Sam on Maui

Okay, its been a few days in, so... keep in mind that this is a developer's preview, but us weirdo enthusiasts can get in on it too .

"And now I see the face of god, and I raise this god over the earth, this god whom men have sought since men came into being, this god who will grant them joy and peace and pride. This god, this one word: 'I.'" Ayn Rand “You shall not make for yourself an idol, or any likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth. You shall not worship them or serve them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, on the third and the fourth generations of those who hate Me,  but showing loving kindness to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments." Exodus 20:4-6 Thanks, Chuck. "A little leaven leavens the whole lump of dough." Galatians 5:9

If you play paintball, you know that paint isn’t cheap. It might be inexpensive, but its never cheap. I recently bought 100 GXG reballs so I could practice shooting my marker at home. What is a reball? Basically it’s a rubber paintball – they’re reusable! But, in order to use them, I needed something to both shoot at and to collect the reballs. So, This was a simple project that only took a few minutes to complete, and was done very inexpensively. My total, pre-tax, was $21.85!

  I'm planning to do a review of Privateer Press' Iron Kingdoms RPG. So, the question is, "what would you like to hear?" I'll answer as best I can. I should note that I'm not super mechanically minded. So, amazing math questions and such might go over my head.

Huzzah! As of this morning I weighed 212.2lbs. Why is that such a big deal? Because when I started everything and ordered DDP Yoga back in mid-December, I was 223lbs! Today I've crossed the 10lb mark! Also, that's 7lbs since I started doing the yoga on January 1st. So ~3lbs was lost by diet alone! I'm quite thrilled with this, obviously. I've been doing Fat Burner more often in the program, and its definitely challenging again. I can do Energy! with no modifications on a good day, and even do it with my glasses off. Its nice being able to focus on doing instead of "what am I supposed to be doing again?" I'll get there with Fat Burner soon enough. I'm happy! I'm enjoying it! I'm doing DDP Yoga five times a week after work, as its stress relieving. I generally feel pretty good after, and dinner tastes better when I'm done.

So, done with my Week 5! Today was *hard* - Diamond Dozen and Fat Burner - but it was *great* The slower pace of the Diamond Dozen gave me time to think about what I was doing, so I made some improvements on my level of engagement. I don't quite know how to explain them (maybe I should draw it later?), but it really helped with Touchdown, Diamond Cutter, and anything involving my arms. In between DD and FB, I adjusted my heart-rate monitor from Polar's recommended zone settings to DDP Yoga's  (123-143). Fat Burner was indeed tougher due to the adjustments, but again, it was better for it. I was able to stay in the zone for most of the workout, and actually had to go to Safety Zone at least twice because I exceeded the top end of my zone. My average heart-rate was 119! That's an all time high average for me! Once I get some more practice in with Fat Burner, I'm hoping I can get my average up to 123... that'd be perfect! I wonder if I can do that for ...

A little early this week, considering I haven’t done my Friday training. That said, it’s the end of the month, so I want to see how things have progressed. I began on January 1, 2014, today is January 31, so that’s a good time period, right? Weight: 219.2lbs to 214.8lbs (-4.4) Chest: 42” to 41.75” (-.25”) Waist: 43.5” to 40.5” (-3”) Hips: 46” to 45” (-1”) Thighs: 23” to 22” (-1”) So, 4.4 pounds lighter, and 5.25” thinner! Not bad, eh? I did forget to include my bicep during my initial measurement, so I’ve had to record it as 14.5” in both the beginning and 30-day spots. Hopefully we’ll see progress there, although I’m not sure what things could/should look like. I’m getting better at doing the routine in Energy. Since I’m not fumbling about trying to keep up, I can work on doing things better. Last night I started tightening up and engaging muscles I hadn’t before, plus consciously not letting go on things as early as before. For some reason I’m having a little harder time ...

