Tag Archives: Thanksgiving

Some Post-Thanksgiving Workout Tips (And Tweaks To My Current Routine)

I had an awesome Thanksgiving last week. I really did enjoy spending time with my family, enjoying a hardy feast, and watching plenty of football, both NFL and NCAA.

Unfortunately, those good times do come at a price. I consumed more calories in the span of three days than I usually do over the course of a week. To be fair, that’s common for a lot of people, even those who are very health conscious. For the sake of the Thanksgiving spirit and family, we set aside our diets and just let ourselves gorge for a few days.

Personally, I think I overdid it. Anyone who was with me on Thanksgiving can attest that I ate more than my share of the turkey and deserts. It was a festive environment and we all savored every bite. For that, I have no regrets.

But that does mean the last few days have been particularly arduous when it comes to my exercise routine. I’ve noted before that I go to the gym quite frequently. I actually go more frequently now than I did before the COVID-19 pandemic. I rarely skip workouts, even around holidays. But even when I don’t skip a trip to the gym, I definitely feel it when I eat a lot of calories.

I suspect I’m not the only one dealing with that. I also suspect more than a few people are trying to get back into a healthy routine after all the family, feasts, and desserts. If you are, then I hope you find this helpful because I’d like to share a few tips on post-Thanksgiving workouts. I’m sharing it because there is a right and wrong way to do it. I know because the day after Thanksgiving, I’m pretty sure I did it the wrong way and was very sore for a while because of it.

You don’t need to go through that pain, nor should you.

Also, I always feel inclined to note that I am not a personal trainer. I would never claim to be an expert at exercise, health, or getting into shape. I’m just sharing my experience and strategies in hopes that others will find it useful. I’m not even charging anyone for it. This is completely free advice.

The first tip I’d like to give is that, if you had a regular routine before Thanksgiving, do not try and go straight back to it the day after you’ve consumed so many calories. Your body just went through an abnormal experience that is holiday festivities. You can’t expect it to quickly re-adjust as though it never happened.

You will hurt yourself. I know because I badly strained my quad, chest, and abdominal muscles. It hurt more than I care to admit.

The second tip I’d like to offer is that, when it comes to consume lots of calories, cardio should be a greater priority over weight training. Even if you’re primarily focused on building muscle mass, it’s necessary to do extra cardio after consuming excess calories. That means a bit more time running outdoors, running on a treadmill, or using an exercise bike or elliptical. I’ve done a little of everything in that regard. And even just doing an extra 10 to 15 minutes of cardio makes a huge difference.

It’s primarily a matter of physics. You eat a lot of calories. You need to burn them off. Cardio, in addition to helping with blood flow and heart health, burns more calories than lifting weights. Eating all that turkey just means having to burn extra.

The third and final tip I’d like to offer has to do with how you go about weight training. Depending on your goals, you either try to do a few reps with heavy weights, usually 5 rep sets of 5, or lots of reps with lighter weights. For the most part, I’ve favored doing fewer reps with heavy weights. That’s fairly common for men looking to add muscle mass, whereas the higher reps with lower weights are common for women looking to slim down.

I had to change that recently to ensure I don’t strain my body more than I should. So, in the interest of burning off my holiday calories, I’ve started doing more reps per set with fewer sets. This way, I can emphasize good form and work to strain the muscles more concisely rather than using brute strength with lower reps. I’ve already found this to be quite effective in that I get a good burn going, but with less painful strain.

To illustrate, this is the current workout I’m using for most of my gym trips:

Start off with 35 minutes of cardio, either on an elliptical or running outside.

Do 100 weighted ab crunches (basically a crunch with a free weight on your chest).

Then, I do a the following weight training routine.

Do 3 sets of 20 reps of a butterfly curls (machine or free weights).

Do 3 sets of 20 reps of reverse butterfly curls.

Do 3 sets of 20 reps of bicep curls.

Do 3 sets of 20 reps for tricep extensions.

Do 3 sets of 20 reps of shoulder press.

