Office Fitness: Healthy Tips for Corporate Slaves (Part 2)

Of course, an article on office fitness wouldn’t be much good if it didn’t address how you can stay healthy in the office environment itself. All the stuff I mention in Part 1 seems somewhat obvious in retrospect and dependent entirely on both common sense and dedication to the cause. So let’s get zooming on what you can do to make sure your office is setting your progress behind…

Image Source/Photos.com

Dear corporate diary, I’ve only fantasized about skilling everyone on my floor 14 times today. Progress.

1. Your butt cheeks’ resting space.

Little do you know, but the very concept of sitting upright - regardless of how fantabulous your posture may be - is in fact unhealthy. You see, the human body did not evolve with the intent of being in an upright rigid L-shape (with an S twist) for prolonged periods of time. Being in a seated position wrecks internal havoc in the human body in terms of elevated blood pressure, lower back issues, muscle atrophy and much more. There are two ways to tackle this and they go as follow:

Bling Bling Motherfucker!

If your office cares about - and that’s usually big corporate machines bound by international rules and regulations, then you likely have ergonomic chairs in your office. These chairs cost a hefty sum - upwards of EGP 10,000 sometimes - but are designed in a manner which complements the natural curves of the spine and does not affect you in the same way standard desk chairs do.

Bounce girl bounce!

If your office allows it, you can always personally invest in buying the largest size workout ball you can find, inflating it and using it as your seat. The fact that it’s somewhat unstable and features no back support will mean that your body is forced to activate your core muscles throughout the entire time to keep you upright and more importantly, on the ball. Not for the faint hearted I must warn

Image Source/www.e90post.com

It may appear uncomfortable but once you get the hang of it it’ll still look ridiculous

2. Control your beverage intake.

I understand that’s part of corporate religion to engage in group indulgement and consumption of the psychedelic substance otherwise known as caffeine, but you can do be smarter about it! I understand that you can’t function without coffee but you know what, relying on two to four cups a day to function at the basic level isn’t exactly a good thing; you’re not different from a heroin junkie darling. First off, skip the fucking four teaspoons of sugar on that shit. You want to drink something sugary at work? Bring your own freshly squeezed fruit juice from home. Or I don’t know, maybe add a tablespoon of honey? You’d be surprised how many people shed off a ton of fat based solely on eliminating something as ridiculous as white sugar from their beverage intake. Needless to say, reaching out for a soda when you’re thirsty is a major no no. There are no nutritional benefits in these demonic tin cans; only worsening health. Trust me on that. I always go for water whenever I’m thirsty or when the need calls for a flavor change, some green tea or anise.

3. You’re not a dog, so stop responding to candy the way they do to treats.

I realize some of those companies try and do good by their employees and fill up their little office kitchenette with copious amounts of candy and chips that’s meant to help keep you satiated and focused on even more excel sheets, but them motherfuckers be fucking you like Judas did Jesus. Big time. As part of the aforementioned planning in Part 1 of the Office Fitness, you preparation of snacks and meals ought to cancel out the concept of temptation altogether. If you’ve got two snacks and a main meal, that means you ought to be eating every three hours or so while you’re at work, so your punk ass should be smart enough to stay away from some goddamn candy bars. No one’s holding a gun to your head to eat candy, and you’re only as strong as your will.

That moment when you get a call from HR telling you this year the Eid vacation will bridge two different weekends

4. Get moving out and about!

Say your office is too cheap to splurge on the fancy back-assisting chairs, say they’re not hip enough to let you get a freaking bouncy ball by your desk, they still can’t prevent you from getting up and taking a 5-minute walk around the office every hour or so. The key to preventing the negative effects of prolonged hours of sitting is that you move often enough to get your heart pumping and break the monotone of sitting to thwart off the negative health effects. Depending on how chill your office is with what you do, you can always dish out a few dozen push ups or crunches or even a plank every hour or so to really stay on top of your game. Obviously stretching is a big part of it and it does actively promote increased blood flow and cancel out the effects of prolonged seating so whenever you can, do try and whip out some dynamic stretches by your desk.

You see little boys and girls, sitting at your desk all day doesn’t have to be the end of it. You can stay active, you can keep moving and most of all, you can control the factors that influence the outcome. Working all day doesn’t have to be about taking calories in and burning nothing...

