A Better Me, A Better You

Author Jason Jack here, interneters! If you haven't read my prior two posts on how I lost weight and began a life long trek towards a healthy lifestyle, check them out now:

• Losing Weight Part 1
• Losing Weight Part 2

Losing weight taught me how to go out and find the best workouts and most nutritious foods for me.

After having worked off a total of 65 pounds during my senior year of high school, going from 225 on the scale to a lean 165, I gained a lot of knowledge, but I knew I had room for growth.

Cardio:

• Phase 1: I started running in my room to lose weight. It worked fine, and that is how I shed over sixty pounds in a single year.

• Phase 2: To add a bit more excitement and variety in my cardio plans, I began playing the music-dance video game, Dance-Dance Revolution (DDR) on a consistent basis for a solid four to five years. This is how I kept the weight off, increased my stamina, and was able to breathe better. DDR was great at improving my stamina.

• Phase 3: Expanding from DDR, I went on to play full body workout video games such as the Just Dance series, the Zumba game series, and a variety of other physical-active games for the Wii videogame console. Full body workout was a focus for me in my ever evolving active regimen—it burns more calories and works out the entire body. Win win!

• Phase 4: I continued my full body workout by doing long walks outdoors as well as taking walks prior to eating breakfast for a great boost in metabolism and even greater results.

Weights/Resistance Training:

• Phase 1: I did not have a lot of money so I used Minute Made jugs full of water as free weights and bench press weights. They worked fine and I could feel the burn with multiple repetitions!

•  Phase 2: When I could afford weights, I bought 20 pound dumbbells, a curl bar, and a set of leg weights to increase resistance while I ran and walked.

•  Phase 3: In order to increase the burn, I began doing sets of different activities such as multiple sets of pushups, and curls.

• Phase 4: I began doing more resistance training with resistance bands as well as doing a lot more body exercise like dips, lunges, burpees, mountain climbers, etc. that were full body activities as well as cardio. These type of exercises kill two birds with one stone, increasing muscle strength and improving cardio. This is my regimen to this day.

 Food:

•  Phase 1: I ate food that I thought was healthy including granola bars, apple juice, and “health” branded TV dinners.

• Phase 2: I added fruits and drink V8 Splash fruit juice that had less sugar and more nutrients than apple juice.

• Phase 3: This phase came about when I met my significant other. She introduced a lot of vegetables to my life including cucumbers, broccoli, romaine lettuce, tomatoes, eggplant, and more. I also stopped drinking any drink with sugar, and I began drinking sugar-free drinks such as Crystal Light. I introduced packet oatmeal and chocolate milk for breakfast.

• Phase 4: I stopped drinking chocolate milk because it was too sugary and had too much saturated fat. I exchanged my pocket oatmeal for real, old fashioned non-instant oatmeal and introduced smoothies as meal replacements and as nutritious, tasty drinks. I got rid of any flavored drink other than an abundance of water and green tea. I also began eating home cooked meals, slow cooker meals, with the emphasis of clean eating. I also say no to ninety five percent of boxed meals.

There you have it—my evolution of cardio, eating, and training for the past decade. And I still have room to learn and to grow. I also hope you never stop improving your health as well.

I hope you enjoyed the last three weeks learning about my weight loss, and I hope it proved helpful or insightful.

Until next time.

 --Author Jason Jack

(I'm an author of adult and children's books, a positive advocate, and lover of sweets [to my detriment at times]. What you just read is a snip-it of my ever evolving, very malleable philosophy of life based on experience, conversations, and years of studying. If you get anything out of reading my words, I hope it is to think and be positive :)

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Author Jason Jack: 'Losing Weight' Part 2

Author Jason Jack here, intereneters? And what better way to start off the new year with a story of wieght loss? My story :)

If you haven't read part one of 'Losing Wight', read it here--

• Author Jason Jack: 'Losing Weight' Part 1

Now, onto Part 2.

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225.

This number signifies my weight when I was sixteen.

It is the heaviest I have ever been, and it was my weight at the beginning of Summer 2003, just three months before my Senior year of high school.

Fearing for the well being of my heart, I changed my eating habits and increased the amount of physical activity I was doing for the first time in my life.

This is the summer I worked off 35 pounds.

Starting Out With the Basics

Having vowed to not eat any sweets, sodas, or fast foods for a solid 90 days, I had to look elsewhere for healthier diet staples. I did not have much knowledge of nutritional foods but used the little knowledge I did have to make better eating selections. It was time to go to the grocery store!

