Rogue Challenge: Day 9 - ROUGH START

ROGUE CHALLENGE
Week 1: June 21 thru June 29th
Miles Walked: 14
Average Speed: 3MPH

Let me ask you a question what is greater +14 or + 7.6?

The 14 is the number of miles I walked last week.  I am pretty proud of that. 

the 7.6 is the number of weight I gained last week.  That was a sock to me, or was it?  I ate bad.  I did not discipline myself with the self discipline I needed to.  Is that failure?  It could be.  However, from most failures in my life comes learning.

There will always be stress in my life.  So, I have to handle it better.  I have to react better.  Stress creates hunger for me.  They say this is a proven fact, I don't know if it is or not.  I know that eating In and out night after night isn't the answer.  Eating french fries isn't the answer.  I have to hold strong and be true.  Eating bad doesn't only impact my waste line, but it also impacts me on a day to day basis.  My mood is shit.  I am tired.

the other question I have is why, why after every big success, I have a fall.

Well not matter what, it is OK, it is, b/c I am making arrangements with Chrissy and the Reset Challenge people to continue  on the path!  Starting a 12 week program with her and I am we are going to get this ship back on track!  I am not going to wait around.  I am going to take the bull by the horns and kick a little ass! 

However 14 miles in one week, not to shabby!!!!!  I am going to say that is greater than the weight gain b/c I still fit into all my clothes.  I still feel really good.  so no looking back, only push forward!  The Rouge Challenge is on!!!

ROGUE Challenge: Day 2 - needing struture

Rogue Challenge Day 2:  20 minute walk @ 2.5 mph.  

My car is just to the left of this picture, out of site.  I literally, only needed to walk past the cement turn left, and get into car and drive.  This is how close I was to going off track today.  Which is day 2 of the Rogue challenge, but honestly, it really day 1, because yesterday, I knowingly and willingly went off the RESET Challenge.  I had some popping corn, a little ice cream, and a bagel.  All of which are not on the approved list, but things I ate them, knowing today I would get back on track.  However, I didn't realize just how hard it was going to be to get back on track. 

I woke up with a sugar hang over from eating that crap yesterday.  I had a really hard time getting out of bed and getting going this a.m. My stomach feels full, really full.  I am uncomfortable and generally irritable. 

Work is stressing me out, the next week will be a  whirlwind.   A run to quarter end always is.  this is a bit different b/c I am operating without back up to some extent.

Worst is the food I spent yesterday preparing i have absolutely no interest in eating right now.  Then only thing that sounded good to me is something that ends in Za or fry.  I battled it.  I did, I can't tell you how long I did battle it.  I sat here and battled it.  However, i just didn't think the lettuce, salsa chicken, and salsa sounded good.  So, I said you know what I am stressed.  I can go, I can go eat some pizza from Whole Foods, I mean at least is from Whole Foods right?  That will be ok.  I am stressed.  So, I grabbed my phone, my wallet and my shades and I stood up and I headed for the car.  I felt bad, physically, like I was hung over.  However, I am also mentally exhausted. 

So, there I was at the edge of the 2nd row of the parking lot and I stopped.  I just stopped and stood there.  I felt the sun on my face and the wind in my hair.  I didn't really think about anything.  I just stood there stared out the path in the picture above.  i turned and looked at the building for a long time, staring at the huge 4140 hanging above the door.  I turned back and stared into the distance.  I turned and looked towards 580 and just stood. 

I stood there with the sun on my face and I snapped the picture above.  And I decided, I am not going to let sugar and weakness rule my life.  I have worked to hard over the last 30 days to just fold up and start eating pizza at ever turn.  So, I texted Chrissy and said I was close to breaking but i caught myself and I went on a 20 minute walk.  Came up stairs and had some cashews and wrote this blog. 

I won this round.  I won't always win.  However, I am winning more battles these days than losing.  I also realized that I need structure in my life.  I need the challenges to keep me on the path.  I have to have something to work for, otherwise i am lost at sea.  So, I see now the benefit of being on the Rogue Challenge and here is to 90 days of living without sugar, dairy, and all the other things that make me go coo-coo for coco puffs as they say.  Cleaning living.  90 days!  I can do this.

Rogue Challenge: Day 1 – The Crawl

Rogue Challenge Day 1: 3.2 miles at 3 mph in 62 minutes, this is our starting point.  

Food: Had coffee and a bagel today, we won't do that again as it made me very sick to my tum.  So it is back to the RESET Challenge for me.  

