Amazon Prime addiction!

 This is a bit "off topic" however I'm going to be including more here about my everyday life and less about just fitness.   I figure that way I'll blog more.

That out of the way.  Let me say, I'm a huge fan of Amazon Prime.  To me, it is the best offering out there.  For those of you that don't know what Amazon Prime is, the short of it is you pay $79 a year for a Prime membership.  That gets you free two-day shipping on all your orders from Amazon.  Also, if you're in a hurry, you get $3.99 next day delivery per item.  At first, some people may balk at that $79 fee and think this is not for them.  However, you have to look at all the factors before deciding.

• Right now there is free super saver shipping for Amazon orders over $25.  How many times have you needed a $20 item off of Amazon then added a $7 paperback you didn't really need to get the free shipping?  I know I did this a few times.  Now, I just order the $20 item and forget about it.
• Sales tax.  In Illinois Sales tax is outrageous.  For example, I was looking at buying my iMac from the apple store in Woodfield Mall in Schaumburg, IL.  Sales Tax in Crook Cook County is 10.25%.  So, that $1499.99 iMac would have been $1653.74 out the door.  Amazon had the same iMac for $1449.00 and I opted for next day delivery.  The cost was $1452.99.  So, right on that order alone I saved $200+. 
• You can't beat Amazon's prices.  Sure, there are rare exceptions, but 9 times out of 10, the most affordable price you can find online is at amazon.  Amazon Prime eligible items are items housed at an Amazon warehouse.  But, there are thousands of retailers and companies that send their products to these warehouses for Amazon to ship.  That means you have thousands of companies competing for your business all on one website.  
• It's not just books anymore.  Everything is on Amazon.  Monica and I have bought diapers, hard to find health food items, water filters for my fridge, furniture, electronics, etc etc etc. You name it, it's available on Amazon.  In fact, I've been looking at buying a case of coconut milk off of Amazon for a few days.  It's to the point right now that I look to Amazon first before anywhere else.
• Subscribe and save options.  If you look around, you'll find items available for subscribe and save.  For example, we recently ordered a bunch of Pampers.  By signing up for a subscription, we save 30% per order, and have free 2-day shipping.  We can change the frequency, add an extra shipment, change the size of the diapers, and have free returns.  You can't beat it!
• Release date delivery.  Another new feature is release date delivery for video games and movies.  If you pre-order certain items, like the newest version of Halo, the item will show up on your door on the release date.  

So, there's my plug for Amazon Prime.  We just ordered a changing table off of Amazon two days ago.  I checked out the UPS tracking info and it's coming via UPS 2nd day air from California.  It's a 50 lb package going from Cali to Illinois.  I did a quick check on UPS and for me to ship this item 2nd day air it would have cost me $212.  I don't know how Amazon does it, but it works.

Chest and Back and Closets? What?

Great workout today.  Went to a gun show to promote ASC then came home and knocked out Chest and Back.  This workout is a good one.  The variety of push ups and pull ups is a great well rounded workout that "just gets it done."

Why is it that days where you get a workout in, you continue to be more productive throughout the rest of the day.  Monica and I went to Home Depot and Menard's to work on getting our house ready for the baby.  The one thing that we have in the house are crappy closets.  The builders put in crappy cheap closet racks that don't utilize the space well.  We  got three closet sets to make over two closets.  The one for Kylie's room (Kylie is the baby's  name if you've missed it.)  The other two will be combined to get our master bedroom closet redone.  Monica has had the walk-in master closet to herself for nearly 3 years.  With some planning and effort we hope to share this closet.  Wish us luck.

Tomorrow, it will be PlyoX in the morning.  Then we'll get at least one coat of paint up in the baby's room.  We'll go see a matinee of Inception then come back and finish the paint and start working on the closet system installation.

Sweetness 5K & 8K

We're excited to have a sponsor table at the Walter Payton Sweetness  Run in Yorkville, IL tomorrow (June 5th).  If you're looking to enter a last minute race, check out www.payton34.com for more info.

If you're visiting this site as a result of the race, thanks for stopping by.  Hopefully we got a chance to meet you yesterday, if not, feel free to contact us.

--John and Monica

Decisions Decisons

One thing that I've noticed over and over again in life, is that decisions get stacked one on top of another.  If you make good decisions early in the day, you tend to continue to make good decisions throughout the day.  This can relate to many things.  If there's that one task at work that drives you nuts, getting it out of the way early in the day will make the rest of the day easy in comparison. 

Similar trends can happen in fitness and nutrition as well.  If you start out early in the day and get a good healthy meal in for breakfast, it makes it easier to resist the temptation in the office through the morning.  By saying "no" to the cinnamon roll bagel and cream cheese left in the conference room.  By passing up on that, you're now more likely to get a healthy salad for lunch and so and and so on.  Good decisions breed more good decisions. 

On the reverse, bad decisions can easily breed more bad decisions.  I've had days when I've been running late, so I grab a sugary gas station cappuccino and a do-nut for breakfast.  Next thing you know I'm eating hot dogs and french fries for lunch and choking down 3 cups of diet soda.  The attitude is always, "well, my day is shot anyway."  I might not consciously do this, but it happens.  By the end of the day, I'm feeling groggy, and craving sugar, fat, and carbs.  Out comes "depressed John" who orders up a pizza and a 2-liter of coke. 

