries

Workout of the Day: Yoga X

Heart Rate Monitor – my new toy.

I purchased a new toy the other day, a heart rate monitor. I bought it to compare workouts and to see how they stacked up with each other as far as the cardio was concerned. I also wore the unit while I ran sprints last night. As I become more and more comfortable with the use of the device I’ll give more details.

Heart rate is used to determine several things including estimated calories burned during a given period of time.

** This blogging software does not handle formatted text very well. It handles Excel data even worse. I am having to "force the format", not my preferred method. Hopefully you can make sense of the info. Basically I am reporting my maximum heart rate for each routine, dividing it by 172 to arrive at the Heart Rate percentage.

------------------------Max HR------HR
Activity----------------Exercise-------%

Sprinting----------------153---------88%

Plyometrics--------------147---------85%

Arms and Shoulders------123--------75%

Notes:

1) The sprints were not “all out” 100% effort, if I had to guess I would say 90%. I was pretty close as the estimate equaled 88%.

2) Plyometrics is a P90X workout with a lot of cardio including squats and lunges.

3) Arm and Shoulders is mainly a “pulling” workout, with curls and flys the predominant activity.

4) My Maximum Heart Rate is estimated by subtracting my age from 220 which equals 172, this is a common formula for the estimate but there are other formulae.

5) Final Note: Plyometrics and Shoulder & Arms readings were taken, on days that I was still experiencing some health issues. It will be interesting to see how the data changes now that I am 100%.

Questions, comments or suggestions….let me know.


Steve

Obesity Subsidies - End them now

Government Needs to End the “Obesity Subsidy”

As a blogger, it is always gratifying to have your opinions validated by a 3^rd party.

In this San Francisco Chronicle article, http://ow.ly/iZg3 it makes the case against governmental subsidies for obesity and I agree. I said as much in this post. http://ow.ly/iZff

According to the article, each taxpayer spends $175 per year to subsidize obesity.

Here’s an excerpt from the Chronicle:

<< We need to tell Congress that we want our tax dollars spent on providing children with healthy meals and teaching healthy eating habits, not treating their obesity-related health conditions down the road. >>

This article did not include farm subsidies to the corn and soybean growers that artificially keep prices low. Cheap corn costs create incentives that make corn syrup more economically attractive as a food additive. More corn syrup equals more sugar to feed the sugar addictions which leads to obesity.

What did you eat today?

Breakfast – 2.5 eggs w/ cheese and collard greens. I mix these all together…(yum, yum)

(Max received the other .5 eggs w/cheese and collards too.)

Snack – meal replacement shake with whey protein

Lunch – Salad with Grilled

Chicken, mushrooms, carrots, squash, cukes, onions and lettuce.

Snack – Small Apple, hand full of pecans and hand full of blueberries

Dinner – (2) Low carb Turkey Burger w/Collard Greens, cheese, onion and tomato. (no

buns, no condiments)

Snack – None…those two burgers filled me up.

Max Does it Again….
Max doesn’t do this every time we leave him alone…but he does it too often. I left him alone and I forgot to put a rubber band around the cabinet doors. So Max opened the door, drug out the trash can, turned it over and…..partied down!

I feel like I need to call the Dog Whisperer, Caesar Milan about this. :)

Cheers,

Steve

Lies, Damned Lies and Statistics

“There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies and statistics.”

The quote of course is a “swipe” at statistics…a person can use them to support their own opinion or agenda. As I read more and more about diet and nutrition I find that you can substitute the phrase “studies” for “statistics”.

“…lies, damned lies and studies”, this claim may seem a little harsh but this does appear to be the case, in my humble opinion. If a “researcher” wants to prove a certain point he/she can design a “clinical trial or study” to prove it.

I had to laugh at this one study I read. It said that men who ate 7 or more eggs a week did not live as long as men who ate less than 7 eggs per week. The study also noted that the men who had 7 eggs or more per week also tended to drink too much, smoked tobacco and exercised less than the other group…..notice anything strange about that?

Is it possible that one of the other items on the list may have contributed to the decrease in longevity!!

