Love playing in old beat-up gyms. Love seeing Chris get blocked even more.

I wish I had taken a lot more photos (I didn’t even get everyone in a photo). I’m looking forward to camping at least one more time this summer (and hopefully for more than just one night). All-in-all a great short trip and everyone seemed to have a good time.

“Last night Chris and I went for a run, and while he had no trouble with the effort at all, I had absolutely no desire to run the entire mile. My lungs didn’t burn, my legs didn’t give out, nor did my heart ache – rather I simply gave up. Call it a lack of motivation.

…

So I’ve decided to set the goal of being able to run (read: jog) an entire mile without letup before my 7th wedding anniversary (August 27th). Where I’ll go from there, who knows.”

A very important lesson lies within this post. The act of giving up due to lack of motivation is probably the main culprit to my challenge with weight and stamina. Keeping yourself motivated and constantly thinking “yes I can” instead of “no I can’t” will eventually allow you to achieve any goal. I believe that as much as I believe anything, especially now.

Well, my anniversary came that year and guess what? I did it. I ran an entire mile nonstop for the first time in my life (outside of High School) on August 27th 2006.

Since then I haven’t really tried to improve my running until this year. I ran now and then both outside and at the gym. I would always run about a mile or just a bit further. I remember running at the gym for a mile (12 laps on the indoor track) and I felt like there was nothing worse than that run. I play enough basketball to keep my cardio-abilities in fair shape. This year, however, I really wanted to start getting better at running longer distances.

Running an entire mile almost three years ago was a great goal. But I’ve come a long way since then and I needed new goals. My first goal was to get back into jogging at least a few miles. There is a trail near our apartment that runs about 1.5 miles. I did that a few times a week to get myself comfortable. But, I was getting into a rut. The run was a little too easy and deep down I knew it wasn’t challenging me anymore after a few weeks. So, one morning I woke up and decided to attempt a 5K (which is 3.1 miles). I didn’t do so great but I tried really hard. I had the exact same problem I did back in 2006. About 2.5 miles into the run I’d simply give up and start walking. My legs would feel okay, my lungs okay, but I just decided I didn’t want to run anymore. I have no idea why I’d stop.

This went on for a few more runs. Finally I decided to ask my friend Sam to run with me. Sam is a machine. I have no idea where his motivation comes from but it is a much deeper place than my motivation does. Time and time again he has surprised me with his stamina. He’s also doing great on the diet. Anyway – that 5K was the best 5K ever. Since then I’ve been able to run 5K without even thinking about stopping. I even find them satisfying to run. In my mind the 5K distance is the runners stroll. Some people walk next to a lake or river to calm down. Runners take an easy jog for 5K next to a lake or river to calm down. Perhaps my perception will change, but that is how I feel now.

My 5K time wasn’t so hot when I compared it to the abilities of others (something I know I shouldn’t do but I can’t help it). I asked Jeff, someone who has ran the New York Marathon, what I should do to help improve my time. He suggested running a bit further will help shorter run results. The next day, Sam and I ran 6 miles, double that of my previous distance record. We both felt incredible (our feet didn’t though). I couldn’t believe that I had jogged 6 miles without stopping. Looking back at the challenge it was to push my body to 1 mile made me think of how many other people go through the same breakthroughs. The same challenges. The same mental fights. If you’re one of those people – stick with it and know that time and effort are needed to break down those mental barriers. There is no silver bullet solution. Just wake up every-other morning and jog as far as you can – oh, and bring a friend because it helps a lot.

This morning we pushed a little harder. Sam knew of a nice spot to run on a trail in our area that wouldn’t hurt our feet as much as the asphalt did. Chris decided he’d join us. Turns out the distance for that run this morning was 9 miles! Tacking on another 3 miles onto my furthest distance ever run without stopping. Running for nine miles was both mentally and physically challenging for me. By the end I didn’t want to give up in my head, but my body didn’t want to run anymore. So I think my limit for the time being is running 9 miles. I think I’m going to bring my distance down to something manageable (like 5 miles) and just stay consistent until I feel I’m able to push the distance again. By year’s end I’d like to run a half marathon (or 13+ miles). Where I’ll go from there, who knows.

Today I weighed in at 189 lbs. which is down three pounds since I weighed in 15 days ago. I was hoping I’d be 188 or even 187 (which would have meant that I’d have finally beaten Pat Dryburgh in our little challenge) but I’m willing to wait for next week for that to happen. And it will happen.

Overall I had two fairly good weeks full of activity, a decent food diet, and no major setbacks. Even though I missed basketball last week I still managed to run over 9 miles that week and 6 the last week with basketball on that Monday. I’m currently working on bringing my 5K (or a 3.1 mile run) time down. My current goal is 28 minutes. I’m hoping to hit that this week.

Today Chris Fehnel and I did the Plyometrics portion of P90X, an exercise routine that he’s been doing since we re-started the diet, and it was intense. Fun. But intense. It is definitely a much harder workout than I would ever put together for myself. I’m considering doing this workout either every-now-and-then or even each week. We’ll see.

Next week will, more than likely, end the competition between Pat and I but I’m not going to stop there. I’ve decided to make other goals, besides actual weight, for myself. My 5K in under 28 minutes is my first goal, and perhaps “bringing it” to an entire PlyoX routine would be my second (since while I managed to make it through the routine I definitely didn’t “bring it”).

I know that Eliza, Chris, and I are doing great on our diets. How about all of you?

Random 60: Back up your computer, right now. | Favorite on Viddler.

Chris recently had a complete hard drive failure. Fortunately for him most of his data, since he is a Web site developer, was “on the Web” somewhere. Everything else he had backed up on an external hard drive.

Consider this a friendly reminder from Random 60 to back up your computer today.

Working from Panera Bread today with Chris. I like the reflection of the lamp in my Macbook.

But that isn’t the case with everyone. Some people thrive on competition, being told that they can’t do it, being challenged by their peers. Some don’t. Personally, I thrive on the energy created around a competition. The desire to win isn’t what motivates me, its the desire to participate in a competition with others. Again, this probably isn’t the case with everyone.

This week Pat Dryburgh, the guy I’m in direct competition with on this round of The Diet, posted that he gained one pound. Normally this wouldn’t be a big deal to me and I’d just keep moving forward with my diet, try to give Pat some tips via IM or something, and see how he progresses next week. But it was the language that Pat used in his weigh-in that really struck me and has made me think that we need to make a change in how we’re approaching The Diet this time.

