Follow up to the weight loss post

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If you want some visual evidence. Here you go......

 

Just to answer a few common inquiries I've had over the past few days:

1. I don't walk around hungry all the time. I refuse to live like that.  If you're trying this paleo thing and you are hungry all day long, you're not eating enough healthy stuff.

2. Did you excercise more? No. Same as the past 5 years.

3. Did you do the juicing diet? Nope.  I'm not that hardcore.

4. Are you on the juice? Ha. No.

 

Jan. 2, 2012

 not even flexing. (this is an inside joke)

 

August 15, 2012

Alex chose not to participate in this picture. Still not flexing (still an inside joke).

 

When will the new iPhone come out?

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Tons of people ask me this question each week.  So here you go, below are links to websites and specific stories that I read to be in the know.  You too can be an internet geek by reading these sites daily. Or you can actually do productive things with your life and talk to real people.

This is when one group thinks it will happen. Link.

When AT&T tells employees they can't go on vacation, that's a good bet as to when the new iPhone will come out. Link.

The People who build iPhone's are reporting a big jump in business, that's always a good sign too. Link 

 

A Million Miles in a Thousand Years, Book Review

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A Million Miles in a Thousand Years: What I Learned While Editing My LifeA Million Miles in a Thousand Years: What I Learned While Editing My Life by Donald Miller
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I really enjoyed this book. Donald Miller set out to make a movie out of his previous book "Blue Like Jazz". Along the way he discovered what it takes to make a good movie, a good story. He then realized that it takes a great story to make a great life. This book is the result of what he discovered in that process.

When you read the book you do feel like you are discovering these ideas along with Don, because he does a great job in bringing you through his own journey of discovery. It is not an onerous book to read, and it was totally enjoyable and will cause you to do some fun and healthy introspection.

Miller isn't a deep theologian (he's not trying to be), but he is an engaging writer who isn't afraid to say (write) what he is thinking, regardless of how it may unmask some of his own insecurities and foibles. This is incredibly refreshing.



View all my reviews

Same Kind of Different As Me

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Same Kind of Different as MeSame Kind of Different as Me by Ron Hall
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I'm always late to read the popular books. I don't know if that's because I'm lazy or just skeptical about the "hot new book". So everyone I know read this book 3 years ago, and I just got around to reading it. I enjoyed it, but I didn't weep. It is incredibly heart wrenching, and an amazing story. I won't ruin it, but I think the best part about the book is that it will challenge you to think differently about people who are down and out and the impact that anyone who is willing can have in another person's life.

View all my reviews

How I lost nearly 40 lbs., you can do it too...

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On Jan. 2, 2012 I started a weight loss contest with about 70 other guys. I didn't win, in fact I got 9th. However, the contest was extremely successful for me. Here is how I did it......

Just before Christmas 2011 a friend of mine, Jason Glover, posted the video below on Facebook. I watched it and it blew my mind. I sent it to Jessica, and she watched it and started doing research about what this woman said. We ended up getting educated and interested in the "Paleo Diet". We thought it would make us healthier and might help with our daughter Alex's various allergies. Please stop reading right now and watch this video, it will be 18 minutes you'll be glad you spent.

After this we watched a documentary on Netflix called Sick, Fat and Nearly Dead. You can watch it via Hulu for free now right here, but it's 97 minutes so you might want to come back to see it.

So, starting around Christmas we started to change our diet to a Paleo type diet. And on Jan. 2 we went on it pretty seriously. It worked. On Jan. 2 I got on the scale and weighed 233 pounds. This morning (Aug. 7) when I got on the scale it read 194 pounds. I haven't been this light since the late 1990's. So, what all did I do to make this possible? The key is you have to change your diet. This is far and away the most important thing. Especially if you are over thirty years old. I have been running tons in the past 6 years, and some of those years I actually gained weight, even when training for marathons. Excercise alone won't do it. However, changing what you eat will, so here are a few guidelines on how to eat "paleo" without becoming an obsessive psycho. If you do this, you will lose weight slowly but surely...

