Monthly Archives: February 2020

Feb242020

The Ultimate On-The-Go Protein Drink

It is time to talk about protein again. If you’ve been following the blog since 2012, you’ve seen us talk about many different products in the realm of food science/nutrition/diet, etc. We’ve tested and reviewed dozens and dozens of supplements. While we don’t write about all of those items, we’ve focused a lot on one brand: Optimum Nutrition. Since 2007, I’ve used ON’s products for a variety of goals. They helped me as a high-level athlete and more importantly, they helped me as a person with a normal lifestyle. Why do I enjoy their products?

They taste good.
They’re reasonably priced.
I trust the brand.

Feb232020

Boxing Recap: Thoughts on Fury vs Wilder II

There was a lot of controversy surrounding the finish of the first fight, but that really isn’t the case for the rematch. As we mentioned two days ago in our prediction, anything can happen when it comes to boxing, especially heavyweight boxing. I said that the second least likely finish behind a Wilder win by decision was a Fury finish, but Tyson walked into that ring with a point to prove. He is the greatest heavyweight of this era.

Feb222020

How to Stay Positive When Things Don’t Go Your Way

How do you manage to stay positive no matter what life throws your way? Does anyone have a surefire way of doing this? I can’t say that we do, but wouldn’t it be amazing if there was a way to always turn your day around? (Stay positive.)

Blogging has been challenging lately because my keyboard is malfunctioning. It is a very expensive Macbook and the problem is in the most recent operating system update. Letters, words and even sentences will randomly be inserted into my typing. Plugging in a USB keyboard won’t work. Apple Support offered a solution that didn’t work at all. It takes me 75 minutes to complete 60 minutes of type work, whether that includes emails for work, writing articles or completing school assignments. For someone who is all about efficiency, this is terrible! (Stay positive.)

Feb212020

Predictions for Wilder vs Fury II (The Rematch)

This is a fight that I’ve been waiting for, but at the same time, I don’t want to happen. Why? You have two of the best boxers in the world who are the two best heavyweight boxers. Joshua lost his claim with his loss to Ruiz and his rematch actually removed him further from that conversation. How? His mystique of greatness had been entirely taken away from him. His confidence was shook to the core and the whole world saw it. While he outboxed Ruiz, Joshua lost confidence in his ability as a fighter, which is why he changed his style so dramatically.

That is not the case with these two.

They both still have that shroud of greatness over them and when someone falls tomorrow, they’ll lose that aura. Sure, it will leave us with one undisputed champion of the world, but one of the greatest boxing personalities of the past decade will surely begin to fade away. Now, obviously, that all depends on the finish. While anything can happen in a boxing match, especially a heavyweight boxing match, I’d say that this fight ends one of two ways, 9 out of 10 times.

Wilder by KO.

Fury by decision.

Deontay is my favorite boxer in the world. Currently, with GSP’s inactivity, he is my favorite fighter in the world. He is exactly that… a fighter. I’ll quickly admit that Fury is a better boxer, but Deontay’s knockout power is on an entirely different level. I’m shocked that Fury rose in the 12th in their last fight. It almost seemed like some form of divine intervention, but lightning doesn’t strike twice. If Deontay floors him again, he won’t get up, especially with an extra 20 lbs of pure muscle packed on his frame. If, however, Fury has an absolutely flawless fight and avoids any knockout punches, he will absolutely beat him by decision, probably somewhere around 9 rounds to 3, or so.

Again, anything can happen, but they’d probably need to fight 20 times before Fury knocks out Deontay. They’d probably need to fight 40 times before Deontay beats Fury by decision, especially with Fury looking in such great shape. Deontay could knock him out at any point, but I think somewhere around the 9th or 10th round is most likely. Fury’s conditioning looks good, but a certain level of fatigue is inevitable and just like in the Ortiz rematch, it only takes a second. Deontay will wait a whole fight for one second.

Either way, I’ll recognize the winner of this fight as the undisputed heavyweight champion of the world. Joshua would be looking up to them, not the other way around. That does, to some degree, depend on the nature of the finish but as I mentioned, I don’t see many outcomes other than those two. Sure, you can argue that despite standing Fury shouldn’t have been allowed to continue in the last fight but Jack Reese probably made the right call there, especially with Fury outboxing him the whole match. I was alright with the draw decision, but it certainly shouldn’t happen again.

