Going vegetarian 🌱

A few posts ago I wrote about my wife going on a no meat kick, I proceeded to list a few veggies that are great sources of protein. She still does not eat meat and well after asking me to join her, I finally caved and dropped meat from my diet on November 11, 2019 I joined what seems to be a vegetation cult (L.O.L.) and my experience has been so far amazing I feel like I have more energy I have noticed I don’t get that sluggish feeling anymore. You might be wondering about thanksgiving day and trust me I struggled so much on that day for the simple fact that all year I look forward to having a huge plate of food which includes turkey and ham. Don’t get me wrong I still stuffed my face like it was my last meal but the menu did not include turkey or ham and honestly even though my mind and soul were ugly crying in their absence my stomach did not miss them. The amount of days I was able to stick with this vegetarian diet was 35 consecutive days, on the 36th I caved and had a turkey leg. I do not see this as a failure because I just picked up where I left off with this vegetarian lifestyle and started my count once again.

At this point you might be questioning as to why I decided to join my wife in this lifestyle and well here are some of the reasons:

1. Reduce the possibility of diseases- such as heart disease, type 2 diabetes and cancer.

2. Weight loss- the amount of fat that is put into our bodies is reduced therefore burning body fat.

3. You cut out the added antibiotics or hormones that are added to the animal’s diet.

4. Reduce the possibility of chronic illnesses

There are some cons to cutting out meat from your diet and they include:

1. Not getting enough nutrients

2. Not getting enough vitamins such as B12

3. Not getting enough calcium

These cons can be fixed by taking supplements or finding the right grains and vegetables to eat.

Now I cannot say that I am truly sold on this vegetarian lifestyle but I do make it a goal to finish out each day without consuming any meat some days will be harder than others but I am determined

who knows maybe one day I could possibly go full vegan

It’s the small wins that get me motivated to continue but only if I take it day by day.

Personal Good day checklist

If you are like me I you strive to have a good day everyday, instead we start our day with the dreaded to do list that hold us back from truly doing what we want to on our days off. Unlike my everyday checklists this checklist is made to help improve my day and allow me to get a short break from everyday chores and keep me healthy.

Checklist:

  • Creativity-
    • I enjoy doodling or painting, basically anything that involve the creation of something from a creative standpoint
  • Exercise
    • One of my favorites forms of relaxation is exercise
  • Relaxation-
    • Aside from exercise one of my two favorite forms of relaxation are reading and play video games
  • Sunlight –
    • I try to make sure I get some type of exposure to sunlight it makes my mood throughout the day more pleasant
      • I take my puppy to the dog park or even just for a walk
      • Summer time is when I get the most sunlight making it my favorite season because I spend so much time outside my mood is always a pleasant and happy one.
      • Winter, even though there is not much visible sunlight during the winter, outside exposure seems to help improve my mood.
  • Hydration-
    • HYDRATE!! The normal amount of water a person is supposed to drink per day is (1 oz water per 1 lbs) I weigh 230 lbs so I must drink 230oz one gallon of water is equal to 128 oz, but let’s face it I’m not going to drink almost two gallons of water everyday but I do make it a goal to drink one gallon per day

It’s almost 2020 but there is still time to work hard

With only 23 days left of the year I find it very helpful to recap the goals you have accomplished this year. I believe that a win comes from meeting goals and being able to cross them off, even if it seems like it’s a small goal. The way I see it, a house is built brick by brick until you have a finished structure, creating a better lifestyle with more desirable habits is very similar to that because it is done step by step. I know you might be thinking well I only met one of my big goals this year, it was not very successful but you have to also look at the small things you accomplished. Maybe you found a better job or lost 5 lbs this year every little step counts. I take this goal recap as a time to reflect on what I have accomplished and also to see what more I would like to accomplish in these next 23 days which trust me is more than enough time to still work hard and meet a goal.

As you decide what goals you would like to accomplish by the end of the year make sure to document it

1. Write down your goals

2. Make monthly goals that way you feel like you’re making progress

3. Cross them off as you go

4. Take pictures when you accomplish one in order to track progress

5. Have fun it’s your own list and only base it off of what you want to do not what you think others expect of you. monthly goals that way you feel like you’re making progress

The struggles are real: Nightshift (Repost)

For this week I have decided to repost something from last November, Why? Well because just like taking care of ourselves emotionally and intellectually I strongly believe that we should be taking care of our body and having a schedule that is somewhat consistent is something that helps with keeping healthy. Based on my experience having a schedule that doesn’t change very much has helped me with managing stress.

