Let's talk about Protein!!!

 PROTEIN!! PROTEIN!!

Well.. everyone knows that if you want to put on muscle you need to eat protein and or drink protein shakes..  Choosing the right protein for what you want to do whether it's gaining muscle mass, loosing weight or just for maintenance purposes.. there are a lot of kinds out there to choose from.


The thing to watch for with soy protein is that is has plant estrogen in it and can possibly raise the estrogen levels. but you can take an estrogen blocker to reduce the levels too which is important if you are taking a testosterone booster. But I will talk about that later on..

                       
 Here is a link to a site that has 7 kinds of protein and a description.

 http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/protein-types-best-for-you.htm

Through my experience in loosing weight and bulking up is go with whey protein that has Leucine with it. Here is a link that explains what it is and what it is used for.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leucine .  When I'm on a high protein diet I consume a gram of protein per pound. For example... I weigh 185lbs. so I need to consume 185 grams of protein per day. But since I'm a vegetarian I need to have a little more.              

Here are some other links that can help you out too...
http://www.menshealth.com/supplements/articles/The_Protein-Powder_Primer.php
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bodybuilding_supplement#Protein_shake
http://www.webmd.com/vitamins-and-supplements/lifestyle-guide-11/protein-powder

Word of advice..  before you just go out and buy some protein powder do some research on what you want to get. Some key things to look for.. Type of Protein, BCAA's, other ingreadents. and READ THE WHOLE LABEL on the product.. This is very important..


Until next time..  Keep focused and great things will come...

Three Months Later.....

Well…  I’m back, and I have a lot to say about my Journey so far.  I weighed 240 pounds when I started this on tumblr. This is a picture of me when I was fat and over weight…                                                     

As you can see I was over weight and unhappy.
This is what I look like today 60 pounds lighter at 185 pounds

I’m starting the bulking up process now. And I will be keeping you guys posted on new and exciting things to do in your workouts and so on.. Until then..  REMEMBER  the more you stay active…  The more you will feel better!!!

Eating Healthy Is a Great Start!

T he key to loosing weight is eating healthy.

I want to take a minute to talk about something called GMO's Genetically Modified Organism or food..  First I want to pass on a couple of links that contain both GMO and GMO-FREE  food...

                                                 
                                                           GMO - FREE:  

  http://www.sarahafshar.com/2013/08/gmo-free-list.html
  http://nourishedkitchen.com/gmo-free-food/
  http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/
  http://www.earthsbest.com/
  http://www.clifbar.com/


                                                                 GMO: 
  http://www.livestrong.com/article/314824-list-of-foods-containing-gmos/
  http://www.shiftfrequency.com/comprehensive-list-of-gmo-products/


That was just only a few..

Here is a link to the wiki page for GMO...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genetically_modified_organism

The more you know about what you are pitting into your body, the better you will be able to live a health life..

Eating healthy is a great start for anyone... 

This is how I Lost the weight....

In the beginning I weighed 240 pounds. I never used to be at that weight. I was always around 200 pounds plus or minus a few pounds.  When I started my journey with the weight loss it was hard. I got really sore for the first 2 weeks because of my choices that I had made. but I pushed through it. And now I'm glad that I did. I remember in the past few years after fire calls where I would be going all out the next day I'd be so sore to the point where I was not able to move... 

This was due to not taking care of myself ie.. working out on a regular basis, eating properly and drinking too much beer.  The key to a good diet is eating healthy, all your major food groups in the right portions.  Good nutrition is the key to almost any diet. Second thing is if your a vegetarian  you need twice the protein if you need to bulk up. The third one is sticking to it and keeping the focus on the big picture.  If ya fail which some people do, just go back through and see what threw ya off and try again.

This is how I lost 60 pounds....

Hard work- Nothing in life comes easy.

I did a life style change.
I changed the amount of food I ate, what I ate, when I ate.
I stopped drinking alcohol, Pop, and started drinking water... LOTS OF WATER!!!
Quit smoking..
And became a vegetarian too..

For men who are over 30 yrs of age need to take a test booster also. It helps to speed up the metabolism and boosts over all energy and a bunch of other things too.

REMEMBER: that staying active will be productive in your weight loss journey..


Also consult your doctor before doing any type of exercises....  Doing that, you will be able to get a better Idea on where to start at.

This is what it did as far as exercising...

I walked everywhere I went. Did lots of cardio as well as lifting weights..  I did high reps with low weight..  I cut my food Portions down and ate 2 to 3 more times a day. , Why you ask... You body has a survival mode.. if you eat 1 or 2 large meals a day, your brain and body will interpret that it is not getting as much fuel to properly work. 

Hence fourth your body will store it for later on. Which results in a slow metabolism. Now... if you eat 3 to 5 smaller meals spaced out evenly through the day, your brain and body will think that it's OK to use the fuel to sustain the body.. which will result in a higher metabolism.

In a few days I will go over what supplements I used and the weight lifting routine i used...


REMEMBER:  Through HARD WORK, Keeping FOCUSED, and setting GOALS you can achieve anything!!!!

The beginning of the road...

 I  never used to weigh 240 pounds.. in fact when I was young I always weighed around 140 pounds to 150 pounds and had a very high metabolism. I was able to eat anything I wanted to in my teenage years and early to mid 20’s. Then I had my Gall Gladder removed, and that’s where I had noticed a lot of changes. I still worked out and did everything that I used to, but since I wasn’t able to digest the fat, my body started to store it.

Now lets fast forward a couple of years..

About 2 years ago I joined a band which I thought; “wow I finally get to do what I always wanted to do”. Then I just left my self go because of curtain things that were going on in the band. I felt depressed, over ate and drank a lot of alcohol too. My weight went from 200 pounds to 240 pounds and then at my last show with the band I looked at the picture that was taken and about cried.. I thought to myself, ” What the heck did I do to my self, and what caused me to get that big?”.
At that point I had enough of how I had left myself go. I stopped drinking Alcohol, Over Eating, drinking Soda Pop, and became a Vegetarian too.
I started to work out and eat healthy.

I started that in the last week of April 2013, now it’s mid June 2013 and I had lost 45 pounds and feel way better. I lost 3 sizes in my waist, and not depressed like I used to be. If I can do it, You can too. All you have to do is put your left foot in front of your right and keep on moving. First, set small goals. Then as you start to see the changes , tweak them to fit your specific needs.

Remember: the first 2 weeks are going to be the hardest, because you are doing something totally different, and your body has to adjust to different changes..