I've received several positive comments on Jim's granola recipe. If anybody has any healthful recipes, please send them. By the way, I'm not sure that healthful is a proper word. If there are any professional writers reading this let me know.
My wife and I plan on making granola this weekend. We are going to follow Jim's recipe exactly except we might add some walnuts. I've read quite a few articles in the past year about the health benefits of walnuts so we will probably throw some in.
We are both partial to pecans and the fact that we own a pecan farm has nothing to do with it. Well it might. Good thing I'm not a politition, I tell the truth, every now and then.
I'm very worried about the use of insulin in sports. More people are using it all the time. It is so dangerous that the press won't even mention it. Right now insulin is the most used drug used in sports and it is used in both endurance and strength activities. The newspapers are still talking about steroids and growth hormone, won't even mention insulin. Let me tell you, steroids and growth hormone might kill you in 30 0r 40 years. Insulin can kill you in about in hour.
My advice, don't do it.
Sincerely,
Ben Voiles
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
Monday, January 17, 2011
Jungle Jim's Honey Nut Granola
This is a recipe I received from my good friend Jungle Jim Holmes.
Legend has it that he discovered this formula while on a mission trip deep in the jungle. I don't have anyway of verifying the story so for now I'll just publish the recipe. When I get more time, I'll write out one of the many versions of the story, if anybody is interested. I do have to caution you. I have not yet tried this concoction. So I can't be responsible for any side effects but I do know that Jungle Jim and him family have been eating it for several years and the last time I saw them, they all had the correct number of eyes, ears, arms, etc. I plan on trying it myself this week. this looks like it will make a lot. You can easily half the quantities if you prefer.
So here goes: Jungle Jim's Moon Drop and River's Honey Nut Granola
Ingredients : 4 cups of rolled oats
1 cup of sliced almonds
1 cup of sliced pecans
1 cup of raw sunflower seeds
1 tablespoon of ground cinnamon
1/3 cup of canola oil
1 teaspoon of vanilla
1/2 cup of honey
1 1/2 cups raisins
Instructions : Preheat oven to 300 degrees F
In large bowl, mix oats, nuts and sunflower seeds
In separate bowl mix oil, honey, cinnamon and vanilla
Combine wet and dry ingredients and mix well
Spread onto baking pans
Bake for 20 minutes or until lightly browned
You may want to mix after 10 minutes
Add raisins after thoroughly cooled
Legend has it that he discovered this formula while on a mission trip deep in the jungle. I don't have anyway of verifying the story so for now I'll just publish the recipe. When I get more time, I'll write out one of the many versions of the story, if anybody is interested. I do have to caution you. I have not yet tried this concoction. So I can't be responsible for any side effects but I do know that Jungle Jim and him family have been eating it for several years and the last time I saw them, they all had the correct number of eyes, ears, arms, etc. I plan on trying it myself this week. this looks like it will make a lot. You can easily half the quantities if you prefer.
So here goes: Jungle Jim's Moon Drop and River's Honey Nut Granola
Ingredients : 4 cups of rolled oats
1 cup of sliced almonds
1 cup of sliced pecans
1 cup of raw sunflower seeds
1 tablespoon of ground cinnamon
1/3 cup of canola oil
1 teaspoon of vanilla
1/2 cup of honey
1 1/2 cups raisins
Instructions : Preheat oven to 300 degrees F
In large bowl, mix oats, nuts and sunflower seeds
In separate bowl mix oil, honey, cinnamon and vanilla
Combine wet and dry ingredients and mix well
Spread onto baking pans
Bake for 20 minutes or until lightly browned
You may want to mix after 10 minutes
Add raisins after thoroughly cooled
Monday, January 3, 2011
First Workout
Did I very light leg workout today and a medium light push workout. It was warm enough to workout at home. Doubt if I'll be able to do that many more times before spring gets here. My wife wants to start going to the YMCA in downtown Chattanooga, so she can swim. Maybe we will start that tomorrow.
I'm listing my official starting weight at 214 pounds. I'd like to lose at least 25 pounds over that next three months. Thirty would be even better. Last June 1st I weighed around 194 and looked pretty good even though I would have liked to have been at least five pounds lighter. I'm pretty sure if I get to around 190 I can easily win the Roman Classic and the Chattanooga classic, so that will be my goal.