• I traded my super sugary sodas and Kool-aides for Minute Made and Apple Juice.
• My breakfast was a nutritional bowl of cereal (not kids cereal).
• And my “Saturday Morning Special” was weeded down to a few eggs, jellied toast, and a sausage or two with a cup of apple juice.

These changes went a huge way in lowering the amount of fat, sugars, and extra calories I was consuming. In fact, simply removing all excess sweets and unhealthy calories went a long way in helping me work off 35 pounds in the summer.

And I disregarded the cries from my sweet tooth when I rid my diet of pop tarts, candy bars, cakes, soda, and ice cream. To satisfy this sweet craving, I added Natural Valley granola bars, bananas, and semi-sweet multi-grain cereals to my daily list of eats.

My unhealthy fast food dinners went out the window and were replaced by either my mother’s home cooking or Smart One’s low calorie TV dinners. And for the first time in my life, I began eating vegetables by adding small salads to my fish stick dinners.

My first attempt at eating healthier was good freshmen try (at best) and worked until I learned more and found something better. The same can be said for my simple workouts.

No Wrong Way

I always noticed how the media basically tells us (the viewers) the “right way” or the “only way” to lose weight was with a gym membership or costly weights and workout programs. Since I did not have the money to join 24 Hour Fitness or buy a weight room, I used my creativity. I would not be deterred from working out. My life depended on it.

For free weights, I used empty Minute Made jugs filled with water to curl and bench press. And contrary to what television told me, it worked perfectly fine.

This revelation was invaluable—working out is not about what you use or where you are but about the results. If you can get similar results using a piece of wood, and if that’s all you could muster, than use the wood!

I rounded out my weight activity with pushups and dips (sort of reverse pushups).  I even started drinking a lot of water and energy drinks during my workouts, drastically increasing my fluid intake. There wasn’t much to my exercise plan but it worked and I achieved results.

Creative Cardio

I definitely did not feel secure enough in my own body, form, or shape to go running in public so I decided to run loops in my bedroom—literally fifteen feet run one way and fifteen feet back.

Yes, I shed 35 pounds in one summer by changing my diet, doing push ups, lifting Minute Maid jugs, and by running circles in my room.

I did not care what other people or the media thought of my ways. I had motivation behind me and that was all I needed.

I started off running ten minutes because that was all my overweight body could handle. When the weeks went on, that ten minutes became twenty, thirty, and forty five until I was eventually running for a full hour. And I stuck to this routine, every other day, for a full ninety days.

There was no way my heart would ever pop again. I was hell bent on avoiding a premature death. I would be fit. I would be healthy.

Judgment Scale

By the end of the summer, I witnessed my body transformed. The mirror did not lie nor did the scale. The “225” that would flash back at me just months prior now was a new number, a number far below of the “200 Club”. A number I could be proud of. I stepped on the scale and smiled when “190” looked up at me.

I did it, I thought. All that hard work paid off.

The running, the new eating regime, and the consistency had all worked. My heart no longer hurt or popped, I had more energy, I was breathing better, and I needed an entire new set of clothes!

To top it all off, working out and eating healthier no longer felt like hard work. It was now a way of life for me. A way of life I vowed to continue for, well, the rest of my life.

After Summer

No one could change me but myself. Three months after suffering a scary heart event in my Chemistry class, I was 35 pounds lighter, eating better, with a positive outlook on life.

For me, the dramatic weight loss and knowledge I had gained during that Summer before my Senior year in high school was just the beginning. I had much to learn about a healthy lifestyle going forward, and next week, I’ll share how I continued the momentum into my college years and beyond.

Until then, be motivated; be healthy!  

--Author Jason Jack

(I'm an author of adult and children's books, a positive advocate, and lover of sweets [to my detriment at times]. What you just read is a snip-it of my ever evolving, very malleable philosophy of life based on experience, conversations, and years of studying. If you get anything out of reading my words, I hope it is to think and be positive :)

Amazon : Weekly Blog : Twitter : Facebook :Website

Author Jason Jack: 'Losing Weight' Part 1

Author Jason Jack here, interneters! What better way to start off the new year with a story of weight loss? For the next for weeks, my blogs will be centered around my personal ups and downs with healthy eating habits over the past decade.

My story begins in early Summer 2003 . . .

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The sensation in my chest, I could only describe it as my heart “popping”.

