A Few Adventures from Last Week

This week has been a bit of a busy blur, but I was able to fit in a few fun things in. Ready. Set. Go.

1) Anyone who knows me, knows that I am a huge Disney fan. So is my wife. There are times that we rival each other in how much we are Disney fans but for the most part, I usually win. Anyway, this week was opening week for Disney's new movie Big Hero 6.

**Images from @DisneyPictures

We saw the movie with some friends that we hadn't seen in a few months. It was really good to reconnect.

The movie was really good. We laughed and even cried. I'll be honest I'm a crier when it comes to movies. I don't cry at the typical girl movies like where the guy gets the girl or something like that but when it comes to the main character overcoming emotional obstacles or losing a loved one and really grieving and then rising to a challenge then I probably will cry and emotional music never helps. :-)

Ok back to the movie night with friends. We started our evening at Panera Bread. They have these BBQ Chicken Flatbread sandwiches and they are Sooo good. (I wish old have gotten a picture of it but I failed to do so. Next time I go I'll take one.) After dinner we walked in the cold to the movie theater. Fortunately, we only had to walk across the parking lot. We almost didn't get to see the movie because of projector problems but fortunately by the time we got there it was fixed.

After the movie my wife and I wanted to get pictures with the inflatable Baymax character in the movie theater lobby.

2) The next morning we had breakfast at a quaint little cafe in with a friend of mine from Novosibirsk, Russia. I met him in 2010 during a mission trip to Novosibirsk. A little background on why I went to Russia on a mission trip.

I went with an organization called Youth Reach International. They are an organization that works with orphans in Novosibirsk, Russia and Belarus. To be an orphan in Russia is to be labelled less than a third-class citizen and/or handicapped. The thing is, none of these kids did anything to deserve this status label. Some of these kids are products of orphans and some aren’t orphans in the traditional sense as in their parents passed away, but they are orphans because one or both of their parents are in the prison system for one reason or another. The problem is several fold. These kids are brought up to believe that they are basically worthless and have no value what-so-ever. This causes them to spiral into destructive behaviors and believe the lies that they have been told.

10% of Russian orphans will commit suicide

40% of Russian orphans will turn to drugs and/or alcohol

60% of Russian orphans will be jobless and homeless

Given the fact that these orphans are released into society at the age of 16, consider that 86% of the people (in the entire world, not only the former Soviet Union) who accept Christ do so prior to the age of 14.

The trip was so expensive that I had to raise support for it. It was the most humbling experience that I have ever done because I am the type of person that doesn’t really like to ask for help or ask for money or anything for that matter. This was very hard for me to do and the best part was that God was very awesome in blessing me and it was so awesome to see people giving. I’ll admit that I was in a really rough spot during this time and I was not very good at letting those who gave me support know what happened or how things went. If you would like to read my support letter please follow this link you can also see the photo card that I included with every support letter.

As a brief summary of what we did while we were there, we met with daily with the orphans at St. Nicholas Orphanage along with the mentors. Mentors are Russian young adults, usually college age, who have either grown up as orphans and were impacted by the YouthReach program or people that have a heart to help orphans. These mentors are key in impacting the lives of the Russian youth. Basically you can think of it as a Big Brothers and Big Sisters program for Russia.


If they have that program, then why did I go over? Well, good question! Americans are a novelty. We go over to Russia to aid in the continued relationship between mentor and orphan or help one get started. For a week myself and the team that I was with, would have craft sessions and story time and sharing of stories and experiences, which was VERY hard to understand as I don’t really speak Russian. The week went by fast and the last day we all gathered for a group picture. It was sad to go and Russians have a special place in my heart.

When I got home, I needed to do something. After being impacted like I was I couldn’t just sit by and do nothing. So I decided to support my friend Ruslan. He is the Director of Russian Operations and now oversees the new operations in Belarus. This week he was in town visiting friends and supporters. My wife and I met him for breakfast. We heard all about what is going on in Russia and had a great time catching up as well.

