On The Grind

Tuesday, April 24, 2018

Jumped in the truck after the their physical therapy session to get them dropped off at the church’s Tuesday night small group. I headed back to the other side of town to meet a friend at the school for some sprint drills and HIIT. I pulled up to the park and see Liz’s SUV in the parking lot.

7:15pm… Made it just in time

I grab my water bottle and keys and head to the soccer field to get started. I see her getting warmed up. We do some light stretches and catch up our families weekend of sports activities. I finished up some runners stretches and we walked over to the soccer field.

I explain to Liz that we will start with some sprint drills and then jump into some a few rounds of calisthenics.

Liz, you ready? Yep… Byron, you ready?  do this. We will keep it at around 65-70% of speed. I told her we will build up because we don’t want to pull anything. 

Ready Set Go…

We sprint down, then we sprint back.

We sprint down, then we sprint back.

We sprint down. Out of breath and breathing hard, I ask “Feeling ok?” She said “Yep, I’m good.”

Then here is where it all changed. I said let’s go. Ready Go….

Because I’m feeling pretty good, I stepped off at around the 80-90% of speed only to here a loud popping sound of large rubber band.

In my head, sounded like a gun shot went off. POW!!!

And immediately I hit the ground.

Liz, screamed at me “Are you ok? Did you step in a hole? What was that sound? Was that your foot?”

I laid on the ground laughing & in shock saying “Nope, I didn’t step in a hole but I’m pretty sure I just tore my Achilles.”

No way… Yes way…

I’m sure it was my Achilles. She called my wife and she drove over picked me up and got me over to urgent care only to find out that yes it was my Achilles

I sat in that waiting room “not” thinking “Why Me?” All I could come up with was that “I got exactly what I prayed for.”

No no no, I wasn’t praying to get hurt or to rupture my Achilles.

See what you don’t know is that I had been praying for the past couple of weeks for some of sort of sign on whether I should take this new position which would require less travel than I was already doing but still travel nonetheless. Or, do I stay where I am at and take over as the new PM by the end of this year?

See my kids are now a Junior & Sophomore in high school with only a few more short years left in our house and I really wanted to spend as much time with them before they are off to college and living there own lives away from mom & dad.

My upcoming trip May 13th-26th, I was headed to Hawaii for a week and then I was off to South Korea to fix something that was gonna take a whole 15 minutes once I was there. Government is flying me halfway across the world to fix a problem I walk someone how to repair over the phone. I

Feeling bummed that  I was going to miss my daughter’s birthday and Mother’s Day. (Wifey was pretty unhappy about it)

You might be saying coincidence but I’m saying prayer. God knew my that I really didn’t want to go on either trip but that’s what my job requires me to do. Funny how one simple thin changed everything.

I can’t drive.

I can’t travel.

I can’t take the new position.

My boss told me I could work from home.

And now I get to spend the whole summer with my kids. My daughter just got her permit so I guess I know who is driving me around the rest of the summer.My point is I really didn’t know what to do but this injury cleared things up for me real quick.

I’m sitting in the urgent care waiting for them to call me back I felt God say, “Byron, here’s your sign.”

Urgent care doctor said it’s a complete tear, so now  I’m off to schedule an MRI, blood work, and find someone to do the surgery.

Here goes my summer but I do get to spend it with my kiddos and start the recovery process.

Moral of Story: Because careful of what you pray for, you just might get it!

You don’t have to lie Craig

You don’t have to lie…. (Friday)

Stop lying to yourself. Be honest!

Are you really working as hard as you can? I mean really? Are you tracking those calories?

I heard this quote the other day and it really made me put some things in perspective.

The quote read….

“Eventually, the truth will reveal itself.”

And I thought, “That’s a very good point.” Good, bad, or indifferent, the truth will always reveal itself. Some will like it, some will hate it but eventually the true story will come out.

Whether it’s weight loss, sports, marriage, or even business, the truth always come out. Sometime it’s for the better & sometimes for worse.

