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Oh for crying out loud!

ElementalOsmium — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 16:41:59 +0000

I'm allergic to these Gluten Free Oats too. Hahahaha Oh what games nature is playing on me these days.

I guess I didn't need to make a whole blog for this one statement but what the hay.

Help getting started

OregonRider — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 15:02:32 +0000

I need some help with the videos.

Where I'm at right now...

53 y.o. male. 5'8". 250 pounds. Very out of shape.

When I was in the best shape of my life (during my Army days) I weighed 180 and was still a little chunky. My ultimate goal is to get down to at least 180 again. Maybe even less.

I got a set of Max Tension bands and want to start using the live exercise archives.

The "toning" series looks like where I need to start. How do I find the "episode" to start with?

Thanks!!

working out

Felix — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 21:22:04 +0000

just did chest and back. I was really sore from the defensive tactic class yesterday. that was about 3 to 3 1/2 hours of boxing and ground fighting. so today's workout should help in moving out the lactic acid from yesterday and replace it with today's lactic acid. HA HA. At 42 and two surgically repaired shoulds and humerus recovery time is a must. so tomorrow i will not hit shoulders and arms until the evening. everyone push to the goal and make new ones.

Total Set Back - Starting from Square One

Ashley — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 16:05:12 +0000

Last Tuesday I started feeling a little ill, but I still worked out and ate healthy. By Thursday I had a full blown case of strep throat, on heavy antibiotics, and bed ridden for three days. On Sunday I was able to get up and move around, but had such a bad cough walking around for even ten minutes was a chore. On Monday I stayed up and moving all day to prepare for going back to work, but I developed a stuffy nose and still have the cough that nothing seems to be helping which means last night I got no sleep since none of the OTC medicine I took did anything. I still made it into work today, so that is a plus.

During all this all I could do is eat and all my husband prepared/brought for me was junk food so my weight is back to where it was at the beginning of January which makes me even more frustrated then I was last week. It is tough to diet in a household where no one else is dieting or even very supportive of the idea.

Anyway, I'm still pretty crummy today, but I'm going to try some light cardio because I'm tired of doing nothing. My new diet policy is nothing processed. If it isn't a lean meat, vegetable, fruit, bean/legume or healthy grain (like quinoa) then it isn't going into my body. Only water and herbal tea from this point forward as far as drinks go.

On a positive note...gardening season is almost here!! Since we are landscaping our yard this summer I am going to container grow all my vegetables and herbs this year. My big project for March is making 12 self-watering planters that function just like EarthBoxes, but without the cost. Last year was my first attempt at a vegetable garden and the only things that grew well were tomatoes, potatoes, and zucchini. Watering was my biggest challenge, so these planters should be perfect. This year my vegetable/herb garden plan is standard tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, zucchini, corn, spinach, acorn squash, bell peppers, chard, strawberries, carrots, radishes, onions, beans, artichokes, basil, oregano, thyme, cilantro, parsley, rosemary, lemongrass, mint, and mustard. Most the herbs I grow inside and use fresh, but I want large quantities this year to dry for the winter. I love gardening and am pretty excited about the plan this year. Who knows, if I get what I want out of the containers this year I might add a few more for next year and just continue using them. Plus, not having to weed will be awesome!

What A Difference 60 Days Makes

MikeNice — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 11:37:45 +0000

I started dabbling with Live Exercise around December 21st of 2011. I became consistent in the middle of January. Let me just say, in sixty days I have drastically changed my body. I have dropped 12.5 pounds, or just over 1.5 pounds per week. I dropped a pant size and a shirt size. I have also visibly toned my body.

My wife snapped an "after" picture tonight. We compared it to one from December 21st. There is a big improvement in the muscle definition of my arms, shoulders, and waist. My torso and neck look like I've been through liposuction. My wife's first reaction when seeing the pictures side by side was, "oh wow." That was a priceless moment.

My answer to anybody that asks, "will it work" is an unqualified yes. If you put in the time and effort the programs here will change your body and your life.

In sixty days I went from dreading the mirror to anticipating a summer vacation at the beach. What can you accomplish?

Oh my sweet Oats. How I love you! :)

ElementalOsmium — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 21:56:15 +0000

So.... I'm allergic to gluten. But whatever, I don't mind a gluten free diet. BUT I realized I do need to make sure I do whatever I can to add variety to my meals. Not having a variety can lead to returning to old habits.

I did recently sneak and eat Pizza and ended up having issues. My symptoms have cleared up and I took to the internet to find out what else I could add to my food choices. To my delight, I can eat Oats. I love them and ended up buying Gluten Free steel cut oats and GF old fashioned rolled oats.

I'm about to cook some up in my rice cooker. I have a very small rice cooker which is good for introducing just a small amount of oats to my diet. I was also trying to find more ways to add fiber to my diet without taking psyllium husks, etc. Yeah, I'm probably the only person on earth who is afriad to eat psyllium husks.

I've been obsessed with eating Okra these days too. Not sure what that's all about but I just go with it.

