Hamenopi

You don't have to deprive yourself to lose weight. A diet of deprivation is starvation! Stop defining goals on can't. Good things don't grow from seeds of negativity. Instead, work on switching worse habits with better habits. It's not about perfection, it's about progression. Make a discipline of continual improvement. You can't solve problems with the same level of thinking that caused them. Switch up a few variables and discover a new solution. Take the wheel and explore until you find something that works, then worry about upgrading your autopilot. Though we be products of our environment, we have the ability to create our own environment. We have the ability to change. Try immersing yourself where you want to be. At least try to immerse yourself at the halfway point.

In the beginning of this year , I quoted Bilbo Baggins from J.R.R. Tolkien's The Fellowship of the Ring. “I feel thin, sort of stretched, like butter scraped over too much bread.” Since then, I have come to find there is always too much bread. Bread is something you can't control. There's always another interest, another issue, another emergency demanding your immediate attention. What's more, none of us has enough butter or attention to consider the amount of bread piled on our plates. It grows by the minute. Good News. We can control is where we scrape our butter. We control where we pay our attention. Ask yourself, where do you pay yours? 2015 In 2015, I scraped my butter over everything I could get a hold of. With work and family, I was ran a Dungeon & Dragon's Adventure League for the Greater Houston Area. That was 3 full time jobs itself and I didn't even know what I was doing. I also dedicated a lot of my butter to video games and to a struct...

This weekend I attended a disc golf tournament. I didn't take part in the tournament itself, I was just there to support it. While there, I took the opportunity to run around and have some fun with the kids. I don't remember last time I had that much energetic stamina. I could keep up with them all! One of my favorite parts was with the organizer's kid. We were bear crawling up hills, hopping like frogs down, and moving like monkeys. It was great fun doing that without gasping for breathe after 5 minutes. Or course, Anyone who's followed me this year may recognize those moves I referenced. They are the keys to GMB's Elements. Looking back, I remember when I first found out about GMB Elements. I was looking for an exercise routine to get into shape. Elements was one of my final choices, but in the end there were 3 reasons why I didn't pick it. Because I felt it would be too elementary for me. I wasn't interested in flexibility, just getting into shape....

A videographer recently asked to interview me. I figured it prudent to dwell on my past to better convey it to the interviewer. Mindfulness is still something I struggle with so any prep I have is good. Anyway, while pondering, my mind chased a few rabbit holes. They were insightful, but maybe not what the interviewer wished to frame. I want to share them with you. It's hard talking about the past, I look back and wonder, what was I thinking? Where was my head at? In 2015, I was over 300 lbs. Obese, depressed, feeling like an empty shell of a person. I Felt I lost all my passion in life. So many wasted opportunities I squandered floating down the lazy river of life. Looking back, my life wasn't even that bad, but I kept comparing myself to others. I focused on how other families had more time, more love, more success. I ate that up. I devoured the toxic fruit before me. Looking back, I'm wondering why was I tripping? It's hard to get back into that mindset... or is ...

Giving directions to a place in Houston does you no good if you're in the middle of San Antonio. Direction matters but so do current positions. You can make great time going west on I-10 but if you're in San Antonio, don't expect to see Houston for some time. Of course, going west from Beaumont is a great idea if your destination is Houston. What I'm saying is before you tell someone to take an offramp, find out where they are.

Supplements are additive. They only work if you work. They don't counteract damages from bad diets. Instead of loading up on supplements, start a food journal. Become aware of the food you eat. Then, start making small changes and track your progress. If you need help doing this, message me.

Those protein shakes look amazing but they don't outperform bad diets. Stop falling for fool's gold. Until your eating habits change, you're going to remain where you are. Good news, change doesn't have to be hard and it doesn't have to be radical. All you have to do to start is change one thing but change that one thing today. Health isn't binary. It's an ideal and every day you have the opportunity to progress toward it.

I suck at push ups. What's more, this year, two friends nominated me for the 22 push up challenge for veteran suicide awareness. Yeah, I did 5 before giving up. Not 5 days, 5 push ups! That bad! After my first failed attempt, day 1, I told myself I'll just hold off on the challenge until I get better... But If I never practice, I'll never get better. Right? I needed to set up a routine to do push ups so I could get better, so I could take on the challenge. Backstory This wasn't the first time I met a challenge I couldn't overcome. This January, several coworkers created a stair challenge at work. 6 flights up and 6 flights down, once a day. Well, the first day I tried, I barely made it to the 3rd floor. That's right, in front of everyone else, I had to stop, sit down, and recover. My legs were on fire and my breathe was gone. I felt pathetic I was so embarrassed. I knew the next morning everyone would meet back and they'd stop at my cubicle on the way...

