Steps to an Amazing life...

Months Later

2011-11-15T20:18:00.000-07:00

So here I am months later, Realizing I have long since strayed from posting on here, sorry about that.
My weight has seemed to stabilize at around 235-240 and I am happy with that, I suppose if I was a little bit more active it would continue to shed... I have leaned strongly towards the Primal Blueprint and enjoy reading Mark Sisson's site titled Marksdailyapple.com all the information and more you can could to absorb from his book is on the website, and its very educational and enjoyable to read.
The choice to be healthier and happier has been very productive and successful, with school in session its harder for me to find motivation for a lot of things, since once I get home from class I either want to jump into an intense gaming session or complete my assignments and by then its usually too late to go out walking and with the weather changing now I am hurting more... here we go more excuses. it never fails to amaze me how easy it really is to fall back into making excuses instead of just doing something. the bonus to it all is eating healthier alone has yielded results I wouldn't have previously thought possible. to those that do happen upon this blog between now and the end of the year, there is hope if your trying to lose weight or just be healthier in general. with Thanksgiving and Christmas quickly approaching it wouldn't hurt to visit Mark's site and learn what dinner choices would be the healthiest for you to make and remember you do not have to restrict yourself to lettuce and water

Dietary choices

2011-08-18T00:01:00.001-06:00

Granted the word "Diet" has been misinterpreted and has been attached to a negative connotation for some time people associate it with bland flavorless food that makes them want to jump ship and eat Twinkies, I have found that shifting my food choices to that of the Paleo lifestyle rather than a diet has given a huge return.
http://thepaleodiet.com
The paleo diet is our hunter/gatherer diet, us as humans have spent thousands if not millions of years adapting to this way of eating and a mere 10 thousand years adapting to the agricultural ways we currently live in. Lean meats 2-3 times a week, fresh seasonal fruits and veggies nuts and tubers make up the most of this diet, the great thing is you can eat essentially as much as you need to in order to feel satisfied, for the snacks I use nuts to tie me over.

But I did not start there, I first went with the South beach diet, and that helped a great deal in the first phase you cut out all carbs and processed foods this went a long way to helping with the sugar cravings and headaches associated with it
http://www.southbeachdiet.com
This diet allowed me to first cut the sugar cravings I had from 5-6 cans of monster a day, all the breads and chips I had been eating etc, I found phase one to be the most difficult phase but well worth two weeks of suffering to make the transition to paleo that much easier. besides we have spent our whole lives making our bodies what they are, it is not going to be easy to get back to what you have in mind.
Making the choice to eat better foods it sure helped having the South Beach Diet book handy to let me know what I could eat etc, for example you wouldn't really expect a carrot to thwart your weight loss attempts but in the first phase you cut out ALL sugars including the healthier natural sugars, even the natural sugars spike your insulin levels and keep you playing the game longer. so first cutting all sugars and carbs from your diet is the best choice it also returns the highest rate of weight loss.
surfing the internet for any and all recipes you can eat brings a lot of healthy choices and meals that are very satisfying. I found the Moroccan Chicken recipe previously posted to be excellent and bursting with flavor.

In general snacking is ok, simply because if you let yourself go hungry you will deviate from your new restrictions. Raw almonds not only help keep you feeling sated longer but also have huge health benefits in way of the amount of potassium and magnesium they contain, in short its like draino for your veins, helps keep your veins clean and heart healthy.
Celery sticks are also great for snacking on, giving you the CRUNCH some people desire. you can eat celery sticks with almond butter, or natural no sugar added peanut butter.

Juicing is another thing I started doing once I got going on my weight loss program... not really a program other than I started caring about myself and what I was feeding my machine with. but juicing allows a person to cram a lot more vegetables into their diet thus increasing the sheer amounts of micro nutrients they are consuming.

On top of eating properly staying hydrated with water is just as crucial, as you start eating healthier foods the build up of toxins in your system will start dumping themselves out through your digestive system, also eliminating a lot of fluids from you body.

Lastly Rest, these days our world is connected 24 hours a day 7 days a week and our bodies get less and less of the quality sleep we require, getting proper rest has so many benefits that would have to be a post on its on, in short it improves your brain function, allows your body to heal itself and also allows you to take a needed break from the go go go world we enjoy so much.
Changing a diet, and increasing your activity are essentially 80% of your weight loss tasks, that alone will allow you to start feeling better and when you feel better you look better.

