Day 23

Ol' Jonesy and I went for a "little" bike ride today...and when I say "little", I mean a "little" 10 mile bike ride...in a torrential down pour!!! Good times! Honestly, this was one of the hardest rides I've done so far. We were soaked from the moment we left our homes, head to toe, and the fun had just only begun.

These kind of rides build endurance because, a) you're carrying around about 10-15 pounds extra weight in sopping wet clothing, b) even though it's March and Spring is right around the corner, we're still experiencing sub-zero temperatures that freeze you to the core, and c) everything that could possibly go wrong with your bike does. Nice going.

We kicked off our journey with a visit to our local bike shop, Bike Tech, to see if we could get Jones' bike to shift gears properly. The repair man there basically said, "Yeah, just squirt a little dabble doo on the hoo diddly and that should make the skippity doohickey work." I wasn't sure what that meant, so we shrugged it off. Jones' ended up getting a new wheel while we were there, so after that got installed, we hit the road again.

It seemed like it was raining even harder after we left Bike Tech. I was glad I had made the decision to wear a poncho...that's right, I was wearing a poncho on this particular bike ride. (See pictures below.) Little did I know that the poncho would later save my life during this epic ride.

We began to make our way towards the coffee shop downtown and as we were near the hospital I ended up spilling over on my bike as I tried to merge onto the side walk. Jones described the fall as hilarious, and incredibly smooth and graceful. I guess if you're going to crash on a bike, you definitely want to do it gracefully. I flew onto the sidewalk, and slid about 10 to 15 feet, gliding upon the buttery like pavement with my poncho between us. Instead of freaking out when I was crashing, I simply submitted myself to the inevitable, and fully embraced my destiny with only one itsy bitsy bump on my knee. I was so thankful to God for protecting me. It could have ended up a lot worse than it did. I rolled onto my knees and paused for a moment to thank God for life, for preserving mine, and for the joys of the rain and the ability to ride a bicycle and then Jones and I pressed onward.

Once we arrived at the coffee shop downtown, one of my favorite humans, Drew Westerfield, took a few pictures of Jones and I in all our glory. The journey so far had been incredible, but the fact still remained that we needed to get our wet bodies and our riding instruments home. The cold got colder, and the wet felt wetter and I couldn't help but stop by Chili Thai to pick up some fresh rolls for dinner. Fresh rolls are insanely good and they're super healthy. They are basically lettuce, rice noodles, chicken and shrimp wrapped in rice paper. It was a nice treat to end the day with. Check out my calorie count for the day!!! I flipping owned it!

Day 22

Today was awesome! I connected up with a couple of friends who live upstairs in the condos above the coffee shop and took them to Dillanos Coffee Roasters for a tour. We are in the process of brewing our own Forza Coffee Porter and wanted to experience the roaster first hand and see if we could come away with some tips and insights for brewing beer with coffee.

After the tour, we headed back to Ben's condo and began the brewing process. It's a lot like cooking; you follow a recipe, you put in ingredients, you celebrate it! I've always wanted to try making my own beer. Ben has all the equipment necessary and the know how, so I'm super glad we were able to get together for this project, it was a lot of fun, and the best part about home-brew, is that you get to drink a home-brew while you brew at home. Ben had recently made an english pale ale that was like no other beer I've ever tasted! It was incredible and super eye opening to the reality that it is possible to brew insanely great beer at home, and for half the price of buying beer at the store!

I ate very conservatively today because I figured that I'd be having a beer, and I honestly haven't had one is so long, so it was a nice treat to enjoy, yet I knew that I'd have to get in some extra cardio later to make up for having it. I did. I got a great work out in. 1 hour of cardio and core exercises. Good times! Check out the brewing pics below.

Week 3 Video Recap

Day 21 - Week 3 Weigh In

Today I ended up trying something new for cardio. I jumped rope. My friend and almost MD, Joey Parker, highly recommended jumping rope as an excellent source of cardiovascular exercise. He said that approximately 10 minutes of jump rope is equivalent to 30 minutes of jogging. I ended up doing 3 sets of 5 min. each set with push ups and sit ups done in between each set...what an intense, concentrated work out! I was sweating more than when I ride my bike or use the elliptical. I know you're probably laughing right now as you picture me jumping rope...I challenge you to try it yourself. It will own you!

