Fatso to Muscles

Who inspires you? What moves you? Where does your motivation come from? When does it come? And why does it matter? These are questions you may find yourself asking in times where you might need encouragement or just a little push towards the goals you are striving for.

I believe that inspiration comes in many forms and many ways; people, places, and words are just a few things that can help a person achieve whatever it is, and those few things have moved mountains and built bridges.

People inspire other people; Plato was a student of Socrates, and Sir Isaac Newton once said, “If I have seen further, it is only by standing on the shoulders of Giants”.

Who inspires you? Philosophers? Inventors? Thinkers? Athletes? Or the people closes to you? I for one, have many people that inspires me, from legends back in time to modern day heroes, all of them, in there own ways, have had some influence on me.

People get moved emotionally by places, events, or locations; they reflect about the past or contemplate the future about their ambitions. When I go to a place or a location where I had grew up, there is an emotional bond that I connect to. And that connection had a big impact for me growing up; I look at it as a place where I can reflect on the things I did, whether it’s negative or positive, I can associate with and look towards the future in a better light.

People get motivated by words; it can be speeches and quotes. One of the most powerful things a person can experience is words, and how they are combined into a quote or a speech to trigger an emotional response in you. The emotional response triggered something in the past you can relate to.

Words also come in songs and poems; a very powerful tool that artist and musicians use to portray how they feel and would trigger an emotional response within us and that can be seen as inspiration.

Life is hard. Whatever you do you have to do it for yourself, and ultimately your own. There will be help and comfort along the way from family and friends, but you have to walk the lonely road.  Whatever you find that will help you climb to the top. Do it!

“When I let go of what I am, I become what I might be” –Lao Tzu

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Food is one of the ways to bring people together, and most social gatherings almost always have food. You shouldn’t avoid social gathers because you’re on a diet. Go enjoy yourself and binge; stuff yourself. However, consider that day your off day.

Great food is easy to come by. I am very fortunate to live in one of the biggest melting pots in American– Southern California. From mountains to the beaches, deserts to snow; almost everything is here, including a collection of different kinds of foods, from almost every part of the world! Who would want to live any where else? Experiencing foods from different cultures is one of the best things to live here.

I for one, have had quite a few dishes from other cultures, and all of it was unique and delicious in their own ways. So it is hard to deny an excellent dish. The thing is, the size of dishes being served seems to have gotten bigger and bigger, and I think it is a huge factor that hinders us from losing weight. With that said, that would be another topic for another day.

Most of you have and will continue to attend social functions–who wouldn’t? It’s fun for the reason that you get to meet new people and expand you social network. So when you are at any social gatherings, it is hard to avoid eating less, particularly if you had been invited to a family function of a friend, and the parent or the relative of that friend, piled a mountain of food on an ex-large plate for you. It would be rude not to eat most or all of it, especially if they are right there at the same table.

If you were in a situation like that, then I would say,”Go ahead and eat it”. Because you wouldn’t want to offend the person or anybody there, especially if food is one of the ways they celebrate their culture. However, you have to take it upon yourself to burn all those calories you’ve consumed later on, for the reason that, if you don’t, some of those calories will turn into fat as stored energy.

Gathering with friends is one thing. However, there are also business meetings and family functions we might have to attend to. And when people usually gather, there is always food. Lots and lots of delicious food! Some events are hard to avoid, and it would seem impolite if you do not participate.

Be that as it may, don’t be too hard on yourself. It’s not like you attend events like that everyday or every other day. Even if it is once in a while, you will not gain much weight, only if, your normal diet was healthy and you have efficient exercise program, in addition, your body cannot process and turn all that food in you as fat, so most of it will be waste. You may want to consider those days- off days, which I call, Reward Day!

Eating healthy is the last thing on anybodies mind, especially in these hard economic times. However, it would be in your best interest to save money for a rainier-day. The thing is-you don’t have to spend a lot by eating healthy. I know you can save more money if you do.

I have in the past ate out and thought I would save some money. I would be the last person that will tell you that fast food is no good…it is good; however, it’s just not good for you. I thought I would save some money by buying one dollar burgers or a meal that is under five bucks with some change. I thought wrong.

One day when my parents came home with a bunch of groceries, and I had asked them, “You must be rich buying all that food!”, in which they replied, “Nope! All of this was under thirty dollars.” To give you an idea of how much food there was-both of them had to take three trips from the car to the house. So, with that in my mind, I started to shop for groceries myself, which in turn saved me some money.

Who would mind saving money while eating healthy? I sure as heck wouldn’t! (Two good things come from a small price of one). So why don’t most of us do it? Well, I can’t speak for those people, but I can speak for myself; one thing for sure was being lazy. Yep! That’s right. Lazy in the fact that I would have to prepare, cook, clean up, and do it three to four times a week seems like a hassle.

But now that I know how much it would save me, I am now shopping and cooking my own foods. Plus, It’s easy and fun. It’s seems like a lot of trouble at first, but just like exercise, you build a routine and a habit for it, and it will be natural by the time you know it. You also have a choice to put certain things in the foods you make and how you make it; you have total control.

Shopping around maybe tiresome at times; however, I don’t go out of my way and drive twenty miles to try to save a dollar or two. It’s more likely that I would waste a dollar or two, especially how gas prices fluctuate. On the other hand, I would probably break-even if I use a dollar of gasoline to try to save a dollar on some groceries twenty mile away.