I hope Deontay wins, but it really is 50/50 going into the fight, in terms of who will win. That is heavyweight boxing. I think Fury would have an easier time continuing his career with a loss than Deontay would because his legacy is stronger. Deontay needs this win by KO and then a win by KO over Joshua to really push himself into that upper echelon of heavyweight boxing names. His knockout percentage might be the best of all time, but he really needs more wins over bigger names.

It’d be nice if the rest of the card was a bit more exciting, but I’d gladly pay for the PPV just for this main event.

BOMBZQUAD!

(Photo credit: AP)

Feb182020

Bring Back the Morning Star Riblet!

As most of our longtime readers know, just like everyone else in the world, we have eating preferences. These aren’t just rooted in what tastes good or what will help us achieve our fitness related goals. These decisions are heavily rooted in what we feel comfortable eating from an ethical standpoint. For example, many of the large chocolate companies were found to use child/slave labor in Western Africa. We don’t eat Hershey’s as a result. (You can find out more about this via The Dark Side of Chocolate.) While Hershey’s acknowledged their wrongdoing, after Whole Foods put pressure on them, and vowed to change their practices, we’re skeptical until we see results.

Another one of our issues is with the agriculture industry, specifically with the treatment of livestock. We only buy cage free eggs from the store. I try to consume free range meat. Also, we try to limit the amount of meat in the house, especially since Alana doesn’t eat any. We’ve taken a liking to using alternatives over the years and while we’ve enjoyed many brands, our go-to has always been Morningstar Farms. We enjoy their wide variety of products, which include both vegetarian and vegan options. They try to provide you with non-meat versions of meat favorites such as chicken nuggets and bacon.

And riblets.

Feb152020

5 Awesome Health Benefits of Kratom Leaves

There are several health benefits of kratom leaves that you should know about. Check out our list here to learn about these benefits.

It seems like every convenience store lately has a sign advertising kratom. You’ve heard about it, but you’ve always been a little nervous—You don’t know much, so you figure it’s best to stay away.

Still, questions linger: What are the benefits of kratom? Is it safe? Why do people take it? Could it be good for you, personally? Well, it’s finally time to get some answers.

Feb142020

Be Your Own Valentine!

Every single year, we take a glimpse on social media and see our streams filled with a complete variety of statuses on Valentine’s Day. They range from extremely happy to very sad. Fortunately, for us, we’ve been able to share the past nine together. While we usually avoid presents (since we go so crazy on our birthday and Christmas), we’re not shy about enjoying a really nice dinner together. Last year we enjoyed a meal at celebrity chef Scott Conant’s The Ponte in Los Angeles. (I just learned that is is permanently closed.) It was both romantic and delicious. This year, tonight, we’re going to Gabrielle Restaurant, here in New Orleans. We’re looking forward to it.

Whether you have someone to spend the night with, and regardless if you do or don’t have plans, we want you to take a moment to value the most important person in your life… YOU!

Feb122020

Built Bar: The Ultimate Unbiased Review

Welcome back, everyone, to another episode of it took me forever to publish this article. How long? Well, way back in late June of last year, Charles from Built Bar reached out to us and asked us to provide an honest review of their “fairly new” protein bar. They’re not fairly new anymore. Within a week, they arrived, but were completely melted into oblivion as our delivery driver left them in the sun. Logan from Built Bar quickly sent us another box and we grabbed them without any issues since Hurricane Barry protected them from the sun.

So, here is the honest review.

If you don’t like any of the protein bars you’ve ever eaten, you should buy THIS.

Feb112020

Celebrating Tet Fest in New Orleans!

Bao!

When we decided to move from Los Angeles to New Orleans, we knew that there would be less diversity. Even though New Orleans is one of the most diverse cities in the country, especially with its rich history, it is hard to compare any city in this country to Los Angeles or New York. We were, however, quite surprised when we discovered that there was a massive Vietnamese population here.

Feb042020