Discovering a New You

Ever wonder why sometimes, you beat yourself up in disgust and frustration, after trying to figure out what went wrong with your fitness goals in the gym?

Well don't feel like the "Lone Ranger", its happen to me too. It took me a whole lot of countless hours of hard work through trial and error, before I stumbled on an article written by fitness guru, Phil Kaplan. The article was titled "The 3 Body Types". As I read the information, I began to have an inner sensation, that reminded of what it must feel like to grow a set of donkey ears and the pain of kicking yourself right square in the... well I'm sure you know what I mean. I continued to read and learn more. Of course, this revelation is not to be classified as the cure all for why I was not progressing in the gym, but it surely helped put some vital training issues in perspective.

I discovered that, although I was training with dedication and consistency, I had failed to realize or take into consideration, that every one's body and physical genetic makeups are different.

Here's a brief synopsis of the article:

The Ectomorph is long and lean. They fall into a category widely known by weightlifters as "hard gainers" or the 98 pound weaklings. In other words, they have a difficult time beefing up. As with most things, there is a good side to this body type in that, although they usually are not gifted with a lot of natural huge muscles, their bodies carry very little fat. This gives their body type an advantage. They actually with proper training and diet they can put on muscle without worrying about gaining FAT. They must train intensely, but relatively infrequently, to avoid over training. This group should stay with basic compound movements like, squats, bench presses etc. Everyone can benefit from aerobic exercise, but this group must keep that part of their training in moderation. Caloric in take should be high with adequate protein, carbs, and essential fat intake. (hopefully the good fats).

The Mesomorph is the athletic prototype. They show off the V-shape back, wide shoulders, little narrow hips and great muscular legs (hate those guys!). They're often natural athletes and are the ones usually with "healthy" body fat levels. They add muscle easily, even if they make a few errors in their training regime, they still gain muscle. Their metabolisms are usually sufficient enough to handle "less than ideal" nutrition provided they get adequate calories to meet their energy needs.

The Endomorph is usually a bit rounder in appearance. They appear to have a softer look, which is probably due to the higher proportion of overall body fat, mostly carried around the hips and stomach areas. Some people have called or stereotyped them as having a "pear shape". Technically, they have to really focus on their diet, especially those high in sugar and fat. Their aerobic training should be at least 4-5 days per week.

OK, now that you know what I know, DO NOT PANIC, there is after all some good news!!

Very few of us rarely fall cleanly into just ONE category. There are people who are actually a combination of the above body types. For example, some can be deemed, endo-mesomorph and ecto-mesomorphs. Sounds complex, doesn't it? For most people, a simple glance in the mirror, may be of some service to them in determining where you fit.

Remember this information is merely a tip to help you make a few adjustments in your training regimen.

It was an incredible and rewarding tip for me, because that year after reading and learning more about this information, I made some adjustments to my mental and physical training regime and then I decided to compete in a local all natural body building contest and as a result, I won 1st place in the masters division.

Hey, its a New Year, its out with the old and in with the new...., so let's get started!

Stay safe, be patient and never give up on yourself or your training!

Happy Holidays

Now that we've all celebrated and enjoyed Thanksgiving, its time to move forward to another highly celebrated holiday fit for a "King"... if you know of whom and what I mean.

With me it starts out being more about making the choices between Christmas tree A, B or C and to make things a bit interesting, there are always new vendors popping up annually all over the place, proclaiming to have the perfect one.  Some of my favorites have moved to other locations for larger space which tend to drive me nuts.  Heck, I need a GPS monitor just to keep track of all the migrations.  Either way, timing is everything and so I've got to get busy.

As I ventured out today, looking and sorting through tree after tree, I came across a few that were so magnificent they should only be found located on the front lawn of our nations Capitol in Washington DC.

As a child, I was always told that Christmas was somewhat magically, but as I grew older I moved away from those beliefs. Then suddenly something very strange happened, and as if out of no where, I thought I heard the sounds of simple and humble words screeching through and from behind all the thick forest of Christmas tress in front of me.

I literally heard pleadings saying... "Pick me, Pick Meeee!!" echoing over and over.

So, I decided to take a closer look and..... there it was.

Yes!!, that one I shout out, as I pointed to the most beautiful and perfect tree hidden amongst some of the  ugliest, leafless, creepiest, shortest, colorless trees on the property. 

Whew! my search was over.  As I drove home with the new addition to our living room, I began to think about the fate of all the other trees left behind. Would they also be chosen; would their owners find them just as beautiful and just as purposeful and most importantly, just as significant as the one I chose for our families Christmas holiday.

Of course they will, I said to myself.  It should never, ever be about the outside appearance, but always about the essence of character and substance of a person and any this particular case that of a thing.

Life for me is about living and about making good and positive choices vs. the type of negative choices that only allow us to just merely exist or settle.

Now its your turn... Go out there and remember to choose wisely.

From all of mine, to all of you and yours, have a Safe and Happy Holiday Season.