“I don’t have to tell you that this is disappointing. I really thought I had been doing well. I know I shouldn’t be giving up, but it this has been a long, hard struggle over the last year, and I really just want it to be over with. I’m tired of it all.”

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve felt this way. And, since I do a relatively good job of keeping tabs on everyone else that has done The Diet over the years, almost everyone experiences these feelings at one time or another.

If Pat wanted to give up because of a one pound weight gain, normally I’d just give him a punch on the shoulder, telling him that his expectations are set far too high and that sometimes your body simply doesn’t react as well as you’d like it to. But this isn’t about one pound for Pat. This is about the entire process. About finishing what he started. About winning the battle, not with me but, with his weight.

Then he said this.

“So, not only have I gained a pound, but Colin has now lost 4 pounds. I feel more discouraged than ever. He has 16 pounds to go, and I now have 21.”

“I feel more discouraged than ever.” This is the direct opposite effect that The Diet has set out to create. If he had said “Now I’m more motivated than ever to get to the gym, do some running, and stay strict on my diet.” that’d have made me smile. But discouragement is not what anyone on the diet, including me, wants to see anyone go through.

So as of today the challenge between Pat and I is off. I forfeit. I will gladly find something under 20 dollars and send it to you Pat. Your encouragement, motivation, and health are worth far more to me and to you than 20 dollars.

So what is the new challenge? Of course we’re all still going to do The Diet in hopes of losing as much weight as we all set out to lose from the beginning. I think the new goal should now be to help motivate those who need it the most. If you are on The Diet your goals should be to help find more people to join us, to motivate those who have bad weeks, and to use the group as your primary means to stay motivated to accomplish your goals. The Diet is no longer a weight loss competition, it is a challenge to all that are on it to get healthy and help as many people as you can along the way.

How to turn weight gain into weight loss

I’m not a trainer, dietitian, or any other type of health expert so I can only go on my own experiences over the years with losing weight and trying to stay motivated. In week two of the first round of The Diet I gained 3 pounds.

I said “This week, I’m unhappy to report that I gained three pounds. I am now back up to 221.8lbs. However, this makes me more determined to stay on my diet, and get more exercise to make up for the set back.”

The weight gain motivated me to hop right back on and try to lose weight the next week. Why? Why did I get motivated and Pat got discouraged? It is all about identifying what went wrong the week before and not blaming yourself.

I have never gone to the gym with Pat so I have no idea about the intensity or process of Pat’s workout but to me going to the gym 4 times in a week is a great, great accomplishment. So what did Pat do wrong this week? Pat mentioned that he went over his calories by 1,000 calories on one of the days. He also weighed in while he was at the gym in the evening while his initial weigh in was earlier in the day. I believe these are factors in Pat’s weight gain this week and not Pat himself.

Our weight fluctuates during the day. A lot. If I weigh in when I wake up at 7:00am I will be at least 3-5lbs. lighter than when I went to sleep. If Pat weighs 5 pounds more at night than he does in the morning, he would have weighed in with a 4 pound weight loss instead of a 1 pound weight gain! It is that simple.

Eating properly should be the number one goal when someone is trying to lose the last few pounds (or even 20 or 30) on a diet. I believe the saying goes; abs aren’t made in the gym, abs are made in the kitchen. Something like that. Chris Fehnel and Mike Stickel do a workout called P90X. It is a rigorous daily workout that lasts a little over an hour a day for 90 days. That is a lot more than I work out. Still, they’d both agree that they key to making P90X work is to stay on the diet plan that they give you. A certain number of proteins, carbs, etc. are scheduled out per day. If you don’t follow the diet plan you will, no doubt, lose weight. But you will not see the results you would have otherwise.

Pat, you need to get your eating in check. Eat more often and hit your daily allotted calories before 7pm at night. Turn your body into a calorie burning machine by feeding it regularly. Weigh yourself at the exact same time of day each week, instead of at different times. If you are going to go over your calories for the day try to work in a short run to keep your body burning fat. Do not give up. Ever. This battle is far to worth the win to give up because of one pound. Especially when there are clear reasons why you weighed in one pound heavier. We’re all with you and we’re all here to help. I bet you will lose weight this week.

I hope everyone on The Diet stays motivated, keeps tabs on the others that are dieting and motivates them when they need it, and even tells new people that could really use the encouragement to get on The Diet and get healthy. We’re in this together and we’re all going to accomplish our goals if we help each other.

Sameer, Chris, Eliza and I were the only people to show up for the Photo walk. This didn’t surprise me considering the fact that it wasn’t until Friday that Sameer and I actively went out to Flickr groups, Facebook, Craig’s List, and a few other places on the Web to promote the Photo walk. That isn’t to say that anyone would have showed up if we had publicized this thing for months – we’re talking about Scranton here. I have hope that one day, perhaps more than a few years into the future, Scranton will really take off on these types of social gatherings. Perhaps we’ll try again in fairer weather (since it did end up raining a little) and see how that goes.

The Photo walk itself was pretty ok. It wasn’t too cold, but it did start to rain. We took that opportunity to grab a beer at Judge & Jury. I think a really warm summer evening might be better for photos of Scranton since lights on buildings, signs, and cars passing by really add some romance to photos. You can see this from our Carbondale Photo walk at night. Or perhaps by adding a specific topic to the Photo walk (as someone suggested) like trains, automobiles, lights, signs, buildings, windows, etc.

All-in-all I had a good time, though shorter than I’d have liked, walking around Scranton shooting photos and I’m looking forward to doing it again. Perhaps in Scranton, or another neighboring city, borough, village, or area – but perhaps when the weather is a bit more suitable and predictable.

Photos of Scranton, PA

Although I took around 200 photos, deleted well over 120 before importing them, I’ve only selected 16 or so to share. Here they are. Click on the thumbnails to get a larger view of the full photograph.

I’m happy with the outcome of the walk. Looking forward to the next one.

New York is easily one of my favorite cities. The last time I was there I had the privilege of eating some really delicious Thai food, drink at an authentic Irish Pub, and scarf down 4,000 calories worth of White House burgers. Where else can you do that?

The Thai food that we had was at Thai Basil on 9th Ave. and W. 56th St. Thai Basil is, or rather was, what seems to be, a repurposed hallway or stairwell turned restraurant with a few small tables. The decor is clean, simple, and in typical asian style. The service was proper, prompt, and delicate.

