I get all excited and think that I’m going to be super dedicated to actually blogging only to eventually end up being lazy and let the thing sit for a while.

My bad.

Anyway, if you’re at all interested in how I did in my 14 week challenge, I didn’t quite hit my goal, but I did come close.  I ended up losing 20 pounds and got in pretty darn good shape.  Since then, I’ve fluctuated a little but my weight seems to be for the most part under control but I’m working on a new program now.

So… with all that being said, what’s next?

Well, I’ve never really found something that I was truly passionate about blogging about until recently (well, minus anything regarding the Mac but you can just check me out on Twitter for those updates ).

But I’ve finally found something that I’m becoming extremely passionate about.  And something that I think the world (at least Americans) really need to know about.

There’s information about it out there, but not enough if you ask me.

Most people have no idea what’s really going on (and I’m no expert either…yet) but they have the right to know.

So be on the look out (if anyone actually reads this thing) to see what this is all about and what’s gonna happen next.

I think you might be pretty surprised at the information I’m about to reveal to you.

Talk soon,

–Curt

So I’m 7 weeks down, just about halfway done with my 14 week challenge and I’m right on target.

I’ve now officially lost right about 14 pounds and to be honest, I’m pretty stoked.  I was kinda worried that I would lose any motivation that I had but this is becoming more and more fun.

But I have made a pretty big change in what I’m doing…  and I think it probably has a pretty big influence on the results that I’ve got up until now and how this is gonna end up finishing up…

As crazy as it sounds, I’m cutting out as much meat as I possibly can (if you know me, you know how much I LOVE cheeseburgers and meat so this is a big deal for me) for a bunch of reasons (if you wanna know, just ask).  Now don’t get me wrong, I’m still gonna eat meat, but it’s gonna be a LOT different.

And if I can, I’m going to try and cut it out completely. But for now, baby steps…

So anyway, I’m about halfway done and pretty much right on track of where I should be…

Till next time…

Cheers,

–Curt

WOW, I actually can’t believe the progress that I’ve made so far…

Just about a month ago to the day I set out on a mission to lose 27 pounds in 14 weeks and at the end of this week, I will have officially gone through 5 weeks of my challenge.

Initially, I decided to do this just to see if I actually could do it.  If it was really possible to do whatever I needed to do to lose the weight.  I was sick and tired of being over weight (at least I thought I was) and decided that I was determined to do something about it.

Well, now that I’m 5 weeks into it, it’s turned out to be so much more.

This isn’t just about losing the weight anymore…

It’s not just about going through the motions, going to the gym and getting into better shape.

This has now turned into a challenge that’s not only physical, but mental too…

It’s become a test of will power, of dedication to my goals and following through with my plan.

Which brings me to a very important point.

Before I started this challenge, I took the time (I don’t know, maybe like 10 minutes) to actually plan this whole thing out.  To plan exactly what it would take to accomplish what I was setting out to do.

I broke down this big goal into much smaller realistic goals (weekly goals) so I could celebrate my success as I achieved it.  I planned exactly what it was going to take, how many times I go to the gym, what I eat and how much I drink and all the little things.

Well, after doing this for 6 weeks now, I can see how critical that has been to my success so far.

If I didn’t take the time to come up with a plan, I would just be going out there and not really have any real direction, but making the plan has really made all the difference for me.

Originally I planned out losing 1.93 pounds/week to achieve my goal.

Well, after 5 weeks, I should be at 9.65 pounds and I’m at 10.5 pounds already lost.

That’s nearly an entire pound ahead of what I had planned!

With all that being said, this is becoming really fun and the challenge is something I’m ready to take head on…

Till next week…

–Curt

So I know am one month down on my 14 week challenge and I’m right on target.

My original goal was to lose just under 2 pounds/week for 14 weeks. So far I’ve been at it for 4 weeks and now have lost 8.5 pounds (well since the last time I checked which was sometime toward the end of last week).

I’ve been super committed to my plan and so far everything is going smooth.

