The end of the 31 day challenge and how Bruce Lee is always right

So we’re on the other side of the 31 day challenge and I ended it as it began. With hope.

I am 20 lbs lighter than when I started. I have a whole new outlook on life, food, my health, and more importantly my body.

I’ve seen the scale go up and down during this 31 days. I’ve hit new marks on the scale I never thought I would and I’ve never been prouder in myself. For me...being proud in myself is a big accomplishment.

So I’d like to share some quick notes on what I learned and then tell you about what’s coming next.

1) EVERYONE has an idea about what works and what doesn’t.
“Don't get set into one form, adapt it and build your own, and let it grow, be like water. Empty your mind, be formless, shapeless — like water. Now you put water in a cup, it becomes the cup; You put water into a bottle it becomes the bottle; You put it in a teapot it becomes the teapot. Now water can flow or it can crash. Be water, my friend.”

Here’s the hard truth...people will give you advice, tell you what worked for them, and how what you’re doing isn’t going to work. What you need to do is be like Bruce Lee says and when it comes to this advice “be like water”. The quote helps me alot in all areas of life and maybe it will help you.

2) Not everyone’s body is meant to be the same.
“Always be yourself, express yourself, have faith in yourself, do not go out and look for a successful personality and duplicate it.” Bruce Lee

We’re not all cookie cutter versions of the same form and structure. Sure there are steps we can all take, but not all diets and workouts work for everyone. Some people have food allergies that prevent them from experiencing some diets. Some people can’t just jump into a heavy workout and need to build up to it. Listen to your body and what works for you. Find the workout you can’t live without when you get started. Find the diet that doesn’t make you cringe. Or, like me, try everything and see what works. Be open to all possibilities, but do it for you and not because it worked for a friend or celebrity.

3) If you’re not committed to change…nothing will happen.
“If you spend too much time thinking about a thing, you'll never get it done.” Bruce Lee

You have to take action. Even small ones to start. It’s perpetual motion after that, one foot in front of the other, but you have to commit to that next step. You have to know what you are doing this for and focus on that. Otherwise you won’t have the energy, will, or desire to change for yourself.

Don’t think too hard...do. And remember the wise words of Yoda, “Do or do not. There is no try.” And if you are not going to do it...the don’t, but don’t make excuses. You have to find what works for you and go after that like tomorrow does not exist.

4) It’s going to suck sometimes...but it’s worth it.
“A goal is not always meant to be reached, it often serves simply as something to aim at.” Bruce Lee

Whether it is a juice diet, a regular diet, or working out...when you start it is going to suck. If it was easy everyone would be doing it. You have to know that going in. If you do, the mental hurdles will be easier to overcome. You have to start putting things in your eye sight that remind you and make you want to change.

5) Accept that not everyone is going through what you are...it’s not about them.
“I'm not in this world to live up to your expectations and you're not in this world to live up to mine.” Bruce Lee

Whether you have a spouse, a girlfriend/boyfriend, or are living with friends or family do not expect everyone to be doing what you are. This isn’t being done for them or about them. They are not required to follow your diet or tip toe around you to make sure you “feel safe.”

While I was on my juice fast my wife brought home fast food. I could have been angry. I could have yelled about “I’m doing this thing...and you bring in that temptation.” But what I did was recognize that she made her choice and I was making mine. We were both doing what works for us. I saw in that food she brought home every bad decision I made to cause this weight gain and I enjoyed my juice knowing I didn’t want to get back there.

I hate to break it to you, but when you go outside...the world does not conform itself to you. You have to live your life during this transition with zero expectations of anyone around you, but appreciate when they make exceptions for you.

6) You’re going to make mistakes/have set backs/stumble.
“Mistakes are always forgivable, if one has the courage to admit them.” Bruce Lee

You’re going to have days where you want to cheat, the scale goes up instead of down, and you’ll miss a workout. Don’t make a mountain out of it. Own it, know what caused the chain of events that caused it to happen, and be ready for when that scenario presents itself again.

I lost over 10 pounds and got upset when I saw the scale go up a bit. It almost broke me, but I remembered to celebrate the loss and not the gain. The gain is just another obstacle to overcome.

