Dieting

It is a real challenge to lose weight and keep the weight off. Exercise and the right diet make all the difference, but you have to find something you can stick with over time. Low carb diets, such as the Atkins diet plans have worked for many people and are worth considering. There has been some controversy about the long term impact of low-carb diets, but with the right resources and planning, you can lose weight and keep it off using this approach. Low-carb diets are usually good for diabetics also, especially when they limit the amount of refined carbohydrates in the diet and concentrate on complex carbohydrates. Check out the Atkins Diet Plan n' Recipes to learn more about low-carb diets.

Total Gym 1700

I used the first $400 of my PayPerPost money to buy a Total Gym 1700. It arrived earlier this week and I've had a chance to set it up and use it several times. I had a standard Total Gym model for about 10 years and it was starting to wear out a little bit, plus it was missing a few features that the new model has, including a weight bar, dipping handles and a wider base and better padding on the main area where you put your back. Not sure what that's called. Overall, the 1700 is a much higher quality product. Each piece is more solid and the whole thing works well. The weight bar is nice to have and you can really feel the difference when you add some weight (up to 75 pounds total).

However, there are some negatives with the new model. It's heavier, and as a result it is more difficult to put away. The original was very easy to slide back into a smaller unit and move out of the way. The new one is a pain in the neck in that regard. While I like the dip handles and the weight bar, you can't really use them both at the same time. The weight bar gets in the way of the dip handles if they are both attached. Taking the dip handles on and off is easy, but the weight bar uses a bolt which has to be attached underneath the unit, so it's not so easy to take on and off. Also, while the new model has new features, none of them are reflected in the exercise manual. In fact, it's identical to the one I had for the older model. There's no video or DVD either.

I like the new one and I think it's a well made product which will last for many years, but in a few instances, they could have thought things out a little better to make it easier to use.

Fantasy Football Podcast with Josh and Jason

Check out the Ultimate Fantasy Football Podcast with Josh and Jason. One of the ugliest and least readable web pages I've looked at in some time, but the podcast is great for fantasy football owners.

Fantasy Football

It's hard to believe, but fantasy sports leagues have been around since the early 1960's. The Internet has accelerated interest in fantasy sports and helped make these leagues a multi-billion dollar enterprise in the United States. More than 15 million people play fantasy sports each year! That's a lot of people drafting players and keeping a close eye on their performance each week.

Fantasy Football is now the most popular fantasy sport. The American Fantasy Football League is a fantasy league which offers cash and prize payouts to participants. Projections for this year put the grand prize at more than $80,000. If you are a serious fantasy football player, that's a nice prize to win!

You can check out the AFFL's message boards to see what's going on, or visit their home page to see the big checks won by last year's winners. 

Chargers look good this year

The Chargers don't play this week, so we'll have to wait a little while for their next game against the Ravens, but they look like a very strong team this year. I had my doubts about letting Drew Brees go in favor of Philip Rivers, but Rivers has looked very good in his two starts. The Chargers are strong everywhere, both on offense and defense, so it's just a matter of how they hold up against the strong teams and whether or not Marty Schottenheimer plays things too conservatively at the end of games.

No Mo for Dodgers

So much for any momentum following that great come from behind win on Monday night. The Dodgers lost last night to the lowly Pirates, putting them a half game behind the Padres, who won. It should be an interesting race to the finish, but it looks like there is a good chance that both teams will get into the postseason, especially since they don't play each other again.

Chris Berman and sports nicknames

Chris Berman on ESPN is known for the sometimes ridiculous nicknames he comes up with athletes. Many of them are references to songs from the 60's or to celebrities like "Jake "Daylight Come, and You Gotta" Delhomme, C.C. "Splish Splash, I Was Taking" Sabathia, and Scott "Supercalifragilisticexpiali-" Brosius". However, he refers to tight end Todd Heap of the Baltimore Ravens as the "Stormin' Mormon" which seems to be a little over the top even for Berman.