At the Nationals, they have weight classes. I'm not sure if I'll be better off competing as a middle weight or a light heavy. I'll just have to see how things go.
Sincerely,
Benjamin Voiles
I'm listing my official starting weight at 214 pounds. I'd like to lose at least 25 pounds over that next three months. Thirty would be even better. Last June 1st I weighed around 194 and looked pretty good even though I would have liked to have been at least five pounds lighter. I'm pretty sure if I get to around 190 I can easily win the Roman Classic and the Chattanooga classic, so that will be my goal.
At the Nationals, they have weight classes. I'm not sure if I'll be better off competing as a middle weight or a light heavy. I'll just have to see how things go.
Sincerely,
Benjamin Voiles
Sunday, January 2, 2011
Starting the New Year
Starting the new year and I have already started dieting. Trying to get some other people interested in doing it with me. I've posted on my Facebook page but so far I haven't had much interest. Besides my wife, just one woman I went to high school with has expressed any interest. I just think it would be fun to share our goals and experiences as a group.
I've had bronchitis since Christmas Eve. I'm still not feeling 100 percent.
I'm hoping to start working out tomorrow but I'll have to feel better than I do now.
I'm glad its 2011. In many ways 2010 was a very bad year, especially for my wife.
Hopefully all that stuff is behind us now.
If anybody likes my blog, please drop me an Email. It is hard to get motivated to write it when I don't even know if a single person is reading it. For now I plan on posting every few days at least and I hope to get some feedback.
Sincerely,
Benjamin Voiles
I've had bronchitis since Christmas Eve. I'm still not feeling 100 percent.
I'm hoping to start working out tomorrow but I'll have to feel better than I do now.
I'm glad its 2011. In many ways 2010 was a very bad year, especially for my wife.
Hopefully all that stuff is behind us now.
If anybody likes my blog, please drop me an Email. It is hard to get motivated to write it when I don't even know if a single person is reading it. For now I plan on posting every few days at least and I hope to get some feedback.
Sincerely,
Benjamin Voiles
Monday, July 26, 2010
Update
Been a long time since I've written anything, mainly because I really didn't have anything interesting to add. Since my wife was injured, my training has really gone down hill. I didn't mention it before but I injured myself the day before my wife was hurt. I think I did it doing deadlifts but I'm not sure. It really affected the entire left side of my upper body. It is slowly getting better. The strange thing is, I felt guilty being in pain, knowing what my wife was going through.
I have two crushed disks in my neck but they haven't been causing me too many problems lately. I sure hope this is just a temporary thing. I might go back and get the cortizone injections again. I'm reluctant to do it right now since I'm always kind of wiped out for at least a day after I have it done and besides they cost $2000 a piece. My wife being injured has been very expensive. I sure feel sorry for people that arn't rich and have something like this happen to them.
I have tried to pick up my bicycle riding. I hope to do a century October 2nd.
I'm just not sure if there is enough time to get in good enough shape for it.
I would at least like to do the metric century which is 62 miles. I know right now ten miles wipes me out, but at least it will be cooler then. Then heat here has been terrible for a couple of weeks now. The other night it was 82 degrees at 3:00AM. Now that is hot! Especially when added to humidity in the 90s.
I do think for people interested in good health and general fitness that a combination of weight training and bicycling is ideal. If you can add swimming to the mix it would be even better. I knew several people in California that would weight train during the winter and bike during the summer. I was always amazed how quickly they got into bicycling shape in the spring without doing any aerobic work all winter. I wonder if some of them might have had an exercise bike stashed away at home. I used to like to mountain bike in the winter but of course winters in Southern California are much milder than most parts of the country. 50 degrees was considered a cold day.
I bought a pair of strength shoes off Ebay. I've had them a little over a week. Walking to the end of my driveway and back three times in them really pumps up my calfs, so they must be working. What little training I've been doing has been at home, and since I don't have a calf machine, I think the strength shoes will come in real handy. I haven't been to the gym since before my wife's accident but we did stop down there the other night just as they were closing to talk to the owner, Grace Wooten. Grace is a beautiful woman both inside and out. I had planned on taking some pics of her and posting them here but never got around to it.
