I’ve been listening to books on tape by David Bach (The Automatic Millionaire) and others on the Law of Attraction lately. The two things that stick out the most to me are the 10%/10%/10% program from the automatic millionaire which means to give 10% to church, tithes, charity, etc — give another 10% to your future (401k, investments, etc..), and give another 10% to an emergency savings plan.

The part of the Law of Attraction that sticks out the most to me right now is that by giving to society or the community we multiply our own blessings. In other words when we do something to give back to the community we are blessed with even more than we gave. As a Christian this makes sense to me, and even if you don’t believe in God - it still makes sense in the fact that we are all at the basic level balls of energy. By sending out positive energy in the form of charitable deeds we reap or sow more positive in our own lives.

Enter my idea:

There are millions now who are recently unemployed, or under-employed. At the same time the green tech field is booming. Countries around the world are beginning to take notice, and the Obama administration is pumping a lot of money into making America more ecological.

I want to help people who have lost their job,  be able to go back to school and major in renewable energy, sustainability, etc. In essence a scholarship of sorts. To raise money for this endeavor I will ask people to donate 1 latte, or lunch, etc..  to the cause.

In other words if each person can donate $5 monthly with only 1,000 supporters we could spend 60,000 per year for education. Each benefactor would be asked to support the initiative as well, and we would have a job board, local event fundraisers, a eco-shop, and other eco-friendly side businesses that might spur off of it.

Right now I’m in the planning stage, and seeing what others think of the idea - good idea or not so much?

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Post tags: David Bach, Energy, Environmentally friendly, Law of Attraction, Renewable energy, Sustainability, Technology, The Automatic Millionaire : A Powerful One-Step Plan to Live and Finish Rich

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Now I’m not doing nearly as much as the people on the Biggest Loser do - I just had a lot more to lose than most of them (starting weight: 660), my basic diet used to be around 5000-6000 calories (my favorite appetizer at applebees used to be the honey barbecue boneless chicken wings which are over 1300 calories - I used to order two of these during their happy hour special, and drank maybe 4-5 frozen lemonades (another 500 calories or so).

As you can see it isn’t very hard to get in 5000+ calories. In fact my BMR - basal metabolic rate was calculated at around 5000 calories. This means if I were to lay in bed all day I would need 5,000 calories per day to keep or maintain my weight.

So I hit 660 lbs. Most people you see on tv who weight that much are bed ridden - not me as I’ve got a big frame, and lots of muscles - however I’m sure another 100 pounds and I would’ve been over the edge.

Once you get too big to move, it’s all over - it’s 10 times harder to lose weight when you can’t even get out of bed, and then your muscled atrophy to the point that when you do lose weight you still won’t be able to get out of bed without physical therapy.

I’d had enough. On the weekend before January 12th I threw out all my junk food. I bought a membership to the local YMCA. I bought a lot of protein items - my goal being to go low carb mostly.

For the first week or so I practically lived off protein bars and shakes. I lost 46 lbs - a lot of which was water because I had sever edema (swelling) in my legs and feet. I must’ve pee’d 50 times a day for that first week.

Gradually each week I started adding new foods to my diet, my wife bought the biggest loser family cookbook and now we mostly eat food that’s in the book. Not only is it easy to make, and good for you - but it’s fairly cheap to make too.

Right now I eat roughly 2000 calories - I don’t count because I don’t need to - I just need to make sure that I only eat 5 small meals, and that I don’t eat till I’m stuffed.

My average day looks like this:

2x packets of quaker instant low sugar oatmeal.
1x Banana.

Snack:
Crunchy bugs on a log: Celery stalks w/ low-fat peanut butter, raisins, and granola.

Lunch:
Turkey sandwhich w/ lettuce, light mayo, and light sweet deli mustard on 15 grain bread (the more grains the better - it keeps your tummy full.

Some veggies and low-fat low-cal ranch dip.

Snack2:

More crunchbugs on a log.

Dinner:

Usually a small serving of chicken, a salad or veggies, and afterwards a dessert(3 nights a week).

Things I completely remove from my diet include: Soda(diet adds fat to the tummy as much as regular does - there’s really no health benefit of switching to diet - in fact you’re better off w/ regular soda). Sugar ( only in moderation, usually switch out for splenda), white flour is bad, corn and white potatoes are bad - but sweet potatoes are good.

That’s basically how I’ve lost all the weight in 2 months - I doubt it’s possible to lose that much if you weigh 300 lbs or so, unless you have Bob and Jillian working your ass off.

My best advice though is to make as many changes in your life as you can  - and if you mess up a day or two don’t beat yourself over the head about it. Take each day as they come and make mini goals. Don’t make weight loss goals either - instead make a goal to go swim 100 laps 3x a week.

My goal right now is to swim 200 laps 3x a week, which is a stretch - in 5 hours yesterday I only made it to 180.

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Post tags: Basal metabolic rate, Diet food, Health, Junk food, Low-carbohydrate diet, Support Groups, Weight Loss

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My wife thought of having a hundred’s party for me, people could bring a hundred of something she says preferably money - lol. 100 pennies, 100x nickels 100x dimes bills etc. I’m thinkin’ its not the best idea, plus I might feel a little self conscious about the whole matter.

What do you think? Should I have a party?

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Post tags: 100 pounds, 100 pounds in 2 months, 100 pounds lost, 104 pounds, Biggest Loser, fitness, lose 100 pounds, lose weight, Weight Loss

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Here are my reasons for wanting to be on the Biggest Loser:

1. I’ve never known anything else, or experienced what it’s like to be normal, this is my chance. I wore a size 50 pant size when I was 12 years old. Ever since I’ve had to buy my clothes at specialty big and tall shops - and my cost for a pair of pants usually runs around $70+ I’d like to be able to buy cheap clothes at Walmart for a change.

2. I rarely complete anything, I start many things but always find it hard to stick with it till the end, I think if I complete this one thing - the biggest problem in my life, then perhaps other areas of my life will be better.

3. I want a family, and my wife deserves it too. W/out losing substantial weight the Dr’s have said it’s highly unlikely that we will ever get pregnant. Even if we still have problems later on, we can always adopt - but unless I get fit I won’t be able to really provide for a family and take care of my family.

4. I am tired of being passed over for job promotions, and being singled out as ‘the lazy’ one - simply because people just assume that a fat person = a lazy person. I’m also tired of lacking the self confidence to stand up for myself in many situations.

Everywhere I go people point, children make many blunt and hurtful remarks even if they’re not intentional - when a 3 year old says, ‘Mommy, he’s so fat’ it really hurts inside - and you can’t really say anything though I’d like to give the parent an earful…

Next November I turn 30, this is my chance, possibly my only chance to make the next 30 years of my life something way better than the first 30.

I want more than anything to be able to ride a rollercoaster again - something I haven’t been able to do since I was 16. I want to experience all the things life has to offer before it passes me by. Life is too short to spend it trapped in a fat body - I need this so bad.

I’m so ready for this change - Please pray for me this weekend as I audition for the Biggest Loser. I appreciate it immensely.

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Post tags: Biggest Loser, biggest loser casting, diet, get fit, get in shape, lose weight, Physical exercise, Pregnancy, Weight Loss

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