Problems with studies…who funds them…For example : Studies (funded by tobacco companies) showing NO Link between cigarette smoking and lung cancer or heart disease.

Are EGGS GOOD, BAD or UGLY? : Eggs are good for you…no wait…they are bad…no wait….

I found links today talking about studies that show eggs are good for you. Then there are other links discussing studies that say you should avoid them or at least limit your intake. Both sides are represented by reputable people/groups. These are not snake oil salesmen….which adds to the frustration level.

This post started because I was going to tell my “egg story”. I was all set to say that eggs have gone from being good to bad, back to good. I thought, before I post this…let me get the official version from the American Heart Association and the Mayo Clinic.

Bad Eggs - The official AHA line: The average person, who has normal cholesterol levels should not consume more than 300 mg of cholesterol per day. An egg has 213mg…therefore if you eat an egg…you should limit your cholesterol intake for the rest of the day. This should be obvious…but according to this you should NOT eat more than one egg per day.

Here is the link on the AHA website, go to question #7. http://tr.im/smVS
Here is the Mayo Clinic’s answer, which agrees with AHA. http://tr.im/smWv

Good Eggs - Then there is Jonny Bowden, PhD in Nutrition….who says don’t worry, Eggs are a “super food”. Here is a link to his egg commentary. http://tr.im/smZj

Back in March, I went to an Endocrinologist in regards to my diabetes. It was my first (and last visit) to this group so the doctor was “interviewing me” about my exercise and diet etc. I mentioned that I ate a couple of eggs every other day…she said, “ you should not eat that many eggs, that is too much cholesterol.”

I then replied, “I thought eggs had good cholesterol and that it was ok to eat them.”

She gave me this blank look, as if she didn’t know if I was right or not, and then said, “you should go see a nutritionist.“

#1: The Endocrinologist was a specialist so I had to pay $40…. She referred me to a Nutritionist so I could pay another $40 just to find out if eggs are good or bad for me?

#2: If I had gone to the nutritionist listed above…a PhD…he’d said, “eggs are a super food”.

As I said, there is sooo much contradicting information out there even on reputable sites. (I am not even talking about all the disreputable sites) …and I don’t blame this on the internet. The internet is just making it easier to see the diverse opinions.

WE NEED FACTS…in my opinion. :)

Just an FYI – in Feb ’09, it seems that everything related to my health was BAD…my cholesterol levels were too high. Today my cholesterol levels are back to normal and I eat eggs several times a week….and I usually eat 2-3 eggs at a time.

SO FOR ME…Eggs are not affecting my cholesterol (this may not be true for everyone).

"Wasn’t this an EGGsellent POST?"(as spoken by Vincent Price aka Egg Man on the original Batman TV Series)

Steve

RedHot Chili Peppers are Good For YOU!

We have a small garden and we planted Squash, Habanero peppers, Green Peppers and Tomatoes. I was “googling” to see how to dry the peppers and as is often the case, one thing leads to another...I found some very interesting facts about chili peppers and that lead me to research the benefits of all of the main ingredients of my “Steve’s World Famous Ground Turkey Chili”. I decided to include it here in the blog. The post with the recipe is http://tr.im/s8JI if you want to make some delicious and very healthy chili.

Isn’t it interesting how scientific study confirms “widely held views”? For example, in a previous post I mentioned that my favorite healthy meal was my Chili recipe. I KNOW that it is nutritious; it only has “clean foods” in the recipe and I KNOW that it does not affect my blood sugar levels. Below, scientific information and evidence support my own personal conclusions.

Chili Peppers

Contain vitamin A, dietary fiber, vitamin C, potassium and iron. They also contain capsaicin – the hotter the pepper, the more capsaicin. Studies show capsaicin is an anti-inflammatory and a natural pain reliever…I always thought hot peppers were the other way around. :) …they inflamed and caused pain…but in a good way. :)

It also stimulates secretions that help clear congestion in the nose and lungs. I think we all have experience the runny nose after eating a spicy hot dish.

Studies also show that chili pepper reduces risk of type 2 diabetes…if the meal contains chili pepper, a lower amount of insulin is required to lower blood sugar levels…WAY COOL.

