“No dairy” is not enough for me

Two weeks ago I made the difficult decision to go dairy free.  Why? Well, I went dairy free for a lot of reasons, some of which revolve around the whole “we shouldn’t consume milk as adults” and “we shouldn’t drink the milk of other mammals” theories, but mainly it was because I am extremely lactose intolerant.

I’ve cut out everything in my diet that has dairy, even my protein, and even though I’ve been dairy free for the past two weeks (with two small pizza cheats), it seems this isn’t enough.  I still have that boiling bowl of oatmeal feeling and I’m still fartin’ up a storm.

After doing a lot of reading and research, it seems that I could have an intolerance to gluten.  Lovely. More things to cut out of my diet. And it’s bread? Really?!! I LOVE bread. Sandwiches are the greatest food ever created.

SANDWICHES!!!!!

I’m currently reading the Paleo Diet book and I think that Paleo is a diet/lifestyle I need to try to sort out my dietary issues.  If you don’t know what the Paleo Diet is, its the nutritional plan that is based on eating wild plants and animals that people ate during the Paleolithic era—a period of about 2.5 million years duration that ended around 10,000 years ago with the development of agriculture. It was before we had fields, before we had wheat, before we milked cows.  You basically only eat what our ancestors would have been able to shoot or pick.  Meat, veggies, fruits and nuts.  The only thing I’m not a fan of is that you can’t have legumes, being beans such as lentils, kidney beans and black beans.  I think for now, at this stage, I’m going to stick to the Paleo plan, plus legumes.

I’ll try this out for a while and see how I feel.  I’m hoping it gets rid of my stomach issues and from what I’ve read, I should be able to lose that last 10 lbs I want to lose. It’s going to be hard because I already really miss dairy and if I take out bread, I may kill someone.  But it may be worth it.

Have you heard of Paleo? Know anyone that has a gluten intolerance?

Son of a bitch…

I have no idea who started this, but somehow or another my 30 Day No Excuses Burpee Challenge has resurfaced for the third time and it’s caught on fast.  I blame the Fit Approach #SweatPink ladies and @loramarie03 from Twitter.

I was hit up with a string of tweets yesterday about the challenge and getting called out on it by a few people to do it again.  I’ve done this challenge twice and it’s a tough one!  Burpees are hard work, but they’re a great full body exercise and I’m up for the challenge again, so starting May 15th, I’m in. 30 days of burpees.

Are you?

You may be sitting there saying “what the hell is a burpee?” so here’s my best explanation:
The burpee is a full body exercise used in strength training and as aerobic exercise. It is performed in five steps:

1. Begin in a standing position.
2. Drop into a squat position with your hands on the ground.
3. Kick your feet back to put yourself in to a pushup position
4. Now reverse the movement by returning your feet back towards your hands to the squat position while
5. Stand back up. That’s 1 burpee.

There are many variations and I’ll talk about them in the video, so check them out.

THE CHALLENGE
Depneding on your fitness level, start with the determined amount of burpees for your level and increase that amount by one burpee each day for 30 days. There are three levels of difficulty and a few different variations of the burpee you can try so find which one works for you.

Beginner:
If you are a beginner to fitness or exercise, this may be a good place for you to start. Your goal is to do 1 burpee on your first day. You can do a standard burpee as described above if you’d like or any variation that you need to, but do 1 burpee today. Tomorrow you’re going to do 2 burpees and on day three you’re going to do 3 burpees. Increase the amount of burpees you do by 1 each day so by day 30 you should be doing 30 burpees a day.

Intermediate:
The intermediate challenge is for someone who’s fitness levels are pretty good. You may not have done a burpee before but you could pull off 3-5 without stopping. Your challenge is to start at 8 burpees and you’re doing at least a standard burpee or one of the harder variations. Again, you’re to add 1 burpee a day for 30 days.

Advanced:
You may be at the same fitness levels as the intermediate (or more advanced) but you’re like me and always want to push yourself harder and further. Your challenge is to do 15 burpees today. Yup, 15! And if you’re up for it, you’re going for 15 burpees in a row. OH, and did I mention you’re doing the more advanced burpee with a jump and a clap in it too? That’s right. You’re gunna cry! And as the other levels, you’re adding a burpee a day to your total amount and I’d love to see if you can end up doing 45 burpees in a row without stopping by the end of day 30.

There you have it, the No Excuses 30 Day Burpee Challenge. Please feel free to ask any questions. Post any comments and PLEASE share your experiences with everyone. Love ‘em, hate ‘em… Comment on this post to let me know you’re in, post on my Facebook Page and please use the #NoExcusesYIS on Twitter.

I don’t want to be the only one bitching and complaining about them on the interwebs.

For the past month the awesome FitFluentials have all been showing off how FitFluential they actually are with their #PROOF on Twitter and our other social media outlets. It’s been a lot of fun and I love seeing what everyone else is doing to get their sweat on so I’ve decided to build on this and I’M asking for YOUR PROOF.

With the new timeline now being used on all Facebook Pages, one of the cooler things about them is the Cover Photo and I want to feature YOU in mine. Over the next month, I’m going to be accepting submissions (photos) of you getting your sweat on. It could be you in the gym. Going for a run. Doing yoga. Playing a sports. Juggling kittens. Whatever you do to get your sweat on.

What I’m looking for:

• Photos (not images, drawings or graphics)  of you being active
• Creativity!
• Fun!
• Originality! Avoid sending your cover photo. Send something fresh that captures you and your personality in a different or new way.
• Keep it PG-ish…

What you win.

• Your Photo will be the Cover Photo for the Your Inner Skinny Facebook Page during June, 2012.
• A “No Excuses” t-shirt with the Your Inner Skinny logo on the back from my merch store – yourinnerskinny.spreadshirt.com – Value $30 (with shipping)

How to enter

• Email your photo to me scott@yourinnerskinny.ca (all photos will be posted to Your Inner Skinny’s Facebook Page wall by me for your viewing pleasure)
• Add a description to your photo in the email
• Once selected, the winners will be contacted and will need to provide me with their name, and address.
• Any pictures of you juggling kittens will be automatically disqualified and reported to the SPCA.
• Contest closes at 11:59pm, May 31st, 2012
• You can view all entered photos on Facebook by clicking here.

All submissions are governed by Facebook’s Terms (https://www.facebook.com/legal/terms).  By submitting your photo, you grant Your Inner Skinny permission to use your photo for all purposes, including marketing and promotion.  You also confirm that you have all rights necessary to grant this permission, including from all subjects in the photo and the person who took the photo.

I can’t wait to see what you share!

