5K runs: The Possibilities

12/07/2008 08:30am Saturday

USC Quench the Fire 5K Run & Walk. Hosted by USC School of Medicine to benefit the USC Pain Center.

W2 Promotions 310-828-4123 W2Promo@aol.com

El Dorado Regional Park East, Long Beach, CA

Fast, flat course w/mile splits called & aid stations. Finishers are greeted by an expo w/food & drink galore. A special kids fun run for 12 & under. Register online and get more info at: www.w2promotions.com

12/21/2008 08:00am Sunday

Winter Solstice X-mas Tree 5 Mile Run, 3K Walk and 1K Kids Fun Run

Try-Us Events 213/254-8242 TryUsEvents@gmail.com

El Dorado Park East. Long Beach, CA. Take 605 Fwy to Spring St exit. Head west to park entrance on north side next to Archery Range. Follow signs to registration and start area.

Beautiful flat scenic loop through pine trees & around El Dorado Lakes. Race Day Reg 6:30-7:50am. 5 Mile Starts 8:00am, 1K Kids Fun Run Starts 9:00am. Christmas Tree for all runners!!!

01/10/2009 09:00am Saturday

City of Artesia 50th Anniversary 5K Fun Run/Walk Event. Non-sanctioned course.

Clayt Iske, City of Artesia Parks and Recreation Director 562/860-3361 ciske@cityofartesia.us

City of Artesia Parks and Recreation Department, Artesia Park, 18750 Clarkdale Ave. Artesia, CA. 90701

Event begins & ends in Artesia Park and consists of youth and adult age divisions for awards. Youth division runners ages 12-20 yrs, $20 prior to December 1, $25 after. Adult division runners 21 yrs and older, $25 prior to December 1, $30 after.

02/01/2009 06:50am Sunday

Surf City Marathon, Half Marathon, 5K and Kids 1 Mile Race

Kinane Events 1-888/433-0786 info@runsurfcity.com

2100 Pacific Coast Hwy, Huntington Beach CA 92648

Flat and fast,the Surf City Marathon is California's most popular Beach Front Marathon, with 16,000 runners it pumps up Super Bowl Weekend! Proceeds benefit Free Wheelchair Mission, Kiwanis Club, Key Clubs, Orange County Service Clubs www.runsurfcity.com

02/21/2009 07:30am Saturday

Race on the Base 5K Walk, 5K/10K Run, 10K Skate/Wheelchair, Kids Fun Run, and New Reverse Triathlon R-3.1 Mile, B-12 Mile, S-200 meters pool

Emeline Moya 562/430-1073 x-510 emoya@ci.los-alamitos.ca.us

Los Alamitos Joint Forces Training Base 11200 Lexington Drive Los Alamitos, CA 90720

The course is located on the Joint Forces Training Base runways. Helicopters, planes and military vehicles line portions of the 100% flat course. website

04/04/2009 08:00am Saturday

35th Annual Seal Beach 5K Run/Walk, 10K Run and 1K Kid's Fun Run.

Bill Ayres grabme@roadrunner.com

Old Town Seal Beach. Registration & Start at the Marina Community Center --- 151 Marina Dr. at the corner of 1st. Street & Marina Dr.-- Seal Beach.

Run/Walk the prettiest course in Southern California. A Well managed event with more than 4,500 participants. A MUST DO event for you. Contact us at: www.sealbeachrun.com

05/03/2009 06:30am Sunday

2009 Avia OC Marathon

949/222-3327 info@ocmarathon.com

Orange County, CA (Cities of Newport Beach and Costa Mesa).

A world class running event featuring the best the OC has to offer. www.ocmarathon.com

That gives me about 6 months to train for a marathon. I can consistently run 2 miles without stopping now, I'll have to ramp up my running by starting to run every morning.

3 Easy Rules of Thumb

With all the fad diets out there, and if you've read my blog you've seen I've tried many, at the end of the day there is only a handful of rules that if you follow you'll be on the right track to eating healthy the easy way.

1. If you can't figure out the ingredients, don't put it in your mouth. For instance, that twinkie you've been eying at the 7-Eleven near you isn't an option. I don't know what Sorbic Acid is and I heard that it actually is derived from natural gas. Gross.

2. If it naturally grows from soil, with the exception of various drugs and poisonous things, it probably is good for you.

2a. It's probably even better for you closest to it's natural state from the soil. I.e. whole apples as opposed to apple juice.

3. If it comes from the ocean it's probably a good source of lean protein.

3a. If it's a white meat, it's probably also a good source of lean protein.

Alcohol is Out!

I watched a few episodes of 30 Days, you know that "documentary" show hosted by the guy who brought you Supersize Me? One of the episodes for 30 days was called "Binge Drinking" as if the guy never went to college or something!

