I WANT PUMP YOU UP!

Welcome back to the pod. I’m Mike Dreyden Figueroa and this Unscripted and Unrehearsed, where I share my take on events of the day, things that I’ve seen, heard and experienced.

A couple of episodes ago I talked about my sports interests and my favorite teams. I’m a sporty kinda Bi guy. Struggled with my weight for years and staying in shape. For some of us it’s tough! This week I’m diving deeper into my fitness journey and ideas for you to get back on track or start our fitness journey, but first…

Reviewing the week: The 2026 Olympics. Robert Duval, Eric Dane and Jesse Jackson Died. Real ID ain’t a Real ID! Watch Abby Fromcle’s post. THE TARGET BOYCOTT, and PISCES SEASON HAS BEGUN.

THIS WEEK’S TOPICS:  1: Fitness has always been a part of my life. 2. Working through gym anxiety. 3. Supplements and Nutrition. 4. Revisiting my favorite teams, who root for!

NOW YOU TELL ME: Are you a sporty kinda person? What do you play? Where do you work out? Who are your favorite teams? Do you even care… No judgements.

UNTIL NEXT TIME: If you made it this far… Thanks for listening! Rates are great, downloads is better.

Head over to my Patreon to find out which online trainers I follow, the fitness apps I use and the sports app I use to follow all of my favorite teams.

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Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:23

Welcome back to the pod. I'm Mike Draden Figaroa, and this is Unscripted and Unrehearsed, where I give you my take on events of the day, things I've seen, witnessed, and experienced in the past week. Welcome back. Um listen. Okay. A couple episodes ago I talked about my fitness journey and uh trying to stay in shape and all that. I'm a sporty kind of buy guy. So um I wanted to dive deeper into what my fitness life looks like. Because I get asked all the time, not all the time, I get asked often, you know, where do you work out? What do you do? You know. And look, next month, literally, I'm gonna be 57. And the older I get, the more I feel everything rickety and crickety. And so, but I'm gonna talk about it later. I just don't want to get ahead of myself. But mobility is the key for those now and older. Mobility exercises are the key. So um, we're gonna talk about that. But uh first, listen, the Olympics this year, I really haven't gotten into it. I haven't seen coverage because you know, the other world events are you know, bogarding the news cycles and all of that. But from what I understand so far to date, we've got like Team USA has about 27 medals, not nine gold. I want to say 12 silver and a few bronze. Five bronze, is that right? Nine, twelve, five, twenty-seven? Okay. Um, but that that might change. The closing ceremonies is tonight. There's a couple games still going on, so all that could change by the time we hear about it because you know they're hours ahead of us. Um yeah, uh six, five bronze. Uh, yeah, I'm really excited. The big news, though, is the heated rivalry between the women's hockey team, uh, US team you're saying, and Canada. Um, hey, I, you know, with recent events politically, you know, there's a there's a conflict and a strife and uh and uh a heated rivalry. But um it was great to see some of the clips and highlights from uh that game. It was really awesome. And I forget the women women's hockey is a big deal, especially in Canada. It is huge, and you know, I wish it got more coverage here in uh in the States, but yeah. Go team USA. Um, sorry, Canada, but I think they got the silver, if I'm not mistaken. So that's awesome. Our cousins from up north. In sad news, uh, and it is true when I they say it happens in threes. Um, okay, first on Monday, Robert Duvall died. Robert Duvall uh played uh Tom Hagen in The Godfather, the conciliary. Um and he was in a few other Apocalypse, not Apocalypse now, um, where his famous line was, I love the smell of napalm in the morning. I I forgot the name of that movie. But uh yeah, I I became aware of him uh in the Godfather movies. Um great, great actor. Um sorry to see he's gone. I caught a couple of inter a couple of interviews with him. The one that sticks out is when he did, I think, with Charlie Rose, or maybe um ABC News, whatever, or 60 Minutes. I can't remember now. I need to write this stuff down. Uh great great interviews about his life and and uh his career. Um, so that was Monday. Uh Tuesday, Jesse Jackson died. Um, I became aware of him, I want to say, in grade school, uh, where he was on TV giving a speech. Um, I think that's when I first understood the strife uh culturally and racially in New York. Um, because I was, you know, as kids are oblivious to these things. But yeah, uh I became aware of him and we learned a little bit about him in school. But um, yeah, he died on uh Tuesday. And of course, the the big one not the big one, but the one that came out of left field, I think McSteamy died. Uh 19. Oh my god. Um shoot. Eric Dane. McSteamy. Also aka Multiple Man. Um Damymatics, X-Men. He played that character, which I thought was a great cameo and like so unexpected when they freed him in the in the truck. Um yeah. Uh yeah, so he passed away. Uh last year around this time he came public with his ALS uh diagnosis. And you know, ALS moves fast, and uh that's a shame because I feel like that's one of the Parkinson's and ALS and um what's the other one? Uh I forget. I feel like they should be cured by now. Um I don't know. Also, let me tell you, his his role in Euphoria as the as the dad was that was something else. The full pain shot was my best because I'm a perv. My favorite. It's my favorite. Alright, um, so yeah, listen up. Real ID is not real ID. What do you mean, Mike? Well, let me tell you, all the hoops and and bullshit we had to go through to get our real IDs and our enhanced IDs apparently are no longer necessary, are not no longer valid because um they're according to now the new law, the enhanced IDs do not indicate citizenship. The whole point of getting them was to indicate citizenship because of what happened during 9-11. And