A New Day

2011-09-12T05:38:00.000-07:00

I can only assume that it started off like any other day. I was living with my best friend at the time and he was out at an appointment. I was being lazy and vegging out on the couch and consuming some sort of cereal or something else that was not worth my time. A few minutes before 9am my friend returns home, busting in the front door yelling at me, did you hear, turn on the news, turn on the news we were just attacked. I looked at him somewhat in disbelief and confused as to what he meant by, "we were just attacked". I flipped over to the news and looked on in shock and horror as I see a building in New York with a pillar of smoke pouring out of it. Trying to figure out what I could do if I was there another plane entered the screen and crashed into the other tower of the World trade Center. My jaw dropped open and a feeling of sickness in my stomach washed over me. With people trapped in the towers unable to get word to their families and being so desperate, they begin to jump from the building, and surely to their deaths. I can only assume that to them, the fall was more humane then burning or suffocating to death. We watched the news for who knows how long... I saw the second plane crash into the building and I watched as the buildings weakened, eventually collapsing. Yesterday was the 10 year anniversary of that tragic and historic day. I saw a video and wanted to simply share a picture from it.

Among all the chaos and destruction of 9/11, while they were in search of survivors, some rescuers came upon an open area in the rubble. One fireman said it looked like a cathedral. Rubble had formed the shapes of chairs and the walls, or at least what was left of them circled around this large cavern. In the middle there was a large metal cross formed with two I beam supports. Almost as if a message from God saying I Am Here.

Is Christianity Pagan?

2011-08-31T06:14:00.000-07:00

Although my research is far from over I stumbled onto something today that I had never heard of. There are plenty of people out there that have made claims to Christianity being based on a pagan religion, so I started to search around on it and what I found is amazing...There is a Persian religion that predates Christianity by about 200 years, and has some similar beliefs or stances. Its called Mithraism. Here are a few similarities that caught me off guard at first.

-Both Mithras and Christ had virgin births in the sense that they were conceived without any sexual union between man and woman.
-Both Mithraism and Christianity emphasized mankind's redemption resulting from a sacrificial death followed by the god's ascent to heaven.
-Both emphasized purification through baptism
-Both have flood stories

There are more but these were just a few. The funny part is,.... well here read for yourself.

On the Virgin birth: Both Mithras and Christ had virgin births in the sense that they were conceived without any sexual union between man and woman. Christ's father was said to be God, while Mithras was said to have had no father or mother, having emerged as an adult from a large rock.

On the payment for Sin: Both Mithraism and Christianity emphasized mankind's redemption resulting from a sacrificial death followed by the god's ascent to heaven. In the case of Christ, it was the god himself (or his son) who was sacrificed; in the case of Mithra, it was a sacred steer that Mithra sacrificed.

On Baptism: Both emphasized purification through baptism, Mithraists by washing themselves in the blood of sacrificial oxen. While dying oxen bled to death on lattice floors built over their heads, initiates both drank and washed themselves with the blood that dripped on them.

Flood: Both told of a major flood, in the case of Mithra through his having shot an arrow into a stone cliff to quench mankind's thirst. Unfortunately, the entire world's population was drowned in a flood produced by the water spout that gushed from the hole his arrow produced. One man alone (a Noah figure borrowed from the earlier Sumerian myth of Atrahasis) was warned in time and could therefore save himself and his cattle in an ark.

Definitely some "similarities" but some very large differences as well. Seeing as to very little is known about the beliefs of Mithraism before the 2nd century, which by that time Christianity was well on its way, mithraist may have changed their beliefs to mimic more closely the ever growing popularity of Christianity. By the time Christianity came around as a religion, Mithraism had been changed from its Persian roots. Was Mithraism around first? Yes and no. Before Christ's ministry here on earth, yeah,.... before the accounts of the Old Testament??...Well since the accounts go back to creation I dont think thats possible. My faith is based on the bible, and the bible being the word of God has continuously passed the test of time and it will continue to do so.
Check out this site for a little more info on it...

The pursuit of...

2011-08-15T13:14:00.000-07:00

"Excellence is not a destination; it is a continuous journey that never ends." Brian Tracy

I agree wholeheartedly with this quote... I know nothing of the man that said it but I like it. Read it again... You cannot become excellent, it is something to constantly strive for. I am sure there are a 1,000 different ways to look at something like this, and I am most certainly not a philosophy guru.

Lets look at this in the light of 3 areas of life.
.
1st- Your work. What do you do at job to be better? Do you strive to improve for your sake as well as your employer? Or do you sit at your desk and surf the internet or play games, wasting your time and ultimately stealing money from your employer? Maybe you dont have a desk. Do you hang out at the job site and just chat or let some of your work slide because no one will ever find out?

2nd- What about yourself? Do you take time to continue your learning? What just because you dont have to go to school anymore doesnt mean you dont keep reading, and learning. Are you trying to be a better person? Constantly trying to improve as a husband, a wife, a father, a mother? If not you shouldn't be one. Do you workout? Do you take a little time each day to try to make yourself healthier so that you can be with your family longer? Provide for them better? Get off your lazy butt and play with your kids or take your wife out? Make all the excuses that you want, but everyone has time to exercise, they just have to make it.

3rd- Spiritual life. I dont know where everyone stands that reads my blog here, but this one done correctly will help the rest fall into place. Actually if you really look close enough all three of these are intertwined. You cant really have one without the other. As a Christian I cant help but to relate that the pursuit of excellence is a pursuit for Christ. To attempt to model your actions and your life after God himself, is to constantly try to reach the unattainable, but you still reach, and you try to get a little closer each day, making yourself a little bit better every day.

Just as the quote says there is no end to that journey, it is your responsibility to keep trying. Sometimes you will lose, or do something stupid, but its only failing if you stop there. Pick yourself up, stop wining, and keep going.

When you set out to not only improve your life but to improve the lives of all those around you, you create something wonderful, and people from all over will come to be a part of it.

Intensity...

2011-08-10T16:46:00.000-07:00

Today I am going to address all those out there that like to walk for their exercise. I applaud you for not sitting so comfortably on your couch but actually getting out there and doing something. After all something is better then nothing, right? Yes it is better then nothing, but is it worth the time to really see any benefit. When you are out and you see the people out walking for exercise, do they look like the fit model on the cover of a magazine or do they look more like what is standing in line at the all you can eat buffet? Thats right, most of the time there is no distinction between the buffet master and the "walker". Why is that? Because walking is easy. It takes little to know coordination, barely increases your heart rate, and is for most people sustainable for a very long time. With the exception of stopping because your feet hurt, you could probably walk for a couple of hours before you even started to get really tired. This is in direct conflict with Crossfit, and in my opinion real fitness. If you are not injured then there is no reason not to train with the up most of intensity. That doesnt mean that your intensity level and mine has to be the same, it just means that you are pushing as hard as you can at that point in time, and walking isn't pushing. People who walk may find some initial results. A pound here a dress size there but it will stop and they will plateau. Up the intensity and watch the fat melt off. Your results are a direct reflection of your intensity. (No intensity = No results.) So, is taking a walk for 30-40 minutes worth it? It is if you enjoy the walk, but you can take 10-20 min of high intensity training and see better results in a shorter time. That leaves you more time with the family and more time to get that list taken care of. Walkers, if you are tired of walking all over town and not getting anywhere check in to your local Crossfit Box and let them introduce you to the intensity.

Update....

2011-07-28T08:51:00.000-07:00

Nothing too exciting to report. Eating has been going well, really well. I find myself craving things like fruit and especially french toast, so I think this weekend for my cheat "meal" I will allow myself about a 2hr span to eat crap but as for the rest of the day its just like normal. Weighed in yesterday at 233 and today at 234, so I am fluctuating right around there. I had meant to get my BF done this week but didnt get a chance to but last time I had it done I was still sitting at 16%. Not bad but I still want that 12%.
The Crossfit Games are going on this weekend so that is going to be awesome. If you have time go to Crossfit Games and watch the events live, it will be worth it.

As seen through the eyes...

2011-07-22T11:30:00.000-07:00

Where are we headed? I mean what will our futures look like? With all of the breakthroughs in modern science, the drugs and other things that are helping to keep us alive for so long, what will ultimately be the outcome.

We have long since given up on common sense to tell us what is good and what isn't. So much to the point where those lines are blurred now. There is an ocean of knowledge out there and yet we still rely on Doctor, never exercised in my life, to give us advice on being fit and active. We let the same guy that had the #2 off the value meal on his way to the office tell us how to eat. So we take their advice, does it help? Depends on how far gone you already were. If you weigh 500lbs and they restrict your calories well duhhh of course you are going to get healthier. Besides that they prescribe you with drug after drug, never really getting to the root of the issue. Here is one to help lower your cholesterol, oh and make sure you are getting plenty of grains too. IDIOT!!! I am not saying that certain drugs dont have their place, but I bet that the majority of people out there that are on drugs for one thing or another could come off of them if they wanted to. Our food is a drug. It is the most plentiful drug out there. There are enough cases of people overcoming illnesses that were supposed to be life long, by simply changing what they were eating. If you are tired of taking meds all the freaking time or just want to get healthy here is a site worth following. CLICK HERE TO CHANGE YOUR LIFE . There is a movie that came out a few years ago. It is a really good movie and it portrays the future of our race in a way that is far to close for my comfort.