I have gotten a lot of my resources to accomplish my goals from reading posts from Steve Kamb on his site, nerdfitness.com, he has done a lot of research and although he is not a dietician or a doctor of any sort either, the information can be checked and double checked if you choose.
I hope this information is useful to anyone reading it and again feel free to comment, suggestions are always accepted and I would really like to hear from anyone that this might be helping achieve their goals have a great week, will post more by Thursday next week. do something, anything :)

struggle

2011-08-11T16:39:00.000-06:00

I find it rather difficult to find anything new or exciting to write about lately, random updates on what I am doing each day seems rather blah and I wouldn't log on to read what this guy is doing from day to day so I am gonna start breaking down each step, and going into details on them, why I choose the paleo diet choice, why I like my Vibram fivefinger shoes etc. what I enjoy about juicing and what I have been learning as I go, hopefully it will help motivate more people to be healthy.
I am gonna start trying to post a new article every week, keep in mind I am not a big writer and its difficult for me to translate my message to written material. it is now Thursday, so by next Thursday hopefully I will have a well written post for anyone reading this, and will try to have a new post every Thursday here after.
I started with my story, and how I got to be where I am at weightwise and will expand on that and then take on each other post one at a time with some finer detail on how to painlessly lose the unwanted weight without breaking a sweat or killing your bank account :)

247

2011-08-10T08:40:00.000-06:00

currently sitting at 247 pounds, had to get a physical done yesterday and the official weight at 2 in the afternoon was 247, so had I not been up drinking water all day, eating food etc I am sure it would have been lower, granted I made a promise not to be a slave to the number on the scale but damn that felt good to see, normally on those scales I just instinctively slide the bar over to the 250 mark to start, and to my surprise it sank and sank fast... :)
so celebrating today with a healthy breakfast of eggs scrambled with diced Canadian Bacon :) for a little frying grease I tossed in some coconut oil... delicious. Further proof that diet and mild to medium levels of exercise are all that are required to lose the unwanted weight, no pills, no gimmick devices, just healthy food and walking for the most part (the pushups, crunches etc are my own vanity firming up the resulting flab) I do know this however, Nothing Tastes as good as being healthy feels :) have a good day all

Got a wild hair...

2011-08-08T13:42:00.000-06:00

So went out for a short walk yesterday evening... and got a wild hair to jog, keep in mind, bad knees, bad back, hip thats going south.... running is not something I have ever cared to do but hey, got my Vibram fivefinger shoes on, its cooler than mid day, and I feel froggy, well there is a short little hill behind my place, and thats the direction I was walk/jogging, so I start to pick up my pace some... felt good, then two steps later Not so much....
my knees and back are reminding me of the how and why I stopped running, and not very politely, no matter pain or no pain I can still walk... just gotta slow it down since two of my joints like to disappear on me in mid stride... and the back is still not strong enough to compensate for the inadequate balance... ya hurt myself, but hey this is how I am seeing this, I actually WANTED to run. it felt good for a second there to. ah well back to my squats, pushups, crunches, and whatever else I can find to do.
Been thinking about taking up Kayaking, figure thats gotta be low impact... barring whitewater that is. Thinking back to canoeing back home, and yes that would be a wonderful upper body workout, and just being outdoors is wonderful. Granted Outdoors in 110 degree temps is maybe not Ideal in the water totally seems desirable. well people take care stay hydrated and keep working at it, weight loss itself is about 80% diet and 20% whatever else you fit in so eat healthy, stay busy and live life, its yours to do what you will with it. those of you trying to gain weight, yes the rest of us hate you just kidding, strength training is the better choice for that instead of consuming massive amounts of calories from crappy food. for one reason, eventually through blind determination you will kick the crap out of your metabolism and be on board with those of us trying to shed some weight and be healthy. just cause your thin does not mean you are healthy.
happy day all, take care

Juicing

2011-08-04T17:23:00.000-06:00

Remember, Juicing albeit a great way to get the micro nutrients our bodies crave and desire, if you only juice fruits the natural sugars will beat you back down and slow your weight loss progress, there are plenty of sites to check out what kind of veggies to juice and what they are most likely to assist in. too many to randomly list some I am sure if your motivated you will find the site that best suits your needs and desires. keep in mind, one thing that I have learned about juicing is this, too much kale makes your healthy juice taste like you just scrubbed the bottom side of a lawnmower, sure its healthy, but you might not likely drink it after spending the time and money to create the monstrosity...
I find 1 apple, 2-3 carrots, cucumber, a slice of beetroot, celery, some pineapple, 1 tomato, and some spinach and kale is rather palatable yet healthy, not too much sugars, and enough fruit and pineapple to down the liquid, your good to go, snacking on raw almonds in between juices and meals are a great source of proteins and help you stay away from the twinkies and little debbie cakes. from there its just pure motivation, I find that the times I do eat the crappy food I suffer both mentally and physically now and usually punish myself with more juice less food the following day or more... :) its kind of like a rewarding punishment but also helps purge the chemical mess I consumed :)
have a great day/evening all, hope you are still finding motivation to improve your lives
Joe

