Mike C’s BodyBlog

Well it’s been a year and two months since I was supposedly "back" the first time. LOL

The gym… consider that done man. I acknowledge that I’ll never get back in there, maybe ever now and then on a guest pass! But I’ve realized that a gym membership is no longer practical for me.

Saw a P90X commercial while sitting on my butt one day a couple weeks ago and talked about it with my wife. Since we’re both pretty much in the same boat, we’ve decided to team up and beat this thing (the "thing" being this lazy rut we’ve been in since Evan was born).

Never did buy a home gym, by the way; not much room in our house for one. We knew that we needed some kind of home workout system though, that was convenient… relatively inexpensive… and kick @$$

Was impressed by the commercials and bought into the whole P90X craze. Ours arrived yesterday and we did the fitness test last night. Then we dove in and brought it this morning. That thing kicked our butts, which was exactly what we both needed. It’s fun working out with my wife, and checking out her booty in spandex LOL

It’s also cool being able to encourage her and work on reaching our goals together. Even though Tony promises to get us some significant changes in 90 days… we both want to make sump’m happen in about 45… July 4th baby, the beginning of beach season for us! Hot Mama and Hot Papa walking hand in hand on the beach, with our little boy… and a combined 16-pack! LOL

Let’s do it, Pruitt!! By the way, thanks for the messages and the concern… you know I love you guys!

mj

Yep.. I’m back bro’s, and broette’s LOL

Ain’t gonna lie; it’s been rougher than I thought!  To be real.. I’ve worked out maybe two or three times since Evan was born, and that was back in October!

A few things have transpired since then (besides a screaming baby interrupting my sleep LOL).  My wife and I decided that we would have her stay at home full-time, and just focus on being a mom and keeping things tight at home.  To pick up the slack, financially, I would pick up a second job while we work on paying stuff off.  Then, once we’re free and clear on everything, hopefully I can stop; we’ll see.

I’m more than happy to do this, of course, but man.. it’s taking it’s toll on my fitness goals!

So.. here’s my situation.  I’ll lay this out here so I that I can view this in writing and see what I can do about it!  I’m also open to suggestions and a whole lot of encouragement!

I currently work two full time jobs.  The day job is 8a-5p (Monday through Friday).  The night job is 7:30p-7:30a (Alternating weeks- Week 1: Sunday, Wednesday, Friday - Week 2: Monday, Tuesday, Friday, Saturday)

I just moved my family into our first house, this weekend.  So the gym I used in my apartment complex is no more.  Looks like I’ll need to break down and look into a gym membership.  O2 Fitness appears to be the front runner right now, because they offer a family plan with childcare so that my wife can go too, plus they do month to month memberships.  I’m a little nervous about this though, because when I check out their website, I’m like where the heck are the weights?? 

All I see is "cardio bunny" stuff (as Ninja puts it) LOL

I’m also looking into some kind of weight set.  Currently, I have nothing at home, so I’ll be starting from scratch as far as that goes.

I’m starting to lose the definition that I’d built from July until October.  I’m surprised that it isn’t all gone already! I had made some tremendous progress in that time period, and thank God for decent genes!  It appears that my body is doing all that it can to hold on to what I’ve built for as long as it can; but it’s starting to lose it’s grip!  LOL

This is going to get VERY interesting!

Hit me up peeps!

Ahh yeeeaahhh!!  LOL

It’s been 3 weeks since our beautiful boy, Evan, made his appearance.  Amber has recently followed through with a statement that she made to me a few months back.  She told me that she was inspired by my progress, as well as my encouragement to her, and she expressed interest in working out with me after the baby was born.

Of course I was thrilled, but not for the reasons y’all may think.  I was just happy because I would then have a reason to buy her spandex!  LOL!  Ssshhhh, don’t tell her that! 

I didn’t bring it up again through the remainder of the pregnancy, as I wanted it to be clear that it was her idea and not mine.  I’ve always encouraged her throughout our relationship.  After being together for 2 years, there should be no doubt in her mind that I love her, no matter what size she is.  I’ve always found her to be loveliest woman in the world, and will always continue to!  She also knows that I think her curves are HOT!

She brought it up again over the weekend, and let me know that she’s ready!  Of course, the first thing I had her do was hook up a bodyspace.  This site has helped me tremendously in staying on track.  The accountability, encouragement, and information that one finds here is awesome!  Something is seriously wrong if you can’t succeed with this kind of support!

