The Volley Balls

I was hoping to post this on Friday evening, but alas, here it is, Sunday evening, and I'm glad I waited. I was hoping to have a routine of posting every Friday, since, you know, Fancy Friday, but I don't think I care much anymore. I'll post probably twice a week, no absolute schedule though.

So why the volleyball? Well, Nick, Ryan, and I have been getting into the volleyball matches here at OSU. We went a couple weeks ago to a couple matches, against really good teams. And hell, we found it really interesting to watch. So now the three of us are making sure to make it to every single home game, and since we have been cheering on the girls quite hard (since the band and cheerleaders, and Benny were all missing due to being up North for the football game), we've decided to make a group name. The Volley Balls. We want to get other guys involved as well, to make it pretty epic, but I don't know who would want to join in. Hmmm, well, we'll figure something out. Anyways, we had two games this weekend, one against each Washington school. We lost to UW (they were ranked #7 in the nation) and then beat WSU in the 5th set for a really freaking awesome game. On the other hand, I was yelling so loud and for such prolonged periods of time during the game, that I completely lost my voice. Worth it.

On top of that, I also had a choir retreat/rehearsal all day Saturday, which was very exhausting. Two loud volleyball matches and 5 hours of singing = bad case for my voice. I was actually so tired after Saturday's game, that I didn't have the energy to do my yoga for the first day of my 4th week (recovery week). I meant to do it in the early morning, but I didn't fall asleep until 5 AM of Saturday morning and decided to get 4 hours of sleep and skip the yoga, rather than 2.5 hours with yoga. My sleeping schedule wasn't going so well, and then somehow ended up with a really crappy night for sleep. The good thing is that I HAD to wake up early for my retreat, or else I would have slept until 2 PM and would have screwed things up worse. Instead, I got 10 hours of sleep last night and am still tired, so sleeping should be alright for tonight. Also, due to the exhausting weekend, I wasn't able to make it to Keizer (well I could have, but chose to reschedule it to Tuesday), especially since I had to do laundry as well, so I decided I should just stick to one thing, and that was definitely the clean clothes (3 weeks since my last wash, definitely needed some clean clothes).

So now, it is technically the 2nd day of the 4th week, but will be doing my 1st day's workout, which is yoga. I missed yesterday as I mentioned, due to the long day, so I'll just be doing Days 1-6 of week 4 on the days 2-7 of my week, if that makes any sense. Friday is usually my rest day, so instead, I counted yesterday as my rest day, and will just continue on with life. However, if I end up with an easy workout in the morning and have lots of energy, I might do a double, since this is the recovery week, there's no weights. It's all plyometrics, kenpo, yoga, stretching, and core, so I'll just wing it. Maybe Kenpo and Stretching (respectively in that order) would be a good combination. And on a slight side note, I got some new work out clothes today. Was getting tired of sweating in cotton shirts all the time, and figured I could use a new pair or shorts for workouts, so I got some shorts and a nice light shirt.

Lastly, I can already feel differences with my body, since creating this blog. Minor differences, of course. First, although this technically started a couple weeks prior to the blog, but I have noticed a stronger definition of my chest and arms, and a bit of thinning in my body overall. But just in the last week, I've actually noticed my digestion system feeling much better. I'm positive that it's the extra fiber. My entire body feels much better than it used to, just with a healthier digestive system. Crazy stuff.

And with that, it's time for my yoga. Note, this was like, the only male picture, when I googled yoga.

Stay fancy.

An Orgasm in Your Mouth

Well this is awkward...

Alright, so to explain the title, I tried out two things together. Both delicious, one of which I already knew was awesome, and another that I always wanted to try. Edamame Hummus on Naan Bread. Oh god it was so good. So glad I took a trip to Trader Joe's.

