Going Alkaline

It all started easily enough.  My friendly neighbourhood fresh goods store had recently started selling alkaline water by the bottle and the owners recommended I tried it out.  I really had nothing to lose, since I have always bought bottled water for my consumption and the price isn't that much different than the alkaline water they're touting.

To be honest, I never did any research before buying the alkaline water which made the results even more pleasant.  My eczema has gone completely and the few times it flares up, it dies down again in just a couple of days.  My skin is noticeably clearer too.

Intrigued, I researched about alkaline water and alkaline diet in general and this is what I found out:

Our body is meant to be slightly alkalic and maintaining that delicate balance is vital to ensure that we remain healthy, disease-free individuals.  But at this day and age, our body has become more and more acidic due to our lifestyle and diet.  Think coffee, cigarettes, alcohol, red meat, dairy, processed food.

All this things contribute to our imbalance but the good news is it is quite easily reversible.  I know not many people are as lucky as I am having access to alkalic water but one of the simplest ways you can make your diet more alkalic is:

Ramp up on the juicing.

Yes, if you haven't started juicing yet you should.  NOW!! Take your pick on any alkalic forming food, juice it and drink.  I had a bad case of the sniffles yesterday and juiced up a combo of apple, lemon, carrot, celery, kailan and ginger... All alkalic forming food (not much so the apple but its delicious so I added it in anyway). And today I am feeling absolutely fine.  Very well rested and very fresh at 6.30am.

Make it a habit to juice.  Seriously.  The stuff that I bought aren't expensive and very easily available anywhere.  Don't go buying your juice at those fancy healthy juice places.  They aren't healthy at all.  They say their stuff is sugar free but what they don't tell you is they submerge the fruits in sugar water to make it taste better.

Plus, it's pricey.  Invest in a decent blender.  And make your own juice.

Stiff Arm Pulldowns

The best lat exercise is still the pull up.  There is no doubt about that.  But many of us, yours truly included, simply do not have the strength to execute a pull up properly.  Hence the pull up becomes a very ugly looking bicep exercise instead.

I have been experimenting with the stiff arm pulldown as a substitute for the pull up.  Both work the lats but while the pull up is more bad ass, the pulldown can be properly executed by more people.  And the stiff arm pulldown can really smoke your lats like crazy.

I did 3 sets of 15-rep stiff arm pulldowns yesterday and my lats are begging me for mercy today.

If you go to the gym, just use the cable machine and get cracking like how the lady in the vid does it.  If like me, you don't have access to a cable machine, you can use a resistance band instead..  Just loop it over something overhead, hold it with both hands (like you would the reigns of a horse) and pull away.

Renegade Diet - First Week

Okay, I have read the Renegade Diet once.  As a matter of principal I will read it again at least one more time.  But to tell you the truth the book was an easy read, with concepts very easy to understand and most importantly, implement.

I think the most important concepts that I took away from the book were:

1. Skip breakfast - your body is in its best fat burning mode in the morning.  Eating a heavy breakfast would put stress to your digestive system.  Personally, skipping breakfast is wonderful since I really don't have the time for it and I don't have much of an appetite in the morning. Plus the lack of digestive stress makes me more mentally alert.
2. Fast for about 12-14 hours after your last meal (hence the no breakfast rule)
3. Stay away from carbs during the day.  Eat your carbs at night.  You will sleep better because of it too (think about it, how many times have you felt like sleeping after taking nasi lemak for breakfast and then eat more rice during lunchtime?).  This is also one of the best tips I got from the Renegade Diet.  My sleep quality has taken on a whole new level and I feel very well rested when I wake up in the morning.

Of course, there are so many other things that you can learn from the book, like how to repair an impaired immune system (this one was really interesting).  But don't take my word for it.  I strongly suggest for anyone who is serious about fat loss or muscle gain the healthy, natural way to immediately go get the book.

For the record, I don't get a single sen promoting this book (I could if I use my affiliate link but I'm just too damn lazy.  Plus I don't have much of a readership to really profit anyway).  I just want people to know how easy it actually is to take care of your diet no matter your objective.

Home Gym Wishlist

To most people my home gym seems complete.  But to be honest there are still a few toys I would want to get my hands on:

1.  Trap Bar

I've been eyeing one of these babies for a long time.  But Malaysia being what it is, no one supplies it here.  I did check out a few Chinese suppliers and their asking price is pretty reasonable.  But once you add in the shipping cost (which is actually more expensive than the cost of the bar itself), the figure is a bit on the high side.

In any case you're interested to get one as well, let me know.  Maybe we could get a discount.

2. Medicine Ball

Now these you can get at your friendly neighbourhood Fitness Concept.  Off the top of my head I'd definitely be using it for medicine ball slams (at least its an outlet for my anger issues).

3.  Bands

I have only one at home and I need at least 2 more of various strengths.  It'll also make it easier for me to sub in cable-centric exercises like lat pull downs if I have more than 1 band.  I can also use them for pre-hab stuff.

4.  Lifting Platform

Yeah this would be so cool to have.  Actually you can just DIY this.  But of course I am a DIY klutz and I'm not sure how my living room is going to look like if put this up.

5. Olympic barbell set

I've actually asked around and a 140kg set would set me off for RM2,100.  I was tempted.  Really tempted.  Although at this point I would omit the olympic barbell, get the trap bar but just buy the weight plates.

Focus Shift: From Training to Diet

The immediate reason being that I now have the luxury of not having to think about training programmes.  All I need to do is follow whatever programme that is running over at the Inner Circle.  Saves time and preserves sanity.

But a more pressing reason is because I am developing allergies like nobody's business.  I fall sick easily.  And nutrition is the missing puzzle in my quest to become the ultimate fitness junkie wannabe.

For starters, I have begun to cook.  And I am getting more disciplined in making sure that my food are mostly home-cooked instead of store-bought.

But then again, home-cooked doesn't mean everything is healthy.  There are times that I wasn't aware that I was putting myself in harm's way.  Like last Sunday when I cooked myself scrambled eggs with cheese and mushroom.  The cheese made me scratch like crazy and I couldn't concentrate on anything until I took antihistamines.

I know it was the cheese that did it, because I had no problems with the eggs nor mushrooms beforehand.

So now I am trying to equip myself with knowledge on the kinds of food that would improve my overall health and well being and the kinds that would ensure that I will be dependent on endless rounds of antibiotics, antihistamines and a slew of other medications.

First up is reading all about the Renegade Diet, written by Jason Ferruggia (you don't seem surprised.  Why?).  I just bought it last weekend and I've read through a few chapters and already I am mesmerized.  But I think I will have to read the book at least twice and take down notes so I can do more research.

It's a lovely time to be in nerd-mode.