Simple Randomness

Bought Some Glutamine!

I know I’ve written from time to time on this blog about my health goals, fitness, and all that kind of stuff.  Well, last week I bought some glutamine.  For those of you not familiar with Glutamine here’s the kind of thing it can help you with:

• Supplementing with glutamine can help give your immune system a boost
• Glutamine can help increase growth hormone levels
• Glutamine is used to help maintain cell volume and hydration
• It also helps with digestive health.

Digestive health is actually one of the main reasons why we bought it.  I read on a site somewhere that it can help cure ulcers.  My wife had one of those last year that really messed her up, so we’re hoping that using glutamine mgiht help that whole mess heal a little bit.

Anyway, there’s a random personal update for you.  By the way, if you want to find the best prices on supplements like glutamine, check out SupplementPricing.com.  They compare prices for a supplement from multiple stores so you save money!

Time for a Cutting Phase

So for the last couple of months I’ve been working out and eating in a bit of bulking phase.  But lately I’ve decided that it’s time to try to cut and lose some of the fat I’ve put on.

Actually, I read an article the other day from Tom Venuto’s BodyBuildingSecrets.com (The Hugo Rivera Mega Interview) that talked about how the better way to do it all is to stay lean and build lean.  The way that a lot of people seem to do it is to ‘bulk up’ but in the process put on a lot of fat.  Then they spend time trimming down.  So you’re constantly putting your body through this extra fat -> low fat cycle.  After reading this article it just made more sense to get more lean and then stay lean.

This is what I gather Mark McManus from MuscleHack.com recommends as well.  That’s another cool site by the way if you ever want to check it out.

So anyway, just thought I’d share a little note that it’s time to trim down!  I’ll probably post updates from time to time on how I’m doing!

Eating the Same Thing Every Day

Do you ever find yourself just eating the same thing all the time?  I’m finding I’m in one of those ruts where I really don’t have much variety in my diet.  Here’s a sample:

• Eggs, Toast, and Cereal
• Oatmeal, Hard-boiled Eggs, Banana
• Hamburger Patty with either rice or bread plus salad
• Some type of sandwich
• Whatever my wife makes for dinner
• Egg Sandwich or Cereal

I need some variety!!!  Granted, right now I’m just tying to eat enough to add a little more meat to my skinny frame, but I could still use some variety.  Any ideas???

Another Cool Thing About Quinoa

So a while back I wrote about the food quinoa.  Since then I’ve had it a couple of times and its really quite good!

The cool thing about quinoa is that it goes with anything.  You can just eat it plain and its good, or even better you can mix it in with stuff and it tastes good as well!

For example, yesterday I mixed it in with some fettucini alfredo.  It was good!  Then, I was going to have a tuna sandwich after going to the gym, but I forgot to bring the bread.  So I just mixed quinoa in with the tuna and it was really good that way!

Gotta love these foods that go good with everything!

Super Food Quinoa!

Ok, so as you probably know I’m trying to eat healthy and actually gain some weight right now.  In some of the material I’ve been reading I had heard about this ancient grain called quinoa.  These sources said it was really good for you, etc.

So over the weekend my wife’s aunt gave her some to try.  We cooked it up and it’s actually pretty good stuff!  Not a very strong flavor, but its just as good warm as it is cold.

And the thing that amazed me is that it’s packed with protein!  Here’s a quick comparison for you on what you get out of a cup of quinoa vs. a cup of brown rice:

Brown Rice:

• Calories - 215
• Fat - 1.7g
• Carbs - 44.4g
• Protein - 5g

Quinoa:

• Calories - 636
• Fat - 9.9g
• Carbs - 117.1g
• Protein - 22.3g

This stuff is packed!  It’s a little bit pricey, but being that I’m trying to increase calories to gain some good weight, this looks like a great food to incorporate into my diet!

Hitting a Plateau

So I’ve written a few times in the past that I’m actually doing a workout program right now to gain some weight.  So for a while I actually put on some pounds, but lately I’ve stalled.  I guess I’ve hit a plateau!

Whenever this happens it just means that it’s time to look back and see what you have or haven’t been doing.  Then reasses and make some changes.

In my case, I know that I haven’t been eating enough.  So for the next couple of weeks my goal is to make sure I eat as much as I know I should be eating and stop skipping on meals.  I’ve had some major schedule changes in the last 2 weeks that threw me off, but now it’s time to get back on track.

Workout Still Going Well!

So I realized that I haven’t given any sort of update on my workouts for a while, and I needed a topic to write about today that I guess that one will have to do!

So I recently started a new 4 week phase.  This one is based more on increasing strength, and it’s been pretty interesting so far.  The funny thing is that as I look back and what I used to do in the gym when I first started, I was clueless.  I’ve made more progress in the last 2 months or so than I did in the first 2 years that I went to the gym.  It’s amazing how learning the right ways to do things can make that kind of difference!

The one concern that I have is that in a couple weeks I know that my schedule is going to get even more hectic, so I’ll have to find a way to still get to the gym on top of everything else that I’m doing.  I guess it all comes down to time management and priorities!

Starting to Gain Some Weight

I wrote a few weeks ago that I’m actually trying to put on some weight.  At the time that I wrote that post I probably weighed somewhere in the neighborhood of 190 lbs.  Well, as of last Thursday I weighed in at 201!  Not bad for only being on the program for about 2 weeks.

Now of course, I don’t expect the growth to continue at this rate, but it’s nice to see some early success.  I read in the book that I’m following (Scrawny to Brawny)  that gaining mass is a battle, and your weapon is a FORK!

Admittedly I didn’t really understand that when I first started working out a few years ago, but now I think I’m starting to get it.

Trying to Gain Weight

So I’m going on a new exercise program to actually gain some size.  One of the key things is eating a LOT more food.  This is one area that I never really gave enough attention to, and now that I’m trying to eat a lot more I can see why it makes such a difference!

Just yesterday I went to the gym and did some heavy squats and other things.  Normally I feel like I got some exercise, but for some reason yesterday I felt a real difference.  I don’t know if it was just because I have been eating more so there is more for my cells to work with, but it felt great.

Anyway, there’s an insight into the personal life of Dan and what I’m up to!

Rollerblading!

I remember as a kid rollerblades were the hot thing to have.  I remember zipping around the neighborhood on them, playing roller hockey and all sorts of fun stuff.  In fact, I remember one year we went trick-or-treating on rollerblades and that was the year we got the most loot!

Has anyone noticed that you don’t see people on rollerblades as much anymore?  Well, now my wife and I are going to be some of those people that do have them!  Last week we decided to each get a pair of rollerblades.  This way instead of just going for a walk with the kids we can make it a little more fun.

In fact, if the weather holds out we’re planning on going rollerblading up the canyon tomorrow morning.  I’m excited to go, since I really haven’t done something like that since I was a teenager.  Hopefully I still remember some of my old ‘moves’ .

By the way, this picture is the actual blades that I got, and my wife got the girly version of them.  Pretty good price on them too!  I guess one good thing is that rollerblades are overall a lot cheaper now than they used to be!