Well for what's new over the last few days, I took a math midterm (I really hate calculus...) but it went alright, I think I did pretty well. And this weekend, I have a choir rehearsal/retreat (from 10-4) on Saturday, so kind of looking forward to that? I've been missing too many rehearsals, so I need to get on the ball and get back into the music. I also need to make a trip to Keizer to Men's Wearhouse, to get myself a black blazer for my choir; unfortunately, I can't pick up a cheap one at Goodwill because they never have any decent sizes. Hell, the XL that I tried on felt like a small! Oh well, I guess I can stay fancy and get a nice sports coat. I also will be going to the Volleyball games on Friday and Saturday here at OSU. I don't know what it is about the sport, but Nick, Ryan, and I have really gotten into it. I've mentioned to them that I want to be that guy in the crowd, where after a game, the team will just look over at me and be like, "Hey, it's that guy!" I mean that in a good way, I guess like a really dedicated fan, is all. Plus... The women are attractive and wearing spandex... Anyways.

Alright, so, I never did a double workout. Originally I was going to put together my plyometrics and shoulders/arms workout, but was far too exhausted, so then I was going to do yoga with shoulders/arms yesterday, except that after the yoga and classes, and a midterm, I was too tired. So I decided I'm going to skip the half-workout that I usually do on the 7th day, and just catch up using that day. It'll be alright because Saturday will be the first day of my 4th week, which is a recovery week, so it's not like I'm getting right back into weights. This week has been pretty tiring so far, so I think this is the best option. I'm kind of looking forward to the recovery week, just to see what it's like. Basically, take out the weights, and add in an extra yoga, and then add in core synergistics (really, that isn't a word, but whatever) as well as stretching.  So we'll see how that goes. So what I'll do is shoulders/arms tonight, Kenpo tomorrow, and legs/back on Friday, and then I'll be back on track.

Also on the subject of working out, I do have a knee injury. My right knee makes a cracking/grinding noise whenever I go down and bend my knee (squats and lunges basically), and it creates some discomfort. I realized that it's probably from when I re-sprained my knee this summer. It was actually the second week of ultimate frisbee I believe, and somehow re-sprained it. However, it wasn't too bad because I wasn't working at the time, and wasn't very active for a couple weeks, so it pretty much healed up. But obviously, it didn't, so I asked my brother about it. He recommended icing it, as well as drinking plenty of water to help lubricate the joint better. I'm also thinking about maybe investing in a heatpad of my own, and heating it up before working out (specifically days that are leg intensive), as that will help get the blood flowing better. Hopefully this will go away soon, but who knows.

I've also had a bit of trouble with sleeping. I couldn't fall asleep last night (it didn't help that I was playing NCAA Football 2011 pretty late... addicting game) and ended up with a migraine in the morning, so that kind of fell through. So after this post, I'm going to workout, and then basically go to sleep. It will happen.

Edamame hummus and naan bread... Yum. So we needed to go shopping for some food, obviously, today, and I decided to take the initiative to find some new foods that I normally don't get. So the best way to lose weight, is of course... Adding in more foods to your diet! Wait... What? Well from my perspective, I don't want to completely eliminate some foods that I love. Why should I punish myself? I'd rather add in healthier options, to make sure I get plenty of the vitamins and nutrients that my body needs, and hope that overtime, I'll start minimizing the unhealthy foods. I plan on eliminating or minimizing certain foods as my monthly challenges (I might do a food challenge every month, and throw in other stuff once in a while on top of it). So one month I might eliminate all soda, and then hopefully in the future, I won't be as likely to drink as much soda, and incorporate things like water more often into my meals and snacks. That kind of thing. Taking something away, especially if you take a lot away from your diet, makes it feel like a punishment. Sure, it works! If you are happy about it and stick to it. I on the other hand, want to feel comfortable eating some chili dogs for dinner, or having a few tortilla chips and salsa as a snack. My overall goal is to lead a better life; you have to be happy in order to be part of that better life.

So the main thing I'm focusing on with my diet, is that I don't eliminate anything (unless it's a challenge, which will start in November), but I add in healthier foods that provide nutrients that I feel as if will make my body healthier. It just so happens, that most of these foods are fairly healthy as well. Now I do take a multivitamin (with iron as well, as I was iron deficient around 2009... Weird, since I'm a man who loves to eat meat. That shit never happens). So here's a list of vitamins and nutrients that I want more of in my diet.

