Hamenopi

Recently a friend asked for a few weight loss pointers. Instead of the standard fare, I want to share what made it possible for me to follow the standard fare. An answer beneath the answer. I hope this help someone as much as it helped me. Start recording what you are doing. Write down when you’re waking up and when you are going to sleep. Don’t judge what you write, just write and start becoming aware of it, and yourself. After you get a feel of what you are doing , start recording what you eat. Record when you eat, and where you are, physically, emotionally, write whatever you can. Try to be a little more detailed then you think you need to be. Again, don’t judge. Even if it’s 3 donuts and 2 kolaches. It’s not a test, it’s an exercise is mindfulness. As you continue recording what you are doing, you begin to  learn a little bit about yourself.  Go ahead and add what you do with your down time. Is it TV time, reading books, scrolling away hours on social media? Don’t

May 19th to 21st This weekend was a Fun Free Facebook Event Weekend. I want to share with you my weekend in hopes you may find some Fun Free Facebook Events. They help me and my family be more active. I recommend checking them out on weekends not already booked. May 19th – Houston Dynamo vs Galveston Harricanes We batted the idea of going to see Guardians of the Galaxy II for a while but ended up doing this instead. I’m glad. First off, it was free. Second, there was a playground nearby. Third, it was a cool evening and we won’t get many more until winter. I enjoyed watching from the sideline. It was so cool watching John imitating the various players from the sideline too. One of the most interesting things was John rather wanted to watch to game than play on the playground. Such a peculiar boy but I think it’s good. After a bit, a little league baseball game started over the way. John asked to watch America’s pastime instead. We walked straight pa

If you follow me on MyFitnessPal (Hamenopi), you may notice my macros changed.  Once around 60%, my carbohydrates dropped to 5%. That is a huge change, both nutritionally and mentally. Anne Marie wants to try the keto diet. That’s the high fat, low carb one. It is a radical shift from what I was doing (and planned for) but I want to support her in it. I also don’t want to prepare 3 different meals each night; kids aren’t interested in either. The first week was tough! I missed (and still do) all the vegetables but now in week 2, I’m learning how to integrate them back into my routine. In fact, cabbage is now back on my meal plan in week 2 during lunch. I found it surprising how excited I was to eat cabbage Tuesday. Maybe it was because I just finished working out and was ravenous. Still, I choose cabbage over bacon. That’s saying something. Anyway, week 1 I was struggling getting enough protein. Week 2, now I’m getting too much protein. I think I’m finally figuring out

Keto Avocado Boats Prep: 5 min Cook:  Servings: 1 Ingrediants Avocado half, sliced and pitted Diced Roasted Chicken (any protein will work) Sautéed Spinach with diced garlic and onion Crumbled Bacon Optional: Crumbled or Shredded Cheese Optional: Crumbled Pork Rinds Optional: Mayo Directions Use an ice cream scoop to hollow the pit more Dice and reserve scooped avocado Mix all other ingredients Scoop ingredients into hollowed pit Top with reserved diced avocado bits

So, you had a bad day? The company brought in donuts this morning and you just couldn’t help yourself, right? You even had to get a kolache, didn’t you? And then some bad news came in which deflated you. You just don’t want to work out so instead you grab a burger. A big, juicy mushroom swiss burger, no sides held. Just think of all those calories, carbs and mayo. Yeesh! Then back at home after work and after you've gorged a handful of Swedish Fish, you find wife had a bad day too and wants to eat her misery, and you just know misery loves company. So, you go out for drinks and burgers. Alcoholic milkshakes, really?! You got to be kidding me! And the burger. Huge with a Y! It was a monster of taste and calories. So, that was my last Friday. I gained 8 pounds that day. At least that’s what the scale said the next day. One may think I'd of ate the rest of the swedish fish, right? Not this time. I dropped 7 of those same pounds over t

