Sunday, December 3, 2017

Delightful Dinner in a Daily College Life

Chapter 10: Delightful Dinner on a Daily

What college student does not enjoy dinner? Unlike breakfast, many people eat dinner more because it does not require you to wake up early and usually falls into your daily routine easily. A lot of non-non-nutritous food is consumed at dinner such as heavy foods loaded with fat, salt, and sugar. Dinner is the time we find it often to eat totally unhealthy. As college students, sometimes creating a healthy dinner dish involves you looking at different foods in other areas; all meals are not made the way you would like. Below is a list of healthy dinner meals with a balance of protein, vegetables, dairy, and vitamins.

Meal 1:
Glazed Salmon with a side of salad (no dressing added)

Meal 2: 
Grilled Chicken with green beans and brown rice

Meal 3:
T- bone steak with sweet potatoes and corn (no sugar or butter on sweet potatoes)

Meal 4: 
Vegetable Gumbo- black eye peas with Swiss Cheese, smoked paprika, and brown rice

Meal 5: 
Turkey with Barley Salad

Saturday, November 25, 2017

Lunch

Chapter 9: The Lunch Diet
                As Thanksgiving unfolds, I find it very difficult to get back into "the healthy routine". Temptation of gravy, mash potatoes, sweet potatoes smothered with melted marshmallows, and pumpkin pie all seem appealing; however, it is essential that I must resist the test. There should only be a maximum of two "cheat days" after Thanksgiving because after two days, you will start to fall into that "unhealthy routine". Below is a list of lunch meals that college students can easily prepare, instead of relying on heavy carbs and sugary foods such as the tradational "Thanksgiving meals".

Meal 1
 Peanut Butter spread on Wheat Toast, with sliced bananas
       -  sided with a suit salad

Meal 2
 Grilled Chicken Breast with a side of Kale (preferably squeezed lemon on Kale)

Meal 3
 Turkey or Veggie Burger with a side of Sweet Potato (no butter or sugar added)

Meal 4
  Middle Eastern Rice Salad

A quick shout out to my friend's blog, who influenced the way I listened to music. He discusses about the trending Christian songs of that week, and gives his own personal rating.

Saturday, November 18, 2017

Breakfast

Chapter 8: Diet Breakfast
           
     As college students, we often find it difficult to get up in the morning to eat breakfast. I know that in the past, I would rather get more sleep than eat breakfast. However, breakfast is the most important meal of the day. It gives us an extra energy boost for daily activities. If you are concerned with getting more sleep, I would advise you to change your sleep routine. Instead of going to bed at twelve o'clock, try going to bed at 10 o'clock. With this new alteration, you will feel rejuvenated once waking up, giving you the energy to eat breakfast. For most young adults and teenagers, we desire the "unhealthy" side of breakfast. We enjoy eating pancakes covered in syrup, sausages, bacon strips, waffles, and French Toast. Although many of these foods taste delicious, we must look at the healthy side. Below is a list of healthy breakfast meals.

Meal 1:
2 Egg Whites (keep salt and pepper at a minimum)
Apple Slices with peanut butter
A side of greek yogurt with almonds on top

Meal 2:
Steel Cut Oatmeal with brown sugar
A side of raspberries
One hard boiled egg

Meal 3:
Sliced bananas with peanut butter
Ground Turkey mixed with 2 scrambled eggs (add tomatoes, cilantro, pepper, and potatoes)

Meal 4:
Whole grain toast with almond butter spread
Chicken breast

*For drinks, you can make a fruit smoothie with no added sugars or water with lemon. If you want to drink orange juice, buy the 50% reduced sugar Tropicana orange juice.

Thursday, November 9, 2017

Day 3

Chapter 7: Day 3

The third day consists of workouts that aim to strengthen the shoulders, triceps, and chest. I leave this day for the third because I purposely put a gap to seperate the upper and lower body. It is key not to overdue your muscles, so by this routine it will definitely be efficient. Honestly, order does not matter. You could workout your shoulders first, then your chest second, and lastly your triceps. It just depends on what you really want to do on a particular day. As a college student, do not workout to the max because you can strain your muscles, which could have a negative effect on your academic performance. I surely do not want any other distractions such as injuries because there would be a higher demand on my body, rather than focusing on my academics. Below is a list of workout for the chest, shoulders, and triceps.

Shoulders

1. Dumbell Shoulder Press (4 set/ 10 reps) - while sitting in a chair, lift the dumbbell up above your head.
2. Reverse Machine Fly (4 sets/ 12 reps)- with a machine, grab the handles and bring it in alignment to your chest.
3. Lateral Raise Bands (3 sets/ 10 reps)- using a band, bring both arms out to our shoulders horizontally.
4. Upright Barbell Raise (3 sets/ 8 reps)- with a near grip on a bench bar, bring the bar up to your chin by keeping your back straight.

Chest
1. Bench Press (4 sets/ 10 reps)- using a bench bar, have a decent spacing between your hands near the nipples and use your chest to push out. 
2. Dumbell Chest Press (3 sets/ 12 reps)-  method same as bench press
3. Seated Machine Chest Press (3 sets/10 reps)- using a machine, push out the handlebars out in front of your chest. 
4. Dips for Chest (4 sets/ 8 reps) - bend elbows and keep feet up crossed

Triceps
1. Close-Grip Barbell Press ( 4 sets/ 8 reps)- have your hands closer together, but make sure they do not touch. Method is the same as the bench press. 
2. V Bar Pulldown- pull down a bar and extend your arm completely vertically when coming down. Make sure not to bend your elbow to much coming up.
3. One Arm Tricep Extensions ( 3 sets/ 12 reps)- starting with a dumbell in one hand above your head, bend your elbow so that the dumbell can be behind your head.
4. V Pushups (3 sets/ 12 reps)- make a diamond shape with your hands and get in a push up position. 

