Fat, Sick & Nearly Dead worked for me!

One year ago this month Pete Hansen and I were having lunch @ the Heritage Shop café and we ran into Sharon Tyng, wife of Ed Tyng, Noblemen member!

Sharon was wondering why two guys like us (overweight) would be eating in a health food restaurant?   Truth be told, most fat guys like all kinds of foods!  Honestly, Pete and I simply had good intentions and bad habits!

Sharon went on to tell us how her life had changed after she watched the movie Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead and suggested that we watch it!  I have to admit, I loved the title and was mildly interested in pursuing it.

Pete ended up watching it and bought a Breville juicing machine that night!  He convinced me that WE could do this and strongly suggested I watch the movie, and I did! 

The movie tells the true story of a guy named Joe that was simply fed up with being fat and taking medications.  He does the research and decides on a 60 day juice fast and documents the day to day adventure.  It is very well done, believable and entertaining.  It truly resonated with me.

A little history…I was 54 years old, weighing 227 pounds and truly pissed off I was fat!  In the past, I enjoyed running, biking, and surfing.   Almost monthly I would consider a new scheme to lose the weight and soon thereafter would fail once again.   My ideas of losing weight would range from using diet coke instead of ginger ale to go with my evening bourbon to becoming a vegan. 

Pete and I both committed to a 60 day juice fast.  This entailed consuming nothing but the juice of compressed fruits and vegetables (no solid food) for 2 months.  As Pete states “anyone can do something for 60 days” 

Off to the store I went to purchase kale, cucumbers, celery, apples, ginger root, pineapple, spinach, beets, limes, lemons, grapefruit, and oranges.  My shopping cart at check out compelled me to explain to the check-out person what I was up to, she was amused!

When I got home and filled the counter with my purchases my wife simply laughed and said where in the hell are we gonna put all of that stuff?  Trust me, it is overwhelming and bordering on crazy!

The fast was a very cool adventure.  I loved it because it was unique, phenomenally healthy and no room to cheat.  I will admit, my juice includes beer and bloody marys.  Every day was a challenge that I embraced and every day I lost one pound.  My pants felt different at night than they did in the morning.  This went on for two weeks, 14 pounds! 

I know this sounds cliché,  I felt great!  I sincerely could feel a “health high”.  In no time people were noticing and I loved the platform of explaining what I was doing and why. 

My wife’s comments went from I have been married to you for 23 years and you have been on at least 23 diets, none successful…to…I’m proud of you, this is working!

After 60 days I lost 40 pounds and weighed in @ 187.  Pete had identical results.  For me, this was a bucket list item and I was determined to make it stick.

One year later, my goal is to stay under 200 lbs, today I weigh 203, better mix up another batch of juice!

Remember Sharon Tyng?  Her daughter, Heather founded Fruitive @ Hilltop with her husband Bruce and brother in law Gregg.  They named a juice to honor our adventure “Nobility” and use the proceeds to benefit local causes, how cool is that!

NobleOne

Leap...build your wings on your way

Do you have dreams that you are not chasing?  Are you stuck in a work-a-day world measuring when you HAVE to go and anticipating WHEN you get to stop?

In my 55 years, I have had some great jobs and a few that allowed me to understand the difference! 

In my heart I always felt there was something special for me beyond what I was currently doing.   I was pretty good at chasing opportunities and fortunate to have had three careers prior to making a life not a living!

I recently watched a video on YouTube; a vocational counselor was asking students … what career choice would you make if you didn’t need money? A provocative thought indeed.

Many years ago I was wandering around a video store wasting time hoping to fill it with a movie.  One particular video caught my attention on the lesser watched shelf.  The title of the video was The Dream Giver by Bruce Wilkinson. 

The video spoke to a parable based on the question..are you currently doing what you feel you were put on this earth to do?  Wow, did that question resonate with me! 

In 2006 I left my third career @ WaterFurnace International soon after my good friend Terre Ittner presented me with a small frame with the words Leap build your wings on your way.  It was at that moment I realized it was my time to leap.  Instinctively I knew it because I had prepared myself for so many years. 

I do believe we are here for a purpose and only few ever discover what that is.  It does take courage to “leap” and an understanding of what you are leaping into.   If common sense is your guide, you are lost from the start!  Passion and listening within are the tools you need. 

Your journey will never be simple however you are specifically designed to overcome obstacles that no one else could endure!  

There is indeed magic in this world; you need to understand how it applies to you and how to “plug in”  

There are many paths, however at one point it requires a “leap” and most leaps have an element of fear!  Bigger the leap, larger the consequences! 

I say Go Big or Go Home!

NobleOne

Meditation vs. Medication

How do you plug in? 

I have always been fascinated with the “magic” in this world.  It’s simply no fun not to believe there are resources available to all of us that seek! 

Charles Thomas Cayce was my Sunday school teacher.  He is the grandson of Edgar Cayce the famous Psychic that established the Association for Research and Development in Virginia Beach.  During lessons Charles Thomas shared fascinating stories about things some people would say are “not normal”.   I was hooked!

I taped on my wall at a young age “Be still and know that I am God” Psalms 46-10.   For me, it offered instructions to seek inward and that lead me to meditation.

Meditation for me is an exercise.  Sometimes I avoid it just like running or biking, other times I realize the more I do it, the more spiritually fit I appear to be. 

My attempts at meditation started out with me trying to settle down and keeping one eye open just in case Jesus Christ wanted to appear and speak to me! 

During my research on methods of meditation I picked up on the phrase “you are not trying to hatch an egg…it is more like defragging a hard drive”.  That resonated and offered the perspective I needed in order to move forward.

Meditation is a “practice” and I don’t know if I will ever master it; however, I can always continue to practice. 

My days are now filled with incidences and coincidences.  By paying attention, I learn what the world has to offer and through meditation I am more aware of its availability. 

When you act on the magic you are exercising that spiritual muscle and it gets stronger with use.

Medication takes care of the things that are off kilter with your well-being.  My goal is to meditate to avoid the necessity to medicate.   Medications come in so many forms and most attempt to right a wrong or mask a symptom.  It is my desire to eliminate them from my life. 

Answers to big questions are available as long as you wait for their time to be solved.   The practice of meditation offers balance and tranquility.   A gift available to all with no agenda! 

If you are a seeker, consider the practice of “being still” the return on investment is well worth it!

NobleOne