Just do not let whatever that mistake is to become the lynchpin that completely destroys your progress. Remember how far you’ve come.

7) If it doesn’t mean something to you...it doesn’t matter how many people congratulate you.
“As you think, so shall you become.” Bruce Lee

You have to want this change! You have to embrace it and know that it’s what you want more than gaining weight. You can never be the person you were again. You have to rewrite the story in your brain and see yourself as the person you want to become. Believe you are a person who can do a 10 day juice challenge. Believe you can, be ready to face adversity in every form, and you can do whatever you dream.

So what comes next?

My amazing friend Elizabeth Wallace put up a challenge to me. She bought me the Chalene Extreme workout DVD’s and challenged me to do that work out three days a week. So I’ll be doing that and reviewing the process here on Project Reroll. That combined with a paleo like diet (I’m evolving into it) I am on track to lose another 20 lbs by the end of November. I want to keep this up and by January be 60 pounds lighter.

I am going to end this with one of my favorite quotes of Bruce Lee’s. It's something that keeps me looking forward and not at the past.

“The key to immortality is first living a life worth remembering.” Bruce Lee

Achievement Unlocked: Below 280 lbs!

Starting Weight (SW): 299 lbs
Week 1 Weight Loss (WL):  7 lbs
Week 2 Weight Loss (WL):  10.4 lbs 
Week 3 Weight Loss (WL):  +4 lbs 
Week 4 Weight Loss (WL):  7.6 lbs
Total Weight Loss (TWL): 21 lbs

One of my milestone goals, self-imposed, was to lose 20 lbs. If I could do that I was confident I could lose 20 more, but I exceeded that. Even if it’s just one pound…it’s one pound I never want back on my body.

In my last post, Human Nature, I talked about the challenges of having a dip or plateau in your weight loss. I ended it with:

“That just means, provided you’re making healthy choices, your body is adjusting to the new direction. In the immortal words of Douglas Adams… DON’T PANIC!”

I am here to tell you that not panicking…was exactly the right thing to do.  I saw myself last week falling into that same Fibonacci spiral pattern of “oh no’s” over 4lbs.

For you math geeks, the Fibonacci spiral is a design is based on the Fibonacci sequence are the numbers in the following integer sequence. By definition, the first two numbers in the Fibonacci sequence are 0 and 1, and each subsequent number is the sum of the previous two.

There’s several sequences in between the second one and the last, but you get the idea. Four Fraking Pounds caused me to lose sight that I had lost seventeen. Your mind will play tricks on you. Don’t let it.

How does this relate to weight loss?

The problems in your brain begins with this one thought and then another. Those two thoughts join up and create a bigger problem. That problem adds the one before it and goes on. If you allow it to…it will detail you from your goal and all the work you put in.
Here’s the example that I used in the last post.

“Maybe I should juice again.”
“Maybe if I only ate one time a day.”
“Maybe I was never meant to do this to begin with.”

So what did I do to have such a big turn around?

I didn’t give into the spiral of worry, fear, or self-defeat. I kept moving forward with my plan. Eating healthy with a paleo like diet, making sure I keep in my walks, and, while I’ve failed the 30 day ab/arm challenge, I am finding ways to increase my movement from simply taking laps around a hotel while walking around a convention to asking “What can I do to help” when I see people needing help moving things. There’s always a chance to increase your movement even if you can’t get to a gym. Trust me, I’m doing a convention every weekend through October and if I can do it you can.

I wanted to leave you with one last thing that will help you. I have also learned a very valuable lesson that you’ve been told from day one, but sounds cliché as hell. Breakfast is the most important part of your day. The days I eat breakfast my I saw some decrease in my numbers the next day, but, most importantly, my energy and metabolism kicked way up.

If I can do keep up with it…you can do this too!

Human Nature

Starting Weight (SW): 299 lbs
Week 1 Weight Loss (WL):  7 lbs
Week 2 Weight Loss (WL):  10.4 lbs 
Week 3 Weight Loss (WL):  +4 lbs
Total Weight Loss (TWL): 13.4 lbs

Sorry for getting this in late. It’s been a challenging morning. Where week two was filled with pride and hope…this week ended feeling like a really good cliffhanger episode of Doctor Who. You know…the one’s where you have to wait six months to see what’s coming next?

