Fitness Tips Updates
Cosmos Fitness Tips January 2025 Updates
I have added a few new routines to my daily fitness regime and have achieved great results. After a month of the new fitness regime, I weighed 171.5 pounds this morning, the lowest weight I have had since I was 25, and weighed 165 pounds. I was recovering from Thyroid after three weeks in the hospital in Korea during the Peace Corps. For more on that ordeal, see Cheating Death 22 times below My daily blood sugar readings hit 102 today, last week it hit 98 two days in a row before going up to 115, then back down. My goal is to reach 170 pounds and 98 or less blood sugar levels and stabilize both. My Cholesterol levels are also in the normal range now. These goals are easily achievable.
New Routine
Daily walking 21 flights of stairs prior to and after each meal for a total of six times per day. I have gained muscles in my legs and core area, dropped my belly fat and dropped my blood sugar levels and feel a lot more energetic. This is followed by a daily trip to the Gym including a one mile walk.
GYM once a day
I joined a local gym and got a personal trainer. I have one session per week as does Angela. I go most days at 5 pm and do
25 minutes of Yoga including jumping jacks, squats, and short meditation and affirmations at the end,
followed by 25 minutes of weights,
25 minutes treadmill,
and 15 minutes in the personal sauna
before taking a shower
followed by a one-mile walk to and from the gym.
I will continue going to a gym daily following the same routine when I am in DC and Oregon this summer.
daily walking to/from gym
Daily riding Exercise ball and bike at home while watching TV etc or clearing emails.
limit coffee to three cups per day
limit drinking to three nights per week
limit carbs
weekly blood sugar testing
Weight Loss –
Down to 170 pounds (77.11 kg) First, I successfully lost weight and kept it off. At the beginning of January, 2024, I was 195 lbs, ( 88.45)and now I am 170-175 lbs most days.
. How did I do it, you ask?
Well, first of all, I lost almost 15 pounds (7 kg) due to a bronchial infection in January 2024, which could have been another bout with COVID, though I did not test for it. After that, I continued to change my diet and exercise program, leading to sustained weight loss.
Changes to Diet –
Processed Foods Out, More Beans, and Veggies. Every day I eat homemade kefir or smoothies for breakfast, followed by fried rice, eggs, and soup or salad for lunch. Dinner consists of salad or fish or chicken, occasionally lean beef, but most importantly, no carbs for dinner. I have added beans to my daily diet – the key is sprouting beans overnight before cooking them. I add them to soups, salads, and even as a snack.
I reduced the amount of wine I’ve been drinking, now only having it every other day at most.
I cut out all junk food, bread, cereal except oatmeal, pastries, chocolate, and no ice cream, and I have reduced cereal consumption. Every other day I am vegan or vegetarian. Finally, we go out to eat no more than three or four times per week.
Bitter Melon/Ugly Potato/Wormwood Tea I have added drinking bitter melon tea throughout the day and reduced my coffee consumption to two cups in the morning. I still drink homemade kombucha but limit it to one glass per morning. I drink tea in the afternoon. A day without Earl Grey is not a good day, after all.
Pre-and Post Meal Stair Walking
i walk up and down 20 flights of stairs in my highrise before and after each meal for a total of six sessions.
Reduction in Cholesterol/Glucose Levels
As a result of my weight loss, I have reduced my cholesterol level to the normal range, from the high level it was in January. I’ve also reduced my blood sugar level to almost normal levels from a pre-diabetic level. My latest number was 106, with the target number being 100. The most important thing is I will be able to avoid taking cholesterol, diabetic, and high blood pressure medications.
Weekly Chiropractic Massage
My insurance covers chiropractic and therapeutic massages up to 50 per year, and we have a good massage place we go to once a week. Goal The goal is to avoid having to take cholesterol, diabetic, and high blood pressure medications for life and to keep my weight down to 170-175 from now on.
Weekly acupuncture treatment for chronic pain, fibromyalgia
Daily cergem acupressure massage bed while reading
Weekly three to four mile walk
Daily one mile walk to/from Gym
Bi-weekly moxibustion treatment
Daily Yoga including daily meditation and affirmations
I end all my yoga sessions at the gym and at home (first time in the morning ) with a short affirmation as follows:
I have added daily affirmations to my yoga practice in the morning and in the gym
Chanting one to ten
Then repeating the following affirmations
Each affirmation repeated five times
Today will be a good day
I am healthy, wealthy and wise
I am filled with gratitude
I am still loved by my wife
I still love my wife
I still have great friends who love me
Everything will be okay
I will survive the Trump fascist takeover
Om shanti
Daily
Stair walking
Six Sets of stairs 120 total
Six Set Chair Yoga
Six Set Yoga Stretches
Six Set Weights
Gym
Daily weights
Daily yoga including affirmations
Daily jumping jacks
Daily squats
Daily meditation
Daily treadmill
Daily sauna
15 three sets of 50 reps per weight
30 minutes of Yoga
5 sets of 50-step reps
5k on the bike
3 miles walk.
Grip periodically
100 reps
Standing desk
for two hours pull up/swing
10 wear the pain patch 2 hours
neck shoulder massage unit:
Moxibustion Acupuncture
weekly Massage weekly
in park
pull down 200.
wheel 200
in the park
cross trainer
Diet
Diet routine
Limit pasta/rice carbs to lunch
Kefir, Oatmeal or smoothie for breakfast
Salad or kefir for dinner
Wine or cocktail no more than three times per week
Go out for meals no more than four times per week
Coffee
The first two cups are fully loaded
– coffee, decafe, with, cinnamon, nutmeg, pepper and milk. Sometimes I add in protein plant superfood s from Costco and occasionally coconut oil
Smoothie Blues
.
my daily breakfast consists of either a smoothie, oatmeal or kefir.
