arctikphox

I ‘officially’ started this journey on the 17th of July at 226.5lbs. As per the very controversial BMI calculator that puts me in the ‘obese’ category with a score of 32.5. What I have not mentioned, prior to this post, is unofficially this diet started before the 17th of July – I was simply too embarrassed to publicly admit how far down the dark path I’d traveled.  I was in excess of 230lbs. Ouch. As of this AM I weigh 217.5lbs which puts me at 9lbs of weight loss so far for my first ‘official’ month. By the time the 17th of August rolls around I will have lost 10lbs in a 1 month period. These are 10 real pounds as the easy weight was lost when I was above 230.

When I started I was counting calories and working out about 3 times a week. I had some success so I thought I would kick it up a notch. For about the last two weeks I have been, in the spirit of NFL training camp, hitting the gym twice a day. That has clearly worked out for me as this week alone I lost almost 3 lbs. NFL training camp is over and so are my two-a-days – back to a much more normal cycle. The weight training has also been an issue as the last few days I have had no juice in the tank. Doing 30 – 35 push ups for me is normally very easy; yesterday I could barely do 15. Clearly a sign that I am over trained (which depending on which source you read and what your ultimate goals are is the right or wrong thing to do). I have also stopped counting calories – I simply know how much I should eat and do so 5 – 6 times per day while staying hydrated.

I personally have no desire to get huge, I simply recognize the importance of cross-training and the long term calorie burn you create when your body is constantly trying to repair micro tears in your muscle fiber. There is also no denying that leaving the gym with a good pump is every bit as satisfying as completing a long 10KM + run. My goal, beyond getting healthy and striking fear into the heart of anyone who shakes my hand or sees me with my shirt off (these are givens), is to be able to buy and fit into my dream kayak. This particular Kayak (Delta 16) is a very agile British style boat perfect for the waves I will encounter when pushing too hard and risking my life off the West Coast of Canada (Victoria and Vancouver area). It is ideally suited for paddlers up to 185lbs. At 185 lbs I would still just barely be in the overweight category according to BMI. I actually plan on being a very solid 175lbs – 180lbs which would be perfect for this boat.

My workouts, which are completely geared toward core strength and cardiovascular conditioning all have kayaking in mind. Under 200lbs rolling the Kayak will be almost as easy as leaning the right way. Going forward I will still try and do at least 45 minutes of cardio per day. Core / weight training will be reduced to 3/4 days per week (alternating). The great thing about the core strength training is you need nothing but a space large enough to do a push up to have the most strenuous backbreaking workout.

I have also started on a pretty regimented supplement routine. Every morning I take Greens + and a multivitamin. Every evening I take a blended protein (7 different type of protein) drink with zero carbs and zero fat. I have another blended protein I consume right after weight training. This concoction has fast and slow proteins as well as carbs, fat and fiber. It goes without saying that everyday I get all the amino acids I need. Something I should mention that is really important is I take 1/8 the recommended dose of each protein drink. I get the vast majority of what I need through my extremely healthy and nutritious diet. The protein shakes are there for convenience and to also ensure I am getting everything I need at the right time. Typically I adjust the dosage so I am not taking more than 10 grams of protein from a protein drink.  The instructions on the labels of these drinks are ridiculous and help these companies make a lot of money off of morons. I am not going to talk about which products I use now – I will mention however I was so sore last week I decided I needed something now so I did some research, drove to my local GNC, and picked up what I needed. If you do the same watch the heavy metal content and for the love of Pete, at the very least, cut the dosage in half.

I am done rambling for the day – thanks for listening. Off to the gym.

I have had some big changes lately. New dream job, upcoming move from Ontario back to the ‘bestcoast’ and, not least of all, Laura is bringing our little one into the world in late October. I find myself just as busy as ever, but due to the nature of my work, I have much more control over my day to day activities. My schedule, up until very recently, was my chief excuse for not getting back into shape. While it was most definitely an excuse, living out of your car to the tune of 5000 KM’s per month, is not conducive to a healthy lifestyle.

Just over a week ago I decided I’d had enough: chronic heartburn, signs of sleep apnea, gastro intestinal issues – all things that are affected by being overweight. Overweight I am – 5’10 and 227 lbs when I started on Monday. Depending on how I decide to maintain my weight and workouts I should be between 170 lbs and 190 lbs. My goal is to reach 185 lbs by the end of the year. Read more »

Vancouver Skyline

(Photo taken by Road Fun – Stolen without permission from Flickr)

I haven’t posted in quite some time as I have been busy attempting to contact all my clients to let them know as of June 11th I will no longer be working with First Canadian Insurance Corp. My wife is about 5 months pregnant and we have decided we want to be closer to the majority of our friends and family back on the West Coast of Canada. Having the opportunity to work with First Canadian has been tremendous, challenging and of course rewarding. Although I was only with First Canadian in Ontario for about 15 months I feel as though I was able to add value to our client base, expand our presence and provide some support to our internal processes and procedures. Despite my move, and the difficulty it will cause my colleagues, clients and managers, First Canadian has been nothing but supportive. My direct supervisor and provincial manager maintains that family comes first and faced with the same situation he too would do the same thing. As I said I have learned a lot and it has been a pleasure dealing with a such a classy organization.