Wednesday ended the Juice fast and I was uber conscious not to go full bore eating again. There are at least two options when transitioning after a fast. The first is to slowly incorporate solid food back into your diet. That’s what I did. I started with one meal a day for the first three days and then work your way up to 2-3 meals over the course of a week.

The other option is after you stop juicing all together that you eat only fresh fruits and vegetables for the week after you juice. This gives your body time to adjust and you are eating the same thing you are juicing which means your body isn’t going into shock and can adjust. This is the way I should have gone.

The weight gain of 4 lbs may not seem like much, but when it’s a pound a day and you’re just watching it climb it begins to create fear based illogical reasoning in your head.

“Maybe I should juice again.”
“Maybe if I only ate one time a day.”

And the worst…. “Maybe I was never meant to do this to begin with.”

The problem is, Dear Reader, it’s all bullshit.

You’re going to have a natural bit of weight gain after a juice fast. You just can’t obsess about it…like I was until I started this post.

Seeing the words go onto the post I realized three things that were always there, but my mind did not see.

1) I am eating and living healthier than I have in a long, long time.

2) I am learning every day what will make me healthier in the long run.

And the most important…

3) I have a great support system of people who want to see me succeed. Even to remind me when I’m being neurotic about a few pounds. Adding on those few pounds…I’m still at one of the lowest weights I have been in years.

I’ll leave you with this. Shit is going to happen. Likely the number on the scale will go up a little or stay the same for a few days. That just means, provided you’re making healthy choices, your body is adjusting to the new direction. In the immortal words of Douglas Adams… DON’T PANIC!

Meet Our New Friday Guest Blogger: Simone

Greetings from London, Slayers! Anne here! I just wanted to drop a line quickly and let you all know I'll be on a brief hiatus until after the 30th. I'm on vacation and while I WANT to write, I also know I should be focusing on enjoying this once in a life time chance to explore instead of worrying about when I'll be able to get wifi access again and post my blog. Please don't think I love you all any less! I am very excited to post when I can over the next few weeks and give you the "skinny" on my exercise adventures in England! I'll definitely be taking a run around Chelsea tomorrow morning so that should be exciting! I'm also going to the Harry Potter Studio tour in the afternoon and I am pretty much DYING of excitment already. 

BUT, my dears! You shan't be without entertainment. You'll still have posts from Michael on Mondays and he is doing an AMAZING job with his juice fast. The guy is nearly down 20 lbs since he started blogging here and his progress is mindblowing. KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK!

I'd also like to use today's post to introduce you to Simone, our new guest blogger for Fridays! She's a Kung-Fu and Crossfit badass with the desire to get stronger. Her tale is so different from mine or Michael's and there is so much we can learn from each other! I could go on, but I'm going to let you hear about it from the horse's mouth!

Tell me a little bit about who you are and what you do.

My name is Simone, and like Anne and Michael, I’m a huge nerd, too. I’ve been reading voraciously since I was three years old, and I love good sci-fi and fantasy. I grew up without a gaming console (I know!) but dived in about two years ago with Assassin’s Creed and Skyrim, and I am currently loving my first taste of the Lara Croft world with Tomb Raider Reborn. The theme here is that for my entire life, I’ve loved adventuring from the safety of my home – but I’ve always been too afraid to get out there and try to be an adventurer myself. I don’t even have an arrow to the knee as an excuse!

When did you decide you needed to make a change in your health and fitness level and was there a specific moment where it clicked and you actually committed to doing it? 

I actually have a different story than many, and I’m a little guilty about it: I’m not on a weightloss journey, exactly. I’m a healthy weight. But for the majority of my life thus far, I have never been athletic, never strong; never particularly physically capable at, well, anything. I picked dandelions on the soccer field and spitefully walked my entire mile in gym class (still managing to turn bright red from the effort).

Because I’m in a healthy weight range, I’ve always felt like I should be perfectly happy with my body – like it was selfish of me to envy the strength and confidence of fit people when my own body was “fine.” My lack of talent at sports as a kid had convinced me that I just wasn’t cut out for physical activity. Oh well, right?

