Your health and wellness toolbox

Introducing the Pierini DIET here

I’ve designed a simple Pierini DIET monthly journal worksheet to record your daily bodyweight and eating time for the first month following this dietary lifestyle. It’s a one-page worksheet PDF document.

Thanks or no thanks to my occupation, I’m a “measurement junkie” and have learned that journaling is a great way to capture data that can be classified and summarized, and then turned into information that can be used to evaluate and make decisions. Currently, I journal my fitness training and have done so continuously for many years. In the past, I’ve maintained dietary journals but don’t do so currently. I wouldn’t hesitate, however, to resume dietary journaling if I ever detected slackness in my dietary discipline or needed to manage my gluttony demon.

If you’d like a copy of this simple monthly journal worksheet, send an e-mail request to pierinifitness@yahoo.com and I’ll send it to you. Think of it as just another tool in your health and wellness toolbox.

Pax Domini sit semper vobiscum

Rest in peace JFK

Today is Sunday and, as usual, Pierini Fitness is closed so the chief executive blogger can rest his body, mind and spirit. Visit tomorrow for a new blogflection about a topic yet to be determined but guaranteed to be creative and original.

If you are looking for something to read, 46 years ago today, former U.S. President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, Texas. Here’s an account of my young boy memories of that horrific event: Watching my teacher cry

Rest in peace JFK.

Pax Domini sit semper vobiscum

70 minutes to eat it all

Introducing the Pierini DIET here

In my The Pierini DIET book, I ask the question of how many minutes per day do you spend eating each day? If you’re like most people, you don’t have a clue. How do I know? Because I’ve asked people and most everyone replied that they don’t know. Quite frankly, prior to taking the Pierini DIET for a test drive, I didn’t know how many minutes a day I spent eating.

Last Saturday I kept a record of what I ate and how long I spent eating for the entire day. After beginning my day with a 6:00 a.m. cup of coffee, here’s what did the rest of the day:

Breakfast – An bowl of oatmeal with one tablespoon of flax meal added, followed by one apple – 8:15 a.m. to 8:40 a.m. for 25 minutes.

Lunch – A good-sized plate of homemade pasta with hot Italian sausage with sautéed red onions and sweet peppers in a marinara sauce – 2:25 p.m. to 2:45 p.m. for 20 minutes.

Dinner – Two large guacamole burritos made with flour tortillas followed by a two ounce bar of dark chocolate – 8:20 p.m. to 8:45 p.m. for 25 minutes.

It wasn’t a very good day in the green department but that’s what I ate, and it took 70 minutes to eat it all.

Pax Domini sit semper vobiscum

A furlough Friday

Introducing the Pierini DIET here

Since July 2009 in my part of the world, sate government employees stay home without pay for three Friday furlough days per month rather than reporting to work as the State of California uses work furlough as a move intended to save money during its ongoing fiscal crisis. This practice has become commonly known as “Furlough Friday".

While there’s no fiscal crisis at Pierini Fitness, today we are closed so I can see what it feels like to have a furlough Friday.

Pax Domini sit semper vobiscum

Thank you for your comments

Earlier this month, a Pierini Fitness blogflection announced that I wrote a short e-book named The Pierini DIET to help middle-age men eat less food and conquer middle-age fatness. Here it is in case you missed it: Introducing The Pierini DIET

Here are some unsolicited comments and testimonials from those who have taken the Pierini DIET for a test drive:

Greg M from Wisconsin writes: “Ed, I love your diet. Printed it out and am utilizing the "milkshakefying" method of consuming food and liquid at the same time. This technique, at least I find, automatically reduces the quantity one would usually consume at a meal by extending the time of mastication. It increases satisfaction too. This is one well thought-out, creative and effective diet. Had to let you know.”

Franklin H from Massachusetts writes: “Hi Ed, Nicely done! There is no doubt that your approach will work on those individuals who truly want to lose weight.”

Andrea from Milano, Italia writes: “Hi Pierini, I read the book. The good point is the “milkshakefying”. This is something I agree on.”

Tom G from California writes: “Great job.”

A person going by the name sixstringsurfer from an internet fitness forum writes: “I’ve done this eating plan for a week now . . . it really does cause me to eat slower and to take smaller bites . . . so far I like the diet.”

Rick G from California writes: “Thanks to your advice, initially with intermittent fasting and now the Pierini DIET, I’ve gone from 218 lbs. to 198 lbs. in 9 weeks.”

Thank you for your comments.

Pax Domini sit semper vobiscum

Colorful, delicious and spicy fajitas

Introducing the Pierini DIET here

With all I’ve written about middle-age man training ideas, reflective ramblings and occasional economic and political thoughts, some might not know that I have other talents.

While I’m not a gourmet chef, I do have some cooking skills that definitely go beyond heating up a slab of spam in the microwave or boiling some Ramen noodles. I can cook when needed and periodically do so. I’m also good at cleaning as I cook, a trick I learned back in my teenage job days of working in restaurants.

Years ago I got into making homemade soup, starting from scratch with the broth. My best creations, in my opinion, were minestrone soup and chicken corn tortilla soup. I haven’t made either of these soups in several years as I’ve become increasingly lazy with middle-age manhood. It’s very time-consuming to make homemade soup from scratch and do it right.

