I wanted to share with you today another great workout that’s a lot of fun to do.  Rock Climbing. 

This weekend I went rock climbing with my friend Jessi at an indoor rock climbing facility.  It really was a lot of fun, and it’s a great whole-body workout.  It uses a lot of your arms, since you’re holding your body up against the wall, but it requires your legs as well to push yourself up the wall and some core workouts to keep everything together.  There are a lot of places to go to do some indoor rock climbing, and for around $21 you can climb all day and have a great time. 

Here’s the skinny on getting skinny rock climbing:  they give you a harness and send you on your way to climb any and all of the walls they have in their facility.  They have shoes and chalk bags available also, which can be helpful to those of us that sweat a little when we workout.  You attach yourself to a rope and have your buddy attach themselves to the other end, which is roped up through some pulleys at the top of the facility.  Get the slack out of the rope, grab your first handhold and get started!  Scale the wall carefully and with concentration, work your way to the top, and be sure to hit the top of the wall (or at some places ring the bell) before you figure out which way to want to descend.  You can either climb back down, or you can rappel down, which is a lot easier.  Either way your partner needs to keep an eye on you and make sure not to let the rope slide out too quickly.  All in all it’s actually pretty safe, since everything is set up for first-timers.  Of course, they have some very difficult walls to scale as well, and I challenge those of you out there that think they’re in good shape to try some of the walls that are at a greater than 90 degree angle, because they’re not easy to do.  And if you can’t do it, then I know at least one girl that can show you how.  So go call a few friends, and bring a couple of protein waters with you to keep your energy levels up, and prepare for a really fun time of working out, because rock climbing isn’t easy, especially when you do it for 2 or 3 hours.  Go try it, and have some fun doing it! Until later, KEEP AT IT!

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Well, now that spring is coming upon us I think it’s a great time for people to start getting into their pools, should they be lucky enough to live somewhere with a pool.  Of course, if you’re living in New England then the snow might get in the way; fortunately I live in San Diego and have the wonderful opportunity to hit my pool almost daily.  And it’s a wonderful addition to my workout plan.

As it turns out, swimming is much more than a way to cool off on a hot day.  It’s one of the best overall workouts there is.  It combines a great cardio workout with a strength workout built for toning up your arms, chest and legs, meaning that a short amount of time in the pool can add up to the equivalent of way more time in the gym.  And it can be very relaxing while you do it, making it even better.  Please allow me to break down what I’m doing in the pool.

I get in, and thankfully my pool is heated.  Now, I’m not here to lazily float around and just bask in the mid-morning or afternoon sun.  I’m here to work.  But it’s kind of like working at a really fun place, because I love to swim.  I plant my feet at one end of the pool, push off the wall and start the American Crawl from one end to the other, focusing on both my form and my kicking, my breathing, and my swimming path.  I really don’t want to run into the wall or Sergio half-way down the pool.  I go to the other end, and without touching my feet on the bottom I embrace the wall and turn around with a good kick-off, and I go back to the other side yet again.  I go back and forth without stopping for absolutely as long as I can, which isn’t very long because I’m still pretty out of shape and this is a rather intense workout.  When I absolutely can’t go any further, I stop at one end and catch my breath for a little while, then I start going on “one-way trips” where I only swim to the other side.  I do as many of those as I can also.  Every lap or half lap you do (a lap is considered down and back) is that much more work that you’re forcing your body to do, and it’s working out almost your entire body.  Keep going, and going, and going, until you can’t breathe anymore and your muscles ache because they haven’t been used like this is forever, and then do one more lap for good measure.  Then, if you’re lucky like me, you can get out of the pool and go directly into the hot tub and relax some more.