Do 3 sets of 20 reps of lat pull downs.

Do 3 sets of 20 reps for leg press.

Do 3 sets of 20 reps for leg extensions.

Do 2 sets of 20 reps of pull-ups.

In general, this routine takes me about an hour and 15 minutes. I’ve been doing it for a few days now and I’m already feeling much better in terms of energy, mood, and fitness. I still do my other routine of doing 5 sets of 5 reps with more weight. But I’m thinking of maybe alternating the days when I do that in order to get the most benefits out of my workout.

One general rule of exercise is that if your body gets too used to one particular thing, it ceases to be as effective. That’s why it’s important to mix things up. It keeps the workout interesting and it helps get you better results in the long run.

Chances are I’ll probably tweak this workout as time goes on. If I uncover other useful tips, I’ll be sure to share them and they’ll continue to be free.

We all need to take time to enjoy the holidays with our families and get off our diet for a while. And if the price for doing so is more time at the gym to stay strong, healthy, and sexy, I say that’s a price worth paying.

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My Holiday Gift Wrapping Traditions And “Hawkeye” On Disney+

When it comes to the holiday, I like to go the extra mile and then some.

Talk to any of my friends, family, or relatives. They’ll attest that I take Christmas a lot more seriously than most. I’m the kind of guy who has his Christmas decorations up by Halloween and finishes his Christmas shopping two weeks before Thanksgiving. They’ll also attest that when it comes to gift giving, I don’t hold back. I’ll gladly spend extra and work a little harder in order to present the perfect gift to my loved ones.

That doesn’t always mean I buy something expensive or fancy. It just means I try to get something that’s memorable, sentimental, and unique. Basically, if you’re on my Christmas list, then you can expect to get an awesome gift at some point. That’s just how I approach the holidays and I make no apologies for that.

In addition to my love of giving awesome gifts, I have a few other smaller Christmas traditions that I genuinely enjoy. They may not sound like much to most people, but they’re a big part of why I love this time of year so much. And one of those traditions is just beginning, but it’s also a tradition that’s worth supplementing.

Like I said, I try to get my Christmas shopping done at least a couple weeks before Thanksgiving. As a result, that usually means I have a lot of things to wrap around this time of year. It’s not unusual for me to spend an entire Saturday or Sunday afternoon wrapping presents. To some, it’s a chore. But to me, it’s one of my favorite holiday activities.

I don’t know why. I just get a special kind of satisfaction whenever I wrap Christmas presents for my friends and family.

One part that adds to that enjoyment has to do with how I go about it. Usually when I have a lot of gifts to wrap, I put on one of my favorite Christmas movies or shows. Sometimes, it’s one of the classics like the “Charlie Brown Christmas Special.” Other times, it’s something newer like “The Christmas Chronicles” or “Klaus.” They’re all great Christmas shows and movies. However, last year I discovered another that I’ve added to my holiday playlist. And it’s one I didn’t expect would be so festive.

It’s the Disney+ series, “Hawkeye.”

Now, that may not seem too surprising. I’ve done plenty to make my love of all things Marvel known on this site and my YouTube channel. And while I was certainly aware of “Hawkeye” when it began airing late last year, I was genuinely surprised by how great it worked as a holiday special.

Even though its primary setting unfolded around the holidays and it had a lot of Christmas imagery, I still didn’t expect it to feel like a true Christmas show. I expected it to be another solid entry in the ever-expanding world that is the Marvel Cinematic Universe. And in that sense, it certainly was. If its primary goal was to introduce the audience to Kate Bishop, then the show definitely succeeded. Being a solid Christmas show would’ve just been a nice bonus.

But it turned out to be more than just a bonus.

This limited series had genuine heart and spirit to go along with the standard Marvel Studios formula for action, character, and continuity. It wasn’t just about how Kate Bishop became Hawkeye’s young protege. It is very much a show about family and how hard you’re willing to fight to protect them, especially around the holidays. It’s also a show that emphasizes the power of found family and finding a place with people who you might not be related to, but still come to love and cherish.