Having a nine to five job and trying to stay healthy can be difficult trust me I say this based on my past experience. When I was between the ages of 20-22 I had an office job and yes I do understand that it can be draining because even though you are not very physically active, stress and a busy day schedule can lead to making not very good food choices. I do understand that at the end of the day all you want to do is go home relax and forget about work for a few hours before you have to get up and it all over again the next day. I look back to those days when I weighed 350lbs and to be honest I am embarrassed at the fact that I had all of this free time before and after work and I still refused to make any healthy choices. I would wake up at 7 in the morning and get ready for work without eating breakfast at home but I wouldn’t completely skip breakfast because on the way to the office I would stop and get myself a monster with a muffin every morning. If I would’ve made a better healthier breakfast at home I would not have gained so much weight and my other meal choices were not any healthier. I realize now that if I would have actually sat down and made a schedule for myself that included healthier food choices and waking up earlier to get at least 30 minutes of working out, my life would have been better. The crazy thing was that the time that I decided to make these changes in my life was when I started a different job where I had less free time in my day. I realized that the only way that I was going to start feeling better about myself was by making a lifestyle and yes it was hard at first because I was not very educated in this health and fitness world but all it took was doing some research to get started. Today I still am learning everyday obviously it is not the same as when I started because my endurance, strength and most importantly my goals have changed, now I feel like my situation is what most people would call odd because I work 12 hour night shifts and well the way I see it my day is backwards and it is does take a bit of work to get it right but it is possible to reach your fitness goals and still hold a job Night or Day.

Here are some tips that I use on how to make it so that you don’t overeat while working night shift or any shift:

1. Make sure your first meal is at a scheduled time for example on my days of work I eat my first meal 5:30pm make sure that is is filling and healthy

2. Make sure you carry a snack with you or make sure it is easily accessible during your shift for whenever you start feeling a bit of hunger. I like carrying around a granola bar from hidden valley it is 180 calories per pack I love them.

3. Make sure that you eat your second meal at the same time everyday or at least within the hour (I like my lunch between 1:30 am and 2:30 am) that way you get your body used to the idea that there will be food coming at a specific time and trust me it is easier to control hunger once you get in a routine.

4. If you are still hungry and don’t go over your calories you can have a snack 11/2 to 2 hours before you shift ends and not right before you go to bed let it settle a bit. I have got to the point to where I just consume the majority of my calories with my meals so they are pretty big but they are healthy choices.

I get seven hours of sleep everyday and I am able to make it to the gym for one hour

• Wake up 3pm

• Brush teeth and do my morning stuff 3-3:30pm

• Meditate and take pre-workout 3:30pm-3:45pm

• Gym 3:45pm-5pm

• Eat 5:30pm

• Get ready and leave for work 6pm

So all it takes is some scheduling and you too are able to achieve your health goals.

At first it seemed like a burden but once I got used to it this became something I did without putting too much thought into it.

Room for improvement

Self improvement, comes in many forms such as art, exercise, traveling but in my personal opinion it starts in the form of words whether it is books, articles or captions on social media it is just up to us to find what subject or activities spark our interest. For this post I would like to share some books that I have personally have enjoyed.

Here is the list of my top 5 books:

1.How to Win Friends and Influence People

Book by Dale Carnegie

2.You Are a Badass: How to Stop Doubting You

Greatness and Start Living an Awesome Life

Book by Jen Sincero

3.You Can Heal Your Life

Book by Louise Hay

4. Striking Thoughts

Book by Bruce Lee

5. Six great dialogues

Book by Plato

I chose these books as my top 5 because I feel like they have helped me find a better understanding of myself. Yes, two of these Books deal with philosophy but I feel like these help me improve as a person as well, they give me a different perspective of life based on ideas that other people throughout history have had. It was difficult to chose just five books because I have read so many that are great and would recommend to everyone, but I feel like these books have really made an impact on the way I see myself.

