Good evening,

Here it is, the last workout update for 2009. What a year it's been! Did I get all my fitness goals accomplished? Nope - not even close. That's okay, though, because I still came a very long way and learned a lot about how my body responds to varying types of exercise.

Let me just quickly insert the final tally here before discussing next year's progress:

December 31, 2009
Pullups goal: 23 (actual: 0)
Assisted pull ups goal: 2 x 10 @ 35 lbs (actual: 2 x 7 @ 55 lbs)
Pushups goal: 120 (actual: 90)
Waist around navel: 33” (actual: 36.5” )

A few things to note here — the muscle pull from the November 30th test ended up actually being quite severe, much more than I first realized. It's been a month and I still can't push myself to the level I was without feeling my neck muscles starting to pull again, so that's why I only peaked at 90 pushups. It's so frustrating because after last month's 110, I absolutely would have made 120 this month! In fact, I probably could have done it last month too, I just stopped at 110 because that was the target for the month. This was so very frustrating and disappointing. Same thing with the pull ups; not that I would have completed a real one, but I had to go from subtracting 55 lbs to 85 lbs. I am pleased with the waistline, though. Making an improvement in that department during all the holiday season feasting was certainly an accomplishment.

Despite coming up far short of the final target for 2009, I learned plenty about how I felt versus the focus and exercises I was doing at the time. For example, when I strayed away from working strictly towards the 2009 goal items (pushups, pull ups, waist) and worked more on high intensity full body training, I was losing weight and trimming up quite nicely. Then, when I realized how far off course I was for the specific pull up and push up exercises, I reworked my focus for those items, and my waistline took a hit. I found I felt better and healthier overall during the high intensity full body training when I was slimming down as opposed to when I was cranking out 100+ pushups. At the end of the day, this is all about being healthy and feeling good. Though it will feel great when I do finally get that first pull up, my overall sense of health was better when that wasn’t the sole focus.

This year's fitness goals are taking last year's results and lessons learned into account. There is an expression: if you can't measure it, you can't track it. 2009 has shown to me the great benefits from tracking my progress and reporting on it here. It has kept me motivated to continue because with other people reading this and following along I'm accountable to more than just myself. This has been a great motivator all year long! Even though I couldn't keep up, I still kept going, and that is the most important thing of all.

Coming back to the expression, what metric will I use to measure and track 2010's progress? This year I'll be looking at body fat percentage (BF%). My research has shown that a healthy BF% for an early 30's male is about 15%, the very athletic are around 10%, and 3 - 4% is the minimum safe level. Using the skin-fold method, I've determined my BF% rounded to the nearest 0.5% to be 25.5%. Therefore, I'm tracking two goals for December 31, 2010. The most important goal is to reach a healthy 15%. However, I'll also be shooting for a very nice 10% and the six-pack that goes along with it!

Date	Current	Target 1	Target 2
01-Jan-10	25.5%	25.5%	25.5%

Date	Weight	Fat	Lean Mass
01-Jan-10	202	52	150

Once again, the number on the scale is only a guide for informational purposes. Maybe I'll end up weighing 175lbs (at 10% BF = 17.5lbs fat, 157.5lbs lean), or maybe I'll still be at 200lbs (20lbs fat, 180lbs lean). That doesn't matter. What matters is burning the fat while keeping and even increasing the muscle.

2009 was a great year! I went from ten pushups to one hundred and ten, trimmed my waistline by 2.5", and figured out how to work towards my first pull up (albeit far too late in the year). I'm really looking forward to the progress that will be made in 2010!

Here is the final Goal Tracker page for 2009. Since there is a new set of goals for 2010, the Goal Tracker page needs to change, but I don’t want to lose the 2009 information. This seems like a good place to archive the information.


Welcome to my goal tracker for 2009. Take the following snippet from the January 1, 2009 entry in my blog:

With this in mind, here are some of my goals for 2009. My focus this year is health and fitness. My legs have always been pretty strong thanks to several years of martial arts, but my upper body has always been weak and my spare tire ever present. This year, I’m going to remedy both of those problems.