Chris and Jon had either never had, or seldom had, Thai food before that day. So we were all in for a treat. Chris got squid and something curried. I can’t even remember, now, what I got. But it was delicious. Although 9th Ave. between West 54th and 56th streets is riddled with what I am sure is excellent Thai food restaurants – I can recommend Thai Basil on Manhattan.

The Irish Pub (which could have been either McGee’s on W. 55th or Connolly’s on E. 47th or maybe even a different pub altogether) all I know is that we walked, and walked, and walked before we stopped here for a couple of appetizers and some beer. Speaking of beer Jon had some sort of light beer. I had to fight off the entire staff to keep them from throwing Jon out by his neck and belt loop. While I was wrestling with the barkeep – I managed to scarf down a bunch of stuff mushrooms. Shhh, do you hear that? Ireland is absolutely screaming for Eliza and I to visit.

And the day was just getting started.

We had a lot more walking to do this day. You see, we’re not from New York City and so this is sort of a novel thing. Walking. Everywhere. To the library (which was closed). To another library (which was lame). To the pub, to a restaurant, through Times Square, back to our hotel, to the parking garage, back to the hotel, and ultimately – late at night – to White Castle.

I know what you might be thinking. Isn’t this post supposed to be about No Reservations? Anthony Bourdain’s show about traveling the world and eating some of the best food ever made by human hands? Yes. But if I know Tony. He digs a late night White Castle burger binge. So, off we went. Twelve blocks to the nearest White Castle. No problem. We had already walked miles and miles that day – why not a few more footsteps? We all ordered the exact same meal. Ten burgers and two fries. We ended up giving some of the food to a beggar sitting outside of White Castle (smart man). But most of us finished our double-portions of the greesy, grimey, and some would say disgusting little burgers that leave a wet spot on any table you set them on. I was sick.

In case you didn’t know the sign that you had a successful visit to White Castle is if you leave feeling like you want to puke.

Overall we had a very good time in New York. I always do. That is why I enjoyed seeing a different side of New York than the one I typically get to see in the latest episode of Anthony Bourdain’s No Reservations. Tony’s side. In this week’s episode Anthony shows us a portion of New York City that is slowly disappearing, being replaced, rebuilt, torn down, or put up for sale. Sad? Maybe for people like Tony who grew up in and around New York and have a history there. But for those of us that come into the city on occasion to soak up some of the city life, the culture, the food, the architecture, the noises, and again the food – New York is always changing. Always disappearing, being rebuilt, replaced, torn down, or being sold. It is what makes New York, New York.

Photo credit: Jon Christopher.

I had the privilege of cooking the dish for episode 7 of Eat Weird. I chose to make mussels over linguini, a very simple meal that anyone could make in their home kitchens and with any budget, because even though Chris tries to focus on things that are much more “weird” – I don’t think many people my age or younger have had mussels or any type of seafood.

It may sound odd that I say that – but more and more I am noticing that people’s explorations into food are more and more constrained to things that come in boxes, are frozen into a brick, can be warmed up in a microwave, or can be purchased while leaning out of your car’s window. We’re really hoping that Eat Weird, in some very small way, changes that.

Have you ever had mussels? Head on over to Eat Weird and let us know.

I had the privilege of producing this, and the next four, episodes of Eat Weird. I think they’ll get better as they go along in this latest series of episodes – which I’m calling the Dave Ciminelli series. Episode 4, which is due out Friday, is going to be a really fun episode – but I believe that the quality of each episode and our ability to produce them will go up as we go.

Maybe if I do well enough Chris will let me keep the producers chair full-time until he can find a replacement. We’ll see. For now, Live Well, and Eat Weird.

Source: Eat Weird – Episode 3: Wild Goose Breast Salad.

My long-time friend Chris Fehnel has launched a new video blog called Eat Weird. The premise is simple; Live well, Eat Weird. You see, many times us Americans (and perhaps many of you reading this that are not Americans) tend to think certain foods taboo. That is, you think they’re weird.

Maybe you grew up in a “normal” household eating meat and potatoes. Perhaps you grew up in a “modern” household where you either ate at a restaurant or you warmed something up in the microwave. Or, worse yet – all you’ve ever done is snack in front of the television.  Regardless, I believe we can all agree that the culinary and food-loving pedigree present in most households of this 21st-Century are poor.

I’m as guilty as any. Or at least I was. Since striking out on my own and getting married my diet has consisted of, well, whatever I can get my hands on.  Growing up with a father, born in Indonesia and raised by well-traveled Dutch parents, who loved to cook – I was often treated to what some would consider extremely exotic meals. Rattle snake, shark, cow’s tongue, and countless Indonesian dishes were on the table every night. And I mean every single night.

My wife wasn’t so fortunate. She and her single-mother would rarely cook anything of consequence. Make no mistake about it, Eliza is an excellent cook now in her adult life. When she hits the kitchen and I hear pots and pans smashing around – I get all together excited at the prospect. But for the first few years of our marriage – we were married young – we ate like Americans in every sense of the phrase.

That is why Chris’ show Eat Weird strikes so close to home for me. It is because his show is a direct reflection of where I am right now in my food-eating journey. As I travel around the world to locations exotic and otherwise, I try everything I’ve never had before. This spirit of willingness has always been inside of me, lurking. But it has only shown itself through motivation to actually work towards its end – rather than passively allow life and opportunity to pass by – within the past 4 or 5 years. That is, I’ve always been willing to eat anything but I have only recently begun to seek these delicacies.

I had the privilege of helping Chris shoot his first two episodes using only Eliza’s Flip video camera. The quality, content, mood, and overall feel of the show will mature overtime – that much Chris knows for sure. But sometimes you just have to start. Sometimes that is the most challenge part. Now that he’s got his feet wet – ideas, circumstances, and opportunities are flying in from all directions. The road ahead looks promising both for his own food-eating diversity but also for his fledgling show which, I think, could end up being a huge hit in six months.

Congrats to Chris for launching this new show and I look forward to following his journey in the world of good food while I continue my own. No matter how weird some may think it.

Photo credit: Eliza Devroe.

Actually, the whole stopping part pretty much eludes him.

My friend Chris Fehnel isn’t so good at landing jumps.  You may remember we did some jumping at the State Park a few weeks back.  The photo of us may make it appear like we’re all great athletes and that our skills are top-notch.  Not so much.