I’m the kind of person who overanalyzes and overthinks everything, so I haven’t really had a “moment” yet because I still don’t fully believe in myself. But I’ve had some major turning points in my life, such as joining a kung fu studio at 16, finding Nerd Fitness a year ago and learning about paleo and healthy habits, and starting CrossFit. I’m still too afraid to admit to myself that I might actually be able to be strong and capable – so for now I’m letting my progress kind of sneak up on me.

If you gave up or didn't make it a priority in the past, why do you think that was?

Like many people, I’m afraid of failing. I get bursts of enthusiasm where I vow to do X workout and eat Y food EVERY DAY, and then I burn out and let it slip away. I’m a pro at rationalizing all the “I can’t” excuses in the book! Keeping a positive and realistic attitude is definitely something I’ve been working on for a long time.

What are your goals and how do you plan to accomplish them? 

I have so many goals, they’ll have to be in a separate post. Things like deadlifting twice my body weight, running a mile in under 8:30, and throwing a punch that would actually be effective are all on my long, long list. In short, I’d like to be a leaner, stronger, and more confident version of my current self!

As a recent graduate, I’m transitioning to a new job and uncertain future right now, so life is chaotic. For now, I do CrossFit twice a week and I just started adding two nights of running with the “Zombies, Run!” app that Anne recommended. I also plan on adding some extra stretching and will be targeting a few of my other goals in the near future as my schedule settles down. I’ll keep you posted!

There are so many options when it comes to diet and fitness. Why are you choosing this particular path?

I’m terrible at working out on my own. I really love the camaraderie and community of my kung fu studio and among my friends in my garage – it helps me to push myself and keeps me coming back each day. Running is more of a struggle for me, but having exciting radio transmissions of zombies shambling along behind me is definitely helping!

Even though I can still hardly believe that I am, in fact, becoming an athletic person, my own experience in the past year has been so heartening overall that I’m beginning to consider pursuing health and fitness as a career somehow. There are still a lot of things that I’m struggling with, but my life has improved drastically even with small changes, and I want to show other people that if this introverted bookworm can pick 200lbs up off the ground, they can, too!

What made you want to guest post about your journey on PR?

I loved Anne’s story on Nerd Fitness. I’m pretty sure nerds and fitness are my favorite combination! I think it will help me to have an outlet to share my struggles and successes – and even more, I hope that it helps other people who may be facing the same doubts and experiences. We’re all in this together!

A Good Man Goes to War

Week 1 Weight Loss (WL): 10.4 lbs
Week 1 & 2 Total Weight Loss (TWL): 14.4 lbs

Hey Dear Readers. First, let me apologize for getting this late. I stepped on the scale today and literally had to repeat the process SIX times before I believed the results.

Second, let me say the following message before you read any further.

I am not a doctor nor am I a scientist (but man do I wish I was Bruce Banner or Tony Stark). The things I try for my weight loss are things I personally research for what I think might work for me or that I’m crazy enough to try it. So, please, if you choose to follow a juice diet or get wrapped, please look into it yourself. Be as skeptical as I was and then try it with an open mind.

On with today’s post:

So last Monday I started my 10 day juice fast. If you’re not familiar with it, juice fasting is a type of fasting and detox diet in which a person consumes only fruit and vegetable juices. I was inspired to start it after watching a documentary called “Fat, Sick, And Nearly Dead”, which you can see on Netflix. After doing some research I had tried one a while ago, lost some weight, and subsequently ended up back to the svelte weight of 299 lbs. Which inspired this big change that included blogging with Project ReRoll.

The first three days of your juice fast, let me be honest here, are going to suck big balls. You’re going to be tired, grump, and really want to quit, but that is the sugar and crap leaving your system. You are seriously detoxing your body of coffee, soda, and the crap you usually eat the same way a drug addict has to detox a chemical from theirs. So you’re body rejects that with feeling crappy and your desire to return to that bad habit get stronger.

Thus why this post is named for one of my top 10 Doctor Who episodes, “A Good Man Goes to War”, because your will is going to war with your brain and your body. The latter both just want to go back to the normal that made you what you are.

If you want to change…you can’t let them win. You must be the Doctor to their Daleks, the Gandalf to their Balrog, the Mario to their Bowser….you get the idea. And if you don’t there are some very nice TV shows, movies, and games a geek friend can introduce you to.

