Well Teh Dolphin, after a long period of inactivity (other than 16hrs a day on the computer working or playing WoW) and encroaching health issues, hypertension and high blood pressure, I have decided to get back into the swing of fitness and nutrition.

I am fortunate enough to work with some great people and my training partner (who I also work with) is quite possibly one of the biggest nutrition and fitness egg-heads I have ever met. We decided to start a co-venture in Healthyandhot.com (http://www.healthyandhot.com)- a fitness and nutrion portal.

Our goal was to supply high quality content/articles and features for those interested in fitness and nutrition or more precisely those interested in becoming more fit and healthy. we opted for the "hot" angle from a marketing standpoint, hopefully to attract more people both male and females. We are quite serious about this project and its still in its early stages so I am doing a soft-launch here at the SDC Forums as I know there were several people here that were trying to lose weight or get in better shape and thought this would be a good place to get feedback on what the site has to offer.

Please note: The design is still in the works (so I am not looking for critiques at this point heheh) - for now are more concerned about the content and features and growing the site. We are using a portal framework and still getting used to this system and have many bugs to work out before we go balss to the wall on the design.

We offer everything free of course, and we even have videos of exercises (Im the nearly transluscent buddy holly glassess wearing freak in a couple of them). We plan on hiring a few local beauties to take our places in the future. :)

What I would love from you guys are some "Transformations - Stories" - We have a transformation section where we document peoples progress throught their workouts, in the hope that this will motivate them.

Antother feature we are quite proud of is the Bodyfat and BMR calculator (http://www.healthyandhot.com/?q=bmrcalc), if you have a cloth tape and a weight scale you only need to take a few measurements and plug them into the form and voila its all calculated for you!

Okay Im done rambling....

Check it out Healthy and Hot (http://www.healthyandhot.com)

Heh I need to lose weight... thanks chris for this very intriging reminder. I really needed that today.

No problem Ed ;)

I already love the look of the site Chris, and you're building it properly in XHTML. Kudos to you. Looking forward to seeing it develop. Hey b.t.w. - when you go to the "Exercises" page, it looks like the guy in the "triceps cable pushdowns" photo is taking a leak. ;)

Seriously, nice work with the extremely helpful and important content!

Great idea. The site looks nice, mate and has lots of useful info for a deskbound nerd like myself:)

I think the site looks great so far. I really need to start eating better...

thanks guys :)

Jeff: I was taking a leak.... :)

Looks good. I've been riding my bike to work, well, not the past two weeks, but thats my plan. I've moticed a bit of a difference, my belly hasn't changed in size, but it's squishier. :)

Those videos will definately help me get more out of my huge paperwei... I mean bowflex.

I know that Jen will be interested as well, I'm gonna send her the link.

thats awesome Arch :)

I would love to have a Bow Flex at home heheh.

I thought i would just update here...4 weeks into my training/nutrition program now and I just had visit with the doctor again and he took my blood pressure again. he was shocked. I have cut 35 points off the top end and 25 points off the bottom. We were pleased. I am once again well within normal healthy range.

I have added .25inch to biceps, 1.25inch to chest and shoulders and upper leg by .5inches - waist is down a little over 1 inch. :)

I have cut my sodium intake by 65-70 percent through my diet which I am certain has been another contributing factor to my improved bloodpressure reading.