GUEST POST: “A Vegan in the Works” – Part 1
GUEST POST: “A Vegan in the Works” – Part 2

The Dark Side

Shock and disbelief.  That’s the reaction I got when I first told my friends that we (my fiancé, Melody, and I) had decided to try a vegan diet.  That, and laughter.

Not that they didn’t believe that Mell would turn to the Dark Side with little persuasion – she was already the healthiest person any of us knew.  But me?  They felt like they had been betrayed by one of their own.  I was their dietary Anikan Skywalker.

To go from eating meat and dairy with pretty much every meal to feasting on legumes like it was my friggin’ job is not an easy task.  This initial hurdle, I imagine, is the main reason why most people blow off the idea of changing their diet.  It’s not easy, and people don’t like doing things that aren’t easy.

The most frustrating thing about changing to a whole foods diet is getting rid of the things you love to eat when they’re already inside your cupboards, paid for.  The eggs, the milk, the cheese, the deli sandwich meat, the chicken breasts, the yoghurt, the whole-wheat Wonder bread, the haddock fillets, the alfredo sauce, the canned soup, the creamy peanut butter, the tail-less shrimp, the frozen yoghurt, the light mayonnaise and yes… the Eggo waffles.  Note: this is especially difficult two days after having gone to the grocery store and dumping $250 on buy-one-get-one-frees.  Twice the frustration.

But this is Tip #1.  Don’t hesitate.  Don’t tell yourself that you’ll switch over the next time you go grocery shopping.  The Emperor is not that patient.  These foods will linger in your kitchen for weeks.  If you’re serious about getting healthy, just bite the biscuit now (figuratively, of course…) and get rid of the temptation completely.  Trust your feelings, young Jedi.

The first night is tough.  No quick options for that snack or meal-on-the-go.  No Chef Boyardi or turkey-on-rye or Mini Wheats.  You eat a banana, but that won’t fill the void.  It was the only fruit you had in the house besides strawberries.  Strawberries aren’t a meal, though.  You could make a smoothie, if you hadn’t just given away your frozen yoghurt to your future sisters-in-law.  Strawberries and ice blended together would suuuuck.  You’re ready to head to the gym or go for a run but you’re still hungry.  That’s never good.  Was this a bad idea?  Maybe I could hit Tim’s on the way and grab a muffin.  Wait… don’t muffins have eggs in them?  I hate this already.

Which brings us to Tip #2.  Go get new groceries right away.  The good kind.  There are lots of websites that give solid lists of must-haves for the vegan Padawon, but here’s a survival guide to your first whole foods grocery shopping experience:

• unsweetened almond milk (not terrible, and better with time)
• Ezekiel bread (good for toast, bad for sandwiches… save yourself the ten bucks and don’t try almond butter)
• any whole grain cereal
• every kind of fruit (a lot of bananas and grapes) and vegetable (organic if possible) you can recognize by name, and a few you may not have tried before.  Once you start to make specific dishes (there are tons of recipes online… try OhSheGlows.com) you’ll go after specific veggies.  This is not as expensive as everyone thinks.  Have you seen how much chicken breasts cost these days?
• spinach (I realize it’s a vegetable, but we add it to a lot of stuff)
• low-sodium vegetable broth (for all your soup needs)
• hummus
• diced almonds, whole cashews, etc.
• raisins (great finger food, and nature’s energy jelly bean)
• bagged green lentils, canned low-sodium chickpeas, canned low-sodium diced tomatoes
• whole grain rice (no preservatives if possible)
• whole grain pasta
• low-sodium pasta sauce (no cream sauces)
• oatmeal… lots of oatmeal (low sugar is healthier… but it’s all oatmeal, right?)
• whole grain crackers
• quinoa (key-nwah… avoid looking like an idiot by asking for kwi-no-ah)
• compostable garbage bags.  You’ll be surprised how much compostable waste you’ll encounter!

You’ll get home with your re-usable shopping bags full of treats (after spending two hours in the supermarket looking for everything), questioning whether or not you’ve made the right decision, and think “What can I make for supper?”  Which brings me to Tip #3.  Forget everything you thought you knew about meals.

I now, after five months, have no problem eating leftover vegetable stirfry with quinoa for breakfast.  I’ll also eat oatmeal, Ezekiel toast with organic raspberry jam, a banana and an apple for supper.  Everything in your house is now good for you – any time of day.  Eat whatever you want, whenever you want.  You’ll get into the flow of preparing meals in advance, which will make the transition easier.  Soups are key (one a week in our household), as are bean/chickpea-based dishes like vegan chili, stirfries (watch the sodium level in your sauce), curries, and taco salad.  Always have some sliced vegetables on the side (or a baked sweet potato) and some fruit for dessert.

If you’re a calorie counter, count calories.  You’ll be surprised how few you consume compared to two days ago, and it’ll be easy to reduce or increase your calorie intake as needed.  If you think you need a lot of protein to keep you going, no sweat.  It’s basically impossible, on a whole foods diet, to consume enough calories without consuming enough protein.  You don’t need 150g of protein every day, even if you’re pumping it hard at the gym.  People told you that so that you’d buy meat and shakes.  75-85g a day, for a male my age and fitness level, is more than enough.  Trust me, and release your inner Vader.  Your body will thank you for it.

For the last few months I’ve been trying out and reviewing GNC’s new Beyond Raw line.  I first tried out RAVAGE and talked about how much horsepower it has and how bad-ass I was in the gym with it.  Then I reviewed Re-Built Mass, where I talked about my fears with weight gainers but showed you my real-life measurements and stats as to how it helped me build muscle and lose fat at the same time.

This week I’m reviewing GNC’s Beyond Raw Refine.

Refine is a Thermogenic.  What’s a thermogenic, you ask? Simply put, it’s a fat burner.

There are a few reasons why I don’t like fat burners but the main reason is that  lot of people think it’s a magic pill that will give them abs and that they can eat whatever they want and not workout and they’ll lose weight as long as they’re taking this fat burner.  Obviously this isn’t true.  The key to being healthy and lean and losing weight is based on what you eat and how you exercise. Period.

This being said, if a thermogenic is taken properly and on the right diet and exercise program, it can kick-start your day and give you a bit of an edge when it comes to burning calories, burning fat, having energy all day long or in the gym and it can help your body recover.