Every single time Chris jumped he rolled as in the above animation.  He blames pain in his knees.  I blame coordination. You be the judge.

Date taken: May 25, 2008 | Photo credit: Eliza Devroe.

Why, what did you do this weekend?  I doubt it was as fun as this.  Was it?

We tried our best to injure ourselves and I think Chris was by far the most successful.  Maybe if you ask nicely Eliza will post some of the better shots to her blog.  What an incredible weekend to be outside!

In Tiger, when I clicked Show All I got a really nice Spotlight-only window that I could then drill down into the results more specifically.  For example, if I was searching for photos of my friend Chris Fehnel, the window in Tiger looked like this.

Tiger’s Spotlight “show all” window.

Pretty straight forward, right?  It breaks out Documents (or in this case conversations I had with Chris in iChat), Email messages, his Address Book entry, and photos that I had tagged with his name.  Brilliant!

Tiger’s Spotlight window also allowed for some sorting options on the right “panel”.  Sorting by date, kind, location of the file, etc, – is quick, easy, and straight forward.

Now, let’s take a look at Leopard’s Spotlight window when clicking Show All for a search for “Chris Fehnel”.

Leopard’s “show all” window.

I don’t even think I have to explain how bad this is.  Imagine being new to the Mac, and seeing this window.  This is horrible, unusable, and makes me wish I could downgrade to Tiger.

If anyone has any suggestions (besides Finder replacements), I’m all ears.
 

If you have anything to spare, please consider donating it to help further research into curing diabetes for these children.  I’m more than sure he and Blake, the child who has inspired many to walk on Sunday, will be most appreciative of whatever you can give.

Source: Just Bete It for Blake – Diabetes Walk.

For those of you that do not know, I used to run a small blog with a few friends where we tried our hat at writing about geeky topics. We called it TheUberGeeks.net, or TUG.n, and we’ve recently begun working on its resurrection. We’ve got some big plans (as big as they can get giving it our night and weekend attention for the next few months) and I hope that anyone that used to subscribe will find their way back to TUG.n.

We’ve got two new articles up there and we’ll have at least a few more before this week is out. The two most recent articles were written by me:

• An iPhone FAQ – covering the top questions I receive from people that see me with an iPhone.
• Porting Mac applications to Windows – An interview with Cris Pearson of plasq – where I conduct a short interview with the CEO of a small software development company about the challenges of porting software with a small team.

I’m looking forward to seeing Chris’ Song of the Week return in style as well as Josue’s coverage of several TV series. In the next month or so we’ll have several pretty neat announcements there, so keep your ear to the ground. Actually, just subscribe to the TUG.n feed, and that will keep you up-to-date.

We’re back baby!

I believe it is time to quit making excuses about scheduling problems and start doing things on my own. I’m going to start running, by myself, starting tomorrow. As for the gym I’ll have to create my own schedule (most likely Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday). I’d love to go in the mornings but that just doesn’t seem possible – I am not a morning workout person.

This week I weighed in within a few ounces of last week’s weigh in. Which is fine because I fully expect to be around 185 pounds for the rest of my life – so being 187 works just as well.

I hope everyone else had a great week on their diets.

Over the last few weeks I’ve had hundreds of ideas for how I’d write my one year weigh in. And I think the most important thing for me to do is to say thank you to all of those who’ve helped me over the course of the last year to be as successful as I have been.

Thank you Eliza for being my original inspiration for starting the diet. You’ve helped me on numerous occasions over the last year to stick to my goals. You’ve been amazingly supportive!

Thanks to Chris for pushing me during our workouts. I can always count on you to be my exercise partner which has definitely had an impact on me. Many people are not as privileged as I am to have someone to work out with consistently.

Thanks to James for showing me that this diet isn’t just about losing weight or that it isn’t a temporary action but this is a life-change and one that will last forever. You truly are an inspiration to many. (see James’ latest photo showing off his success on his diet, awesome!)

Thanks to Mike for being supportive as a friend and fellow dieter. Your unceasing schedule of getting to the gym every single morning has been inspiring. Hope you find a place in California to settle into and get that schedule back on track!

Thanks to Scott who has shown me that sometimes we need to do whatever it takes to stay on the diet even if it means doing things that we don’t like (like running or going to the gym).

Thanks to Larry who has, via our conversations, really given me great tips and inspiration for setting goals and sticking to them. I know Larry will be making his personal goals and I know how hard he is trying to do so – which inspires me to try as hard as he does.

And thanks to everyone else on the diet, those that read my weigh in entries, and those that congratulate me on my successes and pick me up when I “fail”, all of you have been a part of this last year and I can’t thank you enough for that.

Oh, I almost forgot – I weighed in at 185 again this morning which is no change from last week. For those that are unaware, I am not longer trying to lose weight but I’m trying very hard to maintain my current weight, gain muscle, and lose fat.

I can has cramp

Last week was the normal exercise and workout activities but near the end of the week Chris and I, via my good friend Larry, discovered HIIT running. The photo on your right is the result of my first HIIT session wherein I got a cramp and Chris nearly showed his lunchables. HIIT running is addictive and a little bit insane. Once you’ve done it and the pain along with the throbbing head veins subside, you crave it. You are constantly thinking about your next session and how you need to add another cycle. Like I said, insane.

This weekend we hit a few wineries, as we tend to love doing so much, and enjoyed a massive amount of great food and wine. Picnics in vineyards people! Naturally I thought I’d overdone it. Come to find out I didn’t gain an ounce over the weekend. So just like last week I’m sittin’ pretty at 185.

Yesterday was our third round of HIIT running. However, since Chris and I are insane (as mentioned before), we decided to go to the gym for biceps, triceps, and forearm workouts before heading out to play basketball for a few more hours. But boy did it feel good (at the time). This morning I’m a little sore and a few of my joints are cursing me – but overall I’m in good shape.

I’m looking forward to making this a great week to end the first of many years on the diet.

When we first arrived Jen Simmons, Owen Winkler, and Kel (Joseph Kelter) were already there talking about various topics dealing with WordPress.

At this point I kind of flew off the handle at my disgust in the current WordPress world and with Habari (which I didn’t know Owen was one of the developers). However, after Owen literally gave me his laptop, in cool tablet form, to use Habari – and I can definitely say that the project is showing signs of potential. With Owen at the helm, I think the project definitely has a chance. Perhaps someday I will write up my thoughts on both of these topics.

