Lately I have tried to be very positive on my blog as positive posts seem to generate more traffic. However… I saw this while tweaking my days meals and had to post about it.

Hollywood Cookie Diet®

IT’S THE COOKIE DIET! YAY! We’re saved! No more not eating cookies on our diet. So, either they taste terrible or there is a catch. That said I went on a hunt for the nutrition information. Here is what I found:

.: Click Picture For Full-Size :.

Now, if you don’t know how to read one of those tags, and a large portion of the population does not, you may think: “Oooh! Shiny! They have testimonials and the box of cookies is $19.99!! So it must work!” That’s where you’d be wrong.

These cookies have roughly the same nutrition information as a Nabisco Cookies which… by the way are lots cheaper! I mean you’re talking like $3.99 per package versus $19.99. Just so you don’t think I’m lying to you, here is the nutrition info for a Nabisco cookie:

.: Click Picture For Full-Size :.

So, some things to note here. The cookies are comparable, however there are some differences.

• The Nabisco cookie is a smaller serving, so if you were to eat 40 grams you’re looking at 28 more calories.
• The Hollywood Diet Cookies have 4.4 grams fewer fat, and only 1g of Saturated Fat compared to the 4.45g in the Nabisco cookie.
• The Nabisco Cookie has more carbohydrates ( carbs ). 26 grams compared to the 24 grams in the Hollywood Diet Cookies.
• The Hollywood Diet Cookies has 5 grams of protein compared to the 1.48 gram in the Nabisco Cookie.
• The Hollywood Diet Cookies have more Vitamin A, C, Calcium, Iron and fiber ( you shouldn’t get your fiber from a cookie anyway ) than the Nabisco Cookie.

I am sure that there other differences, however those are what I would consider “primary”. Considering the price point of the Hollywood Diet cookies those differences are not vast enough to go with their product.

So what does all that mean? What are carbs, fat, and protein? Well… carbs, fat, and protein are also known as Macro-nutrients. They are the building blocks of food, so when you put them all together you get the calories in a food. The way this works is this:

What does it all mean?

1 Gram of Protein = 4 Calories
1 Gram of Carbohydrates = 4 Calories
1 Gram of Fat = 9 Calories

Protein rebuilds muscle, replaces tissue, etc. It is broken down by the body and used to build whatever tissue is needed to repair, grow… to live. It can also provide energy, long explanation there.

Carbohydrates provide energy. They are what your muscles will eventually use as fuel. Carbs are broken down into Glycogen and consumed by muscles. If you eat too many and your body cannot use them the liver turns those carbs into fat and stores them in your as… body.

Fat is very high in energy and thus packs a whoping 9 calories per gram. That is why it is often seen as “bad”. There are many types of fat, some are good, some are bad, some can be bad if they are acquired the wrong way. We won’t get into that. Saturated fat is the stuff that clogs your veins… well if you have too much. It’s actually also used for hormone generation, but that’s beside the point. /mini_rant

Some Simple Math

The Hollywood Diet Cookies have 4.5 grams of fat, 24 grams of carbs and 5 grams of protein. So let’s do the math:

4.5 x 9 = 40.5 calories
24 x 4 = 96.0 calories
5 x 4 = 20.0 calories
———————–
Total = 156.5 calories ( looks like they rounded down lawl )

So the macro-nutrient split is roughly similar between the two cookies and the Nabisco cookie is WAY cheaper. So why do these folks claim that their diet works? Well… I went on to read this little tidbit:

“We all know that to lose weight we have to restrict calories, but that is easier said than done. When hunger strikes, diets fail. The Hollywood Cookie Diet works by satisfying your hunger and your sweet tooth. Simply eat up to four cookies a day, replacing breakfast and lunch, and eat a sensible dinner. Eat a cookie for breakfast, mid-morning snack, lunch and mid-afternoon snack. The Hollywood Cookie Diet works because it is a low calorie diet based on caloric restriction by meal replacement and portion control.”