Day 20

Today at about 5pm, my brother Austin, dad and I were cruising around, running a couple of errands. I told my dad that he should buy a bike to replace the one that I use...that's actually his...so we could jam together around trails and up hills and such. We looked at some super ghetto bikes at Wal-Mart. One of the bikes seriously had a bell on it. I rode it around the aisles of the store for good measure and then off we went to Costco.

This is finally the appropriate time to reveal my undeniable love for Costco. For those of you who don't understand the gloriousness that is Costco, let me paint you a picture. Actually, I'll just try and explain it's awesomeness. Right away when you walk in, you're greeted by giant TV screens, flickering and shinning on you. That's a

precursor to the many, many aisles of incredible gizmos, gadgets, whose its and whats its galore that await for your perusing. Everything is cheaper, and almost everything is in bulk, which in and of itself is awesome! There's wonderful people I like to call the "Sample People" that hand out free food and talk to you as if they're on an in

fomercial. In short, anything and everything you could want is at Costco. Prime example; Austin, my dad and I walk in to Costco right as it's

closing at 6PM. We bee-line straight to the back of the store where we know bikes are. We check out this sic bike and as we are about to buy it, we think out loud, "Dad, you're gonna need a helmet!" We turn our heads to the right and whadda ya know, there's a huge stack of helmets for sell right next to the bikes! Who'd have ever thought!

So we end up scooping up the bike and getting it home. My dad and I gear up and get psyched and then go for an hour long ride to the coffee shop downtown and then back. He felt like I felt the first few times I rode a bike up 94th; super tired, winded, and sore. I felt awesome as I rode. I'm a lot stronger than I used to be and now have much more endurance than I did even 3 weeks ago.

Tomorrow I weigh in and I am hoping for another 2 pounds to have fallen away. We'll see.

Day 19

Today was a "nada" day. You'll have to tune into the week 3 video review to understand what a "nada" day is. The video will be up on Sunday.

Day 18

Today I googled the word "habit". I've heard it said that it takes about 21 days to form a habit. I'm soon going to be crossing that threshold and can attest that as each day has gone by, the coming one has gotten easier and easier to fulfill my goals. My habit of a healthy lifestyle will become an official habit this Sunday.

I also googled who invented the bicycle. I am no more educated about this now, then when I had the bright idea to google it. I do know that several people helped craft what we now know today as the bike, or bicycle. Check out this link if your curious about the history of the bicycle. Why would he google about the bicycle you ask? Well, today when I was frivolously pedaling up 94th on my way home, I got to thinking about who invented this crazy rolling torturing device. I felt the burn in my legs today baby! I intentionally tried to not stand up as I pedaled up hill to maximize the workout. I did pretty good. Tomorrow will be an early one. I'm off to bed soon.

Day 17

Today Jones took my core (abs) workout to another level. We spent about 40 minutes focused there and then switched to some chest exercises. He pushed me hard and I felt it when I woke up this morning. I literally had to tuck my knees into my chest and build momentum as I rocked back and forth and then launched myself off the bed, to then ultimately land on the floor, but then quickly stood up pretending that didn't just happen. Yes this is yet another post that comes from the day after. I'll do a better job staying on top of this gig.

I wanted to express how vitally important I think it is to have people around you encouraging you, spurring you on, challenging you, pushing you, supporting you, and helping you to realize your goals and see them through. Honestly, if I was all alone trying to do this thing, I'd probably knock out about 4 push ups and then go and heat up a corn dog. It is essential and applicable in everyday life as well to have "cheerleaders", for lack of a better term, cheering you on as you work it out.

What are some goals you might have? What are some hopes and dreams you have been pondering? Write them down, tell someone, tell several people, and then get after it! For me, this is something that I've been thinking about doing for about 4 years. I have been procrastinating and finally came to a point where I had to decide which direction I wanted my life to go as far as my health was concerned. I'm coming up on 30 in about 3 and 1/2 years and I had to decide if I wanted to carry all these extra pounds with me into that age, or if I would rather enjoy running around the yard with my kids, walking up the stairs in my house without needing to take a breather, and go skateboarding again. I decided the latter. I told some people. Now, it's on! I encourage you today to take out a pen, scratch down some thoughts, goals, etc. Set up an action plan, tell someone, and do work! You'll be glad you did.