Closing in on the end of my first month, and I'm looking forward my updated measurements. This week was actually quite good! I did DDP Yoga Energy Monday through Thursday instead of just Monday and Wednesday. Unfortunately, I got busy Friday, so I didn't do Fat Burner on schedule. Wasn't happy about that! So, I did it late this afternoon, and plan to do it tomorrow as well. What's interesting is I'm looking forward to do DDP Yoga, even on the days I'm unscheduled! When I come home from work, I often excuse myself, head to the garage, and spend the next twenty minutes or so doing yoga. I'm also finding I'm enjoying my cleaner eating. I felt like I overate Saturday night at my friend's house, even though I kept myself relatively restrained. Not too much spaghetti, but too much garlic bread. Starting next week (haven't been to the store yet) I'll be bring a large salad with me on my Saturday tabletop game nights. Also, I ate at ...

I'm on week 3! Yay! I'm at the point in Energy where I can do a good portion of it without a lot of modification. Some stuff is still difficult, but overall I'm getting the hang of it. Since I'm familiar with it, I can focus more on doing things than how I'm doing things. Of course, the third session of week 3 changes everything, and Fat Burner brought a good challenge to it. I'll need to learn the routine, get comfortable, and then it should be pretty awesome :) Eating is going well. I'm not yet 100% compliant with Phase 1 eating, but that said? I'm eating more vegetables and cleaner than I have in a long time. Possible ever as an adult. So, from the 223lbs I was around December 20th when I ordered the DVDs and started working on Phase 1's menu, to January 1st's 219lbs? I'm now 215lbs. So, total of 8lbs lost over the course of 5 weeks, and only 3 weeks of which actually had me doing DDP Yoga and dietary changes at the same t...

Aaaand Week 2 check-in! I managed to practice on Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday! I'm 95% sure my allergies are being seriously set off by something, so while I wasn't feeling fantastic before, after this morning's session I was pretty beat. Monday and Wednesday were fine, and I actually started doing about 50% of Energy without as much modification on Wednesday. I was surprised by how much of a difference that made in my heart-rate! Wow! Hopefully the air will clear up or something so I can be back to 100% on Monday. Eating has been pretty good. Right now I'm having a late breakfast (two eggs, seasoned black beans, and about half a cucumber). Need to find healthy beverages I like, though! Ah well, one step at a time :) (originally posted on 1/11/14)

DVDs? Check. Heart-rate monitor? Check. A place to train? Check. And thanks to some folks at www.TeamDDPYoga.com, I've entered a "3-times a week" Challenge, as it seems perfect for a beginner like me :) So far so good, although I did Energy Wednesday, Thursday, and this morning (Saturday). The rest days seem well placed, but I sort of crammed them in to make the challenge. Well, that and I wanted to do it today! Little bit of trouble with the heart-rate monitor. Its a Polar FT1, and doesn't always get my heart rate. I don't know if its a bad unit, a poor quality unit, or if I'm doing something wrong (very likely). Starting Monday I'll start a food diary (yay smartphones), but I've already cleaned up my eating quite a bit since seriously looking into DDP Yoga. So, I've regularly had salads for lunch, my breakfasts have been pretty good (albeit nothing special), ...

I’ve been working on my diet lately, which has been a good thing. A recent physical had my doctor concerned about my weight, blood sugar, cholesterol, etc., so changes are in order. But, that said? There’s a few big buzzwords I’ve heard I should avoid – not from my doctor but by friends, the internet, etc. Mulling it over, some of these things are subject to good ol’ fashioned hysteria. If you listen to the most extreme of voices, they’ll kill you, your dog, and burn down your house (or something along those lines). I can sort of understand some of the more sane things said, but not being a doctor or nutritionist, nor knowing good sources to verify the claims? That’s sort of dangerous, and I don’t want to inadvertently “drink the Kool-Aid,” as it were. So, thinking it over, I’ve come up with the following reasons I'm cutting back on foods with the HFCS, gluten, and dairy..