Is this why my vegan friends are so hard to deal with? Please – somebody find a way to make this taste good. Pea, Hemp, Rice with a variety of greens. I paid for it. I need to find a way to make it good. Suggested use is to add only with water for optimal flavor.

No.

That is what she said.

• Very little cardio.
• Walking, but leisurely while talking to friends.
• Refusal to truly watch what she eats.
• Then – and this is the kicker – not paying attention to what she eats. It doesn’t matter if it is not healthy as long as it is a 100 calorie pack. Oreos? Whatever.

Why am I not losing weight?

I have never asked myself that question. I never asked why I was overweight. I knew why. My son – 8 yrs – does not want an out-of-shape dad. He has said it to me in more than one way. He wants a healthy dad that can play with him until we both give out of breath. As much as I love the goodness of all those unhealthy foods, I love him, my daughter and myself more.

Our educational system has failed to address the issues of health. We should have a thorough knowledge of how our body works and how certain foods are good for us and how others are bad. This lack of continuing health education has created a nation of  unhealthy fat asses. Is there any other way to say it?

• Percent of adults age 20 years and over who are obese: 34% (2007-2008)
• Percent of adults age 20 years and over who are overweight (and not obese): 34% (2007-2008)
• Percent of adolescents age 12-19 years who are obese: 18% (2007-2008)
• Percent of children age 6-11 years who are obese: 20% (2007-2008)
• Percent of children age 2-5 years who are obese: 10% (2007-2008)

[from http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/overwt.htm]

And these stats are from 2007-2008!

We have become a country of people who rationalize our weight – more importantly, our health. Instead of pushing each other to get healthier (and make no mistake, it is truly about being healthier as opposed to looking like a movie star), we have told each other that we are just fine the way we are. Look around. Look at the stats above. We are not just fine.

Until we stop making excuses, nothing will change. Isn’t that what we teach to our children? Do we entertain our children rationalizing why they did not do their homework? I don’t. I turn off the tv and point them to their books.

This rant is sponsored by another couple of pounds lost. How? Exercise, counting calories and eating healthier foods. I am no where near the healthy man that I want to be, but it starts here. And I’ll be honest, the simplicity of enacting better habits made me feel like an idiot for not doing it before now. The plus side of getting healthier is the positive state of mind that you create for yourself. If you have multiple days of eating well and exercising, you start to take on some of the fun side of yourself that might have disappeared. Why? Because you are doing it. Really doing it. Or maybe that is just me.

“Yeah boy. This weight is coming off!” (Dancing in front of mirror doing Rocky dance).

I do the dance, laughing along with the out-of-shape guy in the mirror who plans on changing…a little bit more…each day. I’m unveiling next spring break. Bank on it.

Thank Steve Jobs for iPhone Apps. They make up one, very efficient personal assistance that keeps me going in the right direction every day. So it is no surprise that I rely heavily on them for my quest of not being a fat ass (See previous Pedometer app post).

Lose It is an iPhone weight loss app that lets me input what I’ve eaten vs how much I have worked out. It is that simple. I always perceived counting calories as girly. Now that I actually want to lose weight, I see it as an obvious necessity. As you can see in the picture, calories (from exercising) are subtracted from calories eaten to give your net calories for any specific moment. This tells you how much more you can eat.

For example, yesterday (see picture) I got caught up in work and did not eat as much as I probably should have. I’ve already given myself a lower calorie goal so I can lose weight faster. I got off track by eating a pound of pork that I was supposed to save for the rest of the week! It just tasted so damn good, I kept eating. That screwed me as I felt like I ate the whole pig. The point is that you can see what you’ve done for the day as you go along and make decisions based on real numbers.

Easy. Time efficient.

How many calories can I burn in an hour while walking? I downloaded a pedometer for this very reason. I need my calorie count to input into my other app, Lose It. It gives me an approximate calorie count that I can use. It gives me distance, as well, but I’m not concerned with much beyond calories. I don’t want to think to much about it. Just give me the number.

Why is the calorie count so important? Because I need to eat. Burned calories represent more food to me during the day. And if you have ever counted calories, you know how surprising it can be that six potato chips equal 120 calories. Damn! I don’t eat chips, but damn!

