Let me start by telling you I am not a runner. I’m not. BUT I want to be. I’m training to run a big adventure in December.  Not being a runner, whenever I hear about someone running a marathon I’m impressed. In May I found out about  Sam Felsenfeld who is running 61 marathons this year. You read that right, 61. And it’s not necessarily only 61 marathons either. For example, this past weekend he ran a marathon on Saturday and then ran a 7 hour 45 mile race on Sunday. When Ryan told me about Sam I thought he must be crazy! What would make someone want to run 61 marathons in a year. The answer, his son Jack.

At age 3 Jack was diagnosed with Autism, a neurological disorder that affects thousands of kids, just like our son Collin.

I know what you’re thinking, he’s the cutest 3 year old boy you’ve ever seen….and you’re right.

…. he has been in constant therapy and treatment since before his second birthday. He is showing signs of progress, but has very limited speech and struggles with communication and social interaction.

Operation Jack is about a little bit of help from a lot of people, not the other way around.

If you plan on running a race anyway, why not  help a great cause in the process? You can learn all the details about Race 4 Free here.

UPDATE: If you’d like to help support but don’t think creating your own team is the way to go, Mac over at GetFitSlowly has built a team page that anyone can join! Thanks Mac! Here’s the page!

Admittedly there are a multitude of cardio workouts that can be done sans clothing. There’s Naked Yoga which is so eloquently described by YumYucky in this post. There’s THE naked cardio. You know, the hibbity bippity, the horizontal mambo, the backseat breakdance… I could go on. There are also naked cycling events that you can find if you know how to use the Google. I just can’t link to them from here. You know, because as Jerry Seinfeld says, there’s “good naked” and there’s “bad naked.” Naked cycling definitely falls into the latter category. You know, gears and chains, and uncomfortable seats…. UGH… Nevermind.

I was just introduced tonight to a new form of cardio o naturale. NAKED TAG. Who introduced it to me you ask? My two boys. Let me give you the full story:

Just like any other Sunday night we were winding down from a day of craziness. Bath time falls between 7:30 and 8:00. Brady and Collin were having fun in the tub, pouring water back and forth on each other’s heads while they giggled. I sat on the toilet (just using it as a seat) next to them as I replied to a few emails and sent out a few tweets. Things started to get a bit out of hand like they always do which is basically my signal to drain the tub. By out of hand I mean they just do little things like dump their cups of water outside the tub and laugh at each other making fart bubbles. You know, the usual boy stuff. I pulled the plug and went to their room to grab their pajamas. Now their room is literally steps away from the bathroom. STEPS. AWAY. I could hear them both laughing together and then as quickly as they were laughing I heard a door close. An outside door! Sure enough I looked out the window just in time to see two dripping wet toddlers streaking across the lawn in their finest birthday suits.

Dammit!

I was completely unprepared for any type of running considering I was barefoot and without a headband yet I darted across the lawn after them. Those kids can move! Just as I started to close in on them they split up and headed out in different directions. They were totally messing with me. I had to choose one so I wrangled up the older one and ran him all the way back to the house while the mini-voyeur turned all sorts of neighborhood heads. I closed Collin inside the house and went back for Brady. Sure enough on my way back to the house with Brady, Collin darted off again.

Dammit Dammit!

I had to repeat that series of sprints about 4 different times. With each repetition I had to increase my speed or there was no chance I’d ever get them both inside at the same time again. I’ll admit I was breathing heavy by the time I wrapped them up in pajamas and sent them to bed. It was 20 minutes of completely unplanned cardio.

The lesson for the day is, if you want a good workout, chase naked people! Wait, no, the lesson is… exercise comes in all shapes and forms, being a parent provides a lot of fitness opportunities you’d never expect.

I’m excited to announce a guest post from Mrs. NoMo coming right at your faces on Tuesday Morning! You’re all as excited as I am right? Right.

If I knew then what I know now…

I probably wouldn’t have spent over 10 bucks every time I hit up Taco Bell at 2am.

If I knew then what I know how,

I probably would have been more active growing up. At the very least I would have jumped into more pickup basketball games.