Well just as Supersize Me encouraged me to go vegetarian for some time, 30 Day encouraged me to gift up the Drink for a month or two just to see how it would go.

I'm over half way through and I've dropped 5 lbs (I'm assuming because my body has stopped needing to process alcohol and can now focus on processing fat) and feel pretty good. I'm up to 2X a day workouts (an hour long morning run and at least 1.5 hours at the gym after work) and I'm not pigging out on junk food after getting trashed. Overall, kicking alcohol to the curb for a while has proven to be one of the most worthwhile changes I've made to my lifestyle for a while.

When I do get the urge to socially drink, which just happens to be the times I am tempted the most I've come up with some delicious mocktails. Check it out here.

The Busy Girl's Diet

Anyone who knows me knows that I'm a diet junkie. I try a million diets, most recently low carb and juice detox. But at the end of the day, we all know the secrets to successful and healthy weight loss: Nutrition, Exercise and the right state of mind.

Nutrition:
1. Dietary Fiber. This is so crucial to the success of any change to a healthy lifestyle. I'll get into the nitty gritty later, just try to get 25+ grams per day.
2. Vegetables in a multitude of colors. 7-9 servings is ideal. Everyday try to eat 2+ colors of vegetables, tomatoes and radishes alongside some leafy greens.
3. 5 meals a day spread out 2-3 hours apart. Each meal should include a protein and a vegetable. My current favorite is asparagus and bell pepper strips with a soft boiled egg.
4. Caloric deficit of at least 500 per day. This is sometimes considered the max you should go and to make up the rest with exercise. Depending on your goals, your plateaus, etc. this number can be adjusted. More on that later.
5. 8 glass of water. It may be easier to know that 8 glasses of water is actually a little under a 2 liter bottle of water.

My meal plan for tomorrow:
Breakfast (9am): 5 asparagus Asparagus, 1 bell pepper in slices, soft boiled egg. (2 servings of vegetables - 120 calories)
Snack (11am): 1 cup Radishes, 1 oz low fat cheese, 2 turkey bacon slices. (1 serving of vegetables - 107 calories)
Lunch (1pm): 2 cups of lettuce, 2 grilled chicken tenderloins, 1 tablespoon of dressing. (2 servings of vegetables - 185 calories)
Snack (4pm): 2 celery stalks, 1/2 a cup of tuna salad (1 serving of vegetables - 205 calories)
Dinner (7pm): 1 artichoke, 1 cup sauteed green beans, 2 cups of lettuce, 1 tablespoon of dressing, 3 oz of NY strip steak. (5 servings of vegetables - 282 calories)

Total: 995 calories (on the low side to leave room for a glass of wine if I'd like to have one), 11 servings of vegetables, 26 grams of dietary fiber.


Exercise:
1. Weight training. This is crucial, do at least 30 minutes of it everyday. 30 minutes on average burns 100 calories.
2. Cardio. This is the way you will burn the most calories. On the elliptical for about 60 minutes means a caloric burn of on average 600 calories.
3. Pilates. Stretches and strengthens your muscles while whittling down your core. 20 minutes a day will only burn on average 80 calories, but it for the shaping more than the caloric burn.

My goal is to burn 750 calories from exercise on a daily basis so I'm typically looking at doing at least 60 minutes of cardio, 30 minutes of weight training and 20 minutes of pilates in the morning to hit my 750 goal.

State of Mind:
1. Post a picture of yourself at your absolute worst on the refrigerator next to a picture of your physical ideal. Post a copy of this person's diet on your fridge. I have Mariah Carey and Hayden Panettiere. Will post later.
2. Install at least one full length mirror in your home in a place you have to see at least twice a day. I have one on a door in my bathroom so I have to see myself when I get in the shower. It's truly sobering.
3. Make a mantra. Define who you are. Everyday we define ourselves by the work we do and get up and go do that work. Part of who we define ourselves as should be Healthy, Fit, Active, and we should get up everyday and be those things. When you think about not going to hit the gym or think about eating that mile high chocolate cake, remember who you are and what you pride yourself on.
4. Log your food. Get accountable. Publish your intake.

Water the Wonder

My best friend, the biggest health nut I know aside from my personal trainer Anthony, once told me that she hated the taste of water. But realizing the importance of this wonder fluid made her search out alternatives to water that would give her the same hydration benefits like sparkling water beverages that come with a slight flavoring and no calories. I think she also dabbled with some Crystal Light a few times.

Now, though hydration is an important part of the whole health picture, there's something important about just pure water untouched by the likes of sugar substitutes and artificial flavorings. Aside from the fact that studies show that drinking sugar free beverages might actually contribute to obesity, it just doesn't have the purifying ability that water does.

Here are the basics:

1. Water flushes out the toxins in your body including your liver.
2. Water helps your liver run more efficiently resulting in a better metabolism of fat.

