My vegetarian experience: day 1

  For the next 30 days I will be going vegetarian. I decided to write down my experience in here so that you all can hear about my thoughts, feelings, and experiences behind this endevour. This will be especially useful for those that have never tried being vegetarian.
  Why am I doing this? I have been trying to cut down on my meat consumption for awhile now. There was a time I would be eating animal meat 3-4 times a day.  Lately I have been good about getting it down to 1-2. I have also been doing no meat on Fridays for lent, so that was a good warmup.
  As you all know I workout a lot and am very into fitness. For awhile now my main priority has been gaining muscle. Therefore, a lot of protein was neccessary. I think the amount I was consuming was above and beyond the necessary amount at one point. I was having over 200 grams per day. I weigh 170 right now. That is such a strain on the kidneys. Too much protein can also lead to dehydration, fatigue, ect. Needless to say, I needed animal protein to accomplish this task of getting my daily protein in. However, upon doing a lot of research I have come to the conclusion that I do not need this much protein. More protein doesn't necessarily mean more muscle. It is more about nutrient timing. Meaning, when you eat that protein is more important, so that your muscles can take advantage of the muscle protein synthesis rather that simply converting it to fat, because your body doesn't need it for building muscle.
  Furthermore, upon doing research on the environmental toll that the meat industry has, I have decided to lessen my footprint. If everyone did this the environment would be in much better shape. Even simply cutting down the amount of meat consumption. The resources that are required to produce this meat at the alarming amounts that are produced take an extreme toll on the environment. That includes the feed required to provide the animals, which is mostly gmo and laden with pesticides. Then the animals are often given hormones, antibiotics, steroids,  ect. that are very bad for human comsumption, even carcinogenic. The conditions the animals are raised in are just as bad. Crowded containers, running up against one another, existing in piles of their own excrement, disease ridden animals.
  I have researched the benefits of plant based living, and the results are extraordinary. People report feeling better, and even healing disease. Not to mention the fact that animals get their protein from plants, the original source of protein.
  Another reason is that during this coronavirus pandemic meat supplies are getting low, and there isn't a lot of going out and eating socially. Furthermore, it is a great time to eat healthy and boost that immune system to stay healthy and ward off iillness.
  That is just a few of the reasons i decided to do this.
  The last day of eating meat I went on sort of a binge. I ate Thai food out, subs, chicken. I honestly felt like crap. I was congested, and my eyes burned.
  The first day I had eggs and gluten free bread with avocado for breakfast.  For a snack I had overnight oats with almond milk, peanut butter, honey, bananna, chia seeds, almonds, and pumpkin seeds. A large snack I know, but keep in mind I am still trying to build muscle.  I also had rice, spinach, blackbeans, salsa, garlic powder, and spicy kimchi for lunch. Next i had half a can of tuna, 6 oz white potatoes, and 3 oz of broccoli. I had an after workout protein shake and some gummy bears. For dinner i had a salad with peppers, cucumbers, and tomatos. For dinner i also had a home made cauliflower alfredo with brown rice pasta and broccoli pictured here, which turned out pretty good.

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  Finally, i had a half cup of cottage cheese with black berries and blueberries. Also, a cup of elderberry and echinacea tea.

  As you can see i ate plenty, and getting enough protein in was not a problem.

  I worked out also. I did a bodyweight cardio workout of planks, burpees, and jump lunges along with some pullups, dips, bent over row, dips, and curls. I felt pretty good. A little tired. I didnt use caffeine and got about 7 hours of sleep the night before.  Overall I felt good though.

  I will keep updating things during my experience on this blog to keep you up to date on my progress. Stay tuned and thanks for reading.

Exercise video links

Here are a few videos i did to help you get a good workout at home. One is more cardio focused:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?feature=youtu.be&v=n62-Mxxj7jM

And the other is more full body resistance training focused:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Opq3YcZhYu8&feature=youtu.be

Check it out and keep active.

Thanks for reading and watching.