Bigger, better, more

Hello everybody and welcome back to my blog. I have been gone for a few weeks not because I didn’t want to post but because I have been working on expanding my topics. After a few weeks of self reflection and much thought into this I have decided to change up the content on this page from health and wellness to self improvement. I will still be posting workout tips and recipes and more on fitness and dieting, which in itself is a form of self improvement. Any tips that I post will be something that I have personally tried, of course with some added research.

Here are some of the topics I will be posting about:

1. Health and wellness tips that work for me

2. Self improvement book, that I would recommend

3. My stress management techniques

4. Journaling

5. What keeps me motivated

And many more great topics that I really enjoy learning about, these topics because it helps me learn a bit more about myself and find more things that challenge me.

I will be moving my post days back to Fridays so make sure to check in for more great content.

SHAKE IT UP

I’m not much for meal replacement shakes but in my journey to weight loss I have tried them and like I said I am not a big fan but I have stumbled across some pretty delicious shake recipes, that I still enjoy. When it comes to shakes my advice is to replace a snack instead of a meal because in my experience with shakes, hunger was always around and it felt like I was starving myself even though I was meeting my calories for the day.

Here are some great recipes for shakes that not only taste great but will help give you a boost of energy.
Cacao protein shake 
one scoop of whey protein the one that I use is the optimum nutrition chocolate flavor
one medium banana 
one table spoon of chia seeds 
5 grams of organic cacao powder 
and 1 tablespoon of instant coffee I use nescafe you can use the one that is your favorite
add desired amount of water 
Throw all ingredients into the blender and enjoy 
the calories in this delicious drink is 308
vanilla coffee shake 
1 medium banana 
1 tablespoon of coffee 1/2 cup of almond milk
vanilla protein powder 
throw all ingredients into a blender and enjoy
the calories in this drink is 240
Green smoothie 
one scoop of vanilla protein powder 
1/2 of a large cucumber 
1 cup of spinach 
and 1/2 of a medium avocado
add desired water and blend together and enjoy
the calories in this drink is 321
green veggie drink
1 1/2 table spoon of chia seeds
1 large cucumber
1/2 cup of spinach
1/3 cup of strawberries 
add desired water blend and enjoy 
calories in this drink are 311
this drink is not for everyone it is kind of sour but I like sour my wife does not think it is very good she actuall thinks it is gross
berry shake 
1 cup coconut milk unsweetened
1 tablespoon of chia seeds
1/3 cup of blue berries 
1/2 cup of strawberries
Blend and enjoy
the calories in this drink are 142 

Meditate on this

By: Alejandro R.

Do you practice meditation? I haven’t always, let me tell you about my experience with meditation. When I was told about meditation I though it was a religious act like praying, I was wrong my lack of knowledge kept me from even trying it. As time passed my curiosity towards meditation began to grow, the more I heard people tell me about it the more intrigued I became. I did my research and I learned that meditation was not a religious act but a method used to relieve stress and how effective it is in the society we live in. A society filled with sensory over-stimulation that comes with the use of phones, watching television and our everyday busy schedules. When I decided to give it a try it was a bit difficult because I was not able to clear my mind, there was too much going on up there. I tried videos, music and a few podcasts but nothing helped I thought that meditation was not for me. I did not give up on it instead I continued to do more research and I found some information that stated that I should let all of my thoughts flow. The key was to let myself engage in the thinking process but not to judge the thoughts that were flowing through my mind. The way that I saw it was that it was a type of purge and that I was letting all of my negative thoughts out. I started to feel a difference in my energy level and in my thought process, through out the day I felt amazing. With the success I was having in the way that I meditated I felt like I had it all figured out, that is until I sat down with my sister-in-law and had a “conversation.” (More like an argument) Her claim was that the correct way to meditate was to completely clear your mind, of course I told her that it was impossible to and argued that we have to allow all of our thoughts to flow. This conversation made me question my methods, so I did some more research and I found out that she was right! And so was I, at this point I realized that I had just began to scratch the surface of meditation and that I knew nothing about the subject. It turns out that there are different types of meditation and that the one that a person does totally depends on them and what methods work for them. Meditation is in my opinion an amazing way to not only get rid of stress, but a way to get to know yourself, and a way to get closer to nature and yes I know that it makes me sound like a hippie, but it is true. I have tried a few different types of meditation other than letting my thoughts flow, I have tried a method where I focus on sounds of nature and my surrounding which is why I said that it helps you get closer to nature.

