15 Tips for Fat Loss (not weight loss)

I feel like putting together a list of as many possibly ways people can health lose weight, as simple as possible.  I imagine any and all of these will be easy to do, but the important thing is to create them into your lifestyle of habits.

1.  Drink more water.  People drink.  Why not subsitute at least one other drink per day with water

2.  Minimize as much as possible calorie-dense foods.  This may include cutting your ice cream eating in half, or eating only 1 rease's peanut butter cup, or 1/2 a candy bar, or half a packet of ranch dressing, and if you go light beer with half the carbs, that doesn't permit you to double your drinking. 

3.  Maximize your calorie-scarce foods.  Eat as many vegetables throughout the day as possible!  Or for a start, add some to your dinner (and not the 3 pieces of lettuse that most people consider veggies.  I'm talking about a half cucumber, or a whole carrot, or a red bell pepper, etc).

Life sucks.  But who does it suck most for?

Society is moving in opposite directions.  That's right, there's a chasm developing, and it's growing at an increasing rate.  The younger generation have to decide for themselves: do they follow the footsteps of their parents and try to overachieve their successes by working 70 hours a week instead of 60?  Or do they decide to toss it all in the trash and go their own easy route, acting as unaffected by their choices as much as possible.

Today we see kids of all ages playing Halo 2, shopping for the cutest outfit, sportin' the cleanest kicks, etc, all to no avail.  There will come a time in their life, most likely when they graduate college, that they have to decide when to settle.  Some never do.  Others do a nose-dive into their work, sacrificing all their fun-life.

Lets go back at least a century.  Mom cleaned house, sewed, cooked, bought goods, and her respective daughters followed her lead.  Pop worked the farm, fixed the roof, met in the city gates, and his sons followed suit.  Not so today.  Today is about being an individual, deciding your own course, the "We're not gonna take it" attitude.  That's what is setting this society up for failure, and we're getting deeper in it as we continue.

Just look at the lower class compared to the yuppies.  They can arguable be of the same age, and I would even argue similar upbringing in most cases.  Both extremes lead to a broken home life; poor quality relationships.  They are chasing their own dreams, whether it be in money, power, fun, or inevitably happiness. 

Is that all what life is cracked up to be?  Your own personal happiness?  If we were to survey the world for the happiest individuals of all age race and gender, I think all fingers would point to children.  Heck, they haven't been stained by the world's corruption yet.  They're not worried about their shoes, their chubby cheeks, creditors, and they especially don't ponder about their own happiness -- they just live. 

So back to us.  Where do we stand, and why?  Before I venture into the world of philosophies and the meaning of life, let me exit on this point:  Worry less, and live carefree like a child at times (not irresponsibly, yet do not clench onto your heart so tightly -- let it roam and chase after it).


Mark

8 Weeks to go to my first ever bodybuilding competition

13 Percent
I need to have a perfect diet and cardio routine for the next 8 weeks if I plan on successfully going into the show at 5% or lower bodyfat (currently at 13%, down from my then 18%).  I'm now weighing around 213 pounds, with projected coming in at 190, hopefully only losing 1 or 2 pounds of muscle.

In Wisconsin
This first show in April 9th, in Appleton WI.  I am also competing in a second show the week after on April 16th, in Madison, WI.  Each are pro qualifiers for the INBF, International Natural Bodybuilding Federation (I think).  Either way, the overall winner of the show wins a pro-card, and then is a pro, and compete in pro natural contests through the INBF.  The Natural Bodybuilding magazine talks about it further.

Tanning

My First Time!


Ahh, the anticipation builds up at the thought of competing in my first bodybuilding competition.  Earlier this year in April I had an increasing desire to get lean and fit, more than I had before.  I came across a program called "Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle" by Tom Venuto (http://www.burnthefat.com), and I dove in right from the beginning.  As summer was winding down, I started researching bodybuilding some more, especially with the influence of Arnold Shzwarzenneger's Pumping Iron film.  I then found a competition that occurs twice a year; October 16th and April 16th, 6 months apart. 

It was in September when I decided I was going to go into this full-out for the April compeition, which is 16 weeks to go.  At the time, I was a good 28 weeks out, or so.  I sat in the audience of the October 16th show, which you can see here http://www.fordsgym.com/bbinfo.htm.  Watching a competition for the first time showed me what it entails of, and really motivated me to pursue an over-all victory relentlessly.

Battle #2...

