So it’s been a few weeks since I’ve posted a blog. A lot has happened (Saints won the Superbowl, Who Dat?) since my last post. I couldn’t do the vegan thing. Never really went out of my way to actually try but just the thought eventually turned me off. Moving on, I have crept into the 270’s after an extended mental and physical plateau. I was down to maybe 1 night a week in the gym. I don’t know how I didn’t gain any weight but I’m happy for it.

 I can’t believe that I’ve lost almost 40 pounds! It’s truly exhilarating. Anyhow, today I want to talk about the little things that creep in and throw your weight loss off track. I like to call them weight loss wrenches. For example. The other night I come home to the smell of Kentucky Fried Chicken. I tried my best not to succumb to the temptation but I eventually did (I did peel off the skin though!). There’s countless other goodies that my wife is bringing into the house in spite of previous discussion. I guess these are comforting to her but they were destroying my will to continue on my journey.

I was saved by a friends blog on eating for energy . If you’ve read my about page you see that I was and avid BMX racer. He’s my former trainer and the trainer of the Silver and Bronze BMX medalists from the 2008 Beijing Olympic games. Reading that really helped me get me focused back on my original goal, 200lbs by New Years. Nothing that I was doing was going to help me get there. So I guess the message here is that no matter how things may seem to be, it’s really not that bad. Something will happen that will try to get you off track. Its inevitable. Take some deep breaths and before putting anything into your mouth ask yourself this. “Is this going to help me get to my goal?” Be honest with yourself and you can’t go wrong.

Well that’s it for today, I have a date with the stairmaster. Peace.

Last week I made an effort to lose 8lbs. The first 5 days of the week went great. I was inspired and energized throughout the week. I don’t know what happened between Friday night and yesterday but I fell off the horse. I didn’t eat good or do anything that resulted in perspiration. Slacker, I know. I guess my body was telling me it needed a few days off. One good thing I did do over the weekend was start to research raw food diets. Here’s a good summary of the purpose raw foods from http://www.living-foods.com .

What are Living and Raw Foods?
Raw and Living Foods are foods that contain enzymes. In general, the act of heating food over 116 degrees F destroys enzymes in food. (Enzymes start to degrade in as little as 106 degrees F). All cooked food is devoid of enzymes, furthermore cooking food changes the molecular structure of the food and renders it toxic. Living and raw foods also have enormously higher nutrient values than the foods that have been cooked.

So yea, sounds interesting and considering I woke up with a huge stomach ache this morning (from eating some crap late last night), I’m seriously thinking of giving it a try. In fact I’m going to do it. To be continued…..

I generally include videos with all my blog posts but this will be an exception. I’ve really been thinking of why I’m not losing weight as fast as I think I should be. This entry will contain the harsh truth, so be prepared to be told how it is. I’ve basically got 5 reasons, aside from serious health issues, that you (and I) aren’t losing weight. Lets go.

1. You are a bullshitter

Yes I said it. I’m sure I’ll get some emails about it but I’m keeping it 100 here. What I mean by the statement is this; You’ll find any excuse to avoid doing the work required to burn calories. I’ve heard (and used) any and every excuse out there. I’m tired, I’ll go tomorrow, My (insert body part) hurts, I don’t have the time, etc. All that is bullshit. You know it and I know it. Another characteristic of a bullshitter is making false promises to self and others. False new years resolutions, I’ll eat healthy at my next meal, I had a salad earlier so this (insert bad food) won’t make me gain weight. You get the idea. You may be ok with lying to yourself but I’m tired of bullshitting.

2. You are in love with processed foods

Just about anything you eat out of a box, bag, can, or bottle has been pumped full of preservatives and other random chemicals you cant pronounce. You don’t believe me? Lets take a look at a random item from my pantry.

Now I’ve never eaten one of these but yes they are in my cupboard. The first thing I notice is that the serving size is 5 crackers. Who eats 5 crackers? Anyhow those 5 are good for 70 calories, 3.5 grams of fat and 220 milligrams of sodium. Yikes! and again who eats just 5? I’m not going to get into all of the 26 ingredients listed on the side, but just one. High fructose corn syrup. Go watch Food Inc and The future of food if you dare. So my new motto is “If it didn’t swim, walk, fly or grow out of the earth I’m not eating it.” Stop eating for taste people. It’s killing you.

