Hamenopi

Last month I was doing an amazing job on keto. I lowered my weekly average of carbohydrates from the first month. I raised fat up to where my protein level was and eventually surpassed it It was a great time and I could tell it was working for me. Little did I know what was going to happen in month 3. Month 3 For month 3, I decided to trust fat more. I did that by keeping carbohydrates around 20. Limiting protein to around 70g. And relying on fat to get me through the rest. I soon realized I was going to need to supplement fat so I decided to do this with Bullet Proofing Coffee and Tea In the beginning, it was a rocky start. I wasn't so sure I could pull this off. My first Bullet Proofing ended up a failure. I wrote about it here. But I didn't give up As a result, I now have two recipes Morning Proof Coffee   Office Proof Coffee   I also have some interesting pictures to share.  Statistics ...

6 months ago, I set aside some goals for the year. One of them is the muscle up. The thing is… I couldn’t even do a pull up. I could barely do pushups. Sure, I lost a lot of weight… I looked great! But, no muscles will still struggles lifting light weight. I had to put the work in for the result to happen. Just like in weight loss. I had to work on growing muscle. In 2017 I shifted focus. One reason the scale slowed was I spent more time developing fundamentals of sustainable strength. Now in the second half of the year, I can start chasing those lofty goals I made so long ago. I can finally lift myself up to that level. That’s what I’m going do. Mondays will now be #MuscleUpMonday to chase my muscle up goal. Thursdays will be #ThursdayInversday to chasing my handstand goal. I’m going to try to track my progress. This is week two. I got out the GoPro and filmed it. I want to show you a 1 minute clip of where I’m at. I don’t ...

Well I’m a convert. Something about this counter intuitive lifestyle just… works. I don’t get it, but I’m starting to. It’s a process and it is intriguing. I’m no longer jittery and I’m not drinking coffee after lunch anymore. Those two things may be related now that I think about it. I also have more energy during my workouts. I mean, I did de-load (lower the weight) a little bit but now I can observe my form much better. I can feel each muscle work. Is that keto? I don’t know yet but it’s compelling. The correlation exists. It’s too soon to determine causation. Hunger My hunger levels are low too. No craving. I’m now eating lunch at 2:30. I might get in trouble with work for that. But to be honest, I’m not hungry. I could go a few more hours . The only reason I’m eating lunch right now is for my protein goals. 150g is hard for me to do. I’m just too satiated. I also have more energy at night. It's not the jittery kind (m...

In the beginning of 2016, I had the crazy idea to get into shape.  So, since I didn't have any free time nor a place to spend the nonexistent time... I decided walking the stairs was a great idea. Coworkers were doing it, it'll be fun. We'll get to walk and talk, and bond. Maybe I could even make a friend or two! Until I realized I could climb 3 floors without wanting to fall over and pant for air. I was that out of shape.  I was so embarrassed. An Army Veteran, couldn't even scale 3 floors without needing a rest.  In this post last year I get more into detail about the experience and how I overcame it. I want to say it was quick and easy but it took a lot of work.  But... the work was worth it because now I can do crazy cool things in the same stair well.  I want to share one  with you. 

I'm talking a lot about progress lately. I'm talking about how we need to forget about perfection because perfection is obtainable. But progress... progress we all can do. We all can measure then work to improve upon that measure. Perfection was something that always held me back. I always wanted the perfect route laid out before I even attempted to start.  Can you relate? But when do we ever have perfect conditions? When are the conditions perfect for anything spanning more than a step?  Goals Thanks to Chandler Stevens for the inspiration. Picture this: It's dark and you have a goal. You have somewhere you need to be. You have a car, it's running.  The headlights are on. Do you wait for morning? Do you wait until dawn when you can see the entire path before you go? What if when dawn breaks, a hill lies before you? What if the construction crew of life posted detour signs all over your idealistic path? Would you ...

One issue I see with people wanting to lose weight is their unrealistic expectations. Come on people! This is not the fantasy land of TV where you lose 100 lbs in 5 weeks! Come on, they live in a gym, 6 hours a day and have chefs prepare their 100 calorie a day meals. The even have their own personal trainers who torture them daily! Reality TV is not the same as reality. Biggest Loser is not reality. It's TV! Get it together guys! What they are doing is an inhumane science experiment for ratings! I'm surprised no one has died! And have you heard most of them are worse off now then when they started! They rebound so hard! Why? Because torturing people is horrible incentive to change habits! Did you forget the TV exists to capture your attention? If it didn't, you'd be doing something else. On purpose they compress time to keep thing interesting. It's not reality! It's simple. If you want lasting results, you need to develop a ...

You may know, I recently purchased Elements from GMB . Actually, let me back up a little... Back Story For a year I followed GMB consuming their free content (exercises, podcasts). During that, I was also following the Stronglifts 5x5 routine at the gym. It's a good routine but it wasn't for me. I never was an exercise type of person and my form, or lack of form showed it. I was lucky I didn't get hurt. After struggling, I turned back to GMB and reevaluated their beginner program, Elements. Their free content is great. They give $75 worth of information for free each month. But purchasing a program, that was scary. What it the expense wasn't worth it? What if it didn't work for me? After a bit of self motivation, I finally bit the bullet and purchased Elements. Elements There is a cascading waterfall of information in it, a ton more than what I prepared for. It overwhelmed me with the treasure of knowledge they provided. So much I had to do week 1 twice!...

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...

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...

In the beginning of 2016, my coworkers had a crazy idea to walk the stairs once a day at 3PM. Our office is on the 6th floor, that's 6 flights of stairs. Well the first time, I about passed out on the 3rd. I was in that bad of shape. I was embarrassed.

"I have 3 kids. I don't have time to work out". That was my mindset in 2015. With a demanding work schedule and 3 kids, it's easy to make that decision. It's an easy world view to have. But.. is this the real life? Or is this just fantasy? Either way, the landslide that caught me gave me no escape from reality.