According to GNC Refine is the following:

Ultra Thermogenic and Metabolic Igniter

• Powerful Thermogenic Agents Trigger Dramatic Pre-Training Caloric Burn*
• Potent Thermogenic Formula For Rapid Rush And Fatty Acid Metabolism*
• Fuels Extreme Physique Repartitioning Workouts And Promotes Anabolic Drive*
• Hardcore Metabolic Stack Provides Blistering Intensity And Ignites Metabolism*

CAUTION: – This product contains extremely potent concentrations of muscle fuel. It is designed to provide experienced athletes with explosive gains, bursts of energy and massive anabolic surges. Use only if you are ready to take your workout to the next level of athletic performance.
* These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.

After researching and looking into what Refine does, I decided to try it two different ways during two periods of time.

The first way I took it was 30 minutes before my workout to see what kind of energy it gave me to get it done in the gym.  Unlike their other pre-workout, Ravage, Refine didn’t get me all jacked up and ready to destroy the gym (which I liked), but it did give me a little boost and let me workout longer than I normally would.  I didn’t get any shakes, my mind didn’t get foggy and my body could just keep going without a caffeine high.

The second way I took Refine was first thing in the morning, with my breakfast, and personally, this is how I prefered to take it.  It gave me a nice little start to my day, I could feel the thermogenic kick in with my metabolism working harder and by taking it in the morning, as opposed to before my workout, let me continue to use Ravage as my pre-workout and keep killing it in the gym.

Overall, I was happy with Refine, but to be honest, it was my least favorite of the three GNC Beyond Raw supplements that I tried.  I’m not going to say it doesn’t work because it definitely does what it says what it does, it just isn’t for me.  But if you’re looking for a good thermogenic, and help your training, this may be for you.

As always I’m going to state that not all pre and post supplements are for everyone.  It’s taken me a long time to find ones that I like.  I know my own medical history and I know what supplements I can handle and which I can’t.  If you have high blood pressure, are on any medication, have any heart problems or any other medical issues, PLEASE seek medical advice before trying these or any other supplements.  If you’re not sure, ask. When it comes to your health it’s better to be safe, than sorry.

GNC Beyond Raw Re-Built Mass Review
GNC Beyond Raw Ravage Review

This post is brutally honest and I’m going to be talking about farting and gas, so if you can’t handle it, close the browser window right now because I’m not going beat around the bush or sugar coat this and I’m just going to get this out in the open right now; I fart a lot.  I mean, a lot… and they are FOUL!! Like, I’ve cleared an outdoor picnic table in the middle of the forrest.

Sexy, right?

I’ve dealt with an irritable stomach since I was a kid.  I’ve always known dairy was the cause of it but never really thought much of it.  As long as I stayed away from ice cream, milk itself and anything that was heavy on the creamy-side, I was OK. Or what I considered to be “OK”.

When I started working out a lot, I started taking whey protein, which is dairy based, post-workout and that’s when my gas and irritable stomach got much worse.  I was always uncomfortable, I had cramps, my stomach was constantly gurgling, I was always farting, and the easiest way to describe how i felt is to say that it felt like I had a hot bowl of oatmeal boiling over in my stomach, all the time.

This is something I’ve dealt with all my life, but I’m realizing now that it is something that I don’t need to “deal with” or “suck up” as I’ve been brain washed or trained to do since childhood.

I’ve been doing a lot of reading lately and there is a lot of scientific research that proves that we as adults shouldn’t consume dairy at all, so I’m removing dairy completely from my diet. No more cheese, I’m replacing my milk that I eat on cereal or in my coffee with soy milk, my whey protein is being switched out for a vegan protein called Vega Sport and I’m really hoping these changes in my lifestyle fixes a few things.

There’s a chance that my stomach issues could be a slew of things, but cutting out dairy seems to be the most common answer I get when looking for answers and the easiest thing to do first.  I think even if it doesn’t fix all of my stomach issues, I may stick with it for a while and see how it affects my weight loss.

I’ve been reading the Paleo Diet book and I’m thinking about taking on that lifestyle for a while to see how I fair out as well.  I’m not 100% sold on it yet and if you don’t know what the Paleo Diet is, stay tuned, I’ll be doing some posts about it soon enough and I’m going to guess it’ll be mostly me bitching about not having any carbs.

I know there’s a lot of people who deal with similar issues, so I’m wondering, are you one of them? Have you made any changes to try and fix them? Have you been successful?

I love hockey and if you’re following me on Twitter, you may have noticed that lately since the NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs are on and it’s all that’s on my TV right now and it’s pretty much every second tweet I send out.

I’m a hockey player.  More specifically, I’m a goalie.  Long before I was into fitness, before I ever played volleyball, golf baseball or football, and before I ever weighed 270 lbs, I played hockey, and I was pretty good.

My dream as a kid was to go to university on a full hockey scholarship, study to be a veterinarian, get drafted by the Toronto Maple Leafs, play hockey until I was 40 when I would retire and I would then open my own vet hospital and spend the rest of my days taking care of sick animals.  Funny what we dream of as kids.

I played competitive hockey most of my childhood and into my late teens and I even taught at a well-established hockey school for a few summers. After high school I was going to play Junior hockey but hurt my knee pretty bad and realized that my childhood dream wasn’t going to come true and that my education was more important than playing Junior hockey, so I quit and retired for about 5 years and in that time is when I got fat.

Once I lost my weight, I dusted off the pads and got back out on the ice.  Shortly after my first few games I tore my meniscus in half and had to have the torn piece removed.  So now I’m missing half of my meniscus and that sidelined me again for another year.

Since my surgery I’ve played hockey every year until this year.  It’s not that I didn’t have the opportunity, it seems anyone I talked to about hockey needed a goalie, but I didn’t get to play more than 5 or 6 times due to a groin injury that is from back in the day.

I miss hockey. Especially this time of year when the playoffs are in full force and there’s at least two games a night on TV.  I’m hoping my groin heals up for next year and that I’ll be back on the ice because hockey is a great workout and a lot of fun.

Hockey is a sport that creates trust, camaraderie, work ethic, team building, pride, respect, sportsmanship and above all, friendship.  These are all things that have carried over into my adult life and really helped sculpt me in to the man I am today and if/when I ever have kids, I truly hope they will be hockey players.

So even though my best playing days are well behind me, the game continues to serve as a framework for personal development both on and off the ice.

Do you play any sports? Did you play sports growing up?

Last week I wrote a post about pre and post workout supplements and my experiences with them over the years. I also mentioned to you guys that I’m going to be doing a lot more reviews over the next while and aren’t you so lucky because for the past month I’ve been trying out GNC’s awesome Beyond Raw line.

I’ve already tried out and reviewed their powerful pre-workout RAVAGE (seriously, I love the name) and it’s really helped me in the gym, as you can read in my review, and today I’m going to review their Mass builder called Re-Built Mass.

