Chad's Blog

Know your stuff....

		Monday, 05 October 09 - 05:32 PM (GMT) By Chad Holtz in Health/Fitness/Diet

The Five worst food scams...check it out:

http://www.menshealth.com/mhlists/Marketing-Scams/index.php?cm_mmc=DoseNL-_-2009_10_05-_-HTML-_-hed#atuid-47c74118aa4954c4

Eat for health...

		Monday, 10 August 09 - 05:02 PM (GMT) By Chad Holtz in Health/Fitness/Diet

http://eatthis.menshealth.com/zmod_categoryDetail.php?Best-Worst-The-Best-Food-Cures-72&cm_mmc=DailyDoseNL-_-2009_08_10-_-MainBlk-_-5

I'm experimenting with...

		Wednesday, 17 June 09 - 06:19 PM (GMT) By Chad Holtz in Health/Fitness/Diet

...sleep.   I haven't slept well in months.   I know this is a fairly common problem, but it's never been my problem....until the last couple months.  

I don't have trouble falling asleep, I have trouble staying asleep.   I wake frequently, flip flop, roll around, stare at ceiling, laugh at my wife's snoring, watch the clock tick by, etc.  If I get back to sleep, I'm right back up in an hour or less.   I wake up a full hour or more before my alarm and then sit there waiting for the alarm to go off and looking at the clock every 3 minutes.

I don't eat much after about 7 or 8pm if I can help it.   I don't typically work out at night.   I drink very little caffeine at night.   All common things that could cause you to be restless....

So, my wife read an article about how watching TV while in bed gets your mind going and senses going, so turning it off and then trying to immediately sleep is going to be hard.   So, I'm on day 2 of not watching TV in bed.   It hasn't helped much...yet.  At least not that I can tell.

I'll stick with it for a week or so, but if it doesn't help - I'll go back to spending the 10 o'clock hour with Doug/Carrie Heffernin and Arthur Spooner....I think they miss me.

The truth is....it ain't that easy...

		Monday, 15 June 09 - 10:30 PM (GMT) By Chad Holtz in Health/Fitness/Diet

Ever read/hear an interview with a "celebrity" who has one of those "perfect" bodies and the say something along the lines of "I hate working out, I rarely do" or "I'm just blessed, I can eat whatever I want and still look like this"  ?   Whatever.  They have personal chefs, personal trainers, hair/makeup team, personal stylists, etc - basically a whole TEAM of people whose primary job is to make them look good every time they step out of the house!

A friend of mine and I were having an e-mail discussion the other day - we work out together and were talking about that and eating right and trying to lower bodyfat %, etc - and people who are looking for the quick fix, and he said (paraphrase):  "Eat right and exercice, and that doesn't come in a pill"

Then I saw this article and thought Yes!  Finally!   A celebrity being honest about it. 

"No one wants to hear the facts about weight loss. It’s simple. Take that bag of Doritos and throw it as far as you can. Now chase after it. Pick it up, do it again."

The truth is - it's not easy - it's downright hard!   I don't mean this to offend anyone who is trying a special diet (I have too) or a weight loss pill.   I'm just saying, if you don't eat right and exercise, all the rest isn't going to pay off.   You don't have to do a "Spartan workout", run a marathon, or even a 5k...just do something.   And if you don't like "health foods", try eating only half of everything you put on your plate, then walk away.   Just do something, get moving, it will pay off.

  

ooops....

		Tuesday, 19 May 09 - 02:37 PM (GMT) By Chad Holtz in Health/Fitness/Diet

http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/30809995/ 

And you thought I was crazy...

		Thursday, 14 May 09 - 04:53 PM (GMT) By Chad Holtz in Health/Fitness/Diet

All I did was sign up for a triathlon when I was not a runner, didn't own a bike, and couldn't swim.   That looks easy compared to this:

http://www.cnn.com/2009/LIVING/05/11/namibia.race/index.html#cnnSTCText

Tips from the (best!) trainer...

