As someone who likes to exercise and also likes to travel, there are times where A) I might not have time to work out or B) I lack the proper equipment to do so. I’m moments like these it is good to come up with creative ways to get a good quality workout session in. One method I utilized during the pandemic, and sometimes just for fun, is the utilization of playground equipment. To add more difficulty for these workouts, you can also use a weighted training vest to add more variety to your training.
To start things off, I begin with a light jog to the playground to get the blood flowing as I live nearby to a park in my neighborhood. After warming up, I then assess the equipment for ideas to get things going.
Not my playground but think of the possibilities
For my particular exercise I recently used I did the following: chin ups 3 sets of 10 repetitions using the hanging bar, 3 sets of 10 repetitions of dips using the bars for the steps leading to the play structure (or the bars making the bridge works too), I utilized the stepping platform (or rock climbing wall of the angle is good enough ) for a challenging plank for 3 sets of 45 seconds, and to finish up I used a picnic table for box jumps for 3 sets of 10 repititions. (Alternatively any high platform on the play structure will work fine so long as you have clearance to do it without bumping into anything).
Fitness is an important investment, and despite circumstances, it pays to be creative to get those reps in. Given that it is now summertime, this can be a fun edition to a workout program. Challenge your mind and body with this exercise I did or make your own up. Remember, the F in fitness stands for fun. Excelsior!
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Greetings dear readers, it has been a while but after a brief sabbatical I have returned. Speaking of returns, the warm weather is looking to make a return to prevalence after a moderate winter. After all these months of hibernation it is time for summer sports and activities. The best way to get ready for the more active time of year is preparing our physical health for outdoor projects and other activities.
For this year’s preparation I will share my latest workout plan I have prescribed myself to during the last several weeks. This plan comes inspired from one of my favorite shows growing up: Avatar the last airbender. Mild spoilers for those that haven’t watched this masterpiece of a series: one of the main characters, general iroh, is imprisoned and during his time in prison he spent time planning and preparing his body for his eventual escape from his captors. I will highlight his training regimen during his time in prison: sit ups, clap push-ups, hand stand push-ups, one hand pull ups. Inverted sit ups at the top of his cell. Of course there are more workouts one could do to develop more strength but I will focus on exercises one can use with limited to no equipment.
General Iroh aka the dragon of the west
I will divide these exercises into specific levels to work up to as time progresses. I’ll also include alternatives to mix things up as needed. For an extra challenge, you can also increase the set totals or reps per set (I recommend increasing the reps by increments of five). I would recommend 30 second to 1 minute rest periods between sets as you progress.
Level one: 3×10 Pike Push Ups
3×15 Sit Ups/Crunches
3×20 Push Ups
3×25 Lying Leg Raises
Level Three: 3×10 Handstand Push Ups ( alternatively I used incline/decline Push Ups as I can not do a successful handstand…yet)
3×15 Pull Ups (regular or door trainer modified. Check out my paid link for a good starting door trainer)
3×20 Sit Ups
3×20 Clap Push Ups
3×25 Hanging Leg Raises (or lying leg raises with ankle weights if available)
Level Four: 3×5 One Arm Pull Ups (each arm) or do a door frame row to work your way up
I have tried this workout program for myself, and it has been a very good series that doesn’t require heavy weight. This is perfect in a limited to no equipment environment and for those who love callestenic workouts. Until the next time, dear readers. Excelsior!
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Everyone has a “bad” period of time in their life. From a bad day to a bad year (or three if we reference the last few years depending on the experience). These are tough spots to find oneself in, but where there is a bad time, there is a good time.
From struggling Performance at work, rough patches in relationships, health nagging, money trouble, writing blocks, and more. These are different struggles any and everyone faces on any given day. These times can prove rather disheartening and discouraging for anyone. Despite this feeling of discouragement, it is imperative to be able to know that there are tools and resources and people around you that do care about your struggles, and there are people in your corner cheering you on. From 10 friends to 1 friend and everything in between, there are people who can encourage, uplift, and inspire. Seek out people and things that uplift and bring about positive results to your struggles. For some that could be a workout in the gym, others’ time in prayer or meditation, and other’s time with loved ones over a home cooked meal. No matter the struggle or test; seek out the light at the end of the tunnel for the good of your bad day or situation. Reach out to others and pour out your support to them as well as you never know what their struggle may be. Take the time out to call that friend or family member to let them know you care about them and see how it brightens their day. We’re all we have in this world. Why not use the time we have to help each other when we’re down and stand up together?
This month seems to have been a hard month for a lot of people I know personally and maybe it’s the same for you. I encourage you to take the time out to find the things that lift your spirit, mental health, and overall well-being and cherish them in times like these. Stay encouraged, dear readers, Excelsior!