           

It's All Yours

Today, at this very moment is one of those phenomenas that will create new visions, dreams, desires, opportunities and memorable experiences.

It has been stated that, "Today is truly a GIFT and that's why it is known as, The Present".

Its interesting that some of us fail to understand or relish in this fact.  It's as if the mere vocalization of the word TODAY transforms itself into something evil, a myth or an untruth being offered as punishment for just existing.  Make no mistake life as we know it is quite temporary. Just as a day begins..., at some point it does end. The resulting punishment may reside in our ignorance, of not taking full advantage of the precious moments every sunrise we experience brings.

There have been an ocean full of atrocities, adversities, social and economic injustice', cast on mankind, but what if anything did we personally do, to change the outcome of these imposed negatives to make them result in positives ?

Have you ever been in the company of people who just complain about everything?

Some may complain about not having more money, respect, attention or love. They shout out into this worlds abyss that.., more is better!

Yet all the atrocities and indifferences linger and continue to thrive amongst us.

Well..... more attention hasn't stopped it, more money couldn't stop it and more respect didn't stop it.

Perhaps MORE LOVE is truly the resolve we ultimately need and should passionately seek.

TODAY... this very day, which of course could be our last is truly to each recipient, a precious GIFT.

Participation in it requires an unconditional expression of praise and devotion to the one true giver of this Present.

Only then.. this very moment.. this Today, can you treasure these uttered words.... It's All Mine and I accept It!!

Fishing for... LOVE

Growing up in Miami for me was great. Perhaps if you were like me, you had everything imaginable and available around you to keep you amused. As the years came and went, I started to wonder what it would be like to have a relationship of my very own and most importantly, what the heck was a "relationship" and then, how to accomplish or get one.

I began to closely observe the personal relationalship behavior of my parents which was slow paced and to me, not very exciting to watch as far as I was concerned. Don't get me wrong or become perplexed about my reality, its just that I was only about age 7 then.  Now, I don't know about you, but seeing my parents kissing was like..... auggh!

Thank you God, that I was blessed with not one, but two older brothers who, unbeknown to them, were instrumental in, lets just say uh.. they opened my eyes.  I was watching every move, stance and gesture they made.  I even went as far as to memorize their special brew or blend of how to 'RAP'. Ha, Ha, Ha!!. I had no clue of what I was saying or what it all meant, but when I opened my mouth and uttered the words, it sounded smooooooth. So, fake it if you must, but look good doing it.  Either way, through the magic of trial and error, I like many other inspiting "Don Juan's",  sometimes got it right.

I am by no means an expert of this topic but, if you've found yourself in what I call a relationship disaster, better known as an absolute NIGHTMARE that just won't go away, then its possible that some or all of the blame starts with the man in the mirror.

Sometimes when we think of starting a relationship, we fail to seek out or simply do not care about gaining any real understanding of its true meaning.

Webster says a relationship is a state of connectedness between people (especially an emotional connection).  Its a state involving mutual dealings between them. (making all parties accountable)

There is one group of individuals that just drive me nuts. These relationship geniuses are of the ever present, fast paced, pain in the butt group of people who blantantly start relationships based on, "I'm with you only for the moment or until I get bored with you or simply my dear,What have you done for me lately".

Trust me, they're out there, everywhere, at work, school, the mall, the movies, your favorite restaurant, at church and even in your cell phone's contact list.

Scary isn't it.

What's even scarier, is that there are some who know this is a bad deal and instead of running away as fast as they can, they get involved or settle for this form of punishment, in spite of the reality. Perhaps the vilian within is a lack of self esteem, or some form of co-dependency, which without indepth examination can sometimes create an illussion of looking like the real thing thats being search for...,True Love.

Think back and remember the last time you were out and was just minding your own business, when suddenly you glanced up and met the attractive and pleasing eyes of another. Your inner voice tells you to ignore it and move on, but that other inner voice shouts louder and makes you take a second look only this time you smile or wriggle your nose or even send a wink. Then suddenly, in the next breath your brain turns to mush and you can't speak or articulate and you're left with the abnormal ability to immediately resort to acronyms like .... OMG!!! or just... OOOOOH. Your entire body language is focused and sending strong impulsing messages of "Yeah baby, I'm the one, so lets get it on"!

OK, Calm down, you can stop now..., it was only an illusion.

So was it fate, or chance that you met? Or should I ask myself..., did you pick them or did they pick you?

I would suggest that we all spend the time needed to acquire long and lasting relationships built on common sense values. Such as, do I need or do I merely just want a relationship?

As the the picture above may indicate... He or She are exactly who they are. You can't change them, nor should you seek to. Plain and simply my friends.. It is what it is and they are who you thought they were.

Perhaps if your luck continues to run out and you're tired of falling in love, when the true goal needed to be, growing in love. Consider this the next time, you cast a line in the sea of romance to hook... "the one".

Maybe, just maybe its a real good time to also practice, "CATCH and RELEASE"!