3. You’ve become lazy

We live in a country where people can cruse through life with minimal consequence. We have access to just about any vice imaginable, and addicted to sedentary entertainment. I’m sure that most of you have had a least one point in time where you were reasonably fit and active. For most of us it was sometime during our childhood. These are the most coveted memories most people have. Days were filled with fun, no work, no responsibility and no accountability. It may have been your high school days when you could fit into your “skinny” jeans. But you get my drift. What’s happened since then? Laziness. No need to really go into depth, but remember all those coulda shoulda woulda moments? Yea, that’s laziness.

4. You live vicariously through others

A lot of people are guilty of this. It’s ok to admire that top athlete or actress but when you start imagining yourself in their shoes (or clothes) something is wrong. When you start trying to talk like or dress like someone and you’re over 18, you have a self esteem issue. This also ties into the whole gym anxiety thing I talked about a few months ago. When you identify with someone else more than yourself, you feel exposed in social settings. For people wanting to lose weight, its more than likely going to be a gym. Stop being afraid of what other people are going to think about you. In the grand scheme of things it never really matters. You must ingrain the I don’t give a damn about what anyone else thinks ideology into your mind if you have this problem.

5.You don’t have a real plan

A lot of us have good intentions when we “diet” but be honest with yourself. How many times have you found yourself hungry as a hostage but didn’t have access to a healthy meal? It happens all the time. This is simply lack of prior planning. How about trying to work out after a long day at work? More than likely isn’t going to happen( see#1). This is why I try to workout as early as possible in the day. This really makes you think about what you’re eating for the remainder of your day. You won’t want that cheeseburger as much after a morning of good cardio work. Well that’s all I got for now. I hope that if you see yourself in any of these 5 reasons, you can can muster up the fortitude to do what you need to do to lose the weight. Let’s keep it real in 2010. Remember only you can change you. Peace.

Greetings once again. Today I pulled out my trusty stability ball and popped in the DVD. This is an excellent, low impact workout. The ball that I use from Walmart is weighted so you can really get a full body workout. Another great benefit is the cost. I have checked my old receipt and it was $19 + tax. You’re not going to burn a ton of calories because the pace is slower and only 30 minutes but it will have you sweating. The Golds Gym Stayball gets a big thumbs up from Geesjourney.com!

Today marks the beginning of the third annual biggest loser contest at my job. I’m in serious contention to take home top honors this year. I weighed in today at 296.4 lbs on the official contest scale (294 and then 291 at home). Time to do work.

Happy New Year! Welcome to 2010. Please do me a big favor and spare yourself the agony of making a new years resolution. It’s a waste of time. A calender shouldn’t designate when you’re going to start changing your life. Only you can make take the steps necessary to do so. On another note. I’m working on a forum to share your weight loss stories, diet plans, favorite exercises, and reviews. They should be live pretty soon so stay tuned. Enjoy the video.

Tired is the only word I have for this workout. Word of advise. Don’t take 15 days off your workout. It’s not a good idea.

Vacation Vacation Vacation! I headed off to my beloved San Diego for a quick cruise to Catalina Island & Ensenada, Mexico. Unfortunately there was a big thunderstorm awaiting my arrival. The first night on the ship was extremely rocky and had quite a few passengers holed up in bathroom stalls. After the storm passed it was smooth sailing. Catalina was beautiful as you’ll see in the video and Ensenada was definitely a tourist trap with a few hidden historical gems. At least 250 people tried to sell me things or services in the 12 hours we were there. We also went to see La Bufadora, one of the three naturally occurring blowholes in the world. As we returned to San Diego the rain started up again. We rented a car and drove up to Oceanside which was surprisingly dry. It was good to go back home again. It reminded me why I’m doing what I’m doing to lose weight. Happiness.

Wait, what’s this? A post with no video? I was cruising a fellow weight loss blogger’s site and came across a challenge for the month of December. We’re 6 days in already but I’m planning on loosing 12 lbs(279) by January 1st. This is going to take some serious work, but you guys know how I do it. It’s going down even with the vacation next week. Wish me luck.

“If hard work pays off then easy work is worthless
My work habit ain’t no habit man, I do it on purpose
I push myself to the limit so my talent’ll surface”

This moment  reminds me so much of one of the songs that’s on my mp3 player. Fellow St. Louisan Nelly released “Heart of a Champion” in 2005. (You can listen to it here ) If you follow me on twitter you probably saw me tweet this the other night “I’m realizing that weight loss is 20 percent exercise, 30 percent diet and 50 percent mental.” Be honest. Are you mentally prepared to change yourself?