Drink at least 8 cups of water a day, more if you're active, to keep your body running at optimum efficiency. I have 3 half bottles of 1.5 fl. oz. water sitting around my desk. I'm going to drink them all before I begin my day.

Food Relationships

Have you ever thought about your relationship with food? Personally, I grew up in a household where food was how mothers and grandmothers showed their love. Where multiple meals, multi course dinners and delicious specialty snacks were expected to be eaten with appreciation for the person who provided it all. Anything less than voracious consumption of these culinary creations was considered offensive to dear Mommy and PoPo (Cantonese for Maternal Grandmother.)

As I got older I was taught that food is part of the pleasures of living. My mom made sure that I tried everything that passed m plate, no matter how disgusting my adolescent palate thought it would be. The experience of trying it, tasting it, would prevent a lifetime of not knowing what I was missing, according to my mother.

And so I learned to travel the "world" through food. Understanding the intricacies of culture, geography, weather and history that led certain countries to develop certain cuisines. The heat of Indian and Thai food to create a sweat that would cool down it's people in the face of the heat and humidity that the lands are so well known for. The saltiness of food and pervasive use of preserved meats in Hawaii because of war impacts. Even now, as I travel difference places domestically I try to get in a taste of the local fare each city is known for to get a better understanding of it's locals.

But this food association with love and experience comes with an unfortunate result: food as joy and comfort. Eating as a way to quench the boredom of hotel living while traveling, or to connect with friends and family. My food relationship has resulted in 15 lbs of unhealthy weight and an additionally undesirable 15 lbs after that making this a love/hate relationship.

Because now I hate food, or certain foods, whatever diet I embark upon for whatever reason next. First it's meat because vegetarianism is the way to go. Then it's carbs because they prevent the efficient metabolism of fat. Then it's certain vegetables because of salmonella. And everyday becomes a thought about what I should and should not be eating. What I wan't to eat and can't have. How much I love what I can eat. How much I hate all the things I can or can't eat. The idea that I have to eat what I'm supposed to eat now so that I won't lose control with hunger that I'll eat something that I shouldn't eat later.

Enough. Here's a message to myself and food. I know I can never break up with you entirely but I think it's time we take a break so I can focus on my other priorities. I'm going to eat to live, not live to eat.

Low Carb: Why Does It Work? Part 2

I'm on Day 3 of my low carb adventure. I assume that eventually, after the first 30 days it'll be a lifestyle choice instead of an adventure per se. I'm starting to feel the dizzy carb withdrawls which I can only assume are occurring because my body has no more glucose to burn, no more glycogen to tap into for energy and as a result, thinks I am starving. After I go to the gym for a couple of hours tonight I'm going to assume my body will start burning fat.

Back to the low carb logic. Insulin is the hormone that basically stops the use of fat for energy. It is responsible for pulling glucose from the blood stream and converting into the glycogen for energy use. The body will only store about a day's worth of glycogen for energy use. Anything beyond what the body can convert and store as glycogen is converted to fat.

Insulin is released whenever glucose is released into the blood stream. Glucose is apparently something our bodies want regulated in the blood so insulin is something of a blood stream hero. There's some nitty gritty science going on about glucose release but we'll skip it. For low carb purposes, know that the consumption of carbohydrates results in the introduction of glucose into the blood stream which results in the release of insulin.

So how do you avoid the release of insulin in the blood stream if you need to get at least 7 servings of vegetables in per day and vegetables naturally have carbohydrates in them?

The key is minimize the amount of glucose released in the blood stream resulting in the smallest amount of insulin released into the blood stream. The less glucose, the less insulin required to regulate the glucose levels.

So what vegetables should you eat to reduce the amount of insulin released and continue to burn fat? For that answer we turn to the Glycemic Index (GI).

This is another topic that most mainstream diets fail on. Being low on the GI is not purely enough to say that you can eat as much of it as you want. The GI measures the glucose effect on blood when a particular food is eaten. That measurement is based on a specific serving size. Consumption beyond that serving size can increase the glucose load.

Most foods that have a high fiber to calorie ratio, low in glucose and fructose as well as high in fat tend to have a much lower GI rating than foods than the average food.

Particularly easy to eat, find and enjoy low GI foods include:


(Chart courtesy of southbeach-diet-plan.com)

Low Carb: Why does it work? Part 1

I got a bit of a tongue lashing from my personal trainer for juicing. At first, he didn't say much about it then later reminded me of my weight loss goal for the wedding. It's fine to mess around with different nutrition ideas, apparently, but when you're 13 lbs overweight and looking to lose 30 lbs in time for a wedding ceremony so you can look like a supermodel in pictures, this just isn't going to cut it.

He reminded me that I should be consuming no more than 1300 calories per day, most of which should be veggies and protein and I should be laying low on the carbs. And by low he means not intaking 100% of my calories from fruit and veggie juice. Hmm...