hydration

2011-08-03T09:30:00.000-06:00

Nothing in the world re hydrates like water, make sure you are drinking plenty of water, not juice, not beer, not gatorade... which is full of sugars by the way... good old fashion water. as your body detoxifies itself, you will require water to help flush the toxins, maintaining optimal hydration will ensure you keep feeling better. I know some people just can't seem to drink water, for whatever reason, forcing yourself to stay hydrated is crucial to optimal human machine function. you change the oil in your car to help it run better, well it essentially the same deal. your body is mostly water and requires you replace it and maintain proper levels :)

Feeling good

2011-08-02T08:43:00.000-06:00

So that weather pattern has passed, my bones are no longer pulling themselves apart, and the walk felt great, after the walk I made myself a juice and now I am just sitting here content with life. With so much stress behind me I feel wonderful. Semester is done for the summer, work is low key, and I fit all my clothes again :)
Looking into a future from the other side of this healthy kick I found myself not seeing too far ahead, now I am seeing things from this side and LIFE is AWESOME again. I certainly hope my posts here have helped someone, I have proven to myself and the world that you do not need to break a sweat everyday, risking injury or heartattack to shed some weight, but our diets have gotten so far past healthy that our food is killing us. Cutting back on sugars and wheat products has helped not only me to lose weight and feel better, but has also increased my general happiness. recapping the process, fix your diet, do something, take care of yourself, and fix the money situations.
Happy day to everyone out there, enjoy the journey, its the spice of life.

Ouch, Monsoon season

2011-08-01T07:36:00.000-06:00

With all my talk of no more excuses, just do something, Monsoon season hit here finally and although we require the rain, I wish I didn't operate as a human barometer... taking some time to let this system pass before I get carried away again, possibly just do crunches and the like for now... I figure its best not to push myself into injury and have myself sitting out even longer, just gotta make sure I am not eating crappy foods and get back to it asap. Hope you are all having good success and are happier :)

Stress

2011-07-28T08:19:00.000-06:00

Chris Guillebeau, writes about recruiting your small army of supporters, and the oddest thing is, is that you don't have to actively recruit them, eventually you start gravitating towards other people with similar goals and ambitions. Simply sharing your journey people will either find interest or move on, People you thought were your closest friends will shrug and go about their business and yet complete strangers will be motivated to do great things in their lives. Keep your head up and keep moving, do something...anything, and smile.

so much to do...

2011-07-25T13:57:00.000-06:00

So as my journey progresses, I feel great, think I am looking better, and I have more focus and motivation than I have had in a very long time. after making my juice for lunch I am thinking that with my brain working better I am finding more and more options to not only eat and live healthier I am discovering more and more ways to do it cheaply. Sure I could sign up for some fancy diet, where they deliver my food to me and I get cardboard in portions that do not satisfy the beast within... or I could eat healthier food that my body is evolved to eat and just keep doing what I am doing. yay for the healthier foods and doing what I'm doing. In the process of learning as much as I can about diets and exercises and budgeting money etc I am finding more and more that sustainable gardening and such things would greatly reduce my food expenses and give me more activities to do during different parts of the day. granted its 90 degrees outside and right this second its not very high on my priority list considering I am currently procrastinating writing a couple essays and revising one... sigh so much to do.
So, on to what I am trying to say here today, looking and feel good is a start, it is not the goal. like I have said before, being healthy and losing weight are not goals, they are responsible living, and in this responsible living, cutting the fat out of the bills is essential as well, with our country rapidly sliding into the gutter financially why not do what you can do to reduce the frivolous spending and the excess US as Americans are known for.
I have figured out that getting rid of my fancy cell phone that allows me to watch movies, text people, surf the internet, calculate tips at a restaurant, listen to music, watch television, play games, bank. read books, take pictures, change the sound of my voice, etc etc etc, I think I can even make a phone call with it, if I can only find the app for it... seriously $500 later, I am connected to everything 24/7 I can receive my emails includethe 200 dollars it costs to have the family connected as well... no wonder we have no clue what our kids are doing these days, we do not even have to walk down the hall to talk to them anymore..
200 dollars a month, to not see the person I am talking to. or 200 more dollars on my vehicle payment to pay off the debt which would quickly free up....oh 700 a month, sure it would take a few months but I know why I am broke now. if I cut my 3-4 hundred a month grocery bill in half whew, I could free up almost 1000 dollars a month. which would make that next car I pay cash for a whole lot fancier or make that Hawaii vacation a lot easier to accomplish. specially if I used Chris Guillebeau's http://travelhacking.org/ whoa, I could almost get paid to live life like James Bond or Jason Bourne.... just a thought.

