BAJA MAC FITNESS & SPORTS PAGE DIET PROGRAM
Bioenergetics Anabolic Joust Athletics Fitness Macronutrients Diet Program
The BAJA Fitness & MAC Diet Program helps a person work with their body to overcome the natural self-preservation tendencies that resist weight loss, and turn the body into a calorie-burning juggernaut that drops weight, inches, and years from their appearance.
In the two photographs above, I am 68 years old. They were taken in October 2025 while I was preparing for a classic car and airshow.The MAC Diet is based on two fundamentals: WHAT you eat and WHEN you eat.
The WHAT part of the MAC Diet teaches a person how to read 9- data points from standard nutrition labels and choose foods with a MAC Score of 3.50 or below.
The WHEN part is eating between 9 a.m. and 6 p.m. This schedule not only helps with weight loss, but also helps lower blood pressure, blood glucose, and cholesterol, and gives the body time to repair and rejuvenate itself at night. There is nothing good for your health about eating after 6 p.m.
The other part is your Fitness. I follow a fitness program that includes: Cardio and strength training. Strength training is the best age-defying technique we have to allow our muscles to produce a natural growth hormone that contains collagen that repairs and rejuvenates our body that no supplement or other treatment can match. I am evidence of this at age 68. PLEASE READ MORE BELOW:
Weight Loss, Overcoming Self-Preservation with VIPER
If you think you can’t lose weight because of a lack of willpower, it is not willpower that you lack. It is because of your body’s self-preservation instincts.
An individual can overcome the body’s self-preservation instinct around weight loss. It is the same process sports psychologists use when working with athletes to reach peak performance. It is referred to as CBT (Cognitive Behavioral Therapy). Bobby Jones’s quote sums it up perfectly: golf is played on a course between the ears.
I had plans, before my hip became so debilitating, to retire in June 2015 and start my BAJA FITNESS & SPORTS PAGE, covering sports and its huge impact on our lives. I had rough drafts of two books on fitness and golf that I planned to publish. My plan was to promote them by appearing on the covers. Those two books have now become ten books, which also include our faith.
After my hip replacement, I needed to lose approximately 45 pounds and 6 inches from my waistline. Like many people, I turned to the gym in November 2014, but I had only modest success: I lost 10 pounds and about one and a half inches from my waistline.
If you are trying to lose weight with workouts only, here is an issue you will be facing: If I work out in the gym for 45 minutes, I burn about 525 calories. A Big Mac has 555 calories. If you are focusing on cardio to burn belly fat, you have to raise your heart rate to (220 − your age) × 80%.
If you are 35 years old, to burn belly fat you have to elevate your heart rate to (220 − 35) × 0.80 = 148 beats per minute for at least 15 minutes. This is why people’s New Year’s resolutions fail: you cannot burn fat off by exercising only. This is why working around the house doesn’t allow you to burn belly fat.
One advantage of strength training is that it burns about 50 calories for every pound of muscle you add. Also, ladies: strength training releases a natural growth hormone that contains collagen. To look younger, add iron to your workout.
To achieve weight loss, an individual must deal with the body’s self-preservation and the mind—not just mental willpower.
Matthew 26:41 addresses this, when Jesus said, “…watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.” The key word is watching, or visual ability as an incentive to achieve weight loss.
Here are two visual incentives
One visual incentive is to go shopping and see an outfit on a mannequin that looks great and catches your eye. But when you get home and try it on, it does not look anything like it did in the store. A mirror is the other problem.
When you use a mirror to evaluate yourself, you hold that image for only a few minutes before going about your day. It comes down to out of sight, out of mind.
Instead of using a mirror to evaluate your clothes and how they fit, do this: use a camera to capture your appearance. Facial skin, waistline, and glutes are the focal points. This is what is called incentivizing—what we need to drive us toward weight-loss results.
A Photograph Is Worth a Thousand Incentives
You hear that a photograph is worth a thousand words. Well, a photograph is worth a thousand incentives for weight loss.
Take my case: I got up enough courage to have a photograph taken of myself without a shirt in October 2014, below. What the photograph revealed was shocking to me. I had never gotten that perspective standing in front of a camera offers that a mirror doesn’t.
The next thing I did was even more astonishing: I measured my waistline, which was 37.75 inches. A healthy waistline should be half your height.
Just to show how out of shape I was: my height is 66 inches; half of that indicated I should have a waistline of 33 inches. Since the camera adds inches and pounds, I used a 2.20 denominator, or 66 / 2.20 = 30.0-inch waistline as my objective so I could pose.
My actual waistline chart is below:
The VIPER Approach to Achieving Success
I have always used VIPER (Visual–Incentive–Process–Evaluation–Results) in my career to achieve objectives as a grid engineer with a utility company. This included as an instructor for linemen.
So, I had my Visual and my Incentive from the photographs above. I just needed a Process and Evaluation to achieve Results: a waistline of 30.0 inches.
The Process
I used my chemical engineering background to evaluate Nutrition Labels. But the nutrition label does not list one of the biggest culprits in weight gain: simple carbohydrates, or those hidden sugars.
The other issue with nutrition labels is that they do not list the two healthy fats we need to aid digestion and provide us with overall health: monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats, or omega fatty acids.
Breaking the Nutrition Label Code
I was able to devise a Process to identify what are called macronutrient foods: foods that are high in protein, fiber, omega fatty acids, and complex carbohydrates, with limited fructose, with no added sugars. Some food manufacturers can cause healthy food to become unhealthy just by the added sugar that they add. A good example is Figs that are nutritious with 8 grams of fructose (natural sugar). But Fig Newtons adds 16 grams of sugar.
My MAC Score
The MAC Score identifies foods that are macronutrient (sources of natural GLP-1) foods by keeping the score at or below a MAC Score of 3.50.
