Captain Ahab’s BodyBlog

72 – 36 – 12
No these are not the measurements of some wildly out of proportion exotic dancer, but rather they are how many days I followed the nutrition program set out by Body for Life, along with how many weightlifting workouts combined with cardio sessions it took me to achieve my body transformation and also how many cheat days I had during this time period.
I was doing a bit of thinking the other day and it dawned on me that it didn’t really take me the full 12 weeks to get into the best shape of my life and achieve the body transformation that saw me judged 10^th overall in the 2007 Body for Life Challenge. I did a bit of basic math and figured out that of the 84 days (12 weeks) that I was doing the BFL Challenge I was not following their nutrition program each and every day because I was able to take advantage of their built in “cheat” day once every week, to eat whatever I wanted and to satisfy any cravings that I might have been having.
So out of the 84 days of the challenge I had 12 “cheat” days so my math brought me from 84 to 72 actual days of following their nutrition program.
The number 36 was the number of combined workouts (weightlifting & cardio) that it took me to go from what I saw as my “ 36% bodyfat, muffin topped fat body” to my “approx. 10% bodyfat completely transformed best shape of my life body.” I was quite pressed for time, which I am sure many other people are and so I did my one hour of weightlifting and followed that by doing my 20 minutes of cardio right after. This is all that Body for Life asks you to put in for weights and cardio. This really helped me especially in the beginning because I was only working out every other day and had and needed lots of time to recover.
With the Body for Life nutrition program they have you eat 5 to 6 small, protein rich, low (high glycemic) carb, low (bad) fat meals per day. This way you are having something to eat every 2 ½ to 3 hours and really revving up your metabolism and just so that you are not always sitting down to either prepare or eat what I call a “chewable” meal, 2 to 3 of your 5 to 6 meals can and should be in the form of protein shakes. Unlike many other weight loss programs that have you eating less and feeling hungry a lot of the time, what I found with Body for Life was just the opposite, I found that I was watching the clock and I had to actually make myself eat more often than I normally would and never once did I feel hungry. One of the beautiful things (I believe anyway) about BFL is their built in cheat day. One day per week you are allowed to eat anything and everything your little heart desires. If it is Big Mac’s or Whoppers or half a dozen Baconators ( I exaggerate but you get the picture) followed by Blizzards or cheesecake at every meal of the day then go for it. This is totally acceptable. I believe also that this is a good thing because many of us have parties to go to (birthday, anniversary etc.) and this way we can partake of the wonderful goodies people have on hand and not have to bring our own “healthy” snacks. The only requirement is that the next morning and until your next cheat day, you go back to the 5 to 6 meals per day. So I figured out that I used 12 cheat days out of my 84 days following BFL eating program so I only ate correctly for 84 days minus 12 cheat days equaling, 72 actual days.
I did this bit of simple math and used these numbers as an example of how little it really takes to go from fat to fit. I would like everyone who reads this and is thinking that it must have taken an enormous amount of time for me to go from a muffin top to a six pack to see just how easy it is and how little time it does take if you make fitness a priority and follow a good nutrition plan along with weightlifting and cardio.
Hey folks, if I can do it, I know you can too.
 

1. Make fitness a priority.

Schedule and mark on your calendar your workout times. Make the commitment. It is a lifestyle change rather than a temporary fix.
 
 

2. Choose a convenient gym or workout facility.

Choose a place to workout that is convenient and close. If you have to travel a long distance or through heavy traffic you may find yourself finding reasons not to go.
           
3.    Set realistic & attainable goals.

Instead of saying I think I will lose 40 lbs this year, set weekly and/or monthly goals of losing 2 lbs per week or even 5 lbs this month. Small accomplishments feel wonderful, and can be just the motivation you need to push on to the next small accomplishment
 
 

4. Start off slow.

Don’t start by working out so hard that you end up making yourself too sore to move. Focus on learning correct form and using weights that allow you to continue with correct form.
 

