Cut the B.S. and Get Fit!28 lbs LOSTso farJune 24, 2008 by Israel Lagares | 34 comments
Many people ask me “What’s a good workout routine?” and it’s hard to explain a lot of times, since everyone’s body types vary so much. What works for one, may not or will not work well for someone else, but what I’ve found through training myself and others, is best summarized in the next few pages.
There’s too much to explain in one sitting or a casual conversation, I may get a little technical but I will try to explain things as best as I can. What a good workout really is, though, is a complete lifestyle change.
If your goal is to lose fat, you’ll want to keep as much muscle mass as you can (if you’re male or female) because muscle is the best metabolism booster there is! This isn’t the 2 hour workout you can do for a week and you fit well into a new swimsuit … this is, a lifestyle change. This is getting rid of fast food, salads – please, lose the dressing, or go low-cal dressing (and not half the bottle), no more 4 hours of sleep and 10 pots of coffee loaded with sugar and creamer, and this change needs to last.
Want to pack on some muscle to bring out a 6 pack and some bigger arms? Start 6 months before you think you should start worrying about your summer body. Stop the weekly drinking, kiddo. Need to change your life too! Eat as much as you can, as cleanly as possible, 8-9 times a day! Fit 8-9 600 calorie meals a day, bust arse in the gym, and hit the treadmill in the morning to get some “endurance” (your girlfriend will thank you too!)
So, I said eat clean … and I don’t mean wash your plates before you eat. Cut the fat, your toast doesn’t need butter, sugar, and peanut butter, with an extra layer of jam! You don’t need to eat a big bowl of ice cream for your “casein protein” before bed. Get real, this is just a lie to yourself to make yourself feel better about that “12-grain whole wheat” toast your just ate. Beer, furthermore, does not count towards your daily carb intake.
What’s the big deal in morning cardio? Well, I talk about it a lot and the premise of it is this … first thing in the morning, your body is in a catabolic/anabolic state and your liver is completely drained of glucose (simple sugar, broken down carbs). Well, if you get some protein in you to help combat breaking down muscle during the workout for energy, your body will start to break down fat instead for energy - the whole point of walking/jogging/biking, whatever! The average gym bunny, though, gets tired after 15 minutes or so and says “Whoo! I’ma push myself” and goes to 20 minutes and calls it a day, showers, and goes home. The body, however, only started to break down fat in order to get energy. This is why I recommend a minimum of 30 minutes (if it’s higher intensity cardio), or 45 minutes to an hour if it’s low impact / low intensity (walk brisk pace, use incline, or a stationary bike).
Well, enough ranting. I’m pissed today and wanted to unleash.
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Master List of Unconventional Benefits of Weight Loss28 lbs LOSTso farJune 22, 2008 by Israel Lagares | 18 comments
This post was inspired by Dr. Kal’s previous post Decrease your Likelihood of Being Hit by a Meteor which I found through The Man Page’s The Manival 8th Edition. I thought it might be entertaining to ‘poke’ some fun at the seriousness of weight loss.
We all know at least one or many of the ‘”Conventional” benefits of weight loss:
- increased energy & stamina
- lower blood pressure
- increase metabolism
- reduce risk factors of heart disease, diabetes,etc
We are all aware of the numerous negative effects of obesity and living an unhealthy lifestyle have on the human body. The list is endless.
I think it’s safe to say that if you’ve done your homework, watched the news, read the newspaper, or have spent a blink of an eye’s amount of time on the internet, you’d come to the conclusion that weight loss is nothing but a BENEFIT.
So what about Unconventional Benefits?
: not conventional : not bound by or in accordance with convention : being out of the ordinary
The list was already started on the original post. Everything from avoiding that auspicious meteor, saving money on water, to being able to see your feet without bending over.
What are your thoughts on some unconventional benefits of weight loss? What benefits have you discovered along the path of becoming that Lean, Mean, Fighting Machine.
Israel has kindly agreed to add your comments and suggestions to the master list, bearing in mind that we all behave with our comments!