Image Source/Via Oregonstate.edu

...unless you watch porn at the office, in which case you’re burning plenty

Ultimately, the entire premise of staying fit despite leading a constrained and somewhat stressful lifestyle is entirely dependent on your will to do so. If you want it bad enough, you’ll get it no matter what. I hit the sack by 11 PM, I’m up by 4:45 AM, I down my chow, hit the gym, hit the showers, pack my meals and head on to work and slave away but I do so with full conviction that this is what’s best for me. That format may not work for you but the whole point is for you to find one that does and stick to it!

Now go get crackin’ you white collar slave you!

Office Fitness: Healthy Tips for Corporate Slaves (Part 1)

Do you toil in a desk job for a living? Do you punch in your timestamp at 9 AM on the dot and not a moment sooner lest your boss dock off a couple of days from your pay? Are you expected to perform at optimal levels day in, day out from 9 to 5 (and sometimes even later) every day of the year? Are you and the office chair spending so much time together your ass has effectively been molded to fill the entire space?

If you answered yes to any or all of the above, then this post, dear fellow corporate slave, is most definitely for you.

Fitness and leading a healthy lifestyle in general is always a bit of a hurdle to those of us who lead the corporate life. Many of us end up with a “choose this or the other” type of option and often follow the money trail at the expense of their fitness, believing they’ll make enough money in a couple of years to quit while they’re ahead and get right back on track. Only suddenly you’re 36 and your shirts’ buttons aren’t as cooperative as they used to be back in the day and your belt holes are only getting wider and you’re still working the same job.

Image Source/Photodisc/Getty Images

It’s not a matter of selecting being fit and poor or being unfit and bringing home the greens, thinking like that only highlights the fact that you’re not really 100% committed to the concept of being fit. If you think of it as a choice or an option then that means you’re probably not that into it in the first place. Fitness or leading a healthy lifestyle isn’t a phase or passing trend, it’s a lifelong commitment and it requires dedication.

Your two main assault weapons as a corporate whore who wants to make sure they stay on top of their fitness game will be Planning and Discipline. There’s no shortcut when it comes to it. It’s all in or none at all. The trickiest part for those of us at corporate usually stems from nutrition and how hard it is to stay faithful to the course with temptation, office kitchen snacks, co workers’ birthdays and many other factors influencing us.

The biggest challenge for those who wish to stay fit and still maintain their corporate benefits usually stems from believing they don’t have the time or energy to plan things out or make arrangements and it honestly revolves around how lazy you are. If you want it bad enough, you’ll make it happen. No, you don’t have to order McDonald’s or Pizza Hut with the rest of the office gang just because it’s more convenient. No, you don’t have to starve yourself at the office all day subsiding on oxygen and prayer till you make it home so you’re not tempted to gorge on junk food at your desk then cry it out by the paper shredder later that afternoon. What your tie or skirt wearing ass needs to do is shake your brand name wallet and invest in some microwave air/liquid tight tupperware containers.

Yes sirs and madams, that does indeed mean planning ahead and preparing your day’s meals or even your week’s ahead of time. The process is fairly simple, some things can be made in bulk and stored in airtight containers in the fridge to be taken out and heated in the microwave for consumption throughout the week while some others need to be made fresh (salads, sandwiches, etc.) on the same day to be edible. I personally dedicate one of my weekend days, usually Friday to do my entire week’s grocery shopping in the early mornings before all the moms and pops are invading the aisles with their mismanaged carts. Getting all your week’s groceries also means you need to plan ahead what you’ll be eating that week and that’s completely dependent on your fitness plan, your exercise style, current goals and of course, your picky ass pallet.

So now you’ve settled on what you’re having throughout the week, you’ve gotten your meats, fish, carbs, dairy, fats and beverages in bulk and are now back in the kitchen - sans a hefty sum of cash - and a fuckton of ingredients. Now what?