That web site site is top notch Chris......and glad to see that you are getting fitter and more healthy.....
Don't know if you guys know this...but in Scotland I had my own gym.....I run this gym 6 nights a week...plus I had a day to day job aswell....
I was a Power Lifter and I should have won the British Championships in the 87.5 class- but 3 weeks before the competition in London- the wife decided to leave me, and took my 2 children with her....
This was a total shock for me and I found a wee friend in the Vodka bottle, which helped me lose my gym and my entire life......anyway, the rest is a very long and sad story and I will leave this for the book that would be a best seller....
Anyway, I trained for over 7 years - benched 160 kilo, squatted 260 kilo and dead lifted 280 kilo- my shoulders were like boulders and and traps like the Hulk....those were the days eh!..
I tend to start training again when I move into my new home...I am going to build a little gym in the cellar...as going to the gym doesn't interest me anymore- I spent too much time in there before......plus I tend to take more long walks with the wife and my dog. and stop this bloody smoking....
So here's my Transformation-Story......from 65 kilo- to 90 kilo in 7 years, 6 nights a week hard training and eating the right food and supplements -to achieve the goal I was after, I used the heavy weight, heavy muscle system- that's more weight and less reps to shock the body.....and believe me this worked for me.
I can not remember the gains I put on all body parts, but chest, arms and tri-ceps looked impressive- legs ?, well that's a different story................and today!- well I look like a normal guy weighing in at 82 kilos, until I strip down...........and that's when you will believe me that I have to begin some training again...lift my boobs and trim that belly....as I will not turn heads on the beach anymore....not like Cone anyway......
Good luck to you Chris and keep up the good work- plus nowadays as we all know- there are stronger supplements out there to achieve your goals quicker- but still you have to work hard, they are like fags and drink.....don't abuse them and use them in moderation !!!- but that's another subject eh!
:wink3:

Thats great stuff Scotty :)

Heres the deal then, how about when you are ready, we get you to do a current transformation story, you can start with some pics and measurements and track your progress....see if we cant help you restore the former glory? ;)

they are like fags and drink.....don't abuse them and use them in moderation !!!- but that's another subject eh!

heheh I am sure you are aware that over here in North America the derogatory term for homosexuals is "Fag" (I knew you meant smokes) so I had to chuckle at this based on the context of your words heheh. :)

in Scotland I had my own gym.....I run this gym 6 nights a week...plus I had a day to day job aswell....
I was a Power Lifter and I should have won the British Championships in the 87.5 class- but 3 weeks before the competition in London- the wife decided to leave me, and took my 2 children with her....
This was a total shock for me and I found a wee friend in the Vodka bottle, which helped me lose my gym and my entire life......anyway, the rest is a very long and sad story and I will leave this for the book that would be a best seller....
Anyway, I trained for over 7 years - benched 160 kilo, squatted 260 kilo and dead lifted 280 kilo- my shoulders were like boulders and and traps like the Hulk....those were the days eh!..
I tend to start training again when I move into my new home...I am going to build a little gym in the cellar...as going to the gym doesn't interest me anymore- I spent too much time in there before......plus I tend to take more long walks with the wife and my dog. and stop this bloody smoking....
So here's my Transformation-Story......from 65 kilo- to 90 kilo in 7 years, 6 nights a week hard training and eating the right food and supplements -to achieve the goal I was after, I used the heavy weight, heavy muscle system- that's more weight and less reps to shock the body.....and believe me this worked for me.
I can not remember the gains I put on all body parts, but chest, arms and tri-ceps looked impressive- legs ?, well that's a different story................and today!- well I look like a normal guy weighing in at 82 kilos, until I strip down...........and that's when you will believe me that I have to begin some training again...lift my boobs and trim that belly....as I will not turn heads on the beach anymore....not like Cone anyway......
Scotty, this sounds like the start of a great screenplay. If I owned a movie company, I would develop this and cast Arnold Schwarznegger as you. ;)

Wow, seems like we all have similarly here. I was once also a bodybuilder about 20 years ago. I took first place on my first amateur bodybuilding contest in 1985. That was my first and my last. It was extremely too hard to stick with the program and to keep up with the pace.

Many years later, I’ve found myself behind a desk doing design work. I’ve nearly packed on 70 pounds of fats throughout 15 years. Man, I was miserable. Had many health problems like asthma, Hypertension, high cholesterol (over 400), dizziness, sleep most of the time, depresses and name a few others. As well as taking many prescription medications. Not to mention that I starting to have this "gout" thing on my toes more frequently. Talking about some really painful shit.

5 years ago, a friend came and told me about “Body for life” (EAS - great products) (http://www.bodyforlife.com/). A 90 days $1,000,000 challenge for total body transformation. I was motivated enough to sign up and drove into it like there’s no tomorrow. After three months goes by. I ended up losing almost 38 pounds of body fats and gain 10 pounds of solid muscles. I was overjoyed. I didn’t win a million though but I took 38th place (I think) in my categories. This guy who won a millions lives in the northern side of Chicago not to far from me.