I only recently decided to cook and eat artichokes and I can't believe I've denied myself artichokes all these years. I'm in LOVE with them, especially the baby ones. MMMMMMMMMMM MMMM!

Cheers!

working out

Felix — Sun, 19 Feb 2012 22:38:04 +0000

today is a recovery day. tomorrow i have defensive tactics training at work. tuesday back to the "Chiseled Workouts"!!!!!

working out

Felix — Sat, 18 Feb 2012 22:27:31 +0000

another great workout. legs and abs. got a good pump and burn in legs and abs. did not up resistance but did up my reps. i am read for to go to work. everyone keep on keeping on. once one goal is achieve set the bar high and keep climbing. do not worry about valleys because that is where the flowers grow.

Me and where it all began

Nicole Gosselin — Sat, 18 Feb 2012 08:46:00 +0000

I started my journey back in June of 2009. I was huge into weight watchers. By the time I had ventured into a gym I had lost about 50lbs. My husband and I were so committed to the gym going 5 days a week spent a thousand or so in trainers. We were seeing OK results. After going for almost a year it wasn't were we really wanted to be. Our daughter who has been sick since little was getting really bad colds from their poor drop off since they let sick kids in. So we decided to spend a few thousand on home gym stuff. We found it never got used. Or it was a struggle to get used. In 2011 we built a house and said "Wow with all the stuff in the garage its going to be so easy to workout" Well it wasn't. At my peak weight loss I had lost over 70lbs. My starting weight in 2009 was 260lbs. During the build of the house I slacked on my eating as well as my husband.
We decided that it was time to find those people who had that motivation before. Our whole family lives a healthy life. The kids eat what we eat they join in our workouts. We just want them raised knowing fitness and healthy living doesn't just happen. It takes work and determination.
About a month ago we rehung my heavy bag. I used to wrestle in high school and play very competitive softball. I adored boxing and martial arts as well.
I have found doing something I love in my home gives me reason to get up and do it each day. Yes there are always those routines that you may not enjoy but I try my best to do it in a way that makes me want to keep coming back. I have recently been working on the style of Muay Thai and its amazing how great I feel! I am not losing tons of weight right now but my inches are shrinking. Which is still awesome! My eating is beyond amazing again and I couldn't be more proud of myself!
I have an October 2012 goal of being 60+lbs lighter and I know I will get there! I was so thrilled to hear about bodylastics since I worked a lot with the resistance bands before. Excited to use this site and connect with others.

Kick-Off: The Catalyst to Good Health

ElementalOsmium — Sat, 18 Feb 2012 07:05:57 +0000

This is pretty much going to be my kick-off entry for the addition of resistance training to my life once again. This will be a long one so brace yourselves.

I'll toss out the most recent goings on that lead me to this point. I started having pressure in my lower abdomen back in October 2011 and for the past year or two I've had ankle swelling about once a month. In a nutshell, I had problems. Several of them but nothing dramatic or incurable. But the issues, if I continued to ignore them, would definitely shorten my life. I guess that is a bit dramatic but it doesn't feel that way with such easy fixes.

You see, that pressure was IBS (Irritable bowel syndrome) and I'd probably had it for a long time but didn't recognize the symptoms. Other issues included a racing heart (I felt like I wasn't going to make it when that happened). I decided to go to a doctor who practices both Western and Traditional Chinese medicine and it was the best thing I could have done for myself. She listened to me for about an hour and a half and then said I had a congested liver and that my gallbladder was in trouble. Odd, I didn't think I was having trouble with my gallbladder... She examined me and pressed just a little on my gallbladder and I was in agony.

By the time I left there, she suggested a change in my nutrition and to get my swollen ankles down, walk once a day to help with circulation. Her simple suggestions changed my life (partially). Based on her suggestions, first thing in the morning I took a tablespoon of olive oil every morning (by the next week the gallbladder pain was gone). I also had to cut out sugars except for fruit (but I cut out fruit eventually because of other issues. I can't have any sugar of any kind for a while). I cut out anything with gluten, dairy and nuts. Sounds tough huh? Not for me actually. I've always been a meat and veggies person but I admit, sweets were my weakness.

So, meat and veggies it was and I started eating at least three times a day (I was only eating once a day pretty much for ... longer than I care to admit).

It took about 2 weeks for the swelling in my legs to go down from the walking... or at least it seemed to be why it went down but we'll get back to that later.

I lost 25lbs with these changes in 2 months. This was starting in October 2011.

As time went on, I felt the doctor was becoming more focused on selling me things to ingest (like the "functional food" at $50 a pop that eventually made me throw up as if I'd had food poisoning). So I moved on to the next phase. I was researching everything I could about the gallbladder and having a congested liver. I found a website that really laid out many of the issues I had and helped me get on the path to fixing them.

I've left some stuff out... It was suggested long ago that I might have pcos (polycystic ovaries) but I didn't have cysts on my ovaries during an ultra sound, etc. I've also always had extremely painful periods (an understatement). I've killed my liver with obscene amounts of Ibuprofen since I was about 14 and I'm 37 now... Yep.

