Monthly Archives: June 2018

Jun242018

Why It’s Important to Take a Recovery Day

Note that I didn’t say rest. There are some people out there (looking at you, Hungry) who believe in zero rest days and that’s okay as long as they balance properly. I (Fit here) go for one rest day a week and sometimes it’s a rest and recovery day.

What is a recovery day? A recovery day could mean a full rest day where you don’t workout, letting your muscles recover. Other forms of recovery days include yin yoga to really stretch, massage (self or professional), using heat (like a bath or heating pad), self myofascial release (think: rolling out muscles with a hard object), incredibly light lifting to just get your joints loose, or maybe a long walk or easy hike. As you can tell, a recovery day is really up to you. It’s about what you need that day after a week (or a few days) of workouts. It’s about getting in tune with your body and actually listening to it rather than forcing it. For example, my recovery day today consisted of a short yoga session focused on upper back stretches and using a massager on my back. If you can’t tell, my upper back is bugging me.

Jun222018

The Top 5 Meal Delivery Services of 2018

While trying to get through the hustle and bustle of living in these fast-paced times, you might find that something as simple as meal preparation can be a luxury. That’s where meal delivery services come in. The value of convenience can’t be overlooked in today’s world. Meal delivery services are great time savers and even greater proponents of convenience. In addition, if you get the right service, you will enjoy healthy and tasty meals at a great price.

Jun212018

Lukshon: LA Restaurant Review

It’s been a while since we posted regarding our epic eating tour of Los Angeles (gotta-eat-em-all). Remember that one where we made a list of the must-visit restaurants of 2018? There have been a few things that have gotten in the way since then like our honeymoon, but have no fear, we have stand-out restaurants to review for you! Next stop on our tasting-the-best-of-Los-Angeles list is Lukshon.

Lukshon, a modern restaurant focused on Southeast-Asian flavors, was brought to life by the same chef who opened the famous Father’s Office, Angelenos’ favorite burger & beer spot–Sang Yoon. This man knows how to hit you with flavor and keep your palette guessing and craving for more. The creativity of his work is out of bounds and stunning. Don’t get tricked by the menu prices–this place is pricey because “hot plates” and “cold plates” are small plates and you’re bound to get a good amount of them. Even though we weren’t ready for the price of the meal, we can sit here and tell you that it’s worth it. It’s a dining experience you aren’t likely to forget.

Jun132018

Full Body Bodybuilding Workout

Yesterday, we talked about one aspect of a lot of our recent life changes; we’ve been going to Fortune Gym for a few months. Hungry has been recovering from two (new) significant injuries over the past year: a torn quad/adductor in his right hip girdle and a torn soleus/gastroc in his left calf. Therapy has only yielded minimal results and rehab workouts have been hindered by a lack of consistency. Finally, after having some success, Hungry has decided to transition his full rehab training plan into one that is a bit more dynamic. While the full workout split hasn’t been completed yet, since today was only day three (started Monday), and it takes weeks/months to make sure a performance based program is created properly, Hungry was relatively happy with his full body bodybuilding session today, so he wanted to share it.

It is approximately 60 minutes long, with no warm up or cool down. Rest is minimal in between sets and it isn’t truly a bodybuilding workout. It is bodybuilding-inspired in the movements, but mainly focuses on accessory lifts to complement weightlifting exercises performed on Mondays and powerlifting exercises performed Friday. The sets and reps vary between 3 sets of 20 reps or 4 sets of 12-10-8-6 reps depending on the exercises. We’re still working out those details, but here are the exercises that were performed.

Jun122018

The Best Gym in LA!

There are more fitness facilities in LA than anyone would ever want to count. When I managed a very large fitness facility in West Los Angeles, we had dozens of significant competitors in walking distance. It was brutal and trying to offer the same classes that these specialized locations hosted was a massive challenge. With such an impressive selection, there isn’t ever going to be a consensus best “gym in LA” or anything along those lines, but there are certainly places that are undisputed gems.

We’ve talked about, on the blog or in person, some of the best deals in LA. Whether that means off-the-wall places like Tempest, amazing communities such as Barbell Brigade, cost-free natural selections including the Santa Monica Rings/Runyon Canyon or the unmatched intensity you’ll find at Gold’s Venice, LA has something for everyone. As Hungry & Fit, we do, however, need to give an edge to the facility that we personally use. Obviously, that says a lot about a place.

