For years we’ve all seen the Viagra ads. They are on TV, in newspapers and magazines, at sporting events, heck I think they even advertise on the inside of lollipop wrappers to get the kids hooked at an early age. Hmmm. Viagra lollipops anyone? They’ve done such a great job at associating their brand with sex that it makes you wonder how anyone actually has sex without Viagra?

In addition to providing injunctive assistance to men who might actually have some sort of a problem (which may be a good thing, but maybe not too), the boys behind Viagra are clearly, clearly, clearly targeting a much younger and healthier audience in the hopes of getting them to use Viagra for purely recreational purposes. There is ZERO doubt in my mind about this.

Now, I’ve long wondered what the heck is supposed to be so magical about “the little blue pill”? I mean, does it make you last longer? Does it make you bigger? Does it turn you into a raging sexual animal? And while we’re at it, does Red Bull actually give you wings? The problem is, everyone has these questions, but no one with experience is willing to talk about it. Unfortunately, this leaves us with only one side of the story, Pfizer’s commercial messaging!

Well, I decided I was going to get the answers! So I got some Viagra, and here’s what happened.

Before we get started, there is something we should get out of the way up front. Any Viagra review is, by necessity, going to involve a lot of hot, steamy sex. This is something my wife was none too happy about. In hindsight, I probably should have involved her more in that part… (I don’t care who you are, that was funny!)

How to Get Some Viagra

Listen. You don’t want to go messing around with online pharmacies and off-shore doctors. There is a lot of fake crap out there! And this is your health involved here. So just go see your regular doctor and say something like, “hey, I want some Viagra”. If you are healthy enough, and you have a conversation about your rationale for using it, I’m sure it will be no problem.

WARNINGS! DANGER WILL ROBINSON!!!

Lets talk about the label on this stuff. First of all, the active ingredient is called Sildenafil. By most medicine label standards, this one seems kind of tame. I mean, I don’t see anything about bleeding anuses or anything. However, possible side effects include:

Diarrhea, dizziness, flushing, headache, heartburn, mild temporary vision changes, blurred vision, sensitivity to light, stuffy nose, or upset stomach.

What the heck is flushing anyway? Other than what you do when you get hit with the diarrhea they warn about…

They also Caution:

This medicine may cause dizziness, drowsiness, lightheadedness, fainting or blurred vision.

Because when you are rock hard, what you need is to be drowsy.

What is interesting to note are the Storage recommendations:

Store this medicine at 77 degrees, away from heat moisture and light. Brief storage between 59 and 86 degrees F is permitted. Do not store in the bathroom.

Do not store in the bathroom? Um. Most medicine cabinets are in the bathroom, so what’s up with that?

Common uses: This medicine is a phosphodiesterase inhibitor used for treating erectile dysfunction . It may also be used for other conditions as determined by your doctor.

There are several warnings that come with the prescription. Basically, it warns you not to take Viagra with drugs such as nitrates, high blood pressure meds, narcotics, etc. Also, it you’ve been using any sort of drugs or device to get an erection, or if you have eye problems, ulcers, heart problems you need to stay away from Viagra.

But the best warning of all?

“CHILDREN; safety and effectiveness in children have not been confirmed.”

Good lord! Who would feed this stuff to children? More importantly, I’m dying to know what would happen if you did!

Anyway, they also tell you “How to use this medicine”:

Take this medicine by mouth with or without food. It may not work as quickly if you take it with a high-fat meal. It’s usually taken about 1 hour before sexual activity, but may be taken anywhere from 4 hours to a half hour before.

Ok. Now that I know how to use it. Let’s get on with it.

Here’s What Happened

I’m going to tell this part in sort of a narrative story like manner. I think it plays out a little better like this.

John P.: Hey baby. You’re never going to guess what I got.
The Wife: Did you buy another car?!?
John P.: No, no! I got you a surprise!
The Wife: A new purse?
John P.: Um no.
The Wife: Some new shoes?
John P.: Um. No. What part of “you’re never going to guess…” didn’t you get?
The Wife: Oh. Well, tell me.
John P.: Viagra!
The Wife: What?
John P.: Yep. Now we’re going to see what this baby can do with super-unleaded in the system!
The Wife: Oh brother…

Well, you can use your imagination on the rest of this highly romantic, sweep-her-off-her-feet banter. You’ll probably do better than I did. But eventually I did get her to agree to a test run of the new and medically-improved me.

So, about a half hour before our scheduled departure on the Love Train, I popped a 50mg dose of the blue wonder. I also drank some water. I hadn’t had anything substantial to eat, so it was more or less on an empty stomach. Then we waited.

Well, we weren’t really waiting. We were doing other stuff. Normal stuff. But I was standing by just waiting to “spring to life”, although I was also trying not to really think about it so as to not ruin the test results. And we kept waiting, and waiting. But guess what. The urgency never came. In fact, I could have probably gone to sleep and that would have been that!

But, being a man, eventually I did tire of waiting (big surprise), and it came time to get busy and see what this baby could do! So after setting the stage with a little romantic music (Beasty Boys, Run DMC and the always popular 50 Cent) we settled down for some sweet, sweet lovin’. It was fantastic (just imagine if I didn’t say that… I would be in big trouble!), but there was just one problem. Um. It wasn’t “different”. Well, actually, it was.

The problem is, as a result of taking the pill I experienced a few mild to medium side effects:

• It made me pretty tired. I mean, before any work was done!
• I got a little dizzy.
• I felt a little sick at my stomach.
• I got a headache.
• My eyes got pretty sensitive to light.
• I got a little pain in the center of my chest.
• Strangely, my nose got congested.

As you can see, a perfect set of situations for a romantic engagement… Oh, I should mention that prior to taking the pill I was in perfect condition. I had none of the symptoms above and am positive they were a direct consequence of taking the pill. All began within 20-60 minutes of consumption.

So basically what happened was that the pill gave me the same symptoms as a very weak version of the flu. I went from feeling 100% good to feeling 50% bad. Now, at this point, I’d like to break away from the details and get to a few generalizations.