Click here for my BLF. (http://www.owentrier.com/bfl)

During the huge “dotcom” fallout/layoff, I was layoff from work and was unemployed for two years. It was a perfect time for me to take up on different profession other then designing. I took up on ACE (American Council on Fitness) of become a certified personal trainer (it was not easy to pass).

After getting a couple good offers from the local gyms. I got this call from the Advertising agency and wanted to meet me for an interview. It all went well and I’ve taken the job. Pays way better. I’ve put away my fitness books on the shelves. It was a hard discussion for me cause I was afraid of facing another huge layoff. It seems more common nowadays.

So, here I am. Setting behind the desk again. Within 8 months, I’ve nearly pack back on 40 pounds. My pant size has gone up back to size 38. I’ve thought I was doing gooding the right thing by taking protein drinks, meals replacements, and every diet pills on the market and nothing seems to work. Guess I am not exercising enough and I am getting a little older. Trust me, when your body gets older, you’ll find yourself gaining weight much quickly.

I’ was totally fed up at that point. I was too lazy to get my freaking ass off the chair and want to kick myself in the nuts for not exercising. Not to mention letting this diet hype get to me by brainwashing.

I’m thinking to myself, “Is this going to go on forever”? Angrily, I grab all of the diet pills, protein drinks, fads equipments and the rest of the blah blah blah into the dumpster. Enough is enough.

Once again, I grab my book from those forgotten shelves. After a few weeks of researching and taking notes. I discovered that since we all getting older, we can’t reverse our aging process. The only way is to stay healthy and feel good about myself is by doing cardio and eating all “natural” food. What I mean is starting eating organic food like no process food or can-goods, no fast food restaurants or soda, no diet pills or supplements, no prescription medications from doctors, no extreme lifting (don’t want to be bulk again). Some of you may be upset when I say this, ... no B-E-E-R or liquor allow ( I do drink wine occasionally).

But, here’s the real trick though. I can't allow myself a easy way out of this. I can’t rush to my goal. Don’t force myself on trying to hard on dieting. Try not to think about dieting (man, I hate that word), Just go about my normal everyday life and focus on other stuff besides dieting. Like take up on new hobby. I've found out if you keep trying and thinking to hard on dieting..you will be burnt out.

Additionally, I will only eat small potions (about the size of your palm) of meals 4-6 times a day (this will speed up your motor). Make sure I eat enough proteins (chickens), carbohydrates and vegetables. Drink enough H20 (not soda or clear flavor water). Ideally, 6 to 8 glass per day. No meal or snack within 4 hours before bedtime. Do cardio workout three times a week at my own pace (at lease sweat a little) for 20 minutes. I don’t do treadmil, god I hate that shit. I’ve got to have some kind of movements, like go trail biking.

Sound strict? Yes. but after you stick with it for 3 solid weeks, it gets easier after that. Much easier. I’ve been doing this for about a year and I've manage to keep with my weights off. I’ve gone 217lbs to 180lbs; pant size went from 38 to 32. I no longer am taking any prescription medication (I even don’t go to see my doctor anymore, luckily my wife is a nurse). I going to be 40 in a few month and I am telling you. I’ve still got my solid muscle mass and have an energy like an 18 years old.

Ah, one more thing I've almost forgot. One good thing about eating a smaller portion of meals is that you’ll save up bunch of small pocket change. Normally I’ve spent up to $10 a day for lunch. Now I am only spending like $2-$3. I’ve just brought myself a 17” MacBook pro last Friday. (Yes, my little pink piggy bank gets it.)

Anyway, Steeldolphin, I’ve really enjoyed your site design/development at Healthy & Hot (at first it does sounded alot like a porn site, eh). As well I found it quite inspiring and great source of information. I though I could share my story cause it really very importance to stay fit and healthy. Keep up a great work there and what ever your goal may be…. My advice is don’t ever give up and don’t ever even think about it.


-owentrier

Heh, I've been trying to watch what I eat more and take better care of myself. Although they're pretty small steps so far I guess. I've cut my caffiene intake from 3 drinks a day to 1. After that it's all water. I've started lifting some weights that I have (albeit they're not very heavy) at least three times a week, and basically I try not to spend all of my time glued to the computer.