The last few months, I've been ranging around 210-215 lbs. in weight. As you may know, my original goal was under 200 lbs. by the end of the year. The thing is, I'm happy about current weight. I look great and I feel great! So now I am wondering why should I even lose more weight? What's more, instead of going for my original goal, how about I work on another goal (which I have been doing). My new goals are strength based and skill based, like pistol squats and pull ups. Revelation Well yesterday, I had a revelation. It is a lot easier to lift 200 pounds than it is to lift 215 pounds. 15 pounds is significant! I realize remaining where I'm comfortable will prolong my journey toward my next goal. It would behoove me to get under 200 pounds. Not like I can't gain the weigh back once done, right? Anyway, I get more into it in this video. I hope you like it. Share If you know anyone trying to lose weight, send them my way. Maybe I can help them out. Thanks for s...

I got frustrated last week because I wasn't as flexible as I wanted to be. I mean, it's only been 36 years of me trying not to stretch, why can't a perfect it in 2 weeks, right? Ridiculous, right? I laughed it off until I realize I do it all the time. I remember, I spent years tying to perfect a way to quit smoking. Guess what? The right conditions never fell into place. The puzzle never solved itself for me. Outside Half Priced Books, I scrambled to get far enough away from my 9 month boy, John to light a cigarette. When I did, he reached up his read to see where I was and what I was doing, then frowned a heartbreaking frown. It was that moment when the distance between where I was and where I wanted to be became too painful. there, I decided to take my first imperfect step to quit. Guess what? I didn't get it right the first time. I stumbled and immediately reached again for a cigarette. Many times I did this on my imperfect journey quitting. But in the end, gi...

Recently in the Gamer for Weight Loss group, one member had a wonderful announcement to make. Originally at 340, Macarios is now at 269 pounds. That is amazing! I just had to know what he did to accomplish such a feet. He provided 3 keys to his success. I want to share and comment on them here. 1. He Removed Junk Food From His House It's so important to remove the negative temptations from your life where you can. You see, it takes willpower each and every time you actively resist temptation What's more, we all only have a certain amount of it. Sure, it grows over time with practice but keeping junkfood around your house really stacks the conditions against you in an already difficult journey. I mean, how much energy do you expend resisting surrounded?! You will burn out so quick. It's only so long most people can stare at a donut before it's down the gullet. If you're a recovering mindless snack muncher like myself, try this instead. Keep highly nutriti...

There is a point where an incline looks flat. Don't let it fool you into believing you are not making progress. The ratio for improvement can only go to far per skill set. After, it's severe diminishing returns. Don't get frustrated at the apparent lack of progress. If you're putting in the work, somethings happening. Get transparent in your accounting, and find out exactly what that something is. Have faith in the system. If you're changing strategies every week, you might be running around in circles. Dedicate 6 weeks to a plan and stick to it the best you can. Log your progress so you can see your improvements. Don't trust your memory to remember where you were day 1, day 7, etc. Write it down. At the end of your time, review your progress. What worked, what didn't. The adapt your strategy for the next 6 weeks. Also stop looking to be perfect. Look to progress. Too many people try a body builder's routine and wonder why it's not working. Star...

Anything worth doing is worth doing poor. Anything worthwhile takes works and it takes a while. Work With Your Worst Work with what you have, but start now. Start with your worst. Start with your most unprepared attempt. It's okay. And it's okay if you don't make it. It's okay if you don't figure it out the first time. Think About It Did you quit after your first fall learning to walk? Did you give up after your first time you wrote the alphabet wrong? Did you quit after the first time you got the answer wrong learning math? The point is, imperfect your path towards progress. Stop waiting for perfect conditions to start. Do Something With It I feel someone needs to hear this: I know you're starved for time but you also hate the way you feel. Find 5 minutes. Do push ups on your knees. try for 10, take a break, try for 10, take a break. I know you hear 5 minutes can't counteract sitting at your desk all day. And I know right now you can't help...

Last night, I went to bed with a plan to wake up and seize the day. This morning, I woke up with another. It was to hit snooze as many times as I could. Guess which one won? Yup.. Why did the new plan win? Last night, I was confident I'd be up by 5:30. I'd drink 2 glasses of water, stretch and meditate, and read for 30 minutes. Fast forward to morning... What a horrible idea! Who would ever decide such a dumb idea when you can snooze 30 minutes more?! Sound familiar? It's a daily routine. Now, some days my nightly strategy prevails but lately, the morning strategy takes the day. I know the better choice yet I pick the more convenient. I need to start stacking the conditions in my favor again. More specifically, I need to move my alarm away from my bed so I have to get out of bed to turn it off. Then, while standing and out of bed, I have to decide whether to return to bed or to continue to stay awake. I have found when I'm already up, I tend to stay up and I...