Barefoot running

2011-07-23T08:43:00.000-06:00

Never have I wanted to run so much in my life. Learning more about barefoot running and the benefits of something as simple as Vibram Fivefinger shoes http://www.vibramfivefingers.com/index.htm, out for my walk last night my daughter and I were running around back and forth chasing each other, and with the known pains that come from barefoot running, I have no other pains. I figured my knees would be screaming at me by now and they are not, my hip is a little sore, but hey arthritis is rather unforgiving.
I highly doubt I am gonna be signing up for any distance running in the future, but it's sure nice to know I can run across the road if I had to. Staying active and eating healthy foods has become nothing short of an obsession for me. Physically my body is returning to a healthier shape, mentally I am focused, happy and motivated. I can only imagine the benefits over time, if our regular diets affect our lives that drastically, why I ask do we continue to let corporations whose only concern is the bottom-line profit margin and not producing a quality healthy food, control our food supply. Normally I wouldn't consider pushing what I consider New age practices, but thankfully its old age practices, gardening, farmers markets, and the like offer healthier alternatives for veggies and such than we are used to getting at these SUPER markets. Granted I am still stuck having to get most of my food from Smith's, walmart and wherever else food is sold in town, but I know now that the closer the food is to how its found in nature usually means it is better for you. I am still looking for the French fry tree, and the nuggets on a chicken...
Our lives are dictated by corporations and personally, I am done with allowing these multi-million dollar companies to systematically destroy the quality of my life, and killing me in the process. With diabetes, obesity, heart disease, and a plethora of other maladies killing Americans I have to agree our "Food Pyramid" is not the healthy way to eat and live. our hunter/gatherer ancestors spent hundreds of thousands of years adapting and developing our inherited genetics for this type of eating in particular, why not accept that processed foods are not healthy and begin eating better. we'll feel better, live longer and be healthier. too easy.
I am heading out of town, time to bring my visit with my daughter to a close.

2011-07-20T11:43:00.002-06:00

Water Fitness

Even if you do not know how to swim, a pool can help you get an effective calorie-burning workout. Deep water walking burns more calories than walking on solid ground because of the resistance of the water. Water fitness classes also provide an opportunity to exercise in a group setting, without the impact of traditional aerobics. Group exercise promotes adherence, camaraderie and calorie burn.

Just some information I have been looking up, figured I might as well share. With all the efforts especially when starting out to lose some weight and get more active its hard to determine what the best methods to accomplish your goal is. I have been enjoying doing some swimming again, and feel great for doing it, 500 calories and hour is a great deficit to create, more so if your are consuming less than that before your swim, with care and caution you can negate the effects of a meal on your waist line, and if you have the availability and time to get in the water every day the lean muscle you will develop by swimming will definitely make achieving your image that much easier.

once you start looking for things to do that will be both enjoyable and beneficial to your health more and more activities begin becoming apparent. again it doesn't matter what you do, just do something, life is yours to live, take control of it, and enjoy the benefits of getting out of the house more often.

Crunch time

2011-07-19T20:37:00.000-06:00

So here I am, my visit with my daughter coming to an end. school assignments have been getting neglected slightly more than usual, and my health goals although having the extra activity added, children seem to love that nasty little clown that has helped create this obese society we live in today. So having suffered through some disgustingly unhealthy sinful food that is sooo much fun to eat I am feeling the effects of crappy food in my system. that alone is motivation for me to stop eating it, had to purge my system with gallons of water and freshly juiced veggies just to get back to "Normal"... ugh, feel like I have set myself back a few weeks but hey, Life is about living not just being slave to some whacked out ideology.

So increasing activity has worked great with the exception that the swimming pool locally is outdoors... New Mexico summer sun is not nice to your shoulders when you spend hours teaching a little one how to swim, totally worth it tho. but the more reading I am doing, I am debating adding some weight lifting into my rotation simply because once you lose the weight you gotta fix the shape lol
Pushups, situps/crunches and squats are great when you are first getting off the couch. time to move it up a little to keep pushing towards ideal goals.
I am still trying to avoid the weight room, so my weightlifting will be body weight exercises, more of the same pushups situps lunges etc, and whatever low impact variations I can find. Keep working at it, eventually people will ask you how you did it, and how you made it look so easy. Results will show themselves the more active you stay, and if you find yourself on a plateau step it up a little more increase your intensity or your activities.... keep it up, keep smiling and enjoy life.

