Congrats Bro

So my brother was one of nine public officials recognized by Governing magazine for 2014. As you may know he is currently the General Manager of DC Water Way to go bro! We are all, as always, proud of you. George is the one in the upper left corner of the picture below.

Governing Article:

Introducing the 2014 Public Officials of the Year

I went to http://www.governing.com and what do I see on the top page? A big picture of Cleveland! Check it out, it's an article about where people have lived the longest.

December Challenge and the Holiday Hold

Happy December!

With Thanksgiving behind us, and the evil black friday, it is time to get on with the Christmas season. Arisa wasted no time in decking the house out in boughs of folly. No, holly. If you ever struggle with a present for Arisa, a Christmas ornament will always be acceptable.

Per my Holiday Hold post, the goal is to maintain or lose weight through this Holiday season. I weighed in at 167 (clothes on at weigh in for the Hyland Holiday Hold) on the 24th of November. This morning I was 160.4 just before jumping into the shower, so I'm guessing 164 clothed. But I have been at this weight for the last couple of days. Which is a little frustrating. Well, just a little but perhaps more pressing because I am so close to the 150s. I've seen it a couple of times after losing water weight from a workout. But not at a legitimate weigh-in.

Writeslikeshetalks - Senator Warren goes after Walmart

Ah, Walmart. Arisa Hawkins went to Walmart yesterday as final shot at getting some Christmas Ornaments - everywhere else was sold out of the item she was looking for. Yes, she's very picky. Anyway, somebody approached and asked her if she was the one selling food stamps.

Rumors have it the lady really needed to be talking to the Russian mafia since they're the ones selling the food stamps. And Arisa does not look Russian. Chinese or Korean maybe, but not Russian.

Anyway, saw an interesting article by Jill entitled "How Much Walmart Gave To Ohio Legislative Candidates, as U.S. Senator Warren Goes After Walmart". I was talking to someone at work about minimum wages, Walmart and other places that don't pay a living wage. Clearly raised in a "Tea Party" family he very much espouses the mantra that the wages are between Walmart and the employee, that it's a contract.

Random Thoughts - Engine 2 Diet 28 Day Challenge

So as I mentioned in a previous post I finished my Engine 2 Diet 28 Day Challenge with some really nice results. This post is just a few random thoughts I had that are prompted by participating in the Challenge.

I really don't have anything planned to say this time around so we'll see what happens. We'll all be surprised.

So let's start with something thought provoking: my farts stink.

How's that for a starting topic?(!)

Seriously thought they stink. Actually I should stay the smell is different. Clearly it is from the change in diet and the substantial increase in the amount of beans I eat. Black beans, kidney beans, navy beans, beans, beans and more beans. But it's also because I am eating more vegetables across the board. I bring this up because while I remember thinking about it during the challenge, this morning my wife, Arisa, told me that smell of my breath was different. She didn't say "bad" she said different. And I asked for the clarification. Twice.

Progress to Celebrate - Kinda Sorta

Last night we had great Thanksgiving dinner. We had traditional Turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes covered in gravy. We added some #plantstrong dishes as well. I added the Sweet Potato Bowl from the Engine 2 Diet. I also saw some really good looking recipes on +forksoverknives (Forks Over Knives Plant-based Thanksgiving Recipes post). I was going to make a couple of them then realized we had way to much food so I just picked the Brown Rice Casserole with Lentils. So we had that for dinner.

Wrap Up - Engine 2 Diet 28 Day Challenge

Tuesday was the final day of the challenge so I had my blood test done again on Wednesday morning. The numbers pretty much speak for themselves actually. But I like to babble so you will have to wait. ;-)

So the 28 Day Challenge ended on Tuesday night but Wednesday was a busy day besides getting my blood work done and meeting with the Dietitian. So I treated it pretty much like any other day of the 28 day challenge. Thursday night though we went to Pacific East in Coventry in Cleveland Heights for our year end Board of Directors Meeting for the Japanese Association of Northeast Ohio (JANO). Reality is that I really like sushi and if I had not been mindful I would have eaten way more than I should have.

One of the take aways I have from the Hyland sponsored nutrition classes I took this summer, meeting with the Dietitian, but most of all through implementing it during the 28 Day Challenge is being aware of eating when I am eating. So Thursday night with literally a miniature boat of sushi placed in front of my I started to go into shark mode - a mindless feeding frenzy. Until I caught myself and realized that I was stuffing my face as fast as I could - so I slowed down and noticed that I was actually full. So I stopped eating. VICTORY!

Holiday Hold 2015

Similar to last year, Hyland is sponsoring a Holiday Hold.

Most Americans gain an average of about one pound during the holidays*. While this might not seem like much, they usually don’t lose it, and over time it adds up. Kick off your Thanksgiving week with the annual Holiday Hold!