Happy new year to you dear reader! I hope this post finds you well and happy. This is the time of the year that people make their new years resolutions for various things. Resolutions in regards to health, money, relationships, business etc. Resolutions statistically have been broken by many people (including yours truly). So the question to be asked: What is the solution?
First, let’s look at the definition of a resolution: a decision to do something or to behave in a certain manner. That means a decision to take a course of action to achieve a particular goal. This is the conscious decision to do something to better one’s situation. 80% of New years resolutions failed by February of that year. Why aren’t we more successful at keeping our New Year’s resolutions? Some reasons include the idea that we’re thinking too big and not knowing where to start, not considering a “why” behind it, and the fact that one might not be ready to make such a change.
This points out a need for a change in approach would be not a resolution but a solution. A solution is a means of solving a problem or dealing with a difficult situation. This means in order to reach a solution, one must look at all of the variables in a problem. This involves looking at the broad scope of the problem and why the problem persists. Once the solution to the problem is found one must implement said solution to fix the problem and stick to it.
Instead of a new years resolution, one would make a New years solution. Set SMART goals (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic Timely) that you will be able to stick to with conviction to accomplish your solution to your problem. Write it down on a vision board or a journal, and whenever you feel like quitting, look at what was written down. If you can write it, you can achieve it because it will serve as a reminder of the decision you took on to solve the problem you are facing in life.
Statistically speaking, New years resolutions can fail. If you can turn your resolutions into solutions and create a clear road map, you can reach your goals and clear your challenges. Once you start, keep writing reminders down to encourage you to keep going until you hit your goal. Until the next time, dear readers. Excelsior!
Holidays are a pretty busy time of year for everyone. It is easy to get lost in the shuffle and neglect things. One thing one should never neglect is one’s diet and nutrition. Last month I gave you a nice dessert so let’s balance that out with a nice simple savory dish: bell peppers and beef. While this was anime inspired from one of my favorite animes (cowboy bebop) I assure you that it the style will be a little different.
For this recipe we will require the following: 1 bell pepper of each color ( for this I only used red/green peppers to start), 1/2 of a small onion, 1 lb of beef chuck (you can substitute for 1 lb of mushroom and tofu for a vegetarian option), assorted spices and seasonings of your choice (Mrs. Dash, old bay, paprika, garlic powder, and pepper were used here) and honey sesame sauce (homemade or store bought)
First, clean your peppers and peel your onions. Once complete, mince your onions and place to side in a bowl. Proceed to slice your bell beppers into strips and add to the bowl with the onions. Lightly season your veggies with your seasoning mix and set aside.
Ready for the fire
Nexr, chop up your beef into bite-sized chunks and remove any gristle or fat as you go. Be sure to season your beef (or mushroom/tofu substitute) and place to the side.
I found the beef
Next, lightly oil your skillet and apply your seasoned beef, and cook thoroughly. Once cooked, set aside in a bowl.
Ok maybe I went a little toooo light on that oil.
Next you will place your veggies into the skillet and cook until tender. Once complete set aside in your bowl with the beef
Cook until the veggies comply
Lastly you can either caramelize the honey sesame sauce in the skillet or add the sauce after depending on your preferences. Once complete, you’re ready to go! Serve with your favorite beverage, and you’re ready to eat.
The whiskey is optional
And there you have it. A simple and quick meal you can enjoy any day of the week. This makes about four servings with my list of ingredients, and it is very filling for the small serving size. Going into the new year, I wish you nothing but the best and success in all your endeavors. Excelsior!
The holidays are a wonderful time to spend with family and friends. This is a good time to eat all kinds of delicious dishes and for those who are fitness fanatics a cheat day or three for one’s diet. I have a simple holiday recipe that will be sure to leave a smile on your family’s faces: oreo cheesecake.
I made this once with just normal chocolate oreos but you can substitute with any oreo you want. This time I elected to use chocolate and golden oreos. I will list the ingredients I used: (for filling) 3 large eggs, 2 8 ounce blocks of plain cream cheese, 1 1/2 cup of plain Greek yogurt, 2/3 cup of sugar, 2 teaspoons of lemon juice, 1 table spoon of vanilla extract. (For crust) 1 3/4 cups of Oreos (any kind will do), 5 table spoons of melted butter, 1 tablespoon of sugar.
To start things off you want to make sure that the ingredients are all at room temperature to avoid a lumpy mess. Next, remove the frosting from the oreos and crush them and add the sugar and melted butter and mix. Once mixed bake this in the oven at 350 degrees for 9 minutes.