Day 16

Just knocked out a killer core workout and a solid hour of cardio on the elliptical. I'm able to maintain a higher speed on that bad boy now, for the duration, which makes me feel pretty awesome and burns more calories too! I've got nothing super exciting to report for today. If I'm being totally honest with you, I'm actually writing this blog entry in the future...well, today that is, March 12th...I kind of missed blogging the last couple days. It was mainly because I didn't feel like I had good content to write about. So now, at least I can write about not having any good content to write about and how I promised myself that I wouldn't be "that guy" who blogs about nothing just for the sake of blogging. However, in retrospect, the simple practice of blogging and being consistent with it on a day to day basis was the whole reason I set out to even begin blogging in the first place. And finally, I have something worth blogging about.

I've struggled with blogging in the past. I would often have a creative spark, begin a blog, post a few entries, and then years would go by, literally, with me being the only reader of my own blog. It feels really good to practice this discipline because I really do enjoy writing.

To recap my goals over the 90 day stretch of the LGN project:

1.) I obviously want to shed 30lbs and look awesome!

2.) I want to drastically change my eating habits and patterns and be healthy.

3.) I want to become a blogging aficionado.

As far as the weight loss goal, I'm about 1/3 of the way there, but I do understand that the next twenty pounds are really the hardest to lose. I feel like I've got a decent handle on eating. I'm struggling a bit to make sure that I get all the necessary daily nutrition that my body requires, but no longer am I binge eating, where as in the past I would hit up McDonalds and grab a double quarter pounder with cheese, large fry, two or three 4-piece chicken nuggs and wash it all down my gullet with an inappropriately large Mr. Pibb, two to three times per week, only to get home and ravage through the pantry like a wild dog who hasn't eaten for a week, munching cookies, fruit snacks, ice cream, etc.! I typically would usually only eat when I was alone or with somebody.

I can't believe that the calories that are in that one feeding at McDonalds (about 1800) are more than the calories that I now have budgeted to consume on a daily basis! Yeah right! I used to eat so bad. This is the longest stretch of time, in my entire life, that I have gone without eating fast food. I feel awesome about that and so does my wallet!

As far as the blogging goal, I'm growing and learning about what works and what doesn't. It's an exciting journey for me to log what's taking place in my mind and in my life through out the day on a daily basis. What it does for me, is it keeps my goals right at the forefront of my mind. I find that the more I think about what I want to do and the more I visualize my self doing it, the more motivated I become and the more capable I become.

Day 15

I got my wife back today. Her friend, Tieara, who lives in California and whose husband works for Southwest Airlines, hooked her up with a ticket to Las Vegas! They met up in Vegas yesterday, spent the day and night there and then got to walk around today before hoping back on a flight toward home. I love having my wife home. This place is not the same with out her. It's not that I'm scared of being alone in my house, it's just that it's lonely in my house when she's not here and I'm scared of being lonely.
My son, Jaxon, is at such a fun stage in life right now. He's almost three and he's at the point where I'm able to teach him some responsibility with chores and helping around the house. He now knows where his dirty diapers go, the other day he helped me by stocking the TP on the closet shelf, and today, 3 or 4 times, he returned an empty juice bottle to a shelf in the garage after I had put it in a pile to be taken out because he got used to seeing it there and must have thought that's where it belonged. He's such a good boy. I'm so thankful for him.
I had a great work out this afternoon with Jonesy! We really honed in on core and back today, and I was able to see some good growth in my core strength. After the workout, I ended up doing some stretching and recovery. I drank lots of water and had some insane chicken lettuce wraps for dinner. If you've ever eaten at P.F. Changs, you've probably had the chicken lettuce wraps that they do, and they are insanely insane. I was shopping at Costco tonight, I could probably go off on a tangent about how much I love Costco and how the world would be a better place if everyone spent more time there, but that's a story for another day, so, anyway, I came across this lettuce wrap kit that ended up tasting exactly like P.F. Changs!!! I was so stoked! The first time I had those bad boys was on an overnight trip to Portland for a wedding last year. And since then, I've been craving them like crazy...and they're relatively healthy for you, I mean, it's just lettuce, and chicken, and some tremendously awesome flavorings. You've got to check it out!
I'm geared up for the week. I'll be getting up early to begin my day with a nice little session of cardio, and then I'll make my way toward the drive thru stand and then to downtown. Looking forward to some great coffee tomorrow! Hope to see you there!

