Day 890 - It is a splendid morning

A nice Saturday morning.Again with low humidity. Hallelujah! The morning's coolness gives one a chance to feel the difference between the morning, day and night. You can feel the pressure in the atmosphere being lifted. I feel truly blessed that God has given me these simple abilities to enjoy these feelings.

Today, is my 890 TH consecutive day of attempting to do a cardiovascular workout of 60 or more minutes. I have succeeded in the last 889 days. I have completed 892 workouts within that span of time. I am presently 110 days away from reaching a milestone of 1,000 consecutive days of doing that type of workout. I have been using the arc trainer for the last 183 days. I began using the arc trainer on January 28TH. prior to that I was doing my 60 minute workouts using the Life cycle bike. I felt awesome using it. However, the machine could not hold without breaking. In an effort to keep the gym I was using satisfied I decided to start using the arc trainer. So far no complaints. However, I do wish there were more "available" machines that worked the way I like.

Almost ready to take a hack at day 890. I am excited about the challenge!

recently.

It was indeed a great challenge. A challenge that I enjoyed immensely. I thank God that he gave me strength to take part in it.

As I got on the machine at around 7 am I had a determination that I would burn a significant amount more calories within the hour than I had in the previous days. My determination held up as I burned 1393 calories in the hour. The 1393 is the most I have burned since day 884 when I burned 1420. Why the drop off? I believe it has a decent to do with the time of the morning. I want my body to feel loose enough to burn 1400+ but in that time frame of 530 to 630 it has not recently.

As I strived to hit that 1400 calorie burn total for the hour a thought kept going through my mind. As I worked out it kept getting louder it said "if you wish to be great, then study greatness. What does that mean? It well it meant to me learn what greatness does and then learn from how they do great things. It allowed me to keep my focus on the amount of energy I needed to put into the challenge of 1400 burn per hour I was chasing. I chased it hard but I just could not catch it. That is OK by me today because it allowed me to try as hard as I could to attain the goal.

Day 889- A truly beautiful morning! No humidity, Yeah!

It is a beautiful morning. I think I will go outside a while, just to smile and breath in some clean fresh air. Awesome words to a song. Today I got up on less sleep than I have been accustomed to only 4 hours and 45 minutes. I did all I could and you know that is all I can ask. Despite burning only 1323 in the hour on this absolutely delicious morning, I feel great. I always try to cash in on weather breaks so I wanted more of a calorie burn today than what I got but heck the will to win is sometimes better than t and the the flesh is the result. he win. Vince Lombardi once said, "Winning is not everything, but wanting to win is." Vince and I agree the will is the spirit and the flesh is the result. We all know the spirit is willing but the flesh is week. That is why we all must realize the value of great conditioning. You see it is fatigue that takes away our courage. It has been said that fatigue makes cowards out of us all. It was said by Patton and then Lombardi.

Should we wish to attain victory we must be willing to pay the price for it's attainment.Part of the price includes preparation and part of preparation is getting in great condition. Great condition needed to handle the job. The job of showing up every day to workout.

Day 888- With the promise of August rapidly approaching....

We get a fleeting blast of humidity. The forecast is calling for a beautiful refreshing dose of less humidity following today. Can I get an Amen?

Yesterday, was an awesome physical day. We must realize we owe ourselves a few questions to dwell everyday. Did you know that if you ask your mind a question it does its best to give you an answer. That is why when we ask ourselves questions we must always ask them in the affirmative. A nice positive question like how did I get so lucky? Why do I love this? What is the nicest thing I can do for some one today?

OK --- You focus on asking yourself on asking positive questions. Today while I was doing my workout I noticed I was not putting the effort together that I feel I should. So I asked my self a very powerful question. What is the most calories I can burn from this point forward. So I burned that amount and it gave me joy!

A 1364 beats a 1360 any day of the week!

Day 887- Make it three! We are on a roll

The weather has been nice in the am. Humidity has been low. We tend to look towards distraction while we engage in activities we have to do rather than want to do. I always thought if there was one thing we can all work on all the time it is a simple concept called "want to". I believe it is a instinctive force that is within all of us. The exciting part is that we have had it all through our lives.