all the hoops and the and the up and downs and the back and forth and the deadlines and then quarantine extended that look. And then the money is spent on this on top of that, your passports. Let me let me not get crazy now. Your real ID you cannot use to identify yourself. You can't use it to prove citizenship. If you have a passport, yes. But of course they're gonna figure something out. But side note about that, I saw something online uh where this woman who works in in uh entertainment industry uh production-wise that deals with tra uh traveling, like to other countries to film and shoot like that. Now, what you have to do when you get to the airport is when you present your passport, if you're going to Europe, you are photographed and you're fingerprinted. This is uh the EES entry-exit system. And it's holding up the line. So if you got a flight, let's say at 2 o'clock, and you say, I'll get there at 12, there's your holdup. You're gonna miss your flight because it takes longer than two hours to get through this because every single person with an American passport has to go through this. It could screw up your travel plan. Side note, just be aware of that. Starting this spring. Um, but she's noticing it's been happening for a while now, um, but in full force everywhere this spring. Um, there are only five states that have enhanced IDs. I think it's Minnesota, New York, uh, and that's all I remember right now. California is not one of them, uh, unfortunately. So but if you go in the I'll have the link in the show notes, uh click on Abby Frankel's. I'm sorry, I'm hope I'm not butchering that, but her uh post came up uh in my IG feed, and she explains the whole bit about that. Um yeah, Abby Frankle. The link is there, check it out. Um, the Target boycott is, and I'm proud to be a part of it. I have not shopped at Target since the boycott started. They've lost$12 billion since the boycott started. Uh their stock has dropped from$145 a share to$93 a share, and that is huge. And uh the foot traffic and online spending both have dropped uh 9.3%, which is also another huge number. Now, in terms of money, it's hitting them. They're feeling it, and it's mostly people of color who are not uh shopping. I pass by a Target every time I go to work. It's like a mini target, whatever. There are two. One on 42nd Street, um opposite, I want to say Dave and Buster's, um, like right in the middle, between uh 7th and 8th, Broadway and 8th. And then there's one on 44th and 10th. Uh, Ghost Towns. Only except on 42nd Street, a lot of tourists are going in there because they don't know any better. Or people who don't know don't know any better. Uh so yeah. If you're boycotting Target, good for you. Keep it up. And the other places too. Um I'll come back to that. Uh Thursday, Thursday, Thursday started Pisces season. We are in Pisces season. If you know a Pisces, like me, hug them, kiss them, love them. It's our season, y'all. We are the last. Of course you know this, but we are the last sign in the zodiac. From what I understand and the lore goes, um, we are all born and live through a season of one of the zodiacs. By the time you get here, you should have learned and experienced everything you need to move on and to elevate further. So hopefully this is my last rocky and I get to ascend to a higher plane. Um, we are known for being incredibly creative, empathic, empathetic. Uh, what else are we? We are uh uh generous to a fault, um, but we can also be very uh over-emotional, uh impressionable, and uh closed off. Me, I'm moody because I'm a March Pisces. Um I'm not sure about a lot of February Pisces, but yeah, yeah. Um we have very two two very powerful birthstones. February's birthstone is the amethyst, and in March it's the aquamarine. That's mine. And um in my according to my star chart, and the time I was born, I am a Pisces lunar star, Gemini rising, and Pisces lunar. So I'm in a Pisces moon. Pisces season, happy y'all. All my fellow Pisces brethren. Step to the front. It's our season. Alright. I love being a Pisces, I don't know why. Uh if you're a Pisces, I want to hear from you. Okay, so my fitness has not always been consistent. No, that is incorrect. Fitness has always been a part of my life. It's just taken different forms. Um sometimes I'm I'm obsessed with the gym. Sometimes I just want to bike, sometimes I just want to do other stuff, uh yoga, all that jazz. Um it started my my fitness life started. I was in grade school, and I signed up for the decathlon. And basically it was uh all the schools in the area were it would try out for like long shot, long jump, um uh uh what do you call that? Pole vault. Although I was a fat kid, so there was no way I was gonna do the pole vault. Um running and swimming and all of that. But you signed up for different kinds of things. Um spear throwing, which was cool. I got I got to practice that. Um and we do it. My stepfather used to wake me up at like four in the morning. We'd go over to Winthrop Park, which is also now known as Monsignor McGluer Park, whatever. It's Winthrop Park, whatever. Um, and we'd run around the park. Oh my god, that was so hard. I'm remembering four in the morning. And it seemed because you know, I was a short roly-pulley kid, and that I could do it now, maybe once, maybe twice. But as a kid, it seemed like those blocks went on forever, especially from Driggs to Nassau was longer than it went from Nassau, from uh Monitor to whatever that street that was. Was it North Henry? I think it was North Henry. Uh it just it no, that was the longer one. It was huge, long, far. I hated it. Uh, but I did it, I tried it, but we didn't get to go through with it because I think it was a money issue, and uh we didn't have a lot of money grow up when we were growing up, so my mother made do with what we could, but my stepfather got me up and going and doing this. Um, I really wanted to try it, but you know, there was the I think it was a uniform fee and then a travel fee and then the bus fee and then the lunch fee, and it was everything, and it piled