Time: 62:33
Calories: 223.2

This pedometer app, Pedometer GPS Free, is the nicest one I’ve tried. It just feels smoother for some reason. I have a tendency to stroll and get lost in my thinking while walking. This pedometer keeps me moving faster and paying attention to why I’m walking in the first place.

It is a great feeling to start the day in the negative concerning how many calories I can eat. This app also tells me to stay away from certain foods if I want to lose weight faster. The issue is certain foods have “a high glycemic index which means they are easily stored up as fat.”  Most of them I can get on-board with eliminating…the usual white breads and potatoes, instant rice, etc. But then it mentions carrots, corn, melons, grapes, bananas and watermelon. No, no and no. Their advice might be sound but I’m not staying away from the latter foods, especially watermelon. My daughter says that watermelon is God’s favorite fruit and I believe her. I believe I’ll be fine staying away from fast food, colas, breads, etc. But watermelon? Not a chance. I lost 8 pounds in a week by exercising twice a day and eating healthy. I’ll stick with that format and try not to fall off the wagon again.

Okay…so the first attempt failed miserably. Why? I stopped after a week AND losing 8 pounds. What did it? A damn family reunion. From there it was all rationalizing bad behavior. Not discouraged, though, because I took from it a week of what it felt like to be giving a damn. There is no trick to this. It is just how bad do I want it?

Reboot. Cardio.

The Stats:
6’2″
Weight – 230lb

As I review the lifestyle that got me here (a lot of time in front of the computer combined with no exercise), I have to conclude that I am what I see in the mirror. It is just that simple. I could have made choices years ago that would have me in great shape, etc., but I didn’t. You just can’t sugarcoat it. To do so would be to rationalize this cyclical behavior and aren’t we all tired of this glaring weakness – to make excuses for our short comings? Or maybe its just me. I’m done with it and the guy in the mirror.

The real test? To just not eat foods I’m not supposed to eat. Sounds easy. Harder to actually do – at least to this point. I do know that I have to take it day by day.

My quest to look good and carve out a new healthy body begins today. Thank God its Sunday. Chik-fil-A is closed.

[This is the beginning of a series about my quest for a six pack - yes - but also for a truly healthy body as the result of this process. I have determined that the only way I will do this is to make myself accountable online. Thus, I will be updating on my weight and general well being.]

Intuitively, I know what to do. It doesn’t take a nutritionist to know that I shouldn’t drink this or eat that. That doesn’t mean I know what to eat, however (I will research healthier eating habits). What I understand now (as a father and as a man not in my 20′s) is that I need to be thinking of what I can do to build a healthy body in addition to trying to look good without my shirt on. I need to lose a good 35lbs. To state the obvious, I need a lifestyle change. This has proven to be difficult.

So losing weight is a mathematical equation…something about burning off 3500 calories (equal to 1lb) in comparison to what you burn now? Or it could be this:

• eat less, stop eating the foods that are not good for you (or, at least, in moderation)
• exercise more

That seems to be a good, common sense starting point to achieve a healthy body status. So my (pre-research) plan is

• cardio twice a day (30 minutes per session)
• follow some sort of healthier eating regimen (don’t know yet).

So how do I get this healthy body?

This is where the research actually comes in. I like to know why things are what they are. I’m not one to just have someone tell me something and take it at face value. If you tell me something, there should be some reasoning behind it. This is important because I think it helps to build a foundation in my subconscious as I’m making my lifestyle change.

For example, if we had a better idea of how our body systems worked, would we approach the foods we eat and the decision to exercise differently? If the knowledge doesn’t affect how I act, maybe it will affect my decisions concerning my children. Just maybe. Are they getting enough protein? Enough of the right fats? Too much of the wrong ones?

So why the emphasis on a healthy body?  Common sense? Gut feeling? A voice in my head is telling me to…that’s why.

Our educational system provides such little information on basic health. There is little to no focus on creating or maintaining a healthy body and my generation is really seeing the effects of this profound ignorance of our general health. I don’t want to be unhealthy any longer. I want to feel good and have the energy that I had when I was in my 20′s. Only true knowledge of how to create a healthy body will get me closer to this goal. That…and a little implementation.

I’ve noticed something in my children. They want a healthy, vibrant dad. If I am going to ask them to give their best, I should lead by example. Plus, I want to be able to take my damn shirt off at the pool.