Alright Mr. Munoz, I'll play your game after some research. Not that I don't trust you, my dear good friend, I just need to know where the logic comes from so that I might improvise in low carbing when certain scenarios are undefined.

Apparently, the body uses glycogen as the source for energy primarily which is found in carbohydrates. Only when the glycogen is depleted does the body move onto lipolysis, basically burning fat for energy. Low carb diets remove carbohydrates from the equation resulting in the body being forced into using fat for energy.

Now, I had a friend who told me that the low carb thing didn't work for her. That eventually, she just ended up gaining weight while on the diet. There's a caveat that most main stream low carb diets only touch upon. It's that the body will use the fat consumed in the day for energy before going after the fat in the body. Low carb is not Carte Blanche to eat high fatty foods.

But we all know that you can't avoid carbs entirely, in fact a diet that is high is vegetables will inevitably be relatively high carbs and some vegetables have such a high sugar content, they might was well be a candy (yes, I'm talking about you corn.)

Well... enter insulin's important role in the low carb diet.

(Image courtesy of 1001herbs.com)

JTV: Anderson's Split Pea Soup

I don't care what other juice faster masters say. Anderson's all natural vegetarian split pea soup is the equivalent of pea juice to me. Delicious pea juice.

Honestly though, I get sick of the constant influx of sweet juices and with tomatoes on the salmonella list raw tomato juice aren't an option and you know I'm not shucking peas for every pea drink I want. Sure, I could blend frozen peas but with the cans I can make a can of non vegetarian pea juice for my fiancé too.

He likes meat. And get jealous when something I eat looks healthier than what he's eating. The key word is "looks".

JTV: Juice Fasting - Day 1.5

Juice fasting, renamed juice feasting, for those who want to avoid the negative stigma of fasting. Personally, as a Buddhist, I know that the word "Fast" isn't a bad one. When I started my first juice fast someone asked me why. Why give up food to drink your calories for a week?

The idea first appealed to me because I knew my body was seriously laden down, full of garbage and bad foodstuffs. I wanted to go vegetarian, but it still wasn't enough. I needed to cleanse all this vodka out of my body. I read about juice feasting on a blog from my friend's fiance who went away to a 12 day retreat and came back centered and vegan. She quenched her cravings for anything bad with a juice fast.

Now with anything that sounds completely radical, people have a million opinions on what juice fasting does. In my reading, the following made me want to give it a shot:

1. Detoxification of the internal organs, like the colon,without forgoing and nutritional intake.
2. Shrinks the stomach to it's original size preventing overconsumption after breaking the fast.
3. Weans the faster off any food additions that are derailing their health goals.
4. Allows the body to focus on detoxification including releasing toxins from fat cells instead of on digestion.

During my first 3 day juice fast I did end up with lighter with more energy, prettier hair and skin, as well as a more peaceful and positive attitude. The world was oddly sunshiney and bright. I'm going to have to assume it's not that the massive amount of beta carotene from the gallons of carrot juice are repairing my vision.

Update: I didn't do any subsequent updates to JTV because it was time consuming to make my own juice and lower energy when fasted for more than 4 days. I still do juice fast from time to time when I need a quick cleanse.

JTV: Juice Fasting - Day 1

This girl has been living the loose and cruisey lifestyle, drinking, smoking while doing the obligatory straight west coasting. So for a few days last week I took on juice fasting just to see what it would do. It ended up losing me 5 lbs in water weight, giving me the energy to workout a few hours daily at the gym and cleared my mind.

Then back to the party lifestyle this past weekend. And oddly my body was demanding, I dare say craving to go off food and back onto juice, so today I got back on the juice wagon.

I should clarify that along with my juice I am also having a slew of supplements. I'm taking a detox stack from Prosource that includes a Super Detox and an Ultra Cleanse. In addition to that I'm taking a thermogenic called Adicor, a multivitamin, hair, skin and nails (HSN) supplements and a vitamin B complex pill. I take the detox stack in the morning and at night. I have the Adicor 3 times a day, the HSN supplement in the morning, the multivitamin in the afternoon and the B vitamin in the evening before going to the gym.

I know, it sounds like a lot but I was taking the Multi, B vitamin and the HSN before hand, my trainer recommended the detox stack because he's partied with me before, and another trainer recommended the Adicor to supplement my weight loss goals at the gym and I've made sure there is no conflict with any of these health supplements.

So today I picked up a delicious juice from a local small time juice shop that included pineapple, papaya and apple. The 32 oz. has lasted me from 9:30am until 1:30pm. I have gotten pangs of hunger here and there, usually when I haven't had a sip of juice in a while but overall my energy levels are good and I'm looking forward to the gym tonight.