up. And back then, you know, 20 bucks got you very far, and when you went to the supermarket, you could fill your cart, but you know, that you know, 20 bucks was a lot of money. Whatever the other fees were, my mom couldn't handle it. So uh now when I was a teenager, my father, my father's a martial artist, and he I think that's how we bonded the most, although we really didn't have I didn't have him a lot in my life a lot, but I had him, I got to be with him for a lot of my teenage years. So one of the things that um I really I and he was known for his for his skills. Um he I want I asked him, I say, Dad, can you teach me karate? So on the weekends he would teach me. And at the time, I mean, the I enjoyed it. I really did enjoy it. And it was, you know, movement and defense and all of that. And uh, I think mostly because I got tired of fighting in school and you know, walking away not feeling like I kicked ass, but you know, I defended myself. I wanted the sense of walking away like I kicked that motherfucker's ass. But uh by the time high school came around, it wasn't a lot of that, um, mostly in grammar school because you know people were stupid. Anyway, um, it deteriorated for me because for my dad, he saw in me the potential that he didn't accomplish. And what I'm trying to say is he registered me into these competitions. I didn't want to, I did I really didn't want to fight people, you know. I think I was a little punk-ish. I just I mean I wanted to be able to defend myself if I needed to, but I didn't want to like go and actually fight against people or or spar against people. I just wanted to do the thing with him. Uh, but he he entered me into all these competitions, and actually it was three competitions, and it just like I started be becoming um uh disinterested. It's a nice way to say it. Um and it was sad because I enjoyed it. And I got as far as my brown belt. Yeah, my brown belt. I wonder where all those ended up. I have no idea. Um, so that was that. Uh let's see. Then um my interest in weight training came from I think I was a kid, very young. We were I was at my Angenie's house, and my cousin Dominic used to work for sanitation, and he was jacked, like, you know, Arnold jacked. Um, and of course, you know, I'm saying this out loud. Now I had a crush on him. You know, he was big, jacked Italian, you know, Goomba from the neighborhood, and I wanted to be just like him. Uh so I saw him one day I was at my Angie's house, and he was, I think he was going out on a date, and but he was, you know, getting a pump in or a party pump as we do now, as I learned now as I'm older. He was getting his party pump in, and I was like, What are you doing? And he's like, Oh, I'm lifting weights. I'm like, how do you do it? He's like, here. So he let me uh he showed me how to do a couple of arm curls. He had the now, this is this is a cool thing. Back in the 70s, home weights were these uh plastic, I want to say shit color brown and gray, and they were filled with sand. And uh depending on how big they were, you know, you had either 10 pounds, uh, 25 pounds, uh, and 20 pounds. Um, and he had uh an easy bar uh and uh some of the those uh diarrhea color um barbells filled with sand. So he would let me show me how to do it. It's like all right, I gotta go, you can do what you want. So I would for me, I couldn't lift anything really, but like I would move them around the room trying to do the weird shit. So that's how I got into weight training, and then I found weight magazines and like muscle and fitness, and uh, I think that was the oh my muscular development, which came much later on. It was a newer magazine, but muscle and fitness was my very first. And then I learned about Arnold Schwarzenegger and all those people, and I would get involved in following bodybuilding. Um yeah, that was the those are good times. Um, so then biking, rollerblading, and ice skating came along. Um, I think I got my first bike, I think I was eight or nine, and uh my sister got one too. I had a navy blue bike. Um, I wanted one of those back in the 70s, it was cool that the the back bar where they would either just come over the edge and be curved or but really tall and then curved at the top. Um, I wanted one with a tall um seemed like a backrest or whatever. But um I got a regular size one, and my sister got one. Her I don't remember what color her bike was, but I remember the seat was pink and it had like daisies on it, um, different color pink daisies. Uh so I would ride all over Green Point, all over the neighborhood, back and forth. I would go, my my mother would say, Don't go by the tanks. I went by the tanks. Um yeah. Everywhere. And we learned how to ride those bikes in in Winthrop Park. So because they had like these bar, um like fences around the edge of the water, the grassy areas, and you could rest on there and sort of push off and you know, keep but what's cool about those was um those bikes, the brakes were if you pedaled backwards, you would slow yourself down. Um, then I and when I became a teenager, I got my first 10 speed. It was a camel 10 speed. I got uh I want to say silver one, and my sister got one. I don't remember what color hers was. Um was it blue? I don't remember. It was my first 10 speed, and of course, you know, I went everywhere on that thing. I went over the Williamsburg Bridge to the Lower East Side, all over Delancey Street, came back. Um, I slept to the West Village once and came back. Um but getting over the Williamsburg Bridge was crazy because on both sides there the incline to get up to the pathways was crazy, man. Um all over uh McCarron Park, all the way to the all over. All over, and it was fun. Um I learned how to fix my flat tires on the fly because you know I would bust tires all the time. Um, the inner tubes anyway. And I got to do my uh what year was this? I want to say it was 2000. Was it before or after LA? I did the Boston to New York AIDS ride, which is called something else now. And it used to be a benefit for uh the Gay Center and Community Health Project, which