5. Change up your routine.

Following the same routine continuously can result in either boredom or a plateau. Change your routine every 3 months. If not your routine then your sets, reps weights and/or rest periods between sets.
 
 

6. Keep a workout journal.

Keep a workout journal and hold yourself accountable to making improvements. It will help to be able to look back and see where you started and how far you have come.
 

7. Find a workout partner.

It helps to workout with either a partner or friend. Friendly competition can push you to greater gains.
 

8. Hire a personal trainer.

If you are not sure of correct form or what routine will give you the best results hire a personal trainer. If even for a week it will be money well spent if you are shown how to lift correctly. Some people may also need a personal trainer to motivate them, especially if they are not used to pushing themselves.
 
 
 
        9. Make sure you get enough sleep.

The fastest way to derail a good workout routine is by not getting enough sleep. Many times lack of sleep will lead top overeating, lack of energy and/or skipping workouts altogether.
 

10. Be patient.

Make a firm commitment to stick with it for at least 3 months, preferably four. Remember that it took you years to get into the shape you are now in and it takes a while for your body to adjust to your new workout program and the average time for a good body transformation is approx. three months, so be patient and give yourself a chance.
                      
 
 

I like grapefruit and many times I use grapefruit juice instead of water or milk as the liquid in my protein shakes. I also take some of my prescription medications with my grapefruit juice as well as some of my supplements. Now I find out that my beloved grapefruit increases blood levels of some medicines. I say this because when I had high blood pressure, (before losing weigh, getting fit and finding my blood pressure to be at a normal level) I used to take my blood pressure medication with swallows of grapefruit juice.
The findings show that the effects of consuming grapefruit and grapefruit juice stay around for 24 hours. The handful of medicines affected by grapefruit and/or grapefruit juice should not be taken if any grapefruit product has been consumed in the previous 24 hours.
Studies show that grapefruit and its juice are great for weight loss, but many times these same people who are overweight and who are eating and drinking grapefruit and grapefruit juice have also been diagnosed with high blood pressure, and are using a blood pressure medication (like Adalat, for example) that has negative reactions (could drop blood pressure too low) when combined with either grapefruit or its juice.
The way around this predicament is to check with your doctor or pharmacist and see if there is an alternative medicine that does not have the same problems when combined with grapefruit or it’s juice.
If you are not sure about what does or does not go well with grapefruit I advise you to 1) read the warning pamphlet that comes with your medication. 2) Ask your doctor or pharmacist.