I’m tryin to get lean and then she brings up ice cream.  I don’t get it, are you some sort of teen?  Tryin to be mean?  It don’t bother me, I’ll just pop in a comedy with Charlie Sheen, and smile how you can’t rhyme, ya know what I mean?,  Girly as sweet as a jelly bean?  I got this gene in my spleen that makes me so smart and so keen, so smart in fact I’m on the list of the dean.  You can’t tango with me, so why don’t you just be, that small little pea, in the deep blue sea, along with Boston’s tea, and some Nemo pee.  Yeah that’s right, I think about you at night, and burn out the light, to make these lyrics so tight.  I thew out the bait and you took the bite, just as I thought you might.  I shocked you like Benjamin’s kite, on this blogging site, to lift your spirits to a new height, and in spite, I gained the right, for your smile, if that’s alright.  Ooh yeah, I am so great, this rap is first rate, but don’t count it fate.  I ain’t your mate, nor am I your date, but please don’t hate, as I walk past your gate, and assemble these words which do equate, to me staying up late.  No not really, I’m just cheesy, but not as much as the snack that’s crispy, and it’s puffy, and leaves your fingers orange and yucky.  And how can a cat, represent that, which is so whack, and easy to attack, whoever eats them must be a quack – she represents that.  See this is my knack, my ability to mac, which I don’t lack, to swarm you like a wolf pack.  No, I’m not like other guys, to take you in my shack, because of your rack, and scratch your back, or something like that; no, that is quite whack.  What I do, is something true, something special, something new.  I’ll take you through first John chapter two.  Sure it reads of something shining, a light so bright that is practically blinding, and ties together darkness with stumbling.  But in verse fifteen, is rightly supreme, as sweet as ice cream, saying not to love the world or anything, and continues to verse sixteen.  The first is lust, for a woman’s bust, which is not a must, but chokes us like dust, and eats us like rust.  The second is pride, of which Lucipher died, and got denied, of the heavenly ride, and now is fried, and is trying to hide.  I am so humble (I just lied, but hey I tried).  So in the end, without a pen, I give this rap a perfect ten, because I can, and it ain’t no sin, so let me begin, and throw this in the bin:  it’s been great battlin’ with my kin, lil sweet Jaime Lynn.  

 

Peace

 

Mark

 

 

BATTLE? 

Aight, whatchoo got?

 

Hey, if you want to battle,

I’ll shake you like a rattle,

And tell you to skidaddle.

 

Sure I’m alone in my life,

Looking for a wife,

As sharp as a knife.

 

She’ll never be bored,

We’d be strong as a chord,

And we’d be praisin’ our Lord.

 

I’m at work to make a dime,

But I’d like to take this time,

To make this battle mine.

 

I show no fear in my eyes,

Don’t care for good-bye’s,

And I can’t stand peoples’ lies.

 

I’m bloggin’ this to you,

To take a minute or two,

And call you my boo.

 

I run a six minute mile,

And bench press a pile,

And always make you smile.

 

You’re not one of my foes,

Don’t smell like my toes,

But you do eat those Cheetoes.

 

I know I may be liable,

And you’re not my rival,

So lets talk about the Bible.

 

Sure we like Reeses’

And all of our nieces,

But not like we love Jesus.

 

He is our supreme,

Joins us to one team,

Like Magic and Kareem.

 

I wish I was a little bit taller,

Not like a baller,

But a prayer warrior.

 

Not on the rim,

But closer to Him,

Where it’s not so dim,

 

I struggle every day,

To walk the straight way,

As if its long as San Fran’s bay.

 

This rhyme might diminish,

Like Nemo the fish,

So let me finish.

 

I can complain about my shin,

Or learn to sell some tin,

But I’d rather be chattin’ with Jaime Lynn.

 

You heard me right,

These words are tight,

But for now it’s goodnight.

 

Peace.

 

Mark

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Let me set the tone for the following poem...

Back in May of this year I had so decided that I was going to pursue Shannon for good.  I know I had broken her heart one too many times before, but this time I was committed to finish, to go the distance.  I had even created my proposal for marriage, would would last a whole year (52 weeks).  It all started with me buying a black poster board and some liquid gel inks.  I tore the poster board into 52 pieces and intended on writing the proposal on the 52nd piece.  I would mail out each piece every Monday, with a little note, something short and sweet.  I mention 'bama in the poem because she would be training in Alabama for Air Force.

On to the poem...

 

Steadily Praying

  

Breaking and breaching and crushing her heart,

Sadness and mourning and sorry and shame.

Eager to patch up the holes I put there,

Steadily praying this journey’s no game.

 

Beauty and virtue compares to much worth,

Talents and sweetness are things to be awed.

