The best weight loss plan there is!

What did I learn over the past 2 weeks? Well, as it turns out, paying somebody to tear out your wisdom teeth is a decision you should not take lightly.

In what cannot be a gentle procedure, your dentist removes your, previously pain-free, teeth leaving you with holes filled with pain and regret. Aside from the lack of ability to open your mouth, the dull ache in your face, the interesting meds and the anger-invoking inability to consume any real foods, you also get the relaxing feeling that several of your teeth are simultaneously experiencing ice cream headaches. The crazy thing is that the best part of the day is the time you spend with a frozen bag of peas stuck to your face. On the plus side, if there is one, it is virtually impossible not to drop a couple pounds after getting your teeth out. Guaranteed weight loss!!

I quickly learned that the window for weight loss was very brief. The first 2-3 days, you really have no  desire to eat and if you do it's apple sauce and pureed soups. As a result you will drop a little weight. Days 4-5 come along and you find yourself starting to get a little annoyed that the pain is still lingering and more than a little angered because all you really want to do is chew something. This frustration resulted in trading the apple sauce for pudding and the pureed soups for tubs of cottage cheese. No guaranteed weight loss anymore. As you close in on a week, you are ready to snap and realize that chocolate Easter treats melt wonderfully in your mouth and require little effort, while providing so much pleasure. Now we are in weight gain. Moral of the story is that all drastic weight loss plans ultimately result in leaving you right back where you started. All that pain for nothing.


As I wasn't really overly interested in doing much the past week, I did spend some time thinking about the blog and I am excited to say that we are changing things up. We are hoping that the new design will allow us to get more frequent blogs out, which will get workouts and information out to you guys more frequently, helping us all get and stay healthier.

One of the first things we are going to introduce is what we are calling...

 The Chalkboard Challenge

The Chalkboard Challenge will show up on a regular basis. Not every day, not even every other day, but regularly. They will generally be shorter in length and higher in intensity. The idea is to create some good old fashioned healthy competition. Not to mention provide some tough workouts. 

Chalkboard Challenge #1: If you don't have a skipping rope, do jumping jacks. The total time for this challenge is 16 min.

The goal is 1000 reps in 16 minutes. I was just short!

the sequence

2 minutes of skipping : get over the rope as many times as you can.

1 minute of rest

30 seconds of squats : as many as you can

30 seconds of mountain climbers : as many as you can

30 seconds of rest

45 seconds squats : as many as you can

45 seconds of mountain climbers : as many as you can

45 seconds of rest

60 seconds of squats : as many as you can

60 seconds of mountain climbers : as many as you can

60 seconds of rest

45 seconds squats : as many as you can

45 seconds of mountain climbers : as many as you can

45 seconds of rest

30 seconds of squats : as many as you can

30 seconds of mountain climbers : as many as you can

1 minute of rest

2 minutes of skipping : get over the rope as many times as you can.


Here is the sheet I use to track my results for this workout.

Click here for the Mini Pyramid Results Tracking Sheet

*** Be sure to track your numbers and see if you can beat mine. ***

In case you need a little reminder, here is the video for the mini pyramid.

The second new introduction is a little something we are calling...

Know Sweat 

Know Sweat is the section where we discuss the plethora of, mostly misunderstood, fitness and health related facts and fallacies. I don't think there is an industry that can match ours with its frequency of new fads and crazy ideas. Some have lasting power but most should never be given a second thought. We intend to help you know the difference.

Fact : The brain is unable to differentiate between hunger and thirst. Assuming that you are eating on a regular basis, a great way to help maintain a healthy body weight is to always assume that your body is thirsty and not hungry. Try drinking water the next time you think you are hungry. If the perceived desire for food is eliminated, you have just saved many an unnecessary calorie. Of course sometimes you are hungry. If so, then you eat!

The third new component to the blog is what we call...

You Are What You Eat

You Are What You Eat is the section dedicated to food. Helpful food facts and amazingly easy recipes that are both delicious and healthy. With little ones around, you simply don't have time to cook yet you still want to eat healthy foods. Our goal here is to provide you with helpful solutions. 


Food facts - The Banana:

There are over 500 types of bananas.
One medium-sized, 7-8 inch banana has just 105 calories.
Bananas contain significant amounts of vitamins C(3X more than apples) and B6(great for skin and hair). They are also rich in carotenoids and can increase vitamin A levels in those with deficiencies.
The average banana contains 3 grams of fibre.
A banana contains about 12% of the daily recommended dose of potassium for adults. Potassium helps maintain proper functioning cells, tissues and organs and helps to lower blood pressure.
As with all types of fruits and vegetables, bananas contain antioxidants.
Bananas are NOT fattening!
They are also the perfect pre-workout fuel source.