This was more tedious than it looked
While the crust is baking mix cream cheese, Greek yogurt, vanilla extract and lemon juice, sugar together in a large bowl. Add one egg at a time until the mixture is smooth, be careful to not over mix. (I will also add that I took an extra step and crushed up more oreos to mix into my filling for this so this was a bit of an experiment). By this time the crust should be done so remove from heat and reduce the oven temperature to 325.
It looks gross but it will taste good trust me.
There is an extra optional step depending on if there is topping or not (or depending on how much you care) of adding a one inch layer of water to a roasting pan. This gives your cheesecake a “water bath” to create a steamy environment to bake in to avoid cracking. (This is a step I normally skip because I never had cracking in my cheesecakes but I believe I should have done one this time)
Should have had a water bath
Once the crust is out of the oven, pour the filling into the pan and place into the oven for 45 to 55 minutes or until the filling is set and juggles in the middle like jello. Cut off the oven and Crack the oven door open slightly and let sit for an hour. Take any remaining oreos and break them into crumbles or halves and place over top before chilling for at least 8 hours.
The finished product, should have had a water bath but was delicious nonetheless.
The finished product was pretty good. I suspected I had a hint too much of lemon juice but it was different from my previous cheesecakes and a water bath could have been useful but it was a different take than last time I made cheesecake. It was still devoured by everyone for Thanksgiving so I will take that as a win. Until the next time dear readers, stay safe and healthy this holiday season. Excelsior!
This month I want to take a brief detour into another personal development skill: cooking. I enjoy it thoroughly and i find it therapeutic to be able to create new dishes in the kitchen. My latest culinary adventure has led me to a nutritious and flavorful low calorie meal: creole shrimp.
For this recipe you will need the following: 1/2 cup of chopped onion, 1/2 cup of chopped green pepper, 4 chopped mushrooms (I had chopped a good two handfuls of pre sliced mushrooms), 1 cup of canned tomatoes, 1/4 teaspoon of oregano, 1/4 teaspoon of salt, 1/8 teaspoon of pepper, 1 pound of shrimp peeled and deveined. Outside of this original combination for the recipe I also added 1 teaspoon of old bay seasoning, 1 teaspoon of Mrs. Dash original blend seasoning, 1/2 teaspoon of paprika. 1/2 teaspoon of red pepper flakes and 1/4 teaspoon of chili powder to spice things up. I also forgot to get bell pepper so I substituted this for asparagus.
To get things started, combine all of the vegetables and spices in a large saucepan. Cook the veggies and spices for 10 minites over medium heat. In the meantime, cook the shrimp over medium heat for the same time with the seasoning blend from above. Once the shrimp has been cooked and the vegetables are nice and tender combine all ingredients in the saucepan and stir. After 5 minites remove the saucepan from the heat and serve!
Soups on!
Cooking is a vital skill all need to keep in their repertoire. This meal is a quick, healthy and nutrient dense meal that is low calorie and it absolutely delicious. Until the next time dear readers, excelsior!
Building credit takes time. As I often tell my clients: credit building is a marathon rather than a sprint. The age of credit is an often misunderstood concept as in today’s fast paced society it is something that can be very important to improve credit history.
The average age of accounts is one of the factors that contribute to your overall Length of Credit History, which itself accounts for 15% of your total FICO credit score. This is calculated as a simple, non-weighted average; it’s the sum of the ages of your credit accounts divided by the number of accounts that you hold. These are also ranked in importance: the age of your oldest account, average age of accounts, and age of your newest account.
When you close a credit card, it can stay on your credit report and continue to age for 10 years. This means that you could open a credit card today, cancel it tomorrow, and 9 years from now, it would still show up on your credit report and contribute to your credit history.
An example of this would the average of your credit cards. Card 1 is 7 years old, card 2 is 3 years old and card 3 is 2 years old. We could take the average between the 3 cards to obtain an average age of 4 years between all credit cards. If you close one of the cards and fast forward 10 years card number 1 is now 17 years old, card 2 is 13 years old and card 3 is 12 years old. Taking your average age of accounts to 14 years old. This can still be in effect due to credit card accounts lingering on your credit report can still effect your history for up to 10 years. The most important concept to remember is not to close the longest (oldest) open trade as this will hurt your average age of your accounts and your credit score. Closing the newer cards will have less of an impact due to them being newer, but it is important to remember when closing a credit card that there is credit capacity (amount of available credit vs amount of credit used) that is lost when this happens. If the capacity is reduced thus will also hurt your score if your balances are too high on your remaining cards. Only close out credit accounts as needed (if they’re not installment loans of course).
Credit utilization can be tricky but if one knows how to navigate the complexities it can be a rewarding tool. Letting time work it’s magic on your open credit accounts cab do wonders for your score. Until the next time dear readers excelsior.