Let’s get in to the details of what is in Re-Built

• HYPER-MASS GAINER WITH 850 CALORIES AND 60G OF PROTEIN TO ENGORGE MUSCLES AND INCREASE MASS
• ANABOLIC QUAD-PHASE NUTRIENT STACK TO PACK ON
• MEGA DOSE OF A 10G, FIVE-PHASE ADVANCED CREATINE COMPLEX FOR INTENSE POWER AND STRENGTH
• ULTRA ANABOLIC GROWTH FACTORS, MUSCLE CELL PROTECTION, AND RECOVERY COMPONENTS FOR ENHANCED MUSCULARITY AND DENSITY

Wow… Did ya catch all of that?

I’m going to start by saying that I’m not in a “bulk-up” stage of my training right now and I’m actually trying to lose fat, so when I saw that one serving of this stuff had 850 calories, 90 from fat, and 120g of carbs, I didn’t know what the hell I was going to do because that’s about ⅓ of my daily caloric intake in one dose.  I was however very intrigued by the stack, amount of protein and creatine that it came with because as well as trying to lose fat, I’m trying to build muscle and stay at the same weight.

The first day I tried Re-Built I took the full serving for breakfast before a volleyball tournament, which is three gigantic scoops, and it filled me up instantly.  I wasn’t hungry for about two hours which is how long breakfast usually curbs my hunger for.  The only issue I had is that it’s double the calories of what my breakfast usually is and didn’t fill me up for any longer.  It was at this point that I decided that I was going to cut my serving size in half and take it post-workout.  I figured this would be the best way to reap the benefits of the protein, carbs, the stack and the creatine.

While you workout, your muscle tissues has been stressed and damaged, so when you take whey protein afterward, along with the right carbohydrates, fats  and some creatine, your muscles are like a sponge and will instantly take in any nutrition for muscle recovery and growth. With this knowledge, I figured I’d be OK with the amount of cals, fats and carbs I was going to be consuming.

I started taking GNC Beyond Raw Re-Built on March 23rd, 2012 and I was very scared that it was going to hinder my goal of losing fat and I feared it was actually goig to make me put more fat on.  Well, I’m not ashamed and I’m quite happy to admit that I was wrong, and I’m going to let these numbers speak for themselves.

March 23, 2012
Weight – 178.4 lbs
Waist at belly button – 37.75”
Chest – 41.5”
Left arm – 13”
Left leg – 22”

March 30, 2012
Weight – 178.2 lbs
Waist at belly button – 37.25”
Chest – 41.5”
Left arm – 13”
Left leg – 22”

April 6, 2012
Weight – 178.2 lbs
Waist at belly button – 36.75”
Chest – 41.5”
Left Arm – 13.75”
Left Leg – 22.5”

April 13
Weight – 176.8 lbs
Waist at belly button – 36.25”
Chest – 41.5”
Left Arm – 13.25”
Left Leg – 22”

April 20
Weight – 177.4 lbs
Waist at belly button – 36”
Chest 41.5”
Left Arm 13.75”
Left Leg 22.5”

April 27
Weight – 177.2 lbs
Waist at belly button – 35.5”
Chest 41.5”
Left Arm 14”
Left Leg 22.5”

As you can clearly see, I LOST weight, I LOST fat around my stomach and I gained muscle in other places. Not only did I lose weight and gain muscle, but by combining the Ravage before my workout, and the Re-Build after my workout, I’ve set more than five new personal records in the gym while weight lifting.

Holy shit, this stuff works!

I promise you guys, as my readers, I will never steer you wrong with one of my reviews. If I don’t think something works or is right for me or you, I’ll let you know.  But I’m very happy say I’m more than pleased with the results I’ve seen from GNC’s Beyond Raw Re-Built and will definitely continue to use it beyond this one month that I have.

If you’re at all curious about my training during the use of GNC Beyond Raw Ravage and Re-Built, you can check it out here.

As always I’m going to state that not all pre and post supplements are for everyone.  It’s taken me a long time to find ones that I like.  I know my own medical history and I know what supplements I can handle and which I can’t.  If you have high blood pressure, are on any medication, have any heart problems or any other medical issues, PLEASE seek medical advice before trying these or any other supplements.  If you’re not sure, ask. When it comes to your health it’s better to be safe, than sorry.

GNC Beyond Raw Ravage Review
GNC Beyond Raw Refine Review

Over the past two plus years I’ve had a hard time coming to grips with the word “blogger” being used to describe me and the word “blog” to describe my part time passion that is Your Inner Skinny.

I’m not sure why I have such a hesitation with the word blog or term blogger because I’ve actually been blogging for more than eight years.  I’ve had a few different blogs that mainly revolved around the ad agency world and at one time I had one that was completely based on inspirational design in everything from everyday life to art to photography to movies, including pornography.

On my previous blogs I use to write daily about my everyday experiences and everyday life. However with YIS, I haven’t been one of those “every day bloggers”, as I call them, that writes about what they ate, what they did and what’s going on in their lives. I’ve mainly only written, or blogged if you will, about key moments in my life or key inspirations and it seems people like it this way.

From time to time I get the urge to sit down and just write about my day and share with you what I did, my workout, what ate and who I met.  But then I think, “who the hell cares what I did today”?  I wonder if I want to be that kind of blogger, or moreover, do my readers want me to be that kind of blogger?  For the most part, my posts have been about my monumental thoughts or experiences for so long, and if I start changing that up, will I lose my readers?  I don’t want to lose anyone, because really, YOU GUYS are the reason I have continued to do this for so long.

It also boils down to time. Who has the time to blog every day? I have no idea how people do it. I barely feel like I have the time to blog twice a week.

If I started writing about my day I want make sure the blog stays interesting and I don’t want to force my writing, but I also don’t want to limit myself to only writing the most deep and personal posts like I am now because that’s just mentally draining. It’s a conundrum.

To be honest, I don’t even know why I’m writing about this now. Maybe it’s just because that’s what I’m feeling and it’s my way of sharing.

Jesus, now I’m just rambling… Let’s get to the point, shall we?

What do you think? Do you care about what I ate today? Do you care about my workout? Do you care about if I got pen on my new t-shirt?

What do you want to hear about? What do YOU care about? Do you care at all? Do you just read this because you’re bored?

Again, YOU’RE the reason I do what I do, so help me help you… “HELP ME, HELP YOU”.

Recently I’ve been doing more and more reviews on supplements and there are more to come in the near future.  The reason I do these reviews is because there are a million and one different supplements out there in today’s fitness market and every single one of them promises benefits and results and if you don’t know which one’s do what, how do you know what to use?  There’s whey protein, fat burners, pre workouts, post workouts and a tone other things that I can’t even be bothered to list right now.

