You need to check out this YouTube video of my daughter. She wrote and composed this song. She has others that she has done, but this is the first one we have put to video.
Go watch it directly on YouTube by clicking Play, and then clicking the video again to go to the YouTube site. Once you are there, rate it with 5 stars and leave a comment if you like. I'd appreciate it.
I have not completed 2 weeks into my low carbohydrate diet. I've lost 17 pounds now, due to a combination of working on my Bowflex every other day, and cutting back the sugars and carbs in my diet.
Two weeks marks the end of the induction phase of the diet, although I am going to carry it for another 5 days so I can begin next Monday moving out of the induction phase and to begin to gradually add more carbs into my diet.
Along with dropping 17 pounds, I am now wearing my old jeans, down one size. That's pretty cool. 17 pounds is a lot, but yet it's not. The main thing I notice is that I don't look "swollen" when I look in the mirror, I'm more flexible, it's easier to get around, and clothes that were tight fitting are now hanging much looser.
It's been pretty good so far. Not much temptation so far with any other food. I did find a website that is very good. I did their skillet pizza a couple nights ago, and I'm gonna keep on trying new recipies. I believe that variety is a great way to keep strong in this diet. If you only have a small section of foods to eat, sooner or later the eggs and cheese is really going to get old.
Pretty excited! Stepping on the scale today showed that I dropped 12 pounds in one week! Pretty good! I feel much better. It's amazing how one week can comletely change how you feel.
Some might say, "12 pounds is too much in one week." The answer to that - It depends.
If I was 5'5" and weighed 140, losing 12 pounds in one week would be way too much. However, if I was 6'0" and weighed 350 pounds, then 12 pounds is really nothing.
(Neither of those are my real height and weight :-o )
Overall, I'm very pleased. I know much of it was water weight… but all that excess fluid in your body is not good either. It puts pressure on your internal organs. Once all the excess water weight is gone, I'm expecting to drop about 2-3 pounds per week.
Here is what I have done:
1) I have been following the Atkins 2-week induction phase. I am eating 20 net carbs per day, mostly meat, cheese, eggs, green veggies. I've had a couple of Atkins bars as well.
2) I'm drinking a lot of water and tea. I had a Diet Coke a few days ago, but I've been trying to just keep it to water, with some tea for dinner.
3) I've been working out on my new Bowflex every other day, for about 45 minutes at a time.
I will continue all three of these for another week, and then I will leave the induction phase at that point.
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I'm not sure how many grams of carbohydrates I had been taking in on a daily average, but I do know that about 18-48 hours after you begin the Atkins diet, you can go through, what I call, a "Carb Crash." Here is how I define it:
Carbohydrate Crash - when your body reacts to a significant decrease in daily carbohydrates. Symptoms may include a sharp decrease in energy, headaches, migranes, and a dullness in thought processes.
For example, if your body had been taking in an average of 150 - 200 grams of carbs per day, and you shut that down to 20 grams, your body is going to react. Especially, if the vast majority of those carboyhdrates were simple carbs from sugar, processed white flour, etc.
Your body was used to a continual feed of simple carbohydrates, which it easily converted into energy in your body. When you cut back your carbs during the induction phase of the Atkins diet, your body can react.
Mine did.
About 18 hours into the first day, I noticed my energy level dropping and a slight headache. The second day I had migranes, very lethargic, and it seemed to take me a while to process my thoughts.
I'm in the 3rd day now. My energy is beginning to rise. I just finished a Bowflex workout. I have a very slight headache, but no big deal. I have survived the big carb crash, and the next few days are going to feel better as my body continues to make the adjustments.
That's one of the great things about the body. After a day or two, your body realizes the simple carbs are not coming. So, it needs to manufacture the energy in order to bring everything back to 100%. Your body begins to convert stored fat into energy.
As I complete the induction, I'll begin adding complex carbohydrates back into my diet and my body will continue to burn fat as I restrict the simple carbs and continue by exercising.
My opinion - a carb crash is not fun, but it isn't bad for you either. It is simply your body reacting to the changes you are making, and then making adjustments. If you can survive day 2 and 3 of the Atkins diet, it's smooth sailing from there.
After too long, it's time to start exercising and eating better.
I started my 6-week challenge on the Bowflex. Just got the Bowflex before Christmas and took a few weeks to try out several different exercises. But, I started their six week challenge today.
I also went back to the Atkins diet. I've said it before, and I'll say it again. The low carb diet is what works for me. Had a ham and cheese omlet for breakfast and a grilled chicken caesar salad for lunch.
The main thing that has kept me from success in the past has been my inability to set a schedule, and plan for what I'm doing. So, rather than just trying to eat whatever, however much, and wherever, I'm setting myself up much like you would if you were doing Medifast or Nutrisystem… you have a so many meals and so many snacks… to control what you're doing throughout the day.
I'm also cutting out soda for at least the first two weeks. That's gonna be the tough part. I drink too much of it, and I'm not sure the last time I went 2 weeks without a soda… maybe since grade school.
My goal… 100 pounds.
I will keep things updated here on the blog as I go along, so check back and see how things are going. Much of my motivation comes from the story of Kent Altena. You can check out his video below. I've some other stuff about him later.
Today Mark McGwire admitted to his use of steriods. We all knew that, and in many ways McGwire already admitted to much of that when he was a player, and were not banned substances at the time anyway. They may have been hush-hush, but not banned.
Anyway, whether you confess and apologize on the spot, or down the road, it's always the right time. I support him in what he is doing. None of us are perfect or without faults in our past. Some of us have a past that demands a lot more confession that what Mark McGwire did today.
With that said, I have to take a HUGE exception to Yahoo Sports writer, Tim Brown. Here is what I wrote to Tim Brown:
This is one of the most arrogant, self-righteous pieces of journalism I have ever read regarding your take on Mark McGwire's admission, confession, or whatever you wish to call it.