Without further ado, I would like to add the following:
Master List of Unconventional Benefits of Weight Loss
- you get to donate your old clothes to charity! ( a great tax deduction)
-certain body parts stop jiggling when you laugh or cough (or wave goodbye)
-get that tattoo you always wanted (since before you wouldn’t go without covering up)
9 updates added, thanks Tony, Richard, and Tom.
-Not be the last person to have someone sit next to you on the bus
-Be able to eat a dairy queen ice cream cone in public without being embarrassed
-You will no longer have the owner of a buffet restaurant stare at you with a sad look on their face.
- play with youur kids more
- easier to pick up new sports
- cheaper to travel
-use less fabric for your clothes therefore aiding in conservation of materials
-able to purchase or ride in a compact car
-only need 1 bleacher seat at sporting events
More Updates:
- not having to worry about ABC gum getting stuck to that part of your shirt when your belly protrudes beneath a table or desk that is too small.
- being able to sit in a booth in a restaurant and actually enjoy the meal
- from experience, much, much better sex. Yes, it does make a very big difference.
- not having to explain to your kid why he has to wear a seatbelt, but Daddy does not.
-no longer having to ask the cute petite girl at the department store if and when they will get that certain style shirt in 4XL.
-no longer having to ask the cute petite girl at the department store if they carry that style of pants with a 56 inch waist.
-no longer having to ask your wife - in front of the kids - to help you button your pants.
-no more Sumo wrestling with your socks - (think about it for a minute, and then try to get the image out of your mind)
-Improved self-esteem
-Increase confidence
-get that tattoo you always wanted”
-make the tattoo you got when you used to be skinny to look like it should again.
_______________
I look forward to seeing how long this list can get.
Carpe Diem
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My Three Word Memoir: Be About It28 lbs LOSTso farMay 17, 2008 by Israel Lagares | 8 comments
Be About It
It’s pretty simple. Be About It. Don’t talk about it. That’s my three word memoir if I had to have one right this second. So what’s the point of this? Well, Michael Kwan of Beyond the Rhetoric tagged me with his Six Word Memoir post. By tagging me he was essentially asking me to post my own six word memoir. The thing is that I didn’t need six words. All I needed was three.
The way I see it is that actions speak louder than words. Whether you are trying to get in shape or open a jar of peanut butter, actions will always trump words. I’ve learned that the hard way. Growing up in the ghetto streets of New York, I often had to take action even if I didn’t want to. Mouthing off usually led to physical confrontation. If I didn’t do what I said I was going to do, I would look like a fool, plus get my butt kicked. Lucky for me I wasn’t a trouble maker. It was often other guys that wanted to mess with me, but that changed once I got bigger.
I use the same principle of being a man of action for just about everything I do. Or at least I try. Making the decision to get in shape and, more importantly, taking action to achieve my goals requires me to “be about it.” Tons of people everyday say they will start a workout routine or a diet and end up quitting. Why? Because it’s easier to say you want to do something then to do it.
Accountability is Crucial
That could easily have been my three word memoir, but alas, I chose the prior. A simple trick I use to keep taking action is to just put things out there. Sort of like I did with this blog and my before pictures. I figured that if I put them out there for people to see that I would need to stick to the plan and get in shape so that I didn’t look like a fool when friends saw me. Accountability can be a very powerful tool when used correctly.
Starting this blog was a great way to hold myself accountable. I find that as long as I say I am going to do something, I usually do it. So in this case I am talking the talk AND walking the walk. There are times when I don’t need to say something before I do it, the fact that I know I will write about it if I do it is enough to fuel me.
Can you walk the walk? What fuels you to do things?
Passing the Memoir Torch
So now it’s time for me to “tag” some people for their very own Six Word Memoirs. I’ve decided to tag:
- John Is Fit - http://www.johnisfit.com
- JD or Mac - http://www.getfitslowly.com
- Jim - http://journalofhealthyliving.com
- Lazy Man - http://www.lazymanandhealth.com
- Weight Ladder - http://www.weightladder.com
The rules are pretty straight forward:
- Write your own six word memoir.