So this website had some Chinese herbal tinctures that would help with my congested liver and most importantly, they would gently crush my gallstones. I got started on them as soon as I could. For the first month or so I was having several gallbladder attacks a week. It just freaked me out. In the end, it was the gallstones moving around and being expelled. At the end of 3 weeks of the herbs I was supposed to do a gallbladder/liver flush to get the stones to come out but the week before I was to do one, the stones came out on their own! They looked like pieces of chipped tooth and scratched on the way out. TMI I know but hey, it is what it is.

NOTE: Some people have a gallstone issue so bad, this isn't an option. I was fortunate as I probably didn't have a huge gallstone.

Since then, no more gallbladder problems. Because bile was not flowing well due to the gallstones, I also had low stomach acid. Taking HCL Plus before each meal really helped! For many years, I only ate once a day because that's how long it took one meal to go through my system and I had no appetite usually. Food was just sitting and fermenting in my stomach. Now my food is digested properly and I'm able to lessen the amount of HCL I take.

My gallstones kept the bile from flowing freely, which caused low stomach acid which lead to the next big issue that was causing my IBS symptoms. I'd developed a leaky gut from Candida or just plain imbalanced intestinal flora. The IBS symptoms went away by drinking raw goat milk Kefir. Couldn't believe how fast that worked too!

This is why I have to have no sugar for a while. If I even take raw honey or fruit, I get thrush and my intestines start to hurt again. It will take a while to get my gut healed.

All was well for a while until recently... the swollen ankles are back and no amount of walking is fixing it. I still feel good in general but the ankle swelling although it's common, isn't common for me and I had to get to the bottom of it. Combined with my entire history and a recent trip to the ER because I'm now allergic to Brazil nuts when I've never been before, it turns out, the majority of my problems are because I have a thyroid problem. And I used to think I was an exceptionally healthy person aside from cramps. I actually never get colds or the flu, etc. even when I lived for 10 years in upstate, NY out shoveling snow every winter for hours. I recently moved back to Florida and now I'm all jacked up.

My swollen ankles, scalloped tongue, racing heart, fatigue, sleep apnea ... all thyroid related issue. Oh no! Well, it's not too scary. I'm also allergic to gluten now (may have been for a long time and didn't know it). I also recently learned that my intolerance to gluten is very likely to be the reason I'm having thyroid problems. It's a long explanation but it all made sense. I also realized my current ankle swelling started when I broke down for a few days and ate Pizza and breaded fried wings. Doh! But no biggie, I eat organic veggies (even grew some of my own in my aquaponics garden), and grass fed hormone and anitbiotic free meat, etc.

I also have a problem with excessive estrogen because my liver wasn't working as well as it could/should. I take D-Calcium Glucarate that help make sure excess estrogen is excreted and not re-absorbed.

I can report that since starting the dulse I don't have cramps anymore so I no longer need to take Ibuprophen. I think the D- Calcium Glucarate helped too.

You may be wondering how all this has to do with fitness and bodylastics...

Well I have a chance now to do what I've always tried to do but failed at because I had health problems I didn't know about or understand. For years I went swimming almost every day and I went to the gym lifting weights often and was simply unable to loose weight. I did that on and off for most of my adult life. I ate a similar diet that I'm on now but with the health issues not being addressed, it was futile. I've lost some weight now and haven't gained it back.

Now it's time to get my muscles going which will help me feel even better. So I'm really looking forward to working out with my bodylastic gym and I simply feel empowered. It is a terrible feeling to feel helpless about your health. But now I've been able to improve my health through nutrition and few herbs. Why stop there?

I'll use my space here to track my progress.

Thanks for reading, I know it's long and all over the place but that's how the experience has been for me. But things are going good and it's on!

Cheers!

WORKOUT

Felix — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 22:06:17 +0000

Did shoulders and arms today. i moved up in resistance and reps. Trying to push the muscles. got to get stronger and stronger.

working out

Felix — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 23:07:39 +0000

well yesterday i said i was going to do legs and abs, but family and work cut into the time. But I Came Back STRONG to complete a leg and ab workout today. burned up my quads, hams, calves, and abs. I will do some cardio tonight. tomorrow chest and back. My goal is to be as strong as possible.

I am back and loved the chiseled workout!!!

Puffyredfeet — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 03:10:21 +0000

I bought the body lastic bands two years ago... Tried live exercise the first couple of days it started... I got a little frustrated with the feed... Could've been my equipment... More than anything it just became another excuse... Did the workout tonight... Biceps are still on fire!!! I used my iPad to connect...great experience going to try chiseled cardio tomorrow... If I can walk?!!

Homemande Squat Bar

Jeffrey Stickney — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 02:05:04 +0000

Here is a homemade bar I use to do squats.

work out

Felix — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 08:49:43 +0000

well did shoulders and arms yesterday. Got a really good pump. I am going to do legs today. I can really feel a difference in how my joints are reacting to the bands. a good differences. everyone keep up the good work.