Tag: working hard

Work In Progress

I named this “Work In Progress” because I feel like I am always going to be a work in progress.
For this post I would like to talk about having a place that can be used as a quiet place, because to me it is important to not only care for you physical health but mental health as well, I think it is important to have a space where you can meditate, sit to read a book or just disconnect from the world. The reason that I am dedicating a post to this subject is because I understand the stresses that life can throw at you and I strongly believe that in order for someone to have external peace a person needs to first find internal peace. So what would be more perfect than to have a space at home.
Here is a few things that have or am going to have in my quiet space:

  1. Books
  2. Somewhere comfy to sit and read
  3. A desk in order to allow myself to express creativity and productivity
  4. Plenty of light
  5. Decor that promotes calm and serenity
  6. Most importantly no social media or anything that may be distracting to my productivity and creativity This space is so that my wife and I can grow and temporarily disconnect from the stresses that life throws at us. Because happiness is indeed an inside job.

Happiness is not something ready made. It comes from your own actions. -Dalai Lama

Reset button day 47 of 100

Have you every felt like there needs to be a reset button on our life? No I do not mean like start over from the birth, what I mean is maybe you feel like you have too much going on in your life and you are starting to feel burned out. With our very hectic and busy lifestyles now a days it is very easy to get burned out and become a sad tired person. I for sure have times when I am in desperate need of a mental vacation, or at least one hour to myself away from everything that makes me so busy. As I have mentioned in my last posts I have started a 100 day journey to create better habits and I have focused on trying to find some type of routines that will help me improve in more than one aspect of my life.

Aspects such as:

🌞 Positivity
✏️ Creativity
🏋🏽‍♂️ Exercise
📖 knowledge
🛏 Relaxation
These are a must:
☀️ Sunlight
💧hydration

In this journey I have found that there are more than one way to do something, I already knew that there were different methods to meditation and exercise but that is it. I have truly realized that there are more than one method to vacation, be creative, learn and stay positive and yes I understand that there are some of these that are obvious. Won’t go into all of them but I will go into the vacationing method that has really helped me and that is taking time off of work and staying home (Staycation) although there were some boring days i really enjoyed staying home and doing nothing. I didn’t have to worry about breaking the budget by having to spend on a bunch of activities or following a schedule to get these activities done I just worked on myself.

My staycation went like this:

  • Exercised twice a day
  • Watched tv
  • Worked on trying new vegetarian recipes
  • And my favorite spend time talking, reconnecting and spending time with my wife
  • And obviously play with my puppies

This was my biggest reset button that I have ever experienced at the end of my time off I was recharged and ready to go back to my busy life.

Don’t let the pressure of having to go out to have a “fun time” prevent you from enjoying the ability to do nothing and just truly relax.

100 days to better habits

Today is the 34th day of my journey to a better me, where I challenged myself to improve by creating better habits. The reason for me challenging myself is because I would like to become a better person in the sense of productivity and the efficiency, I have learned that the only way that I my happiness lies in the type of habits I practice. Which means better me equals happier me, I am not saying that once I accomplish my goal I am done there is not even a end goal this is something that I am going to have to work on everyday progress means moving forward.

“If you’re not learning you’re dying”- Albert Einstein

this is a quote I strongly believe in because there is only one way to become wise is by learning.

Now on to my update like I mentioned at the beginning of this post today marks the 25th day of my challenge I must say that it has been challenging trying to get rid of some old self destructive habits such as procrastinating and overthinking which apparently according to my wife I seem to be an expert at.

I have worked on having a positive mentality every day, the way that I have been working on this is by starting off my day by thinking of something that I am thankful for such as being lucky enough to have my wonderful wife in my life, waking up, my puppies, my house anything to start off my day in a positive way.

in my 100 day journey I have realized that there is something else to add to my list and that is positivity I am sure that the more I get into my 100 days I will find something else that can help me become a better me.

🌞 Positivity

✏️ Creativity

🏋🏽‍♂️ Exercise

📖 knowledge

🛏 Relaxation

These are a must:

☀️ Sunlight

💧hydration

High protein veggies 🌶🥒🥔🍠🥦🌽

Today makes it 64 days since I began a vegetarian lifestyle and at first it was difficult to find foods that would provide the right amount of nutrition and at the same time be filling at. I decided to start with trying to find some foods that would help me with my protein intake did some research and found some foods high in protein.

1. Broccoli- 2.26 grams per medium stalk

2. Mushrooms- 2.97grams

3. Jackfruit- 2.8 grams of protein per cup

4. Lentils-18 grams per cup

5. Green peas- 8.5grams per cup

6. Brussel sprouts- 3 grams per cup

7. Artichokes- 4 grams per artichoke

8. Yellow corn- 4.68 grams per ear (large)

9. Potatoes- 5 grams per 1 medium potato with the skin

10. Edamame- 18 grams per cup

11. Asparagus- 2.9 grams per cup

12. Avocado- 2.67 grams per medium avocado

13. Cauliflower- 2.05 grams per cup chopped

14. Arugula- 2.57 grams per 100 grams

15. Mung beans- 12 grams per ¼ cup dry

16. Lima beans- 6.84 grams per 100 grams

17. Spinach- 2.9 grams per 100 grams

18. Pumpkin seeds- 12 grams per cup

19. Zucchini-2.4 gram per medium zucchini (196 grams)

Some of these are in grams and I love weighing my food because it is the most effective way to accurately measure calories from your meals.