I’ve found that swimming with a friend, especially someone who is in much better shape than you, is most rewarding.  Why specifically someone who is in much better shape? Because that person can benefit from swimming some laps as well, but they have to go harder and farther than you to get that same benefit that you’re getting.  What I do with Sergio is he has to do DOUBLE the laps that I do.  So if I do 5 laps (which is, again, down and back) he has to do 10 laps.  If I’m feeling extra-energetic, and decide to do 6, or even 7 then he has to do 12 or 14 laps, respectively.  So if I push myself a little bit more, it pushes him a lot more, which is great motivation for me to go as long and as hard as I can, so that I can punish him a little bit.  And he loves it, because it’s helping him with his cardio and his toning as well.  We make a game out of it, by pushing each other to go further and further.  I also love to handicap him by making him do more difficult strokes, like the butterfly or the breast stroke, which will focus on different muscles as well.   And that’s something you can do also.  Go down using the crawl, go back using the breast stroke, go down again using the butterfly, go back using the back stroke, etc.  By mixing it up you’ll put the strength focus on different muscle groups, while still working out all of them in the general whole.  And at the end of your swim, when you’re gasping for air because you didn’t realize that swimming was this much of a workout, remember one thing: you’re still in a pool, working out, and enjoying the water and the sun.  Then go hit the hot tub with a bottle of Protein Water to rehydrate you, and bask in your glory of another successful workout.  Enjoy, and until next time, KEEP AT IT!

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So yes, we hit the gym a few times a week, and we feel good.  We’re eating healthy also, and that makes us proud of ourselves.  The question on the mind is: can I do more to make this new healthy lifestyle more healthy? The answer is ABSOLUTELY! I like the workout outside the workout.  The things that you can do during your daily routine that will allow you to add just a bit more to your day, without the worries of changing into your gym clothes and ending up with a cold shower.  Things like taking the stairs instead of the elevator, parking further from your office and walking the distance, riding your bike to work instead of driving (my uncle rides his bike about 20 miles each way, every day) or walking to work.  For those of us lucky enough to live in Southern California, we are especially blessed that Spring is officially here and it’s a balmy 70+ degrees everyday.  So walk that extra bit from your car and enjoy a little sun and some fresh air!  If you only live a mile or so from work, that’s really only a 20-minute walk and you’ll feel better about yourself, not to mention the money you’ll save on gas.  Work on the 2nd floor but have a meeting on the 10th? Take the stairs.  Your co-workers might look at you funny, but you’ll have the last laugh come this summer when you’re in great shape for the beach or pool and they’re looking for extra-big towels to cover up with.  Have a pet? Race them when you take them for a walk.  They might be fast, but if you keep at it you’ll be able to challenge them soon enough.  And that’s great for them too.  Have a pool at your apartment or house, and want to cool off? Great, swim down and back a few times too.  Swimming is one of the greatest workouts there is, because it works just about everything.  Swim until you can’t anymore, then swim some more.  Stuck in the office at your cubicle all day, typing emails and reports and memos? Well, strap on a couple of 1-pound weights to your ankles, underneath your pants, and do leg lifts while at your desk.  That might not add huge, bulking muscle but it will tone very well, and it’s still burning calories.  Remember that the most important think you can do is to just do something.  Every little thing you do is a few more calories burnt.  My friend once told me that you burn 80 calories an hour just sleeping, so imagine what you can do if you put your mind to it.  The workout outside your workout is exactly what we all need.  Until next time, keep at it! YOU CAN DO IT!

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I’m here today to talk about giving up on your goals.  It’s almost mid-February, which probably means that most of us have hit that point when our New Year’s Resolutions have hit quite close to home in how hard they are to obtain. Yeah, I want to lose 100 pounds this year.  Almost impossible unless you sit in the gym for 5 hours a day, every day, AND take a bunch of fat-burning pills AND go on a ridiculous diet.  Granted, some goals that we have have set in our champagne-induced deliriums may seem out of reach.  I’m not here to debate that.  I am here to tell you that the mind-frame you were in on the wee hours of Dec 31/Jan 1 were not necessarily impossible.  Just because you promised to change your entire lifestyle and didn’t follow through, that doesn’t mean your healthy new lifestyle doesn’t have to go to the wayside and wither and die.  Now is the time to re-affirm your decisions for a healthier and more pro-active lifestyle!  Think about it.  It’s almost Valentine’s Day, meaning that ONLY 6 weeks of the 52 have passed.  That’s still a very long time to turn your New Year’s Resolution into Fact.  Just because you’ve hit the after-New Year’s hump, as I call it, doesn’t mean that you have to quit working out and eating better.

KEEP AT IT!