Since we do fairly well and are fiscally responsible, we don’t limit ourselves to budget options/chains including 24 Hour Fitness, LA Fitness, Planet Fitness and the YMCA (though we do love the Y!). We prefer to pay more and avoid dealing with people who aren’t serious about their training; we don’t want to fight people who are on their phone while sitting on equipment. Also, we like to avoid budget options since they often have higher traffic; we don’t want to wait for equipment, in order to keep our workout intensity higher.

Jun112018

5 Popular Things to Eat When You Have a Fatty Liver

Whether your fatty liver disease is alcohol induced or nonalcoholic, doctors would always say that two of the best ways to treat them would be to change your diet and work to having a healthier weight, if you are obese. Don’t take it too lightly when you are diagnosed with a fatty liver disease just because it is very common.

Jun082018

Remembering Anthony Bourdain

There truly are only a handful of individuals in the culinary world that truly brought something new to the table. One of those individuals, Anthony Bourdain, has left the table, and with that, a seat that will be extremely hard to fill.

While I enjoyed cartoons and sports growing up like every other kid, I watched more food television than most kids my age. For Christmas, I’d ask my mom for microplanes, honey dippers, and other obscure cooking utensils to feel more like the chefs that I idolized on television. She’d let me help with food prep in the kitchen and might even let me make my own dish from time to time, knowing full well that it’d end up being inedible. (Note, I was VERY young when this started.) My fixation for in-the-kitchen cooking shows like Emeril Live, Good Eats, Two Fat Ladies and many others, over different channels, never completely faded, but after watching these for years and years, I need new inspiration.

Image source

Jun062018

Whole-Wheat Chocolate Chip Banana Bars

What do you do when you have over-ripe bananas to be used? Bake, of course! But what to bake? Normally I would make these sweet banana cookies, but we are all out of oats! So I browsed the internet hard to find me something on the healthier side that featured bananas. And…drum roll, please…I came up with whole-wheat chocolate chip banana bars (found it from a great blogger’s site)! Banana bars? Sound weird? They’re not. It’s basically brownie-shaped banana bread with chocolate chips. Yeah, they’re good. Hungry brought them to work and he got major points from his coworkers.

The texture of the banana bars are cake-like rather than brownie-like, light and fluffy. Some hybrid of banana bread and cake. It’s yum. What makes this recipe healthier? Whole-wheat flour, no butter, and not too much sugar. Yeah, there are chocolate chips in it, but I mean, you got to live a little. Some baking recipes are complicated. This one is not. It’s basically mix together, put into sheet pan, and bake. And you know I love easy recipes. Alright, let’s make these delicious banana bars.

Jun042018

Is Body Fat Percentage Important?

Yesterday was a rest day, but it started with a relatively in-depth test called a DXA Scan. This seven minute x-ray gives you more detail about your body composition than calipers, scales and hand-held devices and while it costs $45, there are massive benefits to using it. While we generally don’t find it necessary to track every rep and count every calorie, measuring your progress and results are often crucial to success. When you consider someone who is extremely fit, you might think of an Olympic decathlete. Whether they’re throwing, jumping or running, the world’s best measure every inch and second, because that allows them to improve.

‘Measurables’ hold us accountable and therefore allow us to get better every single session. If you lifted 10 lbs for 10 reps one day with a certain technique, you wouldn’t necessarily be very happy if you used that same technique and only lifted 10 lbs for 9 reps the next time you performed. You’d want to either lift 11 lbs for 10 reps or 10 lbs for 11 reps, if you’re maintaining all of the other factors taken into consideration while exercising, such as rest intervals and technique based numbers such as eccentric/concentric timing, etc.

Jun032018

Hungry Got a New Job

Hungry & Fit started as a personal blog before it transformed into a food & fitness blog. We used it to document our cross-country trip to find a new life in a place we’d never been, but we’ve actually kept you in the dark about a lot of our own personal projects. Recently, Hungry started a new job, however, working for one of the most impactful animal welfare organizations in the world.

If you’ve been following him on Facebook or Instagram, you’ve probably noticed a whole lot of pictures of new dogs. These are shelter dogs from the adoption center where he works. Before, he was a manager for a feral kitten rescue, but now Hungry has the opportunity to work with both dogs and cats, of all ages, breeds and conditions. We’re talking about a lot of unique personalities here.