When shopping for groceries, don’t settle and get caught up on buying everything there; they have certain deals on certain days. Get the ones with the deals and get out, or you might be temped to get other items, and in turn, the super-markets would make back the lost profit.

I am fortunate where I live; there are a bunch of super markets around where my home is located, and with that, the prices are low because they (super-markets) have to compete for our business, and thus good for me the consumer. That’s why I shop at more than one place. You may think it may be an inconvenience, but trust me when I tell you, there are over ten super-markets under a five mile radius where I live, so shopping for great deals is easy to come by. (Another great reason to live in southern California).

These are actual prices on some great deals I had came by: 49 cents a pound on bananas, one-dollar for three pounds on apples, three lettuce heads for a dollar, 69 cents for a can of tuna, 98 cents a pound on chicken breast, and $2.99 a pound for New York bone in steak. And lets not forget, a 50 pound bag of rice is under $30.00 and it will last you at least two months even if you have four to five meals a day!

It’s out there, you just have to look for the deals. It’s more convenient than you think; I get grocery store ads three to five times a week. I believe in order for you to get the ads, you would have to live in proximity of the store. or use a credit or debit card. I think when you swipe you card, the company some how knows where you live, so they can advertise to you.

In addition to saving money, it would be a healthier choice because most foods you buy (or I buy), are natural and whole foods. Which is the best foods. You get more vitamins and minerals from those foods because of less processing. Furthermore, there are advantages of cooking your own foods: you add spices and flavors to your desire, you know what you put in it, and no secret sauce.

One last thing, www.smartsource.com is a website specifically having supermarkets and grocery store coupons. I heard it on a talk-show while listening to the radio. (I am not affiliated with nor am I sponsored by www.smartsource.com).

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Having been going  to fitness facilities and worked at one for years now, I have seen quite a few people stretch before even warming up, which may lead to injury. Warming up first is key to prevent muscles strains. And also, warming up helps you pump out more reps in each set. With that said, before you start any physical activities, you should always warm up, unless directed by your doctor.

I realize most people mimicked others, and also, most of them probably learned it from elementary school and high-school. It is not entirely their fault; they just don’t know. Remember the P.E. coach with his short shorts and his body tight polo shirt, and don’t forget his whistle? He would tell everybody to line up in formation, and proceeded to demonstrate his way of stretching to show us how it’s done, particularly if it was the first day of class. You would think that an adult would know what they’re talking about.

From the gyms that I’ve exercised in and employed at, you can’t help but noticed, after the people come in the facility, they immediately head to the mats or one of the cardiovascular equipment thus preceded to stretch on or next to the equipment, bouncing up and down, twisting and turning; when I see that, it makes me cringe. Because I know it will probably strain their muscles.

When I was in boot camp, this was how our exercise routine went: After we woke up, we got into out P.T. gear (physical training), and proceeded down the stairs to the rec yard (recreational yard). That is where we would train; cross-train. We start off with walking in place and doing arm circles then gradually increasing the intensity to jumping-jacks, push-ups, and sit-ups, were some of the many exercises we did. That is where I learned how to warm-up properly.

However, I didn’t realize I was warming-up until I started getting into exercise science, by reading books, magazines, and articles on the Internet

I love to run in the mornings ,particularly when the sun isn’t up yet. So imagine taking a rubber band out of the freezer and start pulling on it. The likely hood of it snapping is far greater than if you let it thaw out first then pull on it. In other words, you can strain you muscles and tendons if not warmed-up first. In addition to help prevent injury, it also helps put more blood in the muscles, and with that, you are able to push more weight or run longer with less fatigue.

Depending on your endurance and if you have been or are injured, you want to consult with your health care professional first.

So how do you properly warm-up? How long do you warm up? If you go to a gym, you want to first warm up at least 15 minutes on any cardiovascular equipment. Always start slowly then progress if desire. If you prefer the outdoors, then walk in place for a few minutes, progress to jumping jacks or jumping in place for a total of 15 minutes.

You may use this warm-up routine in addition to your regular routine. Let’s recap: warming-up will help get your joints lubricated, raised body temperature, and prepare your muscles to get adjusted for heavier loads if the next activity requires so. You now have the information…now go out there and apply it!

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Now that I’m back in school, it will be slightly more difficult to balance my activities from school, work, and my work-out.

Millions of people do it daily; they go to school in the morning, and after, they go to work. Some people that I know attend school and work full-time! Who has the time or energy, after those two things are done, to get into your t-shirt and sweats then go run for a few miles or to push some weight around? Not to mention there is home-work!

For those people out there that are juggling those activities…I give them a huge amount of respect. I respect them in the fact that it is really difficult to balance school, work, and exercise. I have tried it and had failed in the past. But it’s a new year-a new beginning. I have set-up my schedule in a way that I basically have no free-time.

I go to school five days a week, and I only work one day a week. I have the G.I. Bill helping me out financially so I can focus on my school. This week, I will run twice a week in the mornings, Tuesday and Thursday, and see how it will go for me. I will also include cross-training for three times a week this week, and it would be on Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday, mid-day.

I hope I will not get burned-out by the end of this week. I have talked the talk…now I will walk the walk. I will keep you guys updated with my progress weekly. If any of you guys feel this work-out schedule would benefit you, feel free to use it.

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