We all have that given instinct to ask until we get what we want. Think about this when we were just little kids and we wanted something real bad when did we stop asking for it? If you were like most you did not stop asking until you got it.

Now, ask yourself this when did you stop asking for something before you got it? I will give you the answer. You stopped asking for something before you got it when your want to went away. OK some may say I got something better or I lost interest but, it is still the absence of a want to that prevents us from getting what we want.

So if we now know that working on a "want to" is important in our lives, the question is how do we work on improving our want to?

It is a great question. A question that we can probably spend days discussing. I suppose the ability to identify what exactly we want will strengthen our chances for improving on our "want to". So take some time and discover what you want and find out why you want it. Then work on ways to improve that want and you will be able to work on your want to.

The meaning of life, what is it to you?

Today, I burned 1360 in the hour and felt great while doing it.

But, I must work on my "want to."

Day 886 - Second beautiful morning in as many days

With my early rising I was reminded of a thought. A simple question. It is true experience is usually the best teacher.....But, is the price usually too high? I challenge a few examples to prove that the yes response to that question.A hot stove that is touched by a toddler unaware of its danger. Playing with matches at a young age. Driving reckless. Running with scissors. Very pricey indeed. I am sure there are millions of experiences that do not nearly kill us that we can all be taught. But by and large I would say experience is the best teacher but the price is usually too high.

However, that should never stop our eagerness to learn from everything we do. I believe in a simple concept of plan, do and review. Real simple where are we going and how will we get there. Then, go. When we get there ask, "next time how can we get there faster? Also ask, how did we do?

Everyday, as I have traveled on this journey I am constantly asking, what can I do to improve on the day before performance?

The record for calories burned in 60 minutes is 1510 I have it documented. It occurred while I was on the arc trainer in area 3. The date was April 10Th 2010. Day 778- Workout 781 in 778 days.

I will continue to find a way to beat that number. I will gain inspiration from Roger Bannister the first person to break the 4 minute mile!

Today I got at the machine at one of the earliest times ever. The time was 5:07 am and I burned 1329 calories during the magic hour or hour of power.

Day 885- The weather is beautiful at 5:20 AM!

Thank God, we have been blessed with great weather today. I felt awesome as I woke up and attacked the machine today. I had to steer myself to the other area of the gym today. I noticed that the biggest difference in the machine I used today was it took longer to register a burned calorie. I also noticed the amount of energy I exerted to burn the calorie was more than I exerted on the other machine. Bottom line, I know I worked out as hard or just as hard as I did yesterday.

Burning a total of 1320 calories an hour was my total on day 885. It was probably equal to yesterday's total of 1420 in terms of actual energy spent with in that blessed HOUR.

Life offers us many things. I feel the only the ones that are blessed can find excitement in every challenge life throws out at us. May you be one of the blessed.

Day 884- A rich bounty of energy- God, how I love energy!

I suppose their are times of the day where we have the maximum amount of energy. If there was something called an energy measuring device where we could calculate how much energy we have at a given time that would be pretty awesome. However within the last 48 hours I thing I have uncovered something. I believe for my body I noticed that if I entitle it to a little extra rest a day it increases my energy.

Now, all this could just be me and my lifestyle but today and yesterday I found myself with more energy. I truly feel sorry people even myself at times when the feeling of energy is diminished. Energy what a precious commodity. The world would be a different place if we all had child like energy. A boundless reservoir of force and drive.

Well, today I felt like I had an endless reservoir of energy as I persevered to burn 1420 calories in the hour and do 460 crunches during the workout. We are now 116 days away from 1000- quadruple digit day! Q day - Comma Day - C day!

Day 883- Ah, a bit more rest

"Today, is the day the Lord hath made, we shall be glad and rejoice in it."That is straight from the bible. Building on a good base is the best way to give you a chance for a strong structure. That I suppose is from the book of common sense. Monday through Friday of this week I was able to burn(1358, 1378, 1339, 1175, 1333 ) number of calories with in the hour. Today, I am determined with the assist of a shower and more wake up time to burn the most I have all week. The target is 1378, the goal is clear. Let us see if I can do it it.When I burn 1379 or more I will have averaged a burn of 22.9833 number of calories per minute for one hour.In an effort to burn 1400+ I need to burn an average of 23.33 per minute for one hour.