I’ve tried a lot of different supplements over the past seven years during my weight loss and on my journey to build a healthy, strong and esthetically pleasing body.   Some of them worked and some of them didn’t. I’ve built muscle, I’ve burned fat, gotten heart burn, had the shakes, been temperamental, had my face go numb, and there’s been times when I definitely didn’t feel like myself while on some supplements.

I’ve been using whey protein from day one to help repair damaged muscle tissue from my workouts and it’s something that I’ll never give up. I use Whey Protein Isolate for refueling after my workout as it’s easily absorbed by damage muscular tissue and helps rebuild and grow the muscles and it’s something that never leaves my supplement rotation. Occasionally I’ll also use a Whey Protein Complex as a snack or before bed as it’s slow released and slowly digested and keeps me full for longer.  I’ve used pre workouts here and there over the years and I have found a few that I like and when I do, I throw it in to the rotation because it does help give me a little extra umph for my workout. I’ve taken creatine by itself in the past but I tend to only use it if it’s in my pre or post workout stack (the use of multiple supplements that work together towards a common fitness goal) and as much as I’ve used myself as a guinea pig while testing supplements, I want to stress to you that I’ve never tried anything illegal and that I’ve only purchased legal supplements from a legitimate supplement store.

So, what are pre and post workout supplements and do they work?

Honestly, the whole “what are they” subject is WAY too vast for me to cover in one post and I’m not a doctor nor do I have a degree in science.  So for me to go in to a lot of detail about what they are from the scientific point of view is kind of pointless, not to mention boring for most.  What I am though is a bit of a guinea pig and I know what has worked for me and what I’ve liked over the years.  Back to what pre and post workout supplements are and what they do.

Pre and post nutrition is the key to getting optimal results in the gym and for muscular growth and recovery.

Pre workout supplements can help you get in an extra couple of reps, help you increase your weight that you’re lifting, give you better endurance and help you recover and not be as sore after your workout.

Post workout supplements help to quickly and efficiently refuel the muscles and then provide them with the raw materials they need to rebuild themselves to be bigger and stronger.

Are you someone who uses supplements? Do they work for you? Have you had any horror stories?

Not all pre and post supplements are for everyone.  It’s taken me a long time to find ones that I like.  I know my own medical history and I know what supplements I can handle and which I can’t.  If you have high blood pressure, are on any medication, have any heart problems or any other medical issues, PLEASE seek medical advice before trying these or any other supplements.  If you’re not sure, ask. When it comes to your health it’s better to be safe, than sorry.

I’m not a fan of pre-workouts.  I’ve tried A LOT of them over the last six or seven years while losing weight and trying to maintain and I’ve yet to find one that I feel is worth using and that I’ve loved.

My biggest issue with pre-workouts is the way they make me feel mentally and physically. I can’t focus or hold a conversation, I feel half drunk and they usually make me feel like my skin is crawling.  I hate not being comfortable in my own skin and trying to workout when your mind is fuzzy and your skin is tingling is not fun.

All of that being said, I’m still here to test out new products for your benefit and give you a review, even if it kills me… Well not quite kill me, but even if I don’t like it.

Enter the new pre-workout from the GNC Beyond Raw line, Ravage.

I’m not going to beat around the bush and get right to the point; Ravage is intense.

RAVAGE.  Even the name is intense and I’m going to assume that a big part of that is because of the 200mg of caffeine that they pack in to one scoop.

I’m going to be 100% honest here and tell you that the first time I took the Ravage, unfortunately, I did get the itchy, skin crawling feeling I feared I would.  I actually had it happen the first three times I took Ravage.  However, every time it only lasted about 20 minutes and then it went away, and like I said, it was only the first three times I took Ravage and I’ve been taking it now for a month and haven’t experienced since.  I’m not sure what it was, but I break it down to my body not being use to it and needed an adaption period.

So, even though I did have the weird itchy skin feeling the first few times I tried Ravage, I didn’t have that lack of focus or drunk/brain fuzziness that I usually get from pre-workouts and I could have a normal conversation with someone, which I don’t usually get from pre-workouts.  This was a bonus because I could think straight and I felt like myself and all I wanted to do was pump some iron.

And pump some iron I did.

I’m not sure if it was the caffeine, the L-Taurine, L-Arginne or the 5 types of creatine, but holy crap could I ever lift some weight.  I set five new personal records while taking this stuff while weight training.  Three of which were in the same leg workout doing barbell squats. I was able to add 80lbs to my squat in one session. I was just able to keep pushing myself.

Not only was I able to push myself with the weight I was lifting, when in the gym, I actually had to make myself leave the gym because I could just keep going and wasn’t fatigued. I wasn’t wired like I had chugged an entire pot of coffee, I just felt like I took a 20-minute power-snooze for 2 hours straight.  Also, my soreness was minimal the few days after my workout and we all know day two is usually brutal.

I also tried some Ravage this weekend before my volleyball tournament and again, it didn’t make me jittery and all over the place, it just gave me the energy I needed to get through 15 sets of volleyball.  Take a second to think about that.

Conclusion:

As far pre-workouts go, this one is my Top 3 for reasons outside of what a lot of people are looking for in their pre-workouts.  I don’t care about “the pump” or my veins popping and I don’t want to be jittery or angry, which is what most do to me. I want my pre-workout to help me lift more, longer and recover well and I feel that Ravage does a good job of doing this as is proof in my training over the last 3 weeks.

As always I’m going to state that not all pre and post supplements are for everyone.  It’s taken me a long time to find ones that I like.  I know my own medical history and I know what supplements I can handle and which I can’t.  If you have high blood pressure, are on any medication, have any heart problems or any other medical issues, PLEASE seek medical advice before trying these or any other supplements.  If you’re not sure, ask. When it comes to your health it’s better to be safe, than sorry.

GNC Beyond Raw Re-Built Mass Review
GNC Beyond Raw Refine Review

I’m a goal setter. If you read this blog at all, this isn’t news to you.  If you didn’t know this about me, that means you don’t read this blog much, and I ask you why the hell not? What, are you too good for me? Is that what you think? Huh…

Sorry… Ummm… That was awkward…

Sooo, as I was sayin’… I’m always challenging myself and always looking to better myself.  Last month alone I created the “Challenge Yourself Challenge”, I gave up beer, and I created a list of “Things to Change” that included giving up dairy and to get a job that I actually liked, all to help motivate myself to become a better person.

