First Post of a new life

I haven’t been around much in the last little while, and it is all about the same old story. Been too busy.

Well I am going to be starting with my New Years resolution early and get back on track, life, mind and body.

In the last couple of months I have let my body slip slightly and that I am going to remedy starting now. I will be documenting everything that I do and let you know what the results are like so that you can try it to. I will let you know what works for me and what didn’t work for me, and all of the tools and tricks that I used.

As for mind, it is cluttered, and I am implenting what I learned in GTD to ensure that I can get that clear and start living again.

And again with GTD I hope to be able to live the lifestyle that I want since I will have the time that I used to, to work on the projects that I want.

Personal Spring Clean-up

Today is the day that I start my personal Spring Cleanup. First on the docket is my financial cleanup. Over the weekend I used Quicken and figured out exactly where I stood and what kind of shape my finances are. From that I noticed that I am spending a lot more money than I should dining and for lunch.

So my goal for June is to take my lunch a minimum of 4 times a week, sometimes a bunch from work eat together on Friday. Instead of eating out I am going to make sure that I eat what is in our freezer. We have a lot of soups and chilli that was made during the winter that is ready to be eaten. When that is all gone I am going to make sure that I make extra for supper the night before and take leftovers.

The bigger part of the spring cleanup is getting fit. I am feeling a lot better than I have in a long time, to the point that I was able to shave the beard and not “look fat”. But I still have a belly, so June is going to be the month that I hit the gym 4-5 times a week, play hockey once a week and run 3 times a week. By going out hard like this I hope to jump start my training and make it second nature going into summer.

I will keep everyone who reads this blog updated every Monday on my stats and what I accomplished over the week. If you haven’t already you can add me to your reader so that you don’t miss a thing.

Weekend Reading

There is a great article about the SWAT workout that looks great. I am sure that anyone who tries this out is going to be able to trim fat and gain muscle.

Go Over there and check it out. ->The SWAT Fitness Plan

It is a circuit based plan that is designed to condition your entire body.

Conditioning isn’t about how many push-ups you can do,” says Orlando-based swat commander Tom Stroup. ‘It’s about preparing for everything else you do in life.” In his line of work that means anything from rappelling down office buildings to bailing out of speeding boats. For us civilians, being conditioned means we can lug a 70-pound backpack all day or skin up that powdery slope — and have energy left over when we’re finished. Stroup’s SWAT workout (swatworkout.com) builds cardiovascular and muscular strength in one intense 15-minute routine. Interval workouts burn calories faster than your average cardio workout, and the high reps tone muscles and abs.

Yoga Exercises

Yoga exercises strengthen your body and make it more flexible. Yoga also calms your mind and gives you energy. In active sports or strenuous exercises, you use up energy. In yoga classes, students report that they feel tranquil after a class, yet have more energy. Slow and steady motion is the key to going into or coming out of the postures. You hold a yoga pose for several seconds or even minutes and give attention to full, quiet breath. Your yoga instructor will always encourage you to relax as the exercises are being done.

You gently place your body into yoga postures. Done correctly, there’s very little chance of injury or muscle stress. A particular asana is not repeated dozens of times, nor are you ever encouraged to push yourself too much.

A yoga session is designed for balance. You stretch to the right and then to the left. You bend back and then forward. You learn to recognize when one side is stronger or more flexible than the other. Thus harmony and balance are achieved with yoga practice.

People of all ages can practice yoga exercises. They are easily modified to meet your needs and physical condition. Don’t be put off by the difficult looking postures you may see in a yoga book. A skilled teacher can adapt most asanas by using chairs, cushions, even a wall or other props. A yoga practice can be tailor-made just for you. If something is really impossible for you to do, just forget it. Never compete with yourself or others. Yoga is a stress-free but powerful way to exercise.

Yoga is good for increasing your flexibility and relieving stress, but it doesn’t take the place of aerobic exercise. You should still do regular, aerobic exercise, which increases your cardiovascular fitness, helps you lose weight, and, for people with non-insulin-dependent (type II) diabetes at least, improves blood glucose control.

My Initial Training Schedule

Well it seems that my schedule and that of the trainer that I have used before are not going to mesh. So I think that I am going to take a stab at making up my own schedule and plan for the beginner stages. The beginner plans that I have read and seen over the years are not that complicated. Basically you use the beginner stages to train you muscles on how to workout and make the movements.

I am going to be hitting the gym 3 days a week, and like every other person out there I am going to pick Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Monday will be Chest and Biceps, Wednesday Back and Triceps and Friday will be Shoulders and traps.

You may have noticed that I am not doing legs. This is on purpose. What I didn’t mention is that I am going to be starting my running at the same time. I think that my legs are going to be sore already so there is no need to over train them.

As for the specific movements, I am not sure what I am going to do. It really is going to depend on what is busy at the gym when I go there. I am going to be doing as much free weights as I can.

For my running schedule I am going to get 3 days of this in too. I think that the best would be Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. I am not sure exactly what this is going to entail but I am sure I will figure that out easy enough. There are a lot of great websites for runners.

I am going to be doing my training in the mornings. This is a two fold reason. One is that I am getting up later and later and that means I get less done every day. The other is that the gym is usually packed in the evening after work and even later on into the evening. The morning however, it is nearly empty.

I am going to stick to this schedule for about 4 weeks. By that time I should be able to get into and talk to my trainer friend and set up a specific training schedule that will be tailored to my goals.

Happy Victoria Day

Happy Victoria day everyone. I am not sure what it is anymore, I am not a huge royality hound, but potentially having the day off is nice. I say potentially since I have to work, it is all over time but it is still not cool, like I mentioned yesterday work has been slightly nuts. I have many different projects on the go both professionally and personally and my moods have been a little weird.

I spent most of this weekend working, Saturday at home doing some Professional Practice diaries, yesterday I was at the office, and today I am going to do both…..well if it stops raining I will go to the office.

Something that I have started doing to try to keep my nutrition in check is taking some Greens+, in addition to my vitamins. I have found that it has really helped my energy level since I haven’t been going to the gym as much as I would like. It is a little on the expensive side, so I would suggest trying to get the stuff in your diet the old fashioned way whenever possible.

I am not dead

I know that what you were thinking, he got back to the gym and since he didn’t go to the doctor (something that I recommend everyone doing at least once a year, even you) he dropped dead.

Well in reality I have been working, sleeping and have had little time for anything else.  And my health has shown it, I haven’t really gained much, but I have no real energy and my brain is drained.  So today it was sunny and I got some work done and decided to get on the horse and start up the site again.  This site is a great motivator, putting my progress out there is great to help me keep going.

Instead of just starting I changed the site all around so that it will be easier to keep it updated, there are more changes coming but most will not be very noticable.  Let me know what you think by posting a comment.