Only problem is…

The last couple weeks I’ve been fighting off some sort of weird viral sickness. I’e been feeling alright but I’ve had to rest a little more than I wanted to.

Instead of being able to do my strength training 4X a week I’ve been stuck at around 3 because of this weird thing going on…

Here I thought I was fine around Wednesday of last week only to wake up on Saturday with this huge rash all over my body.

Evidently Amoxicillin or whatever the drug is called doesn’t agree with me and I broke out in this rash that I still have.

Hopefully it’ll be pretty much gone tomorrow so I can hit the gym again tomorrow and hit it hard…

I’ve missed not being there the last couple of days…

Regardless, I’ve been committed to my diet so I’ve been losing the weight regardless…

I’ll have another update sometime soon…

Cheers,

–Curt

So I’ve now officially embarked on my third week of my 14 week challenge and I gotta say, I’m doring really well so far and I’m feeling great.

Not only that, I’m learning a lot about myself throughout the process.

I woke up bright and early today only to sit and relax in my bed for WAY longer than I wanted.  As I’m going through this challenge I’m realizing how much time I’m literally wasting an hour+ each and every morning because I like to just sit in my bad.

Now I’m not saying it’s a bad thing if you like to relax in bed.

Shit, I’m obviously guilty as hell for doing it myself BUT on days during the week… when I’m supposed to be productive… working out, building my business and stuff of the sort, it really is kinda depressing to realize how much time I’m wasting just sitting in my bed.

So I’m adding something to the challenge.

Not only am I gonna be working out for 14 weeks straight, but I’m also gonna be working on waking up and getting my ass outta bed!

I mean think about it… If I could just get up, start getting to work, that’s another hour I could be spending on more important things.  Things like bettering myself, like writing ad copy, like making more money!

So that’s my new addition to the challenge.

I will say though that so far this has been a raging a success.

I realize that this is just 2 weeks into the challenge and the hardest part is about a month in.  You know how when you start something you get stoked for a couple of weeks and eventually your enthusiasm fades and you end up flalinig out?

Well I know that all too well

…and that’s really one of the main reasons I’m going through this challenge.  Not just to get into better shape but to also prove to myself that I can follow through on something that I’ve wanted to do.

To be able to say at the end of the day that I set out on a mission and accomplished my goals will just be bad ass.

I’m now two weeks in and I’m right on target.

I’ve lost 4 pounds over the last 2 weeks and now it’s crunch time.

I’m still truckin’ along…

Are you with me?!

–Curt

Yesterday was just a falt out *crazy* day… The King of Pop passed away and of course… all the drama associated with it had to happen right by me.

I live over at UCLA in the Sigma Nu Fraternity, directly across the street from the UCLA medical center where Michael Jackson was taken before he was pronounced dead.   It was a sad sad ending to a life that seemed to have so much stuff going on…

But today is a new day…

Well, I’m actually writing this on Monday so I guess I’ll say Friday was a new day .

I got up bright and early (well kind of) and headed on over to the John Wooden Center and got a great workout in (my chest and ass were sore all weekend!).

I think the best part though by far was seeing this lady, probably in her late 30’s-40’s rocking out with her workout.

She was dressed in what looked like an 80’s workout outfit with bandana and all.  And she even was working out like they all did in the 80’s.

You know how the 80’s was all about aerobics right?

Well yeah, that’s what she was doing as she was going across the room from one end to the other as all these heavy lifters are doing extreme free weights like squats and leg press.

It was hilarious to me and I wish I could describe it better in writing but I can’t.

You just gotta use your imagine and trust me when I tell you it was hilarious… I was really kinda wondering what the hell was going on!

Anyway, I’m gonna head on over to the gym soon and do my weigh in for the week.

I should still be right on track…

We’ll see…

Cheers,

–Curt

I actually spent way more time putting together my other posts and getting this blog all ready than I thought I was going to but whatever… It’s getting kinda fun…

So here’s what we got today:

Today I did my “day 2″ of my rotating 2 day exercise routine (for the time being I have two main workouts that I do twice a week).