What I usually make is called Mean Green which comes directly from the documentary I mentioned above. You will need a juicer, but here’s the recipe.

Mean Green

• Prep Time: 5 minutes
• Total Time: 10 minutes
• Serving: 1-2 Size: 16oz. (500 mls) (I double up so I can have some for a full day and a half)

Ingredients

• 1 cucumber
• 4 celery stalks
• 2 apples
• 6-8 leaves kale
• 1/2 lemon
• 1 tbsp ginger

Directions

1. Wash all produce well
2. Peel the lemon, optional
3. Juice
4. Pour over ice if you like.
5. Enjoy! 

If you've ever had orange juice with pulp before the texture can be similar depending on your juicer. It looks green and at first your brain says “No, sir.” Yet, it’s actually kind of good.

I also make a breakfast drink which is orange and pineapple and a snack that is strawberry, blueberry, and raspberry. I got the recipes from juice bars and stores I've seen in New York. If you’re in the New York area, I am jealous of you.

Now let’s talk about the hard part…Temptation. I intentionally did not avoid normal life. Matter of fact I found ways to adapt to it. Avoiding normal life while trying to get healthy would suck, but letting myself down, and you, as well as learning how to adapt to maintain the weight loss was more important to me.
Here’s how I overcame it.

Friday I went out to the mall with my best friend, Sean, and his son, Tristan. Whenever I smelled food and I wanted to have something to nibble…I bought a bottle of water. Within half a bottle my desire to eat was gone. When Sean and his son would stop to eat, I had a bottle of water. Water does this amazing thing of filling your stomach. Negative side effect….you pee…A LOT!

Saturday I went to my sister Heather’s baby shower. Which meant I dropped my wife, Kelly, off and the guys took Dan, the awesome dad to be, and went to Dave & Busters. The guys belly up’d to the bar and I…had a glass of orange juice and a glass of water. Did it suck to smell the wings, burgers, and all the things I would normally gorge myself on? Yup. You know what sucked more? Watching that scale go up instead of down before August 1st.

That night Kelly and I went to see The Wolverine. She had popcorn and water….while I had water. And you know what? It didn't ruin anything about the experience.

Sunday I went for a 2.4 mile walk and talk with my good friend Ann. After we stopped at Starbucks, where she had tea and I had…you guessed it…water.

Before and after each I had a pre-made, by me, juice so I had nutrients in my system.

One thing I also did was tried the “It Works” wraps from my sister-in-law, Shannon, and her company Wrap with Waffediyok. After I posted that picture there was a lot of dispute in the comments about the “science” of it and so on. All I can tell you is I saw 4.25” come off my midsection and have keep about 2” off since. It, for me, was a great motivator to see change. As a onetime deal I did not expect it to provide long term solutions, but it was the boost in self value I needed to get me over the hurdle. I've had a few friends try it based off the post I made and one friend saw 4” herself from the wrap. There is a 90 plan they offer that I have seen people have results from, but I would recommend talking to Shannon if you have ANY questions. Any… and I mean any, because I’m a n00b with that stuff and asking me is going to get you “um…here’s Shannon” as a response.

So as of this post I’m on day nine of the juice fast and, folks, I have to tell you I haven’t felt better in a long time.

After I’ve gone through the 10 days, I feel clean. I don’t crave food and honestly I don’t miss it. I’m going to enjoy having a burger from a non-fast food place, but I don’t think I’ll go back to having a burger every day. I will enjoy a slice of pizza, but I don’t want to go back to ordering a whole pie for just Kelly and myself.
More importantly, I’m more aware than ever of what goes into my body and how it affects not only my body as a whole, but my mood and brain as well.

So, dear reader, I leave you with this one simple bit of motivation that I’ll expand on in my next post.
I started this blog series at 299 lbs. and here is the reason I had to step on and off the scale several times.

If I can do it…so can you!

The Return Journey

Good morning. As I prepare to start my journey of Project ReRoll I thought it would be a good idea to share with you the goals I’m setting out with and how I’m mapping out my quest to ReRoll my body.