Now you get to the real fun part. As mentioned earlier, investing in some quality tupperware is essential for the success, sustainability and ease of this plan. The whole point is that you want to get a routine going for you so that the process becomes easy and without surprises. If you’re planning to have chicken breasts or white fish fillets for lunch throughout the week, start grilling/roasting/steaming those en masse and once done store in their respective containers. If you’re roasting/steaming vegetables or sweet potatoes get on that as well and store accordingly. Many of your snacks will comprise of raw fruits, nuts and yogurt for instance so that will require little to no preparation on your part past packing them in your food bag in the morning.

Which brings me to my next point, packaging. Obviously this means waking up a tid bit earlier - or if you’re a real bed hugger, preparing it the night before - so you can section off your day’s meals in your tag alone tupperware containers before you head out to work. I assume you’re smart enough to eat breakfast before you leave the home so realistically you’ll only need to be packing two to four meals (snack #1, lunch, snack# 2 and dinner if you’re staying late at the office that day). As mentioned items such as salads and sandwiches need to be made fresh hence the waking up a tidbit earlier part so you can get on that. A good mixed green salad or sandwich shouldn’t take more than 10 minutes total in terms of preparation and packaging once you get the hang of it.

Alright, that seems fairly simple in regards to nutrition, no? On to the second half of the equation, to get your ass shaking!

If the saying that “Abs are 20% in the gym and 80% in the kitchen” is true, that still means those 20% are essential motherfuckers as far as you’re concerned. When it comes to the 9-5 life, the concept of working out is summed up to one simple premise; choosing the right time. I for one decided long ago that the whole hit the gym after work simply was not for me. I had no energy, no motivation and certainly no capacity to withstand the hordes of other people in a now packed gym so I hit the weights before work around 6 AM. Naturally that choice simply isn’t for anyone and everyone. Some people genuinely can’t wake up that early, while some others don’t mind working out after their work day at all. It’s completely up to you. An added bonus for early risers however is the unmatched pleasure of a gym you do not have to share with others!

Image Source/SimplyShredded.com

So yes choosing the right time is essential, but more important, choosing a time you can consistently work out during is all the more important. Remember, we’re trying to instigate a routine at play here. Routine means order, order means focus, focus means results.

Having a good well thought out long term plan is essential for your overall fitness goals. Good nutrition only compliments a good exercise plan. Make sure you have a plan that addresses your goals and has milestones and check marks so you can always review your progress and tweak as necessary as you go along.

If you think this is anywhere near over, just hang in there and stay tuned for Part 2 about the Office fitness!

Mythbusting: Spot Reduction

“I want to just shed the fat off my belly or my hips but definitely don’t want my breasts to be affected or get smaller!”

I can’t even remember how many times I heard this sentence. That seems to be one of the most common misconceptions in the realm of fitness. People assume the human body is a tweakable entity that can be controlled down to spot reduction details. News flash girls and boys, the only spot reduction in real life comes from the scalpel of a plastic surgeon.

Most people think that if they run or cycle or do whatever, they can consciously target the body part they wish for reduction or fat loss. Sadly for you, the human body does not operate based on your whims and desires. It is a cold, calculating machine and it differs from man to woman. For instance, in the case of women, the majority store fat in the hips, it’s just how your genetic code is wired, and therefore, it is usually the last place where you end up losing the fat. As far as men are concerned, losing abdominal fat will always prove to be the hardest task on account of the fact it’s the male body’s place of choice for blubber storage.

Your extremities (arms, legs, face) are usually the parts to shed off fat the first then your body works more towards your center as your progress. Sure there are things you can do to help it do everything at once such as exercises that have your entire body moving (think swimming or rowing) but at the end of the day, it’s up to your body’s discretion to discard fat.

Fat loss also works different from one person to another depending on their body type with some people shedding it off with considerable ease while others find it somewhat of a Herculean task to do so. Your genetics play a major role in that process but saying you have bad genes and just accepting it is just being a lazy bum. I have shit genes. One grain of rice would show up on me as fat within hours of consumption. So I learn not to eat rice. You learn how to work with your genes (not against them!) because otherwise you’d be fighting an uphill battle against your very nature.

That being said, spot reduction is usually perceived from the wrong end of the spectrum, most through the fat loss lens. But what if you could change a specific spot on your body? Despite what I said up there, it is somewhat possible to target specific areas, but it won’t be cardiovascular training that does it alone; it’s weightlifting baby. Weight lifting, and specifically a good combo between compound and isolation exercises, can help target specific muscles in the human body. Muscle building directly correlates with boosted metabolism and consequently; improved fat burning.