A few weeks ago I also went a bit deeper with some insight into the mind of Scott with a post that was inspired by lululemon’s “The Recruiting Top 11″ questions and as I was poking around the interwebs today I came across their “vision and goals worksheet” which is built in alignment with their recruiting and company culture.

Basically in this worksheet what they ask is what are your career, health and personal goals are for the next 1, 5 and 10 years.

I really liked this and I decided to think about it for a bit. I had no problem with year one and my career and personal goals for year 5 but my health goals for years 5 and 10 along with my personal and career goals for 10 years from now was tough. To be honest, I still don’t have an answer for those questions.

1 Year:

Career: I will combine my passion for health and fitness with my enjoyment for social media into a job I love.
Health: I will overcome my injuries and run my first 10k race in the Yellowknife Overlander Sports Marathon.
Personal: At my brother’s wedding I will give the best speech ever given (this one scares the hell out of me!)

5 Year:

Career: YourInnerSkinny.ca will evolve in website for online training and a place for people to gather for support and sharing
Health:
Personal: I will own ocean-front property in my home province of PEI for vacationing and eventually to retire to

10 year:

Career:
Health:
Personal:

So allow me to ask you, what are YOUR career, health and personal goals for the next 1, 5 and 10 years?

GUEST POST: “A Vegan in the Works” – Part 1

Forks Over Knives

It’s hard for me to pinpoint the exact moment when I decided to change my diet.  I can remember feeling anger when the conversation first arose – I was angry that my fiancé was considering a vegan diet (mostly because I knew that she’d try to restrict my diet as well).  This was before I listened to what anyone had to say about the relationship between diet and disease.

My initial reaction was anger.

I didn’t want to change anything because I knew that it would make my life miserable.  I knew that it was going to cost me more money.  I knew that people would make fun of me.  I knew that it was going to make my day-to-day a lot more difficult.

So I got mad.  Before I even watched the documentary.  What a jerk I can be.

In order to make amends for my unfavorable reaction to the possibility of giving up red meat and chicken, I rented Forks Over Knives from the local video store, popped some popcorn and got ready to bite my tongue (I tend to have a negative and sarcastic attitude when I have to listen to something I don’t agree with).  But here’s the thing – I actually agreed with most of the information being presented to me.

Without diving too far into the hard numbers of the film (it’s fairly statistic-based), Forks Over Knives centers primarily around the work of two American doctors who came together in the 1980s after drawing the same basic conclusion about the North American diet:  it was killing us a greater rate than any other cause of death.  One of these men had been studying the use of protein-based foods to counter malnutrition in the Philippines, while the other had been a respected surgeon before concluding that his efforts weren’t doing anything to prevent the diseases that he was dealing with.

In a nutshell, Dr. Campbell stumbled onto a previous medical study that implied that animal-based protein sped up cancerous tumor growth in rats.  While trying to replicate this experiment, Campbell showed that the primary proteins in cow’s milk (casein) actually promote cancer cell growth in rats.  When the proteins were added to their diet, cancer growth increased.  When the proteins were minimized, cancer growth slowed or halted.

He then applied what he had learned in the lab to his human-based research, The China Study, and identified over 300 links between diet and disease throughout his ten-year, 6500-person study.

Dr. Esselstyn, on the other hand, focused primarily on the link between animal-based foods and heart disease – the number one killer of men and women in North America.  His clinical practices, putting patients on a whole foods (plant based) diet after they suffered one or more heart attacks (and usually after at least one bypass surgery), showed that not only is heart disease preventable, in many cases it’s reversible.

The Conclusion

The summary of the film and the scientific and nutritional hypotheses that it preaches are irrelevant.  I could literally talk all day about the different statistics, studies, correlations and testimonies that are presented, rather dryly, throughout that ninety-minute documentary.  And at the same time, you could read other studies or talk to doctors and nutritionists anywhere in the world who will tell you that the human body needs milk and protein to survive.  There are two sides to every debate, and right now it’s obvious that my side is the great minority.

I could also give you a long list of reasons why I kicked meat and dairy.  But here’s the truth:  I just couldn’t come up with any more excuses why I shouldn’t make a change, without having them sound like excuses.

During that first argument before watching Forks Over Knives, I spit out every excuse in the book:

“I’m already starving all the time.  How do you think I’ll react if I cut out the one food that actually fills me?”

“I lead a pretty physical/athletic lifestyle.  I need a substantial portion of protein each day or I won’t be able to keep it up.”

“Do you know how expensive fruits and vegetables are?  We can’t afford to eat like that.”

“I eat eggs every day.  I can’t live off cereal in the morning.  I’ll be starving by 9:30am.”

“I just don’t want to.”

“We don’t have time to cook that much.  It’d be way too much effort.”

“I know my body, and I need meat.  I can’t live off salad.”

“That’s pretty extreme…”

Oddly enough, these are the same excuses that other people have offered to me, as if they need to come up with a reason for not joining our adventure.  People who take interest in our diet and our reasons for making the switch always end up sharing why they feel they couldn’t do the same.  It’s like clockwork.  And here’s why:

They know the information is true, just like I knew the truth before I did any real research.  Every single person I’ve talked to about general nutrition – every single one – has had to, eventually, admit that fruits and vegetables and legumes and whole grains are healthier than meat, eggs and dairy.  That burgers are horrible for you.  That, despite the protein benefits in chicken and beef, cholesterol from animal-based products and oils are the single cause of heart disease.  That drinking the milk of another species seems wrong and unnatural.  They know that what they’re eating is hurting their health – they can’t deny it.  Just like I couldn’t.

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Matt is going to be writing a few more posts finishing up his story about his transformation, so be sure to check back for the next few weeks for his posts.

I’ve been sick and on the couch for the past three days.  It’s been an all over the place kind of sick that started with a migraine and lead to nausea and muscle soreness and now I’m fighting a bit of a cold.  I’ve been hydrating like a mofo and pounding the vitamins into me while trying to get better.  With that, I’ve also been laying on the couch a lot trying to relax and get some rest.

Yesterday, as I was flicking through the channels, I discovered that I have The Food Network.  WHAT? SERIOUSLY?  I have the Food Network?  I only ever watch my TV in HD so I wasn’t aware that I had The Food Network in my non-HD channels and when I realized this, I curled up in my Snuggie and the only time the channel has changed in the last two days has been to watch some SportsCentre.

There have been a few mini marathons of shows and my favorites so far have been Chopped, Iron Chef, Top Chef Canada and Eat St. and I can’t wait to discover some more shows. I’ve honestly fallen in love with this channel.  It’s like food porn that I can’t have.