I almost guarantee that you feel a little worn out from the more healthy diet and lots of exercise that you’ve been working on and have started to let go of.  Well, now is the perfect time to double your efforts! What better time than the holiday lull to start working out with your partner? Invite him or her to join you for a jog around the block (or hopefully 3 blocks by this time).  You might surprise yourself with their stamina, either strong or weak.  Invite them to a challenge of bench-pressing abilities, or to make it more exciting, a dinner date for the winner of a circuit challenge of lifting abilities of every muscle your gym has to offer.  Use EVERY machine in your gym for the purpose it serves, and see who lifts the most OVERALL weight, the total of the individual pounds lifted by each person.  The loser buys the winner a health-conscious dinner out, and maybe a movie, now that Awards season has hit us.  I hear both Applebee’s and Chili’s offer calorie & cost-conscious persons a decent menu.  A little competition never hurt anyone, and you might be shocked by what your partner is able to do after working out for 6 weeks.  So add a little competition to your diet and set some romantic stakes on the proverbial grill to spice up both your romantic and health lives.  Because although your weight loss should be mostly for you and your health, you loved one benefits just as much as you do. Let’s make the world a better place, with a little more love and a lot more healthy.

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Welcome back loyal blog fans, to another stimulating conversation about weight loss and the hard work we put in to do it.  Today, I think we need to talk about something really important: getting over the proverbial plateau.  If you don’t know what I’m talking about, here it is.

One is said to have plateaued if they continue their workout regiment and find that they can’t lose any more weight.  No matter how many extra laps in the pool or miles they run or walk, the weight loss either slows to a snail’s pace or stops altogether.  I just hit my plateau.

I didn’t expect it to happen so quickly, but I guess that’s life throwing me a curve ball.  Here’s what you have to do with the plateau: keep working! Don’t give up and starting eating triple-cheeseburgers just because a few workouts didn’t lead to some lost pounds.  Keep at it.  Because it’s possible that what you may be losing in weight you’re also putting on in muscle.  I’ll be honest, I would workout hard (on Saturday 2 and a half hours straight, almost 4 miles put in! Plus lots of sit-ups and push-ups) and after a week see no change in my weight.  I thought my scale was broken.  Then my roommate Serge said something quite interesting when we were working out together.  He said “Hey man, it must feel good to be able to do push-ups without your stomach hitting the ground.” I thought about that and realized he was right, although my weight hadn’t gone down, my stomach had.  So I may not have been losing weight, but I was losing FAT, which in the grandest of all schemes is really the point.  Putting on some muscle is good for you, and lifting weights is still a great way to burn fat, as your body will burn calories to rebuild the muscles you tore in your workout.  It may not feel as exhausting as running a couple (or 26.4) miles but it still helps out.  So give your body the old “shock and awe” once in a while, lift some weights instead of just a cardio workout, and don’t be depressed because the numbers aren’t dropping.  Because it’s the fat we want out of our lives.  I’m in desperate need of a workout, and Sergio is waiting for me while I write, so I’m headed to the gym.  Who’s with me?

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Well, today is a great day.  Even though it rained mostly all day, and has been raining for several days now, it’s a great day because my roommates and I are finally getting settled in to our new apartment.  Yeah, we spent all last weekend moving.  Which is quite the workout, let me tell you.  6am-10pm on Friday, followed by a couple of hours on Saturday and Sunday and about 10 hours on Monday left me feeling completely exhausted.  To be completely honest, the only thing that kept me going in those long hours of heavy lifting and continuous movement was Protein Water. With everything up in the air between the 3 apartments (my roommate’s girlfriend moved in with us into the new apartment) I never really knew where to get a great thirst-quencher.  So I would grab the one thing I knew would both cool me down and make me feel like a million bucks: Protein Water.  You know, moving can be a great excuse to not follow your diet.  It’s so much easier to just stop at some fast food joint and grab a couple of $1 double-cheeseburgers then to worry about something decent to eat.  But just because you’re really busy with something is no excuse to throw your diet and all your hard work away.  If your pots and pans are packed away, at least hit up Subway and grab a healthy 6″ sandwich.  That’s what I did, and they kept me energized until I could finally go to sleep.

So think about that the next time you’re moving, or your friend asks for help moving.  Moving is a LOT of exercise and is great for your whole body, utilizing a lot of different muscles as well as a very decent cardio routine.  So don’t waste the money on expensive movers, call up a couple of friends, make sure you have a case of Protein Water to keep you hydrated and energized the whole day, and do it yourself! In the end you’ll feel so much better because you accomplished everything all by yourself, you didn’t pay someone else to do your work for you, and you got a really great workout out of it too.  Just keep at it, even when it’s physically and mentally draining.  You CAN finish that project, you just have to keep pushing yourself.  That really goes for everything in life.  That extra mile you want to walk or run? YOU CAN DO IT! Just push yourself a little harder, and when you succeed (yes, WHEN you succeed) you’ll be so proud of yourself, even through the pain.  Thanks for joining me again, and until next time, keep at it!