Training and testing down south in ‘bama,

Steadily praying for her growth in God.

 

Writing and sealing and stamping the note,

Hoping to stick with a new-fangled plan.

Poster of black and some liquid gel inks,

Steadily praying they won’t fill her can.

 

Mailing a letter with effort and deed,

Showing some worship is all I intend.

Knowing not what she could contemplate then,

Steadily praying my heart I can lend.

 

Trying to love her with all that I have,

Passion and purity is a good start.

Carefully, tenderly, with affection,

Steadily praying on seeking her heart.

 

Fearful and daunting this journey may feel,

Slipping and falling and scraping my knee.

Bracing and rising to show her I care,

Steadily praying for her trust in me.

 

 

Well as it turned out, after week 3 it dissolved.  I never revealed to her what the notes would end up being, however, by the third note she guessed they were pieces that fit together (although she tossed the first two in the can, thinking they were simple meaningless notes).  We both realized that we had separate paths in life at the time, and unless one of us changed our plans, we would remain in a long-dtantance relationship for like 7 years; a no-go.  But, with the heightened emotions, the ups and downs, I managed to write a few peoms, this being one of them. 

 

Mark

 

 

I Apologize

Alright alright, I goofed.  My venting about us all being idiots was just something I felt needed to get cleared off my chest, and well, that's just something that goes on in my head that not everyone understands (as to why I consider people idiots, etc).

With that said, lets talk about people's internal drive for success...

What a Drive!

The man I am thinking of is Arnold Schwarzenegger.  From rags to riches, I've read many of his biographies, learning of his upbringing, strict parenting, and his obsession with becoming the best built man in the world since he was 13, and also when he started taking steroids.

Anwyay, he would break into gyms (smashing windows) just to get his workout in for the weekends.  This guy was insanely driven to get pumped.  We, on the other hand, would rather stare at our own exersize equipment in our own living room and chow down on Cheetoe's while watching the Simpsons.  I know I know, we are not all called to be Arnolds in this world, but Arnold had something that I want.  That drive, determination, he had a goal and he was relentless in pursuing it.  First it was bodybuilding.  Then it was the movie career.  Then it was the Kennedy Family.  Now it's politics. 

But I Keep Failing

In everything, Arnold knew what he wanted, knew what it would take to get there, and never settled for anything less.  Sure he broke rules, did things that are quite controversial, but in the end, he achieved what he set out to do.  Ahh, and then here I am, complaining about the three jugs of ice cream I've down in the past three days.  Pathetic, absolutely pathetic.  My excuse is that ice cream is my "kryptonite" but lets get serious people, I'm an idiot!  :-D  OK, I won't start that again, but honestly, how did Arnold do it?  I so rely on friends, family, positive influences (Arnold, Tony Robbins, Tom Venuto, support groups, message board, etc) for motivation and accountability, yet no matter what venue I look to, I end up failing.

Visualization

What does it take?  The reason I love biographies, whether it be Arnold's, A.W. Tozer's, or John Bunyon's, I love reading of their success stories, what they did to excel to where they are, both in worldy success and in the spiritual.  I understand that our outcomes are all decided by the here and now, the power of the moment, both good and bad.  Maybe that's my problem.  Recalling Arnold's drive, he would picture himself so vividly being so huge, so strong, so popular, the visualization would be so real in fact all he had to do was just live and he would assume the picture...  his life and habits would conform to the vivid picture he had of himself in his head.  It involves strategic thinking, no doubt, but neverhteless, he did it.

What Barriers?

Idiots

Everyone, we are all idiots.

:-D

What's going through my head, you may ask?  The act of taking pieces of the past to make sense of an outcome.  Before I explain any further, let me bring up some examples:

Idiot Examples

1)  The outcome of a close football game.  Lets say the Kansas City Chiefs beat the Baltmore Ravens 27-24 (they did, but who cares).  The ball game was tied, 17-17, and that's all I saw.  I figured it was a very close game.  I saw the highlights this morning and all I saw was how GREAT the chiefs played, with their offensive schemes and blocking, their passing, running, defensive stopping, everything.  What the heck?!?!  They won by a mere 3 points, and the hilights showed them diminating the game.  I do believe the numbers also point to the Chiefs edging out the Ravens, but come on, people, it was a 3-point victory for them. 