Celery

Wow…too many nutrients to mention them all…I was surprised. Celery is high in vitamin C, K and dietary fiber. It also contains phthalides which can help lower blood pressure. Celery has many other benefits as well but to keep this short, I am moving on.

Green Peppers

Again, many nutrients but high on the list is Vitamin C, A, B6 and dietary fiber. It has two powerful carotenoids; one is beta-carotene that helps prevent damage from free radicals at the cell level. This has too many benefits to mention here but just saying that it protects your body’s cells is enough of a reason to eat more….isn’t it?

Another powerful carotenoid is lycopene. Studies show that higher lycopene consumption can reduce risk for numerous types of cancers including cervix, bladder, pancreatic, colon and lung cancer.

Tomato

As we all know tomatoes are very nutritious, containing high amounts of Vitamin C, A, K, potassium and dietary fiber….and many more nutrients.

Like the Green Peppers, tomatoes are high in Lycopene and it is VERY BENEFICIAL in the protecting of cells and decreasing risk of a myriad of cancers.

An apple a day is of course good advice…but add a tomato and you have a powerful punch to your body’s defenses. Better yet…have an apple and a bowl of chili.

Onion

Contains good amounts of chromium, vitamin c and dietary fiber. Studies have shown that chromium (and onion consumption) lowers blood sugar levels. Studies also show that onions have cardiovascular benefits reducing the risks of heart disease and stroke.

Lastly, onions contain quercitin, an antioxidant and curcumin a phytonutrient that studies show have reduced the size and number of precancerous lesions in the intestinal tract.


Summary: WOW – while I knew that “Steve’s World Famous Ground Turkey Chili was nutritious and “clean”….I didn’t realize the full benefits of eating it. It is good to know that you can fix a meal that tastes good and is really good for you. For your convenience, here again is the link to my recipe. http://tr.im/s8JI

** WARNING: Eating Steve’s World Famous Ground Turkey Chili can be habit forming. If you are prone to compulsive or addictive behaviors…proceed with extreme caution.

To see the affects of withdrawal look at this photo. It was taken after this person learned that China had placed a ban on Steve’s World Famous Ground Turkey Chili. Apparently the ban was placed because the government did not want it’s 1.3 billion citizens to live longer, healthier lives.

Now go outside and exercise for 30 - 45 minutes…will ya? I know it’s hot but wait until the sun goes down if it is too hot for you.

C U L8R ALIG8R!

Steve

Health Preacher??

Health Preacher….hmmmph!

I was recently called a “health preacher”….I don’t think it was meant as a compliment …but I’m going to take it as one. :)

In this post…I am going to do some preaching. (no offense to preachers intended)

Nutrisystem/D

I keep seeing an ad for Nutrisystem’s meal system for those people diagnosed with Diabetes, I think they call it Nurtrisystem /D. I should tell you that I have not personally tried the meals, but from what I am told they are tasty but expensive. I looked into Nutrisystem as a possible solution to my situation at one time. Their meals are healthy and I know at least some of their meals were GI tested (Glycemic Index) and they rated very well. So other than their cost, I have nothing negative to say about their product.

Some people may need the structure that Nutrisystem provides. Who knows, if I’d tried their product a year ago, maybe I would not have had my health problems.

But I do want folks to know that there is a more cost effective way of eating right and losing weight.

A much cheaper option would be to:

1) Purchase a book on the Glycemic Index, The book I bought cost less than $8. “The New Glucose Revolution“ by Dr. Jennie Brand-Miller. Follow their dietary instructions. I know it is tough to change eating habits but you can do it. …not to get on my soapbox…but if I can do it…anyone can do it. JUST DO IT! You’ll be eating vegetables , beans, lean meats and whole wheat products. You should limit drinking sodas / soft drinks / sports drinks or at least drink artificially flavored versions.

2) Exercise! I know it’s tough but start out walking as much as you can, 15 mins if that’s all you can do. The next day walk 20 mins, the next day 30 mins. Etc etc.

When I was just starting out, I walked/ran further each day than the previous day.
In some cases, it may have only been 20 yards…heck, walk to the next mail box, do that every day….walk to the next mailbox and then the next.