is now Count Lord, but now it's for um uh Housing Works. Um, or maybe they were one of the three beneficiaries. Um so I got they asked me to be uh a guest uh biker, a featured biker, and uh that was one of the best experiences I've ever had. The only thing I didn't like it threw me off my poop schedule because you know I poop every morning, TMI, but I don't feel comfortable all day unless I have my morning go. And I really didn't, we got up early to get moving, and I was like, ugh, I gotta, this is terrible. Um, but it was a great experience. And when I got to the half put waypoint, I was like upset because I didn't want it to end. I was having fun, I was meeting all kinds of people. Right out of the gate, uh, the assembly broke going up the first hill when we left um the community center in uh in Boston, uh, where we kicked off. Um, but they fixed it for me. It was great. Uh then I got rollerblades, I don't know, my 30s. That was fun. And now I have my ice skates, which you sorry, they're right there. Um I enjoyed that a lot. And of course, the big thing for me now is uh yoga on Wednesdays and Saturday mornings. I try to do that. Um I signed up with uh Nude York Yoga, it's a nude gay yoga and uh MMX. Um I I didn't go to classes there only because their classes are not at a time that I can go, but I mentioned them because they're economical and uh conveniently located there um they they're on 14th street i want to say still and new nude yoga i think still meets in uh chelsea on on the east side and for mobility for meditation for calmness i need all of that so yeah i would say i would suggest if you haven't done yoga get get yourself and i all i i got into yoga when i did that uh the the original love is blind reality show uh my blind date was uh one of the the experiences or things was a yoga uh excursion uh first time doing yoga and i still have the yoga mat from that show um it's very old and it's pretty cool yeah so that that's how fitness started in my life and it's still very much going I'm a member at Mid City Gym this is my mid city uh hoodie um 1962 I think is when they first opened and this is I believe a silhouette of Arnold if I'm not mistaken um and I love going mid city gym is definitely a bodybuilder gym there's a lot the what's cool about it and they're not obnoxious about it is you can do a lot of um uh you can record yourself and do your your your influencer stuff there but the guys there who do that they're very cognizant of everyone around them and they're they're respectful um you can do your uh um hit workouts um with the space the way it's set up and uh they have all kinds of clothing and nutrition and all of that so you can get shakes you can get drinks you can get bars you can get everything you need uh you can even rent lockers there if you want um and the membership is very economical um for a year it was like 329 and I renew this this April so I haven't been to the gym in months though only because of uh my mental health my mental health and that's because um I'm gonna share this I I'm a compulsive obsessive and sometimes I what's the word um catastrophize in my brain a lot like and I become uh defensive and strategic and offensive in my head and if they say this I'm gonna do this if I'm do that blah blah blah and I start I get lost in there and it's uh debilitating some days where I can't think straight and it looks like I'm angry but I'm not it's just my brain won't stop and it happens a lot at nighttime when I have a bad day. Coffee syrup so I've been taking uh medication for that and it's helped tremendously I don't obsess over things and getting to the gym is not one of them unfortunately because I would be like okay oh shit what time is it I gotta go da da da da da da da da da da da mix the dreams and run and then worry about the train and now I'm gonna do what do I do if the train's late and it just became this cycle and then I would get there I would work out I feel great doing it but I would the entire mental process going through that was um exhausting. So for my mental health I started taking this medication I forget the name of it but it's quieted that down for me and it's helped me to do a lot more. But uh getting to the gym has been tough so I'm trying to change that. I think I'm gonna work out more at home because I'm here I have weights there the core dial up weights and um all I need is a bench I can do a lot here in the house and I don't have to you know go downtown and come back uptown. That's the other thing that too I would get lost in the timing of everything because if I take my creatine and I'm on the subway and I got a pee, I got to get off the train and fine because you know anyway I won't get lost there. So uh side note if that's TMI I'm sorry but your mental health is important too with your physical fitness. All right so working through anxiety at the gym which brings me to that I'm and I'm glad I mentioned it there is a lot of anxiety that I'm told some people go through in getting to the gym and I've had conversations with with friends and acquaintances saying well you know how do you how do you do it you know or I feel weird because you know I'm I this is foreign to me and I'm new to it and I'm afraid people are staring at me and you know I'm am I doing it wrong and you know then I get so overwhelmed I I can't handle it and I leave. I understand I've been there too um I think the fact that my cousin showed me how to do a couple of things I figured oh you know that's how it goes and then when I get got to the gym for the first time I was watching other people doing what they're doing. First and foremost well which one should be first and foremost there are two things two and foremost okay because it's two important parts okay first and foremost nobody's watching you. Okay they may notice you when you come into the space they may not have seen you there before they clearly know that if they're regular there they know you're a new person but nobody is watching you nobody cares what you're doing unless you're affecting their workout. So