I recently read that antioxidants are harmful and increase one’s chances of dying and that taking a multivitamin can add to this dilemma. So I did a bit of researching and was overwhelmed by the amount of explanations about how and why certain supplements cause reactions and produce results in our bodies and I tended to get lost in all the scientific rhetoric and 13 to 21 letter words they use to describe the elements in question. What I wanted was a simple explanation on what it does and why I need it and recently I found just the explanation I was looking for on the subject of antioxidants and if a multivitamin would add to the problem. You may already know this if you had been paying attention during biology and chemistry classes but I will go ahead for those like me who were not. I had heard that free radicals were bad things and I needed antioxidants to fight them but I wanted a better explanation than just that. Well, lo and behold I came across a great one by a Dr. Paul Donohue and his explanation was simplified even to the point that I could understand it and so using some of his explanation and taking literary license I am going to add my own spin on it and hopefully this will help everyone understand antioxidants. Imagine that your body is a chemical factory. The chemical reactions that take place in every cell generate harmful by-products, called oxidants. Now outside of the body these little buggers (oxidants) produce rust on iron products. They are the nasty little things responsible for turning the pulp of your apple brown when you leave it sit for a couple of minutes and it is exposed to air. Now inside the body these oxidants do equally destructive things if they aren’t neutralized. So how do we neutralize them you ask? With antioxidants (bet you didn’t see that one coming). Imagine that we have our own fighter squadron of jet fighters going around day and night looking to do battle with and shoot down these little Kamikaze oxidants before they can crash into and destroy any of our vital organs or exposed and defenseless organisms. We have to supply our squadron of jet fighters with an arsenal of ammunition so they can kill the Kamikaze oxidants. We have a small stockpile of antioxidants that our bodies produce naturally but that would soon be depleted if we didn’t keep adding to it and so we must depend on the addition of antioxidants from our food (kind of like Canada depends on the USA in times of war). Examples of antioxidants that our bodies need and we get from a nutritious diet are vitamins A, C & E, beta carotene, lycopene, lutein, copper, zinc and manganese. The foods that are really filled with our needed antioxidants include blueberries, raspberries, strawberries, beans (red, kidney, pinto & black), avocados, apples, cherries, plums, oranges, artichokes, spinach, potatoes, broccoli, walnuts, pecans, almonds and my wife’s personal favorite dark chocolate. If your diet is lacking in a number of these you should add to your ammunition stockpile and add an antioxidant supplement to your regime. Overdosing on antioxidants can happen and that is when the arsenal kind of explodes and does internal damage which proves you can get too much of a good thing so you need to be careful or else our jet fighters will end up crashing and burning into our own bodies and causing as much damage as those nasty little kamikazes. High doses of beta carotene add to the risk of cancer that comes from smoking. Too high a dose of vitamins A & E can be detrimental to anyone. Antioxidants obtained from your diet (food) do not create trouble but antioxidants in pill form can be troublesome if taken in high doses for too long. As far as multivitamins go according to Dr. Paul Donohue we don’t have to worry we are not going to add to the problem by using one.

As I have long believed and studies are now showing that as reported in a recent newspaper article from the Associated Press “Higher fitness levels lower death rates in men.”
According to the article the more fit you are, the longer you are likely to live, according to the study on U.S. veterans followed for an average of 8 years by the Veterans Affairs.
They found that “highly fit” men in the study had half the risk of death as those that were less fit. Being “very highly fit” cut the risk even more - by 70 per cent.
The research builds on what is already known about the benefits of exercise and fills in some gaps by addressing the effects of fitness in African Americans.
“A little bit of exercise goes a long way,” says Peter Kokkinos, lead author of the study. “Thirty minutes a day, five days a week of brisk walking is likely to reduce the risk of mortality by 50 per cent_____if not more.”
To determine the fitness level of the veterans a treadmill test was used and the men – who had an average age of 60 – were put into four categories ranging from “low fit” to “very highly fit.”
With over 15,600 participants, the researchers said the study was the largest to look at the link between fitness and mortality. The study also sets itself apart by looking at how exercise affects African Americans, whose death rates are higher than whites. About 43 per cent of the veterans in the study were African Americans.
 
 

A revision of an earlier blog: 

1.       Switch from whole milk to skim milk products. If you consume 3 servings you can save 200 calories a day, which is approx. 20 lbs over the year. 

2.       Reduce butter or margarine usage. Use unsweetened applesauce in recipes instead of oil. Try fat free butter-flavored spreads. Eliminating one pat of butter on your morning toast will allow you to drop 10 lbs in a year. 

3.       Let your soups, gravies and stews chill, then skim the off fat that floats to the surface. You can save up to 100 calories per serving. 

4.       Use extra lean ground beef instead of regular or lean. Try ground chicken or turkey in your recipes. Use Canadian bacon rather than your regular bacon. Trim off all the fat from your meat before cooking. 

5.       Cut the cheese. Replace the 1-½ ounces of cheddar in your sandwich with 1 ounce of non-fat mozzarella and lose 11 pounds a year. 

6.       If you have microwave popcorn every night switch over to the light kind and save enough fat and calories to lose 10 pounds in a year. 

7.       Replace regular bottled salad dressing (which has about 150 calories for every 2 tablespoons) with an equal portion of fat-free dressing (about 40 calories) and save over 100 calories per serving. 