I believe that it is VERY important to the mental aspect of this process. Each day, you can tell yourself you are getting stronger and fitter. Each day you are improving. Each day you are doing more to improve your health than the last.

Just do this everyday (or at least 4-5 days a week) and before long, you’ll see a real difference, especially if you are abiding by the nutritional plan above. Give this a week or two and ONCE YOU START TO SEE RESULTS, IT WILL BE MUCH EASIER TO CONTINUE!

*** I was getting ready to hit “publish” on this post and I thought of something else that is important…this blog. I had lost the vast majority of my weight before I started this blog...but I know that it helps to keep me motivated especially when it comes to the P90X program….do you think I want to quit after having gone this far…posting my pics etc. NO WAY. Or worse yet….how about posting pics that are WORSE than the pics before, showing that I was getting fatter…..THAT AIN’T HAPPENING BROTHER! LOL! I may end up not having the body I want…but I am NOT going to be heavier. If I have to fast while hiking to the top of Mt. Mitchell…I am not going to be heavier.

The point to all this being…if anyone would like to start a blog just contact me and I will help you get it set up. It really is relatively simple.

Steve Cooksey

Steve's on Drugs!?

Steve isn’t following the P90X diet/nutrition plan ….strictly.

Side Note: I enjoy writing about myself in 3^rd person…it makes me feel impotent…er…I mean important, you know like those sports stars. Wait, I don’t mean that I am impotent like sports stars, I don’t take steoids. I have never thought about buying Viagra..wait, ok I did think about buying it but I didn't and I do not need it.

LOOK! Before this rumor gets started and spreads ALL over the internet, Steve is NOT on steroids, Steve is not impotent.

I know, I know what you are thinking….”But Steve, how can you lose weight and gain such large muscles…soo fast? “ “Say it ain’t so Steve”.

Ok, I’ll say it one more time, “it ain’t so”, “I, Steve Cooksey of sound mind and (super sound) body do hereby claim that I am not taking any banned substances.” LOL! I AM JUST KIDDING! I have a long way to go to have a sound body…just kidding GEESH!

On a serious note, back in ’00 I was working out on my Bowflex (before it became a coat rack) and I took an ephedrine based product…my heart started racing…it really scared me….I mean REALLY SCARED ME. I guess drinking a pot of coffee and taking the equivalent of speed isn’t good for you. :)

Really Seriously….getting back to bidness----I have not been following the P90X nutrition plan.

Look, I was hospitalized essentially for being a sedentary garbage disposal….so I studied real hard about what to eat and what not to eat plus I have this Diabetes “thang” hanging over my head…so you know…I know how to eat right.

The diet plan I have been following:

• eat often
• eat food groups daily (each meal if possible)
• eat smaller amounts
• eat real “clean” (no heavy starches, nothing fried nor breaded).

Unfortunately, this isn’t working for me. I weigh in each morning … I weighed 172 lbs….I lost another pound so far this week!!!! At this rate, in 3.36 years I will cease to exist!

Before you start in on me, NO…I HAVE NOT BEEN RUNNING, thus far this week I’ve logged -0- miles jogging, only doing the P90X workouts for exercise.

I am officially going to correct this weight loss…..

1) I am going to follow the P90X nutrition guide
2) I am going to maintain a food journal for the next several days.

FYI - This morning I had a ½ cup of All Bran cereal (yum yum), ½ cup of skim milk, a tomato and 1 1/2 grilled chicken breasts (I estimate that Max ate .5 grilled chicken breasts). For my early lunch I will eat a meal replacement shake and a scoop of whey protein. For my late lunch I will have chicken breast, beans, spinach and cool clear water.

Hey! Have a great and safe weekend.

Steve

Nutrition Tools

In today’s post I will show you some of the tools / calculators I use to assist me in my fitness journey. (They are all free!)

Let's s get started… one pound = 3,500 calories, to lose 1 lb (let’s say per week), you will need to burn 3,500 more calories than you consume in a week.

Therefore, on average, you will need to burn 500 more calories per day than you consume. It is THAT SIMPLE!