I got on the scale today, to see where I was since I weighed myself last week when I wrote my answers to the interview that was the post yesterday. I had to step off and on the scale a few times, but when I realized the number was what it was…I stopped. I had gone up in weight. Stress of the weekend, not paying attention to what was going in, and realizing how much five days can change the dial on the scale has me more sure than ever than starting this quest, and sharing it with you, was the best thing I can do.

So, dear reader, every good quest starts with a goal. My goal is to begin, what I am dubbing, my 31 day challenge. For the month of August I am going to be working towards beginning a routine that will begin the transition from being round in the belly to an over all healthier me.

For diet I am going to do a juicing/paleo mix. Starting the first four days of the month weaning off of soda, fast food, and such by eating raw fruits and veggies. It will help transition my body, because on August 5th I will begin a juice fast that will last a minimum of 10 days. If I feel good with it, I’m going to continue and then blend in the paleo diet as I learn more about it and share that knowledge with you.

For exercise, I am going to start with doing the 30 Day Ab and 30 Day Arm work out. Each work out starts with four simple exercises you can do, without needing a gym membership, that increase each day ending with you doing, at least, 100 more reps of each exercise than the day you started. I addition to that I am going to increase the 1.5 mile walk to and from work I already do to include jogging so by the end of the challenge I am running the 1.5 miles home.

If you wanted to play along at home, I’m going to be using a few apps, that you can find as well, to help gamify my time as well. I’m going to be using the app “EpicWin” to  make tracking the work outs as much fun as RPG gaming with its leveling and rewards. I am also going to be using the app “Zombies, Run!” to track the transition from walking to running.

I wanted these goals and actions to be measurable and easy. By the end there is a quest map for you to follow if you wanted to make your own change in life.

And, like all good quests, it comes with some big obstacles. Over this month I’m attending no less than three conventions away from home. This means part of my weight loss will be, for at least 9 or 31 days, will be deep in the heart of every temptation that could set me off my path. I’m not going to these just to attend, I’m going to promote a film that’s still in the works and it’s a stressful time that can cause me to revert back to what’s easy with things like fast food, sleeping longer instead of working out, stress, and tons of alcohol.  I can share with you how you too can fit working out and being a healthier you into all aspects of your geek/nerd life just like Anne has.

As I’m going to be checking in with you once a week, these posts will be more like mini journals plotting out what I’ve done, how I feel, and what changes I’m seeing. I want to be as honest and accountable with you as I can.

Thank you for joining me on this quest to reroll my body, health, and mind. I hope this inspires you to make the changes you’ve been putting off the way that Anne has inspired me.

Mike Dougherty
Twitter.com/wickedjava
Facebook.com/mcdougherty

It's a Bird! It's a Plane! It's a Guest Blogger!

I've been hinting that there were some fun changes on the horizon for Project Reroll! Well get ready cause our first change is a-comin'! This is no longer just my story. 

I'm so excited to introduce you guys to Project Reroll's first guest blogger, Michael Dougherty. He's been a very supportive member of the reader community and is embarking on his own mission to pick new stats and slay the fat and will be making posts on Tuesdays about his own journey. This has always been a place for accountability, empathic sharing, and "teaching out" about the good, the bad, and the ugly of embracing the process of weight loss and nutrition. The process can be so different for everyone that I really think it can only improve the blog to have more than one person express what they're learning through the experience. 

So who is this Michael person? Why should you care about him? GET READY, cause he's awesome and I did a little introductory interview with him to get you all excited about hearing what he's got to say. 

 Tell us a little bit about who you are and what you do.

My name is Michael C. Dougherty and I’m a geek. Like big time. My first books I remember reading were The Hobbit, Sherlock Holmes, and tons of Edgar Allen Poe. I’ve been playing D&D off and on since 1st edition and can remember getting my first Atari 2600. 

Recently, I wrote/directed the Joss Whedon blessed and FOX approved Firefly fan film “Browncoats: Redemption” that went on to raise $117,000 for charity in one year. I’m currently working on my next film “Z*Con” which is like “Goonies” meets “Shaun of the Dead” set in “Comic Con” which will also raise money for the American Red Cross, Kids Need to Read, and the Baltimore Bully Crew.

When did you decide you needed to change your ways and was there a specific moment where it clicked and you actually committed to doing it?