Such a wonderful day

2011-07-15T16:00:00.000-06:00

Normally I dislike birthdays, they seem to me to be an annual reminder that I am getting older and accomplishing less, however, this year so far as it is, is phenomenal. The problem with stressing about things versus putting that foot out to start you moving in the right direction is this, the stress just compounds the problem and does nothing towards solving it for you. Stepping on that scale scared me, it brought to the front and center of my mind just how lazy and destitute I have allowed myself to get. It reminded me of the pain in my chest and probably the reason for it, it also smacked me in the face simply because I know better than that....
Here I am a few months into my goals of being healthy and I feel great, sure I could allow the pain in my knees or my back hurting hold me back but why? just what will that accomplish? I have already proven to myself that I can make excuses to not be a better me, and that goes no where but back to where I do not want to be, miserable, unhealthy and most likely just waiting to die.
So all the hard work behind me, I have settled on juicing and the paleo lifestyle for my new diet, of course there are those times I cheat, but when I do, the whole time I am thinking about it :)
for exercise, I have added playing at the playground with my daughter(while she is here visiting), swimming and still walking, occasionally I will make a small attempt at running, more just being silly at the playground but its still activity. I am still doing crunches and pushups, not like I am competing in an event or getting tested in the Army but I do them, gotta have the muscle to assist in the weight loss...
as far as my finances go, still working at it, of course every month I get a new stack of what needs to be paid, and I am still attempting to snow ball that debt to get rid of it, thankfully I do not have a lot of it, just don't have my 20's income to combat it more efficiently, but our bills are paid and we have money to play with... its a slow process but totally worth the effort.
Plans for travel or serious vacations are still on the back burner, but the dreams are there and the steps mentioned above are part of taking the steps to get there.
All in all, my journey thus far is a success, I am happier, my significant other is happier, and we see the light ahead. I have come to enjoy getting out and walking and doing things, Heck I haven't even logged into W.o.W for a month or so, why sit here rotting when I can be improving the world and making myself the best I can be, Nerdfitness.com uses the analogy of leveling up your life and I love how it fits into my gamer mind. I spend a lot of time reading Steve's site for information, ideas, discussions, and MOTIVATION.
At different times I have found that getting motivated when its 100 degrees outside is difficult, its easier to skip it or put it off to later... which usually ends up being a skip as well, but there is again No pill that will work magic to lose my weight, there is No Device that will magically make me healthier, and there is No one that can or will do the work for me. Healthy diet choices, exercise and activity, and honest effort are all that will get you where you want to be, and being on the verge of seeing my long lost ab muscles I am totally seeing the benefits of doing something each and everyday in a positive direction towards a healthier me. and if I can help someone along the way, GREAT!!! lets do this people, proper diets aren't hard to do. if you want to be healthy, light exercise everyday isn't all that time consuming, to use a quote from an old friend "It's all in how you plan your day!" took me some time to figure that one out... seems simple enough till you find yourself running ragged for nothing and someone else doing the same thing has all the time in the world to do what they want to do.

recap, of what I changed to, and whats been working for me:
I had first adopted the South Beach Diet, worked great, learned more and have determined that the Paleo lifestyle is more inline with my goals.
I started out only walking, since I started I have added swimming, playing at the playground, crunches, pushups and very (VERY) light running.
and paying bills on time and more if I can, without causing myself unneeded financial hardship... meaning I can buy a cup of coffee whenever I want and still be current or ahead of all my bills.
maintain a positive attitude and try to help others where ever and when ever you can :) have a happy day everyone, I am gonna go cheat on my diet and celebrate my birthday.

Swimming,

2011-07-15T10:45:00.000-06:00

ZOMG!!!, forgot not only how much I love swimming, I somehow forgot what I been preaching forever, it is truly the best exercise a person could hope for, activates the most possible muscle groups at one time and even with my back acting up on me I was able to enjoy swimming and exercising without pain... went yesterday for an hour, playing in the water and I feel even better for it, going again today its a wonderful way to spend a hot afternoon day... just use caution against sunburns :) burn the calories and keep eating a healthy diet, and keep on loving life. we only get the one might as well make it the best we can. its far too easy to sit around looking for more excuses to be unhealthy and miserable.
happy day to all, I am thoroughly enjoying my birthday

Well...