Here's my coronavirus health and fitness article

  Everybody in the health, wellness, and fitness space has put out an article, or several, about the coronavirus. They have given there opinion on it, and told you what they think you should do, and how to react. It seems everyone has an opinion on what home workouts to do, how to eat, and how to prevent getting sick. With that being said here's mine.
  The corona virus has shut down American life. Whether you like it or not we are being subject to people in positions of power and we have no choice but to accept it. With this shut down came the closing of gyms, community centers, and health and wellness facilities. You would think they would want these to be open so that people can continue to be healthy and keep their immune systems up in a time like this. Just the same, all these places are closed. That doesn't mean you should slack off on your health. As a matter of fact it means very much the opposite. It is crucial to continue to move your body in order to fight off infection. This might mean going for a 30-60 min walk outside. The movement and acquisition of vitamin D in your system are a tremendous combination to ward off sickness. Getting in cardio is easy without a gym, just go outside. Of course if you have access to a treadmill, elliptical, or stationary bike those are great options as well. If you are like me you might get bored doing steady state (that is long duration of a steady pace) cardio. Therefore, feel free to mix it up with intervals. Run for 30-60 seconds then take a 2-3 min walking break. Do that for 20 minutes to a half hour. These are great for far loss. This is due to EPOC (excess post-excersise oxygen consumption). Meaning your body is still working after your done working out, allowing you to burn more calories and lose weight. Steady state doesn't have as much of an effect in this way. Essentially when you are done, you are done.
  There are other cardio options as well. When done on a treadmill or outside you can alternate, in an interval form, between things like; incline walking, then regular walk, side shuffle for 30 seconds on one side then walk, 30 seconds on the other side, walk, side shuffle skips (jumping with each stride), walking/jogging backwards, and even regular skips. This helps mix up your cardio session and makes the time fly by.
  I am a huge believer in resistance training. Building muscle is a great way to lose weight, look great, and stay healthy.  Obviously this is a little more challenging without the gyms being open. Using your bodyweight only, however, you can get a great workout in. I fully recommend full body workouts at times like these. You can do them everyday, because you are not fatigueing each muscle group out as you would with a body part split.
  If you choose to do this warm up good first. Maybe you go for a walk first, jump rope, do jumping jacks, ect. I would endorse foam rolling if you can to warm up the muscles. Stretch out good as well. Hold each stretch for 30 seconds. Then do some dynamic stretching to further warm up. Leg swings for example, forward and back, and side to side. Arm circles are another one putting your joints through a full range of motion. Once you are ready pick an exersise from each body group and perform them in this order in circuit fashion (one after another without a rest): core, legs (first or last), chest, back, shoulders, biceps, and triceps. Here are some examples of exercises you can do:

Core: crunches, sit ups ( more advanced, harder of low back), planks of any variety, v-ups, reverse crunch, bicycle crunch, supermans/cobras, side lying leg raises, clamshells, ect.

Legs: bodyweight squat, forward/reverse/side lunges, step ups (if a sturdy chair is available), calf raises, hamstring walk outs, ect.

Chest: decline/incline/knee/wide grip pushups, banded chest press.

Back: incline row if available, pull ups where avaiable, db rows of possible, rev. band flys if possible, lying cobra, lying back extensions, standing cobra (weighted with anything you can find).

Shoulders: shoulder/pike pushups (butt up in the air), side raises with anything you can find (water jug), rev/reg scrap pushup, handstand hold/wall walks (advanced)/hs pushups.

Biceps: curls with db's/bands, reverse/hammer grip curls.

Triceps: dips on a chair/couch, weighted dips. Band press downs, overhead band extensions,  Db kickbacks, close grip pushups, ect.

Of course the more equipment you have at your disposal the more you can do. Do each circuit two or three times. Feel free to add some power to your movements for more calorie burning such as jump lunges, jump squats, clap pushups, burpees, bear crawls, clam walks, inch worm pushups, ect. The point is to pick 4 or 5 movements and do them as many times as you feel able. Rest in between circuits. More space also makes it easier, so feel free to take it outside.

There you have it. The main point is to have fun with it also. Put on some music, take it at your own pace, it's your workout.

Furthermore, as I know you've been hearing, be sure to eat healthy (lots of fruits and vegetables), get your rest, stay as stress free as possible (yoga, mediation help), wash your hands,  eat lots of vitamin c, stay positive, and don't let fear and panic overcome you. Things will return back to normal eventually, and we will get our lives back. In the mean time we need to make the best of it and help each other out as much as possible.

Thanks for reading and stay healthy.