Week 2 Video Recap

Day 14 - Week 2 Weigh In

When I weighed in today, I showed a loss of 2.6 pounds! That means that over the last two weeks, I've lost 8.2 pounds total! I'm pretty happy about that, and I think that the next 11 weeks will require a slow, steady grind with my intentions being to lose 2 pounds per week.

Going into this project, I have had unrealistic expectations. I imagined myself losing 5 pounds per week and after a month, having the body that I've always wanted. Reality is now setting in, and that's ok. I am determined to persevere and carry on the hard work. I really just have to take this thing one day at a time. As each day presents itself, I need to decide to get after it with all my being. I am learning to have a disciplined lifestyle, which is not easy. It takes me repeating and revisiting my goals daily to remind myself why I can't eat that donut, or drink that soda, or eat at that buffet for lunch. Time to gear up for week 3!

Day 13

Just finished a great cardio session and cannot wait to weigh in tomorrow! Don't forget we lose an hour of sleep tonight...So, with that, I'm off to bed and I'll report back tomorrow.

Day 12

I have a confession. Today was the first day of The LGN Project that I didn't work out at all. I opened up the coffee shop, took a much needed nap when I got home, went to a surprise 50th birthday party at Las Palomas, ate an inappropriate amount of chips, salsa and refried beans and for dinner had chicken fajitas. I needed to just chill out and catch my breath. I'm worried that this one day of chilling out may have slowed my progress of weight loss. I weigh in tomorrow, so, time will tell. I'm really excited to see if I've lost any weight this week.

I forgot to blog about what Leah said to me when she saw me on Thursday after a week and a half. She said, "Hey, your shelf is gone! You know, the shelf you could rest your food on?" I realized it was true, the shelf really was gone. For those of you who don't really understand what a shelf is, it's depicted in the diagram below. It's basically when your stomach has a protrusion that allows you to rest food, items you might be shopping for in a store, potted plants, small aquariums, or even small children. It's something I'm glad to say I'm no longer carrying around.

Killer Smoothie Recipe

Day 11

Today was another one of those jam packed full days. I won't go into details today, but I was completely whooped by the end of it. Jonesy came over at the tail end of the day to train me and worked me over pretty hard. I demonstrated some progress in strength and ability and felt really good with the effort put forth. After Jones left, I spent an hour on the elliptical. It was a solid day overall, very exhausting though, now, I'm off to bed because I open in the morning.

Day 10

Do you ever have a day that is just completely jam packed full of good things, but yet, it's just jam packed, and you barely have time to eat or think? That was today. I opened up the shop and had a very solid service with Katie Butala. For those of you who may not know Katie, get to know her! She is an exceptionally hard worker, very quick and thorough in all she does, very charming and kind to customers and always on task and gettin' after it! So we did work, and then I headed out to get some supplies for the shop Downtown and Uptown. After running those errands, I needed to get ready for leading worship at a monthly gathering that happens at the Liberty Theater called YP, which stands for Young Professionals. This is a ministry of Foursquare church in Puyallup. It is targeted at reaching the demographic that is post college to 35. Check it out, it's the first Wednesday of each month at 7PM again at the Liberty Theater in Downtown Puyallup.

My exercise for the day was 60 push ups and 60 sit ups and then playing music for 3 hours. I ate fairly light since I didn't do any heavy cardio. Tomorrow, Jonesy and I will be back at it with another training session and then again on Saturday. I'll be checking in with my nutritionist, Leah, this Sunday and will be picking her brain on some new food ideas, and having her check to see if I'm eating a balanced diet or not. She really got me kick started with a meal plan that was easy to stick to and surprisingly filling.

Day 9

I decided to ride my bike today. Let me re-phrase that. I decided to pedal my bike today. I hadn't ridden it in quite some time so I was excited to get on it and hit the open road. I pedaled over to our drive thru coffee stand location in front of Goodwill on Meridian and hung out there for a little over an hour and helped make coffee. I then proceeded to head toward our downtown location, but mistakenly took a long and more round about approach then I had anticipated. I ended up riding over near Pierce College and then by Wal-Mart and then down towards Good Sam which finally landed me into the heart of Downtown Puyallup and into the comforting vicinity of the coffee shop where I spend the majority of my days. By the time I got there I was feeling pretty good about life. I felt like I had accomplished something. I felt rad.

