It's time to take life back again.

It's been a while since I have posted anything on this blog. Last time I tried to keep up with posts was when I was starting my fitness journey over again. Well, obviously that didn't last long. Shortly after I started changing things in my life, my life started changing again. My uncle passed away, then I received a throat injury that kept me from working out, then my back hit issues again. So it seemed like I was back on the road to getting nothing done with my weight. In fact that was true. Over the last year I have tried to work out, but haven't had the best of luck as everything I work out, it caused my back to flare up again.

Last Summer when I got into my apartment, I got my weight down to 302 LBS. I was sure this time was going to be when I finally made it back into the 200's. However, like clockwork, my back started giving me issues. I look at the scale today and it reads 323 LBS. It's my fault, I currently have no self control over what I put in my body. When I lost weight the first time, my self control was one of the things that I prided myself in. Sure it was hard at first to change, but after a couple of weeks it was easy. But all that was in 2010, there were less convenient things online. We didn't have a ton of food delivery options. I was strict with my diet and only put food in that my body could use as fuel. Now however, that is not the case. Now I use DoorDash several times a week, I get Shakeology, but rarely drink it out of the convenience of my work cafeteria. But that is all going to change.

I've neglected my body for too long now. I remember when I got down to 197 LBS, I vowed to never get fat again. I let myself down. In the last few years I have been sick a lot (Something that my mom likes to point out). So now I am starting to workout again, starting with light workouts and hopefully easing back into serious workouts. I have to start retraining my back and strengthening my back. When I can I am going to walk more and do more cardio. I am starting back up on my supplement regimen to make sure I am getting all the nutrients that my body needs.

I am also working on being super transparent on my Instagram and IGTV page. I want people to see my successes, but I also want to show the real struggles and failures. There will be failures, and that is ok. I am looking for support too. When I lost weight the first time, I had the Brightkite community to cheer me on. We were a close community and I made several friends on there, but after Brightkite changed and ultimately sold off, that closeness diminished and spread out amongst the normal social media world.

I am going to work on posting updates here, but be sure to follow me on Instagram @LargetoinCharge for up to the minute updates, and feel free to DM me and have a conversation.  

Do we want the FDA over the Supplement Industry?

So I have kept pretty quiet since the reaming of Dr. Oz a few weeks ago. If you have been living under a rock here is a quick overview of what has happened. Dr. Oz as you may know, often promotes weight supplements on his show as the "magic pill" this then promotes a massive amount of purchases to different supplement companies and a ton of different sites tend to pop up advertising "as seen on Dr. Oz Show". Most of the sites do a "free" trial, but you pay for shipping and then are enrolled in an auto-ship program (Read the fine print people). Well Oz gets angry because these sites state that he talked about the product, so he tells his viewers that he doesn't endorse any products. But really he does the moment he talks about them. Anyway, his loyal fans by the supplement be it Green Coffee Bean Extract, Raspberry Keytones, Garcinia Cambogia, etc, and then it doesn't work "magically". So congress called him to session about his claims. Now, I don't want to defend him in any way, but all the "magic" pills he talks about have been around for decades. Many have actually had several studies that prove their affect, that is, if taken with a proper diet. And that is the problem, Dr. Oz promotes these items and states you don't need to change your life.

But I digress. The point is, Oz got reamed because he is contributing to the public being "Scammed" when you do have to partially blame the consumer for not researching prior to purchase. But then again, they are listening to a "Dr". Ok, he is a Doctor, but he is a heart surgeon, that is his specialty. He is not a nutritionist or dietitian, yet here he is on national TV giving this advise. Which by the way is technically not allowed by many state laws, that's just an FYI for you readers. So what does congress want to do know? Well the supplement industry is not overseen by the FDA. Sure they have some rules that need to be followed, but it is rare that the FDA gets involved. In fact, supplements come with a warning stating the the claims on the bottles have not been approved by the FDA.

But would it be so bad if the FDA was involved. In my opinion, yes. Why? Well, you would start seeing a massive ban on many proven products out there. They have already banned food products for claiming they have healthy fats that lower chances of health risks. Oh yes, in fact, here is the link against Blue Diamond Walnuts Directly from the FDA. The FDA has also banned steroids, which by the way there has been no proven case of steroids causing any deaths, in fact they are safer than Tylenol. Steroids are also proven to effectively treat HIV. But that doesn't matter to the government. Now the media is talking about caffeine because these kids are supposedly overdosing on it. Well there goes the pre workout supplements. Fish Oil? It's been heavily studied to show that it helps with joints, nails, hair and heart health, Fish oil is also an anti-inflammatory. If the FDA was involved, it wouldn't be allowed on the market.

If the government were to get involved in the supplement industry, all supplements would end up being required as prescriptions. The days of going to a local Complete Nutrition or GNC would be gone. Heck they would probably even ban protein powder. Granted, this would open up an amazing black market like it has for steroids, but it would also open things up for crap product, like it has for steroids. We need to keep the FDA out of our supplement industry.    

The Journey into X2!

While one door closes, another one opens. This of course to me is about working out though. It was the end of November 2011 when I jumped into Insanity the Asylum, that of course was right after Insanity. During the month of December I completed a full program. Granted Asylum is only 30 days long, but going non-stop for 30 days is a lot harder than most think. On top of that, I started having serious back pain around the last week and a half. But I survived it and with enough time to rest before taking on my next big program...

