Insanity Workout

Hi reader. I just came back from another summer trip. Where I was staying, there was only the most basic of television plans, and I ended up watching quite a bit of paid programing. Among the many products I was almost certain I needed, I was very intrigued by the Insanity Workout (by Beachbody I think). 

After I watched the infomercial I was starting to believe (like most infomercial products) that it was too good to be true, so I started doing research. I'm pleasantly surprised by the number of people that swear it changed their life. I'm just about convinced enough to get it. 

As it is a bit pricy, I think this will have to be a Christmas time purchase, but I'm beginning to look forward to it, and it comes with a meal plan, etc. so I think this could work out.

I'm going to my doctor soon anyway, so I might as well get her opinion on this too. I know all health things say to check with your  doctor before use (not that most of us have), but I think for how hard core this program is, perhaps I should get a professional opinion of my heart's condition. I'm impressed by the people who were in much worse shape than me, getting better results than I'm expecting. 

So I know I probably can't start this until about January, but I'm optimistic that it will go well. Plus then I get to be ripped (more) for part of my senior year, and should have the body of a greek god by the time college starts at the latest. 

That's my plan (long term anyway), and if you have any opinions on the Insanity Workout (that you have tried, please) feel free to comment and share. 

Healthy Convenience

Hey reader. Things have been going pretty well since I've been home. I have been cooking pretty regularly, granted I'm getting kind of tired of cooking every day.

While looking for new recipes online, I stumbled upon this technique used by busy people for who knows how long. Apparently it's actually quite easy to make your own frozen dinners. It allows you to pre make meals in advance, when you actually feel like cooking, and heat them up when your busy or just lazy.

I'm kind of excited to try it today, I'm going to start cooking an eggplant parmesan and put it in a disposable cooking dish, and then I can heat it up for diner when I know I will have no interest in making it. I realize that's a little short term for this method's potential, but it's a start.

I'm not very worried at all if this will work, this is apparently a really common thing to do for busy people trying to do the same things that I am. I see this idea being my best friend in college. Now that I think about it, this is how my school cooking classes work. We don't have enough time to prepare and cook things in the same day. Cool, I guess I've already done this.

So, if you have any recipes that are especially good for this method, please feel free to comment and share. Until next time, appreciate and use your freezer to its fullest potential.

Home Sweet Home

Hey reader. I'm finally back home, not that my trip wasn't fun, but it's nice to be back. It's back to kale smoothies, and paddle boarding every other day.

I actually didn't gain much at all. I lifted weights with whoever I stayed with every other day, and I swam at my sisters house just about every day. I didn't eat too much junk either. I think it's in the realm of possibility that I gained some muscle weight, because I tried on my bikini top to assess the damages, and I think I look better than when I left.

As always I'll keep you posted. Until next time, wear something that makes you feel fantastic.

I'm ok

Hey reader. I've been off soy milk for about a week, and just about all of the autoimmune symptoms that I'm aware of are going away. As long as I stay off soy milk, this should just clear up on its own.

Apparently it's common for people with asthma (like me) to have soy allergies, but most of them don't eat soy in high enough amounts to realize they have a problem with it. So, I guess what I'm saying is be warned. Just because you've never had a problem with soy before, doesn't necessarily mean that you don't have problems on a small scale you're not aware of.

So like I said, I'm fine now, and officially switching to almond milk.

my annual veggie burger

What-up reader. Today was awesome. I buy veggie burgers all the time, but usually frozen ones from the store, and they're not especially fantastic. Even when I go to most restaurants they just dress up the same thing I buy.

When I go on my summer trips to see my sister I always make sure I go to this little hipster restaurant by her house. Everything they make is all natural, and made from scratch on site. I'm sure everything there is great, but I've only ever had one thing. The three-grain veggie burger with sweet potato fries is my standard order. It's made with actual vegetables and grains, that have never been frozen. It just makes me happy. It even reheats in the microwave pretty well (breakfast of champions!).

If you ever find a restaurant that makes its own veggie burger, try it. It will save you a substantial amount of fat and calories while you're eating out.

Well that's about it, for now. Until next time, happy summer, and eat your vegetables.

bikini body

Hey reader. Know I went from almost no posts at all to about three in about an hour, but I'm sure I'll run out again soon, but for the moment I want to get it all down and out of my system.

I know I've been talking about wanting to get my body up to a place where I feel proud to wear a bikini. I'm getting close, if I haven been on vacation letting my grandmother feed me for a week. I'm blaming her, she wasn't force feeding me or anything, but I come from a not so small family, and she gets concerned when she sees me eating an normal amount of healthy food. I wish I had a dollar for every time she said "well you didn't eat very much at all, do you want something else?" She's kind of funny, because she is so proud of me and how healthy I am now, but she still feels the need to offer me cookies and ice-cream at every opportunity. She's not doing it on purpose or anything, and frankly I did want some, but she makes it too easy.

