Jiu Jitsu Life

I had the chance to spend some time with my little brother this weekend. His art continues to to astound me. The above picture is the result of a 5 minute photo shoot and 15 minutes of editing.

Jiu Jitsu is one of my passions. It has shaped me physically, emotionally, and spiritually. It has toughened me up from the inside out. It continues to make me a better man and a better human being. I think Jake managed to capture all of that in this picture.

www.jakekidneyphotography.com

How much?

How much money would it take for you to quit your job?

Not to retire for the rest of your life, but to quit and take a chance on yourself. Maybe start your own business, move to a new city, work a lesser paying but more fulfilling job, or go back to school?

$100,000?

$50,000?

3 years' worth of living expense? 

1 year's worth of expenses?

If you love your job, this question is irrelevant, but if you don't, I think it's pretty important.

Depending on tenure, Amazon will pay an employee up to $5000 to quit. They assume that if an employee doesn't like their job, it saves the company money in the long run. If you think this sounds like a pretty sweet deal, why not find a way to save $5000 and then quit? It might take extra work and sacrifice, but it's a small price to pay for a more fulfilling life.

If your number is bigger than $5000, what can you do to reach your goal? Are there any ways you can reduce the number so it's more attainable? Can you earn more? Can you spend less? How creative can you get? 

I'm asking for a friend...

My Favorite Recipe

The recipe that I'm about to share with you could change your life. It's my absolute, number one favorite recipe, and it's reached this distinction for 3 reasons. 

1. It's insanely easy and fast to make. 

2. It's healthy. 

3. It's delicious.

I use this recipe at least twice a month, and more often than not, every week. Are you ready? Here it is.

1. Put frozen chicken in a crock pot.

2. Cover it with a layer of taco seasoning.

3. Cover with a jar of your favorite salsa.

4. Cook on warm for 8 hours, or on high for 5 to 6.

Normally I have to think ahead and thaw out chicken to grill or bake, but not with this recipe. Throw it in frozen and you're good to go. Normally, I'm not a big fan of crock pot meals, but this one doesn't taste like a standard crock pot meal. It has a LOT of flavor. I love it because I can be running late for work and still have enough time to get it cooking for dinner later that night, and it's so versatile, it can be mixed and matched with different things so that it tastes new every time, even if you eat it every day. You can use chicken thighs or chicken breast, or whatever part of the chicken you want to use (I prefer white meat). You can use it for tacos, burritos, burrito bowls, salads, tostadas, nachos. I even ate it on a hamburger bun one time, kinda like a taco sloppy joe. It wasn't my greatest creation, but I had to make due with what I had... For a guy that eats a lot of chicken, and was getting tired of the standard grilled or baked chicken breast, this recipe is a great way to get my  230 grams of protein a day and enjoy my meals at the same time.  

 

Give it s shot and let me know what you think.

That's my secret Captain...

Losing weight is tough.

It doesn't start out that way. The first week is awesome. You feel great, you're eating healthy, you made it to the gym a couple times, and you've finally made the decision to change your life for the better.

Then week 2 hits and you start to second guess yourself. You find the Oreos in the pantry and think "Is weight loss really that important? Will an unscheduled cheat set me back that much?" You struggle, but you persevere.

Then the third week comes and a coworker brings donuts to the office. This time the temptation is like nothing you've felt before. Your vision turns red, you picture yourself devouring handful upon handful of fried dough, and even imagine tossing coworkers out of your way to get to those sugary, fatty carbs. This is the pivotal moment. Do you control yourself or transform into the Hulk?

There will be several Hulk moments in your weight loss journey. Your brain wants to feed its addiction, so it makes you to believe you'll never survive unless you give in; that eating healthy will always feel like this. It won't. It gets better. Much better.

Even though my weight loss transformation took place several years ago, I still remember the Hulk moments with great clarity. Every time I fought them off, they made me stronger. These days, eating healthy is a habit and easy to maintain. The Hulk still comes out from time to time, but only when I say he can. With some work, the same can be said for you.

7 Things I Think Will Change My Life in 2014

Here it is. The highly unanticipated 2014 list of things I think will change my life. You'll see the "Focus" theme from my 2013 list is very prevalent in this one.

Purple Belt - I earned my Jiu Jitsu purple belt in March this year. It's the culmination of a lot of hard work and I'm pretty proud of it. Something like 90% of people who start Jiu Jitsu never get to the rank of purple. Truthfully, it's terrifying. If a blue belt is the equivalent of getting married to the sport, purple is the equivalent of having kids with it. I absolutely can't quit or cut any corners, and the competition is infinitely tougher. Regardless, I'm looking forward to the challenge.

Personal Training Certificate - After years of indecisiveness about what to do with my life, I've finally chosen a path (or at least a wedge, which I'll write about later). I've studied fitness, nutrition, and martial arts extensively for the last 4 years, and for a guy that rarely sticks with anything, this is important. Why it took me so long to decide to get certified is a mystery, but I'm excited to start helping people discover fitness and nutrition on a professional level.

