epic dad's day

Happy Father's Day to all fathers- earthly and the one and only heavenly!

since i am currently in competition mode, for once we didn't go out to eat to celebrate:( it's crazy cause that's normally the very thing we do. celebrations call for EATING in our house. couldn't even do fro-yo :evil: all in due time though. we spent QT with our families and each other:

my two loves... big Nnamdi and little Nnamdi.

i didn't make Sonny suffer completely- we went to my parents house to visit my folks and my mom cooked a nice T-bone steak meal for my dad. for the first time ever, i could only smell and look but not touch or eat:

talk. about. torture. mac n cheese is at the TOP of the list of foods i can't wait to eat again.

one of Sonny's gifts was a heart rate monitor watch- a black and gold Polar FT7!

just what he wanted! do you wear one when you workout?

if not, consider it. there are soooo many makes and models, but a basic one is all you'll ever need, IMO. i did check out some reviews first. how they enhance your workouts:

accurate calorie counter- who doesn't want to know this info?? don't trust that elliptical or treadmill number :-|
ensure you are at an appropriate intensity level. if your heart rate gets too high your activity can become counter productive; too low and you're not pushing hard enough to gain any substantial health benefits.
find and monitor your target heart rate (50-85% of your maximum HR). you can find this number *roughly* by subtracting your age from 220.
your watch will tell you which zones you are in so that you can burn optimal fat, carbohydrates, or sugar.

fat burning 50-60% ideal for endurance and weight loss; the body uses stored fat as fuel.
endurance 60-70% ideal for endurance and weight loss; the body uses stored fat as fuel.
aerobic 70-80% cardiovascular and muscular strength and endurance; burns fats and carbs in this zone.
anaerobic 80-90% enhances lung capacity; muscles become tired and breathing becomes heavy. working hard and burning sugar.
V02 Max 90-100% helps enhance speed in athletes; can only exercise in this zone for a short period of time as the muscles go quickly into oxygen debt.

prevent overtraining - maximize the efficiency of your training while minimizing the opportunity for injury.
provides feedback on your improvements over time.

he can't wait to put it to use! me neither cause i WILL be borrowing it.