1. 1 pullup by the end of January
2. 3 pullups by the end of February
3. Continuing on until 23 consecutive pullups by the end of December
4. 10 pushups by the end of January
5. 20 pushups by the end of February
6. Continuing on until 120 consecutive pushups by the end of December
7. Today (January 1st), my waist size (relaxed) around my belly button is 39”; 38” by the end of February
8. 37” by the end of April
9. Continuing on 1” every two months until 33” at the end of December (ideal healthy waist line for a 6” tall male; Tiger Woods is 6’2” and has a waist of 28” - source: http://www.collectivewizdom.com/NormalWaistforaManpage2.html)

This is not to say that all I’m going to do are pullups and pushups! I definitely have balanced workout plans (i.e. all muscle groups), but I didn’t feel like planning and spelling out my entire workout schedule for the year right now, either.


On this page, I will be tracking my progress along the way.

December 31, 2008
Pullups goal: 0 (actual: 0)
Pushups goal: 0 (actual: 5)
Waist around navel: 39” (actual: 39&rdquo

January 31, 2009
Pullups goal: 1 (actual: 0)
Pushups goal: 10 (actual: 10)
Waist around navel: 38.5” (actual: 38.25” )

February 28, 2009
Pullups goal: 3 (actual: 0)
Pushups goal: 20 (actual: 20)
Waist around navel: 38” (actual: 37.5” )

March 31, 2009
Pullups goal: 5 (actual: 0)
Pushups goal: 30 (actual: 30)
Waist around navel: 37.5” (actual: 36.75” )

April 30, 2009
Pullups goal: 7 (actual: 0)
Pushups goal: 40 (actual: 40)
Waist around navel: 37” (actual: 37.5” )

May 31, 2009
Pullups goal: 9 (actual: 0)
Pushups goal: 50 (actual: 50)
Waist around navel: 36.5” (actual: 36” )

June 30, 2009
Pullups goal: 11 (actual: 0)
Pushups goal: 60 (actual: 51)
Waist around navel: 36” (actual: 36.5” )

July 31, 2009
Pullups goal: 13 (actual: 0)
Pushups goal: 70 (actual: 35)
Waist around navel: 35.5” (actual: 36.75” )

August 31, 2009
Pullups goal: 15 (actual: 0)
Lat pull down goal: 2 x 10 @ 80 lbs (actual: 80 lbs)
Pushups goal: 80 (actual: 36)
Waist around navel: 35” (actual: 35.75” )

September 30, 2009
Pullups goal: 17 (actual: 0)
Lat pull down goal: 2 x 10 @ 110 lbs (actual: 105 lbs)
Pushups goal: 90 (actual: 55)
Waist around navel: 34.5” (actual: 36.25" )

October 31, 2009
Pullups goal: 19 (actual: 0)
Lat pull down goal: 2 x 10 @ 130 lbs (actual: 130)
Pushups goal: 100 (actual: 75)
Waist around navel: 34” (actual: 36.25" )

November 30, 2009
Pullups goal: 21 (actual: 0)
Assisted pull ups goal: 2 x 10 @ 55 lbs (actual: 60 lbs)
Pushups goal: 110 (actual: 110)
Waist around navel: 33.5” (actual: 37” )

December 31, 2009
Pullups goal: 23 (actual: 0)
Assisted pull ups goal: 2 x 10 @ 35 lbs (actual: 2 x 7 @ 55 lbs)
Pushups goal: 120 (actual: 90)
Waist around navel: 33” (actual: 36.5” )

Here is another newsletter from Mike Geary. This one covers a couple of topics. First, it talks about two very healthy vegetables - bok choy and mustard greens. Bok choy is great, but I’ve never had mustard greens before. I’ll have to try it out.

Next, it talks about the hormone leptin and how it impacts fat burning.

Mike’s article is very long, so I don’t want to clog the main page with it. Just click the link below to view the article in its entirety.

Read More...

Good afternoon!

Here is the report for today’s month-end fitness testing for November. The end of the year is coming up fast!

Good news and bad news. The good news is that I have been able to get back on track in the push ups department!!! Yep - this morning, it was a struggle but I was able to eek out 110 consecutive push ups.

The bad news is that I think this extra strain set me up for failure in the assisted pull ups. In my second set of 10, during the 7th rep I pulled a muscle in the area of the left side of my neck. I’d guess the left trapezius, but then again I’m not trained or well versed in anatomy or musculature. At any rate, I was able to finish that rep, but no more. 10 + 7, so close to 10 + 10, and I think I would have been able to do it. Argh!!!

My waistband has been getting a little long lately, too. It’s something I have recently started taking more seriously over the past few days. I’ve been letting my healthy eating fall by the wayside, and it’s showing. Time to buckle down, though. With Christmas on the way, there will be plenty of opportunities for over-indulging, so I need to work extra hard on cranking the healthy dial all the way to eleven! Besides, this will pay extra dividends in the pull up department, so it’s a double win.