I've been doing about 1 hour of cardio, 1 hour of weights and then hitting the pool and steam room after my workouts for detox purposes. After my workout I usually have additional juice or vegetarian split pea soup. Arguably some people say that this doesn't count because the juice should be raw and blah and blah.

I say bottle juices are fine, and I'll get into this tomorrow because it has to do with the purpose of juice fasting.

Diet Hack: Green Tea

I'll admit it, I love the feeling that eating and drinking give me. It's social, it's decadent, it feels rich. Of course, the foie gras that goes straight to my thighs and the champagne that slows my metabolism should be off the menu.

Enter green tea. Obviously, green tea is almost no calorie, but it's also tauted to speed the metabolism and curb the appetite. Even if it doesn't do anything to speed your weight loss, it's not going to slow it down.

But if you want decadence, flowering green tea is the way to go. It's a work of art in a glass of tea.

My mother came back from her trip to china with a gorgeous set of tea balls that when steeped unfurled into colorful flowers that enhance the floral flavor of the tea.

Image courtesy of hhas.com who sells flowering tea bulbs for $1.30 each.

*Diet Hacks are features that give tips on how to effortlessly lose weight. They are not a substitute for a healthy diet and daily exercise.

JTV: Chinese Food

Yesterday at the Rockband get together I did have some Coq Au Vin. I have a hard time serving people completely vegetarian meals because there seems to be a negative stigma against not providing meat protein as a dinner party host.

I made some great vegetarian sides like cauliflower au gratin, garlic green beans and whole wheat couscous, of which I have plenty of leftovers that I'll be eating for the rest of the weekend.

Yesterday, for lunch I had a bean and cheese burrito. I think going forward I'll have to get those from Taco Bell because I can only assume that authentic restaurants have animal lard in the beans. At least, that's what fiance keeps reminding me.

I'm back eating vegetarian and stopped into the Veggie Wokery, a vegetarian Chinese restaurant and ordered basil eggplant, hot and sour soup and a side of multigrain brown rice. IN the soup I came across faux squid! It actually had the consistency of squid and you could barely tell it wasn't real squid!

Here's another reason to go vegetarian, courtesy of the Vegetarian Times:

"2 You'll save your heart. Cardiovascular disease is still the number one killer in the United States, and the standard American diet (SAD) that's laden with saturated fat and cholesterol from meat and dairy is largely to blame. Children as young as age 3 who are raised on fast food and junk food show early signs of heart disease, according to the Bogalusa Heart Study done at the Louisiana State University. Cardiovascular disease is found in one in nine women aged 45 to 64 and in one in three women over 65. Heart attacks are also deadlier to the fairer sex: 53 percent of women who have heart attacks die from them, compared with 47 percent of men. Today, the average American male eating a meat-based diet has a 50 percent chance of dying from heart disease. His risk drops to 15 percent if he cuts out meat; it goes to 4 percent if he cuts out meat, dairy and eggs. Partly responsible is the fact that fruits and vegetables are full of antioxidant nutrients that protect the heart and its arteries. Plus, produce contains no saturated fat or cholesterol. Incidentally, cholesterol levels for vegetarians are 14 percent lower than meat eaters." -Norine Dworkin

Image courtesy of itofoods, where you can find vegetarian squid.

JTV: The First Step

For some people I think that jumping into vegetarianism sounds awful. My family, full of serious meat eaters, couldn't understand why I would forsake something like meat when I went vegetarian years ago. At the time it was based on a principled value: that the reason why animal meat is bad for you is because we're not supposed to eat it. Afterall, why does animal fat, with the exception of seafood, have such a bad effect on the human body?

I'll be the first to admit, I'm not the best at doing things that are good for my body. Like drinking. I know that vodka club soda is not good for me but when I'm out there it is in my hand asking me to drink it.

But thinking about why vegetarianism is a good choice for my life is probably how I'll stick to it. So courtesy of the vegetarian times, here is reason number 1:

"1 You'll live a lot longer. Vegetarians live about seven years longer, and vegans (who eat no animal products) about 15 years longer than meat eaters, according to a study from Loma Linda University. These findings are backed up by the China Health Project (the largest population study on diet and health to date), which found that Chinese people who eat the least amount of fat and animal products have the lowest risks of cancer, heart attack and other chronic degenerative diseases. And a British study that tracked 6,000 vegetarians and 5,000 meat eaters for 12 years found that vegetarians were 40 percent less likely to die from cancer during that time and 20 percent less likely to die from other diseases." --Norine Dworkin

Image courtesy of DesiThreads who actually sells the shirt pictured.

Journey to Vegetarianism

I think the healthiest time in my life was when I was a vegetarian. My body felt good, my mood was better and my mind was focused. Whenever my body feels awful I think about how detoxing with a month or so of veggies would be great. So today I started.