You see, to me this is exciting. I have prepared myself for this challenge and I am anxious to hit it.The bible says, when you pray for anything give thanks for its achievement before you even get it.That is a sure sign of your optimism.

Amen to that. Can I get an amen? With the strength of God it was done. The number 1428 was flashed as the machine read 60 minutes. Then it was done the prayer was answered with a little extra.

With faith as tiny as a mustard seed we can move mountains. So be it.My understanding of that passage is with real faith it will be done. Understanding using real faith is a very powerful force.

As I burned the calories today I noticed my focus was very sharp. Immediately I kept track of every calorie I burned. With an I on the goal of burning 23 calories per minute I kept an eye on my progress. When I was able to burn over 700 calories in the first thirty minutes I knew I was on a good pace.

Day 882 - Maybe I need a quick refresher

My numbers have dipped on the hour workout. It could be a few factors but mainly I need to just either get up earlier to loosen up some or get more rest. No matter though, still feel great and loving the the workout. It is amazing how it gives me such a thrill. Imagine doing something for 882 straight days and everyday you love it?

Did 1333 on the hour journey today. I know I will do better on day 883!

Day- 881! Can you say "less humidity?"

An awesome morning. Finally thanks be to God, a cooler morning with less humidity. I am pretty sure this is are first break since, since the 3rd of Juuu Lye! As was gleefully said by a former co-worker one hot summer's day! Not bad only 19 days of humid weather.

It maybe happy trails for me at my current gym. I've been a member since 2005 and I have come to realize their equipment is not really that good. Good meaning it does not fix itself. If it did it would be good equipment. There is always a price you pay for anything. Heck, at 33 cents a workout you can not expect a rose garden.

My burn today was who knows? Thanks to the shoty equipment it is any one's guess. I sweated a lot so I will go with the numbers I got. Eleven hundred and seventy five- Yuck Yikes.

The question of the day is...

When was the last time you sent or gave a thank you note or card to someone?

If there is ever an opportunity to do so it is now!

Knock, knock. Who is there? Day 882 !

Day 880 - Man, we are in a good fight

The challenge is there. The elements are lined up. What are the elements? Let's see there is the lovely humidity that has not broke since July 4Th. There is the beautiful heat department that seems to be there at every turn. Oh yes, let us not forget the air conditioning which is has been on forever so it seems. Then there is the daily toil. You see there is really only two things we have total control over. They are.... 1) our attitude 2) our activity. Ponder that a second, do we really have control over anything else? I think not.

Today, I burned 1339 calories in the hour. I am determined to burn more in the hour tomorrow.

To quote "invincible" Hows it going Vince? Ah, a few bumps and bruises but I am okay.

I want to be better than okay!

Day 879- Set the ole boy down early!

Decided eat and sleep were top priority. So I ate and then slept. Went down at 945pm up at 5am. It was good to put my feet up. The bible says, "the sleep of the laborer is SWEET." We are down to the last 12% of the 1,000 day journey. Now a 1,000 days will not end the journey but, it will give reason to pause and reflect. I hesitate to say celebrate because I am reminded of Winston Churchill's famous quote. Failure is never fatal and success is never final. For that reason I may not be celebrating on the big C day.

Finished with a pulse! Burned 1,378 in the hour. In last 5 minutes I burned 125. It took me a little longer to warm up. I just know if I was up longer before I normally get on the machine I would burn more calories per hour. The key is to find a way to get up earlier.

Day 878- Four and a quarter does not make a good athlete better

Okay, what is the reference here? Four and a quarter is 4 hours and 15 minutes of sleep I got last night. Then I woke up and got on the machine and burned ONLY1358 calories with in the hour(WITH). Not my idea of a pace I want. I felt good but I can feel better. I want to perform at all times at peak performance. I want to hunt down perfection.(IWTHDP). I want to be constantly in Hot pursuit of an awesome workout. I know that having the right amount of rest plays a vital roll.

