Learn to Love what you HATE doing!

I’ve been in the lab the past 3 weeks. Quite as kept lifting weights is easy for me. Cardio…that’s another story. Recently I’ve been doing an afternoon walk/run and I’ve learned to stop saying “I hate running” or “I suck at running” Although I have this nagging knee injury, I now know this is what I have to do. It is a challenge that needs to be conquered and it is beggin for consistency.

How many times have you heard the following statement?

What you hate doing is usually what will help you the most…

I’m guessing a lot. Makes sense, doesn’t it? Now think about how many times this went in one ear and out the other.. More times than you care to remember, right? This is why I believe most people know exactly what will help their progress and blast past their plateaus… It’s evident that “knowing” and “doing” are two different things, because some of the best so-called “experts” obviously forget to follow their own advice.

If you hate running, do it tomorrow. If you hate squats, make it your next workout. If you dread the stair-climber, let it be your next cardio workout. Learn to love the things you hate doing the most. Chances are, avoiding the obvious is exactly what’s holding you back. You’ve exhausted all your likeable options, now deal with reality!

No one likes to get out of their comfort zone. Why would you, it’s safe, it’s secure.. You are good at it, you know exactly what to expect. That 500lb bench press, no matter how impressive, has long become routine. That 10 mile run, no matter how effortless, has long become mundane. We are creatures of habit, and excellence in one area often prevents us from exploring further. Know this today, and venture past that tomorrow.

You will hate it, you will suck at it, you will dread the moment you fail. Maybe you’ll be outlapped by men twice your age, or maybe you’ll be out-lifted by a girl half your experience, but so what? Who are you really competing against, them or the person you were yesterday?

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A Major Piece of Internet Crack!

BLACK FITNESS MEETS TUMBLR

Special K Low Fat Granola = Healthy Food Failure!

Ok…so why am I putting this in the failure category. Let me start by saying I was super excited to get this cereal. Since I’m a new dad and all, I’ve been Mr. Coupon as of late. I snatched these for $1.00 after coupons and store specials combined. Without even looking I get home, read the ingredients and start to cry. Please read ingredients below:

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Kelly Rowland’s Weight Loss of 10 Pounds by Cutting Out Sugar

What Does 200 Calories Look Like?

This is pretty cool….Remember not all calories are built the same, i.e. “all I ate was a piece of cake today…I’m not sure why I’m not losing weight” BTW carrot cake is not a healthy option!

Some foods have significantly more Calories than others but what does the difference actually look like. Each of the photographs below represents 200 Calories of the particular type of food; the images are sorted from low to high calorie density. When you consider that an entire plate of broccoli contains the same number of Calories as a small spoonful of peanut butter, you might think twice the next time you decide what to eat. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the average adult needs to consume about 2000 – 2500 Calories to maintain their weight. In other words, you have a fixed amount of Calories to “spend” each day; based on the following pictures, which would you eat? Pictures of 200 Calories of Various Foods  (After the page loads, you can click on thumbnails for full versions)

source – unknown

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Sardines...Don't Laugh!

Ok … I’ve been grinding the scale is not moving but I AM IN THE LAB. I worked on an anabolic diet and lost 12 pounds but after my refeed of carbs I went back to 6 pounds lost. Now Im 2 days on and 1 day off. I’ll update you in a couple of weeks.

So, I pack my meals in advance (Sundays) in order to prevent slip ups. One of  the more interesting items in my lunch bag are sardines. My wife was shocked, calling them the poor mans fish. She wasnt the only one…co workers, family and even my little daughter is looking at me funny. A little high on the fat and sodium side but a nice change in pace.

I know a lot of you have strong feelings about sardines, but want to know why I love them? Google it!

Sardines (Pacific, wild-caught) are one of the healthiest foods we can consume, according to the health and environmental experts we interviewed for “Sea Change” in our latest issue of EatingWell magazine. These days so many of us are trying to get more omega-3 fats in their diet, because they benefit your heart and your brain. Click here for delicious recipes to help you eat more of these super-healthy omega-3 fats. These nutritional powerhouses are one of the best sources of omega-3 fats, with a whopping 1,950 mg/per 3 oz. (that’s more per serving than salmon, tuna or just about any other food) and they’re packed with vitamin D. And because sardines are small and low on the food chain, they don’t harbor lots of toxins like bigger fish can. Find out why leading scientist Carl Safina thinks eating smaller fish can benefit your health and our oceans. Plus, they’re also one of the most sustainable fish around. Quick to reproduce, Pacific sardines have rebounded from both overfishing and a natural collapse in the 1940’s, so much so that they are one of Seafood Watch’s “Super Green” sustainable choices. (Click here to find out which 6 super-healthy fish and shellfish you should eat and which 6 to avoid.)