Simply said, if you’re aiming to shed off the pounds from your hips and thighs, then girlfriend you best be ready to do some serious lifting on legs day with barbell squats, leg extensions, leg curls, deadlifts and adductor/abductor workouts. And for fuck’s sake, stop worrying about “getting bulky” if you’re a girl. Shit don’t work like that. You end up looking toned and fit, not manly. Unless you do steroids, but that’s a different story.

Compound exercises (think squats, deadlifts and bench presses) are arguably best for instigating overall fat loss and releasing growth hormone in the body (which contributes to increased metabolism/fat burning) while Isolation exercises are perhaps the right choice for smaller muscle groups to which you’d like to dedicate focus. For instance, if you’re a lady suffering from a case of flappy chicken arms where your triceps ought to be, you might want to consider incorporating triceps extensions and triceps pulldowns as a regular part of your upper body/arms day workout. Weights help tone your body, they help stretch the skin so it doesn’t look flappy and help boost metabolism and fat burning.

That’s it from me today on the ridiculous myth of spot reduction. Get crackin’!

Face Your Face: Realism 101

Before you even think about it, you better shut the fuck up for a second and go through this. We all, and I mean all do this. We start out our little fitness experiment, some call it a phase, and we all kick it off with a vision. In most of our visions, it’s usually us standing at the end of the road - which we presume took around a month or so - looking so good we make Adonis look like a prison bitch.

Y’all be trippin monkey balls if you’ll keep thinking like that.

You are only setting yourself up for failure, disappointment and frustration if you think, even for a second, that there are shortcuts when it comes to fitness. If you’re going to the gym for a month or two before beach season so you don’t look like an incarnation of Shamu on the exclusive A-list beach party queue, then good for you, but then again, this post isn’t for you. It’s for the person who wants to actively take the first step towards actively changing the way they live. It’s about a commitment towards changing yourself for the better.

Setting goals and realistic expectations is arguably as every bit as important as nailing down the perfect nutrition/exercise plan. Setting goals isn’t only about telling yourself the road is long and hard. Hardly, it’s more about setting timeline expectation. It’s about setting milestones along the road so you can review your progress, check on what is working and what isn’t, and most important, to tweak your plan according to what you see so you can keep moving forward and avoid plateauing or falling behind.

For instance, most men or women who are in it for the fat loss think that it’s about putting in three hours on the treadmill and living off tuna, apples and lettuce for a few weeks. As I mentioned before, that road will only lead to seeming success with underlying fatal health risks. It’s simply not a sustainable mode of life. Being honest with yourself is key if you actually want to switch your life around. Set goals with deadlines. These deadlines don’t mean the road is over, they simply mean it’s time to look at what you’ve done over the past period of time and review whether or not it was working for you. Has your nutrition been on point? Have you noticed your diet needs more carbs? More fats? More proteins? Is your exercise on point? Do you need to switch up the kind of cardio you do? Do you need to lift heavier, or lift more? It’s all about these tiny little details.

Es hatte auch anders sein können

That’s emblazoned eternally in ink forever on my right outer thigh, and the German idiom simply translates to “It might as well have been otherwise”. In the context I found it in, it was about how the smallest and seemingly most insignificant of details are the ones that end up with the largest effects. Little things carry more weight collectively. It’s about the attention to details. Details as simple as quitting that daily can of Coca Cola, or replacing your sugar with honey for your morning tea, walking up the stairs instead of taking the lift if your destination isn’t too far up.

Little things.

Aside from planning ahead realistically, it’s just as important to leave your ego at the door. A lot of us assume that we can do more, or rather, over-estimate what your bodies are capable of within a certain time frame (blame the media for that!) and therefore become quickly frustrated when after an entire month in the gym we don’t look like those assholes on the fitness magazine covers. Your ego is largely responsible for that. You should learn never to compare yourself to others, and most of all, fitness professionals on magazine covers. You work a 9-5 (or longer if you’re me), you have responsibilities, errands, maybe kids, or even demanding pets (you might be me). Those people’s entire lives revolve around being fit, they get paid and get sponsored by supplements companies to look the way they do. You’re a normal human being operating under entirely different parameters, and it only gets worse as you get older and the responsibilities stack up.