2011-07-13T12:11:00.000-06:00

I am finding it hard to stay motivated today, apparently I have successfully over done it and my back is screaming at me to stop... kinda knew the prominent injuries I have would make themselves known eventually. just didn't fully expect to be crippled this badly by it, can barely move at this point, so getting some much needed R&R and hopefully give swimming a try tomorrow.
I hope anyone reading this does not cross that thresh hold themselves and that the journey they are on is successful. there are other things I can do towards improving my life still and thats what I will concentrate on while I am recovering.. not exactly certain what I am recovering from, lower back pain. is what I do know, if I had to guess. Sciatica.
ah well good time to get to work on my school work. instead of putting off till the last minute :O and hopefully get back to exercising tomorrow.
Have a happy wonderful day full of adventure.

woot new shoes

2011-07-11T09:31:00.000-06:00

Finally getting my Vibram Fivefinger shoes... just waiting on the ups driver to find my house :) supposedly they fix your stride, straighten you out, fix your posture and are just all the way around better for you... besides, individual toes in shoes is funny, I can't wait. hope my knees, hip and back will hurt less as I push myself into better shape. Since my daughter has been here visiting, I have actually done a little running, not very fast or far, but I can say that is more than I was allowing myself even just a few short months ago, feels good to be losing weight, getting our finances in order and living life, as of next month I will start getting my get-away fund in building, as well as my emergency fund. from there its all about good healthy living and one adventure after another.
So as it stands, my steps to an awesome life work, at least for me. I can't say its all gonna work for everyone, but I like to believe its all simple enough that anyone can do it, it all just depends on what you actually want to accomplish in your life, if you keep doing one thing a day towards your goals and dreams then eventually you will get there and look back at your journey and be able to enjoy the fruits of your labor. We humans are a resilient bunch and our lives are ours to dictate how it is lived. I watched a documentary last night Food Inc. and its rather disturbing how our food source is commercially controlled, definitely a strong argument for small farms and local harvest type operations. at least then you can almost guarantee yourself some quality grass fed meat and natural vegetables. As I find more and more ways to correct my diet and health, I learn more about benefits of being off the grid as it were, sure you need some of the system, for example I am not about to go cross country to traverse the country when the interstate is right there. granted the prices of gasoline are higher than ever lately but I do not require petroleum products to walk, bike, swim or something novel like riding a horse.
As a society we have gotten ourselves addicted to debt, oil, and unhealthy foods. these things confuse me, when I actually sit down and look at it. Why would I crawl into a bank and beg for debt, having been to the middle east, why would I want to provide yet another solid gold door knob or palace to a sheik, and do chickens not grow themselves why would I need a large corporation such as Tyson to dictate to me how chicken is to be consumed. seriously their farms aren't healthy environments. and trust me I am not just trying to pick on chicken farms. but if you get a dozen chickens you feed them on about 20 dollars a month and have all the eggs you will ever consume. granted not everyone has the space or the means to raise their own but farmers markets are a great way to support the local growers and get healthier food than otherwise available.
So again, cheap fast and easy is not really the best bet for us as humans, companies out there are just that, companies, and a companies health is based on the bottom line, not what is the better choice for the consumer. people can always make the choice to consume what is best for them. I often find myself looking at the achievements of man a mere 100 years ago....OK closer to 150 years ago, but still, men and women are soft in comparison, we have so much knowledge at our disposal. and the only thing that comes to mind is this.... WE KNOW BETTER!!! so why do we insist on pushing ourselves towards mass extinction... diabetes, cancers, and a plethora of other disorders and conditions are not only preventable, some of them if not most of them are reversible to include Arthritis, we just need to make the decision to stop accepting mediocre goods and services as the norm and insist on quality over quantity. sorry didn't meant to rant this time around. I just had to get it off my chest.

Good Morning!