In the world of credit there are many different factors that build and tear down a score. One common conversation I often have in regards to credit is regarding inquiries. There are many misconceptions as to what an inquiry is and I will explain and debunk these misconceptions in this post.
Inquiries are entries that appear on your credit report when your credit information is accessed by a legally authorized person or organization (including yourself). Most commonly, inquiries are the result of an application for credit, goods or services, an account review made by a company that you already do business with, or a preapproved offer of credit that has been sent to you.
There are two types of credit inquiries: hard inquiries and soft inquiries. Account reviews and preapproved offers fall under the category of soft inquiries, which have no effect on your credit scores. Hard inquiries include applications for credit or certain services, and although their impact is minimal, they can temporarily affect your scores. It is good practice to get your credit report checked throughout the year to view hard and soft inquiries.
A hard inquiry appears on your credit report when a lender checks your credit in response to an application for a new loan, credit card or line of credit. Whenever you seek new credit, there’s the potential for a new debt, which may temporarily lower scores slightly until you can show that you are managing that new debt responsibly. Credit scoring models such as those from FICO or Vantage sometimes account for that increase in risk by lowering your scores slightly. Typically, most score models show hard inquiries typically lowering scores by less than five points.
Hard inquiries remain on your credit report for up to two years, but as long as you keep up with your payments, credit scores often rebound from an inquiry within a few months. And, most credit scoring models no longer count a hard inquiry in score calculations at all after 12 months.
Soft inquiries appear on your credit report when someone runs a credit check for reasons unrelated to lending you money. These events are not associated with greater repayment risk, so they have no effect on your credit scores. Common examples include but are not limited to: utility companies for services and equipment, auto insurance companies, credit card companies that you have accounts with currently, as well as a credit review with a lender in a bank or credit union.
It is ideal not to accumulate too many inquiries as they can lower your scores over time if one is rapidly shopping for credit. There are an exception to this however. If there are multiple inquires from a car dealership to other lenders when you finance a car (this is called shotgunning the credit as it goes to mulltiple lenders) within a certain period of time it is counted as one inquiry. Inversely, if there are multiple inquires foe different types of credit in a period of time that is a sign of concern to a lender. It is important to check your score reports at least once a year to ensure all inquires on your report were authorized as unfamiliar inquiry activity could be a sign of either an error or criminal activity. You can review your annual credit report for free Here.
Inquiries are as I call the “cost of admission to credit”. These inquires make up a small percentage of your credit score but it is important to not go overboard with shipping for credit and recognize that even if they are small, inquires can still have an effect on your credit score. Until the next time dear readers, excelsior.
Today’s times allow for a lot of things to be given to us quickly and efficiently. The food we order is fast, the internet used for work or home is high speed, and text or email messages can be received in seconds. There is one thing that isn’t quick to be taken up in recent years: personal accountability.
Today there is constant finger pointing and blaming for various issues. While there are many catalysts for different events, there is still the ability to ensure that your own contributions to the world around you are positive. Being accountable for ones actions and words helps make the lives of everyone involved in your life better.
How often do we leave a matter unattended for the next person to attend to? How much do we defer trivial matters to others and complain when things are not done to our specifications? How often do shift the blame to others and not realize that when one finger points to a target that there three pointing back at ourselves.
I attended a class known as QBQ (the question behind the question) several years ago and this class helped me identify where I as an individual could help in improving my own situation. It helped shift my thinking from “what are you doing to help this situation?” To “how can I help better this situation?” The most important aspect that I took away from this class was a more heightened sense of personal accountability in my work and my professional life.
Today’s times have shown that we can’t always wait for a change to happen in our lives. Waiting for proper windows of opportunity is an important thing but true change also begins with you. Be the change in the world you wish to see. Find ways to make a situation better for yourself by asking questions such as “how can I take ownership of this issue and solve it?” “How can I improve my situation?” Oftentimes we tend to let our circumstances dictate our outlook but we must be able to shape our outlook to better our circumstances. Once we take ownership of the situation and make ourselves accountable and put forth our best efforts in whatever the situation might be, there will be more positive results and an expanded way of thinking for future problems.
Taking personal accountability and ownership in life is key to success in business, in life and it helps shape your mindset in terms of how to deal with issues that arise in life. When we put off or pass the buck of responsibility we merely defer a situation until it gets worse. From putting off a budget, neglecting a project that your group had been working for several months and no one is getting ahead, changing careers because of minor interpersonal drama. Personal accountability and ownership will help shape your mind to ask the deeper questions and get to a solution rather than letting it sit. Until the next time dear readers. Excelsior!
Level up your life 