Yes, there’s still plenty of action and it does build on how much the MCU changed after the events of “Avengers: Endgame.”

Yes, it still sets the stage for future stories, especially with Kate Bishop.

But, even without the heroics and action, it’s still a damn good Christmas story. And unlike last year, you don’t have to wait a week for new episodes. The show is up on Disney+ and ready to binge. And I’ve every intention of binging it again in its entirety in the coming days.

Even if you’re not a Marvel fans, the show still stands well enough on its own to enjoy as a typical Christmas special. It has all the right ingredients for a quality Christmas themed show. And it has moments that will get most anyone into the holiday spirit. So, if you’re looking for a different kind of Christmas special to watch this year or have Marvel fans in your family, check out “Hawkeye.”

It has already become a solid entry in my list of beloved holiday specials. Give it a chance and I hope it becomes part of yours.

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Filed under Jack Fisher's Insights, Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe, superhero comics, superhero movies

Happy Black Friday (And Post-Thanksgiving Recovery)!

I hope everyone had a safe, happy, and filling Thanksgiving. I certainly did. For that, I must credit my wonderful family. My parents, especially, organized an incredible feast, complete with a delicious turkey, mashed potatoes, and green beans. I still managed to contribute someone. I’m usually responsible for making desserts, which usually involve cookies. They were still good, but I feel like my parents did most of the heavy lifting.

Now, after spending a good chunk of yesterday and this morning in a food coma, I’m ready for my second favorite holiday tradition for this time of year. And that’s Black Friday shopping.

I know. Black Friday is very much an overly commercialized holiday that’s primarily a marketing gimmick.

Yes, I know it’s meant to cater to those who either make shopping a much bigger deal than it needs to be.

No, I do not care.

I know it’s weird for a straight man, but I genuinely enjoy shopping. I especially enjoy Christmas shopping. I do suspect some of that comes from my mother. She has told me more than once that when I was a baby, one of her favorite things to do was take me shopping at the closest mall. I think that helped prime me for the joys of Black Friday shopping and for that, I am grateful.

But however you feel about shopping or Black Friday, this is a great day to take some of those calories you consumed and spend them in a productive manner. Christmas is just a month away and in my experience, there are no downsides to getting your shopping done as early as possible.

I’ve had most of my shopping done since the first week of November. However, I still go out on Black Friday because every now and then, I’ll come across something I feel will be the perfect gift for a friend or family member. Even if I’ve already bought that person a gift, I’ll still get it to make Christmas morning that much more special.

I hope to continue that tradition today. And after the events of the past two years, I hope the Black Friday festivities are back at full strength. Even with the rise of online shopping, there’s just something special about going to a mall or retail outlet to take in the ambience. I’ve always enjoyed it. I hope to continue enjoying it. And I encourage others to embrace that spirit.

Happy Black Friday!

Happy Holidays!

I hope everyone reading this uses today to get those you care about something extra special.

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Thanksgiving 2022: A Thankful Message With Hopeful Sentiments

The following is a video from my YouTube channel, Jack’s World. This video is just a brief message of thanks to friends, family, and those who have supported me and this this channel in the spirit of the holidays. Enjoy!

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Happy Black Friday Shopping (And Why I Love It)

Black Friday 2019: What You Need to Know - The New York Times

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving. Some of you may still be emerging from your food coma, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. That just means you had a damn good meal. That’s exactly what Thanksgiving is all about.

Now, it’s the day after Thanksgiving. For some, it’s just another day after a holiday. It usually involves cleaning up the messes your relatives made, giving your stomach a much-deserved rest, and sleeping off a hangover, if necessary. There’s certainly a place for that sort of thing, especially after a holiday like Thanksgiving.

For me, though, the Friday after Thanksgiving is Black Friday. It’s all about Christmas shopping. I know it’s weird for a straight guy like me to say this, but I love Black Friday Christmas shopping. Even when I was a broke college student with no car, I still loved it. There’s just something about it that puts me in the holiday spirit.

