stran.

Monday

Mon, 19 Mar 2012 09:23:59 -0500

Didn’t do much over the weekend due to surgery on Friday (which is healing nicely, though still sore). I plan to resume with chest and back tonight.

That's more like it!

Fri, 16 Mar 2012 08:12:51 -0500

So- Work yesterday was a lesson in pain. It seemed any time I sat for more than 5 minutes I had a difficult time standing as muscles and tendons I wasn’t previously aware of chose not to function. Arriving home, I wasn’t sure if I was going to do the nightly workout… but I’m glad I did. It was arms and shoulders night and unlike the previous chest and back I got all the way through this workout! My ability to make it through had everything to do with the fact I have no barbells at home so I was using the “bands.” In the future, I’m going to have to acquire some free weights… I found the bands to be awkward and lived in constant fear they might snap. I’m also quite sure I didn’t get as much “weight” out of them as I otherwise would.

Anyway- I’m happy to have finished a workout, my soreness has subsided (for the morning anyway) and I’m ready to move on to the next day. Who knows, maybe I’ll make it through an entire week!

Day 2 redux

Wed, 14 Mar 2012 08:30:54 -0500

So… I arrived home from work to an encampent in the back yard. The kids are on spring break and decided to camp out! Between the day one workout, work and camping I had very little left in the tank so I opted for an ab workout rather than the full on plyometrics. Tonight I guess I’ll have to get back on track with “Shoulder and Arms.” I think these workouts are going to have to move to the AM. Too many distractions at night.

followup

Tue, 13 Mar 2012 10:17:37 -0500

So, I don’t have much to add from last night. I’m disappointed in my performance, but I guess that’s the point of embarking on a program. I’m going to hold off posting before/after pictures for reasons of vanity… just imagine an office dweller.

Tonight is round two… plyometrics. I suspect i’m in for more pain!

Ouch.

Mon, 12 Mar 2012 21:05:14 -0500

So…. P90x.

I discovered a few interesting facts.

1. I am sadly out of shape. This led to a very poor showing on my part.
2. A large dinner isn’t advisable prior to a p90x workout. I think I’ve said enough
3. On the plus side, I do have biceps… Who knew. They were there lurking inside my noodle arms all along. Unfortunately they hurt and refuse to bend more than 90* or so!

I’m gonna go yak and crawl into a fetal position for the night. More tomorrow.

Exercise...?

Mon, 12 Mar 2012 16:28:00 -0500

Since starting my journey into the paleo realm I’ve lost about 50lbs… no exercise, no calorie counting. The secret for me? Gluten free, omega 3 and vitamin D. That’s it- the pounds just came off, and came off quick, stabilizing for me at about 175lb, down from about 230lb. Truth be told, I still eat some corn and have far more diet soda than I should. On occasion (whole 30 anyone?) I abstain from those “cheats” and the pounds start dropping again.

So, a couple of “the guys” at the office plan to embark on a 90 day exercise routine at work and, well, I can’t be the leftover squishy guy. I’m much more slim than I was when I started, but not nearly as strong. Did I mention I’m squishy? Yeah, I am. What’s a guy to do? I’m going to jump in on the exercise routine. It’s just 90 days…. and I’ve got a copy of the old P90x dvd’s I bought ages ago so that’s my chosen routine. Once done, I’m thinking I’d prefer to go crossfit, so hopefully this will give me a good base.

Tonight is the night it all begins. I’ll take some (squishy) pictures and post them up. I’ll also use this blog as my obligatory whining area. Hopefully it will also get me to actually post some material other than p90x whining. Also, I’ll be doing some semi-pro blogging for my day job… more to come!

What's my diet about?

Mon, 12 Sep 2011 14:45:05 -0500

Whole9Life put together an nice article containing an “elevator pitch” for paleo advocates:

Nutrition in 60 Seconds

I eat real food – fresh, natural food like meat, vegetables and fruit. I choose foods that are nutrient-dense, with lots of naturally occurring vitamins and minerals, over foods that have more calories but less nutrition. And food quality is important – I’m careful about where my meat, seafood and eggs come from, and buy organic local produce as often as possible.

This is not a “diet” – I eat as much as I need to maintain strength, energy, activity levels and a healthy body weight. I aim for well-balanced nutrition, so I eat both animals and a significant amounts of plants. I’m not lacking carbohydrates – I just get them from vegetables and fruits instead of bread, cereal or pasta. And my meals are probably higher in fat than you’d imagine, but fat is a healthy source of energy when it comes from high-quality foods like avocado, coconut and grass-fed beef.