So what you are supposed to do is:

1. Eat a cookie for breakfast, starve and be dangerously under nourished until lunch.
2. Eat another cookie for lunch and continue to be miserable.
3. When 3:00 strikes and you’re about to pass out because you haven’t eaten yet… HAVE ANOTHER COOKIE !!! Whee! Guess what!? You still have not eaten.
4. Finally when you get home… “eat a sensible dinner”. Let’s be realistic… if you have not eaten anything and it’s 6:00 in the afternoon you are going to devour a pizza, or slay a box of doughnuts. ( I wonder if there is a doughnut diet!? )

So I’m being a negative ninny! Sure, but this is absolute non-sense… If you want to achieve the same results as this diet buy the Nabisco cookies and give it a shot. If you can eat just 4 cookies and a “sensible” dinner for more than 3 days ( if you try this I am not to be held liable for any consequences! IT IS A BAD IDEA !! ) and not scarf down a pizza or some huge meal or faint… My hat is off to you!

The other choice you have is to throw 2 scoops of Vanilla Whey Protein Powder into home made cookie bater. It will raise the protein content considerably and the home made recipe is probably healthier.

Moral of the story?

There is no way around it. Good old fashioned healthy eating every few hours, 5 or 6 meals per day, with a good macro split and portion control with a nice helping of exercise is the only thing that works. It is way easier to eat 5 or 6 times per day and eat healthy meals. If done right you won’t be hungry at all. I usually eat at my BMR and exercise vigorously to lose weight. Then when I want to gain I eat at about 1.5 times the BMR , lift more and reduce the cardio ( not cut it out… reduce it ). By the way… that’s cheaper too!

Here are some good resources for learning more about macro nutrients, nutrition and exercise:

• This is where I started out. John Stone Fitness
  Poke around the forum you’ll find explanations of all the macronutrients, BMR, exercise routines, etc.
• This Thread has some great links: BEGINNERS/NEW MEMBERS
  These two guides on that thread are exactly where I started:
  • Gravityhomer’s fat loss guide (by gravityhomer)
  • My guide to nutrition for weight loss (by marcus)
• I blogged about a site I found that had great full body workouts that are about 15 minutes long. Check it out.

Update:
Noticed that the serving size was actually part of the 1 cookie and the 27 vs. 40g makes a difference so I updated the differences section.

Good luck!

So I was poking around on YouTube.com the other day and was looking for a full body workout that only took about 15 to 20 minutes. I actually stumbled upon a pretty decent site in the process. I found this video:

Seemed kinda cheesy at first. I was looking for a workout not … Well… I don’t know how to put it nicely, but let’s just say that a decent workout and site to go with it was not what I expected when I clicked that link. Check out the actual site http://www.bodyrock.tv/

Anywho, I watched a few of the workout vids and they’re all good, least what I watched. The nice thing is that the site has recipes too and a breakdown of the workout. Which is really nice since 85% of any type of weight-gain / weight-loss goal is your intake. As far as the exercises on there I adapted some of them into my Wing Chun warmup. The different kind of push-ups, mountain climbers where the leg next to the chest remains off the ground( there’s probably a name for that ), etc.

I also bought a Gymboss timer which I used today for the first time and I like. It’s going to come in handy for getting the Mok Jong under a minute. My first use of the timer was to run 3.8 miles. 1 minute on, 1 minute off. Earlier this summer I was up to 3.65 miles continuous. I got the flu for some reason… and it seriously destroyed me. I quit running for 2 months straight, and to add insult to injury I skipped a month of Wing Chun during that time as well… end result… Gained 10lbs, and it wasn’t muscle.

So, the goal is to pop back down to 165lbs, I’m about 190 right now. I added a Food Journal section to this site, top right of the page. So for the next two months I suspect I’ll be updating it. If you don’t track what you eat you fall off the wagon. That’s all I got for today.

Questions, comments, leave ‘em below.

Ok so I am alway struggling with carb sources. When I bulk I eat more potatoes(all variants of) than Ireland as a whole… that can get old. I always want to eat brown rice but for some reason I am never able to cook it right and season it so it’s edible. Well… my wife found the solution. Instant brown rice + mixed veggies + sweet and sour sauce.

So take some instant rice and microwave it according to the directions. Take a package of frozen veggies and microwave those too. Drain and combine rice and veggies. Now add the sweet and sour sauce to the mixture. If done right it actually tastes great. A great protein source to go with said mixture is chicken. This sounds eerily like chinese food… and it is… except it’s not the crap you get when you go to chinese place. Most ( not all ) use cheap ingredients full of preservatives and all sorts of chemicals I can’t even pronounce the names of. I know there is a place up by me that is fairly authentic, but you won’t find cheap food there… alternatively there is also a cheap Oriental food place … and it makes me ill.