Sugar/Alcohol* - Once I decided to become a personal trainer, I realized there were some aspects of my own diet that I needed to fine tune. For the last several years I've maintained a healthy diet during the work week and then cheated with extra carbs, sugar, and some drinks on the weekends. While I never drink enough to have a hangover the next day, I didn't like the idea that I was regularly drinking, even if only on the weekends. In addition, my sugar consumption on the weekend was a bit ridiculous. Since it's easier for me to restrict than to reduce, I've restricted sugar and alcohol consumption to one weekend a month. The results are fantastic, and I really don't miss either of them. 

*I still drink wine because it has health benefits and it's delicious.

Precision Nutrition - One of the sources I regularly turn to for nutrition information is Precision Nutrition. I'm a big fan of John Berardi and his scientific approach to sports nutrition. I've considered taking their certification course a couple of times, but couldn't bring myself to spend the money. Now that I'm pursuing fitness as a career, I finally have a good excuse. The next certification round doesn't open until September, but I'm counting the days until I can sign up.

Intermittent Fasting - In my nutrition studies I ran across this method and it's worked wonders for me. There are several different ways to approach intermittent fasting, but I follow 16/8:  I fast for 16 hours and then eat my meals within an 8 hour time period. Basically I don't eat anything until noon and stop eating at 8:00 at night. I also take 1 day a week to cheat (without sugar or alcohol), and then the day after my cheat day is a full 24 to 36 hour fast. 5 days 16/8, 1 day cheat, 1 day full fast. I've shed 4% body fat with this method and still train as hard as I always have.

Objective C - I mentioned HTML and CSS in my last list, but Objective C is what I really really want to learn. It will enable me to program applications for iPhone, iPad, and Macintosh. I found a course online that I'm currently working through, and I have a nice list of apps I'd like to create once I've developed my skills. It's just a matter of putting in the work. This may seem a little out of the scope of everything above, but it's all a part of the plan. The future of fitness is technology, and I want to be on the cutting edge.

Hustle - I love entrepreneurship. I love creating something and then selling it. I've been doing it since I was a little kid. My grandma used to take me to the store to buy a toy to play with when I visited, but I'd buy beads and string and spend hours making necklaces to sell. One time I caught bullfrogs and sold them on the street corner. When I had dreadlocks in college, I taught myself macrame and made hemp necklaces to sell at festivals. When I was in a band I made t-shirts, CDs, stickers, buttons, posters, and bouncy balls and sold them like crazy. One of the things I miss most about the band is the hustle; finding new and creative ways to make money. One of my biggest goals this year is to get back to that hustle. Becoming a personal trainer is one of the first steps, but I've got plans for an empire and it's going to be a lot of fun to build.

2013 List Update

In 2013, I made a list of some things I thought would change my life. Here's how it turned out. 

HTML/CSS - I haven't used this as much as I would like to, but I still consider it a win. I have an on and off relationship with web and computer programming. I enjoy it immensely and want to be awesome at it, but it's like learning to play a musical instrument. I need to completely immerse myself to get good and I just haven't had the time. I'm not giving up though, and am determined to make the time to take the next steps, which for me are Objective C and Wordpress.

Team Training - This one is a huge win. It's taken my fitness to the next level, forged some great relationships with teammates and coaches, given me some proficiency in Muay Thai, and increased my discipline and work ethic ten fold.

DIY - I did one more DIY project and fashioned a corner desk out of some industrial shelving. I'm pretty proud of it. It's light, cheap, and totally functional. If only I could say the same about everything else in my house (Henry, I'm looking at you). 

Office - I think the above post actually answers this one. When it's not 50 degrees down there, I like being in my man cave, so I moved back down. My new desk is a lot more comfortable

School - I stopped taking college classes half way through last year. I love learning, but had a hard time balancing scheduled classes with work and Jiu Jitsu training. I also don't know how beneficial a college degree will be for me. I already have a job that "requires" a degree, and ideally I don't want to work for anyone but myself, so what's the point? Everything I need to learn can be found online.

Focus - Focus has been paramount and has led to everything I've accomplished over the last year. Focus has allowed me to cut out the fat and feast on the meat. It's helped me skip hours and hours of TV watching, internet surfing, and general tail chasing, and replaced it with learning, fitness, and quality time.

Coming soon... 7 things that I think will change my life in 2014

Cyclops Gorilla

You may have noticed my new logo.

The Cyclops Gorilla has come to embody my current mindset. If it had a tag line, it would be "Put muscle behind your vision." I've come to appreciate hard work and intense focus and I feel these qualities are lacking in a lot of unhappy people. They were absolutely lacking in my life when I was the most unhappy. Discovering them allowed me to make a complete *360.

I was going to start a separate Cyclops Gorilla blog, but figured I'd give everyone the whole story instead of the glossed over version. When you need a good laugh, take a look at my older posts. They're a little embarrassing (so dramatic!), but they got me here, so they might be good for something.

(I had the Cyclops Gorilla commissioned by beastpop.blogspot.com and absolutely love it. Be warned, not all of his artwork is family friendly).

*The correct expression is "Complete 180" as my fact check Jared Totten has pointed out. :)