H2Ohhhhhhh....

Great article on bitrebels.com about water and how important it is to our bodies and how too much can be harmful.

Cracking myths about water

I don't drink enough water.  I drink the most while working out.  I run with a "camelback" water backpack which is very helpful in keeping hydrated while out running for long distances.  

It not only holds my water in a bladder but it also holds my iphone/ipod and my I.D.  I like to run with an I.D. incase something happens.  With the way drivers drive here in Gig Harbor, I think it's a safe thing to do.  

When I teach spin I always go through an entire water bottle. Sometimes I go through an entire bottle AND a gatorade.  Sports drinks are very overly used.  They are as bad as soft drinks as far as sugar content and calories.  However, if you are using them during a strenuous workout they can be good for you.  They replace electrolytes and keep you hydrated.  If you're not working out very hard or not working out at all, sports drinks shouldn't be consumed.  Think of it as a bottle of soda.

Here is a few charts from the article at the beginning of this post.  I'm a very visual person and I like charts.  The information is easier to remember for me.

I'm should be drinking about 3 liters of water a day.  I consume that much on days when I am working out alot.  On an average day I know that I'm not.  Sometimes I just don't want water.  It's because I have programmed myself to want a fizzy, sweet drink.  I drink tons of diet soda.  I know it's bad but at least I'm staying hydrated.  I do notice, however, that when I am consuming more water, my skin and hair are alot healthier.

My goal is to drink more plain water and not so much diet coke.  I also drink sugar-free kool-aid.  Once again, it's not the best but it is mostly water.

I am Aquaman

Today I got my bodyfat tested with Bodyfattest.com which is a mobile hydrostatic body fat testing clinic.  www.bodyfattest.com

The important thing to remember about body fat testing is that the only true way to know your body fat is to do it hydrostatically.
Quoted from bodyfattest.com website:

Body composition analysis through immersion in water has long been the single standard for measuring body fat. Legend has is that Archimedes jumped from his bath naked and ran through the street shouting "Eureka" when he figured out how to determine the mass of an object by using water displacment. You see the king had tasked him with measuring his crown to tell if the goldsmith was cheating him by replacing some of his gold with silver - a metal having less mass and much less expensive. The basic theory hasn't changed since then.

By volume fat weighs less than muscle, and pound for pound fat and muscle each displace a known amount of water, they have a known mass. Basically fat floats and muscle sinks! If you know how much someone weighs, then you can determine how much water they would displace if they were all muscle. Compare that to how much they actually displace, and you can figure out how much of their body composition is fat, and not muscle. (Note: Although we keep using the term "muscle", it's really "fat free mass” or everything but fat).

Isn't it hard to figure out accurately how much water they displace? Well yes, except that you don't measure how much water is displaced exactly, you measure their weight in water, and knowing how much water weighs vs. fat and lean-body-mass, you can figure out the exact amount of body fat.

There are a lot of other methods out there, some of them good, some of them really useless. It's worth noting that whenever anyone describes how accurate their method is, it is always "as compared to hydrostatic". That's right. Every competitor accepts the supposition that hydrostatic body fat measurements are exact and thus they strive to be as close to the hydrostatic measurements as possible.  Admittedly, some even come reasonably close, but there is only one standard.  Hydrostatic weighing to determine body density, or hydrodensitometry, is the single accepted standard for measuring body fat.  And now it's being made available, outside of medical clinics and universities. Why would you use anything else?

It is a little weird because you are lying on your back in a tank and you HAVE to expel all your air out of you body WHILE UNDER WATER.  You're not going to drown but it feels like if you wanted to drown, this must be what it feels like...HA! 

I was getting bioimpedance testing because it was the only method available at my YMCA.  I knew it wasn't accurate but it's usually consistent.  It had my body fat 10% higher than what hydrostatic had me.  I was relieved to find out today I am at 19% and not 28%.  

I have 37 lbs. of fat on my body which means 19% of my body is fat.

I have 157 lbs. of muscle on my body.  I weigh 192lbs.

My target body fat % is around 10%.  I need to lose around 20 lbs of fat to reach that goal.

My Resting Metabolic Rate is 2038 calories per day.  This means I burn 2038 calories just going about normal daily activity WITHOUT working out.

My body fat is in the "good' to "healthy" range.  I'm in the 65% percentile for men of my age in the "good" range.   To be in the "healthy" to "essential" range I need to be between 7% - 15% body fat range.  I think I'm getting close.

This list is Calories Burned in 30 Minutes if you do one of these activities.  I do alot of running so 3 times a week I burn around 500 calories running every half hour.  I run for at least an hour so that means I'm burning close to 1000 calories when I run.  

I teach spin class at least 4 times a week.  Some classes are an hour.  Some are half hour.  I'm burning between 400 and 800 calories depending on the length of my class.  

Add those numbers to my RMR of 2038 and that means I'm burning a shit ton of calories.  That is probably how I've gone from 220 to 190 so fast and easily.  I try to eat healthy but for the most part I have been eating what I want but with just smaller portions.  All the food is being used as fuel and not converted to fat.  

Downside: I've stopped lifting weights and so I'm losing muscle mass.  I have to start incorporating more resistance training into my workouts.  Building muscle burns fat.  I don't want to get too big but at the rate I am doing cardio, it should all balance out.

Yah for hydrostatic testing!

Keep calm and carry on.

It's been so long since I've posted that I think I forgot how.  It's been a very busy month.  I've been interviewing my ass off but not getting any jobs.  My mom and aunt came to visit and we had a great but exhausting visit.