My body went warm and my pulse quickened, while I sat in Chemistry class during my Junior year of high school. I wondered whether I would die in seconds or last the remainder of the day.

Being only sixteen, I didn't want to die. That was enough motivation to jump-start a lifelong path towards good nutrition and exercise.

Roots of the Problem

I still remember telling doctors about my heart. They did tests but told me nothing was irregular. Funny thing, though, not a single doctor asked or even attributed my heart popping to the food I was eating. Just crazy! That’s the first thing I looked to.

After all, I was a 225 pound sixteen year old made of extra fat and little muscle. I also wasn't very active at the time doing little more than a daily walk home from school which my body already got accustomed. I had added on the pounds over the years, and something had to be the culprit.

Devil’s Food

It was definitely the overabundance of food, as well as the types of food, I was shoveling down my throat that added inches to my waist and was subtracting years from my short lived life. Here’s a sample Saturday morning breakfast I ate back in 2001-2002. I warn you—it’s not pretty:

• 4-5 Large whole eggs
• 1 Large Onion Bagel with cream cheese
• 5 Finger-sized sausage links
• 4-5 Pieces of bacon
• 2 Pop-Tarts
• 1-2 glasses of Soda (usually Sprite)
• Perhaps a bowl of ice cream or a piece of cake if we had any

And that was just for breakfast. Whoa.

The daily candy bars, chips, Cheese-Its, cheese, ice cream, and cakes didn’t help (nor did my penchant for sweets). The occasional fast food burger and fries made things worse. And to top it all off, I can’t remember drinking much water during my pre-heart popping years. It was all about the soda and kool aide.

Knowledge is Power . . . Is Weight Loss

The first step to a nutritional, healthy life is to acknowledge the unhealthy eating habits. The second is to find and recognize nutritional replacement foods.

Given that my family as a whole was not overly educated (or enthused) on eating healthy, I took it upon myself to find better alternatives for breakfast through dinner.

I analyzed what needed to go and what could stay. I also knew I had to be more active rather than getting most of my daily workout from pressing buttons on a video game controller.

I was determined to live. And I wanted to enjoy my Senior year of high school looking—and feeling—as good as I could.

Summer Is Here

I was 225 pounds at the start of the Summer before my Senior year. I knew vegetables, fruits, and juices were healthy. I also knew candy, sweets, chips, and fast foods were out. Going into my three month vacation, I vowed that I would not eat any sweets or eat any fast foods for the entire Summer. A lofty goal for a sweet fanatic like me, but it had to be done.

I also vowed to work out on a consistent basis, with no gym membership and no workout gear.

And finally, with the help of my mother and my measly bus-boy income, I would start buying better food for myself.

The goals were set. The time was now.

The Fight To Live

I can still remember the seconds feeling like hours the moment after my heart popped. My arms were jittery and I had no idea what was happening. The sensation of muscles pulling and contracting in my chest was a startling experience that sent me into a “Oh crap—I better take care of myself” state.

My parents and family had little knowledge of proper nutrition and my doctors even more oblivious to my needs. As it should be, it was up to me to take control of my weight and nutrition. The only other option was to die, and I was going to fight to live.

Come back next week when I detail how I shed over thirty pounds in a single summer . . .

Until then.

--Author Jason Jack

(I'm an author of adult and children's books, a positive advocate, and lover of sweets [to my detriment at times]. What you just read is a snip-it of my ever evolving, very malleable philosophy of life based on experience, conversations, and years of studying. If you get anything out of reading my words, I hope it is to think and be positive :)

Amazon Page : Weekly Blog : Twitter : Facebook :Website

Happy Holidays!

Happy End of the Year, interneters!

I'll be returning with new, positive blog posts on Monday Janurary 6, 2014. I hope all of you are taking some much needed relaxing time as 2013 comes to an end.

Take this week to smile more and come up with resolutions for the new year :)

Being happy and prepared is just two of many-many ways to live a positive life.

Be safe, eat your favorite foods, and see you next year,

--Author Jason Jack

Author Jason Jack's 'Year in Review 2013'!

Author Jason Jack here, interneters, with a recap of my posts from this past year.

If you're joining me today, hello!

I'm an author of many books and a positivity advocate. My vision for this blog, since its inception months ago, was to help people smile more, look at the brighter sides of life, and to be stronger. Going forward, I have a lot of different ideas to continue to make this happen :)

Looking behind us, however,  is just as important as looking forward. By looking at the past we can learn from any mistakes we made and improve upon all of our weak spots. The good thing about life is that we have the option to grow from our downturns, and today, I plan to exercise that option by going over my posts from 2013. Ready?

