Author: jaquarry

The outcome.

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This blog was very fun to work on. I wrote about a topic that I had dedicate myself too since September. It came as a surprise to see that anybody even read my posts, or would have given me feedback. When it comes to health and fitness, there are so many different topics and areas of discussion. I feel like the main tools that were effective for me would be the tags feature that WordPress incorporates. I didn’t tag a couple of my blogs and I didn’t get any views, but I tagged every other post and I got a lot of views.

I don’t think the twitter widget was effective. I personally feel as thought he twitter widget acts as a distraction from the written content on my blog that is suppose to be the main focus. I tweet about random stuff and I don’t want some of those tweets to show up on the widget, in my blog about health. I might tweet about being at McDonalds and I don’t want that on my blog.

This experience will benefit me in the future because I need to maintain familiarity with tools like WordPress and coding HTML/CSS. I love to write and this could act as a platform for me to reach way more people versus just printing something out and handing it out to people in my city. I appreciate the fact that I have write quality content and be cautious of errors, it keeps me on my toes. I wouldn’t mind being a writer or a critic, and reviewing different restaurants or different album releases. These are some of the skills I will use in a job like that.

My most popular week was the week beginning November 19th- November 25th. I got a total of 14 views, which may not seem like much but it’s a lot for me. I don’t expect anyone to read my content so when someone actually does, I’m thankful. My most viewed blog post was from October 14th. I coded that post myself using HTML/CSS I learned in class so it was really fun to work on that. I think it was my most popular because I talked about trying to get my regimen started only to encounter various setbacks.

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Photo of some of the stats for my site. Photo by Jaquarry Wilson

I was really surprised to see some of the viewership I gained from people who live outside the U.S. I got views from China, India, and the U.K.. At first it threw me off but then I thought to myself, health is pretty universal. So even though I may think people don’t care, there are people who feel as I do who need ideas. I really enjoyed writing about my health journey so far and I plan to continue to keep the blog going.

Recipe: Meatloaf Dinner

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I have not been eating out like I used to. I have decided that I need to save my money. I’ve been splurging on take out and it’s not cool. Not only will I save money by buying food from the grocery store and cooking it myself, I will be in control of how it’s cooked. I add the seasonings and I’m trying to avoid all the greasy stuff. This weekend I made meatloaf.

I took some photos while I was preparing the meal so I could share how my adventure went. It was quick and easy for the most part. That’s important for me because I’m not the best chef, that’s my fiancee. I didn’t have my side of choice, sweet peas, so I’m going to make some green beans instead. I made mashed red potatoes too.

First I set aside all my ingredients. In the meatloaf, I had to add milk (that was a first), eggs, seasoning, breadcrumbs, and a little onion.  I chopped the potatoes in fourths and boiled those so that they’d be soft enough to mash. Then I mixed all the ingredients in the meat with the seasonings, put in a pan in the shape of a loaf of bread, and put it in the oven, which was pre-heated to 375 degrees. I let it cook for an hour.

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Honestly, I don’t think it was too bad. Especially considering it was my first time making meatloaf. I could have seasoned the meat less. I also realized I overcooked the meat. I didn’t take any photos of the final product but I definitely enjoyed my meal. I think I might like cooking now, I just have to find healthy alternatives to some of my favorite meals.

Temptation

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It’s like every time I try to be healthy and take a step forward, I end up taking 2 steps back. I know that I must try to balance out my diet and stay disciplined but it has been difficult. I’m never really able to cook because I don’t have the time and when I do cook, the food is usually gone that same day. I’ve tried, I really have but my schedule has been hectic and it hasn’t stopped. Not to mention the temptation I have around me.

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My job keeps snacks around. I’m not usually the type to have a big appetite when I first wake up in the mornings so I don’t tend to eat breakfast. When I start the day, I just have a cup of coffee and go on, but as the day goes on and I get hungry those snacks start to call my name. I’ll reach for the chips of some fruit snacks and eat. I work in a sales environment so it can be stressful. I guess I’m eating my stress away.