It is also one of the most subjective, opinionated, and slanted pieces as well.
I live in Dallas, so I don't have any ties to the Oakland A's or St. Louis Cardinals. However, whether Mark McGwire confessed today or 10 years ago does not put you in the seat as judge to either grant or withhold forgiveness, or whether his confession was self-serving, genuine, or otherwise.
When someone apologizes, you lose the ability to control them, and I believe that is what you are struggling with. You can no longer hold this over Mark's head, point the finger, remember Washington D.C., or hold your self as a superior human compared to the likes of McGwire, Rodriquez, Sosa, or whomever.
Tim, this was a sad article… and in your own words, "You know what would have been nice, though?" If Tim Brown had not wasted our time.
You can find a copy of Tim's article here, McGwire's Feckless Admission Is Too Late:
http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news?slug=ti-mcgwirenew011110&prov=yhoo&type=lgns
I've been running a leads business for 6 years now. National-Leads.com has been growing every year for 6 straight years. It was 6 years ago this month that I got started in the leads business… at least as the owner of my own company. I had leads before that, but not as the owner.
However, Thanksgiving through about January 10th have always been the slowest times. Not ghost town slow, but, it is a small drop in over all sales. That's okay. I think this year will actually be different and sales will stay even, but this year I am doing something different - being proactive in generating some extra cash.
I learned of a new system that, quite frankly, is ingenious. I wish I had thought of it myself. It's called Info Product Killer.
You have to understand, I see dozens and dozens and dozens of business opportunities, money making schemes, MLM programs, etc. Very, very few, ever, ever impress me. Like .1%. Many are okay, but knowing what I know, and having seen what I have seen over the years, most money making ideas just are not a fit for me. Nothing wrong with all the other stuff, but it's just not a fit.
Info Product Killer is a great fit for me.
I'm not going to rehash what the IPK website explains, but let me tell you what it is not, before I tell you what it is:
IPK is:
Go check out the Info Product Killer webpage for all the details. It may or may not be a good fit for you.
Filed under Affiliate Marketing, Home Business by Rich
I have lived enough of my life thinking about the past that I will be the first to say that it is a waste of time. The sooner you let go of the past, the sooner you can get on to living life. No whining; no bitching; no complaining. Living life responsibly and to the fullest.
With that said, the only reason to think about the past is to teach and help others avoid some of the same pitfalls. Rick Warren states in his Purpose Drive Life book that out of your greatest pain can come your greatest points of service. So, with that said, here are my 3 regrets in life. I'm not looking for a do-over (except maybe #1). I'm just stating my facts.
1) I Would Not Have Had Lasik Surgery. In January 2009 I had lasik. Huge mistake. I had thought about having for a few years, and finally did it. I couldn't be more disatisfied with my current vision. It's not as if the surgery went bad. In fact, it went perfect.
My left eye was 20/80, and my right eye was 20/20. Now, my left eye is 20/12. I only had surgery on one eye. I hate it. Lasik took away the God-created ability to focus because with Lasik you are given a set focal length. Anything outside of that focal length is blurry. So, as I type this blog post, my left eye is mostly focused, and my right eye is blurry. If my monitor was 3-4 inches further away, both eyes would be blurry.
I'm not going to go on and on about this, but the only way to fix this is to get glasses… which is precisely why I had Lasik to begin with. Lasik is not a reversable surgery. I'm stuck with what I have now.
Lesson Learned - don't mess with surgeries that alter one's body, especially something as important as one's vision.
2) I Would Not Have Left Africa. I'm not going to spend the next 5,000 words describing what has happened in my life since coming home from Africa in September 1996. To summarize it in it's crudest form - I had dreamed of Africa for at least 12 years of my life; I left for Kenya as a missionary with my wife and 2 girls. I quit part way into my first term and came back to America. I abandoned much more than my dream.
It's a regret, yes, and it had enormous ramifications on my life, but this is definitely one thing in my life I would not want as a do-over. Too many things I have learned about life have come out of this, and although it was extreamely painful, the wisdom and blessings that have come out of that time in my life are irreplaceable.
Lesson Learned - I had my whole identity wrapped up in this - "I am a missionary to Africa." When I was no longer a missionary to Africa, I wandered for 7 or 8 years trying to find a new identity. You see, there is something very powerful about the words "I AM." I believe that is why God chose that as His name in the book of Exodus. There are definitely some things that I want as my identity:
But, I will no longer say things that I do not want to wrap into my identity. It is dangerous. I will not say, I am a business owner, or I am a computer programmer. I don't want my identity wrapped up in that. It may be what I do, but it is not who I am.
3. Working Too Much. I work way too much. Working too much makes you a very boring person, your life becomes too predictable, and you lose pieces of your personality over time.
The obvious reasons of not spending enough time with my 3 kids, dates with Traci, and spending more time doing things I used to love, such as fishing, golfing, hiking outdoors, driving, biking, playing sports, landscaping, etc. are at the forefront of my mind when I state this regret.
Lesson Learned - Simply stop. Put systems in place for my business that will free up hours of time from my weekly schedule… and I mean lots of hours. Owning your own business and working from home is certainly better than being an employee of some company. I love my freedom. However, I have become a slave to my business and the time to stop is today.
Anyway… there you go. My big 3 regrets. If I wanted to depress myself and really punch myself in the gut, I could have listed regrets such as not sharing my faith enough, not reading enough books, not studying Revelation enough, not exercising enough, not…. but… that's unproductive and foolish. These 3 are enough. They are a part of my life, a part of my past. Living in regret is different than living, reflecting on one's past, to mature and grow in wisdom… and simply not to repeat the same stupid stuff.