Posts From the Past

9/27/13 Happiness
9/30/13 Taking Control
10/7/13 Success Envy
10/13/13 Excuses
10/21/13 Critiques
10/28/13 Fear
11/4/13 Importance of Positivity
11/11/13 Accomplishing Goals
11/18/13 Over Reliance/Waiting For Others
11/25/13 Warm & Fuzzies
12/2/13 Spend or Save
12/9/13 Risk and Rewards

That's a lot of blogging! And that's only counting my main posts. So, here is what I've learned over the last 12 weeks. I hope it provides those who blog or want to blog with even the slightest of insight :)

What I've learned from writing this blog on a weekly basis is to focus on a single topic. This gives the piece depth, focus, and clarity. It also limits the complexity of any given post.

I've also placed a one hour time limit to write and edit the blog. This ensures I don't ramble on and on, forcing me to be ever more careful with my word selection and train of thought. Restrictions are the lifeblood of high creativity some might say. I say it really helps to narrow in on the topic at hand!

Break up text, create more paragraphs than you feel you need, and bullet point as much as you can for the sake of the reader. This is something I am always aware of while writing. It is something I can approve upon while still being creative with. Large chunks of text are fine for many but for some, it's a tad too daunting. The good thing? Whether the text is broken up or not, there's the same amount of content just easier to read :)

Write about what matters most to you--write about what makes you feel passionate. The easiest posts to write have been the ones that have been closest to my heart. Granted, everything I write about here has meaning to me, but I often find my scheduled blog topic derailed by a situation I find myself dealing with in life.

My Success Envy, Critiques, and Excuses blogs were all formed by real life scenarios and exited my fingertips with passion. My goal moving forward is to find more of these topics. At the very least, I'm thinking about personalizing the blogs with tales from my life where they feel natural. That is, add personal anecdotes when they fit in :)

 And I will always stay true to myself. With that said, I'm going to write about what I want to write about. I have a vision, a mission statement, for this blog, and it's to spread a positive mindset. This blog may not be for everyone, I don't know everything, and I write what I know with an ever malleable mind. I'm open to change and willing to adapt, but I will always try to spread happiness :)

Finally, I've learned to keep on writing with consistency. Every Sunday night/Monday, I write this blog. It may come late Sunday, early Momday or late Monday, but it will come on one of those two days. Keeping a pattern, schedule, rhythm is pivotal in making both good and bad habits. If done wisely, we can all fill our lives with good habits. For me, keeping my writing schedule open but solid is important given my other priorities of life.

So . . .

I learned a lot from my first twelve weeks of consistent blogging. And I plan to only improve going into next year. By looking over my past posts, I was able to pinpoint quite a few elements I wanted to approve upon and others I wanted to continue and refine. Without the past, we are doomed to repeat the same mistakes so hindsight and evaluation is vital to growth and happiness.

To all of you bloggers, writers, readers, interneters, thank you for reading me. I hope I was able to add even a little value to your life for that is what I strive to do :)

Have a safe and happy holidays and a happy new year!

Until next year, keep the positivity.

--Author Jason Jack
(I'm an author of adult and children's books, a positive advocate, and lover of sweets [to my detriment at times]. What you just read is a snip-it of my ever evolving, very malleable philosophy of life based on experience, conversations, and years of studying. If you get anything out of reading my words, I hope it is to think and be positive :)

You can visit him at www.thejasonjack.com

5 Ways To Have A Positively Warm Winter (2013)

Author Jason Jack here, interneters, with 5 ways to have a warm and comfortable winter. Let's go :)

1. Eat warm foods
The best way to feel warm from inside out is by eating warm foods. There's nothing better than a cup of warm tea, coffee, or hot chocolate throughout the day to keep you feeling warm, so always remember to keep your traveling mug with you (check out your local dollar stores for inexpensive mugs and warm drinks!). You'll also feel less cranky and a few degrees warmer after a bowl of soup for lunch/dinner. Eating warm will go along way in providing winter smiles.

2. Layer up!
During the cold months, it's always better to wear more layers than you actually need. If it gets too warm throughout the day (at work or what have you) you can always take one or two coats off. If you under dress, well, then you're in for a deep freeze.