Honestly, I felt like I had already put in an 8 hour day on my bicycle, and now, more work? I got a shot of coffee in me, I got amped up, and I got crackin' serving the people of Puyallup one glorious cup of joe after another. Time flew by, and before I knew it, it was 3PM and time for me to begin my ascent toward South Hill. I don't know if you knew this or not, but the only way to get to South Hill, is to go up a hill...hence, the "Hill" in "South Hill". There's no way around it. Believe me, I've tried to find an easier way. What I'm also beginning to learn and truly grasp a hold of in life, is that there is no "easy way" that is beneficial. There are no short cuts in life that produce good fruit. Hard work, discipline, dedication, faithfulness...those things produce good fruit, those things give great results, in those things is great fulfillment.

Up, up and away I went. I traveled up hill on 94th, past the cemetery, turned right on 112th passed Costco, peddled down 86th, and then hooked a left on 125th into the wonderful world of Rogers Ridge, the place I've known as home for nearly 18 years.

The total time from the coffee shop to the homestead was 50 minutes.

My total miles ridden for the day were close to 10.

The pain in my left and right buttocks due to the inappropriate discomfort of the bicycle seat...priceless.

I rested for 30 minutes or so after the ride and in came old Jonesy, like a 5th grade bully looking to steal my lunch, he took me on a journey of pain toward places I would never wish upon my worst enemies. I seriously must have blacked out during the work out because I vaguely remember it, but he said I did it. Thanks Jones!

Day 8

As I write this, I'm watching a super intense episode of 24! My goal is to be Jack Bauer! That's why I'm training so hard. Not really though.

I finally got my garage dialed in. It's clean and organized and optimal for exercise, so tonight I did one of those hour long P90X exercise routines focusing on chest and back...It kicked my booty...In a good way. I feel so good after the workout. Tomorrow I will be training with Jonesy, and will be getting my cardio in by riding my bike around town, weather permitting.

Today was, honestly, a great day. I got a lot done around the house, my wife and I went to her ultra-sound appointment to see our new baby's heart beating. It was incredible! The miracle of life is such an amazing thing! I feel organized and ready for the week ahead, and that's a great feeling.

Week 1 Video Recap

Day 7 - Week 1 Weigh In

I got up this morning with some pep in my step, excited to weigh in and see what progress I've made over the past week. I got my son bundled up and met my dad on the street and off we walked to the coffee stand. Today, on my iPhone, I was rockin' out to Eoghan Heaslip's new album called "Wonderful Story." It's an incredibly refreshing worship album. I haven't heard anything from him for the last couple years and went on iTunes last night to check out if he had anything fresh out. I'm super glad I did. Check it out!

Once we arrived to the coffee stand, I enjoyed a nice, double ristretto espresso from Drew Konzelman himself. Thanks for that Drew. I got amped from the coffee, and at about the time we hit 94th Street, I looked at my dad and said, "Let's do this!" We jogged the rest of the way home at a good pace, and I was pushing my son in the stroller which added some extra resistance as we jogged. We both felt awesome when we got back to the crib, and we began to build some storage shelving in my garage. That's what men do when they're amped! They build things! Tim the Tool Man Taylor ain't got nothing on me and my dad. What we build works!

I know at this point, you're probably dying to know what I weighed in at. Well, let's talk about that. I weighed in last Sunday at 214 lbs. After successfully completing my daily required workouts, (1 hour of cardio, 60+ push ups, 60+ sit ups) except for one day where all I missed was the sit ups and push ups, and after enjoying three extra 1 hour+ weight training workouts with my trainer Jason Jones, and eating very well, in fact, over the whole week, I ended up eating 3,000+ calories LESS than my budget had allotted me, I ate very balanced nutritionally, I incorporated lean proteins, essential fatty acids, and lots of fruits and vegetables, and water was my best friend, I nearly swallowed 100+ ounces of it per day, and at the end of the week, my work has paid off! It paid off more than I expected. I weighed in today at 208.4, a net loss of 5.5 lbs!!! I'm so stoked right now!

Stay tuned for a video blog recap of week 1. I'll post my favorite recipes from the week and talk about some of the experiences I had. Thanks for all the support I've received. I couldn't have made through week 1 without it. Thank you!