- Post it on your blog and include a visual illustration if you want.
- Link to the person who tagged you in your post.
- Tag at least five more blogs.
- Leave a comment on the tagged blogs with an invitation to play.
With that, I leave you. Peace out!
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Earth Day, What’s The Big Deal?28 lbs LOSTso farApril 22, 2008 by Israel Lagares | 10 comments
Today, April 22nd, is Earth Day. So I guess I should be saying happy earth day, right? Earth Day is supposed to inspire awareness and appreciation of Earth. Wow, an entire day just for the environment.
What’s The Big Deal?
One day out of the year we should all respect the Earth. We shouldn’t use plastic bags, or drink out of things that aren’t recyclable. We should take all of our aluminum cans back to the supermarkets and earn a little money. Yeah, that’s only one day. Earth day has become an excuse for companies and stores to pretend that they care about the environment. They send out millions of plastic bags per year, but one time per month they try to cut down. How nice of them to do that. I suppose it makes it okay for them to pollute and destroy the planet as long as they put up a green logo on their web sites and hold green events for the public on Earth Day.
Tons of different stores and companies have been making attempts to go green. Walmart, Vons/Safeway and Kroger have all made attempts to go green. By doing so they have offered free reusable bags to their customers. A buddy of mine picked up a free Vons bag for spending $50 today.
Keep in mind that plastic bags can take as long as 1,000 years to degrade. Yet a reusable shopping bag only costs about $1 to purchase. It’s been great to see these bags given free, now it’s time to use them!
How green are they really?
What is Earth Day?
Each year on April 22 Earth Day marks the anniversary of the birth of the modern environmental movement started in 1970. This day is an excuse to alert the world of pollution and environment issues. Does it work?
Possibly, for one day. Earth Day is like any other, one sided and short lived. If people really wanted to make a difference they would have Earth Day, Earth Month and Earth Year. As a matter of fact, forget that. We should just practice what we practice on Earth Day all year round, every single day. Save the country and the world.
So, I say again, what’s the big deal with Earth Day?
Earth Day: Do Your Part
Throughout this month there have been many attempts for people to “go green.” The green movement has finally caught a little bit of fire. There is no reason not to be green. Simple little things can be done to help save the Earth. Yahoo has a dedicated Go Green area on their site, check it out. Go clean up a beach or a park. Or maybe just make an effort to recycle every single day for the rest of your life, and teach your kids to do the same.
Lose Weight and Be Green
As I mentioned plastic bags are not very eco-friendly. Neither are plastic bottles. During my healthy weight loss journey I’ve consumed tons of water, all in my reusable water bottle. I convinced a buddy to purchase a reusable water bottle as well. Instead of using plastic bottles and throwing them away, he’s started using the reusable bottle. With filtered water, the bottle comes perfectly equipped as being eco-friendly. You can also make an effort to walk or ride a bike to where you need to go. That would help cut down on the pollution from cars. You could even use public transportation or carpool to work.
What are you doing to help make the environment, and yourself, healthy?
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Fiji Bottled Water Rap28 lbs LOSTso farMarch 30, 2008 by Israel Lagares | 4 comments
A few weeks ago I finally tasted Fiji Water for the first time. It did not blow me away to say the least. I was bored after recording the video blog and decided to let loose. The following video is a result of that. RSS readers click here for the video.
Disclaimer: This video is simply a comical sketch. No Fiji Water or Fiji Water Employees were harmed in the making of it or will be harmed after the making of it.
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Appealing to the Women with Divine Caroline28 lbs LOSTso farMarch 19, 2008 by Israel Lagares | One comment
I came across Divine Caroline a while back. I have always felt it was a great source of information for health, fitness, and everyday life. But the one thing that sort of turned me off was that it was primarily set up to appeal to women. Now there is nothing wrong with that. Not at all. The people I love most in this world are women: my daughter, my mom, my wife, and my grandma. I’m pro-woman. At that time I was just setting up this site and didn’t feel it was what I was looking for as a constant source to assist me in my goals.
