StartBeingFit

Park Cardio Workout 1

Tyson — Mon, 06 Sep 2010 02:34:27 +0000

A short but intense cardio workout that I did at the park over the weekend. I also think I may have broken my finger doing it. Doh!

www.youtube.com/watch?v=xBE-cWeqa4g

Intense Cardio Workout

Tyson — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 02:01:51 +0000

Lately I really despise cardio machines. I would almost rather not do cardio at all than spend an hour on an elliptical. I was faced with that decision tonight. Go to the gym and be a rat on a treadmill or brave the weather and head out into the rain for some good old fashioned sprints. I chose option number 2. I headed over to my local park and proceeded to do the following sprints:

5×25 yard sprints
5×50 yard sprints

I followed that up with some picnic table jumps. I was a little hesitant at first so I begin with only jumping up onto the seat. I did that 20 times. I then grew some courage and made the leap up onto the table. I was amazed that I could actually do it! I followed that jump with 29 more! I then took off for home and did a few core exercises with my homemade suspension trainer followed by a session of P90x Ab RipperX.

When all the cardio was said and done, I cooked up a meal of ground beef, red pepper, white onion and tomato paste. Mixed it into a bowl and scarfed it down. And that was the end of that. Day 2 of the Primal September Challenge complete.

Carb Hangover

Tyson — Sun, 22 Aug 2010 14:12:59 +0000

Most Saturdays (weekends) I do a carb refeed. I do this in order to increase my leptin levels and to speed up my metabolism which has slowed down over the course of the week from my low carb primal diet. Let’s be honest, I really enjoy the refeeds. It gives me a chance to eat some of the things that I sort of miss. For example, yesterday started out with waffles with my wife. It then moved onto hot dogs and cake at a friend’s son’s birthday party. Then my wife and I went out for Mexican food. I completed the day with a grilled turkey and cheese sandwich and various forms of chips, popcorn, and cereals. Go big or go home is what I say!

The biggest downside of refeeds days is the carb hangover I feel the next morning. I am feeling it today. Swollen eyes, fatigue, nausea, headache, etc. The list goes on and on. I am not really sure what causes these hangover symptoms but its obviously from the increase in carb intake from what the body is used to.

My advice to anyone that is going low carb and has yet to give themselves a “free” day to indulge, beware of the dreaded carb hangover!

Now I am off to do some sprints. I am hoping that a good sweat will get this body back to feeling itself again.

Barbacoa Beef

Tyson — Sat, 21 Aug 2010 14:20:32 +0000

A couple of months ago I headed into my local Chipotle and decided to be a little different. Instead of ordering my typical double chicken burrito bowl, I instead opted for something called Barbacoa Beef. I had no idea what I was getting myself into. I immediately fell in love with the intense flavor and spice. I left there in awe of that meal and made myself a promise that I was going to try and make it at home.

I scoured the internet for what seemed like an eternity (but was only a matter of minutes) and managed to find a few recipes that claimed to be just like the one at Chipotle. I settled on this one and modified it a bit to suit my needs.

The end result was fantastic. It turned out better than expected and I have made it again since then. It can get a bit spicy if you use too many chipotle peppers (as I found out the second time I made it) but the affect doesn’t last long. I am going to be adding this one to my list of foods to make often.

Recipe: Barbacoa Beef

Ingredients

1/3 cup apple cider vinegar
3 tbsp lime juice
4 chipotle peppers – canned in adobo sauce
1/2 an onion
6 cloves garlic
4 tsp cumin
2 tsp oregano
1 ½ tsp ground black pepper
1 ½ tsp salt
1/8 tsp ground clove
2 tbsp coconut oil
4 lb beef roast
1 cup organic chicken broth
3 bay leaves

Instructions

Combine the lime juice, vinegar, onions, chipotle peppers, garlic, cumin, oregano, black pepper, salt and clove in a blender and blend until smooth and creamy.
Cut the roast into smaller pieces. In a large pan, heat 2 tbsp of coconut oil and cook each side of the meat until lightly browned.
Put the meat from the pan into a large CrockPot
Pour the blended sauce over the meat and add in the chicken broth and bay leaves.
Cover and simmer for about 8 hours on low

Cooking time (duration): 8 hours with a prep time of about 20 minutes

Diet (other): Reduced carbohydrate, High protein, Gluten free

Number of servings (yield): 4

Meal type: dinner

Culinary tradition: USA (General)

Time to Start Over

Tyson — Fri, 20 Aug 2010 21:48:53 +0000

It’s that time of year again where I try and give up some of the things that I, for one reason or another, have let back into my life. At the beginning of 2009 I read The Primal Blueprint by Mark Sisson and I went Primal. I gave up everything man made and lived by the mantra, if man made it, I wont eat it. I gave up coffee, soda, and anything else that contained artificial sweeteners ( I have to have creamer with my coffee). I felt and looked great. I was getting cut and felt I was on the road to finally having some abs. Then one day, I was very tired and felt I needed a hit of caffeine. I poured a cup of Joe, and became addicted to coffee once again. With the coffee came flavored waters and then diet soda creeped back into my life. I was once again became addicted to coffee in the morning and Diet Mountain Dew in the afternoon. I also let back into my life cheese and sour cream. Mainly on my trips to Chipotle for my burrito bowl.

Everything else about my primal existence remained the same. I still ate low carb high fat and my exercise and workout routines remained great. However I noticed that the cut look that I once had, started to fade. I was going in the opposite direction that I had hoped to be going.

Taking a long hard look back, the big change in my life was the reintroduction of artificial sweeteners in the coffee creamers, waters, and sodas, juices, etc. I truly believe that even though they are “calorie” free, they can still lead to weight gain. I feel I am living proof of that.

So now I am on a mission to wipe those things back out of my life. It’s back to water for me. Pure, simple water.

A few other things I am going to try to reduce and/or eliminate: nuts, nut butters, nut flours, cheese, and sour cream.

In a few weeks I will let everyone know if my progress has started to go back in the direction that I had hoped it would.