The Results of the MAC Diet
Again, a photograph is worth a thousand words. I will let the photograph below, taken in October 2015, show the last part of the VIPER Approach—RESULTS—by using my BAJA Fitness & MAC Diet Program
MY BOOKS ON AMAZON KINDLE IN E-BOOK & PAPERBACK
If you want to lose weight, inches, and even years off your appearance, you must have a Vision, Incentive, Process, Evaluation, and Results. The BAJA Fitness & MAC Diet that is based on VIPER analysis will help you overcome the body’s self-preservation instinct on weight loss. The photograph below was taken of me at age 68 in April 2026 for a classic car and air show.
MAC DIET to Support natural Glucagon-Like-Peptide-1 (GLP-1)
The MAC (Macronutrients) DIET identifies food that NATURALLY supplies GLP-1 that is a hormone that is produced naturally in the gut that certain foods can provide for prolong period. Specifically, the L-cells in the small intestine and colon. After a meal, the body releases GLP-1 as part of a hormonal cascade that signals to the pancreas, stomach, liver, and, most importantly, the brain for feeling satisfied.
But the biggest benefit of GLP-1 receptor agonists effectively reduce visceral fat, as demonstrated by clinical trials using CT and MRI imaging showing significant decreases in visceral adipose tissue volume alongside improvements in waist circumference and cardiometabolic markers.
MACRO Diet is High Protein, High Fiber, Omega Fatty Acids, Complex-Carbohydrates
High-protein and high-fiber foods can help extend and sustain GLP‑1 release throughout the entire day, because each Macronutrient class activates GLP‑1 through different pathways and at different times in digestion.
Protein, especially from whole foods like eggs, Greek yogurt, lentils, skinless poultry, and tofu, stimulates GLP‑1 release via specific amino acids (e.g., phenylalanine, tryptophan, arginine, glutamine) that bind to calcium-sensing receptors on intestinal L‑cells
That signal is powerful and fleeting. Natural GLP-1 has a half-life of only about two minutes because it is rapidly broken down by the enzyme DPP-4. Only a small share of the hormone that leaves the gut reaches the bloodstream in active form. MAC-Type foods can prolong this process for hours.
MAC Diet Impact on Your Health Numbers
In the gut, GLP-1 slows gastric emptying. Food stays in the stomach longer, blood sugar rises more gradually, and fullness arrives sooner. In the pancreas, the hormone boosts insulin when glucose is high and suppresses glucagon, improving blood-sugar control with a low risk of hypoglycemia compared with some older diabetes drugs. Effects on the liver and fat tissue can improve lipids and reduce fat stored in the wrong places.
The Macronutrients, or MAC, DIET is nothing new it has been around since the 1990’s, the concept of macronutrients consist of the three main nutrients your body needs in large amounts for health and fitness: complex carbohydrates, proteins, fiber and fats (Polyunsaturated and Monounsaturated) while eliminating Unsaturated and Trans-Fats. The key is also to eliminate added sugars and limit intake of fructose (natural sugars). While it is natural sugar, you still need to restrict your intake of fructose.
Obesity Can be Conquered Knowing WHAT & WHEN to Eat
Obesity is not only a matter of willpower. Weight control is a matter of WHAT and WHEN you eat. THE MAC DIET is as simple as using nine (9) data points on a nutrition label to include foods with a MAC Score of 3.50 or below. The closer to a MAC Score of 1.0 the healthier the food is and the source of GLP-1 hormone.
Main Menu items on the MAC Diet- High Proteins and Fiber Sources
There is one item on the menu I have at my lunch and dinner, Bean Dip Pinto Beans that have a combined MAC Score of 2.41. There are Super Foods that should be included in a healthy diet:
NEWLY RELEASED BOOK ON AMAZON KINDLE:
THE ALPHA MALE GENTLEMAN
The Alpha Male Gentleman is a great book for any young man wanting to have health and fitness while developing etiquette on style, fashion, and developing personal and professional skills in a career. This also highlights the importance of TRADES first COLLEGE second.
The Macronutrients, or MACRO, DIET is nothing NEW
The Macronutrients, or MAC, DIET is nothing new it has been around since the 1990’s, the concept of macronutrients — the three main nutrients your body needs in large amounts for health and fitness: complex carbohydrates, proteins, and fats (Polyunsaturated and Monounsaturated) while eliminating Unsaturated and Trans-Fats. The key is also to eliminate added sugars and limit intake of fructose (natural sugars). While it is natural sugar, you still need to restrict your intake of fructose.
Obesity Can be Conquered Knowing WHAT & WHEN to Eat
Obesity is not only a matter of willpower. Weight control is a matter of WHAT and WHEN you eat. THE MAC DIET is as simple as using nine (9) data points on a nutrition label to include foods with a MAC Score of 3.50 or below. The closer to a MAC Score of 1.0 the healthier the food is and the source of GLP-1 hormone.
Main Menu items on the MACRO Diet- High Proteins and Fiber Sources
There is one item on the menu I have at my lunch and dinner, Bean Dip Pinto Beans that have a combined MAC Score of 2.41
Health Benefits of Sauerkraut
Provides age-defying skin, hair, vision by reducing dry eyes and cataracts even for us that are over 60.
Cheese for a Healthy Diet
Some people shy away from cheese. While cheese doesn’t supply GLP-1, it does aid in the continuing release of GLP-1 over 4 hours. Also, cheeses are a great source of Casein and Slow Release. Most cheese is made from casein and whey proteins. Casein digests slowly, providing a steady release of amino acids and GLP-1 over several hours, which can help sustain muscle repair between meals or overnight.
Dropping Weight and Age
Charles Barkley in an ad stated he lost 45- pounds in seven months. I lost 44.7- pounds in three months from December 1, 2014, to February 27, 2015, on my MAC Diet. But that wasn’t all that I dropped, I dropped about 30- years off my appearance where I posed for the front cover of four of my books that are on Kindle under my name: Charles Boatright.
I just released The Alpha Male Gentleman where I posed for the cover and a new book entitled Golfer’s Power Matrix that contained my STP-Golf Sequence, my MAC Diet and with my BAJA Fitness Program. The preliminary cover is below:
NEWLY RELEASED BOOK ON AMAZON KINDLE:
THE GOLFER’S POWER MATRIX
The book THE GOLFER’S POWER MATRIX takes natural permanent motor skills that were developed before the age of ten and use these same skills to have the same confidence standing in the batter’s box as standing on the Tee Box of Fairway.