That all ends NOW! As of right now Fat Man Unleashed is invading Divine Caroline with his own brand of kick your butt, funny, engaging health writing. I have my own Divine Caroline author page that I plan to populate with some of my best stuff. I think it’s time they saw some more guy stuff over there, not that the guys over there aren’t doing enough. I just feel like I can bring something else to the table for them as far as expanding their male audience.
I also plan on using them to expand the female audience here at Fat Man Unleashed. I want to break out of the male dominated audience mold and get some new female readers. Maybe it’s predominantly male because I’m a man’s man. Or so I think. Oh well. Who cares.
Here’s their “official” blurb. I will give you my take on it after.
Share some words. Find an answer. Add your twist.
There’s a new place where real voices rule. Where people can write and publish stories about anything that matters to them. It’s called DivineCaroline and it’s full of words and wisdom just the way you like them – dripping with honesty. What do we talk about? That’s up to you. One channel we think you’ll appreciate is Body & Soul where we’re taking on prevention, emotional well-being, sexy health and much more.
There are 8 other channels too – covering everything from Career & Money to Travel. You can submit a story if you want or just see what everyone else has to say. So when you get a minute, please come and explore our stories, reviews and forums. Everyone’s welcome to browse and read and when you’re ready to participate, it’ll take just a few seconds to register. Yes, it’s free! Hope to see you soon at DivineCaroline.com.
In other words, just head over to Divine Caroline and explore all of the great resources they have set up. They have just about everything for everyone. And with me contributing now, you’re definitely not going to be dissappointed.
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Help Spread the Health, Health Ranker Update28 lbs LOSTso farMarch 11, 2008 by Israel Lagares | 16 comments
I just wanted to give an update on some of the latest happenings at Health Ranker, the social media/news health site I launched a few weeks back. Most of you may or may not know, but Health Ranker is not the first social media health news site, but it is shaping out to the best. I bet that you haven’t heard of any of the others. That’s because they SUCK! There aren’t many health news dedicated social media news and voting sites. So to be honest, I think Health Ranker is in a league of it’s own. Don’t get me wrong, it has a long way to go. But the amount of traffic, users, and all around positive feedback has been very encouraging to say the least. Thanks to those that have visited, used, submitted and written about the site. Although, I’m not going to lie, I’m a little disappointed with some folks that haven’t shown any love. I’m hoping they come around soon.
Aside from setting up partnerships with health related sites, I have been working on developing the site into not only a health bloggers resource, but a mainstream health news site as well. Speaking of which, if you are interested in setting up a partnership or cross promotion, or any thing for that matter, just shoot me an email using the contact form with your ideas and proposals. You will find that I am pretty much open to anything, so don’t hesitate to contact me. I have some ideas in the works for the site, but will most likely save those for another post. It’s too early to implement them anyway. I get ideas for my blog posts from the site, no more worrying about what to write about for me. 
There are some cool tools in place to help spread the health news love. Some include adding a Rank it! button to your site, adding a Health Ranker Widget to Your Site (displaying the top 5 health news submissions), and inviting friends. I made sure to make the Rank it! button slimmer and less intrusive than it’s original version. The top 5 widget is simply amazing! Once you place the code on your site, it uses the CSS of your site and fits right into place. You can see some examples using the link above, or just take a look to your right. I am using the widget code and didn’t need to modify anything. The friend invite tool is pretty cool too. It let’s you import your contacts and send them an invite to the site. And no, it doesn’t store any data or emails. It uses a temporary solution to send out the email invites, then erases it’s memory (so to speak).
There have also been some social blog plugins that Health Ranker has been added to: Sociable Plugin by Joost de Valk and Socialmarker. I have been trying to get added to some other popular social bookmarking tools and will update you as it happens. Maybe with the help of some of you great readers, we can get added to even more tools. I won’t sit here and pretend to know all of the tools that exist, so if you know of any, please do let me know. Better yet, ask the specific tool developer to add Health Ranker to it.