Here are the results, by the numbers.

November 30, 2009
Pullups goal: 21 (actual: 0)
Assisted pull ups goal: 2 x 10 @ 55 lbs (actual: 60 lbs)
Pushups goal: 110 (actual: 110)
Waist around navel: 33.5” (actual: 37)

As always, the Goal Tracker page has this plus the historical data. I’m starting to think about next year’s goals, too. I don’t want to do 240 consecutive push ups, that’s just silly. I’ve got some ideas that I’m working through and will share with you towards the end of December.

Good evening,

I've been noticing that the ropes used for my homebrew lat pull down jig are starting to fray. Not a big deal, rope is cheap and I bought lots because I suspected this would happen and would need to be replaced. Those of you following along know that I'm up to 130lbs, which is currently 65lbs per side. The rope is rated for 110lbs, but I'm not sure how much I want to go past the halfway mark; I'd like to leave a large safety margin. This coupled with the fact that I'm now able to lift over half my bodyweight got me thinking about a better way to go forward. You know, I've never thought of it as over half my bodyweight before; that's a big milestone!

At any rate, since I'm past the halfway mark, I need to replace the ropes anyway, and I'd have to buy yet another 25lb plate, I thought I'd take this opportunity to change it up a bit. Instead of sitting stationary and pulling the weight up, I rigged up a harness of sorts and use the weights to counterbalance my own weight. This officially transforms the exercise from a lat pull down to an assisted pull up. It's also nice because instead of 130lbs (2 x 65lbs) on the ropes, I'm only using 70lbs (2 x 35lbs), and that number will decrease instead of increase over time.

As I mentioned above, I've had to gradually buy more weights since building the pull down station. At over a buck a pound and three 25lb plates later, I've made a significant investment in this so far. It was a great investment for sure, still cheaper than a gym membership, and as I progress I'll use the weights on my barbell or even dumbbells, but if I can avoid buying another plate right now then why not?

I haven't done my usual sets on the new jig yet, but I did a few reps while adjusting the ropes to the right length. I must admit that even though it's assisted, it sure felt great lifting myself up and moving my entire body through space instead of sitting stationary!

Note that I've edited the Goal Tracker page accordingly. Looking at the goal tracker, I see that at the current rate of 5lbs per week, by my birthday (February 9) I'll be down to 5 lbs of assistance. Although I can still feel a big difference between just 5 lbs (say going from 125lbs to 130lbs on the pull down), that will be great motivation to hurry it up by a week. Yes, I can feel it now - by the time I'm 32, I'll be able to do real unassisted pull ups!

What a great birthday gift to myself that will be!

Hi!

I've never really thought of pistachios as healthy nuts before, but it turns out they're pretty good for you! Here is another newsletter from Mike Geary. Enjoy!

============================================================
Today's Fitness Quickie from http://www.TruthAboutAbs.com
============================================================


A lot of people have false beliefs about eating "fatty" foods, but we should all know by now that eating fat does not make you fat, if it's the right fats.  

Here's a new article on my site about another example of a high-fat superfood that's also delicious:

http://www.truthaboutabs.com/pistachio-nutrition-benefits.html


I'll be back soon with the next Lean-Body Secrets Ezine.

Mike Geary
Certified Nutrition Specialist
Certified Personal Trainer
Founder - Truth About Abs .com & http://BusyManFitness.com

http://AvalancheSkiTraining.com


PS - if you liked todays article, feel free to fwd this email on to any of your friends, family, or co-workers that would enjoy it.


Irollie Marketing LLC, 1802 North Carson St, Suite 108, Carson City, Nevada 89701, United States

Good evening,

Thanks go to Ryan for pointing out to me that I hadn't posted my workout update for October yet. Oops! I did my workout test on October 31st as scheduled, but because I went out of town for the weekend later that day I ran out of time to update it before I left and forgot to update it when I got back.

Good news! It's not all red this month!

My pushups are coming along very nicely. Since getting back to basics and focusing on these goals, I've been increasing my pushups at a rate of about 20 per month (36 to 55 to 75). If I can keep this up in November and eek out 25 in December, then I'll have made it! Also, I think it's worthwhile to note that for the first time since falling so far behind on my pushups I can meet and exceed the goal number over two sets. In fact, my highest two set total in October was 110 (70 + 40)!