If you want to know more about this super food, check out the following link.

Click here for more banana fun facts!

Last, but not least, I bet you didn't know that we open bananas up the wrong way! Check out this quick clip to see how the pros (monkeys) do it.

I hope you enjoy the new spin we are giving to the blog. 


Chad

What Will Power? Cream Egg Combat

~Written by Chad

What a great time of year! The winter is almost behind us, we have the full spring and summer to look forward to, the days are getting longer and Cadbury releases a 'new' batch of Cream Eggs. I say new, because there are plenty of stores still trying to get rid of last year's selection. You've bitten into the ones from last season, with the almost solid middle. Brutal! But a fresh one...that's my weakness.

Am I the only person who can't walk past the Cream Egg and Mini Egg display without giving in? I don't know what it is about those perfect little chocolate eggs, but I simply cannot say 'No'. Oh well. If you should ever give in to temptation, and I suggest you do from time to time, know that the earlier in the day you do, the less chance of any of those calories finding their way to your hips, or butt or where ever they like to go. If you give in late in the day, chances are very good that they will stay with you.

In order to help balance out the added calories that always seem to show up around Easter, I have put together a longer and tougher workout for us all. This workout combines bodyweight exercises with stability ball exercises, adding some extra core strengthening into the mix. I call it the Countdown. 550 fun-filled reps completed as quickly as you can. Your goal should be under 25 minutes.

Here's how it works. Complete the following, in order, and don't move on to the next exercise until ALL the necessary reps have been completed. There are 10 exercises.

100 mountain climbers (50 each leg)

90 military plank - stability ball (45 each leg)

80 squat hops

70 hamstring rollins/curls - stability ball (35 of each, alternating 1 at a time)

60 side plank rollovers (30 each side)

50 jackknife/jackknife pikes - stability ball (25 of each, alternating 1 at a time)

40 lunge jumps

30 rollouts - stability ball

20 fullnburpees (with push-up)

10 superman bows - stability ball

Enjoy this workout! Chad

I got 28:20 for my first time.

Pickin' up steam...

Okay...we are about to start a new week...we are about to start a new month. It has all the potential in the world. Will we take advantage of it?

How has the first month gone so far? For me, nothing overly impressive, but I have been improving steadily over the course of the month. After a molasses-like start to January, Kate and I lost a combined 6 pounds this week! 5 words...soup and salad for dinner. You will not get along with the others in your home at night, but stick it out. You WILL celebrate with them when you reach your goals.

The workouts started slowly, one the first week, two the second, but I did 3 this past week, so I'm inching closer to the goal of at least 4. None of the workout this past week lasted more than 30 minutes. In fact, one was only 15 minutes, but they took full advantage of the time I had and I was always sore afterwards. My strength is definitely improving, as is Kate's for that matter. If you have been training this month, then you are certainly feeling the same. That's the beauty of working out, the benefits are virtually instantaneous. If you challenge your muscles they will respond by getting stronger. The best part is that in order to get stronger, they actually get smarter. Your muscles communicate with your brain better and you feel stronger without having to add very much muscle mass. Win Win.

I know a few of you are feeling the benefits already, but it has come to my attention that some of you may not believe that you can even attempt these challenges. YOU CAN! With the exception of some cases, everyone can do these. It's just moving YOUR own body around, something you already do all day. I'm not saying you are all going to be able to do a high level of repetitions or that your form will be perfect, but you WILL improve and you will do so very quickly. Today Kate and I repeated the 2 minute squat challenge and this time she managed 96 and I was able to pull off 97. A combined 20 more than last time! The human body is an amazing machine. See how many squats you can complete in two minutes, and please track your numbers. You can always send them to me if you like.

There are a few quick things about the squat that you should know. Feet at least shoulder width apart. If you find that you have a lot of forward bend when you squat, open your legs up wider. Your goal should be as little forward bend as possible. Sit back into the squat, (like you're going to sit in a chair) don't try to go straight down. In doing so, try to use the glute muscles not just the quads. You will find that if you use your glute muscles, any pain you may feel in your knees will immediately disappear. Most of you won't have any knee pain, not to worry. Make sure you get full range of motion out of each repetition. Try to get your quads to be parallel to the floor. Try this in a mirror, it's further down than if feels!

Enjoy the squats and let's have a good February. Remember...small, steady improvements add up the most over time.