The Fitness Ninja

Very short entry today.  Just saying that instead of doing my Modified Angie, I opted instead to do the Cardio Power and Resistance that I was supposed to do yesterday.  This means the only workout I actually missed was the Angie… and I can tack that on at the end of the program.  I just didn’t want to work the chest and back muscles two days in a row (as C&B is what is on tap for tomorrow).  I did, however, also do Cardio Abs.  I figure working the abs two days in a row won’t be so bad.

Calories for today 1805… and that’s with me going out for Japanese tonight.  Man, I am really learning to love this SparkPeople calorie tracker site.

In other news, check this video out.  I’m part of the P90x fan page on Facebook and this was posted there.  Very inspiring.  I hope when the time comes that Eli will want to work out with me.  It’s a great way to bond I think.

I haven’t really added  any new resources in a while but Fitbomb did a small blurb on this site, Fitness Spotlight, that had an awesome article by personal trainer Mike O’Donnell.  Basically, it’s a summary of key bits of wisdom he’s picked up over the years as a trainer.  Go check it out!  Very enlightening.  Here’s part 1 and part 2.

More importantly, though, the site led me to I what I think is the new homemade fitness project I am going to tackle:

A dip / inverted row station.  Nice!

Come to think of it, a bunch of those tools looked pretty promising.  Time to go visit Home Deopt…

Huh… who would have thought food could be as addicting as cocaine.  Check out the additional link from that post about how to beat cravings… very interesting tips indeed.  These were pages referred to me by Fitbomb.  Awesome fitness blog.  Go check it out.

NOW!

I haven’t been talking about it much as I’ve been so focused on the baby and finishing Insanity, but this weekend is a big fight weekend with my hero, Pacquiao fighting Joshua Clottey.  It should prove an entertaining fight but not the one everyone really wanted (Pacquiao vs. Mayweather).  In any case, this is a really interesting interview with Pacquiao’s strength and conditioning coach Alex Ariza.  It’s worth a read if you love boxing and are curious to see what it takes to become a legend.

Check it out:

Just watched this show on TLC.  It focuses on Eric Chopin, a winner of the reality show The Biggest Loser where really obese people compete to lose weight.  The contestant who loses the most weight earns money and endorsements at the end of the season.  This guy lost something like over 200 pounds.  It was the largest weight lost journey ever recorded on the show up until the season he was on (Season 3 I think).  BUT… guy gained it all back shortly after the show ended.  He gave up a deli he owned prior to being on the show as he got wrapped up in the celebrity and spotlight of being the winner… but after gaining the weight back and spiralling into depression, the endorsments / money dried up and he had no job.  He ended up working for his dad as a small town accountant or something.

Now he’s making the circuit on talk shows (like Oprah and Larry King) to talk about how he’s fallen off the fitness wagon and his attempt to lose the weight all over again.  Feel really bad for the guy.  But then again… I guess his story is a lesson that the motivation for weight loss can’t be all external (i.e. because the world is watching you or because you’re in a contest / competition with other or you simply want to look good).  There has to some internal motivating factor as well (it doesn’t help, however, that this guy comes across as really loathing himself which would probably indicate there is a much deeper reason for his obesity other than just being lazy or glandular in nature).

Check out the show if you can (might be playing on the net or in rotation on TLC this month).  Supposedly, he’s coming back again on the Biggest Loser to try and lose the weight again.  Hopefully, he can do it.  Here’s another clip from US weekly explaining a bit more:

With it being Superbowl Sunday today and all I figure I would honor the day by posting two commercials I’ve found on the net.  I genuinely love Google for how much easier they’ve made my life with their awesome search engine and gmail service.  Here’s their commercial from Superbowl today.

I love how they condense the love story into 53 seconds but still potent with the music and sound bites backing it up.

This next one I just found strolling commercials on Youtube but it’s friggin’ hilarious how serious the voice overs are regarding the career path these gentlemen have taken.

Have a great Superbowl Sunday!

This guy’s video is friggin’ awesome.  I only have the utmost respect and admiration for people with this kind of physical ability.  Grace and power combined with a healthy amount of … “guts”.  If I were younger, and more flexible, and more daring… I’d love to take up parkour (or free running as it’s sometimes called).  I just don’t think I could do it at my age, at least not to any appreciable level (aka none at all).

It’s strange… I workout religiously and do my best to focus on my nutrition.  And, I am very happy, ultimately, with what I’ve achieved with my body.  However, I don’t really play any sports or have any physical pastimes that I would employ my physicality towards.  In my youth, I used to love playing volleyball, running track and basketball but not anymore.  I sometimes wonder if I would be even more motivated to stay on top of my food intake or be more focused on my workout out if I had an outlet or a higher purpose as to why I am exercising other than simply “being fit”.  Maybe this is the reason why I like running home from work so much.  There’s a definite goal (get home to baby) and the faster I can do it, the better.  But the very act of running, its very simplicity and zen like nature is a wonderful end in and of itself to be in.

Shit, I don’t even know if that makes any sense.  It’s late, I’m tired and I know I have to feed the baby again in an hour.

Hmm… maybe I should take up indoor rock climbing.  That looks hella fun.

Nothing much to say today other than I didn’t do any exercise.  I did, however, go to the hardware store to get the materials for my dip belt.  I’ll take photos and post them later.

If I find any interesting fitness related videos I’ll post them under the “Around the Net” tag.  This one, pulled from Powerhouse Performance Coaching, shows how to build a computer work station on a treadmill.

I’m all for finding ways to incorporate exercise alongside a work schedule but I think this would be distracting as hell if I were typing up reports.  I’d rather just do things like taking the stairs whenever I needed to move up and down floors or, my  favourite, get off the buss several blocks away from work and briskly walking there.  That alone can add 20-30 minutes of exercise to your daily routines… not to mention getting a buttload of fresh air.

Breakfast: Oatmeal with 1/4 cup of 1% milk and 2 tbsp. of chopped almonds, watered down juice.

Snack 1: Fiber One granola bar (150 cal.)

Lunch: Whole wheat noodles with tomato meat sauce.

Snack 2: 3/4 Cup of Shreddies cereal, pretzel sticks (100 cal.)

Dinner:  scalloped potatoes with roasted chicken thigh, diet Coke.

Snack 3: yogurt and granola