Suns out.... Guns out

Remmy enjoying a roll in the grass in the backyard. This is by demand of my one reader.

Today was the most beautiful day since I have been home. There was not a cloud in the sky. Which meant it was hot. And of course I worked in the sun all day. This brought up the thought about vitamin D to my brain. Here are my thoughts.

Nutrition: Vitamin D is a extremely important and often over looked vitamin. Everyone should know your body makes with exposure to sunlight. This means there is no need to supplement with vitamin D pills if you are getting enough sun exposure. However, the problem comes when over a period of time you do not get enough exposure.

Vitamin D is responsible for a lot. Here is what vitamin D does in your body, "When synthesized in the kidneys, calcitriol circulates as a hormone, regulating, among other things, the concentration of calcium and phosphate in the bloodstream, promoting the healthy mineralization, growth and remodeling of bone, and the prevention of hypocalcemic tetany" (Wikipedia). Wow those are extremely important benefits. To me if you are going to live a health lifestyle it is neccessary to make sure you are having enough vitamin D. The simple way to do this is to go outside with exposed body parts for a short period of time everyday. When I say exposed body parts, it means no clothing or sunscreen. Both of these block your body's adbsorbtion of vitamin D.

However, vitamin D's most important health benefit to me is mental. There are studies that show a connection between vitamin D levels and mental health. I can attest personal that there is a connection. Every winter since freshman year of high school in the winter I get in worse moods. I will not say I am depressed, but I am not happy. It was never thought in my head to connect it to less sun exposure and therefore less vitamin D. It only happened in the winter cause in the summer I am always outside. This past winter I started taking vitamin D supplements. An amazing thing happened, I was in good moods just as if it were summer. It was the first time I can remember being in great moods all winter long. This is why I am a big proponent of proper vitamin D supplementation.

There is however a footer to this story. Vitamin D is fat soluble. This means it is possible to overdose on it. Only take vitamin D if you are not getting sun exposure. If you are outside all day long, there is no need for vitamin D supplements.

Workout: This one was fun. The burpee is my least favorite movement. According to crossfit.com "(t)o perform a burpee with a pushup, you will begin in a squat position with hands on the floor in front of you (1). Kick your feet back, while simultaneously lowering yourself into the bottom portion of a pushup. Your arms will not be extended. (2). Immediately return your feet to the squat position, while simultaneously pushing "up" with your arms. You will perform a pushup as you return your feet to the squat position (3). Leap up as high as possible from the squat position (4). Repeat, moving as fast as possible" (crossfit.com). My workout today consisted of 75 burpee broad jumps. This is a variety of burpee were instead of jumping up, you do a forward jump as far as possible. My time for the workout was 7:13

I am a big believer in having good form and technique. The burpee is a case were people constantly get it wrong. There is not knee push up in the burpee, if so by defination it is no longer a burpee. You may still call it a "burpee" but it is not really one. I had this in my mind the whole time making sure every burpee was performed as close to perfect while at the same time going as fast as I can. I will be the first to admit some probably faulted a tiny bit. But on all my chest lifted off the ground at the same time as my knees.

Remmy: Remmy was running around and playing with me during the workout. At one point on a broad jump I landed on his front right paw. I heard him yell at me, "abuse," followed by I will be calling the authorities!"

Inspirational Quote: "Integrity is doing the right thing even when no one is watching." -Dennis Janson

bags of sand

This is my Brittany named Remmy. He is with my sandbag. I figured I would do a little advertising for Muscledriver.

Today was a great day. Weather was great for working. Work was work there was nothing really to interesting there. I feel myself adjusting to the work better each day.

Nutrition: Today I got to use my shake at a perfect time today. It was right after a particular tough little session of picking some beds. This is the ideal time due to the fact that my body just got taxed pretty good. The shake was able to give my body the fuel it needed and carry me over until my next real meal, lunch.

My one real thought today comes from that lunch. Yesterday I packed a lunch for work but never ate it. Due to this, I just saved it for today. The only problem is some of my watermelon got slimy. It is not bad just does not taste particularly good. It gave me to thinking just because you have a bad experience cooking or eating a particular food, do not shy away from it. It is absolutely essential to have a wide variety. When you let one bad eating experience eliminate that food from you diet, you are limiting your variety.

Workout: I am absolutely in love with sandbags. There are an extremely useful training tool. It helps you get a step closer to real life. Barbells are great, but when in life are you going to have a perfect grip on a perfectly balanced load. Sandbags are great cause they are not perfectly balanced. There is a ton of work you have to do through the same motions just to stabilize the bag. This allows for even greater stress on balance and coordination.

Not only do they provide this great workout tool, they are extremely versatile. You can use them for almost anything. It literally is just a bag of sand. You can throw it, run with it, lift it.... If you can come up with a movement you are able to do it. The movements that I use most often are the olympic lifts. However, this does not mean that the usefulness is limited to them.