if you're like in their way you're not you know being respectful of space because you know you got you need space to move um if you're not returning weights or if you're you know just wasting time on your phone while someone's waiting to use some weights or a machine nobody cares what you're doing and they're not watching you. Unless you're working out together and you can ask for pointers. And I'll come back to that in a minute. Yeah. Nobody's watching you I would say I don't know if this is in order now but yeah this is I let's start here. I would say start with making yourself feel good. And what what do I mean by that? Wear the clothes where are your favorite clothes that that you would wear around the house cleaning I mean where whatever you wear what makes you comfortable wear the thing that makes you feel cool or comfortable. Choose those clothes that you're gonna wear to the gym. You're gonna get sweaty in them if you're if you if you sweat heavy um dirty whatever you know where wear something that makes you comfortable um and then pick some upbeat music and it doesn't have to be pots and pans or whatever or if that makes you good feel good you know anything you know banch banch whatever makes you feel good listen to that but something more upbeat sort of like uh your theme music when you're walking down the street you're like this is this is my theme song everybody has a theme song I suppose what I think because that's uh sometimes I have a theme song and um it'll put me in that space um so yeah listen to listen to that on your way to the gym it'll help put you in that space um pre-game your workout too if you can uh take a tour of a gym first you want you considering joining a gym uh the the purple and orange one which I hate the most but go to the purple and orange one and get a tour say hey listen I'm thinking about joining here I'm new I'm or I'm getting back into it and I'm kind of you know can you show me a round of stuff and they'll they'll show you around their goal is to sell you and to sign you be prepared for that don't go defensive just say can you so you this way if you get a lay of the land of where what what's what and where's where and how to navigate it you can plan your workout ahead of time know where you're gonna be and how to end it and then jet um ask lots of questions no question is stupid no question is dumb they're gonna want to answer all of your questions ask them how things work ask them how busy it gets at what time it it's always busy after work hours like you know I guess four five six going into like the eight o'clock hour and starts whittling out about about then depending on the location I suppose and then and the membership um and in the mornings I love to work out in the mornings when I was going to Crunch it would be you know busy when I was going to Blink up here in Washington Heights all the Broadway people who have memberships up here and all the local people who work in night nightlife like restaurants and theaters and all of that everybody's there like from nine to noon and starts willing out around one and use that free free training session that comes when you sign up because the trainer is going to walk is going to assess your fitness level they're gonna walk you through a program uh they're gonna show you how machines work and of course remember their goal is to sell you on a package you can take a package if you want you can don't you can say listen I just want to learn I just want to try this out give me some time get used to it and then maybe you know be honest with them because there's no pressure. Don't let them pressure you either and I used to sell gym memberships for mid-city gym back in the day and for uh crunch way back in the day um I never I was never a um heavy handed kind of sales guy but um I would try to sell the sessions and the membership so do that so now when you get to the gym again remember nobody's looking at you so don't worry about it. You know if they see you come in just you know you might make a friend or a workout buddy or what have you depending on how you like to work out. You want to get in and out you want to do your reps in and out sometimes you have a moment do not become a chatty patty because or is it chatty Kathy? Either one don't become those girls because you're wasting time and not just your time other people's time because while you're chit chatting someone's waiting to use the machine or done the weights that you want to use on the machine or the cardio you know they got a schedule so try to keep it to a minimum you know or if you have friends and it becomes a community thing because like the the blink which is now pure fitness whatever everybody knows everybody and they're all you know it's a hangout. So it's like the hood comes inside to hang out and gets sweaty and you know so it becomes that. What other people think about you is none of your business whether it's in business or personal. So don't worry about what they're thinking. Worry about you and the weight because if you're not careful you might hurt yourself. So if you're not paying attention to your form, watching yourself in the mirror, you know, you could hurt yourself dropping the weights. And then just focus on yourself because you are in the place where you're supposed to be doing that thing. It's not like you're you know took your weights outside and you're on the street corner you decide I'm gonna do a couple you know burpees here with some weights. You're in the place you're expected to be doing the stuff that you're doing so it's fitness wise so feel free. Do what you want. What's cool about um some gyms like for instance Crunch they have classes where you can go and do cardio full body body weight workouts. Um it comes with the membership um it's just scheduling and timing a lot of those things happen in the evening and in the morning it's rare that they happen uh at a time where I could go and I I used to like one at the at the Chelsea gym but I just couldn't get there. My schedule just wouldn't allow it anymore. So um try