Blenders suck because of cleaning. I love the idea, but I’ll invariably stop using it because it just takes too much time to clean them. So I would use my blender a couple of times a week. The problem is I am trying to intake more protein so I’ve chosen this Whey powder to help me along. [recipe for my bad ass shake later].

Condensed version is I broke my blender (glass everywhere) and I was forced to march my ass up to Walmart to see what was available. Then I saw it, the Oster MyBlend.

Short of the $500 blender that I want (the Vitamix), this blender is revolutionary for single guys. In short, the blender is the glass you drink out of. Simple as that. Cheap too – $30 bucks. So now I don’t have to mix and then pour. My tendency was to drink it straight out of the blender anyway, so this saves me some time and it fits in my drink holder in the car.

Big selling points for guys that have these lazy traits such as myself:
1) You blend and drink from the same container! This can’t be overstated.
2) Easy to wash. Simply rinse the mechanism that does the blending (3 second procedure) and you are ready to go for the next time. Just remember to rinse out the container after you drink. NOTE: Remember to bring container in from car. It’s easy to rinse anyway. Get one of those brushes that can reach deep into the container for easy cleaning.
3) Ease of use has managed to keep me on a schedule with my Whey protein intake.

By the way, fat asses, did you know that you need more protein than if you weighed the 30 pounds less that you actually need to be? This is the truth that I have come by on my way to losing weight from this unforgivable slab that is my body. It’s true, the more you weigh, the more protein your body needs. Losing weight will actually save you money in whey and chicken. [Protein chart coming soon]

The grocery store is a scary place. I know…this seems pitiful…a single dad having trouble with groceries. But try out your observational skills the next time you are at the grocery store. Look at the carts of the moms that are shopping – looking like pros. I’ve done this and I have learned that commercials are, indeed, effective.

Overly sugared cereals; white bread; cases of soda, frozen dinners; single pack juices; convience foods ranging from snack packs, lunchables…and I could go on. This list will not build a healthy child.

I know what my problem is: I always shop unprepared, and that problem comes from not having a line-up of good meals that I can cook. This leaves me turning circles in the aisles. There has got to be a better way than this.

Time to look at iPhone apps for more help. I might rely on this phone a bit too much……..nah.

1. Am I doing what is best for my children’s health?
2. AntiOxidants to help fight influenza.

1. I must admit that, since my divorce, I have been growing into a bit of a fanatic about not only my health, but especially the health of my children. I am working on a few things concerning this topic. There is no shortage of information out there concerning what should be done to keep are children healthy. Proper diet, exercise. I’m very big on mental stimulation as I have learned – for myself – how very important the art of being “active” is. What is that saying…”Idle hands are the devil’s playground?”

My observation is that our lack of knowledge concerning diet (what we should actually put into our bodies) has led to an unhealthy American society. Is it laziness? Apathy? To be honest, I’m past the point of trying to figure out the “why” and moved on to the “how”…as in “how can we change this?”. I have two children who need me to do this for them. That is my job. And so I will…

2. Can antioxidants help fight influenza? I came across a report out of the University of Alabama at Birminghan that antioxidants could help in the prevention and treatment of the flu. WellnessResources.com has a nice article that simply illustrates the findings of the researchers. They point out…

“All flu viruses, including H1N1 swine flu, produce a protein named M2.  The production of M2 protein disrupts cells lining the lungs, causing fluid to build up in the lungs and setting the stage for pneumonia.

The researchers proved that M2 induced its damage through a mechanism of free radicals, which progressively rise as the virus replicates.  They further showed that glutathione, the primary cellular antioxidant, stopped the M2-induced free radical damage, thus preventing the problem.”

I, like many parents, have wrestled with the decision of flu shots for H1N1. I do believe in prevention, so I’m interested in these recent findings. My next step is to research glutothione.

Antioxidants have become quite the buzz word. The fact that most of your antioxidants come from vegetable and fruit sources is a cause for concern. Why? Because people already know that fruits and vegetables are good for you but still do not eat them. As an adult, I have that choice because, arguably, that choice only affects me. But concerning my children, I don’t have that choice. I am here to take care of them. If I feed them unhealthy food, they will be unhealthy. I can’t have that.