Hey!
Been a while now, I think you dropped me a few weeks ago, Iv'e just made a Pomegranate and Blood Orange Smoothie, so I'm pumped and roaring pack up to the pack.
I'm here.
So,
I'm going to start with Healthy For Men Magazine, this is just a cheap magazine you can pick up from GNC stores and Holland&Barrett.
I've been reading HFM for the last 3 months now, only because that's when i first saw it, i wish i had seen it before. They cover a lot of subjects Nutrition, Diet, Science in sport, Fitness, Male body image and Supplements.
I think the magazine is supposed to be an advertisement primarily for the products stocked at GNC and H&B, but also lets you know how to use certain products to get the right results. Most of the cover stories are success stories, last months cover model was the winner of a competition and they talked you through his routine, goals, achievements and lifestyle, so you can see how much hard work goes into being fit and healthy.
This months cover model was Actor Joe Manganiello, star of True Blood and How I Met Your Mother, in his article we read how he turned his life around, from a budding movie star (Flash in Spiderman) he fell into the wrong group of people, fame obviously being too much for him and started becoming a drug and alcohol abuser. After realizing he needed to turn his life around he started with his body, he swapped drugs and alcohol for workouts and training. Getting ripped and stealing attention away from other actors he landed job offers from Hollywood agents, thus turning his life around, he started at the bottom and is now at the top.
After realizing his success came from his fitness he has written a book, Evolution, not wanting anyone else to make the same mistakes that he had.
So if you're interested in being fit and healthy and getting the right advice from professionals who can talk to you about the right products and work out regimes and also supply you with the necessary equipment, supplements and information head to H&B or GNC and pick up a magazine, I personally have learned a lot from them, there are vouchers for products inside so you can buy products cheaper, expert advice and interesting stories about male body image (this months being the rise in liposuction for men). It costs £1.25, a total bargain, it can get you off your butt and fill you with knowledge at the same time. Well worth it.
Check out their site
healthyformen.com
Grab a mag in GNC or H&B stores!
Moving on,
For the past few weeks I've been looking for a new bike, i searched around at a lot of bikes until i found the one I really really wanted, I then made the decision based on the fact that I am very happy with the construction, quality and speed of my Specialized Langster (Spartacus) So i guess they're who I'm going to stick with... for now. So having visited bike shops and firstly looked for the Roubaix, which I do love, then Tarmac, which is a really nice general use bike it left me with one option.
Aggression, Aerodynamics and Speed.
The Specialized Venge.
So today I visited Hargroves Cycles to get measured so I can work out which size I should go for. For Spartacus I am at 54cm sized frame. Mark Cavendish is a prime example that this bike is the best, he uses it and wins races! However, he uses a a 49cm sized frame... This is too small for him, he should be riding something like a 56cm. But he is a professional and that is the reason he uses a smaller frame size, I am not a pro... yet.
So, my riding position of Spartacus is almost upright, its very comfortable and I don't speed around on him so I don't need to be lent over the bars, so this got me thinking about the size I should use for a road bike. I should get the 54cm as it is the correct size, however I am not in a speedy position, so I need to go up a size to the 56cm so I can stretch out a bit and get aero when I need to go fast!
Having checked that a 56cm would be an OK fit for me I now know what size to get, I am so happy and can not wait to get that box in the post!
I did look at this years Venge, its White and Blue, not something I would like to be seen on so I looked for last years model, Black and Red, plus at least £1000 cheaper than this years model. Sold to the man in the cycling cap!
Spending £21.50 on a bus pass a week, which is not very cheap for my bank or the planet, dictates what time I have to be at the bus stop, waits at traffic and takes more time to arrive at my destination than actually riding a bike (I have ridden the route many times and my times are faster) compared to paying "x" amount for the Venge, which runs on my own engine which in no way harms the planet, is a one off payment for travel, is good looking, keeps me fit and healthy and gives me bragging rights is ridiculous.
I am sick of seeing other cyclists riding past my bus in the mornings, I'm bored of sitting on my butt, I'm just not happy traveling anywhere if I'm not on a bike. Now I can ride to and from work, go out on my days off, sit and marvel at how beautiful it is when I'm at home carbing up.
A bike is freedom, a bike is green and a bike should be your friend. A friend that will take you from one place to the next, puts a smile on your face and keeps you healthy. A companion for its life and a reason not to sit at home in front of the TV being fed bullshit from the people who run the planet.
Finally,
The main reason for writing about HFM today is because of the opening paragraph of this months issue, recently I saw something that made me stop and think, and then seeing this today has confirmed that my life is changing/ has been changing since saw what I saw recently. (I'll let you know about that soon anyway).
Back to the point, it was a surprise/coincidence that the following paragraph sums up the last few days and explains how I feel at the moment, I want to help people and this really got to me.
"The reasons for lifestyle changes can be as varied as the individuals making them, although one thing they will all have in common is that each individual will be able to pinpoint the exact moment that they decided to take action"
-
Wesley Doyle
It's a strange feeling I'm feeling right now, and its funny because you don't always see what people are feeling, we wear masks during the day and when you get home, you take it off and look in the mirror and you look into your own eyes and think about what you're feeling, and the more you think about it the harder it is to stop thinking about it. It gets worse and worse everyday, you're stuck in a loop and you need to get out, you don't know how and you know that when it eventually happens the people around you wont be expecting it and the responses will be different.
Just be yourself and do what you need to do.
Never has my sign off meant more than it does right now,
Stay Flemish
Irideroad