The Matrix is a Kinetic Chain that starts with presetting the wrists with three simple natural maneuvers. If want to improve your golf game with consistency and confidence THE GOLFER’S POWER MATRIX is a self-coached approach to golf that can be played into one’s 90’s and beyond.
If you want age-defying fitness and health eat a MAC-Diet, workout (including strength training), and stay active in a sport and hobby. My sport and hobby is golf and welding
THE 3 BAJA MAC FITNESS WORKOUT TIERS, TAILORED FOR THOSE FROM 12 TO OVER AGE 50
BRAVO EXERCISE TIER, Entry-Level Program
Beginners Rehabbing and Vascular Objectives
Beginners Rehabbing Anabolic Vascular Objectives, or BRAVO, Fitness Tier is an entry-level program designed for adults over 50, people new to exercise, and those recovering from illness or injury. Its purpose is to restore basic movement, balance, circulation, and confidence so participants can later advance to more demanding training if they choose. The focus is consistency, safety, and vascular health—not intensity. Sessions use gentle work that supports blood flow, breathing, and joint mobility without overloading a recovering or developing body.
Workouts last 15 to 20 minutes and are performed three times per week on nonconsecutive days. Typical sessions include walking, boxing, and cycling to improve movement quality, balance, stability, and stamina. The aim is a modest rise in heart rate, better circulation, and improved coordination.
The same conservative principles apply to children beginning structured activity. Formal strength training should generally wait until about age 13. Before then, children should stay with play-based movement, coordination, balance, and aerobic play that builds skill without heavy loading. After 13, and only with proper supervision, they can progress toward structured strength work. Rehab participants should follow the same sequence: master pain-free, low-impact patterns first.
BRAVO works best when it stays short, repeatable, and conservative. Clearance from a physician or physical therapist is essential after illness, injury, or those over the age of 50. Progress is measured by easier breathing, better stamina, and improvements in health markers such as blood pressure, blood glucose, cholesterol, and waist circumference. Done well, BRAVO can serve as a foundation for higher level fitness tiers.
The term Anabolic is strength training that stimulates muscle growth and triggers hormonal responses that promote tissue building.
The medicine-ball wood chopper is a full-body exercise that combines cardio and strength training in one movement.
It is essential that you stay hydrated between exercises and take a 30-second rest between them.
BRAVO is based on performing one to three sets of 10 repetitions of each exercise.Important fact: Cardio has a 20- to 30-minute afterburn, while resistance training can produce an afterburn of up to six hours, during which your body continues burning calories. This is why a fitness routine should include resistance training.
Always consult your physician before working out to see what physical fitness is right for you. For the first couple of workouts consult a physical trainer to ensure you are using the correct procedures, posture, and form to perform your fitness elements.
Workout with a Purpose:
1 Corinthians 9:26-27 So I run with purpose in every step. I am not just shadowboxing. I discipline my body like an athlete, training it to do what I want it to do and how I want it to perform.
CAMS EXERCISE TIER, Second-Level Program
Conditioning Anabolic Maintain Stats, or CAMS, Fitness is the next step for people who already have a basic fitness routine and now want to strengthen and tone muscle without over taxing their abilities. It is an entry-level conditioning tier: more demanding than beginner movement work, but still conservative enough for adults returning from inactivity, advancing from rehab, or simply ready to train with purpose four days a week.
CAMS exists to protect and improve the numbers that reflect long-term health: blood pressure, blood sugar, cholesterol, resting pulse, and waistline. Strength training is treated as a medical ally, not a separate project. Muscle that is used regularly helps the body handle glucose and fats more efficiently, supports circulation, and makes a healthier midsection easier to maintain. The program’s measure of success is not only firmer muscle but steadier vital signs and better daily energy.
Sessions last 20 to 25 minutes and are performed four times per week. That length is long enough to raise the heart rate and load the major muscle groups and short enough to stay repeatable. Frequency matters to promote conditioning, strength, and burn energy.
Core strength is the center of the work. Toned abdominals and deep trunk muscles improve posture, breathing, balance, and spinal stability. A stronger midsection is not only a visual goal; it supports a healthier waistline and improves walking, lifting, and sport performances. Training stays joint-friendly: controlled body-weight patterns, light to moderate resistance, and cardio that elevates pulse without pounding recovering joints.
Participants progress only when movement is pain-free and breathing stays steady. After illness or injury, physician or physical therapist clearance remains essential. Progress is tracked in stamina, easier breathing, a more stable pulse, and lab or clinic readings—blood pressure, glucose, cholesterol—alongside changes in waist measurement.
CAMS works when it stays consistent, measurable, and modestly challenging. It is a platform for lasting fitness: strong enough to change the body, disciplined enough to keep health markers in range, and brief enough that people can keep showing up.
The medicine-ball diagonal wood chopper (also known as stocking the shelves) is an excellent core exercise that builds stamina and endurance and is especially useful for golfers.
After I was cleared by my neurosurgeon following back surgery, I was surprised to find that both the wood chopper and stocking the shelves were an enormous benefit in rehabbing so I could play golf again.
Instead of a medicine ball, a dumbbell can be used. Dumbbells offer a wider range of weights, from 2 to 35 pounds. For safety, make sure your hands can grip each end securely, as I am demonstrating below.
MATRIX EXERCISE TIER, Third-Level Program
Maximized Anabolic Training Rest Interval X-Fitness (MATRIX) is a structured full-body program that pairs high- and low-rep strength work with planned pauses. Sets and stations are separated by a 60-second rest so the body can recover just enough to keep form honest and output high. The method blends compound concentric lifts with calisthenics and cardio. The aim is not random fatigue. It is repeatable loading that builds muscle, tendon resilience, and work capacity.