You’re not going in there to squat 100 kgs on your first leg day. You’re not going to be doing jump-clap push ups and one handed hanging raises by your second week. Progress is termed so because it is progressive, it happens over time, and it takes time. There are no shortcuts if you want sustainable gains and successes. Cutting corners always ends up in failure; there is no other way around that.

Make a plan. Stick to it. Set milestones. Review it. Tweak it. Progress always.

Check yo self before you wreck yo self!

An Ode To My Bible: The Wellness Log

My religious dedication and intense focus are definitely what separate me from many others, but I'd be honest to God lost and fumbling about if it weren't for a guide to show me the light.

Yes I know what exercises to do, and yes I know what food I should be eating, and yes I know the supplements I probably ought to be buying, but the wellness log tackles all of that in one go. There's no more guess work, there's no more "Am I eating enough protein?", "Is it okay to deplete all fat from my diet?" or "Is doing this barbell squat while standing on a medicine ball good for me?" [Don't ever do that last one it's a joke and you'll die a horrible sweaty death]

The wellness log takes into account who I am, what I like to eat, what I hate to eat, how often I can afford to workout, my previous experience with exercise and my specific goals and mashes this up into a customized and personalized day-by-day nutrition, exercise and supplementation log made just for me. The log tackles every aspect that can be considered a hassle by most people. It tells you what you're eating day by day, meal by meal for the next coming eight weeks, eliminating any guess work or waste with grocery shopping, it tells you what exercises you'll be doing so you can mentally prepare and visualize your progress, it tells you which supplements to consume (if any) to provide your body with everything it needs to maximize its potential; it takes the lead, eliminates the guess work and gives you a running head start.

I got my wellness log nearly 8 weeks ago and I'm just 9 days away from finishing it. The first thing I'll do after taking a mandatory week of rest, is order my second version of the log with new goals and milestones. Perhaps my biggest win out of getting that log was learning a lot of things about my body that I didn't before, things like utilizing the right carbs to actually help me shed off blubber, things like the fact that I was apparently eating way too much protein and that was causing me to gain weight and become bloated, the list goes on.

What did it cost me? A mere EGP 690, at a fraction of under EGP 70 a week, that's a bonafide bargain if I ever heard of one.

"Why are you promoting this? I thought you were like a fitness expert that did his own this? Are you being paid to do this?"

First of all, if you read my first ever post, I make a very clear point to state that I am by no means a professional or self-proclaimed expert, merely an obsessed fitness fanatic. Second of all, everyone needs guidance and you can never stop learning more, least of all about your body. This program is created by expert professionals who are certified in nutrition, fitness training, physiotherapy and many other topics that would make your average Gold's Gym coach look like a 12 year old in his first biology class. And I wish I was getting paid; I just love the damn thing too much. I literally carry it everywhere with me wherever I go.

Update: Did my first body tissue mass measurement last week and I currently stand at 71.8 kgs with 38 kgs (52%) pure muscle mass and 5 kgs (7%) body fat. I stood at roughly 10-12% body fat prior to starting the log and less muscle mass as well.

Will be posting before and after pictures after wrapping up the log on the 20th of November.

Here's to eight more amazing weeks to come. And many other logs to follow.

You can order your own customized log by visiting www.thewellnesslog.com and filling out the application, they call you, a courier comes to wherever you are at an agreed upon date/time, gives you the form, you fill it out, you pay and 3-5 working days later you become the proud owner of a log that will literally transform the way you live.

You can also like their page on Facebook: The Wellness Log

And follow them on Twitter: @TheWellnessLog 

Discipline for Dummies: Get Real. Real Fast

Prepare yourself, this post is longer than usual, and it’s about me. (Vanity o'clock!)

I treat my body like a machine. I fully control its desires, needs and cravings. I do not cave in to desserts laid out on a table at the office. I do not crave a pizza at 3 AM. I do not indulge in candy. I do not indulge in the local delicacies while travelling. Most of all, I do not consider myself a normal human being.