Do you watch? What’s your favorite show?

Last week, she wrote her final (the first final of the first year of three years of school) and kicked its ass.  Like, she OWNED it! I am beyond proud of her. So on our holiday Easter Friday, we decided to go for a drive on the search for some bison.

If you don’t know anything about where I live, Yellowknife is at the edge of the Arctic, in the heart of the wilderness and is only 512 km south of the Arctic Circle.  As a city we have 20,000 people and it is an actual city, but if you drive outside the city 5 minutes in any direction, you feel like you’re in an area where no one has ever been before.

Before our cross-country drive from the East Coast, we had never seen wild bison and unfortunately we came across them at hours 18 and 19 of our last day of travel.  It was dusk, we were tired and we didn’t know what to expect from them and even though we saw about 300 bison, we didn’t get any photos of them.

This is what sparked Friday’s drive on the road to nowhere.

Our packed snack

The road down south.

We drove south, towards Edmonton, which is 1,500km away, for about 275km stopping to track some tracks and see if we could find some bison.

This was the closest we got…

But I was determined to find me a damn Bison.

This is about as close as I got.

And then I found some deep snow.

Some VERY deep snow.

And then I got stuck.

I eventually got out and even though we drove 550 km over 6 hours and didn’t see one effin’ bison, I did get some great shots of my two ladies and got to spend some quality time with the missus. And YES, this is actually Easter weekend, 2012 in the Northwest Territories. Still lots of snow.

I’ve been talking about change lately. It’s something I’ve felt I’ve needed in my life.  On March 7th, 2012 at 11:13pm I sent myself the following email:

Subject: Things to Change

Body of email: “Read more. Less video games. Go to sleep earlier. Write more. Run more. Get job. Study for my personal training certifications. Work out more. Eat healthier. Change diet by cutting out dairy.”

Today I’m going through my emails to clean out my inbox and a month later to the day and I came across this one (no this wasn’t planned).  In looking at the list, it’s pretty generic, but it’s also a list with some very big goals.

Let’s break it down.

1. Read more: I hate reading. I have a bit of ADD and I really can’t stay focused long enough to read something to it’s completion and this annoys the hell out of me.  I have 5 books at home that I want to read and I’m going to start going to bed 30 minutes earlier and try and start reading before sleep. I’m hoping that I can train my brain to read more and enjoy it because I really do care about the information in the book.
2. Less video games: I love video games! I’ve played them my whole life and it’s something that I’ve never grown out of.  I use it as a way to unwind at the end of the day or on the weekend.  The thing is that it’s also a way for me to procrastinate or waste time.  I know I can’t cut them out completely because I really do enjoy playing them, but instead of playing for 45 minutes before bed to unwind, I’m going to play for 15 to 20 minutes before bed and then read for 30 to 20 minutes while in bed.
3. Go to sleep earlier: This one I have changed already.  I’m a night person. I always have been. In my early 20s I was able to function on 4 hours sleep no problem. That’s not quite the case anymore.  Over the past few years I’ve been managing to get about 6 hours sleep but by simply going to bed 45 minutes earlier, that extra half an hour a night has really helped me out.  I now get about 6 ½ hours of sleep a night and it’s improved my productivity at work, in the gym and in everything else I do.
4. Write more: This is something else I’ve been doing more but I still want to improve.  I realized I was only writing blog posts on life changing events or happenings but I’m now trying to convince myself that I should be writing more on a daily basis just talking about my workouts, what I eat and my goals.  I’m still having a hard time thinking that people give a shit about what I have to say, but as long as I continue to get positive feedback, I’ll do my best to keep writing.
5. Run more: Last week I did my first long run in almost a year and I hit 5km.  I’ve now decided that I want to do a 10k this summer.  After training for 4 months and not being able to run the Blue Nose Marathon 10k last year due to injury, it’s still on my list of things to do, so I want to get that done.
6. Get job: This was a big one! I wasn’t happy in my job at all! I was actually quite miserable.  It’s around the time I wrote the post “If you don’t like something, change it.” and I took my own advice.  I started a new job two weeks ago and I’m very happy there.  Things are going well.
7. Study for my personal training certifications: I currently have my “Weight Resistance Trainer” certification and I’ve taken the “Fitness Theory” and “Personal Trainer Specialist” course, I just haven’t written those two exams.  It’s been a year now and it’s time to smarten up, open my books, study and write my exams.  I’m getting offered some PTing jobs that I have to turn down because of this and I’m tired of saying “I just have to write the exam”.
8. Work out more:  I’m all over this like the fat kid I use to be when he saw a large pizza with the works. I’m not drinking for a month and I’m working out about 4 – 5 times a week and I’m owning it. Up 2lbs on the scale and down 1 ½” around the waist. It’s great and I feel awesome.
9. Eat healthier:I might as well just tie this one with the previous one. My diet is on par and I feel awesome!
10. Change diet by cutting out dairy: I’ve always known I don’t deal well with dairy, but when I cut it out for two days, I didn’t realize how good I could actuallyfeel. I didn’t feel bloated. I had no cramps. And to be honest and frank, I didn’t have the stinkiest farts in the world.After cutting out dairy I feel great and now when I do have some cheese I feel awful. As much as I love cheese, this is a no-brainer for me.

My goal in writing this email to myself wasn’t to make a list of 10 things to change in my life, it was just to remind myself that I have goals already set and I need to stop talking about them and actually do something.  It’s such a good feeling to come across this email and to see thta I’ve actually accomplished over half of this list and that TODAY is the day I fond this email.  It’s given me a great sense of accomplishment.

Do you have a “to do list”? Do you keep it in front of you or do you write it down and tuck it away like I did?

What are your goals?

Last night when I went to the gym, I wore my No Excuses/Your Inner Skinny sweatshirt. It was about 9:30pm and I was doing squats, which I normally love, but my hips and groin were bothering me and I REALLY didn’t want to be there.

When I was about to stop working out, I looked in the mirror and saw what my shirt said… “No Excuses”.  I literally started at it for about 2 minutes. Then I looked at myself in the eyes and challenged myself to do more.  I wasn’t tired. I wasn’t finished. So why was I leaving?

By the end of my workout I did 8 sets of squats and set a new personal best on my 7th and 8th sets. First 305lbs, 5 times and then 315 lbs, 5 times.

- 45 lb x 15 reps
- 135 lb x 15 reps
- 185 lb x 12 reps
- 205 lb x 10 reps
- 225 lb x 8 reps
- 275 lb x 6 reps
- 305 lb x 5 reps
- 315 lb x 5 reps

It felt AMAZING. This is a weight I’ve wanted to do for a long time and never thought I could. If I had of made excuses to leave, I would have never made this milestone and wouldn’t have had this awesome feeling of satisfaction.