Here are some types of meditation that I have tried:

1. Letting yourself engage in the thought process- this allows me to watch myself engage in the process. I just let my thoughts flow without judging myself for having any types of thoughts.

2. Focusing on the sounds of nature-this allows me to forget about anything and everything that might be going on in my life and return to basics, this allows me to attack any issue with an open and fresh mind.

3. Picturing myself in a calm place-in other words go to my happy place, this allows me to escape my current reality and recharge. This method always has me feeling fully energized and ready to tackle any issue with a clear mind (this one is my personal favorite.)

There are so many types that I have yet to try but as I continue to create a meditation routine I plan on exploring other methods.

I think that everyone should meditate and yes I do understand that we all live very busy lives but all I takes is 5 minutes and trust me the difference will be felt immediately. I encourage you to do your research and find the method that works best for you.

Please enjoy the step by step list I have created for you it is simple and it takes 5-10 minutes the length is completely up to you. The method I share with you is the mental imagery method in other words, the one where you picture yourself in a calm place.

Meditation for beginners:

1. Find a comfortable place to sit I recommend a chair or you can sit on the floor (make sure you are not too comfortable so that you don’t fall asleep)

2. Set a timer for the desired amount of time you wish to meditate (I recommend 5 minutes to start with)

3. Close your eyes and picture yourself on a quiet mountain top on a warm day, feel the breeze softly hit your cheek, let the sound of it soothe you as you stare into the horizon now let your imagination start filling in the surroundings allow yourself to hear the birds chirping or the sound of the rushing water of a nearby river. Enjoy the scenery use this time to recharge and clear your mind.

Please leave me your feedback on here and on my instagram page @blankstare_blog all comments are appreciated.

Refreshing AF!

Now that summer has fully hit us i would like to touch a bit on the subject of refreshing low calorie treats I have found a few products out there that can help beat the heat low cal style.

If you are into ice cream but don’t want all of the calories that come with it, you can always have something that is not made with dairy and made with either cashew, coconut or almond milk

My favorite type is halo top which which is made with coconut milk and only has between 280 and 380 calories per pint, that’s right PINT when I first heard of this it sounded too good to be true so I decided to give it a try. I went for the chocolate flavor because well chocolate is the king of sweets and to my surprise it was amazing I tasted similar to regular chocolate ice cream and the best part was that it only contained 320 calories this is a product that I would recommend to anyone that has a sweet tooth but also wants to lose weight.

Another great dessert that is low in calories and are delicious are the outshine fruit bars these only have 60 calories per bar making them a great snack for a hot summer day my favorite flavor is strawberry although the mango and lime ones are amazing as well the these do contain about 14 grams of sugar but I would still recommend them.

Both products can be found in any grocery store near you.

The Struggles are Real: Weight loss

This week I have decided to once again share my weight loss story and the obstacles that I’ve had to overcome. Just as a reminder to myself of why I started in the first place because there are days that I cannot summon the motivation to get out and get to the gym.

There are so many social media pages where people share their weight loss stories, myself being included. The content of these pages are only before and after pictures and recipes used or workouts they do to continue their fitness story. The type of content that seems to be missing is the kind that talks about or depicts all of the struggles that comes with the journey. Whether it is with self, family and friends and in your professional life as well. I mean with all of the offers of doing good at work in exchange for a pizza party (like what are we, five?) ha ha, just kidding. Let us begin with the obstacles that we put on ourselves, for example, my biggest reason to not put in hard work was the excuses of being too “busy” or too “tired.” Once I came to the realization that these ideas were just excuses to justify the unhealthy lifestyle I was living, it became easier to start pushing myself to get moving and eating healthy. These are reasons that I see the most with people in my life, with my parents, siblings, in-laws and some co-workers. What people do not realize, and is something I learned along the way, is that working out and eating healthier makes us feel more energized and increases our desire to be more productive. Another type of mindset that holds us back is the idea that the working out can become repetitive or even monotonous. I have found that if a workout has become boring it just means that the intensity needs to be increased, in other words, it is a sign that we need to push ourselves harder. The beauty of working on our fitness is that it should be a never ending journey of growth and learning, this advice also applies to life. I am not saying that I know everything about fitness and living healthy, I mean come on there are days that when I am researching new meal prep recipes or creating a new workout plan as I am enjoying the fluffy carbs and sugars that come in the form of a donut or two. I just do not let those type of days hold me back I just keep pushing forward learning, working, planing and bettering myself.