Fiber
Omega 3 Fatty Acids
Zinc
Vitamin A
Carotenoids
Bioflavonoids

Now, the most important are the top 3 to me. I have never gotten enough fiber in my diet. It helps your digestive system, as well as makes you feel more full. Fiber also helps reduce the chances of diabetes and heart disease, which have been evident in my family, and I really want to prevent that. This was automatically my first choice to add into my diet. Foods that I'll eat that are high in fiber are a variety of fruits that I already eat, whole-wheat pasta, bran based cereal, brown rice, black beans, corn/peas (already eat those, but maybe more frequently now) and carrots (also eat them). As long as I just eat a little bit more of these regularly, then things should go well.
For omega 3 fatty acids, I knew I wasn't getting much in my diet. They help the heart a lot, and help prevent heart disease and other heart problems, as well as high blood pressure. On a college student's budget, there isn't much room for fish, and I don't eat a lot of the vegetables that produce it. So I decided to invest in flaxseeds, which aren't all that great, but aren't all that bad either. They provide a fair amount of the fatty acids, as well as fiber and protein. Just a tablespoon a day (or even every other day) would be a fantastic change; plus helps with the fiber.
And zinc, a nutrient that helps a lot in the immune system, I decided I could use a bit more of, but won't stress much about (don't want too much). The only new thing I'll be introducing for zinc are peanuts, which will help as a small snack, but also for a lot of other nutrients. Many of the foods I'm adding in will also carry small amounts of zinc, so I'm covered there.

I also wanted to work on other nutrients and vitamins that help the immune system, which is why I turned to vitamin A, carotenoids, and bioflavonoids. I already get plenty of vitamin C, however, I want to focus on the other things that help support the immune system. I do get lots of vitamin A, however, I could use a bit more, especially with a weak immune system, and all the foods I've been incorporating do provide lots of vitamin A. Bioflavonoids are important antioxidants that are very similar to vitamin C, and in fact, work hand in hand with each other for your body. They also can help improve cardiovascular health and improve red blood cells, but also help reduce the risk of cancers. Most of the foods that I am adding or already eat contain these. However, I might be increasing my consumption of some of the foods. Such foods are red bell peppers, broccoli, carrots, spinach, tomatoes, and citrus fruits (such as apples and oranges). Perfect! For carotenoids, they provide a high source of vitamin A, and help support the immune system and reproductive system. Nothing new for this, spinach, carrots, and tomatoes.

Basically, I'll be mainly eating spinach for my salad's lettuce, and throwing in tomatoes, red bell peppers, and carrots. Will continue eating my apples and bananas, as well as peas and corn, and throwing in some oranges too. Peanuts will be light snacks, and will also include cereals that contain lots of fiber (I don't actually have full out bran cereal yet, but might eventually get into it. I got some cheap Fiber One, a bit sugary, but it's a start). And also including black beans, brown rice and whole-wheat pasta (not necessarily replacing the other options, but increasing the consumption of those foods).

That should be the last of my really long posts here. Basically, I want to add in healthy foods, and slowly replace the not so good foods with them, as opposed to eliminating something I don't want to. I hope this works out well, and I also hope the increased nutrients will help my body, both in health and weight. 'til next time, stay fancy.

Yummm Chili Dogs... Wait, crap.

(Note: This ended up being much longer than I thought it would be, mainly due to explaining my workout program. The future posts won't be this long. Feel free to skim through it)

Hah! Did I say that I was just starting this new lifestyle? Err, I meant I would later next week...

So I only say that because of course, the day of posting my blog, I didn't work out. And then, it wasn't until tonight (Sunday evening) that I finally got around to it. Woops. Overall, the reasoning was that there was a football game on Saturday, I woke up a bit too late and then after the game, went to dinner with Ryan (roommate), as well as my dad and aunt (who came down to Corvegas to go to the game). And then I had a busy Sunday and didn't get around to it until about 11 PM.

