Keys To Being Fit

I have over the past year or so been asked to assist a number of my fellow soldiers in getting fit and at the right weight. Well in doing that I have done a TON of research and, upon my findings, here is the abridged version of my Keys to Being Fit.

There are really 2 keys to weight loss: diet and cardio. We'll start with the diet.

The diet is by far the most important facet of good health. You must take in all the right nutrients or your body will not work correctly. Let's do a quick analogy: your body is a lot like a car engine. There are many different components to a car engine and each one requires a different fluid, amount of electricity, etc. If your car's engine is missing something, it won't run correctly. The same goes for your body. If you take away too much of something ( i.e. carbs, protein, etc.) you are depriving your body of what it needs to run at peak performance.

So enough with the geeky mumbo jumbo...here's the stuff you want:

Eat 3 square meals a day in addition to at least 2 snacks.
Live by the food pyramid (www.mypyramid.gov) as this is the most important part of your diet
On average you should consume between 1800-2300 calories a day
Eat a lot of protein and fiber, those two use more calories to digest (build muscle and burn fat by eating!)

Sample Diet:

-Breakfast: 1 Cup instant oatmeal with a handful of almonds, 1 tablespoon of peanut butter and a banana or ½ a can of fruit in light syrup with 2 cups of coffee.
-Snack: 2 String Cheese Sticks with a piece of fruit and a glass of milk
-Lunch: Turkey Sandwich on wheat bread with American Cheese, mustard and all the veggies you want with a side of veggies. Wash it down with unsweetened Iced Tea.
-Pre Workout: A second Turkey Sandwich with cheese and meat only (excellent pre workout snack)
-Post Workout: Chocolate Milk and a handful of almonds.
-Dinner: BBQ Pork Chops with baked sweet potatoes topped with Smart Balance and Cinnamon, canned green beans, and a whole wheat roll. Washed down with a Light Beer. (Michelob Ultra is the choice beer for dieters, FYI.)

You can always adjust this to your personal tastes and just email me if you need help with a swap question. I can normally find a healthy alternative for any food you can throw at me.

Healthy “Real Food” Recipes:
Mens Health: http://www.menshealth.com/cda/contentlist.do?site=MensHealth&channel=nutrition&category=food.for.fitness&type=recipe

Exercise:

The worst part of losing weight is the exercise. Cardio is essential to losing weight. Walking, swimming, kayaking, running, tennis, racquetball, biking, hiking, basketball, soccer, etc. etc. etc. 20 minutes per day 4 days per week minimum. When I personally was going through my biggest weight loss stage I was running 4-5 miles a day, 5-6 days a week. When I was trying to get all cut up when I first got to Cuba, I was running 6 miles daily, swimming for 30-45 minutes on top of 1 hour of weight training daily. 7 days a week.

Point Blank: You must do cardio. And remember this: you're only going to get results for what you put into it. I can give you all the direction in the world and get you started, but ultimately it falls in your lap. Don't let that be words of discouragement, but words of a challenge. Are you up for that challenge?

The First of Many Top Lists!

I've been thinking about music quite a bit today and thought I'd compile my top ten list of favorite songs. I started to think, and I came to the realization that I don't think I could pick just ten songs. So I decided to categorize. Today's category: Guitar. Five of my favorite songs based on the guitar playing.

#5: Hey There Delilah / Plain White T's – I base the #5 pick off the soothing melody that Tom Higgenson plays so well. This is one of those feel good songs, you know the kind of song that comes on the radio on your way home from a horrible day at work, that makes you just feel better. Just because it's not a finger splitting metal lick, it doesn't mean it isn't a great guitar piece.

#4: November Rain / Guns N Roses – What can I say? Slash. Long song. Great song! The solo at the end is just awesome. This song tends to leave me speechless. It is right now.

#3: Throttleneck / Brad Paisley – A great country guitar song? The answer to that question is: Play Brad, play. Throttleneck has to be some of the greatest 5 minutes of non vocal music. Just play it, you may understand why I like it so much.

#2: Lonely Day / System of a Down – Daron Malakian is quite the strange one, but he is also quite talented on that guitar! The melancholy ballad that Daron's smaller frame belts out is only matched by the incredible guitar solo. The speed of the picking towards the end of the solo is what I like to call amazing. I dare somebody to try and argue this pick.

#1: Letters To God / Boxcar Racer – This pick will probably be a little questionable. Believe me, there is justification. This is my list. My tastes decided this pick. I love both the electric guitars and acoustics. I love a song that gives you goosebumps. This song has all three! It all starts out with a smooth acoustic melody, leading into a piano solo, and then it kicks into overdrive! The electric kicks in and the boom picks up. This I believe has got to be, in my opinion, the perfect song. Great lyrics, great drums, but the thing that sells this song is the dynamic guitar parts. Just check it out. Do it. DO IT NOW!!!

Please feel free to comment and leave me your top 5 guitar songs!

Intro/Headed Back

Here we go again. I've started a new blog. This one should be more interesting. The intent is to, sort of, chronicle my time away from home and my random thoughts.

The thoughts right now are mixed. On one hand I'm ready to get back to work and accomplish my mission. On the other hand however, I have a great family I'm leaving behind. The past few weeks I've been home loving life, and now I'm going back to Cuba.

I had such a good time on leave. Michelle and I took Gavin to the zoo, the park, we rode the little train, he went on his first fishing trip, and so much more! I can't believe how big he's getting! Now, I get to drop all of that and go to work. For those of you who don't know, I work at the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. There's not too much I can talk about concerning my job, but I can tell you it sucks. Long, long, long days, with little to do in our little off time. In short, it sucks. I hate leaving such a good place to go and hate life for the little bit in a bad place. Sure, it'll be over soon enough, but too many tears have been shed over this.

What am I going to do about all this? Not too much I can do. Notice I said "not too much" and not "nothing". I am going to do some things. I'm going to start busting my backside to get my degree. I'm going to make the best of the bad situation and come out strong. I'm going to come home. Plain and simple.