I lost thirty pounds last year, and while it's taken me months to do this, I've now found 20 of those pounds and stuck them right on my belly. When I went over 215, I really scratched my head. I was still drinking lots of water, getting 7 hours of sleep most nights, and eating vegetables, chicken, etc (most of the time).

You Don't Age Most of the Time – You Age a Little Every Day

So I thought about my year when I lost weight, and I thought about the number of times I ate fast food. I would say less than once a month, and if I did skipped the fries and the coke and got a chicken sandwich with water. Now I probably get fast food twice a month, and it's the whole nine years.

I've said it before when you do the wrong thing you are practicing at it. This practice started with getting an egg McMuffin with water. That lead to getting an Egg McMuffin with hash browns (and I'm not sure why as their hash browns are basically a deep-fried grease sponge). That lead to getting a coke with the meal. Each time, it was a baby step. When I first did this, it didn't affect my weight, but it nudged me in the wrong direction.

Are You Lying to Yourself?

I was still getting my 10,000 steps in, and sure that is exercise but I wasn't breaking a sweat.

Decay or Grow

I just listened to Younger Next Year: Live Strong, Fit, and Sexy—Until You're 80 and Beyond by Chris Crowley and Henry S Lodge. Chris is in his 70's and beings all sorts of real life examples, and Henry is the doctor who brings the science. They say your body is going to do one of two things on a daily basis. It's going to Decay, or it will receive information from the brain and body to grow new nerves, tissues, and rejuvenate the body. What makes it go into decay? Sitting on your butt. The only reason a man would sit on his butt thousands of years ago was if there was a ton of food, (or no food to hunt) and the idea was there was probably going into a famine. So you sit and you decay. If you had to go hunt, you got up and move around, your body actually uses up some of its resources and the brain triggers the body to grow new resources. So how do you trigger the body to think you're off to kill a saber tooth tiger? By exercising 6 days a week, and doing weight training three days a week. This will take approximately an hour a day.

When I first heard this idea I was like, “Well that ain't going to happen.” I truly do not like weight lifting. I've tried some things. I like the app ” 7″ which walks you through a seven-minute workout using just your body weight. I know I work during the day and do podcast consulting during the evening. That leaves early morning, or I could put me first, and schedule consulting around my schedule

You can get the audiobook version of this book for free at www.logicalloss.com/audible

It's Time to be Selfish

So many parents put their kids first and themselves last. You need to change your thinking on this. If you put yourself first by exercising, eating right, you are going to be around longer for your kids, so by putting yourself first, YOU ARE putting your kids first.

Maling it In

For me, I'm going to baby step this, and instead of starting off with six days of exercise (three of which contained weight lifting) I'm going to start with three days of exercising (more on that in a minute) and one day of strength training. I've actually put it on my calendar.

The other thing that was different between me this year vs last year. Last year I would exercise (get 10,000 steps but part of those would be working up a sweat). This year I'm getting 10,000 steps in walking around the neighborhood. Now for some of you walking around the neighborhood would make you sweat. That's the point. I quit sweating.

What is One Thing?

Last week I talked about getting swept up by the tide and taken the wrong way. Don't get overwhelmed about how far off you are, instead think of one thing you can do to start swimming in the right direction.

Garden of Life Chocolate Raw Fit Protein Powder – Review

So I just completed my first order from Thrive Market. I purchased the Garden of Life Chocolate Raw Fit Protein Powder. Here are some of the details:

• High Protein for Weight Loss† (28g Complete Plant Protein)
• Organic Svetol® Green Coffee Bean Extract and Organic Ashwagandha
• Burns Fat, Satisfies Hunger and Helps to Fight Cravings†
• Less than 1 gram of Sugar
• Certified USDA Organic, Non-GMO Project Verified, Certified Vegan, NSF Certified Gluten Free, Informed Choice Certified (Trusted by Sport), Kosher Certified, Dairy Free, Soy Free
• Featuring Clean Organic Plant Protein from Organic Peas and Sprouted Organic Grains, Seeds and Legumes
• Boost energy and build lean muscle mass – Use pre- or post-workout
• Satisfy hunger, and stay full longer with Organic Whole Food Fiber
• Contains Svetol Green Coffee Bean Extract to burn fat naturally and maintain healthy blood sugar and Organic Ashwagandha to support cortisol levels and manage stress-related cravings

It was $13 cheaper at Thrive Market. ($24 with my 25% discount, and free shipping instead of $38).

I think part of the problem with the word Chocolate is we are used to candy bars which have so much sugar so that when we get a healthier version of Chocolate that isn't as sweet, we kind of get a letdown. I did like more than other products Shakeology by Beachbody which is $5/serving. This clocked in around $2.50 per serving (where a Frappuccino clocks in around $2). So yes, Starbucks might be cheaper, but it has 58g (15 teaspoons) of sugar in it (and that's without the whipped cream).

In general, I like that is definitely drinkable (but doesn't have me saying “YUM, GIVE ME ANOTHER) and it doesn't have any weird aftertaste and mix well so I wasn't drinking chalk.

Get 25% off your first purchase + free shipping + free 30 day trial!” Keep in mind that our prices are already 25- 50% below retail because we cut out the middleman. And now they're offering an extra 25% off their first purchase! Go to thrivemarket.com/LWL

 

Keeping Your Self on Track – Revisiting Beeminder

I was using the free trial of Beeminder. I use a wi-things scale, and I love that when I wake up and weigh in I can see if I'm on track to meet my goals (via wi-fi it logs my weight).

So I had a friend of mine who had a death in the family. As always when there is an event in people's lives we meet together with food. So I helped my friend for about a week and sure enough skidded right off the track. Using Beeminder, I was able (in fact I was notified) that I was off track. If had pledged any money (for an incentive, I would lose the money). While I hate their graph (it's got WAY To much information, I do like that I can see if I'm on track to meet my goal and adjust accordingly.

This article explains how it work more in depth

Avoiding the Rip Tide

I was reading the book Living Forward by Michael Hyatt (technically I was listening to it via Audible) and he shared the story about a surfer who wasn't paying attention and got sucked into a rip tide which takes you out to sea (this can be very dangerous with 60-100 people dying a year from rip tides).

The point is the person wasn't paying attention. Then when you figured out you have a problem, you try to take the shorter route in (which unfortunately can send you against the tide which is a battle you will lose). The solution is to swim across the tide, until you are out of it, then steer toward the shore.

I have two apps that give me grades beeminder and nutritionix both give me clear symbols that let me know when I'm headed in the wrong direction. When I see my weight going in the wrong direction, I can look back at the days when I lose weight, look at the food entries around those days and repeat them.

If we aren't paying attention, we can get caught in many of Life's Rip Tides and be taken into the sea of obesity.

Battle of the Green Goo: Organifi vis Zuma Juice Vs Purley Inspired

Organifi (See label)
http://amzn.to/2w3GyI3
$70/30 servings = $2.33 a glass ($60 if you subscribe)

Greg Lost 300 Pounds the Old Fashion Way

A great story of a man who went from walking 50 feet a day to 9 miles a day. Full Story