If I knew then what I know now,

I would have started a savings plan at age 5.

If I knew then what I know now,

I would have taken golf lessons.

If I knew then what I know now,

I think I would have made out with a lot more chicks in high school and college.

If I knew then what I know now,

I probably wouldn’t have ended up in Tijuana in a white minivan with 4 of my closest friends and a girl I’d never met.

If I knew then what I know now,

I never would have the seen the pizza so big my friend could fit inside the box.

If I knew then what I know now,

I might have agreed that 4 months of dating was too fast.

If I knew then what I know now,

I probably would have listened to the people who said to wait to have kids.

If I knew then what I know now,

I never would have weighed 400 pounds.

If I knew then what I know now,

I never would have had a chance to learn it.

I’m so grateful that I didn’t know then what I know now.

The experiences are memories that will last forever. The decisions I made, good or bad, are ones that I will never forget.

I will learn from the bad choices and rejoice in the good ones.

The key is to keep moving forward. Always learning and rejoicing.

P.S. Four months is the perfect amount of time when it’s the perfect girl.

If you could change past decisions would you? Considering the lessons you learned disappeared as well?

It’s funny how a couple of misguided time traveling teenagers learned one of life’s most important lessons at a very young age.

Today’s post isn’t so much weight loss oriented as it is lets-try-to-be-good-people oriented.

As sappy as this post may come across, I’ve been reminded multiple times lately that treating each other with respect can’t be emphasized enough.

There’s a lot of hate in this world and while I am an idealist of sorts and believe it is possible for us to “just get along,” I’m not so naive that I don’t know we’re a long freaking way from getting there.

Every day online we see heated debate over which smart phone is the best in the world and which actress is the hottest (iPhone and Jessica Alba duh). People getting into heated arguments over seemingly trivial things in the big picture. Name calling ensues, and then Yo Momma jokes are tossed around with reckless abandon. It gets ugly.

We’re all a lot braver behind our keyboards.

Throw issues like religion and politics in the mix and you’re looking at a ticking time bomb.

I’ve been a victim of sending the reactionary email or leaving the nasty comment. I think we all have once or twice.

I’m not even asking that we censor ourselves. There are going to be issues and topics that we disagree on. Let your opinions and feeling be known. Unless you disagree with me of course; in that case, don’t let the door hit you in the—- OK OK… Come back baby. I didn’t mean it. Honest (see, I’m learning already).

In all seriousness we’re not going to see eye to eye on a myriad of topics. That’s totally cool too. The important part is that we keep our ears open and our mouths closed (at least for a moment). Process what’s being said. Listen to it in the context it’s being said. Attempt to put yourself in the shoes of the person that’s saying it. Then, after you’ve gone through those mini steps, make your voice be heard.

Protip: Ask yourself, “would I say this to the person’s face?”

Openly tell people you disagree with them in a respectful manner. Don’t be asses. It’s not necessary. Besides, when the tone of a voicemail, or email, or comment is angry or aggressive in nature, I guarantee your intended message isn’t getting through.

Life’s too short to sweat the small stuff. Let’s focus on what we have in common, not our differences. We can all bring the best parts of who we are and become something amazing. Something powerful. Something earth shattering.

Let’s be excellent to each other… starting… NOW!

A lot can be learned from that little engine that could…

It’s been a while since I’ve been able to say that I have a clean bill of health. Today is that day and it feels good. How good you ask? Like, tubing down a river on a warm summer afternoon in a man speedo good. I’ve just heard that feels really spectacular…

For those of you who didn’t know I had another scope yesterday. They used some kind of specialized scope that has the ability to actually go past the stomach and into the small intestine. I was asleep at the time but apparently they checked out the abnormalities they found a month ago and everything had healed! They said everything looked great.

During this entire process I’ve had a couple of thoughts and themes running through my mind.

• Gratitude – I can’t emphasize enough how grateful I am to God, my family, and all of you for your continued support and encouragement even though I’ve been going through a bit of a rough patch health wise.
• Patience – Waiting isn’t any fun but I’m convinced it makes us stronger. It’s made me stronger. It’s made me recognize the importance of keeping my eye on the prize and slowly working to reach that end.
• Modern Medicine - Even though I wasn’t crazy with the whole process of waiting and poor communication, I can’t help but be aware of the fact that 20 years ago getting a good look at my small intestine would have required some serious knife cuts. Technology is awesome.