5 Things I Learned From Taking Viagra

1. Viagra doesn’t make you (or her) “horny”. You’re still responsible for that part my friend. But if you’re taking this for recreational purposes, that’s probably not a problem… Still, don’t be thinking that Viagra is an aphrodisiac. You’re going to need to eat those oysters and take the Spanish Fly if that’s what you want.
2. Viagra will not make you bigger. That’s right. There will be no proud moment of “standing tall”, basking in your own manly magnificence. Unless, like me, you were already blessed with the “magnificent” gene. (Come now, you knew there was going to be a penis joke somewhere, didn’t you?) Besides, the guys from Enzyte already went to jail for promising to make you bigger, so don’t be thinking that anything other than surgery is going to do that!
3. Sex is not going to last any longer because of Viagra. (With one exception that I’ll get to in a minute. Get it? A minute? Never mind.) If you have an early arrival problem, you’re going to need to get some cream to take care of that or something. (Think of Bea Arthur.) Because Viagra is not a desensitizer.
4. You might be able to have a little more sex, but not much. Let’s face it, men have a refractory period for a reason. Sex usually requires a lot of work (it burns a lot of calories too), and most guys need to recuperate. Don’t expect that this pill will supercharge your cardiovascular system. If you’re a fat, out of breath slob… you’re still going to need an oxygen tank. So, even if you could do it again, will you really want to? Probably not. Especially not if it makes you as sick as it made me.
5. This crap is expensive!!! Yeah, are you ready for this. $16 PER PILL! And it ain’t covered by most insurance. So, you need to consider what is your money best spent on. Cause $16 will buy liquor, flowers and chocolate. Or it will get you a single blue pill. Do the math. A bottle of 30 pills goes for nearly a whopping $500. So buy a Corvette with that monthly payment and you’ll probably get more action!

The Finish

Well, in the end, Viagra for me was a flop. I was expecting to come away with hard evidence that this pill would really pump up the action for even an average performer. (And the little lady was expecting an extraordinary experience!) Instead, I came to the realization that Viagra’s benefits are fairly flacid. The long wait was certainly nothing to be excited about, and I wouldn’t bend over backwards to try and get my hands on it or anything.

Seriously though, if you have genuine Erectile Disfunction I imagine that it could make life very tough. Intimacy is a key component of our humanity, and you should not suffer in silence. I honestly think that Viagra might assist with obtaining enough of an erection for intimacy, and that is priceless (regardless of side effects). Please see a doctor about your issue!

But for those of you who have been wondering for a long time what recreational use of the little blue pill will do for you, I offer the following.

There are times in life when it’s worth it to look for the quick fix. But a sexual encounter with your loved one is not one of them. We were biologically wired to enjoy what we’ve got, and no pill is going to magically make that better. (This one actually made it worse.) So rather than letting the marketing professionals dominate your brain patterns with thoughts of enhanced sex, how about if we get back to doing it the old school way?

Dinner, wine, chocolate and romance will end in a far more gratifying experience than a cold hard pill.

Now, if you think this information is actually valuable to the Web you’re going to have to overcome any personal inhibitions and Tweet, Digg and link to this article. Otherwise it’s going to be lost amongst the SPAM when people are searching for real Viagra information.

Oh, and if you’ve tried Viagra, please tell us about it! I’ve already blown my cover, but you can be as anonymous as you want in the comments, so this is your chance to chime in!

Related posts:

1. Buy Cheap Viagra And SEO
2. The Scariest Thing on the Internet
3. My Brand New Mega Yacht – The John P!

Wow. Has it really only been less than 5 weeks since we started the Health Challenge? That is so hard for me to believe. Granted, I started a couple of weeks before everyone else, but really even I’ve only been doing this for about 6-7 weeks. So let’s review the results so far shall we?

• In less than 5 weeks since I officially started I’ve lost 15 pounds. That is 8.6% of my body weight.
• If we include the 2 weeks prior, I’ve lost 21 pounds. That is 10.8% of my body weight
• I’ve lost 3.5% of body fat.
• I’ve gone from doing 30 curls and 35 pushups in one day to 50 plus 300!
• I’ve lost at least 2 inches off of my waist and people have really been commenting that my appearance is dramatically different.

Now, it’s also important to note that I have not spent a single penny on diet aids (no pills, plans, books or anything else), I’ve not stepped a foot inside a gym, and in fact, the only weights I’ve used have been two 30 pound dumbbells. The only thing I have used since I started, is a whole bucket-load of discipline. And this should absolutely prove that you can do it too. You just have to want it!

Related posts:

1. The John P. Health Challenge Update #2
2. The John P. Health Challenge Update #1
3. The John P. Health Challenge – Are You Up For It?

Ok gang. Whether you are on my Health Challenge or not, International Push-up Day is only hours away at this point, and I must be the only fool on the planet who was ever willing to pay for your push-ups!

Don’t forget that I’m going to make a $1 donation to Heifer International to help the needy for every push-up you do (up to $1,000 total)! So if you won’t do them for yourself, at least do them for the poor people around the world!

There are three ways your push-ups turn into credits for Heifer:

• My strong preference is that you post them on Twitter as you’re doing them. So if you do 10, send a Tweet that says something as simple as “10 pushups #HealthChallenge”. It’s important to add the #HealthChallenge for those of us keeping and eye out for tweets with this tag. If you don’t know how, you can use TweetDeck (Cali Lewis shows you how).
• You can leave a comment here on this page each time you do them. Same thing, just drop it below.
• If you have a blog, you can keep track of your push-ups on your blog. Just link back to this page to create a trackback I can follow when you post your first update, then keep updating your blog post throughout the day. I’ll go to all the linked blogs in the comments to count up the push-ups within the next couple of days.

A few other little things.

• It’s important that you post periodic updates about your progress through the day. Otherwise, no one is going to believe you! :-)
• If you want to maximize your push-ups, don’t do more than 75% of your max at any one time! This is very important. You can do a lot more if you only do 50% of your max, but you do it repeatedly throughout the day.
• No one individual is going to get more than $25 credit towards the donation. This is for everyone’s benefit. We need to spread the word and have a lot of participants in order to help motivate everyone. So, how many people have you recruited?

That’s it! I look forward to seeing everyone’s progress, and I will be starting my push-ups at 12:01am Dallas time tomorrow! I promise to either set, or raise, the bar for everyone! Let’s have fun!