If you’re trying sardines for the first time, or you just really want to learn to like them, here are a few tips and a few recipes to stoke your sardine love:

• For the uninitiated, a good place to start is with a boneless, skinless variety. They come packed in water or olive oil. They’re mild, and can be used in recipes in place of canned tuna fish.
• If you’re lucky enough to have fresh sardines available in your supermarket, try them in place of the canned sardines. Lightly dredge them in salt-and-pepper-seasoned flour and sauté them in a little olive oil.
• Sardines also come smoked, and come packed in sauces like tomato and mustard—give one of these a try. Smear them on a cracker or piece of toast for a snack or light lunch.
• For veteran sardine eaters, the sky’s the limit! Sardines with bones and skin are delicious, too, and they look awesome on top of a salad or platter. P.S. The bones and skin are both edible. Those tiny bones deliver calcium too!
• I’m at work and eat them right out the can. I don’t have the balls to do bone in…but at $1 a can with 26gms of protein it might be worth it.

Below are some recipes from Hilary Meyer:

Try sardines in these delicious recipes:
Greek Salad With Sardines The fresh, tangy elements of a Greek salad—tomato, cucumber, feta, olives and lemony vinaigrette—pair well with rich-tasting sardines. Look for sardines with skin and bones (which are edible) as they have more than four times the amount of calcium as skinless, boneless sardines.

Spring Salad with Tarragon Vinaigrette A bold, layered salad that showcases sardines and asparagus, this beautiful dish adds variety to your weekday dining. If you prefer tuna to sardines or have fish from the night before, go ahead and use that instead.

Sardines on Crackers
A protein-packed and portable snack.

Makes: 4 servings
Active time: 5 minutes | Total: 5 minutes

4 whole-grain Scandinavian-style cracker, such as
8-12 canned sardines, preferably packed in olive oil
4 lemon wedges

Top each cracker with 2 to 3 sardines each. Finish with a squeeze of lemon.

Per cracker: 64 calories; 2 g fat (0 g sat, 1 g mono); 20 mg cholesterol; 8 g carbohydrates; 4 g protein; 1 g fiber; 94 mg sodium; 102 mg potassium.

Tomato Toast with Sardines & Mint (pictured above)
Canned sardines make an elegant, yet inexpensive appetizer when served with fresh mint, tomato and onion on toast.

Makes: 12 toasts
Active time: 15 minutes | Total: 30 minutes | To make ahead: Cover and refrigerate the sardine mixture (Step 2) for up to 2 days.

1 4-ounce can boneless, skinless sardines packed in olive oil, preferably smoked
2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh mint
2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
1/8 teaspoon salt
3 slices multigrain bread or 12 slices baguette, preferably whole-grain
1/2 medium ripe tomato
1 tablespoon very thinly sliced yellow onion

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
2. Flake sardines with a fork into a mixing bowl. (The pieces should not be mashed, but should be no bigger than a dime.) Add mint, oil and salt; toss gently to combine.
3. If using whole slices of bread, cut off the crusts and cut each into four triangles. Place the triangles or baguette slices on a baking sheet and bake until crispy and golden brown, 12 to 14 minutes. As soon as you remove them from the oven, rub each slice with the cut side of the tomato. As you progress, the tomato will break down until only the skin remains; discard any remaining tomato.
4. Top each toast with about 1 1/2 teaspoons of the sardine mixture. Top the sardine mixture with a couple of onion slices and serve immediately.

Per toast: 41 calories; 2 g fat (0 g sat, 1 g mono); 5 mg cholesterol; 3 g carbohydrate; 0 g added sugars; 3 g protein; 1 g fiber; 113 mg sodium; 63 mg potassium.

source:  Hilary Meyer