Again, on the first day after my ground shaking, earth breaking decision to change... again, I sleep in. Growling with grumbles, today is not a day I want to deal with. Before 8 AM and I'm already done. I'm exhausted! Irritable! Am I the only one who feels this way? I even went to bed at a decent time! Sure it was later than I wanted but earlier than normal. But even with more sleep I wake back more tired than before. I just want to give up. My legs are sore from Monday. My back, stiff from Tuesday. My mind is fluttering like an annoying gnat in a field of uncut grass in the summer. I'm quick to distract. I feel I've only had an hour of sleep. Tell me if you've had a day like this. This litany of lamentations! Confronted with the negativity of this world surrounding me in Scirocco Sandstorms.. But winds also bring change. Even in a maddening dust storm of doubt, I discover things I miss staring into the storm. Like I got up this morning. Even on the wrong side...

I sit slouched, wondering where it all went wrong. Wondering why there's no will to work out. Wondering why I have no passion to pen a purposeful message. Did I fall asleep at the wheel while speeding down the freeway of fantasy and miss my turn? Here I was, making great time, but I look up and the signs are foreign to my goals! In fact, it looks like I'm heading back to whence I came! What's going on? How did I complete an entire 180 degrees back into the way I was? Then I ask myself where resilience went. Where is my ability to bounce back into the face of opposition? Where did the will to war against dragons go? Did I drop it at the 7-11 of discipline while smuggling a tasty kake. Did I dispose it for a bowl of Blue Bell Camo 'n Cream? All I see is the dreaded dragon of my old bad habits breathing down on me. What happened? Am I weak willed? I struggled with temptation today and fallen more oft than resisted. My breakfast started with a chocolate chip cookie! Wha...

I catch myself slipping into a lax state. I am conflicted about this. For one, I deserve a break now and them. Even God broke up creation into 6 days. He even called the day good and stopped. He even rested the 7th day. I don't think God took that time because he needed the break. Instead I think he gave us a model on how to do things. To chunks tasks and rest between. To take a break every so often. But how much rest is too much rest? What's the balance to work to rest ratio. I think it's in the same place. 1 day of work and 6 days of rest doesn't bear fruit, it grows weeds. But 24 consecutive days of work doesn't really bear you more fruit faster. I know I've dedicated a ton of time on certain subject and became upset when the fruit of my labor doesn't produce in my preferred time line. There's been many times I've walked away from the field which will inevitably bear fruit seemingly minutes before first bloom. Had I the patience and persevera...

Since starting a journal, my life has changed, drastically, for the better. Accounting my thoughts, recording good quotes, recalling wisdom and insight. Now when I have a bad morning, I feed myself positivity stored in this book. Imagine the same action on good days! You propel you mood into an orbit of positivity. Great things happen. What's more, I can feed others the wisdom I've written. Many of my blog posts are derived from words in my journal. Many words in my journal are derived from inspired blog posts. Those new words help me write even better articles to positively influence more people. It's a blessing! I want you to consider making your own journal. Recording your own thoughts to come back to, to return you to the positive when you are down, to propel you to an orbit of positivity when you are up. Do this for 6 weeks. Record at least one thing daily. One quote, one proverb, one piece of advice to yourself, one reminder you are good enough, one reminder you a...

Having 3 kids, a wife with long work hours, long commutes, and many other 'things' coming at me proved problematic for living a healthy lifestyle. Or so I thought in January 2016. On the surface, there was no way I could fit an hour of 'gym time' at night. By the time Anne Marie got home, I was exhausted! But Looking back, i realized I was giving up before I even started. Why not? I believed I would fail if I tried. I had no hope! Of course, the person with no hope of succeeding isn't even going to try. But, the only sure way to fail is to not try. I was making excuses . I was content enough with being discontent, I didn't 'care enough' to fail. "Care enough to fail." - Seth Godin I believed my work would be of poor quality because I had no time. But isn't poor quality better than nothing? How long must we starve our goals in anticipation of the perfect solution? And what good is the perfect solution if it is never executed? For we ...

Most of us know drinking salt water is bad. ( And for those who don't, the salt dehydrates you more than the water hydrates. ) But in many aspects, we continue drinking from the dangerous wells of life and wonder why we aren't being satisfied. One aspect is weight loss. Dangerous Wells Junk food is a dangerous well. When you drink ( or in the case, eat ) from the dangerous well of junk food, you are selling your self short term. Stop forfeiting your future for fleeting fixations! You are trading what you want most for what you want now. The junk food looks good now, but the dangerous well of junk food will leave you with less then whence you arrived. It looks good now but it always looks better before than it feels afterward. You know this. Struggle I know it's tough. I struggle too. But the only way we get tough is by getting tough. Declaring no to dangerous wells toughens you so you can fixate your gaze on your goals. Stop compromising on your goals, stop selling yo...