Hopefully she will let me after my wife recovers. She has an absolutely beautiful body. She has never competed but I don't think there are many women in the world over the age of 40 that would have a chance against her in bodybuilding competion, especially if there was drug testing.
That brings up the subject of women's bodybuilding. I remember when it first started. It was so exciting, even though it was considered freakish by some people.
I just hated it when drugs distroyed it, which they have. When the sport was young the champions in bodybuilding looked like the fitness and bikini competitors look like today. I don't think many women would want to look like today's pro bodybuilders. On the men's side it is almost as bad. Steroids, insulin, and HGH, and no telling what else have really turned bodybuilding into a freak show.
At his peak, Arnold Swarznegger was about 6'1" and weighed about 235-240. Many people thought he had gone too far and had crossed over into freak show proportions.
Now guys 5'6" are weighing like 300 pounds! I wish their would be a more emphasis on proportions and aesthetics. Most of the top guys don't look good at all when they are relaxed. In fact, I think it is from the HGH, but most of them look like they have beer bellies. I think the HGH causes all the internal organs to grow causing the gut to stick out. These guys can have big bellies even when their body fat is at incredibly low levels. Sure not my cup of tea! In the past the the so called V-taper was considered probably the most important factor in having a good
build. Take a look at old pictures of Steve Reeves, and later on guys like,
Larry Scott, Harold Poole, Dave Draper and even more recently guys like my good friend Robbie Robertson. All of them had good size and great proportions. It is also a concern about the long term effects so many drugs have on a person.
The problem is most pros now days are on drugs year round. The body never gets a chance to recover. I'm sure we are going to see more and more early deaths and serious health problems in years to come.
At least if you look at me now, you will know I'm not on any bodybuiding drugs because I' fat!!! I've gained at least ten pounds since my wife's accident.
I'm starting to diet again August 1st. I don't feel too bad about my body needed a rest, but now its time to get back to it.
Just one more thing. I really wish all the supplement companies would quit paying drug users to endorse their products. Do they really think the people reading their ads don't know all their models are drug users? I take supplements and read everything I can about them but the truth is none of them do as much as they claim. Assuming somebody eats a reasonble diet, then training is much more important than diet. I read a piece the other day that said "bodybuilding is 80% nutrition". I say, "BULL....". I'm sure if you took guys out of a concentration camp, that had barely eaten for years or if you just took people that weighed over 500 pounds you could make the arguement that diet is more important than training.
But if you took say 1000 people that were in reasonble shape and ate a normal diet, if you put 500 of them on a regular exercise program and had them stay on their regular diet, and the other half you put on a clean diet and supplements, at the end of a year the exercise group would, on the average, show great improvement.
While the clean diet group would show little change. The point is if you can't afford supplements don't worry about it. Just try to eat healthy and you will do fine. You know I have posted this on several bodybuilding boards over the years.
It always gets taken off. I guess because all the boards are sponsored by supplement companies.
Until next time,
Ben Voiles
I have two crushed disks in my neck but they haven't been causing me too many problems lately. I sure hope this is just a temporary thing. I might go back and get the cortizone injections again. I'm reluctant to do it right now since I'm always kind of wiped out for at least a day after I have it done and besides they cost $2000 a piece. My wife being injured has been very expensive. I sure feel sorry for people that arn't rich and have something like this happen to them.
I have tried to pick up my bicycle riding. I hope to do a century October 2nd.
I'm just not sure if there is enough time to get in good enough shape for it.
I would at least like to do the metric century which is 62 miles. I know right now ten miles wipes me out, but at least it will be cooler then. Then heat here has been terrible for a couple of weeks now. The other night it was 82 degrees at 3:00AM. Now that is hot! Especially when added to humidity in the 90s.
I do think for people interested in good health and general fitness that a combination of weight training and bicycling is ideal. If you can add swimming to the mix it would be even better. I knew several people in California that would weight train during the winter and bike during the summer. I was always amazed how quickly they got into bicycling shape in the spring without doing any aerobic work all winter. I wonder if some of them might have had an exercise bike stashed away at home. I used to like to mountain bike in the winter but of course winters in Southern California are much milder than most parts of the country. 50 degrees was considered a cold day.
