March 28th, 2013

Holy Week is here. Today is Maundy Thursday commemorating Jesus Christ's Last Supper and the initiation of the Holy Communion (the Eucharist). We watched an episode of The Bible last night as a family. I find myself talking to God quite a bit these days. I have much to be thankful for in my life. I pray that we all find peace this week and onward.

Another week of hard core training and Paleo eating has produced more good results for me. I am now down to 213 lbs. That is 13.5 lbs lost in just under 4 weeks. I am happy that I can now see what my abs looks like for the first time since I was in my 20s. The diet and exercise is producing the results I have, no doubt about that. I swim 2 to 3 times per week at the YMCA. I go to Crossfit twice per week. I hit the gym by my work 3 times per week as well. My goal is to get down to a size 32 waist (I am at 35 right now, as my 36 pants are loose). I figure my weight should be around 185 or so, that is a few months of hard work away. I am not really using the scale as my metric, as I am weight lifting and gaining muscle mass. I hope to look like the guy in the picture above someday soon.

Just 15 days until the Hammer Race. Zach and I have our hammers ready. Mine is an 8 lb sledge hammer and Zach's is a 2 lb sledge hammer. He wanted one like mine, but more his size. Running with a hammer is going to be a challenge. It is going to be fun running alongside my son. I will be running with my Team RWB shirt on to raise awareness for our returning Veterans. If you are interested in supporting a good cause, please visit my site by clicking on the Team RWB logo below:

Until next time, stop and give someone a hug and ask them how they are doing. Smile often, be nice, and help a stranger. Make a goal to introduce yourself to someone new. Right a thank you note by hand for someone at work, at home, or elsewhere, you don't know how much of an impact this simple gesture can do. Lastly, take time to be with your family, as these are all goals I have on my list to focus on.

God's Peace!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Monday, March 18th, 2013

                                              

It has been a bit over a week since my last blog entry. Much has been going on over the time for my family and I. My job has kept me quite busy, as our schedule is full of orders to manufacture and that is quite good for business. Halcon is doing quite well and has been a great place to work. I spent some time working on our awesome Mesa conference table product.

I have been working out very consistently over the last 3 weeks or so. My workouts consist of Crossfit at Crossfit Credence twice per week, Swimming 3 times per week at the Y, biking on my Kinetic trainer at home, and running. Crossfit has been a challenge for me. I am working to improve my upper body strength, something I have had trouble with my entire life. I stink at pull-ups and push-ups for the most part. So, I work on this area pretty hard right now. I am using bands at Crossfit to help me get more reps out of my pull-ups:

The Paleo diet has been going well. Just finished my 2nd full week of following this diet. The food has mostly been pretty good, but I am starting to get tired of the almond taste of many of the recipes that I have made. Almond flour is a common ingredient in recipes. Yesterday we had a breakfast called "No Oat Oatmeal". Seriously! The stuff used almond flour as a key ingredient. The mixed berries were the only thing that allowed me to get through this meal. The stuff looked like something our cat would have have barfed up to be honest. I tried not to look at it. Tasted OK though.

The positives of this week were many. I have lost 11 lbs so far on this journey and I have noticed my pants are feeling looser. That is reason to be excited for sure. I have so much further to go though, so I chalk this week up as a small victory, but with the realization of so many more weeks to push on.

This weekend was a great weekend for my son Zach! Friday night we drove down to Austin High School for the NYWA District Qualifier Wrestling Tournament. Zach weighed in at 57 lbs. in the 4th Grade division. He wrestled great. He earned another pin and in photo he is holding up his NYWA Regional Qualifier paper. So, his 1st Wrestling season will be extended another week for us to travel to Byron for the Regional tournament.

I want to thank all of Zach's wrestling coaches from Rochester Century Panther Club for making Zach's first year of wrestling such a great learning experience. Coaches Scott, Kevin, Matt, Chad, and Brendan have helped Zach and his teammates improve so much this year.

This weekend I took my Webelos Den to Prairie Walls to do a class called Vertical Journeys. Dave Brandt, Owner of Prairie Walls, help me to plan a special climbing class for our boys to experience. The boys were taught Top Rope Climbing and Bouldering.  Little did I know that Zach would find his calling of sport for him. I can't believe how easily he took to this sport. We will be going back there quite a bit for sure. Anyway, I took them to climb to challenge them to face their fears and build their courage to overcome. They all did so awesome! I am such a proud Den Leader and Father!

March 6th, 2013

Well we have entered another month and boy has it been dumping snow on us! I am certainly getting some good use out of our big snowblower this season. Has made for some good skiing that is for sure.

I must be honest, I am ready for some warmer temps and a ride on my Harley. My iron horse is still sitting warm and protected at Rochester Harley Davidson in storage now. When I dropped it off in late October the owner over there said they have monthly visitations, if needed. I laughed about that, but now I am starting to have separation anxiety (just kidding). Soon I will be riding this baby to work in Stewartville to save gas money from my Ford F-150 that get about 13 mpg now. Ouch!

We have adopted the Paleo Plan for eating as a family. This plan mainly consists of fish, grass-fed pasture raised meats, eggs, vegetables, fruit, fungi, roots, and nuts, and excludes grains, legumes, dairy products, potatoes, refined salt, refined sugar, and processed oils. So far it has been completely enjoyable and have found some creative recipes for foods we ate before. I will be blogging about this journey we are on. I am hoping the change will help me lose the weight I want and help to get more fit. Coupled with Crossfit 2-3 times per week and my triathlon training, I believe I will be hitting my goals as long as I stay on the plan for everything. As the song goes-One Day At A Time, Sweet Jesus, that's all I am asking from you. Which is by my cousin, Country Singer Cristy Lane.