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I wanted to say a couple quick things while it was on my mind, so I figured I’d send you a quick blog.

So today I had my best workout to date.  I wanted to share this with everyone because if even my workouts are getting better and easier, then yours can too.  First of all, let me share the workout routine I do (now for all you hardcore athletes/gym fanatics, this workout isn’t for you, it’s for me!).

I start every workout with a quick stretch, mostly of the legs since my primary exercise is running.  I run 1 mile at 6 miles per hour with a 0% incline, which is a 10-minute mile.  Not terribly fast, but fast enough that if your 260+ lbs and haven’t ran in a year you’ll be out of breath in the first 1/10 of a mile. I power through that mile and slow it down typically to 3 mph, where I briskly walk to catch my breath while still burning some calories.  Now lately I’ve been adding an incline to this, at 3%.  It’s not much, but it works your calves more and it hurts just a little bit more, burning a few more calories.  I usually walk for about 5-6 minutes.  If you have the time, feel free to walk longer, because you’re still exercising.  After my walk I’ll take a breather and drink some Protein Water, then I’ll get on the Swiss Ball and do some crunches, right now I’m at 50 straight through.  After that I’ll pump out 20 push-ups.

Today was my best workout because I didn’t have to grab at the handrails to help catch my breath during my run, my run was a little easier than it has been, I walked at 3.2 mph with an incline of 3.5%, and my crunches and push-ups were easier, even with a chest workout yesterday with my personal trainer/roommate Sergio Sobrino.  And with all the work I’ve been putting in and the help of Designer Whey Protein Water and The Biggest Loser Protein Powder Chocolate Deluxe I’ve managed to shed 4 pounds, bringing me down to 259! Yeah for me! So for everyone out that that’s getting discouraged because the workouts hurt, just keep at it, because it’s GOING to get better!

Also, I’d love to plug Protein Water just one more time.  I drink one of these during/after every workout.  They’re absolutely delicious (today I had Cranapple, which tastes like a juicy, delicious Fuji Apple), and with only 60 calories to a bottle (YES, the entire 16-oz bottle has only 60 calories) and 12 grams of protein, 5 grams of fiber and only 1 gram of sugar, they blow Gatorade and Vitamin Water out of the competition for your daily thirst quencher!  My favorite is Pomegranate Fruit.  I could drink these all day.  Literally, they’re good for you!  So pick some up, take it with you on your next workout, and enjoy the fruity goodness while you get healthy.  Take care, until next time!

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Hey everyone, thanks for joining me again.  Today I would love to talk about motivation and the pitfalls we face.  If there is one thing I’ve learned about losing weight, it is that it’s really hard to keep going, especially in the long run.  Sure, you finally buy the running shoes and the workout clothes and you hit the gym with the vigor of a young buck, but after a few days and exhausting workouts, you look in the mirror and realize that it’s going to take a lot more than 2 workouts to get that six-pack and it starts to weigh down the soul.  You might go one or two more times, telling yourself “I bought all this stuff, and I’m going to use it” but after that it’s just easier to sit in front of the TV and watch your favorite episode of whatever than it is to hit the gym and embarrass yourself to the really pretty girl that lives down the hall from you.  This is that moment, when you look back 6 months from now, that you realize you should have kept going because you would look awesome if you hadn’t quit way back when.  Trust me, I was there.  I went from 250 down to 209 in 6 months while forward deployed, only to start eating fast food again and not working out, whereas had I kept at it I would have been at that svelte 175 I’m dying for.  But such is life.  I was always told “Hindsight is 20/20, but your screwed now”.

You know what I say? I say that in the end the best you can do is push yourself.  You HAVE to think, everyday, about WHY you want to lose weight.  Is it to look attractive to the fairer sex in order to find a girlfriend? Is it just because you feel that you’re not healthy enough and you want to lead a better life? Did you look into your future and realize you want to live to 110 years old, and that triple whopper with cheese isn’t helping?  THAT’S your motivation, right there.  The very reason you decided to lose weight in the first place still exists.  Think about that reason every single day, even if you don’t work out that day.  When you go to get a bite to eat, or are about to make dinner, think about that reason before you hit up Burger King instead of Subway.  And speaking of Subway, thank you for you.  Those sandwiches are delicious, and much lower fat than the burgers I typically would eat.  Not a cheap plug (I’m not paid by them!), but it is the truth.  They have me eating a little better, which is great for me.

