Shannon’s BodyBlog

OK, first the other day, someone blogged a Youtube video of Nickleback’s "Burn It To The Ground" from the "Transformers 2" movie.  I thought, "Ooh, I like that song, I’ll have to add it to my iPod.  I haven’t heard it on the radio yet, but I’ll probably hear it all the time now."

Well, wouldn’t you know it.  I heard it on the radio the next day.

Then I was bullsh*ttin’ with my Fit Status message that included the oft used phrase, "It’s Hammer Time."

Janthony and Mamaof2 were kidding around with me about it and I said I wanted to go out and buy a pair of gold genie pants and get jiggy with it.

Well wouldn’t you know it….this morning I came upon a Youtube video practically on the front page with a video of a flash mob of gold genie pants wearing dancers who invaded a clothing store filled with skinny pants wearing hipsters.

I am ahead of being behind my time, people.  If I think it, it happens.

Oh, and btw, download this song.  It’s pretty cool to have while pumping the irons at the gym.

"Always do what you are afraid to do."

-Ralph Waldo Emerson

I have that as my signature quote to remind myself to not hold back from challenges or things I want to do that are outside of my safe little world.

I always push myself toward doing something that makes me nervous to do by taking a deep breath, figure out what could be the worst possible thing that could happen, find a way to cope with that scenario if it does turn out that way, and then I do it.

It could be anywhere from a job interview to the trip I took by myself to France (which turned out that the process of getting to my desitination was above and beyond the nightmare I imagined it to be…but I got through it).

So, because I did things I was afraid to do, I am happy with my experiences and I’m greatful that I pushed myself to do them, because who wants to live a boring life?

I was even afraid to go to the gym and move beyond the Nautilus machines and cardio equipment.  If had held myself back and only did what I felt safe doing, I wouldn’t be in better shape than I was in my 20’s.  And I wouldn’t feel half as confident as I do now in other aspects of my life.

I have people here who support me and help me gain confidence like from Janthony who gives me challenges that I never even imagined doing at all.  The height of his expectations of what I could accomplish allowed me to do things that I didn’t think possible…like the Hell Week he assigned me to do.  I would’ve thought I accomplished something major by doing 15 pushups, but he had me do 500!!!!

I guess the other point of this is not only to do things you are afraid to do because your life will be that much more enriched, but I hope you find someone who believes in you enough to encourage you to live out something that is far above what you believe you can do.  It’s good to have someone whether it’s a personal trainer, spouse, friend, family member, a total stranger from BB.com give you a challenge that makes you step outside of your safe little box.

Not much to do with fitness:
1.  The human brain is the world’s most powerful computer. When it comes to sheer computational strength, today’s state-of-the-art processors are still no match for the human mind. According to experts, the average brain has a storage capacity of about 100 terabytes, while the typical PC offers only a fraction of that, about 100 gigabytes.

2.  The human body has roughly 60,000 miles of blood vessels. According to the Cleveland Clinic, the body’s blood vessels, which include the arteries, veins, and capillaries, would be 60,000 miles long if they were laid out end to end. That’s approximately the distance you’d need to travel if you wanted to circle the globe two and a half times.

3.  The human nose can remember 50,000 different scents. Although you’d probably never want to recall that many aromas, it’s nice to know that your nose is doing its job. That said, you shouldn’t be too impressed–humans have about 5 million odor receptors, while dogs, depending on the breed, may have more than 220 million.

4.  A human sneeze can exceed 100 miles per hour. People generally inhale air slowly, but when they sneeze, air rushes out of their nostrils at 100 miles per hour or more. It should come as no surprise that it’s so easy to catch colds and flu; a sneeze’s velocity enables it to propel germs up to 12 feet.

5.  The human body contains about 32 million bacteria per square inch. There’s no denying it: Every one of us is basically a petri dish for armies of microscopic critters. In fact, the human body contains 10 times more bacteria per square inch than the average toilet bowl does.

6.  The largest internal organ in the human body is the small intestine. Contrary to what its name might suggest, the small intestine–the portion of the gastrointestinal tract between the stomach and the large intestine–is anything but petite. In fact, if you unfolded it, you’d find it was roughly 23 feet long.

7.  Three hundred million cells die every minute in the human body. It might sound like an awful lot, but it’s insignificant compared with the overall number of cells in your body. Scientists estimate that the average human body contains between 10 and 50 trillion cells, so it can afford to lose a few here and there.

8.  Human stomach acid is strong enough to dissolve razorblades. According to scientists, human stomach acid is seriously powerful stuff–so strong, in fact, that it’s capable of dissolving razorblades. But whatever you do, don’t attempt to swallow one.

9.  Humans produce enough saliva to fill one or two swimming pools. Saliva helps to keep the mouth lubricated and plays a key role in the digestive process. Most experts believe that humans produce between 0.75 and l.5 liters of the fluid a day, which means that during your lifetime, you’ll produce enough to fill one or two swimming pools.

10.  Humans have as many hairs per square inch as chimpanzees. They might look a lot furrier than we do, but according to biologists, we have the same amount of hairs per square inch as our primate friends. In fact, when scientists at the University of Washington, Seattle, sequenced the genome of the chimpanzee, they found that humans were 96 percent similar to the great ape species.

I started back on cardio again.  My BF% is on the rise and my workouts at the gym leave me breathless for certain routines.

Now that nights are freed up from Little League ending its season, I’m on the elliptical again.  UGH, it was rough last night because my legs are weak and my lungs are deflated from the lack of doing anything remotely cardiovascular for the past 6 weeks.  I’ll tell you that doing high resistance on that machine builds up the strength in your legs.