What’s Next?

I have to admit that not knowing if I was 100% or not has been more of a challenge than I’ve let on. I haven’t known how hard I could push myself or if I was even safe working out at all. Yesterday’s news comes as a huge relief. Now I know that I can give it my all without the fear that something might happen to me.

I’m ready to step my game up.

There won’t be anymore 75%

There will be lots of water drinking and green food eating.

I’ll be better at saying thank you and showing my gratitude.

THANK YOU!

Now how can I help you?

Abnormal is an interesting word. The range of the word is pretty amazing.

Like, I’m sure abnormal was an adjective that people used to describe me in high school. I’ve grown out of it (yeah right), but it probably would have been a good way to depict my quirky, unconventional way of approaching the ladies. Apparently making a T-Shirt with a girl’s face printed on it isn’t a great way to say “I think you’re cute.” Who knew?

Abnormal is also a word that you could use to describe any one of the Wayans brothers or the way that Anthony Bourdain eats.

I think in a lot of ways we seek the abnormal. We’re drawn to things that don’t conform or aren’t part of every day life.

Dictionary.com definition:

not normal, average, typical, or usual; deviating from a standard

According to that definition abnormal can have a very positive connotation and a very negative one all at the same time. Let’s just say for the sake of conversation today that we’re talking in medical terms. Very few of us would think of abnormal in that context as a good thing right? Right.

That’s what I’m staring in the face today. Well, that’s what I was supposed to be staring in the face today. Remember a while back when I met Mr. Latex? Well, after that they had me swallow the magic pill camera which took some more pictures of my insides. Over three weeks passed and I never heard any results. I was feeling better and as far as I was concerned I was free and clear.

Then the phone rang.

Nurse Glove Love was on the other end of the line and she started talking about scheduling me for another procedure to get a closer look at my guts.

“Ummm… what the hell for nurse lady?” I thought to myself.

Me: How come?

Nurse: Did they not give you your test results yet?

Me: Nope

Nurse: Well, we found some abnormalities with the pill camera.

Me: What do you mean by abnormalities?

Nurse: Well, we’re not really sure, that’s why we have to schedule this new test, so we can get a closer look.

Me: Well don’t you even have any ideas? I mean, you know something’s not right, don’t you even have any ideas?

Nurse: I really can’t say.

Me: Well alright then, when can we do it? Tomorrow? Early next week?

Nurse: 3 weeks.

My jaw hit the floor. I have abnormalities floating around in my guts and you want to check it out in three weeks? Are you serious?

I knew it was going to be a long uneasy wait.

I awaited the alloted amount of time and today is that date that was scheduled so far into the future. Waiting for answers like this can be so mentally exhausting. Then yesterday they cancelled on me.

THEY CANCELLED ON ME!

Some mumbo jumbo about this being a new procedure and they weren’t going to have proper staffing, blah blah blah. I was seriously miffed. I couldn’t imagine why on earth I could possibly be going through this mental gauntlet.

I just want answers! Is that too much to ask?

Then I remembered a quote I heard a while back.

Storms make trees take deeper roots.  -Dolly Parton

Who knew Dolly was so wise? There was no way I was going to let one setback like that completely defeat me mentally. I’ve come too far to let something completely out of my control beat me down like that. I have control over my response to the situation. No one else does.

While there is probably another week of unanswered questions and anxiety ahead, I know that this is all going to end up making me a better person. I’m sure of it.

There’s a word I would use to describe my new way of looking at trials and obstacles.

Abnormal.

There are literally millions of blogs in the United States alone. An estimated 80,000 blogs are launched every single day. A percentage of those blogs find a niche in weight loss, or fitness, or clean eating. Take the authors of those blogs and give them the ability to interact with each other via comments and voila, you have a community.

For the most part it’s a pretty awesome thing. Support and encouragement are passed around like a playing card in a game of suck and blow. I know I’ve benefited from that support numerous times.