And for those of you who don’t know what Heifer International does, here is a little video. You should really think about supporting their project.

Related posts:

1. International Health Challenge Push-Up Day is Saturday May 16th!
2. Swiss Air Force – Push The Limit
3. The John P. Health Challenge Update #2

The Boothe Eye Care & Laser Center in Plano, Texas advertises constantly on the radio in the Dallas area about Dr. Boothe being the “world’s most experienced” laser surgeon. Well, my wife was thinking about getting this done, and she did a little poking around on their Web site and noticed that they offered a FREE consultation, so she decided to go see if she was eligible.

(I should point out here that she’d pretty much made up her mind to do it, so this “client” was theirs to lose!) So, anyway, she made an appointment to go in and find out what all was entailed with this surgery, being pretty sure she wanted to do it, but a little anxious about it. Perfectly normal I would say… Everything seemed fine until she arrived to the office, where she learned she needed to pay $150 to have the consultation!

It should be noted that they advertise on the radio and internet that the consultation is FREE (um, see the image above). And she called them out on this, but their excuse was, “well, the money goes towards the surgery if you decide to have it.” She actually got roped into giving them her credit card and taking a seat before she called me because she was so uncomfortable with the “bait and switch” tactic they were employing.

By the way, now that I do a little research, Dr. Booth has a TERRIBLE rating on DoctorScoreCard.com. Just 4 out of 10! But I’ll get to that in a moment…

On With the Story…

When we talked she told me what was going on and I advised her to just go tell the woman she changed her mind, and that she didn’t want the appointment and to refund the money. Somehow though, the lady talked her into staying (they must be awfully smooth to override a husband). So she went ahead with the consultation and determined that she is actually a candidate for eye surgery, after which came the high-pressure sales pitch!

At this point, she had the information we needed to make an informed decision, and she told them that she wanted to talk it over with her husband before moving forward, at which time they told her that the pricing she had been given prior to the consultation was only good while she was in the office. If she left and then wanted the surgery it was going to cost $200 more because the pricing would no longer be valid!

Now, I don’t know about you, but I find this type of behavior to be outrageous and completely out of character with what I would expect from a “doctor”. I guess that Dr. Boothe must have hired people who used to sell vacation packages or used cars to sell his eye surgery. But whatever the case, it is absolutely unethical to pressure people into making a snap decision on a surgical operation. My guess is that they only continue this practice because no one is talking loudly about it, or because they can’t cut through the noise of the Internet. We’ll see if this blog post does the trick, shall we?

Some Bad, Bad Experiences

So, why should anyone trust a doctor who begins his relationship with clients this way? Frankly, I can’t answer that question. I wouldn’t. But in my investigation after the fact, things got much worse. Here are some direct quotes from DoctorScoreCard.com about other people’s experiences with Dr. Boothe:

• From someone who had a similar experience to my wife’s:
  

  But I soon found out I would not get to meet with Dr. Boothe unless I paid a $150 deposit toward the surgery! So, that was it…I was out of there!! They were herding people around like cattle and I couldn’t wait to escape.

• From someone who had tear duct surgery:
  

  He’s very matter-of-factly condescending, and is quite capable of making you feel quite stupid in the event you have the audacity to disagree. So, he attempted to do the surgery and it hurt a lot. I’m not sure if he didn’t use enough anesthetic, didn’t wait long enough, or what, but it was terrible. My mother and I protested mid-surgery and left right away never to return again. Later I found a new family doctor in the area and decided to ask her what the eye issue could be. She said it wasn’t an eye issue at all, it was an issue related to allergies. She said Boothe should have known this and redirected me to an allergist and should never have attempted surgery.

• From a former employee of Dr. Boothe’s who Dr. Boothe is suing:
  

  It bothers me to see a man who has almost blinded people, talks to his staff in the manner he does and hides behind his papers. if you dont want people to say bad things about you, or disstroy your reputation then maybe you should do your job, maybe you should get off your high horse and rejoin reality and treat people as humans and not door mates, it truely makes me wonder how you treat your family.

• By someone who claims to have felt treated like cattle:
  

  My counselor’ (not a doctor) finally came and explained the procedure. I finally agreed (I shouldn’t have) and showed up at 6:45 am for an 8:00 am surgery. I got to the waiting room at 7:35 with 4 people ahead of me. At 10:00 I was finally escorted to the surgery room AFTER more than 6 people who had arrived after me. At 11:00 I left the surgery, not performed, because they took every last person in the room before me. I asked, NO EXPLANATION. I told them why I was leaving…not one person spoke to me. This business is run like a cattlecall with very little regard to the individual.

• This one from a patient with multiple problems:
  

  I would highly recommend not using Dr. Boothe. The man is rude, egotistical, arrogant, unprofessional, and uncaring. He yells at and threatens his employees within earshot of his patients (I witnessed this in the operating room, of all places). He has no personality and no people skills. The only thing you’ll get out of him is specifically what you ask him, so you’d better hope you know the right questions to ask. He’s really only interested in getting your money and offers you a discount if you get your procedure done the same week you have your first consultation. Don’t fall for this — you really need to take the time to research this and make sure you’re making the right decision.

• This supposedly from another employee:
  

  I have read over other comments and would like to confirm that as a former employees wife Dr. Boothe is an out of control employer. He belittles employees infront of patients and peers. He uses profanity while doing this. Patients call frequently to the office to complain about this but he praises himself that he rules his office with an iron fist. (Something he is quite proud of). His employees are afraid of him but apparently need a job so sit back and take it. While this one didn’t and I wish the others were able to do the same. As for his number of lasiks performed. He does 120-150 in one day. Ask which one you will be if you plan on scheduling. Advertising every 10 minutes on the radio brings in alot of people. Not too many patients come referred by others. Too bad they don’t know what kind of physician they are supporting.

• Here is another very bad complaint:
  

  Now I can’t see near or far….everything is blurry and I can read up close ONE WORD AT A TIME….don’t ask me to read a sentence or a street sign. the office tried to rush me into doing the second eye before the first healed…Then I would be almost blind in both eyes and unable to work DO NOT TRUST THIS MAN ….he just wants your money and thinks he’s above the law because he makes you sign the desclaimers. On the lasik…they did not want me to read the warnings but I had to write in my own handwriting that i read and understood it but they didn’t let me read it. i CANNOT BELIEVE I WAS SO STUPID.