2011-07-08T08:31:00.000-06:00

Some days, its hard to get motivated, maybe you did too much yesterday and are run down. I know I got troubles this morning getting going, largely because I can't walk alone, feels kinda silly to me, walking with no particular destination... this morning instead of walking I am going to do Push ups, crunches, squats and whatever else I can muster the energy for, then heading to the city to spend the day with my daughter at an amusement park, pretty sure that will be a day full of healthy, and maybe not so healthy activity, but the memories are worth it and experiencing life is most important to me. Had a great time with her on the playground, running, jumping and climbing. and with diet changes and weight loss, I do not hurt nearly as much as... well I am not hurting so something in my old diet routine was directly affecting my body, glad I have eliminated it, now what the heck was it...
To clarify, yes I still have pain, but in comparison to how the old me felt after even thinking about moving to the new me, running, jumping, climbing and having fun. I do not hurt at all. Sure I get a small reminder that I have damage in my knee joint, my back still gets stiff, but its minor now to what it used to be and I refuse to let it control my life and prevent me from living. too many years were wasted feeling sorry for myself, and with my mind pulling my body and my body pushing my mind progress is being made. and whoa, whatever convinced me that maybe I could wear her out for a change... EPIC FAIL!!! she removed my gold star in mere seconds, in fact I blinked and missed how fast she wore me out... Next visit, I got this, Next visit... :)

Remember the rocks...

2011-07-07T11:37:00.000-06:00

Was just talking with someone, and figured I would share the thoughts I had, in the movie "Braveheart" there is a scene when they are throwing rocks at each other. Now I do not remember the actual words but its not the point. the conversation after the big guy gets hit in the head with a rock goes something like this " I should have Remembered the rocks" and William Wallace replied " Aye, You should have ducked"... now not only is it humorous, but has become very profound to me... my rocks were unhealthy eating, lack of exercise, and depression, I kept letting them hit me in the head, when I should have ducked lol... whats your rock. why aren't you ducking when you see it coming. We humans are a silly bunch, masters of our environment, most capable animal on the planet, yet we constantly let these damn rocks nail us in the forehead.... we should have ducked.. :) enjoy your day people.

Feeling GREAT!!!

2011-07-07T10:20:00.000-06:00

I been mentioning that this transformation I am making in life has turned out to be so much more than just losing weight, I AM FEELING GREAT!!! bills are all paid off this month, instead of dragging them out till the due date and worrying about them all month I have paid them all up this month and can relax, my exercise regiment just got a 7 year old boost... oh ya, you think you might be making progress and feeling great, try keeping up with a 7 year old energy vampire, I have my daughter visiting me for summer vacation, and with in minutes of her getting off the plane she pretty much just grabbed my energy and said "I'll take that" yikes, she wore me out bad in a few short minutes, I LOVE IT. 100 degrees outside and she wants to go walking, go to the park, play on the monkey bars, run climb, jump, swing... roll, skip, swim, chase dogs, go see everyone, go to the store, color, go back to the park, rinse and repeat, I woke up sore, stiff and rather unmotivated. she woke up bright eyed bushy tailed and ready to go back to the park. awesome display of healthy energy...does anyone have a bottling method, pretty sure I could bankrupt the energy drink business if I could only bottle hers up... ouch...
So bills are all paid, schoolwork is mostly done, baby girl is visiting me, exercise is getting forced into over drive, weight is shedding, and life is awesome and only getting better.
I am gonna have to take her swimming, sometime. playground is probably the most fun I have had exercising in years, running and climbing and all that fun stuff, find a friend to go play tag in a playground with. bet you feel young if only for a minute. I have determined that weight loss is a given response from being active and eating healthy, mental clarity comes the same way. if you're not eating right your brain can not function properly, if your bills are paid up or preferably off you can operate without distraction, and it all adds up to allowing you more time to work towards your goals, remember weight loss, being healthy and active, and being debt free are just being responsible and human. goals are going places and achieving greatness while you take over the world. Its your life, seize the day, extract the most you can from it and rest easy at night knowing YOU ARE ALIVE :) have a wonderful day I am off to make me a fresh veggie/fruit juice :)