I think I’m going to steal a page out of my man, Azi’s personal training book.  I’ll keep my workouts in the mornings, so that I can focus on her in the evenings after work.. make sure that the form is good, watch the baby (oh yes, he’ll be right there with us LOL), etc.

Well, Amber’s bodyspace is now set up, so please check her out and give her a shout.  Just look for amberjazz, http://bodyspace.bodybuilding.com/amberjazz/!  I greatly appreciate your support for her, as you’ve given it to me!

I’m excited to watch her progress, and even more excited to pick her workout clothes!  LOL 

Well.. I’ve decided to expound further on the issue of body image (already the topic of a previous blog of mine: http://blog.bodybuilding.com/michaeljazz/2007/08/07/body-image/), because of the tremendous need for more discussion about it.

As I had mentioned in the last one, I am a firm believer in the “Improving on a Good Thing,” fitness philosophy. This is just my opinion, of course, but I strongly believe that one should never approach fitness from a standpoint of self hatred, or even from the smallest thoughts of dislike toward any part of one’s body.

I feel that this is a negative energy which causes the overall purpose and drive toward working out, to be an unstable one. This is where I tend to lose a lot of people! LOL

But I have a theory (don’t laugh LOL). I’m drawing upon chemistry class in high school to paint a picture for my theory.. not that chemistry was exactly my favorite of classes!

Well in chemistry, you have an ion, which is basically an atom- the smallest component of an element. An atom has protons and neutrons in its nucleus, and electrons in its surrounding outer “shell”. The protons are positive, the electrons are negative, and of course.. the neutrons are neutral. The atom is of neutral charge if there are an equal number of protons and electrons. Otherwise, the atom would have a positive charge for having more protons, and a negative charge for having more electrons. In either of the two latter cases, the atom would be considered an ion, of respective charge.

Molecules are formed from atoms (or ions) that bond, and perfectly cancel out each other’s charges.. becoming neutral. In what’s known as radical chemistry (stuff that I didn’t get at all in high school LOL), some molecular structures are also formed from ions that are unable to match charges, usually meaning that you have too many unmatched electrons. This is where you get the term, free radicals. In nutrition, we hear that free radicals are bad for us; many ailments and diseases can be attributed to them. In chemistry, free radicals are just known as very unstable, and highly reactive molecules.

“Okay Mike, so what in the world does all that crap have to do with why I work out??” Dang.. good question! I’m not sure; don’t you know how I run off on tangents by now?! LOL

Anyway, how I think that example may relate, though, goes back to what I said about negative energy. I believe that one’s motivation to work out (and for that matter, one’s motivation to do absolutely anything!), is based upon either positive or negative energy. If the energy is positive, it better contributes to your resolve. If the energy is negative, the resolve (and perhaps even the results) could be unstable. Too much unmatched negativity poisoning your purpose, if you will.

So the question is (this is my theory asking now, not me LOL)… if you’re working out solely because you hate yourself in some way, hate your body, or hate something about your body, how much more likely will you be to sabotage your own efforts? Is self sabotage not a manifestation of self hatred? 

Another question is (again, the theory is asking..) how much less likely are you to maintain your fitness goals, if reached, when the foundations of your achievements are of a negative origin? (not to say that your motivation and resolve cannot change focus during the process)

Still another question would be (man.. “Theo” is just full of questions, isn’t he? LOL) say you’ve achieved your goals, and maintained them, have you now released another “fitness cop” into the world.. that goes on projecting that unmatched negativity onto others who have yet to share your enthusiasm about fitness? Would your children now be the focus of that negativity? Your relatives? Your friends? Your acquaintances? Your associates? Strangers on the street?

My point there is, where exactly does that unmatched negative energy go after the fitness goals have come and gone?

I’ve said all this to say, that it isn’t a bad thing to motivate ourselves to work out; that’s why we’re all here! But why not evaluate our motivation along the way, and be sure that we are maintaining the best possible view of ourselves in light of the work that is to be done. Or should I say, regardless of the work that is to be done!

We should always appreciate what we have, and along with our physical training, we should learn to train our brains to recognize that which is good about ourselves! As a society, we have become so accustomed to pointing out all of our own supposed flaws (as well as the supposed flaws of other people), paying little attention to what is good. The fact of the matter is that flaws, especially those of a physical nature, can be soooo subjective!!