However, being exposed to so many talented athletes, chefs, weight losers, and fitness gurus brings with it a potential danger:

COMPARISON

This smacked me across the face this week when I got the following comment on my post about training for the Rock N’ Roll Vegas Half Marathon stroll around the bases:

I’m training for a 5k, small beans for you guys, but huge for me.

Now while the commenter did point out that it was huge for her, I hated that she referred to her great goal as “small beans.”

THERE ARE NO SMALL VICTORIES!

It’s true that we are going to read blogs about people who run 60 marathons in a year, or consistently create food that makes us salivate. We are going to find blogs where the writing is better than our own, or the creativity oozes out the seams. There are going to be blogs written by people who are faster, stronger, and maybe even smarter than we are, but it doesn’t matter. It’s irrelevant.

Did you know that the fact you do any kind of exercise 3 times a week for 30 minutes means you’re more active than half of America?

We involve ourselves so deeply in the healthy living community via blogs, Twitter, and other mediums, that we forget that not all of America lives a healthy lifestyle. In fact, 63% of American’s are obese or overweight. We need to be conscious of that.

Don’t allow yourself to live in a bubble of comparisons and feelings of self-doubt.

You need to know that you’re leading the pack.

You need to understand that passing on dessert tonight was a victory.

You need to know that being able to run for a minute longer than you could yesterday is a victory.

You need to know that being able to  think positively is a victory.

Your Life is Full of Victory.

Stop Comparing.

Be Proud.

Be Your Best Self.

Can you believe it?

Can you freaking believe it?

July 15th, 2009 marked the first day of the rest of my life. The day that I removed all things salty pork from my diet and replaced them with delicious chicken sausage and lots of green stuff. Oh, and I added some fruit too!

That was the day that I decided to play sports instead of simply watching them. I decided that day that the sideline was no longer a place for me to dwell. I mean, with my Tom-Brady-Like rugged looks underneath that suit of fat, how could I not get myself right back into the game?

The similarities are undeniable. Stop oogling ladies.

Since that day 369 days ago, I’ve lost 140 pounds. That’s an average weight loss of about 2.5 pounds per week. That’s something I’m pretty damn proud of! In fact, I think it’s worth celebrating don’t you?

Bust out the champagne and double chocolate fudge cake turkey burgers and protein shakes, let’s get this party started. Allow me to commence the dancing.

Now that you’re all tapping your toes to the sweet sounds of Naughty By Nature, take a seat (on your stationary bike of course) and get crazy with your next interval while I give you 14 reasons (1 for every 10 pound loss) that you should celebrate this year of healthy living with me.

