Umm. What's a Canada?

Ordering a replacement part for my bowflex hasn't been as easy as I would have liked.

I contacted Nautilus online and asked them to provide me with shipping and cost details. I explained that I bought my system at a Canadian Tire in Canada. A few days later they responded with a 1-800 number to call.

So I called the 1-800 number and spoke to a very helpful man who told me the part costs 9 dollars plus shipping. Not bad I think...but something is wrong...OR YES...it's his accent.

So I respond: "Is that in US Dollars?"

He responds puzzled: "Umm...yes"

Now although the price is right (even after converting to CanuckBucks) I
really hate mail ordering product over the border. Depending on so
many variables you sometimes have to pay duties, taxes and tarrifs and it
can take a long time to get past customs....Why isn't this easier?? So much for Free Trade in action!

So I asked him if there is anyone who resells the parts in Canada.

I get a Canadian phone number which I call.

Unfortunately the experience wasn't as pleasant. Upwards of 6 phone calls over 3 days and my 10 dollar (Canadian) part is now ordered with 15 dollars shipped (FUCK). Oh, to make it even better it's going to take a "few weeks" to get here. Plus, I gave them my credit card number but I have no "order number" to follow up on. When I asked about this, the Customer Service agent said "I know, but we don't have order numbers!"

WHAT?

I'm thinking that Nautilus Canada has got be run out of people's basement offices or something and that they don't appear to be very organized or have a decent computer system.

Why More Healthy Food doesn't mean SLOW

Let's clear up a misconception. Fast Food isn't fast!
There...I said it now let me back it up.

A few weeks ago I got in line at Tim Horton's for my morning caffein drip. It took about 10 minutes to get through the line-up plus the travel time between my office and the coffee shop. I took my cup to the office, polished it off, and looked for coffee #2 from the crappy coffee machine in our office. No coffee to made so I put on a pot. Including brewing time "Office Coffee" took 6 minutes.


Now, think about a toasted chicken sandwich with romain lettuce on a whole wheat bun. A freshly baked banana muffin. This is part of my daily routine as well but they are made at home. Generally, I'm lucky enough that my wife takes the time to put my lunch together for me during the day however on the days that she doesn't not it really doesn't take me more than 5 minutes to make my lunch. How is that not FAST?

So, quite making excuses...fast food isn't fast. It fact it slows you down by making you less healthy. Even if you could get the food faster it you'd have less energy to enjoy the rest of your life.

In my opinion there is no healthy amount of fast food. Most people never need that high of a caloric intake...ever...period.

Broken Bowflex

I'm sad to say that my Bowflex is BROKEN. Less than 2 years old and the cables have started to give way. I learned this as I was doing shoulder presses and noticed a stabbing in my back. At first I thought I had pulled something....then I realized my Bowflex was STABBING me!



Anyway, I've written the people at Bowflex to see how difficult it's going to be to get a replacement cable up to Toronto! I have to admit I'm pretty disappointed in how the machine is standing up over time. It's less than 2 years old and, although I use it a lot, it should still be in good shape. After all these machines are designed to be used aren't they???????

Anyway, I'll let you know what Bowflex says. I'm hopeful it's not going to cost an arm and a let otherwise I'll scrap the Power Rods and move onto Iron Plates.

1-2 Pounds A Week

Everyone who has ever been overweight knows it's not good and they all share one thing in common. They want it off quickly and are frustrated by the 1-2 pound a week rule that everyone talks about.

If you are losing more than 1-2 pounds a week there is a very very very good chance that you are losing muscle tissue along with your fat. On a weight-scale this may look very good. The truth is though that it will end up being harder for you in the long run to maintain your weight because even though you've removed fat you've also lowered your metabolism.

Here's another interesting idea. Back on June 26th, 2006 I weighed in at 155 lbs. Today, I'm almost 10 lbs heavier. As I watched the scale go up I was so disappointed. I don't want to see the scale go up but, here's where it gets interesting.

Although I weighed 155 I had a body fat percentage of 16.4 meaning that my lean body weight was 129 lbs and the rest was fat.

Today, at 165 my lean body weight is 138 which means that the majority of my weight gain has been in muscle, not fat. In fact, I've lost a few fat pounds to boot!