• Another client complaining about their treatment:
  

  The lasik surgeon I chose does not meet the reputation thought. Long wait times, numbers mean more than quality and an unfriendly atmosphere along with a surgeon who has no personality have left me with subpar lasik at this point. I was told to give it a year but my review is based on my experience. I will follow up in 6 months and let you know if it gets better. I feel like when your wait 6 hours just for your pre surgery and 2.5 hours each followup you should get better service and have experience employees who have college degrees.

• And the complaints range back to at least 2006:
  

  This doctor has committed malpractice in his employees eyes but threatens them with legal action of a non-disclosure agreement they have sign. He has also fallen asleep during surgery (This can be confirmed by his staff). He also treats his staff like they are slaves and not human beings, yes they are getting paid but even I wouldn’t work for what I’m hearing them say he calls them and the way he treats them. He is always firing his office staff because of incompetency when he is the one who is incompetent. Today he has had two of his staff walk out of the surgery room and quit. One being a technician and another being an ophthalmologist. His office is also out of regulations concerning health laws. I highly do not recommend going to this doctor.

• Even the owner of DoctorScoreCard.com believes Dr. Boothe hired someone to illegally threaten, defame and spam him.
  

  This is the first doctor to resort to these unethical tactics. Most doctors are good and this one lone doctor does not represent the majority.

  Dr. Boothe: When you read this, I suggest you contact Bill Stanley, the spammer, and tell him to stop damaging your reputation more than you already have done for yourself.

  Bill Stanley, the spammer, with the help of his international team, is filling websites with hateful lies about me and my family and even worse… he is damaging the reputations of innocent doctors on this site by posting false information about them, which we have been deleting all day. The spammer is committing crimes of harassment, defamation, libel, and destruction of property.

  For everyone else: We stand up for your right to speak freely. Don’t let anyone ever intimidate you to give up your rights.

Further reading:

• Here is a list of lawsuits filed against Dr. William Boothe
• Here is a long court document which asserts that Dr. Boothe was attempting to publish derogatory information about his competitors on the Web.

So, I guess people have to make their own mind up. But as for me, I’m not letting my wife subject her vision to this physician’s practice.

Related posts:

1. My $2,550 Routine Doctor Exam – WTF?!?
2. Celebrity Plastic Surgery
3. I Discovered the Secret to Happiness at 7-11

I’m back with another Health Challenge update for you guys. It’s been about two weeks since the last update, and when I last came to you I weighed 183 (down from a high of 195). Those of you who are checking in on the Health Challenge page have seen me documenting the changes occurring as a result of the Challenge, most recently, the fact that I dropped below 180 today for the first time in a long time.

Here is the current summary of activity and results. I did workout on the days in between, but didn’t document except on days when I took a measurement.

As you can see, my body fat percentage has decreased by approximately 2% in these three weeks. I actually lost about an additional 1% in the previous couple of weeks, and I’m looking forward to breaking the 20% barrier and being down in the teens once again. Ideally, I would like to be at 10%, so we’ll see how close I can get in our remaining 2 months. That is going to be tough to do given the relatively slow progress in the last month, but I guess I’d be happy to even hit 15% at this point.

Keep in mind that I’ve not yet begun to incorporate any aerobic conditioning into my routine. It’s all been strength training up to this point. So I think that when I start getting on the treadmill in the next couple of weeks I might begin to burn through body fat a little quicker. We’ll see. In the meantime, I’ve got a few things for you guys to check out that were shared with me over the last week.

• Since International Pushup Day is only a couple of weeks away, you might want to try the 100 Pushups workout to get in shape for it. I’m trying it starting at Week 3.
• Hans sent this little article over: Neuroscience of junk-food cravings, researched in a Chili’s dumpster. It’s about why we eat the crap we eat.
• And Michael sent this one: INTRODUCTION TO THE PALEOLITHIC DIET. It’s about why some people are slimmer, stronger, and faster.

Finally, remember folks that caloric intake restriction is absolutely key to the Health Challenge. All the exercise in the world is not going to amount to anything if you don’t limit the incoming calories! So basically don’t eat anything you don’t need to.

Related posts:

1. The John P. Health Challenge Update #3
2. The John P. Health Challenge – Are You Up For It?
3. The John P. Health Challenge Update #1

You know, each morning when I wake up and go to get dressed I’m like, “Man, this whole getting dressed thing sure is boring. I wish there were a way to spice things up a bit!” Well, if you’re like me, have I got the answer for your daily hum-drums!

How about this? Next time you need to put your jeans on, have a couple of buddies hold them, climb up onto the second floor and jump down into them! Don’t worry about any potential bodily harm from this methodology… surely the pants will protect you!

Related posts:

1. This Man Can Literally Fly – Wingsuit Base Jumping
2. Machine Literally Burns Saltwater AND Cures Cancer!
3. The Famous Flying Jump Kick

Folks, a few weeks ago I went to the doctor to get a physical. Nothing special whatsoever. Just a routine annual physical. It was a two part visit. The first time I went they took blood to run the normal tests (I’m healthy). Then I went a few days later to see the doctor and get checked out.

So, I leave the office and a couple weeks later I get some paperwork from my insurance company informing me that the doctor has billed them $2,550.00 for the visit, and they were paying $2,046.00 after the healthplan discount. What the FXXK?!?

I’m not kidding when I tell you that the doctor visit was less than 30 minutes. Probably 20 minutes of examination and discussion of the blood test results – which were fine so not much to discuss. So I’m trying to figure out what the hell these OUTRAGEOUS charges are for? I mean, normally we just pay our $20 copay (or whatever) and go on our merry way, but if you wonder why the hell insurance keeps skyrocketing, it’s because the doctors are literally charging $5,000 per hour for blood work and consultation.

I’m so angry about this, it makes me distrust the entire medical community. This was not f-ing spinal surgery. The guy looked in my ears, squeezed my stomach, and sent me on my way. It’s got to be one of the biggest shams in the history of all damn time.

Has this happened to anyone else? And why isn’t everyone outraged?