Also, for kicks I actually tried doing a pullup (I haven't been bothering since I know that mathematically I still can't). Whereas my previous best was about one centimetre of movement, I can now actually make it about 1/3 of the way up. This is more improvement in this exercise than I've ever seen in my entire life! If only I had built my lat pull down contraption back in January, I would be doing pullups by now. Oh well - it doesn't really matter when I get there as long as I do. Health and fitness is not some target that must be reached by a date on the calendar; it is a lifelong process with both no target date and a target date every single day all at the same time.

October 31, 2009
Pullups goal: 19 (actual: 0)
Lat pull down goal: 2 x 10 @ 130 lbs (actual: 130)
Pushups goal: 100 (actual: 75)
Waist around navel: 34” (actual: 36.25" )

As always, the full results for the year are on the Goal Tracker page.

Good evening,

Yesterday was the last day of the month, which is of course the day of my latest fitness test. I'm pleased to say that I've made a lot of progress this month, even though all the indicators are red.

September 30, 2009
Pullups goal: 17 (actual: 0)
Lat pull down goal: 2 x 10 @ 110 lbs (actual: 105 lbs)
Pushups goal: 90 (actual: 55)
Waist around navel: 34.5” (actual: 36.25" )

I've really brought the pushups back from the slump they were in and had my best month yet there. Lat pulls progressed a lot, although I think increasing the weight 30lbs per month is too steep. I couldn't quite make 2x10 at 110lbs, but 105lbs was okay. Besides, I've been finding myself with some shoulder and neck discomfort in the last week or so from straining by bumping up the weight too quickly. If you look at the goal tracker page, you'll see that I've relaxed from 30lbs a month to about 20lbs a month; more specifically, 5lbs a week. I know that at this rate I likely won't get a pull up in this year unless I drop 25lbs, but that's okay because I have still made a great deal of measurable progress and that's really what this is all about.

Good morning!

It's a beautiful Sunday morning outside (possibly the last one of the year), so make sure to get outside and enjoy it!

Here is another email newsletter I received from Mike Geary that I'd like to share with you. It's about why canola oil is not healthy. You should stick with oils like olive and coconut. It's rather long, so please click the link below for the full article.

Thanks, and have a great Sunday!
Read More...

Good morning,

Good news and bad news with today’s workout test day. Good news is all areas have improved from last month, but all are still below target. So if all levels are improved, does that mean that I’ve done my first pull up? No, if I had there would be much fanfare! However I built a lat pull down pulley system to train the muscles in the correct form with a full range of movement after last month’s test, and I’m able to pull more weight today than I did a month ago, so I can legitimately say that I’m closer to 1 rep than I was a month ago. Also, my waist measurement is currently at its lowest so far this year!

Pullups goal: 15 (actual: 0)
Lat pull down goal: 2 x 10 @ 80 lbs (actual: 80 lbs)
Pushups goal: 80 (actual: 36)
Waist around navel: 35” (actual: 35.75” )

What’s up with the push ups though? I peaked in June at 51 and haven’t been able to get back there since. I think the focus of my workouts has shifted, though, trying always to get that elusive first pull up. This morning, when I couldn’t do another push up, I found that it was my triceps that were burning the most and gave out on me. This again makes sense because lat pulls don’t work the triceps, so they’ve gotten weaker. I think my workout plan for the month of September will have to focus on getting back to the basics - push ups, squats, lat pulls, and crunches (stability ball crunches FTW) - and lots of them.

The lat pull down goal progression is 30 lbs per month. This will see the end of the year at 200 lbs. Since that is more than I currently weigh (by a whopping 5 lbs), if I can do that then I can do a pull up. Heh, that last line reminds me of a classic line from the movie Dodgeball. “If you can dodge a wrench, you can dodge a ball.”

Goal tracker page for the progression.

Ugh, this was my worst workout test yet. 0 for 3 this time around. June was a month of vacation, travel, celebration, and gluttony so it’s no big surprise. July will be better!

On the weekend, I built a lat pull down station to help me build up to my first pull up. I figure this is probably the best way to go about this (doing the actual movements with the right muscles in the proper orientation). If I hadn’t kept trying to cheap out of it and just done it in January, I’d be doing pull ups by now.

Here are the results, and don’t forget to track my progress for the year on the Goal Tracker page.

June 30, 2009
Pullups goal: 11 (actual: 0)
Pushups goal: 60 (actual: 51)
Waist around navel: 36” (actual: 36.5” )

Here is a handout I picked up from my Chiropractor’s office (Dr. Dan Timmerman at Lindenwoods Chiropractic) a while ago. I found it interesting and thought I’d share it with you.