My latest culinary efforts include a pasta dish with Italian hot sausage, sweet peppers and red onions sautéed together in a pan of olive oil along with basil and oregano spices for accent flavor. That effort came out so delicious that I just about ate the entire dish myself, something I’ve been known to do.

I like my cooked food to be colorful like another dish I recently prepared about two weeks ago. It’s a beef fajita dish made with tri-tip sirloin steak cooked in a sizzling hot pan of olive oil along with sweet peppers, red onions and green beans. I use some basil, cayenne pepper, cumin, oregano and a dash of salt to give the steak some fire, flavor and punch. I like to eat my homemade fajitas with flour tortillas but they’re just as good with corn tortillas.

All middle-age men athletes in training need to eat like athletes and that’s what I do when I cook and eat my colorful, delicious and spicy fajitas.

Pax Domini sit semper vobiscum

My friend Tom

Introducing the Pierini DIET here

Sunday I returned to California State University, Sacramento (CSUS) to watch my friend Tom compete in the 46th Annual Golden West Open Olympic Weightlifting Competition. I graduated from CSUS in 1979 before Tom was born. Tom is my “fitness son just for fun” who was born around the same year as my son – circa 1980.

I met Tom at my alma mater gym, Bodytribe, a little over one year ago. He was about 135 lbs. dripping wet when we first met and hadn’t begun his Olympic weightlifting journey. What motivated him to go that route I’m not sure but maybe it was him watching me in my clumsy efforts with the Olympic lifts.

During one of my last workouts at Bodytribe, I brought a friend as a guest to train with me. His name is Rick and he’s the person doing that Sprint 8 workout featured in yesterday’s Pierini Fitness blogflection. I introduced Rick to Tom by telling Rick that when I met Tom about one year ago I was stronger than him but now he is stronger than me. I then went on to say that when I met Tom I was better looking than him and still am one year later. That drew a laugh from both of them.

Anyway, Tom is now about 15 pounds heavier, stronger, and his Olympic weightlifting performance continues to improve by the day. He had a great day at the competition and I have the video to prove it below:



You did great Tom. Keep up the good work, train smart and be safe. Even though I don’t train at Bodytribe anymore like you do, you’ll always be my friend Tom.

Pax Domini sit semper vobiscum

The super-tough Sprint 8 workout

On Saturday, I visited my former neighborhood for some business and a friend who I am mentoring in his health and wellness journey accompanied me. For lack of a better term, I'm his "official coach". He's making good fitness progress and is always willing to test my training ideas. Recently, I told him about a hill sprint workout I use to do when I lived in my old neighborhood - with its rolling hills - called Sprint 8. This Sprint 8 workout is explained in the book Ready Set GO! Synergy Fitness by Phil Campbell.

Sprint 8 is basically a high-intensity sprinting workout consisting of 8 rounds of 30 second sprints followed by 90 to 120 seconds of walking recovery. Each round of sprinting is suppose to be a little more intense than the previous round. Doing the sprints on a hill guarantees this progressive intensity.

Here’s a short video of my friend in action:

Watching him in action reminded me of how tough this workout is. I’m a retired runner but cheering him on and reflecting on my “good old days” makes me want to give it another try, the super-tough Sprint 8 workout.

Pax Domini sit semper vobiscum

Repeat of Never on Sunday

Introducing the Pierini DIET here

Regular readers of Pierini Fitness know that predicable blogflection they'll find when knocking on the front door on Sunday; you know, the standard "today is Sunday and Pierini Fitness is closed so the chief executive blogger can rest his body, mind and spirit".

In reviewing my Sunday blogflection archives, I was reminded of this one, from last year, that is among my favorites: Never on Sunday.

I hope you enjoyed this repeat of Never on Sunday.

Pax Domini sit semper vobiscum

An introduction to Fletcherism

Introducing the Pierini DIET here

Last week I received an e-mail from a person in Milan, Italy who earlier had requested a copy of The Pierini DIET. This person gave me some helpful feedback along with a comment that some of its concepts are similar to “Fletcherism”.

My Italian cyberspace friend sent me a PDF copy of a book written by Horace Fletcher at the turn of the 20th century titled "FLETCHERISM: WHAT IS IS; OR HOW I BECAME YOUNG AT SIXTY”. The book is a whopping 179 pages in length in sharp contrast to the 22 page The Pierini DIET.

Horace Fletcher (1849-1919) was an American health-food faddist who earned the nickname “The Great Masticator” by arguing that food should be chewed thirty two times – or, about 100 times per minute – before being swallowed. One of his famous saying was “Nature will castigate those who don’t mastigate.”

It’s true that chewing your food slowly to “milkshakefy” it before swallowing is one of the techniques of the Pierini DIET but there’s more to the diet than that.

One of the first things that caught my attention in reading this book is what Horace Fletcher described as the following five principles of Fletcherism for optimum nutrition:

First - Wait for a true, earned appetite.

Second - Select from the food available that which appeals most to appetite, and in the order called for by appetite.

Third - Get all the good taste there is in food out of it in the mouth, and swallow only when it practically "swallows itself".

Fourth - Enjoy the good taste for all its worth, and do not allow any depressing or diverting thoughts to intrude upon the ceremony.

Fifth - Wait; take and enjoy as much as possible what appetite approves. Nature will do the rest.

I'll share more as I read the book so today's blogflection is just an introduction to Fletcherism.

Pax Domini sit semper vobiscum