Today my workout consisted of 12 minutes AMRAP of 5 movements with the sandbag. An AMRAP is when you continue through the cycle as many times as possible in the set time. The cycle was 10 deadlifts, 8 hang power cleans, 6 front squats, 4 shoulders to overhead, 2 overhead squats. My goal going in was 10 rounds. I am about 90% sure I did 10 plus 7 cleans. However, I started to doubt my counting, it might have been 9 plus 7 cleans. The difference to me does matter. Since I am not sure I will go with the lower number which means I did not hit my goal. If you are not a hundred percent sure of your number, go with the lower one. That way I will be able to look at myself in the mirror at the end of the day and know I was honest.

Inspirational quote: "Leadership is not about being in control or in charge, it is about being responsible. A true leader takes responsibility and does not passing it on." -Unknown

Raining on Tuesday

Today work got rain out! This is good and bad. The good is that I do not have work and can get other errands out of the way. The bad is that since I am paid hourly, I only get paid for when I work. No work means no money. However, the free time let me go up to the box for a workout which is always enjoyable.

Today my focus will be on nutrition. I would like to talk about shakes, the proper time to use them as well as the good way to make them. Shake I feel are one of the most misunderstood nutritional tools. People feel that since it is fruit that hey it is healthy and I can have it whenever. Shakes should not be used as a meal replacement. I repeat this shakes should NEVER be used to replace a meal. You are a human, you have evolved by eating real food. Shakes are not real food. I know there are people out there saying well yes it is, it is just blended together. However, to me it alters the way in which your body absorbs it to the extreme that it should never replace eating real food.

A shake, in this meaning is a mixture of fruits, vegetables, powders, etc. into a liquid. This means that the shake takes on the combination of all the part you put into it and then some. I am a firm believe when things are combine they become more then the sum of their parts. There for when we put all these items into a blender we are liquifying them. This has the benefit of absorbing into your body quicker. This is both good and bad. If you are sitting down and have a shake, it cause a bad insulin spike. You are consuming more food then you realize. However, if your body just finished a strenuous activity or is in the middle of one shakes can be of enormous benefit. Your body in this state is using the glycogen stored in your body as an energy source and it needs to be replenished. THIS IS WHEN YOU USE A SHAKE. A shake is only for hours of strenuous activity or after an extremely strenuous workout, not every workout. In this case strenuous means over 12 minutes at least of extreme intensity. This is why I feel a shake is great for me in the middle of my work day, it replenishes my energy sources in an easily absorbable way.

The shakes that I made today contained four simple ingredients. The four were coconut milk(2 cups), strawberries(2 cups), blackberries(1 cup), and protein powder(a bit). (yes, I know it is not exactly primal but it works a little better then liquified steak) They were put in the blender in approximate measurements, I am not a big fan of exactness. The mixture was tasty and will get the job done. I will have more shake receipts in the future and more to talk about them.

Workout: Today I had the privilege of going to workout with a friend of mine at his gym. The gym is Crossfit 908. The workout was a descending rep scheme of 50-40-30-20-10 of double unders and sit ups. These were all sandwiched by 3 deadlifts at 80% of your one rep max. For the deadlifts I did 315 lb. My total time for the workout was 9:03. I was happy with how I did. In the future I look to do more on the deadlift, but for today it was a good weight. There was an extra he threw in which was three sets of max number of push ups. I was able to do 30, 18, 13. My goal was to double my first round number, which I was able to achieve that. I look forward to working with Tim at Crossfit 908 more in the future.

Inspirational Quote: "Determination is often the first chapter of the book of excellence"

And the real work begins

I was unable to make regular post this past weekend due to a family situation. Just would like to address this briefly I hope the best to the Crawford family and hope that all members find themselves dealing with the lose the best that they are able to.

Weekend cooking: I decided to cook my meals for the week for the most part on Sunday afternoons. I love to cook. I find cooking very relaxing and whether or not I produce good food, I have a good time doing it and normal get to do it with my favorite girl. This past weekend was not one of those times, I was flying solo. I had to prepare a few meals for lunch, I decided I wanted to get some red meat. The reason red meat there are more natural muscle growth stimulants in red meat then others. I believe it will benefit me to provide my body with the necessary parts to rebuild itself while doing manual labor. The piece of meat I ended up with were a sirloin steak and a pound of ground beef.

While there I also picked up some yellow squash and a green pepper to be all grilled. I created a rub for both (equal parts of salt, pepper, chili pepper, and cinnamon). I put a health coating of this on the steak then added some olive oil to make a paste like substance on the steak. I then added some oregano to the mixture for the ground beef. I made the ground beef into three equal size patties. The vegetables, yellow squash and green peppers, I put on skewers. I then heated up the grill and grilled all the real food at the same time.

The rub was alright, lacked the spicy punch I usually desire. The rub worked better in the burgers I hope. (have not eaten them yet). The same goes for the vegetables.

Work: Work today was good. I was able to push around a heavy wheel barrow a bunch. This is one of my favorite activities. This is because it requires strength and stability. Work as a whole was uneventful.

Nutrition: I had a great meal plan attack for work. I had an apple for the 11 a.m. hunger strike. I had sausages, not my favorite, and peppers for lunch. Add to that some watermelon and nuts. I was full never felt low on energy or lethagic. I am going to start next week making shakes for my 11 a.m. hunger strike. This will allow me to add protein and fat into. This will also allow my body to be able to digest the food easier.