Here is a thought if there are 40,000 words in the English language and a person only knows and can define 10,000 of them that means there are 30,000 words that have no meaning to him in the English language. That is scary. To have all that potential of knowledge and never use it. One step further, Most people only use a small percent of the words they know in their vocabulary. So, that is even more lost potential.

Anyway back to working out, I love to do it and a major part of it is the preparation both mentally and physically.

Tomorrow with the blessing of the good Lord a new day will dawn. My prayers are that I am prepared to have an awesome workout.

Day 877 - Whew a rest!

I took my time today. Did 1389 in 60 felt great! I did 500 crunches and stretched. I could have hung out at the gym all day.I feel I could have done a double today! I got eight hours of sleep! Awesome!

Day 876- I stand corrected! It was on the 4TH of July when ....

It was on July 4TH 2010 when I last burned the magic number of 1,440 calories or more an hour while using the arc trainer.The big question now is when was the last time I burned 1,440 calories or more in back to back days. Or to refine it further what is the most calories I burned in two days. By finding out this information it will give me a number of calories to go for today. How much can I do today. God, how I love that question! The last time I burned 1,449 I followed it by burning 1,396 calories in the hour.

So what is today's goal. Who is today's opposition? What is the pace I need to be on to beat 1449 + 1396 which equals 2845 calories. Well if your deduct 1439(( yesterday's total) it leaves me with 1406 calories to burn to equal that number. So today's goal is to burn 1407 or more within the hour. The pace in that effort requires a burn of 23.45 calories per minute or faster.

This will be a fun challenge. Yesterday, my groove was strong and I felt great. I pray for the same flow to occur today.

DID IT!

Finished very very strong! How strong? Well burned only 692 in first 30 minutes. Do the math. 1415-692= 723 in the second 30 minutes. Now that is a strong finish! How did you feel? How did I feel?? I felt awesome. I had a service man who just got done serving in Afghanistan tell me after he watched me finish with a strong pus say to me "half the guys in my outfit could not have done what you just did. I said really? Why? He said they are couch potatoes they don't have the athletic mind set. I suppose that is not a good sign for today's youth. but it does shine light on the fact that people from young to old need to get into better physical shape.

People need to learn how to love to workout. I am in better shape than i ever have been in my life.Knock on wood! Tomorrow is a new challenge. Can we beat 1416?

How much you do today? Go see and report back to me!

Day 875 I heard the call to the starting gate; It was post time!

Today and late last evening I treated myself to a rest. For the first time in the last 3 days I got more than five hours of sleep. With certainty I can say my body needed the rest. Feeling refreshed I was able to burn the most calories in the hour than I have in awhile. My guess is more than a month. To attempt to put how many calories I burned today into perspective. I burned 72 more calories today than I did yesterday. That means I was able to burn calories at a rate of 23.98 per minute as opposed to yesterday's pace of 22.78 calories burned per minute. To bore you further that is an increase of 1.20 calories per minute. That means I took off three minutes and nine seconds off my time from yesterday- As we divide the amount of calories by the pace from yesterday's calories burned pace.

Like I said, "I heard the trumpet sound for post time and I was off and moving.

Day 874 - All things need to have a certain flow to them

The magic of the streak reminds me of its power. As I have mentioned a few times prior. The power of a repeated action creates a special power. Some my call it muscle memory. All I know is when your body is adjusted to move in a certain way as the action is repeated with confidence and success the action begins to take on a unique flow. I am attempting to communicate this because I can not recall reading about such a subject.

There is definitely some dynamic at work. I sure millions of people have repeated some sort of procedure on a daily basis. So this action of repetition is not new. However, to me it is fascinating.

To clarify, I have done the same action in which I do a 60 minute cardiovascular workout everyday for the last 2 years and 144 days. To make sure all the information is clear. On some of the 874 days I did two one hour cardiovascular workouts. My total workouts that I have completed in the last 874 days now stands at 877. My continuous days working out are exceeded by 3 days. At one point my days were exceeded by 5 days. Back on and around the 700 TH day I was told by a doctor to hold off from working out for 48 hours.At that point in time I used 2 of my extra 5 days. However, my total of workouts still is above the number of days that have elapsed.