So before I get into my plans, just to discuss today. First went off to Jiffy Lube to get my oil changed, and of course they found that my transmission desperately needed to get flushed out (costs $120), and I had a license plate light that was out (apparently, cops around here are sticklers about that kind of stuff) so had to get that replaced ($20), on top of the $25 oil change. Well the guy was nice, and took off 10% from the total purchase (the 10% was just for the transmission (one of their deals) but he decided to take it off the total, taking a few extra dollars off, woo!). Ventured over to Goodwill to look at black sports coats for my choir (changing from navy blue to black, thank god, but means I need to get a new one, and with my body structure, I need to usually get one fitted to me, yay more money). Then I headed over to a Verizon store, that was closed (thought I read that it was open today online), but luckily, I had to go downtown anyways to deposit a check. So I went over to the other Verizon store (not the official store in Corvallis, but still sells all the stuff. I forget what their deal is with Verizon, they're like an outlet store for convenience, but don't do much in terms of contracts and replacements, etc.). I checked out cases for my new iPhone (I love it!), didn't see a great selection, and they were busy, so I didn't wait around to ask them for any recommendations on what they prefer, or what's the most popular. Decided I'll buy it via Amazon for $14 for a decent case, although, I will check the OSU bookstore first, see if they have any good deals (HAH good deals at a university book store, classic joke), but specifically for any cases that may have the OSU/Beaver logo on it. That'd be sweet. Then came home for a bit of chillaxing and eating some "healthy" food... And by that, I mean 2 hotdogs with some chili on top...

Crap, there goes healthy eating. Not really though, right now, my aim is to pick the healthier choices. Instead of getting fries with a burger, get a salad. Rather than getting fried food, get something grilled or baked. Rather than eating out, or getting something on campus or right off of campus (from a restaurant), eat something at home, or bring a sandwich. That kind of thing. Plus, I'm going to be implementing challenges (I forget if I mentioned this in the previous post) for each month. They are mainly going to be revolving around food and exercise, but I might do other things as well. I have November planned out, albeit I will have a few exceptions involved due to Thanksgiving, I still think it should be the first one I try out. Hopefully it will help me in the future if I get this one out of the way.

So what else to talk about... Oh right, how will I be working towards these goals of mine? How am I going to be losing weight and getting in better shape, eating healthier, etc.?

Well I am going to be focusing on my exercising the most. Now, this alone will help, but will not be the best way to tackle this obstacle of mine. So that's why I want to add in the food, sleep, as well as other aspects of my life that will help me emotionally/mentally. But, once again, exercise will be my main focus. I want to be in better shape physically, not just to look and feel better, but also so I can continue to exercise. Hell, one of my biggest goals is to be able to run from the Zoo down to Washington Park for Ultimate Frisbee, every Tuesday during the summer. Sure, I could run down now, but it'd leave no energy for the actual playing. I want to do BOTH. So hopefully, by June 2012, I'll be good to go! I also would love to be able to run with my brother sometime. He's a big runner, last I talked to him about it, he was running about 70 miles a week. Now, that's a lot, but I would love to be able to run with him, even once a week, or at least the ability to. Or even the least, be able to run half way with him, I'd even take that. One day.

Well, you might hate me for this, or you might cringe, but I'm using P90X to workout.

Yup, I can hear the groans from the vast amount of followers that I have on this blog. Yeah, it's that program from the infomercials, and Tony Horton sounds/looks/seems like a bit of a D-Bag, but face it, nearly any program that works on every aspect of your body, with both weights and anaerobic exercise/cardio-esque workouts will work, as long as it's frequent enough, and you stick to it. So you know what I say to that?! I say I'll do the 6 day a week workout program for 3 months, and I will even add in my 7th day workout, although, it will be a half workout, so I get a bit of a rest.