those too um so yeah focus on yourself your fitness journey is about you don't let thoughts of other people impact that because whether you're young and you're getting in shape or you're older and trying to get back in shape or you need to get in shape for your health reasons it's about you and what you do for yourself. Don't let it something just buzzed what what was that I don't know all right so supplements and nutrition. Now I for me and and you don't have to to do this but there there is so much on the market I've had and tried almost everything. The newer stuff I'm like I don't know um but I know what works with me what what it comes down to me is how bad is it going to make me pee because a lot of it is diuretic and um give me heartburn because a lot of times the supplement powders give me heartburn the worst. Daily I take a multivitamin multi-mineral I used to have there was um twin labs had a dual tab twin um uh multivitamin multi-mineral that's been off the market for years now I should take it daily religiously I loved that vitamin and mineral it was my favorite the smelled great it tasted great when it you know I would chew on them too just to see I liked chewing on them um and I felt like it absorbed more gone so upset but there's all different kinds so I've tried all kinds I've tried Centrum for men 50 plus I've tried um the generic um vitamin shop version for men 50 and older or whatever older men um plant based ones they're I just feel is it a placebo effect on me? I don't know um I do know that I've seen I saw a documentary where they tested how well we digest the these capsules is pills. A lot of people don't some people do but they show how they just sit in your system and you evacuate them. And of course you don't know because if it's in the poo you don't notice it um but a lot of them don't get absorbed some of them rarely do. With that I take an extra um uh amino acid uh omega three amino an omega three fatty acid supplement uh and some collagen extra collagen because you know I gotta keep the the it's mostly for ligaments enjoy I have a bad knee I have my shoulders just are screwed up from all those years of voguing and doing all kinds of weird shit and um I need the extra collagen support but yeah uh those are the major ones that I take as a matter of fact I'm out of vitamins I need to get new the protein powders I have had them all and they are the worst on my system because of the lactose I get gassy bloaty crampy fart like crazy oh my god it is unbearable except for one orgain and I highly endorse them they're not paying me for this orgain is the best I have not bloated I have not passed gas I have not cramped I love that favorite is the vanilla second favorite is the chocolate I don't like the strawberry I don't so I highly endorse orgain and it's plant based awesome stuff um try that uh creatine and other supplements um you okay so there's a I've been taking creatine and that has this effect on me first of all um I try to take it an hour before I have to go to the gym because if I'm drinking it like right away and I jet out all of a sudden I have to pee by the time I get to the subway. And it's just recently that the subway toilets are open regularly and cleaned regularly um but I have caught myself where um if I don't get off this train now I'm gonna piss myself. So I try to take it an hour before I'm gonna leave the house um and I'll probably you know hit the can a couple times before I leave. But it's also good an hour before you work out because it's absorbing into your system and into getting into your muscles. I prefer the uh vitamin shop brand uh body tech 100% pure creatine monohydrate I love that the best I've tried different kinds I've tried flavor ones I don't feel uh the pump or the the I don't I don't feel it like I feel this one um I do when you're doing the loading phase as there's two camps on that whether you need to or not um I tried doing the loading and it was way too much for me and it was crazy. So I just take the regular amount mix it in with my um blue ice pop flavored coll CLA collagen and uh carnitine mixture and I mix all that together and um but I changed it also I take I think I did a video about this a while back where I was taking the um an HMB creatine which is kind of cool. I liked it but I didn't like it. I prefer the other one the most um uh so I would take the creatine with um what did I take the flavored one I would take just right away with water no problem uh but I would put the the other two together and drop that an hour before and I'm good. Then I would take my pre-workout and I didn't I drink that through my workout and I take right I used to take this it's called essential aminos uh blue raspberry um but I think they discontinued that um but what I have been using and they're not paying me for this one either uh they also are not paying me is bucked up uh their Miami flavor is kind of like a the logo looks like the Miami from the Miami Vice TV show uh but it uh it has like a tropical tropical uh flavoring to it which is kind of cool because I you know the blue raspberry after a while for many years wore out on me but I I like that one it tastes like pineapple mostly um I love pineapple um I drink that through my workout because I feel if I drink it all at once and then go work out I'm just too buzzed. But I like because it sort of wakes me up and keeps me energized throughout my workout and I can really put in an effort and and keep it going. And then post meal um I try to eat as clean as possible. This is what my my diet looks like um I don't eat a lot of red meats and I think I'm gonna have to start doing that because I'm constantly needing naps so I think I might be slightly anemic. I just had some blood work done so we're gonna find out but I stopped eating red meats because it was upsetting my system where it would I would feel sluggish and and had the the itis I suppose um but I don't like the way my system feels when I eat it so I eat a lot of chicken especially chicken breasts and thighs I love that or uh tuna and