How I’ve come to be so strict in regards to my fitness and nutrition discipline spans over the course of more than four years ago when I started this fitness craze. Little do many of you know, but I was not always the self-proclaimed fitness Messiah I am today. In fact, I was quite the opposite. I was the guy who’d order the extra Chicken McDoo alongside their Double Big tasty combo with supersized fries, coke and an extra chocolate sauce Sundae. I was the guy who’d chill in front of the TV with a tub of zalabia and other sweets completely oblivious to the meanings of the words “calories”, “body fat %” and “cardiac arrest”. Yep, I was that guy. I was also remarkably shorter than I am today (by almost 10 cm) so weighing in the mid-80’s for someone who was barely 165 cm was not a pretty scene. I had the J Lo ass, the Fat Albert tummy and the Marilyn Monroe muffin-top love handles. Don’t even get me started on my B-cup man tits.

I don’t have any fat me pictures (definitely not topless ones) so the below will have to do for reference on differences between the past and present.

Moi, circa 2009/2010, about a year into my fitness journey (bad photoshop skills on display to remove someone’s head who would not appreciate appearing on this blog post)

One Summer vacation day (I believe the year was 2008/2009) I woke up utterly repulsed by the figure I saw in the mirror. I used to be quite into sports as a child, being on professional teams for Squash, fencing and martial arts. What happened? How did I let it get so bad? When did this even happen? How could I be so blind? So I made a conscious decision. To take a step in a drastically different direction and to never look back.

It was the stupidest decision I ever made.

Before you rush into thinking I regret being a fitness fanatic, take a minute to calm your tits and breathe. I’m not saying that. It was the best thing I’ve ever done and always will be the biggest gift I ever gave myself. That being said, the decision to embark on a fitness journey without the most basic understanding of the process was the stupidest decision I ever made to date.

I thought it’d be straightforward. Stop eating shit for food. Get moving. Right? No, not right. Not right at all. You see dear reader, I’ve always been a man of extremes. I do everything 110%. Eat junk food? Only eat that. Workout? Workout till I die. And die I almost did. I decided that the sensible way to “shed off the blubber” was to live solely on canned tuna and lettuce and to spend an average of four to five hours a day in the gym between the treadmill, Elliptical machine, stairmaster and stationary bike. I cut out all carbs. All fats. All soda. All candy. All pasta. All rice. And damn near all foods.

I lost 25 kgs in 45 days.

Never ever EVER do that. Sure, some of you reading the above went like “Well shit if I can drop 25 kgs by eating tuna and lettuce and just sweating it out for 6 weeks why the fuck not? Let’s do this!” Trust me on this, it’s not all pink roses.

Before you start off with the congratulatory high-fives and order a few shots to our metaphorical table, you should probably know - if you have the most basic inkling of understanding of health - that the above numbers signal bad news. The human body - unless obese and I certainly didn’t qualify in that category - cannot handle such drastic loss of fat at such rapid a rate. Not to mention the lack of nutrients with a diet composed of two food items. It’s simply unhealthy. It wrecks absolute havoc throughout your body in terms of energy levels, hormone response, immunity and other aspects. For weeks, I was deathly ill, my immunity made HIV positive patients look like they won the goddamn genetic lottery. My joints were aching. I had stomach ulcers. I looked like a death stricken Somali child. I had dropped from 84 kgs to 58 kgs in a mere 6 weeks. And it almost killed me.

Fun Fact: Losing too much weight too quickly can lead to a condition where your kidneys literally drop as they are held in place by existing body fat!

Bit by bit I recovered and started to do what I should have done before taking a single step towards my goal; to study. I read. I read so much I may as well had majored in a few domains in regards to nutrition and exercise. I would crunch through dozens of studies, published articles, peer-reviewed journals and books every week. Little by little, I understood what had to be done, how it had to be done and that - most importantly - it could not happen fast. It shouldn’t happen fast. Ever heard the phrase “What goes up must go down?”. That’s especially true for those who drop too much weight too quickly. It’s simply not sustainable. It’s not sustainable to spend hours in the gym and live on foods even street cats would deem inadequate.

I digress…

What does it take to make it? What does it take to make sure you don’t yo-yo around? What does it take to stop you from reaching over to your phone and weep dialing McDonald’s in your bathrobe at dawn? Aside from self-respect; a choice.