Just so you know how the program works, here's the lowdown. There are 3 phases (4 weeks each except for the third, which has 5 weeks, to even out to 90 days), and in every week but the final week of each phase, the layout of the week looks like:

1. Weights/Abs
2. Plyometrics (a type of cardio which works on jumping and agility)
3. Weights/Abs
4. Yoga (90 minutes, pretty intense, I collapsed and fell asleep the first time I tried it! Ryan quit it after 20 minutes and tried the Stretch video instead, smart move, but I encouraged him to try his best with the Yoga. It works your body very well, and also helps you emotionally/mentally)
5. Weights/Abs
6. Kenpo (martial arts that is filled with punches, kicking, and blocking)
7. Rest, or the stretch video (I'm choosing now to do this stretch on the 7th day, as I'd rather do the half workout.

However, the final week of each phase is labeled as the recovery week, to help your body recover from the weights, while still working out.

1. Yoga
2. Core Synergistics (I'm assuming this works on your core... I don't know much about it yet, plus isn't that word made up!?)
3. Kenpo
4. Stretch (required this time)
5. Core Synergistics
6. Yoga
7. Rest or stretch

For my 7th day half workouts, I focus on muscle groups that either the program sort of lacks, or that I would like a bit more definition on. Mainly biceps, chest (pushups), lower back, and upper/middle back. I should really add in some triceps in there as well. I'll see about that. I also do some core work as well, working on abs and obliques. Now, this will take me about 20-30 minutes, and still breaks a pretty hard sweat. But I want to make sure not to push it out on this. If I need to quit, or lower my reps, then I'll do that, days 1-6 are the hard ones, the 7th should be my easy day. Now on top of this, every day I do 2 or 3 sets of biceps on my left arm, and 1 or 2 on my right arm (I incorporate different types of curls, rather than just the same thing over and over again), and I also do a single set of triceps on both arms, and do an extra on my left arm. I do this, because my left arm is very inferior to my right, due to being on my high school's bowling team for 4 years. When you use your dominant arm for everything, and then bowl A LOT using the same arm, you really bulk up on that arm. So I want to help catch up my left arm. I also will sometimes do some core work, such as 50 crunches and 25 or so reps of a few other things focusing on abs or obliques; just depends on if I feel like it, or remember.

Alright, I think that covers the program pretty well, this post is getting long so I'm going to be wrapping up. By the way, I didn't fork out $150 or whatever on this program (videos and other stuff); I just downloaded it online. No way I'm paying for that and falling into their scheme. I did, however, buy a pull up bar (unfortunately cannot use it at my apartment due to poor molding on the door frames, but can use at my house in LO, so I incorporate other back exercises instead of pull ups) and some adjustable weights off Amazon for fairly cheap, and they get the job done. Ryan is also working on the program, and we started on the same day, but he is a bit behind, due to not doing a few days. He's still adamant about it, but not as strict as I am about keeping on schedule.

That reminds me! My deal about if I miss a day due to being busy, forgetting, or whatever the reason, is that I must catch up to the schedule. That means that I do have to do 2 workouts in a day if I miss one. I did it last week and did Plyometrics and Arms/Shoulders (weights) in one day. That SUCKED. Bad combination. And the best thing? I'm going to do it tomorrow, since I didn't have the energy or time to do 2 workouts today, and missed Saturday. Oh well, I won't try to make it a habit though. However, if I do get sick, or something like that, I am willing to miss 1 day and be 1 day off the schedule, but only if I really could not workout that one day. After that, however, I MUST keep on schedule (can't miss more than 1 day, and won't need to catch up if really sick, basically). Even if I half-ass the workouts because of an illness, I need to try.

My last paragraph, and then my wrap up. I will also start implementing a new sleep schedule tomorrow. I was going to start it tonight, but I remembered I needed to work out when it was too late to keep to the schedule, and I really wanted to get this written up and posted before Monday morning. I also needed to rest a bit before going to bed. So here's the deal, on weekday nights, I must be away from a screen (computer or tv, phone and DS is okay, but I need to be careful about how long I'm playing. I'd rather not, except for texting and the like, but we'll see) by MIDNIGHT. And I must be in bed by 12:30. Exceptions: Homework that is taking me longer than I anticipated, or if I'm reading a really good book and want to finish another chapter or two (not likely, and I'll probably already be in bed if I'm reading). Hopefully, this means I'll be asleep no later than 1 AM, and I will set my alarm for 9 AM (maybe 9:30 if I'm really restless and have a hard time sleeping). On weekend nights, everything is extended an hour, unless there's some sort of get-together with friends that takes me away from my bed. I need to get on a schedule where I can workout in the morning (earliest classes are at noon), and still get 8 hours of sleep, while being on a routine schedule. This starts tomorrow!