My spin classes are going quite well.  So well, in fact, that I've been asked to permanently take over the slots I was subbing for.  Apparently the members actually enjoy working their core during, of all things, a core class.  My spin classes are not easy.  They are always challenging.  The person I was filling in for has done the same spin routine every tuesday and thursday for the past 4 years.  I could go into that class and do it without the instructor because I knew what was coming next.  Also, this is 2012.  What's with the CD's?  Plug your iPod in and change up the music once in a while.  I have 10 different play lists and I never play the same play list twice in a row.

This just goes to show you that doing the same thing over and over again day in and day out is not doing anything for your motivation to stay in shape.  There is no inspiring happening.  What kind of instructor teaches a class not caring about if they are inspiring their students to succeed?  It's beyond me.


The yoga is also going well.  I've been going 4-5 times a week. I think I'm addicted.  I feel so good when I'm done with a class.  If someone would have told me a year ago I would be running and cycling  today I would have told them they were cray-cray.  My low back pain is almost non-existent.  Yes it hurts from time to time, that's just life.  However, to do the things I do today when I thought I would never be able to is amazing.  It gives me a whole new lease on life.

Barry Ennis, founder of Elite Sport Yoga

The YMCA asked me to become Yoga certified.  I thought that was an awesome idea.  There is an all day class in January and then I must do 500 hours of teaching to become fully certified.  I've only been doing this for a few months and they are already asking me to sub classes.  I'm not that good yet.

I stumbled across a great article on more men taking yoga and reasons why men don't take yoga class.

More men turning to yoga

I've never understood this.  I mean if you're single why wouldn't you?  Hot, flexible girls...hello?
I think if more professional athlete "came out of the yoga closet," there would be more men in yoga.  It's amazing for strength training and running.  Lots of NFL and MLB players do yoga.

Elite Sport Yoga for Professional Athletes

Other good news is that I think I have talked members of my family into at least trying yoga.  I think once they saw what it did for me it made them realize that it might be good for them.  I'm hoping to hear good progress reports from them.

I'm still running and training for my half marathon next month.  I can't lie, it's been tough the last couple of weeks to stay motivated.  I know that I have a goal date in mind and I know that I'm running 8 miles on my long distance days and that's 8 miles more than I could run a few months ago.  That should be motivation enough.  Some days are more hard than others.  We have been having amazing weather so that's not an issue.  I think I'm a tiny bit stressed about finding a job.  Job stress or lack of job stress can put a little damper on things.  I know something will come up when I least expect it.  In the mean time I have to keep busy.  As the Brits say, "keep calm and carry on."

Long time no see

I haven't posted in so long I fear that I forgot how. I've been so busy with spin classes, running, kayaking and getting ready for my mom and aunt's visit next week.

Since we last chatted I've lost more bodyfat, had to buy more clothes, am now teaching spin 5 times a week and have decided to get certified in yoga.

I enjoy yoga so much that I can't wait until class starts. I've been doing yoga for over 3 months now and feel I'm no longer a beginner. I'm moving up the intermediate level. I'm not up headstand level yet but I'm hoping in the next year! The YMCA told me that it takes 500 hours of teaching yoga to become fully certified. That's a long time. Apparently the Y is excited for me because they want a male yoga instructor.

As I'm typing this I'm sitting in a Starbucks across the street from, all of things STARBUCKS. No not across from another really big Starbucks coffee shop. Across the street from Starbucks Corporate. It's a little redundant to have a Starbucks across the street from Starbucks and I think there is another one just a couple blocks away.

The reason I'm in Starbucks at Starbucks is because I'm filming an independent short film about a block away. It's a 5 minute short and I have a minor role but still a role none the less. It's a resume builder. I think I have one line. The thing is I'm not getting paid and I don't care. It's so awesome to be able to do what I love to do even if I don't get paid. It's like they always say, "do what you love and the money will follow." Well I'm looking in my rear view mirror and hoping to see an armored bank car.

I had a job interview last week for a pharmaceutical job or "soul crushing" as I like to refer to pharmaceutical jobs. It is a good territory, great pay and not difficult. The downside is that the territory also has Spokane, WA and Montana. It's only once a month I 'd have to go to these places so it's not the big of a deal. I have another pharma interview with Johnson & Johnson in a couple of weeks. Same thing, the pay is good and the territory is easy. I'd still rather do movies for free.

The running is going quite well. I'm up 7 miles in 1 hour and 10 mintues. My knees are a little sore but other than that yoga seems to be taking care of any aches and pains I might have. I was definitely sore this morning when I woke up but after 1 hour of yoga I'm all better. Damn I love yoga.

An employee at the Y was chatting me up the other day after class. She asked me how my interview went and I said it went great. She said she didn't think I was that excited. I told her I wasn't. She asked me what is it I would really rather be doing than pharmaceuticals. I said acting. She said what I've been hearing for the last few months. If that's what you love to do and you actually do it in some form, something will happen for me. She told me to put it out to the universe and see if it sticks. I know this but when you get busy with life's little sidebars I start to lose sight. I know that I will not be doing pharmaceuticals forever but I guess as long as I am acting in some form, whether it be theater, commercials or movies, that will put my mind into the correct way of thinking which will then dictate my actions and that points me to the right direction.

I have a fear of becoming that guy wo never got to live out his dream. I forget that I am living it. It's just not the way I thought I would be living it. Be careful what you wish for I guess. I wanted to be an actor and I am. I'm just not famous. Who says you have to be famous to be an actor? There are plent of famous actors that can't act. I hope I'm an good actor who is not famous.