1.      The Bread Basket – An average dinner roll can have anywhere from 100-200 calories, thats before you even add the butter.  Do yourself a favor and ask the server to remove the bread from the table.

2.      Sweetened Drinks – Sweetened teas, punches, and sodas can add hundreds of calories to your meal.  Stick with unsweetened tea or plain water.  Not to mention, if you choose water you will save a ton of money.  Sweet drinks can cost close to $2.00, with a family eating, you can spend close to $10.00 just on drinks.

3.      Dessert- If you are craving something sweet after dinner, wait until you get home where you know the calorie content of the foods you are eating.  Restaurant desserts are a disaster with at least 300 calories.  Go home and have some fresh fruit with low fat frozen yogurt- you will be glad you did.

So just imagine, if you added one dinner roll, one soda, and one dessert to your meal, you would have an additional 600 calories.  That’s before even eating the meal!  CRAZY!

Actually I never left but I have been a bit negligent on putting postings out on my training.  Training is doing very well.  I am continuing with a healthy diet and the results are nothing less than phenomenal.  I am now weighing in at 217lbs at 11% bodyfat.  This is such a huge difference in my health and training that I cannot believe the differences.

I have been using Advocare products which are in every NFL locker room and verified to be sure they are clean of banned substances.  You can find information about advocare from my site at, www.AdvoRoanoke.com . I have eliminated all fried foods and sodas from my diet.  I have not had soda or fried foods since February.  Honestly, I do not miss them.  I do miss Krispy Kreme donuts and just cannot be around them. LOL

My weight loss has been combined with an aggressive plan of muscle building and cardio training.  Many of my cardio regimens are “classified”.  I have been doing lots of 300′s which is 6 exercises of 50 reps each.  I try to keep these exercises to bodyweight drills.

My plan for this week is to start video taping my pattern to be able to analyze problem areas.

I have been working on sparring combinations to “open holes” with my opponents.  My cardiovascular conditioning is improving daily and I will be adding my secret weapon training this week.

September is getting close my friends!

I am still training for sure.  In addition to Taekwondo, Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, Kickboxing, and weights, I am upping my cardio to 25 minutes daily on the elliptical trainer.    In TKD, I am working on some nice fighting combinations.  Looking for them to flow smoothly during sparring.  I would love to share with you what combos I am working on….but in case I will be sparring with you in September…I will just have to show you then.  The only hints that I will give is that you gotta keep your feet moving…keep your elbows in….keep your hands up….and your head moving.  LOL

My BJJ is progressing nicely. My BJJ team did very well and all received promotions during Mr. Dring’s and Mr. Snyder’s visit to Roanoke last month.  My steady grappling partner, Kevin Matney have been working up to keeping our rolling to 50 minutes of mat time broken into 5 minute rounds with 15 second rest between rounds.  We are rolling at 80% of max but it really makes the sweat pour.  Learning to relax and breathe helps for sure!  This is a great suppliment to my TKD training goals.

My diet goals are coming along nicely.  Since the first week of February, I am down 17lbs!  This is huge for me.  I have been actively training for quite a while and have always ate fairly clean.  The Advocare products have given me the extra boost and focus to get my nutrition in order.  My body weight is now at 227.  It has been YEARS since I have been at this weight.  I weighed 270 at 36% bodyfat when I tested for 4th and the testing was really tough on my endurance.  My 4th Sr. test I weighed 235 at 15% and was quite a bit better.  I actually thought I had another round after the 4th, which is a good feeling to still have fuel in the tank.  I am now projecting my weight to be around 217 within the next 5-6 weeks at least.  This will put me in good shape to hit my testing goal weight of 210.  Would like my bodyfat to be below 10%.  To have a 60lb weight loss between 4th Deg and 5th Deg would be awesome!   If you want information about Advocare, pop me an email or inbox my facebook.  MyAdvocare site is www.AdvoRoanoke.com     If you are a gym or school owner, this is a great way to have additional income as well.  Get with me if you want some info on becoming a distributor.

Thank you for reading my posts.  Please feel free to pop me encouragement and suggestions.  I am always the student…always willing to learn.

Off to the gym!

Keep training my friends!

Been a bit since I have posted an update but it is not because I have not been training.  I have been training each day going towards the goal of 5th Degree Black Belt.

This last weekend, I had the honor of having Master Danny Dring at my school.  Mr. Dring gave me and my students a different perspective to think about when free sparring.  Diversity is important for sure, especially in our art.  It is good to learn different techniques and combinations because every thing does not “click” with every person.  You got to try different things.  Playing Taekwondo is a great way to look at our training. It has got to be fun to keep doing it.  Finding ways to make yourself better is the key to our art.

I have been training in TKD daily with supplimentation of Kickboxing and BJJ.  The BJJ training really works your aerobic conditioning.  It is a different type of training but a great way to sneak in your cardio work.  Kickboxing is allowing me to become more comfortable with hand techniques intermingled into my kicking.  I would tell you the combos that I am working on….but you will just have to wait for September to see them.  LOL

My diet has been very clean over the past 20 days.  Absolutely no fried foods, lots of water, no highly processed foods, no fast food, no soda.  That is most of the NOs.  I am eating alot of chicken, egg whites, vegetables, and fruits.  I have been using the 24 Day Challenge from Advocare (www.AdvoRoanoke.com).  My weight loss has leveled out for a bit but I am now lower than where I was when I tested for 4th Sr.  I am currently weighing 230lbs at 14% BF.  I am getting closer to my goals of 220 at 10%.  What I don’t have to carry around with me….will make the sparring much better.

I am also maintaining a daily lifting routine.  At least 45 minutes of interval weight lifting followed by 30 minutes of cardio.

Tonight I freesparred with my adult students.  We had 15 three minute rounds.  Now I am sore but feeling good!

Next month I am starting  “The Camp Lindamood Traveling Training Express”.  First stop will be on the weekend of March 25th when I will be traveling to Mr. Baxter’s school!  Looking forward to a great time with a great and talented master instructor.

Keep Training!