There is a certain amount of protein that a person is supposed to be having and there is a formula.

*body weight(lbs)x0.8-1*

So for me it would look like this

226×0.8-1= between 180grams-226grams of protein

100 days of improvement

I enjoy improving myself whether it is living healthier, learning something new or finding a new way to relax and unwind. I cannot say that I am the most consistent person when it comes to reading a book every week or working out everyday but I do enjoy the times I get to dedicate on bettering myself. One of my goals is to become more self reliant and be able to trust that I can dedicate more time of the week to improving myself this has led me to challenge myself to a 100 days to a better me, I plan on working on creating better habits in order to make myself a better person whether it is knowledge, physical or emotional. My goal is to everyday at least do two things that help me improve myself using my personal good day checklist

My 100 days started on January 6 and will end on April 15

✏️ Creativity

🏋🏽‍♂️ Exercise

📖 knowledge

🛏 Relaxation

These are a must:

☀️ Sunlight

💧hydration

This is to help me creat better habits and I will work my hardest to journal every other day and I will keep posting on my instagram @alejandro.gets.fit @blankstare_blog

Happy new year (2020)

Happy New Year’s Day hopefully everyone had fun and safe holidays, now it is time to start working on our goals for the year. Not only are we are welcoming a new year but also a new decade, as I sat down to work on my 2020 vision board I cannot help but to think about everything that I have learned and how much I have grown in the last decade . Before I start working on my goals I would like to list everything that this last decade has taught me.

I have learned to be a much more grateful person and look at my accomplishments whether I view them as big or small. I want to start with one accomplishment that I am the most proud of which, getting to know and marrying my best friend.

I lost 120 pounds (even though I gained them in the same decade 😂😒) 350 lbs to 230 lbs this one a been my favorite learning experiences it has taught me so much more than just about fitness.

I learned about working on myself found life long hobbies such as Jiu-jitsu

I have learned that reading and the search for self-improvement is just as important as resting and eating right.

Now let us bring in this new decade with strong goals not just for the year

The way that I like writing out my goals is by creating a vision board, I like adding pictures or things that make it more pleasing to look at rather than just a board on the wall with a bunch of writing.

Tips on how to create a vision board:

1. clear goals- I prefer it to be in my own hand writing but it is completely up to you.

Instead of lose weight put lose 14lbs

Make more money- work harder

Travel-specific destination and date

Be a better person-volunteer, listen to family members.

2. Categorize your goals

For example financial, travel, physical, growth

3. If I don’t meet a goal for the last year I added onto the new vision board until in meet it.

4. Just enjoy the process

Make sure you treat them as promises to yourself and keep yourself accountable.

Make sure to follow me on instagram @alejandro.gets.fit and Twitter @blankstare_blog

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.

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.

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

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.

Working out With Fresh Tattoos

This week I have been able to have a bit more time to work on posting so here is this week’s first of two posts (yay double the content!!)

Last week I went to get a tattoo and I thought it would be great if I posted some tips on going to the gym with a fresh tattoo. This was not my first tattoo I was have a few and the only one that I had a different experience was with the first one but that was because of cultural reasons and I was new to the whole being tattooed thing. To start off, I grew up in a house hold that was very religious and highly against tattooing or piercings, naturally I tried to hide it which was not the best of ideas because it did not help the healing process and it took longer to heal.

That was a mistake I was not willing to do any of the rest of my tattoos otherwise if I were to get any, and I did. The way that I schedule my workouts around the healing of my tattoos is by not working out for the first full day to make sure that the healing process starts properly. I also make sure that my workouts do not involve any thing that pushes pulls or rubs on it so any having abdominal workouts are not an option at least for the first week. As for jiu-jitsu, I take a whole week to a week and a half break that way the chances of getting infections are reduced skipping the week also reduces the risks of tearing it (yes I said tearing) because the skin is still tender during the healing process. For the week that I am healing I wear sleeveless shirts at first and long sleeves up until it is fully healed well depending on the placing of the tattoo mine starts on my shoulder and goes down half way down my bicep but also wraps around to my triceps.

Tips for working out after a tattoo:

1. Don’t workout for 24hr (take a rest day)

2. Don’t let anything rub on it and so make sure to choose your workouts accordingly

3. Do not let it get dry I use Aquaphor or Vaseline

4. If you do jiu-jitsu or any full contact type of activity wait at least a week before going back.

5. Wear loose clothes fitting clothing to avoid unnecessary rubbing on the tattoo.