I bought a pair of strength shoes off Ebay. I've had them a little over a week. Walking to the end of my driveway and back three times in them really pumps up my calfs, so they must be working. What little training I've been doing has been at home, and since I don't have a calf machine, I think the strength shoes will come in real handy. I haven't been to the gym since before my wife's accident but we did stop down there the other night just as they were closing to talk to the owner, Grace Wooten. Grace is a beautiful woman both inside and out. I had planned on taking some pics of her and posting them here but never got around to it.
Hopefully she will let me after my wife recovers. She has an absolutely beautiful body. She has never competed but I don't think there are many women in the world over the age of 40 that would have a chance against her in bodybuilding competion, especially if there was drug testing.
That brings up the subject of women's bodybuilding. I remember when it first started. It was so exciting, even though it was considered freakish by some people.
I just hated it when drugs distroyed it, which they have. When the sport was young the champions in bodybuilding looked like the fitness and bikini competitors look like today. I don't think many women would want to look like today's pro bodybuilders. On the men's side it is almost as bad. Steroids, insulin, and HGH, and no telling what else have really turned bodybuilding into a freak show.
At his peak, Arnold Swarznegger was about 6'1" and weighed about 235-240. Many people thought he had gone too far and had crossed over into freak show proportions.
Now guys 5'6" are weighing like 300 pounds! I wish their would be a more emphasis on proportions and aesthetics. Most of the top guys don't look good at all when they are relaxed. In fact, I think it is from the HGH, but most of them look like they have beer bellies. I think the HGH causes all the internal organs to grow causing the gut to stick out. These guys can have big bellies even when their body fat is at incredibly low levels. Sure not my cup of tea! In the past the the so called V-taper was considered probably the most important factor in having a good
build. Take a look at old pictures of Steve Reeves, and later on guys like,
Larry Scott, Harold Poole, Dave Draper and even more recently guys like my good friend Robbie Robertson. All of them had good size and great proportions. It is also a concern about the long term effects so many drugs have on a person.
The problem is most pros now days are on drugs year round. The body never gets a chance to recover. I'm sure we are going to see more and more early deaths and serious health problems in years to come.
At least if you look at me now, you will know I'm not on any bodybuiding drugs because I' fat!!! I've gained at least ten pounds since my wife's accident.
I'm starting to diet again August 1st. I don't feel too bad about my body needed a rest, but now its time to get back to it.
Just one more thing. I really wish all the supplement companies would quit paying drug users to endorse their products. Do they really think the people reading their ads don't know all their models are drug users? I take supplements and read everything I can about them but the truth is none of them do as much as they claim. Assuming somebody eats a reasonble diet, then training is much more important than diet. I read a piece the other day that said "bodybuilding is 80% nutrition". I say, "BULL....". I'm sure if you took guys out of a concentration camp, that had barely eaten for years or if you just took people that weighed over 500 pounds you could make the arguement that diet is more important than training.
But if you took say 1000 people that were in reasonble shape and ate a normal diet, if you put 500 of them on a regular exercise program and had them stay on their regular diet, and the other half you put on a clean diet and supplements, at the end of a year the exercise group would, on the average, show great improvement.
While the clean diet group would show little change. The point is if you can't afford supplements don't worry about it. Just try to eat healthy and you will do fine. You know I have posted this on several bodybuilding boards over the years.
It always gets taken off. I guess because all the boards are sponsored by supplement companies.
Until next time,
Ben Voiles
Sunday, June 6, 2010
Career on hold
If you have been following my blog then you are aware that last night was supposed to be my comeback show. This was interupted by some bad luck on my part.
My wife was in a car accident on June 2nd and sustained several major injuries.
She will require total care for many months. I still plan on keeping up my training and I will post anytime I have anything to say. Luckily I can do most of my training at home.
Until later.
Benjamin Voiles
My wife was in a car accident on June 2nd and sustained several major injuries.
She will require total care for many months. I still plan on keeping up my training and I will post anytime I have anything to say. Luckily I can do most of my training at home.
Until later.
Benjamin Voiles
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
Countdown
It has been long time since my last blog. Since then I spent almost three weeks in Florida. I have been training hard but I'm still fat. I have the Roman Classic on June 5th, ten days away. They are only having one class for Masters so I'll have to compete against 40 year olds. No telling who will show up but I think I have a good chance based on my overall proportions.