For the last week, I've found myself going out wearing a long sleeve shirt over an undershirt, a long-sleeved hoodie over that, and a thick winter jacket over that! And when I go out tonight, I'll be wearing two pair of socks and pajamas beneath my pants :) I hope you'll layer up the clothing, too.

3. Blanket cake
There's nothing like a blanket cake in December. When lying down for a nap, for the night, or just for relaxation purposes, grab all of the blankets you can find. Take your blankets and layer than over you one after the other in the fashion of a layered cake with the thinnest first. Tuck the blankets close to ensure maximum heating potential and you're all set for victory! PS: Those with spouses or children, don't forget to share the warmth ;)

4. Move away from the windows
This time of year, you'll want to stay away from these transparent panes. They tend to be the weakest link in terms of letting cool air in. But, with a little Google research, solid insulated windows are easier to find nowadays and "pay for themselves" overtime if they're within your budget.

If you are one with furniture or beds close to a window, you might want to consider rearranging your rooms for the season--think of it as redecorating and have fun with it :)  If not, you can always layer up and blanket cake to keep warm.

5. Heater, heater, heater
Lastly, use a heater. Better yet, use a space heater. If you're simply trying to cool your bedroom at night, slap on that space heater for an hour before you go to bed and turn it off when you're reading to catch those z's. For larger families or for other rooms, you may consider putting the heater on for about an hour or so as well.

Heaters tend to cost more since they're trying to warm a larger space whereas space heaters tend to cost less since they're heating a smaller area. Whatever you choose, you'll stay warm this winter, guaranteed :)

These are the ways I'm planning to stay warm this winter, how about you? What ways do you stay warm during the cold months? Let me know in the comments below! If I had to add a sixth tip, it would be to stay in doors! 

Have a warm and positive Winter, everyone!

Until next week,
-Author Jason Jack

Author Jason Jack on "Risks and Rewards"

Author Jason Jack, what do you think about taking risks in life?

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If something in your life isn't working out, try something else.

There is no set path for us whether it concerns our jobs, scholastic endeavors, or way of life. And there is no reason to stay in a belittling situation or one that doesn't emphasize the strong and talented people we know we are inside.

Let's change.

Let's find a new career by searching Google, Yahoo, the Yellow pages, the weekly Classifieds. Let's start spending an hour a night learning a musical instrument. We could even buy new fruits and vegetables we never tried before during our weekly/monthly shopping trip.

And we might like the change. After all, with great risk comes great rewards. True, there is a probability of failure, but even failing is beneficial! When we fail we learn what not to do again. That new veggie taste like dead rodent to you? Well, how else would you know how your taste buds would react unless you tried it? Now you know :)

There is little to no drawback of taking risks for the sake of bettering your life in order to improve your "board positioning". Get your pawns in the right places then check the king by surprise--take those risks in hopes of getting better gains that will lead you closer to your life goals.

Some people may find safety in the life they created but safe does not necessarily equate to happiness. For those of you who have one or two "responsibilities" you might want to keep in mind a few things.

• Be responsible in your risk taking. If you need to pay rent and have no savings, don't quit your job just yet. At least not until you have that shiny new job up locked down!
• Do research and be prepared for what's to come. If taking that new dream job requires you to take less pay then alter your spending habits to make it happen.
• Keep positive and have objective expectations. The type of thoughts we have shape who we are. If we stay positive about our risk taking, then we will have positive outcomes. It might take a day, a month, a year or more for our risks to come to fruition, but as long as we don't expect immediate results (generally, very few things happen at immediate speed in this world) and keep our expectations in check, we will succeed :)

So . . .

Really, there is no reason to live a unhappy life. As long as we take responsibility for our lives and the way we are living, we can make a change. We can take risks and explore new and different paths that'll lead us to a better life.

No one is forcing us to eat poorly, hang around downers, or to stay at a dead end job. And if someone is, take a stand. Educate yourself and go out and search for the life you know you deserve. Use whatever resources and means you have available to you and never be ashamed of what you don't have. Go to the library and use the free internet and wealth of resource materials. Network at local business meetings, art and craft fairs, and tomato festivals. Ask questions. Go. Do. Be more.

Take those risk, reap those rewards, and never stop. You'll be better for it.

Until next week, 

--Author Jason Jack

(I'm an author of adult and children's books, a positive advocate, and lover of sweets [to my detriment at times]. What you just read is a snip-it of my ever evolving, very malleable philosophy of life based on experience, conversations, and years of studying. If you get anything out of reading my words, I hope it is to think and be positive :)