1. I wouldn’t have been this successful without your support! – I believe, no, I know whole heartedly that you deserve this celebration as much (if not more) than I do.
2. One person parties are generally lame – Unless it’s at the gym of course! Even then, having a workout buddy can be good too.
3. If you don’t party with me I’ll be forced to eat this 55 gallon drum of protein powder on my own. – How quickly do you think I’d bulk up?
4. I’m going to start my new all spandex clothing line! - Seriously folks, you don’t want to miss this!
5. For every comment I get this week, I’ll be drinking a gallon of water - Have you ever seen the gallon challenge they do with milk? Times that by 100 or 1,000,000 (those are my closest comment estimates) and you’ll have one entertaining YouTube video!
6. I’m going to have a new blog post every day this week! - This is some type of miraculous event. Seriously, you may only witness this once every… well, year or so probably.
7. I’m going to release my first manly playlist - This is going to be a weekly gig. I’m going to be releasing a playlist every week that even the most manly of men can feel comfortable listening to. This idea originated when I found myself singing Fighter at the top of my lungs during a workout. Definite man card revocation material.
8. Another awesome cooking video – My first cooking video was a big success! The fact that I was able to pull it off without severing a limb or engulfing my home in flames made it a double bonus. Then I thought, why not give people a quick, easy meal idea every so often that is faster, healthier, and tastes better than something from those yellow arches (because there’s nothing golden about them)?
9. Childhood Photos – There may or may not be photos of myself wearing hammer pants and neon colored Looney Tunes tees in posts from this week.
10. Free workout plan – Another little thank you from me to you. I’ll give you a weeks worth of my workouts in a sweet little downloadable .pdf that you can either print wallet size and read with a magnifying class or print letter size and hang on your fridge.
11. Free nutrition plan – I’m going to give you a weeks worth of my menus for free. It will include all 6 meals that I eat during a day including nutritional value and recipes to make it all. The best part is, I never spend more than 30 minutes in the kitchen. I’m sure it will be a great guide for some meal planning. Also will come as a .pdf.
12. I’ll share what I’ve learned about overcoming mental obstacles – As far as I’m concerned this is the most valuable thing I can give you during this week of Spring Break Style partying. Bottom line is, if I can do it, literally anyone can. Just as Chef Gousteau believes that “anyone can cook,” I believe that “anyone can live a healthy life.” Yes, even you. You know who you are. Clear that doubt from your head and believe in yourself. I believe in you.
13. I may have some humorous material to share – I’ve got some pretty awesome stories that I think might just give even the most serious of readers a slight belly chuckle. Perhaps not a guffaw, but maybe a HA. Disclaimer: due to the fact that humor is indeed subjective, NMB may not be held responsible for lack of response to aforementioned “humor.”
14. I’m going to give a bunch of crap away – That’s right! I’m usually not too big on the giveaway, but I’ve been saving up my giveaways so we could have a bunch of fun this week. In fact, let’s kick the week off right, if you made it all the way to number 14 here, leave a comment and I’ll send you a free song from Amazon.com (for first 100 people).

This week is a celebration of health, community, friendship, and achieving some amazing goals! Now let’s start this party off right! Can somebody pass the carrot sticks?

How many times have you started dieting? I know for me it’s been at least a dozen times, probably more.

How many times have you been successful? For me you just take the number from the first question and subtract one. That’s pretty simple math even for me. If I have 6 apples and I take away 1 apple…

I have tried just about every “quick fix” out there, but until I decided I wanted to take on living a healthy life instead of just focusing on making a little (or big in my case) number on a digital scale get smaller, I was never successful.

A big part of my recent success I can attribute to a great program that has helped me to approach the mental aspect of weight loss. Saying that I’ve had a paradigm shift is a gross understatement. I’ve completely changed the way that I view living a healthy lifestyle.

However, even before I found IdealShape, something changed inside of me. Something triggered me to get motivated and take action. Something made me want to seek out a solution to the fat suit nightmare I was living in.

What was it?

I could insert a whole myriad of reasons for why I decided it was finally time for me to shed the pounds, but today I want to focus on something that often gets overlooked. That is, it’s not necessarily why we start, but that we start.

We all have different motivators:

• Swimsuit season
• Avoiding seatbelt extensions
• Not being afraid of rickshaws
• Feeling like we have control of our health
• Not just living longer but living BETTER

The list can go on forever (if you want more reasons from real life people, check out the W.I.D.T.H. posts over at Jack Sh*ts place).

The problem is that even with all of these reasons to be more active, eat a little better, and work a little harder; we still find our butts glued to the couch with some type of industrial adhesive that can only be removed by unicorn tears or baby vomit (household remedies that have been passed down for generations).

For every “I want to run a 5K,” there seems to be an opposing “I’ll start training on Monday.”

What I’ve found through the course of my many slipups, is that starting is the best way to battle any case of i-don’t-have-time-to-exercise or ice-cream-is-just-too-delicious. Rolling ourselves out of bed and getting going for our morning cardio is an amazing way to remedy any slump.

Whenever I work out or follow my eating plan perfectly I feel motivated to do it again and again. Right as I finish that last interval on the bike I think to myself “why do you fight this every morning? You feel so great once you’ve done it.” If we focus on taking the small step of starting our healthy living journey anew each and every day our motivation will turn to action. Action will generate results and we will find ourselves reaching our goals and dispelling the “I’ll start Monday” chants.

And for those of you who were planning on starting Monday…GREAT NEWS! Today’s Monday!

Oh and tomorrow is Monday too. And so is the next day, and the next day, and the next day…