I have to stop eating the junk food. I think my job keeps the unhealthy snacks around because they know it can be a stressful environment. They know that the food will make us feel better, so they give us the snacks as a stress reliever. Unfortunately for me and my goal, the snacks are more harmful than good. I have to find other healthy alternatives to snack on while I’m at work. Diet is just as important and exercise.

Functional Work Out

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If you read my last blog, you know what my challenge is when it comes to exercising. I’m working towards my fitness goals but I have to set them first. I’ve starting to incorporate cardio into my workouts by adding at least a 10 minute workout either, jogging or sprinting intervals, but we shall see how that goes.

In the meantime, I can’t neglect the rest of my body. I like lifting weights but for some reason I’m just not arm strong. I have overall body strength but when it comes to exercises like bench press that focus on upper body, I have been falling short. I can do a few reps, then I feel weak and usually give up after one set.

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Photo of dumbbells and kettlebells taken by me.

I’m going to try and do some functional workouts. Functional workouts incorporate exercises that work on strengthening the entire body. I think it will have more of benefit for me. I was doing some research to get some ideas and I stumbled upon a few websites like Kettlebell Workouts that share several kettle bell exercises and I thought, why not try these, I already have access to kettle bells.. It will be something new, but it can be fun to try new things. I’m excited to feel the burn.

Restarted: Cardio

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I haven’t been as consistent with this workout and lifestyle regimen as I wanted. I learned to keep making goals that are attainable instead of trying to reach too far, and get discouraged. I found myself setting goals such as running 4 miles, for example, and eating only lean foods. I would run one mile, take a break and walk, and then just give up on the rest of my workout. Now, I feel determined

Strength exercises (push ups, olympic lifts, pulls ups, etc.,) are what I normally go for in the gym. I find them to be the most functional for me and what I believe I need most, and it’s fun. It’s been said that we should try to engage in cardio activity for a minimum of 10 minutes. I’m making that my goal first. 10 minutes of cardio isn’t too bad.

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Photo of the treadmill taken by me.

I will try and focus on doing my cardio first. I believe in getting the harder things over with first, then doing the fun stuff. I have to do at least 10 minutes and since I’m usually able to run a mile in anywhere from 6-8 minutes, I’ll just run a little over 1 mile before getting to my strength workout. I have to continue to remind myself that goals should be realistic and attainable. This is a goal I think I’ll be able to achieve.

Review: Amanda Explains It

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While looking for other blogs to read, I came across Amanda Explains It All. I usually don’t read other blogs. Since I’m new on WordPress, I already new there were going to be other blogs about health, nutrition, and fitness that were already established. I might as well see what else is out there. I don’t know how old her blog but she has a decent amount of posts.

There are a couple of things I love about the blog:

She is definitely all about holiday spirit. We are in October, and the it’s usually the month of the pumpkin. She gives recommendations about pumpkin flavored foods, that are healthy, not anything thats filled with insane amounts of sugar. She focuses on health which is what is important to me right now. I hope to see more recommendations from her so I can try some, I’m not really a fan of pumpkin though.

Also, throughout the blog Amanda manages to open up my eyes when it comes to some of the ingredients in certain things that we may consider healthy. She explains it in a way that really makes me not want to ingest some things, as I shouldn’t. For example, the second post that I read by her told us some ingredients that were found in water flavor add-ins. Sometimes you don’t want to drink plain, flavorless water. Sometimes you want a little flavor. But after reading this post you’ll  think twice.

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Screenshot of Amanda’s site.

The main thing that I don’t like is the design. It’s super hard to read. The background picture, mixed with the white text just doesn’t help the readability whatsoever. I literally have to squint my eyes to make out some of the words on the site. It’s kind of irritating to the eyes, but you can get through it. Aside from the design, everything else is good. I will keep up with her blog posts for sure!