There is no such thing as a genetic epidemic

Epidemiologists (scientists who study the incidence and occurrences of disease) agree on one thing - there is no such thing as a genetic epidemic.

An epidemic is when a certain disease rate within a population surges above normal rates. The most famous examples are the plagues of the dark ages or the flu of 1918.

What epidemiologists have found is that disorders with a true genetic cause such as Down Syndrome, Tay-Sachs, etc... have a common rate over history. In other words, the rates at which people are stricken stays within a normal, narrow range.

So why are we to believe that diseases whose rates are skyrocketing in the new millennium are due to genetics? Autism, cancer, heart disease, even diabetes and obesity are being blamed on our parents! Not sure why you have cancer? Must be bad genes. Depressed? Bad genes. Heart disease? Bad genes. Diabetes? It wasn’t your lifestyle; it must have been bad genes. The reality is that whenever the medical community has no answers, it blames your genes.

The real answers are coming out. The Canadian Cancer Society admits that a vast majority of cancers is caused by lifestyle. Smoking, bad fats, even the known carcinogens in our water and personal care products are causing tumours to grow. A report released by the Breast Cancer Fund (http://www.breastcancerfund.org) found that there is strong evidence that the chemicals in our lotions, soaps, and shampoos are causing the increased cancer rates in men, women, and children.

There is plenty you can do to avoid lifestyle diseases. Here’s a list:

1. Change bad fats to good fats in your diet
2. Cut out sugar and white flour
3. Quit smoking
4. Exercise! Do something - anything!
5. Change to personal care products that are chemical free (http://www.chooseorganics.com)
6. Get adjusted to boost your immune system and overall level of health

Good morning!

I just completed my fitness test today, and I must say that all things considered, I’m happy with the results.

May 31, 2009
Pullups goal: 9 (actual: 0)
Pushups goal: 50 (actual: 50)
Waist around navel: 36.5” (actual: 36” )

Pull ups are of course a big fat zero, but I barely managed to squeeze out 50 pushups (wow, that was HARD!!!) and have been able to catch up and get ahead of the curve again in my waist measurement. The reason I’m happy about this is because I only actually worked out for the first half of the month and then stopped because of spreading of soil and laying sod for a few days. I was so sore (and sunburned) that I physically couldn’t work out for those days and then a few days after. That was fine and a good reason, but of course not working out for a week makes it really hard to get back on the wagon again. So, that’s why I’m happy - I was able to get back on track (pull ups excluded) despite not having worked out for half of this month.

I like the new workout plan. It’s a big step up in terms of intensity, and when I was doing it I saw some significant gains in a short period of time, so I think June has some real potential. June will see me travelling on vacation for 8 days so there will still be a period of no workouts, but if I’m disciplined for the remaining 22 days and can fit in some basic bodyweight exercises in the hotel room each morning then I should be good for June 30th.

As always, the Goal Tracker page is where you can see my progress from the beginning and my goals for the rest of the year.

Well, this was a disappointing end of month test. The push ups were a real struggle, the pull ups are still of course a disaster, and I missed the goal for the first time on my waistline measurement.

I’ve got big things in store for May, though. I’m really going to clean up my diet a lot by removing all the processed foods and simple sugars, and replace them with lots of healthy veggies, nuts, seeds, and meats. The SAD (Standard [North] American Diet) turns our bodies into sugar burners. That is to say that our bodies don’t know how to burn fat for energy because we don’t have to - we’re inundated with sugars to burn. That leads to all sorts badness. Removing the processed foods and simple sugars will cause our bodies to become more sensitized to the hormones in our bodies and then burn fat for energy like we’re supposed to. It will be an interesting 30 day experiment. If the results are good, I’ll let you know. If the results aren’t so good, I’ll still stick it out for the 30 days to give it a fair shake.

Here are my dismal numbers for April. Remember to check the Goal Tracker page to see my progress from the beginning.

April 30, 2009
Pullups goal: 7 (actual: 0)
Pushups goal: 40 (actual: 40)
Waist around navel: 37” (actual: 37.5” )

Wow, I’ve got to admit I’m pretty surprised with this month’s workout test results. For one reason or another, I ended up missing almost the entire second half of March’s workouts. I still felt okay going into the pushups, but I thought I’d go over on the waist measurement and was really banking on the fact that I had built up some extra breathing room in January and February. Well, not only did my waistline not expand, I still managed to keep the 3/4” loss per month trend alive!