Starts around the minute mark.

Earth has been destroyed and everyone lives on a giant space ship that has everything. You dont even have to walk at all... There is a line toward the end of the movie where the ships navigation system tells the captain that they cannot go back to earth and that its his job to make sure the humans survive. The captain tells the robot, I dont want to survive, I want to live. If you are relying on medication that you have to take everyday and your not getting any better, maybe its time to start living and stop surviving.

What to do?

2011-07-19T09:44:00.000-07:00

90 days has come and gone... Now its time for a new challenge. I still have a goal BF% of 12% and am about 4% away from that, so the question comes, what do I do to shave off this last 4%? I am going to start with some experimentation. I usually do a cheat day on Saturday's but over the next few weeks I am going to change that to just a cheat meal. At the same time that I am doing that I am also going to start weighing and measuring all my food again. I have stayed on the diet very well but only eye balled the amounts, I feel it is time to dial that in a little more and see how that goes... Beyond that I have to make sure that my Workouts are staying on track... At least Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday, and if time allows some type of skills work or focus work on Saturday. Thursday will be reserved for gymnastic practice. I will post updates every couple of days and continue blogging things that I find interesting on the other days.

What motivates you to try?

I saw this poster and thought that it was just funny... At first. Then I got to thinking, maybe if we looked at life a little more like our fury little friend here we may be better for it. Its not that we should do something stupid, its about seeing what you want and going after it. Just because the problem looks like it is going to be a big one or that you might not be able to win, who cares, do it anyway. Give it a shot and learn from it. Hopefully you wont be ripped apart by a bald eagle in the process.

Are Doctors the ultimate authority???

2011-07-15T03:42:00.000-07:00

I serve as the strength and conditioning coach at a local high school and run a Crossfit Affiliate. Needless to say I run into a lot of people on any givin day. With all of the conversations about fitness and nutrition and things of that sort that I have, it is inevitable that someone will bring up, "well so and so says grains are ok and he is a Doctor", or " I heard this lifting program is not as good as this one, and this guy has a PHD", or any number of combinations. Why is it that we put so much credit in what a doctor says about fitness and nutrition? In this when I refer to a doctor I mean an MD. I do not mean to belittle their accomplishments but these area's are not their area's of expertise. Lets visit the main reason for doctors, at least the majority of them. They are there so that when we get sick they can examine us and determine what type of treatment is best so that we can get healthy again right? Yeah some, but not all. Most people in the medical field have either been brainwashed or just ignorant when it comes to the effects of exercise and nutrition. Doctors constantly want to write out prescriptions and keep people dependent on medicine instead of getting to the root problem and curing it. Most medications out there only treat symptoms and rarely actually cure the problem anyway. If they were actually curing us then they would be working themselves out of a job and the pharmaceutical companies are just too influential. The basic truth is that if you want fitness and nutrition advise dont ask your family doctor. Chances are he had a semester of it in college and thats about it. Talk to someone in that profession. A trainer, a nutritionist, or someone like that. You are bound to get different information depending on who you ask but chances are it will probably be better then the phd.

This is a small example of what Im talking about... Justin is a Pharmacist, but at the same time he is a Crossfitter and "Paleo" enthusiast, along with Josh and myself we own Practice Crossfit.

Glorious Day

2011-07-08T03:48:00.000-07:00

On my way to work in the morning I tend to reflect on the day before and think about the day to come. Usually my thoughts turn towards God and why it is I do what I do. Typically this means why I screw up, or what am I supposed to be doing. Now I dont always get it right, heck I'd say I probably get it wrong most the time. Then a song comes on the radio that really puts things in perspective. The song is a great overview of what Jesus did for us, and is doing for us.

This is part of the song...just the first and second verse but play the vid for the whole thing. The video is fan made, its ok but the song is great its worth it.

One day when Heaven was filled with His praises
One day when sin was as black as could be
Jesus came forth to be born of a Virgin
Dwelt among men, my example is He

Word became flesh and the light shined among us
His glory revealed

Living He loved me, dying He saved me
And buried He carried my sins far away
Rising He justified freely forever
One day He's coming, oh, glorious day, oh, glorious day

One day they led Him up Calvary's mountain
One day they nailed Him to die on a tree
Suffering anguish, despised and rejected
Bearing our sins, my Redeemer is He

Hands that healed nations, stretched out on a tree
And took the nails for me

'Cause living He loved me, dying He saved me
And buried He carried my sins far away
Rising He justified freely forever
One day He's coming, oh, glorious day, oh, glorious day

Its a new day...

2011-07-07T11:21:00.000-07:00

It is a new day, at least it is every morning when I get up and out of bed. But it is also the new name of my blog. Why did I change it you ask? Well my 90 day challenge is over so I didnt think that title fit any longer. Now dont worry, I am still kicken you know what and taking names, but that is not the only thing I want this page to be about. The subtitle is life, diet, fitness and the like... Basically I want to leave it open to things about improving life in general, through physical, mental, spiritual and any other "al" you can think of. So if you have a topic you would like to see or want to know my opinion on something please let me know. Make a suggestion. I am not done posting my progress as far as my own fitness, nutrition and spiritual battles go but they will not be the only thing to read about... With that. I was measured about a week ago and am hanging out at around 16% BF. I am playing with diet stuff and workouts to try to get me beyond that, so wish me luck. Or better yet get on board and do it too. In the mean time....Enjoy this

This is an old video of me playing with one of my favorite pieces of equipment...The Kettlebell.

Young Earth and the Paleo diet....Does it mix?

2011-06-28T08:53:00.000-07:00

Before I dig into this topic lets make it clear that I am a young earth creationist. This means that I believe that Genesis is the true account of creation and that God did it in 6 literal days, about 6-10,000 years ago. I am also a trainer and stark supporter of the Paleo Diet and even as strict as a Ketogenic diet. I will explain those as I go.

Paleo as I will use it does not necessarily mean the cave man diet or neanderthal diet. It is a hunter/gatherer, living off the land type of diet with a few tweeks here and there.

Ketogenic diet, is a diet where your body burns fat for energy instead of carbs, simply because you dont give it enough carbs to burn.

First off how did we eat before we were exiled from the Garden?
God placed Adam in the garden and told him that he would have every green plant for food...
-Gen 1:29-30 "²⁹ Then God said, “Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the ^[an]surface of all the earth, and every tree ^[ao]which has fruit yielding seed; it shall be food for you; ³⁰ and to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the ^[ap]sky and to every thing that ^[aq]moves on the earth ^[ar]which has life, I have given every green plant for food”; and it was so."

Does this mean that we only ate vegetables and fruit? Yep sure does. What about cereal grains? Maybe, I dont know. But, we were vegetarians at this point. If we were meant to eat animals at this point God would have included them in the statement "it shall be food for you".

When were we allowed to eat animals?
After Noah's flood, when God dispersed the animals he also put the fear of man into them. This is when he gave them to us for food.
Gen 9:2-3 The fear of you and the terror of you will be on every beast of the earth and on every bird of the ^[a]sky; with everything that creeps on the ground, and all the fish of the sea, into your hand they are given. ³ Every moving thing that is alive shall be food for you; I give all to you, as I gave the green plant.
Just as He gave the green plant he now gives us the animals. That means we are supposed to eat meat. The question now comes, WHY? Why cant we just live as a vegetarian? Well you can but you will not be your healthiest. We need animal protein and I will give you my reasons as to why.

When we started off in the garden of Eden we were physically perfect human beings. That means no breakdown in our bodies requiring protein to rebuild. However due to our stupidity and selfishness Adam disobeyed God, and when he did he brought sin into the world. Sin entering the world cursed the whole of creation, that means everything, not just humans, or animals, but the plants, the ground, the sky and everything in them. With the curse, now comes mutations. Mutations in our own DNA causing us to no longer be able to thrive on a vegan diet. Mutations or changes in humans + the changes in plants is where I think we developed the allergens to gluten and other plant properties. So as time goes by that relationship gets worse and worse until our bodies are so out of wack that they require a substance(protein) to help restore or rebuild them. Over the many generations since that time, our tolerance has gotten less and less, well, tolerant.

Today how do we eat? We as humans eat a huge diet based mostly on grains. A plant that whether we could eat it in the beginning or not is very detrimental to our health now. Fruits although loaded with nutrients and other good things they are also loaded with fructose. For more info on fructose read previous post. Are we a healthy society? You had better say no to that. Obesity is on the rise, disease and tons of other ailments are constantly plaguing our lives. So what are we left with? Meat, nuts/seeds, veggies, and occasionally some fruit. What do we stay away from? Sugar, grains, high starchy vegetables, and dairy.