MATRIX sessions last 45 to 65 minutes and are trained four to five times per week. That window is long enough to cover the major patterns and short enough to leave room for recovery time. Strength work centers on compound movements: squats, deadlifts, military presses, bench presses, pull-ups, and overhead extensions. These lifts train hips, legs, back, chest, shoulders, arms, and core together.
Calisthenics fills gaps in control and relative strength. Cardio—bicycling and heavy-bag boxing—raises heart rate, sharpens coordination, and keeps the session from becoming only a barbell routine.
The rest interval is observed between sets and elements for water and recovery. Thirty seconds between sets and 60- seconds between elements is long enough to restore quality reps and short enough to keep metabolic demand elevated. High-rep sets build endurance and local work capacity.
Low-rep sets allow heavier loading and a stronger stimulus for muscle and connective tissue, that is referred to as Juggernaut workout. Alternating those ranges inside one workout is how MATRIX tries to train both ends of the strength and endurance spectrum without turning every day into a max-out or a marathon.
A further goal is tissue quality across the lifespan. Consistent mechanical loading helps the body maintain muscle and supports collagen production in tendons, ligaments, and especially the skin. This provides the age-defying capability the body has in producing a natural growth hormone. Collagen is not conjured by a slogan; it is encouraged by progressive tension, protein-rich recovery, sleep, and time.
MATRIX supplies the tension heavy enough to matter, paced enough to repeat.
Progress depends on maintaining safety first and foremost. Loads increase only when the squat, hinge, press, and pull stay controlled through a full, pain-free range.
Boxing and cycling should raise pulse without wrecking the next strength day. Four to five sessions a week work only if the 60-second pauses are respected and at least one easier day remains in the week.
MATRIX succeeds when it stays consistent and disciplined with compound strength training, calisthenics, cardio, timed rest, and enough weekly frequency to change the body without breaking the routine that keeps it strong. If you are seeking tone, definition, and strong core and abdominal muscles MATRIX is your workout to see results in six to seven weeks.
All three Tier exercises should be combined with the MAC (Macronutrients) DIET that is high in Protein, Fiber, Omega Fatty Acids, Complex-Carbs, and Fructose (natural sugar) with limiting Saturated Fats, and eliminating Trans-Fats and added sugars. By using 9-Data Points on the standard nutrition labels to limit for to a MAC Score of 3.50, individuals can turn their body into a calorie-burning juggernaut where you can reduce excess fat and inches off your waistline. A healthy waistline should be an individual height in inches / 2.20.
For example I am 66 inches tall / 2.2 = 30- inches my actual waistline is 29.50- inches.
All three of the BAJA MAC Fitness Workouts includes warm ups before cardio and strength training:
PROPER and SAFE STRENGTH TRAINING PROCEDURES:
Proper and Safe Posture for Strength Training and 40 procedures to avoid injuries:
Posture:
· a small inward curve in the low back (natural lordosis).
· a slight outward curve in the upper back.
· Chin up and eyes looking forward.
Procedures:
Bend at the hip joints; do not fold at the waist.
Push the hips back first; the torso follows, bend at the knees.
Keep the spine neutral—same shape as standing tall.
Neutral is a mild natural curve, not a rounded C and not a big reverse C.
Brace the core before the hips move.
Soften the knees so the hips can travel backward.
Do not lock the knees on a hinge.
Keep weight toward the mid of feet and heels.
Keep weight close to the body as possible.
If you feel the lift mostly in the low back, you are likely bending at the waist or over-arching the back.
Stop the hinge when the hamstrings get tight, not when the back changes shape.
Practice the hinge with light loads before adding additional load.
Warm up 5–10 minutes before heavy work.
Mobilize hips and upper back; do not force extra range through the lumbar spine.
Rehearse with an empty bar or light weights like dumbbells.
Add weight only when the spine stays quiet for every rep.
Use small load increments.
Leave 1–3 reps in reserve on most sets.
Stop when fatigue changes your back position.
Do not chase maxes every week have light strength training days.
Deadlift setup: bar over mid-foot, shins close, slack out of the bar.
Knees, hips and shoulders rise together.
Lock out tall through the hips; do not lean back into a reverse C.
Lower with the same hinge you used to lift.
Shorten RDLs (Roman Dead Lift) or good mornings if that keeps the spine neutral.
Squats still need a braced, neutral trunk.
Do not let the pelvis tuck and the low back round at the bottom.
Do not crank the low back into extension to “sit deeper.”
Overhead presses: glutes on, ribs down—no banana back.
Rows: hold a hinge; do not round or over-arch to swing the weight.
Inhale and brace before the hard part of the lift. Inhale lifting and exhaling lowering.
Keep the chin up with eyes looking straight ahead.
Engage the lats; keep the chest proud without flared ribs.
Set safety before heavy squats and presses.
Pick up plates and dumbbells with one-foot forward technique to hinge at the hips.
Do not twist while holding a heavy load.
A belt does not fix a rounded or over-arched back it is for abdominal muscles.
Never train through sharp, shooting, or radiating pain.
Strengthen glutes and hamstrings so the hips, not the waist, do the work.
Use the same hip-hinge and neutral-spine rules for gym lifts and daily lifting.
Always consult your physician before working out to see what physical fitness is right for you. For the first couple of workouts consult a physical trainer to ensure you are using the correct procedures, posture, and form to perform your fitness elements.
To the right, is my book on Amazon Kindle in E-book and Paperback that covers my BAJA Fitness and my MAC Diet that I have followed since 2014 at age 56. The cover photograph was taken in April of 2026 before we had a classic car and airshow at our hangar. I am 68 in this cover photograph. Use the link below to purchase you copy of: BAJA FITNESS & MAC DIET PROGRAM, MY FITNESS AT AGE 68:
POST WORKOUT COOL DOWN:
In my MATRIX TIER, I use Cardio to cool down from my strength training components. I also use a COOL-WATER-IMMERSION (CWI) to ease stress, strain, soreness in my muscles and joints and tone my skin and muscles. I usually have my water at 58 degrees Fahrenheit where I immerse for 15- minutes maximum. If you aren’t accustom to COOL-WATER-IMMERSION, raise your bath temperature to 65 to 68 degrees Fahrenheit.