Alright, and I'm going to bed finally, long overdue. I do like doing this kind of thing before going to bed. Makes me feel good prior to sleeping, takes me a bit of time so I'm actively engaged in something besides a game. And also, even if I am in front of a screen, at least I'm not playing a game. My next post will be talking about how I've been doing thus far with my workouts, and how I've been feeling about it all, but also some of my plans with food, and what I'm changing things from. With that, I bid you adieu, and leaving you all with a nice little video, just to show why I implied that I'm not a fan of Tony Horton.

Tony Horton 'Isms'

Good Life: A New Beginning

It's the beginning of something special for me, or at least, I hope. For what may seem like forever now, I've been wanting to really gear myself towards a better life. Well, what makes your life good? And the simple answer is, there's more than one reason, and I want every reason possible to lead a better life.

How could I accomplish something of this magnitude and vagueness? At a quick glimpse, it would appear that I like how things work out for myself, and to an extent, that's completely true. However, it can always be better. So this is a blog about my goals; about my ambitions.

Firstly, the most important part of this blog, and what created the idea in my head at 3:00 AM on a Saturday morning, trying to fall asleep: My health. I have never been healthy, whether it's the fact that I get sick every other week with the new virus in town, or just the common cold, again, and again, and again... Well, how can I gear my lifestyle towards a illness-free world? No idea, honestly, I have no idea. But I can start things off with something simple. Ever since about, 7th grade or so, I have been getting more and more sick, more and more often. Doctors always test me for something bad in my blood, but nothing comes up. I just have the worst immune system ever. I should live in a bubble. Okay, not. I'd rather get sick all the time. Anywho, this leads me to how to improve my body's health:

1. Exercise regularly and lose weight. This will be my main goal that I'm going to keep up with. I love to exercise, but I always do things to counteract the effects, such as eating badly, or I end up falling out of my exercising habits due to getting sick or getting busy. So I'm hoping to keep with a program and to not quit.
2. Eat better. Not only will this help me lose weight, but it will ensure that I get all the essential nutrients and vitamins, and everything else, that my body needs. If I eat better, hell, I might stop getting sick!
3. Work on a consistent sleep cycle. You do not know how damn envious I am of people who go to sleep every night at say, 11 PM, and wake up at 7 AM, perfectly refreshed. I just can't do that. Hell, right now, it's nearly 5 AM as of writing this sentence, and I haven't slept yet.


Well that covers my body's physical health for now. Well, I've got 2 other aspects that I need to cover, at least for now, that will help lead to a better life for me.


1. School
I need to follow through with my work and finally finish this BS in Zoology. I have been getting worse and worse about not doing work, not going to classes, and the like. I need to get my act together, finish this up, and start looking towards a future, either with more education (most probable) or a career. I also am going to start pursuing possible career opportunities that I will be able to get from Zoology, and being able to work with animals, or studying them in some way or another.
2. Economy
Although money isn't too much of a problem for me, it is something I'd like to work on. I have habits of going online to Amazon and buying cheap stuff that I want, but not anything that I necessarily need. So I want to be cautious on what I spend money on, in hopes that I can save money for things I really need, or possibly, big ticket items that will really put a smile on my face (such as a big ass tv. I realize this kind of goes against what I was just talking about, but there are certain goals that I've had for a while that I'll eventually spend money on).


Phew, that was a lot, and I haven't even gone into any detail on what I plan on doing to accomplish some of these goals! I'll do that in my next post, as I should really be focusing on sleeping at this point, due to it being one of my goals anyways. I will write up another blog post this weekend, and I'll go over what I hope to work on first, as well as other ideas that I have.


And to leave you off with a high note, here's what inspired this post's title: Good Life