Workout!!!! I got to workout today! Today I used a kettlebell. I did 5 rds. of 6 clean and push press right arm then 6 clean and push press left. It took me a total of 4:55. My goal was to be under 5 minutes! I did two extras, they were 20 kettlebell swings, focusing on pulling down at the top and driving through my heels. The other extra was 20 deadhang pull ups. I was able to do it in sets of 8-7-4-1. The 3rd set I did 5 but kipped one by accident.

Quote that is Inspiring me: "Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us." -Marianne Williamson

Becoming John

Becoming John.....

There are two meaning to this, a work I have yet not dare to try. It is a 20 min amrap of 5 pull ups, 10 push ups, 15 squats all while having a 50 lb. weight vest on. The ultimate goal is 20 or so rounds. It is named after John Welborne.

The next meaning and the one I have being thinking about is becoming John H. John H. is a coworker of mine at the landscaping company. I am pretty sure he is half man half machine. He has always have been the ability to carry heavy wheel barrows, work quicker, etc. I have always wondered why this is. I have a few theories but in actuality I think only one is right. He just works harder to work harder.

He is driven to push it at 100% all of the time. This is something I have struggled with in almost every aspect of my life. When I want to push it I am good. However somedays I just do not feel like I can push it. I feel that I am stuck in low gear. Yesterday was one of those days. Being stuck in low gear would have hurt Hsoj back in the primal days, and it has to be unacceptable to me in modern times. My goal for the next week is to for all 5 days work as hard as possible, no days stuck in low gears.

I will start workouts on Monday.

Nutrition in modern times is easy to slip of the primal wagon so to speak. It is easy to just say it is just one meal. However, when you realize you are saying that every meal you are no longer eating primal. The goal is to limit those slip ups. Yes, there is no real way to eliminate them. I do believe that is someone makes you food no matter what it is you have to eat it. There is no excuse to push away hospitality. Or those moments when you just need the ice cream to cheer up. It is neccessary for both you mind and soul to eat what makes you happy, your body may pay the price. But if your soul is not happy, then you are truly not better of then before. The goal is to improve in all three areas, body, mind, and soul. That is what the Primal Life is all about, improving your body, mind, and soul.

Virtual vs. Actual

So about a year ago I did a workout with "Virtual Shoveling." The concept is good, but it does not compare to the actual thing. Virtual Shoveling is when you have a bar with one 45lb. on one side, you lift it up and over a 20" box and back. The primary problem with these type of movements is they miss the whole toughness of shoveling. The hard part of shoveling is not the motion but the time domain. You do not shovel for 5 minutes or 10 or even rarely 15. When actually shoveling you are shoveling for hours, wheel barrow full after wheel barrow. The time domain change is huge. It is about mentally just doing it cause it has to get done. There is only one way to do it. This is an interesting new dimension for me. The past few years workouts have been measure in anywhere from 2 to 60 minutes, now my work day is measure in hours, and 9 of them.

That being said, the concept or idea behind virtual shoveling is not lost on me. It is a good functional movement which involves many different aspects of fitness. However, I feel that in workouts lets stick with workout movements. Yes we do get these movements from real life, a deadlift is how we pick up heavy items and so forth. We do not though have to find every actually movement and find a way to mimic it in our workouts. I have gotten better at shoveling, not by virtual shoveling but by getting strong and know how to use my body more effectively.

The diet is good today. My goal today was to eat no dark chocolate. I often forget even though it is good for you, it still needs to be moderated. Just because a little is good for you, does not mean a whole lot is better. I was successful in that. My goal tomorrow is to avoid cheeses. My family only has main stream cheese. None of it is from grass feed cow milk, it does though follow my rule of ingredients, which if I am taking the grains out of my diet, they have to go all the way. My goal for the next few weeks it to focus more on this.

There was no workout today, will start workouts on monday.

Starting the Journey

This blog's goal is to cover my transition from a gym rat to a working man who wants to not lose his physical fitness in the process

Today was the first day of my summer job. This is a job that I worked years ago, before I starting eating a primal diet. I am curious to see how I am able to hold up over the summer. The job is manual labor and already I can see where my added strength has helped me out. I am much more capable of moving large loads easily.

The day was the opposite weather of what I expected, but was just as grueling as I could hope for. The day was a raining cold day with the temperature at 46 degrees. (Temperature at 1800 when writing post). It was a misting/raining all day and we had to go on through the less then ideal conditions. We continued to do what we had to get our jobs done. This is typical of what I expected. My coworkers and I continues to joke that all we wanted was a hot shower. I am happy to say the hot shower was all I wanted it to be. It lead me to thinking, Hsoj, random primal name, would not have been able to get a hot shower and dry clothes. Although I model my diet after him, I am happy for the modern conveniences that I am afforded.

For this first day and while I continue to unpack all my belongings, I will not be adding workouts on top of work. I will say I will try my best to post recipes whenever I am able to come up with or come across something good. I am excited about this part of the journey and hope that I can exceed my expectations.