Posts
So a quick update to the job situation and now my addiction to email and communication. My new boss, who is my age and rocks and pretty much said do whatever you want, and I put together a list of all outstanding marketing related projects that were in the old marketing group's cue, including just verbal assignments we had been given by various other people. The list when we finished yesterday afternoon is now 71 items long and at least half of them are needing to be complete. YIKES!!! So on a day I should be working, am I? NOPE! Well maybe later, but not right now. :)
However, at 2am last night my newly updated blackberry went off. I had forgotten to put it on silent and still was on loud from driving. Did I just turn it off? Nope of course I check ed them email, and it was an email from our newly appointed, one of the original founders, CSO emailing to cancel a meeting and say we would verbally touch base later. It is official, I am hooked. I feel a bit of remorse saying that, but it is nice to see what is coming and if I realy do need to repond immediately..........but most people are looking for an immediate response. My hopes this week is to slowly wittle our list down, step away from the Blackberry (probably won't happen) and enjoy the fruits of my labor when finally appear.
Happy Weekend Everyone!
Saturday, March 29, 2008
Thursday, March 27, 2008
Wow been a while
So, sorry it has been a while since our last post, but between Trav and I we are not really around a whole lot. So to sum things up, we have been working a lot. I now have survived a 30 person layoff /corporate reorganization at my new company. It stinks because my friend who got me in here was laid off, but it is great because I get to decide how far and how fast I want to grow. I am now part of a two person marketing team, versus a 5 person team and because slowly I have learned that people who were let go were a very negative cog in a very quickly moving wheel. Yeah it is good thing to be positive in ones life. :) So wish me luck and lets hope I can go as fast as we need to be going. I am very very excited for what is to come.
Pam
Pam
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
Our new diet!
Hello everyone...
So as you probably know, Pam and I really try to stay healthy by eating well and exercising regularly. We've been able to maintain a pretty good lifestyle and body type/size for the past year or so and even though we've been able to eat mostly all the good stuff we enjoy. I've learned quite a bit about how the body processes different types of foods, when to eat, how often, and how much. We even got a scale to measure out serving sizes from time to time, to get a feel for how much we're actually shoving down that hole!
Bodybuilding.com has been a great source for all types of information. Whether it be workout routines, nutrition information, exercise techniques or just plain being inspired by what others are doing and have done, BB.com has been instrumental in helping us live this lifestyle.
Unfortunately, we're also the types of people that like to push the envelope. There are a lot of people on BB.com that have also pushed the envelope and seen great results. I'm not talking full on bodybuilders, just those that have trained hard, and then achieved a low body fat so that their hard work really shows through. For me, its an achievement that I just can't keep myself from trying to pursue, a low body fat.
In the past 7-8 weeks I've been trying to gain weight in muscle. As a result from lifting hard, and eating tons, I've gained 8 lbs. So I start my cut at 196 lbs. Based on body fat estimates I think that I am probably around 13-15%BF. I want to get to around 9%. If I can get this low, I think that my abs will show 100% of the time without flexing, which I think will be pretty sweet. Therefore, I need to cut 4-6% of my bodyweight, which equals roughly 12 lbs on the high end. This equals a final body weight of 184lbs.
Now, the whole idea is to lose that weight in fat, and NOT muscle! Apparently this is really hard to do. I found a diet through BB.com that talks about maintaining muscle during a cut. See the problem is, when people cut their calories, they are not longer feeding their muscles and body like they used to. If the calorie deficit is too extreme (as often is the case) the body will compensate by doing a few things. First it will slow down its metabolism, thus burning fewer calories in a day. Second, it may begin to convert muscle to usable energy (instead of fat!). This of course, is not good!
The idea behind "The Cut Diet" is supercharging the metabolism, while cycleing carbohydrates so that the body does not think its running out of energy and needs to start slowing down, or worse, breaking down muscle. I think this idea is pretty clever and involves more behind the scenes than the average person would know. Basically what you end up with eating is this:
6-7 small meals a day
2:30 between each meal
First 17-20 meals no starchy carbs
18th or 21st meal is a carb up meal where you eat only carbs/fat
The first thing this does is spread your meals out better. Most of us know that the old formula for losing weight is calories in, compared to calories out. There is more to this. For instance, if you eat a huge breakfast and get all your calories for the day there, you're not going to be happy. The problem is, as the body converts that breakfast to usable energy, there is too much energy to use at that moment. The body is smart, and knows this...suddenly, instead of just flushing this energy out of your system, it will store it as fat for later use. By spreading your meals out over the day, the body is fueled with a steady stream of glycogen and is less likely to be in excess, thus converting to fat.
Secondly, fibrous carbs come in the form of things like string beans, brussel sprouts, peas, broccoli, etc. All of these are essentially known as green vegetables. The great thing about these foods is that they take a lot of energy to break down, and in some cases, maybe more to digest that is used. This is good...these foods will make you feel full but not really supply the body with an instant stream of usable energy. Longer digestion means the body will stay fuller longer, and be supplying energy to the body more steadily than faster digested foods.