Rob Sandie and Tom Kim

At this point people started to trickle in until the entire room was filled with people, conversations, and card games. I ended up mingling with Josh, Mike, and Jason for the majority of the time (which wasn’t long enough) and didn’t get to speak with many people that I really wanted to be able to.

Next month I’m going to try to get back down to the meetup (though I think I’m going to Philly at least two other times during the month of March so I have to check on a few things), and hopefully I’ll be able to speak to those I missed this time (Tom and Tony I’m looking at you two).

To any of you that attended that I did not get to meet or talk to – please make it a point to say hi to me next month.

[tags]weblogger, meetup, philadelphia, pennsylvania, ten stone, mike stickel, matt regula, jason santa maria, joshua lane, jen simmons, owen winkler, chris fehnel, eliza devroe, wordpress, habari, tony g, tom kim[/tags]
[slug]meetup0207-recap[/slug]

Chris at Ten Stone Bar – April 15, 2006

So far Eliza, Mike, and Chris are coming with me. It looks like Rob, Tom, and Marisa are definitely going. Andrea and Jason might be going. And sadly Tony G. can’t make it. Update: Happily Tony G. is able to make it!

And, it appears we’re going to have a fairly full house.

If you are in the Philadelphia area (heck I’m 2 1/2 hours away and I’m still going) and you’d like to meetup with some great people to discuss WordPress, blogging, Viddler, or just sit back and enjoy a beer – sign up to the meetup and we’ll see you there.

Note: You can add this event to your calendar program of choice since this post is marked up using hCalendar. Enjoy.

Note addendum: It appears that the above link won’t work for Outlook users? Not sure why – probably because Outlook sucks?

[tags]philadelphia, meetup, webloggers, blogging, wordpress, event, pennsylvania, viddler, rob sandie, chris fehnel, mike stickel, colin devroe, eliza devroe, tom kim, marisa mcclellan, andrea, jason santa maria, tony green, microformats, hcalendar[/tags]
[slug]meetup-021706[/slug]

It is always a crap shoot when buying a Frosty. One day you get a Frosty that will literally knock your socks off and on a different day, even in the same location, you find the Frosty lacking in texture, taste, color, or even the temperature isn’t quite right. I’ve actually even had Frostys that I didn’t enjoy simply because I thought the effort was poor.

Today after basketball Chris, Andrew, Eliza, and I went to Wendy’s to get a Frosty. What ended up happening may have changed our Frosty-eating lives forever!

L to R: Chris, me, and Andrew

Today we all had Frostys that could be rated 5 outta 5 fpoons (the highest rating for a Frosty using our patent-pending rating system). If you are not sure what a fpoon is, it is the only utensil to use when eating a soquid.

These Frostys were nearly perfect or as perfect as my taste buds would allow me to experience. Their color, feel, temperature, and taste all melded together to make for the best possible Frosty that we’ve all ever had. Reactions to this ranged from speechlessness to exhilaration. From eyes rolling into the back of our heads to our eyes popping out of them. A wide range of emotions washed over each one of us as we did whatever we could to preserve the feeling for as long as possible.

Frostys this good don’t come around too often. I’m just glad that I was able to experience it with my friends and with people who also understand the intricacies of the Frosty-world.

[tags]wendys, frosty, fast food, eliza devroe, chris fehnel, andrew nelson, basketball, food, dessert, chocolate[/tags]
[slug]5-fpoons[/slug]

To start though, I owe Eliza, Chris, and the kids that were at the Rec-center that day – an apology.

Eliza I really thought that maybe instead of handing you just the cash that was in my wallet that I may have handed you my entire wallet. So I’m sorry for thinking that maybe you misplaced it.

Chris I’m sorry for thinking it was in your messy car. Wait a tick – maybe the chance of my wallet being lost in the heaps of clothing, fast food bags and cups, old tires, chicken carcasses, fossils dating back to the Jurassic period, and Frosty-stained underwear – caused you to clean that thing out. Perhaps it is you that owe me!

And to the kids that were in the gym that day – I was really optimistic about you guys. You all seemed like great kids (and I mean this) and I was actually surprised how nice everyone was in the gym that day. Typically you don’t find a large group of young people that are as nice as you guys were, not in today’s world.

In any event – I am really happy that I found my wallet. I suppose that I’d better fill you in on where it was, and how it got there. (Actually, I doubt you care, but I’m jotting this down for my own benefit more than you guys, sorry.)

After returning from basketball I immediately took a shower. After showering I picked up my sweaty clothes, and wallet as it turns out, and brought them with me into the bedroom to put into our hamper. But, what I didn’t realize was that I put the wallet in my robe’s pocket! Since that day I’ve worn my robe a few times (though I usually don’t have it on for more than a few minutes each time) so I never really tucked my hands in the pockets.

This morning when I woke up, and it was somewhere around 2-degrees fahrenheit outside, I decided to wear my robe for a little while. The moment I put it on I felt something in the pocket and I knew it was my wallet. Very strange feeling. The realization that it had been in there the whole time, the way it got in there, the number of times I missed it when wearing the robe, all went through my mind very quickly.

So, even though my bank card was cancelled – I’m happy to not have to get a new license or any of the other things that are in my wallet.

Yipee!

[tags]wallet, found, chris fehnel, newton, pennsylvania, robe, eliza devroe, recreational center, car, elation[/tags]
[slug]back-wallet-back[/slug]

My other issue is of where some of my posts belong. As most of you know I write for TUG.n and have since starting it with Chris “back in the day”. I love writing geeky stuff but as I start to get better at writing ( I am improving a little, aren’t I ), I find myself wanting to post much more thought-out posts rather than the normal quickly written posts you’ve seen on TUG.n over the last several years.

That being said, who has the time? Though I think there is a balance, and blogging should not be turned into a form of journalism where every single detail is gone over with a fine-tooth comb (at least not for me personally), I am finding it difficult to strike a balance that I am happy with. So, the TUG.n airwaves go silent.

Perhaps this same issue plagues Mike, and Josue too. Not only are we finding it hard to produce good content on a regular basis (that we’re happy with), but I think we’re also trying to find out where each post belongs. Personal blog, TUG.n, company blog, etc.

It is something that will probably continue to challenge me for quite sometime and I don’t believe I’ll ever be able to fully solve the issue. But I have some ideas up my sleeve that will hopefully be able to pull some of this stuff together and that will help that decision become less important (in theory).