Obviously, the pull ups were a complete bust. I’ve got yet some other new ideas to get the pullups going, though. Sheesh, this is taking way too long, but I’m sure that once I get one the others will come along nicely. Fortunately Ryan is still at 4, so if I can get it going he’s still not completely out of striking range.

See the Goal Tracker page for the details on the March results.

Hello,

Here is another newsletter from Mike Geary from TruthAboutAbs.com. I can vouch that bone density is a great benefit. Mike’s example is rather similar to my own from the Asessippi trip. After a poor dismount from the chairlift, I fell and landed with a lot of weight on my free leg which in turn caused my shin to meet the metal edge of my board head on. Ouch! While not as severe an impact as Mike’s impact, it was still a bad one and proves that bone density is very important.

Make sure to click the link to read more, and enjoy!
Read More...

Good morning,

Here is my February health update. Again, I’m only two out of three. I really need to step up my game on the pull ups, especially since my friend Ryan and I are in friendly competition and he’s already at four. To be fair, he started off already able to do two at the beginning of January and I’m still struggling for my first one, but that’s no excuse. I need to catch up and beat him to 23 on December 31st!

I found this YouTube video which shows you how to build up to pull ups. The methods I was using are on the right track, but this is a little more structured and graduated to help build up strength. I’m going to follow this for the month of March to get my first pull up. Ryan - you’re not allowed to watch. In fact, I think there’s a fresh batch of doughnuts at Tim Horton’s with your name on it...



A very positive thing, though, is that part of my goal is to lose 1/2” around my waist at the navel every month. So far, January and February have both been 3/4” drops, which is fantastic! I’m very happy about that, and the push ups are coming along well too going down to a 90 degree bend at the elbows.

Check the goal tracker log for the details. Have a great weekend!

Today is the big day - my first goal check. How did I do? Not bad, as the post title indicates. The results:

January 31, 2009
Pullups goal: 1 (actual: 0)
Pushups goal: 10 (actual: 10)
Waist around navel: 38.5” (actual: 38.25” )

I’m pretty happy with the results overall. I wasn’t worried about the pushups (in fact I could have squeezed a couple more out), I wasn’t sure what to expect with the waist and am very happy with it, but the pullups were a real disappointment. Based on my pullup negatives training over the month of January, especially as the month was drawing to an end, I wasn’t surprised by the zero, but I thought I’d still be able to pull about halfway up. What I was surprised by was the fact that I could barely budge upwards at all, maybe a centimetre tops.

Clearly I need to do more research on how to best improve my non-existant pullups! I knew the first one would be really hard but it should get easier after that. That’s why I only set the goal of one for the first month but two for each month thereafter. Now I have to go from 0 to 3 in the shortest month of the year - yikes!

Good evening!

I’ve created a Goal Tracker page to... keep track of... my goals...
(Imagine Austin Powers saying that as though he was saying “Allow myself to introduce... myself.” )

That is where I will be keeping score on the aggressive health and fitness goals I’ve set for myself for 2009. I’m sure people will say to me “You want to lose six inches? Why? You’re not overweight!” I’ve had people tell me things along those lines before when I mentioned in the past that I’d like to shed some pounds. I think the reason for that is because compared to many, dare I say even compared to most, I am of average (or even below) weight for men my height (and proportionally for men taller and shorter). While that is well and good, that doesn’t mean that I’m in the best shape I can be. Read More...

Happy New Year!!!

I wish everybody all the best in 2009, and hope that all your goals and dreams come true. If you set goals or resolutions, make sure they are SMART goals:

• Specific (well defined)
• Measurable (can track progress and define completion)
• Agreed upon (if it involves more than you)
• Realistic (within your means, resources, laws of physics )
• Time based (enough time to complete goal but not so much that it is forgotten about until the end)

With this in mind, here are some of my goals for 2009. Read More...

Hi,

Here’s another newsletter from Mike Geary. I’m guilty of this myself, in fact I scored rather poorly on the short quiz, although I’ve been working hard to overcome it.

Enjoy!
Read More...

There is an email newsletter that I subscribe to from Mike Geary at TruthAboutAbs.com.  His advice really makes sense to me and agrees with a lot of what I believe about health and nutrition.

Here is a recent newsletter.  Every newsletter says at the bottom to feel free to forward it on to friends and family, so I assume it's okay to post it here too as long as I do so in its entirety.  Enjoy Read More...