Energetic

2011-07-06T09:21:00.000-06:00

So with all my positive changes in my life, I have more energy than I have had in a long time, what we eat really does dictate how we feel, and we thought those were just marketing techniques. my Girlfriend and I are gonna start adding juicing to our morning routine, add some much needed micro nutrients to our healthy living decisions, hopefully get past the first thing in the morning fog, granted it doesn't last nearly as long as it used to but its still there, first cup of coffee kind of thing.
My strength training thus far consists of crunches, squats, lunges, and whatever push ups I can do, everyday it seems I am capable of adding plus 1 to everything I am doing, walking tends to get longer and longer, to the point where I have lost count how many laps we are doing, but its safe to say we are at least doing 2 miles twice a day. so 50-100 crunches, 5-10 push ups x2, 2 miles of walking and 10-15 squats. Very simple exercises, nothing too strenuous, just doing something, and I am feeling great, making gains towards my goals and improving my abilities to do more everyday. Remember No fad diets, no fad exercises, no devices can do it for you. Take control of your life and make the changes you want, like I mentioned before, Diet/health, and finances are no longer my goals, as goals are defined, weight loss and fitness levels are a direct result of a healthy lifestyle; financial health, well that is just responsible living, we have to pay our bills, we have to earn a living, we have to make sure we are not a burden on society, so if paying my bills and being healthy are goals, is it safe to say, taking my next breath is a goal? or is it just something that needs to be done.
The more I learn about everything the more I realize, what started out as simply losing weight has become something so much more, transforming my own life is giving me insight into how to fix any problem I may come across, my mind is working better and clearer than it has in years, I have energy and look forward to tomorrow and when I can do more. People make excuses everyday, as to why they CAN'T well something as serious as being an Alcoholic is still an excuse, the REASON ends with that's why a person cannot stop at one drink. from there its excuses, the sober conscience decision to put the bottle/burger/soda/whatever to your lips is your CHOICE, it isn't something that is controlled by any kind of disorder, its slow suicide to be honest, so if losing weight and being healthy is a choice so is overcoming such disorders such as alcoholism drug abuse. Humans require something to look forward to in life, a constant reminder that LIFE IS WONDERFUL, and the realization that you do not have to experience life the way the world tells you to.
I am off to the airport, time to go pick up the light of my life, and start our epic fun summer holiday.
Keep your head held high, your eye on the ball, and keep working towards your goal... Do something, Anything, eventually you will accomplish your goal.

Today...

2011-07-04T10:18:00.000-06:00

Today as everyday for the past while I am choosing to live, and to help others do the same.
The Reality that I can not save anyone, is a hard truth at times, a person must choose to better their own lot in life. Knowing this I choose life over the miserable existence I placed upon myself. the Fourth of July is a tough time for me to be around all the celebrations. Not for any reason other than the explosions make me hyper-vigilant and that feeling is not that much fun. My walk this morning was great, a vigorous celebration of life instead of walking around town today we went out to the nature refuge and walked there... next time I am bringing bug spray lol
There are so many resources and so much motivational media out there its a wonder anyone finds trouble getting more out of life. it all boils down to choices.
I can't begin to say what works for me will help anyone else, I can't say if I can do it so can you. But I can say this, if you cannot run and jump, if you cannot lift heavy weights if you cannot do a whole lot of things, I promise you this, there is something, you can do, as long as their is breath in your lungs and blood in your veins there is life coursing through you and you can do SOMETHING. ANYTHING. last night I was watching a documentary called "Fat, Sick and Dying" very emotional to me, seeing someone come from seemingly impossible position in life to overcome and to shed that much weight is an amazing testament to human resilience, but it boils down to he chose to improve the quality of his life. pretty sure the route in which they chose to improve their health is a route I would go but if it works for them GREAT, again do something anything.
I pray everyone has a wonderful Fourth of July.
Please remember the men and women that make it possible, they chose to stand up for and defend this great nation and should be celebrated, they don't stand up to face whats ahead of them because it scares them they face what scares them because they love whats behind them.
Happy Independence day everyone. be careful

Fifth Step

2011-07-02T23:32:00.000-06:00

So after a day spent with my significant other, exploring, walking, talking and enjoying each others company I have determined my fifth step.
Since I set out to improve my life I have had her cooking amazing healthy meals for me, walking with me, motivating me and keeping me in line. I suggest finding someone to assist you to achieve your goals, of course the more people around you supporting you and assisting you the easier it will be.
With today coming to a close, I am both struggling with the sounds of mortar attacks and IED's blowing up all around town... Not really, the 4th of July is coming close and the fireworks being set off are wreaking havoc on me but with that said.
Step 5, get out of the house. explore your surroundings, enjoy life, cheating on a diet now and then is alright, we are humans and we enjoy our sins now and then.

Please don't over do it, try to incorporate exercise into your activities, never stop learning and keep going, life is for the living.

My fourth step

2011-07-02T08:32:00.001-06:00

Something I Been putting off since I lived here in New Mexico, exploring the canyons that are around me.
Today I am going to see about doing some hiking through one of them. may or may not make it too far, uneven terrain is hard on the knees, but time to try, time to get out of the house a little further experience the region in which I chose to reside... gonna be hot, but me and the lady are gonna give it a whirl. 3 years of knowing about the place and I don't even know where it is. lol Sad I know but No More Excuses.
My Fourth step is just that No More Excuses, for too long I have made excuses to not do the things that would improve my life. I blamed injury for the most part but as I look back at it, I was just too lazy to try.
Have a wonderful long weekend everyone,