Whoever said blogging was easy never really blogged much or only has one blog.

[tags]blogs, itunes, theubergeeks, madeincr, josue salazar, mike stickel, screenflicker, chris fehnel, writing, personal[/tags]
[slug]itunes-belonging[/slug]

Wow I’ve never really “lost” anything before. I’ve misplaced things in the past, I’ve pulled my hair out trying to find something, but eventually nearly everything I’ve ever “lost” has turned up somewhere.

Not this time.

On Sunday morning I discovered that I was wallet-less. On Saturday the last time I can remember I had my wallet was right before going to play basketball at the Newton Recreational Center. We were planning on having some company for dinner and so Eliza wanted some cash to buy a few things at the grocery store. I had exactly $60 in my wallet at the time, consisting of three twenty-dollar bills. I handed them to her and walked out the door.

Shortly before we were finished playing someone had mentioned we may need to chip in a few dollars to “rent” the gym. Full-well-knowing that I had just gave Eliza every dollar that was in my wallet, I didn’t even check my coat for the cash because I knew it wasn’t there.

We drove home. Life went on as normal. We had a great time with our company, and went to bed.

I’ve literally checked every possible place (even called the Rec-center in hopes someone turned it in and had the nice fellow working there “check around” for me) but I am still without my wallet.

That Saturday-afternoon there was nearly 50 people in that small gym. A pretty good balance between adults and children. It could have been that someone swiped the wallet, though that still does not seem likely to me since there were cell phones and other wallets that were out in the open while my wallet was tucked away in my coat with the pocket’s zipper-zipped. Even if someone did grab it, they’d quickly realize there was no money and drop it.

Since then no one has attempted to contact me. No one has tried to use any of the cards inside (though my bank card is being cancelled anyway). So I am still thinking that my wallet is out there, lonely, sitting either in a dark crevice at the Newton Recreational Center or on the side of the road somewhere after someone realized how poor I am and ditched the wallet.

Ugh.

UPDATE: I found my wallet.

You might say: “Some diet this guy is on, he keeps going up and down, up and down!”. For me, that is the sign of a diet and exercise program that is working, not failing. I do not want to lose any more “weight” but rather a little fat. The fact that my weight is fluctuating a pound or two, yet I’m still able to eat just about everything I want, motivates me to continue my exercise program.

I’ve been getting to the gym regularly again since the break, and I’m gaining strength and appreciation for my workout. I’ve been switching up my workout program a little this week, and I’m pretty happy with the results. I switched to a strength training program where you slowly increase the weight you are using through your sets. This makes the final set much more difficult than it had been for me previously – and I think that shows a sign of it being a much better workout of my muscles.

Chris even adjusted the way I was doing a workout of my triceps and it made a huge difference. If I’d been doing that workout from the beginning I think I’d have gained much more ground on my triceps. I’ll have to make sure I keep doing it the way he showed me.

Perhaps it is nearing the time to show some photos again as visual proof of the progress, or maybe even some Viddler hosted video. Who knows.

[tags]workout, gym, exercise, weights, weigh-in, diet, the-diet, viddler, chris fehnel[/tags]

In June 2003 Eliza, Chris, and I went to Niagara Falls. We had a great time even though I didn’t write about it anywhere. Though, I did post a few photos on Flickr about a year after we went (which just happened to be the very first month I uploaded photos to Flickr). However, a few photos did not make the cut.

I do the patented move [compare]

Now remember this was in 2003, and somehow I managed to not only do the patented move, but somehow Eliza managed to take a photo of it!

Here are a few more photos of the finger puppets from Niagara Falls in 2003 (though I think a complete write up of our trip is in order).

We all had a set

Chris eyes hulk

After a few drinks

Boo

Finger Puppets run amok in Niagara Falls!

I found it pretty funny that one of the first patents I found was of these finger puppets that we enjoyed so much in Niagara Falls. I also like the fact that you can link directly into each page of patent documentation. Well done Google, and well done Hobart Ford (the inventor of the finger puppets).

What are the top five reasons you started to diet in the first place?
For me this is fairly easy to answer because I’ve literally cataloged every step of my journey from the very beginning. The very first time I wanted to diet was in September of 2005, right before my 25th birthday, and just after a vacation in Florida with family. What were my reasons then? To quote myself:

“I’m fat. I admit it. I’m telling you, not because you care, but I’m hoping it will motivate me to become unfat.” … “While on vacation, we’d go back to our condo and unload all of our pictures from our cameras onto our respective iBooks. Each and every time a picture of either of us with our shirts off would appear, we’d grimace in pain. Our eyes becoming watery at the unsightly bellies which have formed on the front of our abdomens.” — “The biggest loser” – September 25th, 2005.

That particular diet did not last very long (on and off for 3 weeks I believe). My attitude and reasons for doing the diet were all wrong, and I think it is one of the major reasons I did not succeed. I would say things like “I only lost roughly 2 pounds this week.”. Which would definitely effect my attitude. Little did I know at the time that losing 2 pounds per week was the best possible way to lose weight and keep it off.

My reasons for starting my second diet, and the one that worked, were the following:

• Health
• Age
• Self
• Eliza
• Sports

Although there is no particular order in the above list, I did try to list them by what I felt was most important to me at the time of starting the diet.

My first reason for sure was my health. I was sick of feeling the way I did, and being overweight can definitely have a huge effect on your health. My back hurt, my self esteem was down, etc. etc. – and I really just needed to get out of the funk. Second was age I think. I really did not want to have to diet when I was older, as I know it would get harder and harder to lose the weight the older I got. Even at 25 you can do the things you could when you were 18, and I didn’t want to be saying that when I was 35, 45, or even 55. I figured “Today is the day to start, not tomorrow because tomorrow always turns into the next day“. Third was self, and I say self because I wanted to feel better about myself. Always hating the way clothes fit, the way I feel, the way my stomach would fly out of my shirt when I bent this or that way, or the way I felt I was being perceived was getting really, really old. So to not have this on the list would be lying – I definitely wanted to look better and in turn feel better about myself. Fourth was Eliza’s success on the diet. She had started her diet before I started on mine and she was incredibly successful on it, was looking great, feeling good, and it was a huge motivation for me to do likewise. I owe much of my success to her lead. Lastly, I really wanted to do better in sports. I love basketball and frisbee and the diet has really made my “game” much more enjoyable. No more chest pain! No more chest pain!

So, those are my main five reasons.

