Fitness Goals Lost At Sea

It is all too easy to maintain a fitness regimen as I had tried to do before going on my Rome, Italy cruise. It wasn’t as hard as I thought to lose twelve pounds and drop from 184 to 172 in just about 8 weeks before the cruise. I just went to the gym a few times a week and made sure I pushed myself as well as cut down on the amount of fast food.

[easyazon-image-link asin=”B002TWC2J4″ alt=”ISO 7X Isometric Workout Bar” src=”http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51yd32CtaCL.jpg” align=”left” width=”250″]When ordering Chipotle for example I switched from the massive burrito’s to the trio corn taco’s and omitted some of the filler to reduce portions. Simple changes made a big difference overall, though this was all pretty much tossed out the window during the cruise.

When food is in near unlimited supply 24 hours a day and free I pretty much ate more than I should have at almost every mean on the cruise, and though I found time to work out at the cruise fitness center a few times I doubt it was enough to combat my food consumption.

The trick was to try and make sure I ate smaller meals but more frequently rather than gorge on 3-4 big meals a day. I did this by ordering lots of fruit plates to the room and eating more fruit and vegetables where I could over pastries and breads. There was an unfortunately high amount of cheese offerings and this is where I really lost sight of my goals as I had various cheeses in all it’s forms almost every single day.

Cheese was always a passion for me and even as a teenager I would spend my allowance on whole 1 pound bricks of Polly-O mozzarella just to take it home and consume it as a snack. While others snacked on cakes, donuts, twinkies I would take comfort in cheeses as my preferred snack of choice. It was only later as an adult that I learned pairing cheeses with nuts, fruits and honey made an even more spectacular culinary experience and certain hard cheeses drizzled with dark bee honey would make my tongue literally quiver in anticipation.

So now that I have been back from the cruise I have to take the time to catch up on work and then re-implement my fitness schedule so that I can bring myself to where I want to be. My fitness goals are to trim to a lean 165 pounds for my 5’10” frame and most of the weight I want to remove is in the dreaded belly fat section. I am looking to increase my endurance as well as I have known plenty of body builders who pack on muscle but get winded when they run for 5-10 minutes.

Ironically adding massive amounts of muscle isn’t the best for the heart either, one of my former neighbor’s father was an olympic bodybuilder able to bench over 300 pounds and died from heart problems as too much muscle puts strain on the heart as well to pump blood to your whole body. You can have muscle but still not eat right and your internal body mechanics fail to perform, it is my goal to gradually shift to a healthier eating lifestyle as well but this is far easier said than done when I love hamburgers, pepperoni and cheese as much as I do.

Still one thing I am proud of is that there isn’t a single meal served in my house where some fruit or vegetable isn’t served with it. I know families who serve nothing but meat and starches on the side without any vegetables or fruit. You need to eat more natural food, less processed foods and less red meat to keep your gastrointestinal tract healthy.

-Justin Germino

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