Healthy Snacking

Cravings can be a huge setback when trying to maintain a healthy diet. Most people when they think of a snack think of carbohydrate loaded chips or crackers, but all those do is make you crave more. However, "protein is far better at giving you a pick-me-up" (Zinczenko 66). Lot's of things can get the job done, as well as taste good.

Men's Health, Get Back in Shape focuses on being healthy, but still enjoying life and not having to make huge sacrifices to keep those few extra pounds off. There are plenty of healthy snacks the book talks about, including Laughing Cow Cheeses, hard boiled eggs, and Muscle Milk. I have taken a particular liking to apples and almond butter. The apples are sweet and satisfy my sweet tooth, while the almond butter brings on the protein (Zinczenko 66). This snack is filled with natural sugars, and no room for artificial additives.

I have tried to hold myself to eating this as a snack rather than something unhealthy whenever I'm craving that little something, and it's been working. I've been staying away from chips for the past couple weeks, and as a result I've felt more energized. I'd suggest this snack to anybody trying to stay on the healthy side.

What other quick healthy snacks do you recommend?

Zinczenko, David. Men's Health, Get Back in Shape. Rodale Inc, Emmaus Pennsylvania, 2009.

Eggs - The Perfect Protein

Protein is the key to building muscle, and everybody knows that eggs are protein-packed. "Calorie for calorie, you need less protein from eggs than you do from other sources to achieve the same muscle building benefits" (Zinczenko 69). Basically, the author of Men's Health, Get Back in Shape is saying that you can eat less eggs, but still have enough protein needed to build bigger muscles. Eggs are also packed with vitamins and minerals, such as B6, B12, iron, and zinc, that are necessary for a healthy body (Zinczenko 69).

In knowing this, I have put eggs in my daily diet. I usually try to eat them for breakfast, but if I don't have enough time to make them in the morning, I make sure that they are my first option for an after school snack.

One of  my favorite things to make are a quick scramble, with eggs, either ham or sausage, and a little bit of cheese. It takes less than ten minutes to cook, prepare, and clean up, and tastes good too! All you have to do is warm the meat, toss in the eggs, then sprinkle in some cheese and seasoning, and now you're set with a good, hearty meal.

After eating a meal with eggs, I always feel energized and ready to get up and do something. They are able to keep me alert at school, or even more pumped to go to the gym.

What other foods do you eat for a protein packed meal?

Zinczenko, David. Men's Health, Get Back in Shape. Rodale Inc, Emmaus Pennsylvania, 2009.

Shoe Laces Mastered

Having the proper equipment is a necessity when doing any physical activity, no matter if its lifting weights, or playing a sport. One piece of equipment that is often overlooked is the shoelaces. Usually, when you buy a pair of shoes, you take into mind the support and the arches, but you don't factor in the impact of the shoe laces on the composition of the shoe. Tying the laces too tight, or even lacing them wrong, can lead to aches and pains, that could eventually lead to serious injuries.

In my case, I find the top of my foot to feel sore after wearing shoes for a while, especially Nike Free Runs, which I work out in. In reading Men's Health, Get Back in Shape by David Zinczenko, I was able to find the simple and easy solution for this problem. By skipping a cross lace half way up the shoe, it can relieve tension put on the top of the foot, allowing it more room to flex (Zinczenko 56). I decided to give it a try, and here is what it looks like. 

The book suggests to "start at the bottom eyelets and criss-cross to the next set of holes. Then thread your laces vertically up the next two pairs of holes" (Zinczenko 56). Since there aren't many eyelets on these shoes, I only threaded vertically up one set of holes because there were not many holes in the first place. In using this shoe lace design, it relieved a significant amount of pain from the top of my foot, especially when running. If I were to have left this issue go unnoticed, it could have led to big problems, such as bone spurs, so I'm glad this tip was included in the book, and it makes physical activity much more enjoyable.

Here I am in my blue Nike Free Runs with the special lace design, able to focus more on the weights than the pain on the top of my foot.

What other tips and tricks do you know revolving around making workouts easier and more enjoyable?

Zinczenko, David. Me's Health, Get Back in Shape, Rodale Inc, Emmaus Pennsylvania, 2009.

Adrenaline Boosting Workouts

When most people think of adrenaline, they think of the fight or flight response that is triggered when levels of adrenaline are raised. This hormone increases glucose and oxygen levels, which are needed to physically exert your muscles. However, adrenaline isn't used for these certain scenarios, it can also be used for a more efficient workout.

