Microsoft does suck

So I've been trying to use Microsoft Word for my new posts and it's pretty evident that it sucks considering none of the added pictures are showing and neither are my quotes. So I apologize for the crappy blogs lately.

So, as a gift to you, I'm going to give you an amazing recipe from diet plan I'm following courtesy of Naked Nutrition:

7.5 oz chopped chicken breast (I pre-cook this)
2 C low sodium chicken broth
1 C chopped celery
1/3 C chopped onion
1/3 C chopped tomato
3 t oil (I prefer Almond Oil but EVOO works as well)
3 T parmesan cheese

Lightly sautee all the veggies in oil. Add chicken and heat until warm. At same time, warm chicken broth and season. I used salt, pepper, basil and parsley. Add cooked chicken and veggies, and sprinkle with cheese on top and eat like soup.

Enjoy

Taking a vacation: is it really a bad thing?

For those of us who take this whole concept of healthy living seriously, we know how hard the rigors of strict eating and lifting heavy amounts of iron can be. We also know that without such dedication, we would most likely all look like Fat Bastard; and I personally don't want to look like that again.

So what do we do to prevent us from turning into complete sloths? Well, we train and we train hard, probably harder than anyone else; and we eat. We eat copious amounts of dead animals, we graze on fruits and veggies like the dinosaurs did and we train, but I might have already said that.

The one thing we also know and understand is that taking a much needed vacation is actually a good thing. Now I don't mean a vacation where you over stuff yourself silly at Old Country Buffet or decide that pizza and beer will be your new breakfast lunch and dinner. I am talking about a vacation from training; from eating healthy 90% of the time. I am talking about doing nothing and liking it!

In his manual "Muscle Building Secrets", Jason Ferruggia talks about the importance of taking a break:

"Taking a week off will actually allow you to get stronger and come back fresh and ready to train hard again. You simply cannot train balls to the wall for 52 weeks per year and expect to make progress. You will get too beat up and burnt out. Injuries will start to accumulate and your desire to be in the gym and work hard will start to dwindle. One thing that I have noticed is that people get very nervous about taking a week off because they think they are going to get small and weak. You are going to have to trust me here when I promise you it's not going to happen. Every single time I have forced a client to take a week off they have come back bigger and stronger, without fail."

The ironic thing is, I experienced this first hand recently. I had been training for 2 years without taking a week off, that's 104 days if you didn't know, and I absolutely dreaded going into the gym; I loathed it. I wasn't having fun anymore, my body didn't feel right doing any movements or exercises and I (admittedly so) slacked off on how hard I was training. So I forced myself to take last week off and I can already tell a difference as I hit the gym with reckless abandon this past Monday. The thought of lifting heavy gave me goose bumps and I have never felt better under the bar.

I also gave one of my clients the week off as well. His lower back was starting to bother him and he had been training for 6 straight months. When he came in on Monday night, he said his back felt 100%, his energy was high and he also had a monster lifting session.

So, if you feel like you are stuck in a rut, it might be time for a vacation. Take a look at your training; take a look at your nutrition and take a week off if need be. It will give you a chance to recharge your internal batteries. Your body will thank you for it.