My point is that sooner or later the truth will reveal itself. It’s not about being right or wrong. It’s simply about if you are doing what you say you are doing then the results (whether good or bad) those results should give son indication of what’s really going on.

I was stuck in a rut with my weight loss and I came up with every excuse:

– Not working out in the morning messed my routine up. (So what get over it, when life give you a lemon make lemonade)

– I have to much going on during the week in the afternoon & can’t get to the gym everyday.

(Ok then, go when you can & go 120% the days you are there.

– I don’t have time to put healthy meals together. (That’s a lie, you make time for other stuff, you can make time to meal prep on the weekend. You just got lazy)

– I can’t get into a routine. (Life isn’t suppose to be routine anyways, keep changing it up)

– I’m too tired after a long day. (Ok, go to bed earlier)

Here’s my question to you. What are you revealing about yourself?

Stay On The Grind,

Byron

That’s right, summer is officially here!

Are you still struggling with those extra pounds? I’m doing a giveaway to get you back on track.

What type of giveaway you ask? Meal prepping….

So here is what I’m giving away:

(1) Meal prep bag

(16) Meal prep containers

All you have to do to is Subscribe to the On The Grind Blog by using the sign up form in the sidebar (providing your Name and Email Address, which will NEVER be passed onto a third party) and you could win this prize.

A winner will be announced on Monday, July 4, 2016.

 

 

 

 

Easy Tuna Salad Recipe

6 Boiled Eggs

1/2 Large Red Onion

2 Green Apples 

1/2 cup of dried cranberries (Strawberry infused cranberries are great, if you can find them)

5 cans of tuna (5oz. Each)

1/4 cup of mayonnaise

3 tbsp of yellow mustard

Salt, pepper, & garlic powder
To start things off, go ahead & start boiling your eggs. 

Chop up your red onion, green apple, dried cranberries. 

Once your eggs are hard boiled, go ahead & chop those up & add them to the mixture.

 Add in your mayo & mustard. Add in the salt, pepper, & garlic powder to your taste. 

Mix all of the ingredients together.

Grab your favorite cracker, pita chip or serve it up on some romaine lettuce.

And enjoy!

Stay On The Grind…

So this weekend was a pretty easy meal prep!

Since I’m only having carbs for breakfast, meal prep this week was a pretty easy.

Meal 1: Oatmeal & Egg Whites

Meal 2: Peanut Butter Protein Shake

Meal 3: Protein Shake w/ veggies

Meal 4: Pollo Asado (Mexican Seasoned Grilled Chicken) with onions, peppers, & grilled corn.

Back On The Grind…

About a 2 months ago; a good friend of mine (we’ll just refer to him as Doc) asked me to stop by to help him find a good spot for a pull-bar in his garage. While trying to figure out where the studs are in the wall, we caught up on careers, kids sports, & family life in general. 

I met Doc (Retired Navy “Field” Corpsman) a few years ago & he has always been pretty intense about living life to the fullest & as patriotic as they come. With pins & rods in his arm to walking around with an artificial hip, Doc can still hold his own.

After figuring out where he might hang this pull-up bar, he said ask “Hey, I’m thinking of doing the Murph Challenge this year and you should do it with me.” I think I replied with a simple “Sure, send me the information and I will check it out.” Not really thinking that he wanted to do it…

Now I had heard of the Murph Challenge as some sort of a crazy cross fit workout that LT. Michael Murphy used to do before he lost his life in combat. 

What I didn’t know was that his family started this scholarship foundation in his honor. This annual challenge (On Memorial Day) was to raise money for foundation remembering the blood & sweat of one Navy Seal that gave the ultimate sacrifice. His Life!

A few days go by & I get a text from Doc saying “You up for the Murph Challenge?” My initial thought was:

2 miles I could do…

The 200 push ups I could knock out…

The 300 squats would smoke check my legs but I could get through it…

But the 100 pull ups, nope I don’t think so. Not doing it, can’t do it, wont’t do it… At 6’2″ 260 plus pounds not happening!

