God is in the Details: Planning Ahead 101

Well, well, well...

In about two weeks I would have completed 10 whole months of straight up Wellness Logging. I could not be happier. Most of you who follow me on social media already know about my obsession with the Wellness Log and how it organizes my entire life in terms of exercise, nutrition and supplementation as well as being the sole program I follow and the entity entirely responsible for my progress over the past year both physically and mentally.

But the Wellness Log isn't just about reading it day-by-day and following it as it comes; it's all about planning ahead. Most people see it as more of a daunting premise that they're told what to eat day in, day out for eight whole weeks. I, on the other hand, think of it another way entirely. I believe that knowing what I'll be consuming - down to the midday snacks - for eight weeks gives me an advantage over others. It allows me to plan way ahead. It allows me to set tight budgets for groceries and know that I won't be squandering money on things that'll end up taking up shelf space then going to waste. Most of all, it allows me to deal with the curve balls life throws at me, whether it's business travel, a weekend getaway to the beach or just simply staying at the office a little longer than I had planned.

Obviously I'm on the extreme side of the spectrum, I in no way try to convince others I'm "normal" or a "standard" to follow. I treat my body like the machine I believe it is. I feed it the right fuels, make sure it's moving and functioning properly and above all; ensure that it gets the rest it deserves and needs from time to time. I do however believe that my methods are universally applicable to anyone who wants to take charge and make sure their approach is fool-proof. I digress.

Where do you start? Read up.

Whether you're following the Wellness Log or any other program, you should know up ahead that nutrition is 80-90% if the game. Exercise is the easy bit. It only happens for an hour a day or less. The remaining 23 hours of the day make or break your entire progress. Planning ahead comes down to read up and understanding all the variables which you need to be aware of in order to control.

Fig. 1: Sample shot from The Wellness Log Eight-Week Schedule

When I get my new log, I spend an entire day reading the whole thing, understanding my meal schedule, its patterns, and making up a grocery list of the items I'd need every week in their specific quantities which allows me to set a specific budget.

Next up is learning how to cook in bulk.

This one comes down to gaining experience over time. You're to burn a lot of food at first. Under-cook it, overcook it or straight up fuck shit up in your kitchen. We're not all natural born Julia Childs. You gain experience in the kitchen and you get better at managing multiple tasks and eventually getting good enough to cook for the entire week and knowing how to store foods properly and knowing which foods can live out a week in your fridge and which foods can only be made on the day of.

Fig. 2: Cooking in bulk can help alleviate the mental stress associated with daily cooking

Things like oven roasted/grilled chicken or cooked vegetables generally tend to live out just fine in sealed Tupperware containers inside your fridge or freezer over the week. Things such as salads on the other hand are best made fresh on the day of to avoid wilting of greens.

The biggest weapon in my arsenal though? The briefly aforementioned Tupperware.

Fig. 3: Your new bestest of friends, family and loved ones all compactly stored together in joyous harmony

Air/Liquid tight Tupperware containers can and will become your new best friends. You will store cooked food into them. You will scurry your daily meals into them and carry them across town to college or work. You will wash them. You will cherish them. You will be committed to them. You will drive up to Vermont and hold a commitment ceremony with them. You will love them forever.

At the end I guess it all comes down to how much you want it, and if you want it bad enough, you'll find yourself willing to make sacrifices you found laughable just weeks or even days ago. You'll be cooking the next day's food the night before. You'll be the guy with the comically large backpack who walks around everywhere with his 3,000 calories-a-day in tow. You won't be fazed by the ridicule you get even from your friends because at the end of the day; you do what you do for you, to become the best you.

Are you ready to walk down that road?

Recipe of the Day: Perfectly Roasted Salmon Steaks

We all love Salmon. That’s that. If any of you comment saying that you don’t, you can just go right ahead and kill yourself, because you’re a waste of oxygen and resources.

As I’ve come to learn in recent months, perfecting any recipe - and ensuring it stays that way every time - is all about timing. Once you nail down the timing, you will never botch your soft boiled eggs, your pasta will never overcook, your rice won’t come out half-cooked, and more importantly, your salmon will come out tasting like chocolate sauce covered boobs (In this context, this is a great metaphor, just go with it)

So what’s the trick? Let’s get to it!

Goes without saying, you need to buy a legit salmon steak - Gourmet in Cairo actually sells 150-gram chunks in packs of two’s which go for under 85 EGP which is quite cheap if you consider the alternative in fish sections in Alfa or Metro for instance. Gourmet also sells a large salmon steak which weighs anywhere between 1.2 and 1.4 kgs for a price ranging between 270 and 310 EGP depending on the weight so you can buy that, chop it up into blocks in your size of preference and chuck in the freezer.

First of you need to make sure your salmon’s been taken out of the freezer and that it’s thawed out and currently sits at room temperature - albeit a tad cold in the center. At this point when your salmon is thawed out - and it should have been taken out early in the morning if you’re planning on having it for lunch - you should pre-heat your oven to 180 degrees Celsius.

Second, you need to lightly coat the pan or pyrex container you will use for baking the salmon steak with coconut or olive oil. Don’t go overboard, you just want to coat it enough where the salmon steak will rest to avoid it sticking to the pan. You should also lightly grease the salmon steak itself from all four sides. Lay it down in the pan, skin facing the pan.

I personally like to whip up a dash of mixed herbs to really bring out my salmon, your herbs of choice ought to be Basil, Parsley, Rosemary, Oregano and cruched Mint. Sprinkle a dash of each across the fleshy top. You can also grind some black pepper and throw in a dash of ginger powder to taste.

Now that you’ve got this bad boy spiced up and ready to rock and roll - and now that your oven’s been pre-heated - you can tuck it in for EXACTLY 12 minutes on the motherfucking clock. Do this, and you will be treated to the most exquisite slab of fish meat ever to end up on a plate. I guarantee it. Make sure you’ve set an alarm doing a 12-minute countdown and click “Start” the moment you shut the oven door. When that thing beeps, take it out and serve immediately. None of this “Let it rest shit”. This ain’t a steak you classless fucks.

I usually have my salmon steaks with a side of mixed roased vegetables but you can pretty much have it with anything else. It doesn’t matter, the salmon is the center piece of the action.

That’s it for today, short and sweet! Hopefully more coming soon!

Let me know how yours turns out!

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