Modern day Ramy. Say hi!

You need to make a conscious choice to improve your entire lifestyle. You need to stop viewing fitness as a specific weight goal, body fat % or particular body shape which you can achieve within a set time frame then slack off till it’s time to re-correct it. You need to understand that a dedication towards fitness requires a dedication towards yourself. You need to be dedicated towards dedication.

The most important step in the process is leaving your ego at the door. Drop that shit behind son. For real. You can’t walk into the gym or track with your ego on your shoulder. It will prove to be your biggest setback. You need to talk yourself into understanding that the process will be - and ought to be - slow and controlled. There are no long term gains when it comes to shortcuts. You need to convince yourself that this requires an overhaul of your lifestyle, to become dedicated to bettering yourself through better quality nutrition and exercising to stay active and to quit unhealthy habits (smoking, excessive alcohol consumption, public masturbation etc.)

You need to understand that slow and steady will ALWAYS win the race when it comes to fitness and health. You need to understand that this is a decision that goes beyond a set time frame, this isn’t about a beach body, this isn’t about getting six pack abs before your next topless occasion, and it certainly isn’t about being a skinny bitch. It’s about a balance.

Once again I must reiterate that I am not a normal person, but thankfully I’m well aware of it. I do not cave to cravings. I do not indulge in “bad” foods. Ever. I’ve simply arrived at that place where I am in that much control, but it’s hardly normal or easy. Most of my friends and family frown upon my disposition and think I am torturing myself or denying myself the goodies in life. That’s just not true, as you’ve seen over the past week with some of the recipes I’ve shared, there are plenty of ways to pimp out your meals so you’re satisfying all your cravings without straying too far off course.

That being said, you aren’t me. You shouldn’t strive to be. What I do has to do with my aforementioned extremes personality. I do everything 110%. If I did cocaine I’d be the best white horse sniffer this side of Colombia. But for now it’s just fitness. One of the best things you can do to help with your dedication to this new lifestyle of yours is balance. You love pizza? Fantastic. Eat pizza! Just limit your frequency of intake and portion sizes. Don’t order a large stuffed crust extra cheese pizza three times a week at night. Have a small or half a large pizza and choose better quality toppings. Add some grilled chicken for protein, add some veggies for fibers, vitamins and antioxidants. Better yet, make your own pizza and control the ingredients from scratch. Here’s an amazing recipe for a pizza made entirely from cauliflower (no flour goes into making it!)

Another helpful tip would perhaps be to establish milestones and checkmarks. No plan is perfect from scratch. A lot of my learnings in fitness came from trial and error. You discover this food works for you while this one does not, this exercise format is better for your muscle growth but doesn't burn as much fat, etc. You need to take this as a learning opportunity as well as set up checkmarks so you can review your progress along the way on this lifelong journey and tweak the plan as desired. You must always re-evaluate, re-assess and re-program yourself. Never get stuck in a plateau, never stagnate and never settle for anything but more.

It's all about choices. You choose to be healthier. You choose to be stronger. You choose not to eat a doughnut. You choose to not let a cancer stick dictate your disposition and have you beg for it. You choose to control your progress. You choose to be a better you.

The most important thing I suppose is for you to find a reason. Something to compel you not only to start, but more importantly, to persevere, to maintain, to keep pushing your limits and to break boundaries. That reason can be anything. It can be a simply decision of bettering yourself. It can be because of a girl or boy you like. It can be because a family member's health was affected on account of improper nutrition/lack of exercise. Your reason is your own. But it must be a reason powerful enough that you could call upon it at times when you feel like you can't do it anymore or that you're about to give up. Your reason must compel you to never look back and to always crave and yearn for more.

I started off around 84 kgs at 166 cm with 30% body fat, went over to 58 kgs at 173 with 12% body fat and currently stand at 71 kgs at 178 cm with 8% body fat. It's a roller coaster, but all good things usually are. If anything it was a great learning experience.

I gather that's about it from my end. You could always share your own thoughts and feedback with me by commenting below. Until we meet again...

If you have any questions or inquiries or would like to read about a specific topic on my blog, please reach out by commenting on this post or by adding me to your circles on Google+ on +Ramy Kandil or by tweeting me @Foxicakes