I’m also including a slideshow of pics from my trip to Russia.
Please note this slideshow does not work on iOS devices such as Apple iPhone or iPad. To view the photos in the gallery please follow THIS LINK HERE .

Getting Back on Track

Its been a while since I wrote in this blog. I had been wanting to update on my running and weight loss but there was nothing to update. I hadn’t been at all successful in getting anything done, at least not consistently. So I haven’t wanted to write anything as I feel like I’m extremely hypocritical even having this blog.

If I have a blog about exercise and weight loss and don’t do anything to get myself towards weight loss, then how can I write a blog about weight loss or my fitness adventures. Blogging for me has always been a love-hate relationship. I love the idea of a blog and I hate taking the time to write in it. The blogging higher-ups would tell me that I shouldn’t be this open and honest while blogging and maybe they are right, but I have always gotten good responses while bearing my soul, as scary as it is.

So I am going to attempt to revive this blog. I don’t need to have advertising, I’m not looking to get paid for this, all I believe that I want is to be an inspiration to someone who is looking to lose weight and wants to revive his or her exercise/fitness life. If nothing else happens and all I get to do is share my experiences with the interwebs then so be it! For those of you reading, please comment either on this blog or on Facebook when I share it to FB. It would make me happier to know if people are actually interested in reading my stuff.

Lets get started: here goes!

1. What’s been going on for the past several months?

The last several months have been crazy. If you’ve been following along with my photoblog, I got a job as a photographer for a wire service agency, Icon Sportswire . They had me shooting professional sports off an on all summer long. I think that most of July and August was spent at Busch Stadium photographing the Cardinals. I don’t think I shot all that many games as it feels like but between shooting games and working my real job at the hospital, I haven’t had all that much time to write or any energy to workout.

Here’s a little secret, I’ve actually been rather lazy up until this last month when it comes to working out. One of the things I’ve found out is that the more you exercise, the more energy you actually have. It is the most paradoxical thing I’ve ever come across, but it works.

2. Have I been exercising at all or just sitting on the couch eating bon-bon’s?

Ok, so I don’t even think I’ve ever eaten a bon-bon, but I definitely have eaten my fair share of crap. When I went to my health-care convention last December in Orlando, FL, I weighed in at 256ish. This summer I gained almost all of the weight that I lost when I was getting married. I had had enough. What I was doing wasn’t working. Before I start into what has been going on in the last few months, here is the little that I was doing this summer.

From the beginning of May and throughout the summer my buddy, Jeff and I had been running/walking once per week-ish after I got off work. It was going okay...well it actually kinda sucked since that was the only exercise I was getting in a week. I liked exercising at night after work so I joined Planet Fitness in Ballwin and guess how many times I actually went? Once. The one time I went was good I did some running, but it ended up being too far from my house and I never went. There was nothing wrong with the gym, in fact, I liked the gym it was just too far from my house and thus I didn’t use it. The one thing that I did like about the gym that I was unable to use was their Planet Fitness Biggest Loser 30 min Express Workout. Basically, the workout is a giant circuit that is supposed to only take 30 min. You are given a timer in the form of a stop light. On green you work and red you rest. You alternate between the steppers and the circuit machines. It looked like a killer workout if you followed the whole thing from start to finish.


So where am I now? Well, after getting sick and tired of being this way and not doing anything about it, I decided to start up our Biggest Loser competition at work. It’s going ok. I’m not winning but I’m not losing either, the competition - I am losing weight very very very slowly.

I’ve been going to Gold’s Gym in St. Peters which has really helped me get back into the swing of working out. I went there because my wife and I got a 3 month groupon deal and figured we couldn’t pass it up. I’ve been doing cardio and circuit work including a few kettlebell swings. I think that I strained a muscle in my lower back from the kettlebell swings so I’ve taken a few days off. Hopefully this week I will be able to start working on my sprint triathlon training. I’ll let you all know in a few weeks how things are going.

Thanks for reading as always. Cheers!