salmon I eat that a lot I eat a lot of steamed vegetables and um that's mostly it I know it doesn't sound like a lot but you know the way you cook them and the variety ways you can cook them it I don't get bored. So I enjoy that. I do for a while we'll go just the chicken breast and broccoli but like with any sane person that's insane. Don't do that to yourself because you'll be like what the who uh I enjoy uh the Urban Meadow packaged frozen uh vegetables uh the oriental um variety and the um what's that one uh fiesta variety those are kind of cool those are my favorites yeah that's that's what I eat periodically I'll I'll eat stuff lately I've been really bad I've especially during the holidays and normally I'm good but I have I think I might have a parasite guys because I am fiending chocolate like randomly and me and my coworker were talking about that so he's doing like a a cleanse of his he might have parasites he's like I want to see if I have them so because I have these crazy urges or or uh uh not urges but um I forget the word so he was like I'm gonna do it and then let you know so I forgot to follow up on him about that so yeah I was thinking about doing a cleanse too what I've been wanting to do too is a colonic um yeah but I everywhere I've checked it's kind of you know pricey to do that um and I want to do it on a day that I don't have to go to work so but they I I talked to one person at at one place in Harlem and they were like uh no we we keep you for a few minutes we just make sure there's no residual and um yes sir what are you doing Max wants to say hi you guys listening Max is awake hi Bubba he had a nightmare last night he just woke up barking and then he ran to the window I don't know maybe he heard something but yeah he's got allergies man it was really bad to him but he's a good boy he didn't poop at all yesterday and today desponing I took him to the dogmud and boy did he let it out it was it was like three big piles because he's a good boy wanna say hi to the people no okay um so yeah that's how I eat and I try to keep it as clean as possible I've been eating uh pastries oh uh coworker uh just celebrated like 52 years working in as a box office um treasurer and uh one of the uh box office women she brought some cannolis from these mini cannolis from Jersey oh my god I had like four they were so good and you could taste the whatever alcohol they made them with oh it was so good it was so good I haven't had cannolis like that in a long time so I need to get to Brooklyn pick some up um yeah so hopefully that will um help you guys in your in your journey in fitness um so let's revisit uh my sports entertainment side which is I know I mentioned This before. Um, but when it comes to sports, baseball, Yankees all the way, baby. Right here. Yankees, number one, always and forever. Um, I wish I could go to games, they are too goddamn expensive. I'm just gonna have to put many aside this year so I can go next year. I don't know. I did interview for um an Usher position uh with the union that handles that over there, but the uh the uh what am I trying to say? The the the reverse commute to get to these games would it would it was impossible. It would take me forever to get there and back. It was it was just nuts. Um uh but I did it was oh since this was the deal. Um the same union that covers the ushers for the Yankee uh stadium also uh handles the ushers for the US Open, which is all the way out in Flushing Queens. Um it would have been a gig working at the US Open, and the reverse committee for that is local going all the way over there, and then depending on the games and how long they go, I would be stuck out there because the subways stopped running. And um, especially out there, it would be very long. I would it was not gonna work. I would have had to stay at my mom's and then come into the city. It was no, it was not gonna work. So I turned the job down, but uh yeah, I almost got I could have worked the Yankees team. Okay, now football, like I said, Eagles and 49ers. Um, I'm all right. Nick Bosa is a is MAGA, he's on the 49ers, he's hot and great, and you know, I was all into it, and then he did that photo bomb and sort of upset me. I am all for expressing your political point of view, whatever it is you're allowed to. I just don't think the way he did that was appropriate, and there was a rule since Colin Kaepernick, which I have see no fault in what he did, um they have rules in place for stuff like that now where you can't. So he's like the the 11 grand that they charged him for it for doing that, he said it was well worth the wait. I think I'm not gonna support the the 49ers for a while. But hey, I am devastated that they they beat the Eagles in the playoffs. Um I was hoping they could I could talk some shit, but hey, it is what it is. Um rugby. I love rugby. There are no American teams except for the local um excuse me. The local team, um let me rephrase that. The only local team that I'm aware of is the Gotham Knights, and I did try to try out for them, but first of all, reading all the criteria, I started out by researching what it involves joining before I actually tried out, just to be clear. Um I they're very expensive, a lot of requirements. Um, because of my height, I'm told I would be good for the forget the position for the scrum where you use they hold you up and they use the feet to grab the the ball or the whatever they have a name for that kind of ball. Um, but yeah, I wanted to play rugby. Um but again, I couldn't afford to be a part of that. It's mostly gay guys with very, very uh disposable incomes. Um and it's all that their stuff is at night, and I'm working at night, so it's just you know, I I just can't I can't do it. Uh UFC, I loved. So I wasn't really a huge boxing fan, but I did like get into the UFC when it was first like Octagon cage fighting, where it was all different, it was a free-for-all. And it was like, wow, this shit is crazy. Uh then it got banned, and then I was like, why are you banning it? All right, now I'm gonna support because