Health

Easy snacks that help you lose weight

Posted by abraham.williams@gmail.com on in diet, fitness, Health, low carb

Skip sweets and bread-based snacks if you want to lose weight. Help your body switch over to utilizing fat as fuel with these low carb (except for the banana) snacks that help you feel less hungry.  If you are allergic to nuts, you’ll need to substitute. If you are a vegetarian, you probably won’t like my posts on food.  We can still be friends though. My daughter is “veg”. Sigh.
For portions, you don’t need many nuts, perhaps a handful or so. For fruit, just have one apple or one banana. 
  1. Nuts or seeds like pumpkin or sunflower seeds 
  2. Apple and peanut butter
  3. Nuts and small amount of dark chocolate
  4. Fruit and jerky 
  5. Applesauce with walnuts
  6. Any nut and fruit combo
  7. Tuna salad (tuna+mayo or yogurt+pickle or HOWEVER) on lettuce leaf
  8. Food replacement meal bar (very sparingly! Only use in a pinch.)
  9. Smoked salmon and capers or pickles
  10. Prosciutto and cheese
  11. Turkey and dried figs
  12. Peanut butter and banana
  13. Celery and peanut butter
  14. Carrots (two or so) and almond butter
Mix and match as you like!

Coach B!

Posted by abraham.williams@gmail.com on in Business, Health
Today, I got to work with Olympic Weight Lifting Coach Mike Burgener. It was a fantastic opportunity to learn from the best and I’m so glad I pushed to make it happen. We focused on the “snatch”, and I learned about my performance-limiting mistakes that have been with me for about four years now. It’s huge when you can work with an expert to raise your game.

I mentioned how I had improved my deadlift by doing single-limb bodyweight progressions, and he was not surprised. He conveyed one of his main principles, “range of motion before strength and bodyweight before barbells”. From there he conveyed how crucial range of motion is for technique and how bodyweight movement allows you to really learn how to move efficiently with that technique. People who are impatient and forgo technique so they can throw as much weight as they can end up having to go back and learn the fundamentals.  He also said, there is no such thing as overtraining…it’s really under recovery. That’s a huge topic to be covered later. I learned so much from him in just this one day.

In the last two months, I have accelerated my interactions with experts in business and sport and have been much the better for it. I recommend you look for experts in your fields of interest and find the quickest way to work them. Your velocity will increase as you catch the pivotal points they know like the back of their hand. Do it. Now.

Heaviest weight lifted without training with weights

Posted by abraham.williams@gmail.com on in Health
Yesterday, at a bodyweight of 156lbs, I deadlifted 315lbs easily.  While this is not spectacular, this is my heaviest deadlift, yet.  My best previous deadlift was 305lbs. What is surprising to me is I have not been lifting weights nor training the deadlift. Also, I have decreased my diet by half (around 2500 kcal from 5k). I was even fasting when I did this.

Given that I have read (and experienced myself through previous tests) that to increase strength in the deadlift one must train that lift or similar movements with weight, I am very surprised. Also, in order to gain strength and muscle one is supposed to eat much more food. I have not done either of these things.  This goes against what is widely believed as sacrosanct truth in the strength building world. It felt heavy, but I could have lifted probably 30-50lbs more. My legs did not shake even a little bit.

So, if I have been eating less and not training the lifts, how did I get stronger?  Or, even a bigger question is why did I not lose strength?  My previous regime was back squat, deadlift and overhead press combined with eating a lot. I was following a basic strength training protocol of doing each lift sometimes 3 times a week or once a week. If I stopped on those lifts for even two weeks or so, I would fall backwards in strength.

My new regime has been to lean-out and drop bodyfat and to get strong moving my own bodyweight. I have been eating 80% paleo-style combined with fasting once a week. Also, I have been focusing on progressions with one-arm pullups, one-armed pushups, single-leg squats, hanging leg raises, one-arm handstand pushups (not yet attained!) and bridges. Given that I was under eating and not training the deadlift, it is very surprising that I have now lifted more than I have previously!  This must mean that these bodyweight exercises are making me stronger.

My hypothesis: if I continue to progress to higher levels of strength in the aforementioned body-weight exercises, I will get stronger in other movements like the deadlift.

My hunch is that the bridge and leg raises have made a much stronger core and the pullups and single-leg squats have created the strenth for the deadlift pull. Likely, the pushups and handstand pushups have created reciprocal inhibition in antagonistic muscles like biceps and lats (and many others).  Maybe even single-limb movements have had an effect by training out left/right weakness or imbalances that would otherwise be hidden in normal two leg/arm movements?

Next test: Once I reach my next progression goal of 10 one-armed pullups each arm and 25 single-leg squats each leg, I will attempt the deadlift again and publish results.  I expect to reach these goals in a month’s time…give or take.

I have a draft plan for a 60+ day total body transformation open for testing

Posted by abraham.williams@gmail.com on in Health 3 Comments

Hey there, I currently have a draft plan that has over 60 days of exercises and meals that reshape a given body. This plan is based on a plethora of experiments I have conducted on myself and others eating different kinds and amounts of foods with different exercise protocols; I believe that I have nailed bodyfat reduction methods completely and found quick ways to solid strength and conditioning gains. Please contact me if you are interested in trying this exercise and diet experiment. Thanks, Abe

Deep Breathing

Posted by abraham.williams@gmail.com on in Deep Breathing, Flu, Health, Posture

I have the flu. Or fever and congestion…whatever name it has. I have it. On this 3rd day of this flu, I am coughing for sure. Nose clogged as well. However, I am resting and am quite calm. When it’s really unpleasant a little Tylenol helps. Please be certain, it’s not how I’d choose to spend my vacation, but with a bit of bad comes a little good.

Come next Monday in the office, I’d like to maintain this calmness. An idea came to me about deep breathing and how I’d like to make this a practice in the morning before doing anything…100 thoughtful breaths. Something like that. I figured why not start now while laying in bed. Can’t sleep anyway.

I started deep breathing. Trying to fill the lungs, then exhale as much as I could, gently. Lungs rattled, nose wined, and desire to cough was strong. I wondered if I could do 100 thoughtful breaths. The cough reflex went away after a few breaths. It also seemed better to go slow so I didn’t pass out. Around…I don’t know…maybe 50 breaths a nostril opened up. I just kept going. It turned out to be quite interesting. I started feeling a little better. At one point the cough reflex got me, but it was dry as if the fluid in my lungs was drier. It was no longer a “productive cough”.

After a bit I felt good enough to get up. I was a bit dizzy, but thought I’d do some deep breathing with the chest erect and do more deep breathing. As I was doing this, I actually got energized and was feeling pretty good. Both nostrils cleared. Definitely positive…however, there was an even better side benefit.

Ever heard this saying or something like it, “Take a deep breath and raise your chest”? It is possible to take a deep breath humped over, but it definitely feels more natural to take a deep breath standing erect. In any case, the chest lifts itself. As I thought about it a bit more, I suspect that deep breathing correlates not only with calmness but with erectness and good posture. It’s a hypothesis I will test. Granted my results are quantitative, but whatever works for you, right?

So far, deep breathing, all positive.