What can you take from this?  First, try to start off your day with a good decision.  Think of the first hour of your day as the foundation for the rest of your day.  Get in that first healthy breakfast, or knockout a workout first thing.  Then your decision making chain is starting to get a few good links in it. 

If you should falter, don't sweat it.  I just had some Mike and Ike's not 20 minutes ago.  A co-worker handed me some and I took a few.  However, I'm not going to let that affect my decisions on dinner and later.  If you do happen to break your "good decision chain," take a moment, realize you did it, and recommit. 

One Man's Primal Journey

Hey folks, my buddy Dan started his journey with "The Primal Blueprint" a few months back.  He's had great success and blogged about it over at his own blog.  Go check it out, here's an excerpt.  Fair Warning: Dan's Blog posts are Long but great!

So how did I get to 197.4? I eat the stuff that I am genetically created to eat. Natural beef, chicken, pork and fish. Fresh organic vegetables, fruits and nuts. Farm fresh eggs (with the yolk!) by the dozens every week. My diet takes in about 20 times the amount of fat that it used to. I ate more fat in April that I did in all of 2009 combined! I avoid ANYTHING process like the plague. By body runs smoothly and without sugar highs and crashes. I eat a lot less. I sometimes go an entire day without eating because I don't crave anything. I listen to my body tell me when I'm hungry, but my energy level is through the roof! My exercise involves frequent walks with my wife, occasional sprint sessions to keep my testosterone levels up, and a general life of physical activity (I like to pick up heavy rocks and see how far I can throw them!). No guilt for not having the motivation to take a 5 mile run when I get home from work at 9:00 pm. No guilt for having a piece of apple pie for desert on occasion. No guilt for not being perfect. Instead, I have a sustainable plan to be a healthy person by making the right choice 80%-90% of the time, and to live a long and active life. I strongly recommend Mark Sisson's book 'The Primal Blueprint' for any of you who can identify with my struggles. Things have got to change.

Dan has really amazed me.   His motivation has inspired me to recommit more to the Primal lifestyle.  Thanks Dan!

Do What You Can Do

I've definitely noticed a pattern in my life.  During the fall and winter months, its not that hard for me to get my workouts completed on a regular basis.  I've done successful rounds of P90X etc the last two winters and done well.  Come spring, the world thaws in Illinois and I start into my routine.  For those of you that don't realize, competitive shooting (particularly modern rifles) is a passion of mine I've picked up over the past year.  I run a practical rifle program at my gun club and we have monthly matches.  Well, starting this program has taken up loads of my time.


We had a "Zombie Shoot" spin-off of this program which was another huge event I ran last year.  That drew 70 shooters and looks to be a huge event this year, with 150-200 shooters or more.  (If you want to learn more, check out www.thezombieshoot.com for more info.)

What does all of this have to do with fitness?  Well, on one level, physical fitness is a huge help in some of the events I participate in.  No matter how good one is with a rifle, if you're stiff, slow, or out of shape, you can't fire the rifle in a quick and effective manner.  This past weekend we did a drill (you can view a video  of the drill here) that required getting into some rather awkward and uncomfortable firing positions.  I'd honestly say the flexibility and strength I've gained from P90X helped me to perform some of these drills very well.  However, these hobbies and passions of mine take up a ton of time.  On a Saturday, I'll be up and out the door by 6 AM to set up for one of our shoots and might not return home until 6 PM.  (On a side note, I did wear my bodybugg along to one of these shoots and burned well over 3500 calories for the day without getting a formal workout in. I burn more calories in a day out at the range than I do when I am at work and get a P90X workout in when I get home.)

Furthermore, these events take up so much time that I frankly am pooped and don't get in my traditional workouts.  I've looked at my calendar for the next 3 months and it is packed solid.  I have things planned every weekend through August it seems.  I know that for the next 90 days or so, I'll have limited success getting an intense program like P90X completed on a consistent basis.

So, my plan is to give Tony Horton's 10-minute trainer a try.  My goal will not to have dramatic weight loss, but to maintain my current levels and maybe drop a few pounds mainly through getting my diet back on track.  Looking through the program, the title "10 Minute Trainer" is a bit misleading.  The 10-minute workout is a bare minimum.  There are 3 workouts every day, each 10 minutes in length.  The bare minimum is to do the first 10 minute workout, if you have more time, do the 2nd, if you have still more time, do the third.  So, I'm going to do 10-Minute trainer for the next 30 days and document the results.  My diet for the last month has been atrocious.  I've not planned well and have taken advantage of too many temptations. 

So, Check back here for my review on 10 minute trainer.  I'll keep everyone posted.

--John

A confession

Hey everyone. The last month has been pretty rough for me in a couple ways. The last day I updated here, there were some layoffs at my work. This meant that my schedule and such changed dramatically. Where I used to go into my office 1-2 days a week, I'm now in 4 days a week and more. On top of that, in mid March I got sicker than I can remember. I lost about 7 lbs in a couple days and couldn't eat solid food for about 5 days. 


Unfortunately, these setbacks were "ready made" excuses that I didn't overcome.  The last 3-4 weeks have been terrible.  My workouts have been non-existent and my diet has been terrible as well.  So, I'm back here writing, I need to get back on track.