Below is me demonstrating how I combine a Squat with a Roman Dead Lift Element for Compound Cross Fitness Technique. I also demonstrate how I use dumbbells in my Bench Pressing in case I get into a bind that I can just drop the weights onto a cushion mat. If I was using a bar bell configuration I would have to use a spotter:
Simple Combo Full-Body Workout
The Wood Chopper is a compact strength-and-cardio combination that works especially well after age 60. Being in your sixties—as I am—does not making strength training less important. It remains one of the most effective ways to protect health, mobility, and the independent lifestyle none of us wants to surrender at any age.
If you are in need of a shorten workout this Wood Chopper is a great workout, especially if you are rehabbing.
This is not powerlifting. You do not need a gym full of machines. A single dumbbell ranging from 2 to 35 pounds, easily ordered from Walmart, is enough. When performed as one continuous pattern, the Wood Chopper lets you train five fundamental exercises with one element:
This simple Combo wood chopper using a dumbbell weight can allow you to perform five exercises with one element:
· Squat
· Deadlift
· Forearm Curl
· Military Lift
· Overhead Extension
One to three sets of 10 or 15 repetitions a day can improve strength, flexibility, balance, stability, and stamina without requiring a long workout. Please refer to the directions and procedure chart below.
If you are starting from scratch, keep the first sessions modest.
Use a 2- or 5-pound dumbbell and limit yourself to a quarter-range of motion. Three to five slow, controlled repetitions are sufficient while you rebuild mobility and core strength.
Rushing into a full-range wood chopper with too much weight is the fastest way to lose form or strain a joint or pull a muscle. As your core muscles grows stronger and your hips and shoulders loosen, you can gradually increase both the range of motion and the resistance.
Grip is the Non-Negotiable Safety Point
You must be able to hold both ends of the dumbbell securely throughout the movement. Because my hands are small, 35 pounds is the heaviest load I use safely. Choose a weight that lets you finish every repetition with control rather than momentum. Also use neoprene cover dumbbell to improve grip and protect surfaces.
Prep and Warmup
I prepare the body with simple yoga: a standing forward bend, Warrior II, and a tabletop crunch. Those few minutes wake up the posterior chain and the deep core before the first chop. After the strength workout, I ride a mountain bike or a stationary bike for cardio. If you do not have a bike, a brisk walk delivers the same benefit. Prep and warmup are the same with all exercises, cardio or strength training.
The real secret is consistency, not intensity. Keep moving. Strength, mobility, balance, and stamina become more valuable with every year past 40.
Start light, progress patiently, protect your grip, and stay active. Independence is worth the daily effort.
Directions:
1. Grab each end of the dumbbell and begin in the neutral position (Fig. 1).
2. Curl the dumbbell upward using only the forearms until it reaches just below the chin (Fig. 2).
3. Press the dumbbell overhead in a military lift until the arms are fully extended (Fig. 3).
4. Lower the arms and return the dumbbell to the neutral position (Fig. 1).
5. Perform a squat, bending at the knees to a quarter, half, three-quarter, or full depth (Fig. 5).
6. Lower the dumbbell to just below or even with the knees, matching the depth of the squat you chose (Fig. 6).
7. Stand back up by driving through the knees and curl the dumbbell to the neutral position (Fig. 1).
Repeat the full sequence for the desired number of repetitions and sets.
Detail of the Proper Grip of the Dumbbell for the Wood Chopper:
Make sure your fingers are under the opposite side of the thumbs holding the dumbbell. Use a lighter wide with smaller end weights is necessary.
Ladies, this is an excellent cardio/strength exercise for you that will work your core, glutes, and quads. Next to your facial features, your abdominals, glutes, and quads are key focus points.
BAJA MAC Fitness & sports page
We, one of my models and I, did a promo for our upcoming classic car and aviation show on July the 4th, 2026 celebrating our nation’s 250th Independence. I am 68 years old and have been following the BAJA Fitness & MACRO Diet since December 01, 2014 where I dropped 9.25- inches and dropped what seems to be 25-years off my personal appearance.
Now, a couple of days after our photoshoot and car and aviation show, the camera crew that was taking photos of some of the WWII aircraft challenged me that I would not take my shirt off for a photograph. People. your mirror does not give you the same prospectus that standing in front of a camera lens does. The camera lens is the most critical critique that you will ever have. So I untucked my khaki shirt and unbuttoned it to show the results of the MACRO Diet at age 68:
My New T-Shirt: TO DEFY YOUR AGE JUST ADD IRON:
Sports for Life: Fitness, Connection, and Health at Every Age BAJA Fitness and Sports Page was created to highlight why sports matter.
I write weekly about the importance of our fitness, dietary, and social benefits to people of every age of sports. Sport gives a clear incentive to promote mental, physical, and spiritual health. From the age of five to ninety-five, it offers a practical way to move and stay connected with others.
While I concentrate on fitness and diet as the foundation of overall health, sport supplies the connecting piece: ongoing engagement with others.
The key is REGULAR FITNESS builds endurance, strength, balance, and coordination for people of all age groups. Children develop motor skills and stronger bones. Adults maintain metabolism and mobility. Older adults reduce fall risk and keep independence.
Age-Defying Health and Fitness
A scheduled fitness and practice session turns good intentions into consistent age-defying health and wellness. Eighty percent of health and wellness is based on a person’s diet. I developed the MACRO Diet after gaining weight due to a hip issue that sidelined me from my fitness in my early-50’s. That was the wrong time to have physical restrictions. I gained 45 pounds and six-inches in my waistline.
The last thing I wanted was to start approaching retirement at 58 and being out of shape. I had plans for my retirement on developing my second career, covering the benefits of sports on our health and fitness.
Used my Chemical Engineering Background to Develop the MACRO DIET
In July of 2014, I used my chemical engineering background to develop the MACRO Diet that would allow me to drop my weight and inches. One thing you can’t do is out work your DIET. If I was going to drop weight and inches, it was going to be based on my diet.