Yes the Bible and "paleo" can coexist. It is just a healthier lifestyle.

God made it...

2011-06-09T13:54:00.000-07:00

This post is not going to be about how great God is. It is simply to show a false argument that I have heard come up many times, and have posted on it before...
This post is going to deal with something I have been researching lately and had put off doing for a long time simply because I didnt want to know the truth.....FRUIT!!!
To be more accurate the sugar in the fruit...Fructose!!
From what I have read, just about everyone out there wants to bash sucrose(table sugar) and all the artificial sweeteners but leave fructose alone. Thats because its natural you say... Your right it is natural but again just because its natural doesnt make it good for us. Most everyone out there knows that sucrose is bad news right, that white sugar that gets baked into our cakes or sprinkled on top of who knows what is bad for you. No surprises there we knew that. But did you know that sucrose is almost 50/50 glucose and fructose? Every cell in the human body can use glucose for energy. Fructose on the other hand is almost entirely metabolized in the liver and some studies have shown that prolonged effects on the liver are similar to alcohol. Higher consumption of fructose stimulates Lipogenesis, which is, sugars converting to fat and then triglycerides, raising the level of triglycerides leads to heart disease and the metabolic syndrome. "Metabolic syndrome is the combination of high blood pressure, high blood sugar, too much fat around the waist, low HDL ("good") cholesterol, and high triglycerides. Metabolic syndrome increases your risk for heart disease, diabetes, and stroke." -WebMd
I am not saying to never eat fruit. And yeah an apple is probably better then grabbing a snickers or kit kat, but truth of the matter is that fruit has its ups and downs and if you are over weight, or already insulin resistant then you should stay clear of it. If you are healthy, and athletic, in good shape then you could probably eat it here and there. We were not created to consume fruit all the time. Before we could fly and get food from all over the planet we may have had some fruit every so often a few months out of the year, but now that we can get it anytime we have gone way overboard with it.
To come back to the argument that God made it, your right he did. He also made every plant out there poisonous and or edible. Fruit is cursed just like the rest of creation and we may be getting further and further away from being able to safely eat it.

Controversal???... NAHHH

2011-05-18T19:35:00.000-07:00

It has been a while since last I blogged... I know but I have been coming up with a bazillion ideas but not getting deep enough into them to feel like I can put them on here yet...

Lets talk about life.

What is life? It is said that you are born, you live, and you die. Is that life? Is work life? When does life begin? When does life end? If life ends when your brain and your heart stop, does that mean when they start your alive?

I am sure that there are about a million places to go with this and I want to talk about a few that are very important to me. I am a father of two awesome rotten little boys. They have their moments but I love them more than I could ever thought possible. No matter what they do I cant help but love them. They are my children and I decide what they do, what they eat, what they wear, what they watch, etc.... (actually mom does most of that, but you get the point). Right now I control my kids lives. They can wine and complain but in the end Mom and I get our way, but that does not make my kids my property. They are not property. If my son was to back talk me (like I know he will) it is not ok for me to cut out his tongue. I do not have the right to hurt him like that. Should I be able to do that to my boys?....

NO of course not, its just not right. However if a women gets pregnant and decides that it would be an inconvenience to have a child right now, she is able to terminate that baby's life. WHAT??? I know the arguments, she was raped, she cant handle that right now, its not a baby yet, blahh blahhh blahhhh. It is still murder. Look no one deserves to be raped and I am not down playing that horrible crime. A rapist deserves much worse then what he gets in our society. I think that we should just cut off junk and put him in prison, or worse. However it is not the kids fault, if you cannot handle it put him/her up for adoption. There are a lot of good homes out there with people who cant have their own children and would love to raise one as their own, and the whole its not a baby yet, thats just stupid. "If its not a baby, your not pregnant". Everyone deserves a chance to live, everyone.

Choice? or Life?

The part of this that gets me is that if you are pro choice and ok with abortion, then are you not taking away that childs ability to chose? If you are pro life then the only choice that the mom really has to make is to keep the baby or not. If she gives the baby away then she is back to square one, no kid and can make all the choices she wants. If she kills him/her she took away someones choice.

I will do more on this subject at another time I just wanted to get this out there and stir up some discussion.

Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb a reward. -Psalm 127:3

Is it right?

2011-05-03T11:23:00.000-07:00

Over the last few days all I have heard over the radio, is the excitement about killing Bin Laden. Yeah he was a scumbag and as far as I am concerned probably deserved much worse than a simple bullet, but what gets to me is the reaction of the people. Parties, celebrations, its just a bit much for me. I think we did what had to be done but to celebrate the taking of another life regardless of how dangerous is not right. There are times when we have to kill, and this was undoubtedly one of those times, but it should be a sigh of, we did it because we had to, not WOO HOO we killed someone. Killing someone should never be celebrated. If you have never read, heard, or seen End of the spear, you should. The story is of a tribe of Indians in Ecuador who were extremely brutal. So much so that they were not only killing people who were trying to build or work too close to their jungle, but also murdering each other into extinction. A group of 5 missionaries decided they wanted to reach out and try to save these Indians known as the Waodoni. The problem is no one had ever made contact with them and lived... The men took guns with them and one of the mens kids asked if they would defend themselves. His answer was amazing; Son we cant shoot the Waodoni, they are not ready to die yet, they dont know God." (Or something very similar to that). Those men were slaughtered by the Indians and they never shot one of them. The families of these men later went and also made contact with the Waodoni, and well eventually brought them to Christ and in doing that peace. I guess I say all that and wonder what could have been?

To our soldiers
Thank you. You have served this country well and we are forever grateful.

Parents, pack your kids lunches...PLEASE!!!!

2011-04-18T11:02:00.000-07:00

It has obviously been a few days since my last post. My last few weeks have been crazy. Sharon and I are getting ready to move, I had a weekend seminar for my Crossfit Kids certification, and keeping things going for the Crossfit sectionals has been a blast... Despite all of these awesome things going on there is something that has always bothered me but has come to life a little more and I would love to know how to combat it.

School lunches. We send our kids off to school under the assumption that they will be taken care of there. I know that kids will be kids, and they will undoubtedly get hurt at some point, that is not what I am talking about here. This is about the garbage that they feed our children. My boys are not in school yet so this is not about my kids but yours might be. The crap that they are fed is insane, its no wonder our children are getting fatter, and fatter. Dont get me wrong its not the schools fault, its ours for letting it be there and then taking our kids home and feeding them more crap. School lunches should be healthy and nutritious, even if its not up to what I would say is healthy but at least what the general consensus of healthy is would be a great start. They are not even close... Here is two days of school lunch at a local high school that I work at..

Today’s Lunch: Nachos, salsa, refried beans, fruit and milk

Lunch tomorrow: Bosco Bread Sticks, Pizza Sauce, juice, pudding and milk

You have got to be kidding me. This is ridiculous. All those out there involved in fitness know this is not a healthy life style... I know there may be "other options" out there, but what about the kids who's mom and dad can only afford the basic lunch? Lets educate people on proper nutrition and maybe when mom and dad get it straight the schools will too.

Final Numbers are in....Sorta....

2011-04-03T19:19:00.000-07:00

Well Saturday was it... The 90 day challenge is officially over. Unfortunately I do not know what my current BF% is right now due to schedule conflicts between myself and my buddy that has taken my BF from day 1, so those results will be in later this week, however what I can tell you is that on Saturday morning I weighed in at 236lbs which I know is not as low as I would have liked to of been but thats ok because I am nowhere near finished... Below are the official before and after pics, let me know what you think and be honest...

BEFORE


AFTER

BEFORE

AFTER

BEFORE

AFTER

As I said before this is not the end of my transformation so please continue to check back and see my progress and let me know how yours is going too.

Saturday is the day....

2011-03-31T05:50:00.000-07:00

"It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God".
-Mark 10:25 NASB

Wow what bold statement Jesus says here. Is he saying that it is impossible for a rich man to go to heaven since as far as I know there is no needle big enough for a camel to fit through? Not at all. Let me explain, what Christ is saying in this passage is that it is very hard for those who have a lot to give it up for the glory of God. A poor person or one with very little has nothing so its no biggie to let go and give up yourself for the Lord, but a rich man will have a harder time because he has more. Look at the parable of the rich young ruler. http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Mark%2010:17-31,Matthew%2019:16-30,Luke%2018:18-30&version=NASB
Now what about this camel and needle thing? Well back when cities had walls around them and big gates to go in and out of at night the big gates would be locked, but next to the gates in the wall was a small door about the right size for a person maybe slightly larger. It was used so at night when the large gate was locked people could come and go through it. This was called in slang terms the eye of a needle. It would surely be a task to get a camel through one of those thats for sure. I hope this has shed some light on a great verse any questions please let me know.