Bloggers Note: for the uneducated a definition of the “THE CRAWL”:  The opening crawl is the signature device featured in every film of the series. It opens with the static blue text, "A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away....", followed by the Star Wars logo and the crawl text, which describes the backstory and context of the film.

Episode 22

ROGUE CHALLENGE

  

A long time ago, in a galaxy far,  far away....

 It is a period of change.  Billy b, aka Rogue 22, has decided to take on the world of Endurance Athletics once again, he has won his won his first victory on the road to recovery and endurance athletics by completing a 30 day RESET Challenge which was he was guided through by RESET Master Yoda Chrissy.

During the RESET Challenge, Rogue 22, along with his co-work General Sundev Solo, aka Rogue 27, managed to sign up for not one but two races at Disneyland called the Rebel Challenge.  This two day event covers 19.3 miles over 24 hours with the reward of being able to call yourself a Rebel finisher afterwards.  The Race has a 16 minute mile race pace, which will be challenging; however, the overall journey is what Rogue 22 is really after.

Rouge 22 has decided that to help prepare for the race, he would enlist the help of former Walking Master Janna Clark to help build him a race training program to help push him beyond the limits of his current physical endurance.  Also, he has decided to follow the teaching the of Master Yoda Chrissy and go back on the RESET Challenge for another 3 months starting tomorrow.  There will be no coffee, no cheese, no sugar, for him as he tries to bring balance to the force and his own god self.  He believes with the right combination of diet and exercise he can, shave the time off his pace and move to a run walk that just might get him to the finish line.  With the ultimate goal of bringing endurance events back in his galaxy....

Um .. ya so basically we have some racing to do:

 Star Wars 10K

Disneyland® Resort
Saturday, January 16, 2016 

Star Wars Half Marathon

Disneyland® Resort
Sunday, January 17, 2016

Also the Rouge Challenge as I am calling it, is following the RESET Challenge Eating plan for the next three months (and probably for the rest of my life) with a few cheat days planned in advance for things that might come up from time to time but only once a month or so.  Plus, the training for the Rebel challenge which are the races listed above.  I have my work cut out for me but never say never.  If the mind can conceive and believe, then it can achieve.  But as I said above this is all about the journey on the Highway to hell, no no, not hell, the Highway to Health and Happiness.  I think this is the next evolution point for me.  Another guy at work tried to talk me out of doing the half marathon b/c he kept saying it is 13.1 miles, and I was like yes, I know, I have done that 9 times already.  This isn't my first dance with dragons and it won't be my last.  I feel like the force or KA or destiny is with me.  I feel like my time is now.  I think it is the time of Rogue 22 and this is this Challenge the Rogue Challenge is going to be something quit awesome I am sure.  I came off the RESET Challenge with to much momentum to loose.  I can't stop now.  There is no turning back.  There is no looking back.  The time of Billy b is now, I am more sure than ever, I am exactly where i need to be in my life right now. It is time to stand and be true.  Even is this is the worst crawl I have ever written :)  I know it is my time.  

Btw, don't my shoes totally look like R2-D2 colors?

And that isn't even planned, I just pulled them out of the closet today and they just sort of matched up.  They are like twinkies, which gives me an idea... for the race

hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

RESET Challenge: The Results of the Reset are in….

RESET Challenge: The Results of the Reset are in….

30 days and nights of cleaning living came to a conclusion yesterday.  I have to admit, I am really proud of how it all went down.  However, there is an edge of fear hanging over me as well.  The fear is living without rules, not having a challenge to face.  Not having a short-term goal to stick too.  The fear is moving backwards.  It is knowing I have some flexibility in my diet.  However, those fears can be contained because I know what it is I must do.  I know Coffee and Sugar are not my friends.  They make me feel sluggish.  I had my first cup yesterday in 30 days and I didn’t like how I felt the rest of the day.  I also had some tortilla chips yesterday or was it the day before and you guessed it made me feel sluggish and my mind was slow and dense.  This is not my path.  I have to be strong and I have to keep up the fight.  I will.  I have to sit down with Chrissy and come up with a plan to help me reach my goals.  There is a long path ahead and we are on the path to the promise land.  However we must be patient and stay the course.  Eat meats, veggies, maybe some fruit, but most of all eat at home!  Prepare your own food.  It is important!  So important that I must stay the course, I have dreams on the horizon.  I have a tower that I am chasing, and I now know the bath of the beam.  1) Put myself only in situations I can succeed in. 2) Surround myself with like-minded people with big goals.  3) Surround myself with people that make a positive influence on me, that make me want to get better, and make me happy, not people who take advantage, drag me down, or have there own alternative agendas. 4) Believe. 5) Know the only thing in this world I can control is myself, and the decision I make are my own, I am a big boy now and the wheel of KA will carry me to my promised land.  Anything is outside of my sphere of influence.  If people don’t want to see me or be around me or talk to me, that is on them not me and I can’t do anything about it.  If people are negative and trying and can’t find the good in life and see that we make our own destiny that is on them, not me.  If people want to drop there chaos on me, and think I am just some sap who will take it, they are gravely mistaken, after all I believe chaos is the root of change, and change is my ally.  This world, my world, is mine now, and I control it, not my stomach, stress, or fear of failure.  After all, don’t you know that…..