One person’s flaw, could be another person’s gift! I can’t even begin to count how many times I’ve seen a person who is so ashamed of a particular body part that they would do anything to have it removed, envied by a person who has always wished that they were so blessed. That seems to be the way that life is, and apparently, also the way that human nature is! We always want what we don’t have, and if we ever do happen to attain it, we still aren’t happy! Why?

So.. with as much as is humanly possible, we should make it a point to maintain a positive outlook relating to health and fitness.

I believe that when you approach working out from a standpoint of self love, self appreciation, and even self celebration- instead of changing something that you hate, you are merely Improving On a Good Thing.

mj

That was the unofficial time for my first ever 5k race!  The official time is supposed to be posted later today or tomorrow.  I know.. not that impressive considering how many people beat the crap out of me.. including some school kids and a mom pushing a stroller (LOL!!).  The good news is that I didn’t notice any grandmas ahead of me.. so I’m good to go! 

My sweet wife was right at the finish line cheering me on, with our little 3 year old Shih-Tzu and 9 months of kid inside her belly, weighing her down!  LOL

I almost melted when I saw her smile at me!!  It felt really good to make her proud.

Now you know how you say things to motivate yourself when you’re doing some strenuous activity, like lifting heavy weight or running?  Those things are usually positive things.. aren’t they?

I have to admit, my things were pretty negative!

I was saying things like,

"Man, what the hell are you doing out here??  You know you hate to run!!!"

"Look at you, breathing hard.. and the freakin’ start line is still in view!!"

"Look at all this spandex out here passing you by.. can’t you even keep up to watch??"

LOL  I know.. I know.. I’ve confessed to my wife that yes.. all these female behinds in spandex was a motivator.  She knows that I’m partial to the posterior; she’s okay with that.   I’m so glad she isn’t the jealous type LOL!  I guess it also helps for her to know that there is no one on this planet that I would even think about leaving her for!  Even my little male fantasies have my wife in them!!   

So… since 5k is about 3 miles.. I averaged an 11 minute mile, which isn’t too far from my usual 10 minute mile on the treadmill (I usually always hit it right on, unless I’m feeling weak and I go over).  The first mile today was my best ever, at 9:47.  So I’m happy with my personal bests.  I would love to hit a 7 minute mile.  That’s my next cardio goal.

My feet hurt like crazy when I was done!  I had forgotten that I have very flat feet;  no arch at all!!  I should post a picture of them; they look like flippers!  LOL

The arch that is built into your sneakers set my inner feet on fire!  My right arch has huge blister on it that I’m currently nursing, and my left arch is just really sore.  About a half hour after I stopped running, I could barely walk on it.  It almost felt the way that it does when you sprain your ankle.  Your whole ankle area swells up and the pain shoots up the side of your leg.  Same exact thing, only it originated from my arch.  Everything was swollen from my heels, to my ankles, to some tendon on my inner leg.  Ouch!!

It’s all good now though.  Swelling has gone down after a shower and a two hour nap.  Just some soreness left in both feet, and that blister.

Time to run some errands with the Mrs.. and finish cleaning up the house for the baby’s arrival!  He goes officially full term on Tuesday!  Talk about milestone!!

mj

Uh oh… what in the world have I gotten myself into???  LOL

I signed up for my first EVER 5K race tomorrow. 

It’s for the Youth for Life Foundation here in the Triangle area.  We’re running to raise money for our Life Center.. so that we can keep kids active and out of trouble after school.  

From what I understand, 5K is about 3 miles… of PAIN!!! 

Actually when I was in my mid 20’s I used to run 3 miles easy every day.. and 6 miles on the weekends.  But that was a decade ago!  LOL

I wish I had been training properly up to now, as I wasn’t aware I would be running this until yesterday

My current workout routine includes a 10 minute mile after each session (after which I’m wiped!!), but I don’t believe this adequately prepares me for a 3 mile run.  We shall see!!

Anyway, I’m posting this here so that I don’t back out!  Accountability is beautiful isn’t it!

I may do stuff like this from time to time, just to shock the heck out of my body.  I don’t plan on being a steady distance runner or anything.. but a little cardio definitely does a body good!

Well.. I’ll post my time tomorrow.  Promise not to laugh!!!