Obviously the goal of the Holiday Hold is to maintain your weight over the holidays. Of course losing weight is also a perfectly acceptable option. This year at Hyland, we are weighed on November the 24th at work. Since it is at work it means we are clothed as opposed to weighing myself just before I jump in the shower. (Too much information?). In fact, I have seen people, and there are rumours that I was one of them, that did not remove their sweaters or anything else that added a little weight at the starting weigh in- shorts an t-shirts at the ending weight in of course!(sadly, I still failed, sigh.

Also similar to last year, I intend to invite my siblings to participate. Of course *you* dear anonymous user may also participate. Just add a comment to this post on the 24th with you starting weight. Then on January 5th, 2015 post a comment with your ending weight.

Two years ago I failed while last year I achieved the hold. We'll see what happens this year as I am starting just as I finish my Engine 2 Diet 28 Day Challenge so I am the lightest I've been since quitting smoking. The award for succeeding in the Neohawk Holiday Hold is the satisfaction of a goal accomplished. No more, no less.

Well, that's enough for me anyway.

Week 3 Recap - Engine 2 Diet 28 Day Challenge

Happy SaturdaySunday! I spent 3-4 hours shoveling the snow off our driveway(yesterday). May not be exercise from Rip's books but it was a lot of work and sweat. So I'm going to count it anyway.

Speaking of Rip, I finally got my Engine 2 Diet book back from the Hyland dietitian. So the general theme for Rip, as well as his father's, is diet. Make your diet #plantstrong and good things will happen. That is not the only message though, particularly with Rip who as a triathlete knows the importance of exercise in all of this. In fact, the whole entirety of Chapter 6 is about exercise with pictures to help you learn. In fact he has a host of Youtube videos with stretches and then workouts(and #2) to help guide you.

Engine2 Diet 28 Day Challenge Week 2 Update

So if you are following this Challenge (all two of you), you know that last week started of with a power outage at work so I didn't get to meet with the dietician. This week, however, I did get to meet with the dietician so I was able to update her on progress and get my bodyfat % checked with that doohicky. But before I reveal the latest and greatest numbers let me talk a little bit about this week.

So normally I spend my Sunday afternoons on the elliptical watching the Cleveland Browns. I started during last year's NFL season for two reasons 1) to do something other than sitting on the couch and stuffing my face, and 2) to protect my TV - last year's Browns were absolutely pathetic, even though they were better last year than under Pat Shurmur.

Week 1 Recap - Engine 2 Diet 28 Day Challenge

So Wednesday was started Week #2 of my Engine 2 Diet 28 Day Challenge. Normally I would have met with the dietician on Wednesday to review the week and take my Body Fat % measurement with that little gadget she's got. The power company had other plans for us - we were sent home due to a power outage and a failure in the backup generator.

Wednesday is also my spinning class but since we went home early Arisa and I ended up going to Planet Fitness where I did the PF 30 Minute Express circuit for the first time in ages. I really like that workout since you can push yourself as much or as little as you are up to on a given day. And you can see progress over time as the weights or reps increase as you get in better shape. But I'll tell you my arms have been killing me for the last two days because of it! I keep telling myself that old adage No Pain No Gain.

And So It Begins [28 Day Challenge]

Happy Sunday, Go Browns!Welcome to Day 5 of my Engine 2 Diet 28 Day Challenge.
I as I said in my last post I am taking the Engine 2 Diet 28 Day Challenge. I started a hybrid version prior to kicking off on last Wednesday to get in the mindset and learn how to prepare some of the meals so the challenge wouldn't be such a shock. Actually, in the 28 Day Challenge there is a Firefighter version and a Fire Cadet version. The Firefighter version is cold turkey immersion into a plant-strong lifestyle for 28 days. The Fire Cadet version is for those fainter of heart and removes various things over the first three week. For example, the first week is no meat or processed foods, the second week implements no dairy, and the third is to eliminate extracted oils.
What I did was similar in that I drastically cut back on everything - I haven't really had milk that much if I had soy milk around. Even had some of the Engine 2 meals for dinner which means I wasn't having meat. I didn't really do the regimented way of eliminating the E2Diet non-compliant foods but cut way, way back on them replacing them with fruit and vegetables.

28 Day Challenge

Beginning on October 22, 2014 I will start the Engine 2 Diet's 28 Day Challenge. Arisa is going to do a modified version, but already there is no meat other than fish in the house!

Okay, so the last time I posted on my blog was almost a year ago and this my first post of 2014. My last post was about the Holiday Hold that I did last year through the New Year. I actually did lose weight an ended up under 170. At least for a short while anyway.

Well, it's October a year later and the news isn't so good. I ended up putting back almost all the weight. While my official "Holiday Hold" weight was 178, prior to that I had been as heavy as 190 pounds. At 5'5" that made me obese. (Using BMI of 32 to mean obese) So when I say I put almost all the weight back on, I was 5 pounds short of 190. When I hit 185 again I decided I couldn't wait anymore, so in late August I started making changes.