Looking back on two years ago today - Try these nutrition lifestyle habits for yourself!

Maintaining this blog has been so encouraging for me - It's wonderful to look back and see goals I set for my diet and lifestyle and then compare them to how I'm doing today.

Here's what I wrote two years ago today, and these six things that I was "planning" to do in order to achieve my weight loss and fitness goals are exactly what I'm doing in my current regime. Here's what I said "I plan to" do:

1. Eat six times per day and in smaller portions to avoid crashes that lead to cravings

2. Prepare meals ahead of time to make sure I have healthy food ready when I get hungry

3. Incorporate "power foods" like almonds, yogurt, berries, oatmeal and whole grains that will help me maximize my calorie intake for energy and stamina

4. Eat more fiber-rich foods to make me full faster

5. Eat foods that are rich in vitamins and nutrients, especially antioxidants

6. Reduce my salt and sugar intake, and eat more fruit to satisfy my sweet tooth while avoiding empty calories

Well, this has turned out to be a pretty good plan!!!! I didn't make all of these changes at once, but for the past year this has been the nutrition lifestyle I've been able to achieve.

I would recommend these six lifestyle habits to anyone attempting to make positive health changes in the new year. Good luck!!!

Fitness and nutrition regime on point

This week I've been off work so I've been hitting the gym harder than ever. Three days of double workouts and three days of the regular fare. I'm getting more rest and eating more to compensate, and I feel great!

Today I got the materials for my correspondence course on fitness and exercise. I'm doing the certified personal trainer program through ACE - American Council on Exercise. Just flipped through the books and am thinking, wow, I have a sh*tload to learn!

I'm sitting at Panera having a cup of chicken noodle soup and Greek salad with grilled chicken. I love this meal, although I don't have it as much as I used to now that Khizer and I are cooking more at home. Our nutrition is on point, and I feel fueled at every moment throughout the day.

We have our protein-packed breakfast of Ezekiel 4:9 Golden Flax cereal and 2% milk, with a fried egg over a slice of Arnold Double Fiber toast.

Then for the mid morning snacks we have assorted nuts, dried fruits and seeds and 2% Cabot Greek Yogurt with frozen organic mixed berries.

For lunch we have quinoa and peas with some other main dish, like soup or curry packed with an assortment of leafy green and root veggies, and a couple of side veggies raw, like celery, grape tomatoes, carrots or broccoli.

The afternoon snack is usually an apple and a banana, and maybe some more quinoa if there's an afternoon workout thrown in. And dinner is a lighter version of lunch, usually just the quinoa with a bit of curry or cup of soup.

This routine has us feeling strong and with tons of energy throughout the day. We wake up early and try to get to bed before midnight, but admittedly our one nutritional weakness at this point is getting enough rest. Rest is just as important to the body and mind as the food we eat, so it's definitely got to be one of our resolutions in the new year to be more mindful of this.

Well, that's it for now. I'm going to be studying the ACE materials pretty hard over the next week or so. I have a lot of work to do to prepare for the new semester, too. I'm teaching that Overcoming Obesity class and preparing my motivational talk. I also have a new class in the social sciences department at MDC starting - Seminar for Student Success. I'm psyched for the new year, and am so thankful that God has given me the strength to accomplish so many of my personal goals in 2010.

Not Michael Vick Naked

Playgirl apparently wants to publish photos of Michael Vick naked. They'll give the money they would pay him to PETA, I guess to make up for the horrible, cruel things he's done to animals. The whole thing just makes me sick, and it's got me thinking. Who would you rather see, me or Michael Vick naked? I mean, sure, he’s got a much better body than I do - he’s a professional athlete for pete’s sake! But would you really want to see Michael Vick naked, instead of me, knowing how he's treated animals?

Me on the other hand, I treat animals with kindness and respect. Doesn’t that make me the one you should want to see naked? I mean, seeing Michael Vick naked – ew. Seeing me naked, less ew. Right?

Either way, you’re not going to see Michael Vick naked here, or me naked for that matter. (For this, you can thank me now or later). No, I’m just writing this silly little article because I wanted to try to see if by stating Michael Vick naked I would “optimize” the chance my humble fitness blog is picked up on more Google searches.

Not that I have a specific interest in inviting folks who want to see Michael Vick naked to my blog. But I figure there might be a bunch of people who want to see Michael Vick naked. And people who want to see Michael Vick naked are people, too. So what’s the harm if people who want to see Michael Vick naked come to my blog. They just might be interested in my struggle to overcome obesity.

Then, people who want to see Michael Vick naked might actually have a chance to see a guy who’s physically hot like Michael Vick naked, but who’s not Michael Vick naked or just some random pic of a person who looks like Michael Vick naked on a dirty porn site online.

If anyone reading this has any tips on search engine optimization for me, please leave a comment!