I made this awesome banner with this awesome slogan, “Putting a Band-aid on Social Media.” What do you think? Some other slogans I plan on using include: “Help Spread the Health,” “Social Media Just Got Healthy,” and “No Health, No Glory!”
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My Affiliate Summit West 2008 Weightloss Trek: Day 128 lbs LOSTso farFebruary 25, 2008 by Israel Lagares | 18 comments
I got in to Las Vegas on Saturday afternoon and was extremely tired. I checked into my hotel and just ate some dinner before getting ready for Sunday’s Affiliate Summit. I went to bed early, had jet lag, on Saturday night.
Sunday morning was an adventure. I had to find a way to get to the Affiliate Summit at the Rio All-Suite Resort and Casino, which is about 2 miles from the hotel I am staying at. Being the warrior that I am, I wanted to walk the 2 miles, but it proved to be too much: I had a 15 lbs back pack on. What I did was take a shuttle halfway there, then trekked the rest of the way. It turned out to be a pretty good workout.
It wasn’t that bad a walk, I got there in about 15 minutes. Here are some shots of Vegas as I walked to the Rio:
Bally’s Las Vegas
Ceasar’s Palace: This place was huge, it looks like it spanned 5 square blocks.
A Poster of Toni Braxton on the side of the Flamingo Hotel
The Rio All-Suite Resort and Casino: home of he Affiliate Summit West 2008
After registration, I walked around until the Meet Market opened up. The Meet Market was a cool place to meet some affiliate managers for many of the programs that are available online. It was a cool place to meet new people. I met Zac Johnson for the first time, he was pretty cool. I also got a shoot with one of the Beauty and the Geek girls from a couple of seasons go.
Beauty and Geek model and I
Later that night I attended the Share A Sale Under the Stars Party at the Palms. It was an awesome venue and proved to be an awesome networking party. I didn’t have any drinks, I just had a few bottles of water. Here I finally got to meet of the folks that I read and see online. Some of them were:
Ian Fernando, Joe Tech, Roger, John Chow, and Mark of 45n5.
Here are some of the pictures from the party:
Finally met Zac Johnson, Super Affiliate
Ian Fernando, cool guy
John Chow, a normal geeky, cool dude
The infamous John Chow, trying to force feed me ice cream
Joe from Joe Tech, that goatee is super long
Joe, Mark and I
Monday morning has been great so far, I met Jim Kukral and Tristram Hussey. I am in the Press Bloghaus and then am heading over to the Un-Keynote. I am looking forward to the rest of the day. I plan on walking around and networking some more. What’s better than a workout and meeting new people?
Jim Kukral, cool guy
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A Healthy Social Media Site: HealthRanker.com28 lbs LOSTso farFebruary 18, 2008 by Israel Lagares | 24 comments
Having been health blogging for about 9 months now, I noticed that were was a huge void in the health news sector. Despite the multitude of social media news and voting sites available, there was not one dedicated to the health niche. I have become increasingly frustrated with the current “big dogs” in social media news sites, so I set upon making my own.
Enter HealthRanker.com. Health Ranker is a social media news and voting site that is dedicated to all things health. It silently launched a day ago and is already receiving positive feedback. The membership is increasing each day and so is the usage. You can sign up and submit health news in the various categories. You can also place our Rank it! button on your web site for others to Rank your health news.
So if you are into health news, information and education, head on over and become a part of something fresh and new. Still in beta, there are some minor bugs but the site is fully functional. I would love for some more beta users so that we can tweak the system. Feedback and suggestions are always welcome.
It’s rare when we actually have the chance to be a part of something like this in the early stages, but I am extending the invitation to you now. See ya there, feel free to add me as a friend.
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Are You a Real Man? If so, read Trend Spike28 lbs LOSTso farFebruary 17, 2008 by Fat Kid | 6 comments
Trend Spike is a new blog that recently launched which is targeted towards men and only men (unless you ladies want to get to know your men better). It is multi-topic and focuses on the 3 things men love the most: sex, sports, and technology (in no particular order ).