Just today I decided to enter the "Battle on the River" in Chattanooga. I was going to skip it but it is a national qualifier so I need to enter it if I'm going to enter the "Mr. America". I'm just not sure I want to keep dieting all summer.
If I enter the Nationals I will enter as a middle weight. Pretty hard on this 56 year old body.
For any readers near the Trenton GA area. My good friend Grace Wooten, the owner of Genesis Gym will be holding a "Boot Camp" in the mornings starting June 7th.
I can't find the flyer right now but I'll post details later.
Benjamin Voiles
Just today I decided to enter the "Battle on the River" in Chattanooga. I was going to skip it but it is a national qualifier so I need to enter it if I'm going to enter the "Mr. America". I'm just not sure I want to keep dieting all summer.
If I enter the Nationals I will enter as a middle weight. Pretty hard on this 56 year old body.
For any readers near the Trenton GA area. My good friend Grace Wooten, the owner of Genesis Gym will be holding a "Boot Camp" in the mornings starting June 7th.
I can't find the flyer right now but I'll post details later.
Benjamin Voiles
Monday, April 12, 2010
फ्लोरिडा Vacation
My wife and I are going to Florida for a couple of weeks. The first resort we are going to has a pretty good gym. I also carry about 150 pounds of weights in our RV.
I'm not worried about my training once I get there. I also plan on a lot of walking and swimming. So I should be able to lose a few pounds. I'm still at least ten pounds over my target weight. I would like to lose about five by the end of April. My next compettion is June 5th so I have about eight weeks. I'm not going to try to go in real defined. I think I can win with my proportions and overall shape. If I go to the Nationals in July I will come down about another ten pounds so I can compete as a middle weight.
I hope this blog has been interesting and helpful to people. I would like to recieve more feedback. I don't claim to be in expert on anything and I'm not saying everything I say is correct but I would like to stimulate some discussion about training, nutrition, etc.
Sincerely,
Benjamin Voiles
I'm not worried about my training once I get there. I also plan on a lot of walking and swimming. So I should be able to lose a few pounds. I'm still at least ten pounds over my target weight. I would like to lose about five by the end of April. My next compettion is June 5th so I have about eight weeks. I'm not going to try to go in real defined. I think I can win with my proportions and overall shape. If I go to the Nationals in July I will come down about another ten pounds so I can compete as a middle weight.
I hope this blog has been interesting and helpful to people. I would like to recieve more feedback. I don't claim to be in expert on anything and I'm not saying everything I say is correct but I would like to stimulate some discussion about training, nutrition, etc.
Sincerely,
Benjamin Voiles
Saturday, March 27, 2010
Cissus
I just received my order of primaFORCE cissus today. This will be my second time to try it. The first time was several months ago but I was also starting on some other supplements at the same time, so I'm not sure if it did anything or not.
The claims made for cissus seem almost too good to be true. If you Google "cissus"
you will get thousands of hits. There are claims that it "cures" just about everything. I spent some time going through some of the hits. Apparently, the plant, "cissus quadrangularis" has been used in folk medicine for years as an analgesic, especailly for muscle and joint pain. Reveiwing some message boards reveals that the majority of the people that have used it for joint and muscle pain have been satisfied with the results. In fact some people, claim almost complete pain reduction after a single dose. They also claim long term pain reduction.
This would reduce the possibility of it all just being placebo effect.
I know that anybody my age that lifts weights is going to have plenty of muscle and joint pain so if it works for me, that will be great. I'll let you know in a future post.
I also discovered that in some parts of the world it is a standard treatment for hemmoroids. Luckily I don't have that affliction so I can't test that.
What is probably of most interest to bodybuilders are the claims that it burns fat while sparing muscle. I tend to think that most weight loss supplements are a bunch of bunk, with wildly exagerated claims. There is one very impressive study but it was performed at a university in Cameroon. To me that makes it a little suspicious. With the market for weight loss products in the US alone amounting to billions of dollars, why isn't more research being done? If anybody knows of any more scientific studies that have been done in the past couple of years, please let me know. Also, if anybody has any personel experience with it email me.