Laura and I are currently in the process of organizing our move. Between the arrival of my offspring, my new employer and a move to Vancouver we have our hands completely full. Fortunately for me, we are moving to a beautiful place where I will be able to plug directly into a community and enjoy all the benefits of having friends and family close by.

With respect to employment I am thrilled to have the opportunity to work for Stoneset. I have been hired on as the Communications Officer and will work, obviously, on the communication end of things. I will be based out of Vancouver but will be travelling through BC, Canada and perhaps Asia if I am lucky. Stoneset is a publicly traded company (CNSX: SQC) specializing in environmentally sustainable real estate development projects. To keep up to date on all the latest news follows us here on Twitter. Going forward we will be launching a whole heap of new ways to keep in touch so stay tuned.

As soon as I get to Vancouver, get settled in and start plugging away I will have much more to update you on. As always the best way to keep up to date on my daily musings is through Twitter.

A new colleague of mine was diligently doing his research and, gasp, actually started reading my blog. I now have a readership of 2 – the other being my mom of course.

As an aside if your business needs any help whatsoever with respect to getting plugged into Social Media go here:

http://communicatto.com/

If you ever want to test whether a PR/IR/Communications Firm is worth their quote simply google them. As an example of what should happen simply Google ‘Doug Lacombe’. Dougs results page IS his resume.

Back to my phone ramblings. Let me provide some background – I am no Leo Laporte, Ryan Block, Joshua Topolsky or Boy Genius. I am however a real honest to goodness gadget lover who also happens to work for a public company (in communications) with work that takes me accross this fine country. I also happen to own the following smartphones:

1) Nexus One
2) iPhone 32GB 3GS
3) Blackberry Bold 9700

These are the top phones, currently in the marketplace (if not by hardware/software then most definetly by marketshare).

My feeling, like everyone else who has discussed this topic at length, is each device has its strengths. Rather than provide a lengthy rehash I am going to cut to the chase.

The Nexus One and Android 2.1 or higher mop the floor with Android and iPhone.

A few notes: you can’t mess with the Blackberry physical keyboard, it trully is a thing of perfection. Too bad, right about now that is all that under powered piece of crap 9700 has going for it.

You know these people that try and excuse the iPhone for not multitasking because people don’t need it? I have used multitasking 3 seperate times while writting this review (all on my Nexus One). These are not phones they are mini laptops. What I don’t want is to always have to take a computer – since I purchased the Nexus One my daily roadwarrior routine does not by default include my laptop.

I had the iPhone prior to the Nexus One and after my 9700. The iPhone drove me crazy with the no multitasking. Nuff said – iPhone 4.0 is coming out this summer and will have multitasking.

I’m sticking with Android however as I don’t like the walled garden Mr Jobs had so skillfully built. I like choice and variety and the freedom to do what I want how I want on the device of my choice.

Don’t get me wrong – if it wasn’t for Apple I’d still be under the impression that my Motorolla Blackjack was the second coming. They pionered this entire market but in my opinion they have been surpassed.

Starring Mr Bean!

Having had enough of my Blackberry Bold 9700 I bought a Google Nexus One yesterday. I have zero confidence in the direction RIM is taking and have decided to get off the Crackberry train. I think they get by on cheap crappy phones that large organizations can buy in bulk. Bottom end Blackberries are simply the most basic phone that can handle email and that is about it. No doubt after using the Nexus One for a week or so there will be things I miss about my Blackberry but I can’t see the G phone not being a massive improvement. As a BIS user my email, Google Sync and calendar experiences are all brutal and severely limit the usability of the device. Obviously browsing on the 9700 is lacking and the availability of apps is troublesome. Mix this together with the phone constantly slowing down or freezing it is a wonder I haven’t smashed the phone into oblivion already. Read more »

A week or so ago I felt I had written enough and posted enough (including all the sub links to Facebook, Twitter, Linked in) about my issues with Salesforce where I should attempt to cancel my service. Keep in mind the whole reasons Salesforce and I got into this mess was because they upgraded when they shouldn’t have. They wouldn’t do the right thing which is either refund me the difference or downgrade my account. They tell me it is because we have a contract. They also tell me that once you upgrade your information goes into an entirely new database that is not compatible with the lower end product.

With the above said I was positive I would be on the hook for the year. Instead they appear to be doing something very strange. They appear to be cancelling my service Read more »

In my continuing saga to show the world exactly what Salesforce is all about (taking your money by any means possible including lying) I will demonstrate another product vastly superior to anything Marc and his team are able to offer. As a side note, just so you can see how delusional Marc is, Salesforce is having a big announcement today….the very same day that Apple is having their big announcement. Somehow Marc thinks he is as important as Jobs (not a Jobs fan myself but he wins here no problem) and will somehow compete with Apple on their big announcement day. Either that or he is so wrapped up in himself he didn’t bother to see what was going on in the world. Suffice to say Marc (Salesforce CEO) is equally as flawed as his product and company policies (lying to customers to take their money).

Basecamp
Basecamp, as the name suggests, can serve for your base of operations on the project level. It is an absolutely fantastic tool allowing you to collaborate with a team over vast distances. Much like the ofther 37Signals products it helps obfuscate the need for any intranet whatsoever. Check out these great features: Read more »