New Team Chocolate Milk Contest and Update on Training

Blank...I sit down to type a blog post and thats what happens, I hear crickets. It's terrible. I want to write a consistantly, but I sit down to write and I got nothin'!

Ok so here is what has been going on in my training world since I wrote this blog as a way to spread my insights in weightloss and training as well as keep me accountable for working out. Ha! That last part is rather funny. I have this terrible habbit of avoiding things when I am behind on doing them or have been lazy. I have been having a terrible time working out lately. Infact, I haven't been working out at all. I was supposed to start my training a few weeks ago and having recently been sick...again!...it's been really challenging to even get back to doing anything. So, since I haven't been doing much of anything, I haven't been writing. I didn't want to get back on this blog and write about how I haven't been doing anything again and sing the same song I feel like I've been singing for so long now. So that is why there has been a long lapse in blogging.

Last Friday, April 4th, I received another email letting me know that I had been accepted as a finalist in the Team Chocolate Milk Contest! You can vote HERE. I was really excited to hear this since I didn't get in last time. I've been given a second chance. If you haven't been voting for me, it's ok to start now, and if you have been voting for me, keep it up. Because of the second chance in getting into the contest I felt like I needed to get back to working out. I felt like I couldn't be in the contest and not do anything. I'd be a hypocrite if I didn't workout and continue on this journey to be on the Chocolate Milk Team. So I put something in to motivate me that would probably motivate anyone...money.

I signed up for the BikeMS race, I signed up for the distance I wanted to do, and I booked the hotel. After looking at the final bill I was so much more interested in biking and getting my act together that if it hadn't been almost 1:30 in the morning I probably would have biked, but it being so late I decided to go to bed instead.

That all being said, tonight I restart my training and I don't know how much I will blog during this. I will probably blog alot more than I think I will, but I'm not super sure.

So here I am starting up my training again and using $$$ as a motivator. I'm excited for warmer weather to start golfing again. Some of my golfing buddies have been talking about hittin' the links when it gets warmer and I am rather excited about getting back into golfing again. I didn't do much golfing last summer because of it being my first year of being married and being lazy. I'm excited about getting back into golf. I need to get my clubs regripped with my new grips that I bought a few years ago. I also got some new Nike Golf shoes although they are nothing like the ones desgined for the Masters, which by the way comes on TV this Thursday through Sunday! I'm excited to watch it!

Here is the tweet @NikeGolf sent out about their new shoes:

Designed for Augusta. Engineered for greatness. http://t.co/j9v7hx1hxe pic.twitter.com/EnSSNNcofy
— Nike Golf (@nikegolf) April 8, 2014

I'll have to post some pictures of my shoes and golf clubs after the clubs have been regripped. I will also be posting some pictures of our golf outings as well as my training from biking. Right now with all the rain, I've been biking inside (and by right now, I mean last night (this got is getting posted a day late)), but once I get outside I'm sure to be posting photos.

Thanks for listening and don't forget to vote for me for the next Team Chocolate Milk!

Team Got Chocolate Milk Update Final Results

The wait is over, I have the news…and it wasn’t what I wanted to hear. I just received an email from Team Got Chocolate Milk and it reads:

”Thank you for submitting your application to join Team CHOCOLATE MILK. While your entry did not rally enough votes this time, don’t let the competition leave you in the dust during the next voting period!...”

Yes that’s right, unfortunately I did not make it on to the team during this voting period. I was very much disappointed when I read the email. I really wanted to be a part of the team. The good news is that I have a chance to apply again. I’m not sure as to whether or not I actually have to apply again, but it wouldn’t seem fair to me to not apply again so I just resent my application in using the same video (I haven’t had a chance to make a new one yet, but I plan to do so soon).

So assuming that if my video made the small cut last time, only 8 finalists with only 2 winners, it should make it this time as the cut is larger, 25 finalists with 8 winners. I believe that they widened the cut amount due to the popularity that this contest has gained. That being said, there are going to be a larger number of people applying for the competition and having the opportunity to win. I can get in the door, but I need your help to make it the rest of the way.