I feel like startin’ some more trouble today

So here it goes.  I wanna talk about sweetness.  In other words, sugar vs. sugar free.  Which is better?  Or perhaps the better question may be, which is the lesser of two evils?

In my not so humble opinion, sugar would definitely serve as the lesser of the two.

It has never made sense to me that we (as a society) place so much emphasis on eating healthy (those of us that do anyway), and doing things such as cutting down on sugar.  However we don’t necessarily do so by cutting down on sugary foods.  We instead seek to replace the sugar content in those same foods, with artificial sweetners, such as NutraSweet (aspartame) and Splenda (sucralose).. among others.  Many might argue that such artificial sweeteners would cause more harm than sugar would.  I’m one of those that would support this argument.

There are even those of us that seek to attain and maintain an ultra-healthy lifestyle (as do the many weightlifters and bodybuilders here on BB.com), and are successful in significantly cutting down fatty and sugary foods in our respective diets.  We do so, only to then use products like protein supplement powders.. which contain those potentially harmful sweeteners.

FDA approval notwithstanding- it has already been determined through research that apartame, for example, breaks down into chemical types which we would have no reason to deliberately ingest.  Upon ingestion, aspartame breaks down into residual chemicals such as methanol, formic acid, and formaldehyde (an embalming agent!!).  There have also been concerns as to the possible connection between regular consumption of aspartame, and the development of brain tumors and other forms of cancer. 

Such concerns don’t yet exist entirely with Spenda, as long terms research studies have yet to be performed (despite the fact that this product is also currently FDA approved and distributed nationwide.. not to mention worldwide).  To each his own, but I’m just not comfortable with our society’s track record in attempting to substitute sugar.

We first had cyclamate, which was effectively banned in the 70’s, because of it’s obvious link to cancer. 

Then we had saccharin, a bonafide carcinogen which the FDA only "threatened" to ban, yet never followed through.  The research findings which directly linked saccharin to cancer in laboratory animals were widely published however, so that saccharin usage dropped significantly in the 80’s and 90’s.  (Check your toothpaste though, you may be getting a dose everyday!)

Then we had aspartame (mentioned above), and it’s most prominent proliferator, Equal.  Aspartame is still widely used in diet sodas, sugar-free gums, and supplement powders for bodybuilding.. in addition to Equal’s still strong presence.

Now we have sucralose (mentioned above), marketed mostly as Splenda.  You can find bags of Splenda in the grocery isle right next to the bags of sugar.  You’ll also find diet drink mixes which contain Spenda.  You can also find sucralose as the sweetening ingredient in many supplement powders as well.  Spenda makers claim that sucralose comes from sucrose, which is sugar (remember the Splenda commercials: "It comes from sugar, so it tastes like sugar").  This is false though, and those claims were dropped by Splenda upon the threat of lawsuit.  Spenda is 100% artificial.

We also now have acesulfame, which is currently gaining ground with aspartame and sucralose as a widely used sweetener.  It can also be found in many of the instances listed above.

In fact, I can’t even name all of the artificial sweeteners currently out there, nor could I list all of the health concerns that go along with them.. most of which you can only read about in health and medical journals.. which stem from extensive studies.

Here’s my rule of thumb when it comes to sweeteners, if nature didn’t make it.. I’m not chancin’ it.  I’d personally rather eat sugar straight from the bag than ingest something by which certain studies have shown could increase my chances of contracting a terminal illness.  It just doesn’t make sense to me.. and it seems far from a health conscious decision.

I understand, however, that there are diabetics who in some cases simply cannot ingest sugar.  If I were in this predicament, I would much rather take my chances with naturally occuring sugar substitutes.  Ones such as stevia, which comes from an actual plant; an herb that is related to the sunflower!  Man you can’t get more natural than that!  I’ve even heard that you can buy a protein supplement with stevia in it!  I think it’s a natural protein powder from Optimum.. sold right here on BB.com.  Funny though, the FDA came down much harder on stevia than they have on saccharin, aspartame, and sucralose! 

Story goes that the FDA decided to label stevia as an "unsafe food additive" and restrict it’s import.. after receiving an "anonymous" complaint.   Whether this actually happened or not, the official documented statement that the FDA gave on the reason for the restriction was that the "toxocological information on stevia was inadequte to demonstrate it’s safety."

