HOW TO SHOP FRUGAL, EAT HEALTHY, AND WORKOUT AS A MIDDLE CLASS PERSON.

Hey Boyz and Goulz,

Growing up as a fat, middle class, hard working kid in Ohio, I learned many bad habits that have stuck with me into my younger adolecent years. I constantly struggled with the idea that I needed money for groceries and gym memberships as well as time to work out, shop, and prepare meals to gain the ideal figure I desired. Since entering "man" hood lol, I have had to take the essencials of main stream "health ideals" and create a system that worked for me, my budget, and my lifestyle (mainly time).

I am a chef, first and foremost. I work like a dog. Its hard to be on your feet and still manage to find time in your daily routine to workout and eat healthy. I have created a system that has worked for me, that I hope can shed some light or change in your day to day routine.

Eating.
1. Eat all your carbs early in the day. Before 5 pm.
-Breakfast starts your metabolism. I start the day with cereal (breads, grains, etc.) or if I am at the restaurant a piece of cheese pizza fresh out of the oven. The persons who think missing breakfast don't kick start the "poo track" or metabolism. This greatly helps you stay regular and a healthy figure.
2. Try to eat on a regular routine.
-Try to eat at the same time every day. This helps your body immensley. Try to eat something small, like the size of your fist every 2-3 hours (healthy food of course, listed below).
3. Don't eat after 7 pm.
- I like to eat in the morning when i get up (force yourself to put something in your belly), eat an apple two hours later, a healthy "non fried anything" sandwich for lunch, a snack of a granola bar two hours later, a salad with chicken (no cream based dressings like ranch), and nothing else.
4. Moderate the booze.
-If you work out and eat right everyday, drinking a six pack a day defeats the purpose. You just threw it all away. Drinking is still ingesting calories. This breaks rule #2. The people with fast metabolizems ruin this rule lol!
5. Don' t eat fast food and fried foods.
-The cardinal rule. This kills all progress of the day. You can reward yourself once a week or a month depending on our discipline, but stay away from the drive thru and stay away from bar-fried foods. That hamburg after drinking (breaking rule #2) just really snowballed progress!
6. Only stock your cupboards with healthy food.
-You eat what you buy. If you keep Doritos and Oreo's in your cupboard, you will eat it. Save yourself the temptation. If you can't do this, don't buy food and shut your refridgerator and only buy what you eat.
7. Shop within your budget and don't fool yourself.
-You know what you will eat from the grocery store. Find healthy foods that you enjoy eating and incorporate those into your daily diet (The link is the healthy hillybilly diet, so if you can't find something on here....lol). If you hate cooking, cook off chicken breasts using a George Forman for the week and ziplock and warm when you need them. I.E. "Don't buy eggplant because it has great nutrients, so that it can turn into E.T. after two weeks in your fridge."
8. Do your homework. Have a plan.
-You can GOOGLE healthy recipe menus for a whole week from the web. Take the menu items you know you can be content with. Figure out what you wanna eat for the week. Figure out a way (rule #7) to prepare the needed items and make a menu for the week. Make it happen.
9. Cost out your game plan or menu.
-IF you check out the link above, you can see anyone can find a way to eat proper....even with simple comfort food. If you have little money, and you can still stay on track. You don't need special services (Jenny Craig) or food to eat healthy and stay on track. Cost out your shopping list and make it applicable to your eating prefrences.
10. Moderation and portion size.
-Eat something the size of your "fist" every two hours. Don't sit down and eat a giant meal at dinner to make up for not eating the whole day. Bad.......very bad!!! lol

Exercise.
I work 12 hours on my feet six days a week, so I am constantly busy. The whole key is to stay active without being a "gym rat":)

1. Find a time in your day.
- To reach success, you need to find an "unconditional" time of your day, everyday, that you can invest into your future. This all comes down to your routine. Are you a morning person and are more productive? Are you a night owl that has more energy and drive after work? You decide:) Get a planner and map out your week. Write your menu of what you consume on those days of the week. Write the time for your workout and block it off on your planner so you can make time and follow thru. Don't try to put 5 lbs. of crap in a 15 min block of time lol.
2. Your Game plan.
-I have found out that if you watch what you eat, you can exercise 4x a week, 20 minutes a day. I like to work out 6 days a week because I enjoy it. It creates a better start to my busy days, which is 7 days a week. Do it in the comfort of your own home!!! If you don't work on your feet on your job at least 8 hours a day, you need some type of cardio. I have found out that even if you just walk around your house 10x, it works just as good as a one mile walk. The whole key is that you need to start your workouts by kick starting your metabolism by bringing up your heart rate and pulse. Walk a mile a day (its not as far as you think lol) in your neighborhood or on a treadmill and then proceed into your simple exercise. For guys (ladies your exercises are coming next blog~stay tuned:), I do 50 push ups and 50 sit ups a day. The next day, I use an isometric band to do arms....50 reps (inward and outward) and 50 sit ups (look for blog number 2 for exercises and details). Alternate every other day. This works out your back, chest, abs, shoulders, arms, and legs (cardio). Simple. After a matter of months, likely 3 months, you will truly start to see the results. Remember, it starts with the diet!!
2. Cardio vs. Diet.
-To stay healthy, the whole key is the diet. "Kick" the "workout" right out the window if you have no eating discipline. If you don't eat right, the work out won't make a difference. Your wasting your time....sorry :( Why do you see all the people after New Year's give up after a month every year....its because they don't eat right and get discouraged and see no results.
3. Dieting Tricks
-I don't use fish oil or Hydroxycut or any of that "speed" non-sense. I do take a male daily multi-vitamin and a Vit B complex (energy and metabolism). This is a way to stay out of the doctor office and help your metabolism.
4. Consistency.
-You don't win games and you don't make progress by working out when you wanna work out....otherwise everybody would be Fabio lol. Whether your tired, mad, PMS'in, lazy, etc....progress is maintained and progressive when you continually work at it. No excuses!
5. Aresenal
-You need to obtain this diet a pair of shoes (to walk), an isometric rubberband (exercises), and a bed or couch (for sit ups to lock your feet under). This not much. Total cost is $10 dollars for the rubber band. No excuses.

There is more to come on round two.....exercises, recipes, tips, and updates. I hope you find motivation and strength in finding the routine, figure, and the lifestyle you want "keeping it real" within your means. Please comment your feelings, thoughts, and any added information :)
Stay tuned......and stay "Mohawk Friendly" :)

Much love
p