The other great thing about these fibrous carbs is that they reduce the bulge or size of entry through the digestive system. The book describes it as "bolus". What I got from it is by eating these first they sort of pave the way for everything behind it and a smaller bolus means, less chance of fat storage because the food moves through quicker and more efficiently...I'll have to read that section again.
Thirdly, the book suggests never mixing complex carbs with protein. For some reason this can create problems for your body and end up storing more fat. I have to revisit this section again to be able to explain why. I tend to speed forward to the main point and forget why. Anyways, so these meals are designed to be either protein/fat or carbs/fat. What is actually turns out to be is protein+fat+fibrous carbs or carbs+ fat.
Lastly, is the carb up meal. As the diet works out, for 3 days you're only feeding the body 50 or so grams of carbs a day. This really isn't that much at all. So at the end of 3 days the body really is going to be hurting for energy. In order to convince it that all is good and that it doesn't need to break down its muscles, you need to carb up, and restore your glycogen levels. This is done through a high carb meal right before bed. The carb up meal gives me 150 grams of carbs...which is a lot for one meal! You might be sitting there thinking...wait a sec, isn't all that going to just be converted to fat since you're sleeping?
The answer is no. After three days your body is hurting for carbs! Remember its energy stores are down and its beginning to think it needs to start eating itself for fuel! The carb up meal is metabolised fast, and quickly works at restoring energy. Its like skipping a meal...you're really hungry so what happens when you finally eat? You engulf everything down fast, and probably end up over eating! Point being, the body will burn through these carbs like its nothing and there is no thought of ever converting it to fat, it already knows it needs to send this energy out to the body for immediate use.
Often people who are carb cycleing experience their body heat rising directly after the carb meal because the body is engulfing these carbs. The carb up meals serves a purpose of replenishing stores so it doesn't get weak, but it also serves to kick start again and again the metabolism and get it burning hotter!
So that is basically what we're doing right now with our meals. If you'd like to follow my progress I have a thread going on BB.com showing what I eat and do and I think I will try and post progress pics there also. In addition, if you're ever looking for advice or insight in regards to anything exercise related, BB.com is a great resource. There is a wealth of knowledge on there and everyone from certified personal trainers, to MD, fitness competitors, etc.
http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?t=106321411 my cut progress.
www.thecutdiet.com Free E-book!
Catch you all later,
Travis
So as you probably know, Pam and I really try to stay healthy by eating well and exercising regularly. We've been able to maintain a pretty good lifestyle and body type/size for the past year or so and even though we've been able to eat mostly all the good stuff we enjoy. I've learned quite a bit about how the body processes different types of foods, when to eat, how often, and how much. We even got a scale to measure out serving sizes from time to time, to get a feel for how much we're actually shoving down that hole!
Bodybuilding.com has been a great source for all types of information. Whether it be workout routines, nutrition information, exercise techniques or just plain being inspired by what others are doing and have done, BB.com has been instrumental in helping us live this lifestyle.
Unfortunately, we're also the types of people that like to push the envelope. There are a lot of people on BB.com that have also pushed the envelope and seen great results. I'm not talking full on bodybuilders, just those that have trained hard, and then achieved a low body fat so that their hard work really shows through. For me, its an achievement that I just can't keep myself from trying to pursue, a low body fat.
In the past 7-8 weeks I've been trying to gain weight in muscle. As a result from lifting hard, and eating tons, I've gained 8 lbs. So I start my cut at 196 lbs. Based on body fat estimates I think that I am probably around 13-15%BF. I want to get to around 9%. If I can get this low, I think that my abs will show 100% of the time without flexing, which I think will be pretty sweet. Therefore, I need to cut 4-6% of my bodyweight, which equals roughly 12 lbs on the high end. This equals a final body weight of 184lbs.
Now, the whole idea is to lose that weight in fat, and NOT muscle! Apparently this is really hard to do. I found a diet through BB.com that talks about maintaining muscle during a cut. See the problem is, when people cut their calories, they are not longer feeding their muscles and body like they used to. If the calorie deficit is too extreme (as often is the case) the body will compensate by doing a few things. First it will slow down its metabolism, thus burning fewer calories in a day. Second, it may begin to convert muscle to usable energy (instead of fat!). This of course, is not good!