1. Replace all the bread and chips you eat with something else. This is huge. Stop eating anything made with bread for breakfast. Instead eat protein. I eat 3 eggs mixed with spinach and spices (cooked in a bit of coconut oil) pretty much every morning. I stay way more satisfied throughout the day when I do this.

 

For lunch we usually eat a salad with some kind of meat in it, usually chicken. We use Paul Newman's oil & vinegar dressing which is delicious and not terribly bad for you. This salad consists of a lettuce, possibly some spinach, a few olives and a few tiny tomatoes. Sometimes we'll add a strawberry, some guacamole, or something else.  

Dinner is usually pretty similar to lunch, but with more meat (chicken, fish, salmon, grass-fed beef).  

2. Snacks - quit eating garbage for snacks (cookies, donuts, candy bars, cokes, bread, chips, etc.). For a snack in the morning I'll eat an apple with some almond butter (almond butter is my dark lord on this diet, I love it!).  Other nuts and fruits make great snacks. I pretty much snack all day. I'll eat some nuts or some fruit at various times whenever I get hungry.

3. No more sweet tea, cokes, kool-aid, etc.  these are all loaded with sugar. The whole deal with this diet is really that you are replacing sugar (which your brain craves more of every time you eat it) with things that are actually good for you and will make you less hungry.

 

A few questions....

Won't I be hungry all the time? Nope. When you're eating healthy stuff like a ton of vegetables and meats that aren't loaded with grain (because of what the animals were fed) your body feels fuller for longer. Personally I think that is because your brain doesn't get it's sugar euphoria and crave more. Basically, I think sugar is like a drug (like cociaine, nicotine or heroine) that we get addicted to. I know I'm a total sugar junkie. When I get sad I start craving donuts. When I eat a piece of candy I have almost zero ability to stop myself from eating more.

Is it more expensive to eat this way? Yes, kind of.  You spend more money on the food you buy, but then you end up eating less in the long run, so I personally think it's a bit of a wash.

Are there any other health benefits? Lots of people have claimed there are, and if you watched the video above, you've heard at least one claim. Personally I have noticed that I don't get the post lunch sleepy eyes nearly as often as I did in the past. The big thing I've experienced is NO MORE HEARTBURN! I used to take a Zantac 150 every other day, I have yet to take one in 2012!

What happens when you stop this diet?  I don't know, becuase I haven't stopped it, and I don't plan on every going back to the old way I used to eat. However, I did just spend 44 of the past 55 days at Young Life camps where you get tons of bread, carbs, desserts and sugar. I resisted some, but gave in way, way, way more than I would at home. I didn't gain any real weight, because I continued to avoid the bread and chip gorging that I used to do.

 

We love this diet, and we've made it a lifestyle. I'm planning on weighing no more than 189 pounds on by 40th birthday in October. This works, it isn't that difficult, and it will work for you if you'll give it a go! 

 

The problem with THSprobz

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Recently a twitter account by the name of @thsprobzz popped up and began making humorous observations about Taylor High School (where I lead Young Life). The account quickly gained 500+ followers and the mystery of who was behind the account began to be discussed. As of this writing the vast majority of the public doesn’t know who is responsible for the account, and I include myself in that group.
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How to communicate in the modern world

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Communication in the year 2012

There are so many ways to communicate now it’s hard to know which communication form to choose. You’ve got Facebook, Twitter, email, Instagram, text messages, phone calls, instant messaging, and many smaller avenues of communication.  So I’ve put together this handy guide to help you and everyone you know communicate better, save time, and reduce irritation. Please pass this on to everyone you know, so we will all be on the same page.

How you communicate should first be determined by the gravity of what you are communicating. If it’s serious, then use a serious form of communication. Don’t communicate to your mom that a family member has died via Facebook wall post.

How you communicate should also be determined by how quickly you want a response. If you need a response right away, then don’t send a letter.

Here is my handy list you can print and keep near you at all times to make sure you’re using the correct form of communication.  T

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Music recommendation Monday on a Wednesday

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The holiday threw me off my schedule.  But here you go, after last week's recommendation I got a message from a friend telling me to recommend this band. The funny thing was, I had already planned to recommend them this week, because I have been listening to them non-stop for 2 weeks already.  Check em out. Of Monsters and Men.