The only thing to watch out for is the sweet and sour sauce, make sure you’re not buying crap, and watch how much you glob on. Remember it’s just adding flavor the rice and veggies are the main ingredient not the sauce. If you use soy sauce watch the sodium, although arguably if you drink enough water you could eat salt as a meal. Anywho that’s all.

Lately I have been into the whole nutrition / workout thing. I really can’t say lately because it has been going on for the last 6 months… or more now. So in the interests of remaining geeky I have challenged my friend Ryan to a geek fitness challenge. He is to do the same thing I did earlier this year, blog every day about pushup/situps he is doing to form a habit. I in turn will try to get my geek on more, while continuing my workout / eating habits. So what will I do ? Two things:

1. Later tonight I am going to create another section on this blog that will be dedicated to fitness. I will post my meal plan, and workout regimen and try to update that as much as I can.

2. I am going to find a book on something that interests me, namely WCF. I am going to read 1 chapter each night and blog about it for the next 31 days, or until I am done with the book. If I finish the book before the 31 days is up, I am going to start a small pratice project and blog about that. If I get a book that is longer than 31 chapters…. buy the book to find the summary to the remaining chapters lol… or I may be nice and post those too.

 That’s it for now.. check back tomorrow to see what book I selected.

Working out… a lot. I lost 25lbs over the course of 3 months, which put me at 10% body fat, and have now been “bulking” for a month. I have thus far gained roughly 2.5 lbs… hopefully muscle lol. Anyway, here is the routine I am following. I read a ton of crap, watched some DVDs and put this together. I may cut it to 4 days a week cause 5 at that rate is kinda crazy but I am not doing too bad. For the first 3 months I worked out 5 days a week, then for another 3 weeks I did 6 days / week, and then after getting my ass violently kicked by the 6 day thing, I cut back to 5 days as of this week. I may cut it down to 4 days considering the fact that I am lifting a lot more, and a lot heavier… Anywho here is the program I put together for myself.

Tuesday

Wednesday

Thursday

Friday

I actually added 4 forearm exercises to Thursday:

Reverse Bicep Curls
Behind the back Wrist Curls
Barbell Wrist Curls
Reverse Barbell Wrist Curls

Not too shabby but it burns the forearms, which is the goal considering mine are way skinny. I am more of an ecto / meso morph body type so my frame is not that large, but I do have a decent ability to gain muscle. Funny thing is that I am eating somewhere around 2800 to 3000 calories a day now.

Anyway, my focus has really shifted for now, I still do some geeky stuff but project wise, I really have to be enticed by something to look into it… I’m having fun w. the whole workout thing, been doing it for 4 months now

EDIT::
Had to add the disclaimer:

The above workout is intense, I in no way recommend it for you, condone it or am to be held responsible if you mame yourself trying anything I post here Consult your doctor before you start lifting, running, losing weight, tweaking your diet, whatever. Do not try any supplements w.o your doctors approval. Blah blah blah, you are solely responsible for your actions.

A freakin hoodia patch !?!?!?!? That sounds super healthy!

Ugh… I hate fat loss / diet companies, all they do is deceive the public and misinform. You cannot just eat less and lose weight. As a matter of fact if you eat too little your metabolism slows. The best way to lose weight is to find a ballanced caloric intake, and do some sort of exercise. I am thinking about posting a plan here later. Maybe I will but this is just effing ridiculous!

On a personal note, I am now at 11% Bodyfat, 1 to 2 % off my goal which was 9 to 10 !!

So I was debating writing this for two reasons, a) I have to critique someone’s product and b) no one may give a shiznit, but here goes…

Lately I have been a fitness nut, I started working out about 3 months ago and in that time I have managed to lose a significant amount of body fat, about 9%, down to 15% ( again not bragging, this is the part where no one may give a shit ). At any rate, throughout my 3 month endeavour I have read, and read and read some more about eating, diets, and fitness. I have posted some links to my blog and so on.

The problem that I am running into at the moment is that a) I am close to my goal 10% BF… well closer … and b) I am getting sick of what I was eating. So I have gotten creative. I haven’t had this meal since it is actually quite “fatty” for what my intake needs to be at the mooment, however it is a way better alternative than the mainstream. So with that being said, what is the main stream?