fuck a ban. But then the ultimate fighter came along, which was the the um reality show for these guys who want to get into the UFC and get these contracts and all of that. And I I got I got got by the the theatrics. Uh it came out that a lot of the shit that would go down in the house of the UFC fighters was instigated by the camera people or the production people, and they would start trouble or get someone or egg someone on to start shit because that's what was you know pulling in the ratings because people want to see what the antics, because it was like the blue team against the red team, and the da-da-da, and the you know, some personalities, and they put people together that they had a history of, you know, there was conflict, and it was it was really not cool. Um, but I enjoyed the UFC, and I was a huge Nate Marquardt fan, and he was an incredible fighter. I don't think he's fighting anymore. Um, I know he lives in Taiwan, I want to say, with his wife. Um, but he did, I think he's a homophobe too. He uh there was a post where he was said something about, you know, two men kissing and hiding his eyes, his kids' eyes from seeing that and how he found it disgusting. You know, as an older person now, I'm like evolution has to happen where there are different kinds of people in the world. And I'm not telling you to you have to like it or leave it, but it is not necessary to constantly express yourself one way or the other. Is that coming out right? I don't know. I think there's a lot I feel a particular way about a lot of things, but I don't express myself. It's not necessary. I know how I feel about it, and I carry myself accordingly. That's a double-edged sword, free speech and all. Go for it. And I picked up hockey again, and we all know why, but mostly because hey, I I like hockey. I wanted to get into it. Like I said before, you know, I a lot of fights were breaking out, and I was like, oh, is this what this is about? I'm trying to understand how this game works, but I'm getting into it again. Go Rangers, because you know, New York City baby, and go Canucks, because you know, Michael J. Fox. And I like their logo, superficial. It's an orca, you know, like um uh design that's very uh uh I forget the name of the culture, but it's uh very much in that style and it's kind of cool. Go Canucks. So yeah. There you have it. This is the fitness episode, ladies and gentlemen, guys and gals. I hope you enjoy it. Uh now I want to hear from you. You tell me. You know, are you are you uh a sporty kind of person? Are you what what sports do you like? Do you play sports? What I want to know. Tell me, I want I want to know all about it. Um, you know, do you do you want to get back into the gym? Do you want to do you want to join a gym? Are you afraid to join a gym? All that. I want to hear if I've inspired you to try to get into your fitness now, especially if as we get older, I'm realizing, like I said, you know, there's a lot of creaks and and and squeaks where they weren't before. And, you know, use it or lose it, people. I'm telling you that now. Um, who are your favorite teams? Do we share that in common? I want to know. You know, can we go to a game together? I'll go to a game with you. We're going to a Yankee game, I'll go with you. Um get a spare ticket, I'll go with you. I mean, we're chip in. I don't know. We'll do we'll do that. Go to a Rangers game. Rangers games are fun because I've seen those people when they're on the subway. They they look like they're having a great time. Um do you even care about sports? Do you fuck sports? I don't give a shit. I want to know too, if you don't care. No judgment. Just like fuck sports. You could do that. All right, guys. If you made it this far, uh drop a Pisces emoji down in the comments. Um, maybe a merman or mermaid holding the trident um or dolphin or fish emojis. I want to put it there. Put it there. Are you a Pisces? I want to hear from you. Um, Pisces Unite. I'll give us every Pisces that comments and gives a shout out, I'll get a shout out for the rest of the Pisces season, which goes all the way through to March 20th, which that's my birthday week. Um, so it's just a couple weeks. So I think we get two more episodes. Uh one, two, three, four more episodes. Pisces season. So, you know, everybody gets a shout-out. Name, full name. So you got to put your name down here. Hey, I'm a Pisces. That's what I want to hear from you. Um, so yeah, thanks. Remember to like, follow, and share if you're listening. Please follow on uh wherever you get your podcast. We're on um on um Apple Podcasts and iHeartRadio and a bunch of other uh streaming uh places, uh uh Buzz Sprout. Um yeah, I'm I really want to hear you there. If you're watching on YouTube, thank you. Like, follow, and share, hit the bell. It helps you get notified when the next one drops um and when the shorts drop. Um people liking the shorts, thank you for liking the shorts. Um trying to get you interested in what's going on around here. And what else? I think that's that's all. Hey, listen, I'm trying to keep this ad free, and I'm noticing that a lot of uh my counterparts who have ads, they're like in all kinds of places. So if you support the pod, you know, go go over to there's there's more coming up. You gotta come back for the bonus to this episode, which is over on Patreon. So, and you know, support the the Buzz Sprout because I like Buzz Sprout the most, and they're not paying me for this, because I looked at a few. I can edit the text and format it and put links in and then put the and it loads up the audio really quick and um the and it sounds really cool. And I and and I love and and and they have a newsletter that get comes out weekly and gives you ideas and and uh community and all of that. I really, really enjoy that. So please consider supporting there. It's different levels from I think one dollar to ten dollars a month. Um, same deal with uh Patreon, from one buck to ten bucks a month to get all the cool stuff. Um yeah. All right, guys. See you next week. Stay safe. I love ya.