This Saturday marks the completion of my 90 day challenge... I know I have made some good progress and I know that I still have a ways to go. I have not weighed myself in about a month for two reasons. The scale that I was using was a wrestling scale at the High school that I coach at and it is within .2lbs accurate. It is no longer there due to wrestling season being over. The other reason is that I do not want to get discouraged in my last days on the challenge so I thought I would wait. I will weigh and measure and take pics this Saturday and post them ASAP. I dont know if I will get them up on Saturday because I have to leave for KY right after work but for sure by Monday. Thank you all for your support and encouragement over the last 3 months, and don't worry I will still be eating right and blogging on here with my progress so keep in touch and see if I can get my goal by summer. I want to be able to work out or go outside with my shirt off and not feel like the fat guy...

Worth

2011-03-28T06:32:00.000-07:00

Where do you find your worth??? Yesterday I heard a really good sermon from a young Pastor at my church. He explained how when he got engaged and then had doubts he called it off. It only lasted a couple of days until he proposed again, she said yes and they are now happily married. That is not the point though. The point is what happened to him inside those 3 days. Pastor Adam had come to realize that he was getting his worth from her. She was filling him up and making him whole, or so he thought. During the 3 days he realized that he needed to have God fill him up first then he can bring her along for the ride.

Again I ask, where do you find your worth? Is it a job, your family, your stuff? Or is it in what you have accomplished? Something to keep in mind; enjoying your job or having a meaningful on is good. Taking care of your family and being proud of them is not a bad thing, and trying to accumulate a bunch of stuff is neither good or bad, but they all have one thing in common. They are all temporal. They dont last, and if this is where you are getting your sense of satisfaction then you are in for a kick in the you know where. If your worth is in your job and you lose your job are you now worth nothing? NO! What about your family? If they leave you or your husband or wife cheats on you does that take away your worth? NO! These things do not define who you are. If you are looking for worth in these things you have to turn your focus skyward.(not literally) When I took on the mantle of being a Christian, after years of questions and answers I know that above all else I am a sinner saved by grace. I am a child of God. I am of worth because God finds me worthy not because of what I have done or will do. My life in Christ is what defines me. Every aspect of my life has been affected by this truth. So can yours. No matter how many times you have messed up, no matter how many people that you have hurt, Christ will meet you where you are and he will take you along and carry you when necessary.

WOW!!!!

2011-03-21T19:25:00.000-07:00

You know there are a lot of different views when it comes to proper eating. Low carb, low Fat, no red meat, etc, etc.... There is a lady out there that is making some headlines because of her nutrition and fitness success not too mention that her client list has Gweneth Paltrow, Madonna, and who knows who else, but hey the stars use her so she must be good, right?. Awesome because, whether I disagree with her or not (and I do) she is getting people to at least try to get healthy. She has people working out 2+ Hours a day, and eating blended fruit and kale mush ohhh and then there is a chicken soup too. Now thats fine I guess but come on really...? There is a better more efficient way to do this. Getting in shape is hard, there is no doubt about that, but it doesnt have to be difficult. Work out 4-5 times a week really intensely, for a variety of times ranging from 2-20 min + a cool down mobility time for at least 15 min and that will do for the vast majority of humans out there. Eating is even easier to understand and even harder to put into practice. Eat meat, nuts, seeds, green veggies, some fruit, and NO grain. That would be the best possible diet you could do but I understand that most people out there will not be willing to go this far. Thats up to them. This will put your body into what is called a ketogenic state. Simply meaning that your body will now burn fat for fuel instead of carbohydrates. Fat is your bodies preferred energy source but we typically feed it too many carbs so it just stores the fat. There are plenty of reasons not to eat grains and other foods that I am not going to go into here so if you have a question please ask...

The Human Body...

2011-03-19T19:45:00.000-07:00

Over the last few days I have been watching and studying more on what the human body is capable of... It is absolutely amazing. The abilities that God has given to us are in some cases, super human. There is a man by the name of Dean Karnazes who can run. No you dont understand he can keep running and running. This guy could outlast the energizer bunny. The longest consecutive distance that he has run without stopping is 350 miles... I think they said it took him 80 hrs. Thats without stopping people. Here is a link to his site. I have found a ton of people online that have abilities far surpassing what we would call "normal" human capacity, but it goes to show you that if you are willing to train hard, push your limits, and maybe even get a little help in the genetics department, your ability will be super human. Stan Lee himself has started a show, or at least he hosts it, that explores this wonderful phenomenon. Stan Lee's super humans. It has already featured Mr. Karnazes and many others, such as a guy that cannot be electrocuted, and a guy that can cut a rubber BB in two with a samurai sword. It was shot at him at 200mph. Its awesome. Then if these do not peak your interest I suggest checking out fight science, its another show that tests human performance in other ways... I guess me being a Crossfitter keeps me interested in all the amazing things the body can do (such as Crossfit), and many other amazing feats. Check out some of what I have talked about and post comments on here. I would be interested to hear your thoughts.

Just finished off a cheat day and am still not weighing myself or doing body fat until the end which is only 14 days away. I am nervous but thats ok. I hope my final pics will look better than the first ones, obviously. April 2nd is day 90, so we are down to the wire... here we go. Wish me luck.

Planned parenthood, helping women?

2011-03-16T11:05:00.000-07:00

Im going to start this post under the assumption that most of you out there know what planned parenthood is and what they do. At least what they are supposed to do. Although I am strongly against abortion in any case that comes to mind that is not what this post is about. A few months ago an organization set up an operation to find out if planned parenthood would help someone who is trafficking young girls. The discovery is disgusting. They found 7 planned parenthood facilities that were willing to give abortions, STD testing and other so called "help" to someone who is "pimping" young girls out, and they are willing to help cover it up. This is an organization payed for in part by our tax dollars....WHAT!!!! I cannot begin to tell you how angry this makes me. My wife has been getting more involved in things to help stop sex trafficking. It is absolutely repulsive that it happens so much here in the US. It is in every community, and the average age for a young girl to get manipulated into it is 13. A few posts ago I said something about this but in the United states, Toledo Ohio is one of the hot spots for sex trafficking, thats only about 2 hours north of here. What do we do about this crap and how do we stop it? Do we follow what the laws are and take 10 years to do anything about it while little kids are being raped and abused every day? Every year at least 100,000 U.S. children are victims of sex trafficking, after ten years thats a lot of kids. What if it was one of yours? The video posted on here is long but it is full of info and I suggest that you watch it. VIDEO

22 and counting....

2011-03-14T19:03:00.000-07:00

Wow just over 3 weeks to go and I have no idea where I am at right now. They have taken away my scale and I am not sure I want to use another one. I guess I will have to eventually. Over the next three weeks my goal is to lose another 3-4% of body fat. I don't know that its a realistic goal but hey who knows what can happen. The hard part is I am not going to check anything, weight included, until the end, and to be honest it scares the crap out of me. Im going to continue to post on here after the 90 days is up and will still be making goals that I want to be held accountable to, and I will be posting on topics that include everything from current events to religion, to God, yes I see those two as a separate issue.

They gave him a manger for a cradle, a carpenter's bench for a pulpit, thorns for a crown, and a cross for a throne. He took them and made them the very glory of his career. ~W.E. Orchard

A good 4 letter word???

2011-03-11T18:14:00.000-08:00

What is love? Here are some simple definitions that I found on the web: What do you think?

a strong positive emotion of regard and affection; "his love for his work"; "children need a lot of love"
any object of warm affection or devotion; "the theater was her first love"; "he has a passion for cock fighting";
have a great affection or liking for; "I love French food"; "She loves her boss and works hard for him"
beloved: a beloved person; used as terms of endearment
get pleasure from; "I love cooking"
a deep feeling of sexual desire and attraction; "their love left them indifferent to their surroundings"; "she was his first love"
be enamored or in love with; "She loves her husband deeply"
a score of zero in tennis or squash; "it was 40 love"
sleep together: have sexual intercourse with; "This student sleeps with everyone in her dorm"; "Adam knew Eve"; "Were you ever intimate with this man?"
sexual love: sexual activities (often including sexual intercourse) between two people; "his lovemaking disgusted her"; "he hadn't had any love in months"; "he has a very complicated love life"
wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn

The issue I see here is there is no clear understanding of what love is, the reason? Our language has perverted the word love. If I love my wife but I love my car, is there a difference? Well yeah but the word is exactly the same. To get the true definition of what love really means lets look at the source. Your beliefs may differ from mine and thats fine, but the Idea's that I am going to talk about should hold true. God is the source of love, real love. In Greek there are at least 3 different words to show how someone feels Eros, Philia, and Agape.

Eros- is the kind of "love" someone would use when they are attracted or infatuated with someone. It could even be used as a sexual kind of love but it is based on situation and or circumstances.
Philia- This is the natural feeling of "love" for a sister brother or even a good friend, but is again based on circumstance.
Agape- This is real LOVE. Agape is based on a decision to love someone, not a feeling or simple attraction. It is sacrificial, has no strings attached, and is unconditional. I get up every morning and decide to love(agape) my wife.