What was your biggest failure on the diet, and how did you overcome it?
Hands down: Obstruction of routine. I had a few small set backs during my diet the first being within the first two weeks of the diet. Obstruction of routine can come in many forms. In that first example we went away for the weekend, ended up eating whatever we wanted at a restaurant, going to a few bars, etc.

One of the largest obstructions to my routine was moving. Obviously it was the reason I stopped doing the diet for almost 8 weeks. It completely knocked my eating habits, posting habits, and weigh in process that I had come to rely on.

However, the way I overcome it is to not worry about those times, get back on track and move on. You can see evidence of this between week two, three, and four of my diet. I went from gaining 3 pounds to losing almost 3 and then almost 5 pounds.

Things come up. Things happen. Vacations are fun! Enjoy them. Going away for the weekend may not fit into your diet. Don’t worry about those times. If you gain a few pounds, that doesn’t mean that your diet is failing – it just means that you need to get yourself back on track to reverse those few pounds the following week or over several weeks. For me, I can still look back and say I’ve lost around 40 pounds overall – even though I had a few weeks that I gained. Routine, routine, routine.

Did blogging help or hinder your success?
For me it helped tremendously. I now have my own, personal and private, journal that I keep – which would have helped in a very similar fashion – but would have lacked the “social responsibility” I felt to keep weighing in. Being able to see my progress over time, and having people comment on my successes and failures – has helped me a lot. To give an example (and this ties in with the previous question as well and where I got my inspiration) was James Mathias saying “Continuing forward without dwelling is what makes the difference.” on one of my posts where I didn’t do so well. This really helped me to develop a similar outlook, and to continue.

What things did you do to help ensure your success?
Simple. I do what I find fun and don’t do the stuff I hate. I love playing basketball and as most of you know I played a heck of a lot of basketball during my diet. I ended up developing a love for Ultimate too, and so I also used that. If you hate walking on a treadmill (I do), then don’t do it. Get outside and walk. Walk at a mall and do some shopping. Whatever you do, get off the couch.

As for food, the same philosophy. Eliza and I really enjoy grilled chicken salads. And, they happen to be good for you! So, we’d often make them, along with other things that we enjoy. Tomato sandwiches for example.

Another note about food is to never deprive yourself of stuff you really really like, even if they are not good for you. The only thing you will do is make that longing for that food even harder on yourself and you might end up bingeing. An example of this is, in my case, Cheez-Its. I love cheez-its, and they are not very good for you. However, Eliza and I would buy 100 calorie bags of cheetos, cheez-its, and other little things – and this really helped us to combat the cravings while not going overboard and staying within our daily limits. These little bags were essential for us.

What is one recommendation you’d have for someone on Day 1 of their diet?
I have a few so I won’t be able to limit it to just one.

The first would be; have the right reasons to diet. You might be told that you need to diet, but unless you believe in the reasons for dieting you won’t actually want to do it.

The second would be; set small and large goals. I set incremental goals for myself as well as long term goals. That way I could always aim for the large goals while feeling good about hitting the small ones. And, if you miss a small one, you have time to correct your strategy to make the longer term ones. I liked having a goal of losing about 8 pounds per month, while keeping goals of 220, 215, 210, 200, and so forth, in sight as well.

The third would be; tell everyone you know that you are on a diet. Hiding the fact that you are on a diet only can lead to 1 thing – not being responsible for staying on it. The more people that know the more you’ll be motivated to live up to your word for being on a diet. Also, it will help notify those people of what to feed you, or that you may not want to be seduced by cake and ice cream all the time.

I really hope the above questions and answers can help everyone on their diets. However my perspective is definitely not the only one. I’m calling on Eliza (who has been a huge inspiration for the entire diet), Chris (who has had a ton of experience with dieting both “alone” and “socially”), James (who is the most consistent person I’ve run across and was a huge inspiration for me), and Scott (who has recently begun his journey and is making staggering progress). I hope they all answer this call, so that you might all be filled with their insight into this extremely rewarding struggle.

Update: If anyone else would like to answer these – please do so. Either email me or comment here or trackback this post with your answers – I’d love to read everyone’s perspective on this. I just singled out a few I’d really like to read – but I’d want to see whatever has to say about these five questions.

Update: James answered, Chris answered, Scott answered, and Eliza answered. Thanks everyone! If anyone else wants to answer these questions too, I’d love to read the answers.

[tags]eliza devroe, scott mcnulty, james mathias, chris fehnel, food, diet, the-diet, goals, excercise, sports, basketball, ultimate, frisbee, meme[/tags]

We have a few Wendy’s “near” us. One is in Dickson City (about 10-15 minutes away) and one in Clarks Summit (about 20-25 minutes away)*. Both of which have drive-thrus, both serve up the Frosty.

After some Japanese last night we got some Frostys at the Clarks Summit Wendy’s, and I have to say, they were not very good. They melted quickly, the chocolate was not chocolate enough, and they just weren’t quite right.

I am not sure how Wendy’s makes the Frosty but I assume that there is some sort of mix or common recipe between any Wendy’s location that would be the same. So why aren’t all Frostys created equal? Perhaps if you are an employee of Wendy’s, you can fill me in on this.

* Actually, there is another one in Dickson City inside of the Viewmont Mall but since it would be pretty annoying to go inside of the mall instead of through the drive-thru, I am not counting this one.

[tags]wendy’s, frosty, dessert, eliza devroe, mike stickel, chris fehnel, andrew nelson, dickson city, pennslvania, clarks summit, food[/tags]
[slug]wendys-frosty[/slug]

[tags]josue salazar, colin devroe, chris fehnel, mike stickel, tug, theubergeeks, interview[/tags]
[slug]tug-interview[/slug]

Not that fall is a bad thing since Pennsylvania has some of the prettiest falls I’ve seen anywhere, I just hate seeing summer fade into fall because that means winter is coming.

Saturday

Ethan almost smiling

On Saturday we went to a “Cars” party at my sister Nettie’s house. She invited a few parents and their children – oh and Eliza and I too but we don’t have any children besides our cats who never saw Cars and don’t like cake so they weren’t invited.

It is definitely nice to go to a party full of kids every now and then. Being able to watch as kids make a mess of their clothes, tear lighting fixtures out of the ground, drink chlorinated water, complain that another kid “touched their hamburger”, and tip over every cup that contains liquid within arms reach – and then getting in our car and driving away without one of our own is sort of liberating. Though I love kids and hope to have a few of my own one day.