With an adrenaline-boosting exercise is implemented into a normal workout routine, you can do more than you normally would because all of your physical and mental levels are boosted, allowing you to get the same level of workout done in less time.

In reading Men's Health, Get Back in Shape by David Zinczenko, I found a simple yet effective workout, that doesn't even require a machine or weights. This workout emphasizes "alternat(ing) between two movements, such as squats and push-ups, but mak(ing) them explosive by pushing yourself up with enough force so your feet and hands leave the floor on each exercise" (59). Doing multiple things at once forces your body to create adrenaline to cope with everything that is going on. A specific workout that I found was doing 24 squats, then 24 lunges, which seems fairly easy. Then you do 24 more squats, jumping after each squat, then 24 more lunges, jumping between each lunge. After these repetitions, your legs are completely drained, which is a good thing. Finally, you finish with a 2 minute plank (59). Once all this has done, less than 10 minutes have come off of the clock, and an intense workout has been accomplished.

Here I am doing a squat, working my quadriceps and thighs, preparing to explode up for a jump.

Next, I worked on lunges, exercising my glutes and hamstrings, making sure my front leg stays perpendicular and my back legs stays parallel to the ground.

To conclude the exercise, I went to the plank position for 2 minutes, with the second minute being excruciating.

After doing this specific workout, I did some other miscellaneous arm workouts, as well as a bike and elliptical session. I ended up being in the gym for about 40 minutes, but got a complete, full body workout. This adrenaline boosting workout is definitely a master of efficiency.

This workout reminded me of burpees, a workout where you do a push-up, then jump up, then start with another push-up, usually doing only 10 repetitions, but they sure are exhausting. Are there any other workouts that require multitasking that you recommend?

Zinczenko, David. Men's Health, Get Back in Shape. Rodale Inc, Emmaus Pennsylvania, 2009.

Nutrition is the Key to a Healthy Lifestyle

Everybody knows that they are supposed to eat healthy food. However, most people don't know exactly why. I asked my sister why she should eat in a healthy manner, and she responded with "because it's good for you". I followed this by questioning why "it's good for you", and she didn't know.

I feel like most people are this way. Obviously they don't care enough to do their research. I've began to look into a healthy lifestyle, and Men's Health, Get Back in Shape by David Zinczenko covers everything, from nutrition to weightlifting. Recently, I have been focusing more on the nutrition portion rather than the body sculpting segment, because nobody will see your muscle when it is covered in a layer of body fat.

A way to kill body fat is to eat amphetamines. They act speed up the motor of the metabolism, and ingesting foods that are considered edible amphetamines guarantee to burn calories no matter what. Having snacks charged with them is scientifically proven to help you loose body fat. (96). There are plenty of these foods, which you should always try to fit into your diet. Included are whole grains for their fiber and complex proteins that keep your insulin levels low after a meal, spicy peppers for their capsaicin which boosts metabolism, and lean proteins that require more energy to digest than fatty ones, meaning you burn calories during the process of digestion. Other foods include coffee, for the caffeine speeds up your heartrate, burning more calories than normal, and seafood such as salmon that contains Omega-3 fatty acids, that lower the hormone leptin. "Researchers at the University of Wisconsin found that mice with low leptin levels have faster metabolisms and are able to burn fat more quickly than animals with higher leptin levels. The best way to lower your leptin? Eat fish" (99).

In reading this, for the past three weeks, I have made a point include one source of edible amphetamines in every meal. I always start the day with oatmeal and a cup of coffee, and finish it with some sort of lean protein. As you can see here, today (November 30, 2006) I prepared grilled rosemary salmon, with grilled onions and potatoes, and a whole wheat couscous.



It was a fairly simple dish, which only required some seasoning before throwing it on the grill. For taking less than 25 minutes, it tasted great, and after ward I didn't get that overstuffed and tired feeling that you can occasionally get after a substantial meal.

Eating right doesn't have to come at the cost, as made evident in the meal I mentioned earlier. It's pretty easy to enjoy meals that work well for your body, and your taste buds. Now that I have the nutrition aspects down of a healthy lifestyle, I can begin on physical aspects.

What other healthy meals do you recommend? What specific foods should I add to my diet that would be beneficial?

Zinczenko, David. Men's Health, Get Back in Shape. Rodale Inc, Emmaus Pennsylvania, 2009.