Doug's Gym in Dallas, Opened in 1962

Doug's Gym in Dallas, opened in 1962: a great photo essay from The Guardian:

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/gallery/2019/nov/12/dougs-gym-dallas-five-decades-in-pictures

UPGRADE? Here We Go Again: New Year's Resolutions Scamming

The only way to UPGRADE our workout is to the raise the bar by setting more challenging fitness and dietary goals for ourselves, and by not thinking that spending a few months' salary on a fucking Pelaton bike is going to be the answer to fitness and a great physique. 

Gym Aboard The Titanic, 1912:

Delicious vs. Tasty: Maintaining A Stable Weight

Lots of people fluctuate when it comes to weight. We’re oftentimes good one week, then bad the next when it comes to food and drink. But if we want to have the sort of physique we claim we want to have, that requires self-control; we can’t eat everything we crave in the amounts that we desire. I for one always want to eat more calories than I burn, which is especially hard when confronted with the delicious food vs. tasty food conundrum.

Something that works for me is having tasty food in the house that I enjoy eating but do not have a desire to gorge on. My personal nemeses are ice cream, Ghiradelli Brownie mix, or home baked bread that I make myself, because I can eat half a loaf right after it comes out of the oven if I have butter and raspberry preserves in the house. If I don’t have butter and preserves in the house I have a lot more restraint. The plain bread tastes great (tasty), but slathering warm bread with butter and preserves makes it irresistibly delicious—which means I lose all control.

So what it comes down to is my having food at home that I like and enjoy, while avoiding buying craveable delicious foods that I want to never stop eating. Granted, unlike many people, I do not easily leave the house just to go buy a food I'm craving, so I have that advantage over others. But knowing I can’t eat what isn’t in the house, like ice cream beckoning me from the freezer or the amazing smell of something baking in the oven, I don’t buy these items very often. Instead of ice cream in my case I buy big bags of frozen mango chunks and blueberries, which I love, and I eat while still frozen. This combo has about 1/3 the calories or less of the ice cream. In my case this satisfies the ice-cold mushy part that ice cream does. Another of my problems with ice cream is that I can polish off two large tubs in a day, which amounts to a massive amount of calories. I just cannot leave it alone—I’m never satisfied, whereas with the mango/blueberry combo, one bowl is plenty, and quite satisfying.

All things being equal, the key becomes knowing what tasty alternatives satisfy you and quiet your cravings.

Making healthful lower calorie foods that I cook taste better by experimenting with spices and non-creamy sauces like salsa or Old Bay or soy sauce increases the flavor allowing me to eat more of the nutritious muscle-building stuff so I don’t have room left for the low-nutrition snack foods craving to set in.

Having said that, people who "can't" cook and have no desire to learn how are screwed. Allowing others to make your food is the death knell to weight control.

And The Winner Is...

This guy wins the Before & After Internet Challenge 👏☺

"Superfood" Bullshit and Outright Lies.

Pardon My French-Canadian, but these assholes claim their granola prevents cancer and Alzheimers.
What's more, there's no such thing as a "superfood". It's a made-up marketing word, like "natural" and "transfat-free". Reading labels is important, except now they're not just lying in their advertising, they're lying on the actual food labels too.

Ray Houghton @ age 57.

https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100007483667685

"I Gained 100 Pounds In One Year—Here’s How I Did It!"

A modern day sportsman.

"I Gained 100 Pounds In One Year—Here’s How I Did It!"

Now there’s a headline I’ve been longing to see for years and years—and yet nobody’s written it thus far.

The internet machine is brimming with tales of people losing 100 lbs., 200 lbs., or more who can’t wait to tell you how they accomplished such mind-boggling feat.

But what would truly be fascinating are stories of how these individuals managed to shovel down so much food and drink in the first place so as to ruin both their bodies and their health.

It’s hard to imagine the level of sheer dedication and persistence required to achieve such an accomplishment, not to mention the cost.

Who were their role models? What inspired them to keep eating even when they felt like vomiting? What was their motivation to continue adding weight even after they found themselves unable run, climb, lift their own children, or do all those things that formerly came so easily? How were they able to adapt to their enormous size and the fact they could no longer participate in so many of life’s everyday pleasures? What’s it like to not be able to see your own genitals for years on end? To embrace the feelings of helplessness due to your not being able to remove yourself from danger? How on earth do you reach around all that fat to wipe your ass? It appears to be physically impossible. Is there some gadget you can buy on Amazon that facilitates this? The questions that come to mind are endless.

These are the stories that would have true value and insight, both for those finding themselves going down a similar path, and for those who care about them while struggling to understand exactly why.

Inspiration: Shayne Dye

https://www.facebook.com/ShayneDye?__tn__=%2CdC-R-R&eid=ARB8OycRF8Yl6HpJZhhGAqmbTIVd3b7c9nWlfigqBBFZ-qjIit9CW60aY7GwnZDKaODuhHMQsMwezzcz&hc_ref=ARSmFW9oG-vec58GFxu8QQDJW9ofCyqKLpjCBTSWI7-6mMhUtsXyLuvoBbGUuGJ_vYA&fref=nf

Speed Kills

Not a clickable video: go here to view:
https://www.menshealth.com/

When you and I are presented with “instruction” so-called that flies in the face of common sense, not to mention good, proper form, I get really irritated.

Men’s Health currently features this video by Tom Brady’s trainer that is sure to put you in a world of hurts if you follow this guy’s lead.

First I’ll go off on “trainers” who look like anything but. This guy has awful posture, a protruding stomach and nothing under that Tshirt that even hints at muscle, yet he oozes with the hubris of someone convinced that he is some expert. The fact that this men's "health" magazine is promoting him as such is unconscionable.

Second, the speed with which this guy has this model do the exercises is hurtful. It is injurious. It is unproductive. If you want to fuck yourself up real good, go ahead and follow this guy’s lead. At 3:15 in the video, as an example, the velocity is less like exercise and more like an out of control ride at Disneyland. Not only does the speed of this action prevent the obliques fully engaging in the movement, but puts your lower back at risk of injury. Most of the exercises in this video are performed at an absurdly high rate of speed.

Proper, productive exercise form means deliberate and controlled, and no one can be in control if performing an exercise like a Speedracer. A high rate of speed has nothing positive or constructive at all to do with building, strengthening or toning muscle.