Besides the lack of research the other problem is cost. It is fairly expensive to take as recommended. If it does half what it is claimed to do, then it is a bargain, but it could also be a total waste of money. I'm going to use the two bottles I have and if I notice any results I'll start buying it in bulk and capping my own. If not I'll stop taking it.
I'm going to go for now. I'm still trying to get some pictures posted. Hopefully I'll figure out how today.
Benjamin Voiles
The claims made for cissus seem almost too good to be true. If you Google "cissus"
you will get thousands of hits. There are claims that it "cures" just about everything. I spent some time going through some of the hits. Apparently, the plant, "cissus quadrangularis" has been used in folk medicine for years as an analgesic, especailly for muscle and joint pain. Reveiwing some message boards reveals that the majority of the people that have used it for joint and muscle pain have been satisfied with the results. In fact some people, claim almost complete pain reduction after a single dose. They also claim long term pain reduction.
This would reduce the possibility of it all just being placebo effect.
I know that anybody my age that lifts weights is going to have plenty of muscle and joint pain so if it works for me, that will be great. I'll let you know in a future post.
I also discovered that in some parts of the world it is a standard treatment for hemmoroids. Luckily I don't have that affliction so I can't test that.
What is probably of most interest to bodybuilders are the claims that it burns fat while sparing muscle. I tend to think that most weight loss supplements are a bunch of bunk, with wildly exagerated claims. There is one very impressive study but it was performed at a university in Cameroon. To me that makes it a little suspicious. With the market for weight loss products in the US alone amounting to billions of dollars, why isn't more research being done? If anybody knows of any more scientific studies that have been done in the past couple of years, please let me know. Also, if anybody has any personel experience with it email me.
Besides the lack of research the other problem is cost. It is fairly expensive to take as recommended. If it does half what it is claimed to do, then it is a bargain, but it could also be a total waste of money. I'm going to use the two bottles I have and if I notice any results I'll start buying it in bulk and capping my own. If not I'll stop taking it.
I'm going to go for now. I'm still trying to get some pictures posted. Hopefully I'll figure out how today.
Benjamin Voiles
Monday, March 22, 2010
Local Competitions
Summer is fast approaching and most of us are trying hard to get in good shape.
I thought I would post some info on some local competions coming up.
The NPC Atlanta Championships are April 17th. I imagine that if you are interested in entering then you already know about it. I'll probably go as a spectator if I'm not in Florida.
The 4th Annual Roman Classic is June 5th. It is an unaffiliated contest so you don't need an NPC card to enter. It is held in Rome Georgia. I spoke with the promoter, Richard Noren today. I'm not sure if that is his correct last name, if not I'll print a correction. Anyway, he seems like a great guy and I look forward to meeting him. He has been Masters National Champion in the bantam weight class for the past two years. This year he is going up to light weight. His phone number is: 706-767-2426. My only concern is that there is only one Master's class.
Every male over 40 is in the same class. I plan on using it as a tune up for the "Battle on the River" which is June 12th in Chattanooga. That is an NPC contest so if your interested you have to shell out the ninty dollars.
Anybody that has any information on any other contests in the Tri-state area let me know and I'll be glad to post it here. That also includes weightlifting and powerlifting.
Until next time,
Benjamin Voiles
I thought I would post some info on some local competions coming up.
The NPC Atlanta Championships are April 17th. I imagine that if you are interested in entering then you already know about it. I'll probably go as a spectator if I'm not in Florida.
The 4th Annual Roman Classic is June 5th. It is an unaffiliated contest so you don't need an NPC card to enter. It is held in Rome Georgia. I spoke with the promoter, Richard Noren today. I'm not sure if that is his correct last name, if not I'll print a correction. Anyway, he seems like a great guy and I look forward to meeting him. He has been Masters National Champion in the bantam weight class for the past two years. This year he is going up to light weight. His phone number is: 706-767-2426. My only concern is that there is only one Master's class.
Every male over 40 is in the same class. I plan on using it as a tune up for the "Battle on the River" which is June 12th in Chattanooga. That is an NPC contest so if your interested you have to shell out the ninty dollars.
Anybody that has any information on any other contests in the Tri-state area let me know and I'll be glad to post it here. That also includes weightlifting and powerlifting.
Until next time,
Benjamin Voiles
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