Fish vs Other Meat

I was recently asked “why fish” and as I mentioned yesterday, I want to talk about why fish is good for you, and considered to be better than other meats. I will avoid a long and scientific discussion and cut right to it.

A lot of meat now-a-days is cured or processed, think Ham, Bacon, Lunch Meat, Sausage. Because of this those meats have a much higher level of sodium and other preservatives. This causes high levels of blood pressure- another issue in America.

Instead of eating the meat above, look for beef, chicken, turkey, and of course Fish. Now short and sweet, fish is the best because it has less saturated fat than the other meats. The “fattiest” fish has 1.8g of Sat Fat in a serving while turkey has 3, chicken has 8, and beef has 12 or more. Limiting your saturated fat does two things: 1)keeps you from consuming too much fat (we all need a little) and 2)lowers the bad cholesterol in your blood and therefore reduces the chance of heart problems. Boston Harvard University School of Public Health Department of Nutrition also released a study showing darker meats lean towards a higher risk of cancer as well.

We can also compare the protein and calorie quantity. 100 grams of Fish has 19g of protein and only 87 calories. On the other hand, beef has 15g of protein and 332 calories per 100 grams. So fish is not only leaner, but has more protein and fewer calories.

So like I said, short and sweet, choose fish whenever you can and only indulge in the “fattier” meats occasionally.

Today is Day 13 and the number is 65.

Day 11 of 30

Today is day 11 of 30. For our situp and pushup challenge we have 65 today.
Being Tuesday it is also Shoulders, Legs and Calves day. 3 sets of 6. This is also day 30 of 365.

A few announcements:

• After the pushup and situp challenge I will be doing a Pull-up challenge.
• Also in December I will be putting on a Can You 24 Challenge. By ordering a 24 day cleanse pack from my Advocare store, you will receive a post holiday cleanse and jump start your New Year with a great weight-loss, and plateau breaking, supplement routine. I will also be providing support throughout the 24 days, as well as a workout to help enhance the program.

Date Night

Last week I touched on balance, and a large part of that is family. On Friday I took sometime to focus on family and my lovely wife, ILOVEYOUMEANIT, planned a date night.

H’s childcare provider does date nights every few weeks, and we always take advantage of them. So at around 5:30 I dropped off the kid and went home to pick up my wife. She spent much of the day prepping food and making sure everything was perfect. When I got home she handed me a large tote bag, hopped in the car and we drove off.

Feeling pressed for time, I drove a little fast, and tried to make it to NAS Pensacola before they closed the back gate. I made It as the guard was pulling the gate shut, and he kindly checked my ID and let us in. Em instructed me to head for Barrancas beach. We pulled up, found a section away from the other family there, and parked the car. We hopped out, grabbed the bag, kicked off our shoes, and headed for the water. About 3 feet from the surf is a steep slope and so we put our blanket down on top of the slope and admired the great location.

After getting situated, Emily presented me with a menu. She had made and prepped the entire dinner, and she printed a menu to show me the 3 courses planned. We started with shrimp cocktails and sweet potato soup. This was accompanied by Sophia Champagne- in a can! And to make it even better, Em used the little straw it came with.

After our appetizers, we had the main dish. It was one of my favorites. Grilled Caesar Salad, with a vegan Caesar dressing. No eggs and no anchovies. I don’t like anchovies and it is just a good recipe that is healthier than original Caesar dressing.

Following the main dish, we finished with a little dessert. Homemade chocolate covered strawberries. None of that shell or hershey’s sauce; actual melted and cooled chocolate.

The meal was wonderful and the quiet serenity of the beach made for an incredible night. It was intimate and romantic, and was a slice of heaven on earth. The surroundings just seemed to wash away the stress of life and school and Em looking for a job. There was nothing but calm and love.

And the sunset helped as well!

DON’T FORGET: Today is Monday and Day 10 of 30 and we have 60 pushups and situps today.
Also being Monday it is chest, tri’s and abs day. Perform 3 sets of 6 reps.

Groceries

First off- Day 9 of 30- today is 60 pushups/situps

OK, So yesterday around noon I came home and was followed from the front of my neighborhood to my house by the FedEx truck. I contemplated stopping and getting my package without having the driver go all the way to the end of the neighborhood. I thought better of the idea, I mean it would be pretty embarrassing if my package wasn’t the truck or if the driver had other deliveries, or I don’t know, the driver thought I was going to rob them.

With all that said I finally got home and got my package! It was my next months supply of supplements and vitamins. It was like Christmas!

 

Going along the lines of supplements, I want to also provide you with my grocery list for the upcoming week. On top of the supplements here are the items I eat on a daily basis. These items account for around 2000 calories and the only things not on the list are dinners. My wife does an amazing job with dinner and I just have whatever wonderful meal she makes.

Take the list and divide the amounts by 7 and you get what I eat in a day. There are other options and I can help you if you need some ideas. Here’s the list:

Calorie Intake and Black Bean Pizza

So  I promised everyone an update on how to adjust calories once you reach a goal weight.  The easiest way is to use an online calculator. I have found this one to be a good source.

I however have been monitoring my calories for the entire time I have been working on my program. So I was able to calculate my needs based on the previous week. Last week I lost 2.8 pounds. At 3500 calories per pound, I had a deficit of 9800 calories that week. This over the 7 day week, that means I need 1400 calories a day to sustain and stop losing weight.

If you are thinking wow, that’s a lot, you are right. However with the HIIT, and crossfit style workouts I have been doing, that makes sense. But nonetheless I had the same reaction. So how do you go from 2200 to 3600 calories a day? Take it slow, and monitor your weight.

On Sunday I only adding 300 calories to my day. This allowed me to eat a little more but not gorge myself. This morning I weighed myself. Today I did my first workout of the new program, and at 5 pm I had eaten 2200 calories and was still hungry. with 300 left, compared to yesterday, I knew 2500 was too low. I bumped my number to 2700. I will eat 2700 calories today and weigh myself tomorrow. I will continue to eat 2700 calories a day for the rest of the week, and I will weigh myself every morning. If over the course of this week I maintain my weight, I will stop increasing and eat 2700 a day. However if I lose weight I will add another 200 calories and continue the process.

The reason this is a better method than just looking at a calculator, or just adding the 1400 calories to my day, is because it allows for my new workout to burn a different amount than the last, and it helps me avoid eating way too much before my body is ready for the extra food.

 

So After getting my calories sorted out, I my pizza. Super healthy Black Bean and Salsa pizza! One slice is 183 calories. Have a glass of wine and two slices and you are looking at a 466 calorie meal, with tons of protein and even some veggies. Here is a step by step recipe for you to follow:

Place your pizza stone on the grill and turn on grill as high as possible. Let warm-up for an hour. My grill reached about 600 degrees.

First spread your dough over a pizza peel and pour 1 cup of salsa on the dough. Spread evenly.

Next take a cup of shredded mozzarella and spread it evenly over  the dough and salsa.

After adding the cheese, take a fully drained can of black beans and top the cheese with the beans. Thinly slice a single red pepper and spread the pepper over the beans.

Next chop 3 scallions into 1 inch segments and place on top.

The final step before baking is to take about 1/4 cup of mozzarella and create a top layer of cheese.

Place on the pizza stone inside the grill and bake for 6 minutes. Enjoy!