Then to top it off, we are suppose to do this with a 20lb vest on. Heck No! Ain’t no way! I’m no where in that sort of shape.

My text back was “Not Sure”, when is the next one. And he replied with Memorial Day. My next thought was that I might have a few weeks to start preparing for this. I replied with “Sure, I’ll join in on the fun.”

We both got signed up & got our nifty t-shirt, arm band, cap, and vehicle decals delivered just in time for Memorial Day. My wife stopped by Walmart & picked up the 20lb vest.

So the plan was to get it done on Memorial Day but we both had things going on so we opted for Saturday, June 4, 2016. 

And for whatever the reason, it was a expected be a staggering 102 degrees here in So. Cal.We normally see these sort of temperatures in late Aug. or early Sept. so we needed to get this knocked it out before it got to hot. We kicked things off around 0700.

Doc gives me the rundown on the route & we take off. Oh yeah and his 10yr old son Tyler is joining in for a morning of “Embracing the Suck”.

We set our clocks & take off! Now mind you, I haven’t ran anywhere since my days in the Marine Corps. We get down the street about a 1/4 mile & I feel like my chest is about to explode. So I loosen the vest up a bit for some extra breathing room.

We cross the street & make the 3/4 of a mile winded & breathing hard like we just got chased by some Brahma bulls during the Pro Bull Riding event. I get to the park & I’m ready to take this vest off & throw it away.

We catch our breath, get a drink of water, & then discuss how we will split the exercises up. After careful deliberation, we agreed on the splits (10) push-ups, (15) squats, and (5) pull-ups for each round. Then we get On The Grind!

I think we did pretty good until we got around our first hour when we were at around 100 push-ups, 150 squats, 40 pull-ups when it all went to crap. 

About that time, Doc’s wife (Mrs. Traci) showed up with more water & words of encouragement which was exactly what we needed. So we pushed on… 

By now, we are almost two hours in, my hands are starting to lose grip & thighs are on fire. By now, we are over the two hour mark. I have about 40 more push-ups, 30 more squats, & still have like 50 more pull-ups.

So Doc tells me “Heah, we need to leave some squats so we can break up the pull-ups some more. Traci is keeping count for us because we are seriously losing with just us doing it. 

Then Tyler says that he’s done! Really, the ten year old is done. Doc & I are thinking well he didn’t have on the twenty extra pounds either. But seriously, he’s done I feel like stopping. Yeah, Good job Tyler!

So we dig deep to finish up. My triceps are on fire & my quads feel like jello. My hands are shaped like cups from trying to hold on to the pull-up bar. So I take one last sip of water (10) more push-ups, (15) more squats, & (20) pull-ups, I’m done & I tell Doc there is no way I’m running back to your house after this.

We start back to his house & it’s getting hot! We run into this couple asking what kind of training we were doing. We tell them about LT. Michael Murphy’s story & the challenge. And it was Just enough time me to catch my breath…

After catching our breath & getting my 20lb vest back from random stranger. (I offered up for him to try it on & he accepted, I needed a break…Hint Hint)

Finished our conversation with the nice couple & trotted for a bit only to be out of breath again. We figured speed walking might be the best way to make it back to his house. 

So we finally got back to his street & tried sprinting the last 50yds. 

Tired, sore, & out of breath but it was well worth it the challenge. And yes, we finished our very 1st #TheMurphChallenge.

So if you are looking for a workout to stretch you outside your comfort zone, give this one try!

And if you are interested in supporting the LT. Michael P. Murphy Memorial foundation then head over to http://www.themurphchallenge.com for more information.

Hmm… I wonder if Doc ever got that pull-bar mounted.

Back to the Grind…

Let’s jump right into it….
For this topic, let’s not try and figure out what you are doing right but possibly what are you doing wrong.

1. Not enough sleep. Are you still trying to stay up and watch that next last 30 minutes of Survivor? Or maybe waiting to clean up downstairs after everyone else has gone to bed.