Another obstacle that I have to overcome has been my family and friends. Now this one is a tough one because it is disrespectful to turn down food that is offered, especially in my culture. (I am Hispanic by the way) At first I felt horrible because at my in-laws’ my mother in-law would a cook an amazingly delicious meal. You know, the beans, rice, and either beef or chicken with sauce that was made from scratch, sometimes she would even have home made flour tortillas and OH BOY! Was that hard to resist. Then there was my mother’s house she would make some delicious stew with beans, bacon and strips of beef, of course everything is fried before it comes together in a warm stew, that I am pretty sure can only be taught to make by angels, ok I might be exaggerating a bit but still it is amazing. As everyone feasted on what can only be described as Hispanic cuisine glory, I would have to stick to my healthy meals that were made of veggies and low sodium chicken. When I say low sodium I mean pretty much tasteless, of course now I have grown to like my meals with no sugar, sodium, oils or pretty much anything that made food delicious but also unhealthy. Both my mother and mother in-law thought I was sick all of the time because I had stopped eating everything that they knew I liked. To this day they still wonder if I am able to eat what they made which of course the answer is duh! They still always ask because they don’t know if I am on what seems to them a “crazy” diet. One thing that I find funny is that when my family comes to visit they first tell each other that they should get something good to eat because at my place there is only healthy food that they don’t like. The best way to handle your family is by informing them that you want to live healthier and hopefully they understand. In my case they didn’t, so I just had to keep pushing myself hoping for the best, hopefully I have inspired at least one of them to make healthier decisions and to be more active.

Finally work the aspect of my life with the least importance and the easiest obstacles to overcome, well at least for me. The reason this was the easiest is because if they have food at work I make sure to moderate myself or I just politely say no thank you and go to where my five senses are not being drawn to the food. Working on your fitness and having a social life can be possible everything just needs to be with moderation. Currently I am down 120lbs from 350lbs to 230lbs and still working on my fitness. I know that this is a lifestyle and it makes me feel good in all aspects of life so I will continue to work on myself.

If you take anything from this today I hope it is this; the first step to bettering yourself starts with you! Get out of your head and get to working on yourself. I promise you will feel amazing and of course you do not have to start of working out and dieting like professional athletes. Just get moving, figure out what your body can do, find YOUR limits and push them it will improve not only your health but every aspect of your life.

Get up and get moving checklist:

1. Get out of your head just get moving

2. Ignore what others have to say about you even if it comes from your family and friends.

3. Have fun, find things you enjoy doing. (for example I found Jiu-jitsu but that is a topic for another day.)

4. If you go to the gym remember everyone is wondering if what they are doing is right! And DO NOT compare your progress to the progress of others.

And make sure to look me up on instagram and follow so that you may join me in my journey. @alejandro.gets.fit

Gut feeling (kombucha)

Kombucha….. pretty nasty stuff I would have to say, but just like it is nasty it has its health benefits.

(Kom-boo-chuh) no it’s not koombaya this is beverage is a made of either green or black green tea which is fermented with bacteria and yeast, known as SCOBY the tea becomes carbonated as it ferments making it a fizzy drink

So my wife has been on a new kick about this drink and she claims that they are delicious and that the flavor makes a big difference but I swear they all taste like vinegar well, at least to me they do.

I know that there is a large amount of people that love the stuff and drink it casually and my question for them is as follows:

How long have you known you are a psychopath?

Haha just kidding haha

Apparently there are many health benefits to drinking the stuff, one of the benefits that I have experienced is the gut health and what I noticed the most was less bloating. It has helped improve the way I feel.

Here are the potential health benefits of kombucha

1. Gut health- the drink is rich in probiotic bacteria which is similar to eat healthful bacteria found in the gut, this may help improve digestion. Kombucha has been found to help treat diarrhea, ease irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) to strengthen the immune system.