Today as a result of and electrical power failure I was not sure of my numbers. My guess is I burned 1367 in an hour.

Day 873- Geez, alot has happened in the last 24 hours

Shall I recap? First the owner of my beloved Yankees passed away. Second, I had a crown put on my tooth after I had cracked it a few weeks ago. Third, I bought a freaking brand new car. I know to some of you that is an average day but, for me that maybe an average year. The purpose of this blog is not for me to state my personal affairs and since yesterday was a little wacky I thought I would throw that in. My sleep routine has been disrupted I need to get back on it my performance of burning calories has been diminished. Today, I only burned 1358 in the hour. I felt good but wanted to push harder. Tonight, I will get more sleep than the night before.

Day 872- What happens when you get up and you do not FEEL like working out?

Someone once asked me that. As I recall it was right around the 150Th day. Guess what my reply was? I said, " I don't know because I have never felt that way since I started the streak. I suppose I am so excited about the prospect of working out and the curiosity of what I can do on that given day that not feeling like working out is not in my language." I think without saying much more than I have said already should be enough motivation for anyone today.Just dwell on what I wrote and reread it over and over until you start to move. Good luck and I know you can do it!

Today, I warmed up late. Only burned 915 in the first 40 minutes. But finished strong by burning 481 in the last 20 minutes. Although, I just missed burning 1400 within the hour. I did burn 1396 in the hour. By burning 1396 I am still hungry to burn 1400 in the hour.

Day 871 - T minus 129 and counting; C day is coming!

We are 87.1 % of the way to 1,000 days.The average human that is 871 days after its birth is usually blank inches tall. Weighs about x number of pounds. I think what we will call the thousandth day is coma day or C day. See day is scheduled for November 18 TH 2010. WOW! How exciting! C day I like it. Well you heard it here first November 18TH is 129 days away.For all of you who are interested in this this stuff. Halloween is 121 days from today.And Thanksgiving is 146 days from today. Now Christmas is 176 days away.

Burned 1372 calories in the hour.Why less than usual? Possible reason setting on machine is on same weight I have lost a few pounds since I decided on that setting. If weight stays off I will readjust. Bottomline, still feel awesome!

Day 870- "The road is better than the inn"

We can thank Cervantes for that quote.Do we know what he meant when he said it? Ponder this what is the road? What is the inn? As we delve into those two questions we can uncover his thoughts. First "the road," what is his point of view?
According to my google findings ... where I (must confess I researched Earl Nightingale at the same time) I feel the quote means this.

The road is life and life's journey. The true measure of life I believe is what our goals make of us. We have all got a destination we will all arrive somewhere. The somewhere is "the inn." That pales in comparison to the road. You see the road is everything because it shapes who we become. My choice for the name of this blog states my clear feelings on the road. It says enjoy the road I love to workout means let us all make the most of each activity we care to do. We can dwell on this thought to clarify our thinking. Do what you love and you will love what you do. That is pretty simple is it not?

The road today was fun as I burned 2 calories in the hour less than my determined goal. I also did 20 less crunches than I set out to do. Why was it fun to not hit your goal? Answer: because as hard I tried to reach my goals. The road to reach them were tough and I gave it all I had today to reach them. I wound up getting my heart rate to go to 160 beats per minute for at least 20 to 25 minutes. That is where the road is awesome. When working that hard the sensation is about as intense as it gets. Your mind gets flooded with beautiful positive thoughts and you feel as though you are suspended in air. When you try to do an ungodly amount of crunches your body and your mind have this tremendous battle that is uplifting to your whole being.

Burned 1398 ouch did 580 crunches it is okay, I have been made stronger from the journey.

Cervantes, you are right! The road is better than the Inn.

Day 869- The joy of accomplishment!