Day 6

Today was a pretty solid day. I worked at the coffee shop this morning. Pretty crazy busy morning. I'm super thankful that it is that way. Lately I've heard of so many people losing their jobs and being laid off from work because of the state of our economy. We're very blessed to see continued growth at the coffee shop. We're seeing new faces all the time and old ones are still as enjoyable as the first day we came to know them. Thank You Lord for the success of our shop!

After I got off, I battled my dad in an epic match up of rock-paper-scissors to see who would buy lunch. I owned him and off to DeCaterina's for lunch we went. If you've never been there it's a great little spot in Puyallup, basically, it's diagonal across the park from us at the coffee shop. I had a seafood salad with grilled prawns, scallops and salmon with some balsamic vinaigrette...unbelievably delicious and nutritious. It was a nice time with my dad.

My wife called and wanted me to bring her home a BLT. She was very specific of her need for a BLT. My wife is pregnant, by the way if you didn't know, so what occurs when you're pregnant, so I'm told, is that you crave certain things at certain times. Her craving, this time, just so happened to be a BLT, and DeCaterina's just so happened to have a fantastic one that she soon enjoyed.

My wife shared with me this afternoon that she's feeling more sensitive, emotionally, then she's ever felt before. She said she cried during Survivor, and that she tends to want to cry frequently over silly little things. At church tonight, as a special part of the service, there were some Islander Dancer folks that were dancing to a song on stage. As soon as they began, the music and the movements of these beautiful people were too much for her. She got all choked up, and we looked at each other and smiled. She was moved to tears. How sensitive and sweet! I love it!

Yesterday, my Pop's and Gram's flew over to North Carolina to catch up with my mom and Aunt Angela as they were going to celebrate my Gram's sisters birthday. My Pop's and I were talking and we were rattling off some thoughts about diet and exercise when he spouted off something quite profound...He called it the "RA Factor" which stands for "Responsibility and Accountability Factor" and is significant because it's what is needed in order to see a life style change happen. You can't have one with out the other, and you can't succeed at what your trying to accomplish if both aren't in place in your life. I latched on to this principle and feel it's something that will help carry me through the challenging times during this process. I'm being responsible by asking for accountability which will help me to reach my goals of a healthy life style which is responsible...do you see how it works...take responsibility , get accountability, win!

Tomorrow will mark my first official weigh in since I began. One week of results are just a few hours away. I'm very excited. First thing tomorrow I plan to go for my Sunday morning stroll to the coffee stand with my dad and Jaxon, my boy. It's a nice walk from the house, and a good way to knock out my daily hour of cardio. When I get back, I'll knock out my push ups and sit ups and then I'll weigh in. In my mind, I'm hoping I lost 12 lbs, or more! Realistically, I hope I lost 2 lbs at least because I've pushed pretty hard this week and to not see results will be a little disheartening. If nothing else, I've at least begun the process of living a healthy life style and with consistency and continued faithfulness to the plan, I'm bound to see results soon.

Day 5

What a beautiful day today in Puyallup! Man, I got up this morning at the booty crack of dawn, 4AM, to rock and roll at the coffee shop. I felt like I wanted to keel over and pass out. I was so tired and sore from the previous days work out. Once I got moving around, I felt a little better, and as the day progressed, and I fueled my body with good things, (protein shake with fruit and yogurt, granola bar, shot of espresso, half of a "Dave's Killer Sandwich"...recipe to come) I felt awesome.

After work at Noon, Jonesy came over and we hit my training hard. He owned me on some abs and chest exercises. We plowed hard for an hour and then jogged to Rogers High where we ran fowl poles at the baseball fields. We did some pretty intense sprints and fancy foot work and I felt an insane burn. "That's right fat, melt away!!!"

I was so much more mentally prepared for today and I now realize that my lack of preparation before each day will lead to a challenging difficult day. If I think ahead, plan what I'm going to eat, pace it out through the day, and if I mentally prepare for my work out, then everything is in place for a successful day.

This weekend I'll finally have some time to post more pictures and meal plans and recipes. I'm almost done with Week 1! I'm so excited to weigh in on Sunday morning to see what progress I've made. This is such a fun process for me.