The Tower is Closer!!!!!!

On to the Results:

Total Weight lost on the 30 day Challenge:

20 pounds in 30 days, that my friends is not to shabby.  Above is a bag of pinto beans, can you believe, I cared that every where with me.  Today when I weighed I was one pound down, so of the 1.8 i gained last week, we lost 1 of it and I am sure I am a good walk and um you know a deuce aways from getting that back.  However, 20 lbs in am fuck ya!  If did that for the rest of the year That would be another 120 pounds gone and I would half way to my goal.  NOW, I am not gonna be unrealistic and I know my body won't shed weight that fast, BUT, we are on a great start and should be able to drop another 50 this year if we do it the right way and take it off slow and that would put me at 100 lbs down, do you realize how great I am going to feel 100 lbs lighter?  Do you?  It is going to be fucking fantastic!  I will dance the jig on my coffee table, and let people tape, I shit you not, I swear to god when I get to 100 lbs, I am going to dance the fucking jig!

My Waist change:

1.5 inches came off my waist.  I have to take another 4.5 off before I can get into the jeans I want to fit into.  However, look at the screw, I did that in 30 days of living good.  That is pretty damn impressive.  I gee great about that.  I am so happy.  I see the results and I feel the results and over all, am getting better and better each and ever day!!!!

My Hips change:

I am a man who loves a nice set of hips, I am not gonna lie about that, I have always been a leg and and ass man.  I am not 100% sure why that is relevant here and it probably is not but sometimes you go where the words take you.  Anyway, I dropped 3 inches off my hips.  That is your standard every day brand new yellow crayon lost.  That make me feel pretty good. I mean I got big ass legs, and am a wide load and seeing that much come off makes me feel good!

My thigh change:

I remember planing my dads garden, I remember being a teenager out there working against my will and hating every fucking minute of it.  Strange is sometime I miss it now.  However, every time I shit you not my dad told me to plan something he would say plant it an inch or an inch and 1.5 apart and then he would say "You know about the size of your peter?"  Then grin and laugh.  that is my dad and I am my fathers son and that sense of humor sticks with me to this day.  Now my Dad always called me thunder things growing up.  It is the truth, my thighs are thick and I have always liked having big legs.  It help me drive my legs as a fullback.  I think it gave me good power base when I swung a bat. I think it also helped me ride hills when I was 415 pounds.  I have not issue with having big legs.  Even when I loose weight and get to my goals, I plan on having huge fucking thighs that will pull me up and down hills on the bike with less effort than others.  However, all that being said over the last 30 days I have to say I was a little surprised to see that I lost another inch and a half on my thighs.

My Calf Change:

So if I got thunder thighs, I have fucking huge calves.  Not the biggest I have ever seen, but I have thick calves thought are powerful.  You try to carry to people around every day of your life and see if you don't end up with strong muscular calves.  My parents have commented on it.  Coach Janna has commented on it, especially when veins start popping out of them when I am riding up hill. Even Mom Alvina told me once that I had really nice legs and I take pride in that =)

I mean they don't look special to me but that is a big fucking Calf isn't it.  Well, I lost a a quarter inch off my calf.  So apparently this is slight smaller than it was a month ago;

My Chest Change:

This one is weird to me.  IT could be the shirt I had on.  It could be where we measured from.  I am not sure but my chest actually grew an inch and a half.  I don't under stand that?  Then again for some reason, I don't really are about my chest.  But it went up an inch and half and it is what it is.  You can see form above what that looks like.

My god, what a great twenty days.  Our new life and new challenge starts tomorrow.  I am excited!  WE are going roll hard, but keep it under control.  The world is mine and my tower is CLOSER!