Eating Greens

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I’ve always been a big meat eater. I love all kind of meats, red meat, poultry, fish, everything really. I love going to barbeques because there is usually sausage, ribs, chicken, and brisket, if not more. Sometimes when I eat, and my meal doesn’t consist of any meat, I feel like I don’t get full. It’s okay though, I usually just eat more carbs , like bread. I love cornbread and buttery Texas toast.

One of my favorite pairings is when there’s spaghetti, with a mixture of meats such as sausage, chicken, and shrimp served with cornbread or cheesy garlic-flavored toast. My aunt makes this on special occasions and to this day, it is one of the dishes I look most forward to eating. To balance out the heaviness in the meal, we will eat a salad on the side.

Instead of going for something heavy today, I told myself that I would try something a little healthier. For lunch, I decided to get a salad. Not just lettuce and tomatoes and cheese, but something with a little bit of everything. The salad is called the Austin Club from Thundercloud. It consists of the following: lettuce, tomato, cucumber, egg, bacon, roasted chicken, avocado, carrot, and cheese.

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Photo of my salad, taken by me.

Lets just say the salad didn’t get me full. I definitely felt healthy while eating the salad though. Thundercloud’s salads are always up to par and they never disappoint. I ended up eating a bag of chips with my salad to help fill me up a little more, which sort of defeated the purpose of trying to eat clean anyway, but I tried. I’m going to keep trying to eat healthy like this and when I have the time to do so, I will attempt to make my own salad that will hopefully taste just as good.

Trying to get started

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Something has got to give. I
can’t keep pushing things back,
especially when I cant afford it.
I’ve been pushing back the day
since
it arrived. I told myself that on
October 1 I would get back to it.
Even though i’m pretty limited on
time I don’t feel like that is
a good enough excuse. I should
forget about everything that’s
holding me back and “just do it.”

Before I begin, there are
some things I need to develop
first. I will need a few items
before I start to get back into
the
groove. Some would say these are
very important but others
probably think that i’m just
wasting time. When I start
something, I like
to make sure that I’m prepared.
Without the following items, I
don’t think that I will be able
to enjoy myself.
 

 

I have to find a way to come
up with:
 

 

  • Decent pair of running shoes
  • Earphones
  • A workout plan

 

Up until last week, I thought
that I would be able to start
working out again but there was
so much stuff that I had to take
care
of. I got a new place, so I was
busy packing and moving. Just to
make sure I don’t allow myself to
get too much out of shape, I like
to go for a long run or a jog at
least on my days off. For about a
month now, I have been feeling a
weird pain in my knee and I
think it may be due to either
running on hard surfaces, or me
needing a new pair of running
shoes. I changed my running
surface but
I still felt pain, because of
that, I’m going to decide to buy
a new pair of Nikes
. Right now, I have
a pair of Air Max and before
those, I had a pair of Lunarlons.
Nike has a a variety of running
shoes and I usually can find a
nice
pair for a reasonable price at
the Tyler’s Outlet.

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While adjusting the earpiece
on my earphones, I accidently
broke it off. The piece is meant
to be adjusted so that the
earphones fit comfortably. The
headphones that I have are not
cheaply made, or maybe they are.
But up until yesterday, I had
adjusted them before every
workout without them breaking.
The Powerbeats3 are the
perfect earphones for me. Even if
I forget to charge them the night
before, the earphones have a fast
charging feature that gives an
hour of listening time after only
5 minutes of charging.Since I am
no longer covered over the Apple
warranty, I’ll be charged a
repair service charge of $99. I
only paid $130 for the earphones
so I’m debating if I should buy a
new pair or just pay for the
repair. I’m not in too much of a
rush to decide because they
earphones still work. It’s just
annoying because one of the
earphones keeps falling out of my
ear, especially when I start to
sweat.

Once I get a new pair of
shoes and I replace my
headphones, I will start working
out regularly. Since May of this
year, I haven’t had any routine a
regimen. I took a class on weight
lifting earlier this year and it
taught me a lot of different
workouts rangning from common
exercises like dumbell curls to
olympic weight lifting exercises
such as power cleans. I just know that I have to make sure to incorporate both cardio and weight training to ensure optimal fitness. I’m excited to finally start.