Steak and Shake:

Classic Double, with Fries and a Shake + Side Salad

Now before I say that Steak N Shake is horrible, let me say this, they are way better than some other places and actually post nutrition facts online. So props to them. Here are the nutrition facts for that meal::

The Original Double With Cheese Meal:

Thaaat’s right folks! 2084 calories… one days intake, not to mention that its almost half fat! So what can you do to get the same taste and fewer calories? Magic? Not eat anything? Wrong!

1. Use a ground turkey patty instead of ground beef. I prefer Jenny-O’s products.
2. Use Whole Wheat Bread instead of white.
3. Use a fat free cheese, look for the Kraft brand fat free American Cheese, or shredded.
4. Grill your potatoes, instead of frying them
5. Replace the shake with a Protein Shake, mixed in Fat Free Milk.
6. Replace the Ranch dressing on the salad with Fat Free Ranch.

So say we did that what would our meal look like?

So… half the calories, and 5 times less fat, meaning that you get your calories from stuff that actually feeds your body! Tastes the same too !

Now, 809 calories in one meal is still kind of high but its still better that 2084. So if you are on a 2000 calorie diet you need a dinner to match that lunch, and a 400 calorie breakfast ( milk and cereal ) … Badabing, weight loss…. if you add at least 30 minutes of some kind of activity you are now on your way!!!

Want fewer calories yet? Here’s what you do:

1. Remove a turkey patty, leave just one on the burger.
2. Mix the Whey Powder in water.

That will shave 273 calories, 9g or 81 fat calories. Mess around, scroll down, read the stuff I linked to and exercise, the benefits are amazing !!

Sources:

www.steaknshake.com
www.fitday.com
www.gnc.com

Man, talk about a bad day for a workout. I hate it when I get home and I crash till like 6:30, it is so hard to get myself out to the gym. I was uber tired today and did not feel well to boot, but I got my crap together and went to the gym.

As I was driving I was fighting the urge to just turn around and go home, but I know that if I do that and miss just one day it will spiral into missing the rest of the days, and it will just spawn into lazyness. That is how the end of every workout program comes along… you miss a day. Granted I skipped a week because of my honeymoon, but that’s ok as long as you get right back in the saddle. Anyway, point is that I wish I could sleep normal and not be so damn tired after work. It seems that after my workout I am uber energetic… why cant I have that prior?!?!

I didn’t start typing this up just to piss and moan, the point is that everyone feels lothargic at some point but just getting up and doing what you set out to do is what counts. I feel 100% better after the first 10 minutes of my workout, and knowing that gets my ace there for the whole hour and a half. That and I’ve lost 17lbs over the last 10 weeks. 15% body fat baby !! I will hopefully hit my goal within another month or 2, 10% BF.

/end

As you may have noticed I have not been blogging lately. No, not because I’m playing some severely addictive videogame, but because I have turned my extra curricular attention toward fitness. My doctor told me I have high blood pressure, which still puzzles me because I have very little body fat ( even less now ). So anyway I went on a BP regulating pill which is doing jack and squat, but along with that I started working out 5 times per week. ( If you’ve been reading my blog you also know that I am still doing my morning workout. 25 situps 16 pushups. I’d love to get some cardio in before work but that’s just not gonna crappen. ) My afternoon workouts are as follows:

Monday, Wednesday and Friday ( MWF ) , Upper Body:

Cardio:

– Run 10 minutes @ 6mph ( Heart Rate 150 – 175 )
– Bike 15 minutes ( Heart Rate 145 – 170 )
* start at lvl 7 go for 5 minutes, ( 60 to 70 percent effort )
level 1 or 2 for 3 minutes,
level 6 for 5 minutes, ( 70 to 80 percent effort )
level 1 or 2 for 1 minute,
level 10 to 12 for 1 minute ( 90 to 100 percent effort )

Weight Training

– Seated Benchpress ( M & F ) – 3 dropsets
– Seated Row ( M & F ) – 3 dropsets
– Seated Incline Press ( M & F ) – 3 dropsets
– Seated Pulldown ( M & F ) – 3 dropsets
– Seated Shoulder Press ( W ) – 3 dropsets
– Seated Fly ( W ) – 3 dropsets
– Seated Lateral Shoulder Raise ( W ) – 3 dropsets
– Standing Tricep Pulldown ( W ) – 3 Dropsets
– AB Crunch Machine ( MWF ) – 2 dropsets
– Suspended Leg Lifts ( MWF ) – 6 sets @ 10 reps
– Standing Bicep Curl ( MWF ) – 1 or 2 dropsets

I also do a few other freeweight exercises depending on how frisky I’m feeling that day. On Tuesdays and Thursdays my workout changes to lower body.