This includes blueberries in my smoothie
apple cider vinegar blueberry, strawberry, oranges banana, pineapple, cinnamon coconut oil home made kefir kale kombucha. ginseng ginger honey maca root spinach wheatgrass stevia 50 superfoods plant protein powder Organic Protein Blend: Pea Protein, Brown Rice Protein, Chia Seed, Hemp Protein1. Organic Creamer Base: Acacia Gum, High Oleic Sunflower Oil, Inulin, Rice Dextrin’s, Rice Bran Extract, Rosemary Extract1. Organic Superfoods Blend: Organic Greens and Grasses Blend (Wheat Grass, Barley Grass, Oat Grass, Alfalfa Grass, Kale, Spinach), Organic Berry Blend (Acai, Apple, Banana, Blueberry, Cranberry, Raspberry, Sweet Potato, Cherry, Pomegranate, Strawberry), Organic Veggie Blend (Beet, Broccoli, Carrot, Tomato, Parsley, Cauliflower, Cabbage, Kale), Organic Sprout Blend (Amaranth Sprout, Quinoa Sprout, Millet Sprout, Buckwheat Sprout, Garbanzo Bean Sprout, Lentil Sprout, Adzuki Sprout, Flax Sprout, Sunflower Sprout, Pumpkin Sprout, Chia Sprout, Sesame Sprout), Organic Ancient Grains Blend (Amaranth, Quinoa, Buckwheat, Millet, Chia), Organic Fiber Blend (Oat Fiber, Rice Bran, Acacia Fiber), Organic Cinnamon, Organic Erythritol, Organic Natural Flavors, Organic Stevia, Organic Food Based B Vitamin Blend (Organic Guava, Organic Holy Basil, Organic Lemon Extract), Organic Monk Fruit Extract, Probiotics (Bacillus coagulants) 1
all blended to perfection that is my daily breakfast fit for a champion.
or oatmeal with apples, banana, blueberries, and strawberries, or kefir with apples, banana, blueberries, and strawberries, sometimes followed by apples, boiled egg and cheese.
Salt Of Life
Every day
I eat a little Himalayan
Pink Salt In my food.
That and real salt From Salt Lake City
Will enable me.
To live to be A ripe old man.
So, my advice to you all
Add real salt to your food,
And watch your weight go down,
And your life extension begins.
Creative Writing Routine
For my daily writing copy my writing to my creative writing journal and to my spreadsheet after each morning writing session and to corresponding subject files should take about 30 minutes to 45 minutes and its worth it to keep better organized
Do WC prompts daily, Fan story every other day
and resume Pensively once a week (not posting)
copy reviewed poems to my book read list daily
Posting on All poetry. Poetry Soup. Cosmos Funnel, Poetry Magnum Opus FB poetry sites pick two per day, and Poet Hunter once a week or so
Once a week pick 7 poems to post and three new ones for contest entries. Post Same ten poems posted on WC or FS so I can save some for publication
Pick five to ten unpublished poems per week mix of new and old
Submit three times per week on average
Blog on or two times per week
Reading
Continue alternating between Classics, Poetry thrillers etc
Next up finish Sister Carrie by Theodore Dressler then Publo Nurundo Poems in Spanish and English
part of 50 Books to Read Volume 2.
Piano Daily 45 minutes
Buy MIDI cable and music software Resume writing music
Kefir
Growing Kombucha and Kefir in Korea
When we moved to Yeongjong island, near the Incheon Airport, we found that we would be deprived of two of our three favorite miracle foods, Kombucha and Kefir. But we were pleasantly surprised to find we could order our third favorite health food item, wheat grass for home delivery. Have not seen it in the stores but have seen it in some smoothie places as well as home delivery. best to mix it in a smoothie. Wheatgrass juice does not taste that great!
Growing Kombucha and Kefir in Korea
Kombucha
Living in Oregon was great. Kombucha is everywhere. Costco carries Kombucha everywhere except in Korea. The best brand we found was Gingerade. But I liked sampling the kombucha everywhere, several bars brew it on-site and you can fill up a growler and take it home.
What is Kombucha, you ask? It is fermented tea, filled with powerful probiotics and it is so good for your health. It does contain 1 percent alcohol so that should not get you into trouble with the new draconian drunk driving laws here in Korea!
Since neither the Commissary nor Costco nor anyone else carried it, or even knew what it was, we decided that we had to brew it ourselves. The starter kit we brought with us had gone bad. So, we bought kombucha from Amazon and used that and the leftover starter kit to get started.
We used green tea as the base. Straight black tea and jasmine tea will work but not Earl Grey due to the bergamot oil in the tea.
We brewed up several gallons of tea, added sugar, the starter kit, and the cans of kombucha. Then we put it in a sprouted warmer kit ordered from Amazon and wrapped another gallon in an electric blanket. You have to keep the kombucha at about 80 degrees F (26.67 Celsius).
Then we waited for six weeks. Finally ready to go today and we bottled it and started our next batch!
Here’s what it looks like with the scuzzy taken out of the kombucha.
Ode to Kombucha
Kombucha
Only drink it in the morning
Morning Delight
By the dawning sun
Up at the morning dawn
Can’t wait for my morning cup
Have to have my kombucha
At least once a day.
Ode to Kefir
Kefir
Everyday
Food of the gods
In every way
Radiant health will follow.
The End