So I wanted to understand how I could use the standard nutrition labels on food to turn my body into a calorie-burning apparatus that used my food for energy instead of storing food as fat. Dietitians consider Pinto Beans and Sweet Potatoes the perfect food. So I started there studying the components on the nutrition label for those two foods.
The Macronutrients Diet
The Macronutrients Diet is not a new concept, but has been around since the 1970’s that is based on a diet that is high in Protein, high Fiber, Amino Fatty Acids, Complex Carbs, limiting Fructose, and eliminating added sugars.
After three months, I developed the MAC Score where I just ate food with a MAC Score of 3.50 or below. I was already eating my meals between 9 a.m. and 6 p.m. that provided some degree of weight loss. But when I started evaluating nutrition labels using the MAC Scoring system, I dropped 6-inches (or 45 pounds) in just 3- months (from December of 2014 to February of 2015.
Age-Defying Results from the MACRO Diet & BAJA Fitness
But, I was finished dropping weight and my waistline. By September of 2015, I lost over 9- inches in my waistline (or 52 pounds). Dropping 9.25- inches and 52-pounds not only allowed me to reach my health and fitness objectives, it allowed me to be featured on the front of some of my books now at age 68. The Macronutrients Diet and BAJA Fitness allowed me to drop not only inches but years off my personal appearance.
About the photograph left: The motorcycle is my, it is a 2025 INDIAN SCOUT BOBBER 60 that is 1,250 cc. The Corvette is a 1976.
The 9-Data Points that I used from Nutrition Labels for calculate the MAC Score:
While we can’t change our age, we can have a huge impact on how we age—even after 50. BAJA Fitness & Mac Diet helps your body rebuild the stamina, strength, and age-defying vitality you had in your 30s, well into your 60s and beyond. I am 68 in this photographs.
BOATRIGHT BOOKSTORE ON AMAZON KINDLE
Reading is fundamental at every age. I write about sports to show why health and fitness of mind, body, and soul matter in the most important contest we face: life itself.
One of our most precious possessions is health and independence. We cannot buy health. We can only invest in it—through sound eating, regular exercise, and an active, age-defying lifestyle.
Simple habits can help us resist the wear of aging and enjoy what Scripture calls the abundant life. That path begins with a healthy diet such as the MACRO Diet, paired with BAJA Fitness. A consistent workout program also strengthens mental health.
Whether I am doing cardio or strength training, I call the benefit active meditation. Movement releases tension, and endorphins ease both physical pain and mental stress.
Cardio often gets the spotlight, but strength training offers more than muscle. It helps the body release growth hormone and supports collagen that repairs and renews tissue—healthier joints and younger-looking skin among the results.
In January 2027, I will release an investment book about a vehicle for building wealth. Even so, the most important investment remains health and fitness. Treat it like a 401(k) for the body: start early, keep contributing, and never stop. Stay involved in sports, hobbies, and faith.
The photograph on the left was taken in July 2026 at age 68, with one of my models in her early thirties, for the cover of The Alpha Male Gentleman. The book is for men of every age. It covers health, fitness, personal care and appearance, and etiquette in private and professional life.
Gentlemen, you can be fully a alpha male and still be a gentleman while achieving success in every area of life by being respect—for yourself and for others. You can use each image to the left to link to my books on Kindle.
In October of 2026, I will be releasing my book on a the sport of golf entitled: The Golfer’s Power Matrix that shows how a simple instinctive wrist action in the golf swing can produce confident, consistent, and a control golf game to lower scores, handicaps, and frustration level that avoid downtime.
Again, on the cover of the book THE ALPHA MALE GENTLEMAN I am 68 years old with the health and fitness I had in my mid-30’s. There aren’t many health, wellness, and fitness programs on the market that provides age-defying results.
ONE BOOK IN PARTICULAR THAT YOU MIGHT LIKE TO READ THAT I DEDICATED TO A classmate, FRIEND & HERO:
After fourth-period physics, we used to slip out in my CJ-7 Jeep and drive to McDonald’s on JFK Boulevard in North Little Rock, Arkansas.
One October we talked about what came next. He asked what I planned to do. I told him I had joined the U.S. Army and would go on active duty after we graduated in June 1978. When he asked about my MOS, I said 12-Bavo—Combat Engineer.
Donovan was interested in aviation. That was the path he saw for himself. We both entered service in June 1978. He pursued aviation, served with the Rangers, and later joined the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment—the Night Stalkers—flying Black Hawks.
Our paths crossed many times after that, until I received a medical discharge in 1981 for a knee and hip injury from training. We stayed in touch until October 1993.
That was when Donovan was KIA in Mogadishu during Operation Gothic Serpent. He was one of the pilots who died there during this mission.
I dedicate this book to his memory, and to the men and women of the armed forces, those who serve and those who have served. We owe them a debt we can never fully repay.
Please consider reading The Sayeret Warriors of Rephaim.
MY WALK OF FAITH BOOKS ON AMAZON KINDLE
These books offer a Cliffs Notes-style path through Scripture—clear enough to follow, yet adventurous enough to feel like an Indiana Jones search through the Bible. As John wrote in 3 John 1:2, “I pray that in all respects you may prosper and be in good health, just as your soul prospers.” The Bible remains the surest guide to health, knowledge, and prosperity in life. Jesus said in John 10:10, “I came so that they would have life, and have it abundantly.” Even George Strait captured the same idea: “There’s a difference in living and living well / You can’t have it all all by yourself. You got to have a relationship with God through His Son, Jesus Christ”
I hope you will enjoy reading these books pursuing your study of God’s Word:
ARMOR OF GOD’S KNIGHTS FAITH & FORTITUDE:
This is for anyone seeking field notes to the Old and New Testaments—new readers and seasoned ones alike—who want to discover the Armor of God’s knights and turn the words on the page into a life of adventure. These books give cross-referenced context for the people and events that shaped history, and they present Scripture as an Indiana Jones–style quest.
JOSHUA’S GAUNTLET OF DIVINE PROVIDENCE:
This book traces the history of Israel from both a biblical and a historical perspective, beginning when God called Abraham from the land of modern-day Iraq to Canaan and promised that he would become the father of many nations.