So what does it mean to Love (Agape)? To really love?

To really love someone, is to give up your life for them.. " Greater love (agape) has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends. -John 15:13.

This does not specifically mean dying. Dying for someone is easy, but putting their needs ahead of your own while living, now thats tough. Thats love. That is laying down your life for them, making their wants and needs higher than yours or anyone else's.

How does this fit into our lives? Love is an amazing thing. -⁴Love ^(C)is patient, love is kind and ^(D)is not jealous; love does not brag and is not ^(E)arrogant,

⁵does not act unbecomingly; it ^(F)does not seek its own, is not provoked, ^(G)does not take into account a wrong suffered, -1 Corithians 13:3-5

If we could simply gain this perspective on love, and follow the command to "love" your neighbor as yourself, think of the impact it could have on this world. Here is my challenge. I know there is someone in your life that may annoy you, or even drive you nutts. Now think of that person real hard.... time to make your choice, love them? Or not? Its up to you.

2011-03-10T05:35:00.000-08:00

With only 26 days to go I have to ask myself this question. Am I better than when I started? the answer is a resounding YES! Not only am I down 6% body fat right now but I plan on being down more by the time I am done. Do I regret being so strict on my eating that I "deprive" myself of the so called "luxuries" of certain foods? No way, I never understood why people consider it a form of deprivation when someone eliminates poison from their diets. Sugar, grains, and dairy in this case being the poisons. Please do not assume that I never splurge and am only eating like a rabbit or something. I actually consume a lot of meat and fish(protein), nuts and or seeds(Fat), and occasional green or leafy veggies(fiberous carb). There are other sources of fat such as avocado and coconut, that I use but not as much as the others. That is mostly what I eat MTWTF Saturday I splurge, pizza, Chipotle(my favorite), ice cream, cookies, cadbury cream eggs, etc... however during the week when I do not eat these things I am in no way depriving myself. That is not the right way to look at it. That mindset is what makes us as a country so freeking fat, and to be honest its all our fault. My brother talked to me yesterday and made a good point about our leaders. "who are we to condemn the very government that we created, that is for the most part, very representative of what we have let ourselves become. The best way to fix Washington DC? Fix ourselves." This is a direct quote from my brothers post a couple days ago, and although he and I do not always see eye to eye, I have to say that this makes sense. He talks about how we as a country are so dependent on drugs that simply work on symptoms and never do anything to actually fix the problem. As some of you may know, you can do away with most drugs if you are eating the way you are supposed to and exercising. One thing that most people dont realize is that food is a drug, and used correctly can cure most anything. If we are unable to take care of ourselves, and we are then electing people to try and take care of this country, of course there is going to be issues.
My Brothers Blog

Time for Pics..... AAAHHHHH

2011-03-05T18:34:00.000-08:00

Well I guess its time. It is day 59, Monday marks the last 30 days of the 90 day challenge. I am going to try some things during the last 30 days to see what kind of progress I can make. I may only do like one cheat day or maybe 2, I dunno yet. Well here we go. The before pics were taken on January 6th or 7th. On January 3rd I weighed in at 253lbs with 25% body fat. Yesterday, Friday March 4th I was 235lbs with 19% body fat. Im hoping to drop another 4-5% by the end so we will see how that goes. There is a difference in the pics even though its kind of hard to tell. I am happy with my progress so far but I think that I can do better, so here we go.

Before

So Far

Before

For Now

Before

For Now

This really is a hard post for me seeing as I am still not pleased with how I look. I still wont take my shirt off around people and here I am posting a pic for all the world to see. Doesnt matter though my 90 day pics are going to be awesome.

Day 57...

2011-03-03T11:33:00.000-08:00

Wow!!! Now I love the comments from my last post and please continue to ask questions and thanks to everyone that commented on it and asked questions, I will answer any question honestly, and about anything assuming it is not inappropriate. I will answer them to the best of my ability and if I do not know the answer I will make something up.... Just kidding I will research it until I do know the answer, so please keep 'em coming. I have now been asked to post pics which I have decided to do on or before day 60. I hope there is a good change :) I know I feel better. Man its hard to lose that spare tire... Food is going great and I don't know that I can go back to eating the way I used to. It just doesn't seem right. I was once again down to 235 so Im happy about that but I still need to get my body fat done. I ran about 2.5 miles yesterday, well ran/walked 2.5 miles yesterday and it has been a loooonnngggg time since I have ran and its letting me know today. My legs and hips are nice and sore. I did a max effort on Dead lift today and am still struggling getting anywhere near my old max. Today I pulled 365 but could not get 385 and my previous max(before my shoulder surgery) was 400. Im hoping to get at least 405 by the end of the 90 days.

The last quote was said by Martin Luthor, again not King.

New quote:
"“God places the heaviest burden, on those who can carry the weight."

Fail..

2011-03-01T11:04:00.000-08:00

Looks like I failed again. As my friend so pointed out in the comments of my last post it has indeed been once again 5 days since I last posted...FAIL... In the last few days there have been many things brought to my attention, either personally or by hearing a news story or what not. What I have come to notice is all of the misinformation about nutrition. As it has been said before if you ask 15 different people you will get 15 different answers. Where that my be true there is a right answer. As you may know I am against the consumption of grains on a regular basis, along with sugar and dairy. Many "experts" out there will tell you that moderation is the key, I understand the idea here and could argue that if you only eat bad on your cheat day then that is moderation, but that is not what they mean. They are saying things like a little of this and a little of that is ok. Now you may not see a huge weight gain or feel all that different from eating one chocolate chip cookie but it is still not good for you. Moderation in these terms is a joke. Ive also heard many people claim that it is all natural so its ok. Well lets think about that for a sec. There are plenty of "natural" things out there that we could eat and suffer the adverse side effects. Take this for example; I am walking in the woods and decide that I would really like to have a salad. So I start looking around for some good old green leaves. Now there are plenty out there and lucky for me I am well versed in woodland plants. (not really). Now I know that this certain leaf tastes amazing, it has a sweat refreshing taste and fills you up so fast. The problem is that this particular leaf is from a little plant called poison Ivy. Following our experts advice instead of making a whole salad out of it I just put a few leaves in with the rest. I eat the whole thing up and man did it taste good... What do you think would happen? Unfortunately this is the way we look at things that we have been told are food and really dont serve much purpose for us. I am here to tell you that grains, dairy, and sugar will mess you up, even in small amounts. For more info on this topic of food check out this link and search for one of the above food groups.

This Saturday was again my cheat day and man did I cheat... I had about 10 cadbury cream eggs, KFC, Sushi, and donuts. So much crap. I definitely over did it and for me I think I need to structure my cheats a little more, there was no need to go that far overboard. Today I weighed in at 236lbs. Went up again but not as bad as I thought that is would. I have also been really bad at logging all my food in so I am going to start doing that again, I have just been lazy, as is apparent by all my posts lately. Thanks again to all that read this are keeping me accountable on my eating and bible reading.

Quote time:
"Let the wife make the husband glad to come home, and let him make her sorry to see him leave."

Who's fault is it?

2011-02-24T11:09:00.000-08:00

My last post was 5 days ago and that is unacceptable, I apologize for the delay. The quote from the other day was said by Martin Luthor. (not King) A great man was he...
What happens when someone gives up? I mean when they have accepted the hand that they were dealt and given up on trying to change things? First off lets get one thing straight, every hand is a winner if you know how to play the game. If you are fat, it is your fault. I know that hurts but it is true. So stop blaming everyone else for something only you have the power to change. Or better yet if you are an adult and you are fat its your fault, if your a kid its probably your parents fault. No one out there can do anything for you until you take responsibility for yourself and decide to make a change. I met someone the other day who graduated high school at over 425lbs. Thats big real big. He has been out for about a decade now and is weighing in at a mere 190lbs. I do not know the full extent of how he did it but he took responsibility for it and decided he was tired of it. That is absolutely amazing. Contrast that with a friend of mine who graduated a few years ago. He is, I would guess tipping the scale at about 500lbs, and does nothing but make excuses. Now granted he is really big and it is far harder for him to do small menial tasks than it is for most of us out there, but until they step up and take it into their own hands they alone are to blame. If you sit around all day and watch TV or play on a computer while you snack on less than desirable food then you need to stop. Its not helping you get in better shape. To make this a little easier to grab a hold of, think of it like this. You are an adult. No one controls what you eat, or where you go, or what you do on a day to day basis. It is up to you and only you. If you are willing and want help let me know and I would be glad to help. If not then no body can help you I dont care how good they think they are. So I guess the real question is, can you motivate someone who isn't motivated at all?