Give you an example of what benefits there are in working out and eating healthy, consider this. On November 4Th 2009 the day the Yankees won their 27TH World Championship I was told by my doctor that my cholesterol overall numbers were at 217. I was shocked. I thought I was doing ever thing correct. I had been exercising everyday and I thought I was eating very healthy. Well, evidently not. So I took this less than positive report as an opportunity to test my desire to lower my cholesterol. The doctor said, " we will test you after the holidays to see if your overall numbers come down. We all know the holidays is when most people eat the most. So I said to myself this is a great time to test my thoughts on how to lower cholesterol. The doctor said if we do not see a positive change you should go on medicine to lower your cholesterol.

You see right there I realized where most of society was. I decided to reconsider the foods I eat and I asked my self why? Why do I choose to eat the foods I do? I thought my choices were decided on health. I thought the reason for working out up to that day 621 of consecutive days were to be healthy. So I made a decision on the foods I was going to eat. Notice I said I made a decision. I wanted to eat healthy food. Taste was not a priority.So I said any thing that offers saturated fat that will turn into cholesterol is out.

Well if you realize that the main stream does not offer too many foods that fit that criteria. Although there are plenty of foods that do you just have to decide to find them.

As you can start to get the picture I found them I eat only them and I lowered my cholesterol down to 171 according to my last test.

So to summarize, from Day 621 to day 865 a total of 244 days I dropped my overall cholesterol down from 217 to 171 without MEDICINE!

Folks, do not do what everyone else does if it is not healthy for you.

Now, I am off to the gym to sharpen the saw.

I would like to think that I did. By burning 1434 calories in the hour I burn 46 more in the hour than yesterday. Yesterday my burn was 1388 in the hour. Today since I had a few extra minutes I did 530 crunches. After stretching I felt great! I hope the saw, which is me was sharpened by those activities.

Day 868- Gee! That was awesome, can I have the check please?

Excuse me sir, but your bill was paid for by that kind gentlemen over there. Where I don't see him. Allow me to point him out to you. He is the one covered in sweat and breathing a little heavy. Just give him a few seconds while he catches his breath. Oh, I see him now. Thank sir for being so kind but I can not accept your generous offer. How much do I owe you? Nothing. Come now, I do not want you to pay for the awesome feeling of exhilaration I just experienced. Believe me sir all I did was sweat and work my muscles it was not that big a deal. You mean you will accept nothing for payment? Exactly, not a thing.

Wow, this workout thing is amazing I should do it everyday. I think so. By the way, what is our name? Ah, just call me your body. Thanks your body.

Believe me folks after a workout where you really give it your all "your body" will thank you!

Starting at 525 am and sweating like crazy allowed me to burn 1388 within the hour.

Day 867- Waking up at 5am and working out is quite interesting

Yes, it is for a number of reasons. One, it is still dark out. Two, I am very competitive so I like knowing that I beat the sunrise by a few minutes.Three, you know in a short time things will get busy and congested but you are here before it does.Four, there are less people around. Five, to know that you have 60 minutes of busting it and then before 7 am you will be ready to start your day refreshed and ready to go, is an awesome feeling.

My mind set day was on a simple concept that has a huge impact on how we usually perform. It is one, two and three. If we look at those three numbers that are a quick study of how we conduct our daily actions. So if you can follow this logic. Ready aim- FIRE! Or how about, on your mark, get set- GO! There is a certain rhythm and cadence to the concept. One of my favorites is dressed fed and ready to play.Now, lets look at each step 1st is players of ready that requires preparation just like on your mark or dressed. Why? because if you look at the action to follow they all require a certain readiness. The second step is aim, get set and fed. Interesting, then are all focusing on the charge the launch. How about quite on the set, ready ACTION!All based on cadence one two three. In the game of football, the quarter back has a basic structure of getting all the other ten player off the line at one time he says, set, down HIKE! Or if he wishes he can try to confuse the other team by varying when he wants the ball.

The point is simple one two three and you can launch your day.

On this day with all the sweat I could muster I burned 1402 calories in the hour!

Day 866- The day of ...who knows. But, what if....