Related posts:

1. Health Insurance, Home Depot Style
2. New Machine Converts Blood to Universal Type
3. Disturbing Sales Tactics (and More) at Dr. William Boothe’s “Boothe Eye Care & Laser Center” in Plano, Texas

Ok folks, I’m declaring Saturday, May 16, 2009, International Health Challenge push-up day. What the heck does that mean? Well, it means a few things:

1. Everyone will have 24 hours to do, and keep track of, as many push-ups as they can muster in one day!
2. Someone is going to do the most! Hmmm… can anyone out there challenge me? I think not!
3. We’re all going to be really sore on Sunday May 17th!

So, here in Dallas, not only am I going to do push-ups all day long, but I’m going to organize some sort of a Tweetup event for all the Health Challenge folks to get together!

Maybe a local park? Hotdogs, hamburgers and pushups? Whose with me on this? Oh, and of course if you can’t join us in Dallas, that doesn’t mean you can’t organize your own local event! Just spread the word and lets get people around the globe participating all together!

Just imagine how cool it will be if we have a hundred, or a thousand people giving their updates all day long on Twitter! I swear, that… would… ROCK!

Now, let’s talk about preparation for a marathon day of push-ups so that everyone can do as many as humanly possible. That’s right, I said everyone! Even the ladies, and those of you who don’t think you can even do a single pushup! Read on cause I’ve got something for you!

First of all, let’s define what a proper push-up looks like so there is no cheating! We’re going by US Marine Corps standards (because we don’t aim low!).

• A pushup begins in the prone position with feet together and hands placed on the ground shoulder-width apart.
• The next step is to bend your arms until your elbows are at a 90 degree angle while keeping your body rigid and straight.
• The finish comes when you straighten your arms and bring your elbows back to a locked straight position.

So, you can only count a push-up where your elbows first went to 90 degrees (arms parallel with the floor) and then returned to a locked position. That equals 1 (one) push-up.

Before everyone starts complaining, if I were REALLY going to make you do a USMC style pushups, they would go like this!

Now, push-ups are a very difficult exercise. In my case, I currently weigh 181 pounds. So I’m putting all of that weight on my back, arms and chest and lifting it repeatedly. Not everyone can do this, and women traditionally don’t do push-ups the same way as men, so there are two alternatives for those of you who have difficulty with this.

1. Do the exact same push-ups but put your knees on the floor. This will relieve a lot of the pressure on the arms because of the angle. Give it a try.
2. You can do the same push-ups but put your hands on a chair to increase the angle of attack, or a counter if you need a slightly greater angle.

Finally, we’re going to need to do a few things in order to accomplish this task:

• No exercises at all on Friday! Maybe even Thursday if you are really going to to at the record on Saturday.
• Drink a lot of water! Water will keep you hydrated and give you fuel to keep up your endurance.
• Eat small meals throughout the day Tuesday and Wednesday consisting of protein and carbohydrates.

I can’t wait to see who all participates and how many push-ups we all manage to do together! And as a final incentive, for every push-up reported as part of the HealthChallenge on Twitter on Wednesday, I’m going to donate $1 to Heifer International (up to $1,000). So, there are poor people counting on you to get healthy! Just make sure that you use the tag #HealthChallenge! Otherwise I might not be able to see and count your contributions. (I’m @johnpoz on Twitter by the way.)

Now, let’s get it on! And for some extra motivation, here is a girl who can beat us all at push-ups… so, no whining is allowed!

PS – Remember to spread the word. The more people do it, the more fun it will be for everyone!

Related posts:

1. International Push-up Day is Only Hours Away!
2. The John P. Health Challenge Update #2
3. The John P. Health Challenge – Are You Up For It?

For those of you who are keeping up with my Health Challenge, here’s my first update. I’ll try and give these updates weekly about how it’s going for me personally as well as some tips and things that might help you guys along.

Some of you know may know that I personally started the Health Challenge a few weeks before challenging the rest of you. My rationale was simple. I wanted to be able to set a good example. I wasn’t going to ask you to do anything that I wouldn’t or couldn’t do first.

Well, those of you who know me remember that I used to drink about 6 Cokes per day. And that doesn’t include all of the other candy I would eat. I was literally consuming almost a pound of sugar a day! Plus, I was eating whatever else I felt like, whenever I felt like it.

I am very, very fortunate to have the metabolism that I have, because I should weigh 400 pounds the way I was eating. I should also mention that I was doing no physical exercise whatsoever. I’ve been working 7 days a week, as many as 20 hours per day. Finally I got to the point where I was sick of feeling tired and unhealthy, and I decided to draw the line. So I quit all that.

I have had only 2 Cokes in nearly a month, plus one Long Island Ice Tea at a party. Other than that, the only thing I’ve had to drink is water. At first it was a little tough, but now that I’m doing it I realize how much more water that I drink than I was drinking Coke. This tells me that in addition to the Coke making me fat, I was also dehydrated a lot without knowing it!

I also cut out almost all of the candy. I might have just a little piece every day or two, but definitely less than the one candy bar per week limit I placed on myself. Instead, I shifted my snacking to healthy items like fruits and nuts and yogurt with fruit in it. You know what? They actually taste good! Surprise, surprise!

Now, back when I was consuming all that sugar, my body seemed to really crave it. I would have real highs and terrible lows in my energy levels. But since I cut it all out, I’ve stopped experiencing that! It turns out that the sugar was not helping me be energetic… it was sapping me of my energy!

Now, a few weeks ago I weighed 195 pounds (88.5 kgs), which is acceptable I guess for someone 6′1″ (1.85 meters). But ideally I wanted to be closer to 175 pounds. I’m happy to report that when I last stepped on the scale yesterday, I weighed 183 pounds. And since I’ve been working out daily in addition to my dietary changes, the people who know me have started to comment that I’m actually looking better. Now, my goal is to look at least as good as Hugh Jackman (the wife adores him). And believe me folks, I will! I don’t do anything half-assed!