Tools to assist…

1) Body Mass Index (BMI) – uses a person’s height and weight to determine overall body health.

This index is used for tracking your overall progress. The index is a guide, it does not take into account bone structure or muscle mass etc. A rating of 25 or higher = overweight.

http://www.bmi-calculator.net/

Steve’s BMI = 24.82 (whew! Cutting it close!)

2) Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR) or Resting Metabolic Rate (RMR) – this provides an estimated resting daily caloric burn rate. In other words, if you laid in bed all day, your BMR is the amount of calories your body would burn.

http://health.drgily.com/basal-metabolic-rate-calculator.php

Knowing this number is good info but it is incomplete. You need to add to it, the number of calories you burn while your body is "working" or "not at rest". Obviously, that depends on the activities and luckily there are calculators for this as well, we'll take a look at them later in the post.

3) There is a FREE website, http://www.everydayhealth.com that has a lot of tools to help you measure your caloric intake and expenditures.

There are many features:

a) start your own blog
b) calorie counter
c) recipe section
d) discussion forums and more.

Using the "My Calorie Counter" is a great tool. You can calculate the calories of many foods, which you can do a search for in their database. You can enter items that you eat each day to measure what you have eaten or use this as a meal planner, so you can plan your meals. Either way you can do a fair job of estimating calories, fat, fiber, carbs, sugar and protein.

Equally important, there is a section that estimates calories expended, this is a huge benefit when attempting to calculate weight gain/loss. Plug in your activity, weightlifting, jogging, etc etc and the length of time or distance and it will estimate the calories burned/expended.

I urge you to look over this site. http://www.everydayhealth.com/

Hope this helps you.


Steve

“Do cheaters ever win?”

People tell me, “Steve….Cooksey, how did you get to be so funny!” I’ll be honest with you, there’s a secret to it. Here’s what I do, before I write in my blog, I put a tuna fish sandwich in each shoe. That way, when I write…I feel “funny”. Ok….like some people (namely Bryan), I am stealing a joke, raise your hand if you recognized the old Steve Martin joke.

There’s another Steve Martin joke, it’s about S&M….(Steve, don’t go there please….ok I won’t…it’s not what you think though).

Getting back to business, yesterday started out great, below are my activities and meals. Keep in mind, I am not on a “weight loss” meal plan any longer.

Breakfast: Apple and Meal Replacement Shake

P90X Shoulders & Arms, and Abs Workout

Snack: Whey Protein Shake

Lunch: ½ can of Salmon, ½ can of spinach, 1/2 cup cauliflower, ½ cup broccoli

Snack: 1.5 oz of unsalted roasted peanuts

Dinner: 1/3 of a 16” 4 meat regular crust pizza!!! No, this isn’t what I had planned to eat…I had planned to eat the same thing I had for lunch (the other half) but I had to cook the pizza for my sons and then I had to get it out of the oven….and then I had to cut it….and then ...I had to eat it!!!

After patiently waiting an hour I tested my blood sugar…big relief…no problem. To be honest, the fact that I ate that much fat & calories isn’t that big of a deal with the workouts I’m doing BUT I don’t want to slide down that slippery slope…been there, done that.

So what the heck can I do??? I’ll punish myself….so even though I worked out for over an hour already, at 9:49pm I started jogging. I hadn’t jogged since Saturday and it was late so I was only planning on running a couple of miles, but I felt good. It certainly was cooler than running at noon and you don’t have all the traffic (and exhaust fumes). Anyway, I ended up running 5.6 miles….not 5.5 and not 5.7, it was 5.6 miles.

Mental Note: Don’t cook pizza for the boys anymore…

My diet today was “back on track”, only lean meats and healthy veggies.

I did backslide BUT and this is a BIG BUT…..I got right back on track the next day. One problem that people have (and I have fallen prey to this) is…when they backslide, they become depressed and give up.

DON’T give up!

If you can, exercise to burn some of the extra calories but the most important thing….get right back on your diet the next day or the next meal. Cheating once won’t destroy your diet. Do these things and cheaters can win...they don’t always “get it” in the end.