2. Infection risks- kombucha has the ability to kill microbes and bacteria that may cause infections making it easier for the body to fight them off.

3. Mental health- no this might seem like the odd one out of all of the other benefits but it has been found out that depression can be linked to inflammation so the anti-inflammatory properties of the drink can help with some symptoms of depression.

4. Cancer risk- in studies done in both 2008 and 2013 they found the possibility of kombucha helping to help treat or prevent the risk of getting cancer. The studies suggest that kombucha helps by preventing cancer cells to grow.

-2008 kombucha study on cancer

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubmed/.18979556/

-3013 study

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S221052391200044X

5. Heart disease- it has been found that kombucha can

6. Weight loss- Green tea is one of the main ingredients to kombucha, and green tea itself helps burn more calories, which suggests that kombucha has the same benefit for weight loss.

These are just some benefits of kombucha and there are still ongoing studies that I’m sure will uncover more benefits to drinking it.

There is also one other thing I want to add and that is that the suggested serving one should consume is no more than 12 oz in a day, one bottle contains 16oz which may lead to the consumption of excess sugars because well, (it contains fruit)as well as excess caffeine from the tea.

Before you decide not to try this drink based on my opening sentence, take a chance and give it a try I only wrote that based my experience who knows maybe you would like it.

The one and only brand that I have tried has been health-ade kombucha Pomegranate flavor .

Nutrition Facts

Serving Size:

8fl oz

Amount Per Serving

Calories from Fat 0

Calories 40

Total Fat 0g

Sodium 10mg

Total Carbohydrates 9g

Sugars 3g

Protein 0g

Fit, In The Garage

As I mentioned in my last post, my wife and I just bought our first house and we had always talked about what we would do to it in order to promote our physical emotional, creative and mental wellness. We decided that we would designate rooms to help us improve on ourselves, we came up with design ideas for a space in the garage of our new home that will help us keep on track with our physical activity. Of course we do not want to go crazy and spend a bunch of money on exercise equipment besides that is why, we have a gym membership for, so we made up a list of what would be considered minimal essentials which are;

1. Mats for the floor- I don’t know about you but I do not want any equipment to destroy the concrete floor so We want to protect it also to have a clean space or stretching workouts done on the floor(eg..pushups, sit-ups, crunches, planks) 99.00 for 96 sq feet on Amazon

2. Jump rope/speed rope- I personally love jump rope it is easy to use and great time saver jump rope helps you get a good workout in a short amount of time. Since it’s so small it can literally be stored anywhere (great space saver) done correctly and at a steady pace it can burn more calories than running it also helps with the improvement of your running, promotes balance and coordination 7.00-20.00 online

3. TRX (total body resistance exercise)- This is great because it help you workout many different muscle groups core, arms and back I like using it for core workouts and it’s awesome for that. (I am a bit hesitant about getting this because it does have to go mounted on the wall or to the ceiling unless you pay extra for the bars it goes attached to but mounted correctly it can be a great tool) Depending in which one you get the price can vary between $15.00-200.00 online

4. Yoga ball- I don’t really use yoga balls but I do know it is a great substitute for the TRX when it comes to suspension based workouts it helps with balance as well. 8.00 on the Walmart website

5. Punching bag/heavy bags- I like punching bags they are great for cardio exercise but for me they also are also great for practicing some jiujitsu movements. It this helps with agility balance and coordination. 60.00 without stand and 109.00 with stand on the Walmart website

6. Battle ropes- this is the king of upper body cardio workouts well at least in my opinion, because there are so many different exercise variations with this type of equipment and they are all great for weight loss and improving on other cardio workouts. 37.99 on the Walmart website.

7. Kettle bells- once again there are numerous exercise variations with this equipment and the majority are full body workouts which are great this (probably would be the most expensive depending on where you get them my favorite are from onnit they are cool) price ranges based on brand and weight anywhere between 14.00 -200.00 online (onnit is more pricey but that is because they have awesome Marvel, Star Wars and primal kettlebells)

We want to make a small gym in our house for those days when we really don’t feel like driving to the our gym I mean Of course like I said we are keeping our membership for our regular heavy lifting sessions and other equipment we like using but it would be great to be able to just stay home and still workout.