So, I’d like to leave you with a few tips as we go into this next week together:

• Feel free to eat Yogurt when you feel snacky. The only restriction is… NO HIGH FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUP! But the kind with fruit in them is actually quite good for a sweet tooth.
• In general, stay away from HFCS! I’m convinced that stuff is the nectar of the Devil. NOTHING good can come of it.
• Keep an eye on the ingredient and nutrition labels on the food you’re buying. Choose organic when not cost prohibitive, avoid sugars, and look for foods that are low in Saturated Fats, and high in Fiber. Fiber helps you feel full by the way…
• At least 3 people have asked me if Sex counts for exercise on the Health Challenge. The answer is Yes! Read about why.
• Finally, for those of you who smoke. No lecture here. But will you please just consider quitting one more time in earnest? It’s good for you, and everyone around you.

Related posts:

1. The John P. Health Challenge – Are You Up For It?
2. The John P. Health Challenge Update #3
3. The John P. Health Challenge Update #2

On my Health Challenge, I asked you guys to try and cut the amount of food you are consuming by about half. Some of you probably thought I was crazy! But let me explain why this is such an important part of getting in shape.

It takes 3,500 calories worth of activity to burn one pound of fat in the human body. Now, the average person’s caloric intake should be around 2,000 calories or less per day, meaning that there are almost two day’s worth of food energy stored in a single pound of fat.

More important than simply looking at the storage, if we start talking about how much energy you actually burn in a given day, you’ll quickly see why unless you modify your eating habits, all the exercise in the world won’t help you!

If we refer to the list below, you’ll see that an average 155 person would need to do 7 hours of HIGH impact aerobics in order to burn just a single pound of fat! If you wanted to lose 10 pounds, we’re looking at 70 hours of high impact aerobics. Wanna work a pound off quicker? Four hours of boxing would almost burn a pound of fat…

The point is, if you keep shoving more calories into your system than you are consuming, you are never going to lose weight. You need to only be consuming enough that you aren’t painfully hungry all the time, and let your body tap the excess fat cells for energy in order to burn through them. And if you’re wondering how many calories are in different kinds of food, we’ll scroll to the end of the chart and see…

Now, the good folks over at WiseGeek.com put together a post that shows you how much you food you get in 200 calorie increments for a bunch of different kings of food. It could range from a whole plate of broccoli, to a one ounce piece of butter! So take a look at those and then think back to the exercise chart and what it’s going to take to burn that off!

Related posts:

1. The Importance Of Retirement Planning
2. Chart: Presidential Candidate Positions on Global Warming
3. The Importance of Net Neutrality

Hey folks, next week I’ve committed myself to starting a new Health Challenge. Well, technically I stole that name from Jack Finlayson, our CEO at Layered Tech. You see, every year Jack runs a Health Challenge for the folks at work. It works about like this…

• First of all, participants are all on the honor system. You can choose to participate or not, but if you are disqualified then you have to admit it and you aren’t eligible for the prizes that come at the end.
• There are some exercise requirements.
• There are some dietary requirements.
• It lasts for about 12 weeks.

At the end of the challenge, whoever has shown the most notable improvement wins! So, starting this coming Sunday, April 12, 2009, I’m going to be kicking off my own little health challenge right here for readers of my blog. Complete with glory and prizes! You’ve got the rest of this week to prepare, but then the progress begins next week!

Personally, I am starting out at 188.8 pounds and 22.5% bodyfat. My number one goal is to lose inches off my waist which is 34″. Ideally I would like to have a 31″ waist.

Here are the Rules

1. Almost completely eliminate sugar from the diet. No more candy, Coke, or other sugary drinks. In fact, nothing but water! One Coke and one candy bar per week are allowed.
2. Decrease food portions by 40-50% for all meals. Instead of eating whatever looks good, stop eating after you feel full. (Overall, I want to consume half the calories I used to.)
3. Snack all you want, but only fruit or nuts are allowed!
4. Exercise every single day. This doesn’t mean long exercise daily. It means frequent bursts of exercise. Pushups and situps as many times a day as you can squeeze them in. Whatever you are capable of, just lots of it!

In a few days I’ll give you my Marine Corps style workout schedule. Perhaps I’ll even video a few of the exercises guaranteed to get you in shape… That’s it! Now, some of you are going to have to follow a couple extra rules if you decide to go along with me here.

• If you are a big beer drinker, you are going to have to treat it the way I treat Coke. Cut it out! Only one or two per week!
• If you are a smoker, I would prefer to see you quit altogether, but at a minimum you must cut down by 50% during the Health Challenge.

My Progress

As I’m going through the health challenge I’m going to report back right here on my progress pretty regularly. I’m also going to tweet periodically about it, so if you aren’t following me on Twitter, feel free.

How to Join the Health Challenge

If you’d like in on this Challenge, here’s what all you can do:

• Drop your Twitter ID in the comments and I’ll follow you back (maybe you can follow each other too), as long as you promise to stick with it and give us all updates as well! Motivation is key people!
• You can give updates here in the comments on this blog, or via Twitter, or on your OWN blog, but your progression must be documented in order to be eligible for any sort of prize at the end.

Right now I don’t know what the prizes will be, but I’ll think of something if anyone actually joins me here and completes the challenge!

One last thought. A program like this always works best with peer support. So even if you don’t join in, how about sharing this with other people on your blog, or Facebook or Twitter or whatever. I’m committed, but I could use all the partners I can get!

Updates

• The John P. Health Challenge Update #1
• The John P. Health Challenge Update #2

Related posts:

1. The John P. Health Challenge Update #2
2. The John P. Health Challenge Update #1
3. The John P. Health Challenge Update #3

This evening I ate a 16oz. New York Strip, along with a bunch of other stuff, at The Weber Grill in Chicago. Mmmm! It was tasty.

But as good as the meal was, half the fun was the entertainment value. You see, my buddy Chris from Layered Tech and I braved the -10 degree temperatures and snow to walk 3 blocks to eat there. And when we got there we sat in the bar at a counter overlooking the Grillmeister!

The following photos came from my iPhone while he was preparing our, and many other, steaks. So, here’s to you o’ master of the flames! Budweiser should make a commercial about you.

Related posts:

1. Photos From San Francisco’s Bay Bridge Area
2. The Freedom Grill Hitchmount Portable BBQ Grill
3. Funny Foods From the Asian Market

I’m allergic to smoke. By allergic, I don’t mean that it simply bothers me. I mean, if exposed to smoke my lungs and throat swell shut. I have to literally take steroids to breath freely (after getting the hell away from the smoke obviously), and a ton of anti-histamines to keep my nose from shutting down and running like a faucet.