I tried getting motivated for doing early morning cardio, but damn if I just couldn’t get it done.  I hate having to struggle to do anything, and I feel like I struggle doing cardio if I haven’t had enough food in me.

Pisha on the fasted cardio.  No energy = no motivation.  I need food to get anything done. By the end of the day, I’ve been fueled up by my meals, so that lets me "enjoy" cardio just a bit more.

I need to get back into the mentality I used to have while doing it.  Like, pretending I’m on American Idol and singing to songs on my iPod.  Coming up with blog ideas.  That’s the best time to come up with ideas because my mind wanders and one thought leads to another and then I laugh like a loon at something I thought about which is usually a barometer indicating it’s OK enough for me to write about.

BUT, I did not laugh while thinking about blogging about cardio.

So now that I’m rambling, I will continue by saying I want to get back into running again.  The last time I ran on a regular basis was when I was training for a triathlon and it turned out to be a disaster.

I thought I could just start up and get used to it because I thought about my younger days when I was on the track team and how I just ran without any kind of "working up to it".  I could NOT get away with that approach as I was older.  NOPE.  I had to stop training for two months because I had a strained something or other and by the time I started training again, it was only a couple of weeks before the race.

So now I will be smarter about it, be patient and start off slowly.

The kids are off from school at the end of the month which leaves me with majorly limited gym time, so I’ll use the leftover time to work on my running.  There are two running tracks near my house that will allow me to do all sorts of drills and things like that.  I hate running the roads and not knowing how far I’ve gone.  Plus, the tracks are near playgrounds, so if the kids ditch me, they can always go off and play.

My daughter said she wanted to do a kid’s triathlon and my oldest son once expressed an interest as well, so maybe I can persuade them into training with me.

We’ll see how that goes.

Saturday marked the end of Little League season.  After all three of my kids played their championship games, we took them out to good ol’ Applebees.

I zoned out while driving, not thinking of anything in particular…just driving on autopilot when I turned into the parking I turn into on a daily basis when I go to the gym….and which happens to be the ajoining parking lot for Applebees.
I snapped to and was a little confused (it happens from time to time) and said, "Oh wait, where am I?  Did I turn into the right place?  I’m so used to going to the gym that I wasn’t thinking about where I was going."

My 6 yr old son said, "Mom, you gotta get your mind off the gym."

The human car jack:

I’ve had a sweet tooth lately that would drive Willy Wonka into back order hell. Now, I don’t want to buy candy or anything like that.  The only thing I have in my house that can be made into a sweet concoction are berries.  I have raspberries, blueberries, and strawberries.  Chilled berry soup is sounding appealing to me.  It’s nutritious and will curb that sweet tooth I think…I HOPE.  We’ll see.

This is something I found on Youtube and figured it would be educational for the guys who like to be hairless as is the case for many weight lifters.  There are many other videos that Gillette made which give great tips to the guys like, how to carve around your nipples when shaving your chest.

I have a juvenile sense of humor.  So sue me.

Bananas are a great addition to a weight lifter’s diet.  Loaded with potassium, they help prevent muscle fatigue.

Do as the monkeys do since they’re the experts at peeling bananas.  Peel them from the bottom to prevent the stringy thingies from staying behind.  The strings will stay with the peel.

Also, when you want to flip someone the bird, be creative.  Hold up your first three fingers, make sure they are held closely together and say, "Peel the banana."  Then fold down your forefinger and ring finger.  You will then be left holding up your middle finger.

Lastly, banana hammocks should be banned.  No need for them.

A while ago, I wrote about wanting to live to see my 100th birthday.  That goal is one of many motivating factors to maintaining a healthy lifestyle.

For the past few months, I’ve been maintaining my committment to that goal.  Just another 62 years to go!

Lately, I’ve been researching what it takes to live that long.  What I realize I need is something that a lot of centenarians have.

What they have is a vice.  I need a vice….something that I do on a daily basis that will contribute to living to a ripe old age.

I’m exercising on a daily basis, and I’m eating relatively well.  I could take in more fruits and vegetables.  It’s a work in progress, but I have over 6 decades to get it right.

Now, I’ve read that there was a woman who recently turned 100 years old.  When asked what her vice was, she stated that she had been smoking every day since she was 7 years old.

Hey, I started smoking when I was 8 years old.  If I had only inhaled, I could’ve gotten hooked, but along with my chain smoking parents, the best smoking status I got to was being a second hand smoker.  So that vice is out the window.

A man from China, who turned 100, said since his early 20’s he smoked every day and drank liquor with every meal.

I drank a lot in my early 20’s, but since my college days, liquor doesn’t really do much for me other than give me a headache.  I think I over did it back in the day.   Dammit!  If I had only known that it was a vice that would do me right, I would’ve tapered off.

I once heard about a man who ate a hot dog every day and even had one on his 100th birthday.  But, hot dogs give me heart burn :S

So I was thinking, if I find a vice…a Super Vice if you will…then I can nail this goal of mine.

Twinkies.  Twinkies are golden and delicious with a creamy center.  They are jam packed with preservatives.

There’s that old saying, "You are what you eat".  I’ll preserve the living daylights out of myself if I eat a Twinkie a day.  I’ve got this goal in the bag, people!  In.  the.  BAG.

I tried these and my hams were cramping on the negative move.  They were hard to do, but a good move.  You need a partner of course.  Here are some partner combo choices:

Man on man

Woman on man

Woman on woman (go ahead guys…)

Man on woman

The choice is yours to make.  All I know is I won’t be asking anyone to spot me at the gym, so it looks like a home workout for me.