Next, when it comes to motivation, you have to have something to pump you up.  For me, I have several playlists on my iPod to exercise to.  I have my “Running Mix” which consists of songs that help me push myself while I’m running my one mile a day (or my 11 miles a day, like I did during that famed deployment).  I have my “Workout Mix” which is geared more for lifting weights, consisting of a ton of great adrenaline-rushing songs that force me to put that bar up just one more time.  And, most important of all, is my “Motivational Mix.” Nine songs that truly speak to my core, that make me want to be the better person I know I can be.  I listen to this playlist and it’s almost a guilt trip to be better at everything I do.  If I haven’t been a good boy that day, I’ll know it when I listen to this playlist.  But beyond that, it makes me strive to be better.  A little to lazy to hit the gym? By the end of the first song I’ve got my running shoes out of the closet, headband on my head, and I’m out the door.

So, the next time you feel just a little too tired, or “you’ll hit the gym in a few hours, right now I just want to play some video games”, think about that reason you wanted to better yourself, think hard on it, then put down the controller, grab a Protein Water, and go hit the gym.  Then do what I do and play video games AFTER THE GYM!

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Hello, my name is Nathanael Mulder and I’m here to lose weight.  It really shouldn’t take the new year to give me a reason to decide to lead a healthier lifestyle, but I guess any motivation is better than none at all.  But that’s not my only motivation.  Really it all stems down to just wanting to get back to the shape I used to be in, all those years ago in high school.  Back then I was 5′9″ and around 150lbs, running cross country and 1 & 2 mile races for my high school.  Over the years I’ve managed to gain over 110 pounds, weighing in on New Year’s Day at 262 pounds.  What’s worse is that I’ve tried and succeeded in losing weight in the past, and it felt great.  But my huge appetite took over in the end and all that weight came back, with some friends it turns out.  But now it’s a new decade and a new start on the weight loss, and I’m determined to lose it and keep it off.  With my roommate, who’s a personal trainer and Designer Whey user himself, pushing me and helping me with my workouts, diets, and determination I am truly confident that I’m going to succeed.

So here’s my plan, and here are my goals:
1) I want to reduce my weight down to 175 pounds.  That’s a reduction of 87 pounds.  I know it’s possible, I just have to keep at it, no matter what happens.  This is really all I’m going for.  With the weight reduction will come more energy and a better lifestyle, being able to breathe easier, and fitting into the clothes I own and into newer styles of clothes (with the new trends towards skinny this and skinny that, it’s getting harder and harder to find decent clothes these days).
2) Get into well-enough shape to run a marathon.  I don’t want to run a marathon because I want to run a marathon, I just want to be in shape enough to BE ABLE to run a marathon.  That’s almost 3 hours (or much, much longer if I don’t run very fast) of constant running, and that would hurt.  But to be able to do it, that’s what I want.

–And this is what I’m looking at to help me:
1) Working out several times a week.  At least 3-4 times a week.  A mixture of running and other cardio workouts, weight-lifting, and basic core workouts like sit-ups and push-ups.  Nothing too fancy or over-the-top.  Just basic and focused.  It’s worked for me before, and it’s going to work again.
2) Watching what (and more importantly how much) I eat.  For the last several years I’ve been eating almost exclusively fast food.  And although it’s not too terrible to have a burger once in a while, it’s probably not a great idea to have 3 Ultimate Breakfast Sandwiches for breakfast, 2 Ultimate Bacon Cheeseburgers (with large fries and large soda) for lunch, and likewise for dinner everyday.  If I eat healthier, and smaller portions, and use Designer Whey proteins after a workout and in between meals to curb my appetite, then I’m destined to lose weight and then definitely keep it off.  On top of that, I do love to drink water, so by drinking a lot more water and Designer Whey Protein Water, I think that will help also.

So, this is where I’m sitting in my life.  I’m overweight and out of shape, and its difficult to tie my shoes.  Here’s to a new decade and a new me.  Hope to see you along the Whey.

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