On my way to work I picked up a small container of strawberries from a local farm and 2 containers of basil seaweed from my favorite vegetarian restaurant. I have a bottle of water and a bottle of orange juice and I'm hoping it'll all get me through the day. When I get home I'll probably have some soba noodles.

I realized that part of being a successful vegetarian is to give up any notion of the Standard American Diet which usually comprises of some protien, a carb and a vegetable side. Indeed we can subsist on fruits and vegetables alone.

Today I feel lighter already and have already taken in more water than I normally would. I'm not even going to think about the calories.

Diet Hack: Chewing Gum

Last night the fiance and I were talking about his body building period. His uncle was an award winning body builder that helped fiance lose quite a bit of weight. Aside from being on a really strict diet that has turned him off to tuna forever, fiance swears by chewing gum.

It makes sense though because he was chewing winterfresh gum which imparts quite a minty taste. The taste of mint will curb the appetite because it signals the end of a meal. Mint itself will aid in digestion.

But that's not all this wonder treat does, here's a short list of additional benefits:
-Prevents tooth decay.
-Removes the bacteria that causes bad breath.
-Diverts oral fixators from talking and eating.

So if you're looking for a mindless way of reducing your calories, look to a sugar free mint gum and chew it
*Diet Hacks are features that give tips on how to effortlessly lose weight. They are not a substitute for a healthy diet and daily exercise.

Weight Training Goals (Part 3 - Why Protein?)

My personal trainer is insistent on making me consume protein by any means possible. Chicken breast, Muscle Milk, even a protein bar post workout would be acceptable to him. Why is this so important?

Without protein you simply cannot build muscle. Carbohydrates are great for energy, the kind of energy to get you through that grueling gut busting workout. But it doesn't matter how much carbs you eat, without protein your body won't have the amino acids to build and repair your muscles.

It's recommended that to build muscle you have at least 1g of protein for every lb of body weight.

Weight Training Goals (Part 2 - How Long)

One of the biggest questions I always have is hong long something is going to take. I'm pretty impatient, so wanting a shorter time frame is always best. I know weight loss can take a while, usually about 1lb for a week, sometimes 2 if you're training really hard but how long does it take to build a lb of muscle.

For the answer, I turned to Yahoo Answers. Here's what contributors had to say:

"It depends on your diet and how often you train. If you train hard and eat at least 1g per 1lb of protein, you can perhaps gain 1lb a month on average (assuming you are female)."

"gaining muscle is all about the diet. resistance training only stimulates muscle growth. there must be a caloric excess in the diet and sufficient nutrients from proteins, carbs and fats. women have less muscle mass then men because their bodies produce roughly 1/10 the amount of test. to insure high test production you need to make sure that you are getting 20% of the daily calories from healthy fats. test production can drop by 30-40% in a woman with a low fat diet.

shoot for 40% protein, 40% carbs and 20% fats."

Weight Training Goals (Part 1 - Slim Arms)

You've got to say, I think that if I keep working at this and want it badly enough I can have it. It's called perseverance. --Lee Iacocca

When I think about the journey ahead of me, I think about it in stages. Each stage being 10 lbs or milestones. In the case of weight training I used to think of it as something I would get to once I got past the 10 lbs or something.

Luckily, because I was planning at one point to get very serious about muscle building I had thoughts in my head about what I wanted to achieve.

First, slimming my upper arms.

I got this workout from wowbodybuilding.com:

The only equipment you’ll be needing is dumbbells and if you are sitting down, a ball to sit down on. This is performed by hold the dumbbells by your side with your palms facing inward. If you are doing it standing up, picking the barbells up off the floor, make sure you use your legs to help lift the weight. Stand with feet shoulder-width apart to give yourself a sturdy base. If you are sitting down, sit on a big ball, with your back and head straight, and palms facing forward. Seated or standing curl the weight up while keeping your elbows steady at your waist. "As you curl up your palms should begin to face your chest as you lift the weight. After fully contracting the bicep, lower the dumbbell in a reverse manner rotating your hand back to its original position while keeping control. You can also do the curls alternate. This isolates the biceps of each arm making it a good exercise for thinner arms. In this variation of a Dumbbell Curl, you curl the dumbbells alternately, first one arm and then the other, it gives you a better sense of isolation, allowing you to concentrate your energy on one arm at a time. Keep alternate curling until you have completed the necessary repetitions for both arms. To get the best possible range of motion, fully extend and contract the arm. Allow yourself to move naturally throughout this combined arms exercise. Your upper body should be leaning slightly forward when you start. As you curl, your back moves to an upright position. You will be limiting the amount of weight you can use if you try to keep your back totally still while curling. Take note that ultra strict form will actually leave you more susceptible to injury because the movement is not natural. But you should always maintain control over the weight, especially as you lower the dumbbells to their starting position. It is very important that you fully stretch and contract the bicep every time. Do not curl the dumbbell past the point where tension leaves the biceps.