Lightning McQueen cake

Tyler likes carrots

Isabelle

Boys watch sub

All the kids seemed to have a great time

We enjoyed their company, had a small bite to eat, and were on our way to Ivan and Andrea’s for the rest of the weekend where we had a great time with Ivan, Andrea, Ava, Giana, and Chris (yes, the very same people we camped with at Keenlake).

Once we arrived Andrea prepared a really great dinner. After dinner we watched a few episodes of Lost to get in the mood for Season 3 which begins on the first Wednesday in October.

Sunday

Andrea and Eliza make breakfast

Andrea and Eliza made breakfast for a pretty large crew being that some guests stopped by early to drop off Ava. My guess is that including children there was about 10 of us – so they did a great job making breakfast for everyone. I’m sure Chris will mention the scrapple.

After breakfast Ivan, Chris, Ava, and I headed for the river. We started our trip down river at Jim Thorpe and rafted down to Bowmanstown. We spent about two and a half hours on the river total hitting about a dozen or so rapids. Being only a class 2 at best, we had a good time without risking life and limb and being able to take Ava with us. Rafting really solidified to me how beautiful a state Pennsylvania is. Living here really has made me take that fact for granted. Although a shame that we don’t have any photos of the event, I really didn’t want to chance ruining one of our digital cameras, so you will have to live without them.

After rafting (and Chris forgetting his keys in the car about 10 miles up river and needing to call AAA to unlock the doors), we headed to Galen Glen winery for a tasting. Some of the wines were really good – though I thought they tasted a bit young. Eliza and I ended up making three selections and getting a bottle of each. I think I might end up writing up the Silver Vidal Blanc we got, as I think that it had the most potential out of any of the wines I tasted (we were allowed six).

Galen Glen panorama – [zoom in]

I managed to shoot a pretty slick panorama that I used Photoshop’s photomerge to stitch together. I have to remember to do more of these when we go places, as I think it gives you a fairly good feel for the area. Beautiful rolling hills each filled with grape vines that reach about as far as the eye can see. Beyond that maple trees that extend until the curvature of the Earth takes over. Great location.

Group photo at Galen Glen winery
Eliza, Colin, Chris, Ivan, Andrea, Giana, and Ava

After downing a bottle of wine while overlooking the scenic vista, we headed to Platz’s for dinner. We’ve gone here twice so far and I really like the feel of the place. A homemade menu with a pub feel. I had crab cakes that made me extremely full.

I really can’t say enough about having great weather in the middle of September on a weekend filled with friends and being outdoors. I suppose you could say that this weekend would represent my favorite types of weekends. I’m definitely going to miss the summer, but hopefully we can figure out how to make some even better weekends in the fall and winter to come.

Update: Eliza posted a few more photos from the weekend.

[tags]weekend, vacation, summer, wine, winery, galen glen, jim thorpe, rafting, photos, kids, rosarios, chris fehnel, colin devroe, eliza devroe, kids, party, cars, platz’s, vineyard, food, ivan, andrea, ava, giana, ethan[/tags]

Mike and I have been chatting online since he started leaving comments on The uber geeks back in the summer of 2005. Since then we’ve chatted and eventually worked on a few projects together.

A photo of us taking a photo of us

On Monday Mike arrived in his Honda Accord, after driving almost 4 straight days, from Calgary, Alberta, Canada. So he’s now officially a friend, coworker, and neighbor. Welcome Mike.

[tags]mike stickel, theubergeeks, screenflicker, honda, mike rundle, chris fehnel, photos[/tags]

Mike, Chris, and I

This will be a quick weigh in, being that Mike is in town. Last week I was 192.2 pounds, while this week I’m down 2 pounds at 190.2 pounds. These last pounds seem to be more difficult – so I’m going to put in a slightly more concerted effort over the next three weeks to get to my goal.

Hope everyone had a great week.

[tags]diet, the-diet, weigh in, mike stickel, chris fehnel, photos[/tags]

Thought I’d share some photos of a recent crushing by us guys.

Guy’s first turn

Chris chops a word

Chris thinking

James’ “windshield”

Me trying

Victory

The guys win at Pictionary

You might be wondering why there are no photos of the girls? Well, if women have control over the camera the entire night, you seldom end up with photos of them. This will have to change the next time around.

Update: I just realized I’m wearing a shirt from Threadless called “My Life is a Game“. Haha.

Great job Chris and James, we showed them.

[tags]games, pictionary, chris fehnel, colin devroe, james paul, photos[/tags]

Since it is very hard to compete for pounds, or percentage of body fat, etc – we’ve decided that we’re just going to try to help each other lose weight until we reach our goal weight.

Tomorrow marks day one of this venture, and I will be releasing what my current weight and goal weight are. So stay tuned to our three sites for updates.

If you’d like to join us, send me an email or comment, and we’ll add you to the list. I setup a quick page to keep track of all those that are going to join us. Tell your friends and family members, and join in.

Update – I created a page to keep track of dieters.

Also, remember that tomorrow is weigh in time so post on your respective sites your current weight and your goal weight (if you have a real goal set in mind yet). Photos are welcome (I will be doing one whether you wanna see my naked self or not), but are definitely optional.

Another update – As expected, we’re not alone and people are coming from all over to join up. We really appreciate the help. Even if you don’t join the effort for yourself, join it for us. We need all the support we can get.

If you have a blog, use it to tell your audience to join in before tomorrow. Tell your best friend to do it with you, your sibling, or your parents. For this type of thing to really work, we need to try to let others know that we’re trying – so that they can help out.

Update (wow) – Wow. This type of response is overwhelming. And I wanted to make a few things clear to those that emailed me, etc. You can sign up at any point you don’t need to start today. Also, the word “diet” doesn’t stand for weight-loss. If you need to put on a few pounds, or just generally eat healthier, this effort is for you too. I know a lot of people struggle with being too skinny, or their overall perception of themselves, and you need to know that you are not alone in that. So join up, we’re all here for you.

Oh, and about transplanting my fat to a skinny person? You’d have to pay me for this fat. I’ve worked long and hard for it. Day one weigh in people! Make sure you subscribe to every site on the list of dieters so you can track everyone’s progress, and be motivated to continue.

– If you are going to do photos with your weigh-ins, you may now post them to our very own group on Flickr.

[tags]diet, dieting, mike stickel, chris fehnel[/tags]