Sunday, November 5, 2017

Day 2

Chapter 6: Day 2

As a college student, I am constantly walking all over campus either going to class, the dinning hall, or the gym. I use my legs on a daily basis in order to get things done. For this reason, I want to strengthen my legs . Many teenagers and young adults refuse to workout their legs because for the most part people concentrate more on the upper body. Would you rather have a six pack or huge calves? Many college students would say a six pack. They would not even consider working out their legs. Also it is important to keep a good bodily proportion. If a person has a huge chest and arms but small legs, it would look very odd. Below is a list of leg exercises.

1. Barbell Squat (4 sets/ 8 reps)- Make sure that your shoulders are in line with knees and keep your feet flat.

2. Dumbell Lunges (4 sets/ 12 reps each leg)-  When lunging with any moderate dumbbell, make sure you keep your back straight.

3. Leg Press ( 3 sets/ 12-15 reps)- This requires you to use a special machine, where you would have to push weighted plates up with your legs. Make sure that you do not push your knees into your chest too much.

4. Leg Extensions ( 3 sets/ 15 reps)- Using a machine, extend your legs in a 180 degree angle.

5. Lying Leg Curls (3 sets/ 15 reps) - With your stomach facing the floor, curl your legs up on a machine.

6. Calf Raises (4 sets/ 20 reps)- This does not require a machine. With just your toes on the floor, carefully lift about your heels up leaving toes stationary.

Thursday, October 26, 2017

Day One

Chapter 5: Day One

For each week, the "three day split" plan consists of back and bicep workouts. Each day, I exercise  different body parts because it provides a balance of my routine. Starting the week on a Monday with this gives the body more of a pump to rejuvenate the body. Technically, you do not have to follow the sequence of the plan that I provided; however, the order definitely motivates me to continue throughout the day. Essentially, the first day gives me the motivation because I see the several exercises actually working. For instance, it is easy to see the pump in my arms instantly after doing dumbbell curls. My veins are usually coming out of my skin, which provides me with much satisfaction in my own appearance. The back is an important body part that many people overlook because it can not be frequently seen, whereas the biceps are a muscle that people see most of the time. Whenever I do my back workouts, I receive a great feeling and satisfaction because I feel the "burn" the most. This burning sensation indicates that muscles are breaking down to eventually build bigger ones. Below are the workouts I do for my back and biceps.

Back 
1. Barbell Deadlift (3 sets/ 10 reps) - while bending your knees, make sure your back is perpendicular and bring the bar directing to your chest.
2. Wide Grip Pull-up (3 Sets/ 8 Reps)- make sure you bend your knees while doing this pull-up
3. Close Grip Pull Down (4 Sets/ 10 Reps)- When sitting down, pull down the handle bar aligned to your chest, while staying in a straight posture
4. Single- Arm Dumbbell rows (3 sets/ 12 Reps)- usually go slightly heavier with this workout. Put the opposite knee of the arm you are currently using on a bench and bring the dumbbell up to your mid-level by keeping your back straight.

Biceps
1. Basic Dumbbell Curls (4 Sets/ 8 Reps)- start off by your palms away from your face and lift both weights simultaneously up to the chest area. 
2.  Incline Hammer Curls (3 Sets/ 10 Reps)- on an inclined bench, lift the weights one at time right below your chest. 
3. EZ Bar Curl (4 Set/ 5 Reps)- Usually you go heavy with this, however, by using a bench bar curl it up to your chest. 
4. Overhead Cable Curl (3 Sets/ 8 Reps)- using a cable, pull it over your head in a horizontal direction. 

Thursday, October 19, 2017

The Plan

Chapter 4: The Plan

Exercising comes at a cost. It will take some time away from doing certain activities, just like how every new addition to your life will. Working out and creating healthy habits are just as similar as other changes an individual tries to implement in their own personal life. For instance, most college students desire change in their time management which will require them to withdraw certain habits and activities that they usually do. As college students, we need to be acceptable for positive change to better ourselves in academic and healthy aspects. We will always have an excuse if we are not discplined enough. It is imperative to rule out all of the actives that will not best suit you in the future. An example of this will include spending countless hours on the couch, watching television, or playing video games. We can substitute this with healthy alternatives such as walking outside, or doing physical activities. I love to work out because it is an outlet for challenge and discipline.

Making an exercise plan will prepare you mentally and physically. Plans are important because it will give you an organized set-up to your day. Also, plans promote consistency, which will motivate one to increase their confidence and ability to fulfill the plan for that day. There is an exercise website which will give you steps on how to do a certain excessive for a particular muscle. It has meal plans and day by day exercises for different body parts. For my exercises, I use what I call a " Three Day- split," which you can find directly below.

Day 1: Back and Biceps
Day 2: Shoulder, Triceps, and Chest
Day 3: Legs
Day 4: Day 1
Day 5: Day 2
Day 6: Day 3
Day 7: Rest