I have to remember daily to challenge myself and not to make excuses, otherwise, where would I be in life and who would I be as a person?

So, once again, I’m challenging you to step up, suck it up and challenge yourself.

I didn’t want to do it? But I did. And now I’m happy I did!

What’s your excuse?

Last year I was going to run the Blue Nose Marathon and not only that, I was also asked to join Team Myles. Team Myles is a special part of the Scotiabank Blue Nose Marathon that brings focus to the average Nova Scotian’s participation.  A Team Myles member is someone who chooses to establish a training goal and participate in one of the Race Weekend events as a runner or walker in the 5k or 10k.

Before starting to train with Team Myles, I had never run more than 2 or 3km and the thought of doing 10k absolutely terrified me.  With my injuries and my lack of cardio, I knew I was in for some deep trouble.

Fast forward to my first 5k ever after 2 months of training and then eventually up to my first 6k and then 8k.  I was on a roll and ready for my 10k race until I ended up rolling my ankle and injuring myself pretty bad two weeks before the race.

Running a 10k is still on my bucket list and last week I decided I’m going to try and do one sometime this summer, which leads us up to tonight.

I’ve been having a lot of hip and groin issues lately (for those of you who don’t know, I was in a pretty bad motorcycle accident 3 years ago and still suffer from my injuries) but tonight I decided to try and run 5k.  It’s been since April 4^th, 2011 that I’ve done a long distance run and my goal tonight was to get in a full 5k no matter how long it took.

It’s still very snowy here and hovering around freezing, so I threw on my Under Armour compression pants under my shorts and my Adidas running jacket that I got as a member of Team Myles and off I went.

31 minutes and 2 seconds later, I finished my first 5k in almost a year.  I got my first 3k without stopping in seventeen minutes, walked for two minutes, and then finished running the next 1.9km.

It was tough, but I was determined and I challenged myself to do it, so I did. And surprisingly fast and had it not been for sore hips, I know I could have gone further.

I’ve challenged myself to challenge myself every day, and this was my biggest success in a long time, and I couldn’t be more proud right now.

I’m going to keep training slowly and getting ready for my 10k and I’m going to keep challenging myself every day.  Accomplishing something you challenge yourself to do is an amazing feeling.

What have you challenged yourself to do lately?

I started this post off as a Facebook status update and it evolved in to a rant about the scale.

As you know I HATE the scale. I think it’s trouble and if you let it, it can break you mentally. It doesn’t tell you the true numbers in weight loss.  It measures how much your bodyweight goes up and down in weight and that’s it. It doesn’t take fat loss or muscle gain or water retention in to account, it simply tells you how much your body weighs at any given time.

This is why besides just stepping on and off the scale, I always use a seamstress measuring tape and I take measurements in key areas of my body to see what kind of gains and losses I have, (leg, abdomen around the belly button, chest, bicep) and I record them and compare them every week.

I’ve been busting my ass in the gym and eating very well the past week and when I stepped on the scale this morning, I had only lost 0.2 lbs.  That’s nothing. That’s a bowel movement for fucksake. And if stepping on the scale was my only weigh of measuring my success, I’d probably be very upset.  Fortunately for me though, because I took measurements in other places around my body, I know that I lost 1/2″ around my abdomen, put on almost a full inch around my bicep and put on 1/2″ around my leg and my chest stayed the same. I LOST 1/2″ around my belly.  That’s HUGE!! And I put on almost an INCH in size around my bicep… ARE YOU KIDDING ME?

I’m so happy right now. If I were to simply look at the scale and nothing else, I’d be moping around, frustrated and feeling deflated because of how hard I worked out this week and the lack of results on the scale. But instead, I’m smiling ear to ear knowing that I lost ½” around my stomach, my hardest place to lose weight.

I know not every week is going to be a drastic change like this and I know that the main reason I had such success is because I had been slacking in the gym and with my diet and the big change in my lifestyle made for big changes in my body. But, I just want to make sure that you all know that you shouldn’t rely simply on the scale. My boy Hank realized this, and you should too.

So, how do YOU measure success in weight loss?

Oh, where do I begin?

Beer, you’re great. You’re more than great, you are wonderful. And we’ve had some really good times together.  We’ve had some good laughs, funny moments and touching memories. We’ve known each other for a very long time, going on 25+ years, I’d say. And through the points in my life when no one else was around, you were right beside me, ready to cheer me up.

But right now, I think we need to take a “break”.

This has been coming on for a long time. We just don’t communicate like we used to. Heck, here I am writing this to you instead of just speaking to you in person, what does that say about us?

It seems like we’re in different stages in our lives right now and that we’re growing apart.  I want to get my health back on track, eat well, workout and lose weight, while all you want to do is sabotage that.  You’re a lot of fun, but you’re also a very bad influence.  You convince me to make bad choices that I later regret and right now, there’s no room for that in my life.

I hope you understand that I don’t actually want to break up with you, and I know it’s cliché, but I hope that we can still be friends. And who knows, maybe in a month when I feel like I’ve got my life back on track, we can give it another go, because I do want and need you to be a part of my life as I do and will always love you.

Scott.

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Last week I challenged you all to the “Challenge Yourself Challenge”. If you haven’t watched the video, do so!

I’ve been doing a lot of little challenges every day but this next one is the BIG ONE.  I’m giving up beer for the next month. dun-dun-duuuuhnnn…

I want to focus my attention to losing the 10 lbs I ‘ve set as my goal weight for May and I also want to start training for a yet to be defined 10k race that I am going to run.

Two years ago I gave up drinking for 35 days and I felt great and now that my birthday is past, St. Paddy’s Day has passed and wedding the summer is on it’s way, I think this is a great time to do this. Aso, last year I was training for my first ever 10k race when I rolled my ankle two weeks before race day and ended up not being able to do it. I had never run more than 3km before I started this training and I got up to 8km before having to pull out due to injury and that 10k has been on my bucket list ever since.  I figured these two challenges together are a great way to start off my spring right.

Also, I’ve been asked to do some part-time Personal Training and bootcamps at two local gyms, so I want to get my other two certifications (I have my weight resistance and I’ve taken the courses for my Personal Training and Fitness Theory certifications, I just need to write the exams), so that means studying on the weekends and not being hungover or tired.

I’ve got big plans for my near future and I think a month off from drinking will do my mind and body some good.

So what have you been doing to challenge yourself lately?