Tuesday, Thursday ( TTh ), Lower Body:

Cardio:

– Run 15 minutes @ 6mph ( Heart Rate 150 – 175 )
– Bike 15 minutes ( Heart Rate 145 – 170 )
* start at lvl 7 go for 5 minutes, ( 60 to 70 percent effort )
level 1 or 2 for 3 minutes,
level 6 for 5 minutes, ( 70 to 80 percent effort )
level 1 or 2 for 1 minute,
level 10 to 12 for 1 minute ( 90 to 100 percent effort )

Weight Training:

– Seated Leg Extension ( TTh ) – 3 dropsets
– Laying Leg Curl ( TTh ) – 3 dropsets
– Leg Press ( TTh ) – 3 dropsets
– Standing Calf Raise ( TTh ) – 3 dropsets ( I’ve backed off on this exercise due to shin splints and major calf pain. Some say pain is weakness leaving the body, well there must be a lot of weakness in that area cause DAMN! )
– AB Crunch Machine ( TTh ) – 2 dropsets
– Floor Whipers ( TTh ) – 3 sets @ 10 reps

I take Saturday and Sunday off, although I have considered working out on Saturday and just doing upper body freeweights. Anyway I am sure there is some stuff I am forgetting, but I am following 2 things right now since I am cutting ( trying to lose fat ). One is a guide to nutrition :

http://forums.johnstonefitness.com/showthread.php?t=1222

And the other is a guide to fatloss:

http://forums.johnstonefitness.com/showthread.php?t=19229

These two articles, posts, whatever worked wonders since the first month that I was working out I ate crap since I did not track my diet or know how many calories I needed and so on. Another great resource is www.fitday.com. It’s so great that I kinda want to build my own version with groups friends and make it more webby. So stay tuned for that.

So, thus far after 2 months of working out, and 1 month of working out and eating right, I have lost 10lbs, and 1.5 inches off my waist. Other changed areas are face and so on.

I didn’t believe one of the guides when it said :

“What determines the amount of fat you have on your body is the following things:

1) the food you eat
2) the amount of muscle you have
3) the amount of cardiovascular exercise you do (running, biking, etc.)”

Combine those 3 and you will get results. Anyway the long and short of it is that I can see changes and I’m happy with the progress.

So for those of you that know me personally … you know that I’ve been working out 5 days a week for almost the past month( 4 days to go and it will be 1 month ). Anyway, you would also know that I biffed my knee about a week into that. So, I’ve been confined to the workout bike since, because I couldn’t run. I was pretty down about that since I always thought the bike didn’t work you out as much… Much to my surprise I was grossly incorrect! I ran for the first time yesterday since my knee got it’s sniz back together. I ran for 15 minutes straight at 6.x mph. Which I could not do at the begining of the workout regimen… I am really happy, I’m going to lay off the knee today and do the workout bike for 30 minutes. I don’t want to push my luck since I want it to strengthen. Anyway, for all those that think less of the bike lemme tell ya it still works you out.

That being said, if you get on the bike and expect to sit there at level 1 and pedal while reading a magazine, get off the bike, go home and sit on your couch. That is not doing you any good. You still have to bust ass, even on the bike. I ussually start out at like level 5 or 6 and keep that up for 5 minutes, at a good pedal pace. I then move up to 7 or 8 and push out 100% effort at those levels. I drop back down to level 3 or 4 for 2 to 3 minutes ( depending on how tired I am ), and then I hit it back up to 5 or 6 for another 5 minutes and so on. Monday, Wed., and Friday I do 15 minutes of that … Tuesday, and Thursday it’s 30 minutes. MWF is also upper body strength training day, so after the bike I hit the machines and/or the freeweights. T, Th I do all the leg machines.

Anyway, the point is that after 26 days I am seeing progress and I am extremely happy !