It’s been a long time coming. I can’t mark a specific date and time, because I’ve been debating about it off and on in my head, as we nerds do. I’ve read lots of books, like “The Nerdist” by Chris Hardwick has a section on having a healthy body, and friends like the amazing Elizabeth Wallace have sent me stuff to help, but it was really after watching Anne/you and my friends', Jeff Pulver and Joe Hancuff, personal transformations that I believed it could be possible for myself. I just woke up one day and decided ‘I don’t want to feel like this anymore’ and signed for a CrossFit class. After that…I’ve just wanted to be the change I want to see in others…for myself.

If you failed in the past, why do you think that was?

Because I wasn’t committed. I know that and know it’s totally on me. I allowed the bullshit in my own head and the comfort of life as it was to keep me from wanting more. I allowed work and other distractions to be the “Well I don’t have time to exercise/eat right because I’m too busy doing X.” Which is just me lying to myself.

What are your goals and how do you plan to accomplish them?

My goals are pretty simple and measurable. I’m starting August 1st and measuring success in 30 day increments so I’m not stressing out over daily fluctuations on the scale. I know that I’ll decrease, increase, and plateau, but I have seen so many people give up after seeing the day to day numbers that I know I will to.

I’ll be including a daily workout regimen that increases like the 30 day ab/arm challenge. Each week I’ll check in with my results, which I’ll be tracking with the Epic Win ap. I already walk 3 miles a day (1.5 miles each way) so I want to make the evening walk home to evolve into a jog and then a run. 

I will also be starting a juice fast for the first 10 days and then see how things go. I want to adopt more paleo into my diet, but it’ll be a transition I want to make slowly so my body doesn’t go into freak out mode.

The ultimate goal is math based. I’m currently around 285 and I want to try to drop a minimum of 10 lbs a month. This equates to about losing 1% of current weight per week (2.85 lbs) which all the research I’ve found seems to indicate is healthy and reasonable. That way if I do more…great, but I’m not stressing out about it which would cause me to slip.

There are so many options when it comes to diet and fitness. Why are you choosing this particular path?

I am former military. I was never in better shape in my life than when I was forced to do daily push ups, sit ups, and running in the ARMY. It is something my body resonates with and seems to react better to then trying heavy weight lifting. Plus, I can be as ADD as I want flipping the order I do them in so I don't get bored. 

For diet, one that I’ve done before and saw physical and emotional results from. Juicing is also a very mentally relaxing task for me. It is simple, I can let my brain go, and I get to enjoy some nice juice after. I’m going to be dipping my toe into the paleo diet. That will be the biggest challenge for me. My past lifestyle has been very easy and easy made me round. So it’s time to do something else.

What made you want to guest post about your journey on PR?

I have been so inspired by Anne's/your transformation that I wanted to help contribute to the site to show what she/you did can be done by anyone! And, I'm the kind of guy who needs to be backed into a corner. My personality is such that I have to put myself in a situation where I am accountable to something greater than myself to make change happen.

If you could reroll yourself as your favorite genre character or superhero, who would it be?

I would have said Spider-Man years back, but as I get older...Logan/Wolverine. Dude's tough as nails and only gets better with age.

I hope you guys are as excited as I am about seeing Michael challenge himself to make these changes. He's an awesome geek with a lot to offer and I feel honored that he came here to Project Reroll to share his story. That being said, there are seven days in a week. How awesome would it be if I wrote on two of them (as I already do) and the others were days that guest bloggers posted about their journeys? These could be vlogs or writing. I'd love to invite geeks of all sexes, ages, and backgrounds because I really think it's important that every "transformation" be put in perspective. I want people working on weight loss, or learning a new martial art, or trying a new fitness routine- there are just SO many physical challenges out there! It would be awesome to expose each other to all these different methods and what the day to day experience of pursuing these goals is like. I believe, like Michael, that personal transformation is something ANYONE can accomplish. However, different people might have to go about it in different ways in order to find lasting success that works for them. Is there anyone else who might be up for this challenge? If so, feel free to leave a comment or contact me so we can chat about your ideas! Ideally, I'd love to find 4 other staff writers to post on Wednesday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.  What say you, Slayers?