Let's Get Muscular, Muscular

It's not about weight, it's about fitness, and one component of being fit is to have relatively low body fat, because fat is not very efficient, whereas muscle is. --Deborah Bull

Over the past month I've done a relatively good job getting my diet on a healthy track. I've had my alcohol induced slip ups here and there, but nothing very serious. I'm finding, however, that I'm not losing weight as quickly as I'd like, though I do see increased muscle definition.

How many times have you heard that muscle weighs more than fat? For those people who are dieting and working out and hop on the scale and see they've put in all that effort only to gain weight the muscle fat argument is infinitely popular. But is it true?

According to Google Answers muscle is almost 20% heavier than fat but what's more important is the fact that muscle burns more calories than fat. Information on exrx.net details that one pound of muscle can burn 30 to 50 Calories a day whereas one pound of fat burns only 3 Calories a day. So if you replace 10 lbs of body fat with 10 lbs of muscle, you might just be looking at burning an extra 370 calories a day, or basically 39 lbs a year.

That's enough to make me start a weight training routine.

Every Day Is A New Day

It was character that got us out of bed, commitment that moved us into action, and discipline that enabled us to follow through. - Zig Zigler

I have a confession. I'm great at starting at horrible at the follow through. A lack of discipline and a short attention span that rivals the lack of inches in my physical height I feel are to blame. Some people build up this great forward momentum, change their lives, achieve great heights and sometimes I wonder, especially when it comes to my physical appearance goals, why I can't seem to make things stick.

But I know the answer. I know it's because I get gung ho about making huge changes to my diet and exercise and start full force forgoing the fact that I actually have to live my multifaceted life that doesn't have room for just one single focus day in and day out. No, I have a company to run, a fiance to love, a family to spend quality time with and friends who actually want me to be present.

These changes I make, I have to be able to not just stick to the diet that I know is good for me and fit in the exercise that I know I need, they have to change the way I live my life and make my choices. They have to shift my paradigm. I have to make changes that work for my life and keep me happy.

I'm good with loose rules and daily goals that don't have to be done by a certain time but I need to set limitations to remind myself not to step beyond the realm of moderation.

I think I've developed a personal diet that I can stick to and tomorrow I'll start to take all of you along on that journey.

Boost Yourself, Don't be an Ignorant Communist

Recently, I've been looking at the differences in people and in myself. In my mind, there are two kinds of people, happy and unhappy. Happiness is generally a choice and in some cases a challenging one but something that each individual is responsible for achieving on their own. It's not your spouse's job or your child's job or anyone else's job to make you happy.

Generally, responsible people, I believe, are happier people. I'm not talking about people who have a lot of responsibilities and feel like they're drowning in them. I'm referring to people who live the idea that they are responsible for themselves and whatever they can control in the world around them. Let's face it, people who think that things just happen to them and they can't control are usually in a downward spiral that they can't seem to climb out of because they don't believe they have any ability to.

But this mentality extends beyond this idea. A lot of those unhappy people who have no control and no responsibility also tend to be those who envy others. Now, envy is a really unfortunate thing, especially if the result of the envy causes the person to want to tear down the object of their jealousy instead of push themselves to achieve what others have that they want.

These are the people who hate rich people. These are the people who hate beautiful people. These are the same people who don't want to put in the work to be rich or put in the effort to take care of themselves to be beautiful and instead would rather have the rich people be poor and the beautiful people be ugly. I call this the ignorant communist mentality.

Having people out there who have what you want should push you to achieve those things that you want, not take it away from those who have it.

Boost yourself, don't tear down someone else.

Is Beer Really That Bad?

One of the often faced problems in the road to health is what to do about those nights out on the town. Since I've got a number of events this weekend that include dinner and dancing on Saturday as well as a wine tasting for a grand opening on Sunday this article from That's Fit drew my attention.

According to Chris Sparling:

"For one, when you drink beer, twenty percent of the alcohol is absorbed from your stomach into your bloodstream; the rest is absorbed by your intestines. From there, the alcohol makes its way through your liver, where it is broken down -- leading to the creation of two waste products: acetate and acetaldehyde. These waste products then signal your body to stop burning fat, while at the same time your body actually starts MAKING fat from another alcohol waste product, known as acetyle CoA. As a result of all this, the more you drink, the less you become able to burn fat -- and, the more fat your body creates from the build-up of acetytle CoA."

According to the triglycerides diet alcohol can inhibit your fat metabolism by 30%. So how much is just enough?

Well there doesn't seem to be any one size fits all answer but generally speaking one glass a day of red wine for women and one to two glasses for men is the upper limit.

Looks like I'm sticking to fermented grape juice this weekend.