So, most of my friends that smoke know not to get near me when they’re doing it, and kindly go have a cigarette elsewhere before getting near me. But of course they always come to talk to me right after they have one, and then all that crap lingering in their lungs fills the room I’m in. And it bothers me. Not as bad as if they were actually smoking – but about 30% as bad. Still, I don’t say anything about it because I don’t want to sound like an asshole.

Well, a group of doctors from MassGeneral Hospital for Children in Boston coined the term “third-hand smoke” to refer to the heavy metals, carcinogens and even radioactive materials that come out of smoker’s lungs and get ingested by kids and non-smokers around them. Their study was just published in the Official Journal of Pediatrics. So to all of you parents who “only smoke when the kids aren’t around”, guess what. You’re still killing them.

Parents who smoke often open a window or turn on a fan to clear the air for their children, but experts now have identified a related threat to children’s health that isn’t as easy to get rid of: third-hand smoke.

That’s the term being used to describe the invisible yet toxic brew of gases and particles clinging to smokers’ hair and clothing, not to mention cushions and carpeting, that lingers long after second-hand smoke has cleared from a room. The residue includes heavy metals, carcinogens and even radioactive materials that young children can get on their hands and ingest, especially if they’re crawling or playing on the floor.
…
“Everyone knows that second-hand smoke is bad, but they don’t know about this,” said Dr. Jonathan P. Winickoff, the lead author of the study and an assistant professor of pediatrics at Harvard Medical School.

“When their kids are out of the house, they might smoke. Or they smoke in the car. Or they strap the kid in the car seat in the back and crack the window and smoke, and they think it’s okay because the second-hand smoke isn’t getting to their kids,” Dr. Winickoff continued. “We needed a term to describe these tobacco toxins that aren’t visible.”

Third-hand smoke is what one smells when a smoker gets in an elevator after going outside for a cigarette, he said, or in a hotel room where people were smoking. “Your nose isn’t lying,” he said. “The stuff is so toxic that your brain is telling you: ’Get away.’”
…
“The central message here is that simply closing the kitchen door to take a smoke is not protecting the kids from the effects of that smoke,” he said. “There are carcinogens in this third-hand smoke, and they are a cancer risk for anybody of any age who comes into contact with them.”

Among the substances in third-hand smoke are hydrogen cyanide, used in chemical weapons; butane, which is used in lighter fluid; toluene, found in paint thinners; arsenic; lead; carbon monoxide; and even polonium-210, the highly radioactive carcinogen that was used to murder former Russian spy Alexander V. Litvinenko in 2006. Eleven of the compounds are highly carcinogenic.

Read the entire article on the NYTimes site here, or read the actual original study in PDF here.

Oh, and here are a few nice little facts about second hand smoke:

• It is estimated that, in the United States each year, secondhand smoke exposure results in the hospitalization of 7,500 infants and 15,000 children due to lower respiratory tract infections.
• Secondhand smoke is responsible for between 150,000 and 300,000 lower respiratory tract infections in children under 18 months of age across the United States each year.
• If parents smoke around their children, the children can inhale the equivalent of 102 packs of cigarettes by age five
• A recent study found that air pollution levels were 82 percent lower on average in venues required by law to be smoke-free compared to those where smoking was permitted
• Asthma: Children who grow up with smokers in the family are more likely to have asthma by the age of six than children living in non-smoking households
• Smoky bars and casinos have up to 50 times more cancer-causing particles in the air than highways and city streets clogged with diesel trucks at rush hour.
• Nationwide, children exposed to secondhand smoke experience a total of seven million more days of missed school every year.
• Women married to a smoker have a 91 percent greater risk of heart disease.

Related posts:

1. News Flash: Smoking is Bad!
2. Smoke Screen Security
3. India Bans Smoking (almost)

So, it looks like thanks to the new Guns and Roses album being released soon, Dr. Pepper is going to give us ALL a free one. But you have to print out your coupon on Sunday! Enjoy.

Dr Pepper to deliver on its free-soda promise
TX State Wire
Published: November 20, 2008

LOS ANGELES (AP) – Dr Pepper is making good on its promise of free soda now that the release of Guns N’ Roses’ “Chinese Democracy” is a reality.

The soft-drink maker said in March that it would give a free soda to everyone in America if the album dropped in 2008. “Chinese Democracy,” infamously delayed since recording began in 1994, goes on sale Sunday.

“We never thought this day would come,” Tony Jacobs, Dr Pepper’s vice president of marketing, said in a statement. “But now that it’s here, all we can say is: The Dr Pepper’s on us.”

Beginning Sunday at 12:01 a.m., coupons for a free 20-ounce soda will be available for 24 hours on Dr Pepper’s Web site. They’ll be honored until Feb. 28.

Dr Pepper is owned by Dr Pepper Snapple Group, Inc.
___

On the Net:
www.drpepper.com
www.gunsnroses.com

Related posts:

1. Free Themes and Apps for Blackberry Curve
2. Swan Lake Performed by the Chinese State Circus
3. Chinese Farmer Builds Kick-Ass Homemade Airplane

Today I was feeling especially lazy. I thought about excercising… for about a minute. Then, since I knew I wasn’t going to actually do it I decided to do a little browsing on the Intertubes and find out what kind of activity other people were engaging in.

It didn’t take long before I decided that jumping rope was the way to go – if I were going to actually do exercise. Which I’m not. But luckily for us, these folks are jumping rope like crazy!

Here the USA Jump Rope All Stars performed after the 2006 US Trials near Boulder, Colorado.

Here’s a team believed to be from Hong Kong:

Here is a fantastic Japanese team:

Of course, I saved the best for last. Jump roping dogs.

By the way, if all of this interests you, you might want to check out the movie Jump!

Related posts:

1. 13 Amazing Cirque du Soleil Performances
2. The Famous Flying Jump Kick
3. Weekend in Denver – Part 2

Sure there are 42 million Americans without health insurance. But that’s not such a problem! After all, those people can still get some health care anyway, right?

This little cartoon is pretty funny.