Even though it was tougher than I was hoping… I got up bright and early and got my ass to the gym.  It was strength training time since I blew it the day before (I used up one of my alcohol nights on Monday ).  Got my full workout in and was sweating like a hog (which is awesome!)… I hit up the sauna for about 20 minutes doing what I always do in the sauna…

…read

Yup, after all the crap I went through in school and with how much I absolutely hated reading, now, I spend every day sitting in the sauna for about 20 minutes and read.

And don’t think it’s some literal masterpieces or anything of the like…

Nope, no Shakespeare for me…

Currently, I’m reading two books.  One that’s fucking hilarious (and wrong on sooo many levels) and then a book that is a flat out good read.

What are they?

“I Hope They Serve Beer In Hell” and “The Game”.

So when I got back from work today… I hit up the gym again, this time for my cardio workout and read The Game as I was riding the bike.  I burned just over 300 calories on the bike alone and then hit up the sauna for a second time, this time reading some Tucker Max and I Hope They Serve Beer In Hell.

What I’ve been finding is that while most people have problems getting to the gym… thinking it’s too much of a pain in the butt… I actually find it to be one of the best things I can do for myself.

Forget the fact that I’m actually doing something that’s really good for me… It’s super therapeutic.  It’s time for me to do whatever I have to do, listen to some music and sweat.  Then hitting the sauna and getting some reading done is one of the best feelings in the world.

If you’re finding it tough to get to the gym, find some good music and just get there… That’s by far the hardest part… Just making your way to the gym.

Till next time…

–Curt

This is the plan that I created on June 15th that started the 14 week challenge…

Now realize that I started to blog about this about a week and a half after I had started so there is gonna be a gap in where everything fits in but just roll with it…

Here’s the EXACT plan that I came up with:

June 15th-September 15th 2009:

Goal: Lose 27 pounds in 14 weeks

Days to do this: 92 days

27 lbs/92 days=0.293 lbs/day

Weeks: 14 weeks

27lbs/14 weeks= 1.92 lbs/week

In order to accomplish this goal, I must lose, on average, 1.92 lbs/week.  In order to do this, I will only eat out for a maximum of 4 meals/week and will only drink a maximum of 2 days/week.  I will not eat ANY deep fried foods and will only eat meat 2 times/week.

I must also work out a MINIMUM of 4 days/week of pure strength training and at least 1 day/week of cardio/fat burning.

I will accomplish this goal of losing 27 pounds in 14 weeks by being faithful to this agreement and will make sure that I get into the best shape of my life.

This is to be completed by the 15th day of September 2009 and I will make sure that I stay committed to this plan.

So there you have it… Exactly how I planned this out to achieve the EXACT goal that I’m seeking…

Cheers,

–Curt

When I was in high school, I was a big kid.  Not fat or anything like that but I was big.  Well, my senior year of high school I took a class at the local community college (Irvine Valley College or Iranian Valley College as some of my friends called it) in writing and for as much crap as I gave my professor for making me read this damn book, it ended up changing my life.

The book was called Fast Food Nation and if you haven’t read it yet, go to amazon and pick up a copy.  Seriously, it’s a kick ass book and well pretty gross at the same time.

So anyway, my professor, his first name was Kurt (I don’t remember the last name) had us read this book for class.  At the time I was bored to hell reading the book (I always hated having someone tell me what to read especially because I didn’t like reading all that much at the time) and in fact I stopped reading it.

I think I stopped because he wanted us to read too much too fast and I was a slow reader.

Hey, I only read one book throughout my entire High School career (Things Fall Apart) and just graduated from UCLA only reading 1 of my required readings (Don Quixote) so yeah, I was slow.

How’s that for sticking it to your teachers for making you read too much too fast.  I simply didn’t do it.

Alright, well what ended up happening was actually pretty crazy… After I left the class I did something I don’t think I’d ever done in my life except for the occasional books on The Mighty Ducks (I loved hockey growing up), Matilda and Holes (that book was awesome and if you think otherwise you’re a fool), I actually decided to read the book for my own pleasure (and at my own pace damnit!).

Well, after I read the book my life literally changed.