The man behind this testosterone-filled blog is Jason, your average 25 year old Texan. He reveals he is looking to change his career recently and he might become a fireman, but for now he’s searching for online success and says blogging and marketing is his new hobby, even an addiction. And no ladies, he’s married, so you missed out there.
Although Trend Spike is a fairly new blog, it is off to a pretty good start. The front page is filled with great content for you to check out. The site also has a really cool logo which is nice and caught me and made me interested in learning more about the blog. The following are a few posts that we here at FMU thought you, the readers might like.
At first I thought, “Wait! Aren’t you supposed to dress to impress?” Apparently not. In this article, Jason explains how to properly undress yourself and your partner in order to ‘impress’ her. Pretty simple, but I guess if you want to gain that extra edge and make your lady happy, you need to know these things so you don’t act too eager or nervous.
14 Reasons Why Being Single On Valentine’s Day Shouldn’t Get You Down
I don’t know about you, but being single on big, bad Valentine’s Day always manages to get me a little unhappy. However, Jason manages to cheer me up a little by offering me a few of the perks of being single. I especially found numbers 7 and 14 useful :-).
A World Full of Hercules’, DJ Qualls, and Fat Bastards
If you have been living under a rock the past 10 or so years, this title might confuse you. Basically the world is full of muscular, skinny, and Israels :-). This article however, isn’t there to make fun of you for being a stereotypical overweight or underweight male, it is a great resource for discovering which body type you are and how to properly correct your mistakes in order to change your physique for the better through diet, fitness, etc.
5 Supplements Closer to Becoming the Alpha Male
This article’s title is a little misleading. While it does discuss supplements and how to utilize them for proper muscle growth, it also talks about how to properly eat and what you need (other than pills and powders) in order to get pumped, lose weight, and become overall healthy.
Like I said before, Trend Spike is off to a great start in the blogosphere and FMU will keep a close eye on them. Overall, it’s looking to be a good resource for all males of all body types and we hope you’ll check them out and subscribe to the RSS feed to stay up to date.
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7 Reasons You’re Fat and Why You’ll Probably Stay Fat28 lbs LOSTso farFebruary 10, 2008 by Fat Kid | 68 comments
We fat people are a minority. We are looked upon as different. Kids look at us differently. Adults look at us differently. Its a sad fact that people are judged on their appearance in today’s modern society, even after all the talks of “it’s what’s on the inside that counts.” Today I’m going to give you seven good reasons why you’re fat and why you’ll probably stay fat.
- You’re Lazy. Plain and simple. The thought of exercising just makes you want another 200 calorie soda.
- Your job rules your life. Whether you’re a full-time mom or a business executive, you probably don’t have time to eat healthy.
- You have too much free time to spend eating. If you did more things rather than watch TV or sit at the computer chatting on facebook, maybe you could lose weight
- You work from home and have a house full of goodies. The temptation is all around you. Doritos in the cabinet, cookies in the jar, ice cream in the freezer. Forget salad!
- You eat anger/depression away. You can’t help but hate the world, your job, your car, your kids, your friends, your boyfriend/girlfriend/spouse. Why not have another Oreo?
- Your friends are fat and they drag you down. They eat out a lot, they snack, they order pizza/chinese and invite you over. It’s inevitable to happen.
- You just don’t care about calories, fat content, carbs, you eat what you want because you only get one life to live.
How do we correct these issues?
There’s no simple way to stop a horrible habit. Fact is, you make goals and never follow through. It’s a bad character flaw and we have it and hate ourselves for it. I don’t expect you to change your life style in order to be thin and conform. If you’re happy with who you are, stay that way and don’t let anyone pull you down.
Take your problem one step at a time, attempt to eliminate the things that are causing you to be overweight and unhappy. Like I said, don’t become a vegetarian or vow to never eat chocolate again, just think little. Moderate how you intake these fatty (yet delicious) foods, slowly adjust your body to different and better eating habits. Change your thinking, control your mind, and it’ll change your body.
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