2) Or how about another close football game, one which I never saw or seen highlights, but know darn well what most likely has happened.  Northwestern Wildcats beat the Ohio State Buckeyes in overtime.  The Wildcats, huge underdogs to the National Champ Buckeyes, came out with a win.  All of a sudden, the Wildcats coach is interviewed, asked what he told his team going into the game, all week, pregame, at half time, going into overtime, etc.  Or the players attitude going into the game, etc.  Everything will point to how they came to win, how they "pulled together, remembered the past, etc."  Or how about the losers?  The Buckeyes must have said "Well we just didn't come on fire, didn't come to win, they wanted it more."  Baloney!  What if Nugent, the kicker for OSU didn't miss the field goal in overtime?  All of a sudden each team would be digging the opposite up, how OSU was so driven to the end, and how the Wildcats just didn't try hard enough.  All baloney!

3)  Don't like football?  How about 9/11?  Oh yes, we do remember 9/11.  How could we not.  Anyway, when we look back previous to the tragic events, we are the idoits who say, "Well if Bush would have seen all the signs that lead up to the attack" mumbo crap! 

4)  Car accident:  "Well my boss had ticked me off and I wasn't paying as much attention to the opposing traffic as I usually have been...."  shut up, ya idiot.  Like you haven't been ticked off before.  Pshh.

5)  Failed a final?  Stinkin relationship problems

6)  Aced a final?  Ah, you knew it all along, you're gifted, blah blah. 

Give me a break people, we are all idiots who pick apart the past, mix and match it up to try and make sense of outcomes, whether it be football games, tragic events, or even out own futures.  Don't you get it?  This is the "Monday morning quartback syndrome" where we say we could have done better because THEY made stupid mistakes.  "We could have done a better job at presidency, at being a boyfriend/girlfriend, we could have done better at driving, etc etc."  We are a people who just love to think of ourselves better than others, by thinking we would make better decisions, raise our children better than others, work job duties better than THEY do. 

Are you in the better 50% of the population?  Of course you are...

Did you know that out of a survey given to a student body when asked to raise ther hand if they believed thay would graduate in the top 50% of their class, over 90% raised their hand?  Funny, isn't it?  We are a people who always think we are better than the other person.  Idiots!

Moi Aussi...

Oh, I definitely fall into this, too.  I'm a person.  :-D  And yes, I do think I could have kicked the ball better, raised children better, graduated in the top 50%, etc etc.  Could it be an internal drive that does this to us, or simply a matter of self-pride?  To clear up this confusion, and to keep it simple, we're idiots living in a world of idiots. 

Real Winners vs. Real Losers

There's a bright side to this.  We're all in this together.  Relatively speaking, we're all idiots, hence, no one's better, no one's worse (generalization, granted).  There is something, however, that sets us apart, how to determine the real winners and the real losers. 

You Control Your Efforts

I could write out the Benjamin Franklin writing about the "Man in the Arena" where only the man who has practiced and competed and has either lost or won truly knows the cost of what he put in, and not the mere spectator/critic (idiot).  Rather, I will bring out something said by I believe John Wooden (whatever his name is), the great NCAA basketball coach that won 7 or so straight titles....  He asked his players to grade themselves after every practice, after every game, and not taking the score or outcome into consideration.  Their efforts would be graded.  Sure, they may have been out-talented, or shorter, or clower, or less accurate, etc, but those were things that was not controlled by effort.  Their effort was graded, and after each game, they were to look at their coach and tell him if they gave 100%.  The film would prove it.  If they did, they were truly winners.  If they at any time, even in one play, decided to stop short, not reach high enough, decided to slack just one bit, that was an effort slacking, something that is not controlled by talent, rather, their own efforts.  Hence, they then "failed for the moment." 

Taking this to our idiot people...  those quarterbacks and kickers, drivers, workers, president, etc...  if they can grade themselves out at 100% effort, regardless of talent, and still came out with the mistake/poor outcome, they can agree it was begond anything they can control, and accept the loss (without idiots needing to mix and match the past to determine the cause of the outcome). 

I'm an Idiot, and a Loser :-D

You know what I'm saying people?  We're all idiots, we all see things in a different light.  What we need to do is give it our all, either in typing this journal entry (which I know I can take the extra 5 minutes and proof-read it for errors which I know most likely exist), but I don't.  I'm fully aware at where I stand.  Hence, I can take the responsibility of the outcome through my slacking.  Same goes for every instance in life.  If this entry gets published and I get the Pulitzer prize for it, I have absolutely no reason to start acting like an idiot and start saying, "Well I owe it to the stress from idiots I deal weith on a daily basis" or "Well my 3rd grade teacher always did say I had a knack for writing" or "Well I really tried hard at it."  Baloney! 

Just Me Venting

I love venting.  I used to hate long entries, as they intimidate others from reading them (myself included).  However, I just can't limit my venting.  I feel as if I'm outvented for the moment. 