8.       Cut back on egg yolks. Use egg whites or egg substitutes. In most recipes use two egg whites instead of one whole egg. 

9.       Switch from 100 plus calorie sandwich bread to light whole wheat bread. Save 100 calories per sandwich and get the benefit of whole grains.

10. Last but not least : Eliminate your daily specialty coffee. Switching from a 16 ounce cappuccino to regular coffee with artificial sweetener can save you well over 10 lbs a year. 

These 5 dieting mistakes can slow us down or stop us dead in our tracks.

If we are making an honest effort to lose weight and in doing so are trying to eat a healthy balanced diet but are still having trouble or are being frustrated by a stubborn scale the difficulty might lie with one or more of these common problems.

Not Getting Enough Sleep

Many of us are unaware that sleep is a very important part of our weight loss regime. If we want to lose weight and have a healthy lifestyle we should be aiming for 7 to 8 hours of uninterrupted sleep each and every night. During sleep our body repairs and rejuvenates itself and if we deprive it of sleep we may well feel sluggish and unmotivated the next day. Lack of sleep often leads to a slower metabolism, which means we are burning fewer calories and thus slowing our weight loss progress.

Skipping Meals

Going more than 3 to 4 waking hours between meals causes our blood sugar to bottom out and may leave us feeling weak, tired and irritable. Eating more often (every 2 ½ to 3 hours) often helps regulate blood sugar levels, revs and keeps up our metabolism and our body burning calories rather than storing them as fat.

Nighttime Snacking

Many of us have this habit, which undermines weight loss because the foods we eat after dinner are often full of fat and consumed while we are watching TV or doing other activities that increase the risk of mindless overeating. Going to bed with a full stomach can also affect our quality of sleep because our body is kept busy digesting. Limit our snack(s) to healthy, hi protein, low carb, low calorie ones early in the evening that will not cause us to overstep our daily calorie consumption.

 Drinking Alcohol
Weight loss can be prevented by drinking alcohol for 2 key reasons; 1) the excess calories we are consuming. Having 2 or 3 drinks can add hundreds of extra (empty) calories to our daily total. 2) Alcohol stops our body from burning fat. Alcohol and fat are both processed in our liver and when the liver is busy processing alcohol it cannot effectively process fat.
Alcohol also reduces the absorption of Vitamins A, D, E, K, folate, B1 and B2.
Last but definitely not least…

Setting Unrealistic Goals

A commonly made mistake many, many of us make when setting out on our body transformation or weight loss journey is trying to do everything at once. We must remember that we did not gain all of our weight overnight and it is unrealistic to expect that we will lose it right away. We should all strive to set small, realistic and attainable goals for ourselves. If we set hard to achieve, unrealistic goals we are susceptible to frustration when we do not see immediate progress, and quite often our motivation will falter and we will soon slip back into our old habits, especially if we have taken the “all or nothing” approach.

My blog yesterday was about how a glass or two of our favorite wine or spirits could not only relax us but also be beneficial to our overall health and longevity and so I thought that today I would show the calorie content of a number of various wines. Since I live in what is often referred to as the “Napa Valley of the North,” I thought that it would be fitting to show the low amount of calories that are in each glass of wine so that when we are sitting back enjoying a glass we are not overly concerned about going off the fitness track. For those that are counting, all of these are the number of calories in a 4-ounce glass and are courtesy of an article written by freelance writer and wine aficionado Dawn Antle. Enjoy!
Beaujolais                     95
Bordeaux, red               95
Burgundy, red               95
Burgundy, white            90
Cabernet Sauvignon      90
Chablis                       
  85
Champagne, dry           105
Champagne, pink          100
Chardonnay                   90
Chianti                          100
Merlot                           95
Muscatel                      160
Port ruby                      185
Port white                     170
Reisling                         90
Rhone                           95
Rose                             95
Sangria                       
   115
Sauvignon Blanc            80
Zinfandel, red                90
Zinfandel, white             80