I know that’s not a feeling shared by everyone. I don’t doubt that Black Friday is a joke to a lot of people. I also don’t deny that the commercials for Black Friday deals are annoying as hell. I don’t like them, either. I still tolerate them because just getting out there and enjoying the Black Friday experience is worth it.

That experience used to be a lot more pragmatic. As I’ve noted before, I take Christmas gifts very seriously. I’m one of those guys who has his decorations up by Halloween and does as much of his shopping as possible before Thanksgiving. Before the days of reliable internet shopping, that was a lot more challenging.

I actually needed to go out on Black Friday in order to complete my shopping list, picking up whatever I couldn’t find online. It could be stressful at times, especially for certain relatives who are hard to shop for. I also needed some of those Black Friday deals because for years, I had to be very careful with my shopping budget.

Believe me. You learn how to stretch a budget when you try to buy gifts when you’re still in college or just graduated with a sizable amount of loan debt.

Say what you will about those annoying commercials, but some of those Black Friday deals ensured I could get quality gifts for my loved ones that didn’t look overly cheap. It made Christmas morning that much more rewarding. It showed the people I love that I’m willing to go the extra mile for them on the holidays.

These days, I’m not quite as broke. I’m not rich, but I have a somewhat larger budget to work with and that has helped make my holiday shopping a lot more efficient. Thanks to a bunch of lists I maintain on Amazon, I’m usually able to get at least 80 percent of my shopping done before Black Friday. On rare occasions, I get all of it done.

Even so, I gladly venture out on Black Friday. Even if I don’t buy much, I just love taking in the holiday spirit and décor at every mall and shopping center I go to. Plus, going out and actually shopping is very different from just browsing online. When you’re walking around in a mall, it’s a lot easier to randomly come across something that would make a perfect gift that you never would’ve found otherwise.

Some of the best Christmas gifts I’ve ever gotten for my family were a direct result of me just randomly browsing stores at the mall. I see them as small Christmas miracles. Last year, it was a lot harder to find those kinds of gifts because of the pandemic. This year, it’s still not completely back to normal, but I genuinely look forward to having a more traditional Black Friday shopping experience.

Hopefully, I find another special gift to give to a friend or loved one.

Even if I don’t, I’m just going to enjoy the holiday ambience that comes with Black Friday. I hope others do the same.

Now that Thanksgiving is behind us, Christmas is coming up fast. Today is one of the best possible days to get started on your holiday shopping or finish it. That way, you can spend the rest of December just enjoying the holidays.

In that spirit, Happy Black Friday shopping, everyone! I hope you find something special for someone you love.

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A Thankful Message For Thanksgiving 2021

The following is a video from my YouTube channel, Jack’s World. It’s just a brief message of thanks for all those who have helped my channel grow so much over the past year-and-a-half, as well as a personal story to help get everyone in the Thanksgiving spirit. Enjoy!

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Attention All Holiday Shoppers: Do Your Shopping EARLY This Year!

11 Best Christmas Shopping Tips - How to Do Holidays on a Budget

I love Christmas.

I love the holidays.

It has always been one of my favorite times of the year. Ask anyone who knows me and they’ll tell you the same. I take Christmas very seriously. I go out of my way to buy extra gifts and I often spend way more than I intend. However, I gladly pay that price because that’s how much I love the holidays.

Last year was a real challenge for obvious reasons. This year promises to be a bit more traditional and we should welcome that.

However, this year brings with it some new challenges, especially for those who just love waiting until the last minute to do their Christmas shopping. We all know people like that. You yourself might be like that. I understand that not everyone is inclined to be that proactive. There’s nothing wrong with that. I don’t think less of anyone who has a procrastination problem around the holidays.

That being said, you should make an exception this year. If ever there was a year in which you got your shopping done early, make it this one. The ongoing supply chain issues that we’ve all heard about will have an impact, regardless of whether you do your shopping online or go to a store.

This is not speculation.

This is a warning.

If you want to make sure you get all the gifts you hope to give, either for yourself or your loved ones, do your shopping now.