We took the time and envisioned the day turning out to be a truly wonderful day. A day in which we all were grateful for what we have, had currently have and will have in the future. One of the most powerful things I have ever heard comes from the bible it instructs, to paraphrase when you pray give thanks for already having your prayer answered. I know that is not always an easy one to fathom. I interpret that as having some much faith that your prayer is answered that you can now give thanks for it becoming reality.

I love starting the day with a workout where I use maximum effort. The feeling is so liberating, so blissful, out of body that pray to be able to give it to everyone. I am sure there are times in every one's lives where they feel so alive and blessed that they wish they could share that sense of joy with every living creature.

As I proceeded on my workout my sharing of my thoughts have inspired you today.I began to envision myself burning at least 1400 calories within the hour. When you realize that your vision could become a reality your body just comes so alive that everything in you is so focused on hitting that pace in an effort to reach that number of calories burned.

So as the Good Lord would have it I burned 1407 calories in the hour. Despite the temperature being a balmy 74 degrees a 535 am.

I hope my sharing of my thoughts have inspired you today.

Day 865- Two sets of numbers you do not want to see too often

What are the numbers? How about these? Five twenty seven and seventy two. Why not? What is not good about those numbers? They don't sound good or look good together. Okay? I give up what is the deal? The first set 527 represents the time of day 527 am to be exact. Guess what the second set represents? The usual pairing, the temperature. So at 527 am it was 72 degrees. Funny, that is when I got on the machine this morning and that was the temperature. Which is about 10 to 15 degrees warmer than normal. As much as I cringe to admit it I cannot help but wonder if that had to do with my burning only 1386 calories in the hour.

Last night, I treated myself to an early bedtime. I knew today was going to be interesting. I realized that I would burn about 1400 calories between 530 and 630 am in about 70 degree temperatures out side. I also planned on working until my blood test that I have been fasting for. I am always curious how long I can fast for. Today should be 15 hours. Not bad. In my mind, fasting is good for the soul.

Day 864-Allright, the break is over....

Let us be honest. It is hot out there today. Let us be more honest. After being in a hot house for the "day off".Then battling to put in three window air conditioners before cooling off the house. Then getting on the machine at 527am and burning 1396 calories in the hour. I have to admit I needed a second to catch my breath.

Now, I am back at it. I am definitely looking forward to today's challenge of working in 97 degrees and higher humidity.Then tomorrow's challenge of an early morning workout while fasting prior to the blood test. Then going back to work after the test. All while completing the 865TH consecutive day of doing at least one 60 minute cardiovascular workout.

We want, but are we willing to pay the price.The sad part is we all are usually given credit and then asked to pay back later.

If you are willing to pay the price in advance your life will be much richer.

Day 863- Okay so this is the break today....

Today, will be the first day in the last 33 days that I have not put in at least eight hours of work.So this is break time. Let me see I got up at 615 am. I plan on being at the gym at 8am or earlier.After the gym who knows? I feel chock filled of energy. I sense my relaxation with be just enjoying exploring my options.

Just knowing I can poke around with my time will serve as a psychological benefit. After all the word recreation is really re create. These next waking hours can help me get rejuvenated.


I know I recently touched on the concept of boot camp. I expressed it in the simplest form. Strip away all and start again. It really means to focus on only the main thing. But, just remember to keep the main thing the main thing.You have got to eat, sleep and breath the main thing. Now, you may be asking, what is the main thing? The main thing is the boot camp mentality. The boot camp mentality is I have something to do that cannot be interrupted. I once heard a great analogy for a sense of urgency. Pretend you have to go somewhere and you need your car but, you cannot find your car keyes. Do you get the picture? You are in need of your car keyes and you have no other sets of car keyes. Now what do you do? I suppose you go about finding your car keyes right? Then the phone rings and the voice on the other end says I need you need to get here right away. You recognize the voice and you now realize there is an emergency that you have to get to as soon as possible or someone will die. Now how hard are you going to look for your car keyes. Have I made the picture clear enough. Are you starting to sharpen your focus? Have I put you in car keyes finding boot camp mode? This little scenario at times can serve as a motivation for you to acknowledge your desire to lose weight, eat right and workout. In an effort to reach your physical goals.