We are now sitting on day 48 and again I am sorry about the delay. I was out of town for 2 days and it was not as hard as I thought to stay clean. Weighing in this morning I am at 236lbs. Not bad but not ideal. Probably going to get my body fat done on Saturday to see if I need to change anything in my diet. Workouts suffered this week due to being on the road but will catch up some over the next few days. Thanks to all of you out there that read this it helps me stay motivated.

We end today with a fun quote....Give me the name of the movie and or the character that said it...
"Your no daisy, your no daisy at all."

Truth?

2011-02-19T20:51:00.000-08:00

Typical advice from an MD to his or her patient with high blood pressure or needing to lose weight will almost always include this little gem; "eat lots of whole grains and reduce your fat consumption." The worst part is that we listen to them. Since when did MD's become the leading authority of nutrition and health? Guess what, they aren't. If you want health advice go to someone who is in nutrition or fitness, unfortunately you still may get a hundred different answers. Well here is the truth of the matter. Fat doesn't make you fat and whole grains can actually raise your cholesterol. WHAT!!!! thats right, I know it goes against everything you have ever been taught. Here is a good rule of thumb, when it comes to nutrition and fitness, go against common knowledge, it is usually wrong. Chances are that if you simply get rid of all the grains in your diet you will see dramatic improvement in your Cholesterol and you will lose weight. That goes for sugar too. In short if you ingest grains, they will tear up your stomach and intestinal walls, and can lead to many auto immune diseases. Here is one (of many) of my favorite articles. It doesn't take much searching to find more. Click here...

To keep in my normal routine however, I had my variety day today and man am I feeling it... Chipotle again for lunch, Red lobster for dinner and some desert stuff in between. It is day 43 and as of yesterday morning I hit 235lbs, thats 18lbs down and Im not done yet.

As usual I leave you with this... its a good one.

"Is it not wonderful news to believe that salvation lies outside ourselves?"

41 days...

2011-02-15T18:48:00.000-08:00

Well I have to say that I am somewhat disappointed that I didnt get a single guess at yesterdays quote.... Im going to give it a few days before I let anyone know who said it. Today I weighed myself just as usual and was sitting at 238, not bad after a huge cheat day on Saturday. I am planning on getting bodyfat done tomorrow or Thursday. Kind of excited sort of nervous. I hope to be under 20% by now, who knows, maybe. Had an awesome workout today, PR'd on my Zercher squat, 295lbs. If you dont know what a zercher squat is, you hold the bar right in the crease of your arm and squat it. If you still cant get it I am sure that youtube has a video. After the strength it was 225lbs Deadlifts for 9reps and push-ups for 9 reps, 5xs total. It was actually supposed to be handstand push-ups but my shoulder wont let me do those yet so regular push-ups for yours truly. Great Times.... Here is another quote from C.S. Lewis that I really like. If you want one to guess, that would be on day 40.

Christianity, if false, is of no importance, and if true, of infinite importance. The only thing it cannot be is moderately important.
-C. S. Lewis

40 days and goin strong....

2011-02-13T18:18:00.000-08:00

Its hard to believe that I have now been eating good for 40 days with only two days of bad eating. Those days were scheduled in and yesterday was my second. We had Chipolte and pizza and my wife made some chocolate eclair and it was amazing. I find it interesting though that my desire to eat bad food is not really an issue anymore. I dont really like to eat bad, occasionally ok, on a regular basis, no way. My pour little 3 month old, Joshua, cried for almost 2 straight hours this evening so I am expecting a long night. Well later this week I plan on getting my body fat tested again to see how things are progressing. I feel better, I think I look better so thats a big plus, but I want to be able to take off my shirt and be comfortable, long way to go... New quote tonight, have fun.

Its kind of long but its a good one.

"We have all been changed by our tragedies, no matter how much we have tried, and should try, to avert them. No matter what cures we seek, or whom we seek them from. Perhaps there exists a possible benefit when hardship is also accepted as part of human life. These challenges have given each of us a desire for justice. A hatred of injustice. It has changed us. it could change anybody. Everybody. Imagine if you will, a world to come, a world transformed, a humanity beyond even our wildest imaginings. If our lives and the struggles we face were able to purchase that future, how could we not be grateful for the opportunity to fight for that possibility? That tomorrow?"

37 days..

2011-02-10T18:46:00.000-08:00

Its now been 37 days and progress is slow... Somewhat discouraging but I know better. I have to start my doing my Tabata's along with my strength work and regular WODs... I am sore from the last few days of lifting and its a good feeling to have again. My food has been really good but I do look forward to this Saturday for my variety day. I already know what I am going to be eating. Chipotle, no-bake cookies, and some chocolate eclair yum yum. We are celebrating my Moms birthday. I dont think that it will set me back too far. My weight this am was 239 so I am staying pretty consistent with that but I need to do my body fat again, so maybe I will do that tomorrow. Body fat after all is the main goal although it is nice to see the scale go down too.

I just read this quote today so lets see if anyone knows the speaker....

If the whole universe has no meaning, we should never have found out that it has no meaning: just as, if there were no light in the universe and therefore no creatures with eyes, we should never know it was dark. Dark would be without meaning.

Back on Track

2011-02-07T19:34:00.000-08:00

Day 34 puts me back on track eating right and living well, and can I tell you what that cheat day did to me. No major side effects as far as stomach aches or things like that, at least not yet. However this morning when I weighed in I was 242 again, 237 on Friday if you forgot. So I am interested to see what happens this week as I go. Setting up a training program for me to follow also, just trying to organize my life a bit.

First Cheat day....

2011-02-06T18:19:00.000-08:00

Well day 32 was my first cheat day. Parts of it were great other parts were no big deal. I had taco bell and it tasted great but no biggie, but the no bake cookies my wife made were awesome, I am definitely a sweets kind of guy. So all in all not all it was cracked up to be, but it did feel good to get back in the normal or mostly normal routine today. (mostly means I didn't weigh but ate clean). Rough night last night with Zechariah. I dont think that Sharon, Z, or myself got any sleep last night. Zechariah has been really sick the last 2 days, and was up a lot last night. Spent all day today on my lap or Sharons. He seems to be doing better tonight although he still has a fever and a really bad cough. I hope he gets some good sleep tonight. I will leave you with a great quote tonight. Not my usual style of quotes but a great one none the less...

"As far as training partners go, if you run with the lame, you will develop a limp."
I dont know if Louie Simmons made this up but I really like it. I also dont think that it is unique to lifting or fitness. If you are constantly hanging out with or working with or just spending time with people that do not share your same zeal for life, then they will hold you back until you are able to cut them off. Help them if you can but eventually you may have to find other friends.

The big 30...

2011-02-03T18:15:00.000-08:00

No I am not turning 30, it is day 30. One third of the 90 days is over, wow where did the time go. Also the 5 week recomp contest that my box is holding is coming to an end this coming week. I did my last body fat test for it this morning, and although I didn't make the progress I had hoped, I did make progress and learned a few things along the way. I learned that I was a huge slacker when I tore my shoulder. I should have been doing a lot more than what I was doing, witch wasn't much. I also learned that I need to be lifting heavy, my body needs that kind of load to help stimulate muscle. So we these added in the next 60 days is going to see a huge change. Ok so after 5 weeks I am down 16 total lbs, and 4% body fat from where I started. I think that is pretty good, not great but good. Looking forward to the next 60 days, and my first "variety" coming up soon. So now lets find another one of those quotes I like to put on here....

"It was the Lord who put it into my mind-I could feel his hand upon me-the fact that it would be possible to sail from here to the Indies... All who heard of my project rejected it with laughter, ridiculing me... There is no question that the inspiration was from the Holy Spirit, because He comforted me with rays of marvelous illumination from the Holy Scriptures... For the execution of the journey to the Indies, I did not make use of intelligence, mathematics, or maps. It is simply the fulfillment of what Isaiah had prophesied."

28 days later...

2011-02-01T20:15:00.000-08:00

Well nothing quite as scary as the movie, although we are in the middle of an awesome ice storm today all the way through tomorrow. I have tarped my car tonight so I will not need to scrape or break the ice from my windows come morning. Due to the storm school was canceled today so I did not make it out there to weigh myself but that is ok, I am still flying high on a 17lb weight loss and am looking forward to thursday to see if I have broken out of the 20s yet in body fat... so if you are following my blog here to help push yourself that is awesome, drop me a line and let me know. If you have any questions please ask I have all sorts of resources to help you meet your goals too.

Ok so now on to the Quote... not too many guesses on this one and the funny thing about the man that said it, he was not a professed "Christian". Any other guesses??? No! ok our wise gentleman who gave us such a clear opinion of priority is none other than Mr. Electric himself, Benjamin Franklin...Thats right Ole Benny new where your priorities should be, and that if we are to change the world it will be done or should be done using Christian morality. No quote tonight, so go to bed and wait till tomorrow.

Day 27...