Until "And another thing..."  :-) 

Mark

I am going to be very up front, possibly cut-throat this entry. 

The Choices We Make

No matter what we do, failure or success, every outcome is determined by the combination of choices that we made.  Yesterday, for example, I failed to accomplish my tasks I originally set out to do.  That does not make me a failure, rather, I created events that were failures....  That was yesterday.  I will act as an eraser, learn what I did, correct the mistake for future reference, and then erase it out of my memory.

Let me explain something...

The Fork

At any given moment, we are at a fork in the road.  We decided between two things, not 50.  For me to be placed in the situation of scarfing down a container of ice cream yesterday did not all come from the decision of putting that spoonful on my mouth, rather, a moultitude of decisions...  The thought of ice cream that I decided to remain lingering on was just the beginning....

The Road...

Let me paint a clearer picture.  Lets say a lustful thought enters a guys head, either by watching a girl on a beer commercial or  something of the sort.  All of a sudden, this thought leads to a desire...  to which he then decides to either act upon it, or erase it.  If he acts upon it, he could start calling some of his girl "friends."  Then he decides to invite himself over to chat, to study, whatever.  Then he decides to act upon his desires some more and flirt, increasing the heat of the moment.  Next, he decides to chalantly close the door, exclaiming that it's a "better study atmosphere."  Ha, yeah right...  Well, each and every step of the way, this guy was driven to...  do something he would regret.

Point of the story:  He would probably all base the regret on the very last decision, rather the 50 choices he decided to follow on the way there.  You don't accidentally stumble into Time Square, into debt, or into becoming a baby daddy.  "Rome wasn't built in a day." 

It's not about RULES

Where I'm getting at is this:  I use to live by a set of rules for everything.  Kicking a ball started out as a list of 14 things that went through my head before I kicked (making sure I was aligned, remembering that my foot goes down and up, and out and in, remmbering the snap of my knee, the follow-through, the look up, the contact point of the ball, of my foot, of my form, etc etc)...  Same thing for getting put into a situation with a girl, or in a fight with a dude, or etc etc etc.  This "list of rules" is crap!  I could go through a list of daily affirmations "I am a confident man, I am a hard worker, I will succeed"  blah blah blah.  What really matters is not a list of rules, but remmebering that our life is decided by a single choice at a time....  granted, they are many choices, but we only deal with the present, the choice for the moment. 

Even though I don't believe in zen, a quote I recall is something about the power is in the now, or the current moment is where the power is, not yesterday, not tomorrow, but now.  Meaning, where ever you stand now, that is what you control.

So, in conclusion, forget about all the mumbo jumbo rules and regrets and confusion as to where you ended up, and how you got there.  You decided each step of the way.

Doing what is Right (Righteousness)

So, from now on, each step of the way, I am going to remember the question, "What is the right thing to do?"  I know I can do some things very well, but if it's not worth doing them, or not right, I should not be doing them.  Thinking about ice cream,...  what is the right thing to do?  Thinking about girls...  what is the right thing to do?  Of course, everyone has their own sense of a moral law, however, I rely on the Bible, about loving the Lord Jesus Christ in all I do (feel, think, and act).  Whatever does not push the cause for Christ is not worthy.  However, do understand that I can glorify God in all that I do, in whatever I work or eat or do.  Meaning, binging unhealthfully or lusting after girls or any other slefish desires, for pure self-pleasure is not to God's glory but to your own, hence, you dethrone God and make yourself out to be your own God, and hence your world will be in chaos, all out of whack.  These types of people are called belly-worshippers:  you worship your bellies, your own desires.  You see something you like, you go get it.  Food, drink, drug, people, money, car, whatever.  You want to satisfy only one person, and that is you. 

Your Purpose for Life

Remember, Jesus came not to take our lives (if you're thinking you want freedom, not slavery), rather, Jesus came to give us life, so that we can have it to the full!  That's abundant life.  Think about living in abundance!  No longer living in this rat race people try and go through, never finding the finish, because they are simply trying to play a game to which that have no clue how to play.  Lets say I give a PS2 to Christopher Columbus, what will he do with it?  Well, most likely he'd find it as a poor footstool, and end up using the conrollers as fish ropes to tie fish to.  He would have no idea what it is now how to use it.  Same thing with our lives.  That is why we are to follow God, listen to Him, to have any clue as to what our purpose in life is (in order to maximize our potential and have life to its full)

I've vented enough.  On to making the right decisions.

Mark

PS  I recommend the book, Purpose Driven Life