This really will be a team effort. Much of what I’ve been writing about lately has been me talking mainly to myself to get myself motivated, but I’ve also been trying to encourage people who read this blog (friends, family, random strangers) that anyone can change and become better. Anyone can workout and get stronger and healthier. There are so many benefits to working out, most notably more energy, better mood, and decreased risk of long term disease.

As I said, this contest is a team effort, I cannot become a member of team Chocolate Milk without the help of all of you, much like all the Olympians could not have made it to Sochi without the help and support of their friends, family, and even those who donate to the Olympic Committee. I loved the celebration after the women’s skeleton race by USA Olympian Nicole Pikus-Pace when she realized that she had won a silver medal. She couldn’t contain herself, jumped into the stands straight to her husband and family screaming we did it! WE DID IT! She never said I did it, she always emphasized the “we.” I was very much inspired by that.

So, provided that I make the final cut for the next round of Team Chocolate Milk voting, I need your help! I need all of you to be behind me! Team JStreet! #teamjstreet I appreciate all of your support as I continue on this journey toward weight loss and healthier living. I appreciate your support as I continue to apply for Team Chocolate Milk. I appreciate you joining me in my journey, bettering yourselves and working toward your own healthy lifestyle.

My first week of riding is done. Total weekly miles from cycling and walking = 31.9 miles. Last night I rode 14 miles while watching the Sochi Closing Ceremonies. I did infact use chocolate milk after my workout and while I was sore this morning, I wasn’t as sore as I thought that I would have been. That’s my blurb training update along with my Team Chocolate Milk update.

The Walk Game by Six to Start

The Walk Game – If you remember my post about the running game I play, Zombies, Run! from six to start (if you never saw the post you can read it here). Well, they just released a new game called The Walk. I will try and describe some details about the game without giving away any secrets of the storyline.

Here is the description as per thewalkgame.com website:

A bomb explodes in Inverness station, and you're given a package that could save the world. To stay alive, you'll need to walk the length of the UK.

The Walk is more than just a (great) pedometer — it's a way to turn walking into a journey, a challenge, and a rip-roaring adventure.

The game is similar to and completely different than the Zombies,Run! game. You still have episodes throughout the game like in Zombies, but instead of choosing an episode and going for a run or a walk the app functions as a pedometer. As you walk through your day you move through the game and as you move through the game you unlock various audio clips revealing more and more of the story.

At first I started listening to them as I unlocked them, but then I found out that it was better to listen to them in a bundle. Say there are 7 audio clips per episode and the episode has a length of 66 min of walking to complete. I stick the phone in my pocket and leave the app open throughout my day. As the day progresses and I walk throughout, I move through the game board or in this case map.

Once I complete the map in that particular episode I will listen to all of the clips that I unlock. This makes the story more enjoyable and I have found that I rather like knowing how much I walk throughout my day.

There have even been a few times throughout my day where I am very close to unlocking the next clip or finishing an episode where I will maybe take the long way to where I am going or take the stairs instead of the elevator. This was the reason that the app was created. It was created in conjunction with the UK Department of Health for the NHS as a way to get people to be more active throughout their day, not just once per day like going for a bike ride or a jog.

As a person who is currently using the app, it works! I believe that it is a fun way to encourage people to walk more and in general be more active.

There are a few things that I do not like about the app such as there is no online tracking feature like Zombies to track how much you

walked over the history of the game, the feature for tracking your achievements seems to me to be too general and I’m not a fan of the way to switch between episodes or track your progress across the UK. Aside from these minor complaints of the app, I do like the tracking feature as it knows when I’m driving and when I am walking or not doing anything. I also generally like the app. It has indeed made me walk more at work and I never realized that I was walking over 3 miles at my job on a normal day, but on a slow day I had to push to make it to two miles.

At any rate I really do like the app and I believe that it has potential. I am also one of those people that like to track my progress and get rewards for my workouts. This app does that trick. I recommend it and really like it despite the changed I think need to be made.

All images are courtesy of six to start and Naomi Alderman via their media package.