		Monday, 11 May 09 - 05:12 PM (GMT) By Chad Holtz in Health/Fitness/Diet

If you are around me very long, have read this blog, or seen my Facebook page, you know I'm a huge Jillian Michaels fan.  Because I'm one of her 14,352 nearest and dearest friends on Facebook, I got a link to this article.   It's interesting.   Yeah, I know she's trying to sell her new book, I get that, but still - the article is interesting.

http://www.time.com/time/arts/article/0,8599,1897204,00.html 

And, by the way, Dhani is in New Zealand tonight...don't miss it!

You are what you....drink?

		Thursday, 30 April 09 - 02:27 PM (GMT) By Chad Holtz in Health/Fitness/Diet

Check out some of the stats in this info I got from "Men's Health" this morning:

DROP ONE HABIT, START TO DROP THE POUNDS

When you're thirsty, you reach for the nearest beverage at hand. And most of the time, for many people, that drink is a bottle of soda. Do you know how many teaspoons of sugar reside in the typical can of soda? 12 teaspoons! Imagine loading up your coffee with 12 teaspoons of sugar! Soda goes down easy, and you can drink two or three cans a day without even thinking about it. The average American drinks 52 gallons of the stuff every year. Soft drinks account for—get this—one out of every 10 calories we consume! But did you know that cutting just 2 bottles of soda out of your life a day could cut a pound of fat off your body every 12 days? Cut those "empty calories" out of your diet, and over a few months, that can turn into significant weight loss. Ninety-six percent of the 80 men who have appeared in the Belly Off! Club column in Men's Health made cutting back on simple carbohydrates, like the sugar in soda, a key part of their strategy to lose 20, 50, even 150 pounds!

Now, clearly they are talking about regular soda, not diet, but.....if you click on the link in the article called "a bottle of soda" and read through it, it says this:

Diet Soda

Because diet drinks, such as diet sodas and Crystal Light, are artificially sweetened, they typically contain 5 calories max per serving. So they won't directly lead to weight gain. But guzzling these beverages all day long does lead to one potential problem: You drink less of everything else. So having one or two diet sodas a day is fine, but if you're downing five or six 12-ounce bottles, that means you're limiting your intake of healthful beverages, such as tea.

Now, this is all very interesting to me, because....I'm trying to cut my soda (diet soda) intake.   A few years ago I gave it up completely, but it's slowly creeped back into my daily routines.   Diet Coke is my nemesis!  So, the timing of this article is perfect - new motivation for me. 

Love your Heart...

		Monday, 23 March 09 - 05:53 PM (GMT) By Chad Holtz in Health/Fitness/Diet

I read Men's Health and it's one of the few magazines I read consistently and pretty thoroughly.   I also regularly read the "health and fitness" sections of a few major websites and newspapers.  

Now, I've said this before and I'll say it again, you can't do all of the "bests" and avoid all of the "worsts" of everything you read - there is just no way.   But, I would say, it's good to pay attention to those lists and items and incorporate them somewhat into your diet, exercise, lifestyle plan.

I'm a headline skimmer...the headline needs to grab my attention to get me to click on, or read thoroughly any given article.   For obvious reasons, a headline such as "The Ten Best Foods for Your Heart" grabs my attention.

Here you go:  http://www.cnn.com/2009/HEALTH/03/23/best.foods.for.your.heart/index.html

Finish the story, silly!

		Tuesday, 23 December 08 - 05:12 PM (GMT) By Chad Holtz in Health/Fitness/Diet

Uhm, I guess I should have finished the previous post....I actually started a similar workout regiment last night.   It's killing me!   Forget the fancy machines and dolled up pretty people, we're flipping tires, swinging sledgehammers and lugging kettle bells.

I'm pretty excited.   It's more of a Jillian approach than a Bob approach (if you watch Biggest Loser, you know what I mean) and it's kinda my thing - something new, off the wall, and very challenging.  

We'll see how it goes.   Providing I'm able to move enough to get to the computer and type, I'll post some updates here.

"Spartans! Prepare for glory!"  King Leonidas

... More items are available in my News Archive