It's already January 3rd in 2012 and I am 2 days into P90X2. I made a promise to myself to start it at the beginning of the year and make it my program for 2012. Like all the programs I have done over this last year, it is difficult starting out. I can actually hang fairly well, but let me tell you, I am sore! I opted for P90X2 for a few reasons. I wanted to be among the first to do the program while others where doing the program, and I really wanted something to challenge me in a different way. I love Insanity and the Insanity programs, and I can't wait for more. But I fell my cardio is pretty decent at this time. What I really wanted to work on was one of my weakest areas, and that is strength. I knew if any program would help me in strength, it would be a P90X program. So here I am, 2 days in, and my body is screaming at me. Muscles sore and aching, I just want to smear icy hot all over my body at this point. But I feel great too. I am pushing myself in a whole different way. But we should see how I survive this week. Tomorrow will be my first recovery day, and on friday I will be doing yoga for the first time since I was in high school. Stay tuned for what the journey holds for me....

17 days in the Asylum!

Seventeen days ago, I decided to take my Insanity training to the next level with Insanity The Asylum. The last seventeen days have been more brutal than the whole 60-day Insanity program.  But it's a whole different kind of brutal. With Insanity, you want to quit because your muscles and body tell you that you have exhausted yourself, in Asylum, you want to quit because your mind tells you, you can't take any more. It really is a whole different ball game.

The Asylum has a total of 7 workouts - Speed and Agility, Strength, Back to Core, Vertical Plyo, Relief, Game Day and Overtime. Back to Core is by far my favorite of all the workouts, due mostly to it focusing on lower back strength. Because of my low back problems, it provides not just a new challenge, but really has helped me on stabilizing those muscles. Game Day is great too, a full 60 minutes of balls to the wall cardio working drills from running, to wrestling and everything in between.

Relief has been the biggest surprise for me though. I am not normally a fan of stretching workouts. Normally they are boring, or go to a place that I just can't get. Also most are really long. Relief in the Asylum though is only about 20 minutes and really gives a nice slow stretch. Maybe I like it so much because I actually feel that my body needs this stretch in this program.

Either way, I am super excited to only have 13 days left in the Asylum. It has been great, and I can't wait to try out some hybrids with it next year.

Leaving everyday Insanity for THE ASYLUM!!

It's crazy thinking that this time last year I was still the shape of a ball, well more a football, but a ball none the less. I could barely workout, and what I was doing was just barely pushing myself. Fast forward to just a couple Sundays ago, and I finished one of the most intense workout programs on the markte! Yes, I finished my 60 day Insanity program! Ok, so if you have been following my blog, you know it was more than 60 days that I have been doing Insanity. In fact, I started Insanity back in May 2011, but due to some medical issues, I was unable to complete the program. After trying and trying to start from where I left off, I decided to do a full reboot. This was one of the best things I could have done. While I still had issues along the way with my back and at the end of the program my shoulders acting up, I finished.

Pushing play with Insanity was sometimes a chore, I admit it. It is a hard workout and really makes you question your sanity for doing it. Shaun T tells you to "Dig Deep" and sometimes it's hard to do when you barely have the energy left to stand on your two feet. But it has been so worth it. The best part, is I have my proof that I finished Insanity with my T-shirt that I earned! But I'm not done yet.

Last Monday I started Insanity The Asylum! I again have been humbled by Shaun T. I knew it was going to be tough, but I figured I would fair well with the program. It feels like I am starting Insanity for the first time ever! I am digging deep and powering through, but my body has not been through this kind of workout before. It is exciting though. I am already noticing changes in my legs after just 9 days in the program. I feel stronger and can jump higher. So far my favorite workout is Back To Core. It is one of the few workouts that I have found of any of the programs I have done that gives my low back a good workout. This is important to me because of my low back issues from the past.

I am down to just 20 days left in the Asylum, and I'm looking to earn another shirt. I am pushing myself even further, and will be doing Asylum a few times over in the future. But there is another Program on my list, and that is P90X2...Oh yeah, I am insane!

Change your life the healthy way

These days we have a lot of things that promise quick results. Every thing from diet pills, so crazy diets and even surgeries. The problem with all of these things, is you are putting a bandaid on the bigger problem.

Take surgery for example. The popular things to do for weight loss is Liposuction, Gastric Bypass and Lap Band. These all promise fast results, but most of these are for cosmetic purposes only. You hear on the radio all the time about Lap Band surgery. It's probably one of the biggest fads right now. The problem is you are having surgery to lose weight that isn't going to stay off unless you change yourself. In my opinion no one should have Lap Band surgery.

Gastric Bypass in most cases is a end of the line surgery, or at least it used to me. You're doctor would suggest it to you if you were morbidly obese and you absolutely had to have surgery to save your life and make changes. Now, you can go to a plastic surgeon and get this procedure done without having to be obese hardly at all. At 250 LBS myself, I can qualify for Gastric Bypass. But again, if you don't change your eating habits and exercise habits, you will gain the weight back, just like a Lap Band patient.

Liposuction is the old school way of doing things, you still hear about people having it done though. Back in the day it was mostly a hollywood thing though. You would hear of an actress having it done to get rid of a little bit of fat on her butt or hips. However now it is for any one that wants to drop a quick 20 LBS. Again, most people put that weight back on.

My whole point to all of this, is these surgeries are taking the easy way out. These surgeries in most cases is a lazy persons way to lose weight. These are the same people that think of exercise and diet as punishment. That would rather sit at home and watch their favorite TV show instead of going for a walk or would rather wake up an hour before work instead of 2 hours so they can hit the gym.

I've completely changed my life by implementing diet and exercise into it. You can ask any one that has known me for a while, I was always lazy. My idea of working out before I changed my self was lifting a fork full of pasta to my mouth. Now I work out 6 - 7 days a week, sometimes multiple times a day. I feel better about my life, health and future than I ever have. My weight is less likely to come back because of my lifestyle change. If you have taken to the easy way out, you will most likely be back in your fat pants with in 5 years. So change your life for the better.