2011-01-31T19:21:00.000-08:00

You know i have to say that after 27 days I dont think that I will really be able to go back to eating the way I used to. Dont get me wrong I am looking forward to having a cheat day here and there but as a basic rule of life, I am eating strict, I am eating for life... For my family. My weight today was 236 lbs, that is a total of 17 lb drop from the beginning. The 5 week challenge is up one week from today, but my 90 days will still be going strong... OK Ok, so you want to know who said the quote?

-Answer: George Washington. Thats right our very own president #1. Try getting anywhere with that view in politics today.
New quote: "The worship of God is a duty...Freedom is not a gift bestowed upon us by other men, but a right that belongs to us by the laws of God and nature… I never doubted the existence of the Deity, that he made the world, and governed it by His Providence...The pleasures of this world are rather from God's goodness than our own merit... Whoever shall introduce into the public affairs the principles of primitive (essential) Christianity will change the face of the world... Rebellion to tyrants is obedience to God."

Post your guesses...

Day Twenty Six...

2011-01-30T18:49:00.000-08:00

Hey hey another great weekend of good wholesome eating, not really even a temptation. Well as most of you know by now I do not check my weight on the weekends, so no updates as far as that stuff goes. However had a great day at church and at the parents house, even took a nap. (that doesnt usually happen).
When you look around you at the world today and our country itself, I am going to assume that you can see a lot of issues. I have my ideas of what I think is largely responsible for them. I feel like we as a country have let go of the ideas and morals of what we were found on. Here is a great quote from a man who would have a really good Idea of the principles our country was founded on.

-"It is impossible to rightly govern a nation without God and the Bible.” Any Idea's as to who may have said this???? I will let you know tomorrow...

Day 24

2011-01-27T19:04:00.000-08:00

Man oh man here we go. I am down to 21% body fat now, that is a 4% drop in about a month, awesome. I would obviously like it to be more so I am evaluating what I can do to make that happen over the next month. I think that I just need to do more workouts and keep that intensity up. Its my own fault, I get discouraged because of my shoulder and I feel like I hold back when I dont always have to. So I am going to have to work on that. Dont get me wrong I am very excited about how far I have come, but I do have a ways to go to get to what I want. I would like to get down to about 12% and then see if I can hold steady between there and 15%. I will make it there eventually so lets do this. Who out there is willing to take this challenge with me? Im already in the midst of it but anyone of you can join in right beside me. I urge you to do just that and see what happens. Its only another 2 months...

Day 23...

2011-01-26T20:24:00.000-08:00

I know these posts can get boring, but hey this is to make sure that I stay eating good and taking care of what it is that God gave me right... I am now down to 238 so thats another pound, but I get my BF done again tomorrow and I am hoping to see some change there. Im going to add in some more HEAVY lifting along with my Crossfit WODs that I am doing so it should really pick up pace soon... Eating is going well my calories are staying around 2500 as long as im paying close attention to them.

Now before I get off of here I thought that I would post something on here that is a definite conversation piece. I am a Christian as some of you may know. I believe the Bible to be the complete and inerrant word of God. I also find it funny how people doubt the authenticity of the Bible not to mention the new testament. When you look at ancient writings there are certain criteria that make them more or less reliable. Such as the shorter the time span between the time it was written and the earliest copies found, the more reliable it is. Or the more copies you find and how accurately they are when compared to one another. Things like that. Well I have included a table that I got off of one of my favorite sites called www.carm.org if you get the chance to check it out you should. If you would like to look at the whole article click here.

The New Testament is constantly under attack and its reliability and accuracy are often contested by critics. But, if the critics want to disregard the New Testament, then they must also disregard other ancient writings by Plato, Aristotle, and Homer. This is because the New Testament documents are better-preserved and more numerous than any other ancient writings. Because they are so numerous, they can be cross checked for accuracy... and they are very consistent.

There are presently 5,686 Greek manuscripts in existence today for the New Testament.1 If we were to compare the number of New Testament manuscripts to other ancient writings, we find that the New Testament manuscripts far outweigh the others in quantity.2

Author	Date Written	Earliest Copy	Approximate Time Span between original & copy	Number of Copies	Accuracy of Copies
Lucretius	died 55 or 53 B.C.		1100 yrs	2	----
Pliny	61-113 A.D.	850 A.D.	750 yrs	7	----
Plato	427-347 B.C.	900 A.D.	1200 yrs	7	----
Demosthenes	4th Cent. B.C.	1100 A.D.	800 yrs	8	----
Herodotus	480-425 B.C.	900 A.D.	1300 yrs	8	----
Suetonius	75-160 A.D.	950 A.D.	800 yrs	8	----
Thucydides	460-400 B.C.	900 A.D.	1300 yrs	8	----
Euripides	480-406 B.C.	1100 A.D.	1300 yrs	9	----
Aristophanes	450-385 B.C.	900 A.D.	1200	10	----
Caesar	100-44 B.C.	900 A.D.	1000	10	----
Livy	59 BC-AD 17	----	???	20	----
Tacitus	circa 100 A.D.	1100 A.D.	1000 yrs	20	----
Aristotle	384-322 B.C.	1100 A.D.	1400	49	----
Sophocles	496-406 B.C.	1000 A.D.	1400 yrs	193	----
Homer (Iliad)	900 B.C.	400 B.C.	500 yrs	643	95%
New Testament	1st Cent. A.D. (50-100 A.D.	2nd Cent. A.D. (c. 130 A.D. f.)	less than 100 years	5600	99.5%

Day 21...

2011-01-24T18:35:00.000-08:00

21 days down and still moving along. I have noticed that my cravings are coming a little more frequent, but I have not given in to them yet, and I dont plan on it either. My weight is staying steady at 239 so im hoping to make some lead way on that this week, but I am not living by the scale because as long as my BF goes down I dont care what I weigh.

-As I start to bring up topics that interest me or that I firmly believe in, I ask that you share your opinions and please keep it civil. I know that I will disagree with a lot of people out there and thats ok, just say something. Look for the fist discussion topic to make its way tomorrow.

Day 20

2011-01-23T18:58:00.000-08:00

I know its been a few days since I have been on here. I actually was trying to figure out something worth writing since most of the time its just updates on me and my weight, which it still will be. However I will also be using this blog here and there to talk about some issues and use as a sounding board to keep things interesting. Well to keep with tradition last time I was down 2% but weight had not changed, and since I dont weigh in on the weekends thats about all I know right now. My food on the other hand was really good this weekend. Although I did have some fruit again, I'm having trouble cutting that one, I still stayed really close to the 60/30/10 rule... Well I hope everyone has had a great weekend and I will update this thing tomorrow night.

17 and still counting...

2011-01-20T14:30:00.000-08:00

Ladies and gents it has been 17 days and I'm still going strong. Diet has been great, some slight mishaps but only with fruit. No sugar or grains whatsoever, and I am telling you right now. If you have ever said, ohh i couldn't do that, you my friend are dead wrong, or just weak. I never thought that I could and yet here I am. It just took a very serious decision to do it. Tested my body fat today and I am down to 22%. Still a long way to go but thats a 3% drop in just about 2 1/2 weeks. This stuff works. Body weight is still at 239 and thats cool. Looking to get down to about 220 now so here we go.

IF you have any questions or want to know more please shoot me an email... ryanevest@yahoo.com

Day 16...

2011-01-19T04:13:00.000-08:00

Its amazing to me that I have been able to stay entirely clean for 16 days now. Im not changing as fast as I would like so I will be upping my training some more. More crossfit more cardio and so on. Yesterday my protein and calorie intake was right on, by the end of the day I was at 2400 and something calories, Im aiming for 2500 so that was good. My weight actually went up, on Tuesday I was at 241. I have yet to weigh myself this AM because the school is on delay so I will not get there until this afternoon. Using this 90 day challenge to really try and organize my life has been and will continue to be great for me. My devotional time, although still in need of a lot of work, is better then ever, and my wife and my son are even cleaning up their diets as well. All in all the last few weeks have been great, and the next few weeks will be even better.

Thought that I would finally add a picture of myself and my family for all to see. They are a huge part of my inspiration to do this. (Me Ryan, Zechariah 2yrs old, Joshua Issac 2 months, Sharon.)

Day 15...

2011-01-17T20:27:00.000-08:00

My weight has leveled off so I think it is now time for me to just tighten my diet up some more, and make sure that Im getting in some extra cardio. I am eating good but I am still coming up shy on my calorie intake... I know that sounds like I should be dropping weight faster but that is not necessarily true. My protein is down and so in that I may be burning through some muscle and I do not want that, so I have to make sure that I am getting in my 180-190 grams a day. It is actually harder than I thought. I weighed in today at 240 and my goal is to be down in the 230's as a regular weight by the end of the week. I have a goal of 225 lbs by the end of my first 5 weeks and I think that by the end of the full 90 I might be able to get down to a lean 215..... that would be amazing. What are you planning on accomplishing in the next 90 days?

day 12....