Related posts:

1. Health Insurance, Home Depot Style
2. The John P. Health Challenge Update #3
3. Medical Emergency Travel Insurance

You know how sometimes you’re walking through the mall or down the street and you see someone who is about 100 pounds overweight wearing Britney Spear’s clothing? And you turn to the person beside you and go, “I did not need to see that!”

Yeah, well you might as well just move along and not read this article now, because I’m gonna show you one of those things. If you continue at your own peril, don’t say you haven’t been warned!

Aerobics Anyone?

Related posts:

1. OJ’s Confession Book ‘If I Did It’ Leaked! Here’s How To Get It…
2. You Can Call Me Al Music Video and Lyrics
3. The “Bad Date” Registry

Ok. This is awesome. Wired magazine has published an article that proves once and for all that Women get as hot and bothered by exotic cars as men do (or more)!

A study commissioned by a phallically named insurance company proves beyond all doubt that the unbridled roar of an Italian supercar turns women on but the soft purr of a fuel-efficient econobox doesn’t stimulate anyone’s MPG-spot.

David Moxon subjected 40 men and women to the sounds of a Maserati, Lamborghini and Ferrari, then measured the amount of testosterone in their saliva. He found everyone had higher levels of the stuff — a measure of their arousal — after hearing the revving exotics, but the amount the women had was off the charts.

The econobox, however, left everyone colder than a January day in Nome.

The study was commissioned by the ultra-exclusive British insurer Hiscox (we swear we’re not making this up), which was curious to know how people respond to high-end luxury cars. “We knew owners of luxury cars felt a connection with the sound of their vehicles,” says Steve Langan, managing director of the insurance company. “We have now scientifically proven the physical attraction people feel when it comes to cars.”…

Here is a Lamborghini Gallardo to get you all hot and bothered:

By the way, my NSX sounds way, way better! :-)

Related posts:

1. Self Parking Cars
2. Scientific Fact: ‘Sleeping On It’ Makes a Difference
3. Maps to Forbes Highest Paid Men and Women

Well, yesterday I posted about the fact that men who are polygamists live longer, but today I’m bringing you the news that men may indeed be predisposed to either being monogamous, or not!

New Scientist is reporting that men who have multiple copies of a gene called RS3 334 make for horrible partners. I know a couple of guys who probably have 10 of these genes. He, he.

There has been speculation about the role of the hormone vasopressin in humans ever since we discovered that variations in where receptors for the hormone are expressed makes prairie voles strictly monogamous but meadow voles promiscuous; vasopressin is related to the “cuddle chemical” oxytocin. Now it seems variations in a section of the gene coding for a vasopressin receptor in people help to determine whether men are serial commitment-phobes or devoted husbands.

Hasse Walum at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden, and colleagues looked at the various forms of the gene coding for a vasopressin receptor in 552 Swedish people, who were all in heterosexual partnerships. The researchers also investigated the quality of their relationships.

They found that variation in a section of the gene called RS3 334 was linked to how men bond with their partners. Men can have none, one or two copies of the RS3 334 section, and the higher the number of copies, the worse men scored on a measure of pair bonding.

Not only that, men with two copies of RS3 334 were more likely to be unmarried than men with one or none, and if they were married, they were twice as likely to have a marital crisis.
Commitment phobia

Given that everyone surveyed had been in their relationship for at least five years, the team suggests that having multiple copies somehow contributes to commitment problems in men. Because the results were collected for a different study the team couldn’t quiz the men on whether they were faithful, says Wallum.

It is not clear exactly how multiple copies of RS3 334 affect expression of the vasopressin receptor, and our most intimate relationships. And yet that’s the most interesting question, says Thomas Insel, director of the National Institute of Mental Health in Bethesda, Maryland.

In some animals, the theory is that the brain has two “motivational” systems: one for reward, the other for social perception. In prairie voles and marmosets, receptors for the two systems sit on adjacent cells, so social activity is highly rewarding, leading to monogamy. To see if the same mechanism is at work in people will mean using tissue from post-mortems to map where vasopressin receptors lie, to see if variations are linked to the number of copies of RS3 334.

RS3 334’s social effects extend beyond bonding in couples. Earlier this year, the same gene section was shown to affect signalling in people’s amygdalas, linked to trust. Another study found that people with autism, which is characterised by unusual social behaviour, often have multiple copies of RS3 334.

Walum’s colleague Paul Lichtenstein says the team’s next task is to test how a nasal vasopressin spray affects altruism and jealousy.

A sure sign of whether or not you have RS3 334 genes is if you noticed the photo of hot chicks above. If so, you may have extra copies. If not… you’re dead.

Related posts:

1. Scientists ‘Train’ Cells to Fight Cancer
2. Giovanni Gallucci on Extreme Social Media Hacks
3. Polygamists Do It Longer, er Live Longer

He, he, he. I couldn’t resist with the title… A new study from the University of Sheffield, UK’s Dr Virpi Lummaa says that men over 60 from 140 countries that practice polygamy lived on average 12% longer than men from 49 mostly monogamous nations.

Using data from the World Health Organization, Lummaa and Russell scored 189 countries on a monogamy scale of one to four – totally monogamous to mostly polygamous. They also took into account a country’s gross domestic product and average income to minimise the effect of better nutrition and healthcare in monogamous Western nations.

Lummaa stressed that their monogamy score is a crude first stab, and they are working to find multiple ways to assess marriage patterns. The conclusions could evaporate under further analysis, she adds.

If female survival is the main explanation for male longevity, then monogamous and polygamous men would live for about the same length of time. Instead, it seems that fathering more kids with more wives leads to increased male longevity. Men, then, live long because they’re fertile well into their grey years.

The explanation could be both social and genetic. Men who continue fathering kids into their 60s and 70s could take better care for their bodies because they have mouths to feed. But evolutionary forces acting over thousands of years could also select for longer-lived men in polygamous cultures.

“It’s a valid hypothesis and good prediction,” says Chris Wilson, an evolutionary anthropologist at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, who attended the talk. But the care and attention of several wives who depend on the social status of their ageing husband could explain everything. “It doesn’t surprise me that men in those societies live longer than men in monogamous societies, where they become widowed and have nobody to care for them.”

Related posts:

1. Men Actually Have a Monogamy Gene
2. Transporters No Longer Just for Trekkies
3. Social Security and Retirement Benefits