Day 4

Honestly, today was by far the hardest day so far. I did well eating, considering I started out the day a bit rushed, which bled into the rest of my day. I didn't end up preparing the foods I would eat. As I write this, I have just finished my daily workout routine, minus the push-ups and sit-ups, simply because I ran out of time. All I was able to do was an hour of cardio on the elliptical. I am absolutely wiped out. The latest episode of Lost I watched was pretty darn good...even more confused then before. Off to bed...Tomorrow will be a much more successful and productive day, and I will be prepared for it!

Day 3

Today, was a fun filled day. Here's how it started; I woke up at 4AM, opened the coffee shop, celebrated life and did what I do best...which is, I guess, celebrating life. I had a meeting in Tacoma, and after that I was headed to Firestone to get my flat tire replaced from the day before. On the way to my meeting I passed a hole in the wall place called Jeff's Used Tires, and that sparked a thought in my mind that maybe they'd have the one tire that I need for the Probe as opposed to me needing to buy two brand new tires from firestone for $180. I proceeded to my meeting and didn't even give it another thought.
After I left the meeting and began making my way toward Firestone, the thought of stopping by this used tire place crept back into my mind. At that point, the last thing I wanted to do was sit for an hour or two at Firestone while they replaced my tires and gouged my wallet. I was hungry, I had a work out that I needed to get going on, and quite frankly, I just wanted to go home. So, I prayed. With a child like faith, I asked God to provide a tire for me at this junky place, under 80 bucks, and that the whole process would take less then 30 minutes, because I was due for some calories in my gullet.
I rolled up into this place and saw signs posted everywhere that they only accept cash. Cash Only. Of course, I had no cash, so, I just about left when I saw a young man approaching the Probe and I got out and told him what I was looking for. He took me out into the tire yard and showed me a stack of tires. The one on top had exactly the same tire tread left as the other three tires, that were still good, on the Probe. I asked how much and he said, $26. I couldn't believe it. I was stoked out of my mind. I was going to save so much money going this route. Woohoo!
Because I had the spare tire on the Probe still, I was able to leave my rim for him to put the tire on while I ran to get cash. I came back, the tire was ready, I paid $31 and some change after tax, by that time he had the tire on the Probe, I thanked him, started my car, and drove off...all in under 10 minutes!!! I was so happy. I know my prayer was a measly, petty, little prayer for myself, but what that experience today taught me, was that God cares about the everyday things in our lives. He desires to be involved in every facet of our lives, not just when it's convenient, or when we make time for Him. He wants to be invited into our daily dealings!
I finally got home and immediately began 40 minutes of cardio on my elliptical as I waited for Jonesy, my personal trainer, to arrive. I knew that he was planning to work me over today, and I wasn't looking forward to that. He got to my house and we began a 40 minute work out blitz on my abs (I use the term, "abs", loosely, as I have more of a sack of flour in my belly than anything that resembles "abs" as of now) and core. We finished by focusing on triceps. What a killer work out. I felt like a million bucks afterwards. However, right now, as I write this, I realize that my body hates me. It is strongly opposed to the changes that I am imposing upon it. I hold on to the fact though that it will continue to get easier and easier as I remain consistent and continue to strive toward the goal of LGN. I got owned today!

Day 2

On a scale of one to awesome, today was AWESOME!!! I was a little more nervous going into today, worried that I'd be hungry, or tired, because honestly, the coffee shop can be a bit demanding at times...but, I did awesome, with the exception of the afternoon...I ended up with a flat tire when I got home from work and was planning to do my exercises, but had to attend to the needs of my Probe, yes, that's right, I drive a Ford Probe...and ohhhh yes, you can bet I'll be posting some sweet pics of me and the Probe in the near future.