Eating like this is ideal for maintaining a healthy metabolism and reducing inflammation within the body. It’s good for body composition, energy levels, sleep quality, mental attitude and quality of life. It helps eliminate sugar cravings and reestablishes a healthy relationship with food. It also works to minimize your risk for a whole host of lifestyle diseases and conditions, like diabetes, heart attack, stroke and autoimmune.

"Goodbye for now and good luck………. You’re going to need it."

Tue, 02 Jun 2009 22:21:58 -0500

“Goodbye for now and good luck………. You’re going to need it.”

- Awesome financial commentary I saw on youtube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6GukmDO89KI)

Well, I suppose this can be crossed off my bucket list. What is...

Tue, 02 Jun 2009 22:06:35 -0500

Well, I suppose this can be crossed off my bucket list.

What is it? Well, I don’t have a name for it… perhaps a description will do:

1. One Krispy Kreme donut

2. One 5-Guys single bacon cheeseburger, no bun

3. Another Krispy Kreme donut.

How was it? Not bad at all! Don’t get me wrong, I won’t be repeating it. Here’s the breakdown:

2 x Donuts: 400 Calories

1 x Patty: 280 Calories

1 x Cheese: 70 Calories

2 x Bacon: 80 Calories

TOTAL: 830 Calories ( I didn’t eat fries or a sugar drink )

cheers.

hippopotomonstrosesquipedaliophobia

Fri, 29 May 2009 21:57:34 -0500

Yep, that’s a new word i learned tonight. I say new word, as it’s both new to me and evidently young etymologically.

Denotation:

hippopotomonstrosesquipedaliophobia (uncountable)

The fear of long words, ironically. It is literally the hippopotamus- and monster-related fear of very long words.
Ben is a sufferer of a mild form of hippopotomonstrosesquipedaliophobia

Etymology

From hippopotomonstrosesquipedalian, an extension of sesquipedalian with monstrum “monster” and a truncated, misspelled form of hippopotamus, intended to exaggerate the length of the word itself and the idea of the size of the words being feared; combined with phobia.

Lag… making fools of revisionists everywhere!

Thu, 28 May 2009 09:19:00 -0500

Lag… making fools of revisionists everywhere!

a view to a storm…

Wed, 27 May 2009 14:31:11 -0500

a view to a storm…

Commuter’s Rainbow.

Wed, 27 May 2009 14:30:40 -0500

Commuter’s Rainbow.

EPIC FAIL. I dare you to do worse than this!!

Wed, 27 May 2009 14:29:53 -0500

EPIC FAIL.

I dare you to do worse than this!!

So…the wife asked me about twitter. She’s up to speed on facebook and the like, but...

Wed, 20 May 2009 22:30:00 -0500

So…the wife asked me about twitter. She’s up to speed on facebook and the like, but wasn’t quite sure what the tweet buzz was all about.

It was then that we decided to take a quick survey of douche-tastic names on twitter… here’s our top 5:

baggey_o_douche / Douchey McBag
mcdouchey / Douchey McDouchebag
douchebagelow / douche bagelow
ivanadouche / Ivana Douche
ifollowdouches / E. Normus Douche Whereever particular douches congregate, you will find me.

"We’ll soon find out whether an organism the size of the United States can run an economy based..."

Thu, 07 May 2009 22:57:00 -0500

“We’ll soon find out whether an organism the size of the United States can run an economy based on one family selling the contents of its garage to the family next door.”

- Jim Kunstler

"One of the saddest lessons of history is this: If we’ve been bamboozled long enough, we tend to..."

Tue, 05 May 2009 22:34:33 -0500

“One of the saddest lessons of history is this: If we’ve been bamboozled long enough, we tend to reject any evidence of the bamboozle. We’re no longer interested in finding out the truth. The bamboozle has captured us. It is simply too painful to acknowledge, even to ourselves, that we’ve been so credulous.”

- Carl Sagan

Smoky Treat!

Sun, 07 Sep 2008 20:29:20 -0500

Spent last night smoking an 8.5lb shoulder… went in at midnight, came out at 3:30pm. It’s delicious, but here’s some tips to avoid frustration-

#1. Don’t fall asleep for too long. Sounds obvious, but if you conk out for 3 hours, so do the coals. Go ahead and add 3 hours to your cook time.

#2. All lump charcoal is not created equal. The Crapford lump I used was crap… it didn’t burn well- uneven and cold. Didn’t help that it had been damp outside where it’s stored.

Anyway- cheers!

"So, I heard sardines are the bacon of the sea!"

Fri, 05 Sep 2008 12:16:00 -0500

“So, I heard sardines are the bacon of the sea!”

- Overheard at lunch.

So there’s a good series of articles at the big picture...

Thu, 04 Sep 2008 09:18:19 -0500

So there’s a good series of articles at the big picture blog on the Q2 GDP numbers. The graph above is adjusted for import/export and is pretty telling.

article.