Skinny Water

If you don't do what's best for your body, you're the one who comes up on the short end. -- Julius Erving

I was at the local Target earlier this week, perusing the aisles for nifty new products and things that I might not have seen before but would really love to have in my possession. That's how I found Thomas's Light 100 calorie 8g of fiber english muffins. They are my favorite.

Because I don't drink soda anymore, unless it's club soda with some vodka and a twist of lime, I'm always looking for new things to drink that might distract me from the boredom of plain old water.

Then, on sale, on the shelf I saw Skinny water. I know, sadly, I'll pay attention to anything that tells me it'll make me skinny. Despite protest from my fiance, I bought a pack to try.

Why is it called Skinny water? Well it has, according to the website "the active ingredients Super CitriMax® and ChromeMate®. In clinical studies conducted by researchers at Georgetown University Medical Center and Creighton University School of Pharmacy, dieters consuming the equivalent amounts of Super CitriMax and ChromeMate found in each bottle of Skinny Water lost on average 10.8 pounds compared to only three and half pounds in placebo group."

Now, I'm not big on diet pills or supplements either. I've tried a number of different ones and none of them feel right. But I looked into Citrimax and ChromeMate to see what they're supposed to do. This is what I could find:

"Known as hydroxycitric acid (HCA for short), or Citrimax, this popular supplement has become a standard ingredient in many popular weight loss products. Derived from the rind of the Indian Garcinia Cambogia fruit, original animal studies seemed to indicate that HCA/Citrimax displayed an amazing ability to block the conversion of carbohydrates into fat by inhibiting an enzyme called ATP-Citrate Lyase. It also appeared to suppress appetite as well." -- ultimatefatburner.com


"ChromeMate® (generically called chromium nicotinate, chromium polynicotinate or niacin-bound chromium) is a patented oxygen-coordinated niacin-bound chromium complex that plays an important role in proper insulin function, maintenance of healthy blood sugar and cholesterol levels, normal energy production, and promotion of healthy body weight.* Protected by three U.S. Patents, four international patents and other world-wide patents pending, ChromeMate® is the only niacin-bound chromium supplement with proven biological activity." -- slimirex.com

I have to note that there are accounts that these supplements don't actually do anything at all. For all anyone knows, it could just be a placebo.

But, I have drank around one bottle a day for the past 3 days, which is not the recommended intake. They recommend having 3 bottles a day, one about 30 minutes before each meal. But since I only bought a 6 pack of the water and I don't like the nutrasweet flavor very much, I've only had one a day.

How has my appetite been? I've been doing pretty good about keeping around a specific calorie range, though I can't say that it's a result of the water and not my diet. In fact, the day I had the most Skinny Water I went over my calorie count by 300+ calories. It was also NYE though, so I chalk that up to that half bottle of champagne.

All and all, I think it's just flavored water. Flavored water I will never buy again because it's over $1 per small bottle and because the taste, at least the lemon flavor, was undesirable.

Why Do We Really ...

Honesty is the best image. -- Tom Wilson

I was perusing the Weight Loss Forum's diaries today and came across a story about a girl who had started her weight loss journey after her fiance called off their engagement. Her posts were so brutally honest about her weight loss, self image and perspective. Though she was more often than not positive, she was quite real.

Her situation made me think of why I really decided to embark upon this journey myself, a journey I had undertaken many times, sometimes succeeding, sometimes failing. Why am I here again today? What's the current honest answer?

Of course, my upcoming wedding is a factor but it feels so far away that it's unreal. The most recent impetus is a concern about my relationship with my fiance. Though I'm fully aware that he would seemingly love me no matter what, of course he would be more attracted to me and in turn more committed to me if indeed, I were as thin as I was when we first started dating. Over 30lbs thinner to be exact.

A constant paranoia of mine is infidelity. The infidelity statistics in marriages are staggering. What drives people who at one point loved each other enough to commit the rest of their lives to each other to cheat? I'm going to have to assume that the number one reason is that most people let themselves go. Obviously, look at the 60%+ overweight rate in the US. I'd bet that most of those people weren't overweight when they got married. Not to say that overweight people don't get married, because obviously they do, but by and large, I don't think most people start their marriages/relationships that way.

So of course, I would love to lose these lbs so that I can start a new life with my fiance that includes me looking the way I want to look, seeing that look in his eyes that shows me he likes how I look too. It's a look that I see glimmers of from time to time, but no where near as often as I used to when I was thinner. Plus, these are my optimal days to achieve the figure I want so that all I have left to do is maintain it for the rest of my life. Well, at least until I have kids.

After reading that girl's diary though, my heart went out to her part of me feeling like she should forget about him because he couldn't love her no matter what including her weight, but the other part made me afraid for myself and my situation. And now, because of her, I'm done standing still. Time to move forward and turn that dial back on the scale.