Sleep is by far one of the biggest attributes to staying at a healthy weight and keeping it off. There is no true number on how many hours of sleep one should get on regular basis but the goal is to get deep continuous sleep. While staying up late may be the norm, this is also the time where your brain pushes you in the direction of foods not to eat. And what are you gaining by another hour or so? What is the benefit? If there is no benefit, then go ahead shut it down and get some rest.
2. You are not really tracking what you are eating. You use to track all your calories on MyFitnessPal, Lose It, Fat Secret or simply pulling pulling out a piece of paper and tracking it yourself. (I like the pen to paper rule). What happened? That thing that happens to all of us. Whether it’s a out of town business trip, a vacation, or spending a weekend with kids a their sporting events any of these one things can thrown you off. Simply put, start back tracking your food.

3. You are doing the same old work out. Maybe it’s time to switch it up. Instead of doing the same old run on the treadmill, try pushing the treadmill to the highest incline at the fastest pace you can walk for a few minutes. Maybe even do some sprint drills on the treadmill. How about get completely out of the gym and do some roadwork down at the local park. Just mix it up.

And for those lifting the same weights and doing the same 3 sets of 10 or the 12/10/8/6 split try doing something crazy.How about for the next couple of weeks you take on exercise and you go 100 reps at a med/light heavy weight. (I call it Hundos…) Whether it’s a machine lift, barbells, dumb bells, pull-ups, or even dips, try doing “hundos” to mix it up a bit.

Break it up into reps of 10 or reps of 25. If you suck at pull-ups, then work at it. Legs are feeling kinda puny, then blast them with hundos. If abs are you focus then see how long you can hold a plank. Change up the pace and you will soon see the results.

4. Lost sight of your goal. Was it really your goal in the first place? Did you really want to run a half marathon or were you doing that for someone else? Do you really want to compete in your first physique competition or do you just want to look good at the beach this summer? Let’s write down your SMART (Simple Measurable Attainable Relevant Time-Sensitive) goals.

– I want to accomplish “what” by “when”. (7 Days / 30 Days / 90 Days / 1 Year)

– I am here and I want to be here by this point in time.

Maybe you have fallen short in one of these four areas and need a reminder to fix it. You could even create one of those handy-dandy Microsoft Excel spreadsheets for tracking your meals (For you type “A” personalities). Or maybe you need to take some time to figure out what your true goal is? Are you looking at a pants size, a number on the scale, or maybe running that 5K in a few weeks.

What ever it is, just make the necessary adjustments to change what you’ve been doing to get on track.

Get back On The Grind….

 

Believe me if I could do it, any one can….

This dad lost nearly 200 pounds after he was warned by doctors that he would die by the age of 30 if he failed to do something about his weight.

Ryan Clarke, weighed 383 pounds and was anxious, depressed and suffering from a myriad of health problems as a result of his weight, including chest pains. See Ryan’s transformation after taking control of his life with committing to a healthy diet along with some two-a-day workouts.

  

See Ryan’s story @ http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-3493278/Overweight-380lb-dad-undergoes-incredible-transformation-losing-half-body-weight-10-months-doctors-told-die-didn-t-healthy.html#ixzz4AIKtLXzE

 

 

 

Summer is right around the corner and everyone is bring out their grills. If you are looking for an easy way to keep your meals on track during the week, then pull out that old Weber grill or turn up the knob on that gas grill of yours.

Here is an easy meal prep that was mostly completed on the grill. Especially when it gets hot this summer, I don’t want to be in the kitchen hovering over a hot stove.

• Polla Asada (Marinated Mexican Grilled Chicken)
• Carne Asada (Marinated Mexican Grilled Flank Steak)
• Sliced Green Bell Pepper
• Sliced Red Bell Pepper
• Sliced Yellow Onion
• Smoke Sausages
• Breakfast Casserole = Get this recipe Free Seven Day Meal Plan

For more meal prep ideas like this, please signup for weekly updates and tips to keep you On The Grind…