A friend asked me to share my recipe for my pineapple pico de gallo. So posting it here for future reference. I make this for potlucks and so far, it's been a smashing hit each time. The tast is wonderful and the presentation is like no other. Note: If preferred, you can grill pineapples and peppers beforehand for a different flavor profile.  Prep: 20 min Cook: 0 min Servings: 20 Ingrediants 2 c pineapple 2 c tomatoes 1 c onions ½ c serranos or jalapenos ¼ c lime juice 3-4 cloves garlic ¾ c cilantro ¼ Tsp salt Directions Dice ingredients into small pieces, reserve pineapple shell Combine everything into a bowl Toss until thoroughly combined Transfer into hulled pineapple shell Garnish with pineapple top and chips

If you’ve followed me for a while you’ve noticed a theme. Do more with less. Be more interested in what you do and do less uninteresting things. During that time, I realized many things I do aren't interesting. Curious maybe, but they are distractions which take me away from more interesting things. Deeper things. I mean, even sand sparkles in the sun but it doesn’t have much of a return. It’s a lot more rewarding to stay a course and get interested in deeper things at deeper levels. But to do that, you need to work on the basics. And the basics aren’t interesting. What I’m saying is, to get to the dirt, one must dig through the sand. To find the rock, one must work through the dirt. To find the gold, one must work through the rock. So, to get to the most rewarding things, you must be mindful of the basics which get you there. You need to get interested in them enough until you master them and get to the next level. And, sometimes the gold isn’t in the fi

This morning again I weighed in at 200. In the past, I’ve panicked and binged my way back up to 210 before I reminded myself of my goals. It happens. I’m not proud of it but it’s a part of my story and maybe it should be told. Maybe there’s others who struggle with the same. Do you find yourself at a scary point and subconsciously return to familiarity? That’s what I’ve been doing. I’m comfortable at 210. I was 210 in the Army. I understand 210. My clothes fit at 210. But 199. I haven’t been a healthy 199 since high school that I remember. Sure, there was that time I ate raw garlic in the morning and did Herbalife but I was also in an unhealthy place in my life. I don’t talk about or think about that place much but I’m sure I’ll need to resolve those issues at some time. On an aside. I need to transfer my photobucket pictures over to google photos. Man, did photobucket go downhill. Ads everywhere. I mean, doesn’t anyone even click on banner ads anymore? I know if

If you live near Houston and haven’t been to the zoo lately, take a trip down nostalgia lane and get a ticket. But also, bring some friends. Anne Marie, John, and myself met up with other family and took the tour ourselves this past Saturday. I forgot how much I loved it. Of course, my 3-yr old loved it too. I imagine the experience would have been different had he not. One thing I never noticed, maybe because before I didn’t have kids, was obstacle courses for kids in the zoo.  It was hard getting John away from them but eventually we did by promising to show him the bat cave. Okay, maybe it was a little bit deceitful advertising on my part. Anyways, we visited the bat exhibit, which was in a cave themed build, dark, with several tunnels. John found one and disappeared. When I caught up, I found him king of the bat hill. His next favorite exhibit was the African village with the drums. He and I jammed out for a bit on them, I even taught him a few rhythms… eve

Sorry for falling off the blogging wagon but there's only so much I can do during the day and Facebook posts I kid but I ha. I've been hard at work with some projects at work and at home. However, that's no excuse to neglect you, right? Today I want to talk about an appetizer I made, I hope you enjoy it. If you make it, do me a favor and post it on Instagram and tag me. Mini Pepper Pizzas I'm growing these peppers in the garden and my wife is trying a keto diet. That means there is a ton of cheese and pepperoni in the refrigerator. How people lose weight on keto diets still boggle me. I lost over 100 lbs. and can honestly tell you, I don’t have the discipline to stay under my calories on a fat based diet. Still, while we’re experimenting with the keto diet, might as well make the most out of it with recipes! Take a pepper or a ton of peppers. From the store or your garden. This one is my first pepper of the season. Let’s name him Bill.