The idea behind "The Cut Diet" is supercharging the metabolism, while cycleing carbohydrates so that the body does not think its running out of energy and needs to start slowing down, or worse, breaking down muscle. I think this idea is pretty clever and involves more behind the scenes than the average person would know. Basically what you end up with eating is this:
6-7 small meals a day
2:30 between each meal
First 17-20 meals no starchy carbs
18th or 21st meal is a carb up meal where you eat only carbs/fat
The first thing this does is spread your meals out better. Most of us know that the old formula for losing weight is calories in, compared to calories out. There is more to this. For instance, if you eat a huge breakfast and get all your calories for the day there, you're not going to be happy. The problem is, as the body converts that breakfast to usable energy, there is too much energy to use at that moment. The body is smart, and knows this...suddenly, instead of just flushing this energy out of your system, it will store it as fat for later use. By spreading your meals out over the day, the body is fueled with a steady stream of glycogen and is less likely to be in excess, thus converting to fat.
Secondly, fibrous carbs come in the form of things like string beans, brussel sprouts, peas, broccoli, etc. All of these are essentially known as green vegetables. The great thing about these foods is that they take a lot of energy to break down, and in some cases, maybe more to digest that is used. This is good...these foods will make you feel full but not really supply the body with an instant stream of usable energy. Longer digestion means the body will stay fuller longer, and be supplying energy to the body more steadily than faster digested foods.
The other great thing about these fibrous carbs is that they reduce the bulge or size of entry through the digestive system. The book describes it as "bolus". What I got from it is by eating these first they sort of pave the way for everything behind it and a smaller bolus means, less chance of fat storage because the food moves through quicker and more efficiently...I'll have to read that section again.
Thirdly, the book suggests never mixing complex carbs with protein. For some reason this can create problems for your body and end up storing more fat. I have to revisit this section again to be able to explain why. I tend to speed forward to the main point and forget why. Anyways, so these meals are designed to be either protein/fat or carbs/fat. What is actually turns out to be is protein+fat+fibrous carbs or carbs+ fat.
Lastly, is the carb up meal. As the diet works out, for 3 days you're only feeding the body 50 or so grams of carbs a day. This really isn't that much at all. So at the end of 3 days the body really is going to be hurting for energy. In order to convince it that all is good and that it doesn't need to break down its muscles, you need to carb up, and restore your glycogen levels. This is done through a high carb meal right before bed. The carb up meal gives me 150 grams of carbs...which is a lot for one meal! You might be sitting there thinking...wait a sec, isn't all that going to just be converted to fat since you're sleeping?
The answer is no. After three days your body is hurting for carbs! Remember its energy stores are down and its beginning to think it needs to start eating itself for fuel! The carb up meal is metabolised fast, and quickly works at restoring energy. Its like skipping a meal...you're really hungry so what happens when you finally eat? You engulf everything down fast, and probably end up over eating! Point being, the body will burn through these carbs like its nothing and there is no thought of ever converting it to fat, it already knows it needs to send this energy out to the body for immediate use.
Often people who are carb cycleing experience their body heat rising directly after the carb meal because the body is engulfing these carbs. The carb up meals serves a purpose of replenishing stores so it doesn't get weak, but it also serves to kick start again and again the metabolism and get it burning hotter!
So that is basically what we're doing right now with our meals. If you'd like to follow my progress I have a thread going on BB.com showing what I eat and do and I think I will try and post progress pics there also. In addition, if you're ever looking for advice or insight in regards to anything exercise related, BB.com is a great resource. There is a wealth of knowledge on there and everyone from certified personal trainers, to MD, fitness competitors, etc.
http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?t=106321411 my cut progress.
www.thecutdiet.com Free E-book!
Catch you all later,
Travis
Monday, March 10, 2008
Nothing Exciting
Today is Monday, the first Monday after we have sprung forward and lost an hour of sleep. Trust me I think Trav and I really felt it. Our week hasn't been too exciting, just working a lot, both of us, I am getting ready to head to Dallas on Saturday for four nights. I will be missing St. Patrick's Day and all the festivities, which sounds like Travis is heading out with a mutual friend of ours, since her boyfriend will be in Chicago. Other than that, we have just been working out and we have really been working on getting our eating in check, too much fun food for a bit we noticed. :) Oh and we head to Miami to visit Travis' Aunt and Uncle and cousins. That will be a blast.
Back to work, :)
Pam
Back to work, :)
Pam
Sunday, March 2, 2008
One Old Couple
Happy March everyone! It has been a crazy past week, with my new job, Travis has been working late nights and well errands and having friends over, we are beat. Some good news though, I was oked to wear contacts, new ones that he refitted me for. However, hence the title of the post, I am officially old, as is Travis. When I was at the eye doctor on Saturday, he noticed that I squint a lot when I read things when I have my contacts in. After a few tests, boom you need reading glasses. YIKES!!! When did I turn old!!!!
To make me feel better though, Travis noticed he has got his first grey hair, well three to be exact. And we have pictures of them!!! So now Travis is wise and I am blind, sweet! Happy March from the old couple in Colorado. :)
To make me feel better though, Travis noticed he has got his first grey hair, well three to be exact. And we have pictures of them!!! So now Travis is wise and I am blind, sweet! Happy March from the old couple in Colorado. :)
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