Well, I am off to the gym to enjoy my day off from work.---

My juices were really flowing on this fine morning as I burned 715 calories in the first half hour and then burned 734 in next hour. All total I burned 1449 calories in the hour. Burning that much calories is something I have not done since? Give a second and I will look it up... Day 812 when on May 14TH I burned 1451 in the hour.

Now it is off to church then the locksmith.

Day 862- I awoke with this thought on my mind

The big D's. The big D's so what do the D's stand for? Well, in this case the D's stand for desire and discipline. The desire happens to come by easier than the discipline.Now, for obvious reasons. If discipline was easier than desire what kind of world would we live in? That is just a crazy thought,let us leave that for a minute.

Desire is simple it comes by naturally, it is probably as easy as breathing. You see or think something and you get an impulse and want it. Then if you dwell on it you desire it. Here is where and when it gets interesting. The more you dwell on your desire the more you begin to realize what it shall take to have this desire. Then, if your desire is ambitious enough you start to come up with a plan to meet your desire. Then my friends is where and when you get to meet the other D. He is standing there saying so you want this huh? Well what are you willing to do to get it? Then comes a series of questions like are you willing to give this up? Or that up? Or, are you willing to add this to your time.All of a sudden, your desire starts to shrink as your discipline starts to get bigger.Bigger in a manner of importance if and only if your desire is still a desire. Desire says, "here I am". While discipline says, "you may want it, but I am standing in the way".

So where you at? What are your desires? Are they strong enough to be introduced to discipline?

Off we go, to rock on to day 862 and day 33 as we are at t minus 138!

Yes!! We did rock on. Burned 1426 calories in the hour. Then did 460 crunches. Had a great conversation with a fellow gym member.

TODAY WAS THE FOURTH STRAIGHT MORNING IN WHICH THE WEATHER WAS BEAUTIFUL! TO RECAP DAY 862,861,860 AND 859 WERE BEAUTIFUL MORNINGS- THANK YOU GOD!

Day 861- If you are not golfing or have not thought about golfing today, then you probably do not own a set of clubs

Once again, for the third day in a row we are blessed with awesome weather. Please bare that in mind should the weather change. Blasted to a 1407 calorie burn in the hour today. At the space station they name countdowns T minus blank. Well, since the big target out there is 1000 days, let us call today T minus 139 and counting.

I have been up at 5am everyday since Monday of this week. It feels good. My discipline is like a close friend. I count it when I need to know what I should be doing.

Quick motivating thoughts; it has been said and I believe that this country's freedom was started by a small percentage of the population. A group of determined individuals managed to get together and workout with the help of a mastermind to establish the basis for who we are today. A free country. So think of that while you are chewing on your hot dog this weekend.

Freedom came with a price but the statistics are amazing. The small percent I referred to was only 5% and only 20% more actually fought for the revolution. I believe 30 % fought with and helped the enemy. The remaining part of the population remained neutral. So we own our lives and our way of life to a 25% of a population that simply said give me freedom or give me death.

Happy 4TH of July. Let freedom ring! Let freedom ring and your life take control of your body and start on a course towards healthy living.

Thank You!

Day 860 - We are blessed with some awesome early morning weather

Today is a magnificent day the sun is shinning there is a delightful breeze and there is a low humidity.Sometimes you can just comment on the weather for motivation.Which brings to mind a concept I always thought was pretty awesome.

Compliments, there never seems to be enough of them. I heard that most people will complain 16 times more often than they compliment. That my friends is sad.I once heard Tony Robbins give a quick lesson on how to give someone a compliment.
1- ask permission to give the person a compliment.
2- give the compliment.
3- give reasons for the compliment.
4- say it with a smile and speak with utmost sincerity.

Here is one - Hi Mrs _ how are you? great may I pay you a compliment? Sure. You look great today and the reason why I say that is..... Just Smile and say no thank you for looking so awesome today.
See that was not hard was it?

Burned 1400 on the nose today. Thanks to a great 125 calorie burn in the final 5 minutes of the hour.