Slight Work

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This week I decided to get rid of everything I felt was of no nutritional value.  I thought about the decision for a while. The same day I made that decision I ended up changing my mind. I can’t afford to throw anything in my kitchen away. Hard earned money was spent on making sure there was food to eat.

When I was growing up, I would usually eat the breakfast and lunch that was provided by the school. I qualified for the free school lunch program. I don’t know how healthy the meals were, or even if they would have been considered balanced but I will admit that I didn’t get hungry again until after school, sometimes a little earlier. The point is that I was never really taught about what exactly makes a meal a balanced one because I was just eating whatever was there as long as it tasted good.

Luckily, I was taught about junk food and to avoid them especially since I struggled with my weight in my early teen years. Anything with excess amounts of sugar or sodium are bad for you. I’m going try and buy mostly things I can add my own sugar and salt to. I haven’t completely given up all my bad habits but I’m cleaning up my diet little by little.

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Photo of my freezer taken by me.

I managed to do some slight work. I cleaned out my freezer of almost all of the junk food that was in it. I had the following plus more: Ice cream, hot pockets, microwaveable corndogs. When I say I cleaned it out, I really mean I ate it. I decided that I was going to finish what I had and not buy any more junk. Now, I have mostly meats that require me to actually cook.

Hopefully I make some good, healthy meals this week or, at the very least, one. I don’t consider myself a beginner in the kitchen because my mother and my girlfriend have taught me a lot of the basic stuff, but I won’t say I’m a great cook either because I make mistakes. I’m going to try to be creative with recipes that I find on Google. I hope I have enough time to make something fancy. If you have any ideas, leave them in the comments section.

Week 1: A slight change in my morning routine.

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Living a healthy lifestyle is not easy if you’re not eating the right foods. Remember, food is suppose to provide us with energy to live and not just for our enjoyment. It is okay to eat whatever we want every now and again because it keeps us from binge eating foods that we have been craving. It is when we over indulge on our favorite foods, especially those that do not have that much nutritional value. Chips, crackers,sweets, and pretty much any other junk food are not a really source of nutrition. Even though we cannot put all of the blame for our weight gain on our junk food consumption, it definitely doesn’t help keep the extra pounds away.

We are often told that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. On average we go eight hours without eating, so every time we are asleep we are fasting. When I first wake up in the morning, I never really have much of an appetite. My first meal of the day is my lunch. Normally, I am in bed by 11:15 p.m. and I usually take my lunch around 11:30 a.m. the next morning, so I typically go over 12 hours without eating. I don’t think this is healthy because after my body wakes up from sleeping, I feel sleepy and lazy when I get to work. For this reason, I am going to start trying to eat a small breakfast before I go to work in the morning.

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Photo of my smoothie from Smoothie King. Taken by me.

I believe the reason I don’t wake up with much of an appetite is that I am not as physically active as I have been in the past. Now, because my schedule consists of spending 8 and a half hours at work and 3 hours at school, I don’t have as much time as I’d like to have to dedicate to exercising. I know that by being less active, my metabolism slows down and I’m burning less energy, thus decreasing my appetite throughout the day. Even if I do eat something, I only end up taking one or two bites and then I get full. Every now and again, I am scheduled for a later shift so I have some time to spare before work. I didn’t feel like eating all of the empty calories that are in a breakfast sandwich from a fast food place. So, I decided to get a smoothie.

The blend of fresh fruit and protein gave me the energy I needed throughout the day. I wasn’t technically eating anything, so getting too full wasn’t something I was worried about. This particular day, I didn’t have to be at work until later so I stopped and got the smoothie before I went in. By the time my lunch came about 5 hours later, I had an appetite and I was still able to eat without feeling like I was forcing myself. While I can’t see myself getting up early to go and buy a $5 smoothie every day, I can see myself grabbing one before work on one of the days that I work a later shift and when I’m needing the extra energy. I’ll be sure to try a different flavor next time.