It follows Israel’s high points, from Joshua and Caleb to King David, and the failures that led to exile in Babylon and later Persia. Through Amos 9:15, God declared: “I will also plant them on their land, and they will not be uprooted again from their land which I have given them,” says the LORD your God.That promise was put to the test on May 15, 1948, when six Arab nations with standing armies attacked Israel—a state that had been born only the day before, without a standing army of its own.
THE LOST PARADISE AT KADESH-BARNES:
This book looks at Israel’s exodus from Egypt and the unfaithfulness of Moses’ generation—the generation God judged for refusing to trust His promise to fight for them as they took the land of Canaan. It also highlights the often-unsung leadership of Joshua and Caleb, the only two people over the age of nineteen allowed to enter the Promised Land.
Just as striking is the real reason Moses himself was not permitted to enter The Promise Land. It is not what most people think, and it did not happen when most people assume it happened at Kadesh-Barnea.
I call Moses the reluctant leader.
SPORTS FITNESS & HEALTH BOOKS:
My sports, fitness, and health books come from the life I actually work to achieve. At sixty-eight I take no prescription medication of any kind, and I still train hard enough to pose for my own book covers to provide evidence of the results from The BAJA Fitness & MAC DIET Program.
I developed a cardio, strength, and conditioning program that individuals from age 12 to over a 100 can performed. While we can’t do anything about our AGE; We can determine how we age in those years by the MACRON (Macronutrients) Diet and BAJA Fitness Program. BAJA stands for: Bioenergetics Anabolic Joust Athletics Fitness.
These books are field notes from my results. They show how I lift, move, eat, and stay off the pharmacy counter. They are not shortcuts. They are the habits that keep me competitive, capable, even for the critique of the camera lens that readers can follow without expensive exercise equipment for a AT HOME GYM:
Bioenergetics- Is the process of transforming sun light and food into energy that the body can use for substantiating life.
Anabolic- Is the use of resistance training to build muscles and bones and tone muscles and skin.
Joust- Developing strength, balance, and tactical skills through exercising and fitness.
BAJA FITNESS & MAC DIET PROGRAM, MY FITNESS AT AGE 68:
The MAC (Macronutrient) Diet allows you to decipher the standard nutrition labels that are a huge advantage that few diets provide that are right in the palm of your hand using a calculator or your I-Phone to perform some simple calculations. The MAC Score allows your body to turn into a turbocharge-calorie-burning juggernaut that is 80 percent of your weight lost. Next time you establish Resolutions on losing weight and get into better shape, incorporate the Macronutrient Diet MAC Score. Also, the MAC Score identifies those diet saboteurs- simple carbs, refined sugars, and simple starches, that aren’t listed on the nutrition labels.
MAC Diet allows you to decipher nutrition labels to know WHAT you can eat between 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. to turn your body into a turbocharged-calorie-burning-juggernaut to use food for energy instead of storing food as fat to have and turn in healthy numbers.
THE ALPHA MALE GENTLEMAN:
The characteristics of an Alpha Male center on quiet, enduring charisma rooted in high confidence and genuine comfort in his own skin. He moves through the world decisively and remains relatively unflappable under social pressure or setbacks.
When leadership is required, he takes charge, sets clear direction, and does not seek external approval. He stands firmly for his principles, showing competitiveness and protectiveness only when needed. At the core lies Quiet Strength—an unshakable faith and confidence that projects steady presence rather than loud assertion. In a chaotic world, these qualities are desperately needed.
ENTER THE ADVENTURES OF SPECIAL MILITARY OPERATIONS:
In my senior year of high school, I already knew the path I wanted. I wanted to follow my two uncles who had served in the U.S. Army during World War II—one with the 29th Infantry Division, the other with the 82nd Airborne. As a boy I sat close enough to hear every detail and tried to copy what I could not yet understand: the discipline, the quiet toughness, the way they spoke of duty as if it were simply what a man did.
You cannot grow up on those stories and fail to respect the Greatest Generation. Their sacrifices were not abstract. They left home, crossed oceans, and came back carrying memories they never fully set down. One uncle did not stop when the war in Europe ended. He went on to serve with Israel in the years after 1945, when survivors of the Holocaust were still trying to find a place to live and a future that would hold.Those men shaped the standard I measured myself against. This introduction begins there: with family, with service, and with a young man determined to walk a road they had already paid for.
SCAR & SICARIUS, THE ODESSA SQUAD:
In this dance of shadows, Scarlet Banner embodied the alliance's spirit—a Jewish operative and Iranian freedom fighters united against tyranny, echoing Esther's ancient triumph. Operation Odessa Oasis was more than a mission; it was a reckoning, poised to reap the seeds of oppression and sponsor freedom in a land that was a Paris of the Middle East less than a decade prior.
Operation Odessa Oasis was set to start during week four of Scarlet being in country, but there was an aboard option if HVT wasn’t in place to capture the Iranian HVT. This was when Scarlet met Navid Mehdi Akbarpour, code name Sicarius, who was an Iranians patriot member. They would work several operations together since Sicarius after the Operation Modern-Day Trojan Horse.
THE SAYERET WARRIORS OF REPHAIM:
The Sayeret Matkal (Sa`yette´ MaT-Kal) Unit was created in 1957 under command of Major Avraham Arnan and was modeled after the British Special Air Service (SAS). The Sayeret Matkal operated under the direct command of the Israeli General Staff. One of the Sayeret Matkal notable missions was on July, 4th, 1976 to rescue hostages that were hijacked on a French flight and flown to Entebbe, Uganda. The raid on Entebbe that consisted of a 29-man Sayeret assault team that was led by Lieutenant Colonel Yonatan Netanyahu, the brother of future Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that was killed during this mission.