2011-01-15T05:20:00.000-08:00

Friday has come and gone and thank God that I have had another good day of eating. Im still struggling to get my calories in and realizing im going to have to plan better. No change in weight still at 239 and holding, and thats fine with me. It just means that the next weight loss should be a good steady fat loss, assuming im taking in enough protein and calories. So some of you may ask what my typical food is??? Well its completely "against the grain" as some might say. I eat almost nothing but meat and fat, but on occasion I will eat some veggies, and a little fruit. Well like tonight, my wife and I are going out to see a friend of ours perform some improv comedy. We are going to have dinner first, out. So I have to be careful what I eat there but I can almost say without hesitation that I will have some type of veggie... Hope you all have a wonderful weekend and see you later.

10....and 11

2011-01-13T19:54:00.000-08:00

Day 10 went well, ate great and realized that my calories were too low so I upped them... Didnt get a chance to weigh myself on day ten because the scale that I used is at the school that I coach at and school was canceled so I didnt get over there in the morn to check it. I did however get a chance to do a WOD with the class and it was awesome. I can tell that its been a while though, I am sore. My shoulder is a little tender but not too bad so today I did some cardio and just stretched and rolled my shoulder. So onto day 11, again food was great I have not had a grain or startch in 10 days and I still feel good. Its harder than I thought trying to get enough protein and that is my next goal, if you will. I weighed in today and was sitting right at 239. Starting weight was 253 so thats a pretty good drop. Cant wait to see what happens in the coming months. My body fat is down a percent from last week so im at 24% which is still way too high but its on its way and as I add in more protein I should see it drop a little quicker. Time for bed see ya tomorrow.

#9

2011-01-11T18:13:00.000-08:00

Today is day 9 and to be honest it has been fun and a learning experience. I thought that before I ate ok, yeah right I was just kidding myself. I am having issues getting in enough protein throughout the day but im going to try to fix that tomorrow, im only getting about 145 or so grams and I need about 190 to be able to keep the muscle that I do have. I will be getting my body fat done again tomorrow and I weighed in today at 241 so im hoping to be down in the 230's for that. I went to the doctor today for my shoulder and he said that he still didn't want me pressing overhead.... Its a good thing I didn't tell him that a few days ago I was doing a strict press with 95lbs... Oh well our little secret. You know I really appreciate doctors and what they do, I just wish that sometimes they would prescribe the best way to get back not just the safest way. Any who, its getting late and im getting tired so good night, and God bless.

Monday day 8...

2011-01-10T20:00:00.000-08:00

My first weekend without cheating, wooo hooo. I did eat fruit this weekend and gained 3 pounds, but that could be a number of things... It really doesnt bother me. I am in this for the long haul and I know that my weight will go up and down but who cares, my body fat is what im worried about. Speaking of which I will be getting it checked Tuesday or Wednesday don't know yet.

As time goes on this blog will probably become a sounding board for me also, just a heads up.

Day 7....

2011-01-09T13:17:00.000-08:00

Last night was definately a challenge, and although I did have some snacks they were all paleo approved. Some berries and cashews, and even some celery made up my snacks for the evening, while shrimp and cashews made up my dinner, YUM. I stayed away from all of the awesome brownies pies and candy bar brownies that were there. It was tough but not as bad as i thought. I decided that I wanted to see what would happen if I ate fruit over the weekend since the weekend is a struggle for me, so im using fruit as something to curve my sweet tooth over the weekend. I plan on eliminating that as well the longer I am on the plan, this was the first weekend and was tough. No weight to update you on since I am not weighing in over the weekend, but will have an update for everyone on Monday night. Today has been kind of tough but not too bad. You see typically on Sunday my wife and I go up to my mom and dads after church. My mom and dad have pop tarts and all sorts of other goodie that I usually endulge in. Well today all that stuff is a no go, and so far so good. Tonight we have bible study and there is always some type of snack there that I will not be eating.
I am really hoping that some of what im doing is going to help others. When I started this a week ago I have to say that it was completely selfish. However, Iknow that my wife, my kids and the rest of my family will see a change in me, not just physical but also spiritual. I am not just losing weight so that I can "look good naked". Im coming to grips more with the idea that if I am fat and out of shape I am not taking care of what God gave me. I need to be healthy for me, for my family, and most importantly God. Please if you are struggling with weight loss, make it a priority and stop being lazy and start making a difference, in yourself, and in those around you.

Day5... Jan 7

2011-01-07T20:20:00.000-08:00

5 days in and feeling great... Food has been perfect, no grain at all in 5 days and so far so good. Eating right is definitely a mindset, and if you are going to do it you have to really be ready for it. Over the last two days that I have recorded and weighed out my food I haven't even hit 2000 cal a day, and easily staying inside of the 60/30/10 rule. Had a good workout today even though it was harder and longer than it should have been. It took me just over 8 min to complete 135lbs front squats and burpees 10.8.6.4.2. That is ridiculous. I have a long way to go. On the better side of things I weighed in this AM at 240lbs, so I am happy about that. As far as my bible study went I read Titus today. Its an interesting book I think however that I need to read it again. Tomorrow night our bible study group has a late Christmas party, so I will be taking my food there and eating it with them as they chow down on all sorts of "good" stuff. Oh well it will be no prob. I had Sharon take pics of me today, ahhhh they were awful. That alone is enough to keep me on the straight and narrow...

Day 4....

2011-01-06T19:12:00.000-08:00

Great day today. Food was great, im weighing and measuring my food right now and was unable to weigh my dinner tonight. I didnt let Sharon know that I was starting that and she made a stir fry thing that tasted great but it was all good stuff. Just chicken broccoli and brussel sprouts, onions and mushrooms. Yummm. fatsecret.com is an awesome website that my box is using for its recomp revolution. Its our nutrition challenge at Practice Crossfit and its a great site, you should check it out. For my workout today, I did some shoulder strengthening and stretching. For those of you that don't know I had shoulder surgery a few months ago. I pressed 95 overhead today, full extension and can do push-ups ok. I need to up the intensity but I am still skittish and a little lazy. The things I can do I hate doing. I guess that means I should do them more then I know...

-weighed in today at 246 so its all going the right direction.

Day 3...

2011-01-05T19:15:00.000-08:00

Day 3 is over and im getting ready for bed. All good today. Stayed on the diet very well, had no fruit maybe a little high on the fat today I dont know we will see. Im going to start weighing and measuring my food tomorrow so we will see what happens. Weighed in today at 248lbs. Did some interval cardio this morning and did some heavy lifts this evening with the 5:30 class. Fun times.

If anyone out there is wanting some help with your own food choices here is a great link

Practice Crossfit

Tons of info on the site and a lot on diet. It also happens to be my gym so I am a little partial.

Day 2....

2011-01-04T18:56:00.000-08:00

Today went good. I ate really good but I feel like I had too much fruit... I know most people think fruit is good for you and in some cases it is. It however does not promote weight loss due to the high sugar content and therefore should be left alone by yours truly. Now comes the worst part. I got my body fat done today and found out that I am worse off than I thought... 25% body fat!!! that is disgusting. That means that a 1/4 of my body weight is made up of Fat EEEWWWW. Oh well lets see what it is like next week, after all this is a 90 day challenge not a 2 day one. On the plus side, I got 5 pull-ups today. For those of you that don't know I am 13ish weeks out from shoulder surgery so this was a big deal.

For anyone looking for help or if you have any questions please don't hesitate to ask.

rvest@gopractice.biz

Day 1...

2011-01-04T03:13:00.000-08:00

Sorry this is a day late but I got really sick last night and just went to bed. Other than that the first day of the challenge went well. I was unable to get my body fat done today but I start this challenge out at 253lbs. I ate paleo and didn't even think about cheating, okay i did think but i sure as heck wasn't going to do it. I didn't get to work out yesterday due to getting sick and that sucks but here goes another day. I have a friend that also challenged me to read my Bible during this challenge. I have always struggled with reading and studying my bible on a regular basis so im taking that on as well. This is a transformational 90 days not just with my physical body but becoming more like Christ in the process. Well here we go.

The Night before.

2011-01-02T19:08:00.000-08:00

Its Sunday night, and i have just created my first blog... Oh my, what is the world coming to? Tomorrow starts a 90 day challenge that was issued by my brother. A 90 day challenge to change your life. You see I have been in the field of fitness for about 4-5 years now, but have always managed to stay out of shape. You read that right I said out of shape. I am a personal trainer and gym owner now and am really tired of not being happy with the way I look. Im not comfortable with my shirt off and I am sick of it. My diet is not the worst but has a lot of room to improve. Over the next 90 days i will be getting on here most nights and posting how my day was, as far as eating and exercising. I am going "against the grain" as far as the typical government food pyramid goes. Pun intended. I will be taking all grain out of my diet also no dairy. The main source of my calories will be from protein and fat. I will be posting before and after pics along with other helpful links and tips. I want you all to know that I am coming from the same place you are. I have trouble with eating right and it is killing me.
I will do my best to give daily updates. Thank you for reading.