Anyway, after dealing with that headache, and literally, having a physically real headache, (I think because I was hungry), I got some good food in me, and hit the elliptical for an hour! I was so stoked that I hit it for that long. I feel like a million bucks as I write this blog entry. Also, I busted out 60 crunches after my cardio, and at work today, between customers, I was able to get my 60 push-ups in. Tomorrow, Jason and I will weight train for an hour. I'm looking forward to that.
My muscles are recovering nicely and again, I feel like I'm getting enough calories and nutrition in my diet. I feel AWESOME!!! It's only Day 2 though I keep reminding myself. I know I can do it! One day at a time is what it will take. I still haven't had time to post the things I've wanted to post, such as some recipes and my weekly meal plan. That might take a back seat for now, or I may just end up posting my daily net calorie intake which calculates food calories consumed minus exercise calories burned. That will paint a decent picture of what I'm doing.
I have a super sweet app on my iPhone called Lose It! If there is anyone out there that is trying to lose weight, manage calorie intake and factor in exercise, this is the sweetest app that I've seen on the iPhone for doing this. It's super user friendly and very accurate, and honestly, it makes this whole thing so much fun. Check it out in the Apple app store.
I thought I should leave you with a random thought tonight. Isn't it funny how we, as humans, react to the rain? If you watch closely, when people are walking in the rain, running to and fro in the rain, scampering in the rain, they make a face that describes nothing but shear agony, as if it's not rain that's actually falling on their skin, but molten lava. They squint their eyes, and curl their lips in disgust as if each drop of cool wetness is melting away their flesh...I caught myself doing that today.

Day 1

I said I'd be honest with you. Want the truth? I got owned today. It's not that I didn't get enough to eat, or that it was hard to stick to the meal plan. I realized today, that it is going to take a lot of determination to see this thing through. Exercising is not something that I love to do...As of now. I know I will grow to love it, especially when I see results, but today was intense.

I power walked, I mean, I man walked with my wife today for over an hour, I did 60 push-ups and 60 sit-ups, and then Jason Jones, my personal trainer, worked with me for a little over an hour on some weight lifting.

I ate incredibly well and enjoyed what I ate. I made the most insanely awesome fruit smoothie for breakfast. I'll post the recipe soon along with other highlights from my meal plan including a Turkey Spinach Wheat Wrap I made for lunch that was life changing. Not gonna lie, I can't really think straight right now, super tired, ready to hit the sack. I need rest to get after Day 2 tomorrow. It's game on!!!

All Systems A GO!!!

Well, in only a few short hours I will arise to begin exercising and dieting like it's something I've always done. Honestly, I can't go into this thinking that I'm just going to go through a phase, that tomorrow, I'll start something, hit my goal, and be done. No, tomorrow marks the beginning of a brand new Bryan! I'm excited! I'm not on some fancy weight loss, low-carb, Jenny Craig diet fad, I'm simply going to be ingesting wholesome, natural foods, exercising on a regular basis and striving to honor God with the body that He's given me. The emphasis for what I'll be eating is really on calorie count and nutritional value. I'll be eating between 1500-1800 calories per day, and expending anywhere from 400-800 calories per day through exercise.

I know that sounds aggressive, but I am set on that plan. I want to go after this thing hard and make up for lost time. My dietician, Leah Koolis, spent a couple hours today figuring out my meal plan for this week and looking for what foods I had on hand already that would work within my diet plan. Turns out, I had the makings of some really great meals laying around and just needed some creativity and direction on what to do with the ingredients. I'll post my meal plan for the week tomorrow.

The LGN Project Begins in 36 Hours!!!

The LGN Project? What is it you ask? Well, it's my attempt at physically preparing the best version of myself for my lovely bride on our 5th Anniversary this May. You see, over the last 5 years of our marriage I haven't exactly eaten the best, nor have I exercised nearly as much as I should have. Seriously, when the Wii Fit told me that I was obese, I knew it was time for a change. Looking back, it's been a jam packed full five years of wonderful memories, life changing events, and unforgettable experiences that I wouldn't trade for anything. My only regret is that I didn't prioritize a healthy diet and exercise lifestyle during that time.

Now, I've got a pretty deep hole to dig myself out of, but I realize there's no better time then now to turn this thing around. Over the next 90 days, I will be blogging about my journey on the road to a skinnier, more healthy version of me. I'll be honest. I'll be real with my struggles and victories. I have the privilege of being physically trained by my friend Jason Jones, and will be held accountable to a healthy diet by my friend and brother-in-law's fiance', Leah Koolis. I am confident that over the next 90 days, I will be able to lose 30 pounds.

That is just the beginning. This is a lifestyle change that I have been desperately longing for. I want to be able to chase my son around without getting winded, climb a few stairs with out needing oxygen, wake up each day with passion and energy, and not having to tote around these 30 extra pounds that I've been carrying. Follow me as I progress to a better, healthier version of me.