Don’t wait until Thanksgiving.

Don’t wait until the first week of December.

Do it now.

You family will thank you and your holiday experience will be less stressful overall.

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Jack’s World: How I Got Into Shape And My Advice To Others Trying To Do The Same

The following is a YouTube video for my YouTube Channel, Jack’s World. Since it’s the week of Thanksgiving, I thought it would be timely. It covers my history with getting into shape, the challenges I faced along the way, and my advice for those who seek to do the same. I’ve talked about this challenge before, but I thought it warranted a more comprehensive video. Enjoy!

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Thoughts On A (Bittersweet) Black Friday 2020

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving.

If you did it right, you’re still digesting dinner and desert. I sure am.

However, as fun as it is to enjoy food, family, and football on Thanksgiving, Black Friday has become an extension of sorts for the holiday. For some people, it invites even bolder traditions than Thanksgiving. I’ve known people who will immediately camp outside of major stories almost immediately after Thanksgiving dinner.

I’m not one of them. I prefer enjoying Black Friday shopping on Black Friday. I always have. It’s not that I’m a sucker for sales and excessive consumerism. I just genuinely enjoy the Black Friday shopping experience, from the crowds to the holiday decorations to the various festivities.

I know that makes me weird in the eyes of some. I understand that. Black Friday is one of those events that you either love or hate. You love it because it’s the best shopping time of the season. You hate it because it’s the pinnacle of rampant consumerism. I can appreciate both positions. I still enjoy it.

That’s why this year is so difficult. This is the first year where I won’t partake in any Black Friday shopping sprees of any kind. Thanks to a global pandemic and a massive spike in cases over the past few weeks, pretty much any hope of salvaging this event, even in part, is gone.

For some, it’s no great loss. Not being able to go on a shopping spree in crowded stores probably doesn’t mean much to a lot of people. It means a lot to me.

It’s not just for the shopping part. Like many others, I do most of my Christmas shopping online. I finish nearly 90 percent of my holiday shopping before Black Friday. To me, just getting the gifts I want for my family isn’t the point anymore.

It’s the experience I’ve come to appreciate. That experience is what matters to me. It’s an experience that comes partially from my mother’s fondness of shopping.

She has told me on multiple occasions that her favorite activity with me, when I was a baby, was going shopping at the malls. I feel like I inherited that fondness for the experience from her. It’s one I even shared with my ex-girlfriend years ago. Some of our most memorable moments came while shopping on Black Friday.

Now, it’s just not possible to have any of those moments in a year like this.

It’s not surprising, given the current state of affairs, but it’s still disappointing. It’s yet another indicator that 2020 is a year in which we’ve lost so much. Between major movie releases, major sporting events, and beloved celebrities, the losses just keep accumulating. This is just the latest.

I don’t doubt it’ll come back at some point. Depending on how rapidly we recover from this pandemic, I have a feeling people will be eager to make up for lost experiences next year. I know I will.

Until then, I just want to take a moment to appreciate the past experiences I’ve enjoyed with Black Friday shopping. The experience of just going to malls, being around crowds, and taking part in holiday festivities are some of my favorite aspects of this time of year. I won’t let 2020 ruin my holidays, but I intend to appreciate future Black Fridays even more.

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Happy Thanksgiving 2020!

To everyone out there, no matter how jaded you might be after this past year, I wish you a safe and Happy Thanksgiving!

I know this year has disrupted many plans, holiday and non-holiday alike. They’ve certainly disrupted mine. I can attest that Thanksgiving this year will be very different for me compared to previous years. The large family gatherings that I’m so fond of just aren’t possible to do safely.

As disappointing as that is, I won’t let it stop me from enjoying Thanksgiving with my family, nor should it stop anyone else. It may require some frustrating adaptations. It may also require a working knowledge of video chatting and Zoom. It’s still worth doing.

That’s what you do for family.

That’s what you do for the holidays.

It’s part of what makes you thankful to have them in your life.

That’s worth celebrating and I encourage everyone to do so.

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