Funny though, that’s currently where we stand with aspartame, acesulfame, and sucralose.  No ban on those, however.. and no re-categorization as a food additive.  Don’t get me started on the FDA!!  I’m not even going there right now!  LOL

So I digress… for naturally occuring sweeteners, there’s also brazzein (a form of protein), fructose, even carob.. one of my favorites (and also a great tasting, low calorie substitute for chocolate!)

My dad used to tell me, "too much of anything is bad for you, no matter what it is.."  This, to me, is the only logical reason for cutting sugar intake- only because as a society, we eat too dang much of it.  But I don’t take that to mean substitute sugar altogether, with various carcinogens.  Sheesh!

I personally hate the taste of "engineered" sweeteners.  I’ve tasted drinks made with just about all of them, and can distinguish the nasty aftertaste with the first sip!  The crap doesn’t even taste good.  It’s beyond me why any of them are so popular.

It also saddens me, to an extent, to see so many people consuming so many diet drinks.  Seems like slow suicide.  But hey, we do that to ourselves in so many ways, don’t we?

BTW, I’ve just discovered a natural whey protein powder also containing various vitamins and nutrients.  It was called Builder’s Powder.. or something like that.  It contains natural sugar, no processed sugars.. which, of course, can also be harmful in their own way.

I’m going to grab some after my current canister of Lean Protein is gone.  I’ll do a write up on that when I do, for anybody that is interested.

Ciao for Now!

We went in for my son’s final ultrasound yesterday morning.. and I’m still pumped a day later!  Look at those cheeks!  Just like his daddy’s baby picture. :) This boy is going to be huge.. in fact, he’s already huge!  My wife is 34 weeks pregnant, but the ultrasound tech measured him out at 38 weeks for head, chest, abdomen, arms, and legs.  I don’t believe that he’ll have a problem with getting picked on at school! LOL

Seeing him again just reinforced why I’m working so hard to keep my body, my mind, and especially my spirit in top shape.  I want to be completely available to him, in every capacity.  Even though I’ll be pushing 40 by the time he’s old enough to run around; I want to have the energy and strength of someone half my age.. perhaps even younger!  I want to be able to keep up with him, and with his siblings to follow.  My mission: to be the world’s most bestest, and most funnest dad 

I also wouldn’t mind being the biggest, toughest, and most physically imposing dad on the block either, though I’m probably too nice to be the most feared!  Well, I’ll let everyone fear my wife instead; she would have anybody climbing trees to get out of her way when she gets mad.  I’ll just be that physically imposing specimen standing behind her to back her up.  As they say around the way, "Don’t start none.. won’t be none!" LOL

So what the heck was I talking about??  Oh yeah…

It’s a total package.   There’s a certain feeling of security that comes along with strength.  Something inside of me feels really good to know that my wife admires me, not only as a man in general.. but also as a man of strength.  She admires the strength of my character, and also my physical strength, evident in the transformation of my body.

I’m sure that I’ll also love knowing that my children feel safe and secure in their father’s strong but loving arms.

It’s important for me to exhibit strength and discipline in all areas as the head of my family.  This is because I desire not only to be strong for them in every way, but also to serve as an example of the type of man I would like my son.. and future sons.. to become.  Not to mention the kind of man that I would like my future daughters to marry some day.  A man that is strong, yet gentle… kind, yet firm… aggressive, yet respectful… motivated, yet considerate… manly, yet sensitive.

Being "buff" is only a small part of the man I hope to be to my family.  Getting up at 4:30 every morning to lift the ugly iron represents something much deeper to me.

By the way, today was heavy leg day, I’m walking on jello this mornin! LOL

Some of you may know this already, but I’m a photographer.  My specialty is fashion and art.

It’s my favorite hobby in the world, even more so than my new passion of working out.  My recent addiction to iron may eventually surpass it though, who knows?  

Anyway… I just thought of a great way to marry the two.  It’s time I started cuttin’ up my portfolio!  That’s right!!  I need some buff bods to shoot.  Freaky pecs, chiseled abs, shredded quads, diced up delts, pumped up guns, even some glorious glutes!  LOL

So if anyone is passing through the Raleigh, NC area.. drop me a line to see if we can set up a muscle or fitness shoot!

Feel free to check out my work at http://www.michaelcanaan.com

Or friend request me at http://www.myspace.com/mikecanaan

mj