RESET Challenge: Day 29, and Day 30, and the Rest of My life

I have first have to thank Chrissy Bernazzani and Reset Nutrition and Fitness for the last 30 days.  I think this is the start of a very long and beautiful partnership that will ultimately put me on the finish line of my goals.  Chrissy’s challenge has been amazing and she is super supportive and always there to provide guidance.  This Challenge has been a game, not a game but a life changer for me.  So thank you so much!  

https://www.facebook.com/Eat2BeeHealthy?fref=ts

So here we are at the end of the Challenge.  What was the first thing I did today being off the RESET challenge; I had my first cup of coffee in 30 days!  You know what, missed it big time!  I am on the fence about whether or not I am going to start drinking the coffee again, I love the taste, but I am not so sure I really need it.   So, the debate begins in my head coffee or no coffee.  Looking back at the last 30 days that is about the only thing that is really up for debate, as I don’t see myself really changing what I am doing from a “diet” point of view.  The truth is we have known for some time that I am a junky and an over eater.  I think there are two factors that propagate tis more than anything else: 1) Sugar and 2) Stress of the SS (Sugar and Stress) and I am not 100% sure in that order either. 

Processed sugar is the work of the devil.  I am more convinced about that now than ever, but any sugar in my system leads me to want more sugar.  It makes me want to have more sugar.  I crave it.  I dream about it when I am using.  I am a person of extremes and I have very little balance, especially when it comes to sugar.  I eat twice as much when I am on the sugar, b/c I crave it and I hunt for it. Therefore, barring special occasion and holidays, I have decided that sugar in all forms even honey, syrup, and fruit are off limits.  I don’t feel the least bit deprived when I don’t have these things.  Really, I don’t.  I mean on occasion.  I think this is key to my long term health and wellbeing.  I can be the boy by the statue again, I can be the kid in the green shirt again, but it will take staying away from not just the devil powder but also the fruit. 

The second thing that will keep me away from achieving my goals and missing the opportunity to get to my tower is stress.  My situation changed in my career over the last three weeks and stress has really kicked in during the last two weeks.  I can tell the difference.  I want to eat everything when I am under stress.   I want to eat nachos, I want to eat pizza, ice cream, cookies, cake, you name it I want to eat and I crave it.  It sits in the back of my mind, and I thinking about, every thought bent on it, I want it.  It is all because of stress.  I recognize this now and I will tell you valued reader that I will not in any way shape or form sacrifice my health again.  I think it is so important to surround yourself in a caring and good environment with people around you who you can trust and feel good about being around.   The Billy b first phase of my life has begun and it is a selfish phase and I really do believe that it is the only way I can survive.  So, I will watch vigilantly and see if my stress levels and craving go up, then it might be time for me to rethink things.   You have manage your stress and manage your life, we don’t get a long time on this Earth and you don’t get any do overs or redo’s, so it imperative that I put me first, and fuck the stress.  I can’t constantly be stressed and thinking about eating junk.  Eventually it will own me and take me. So, it is all about getting the right people around me or getting in the right environment.  My head space has to be focus on my tower.  It has to be focused on my dreams and some stress is ok but over all I need to have my life on my terms not anyone else’s. 

So, here is my agenda of keeping sugar out of my diet and here is to keeping a low stress level and putting me in the best position I can, so I can be the person I dream about being.  Here is to the end of the RESET Challenge, and here is the to the beginning of the rest of my life!

RESET Challenge: Day 27 and 28 - Rebel Challenge

Nothing really new to report.  However we are in the final stretch now.  Walking is still going good, even though I have a huge cut on my left foot, it makes it painful but we are getting there. I need it to heal quick, I have a lot of work to do.  I mean after all today I signed up for and got into the Rebel Challenge with Run Disney.  Its the 2nd annual Star Wars Marathon, no I was suppose to be there last January and didn't make it.  However, this year, as the picture says "Do. Or do not. there is no Try! 

What exactly is the Rebel Challenge:

The Ultimate Test for a Star Wars rebel!

Welcome to the rebel alliance! Now you can use the Force to amplify your strength and endurance in the ultimate test of your running skills during the Star Wars Rebel Challenge combining the Star Wars 10K on Saturday with the Star WarsHalf Marathon on Sunday. You'll need all the power of the Force for this 2-day, 19.3-mile run. Rebels who finish both races are awarded the Star Wars Rebel Challenge Finisher Medal in addition to the Half Marathon and 10K Finisher Medals.

 

Star Wars Rebel Challenge Highlights

• Two courses through Disneyland® Resort and the surrounding areas totaling 19.3 miles
• Star Wars Characters, Disney Characters and Entertainment on-course

 This is going to be really exciting and it is going to be one hell of a time training for it. 

When it is all said and done I should get something like this:

Pretty freaking awesome right!  I am excited and I keep eating how I am and walking I am going to get there!  It is going to freaking great!!!!