I'm staying with my relatively health conscious sister and brother and law, and that's been a kind of relief. They have a pool too, so I can keep a more regular/ convenient workout plan.

Either way, this whole post was really just to brag that I bought a new bikini top from Sports Authority, and new board shorts from Walmart. Yes, I wear men's bathing suit bottoms, but I love the pockets, and I can pull it off I feel. Now I have the outfit to try on, to track aesthetic progress. I'm sure that now that I'm in a healthier (only by standards of diet, my grandparents are the best) environment, and especially when I get back home in a week, I will be in my new outfit on the lake in no time.

So that's just about absolutely everything I've been doing lately. If I do anything else I'm sure I'll talk about it in a relatively prompt manner, not that you would know I suppose, but I do it out of principle. By keeping this blog honest, it keeps it motivational.

There you have it. I can't think of any even slightly clever sign offs right now, so just thank's for reading, and I'll try to write again soon.

Finger strength

Hey reader. After my last post I wanted to mention something I've been doing lately that's been going particularly well. I just went to Sports Authority looking for something for my wrist. I once saw a product in a weird sort of mind game/ odd toy store. It was a ball about the size of a baseball that had a smaller ball on the inside (just barely smaller) and you have to use one hand to spin the ball on the inside and keep it spinning. I didn't have the $30 or however much it was to spare that day, but I've never been able to find it again, and that day at Sports Authority was no exception. If you know what I'm talking about and know where I can get one please comment the details. It's really cool it's supposed to prevent carpel tunnels, reduce stress, it's supposed to be the equivalent of working with a 30 lb. weight on your arms, and I'm sure about 100 other things.

What I found instead was a regular stress ball, and another thing called a "grip master" by prohands. It's a spring resistance device that you squeeze with your fingers. It's nice, because you can train each finger individually. I fingered it would be good, as the box claimed it helps increase dexterity for tasks like typing, and more importantly it would help develop a better grip for things like weight lifting and such. I could always use some help in such fields.

So I've been using it for about a half a week, and I must say I'm happy with it so far. I have no real way of seeing if it makes a difference in my workout yet, but I'm getting stronger on the device it's self (I have really weak pinkies). I think it's safe to say I recommend this product.

I hope that information was helpful in some way for you. I also hope you enjoy the rest of your summer, and do something fun.

No more soy milk

Hey reader. This post is more like an anti-endorsment. I have been drinking soy milk for a few months now, and I may be experiencing side effects including gas (yes, I know it's embarrassing, but it happens), and I have a sore spot on the side of my neck (it feels about the size of a pea on my left side, just lower than my jaw).  From what I've learned on the internet these may be linked to my increased soy consumption. Apparently it also has the potential to play with your hormones, which at my age, I certainly don't want.

I plan to stop drinking soy milk completely, and avoid product that contain soy until further notice (I'll probably be done with soy milk forever). I absolutely will stop recommending it to weigh lifters as an additional lean protein  source, it may actually make building muscle harder.

I still want to stay away from dairy milk, for ethical reasons (not that I'm a vegan, or even a vegetarian at the moment). So far the internet hasn't mentioned any of the weird side effects of soy in almond, rice, or coconut milk. I don't think I will try rice milk, because it really doesn't have any natural health benefits. It's really chalky tasting fortified water. I'm leaning toward almond milk, but I'm still researching coconut milk. I want to be more careful this time.

It could take about month for the soy milk side effects to go away, but I'm hoping for the best. I plan on going to see a doctor about the neck thing if it hasn't gone away when I go home from my trip. I might even go while I'm out here if it gets noticeably worse.

So long story short, don't drink soy milk. It has way more risks than you might think, and it can take quite a while before you may notice any side effects.

Until next time, drink water.

No GMOs

Hi reader. I know it's been a while, but I promise I haven't abandon this blog. There just hasn't been too much interesting or new activity going on in a while. I'm currently on the summer trip I mentioned I was going on and since I have a moment, I thought I'd chime in.

I have been chipping away at my long netflix queue, and that list included a lot of food based documentaries including some about GMO (genetically modified organism) products. I have learned that the effects on the body and the environment are very limited and I am fundamentally against them (although I'm aware that I probably eat quite a few of them on a daily basis).  It's kind of a big issue to explain here, but I recommend watching things like "deconstructing supper", "ingredients", "the future of food", "fresh", and I'm sure there are countless others. The Nongmo project has a lot of good information as well, including what foods don't contain GMOs.

So far I have been eating a lot of Amy's Kitchen products, which are easy, organic, and also GMO free.       All of the foods I have tried so far have been pretty delicious. I grilled some California veggie burgers at our family BBQ for the fourth of July, and some of my non-vegitarian (not that I am) cousins had some too. Take that, frozen beef hockey pucks!

Well that's all I have to report right now, because most of the things I have been doing lately aren't breaking any new ground.

Well, I'm sorry it took me so long to post here, but I'm not planning on going anywhere. I hope this information was helpful, or at the very least interesting. Happy eating and happy summer.