Monday, 27 August 2012

Can It Be a Little too Green For Me?


I have been drinking green tea for awhile now primarily to burn fat and to boost my immunity. It is cheap to buy and you can find it almost anywhere. I have been consuming up to a minimum of three cups a day daily and sometimes more, as well as receiving additional doses of it from supplements to assist weight loss so I keep my resting metabolism going for longer. 

It seemed like a good idea and until recently I never thought it would do me any harm in the short term. How can this harmless green herb cause any problems for me now? I am not overweight and I am quite active as well so I was confident I will get away with some of the risks associated with high doses of caffeine in green tea or any other side effects. 

 I decided it was about time that I find out more details on how much green tea you can consume  safely and how much was too much. I wouldn't be too surprised if I happen to already be in the above recommended daily dose.
  • Too much caffeine can cause nausea, insomnia or frequent urination.
  • Scientists have warned the users that intake this tea in large amounts can pose danger to the kidney as well as the liver.
  • Derived products from this kind of tea can pose a threat to your health as they contain polyphenols in large quantities.
  • Pregnant women have been advised to lower their intake of these types of teas or eliminate it from your diet completely. EGCG can interfere with the child's growth which can create complications.
  • Low birth weight
  • Premature birth In some cases fatal death.You are sensitive to caffeine: If this is the case with you then restlessness, irritation, sleeping problems, tremors, heart palpitations and loss of appetite can be the problems you can face.
  • You have a sensitive stomach:  Stomach related problems are very common with people consuming green tea. So you should add more milk and sugar if you notice these symptoms.
  • You are young: Young children are advised not to drink coffee or tea because their body may not be comfortable and it may over stimulate them.
  • Caffeine in green tea cause dehydration.


Finding My Eye Of The Tiger



I was browsing through You Tube recently for anything exciting and motivational to help me train and I came across an old clip from the movie Rocky 3. There is a scene where Apollo Creed gives Rocky a pep talk about rediscovering the fire inside of himself “eye of the tiger” and overcoming his own self doubt to get back the things he lost. Rocky was feeling defeated, he had just lost his heavyweight championship title to Clubber Lang, an opponent who was more bad ass and determined than him and he also lost his mentor and trainer Mickey who he was very close to.

Apollo invited Rocky along with wife Adriane and brother-in-law Paulie back to his gym in LA to help train him for his upcoming rematch with Lang. Apollo is a very positive motivator who believed in Rocky's strengths and he always encouraged him to believe in his abilities even when Rocky didn't himself. Apollo to me represented and reminded me of my own positive self talk and Paulie in contrast represented the negative ones that conflicts with it. Off course it is not enough to just think positive thoughts but to follow them up with action, lucky for Rocky he had Apollo's help, without Apollo Rocky would never have won.





Second Day Back at the Gym

Today my friend and I did our second training session together after returning from a whole week of resting. We decided to take that long a break because we felt that our bodies should recover properly before we break it back down again. We both thought that allowing that much time for rest in the first week for muscle recovery was a good decision and know there will be plenty of time to be consistent in our training as we both have trained before. It has been some time since I did any heavy resistance training and was reminded today of how hard the first few sessions are.

Today I was lifting weights that I once considered to be in my light-medium range, I found it quite amusing knowing that I will look back at this moment at some point to measure how far I have progressed. The workout session was a little over one hour which was longer than what we intended and the pace between sets were reasonable a little slower than we liked.

After the first day back I could not move my arms very well for almost four days and my body ached as my muscles were repairing itself, the physical pain should be more bearable this second time around. My apetite dramatically increased and even though parts of my body was in pain I felt pretty good about myself.

Monday, 20 August 2012

Some Personal Reasons To Start Working Out


Sometimes I find myself feeling very exhausted and tired, I also find myself feeling very unmotivated as well, this feeling usually happens when I don't do anything physical for a while. This absence in physical activity happens to effect my eating habits directly as I start to become a bit of a slob and make poor food choices, these choices are usually quick meals mainly from fast foods, junk foods and sometimes I just choose not to eat any meals at all.

I notice a big difference when I am more active, I happen to feel an amazing high when I exercise, not just from the physical effects, but from the mental chemistry going on in my body, it makes me feel more happier and confident towards challenges that are presented to me at work or at study. These are just some good reasons that I can come up with at the top of my head for why I should take up resistance training again.

Even though this schedule means sacrificing some valuable time in my already busy time table, the benefits I believe outweigh any reasons not to start training. The time allotted is only 45- 60 minutes of my day which really isn't too time consuming, with maybe another 30-45 minutes into preparing and cooking workout friendly meals in advance. The tradeoff I believe is still definitely worth it, not just for its benefits but mainly because it happens to be fun.