SCARLETT BANNER: MOSSAD’S PHANTOM WARRIOR:
Israel’s Mossad and U.S. military elements are described as assisting the Mojahedin-e-Khalq (MEK), also known as the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI), through military action and covert missions aimed at dismantling the clerical leadership, associated structures, and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
The MEK is an exiled Iranian opposition group active since the early 1960s. It first opposed the Shah, took part in the 1979 revolution, and later turned against the theocratic system that emerged. Once aligned with forces that helped install clerical rule, the group grew disillusioned over decades and now seeks to reclaim governance from the Mullahs and IRGC. In early 2026 it is portrayed as organizing large-scale diaspora rallies worldwide against the Islamic Republic and its security apparatus.
notre Gourmet cuisine (glp-1) foods for health & weight loss
KOSHER Bakery & Catering Business
As a teenager I worked in my grandfather’s kosher bakery and catering business. One of our specialties was whole-wheat bread and rolls, along with cinnamon rolls. We regularly fed as many as 400 people at sit-down dinners. Kosher is a Hebrew word meaning “fit” or “proper.”
Years later, I used my chemical engineering background to decode nutrition labels and identify what I call MAC foods—foods built around the right macronutrients.
MAC (Macronutrients) DIET are GLP-1 Based Foods
Macronutrients are foods that are high in Protein, high in Fiber, Omega Fatty Acid, and Complex-Carbs. Macronutrients are foods that allow your body to release GPL-1 (glucagon-like peptide-1) that reduces fat cells. You can get GLP-1 naturally through your macronutrients diet. The Macronutrients diet is not new; it has been around since the 1970’s.
MAC foods also contain limited fructose and no added sugars. Avoid Added sugars and simple-Carbs at all cost. Simple-Cards are the hidden sugars. This was pointed out by SUGAR BUSTERS DIET! The issue with Sugar Busters Diet is that it didn’t provide a means to evaluate Nutrition Labels where your diet is in your hands.
Foods that can be used as Energy instead of Store as Fat
These are foods your body can use for energy instead of storing as fat. They help turn your metabolism into a turbocharged engine: you burn what you eat, and you also start burning stored fat.The dishes I prepare in my kitchen have a MAC Score of 3.50 or below. The closer a dish is to 1.0, the closer it is to an ideal food choice. Meals below 3.50 can help you lose weight, drop inches, look years younger, and improve your health numbers.
In The Photograph
In the photograph above, I am 68 years old and take no prescribed medication. Every medication comes with side effects I want to avoid. I dropped the weight and inches that I wanted to; but I drooped something unexpected, Years off my appearance, by 30 years.
The MAC DIET SUCCESS
I started following the MAC Diet in December 2014. Most people would never would begin a diet during the holidays. To prove how effective the MAC approach was for me, I lost 4 inches, or 32 pounds, during the month of December. By February 2015, I had lost 6 inches, or 46 pounds, a result I thought would take six months I did in just three months.
Your Diet Saboteurs
In December 2015, I made a fruit salad with strawberries, bananas, pecans, marshmallows, shredded coconut, and sour cream. It looked healthy. It was not.
I failed to check the MAC Score of the sour cream and shredded coconut. Those two ingredients were saboteurs. The next day my waist had increased by three-quarters of an inch.
When I examined each ingredient, the problem was obvious: shredded coconut and sour cream. Don’t look only at the MAC Score—look at the serving size as well, we are talking very small quantities for a large MAC Score.
My fruit salad with shredded coconut and sour cream scored 12.18.
When I removed the shredded coconut and replaced the sour cream with low-sugar yogurt, the score dropped to 2.49.
During the holiday season, watch these kinds of saboteurs. They can quietly derail an otherwise solid diet.
Holiday Meals Saboteurs:
The MAC Diet that I have followed since December of 2014 allows me to evaluate foods using the standard nutrition label to keep my menu items at of below a MAC Score of 3.50.
WARNING: Pay attention to the serving sizes of these in ounces and teaspoons. There is little to debate why these foods are such Saboteurs during the Holidays, especially.
If you are like many people that try to watch what we eat and still gain weight and inches in our waistline, you aren’t alone. The items that I have shown here are just some of the ingredients we use without realizing their impact on our weight gain, especially sour cream and cream cheese.
The very last thing I want people to do is not to enjoy the Holidays with family and friends. But what you can do is enjoy these types and other ingredients in moderation that are above MAC Score or 3.50. Enjoy these ingredients at one meal per week and watch the serving size. We are referring to teaspoons serving sizes. For more understanding on your diet to drop weight, inches, and years off your appearance, please read about the impact of the Macronutrients that is a source of healthy food even during the Holidays.
The photograph on the cover of BAJA FITNESS & MAC DIET was taken in November of 2025. I am 68 years old.
The Importance of WHEY
If you noticed, food manufacturers are adding WHEY to their food products. Whey protein stimulates GLP-1 secretion from intestinal L-cells. This is an acute, meal-related effect. Amino acids and bioactive peptides from whey (including glycomacropeptide and peptides from β-lactoglobulin) reach the gut and trigger GLP-1 release. WHEY is digested quickly, so the rise in circulating amino acids and the GLP-1 response tend to be relatively fast to help reduce .
GLP-1 (especially GLP-1 receptor agonists such as semaglutide) can substantially reduce body fat. The main way this happens is by shrinking existing fat cells, not by wiping out large numbers of them.
Great FOOD Sources of GLP-1 production:
Protein (and specific amino acids) is one of the strongest acute stimulators of GLP-1. Whey protein often shows particularly large responses in studies. Aim or roughly 20–30 g protein per meal.
Good options:
Eggs and egg whites
Greek yogurt, cottage cheese, kefir
Fatty fish (salmon, mackerel, sardines)
Poultry and lean meats
Legumes (lentils, chickpeas, beans) and soy foods
Oats and barley (beta-glucan)
Beans, lentils, and other legumes
Green (unripe) bananas
Cooked-and-cooled potatoes or rice
Chia and flax seeds
Prebiotic vegetables: onions, garlic, leeks, asparagus, artichokes, Brussels sprouts
Apples, pears, and berries
Extra-virgin olive oil
Avocados
Nuts (almonds, walnuts, pistachios, peanuts)
Seeds and fatty fish (overlap with the protein list)