I went from weighing 230 pounds as a football player (I played O-line and my coach to this day calls me the skinniest center in America) to losing 45 pounds and completely changing my diet.

I literally was eating fast food of some sort every single day and was probably drinking a soda pretty damn often too.

But after I read the book… no more fast food, no more soda and I did the best I possibly could to only natural and organic foods.  I’m telling you my life completely changed.

So after all that, I went to college and found perhaps some of the greatest stuff ever produced on this incredible planet… If you know me at all, you know exactly what I’m talking about (and if you say you didn’t do this you’re a liar!), yup alcohol became a good buddy of mine.

I mean come one… you could do a bunch of stupid stuff, hear stories the next day about what you did and if anything was really that bad you could just blame it on the booze.  It was a win-win situation in my book.

But I didn’t realize this one small side effect of it… Evidently you get fat from drinking…  Who the hell was the wise ass to bring something so good into this world but do something so bad?  I’d like to have a talk with that dude…

Anyway, I gained a bunch of weight throughout college (I was never fat, just not as “fit” as I would have liked to have been) and when I started to gain weight, I said screw it and started eating whatever I wanted and yup, gained some more weight.

So today (well I’m writing this a week later so let’s just pretend…) I stand at a solid 227 pounds of rock solid something that aint muscle.  Maybe “husky” is a term I’ll use… well… maybe not.

And now, I’ve decided that enough is enough.  I’m taking control of this whole situation and gonna give it the big ole middle finger by the end of it…

I’m on a mission to lose 27 pounds in 14 weeks.  Totally doable as far as I’m concerned.  It’s just under 2 pounds a week so why  not?

Now this isn’t just about losing the weight… I think that’d be cool but there’s a much bigger reason for this than that…

My entire life for the most part was made up of me being a little bit bigger than most people.  And I’m sick of it… I’ve always dreamed of being in killer shape with a six-pack and I’ve never been able to do it.  So now I’m on a mission… I want to get into the best shape of my life and really start to feel healthy again.

I may not get 6 pack abs…  I may not be as ripped as some other folks by the end of these 14 weeks but hell, I’m gonna be way closer than before… At least I’ll have some momentum built up to get to my ultimate goal.

Now, what I’ve decided to do is to use this blog (I didn’t have all that much stuff on it anyway) and use it as my place to record everything that I’m doing… Use it to I guess keep myself accountable and to see if I can motivate some other folks to do the same thing and take some massive action to change their lives.

So this is my little challenge for myself and anyone else that feels like jumping on board.  I may not update this every single day (I do have a life too) but I’m gonna try damn hard to do it.  Rest assured I’ll be posting just about every day and at the very least 3 times a week on what I’m doing…

LOL!  I just realized that last paragraph was written like somebody is actually reading this and for all I know this is just some random site that’s never seen.

You’re reading this right now (whoever you are…) so this was just for you .

Let the journey begin…

Cheers,

–Curt

Now that the inauguration is over and the craziness in DC is getting a little less crazy, I wanted to reflect on the very historic day that just occurred.

First off, I feel so honored to be able to have participated in this historic day and being able to witness the inauguration in person.

To be there, at The Capital and witnessing history being made was truly an amazing thing of beauty.  So many people just in absolute joy and excitement and the energy level really something that I simply cannot describe.

As a 21 year old growing up in Orange County California, it really was a wake up call for me as I was waiting in line to get through security.  In fact, I was with an African American family that I told that at that specific moment was truly the first time I really understood that President Obama is our first African American President and the importance that that means for this country.

I don’t really know how to describe it but for me, I didn’t really realize that importance until I saw how much support there was from the African American community.  I don’t know if it is just a generational thing but I didn’t really focus on the fact that he was black when I voted and it still didn’t really go through my mind until that point.

It truly is incredible and a great new day!

It wasn’t too long ago that African Americans couldn’t eat at the same restaurant as me and that they couldn’t even vote in an election.

Progress has been made and it is amazing to be a part of it!

It’s A New Day And A Beautiful One At That!

–Curt