Ok, I did see some fat guys, but they where all huffing and puffing at the trail head. Trust me, there are no fat guys in the back country or half way up Mt. Moran in Wyoming!

How I got here

2009 was a great year for me. I got completely debt free and traveled the better half of the country with some great friends. I learned to get outside my comfort zone and experience new things. That year I also got engaged and married to my wife, JorDanee. It was the year I launched my business, MK3Y.  Lastly it was the year in which my healthy lifestyle took a dramatic turn for the worse.

My business involves the internet, and that means sitting on my butt in front of my computer. (I know, a standing desk right? Did that, lasted 4 months before I went back to sitting.)  When you are trying to get any business off the ground it requires a lot of work and plenty of late nights.

To help fuel my creativity and stay focused during all those hours, I relied on my favorite beverage: MOUNTAIN DEW, and when that wasn’t enough, I turned to the brand’s engery product, AMP! I even put a mini-fridge in my office right next to my  desk and then proceeded to load it with soda and beer. Hey, there was some water in there sometimes!

Let me show you what one year of sitting on your butt and drinking tons of soda while eating junk food does to you. On the left you have me at the start of my awesome 2009 road trip with some of my good friends. I’m thin and handsome! Oh yeah! By the time I went on vacation in 2010 to celebrate 1 yr of successful marriage, well… just call me porky. Oink Oink Oink.

My wife has been working hard too. She’s finishing up her Masters in Middle East Politics, Terrorism and Homeland Defense (I married up folks, she’s uber smart). As you can already imagine, being a student and staying up late writing papers into the wee hours of the morning while working part-time hasn’t been good for her health either. Especially when you have a husband who brings home stashes of Red Bull, Mountain Dew and other sugary beverages of goodness!

Not to mention my idea to the end of a romantic evening is always ICE CREAM!

Where I am today

It’s been a year now since I’ve done anything remotely wild or adventurous. I’ve been itching to get out on the road again. With my wife about to finish up that Masters in May,  I decided that we’d take an epic road trip this summer out West, which brings me back to the problem at hand. If we’re going to go on an awesome adventure, we’re going to need to get into better shape. Especially since parts of our trip will involve sleeping on Mt. Moran in the Grand Tetons, backpacking Yellowstone, climbing in Glacier National Park, backpacking in the Grand Canyon and and bicycling Zion National Park. I can tell you, if nothing changes between then and now, I won’t be doing any of those things.

So a week ago, after I announced our trip, my wife challenged me to a bet to see who could lose the most weight by Feb 15th. Neither one of us had a game plan or any action steps.

It was kind of a silly bet, but it got me thinking a lot about my life motto which is to live life intentionally. I am intentionally making myself fat every time I eat crap or drink 4 Mountain Dews in one sitting. It’s time to get intentional about my weight and fitness.

While poking around the internet looking for ideas for weight loss and workouts, I came across Nerd Fitness. In particular one article stood out to me: “The Beginner’s Guide to the Paleo Diet“. Now this isn’t the first time I’ve heard of this diet. I first heard about it a few years back, and again last year on Tim Ferris blog after I read his book the Four Hour Work Week.

I hate counting calories! And this seemed like just the type of lifestyle change I was looking for. Something to push me.

So I showed the article to my wife hoping that she would join me in this, and we made the decision to make our fitness a priority in our lives. We sat down and started game planning.

Enter The Paleo Diet

You’re probably thinking, what the hell is the Paleo diet?

Our ancient ancestors where hunter gathers until a few thousand years ago, when humans discovered farming. We changed from hunter-gathers into farmers.  We settled down, built roads and cities and eventually the double quarter pounder with cheese.

( *Note, if you’re a christian just note these interesting tid-bits. Adam and Eve lived in God’s produce isle before being kicked out. Then they had to gather food, and they weren’t allowed to eat meat till much later in the bible. )

The problem is our bodies weren’t designed for all the grains and processed foods we are consuming. Instead of only eating lean meats, vegetables and seasonal fruits, we’ve become a species “dependent” upon grains – bread, pasta, rice, corn, and so on.  The FDA continues to recommend 6-11 servings of grains a day, and the folks are still getting fatter.

Just think about how much food is made from corn based products, or how many things have flour in them.

Ok, so how does the diet work then?

We’ll it’s pretty straight forward, and I’ll explain it briefly. I’m paraphrasing some sources here, and I plan on posting an in-depth article about the diet after my 28 days are over.

Here’s the basic premise of the diet we’re following.

Back in the day we ate what we could hunt or find – meats, fish, nuts, leafy greens, regional veggies, some tubers and roots, occasional berries or seasonal fruits, and seeds.

So that’s what you eat. Plain and simple.

No grains, no dairy, and NO PROCESSED FOODS

Okay, so if we cut out the grains, almost all processed foods, and dairy, you’re left with only things that occur naturally:

• Meat
• Fowl
• Fish
• Eggs
• Vegetables
• Oils
• Fruits
• Nuts
• Seeds
• Tubers

Salmon and asparagus, grilled chicken with steamed broccoli, scrambled eggs and bacon with a few slices of apple in the morning and so on. Pick anything off the list and eat it.

Technically the challenge starts tomorrow, but we started today already. Look what I had for breakfast, 2 scramble organic eggs, two slices of bacon and 1/3 cup of craisins.

YUM! And yes I eat at my desk.

Our Plan of Attack

• We emptied out our refrigerator and our pantry of everything else and went shopping for healthier foods that fall in those categories.
• We also set for ourselves some serious fitness goals for the next 28 days. I purchased a cheapo calendar to put up and labeled each day with a fitness goal to be completed.
• We’ll both be doing some serious cardio and strength training during the next 28 days. I chose to do cardio and strength 6 days a week. My competitive wife chose to do cardio all 28 days and strength training 6 days a week, alternating upper and lower body every day.
• JorDanee and I also signed up to MyFitnessPal.com to keep track of what we are eating and our weight loss progress.
• I wrote this blog, and the world knows my challenge.
• I plan to post publicly our progress at the end of each week.
• I’ll write one final article about the diet, what we did, and how much progress we made at the end of the 28 days.
• And most importantly, I emptied out my fridge of soda.

Your Turn

Have you tried the Paleo diet? If so, I’d love to hear your thoughts and experiences.

I’d also like to issue a challenge. Join my wife and I on this 28 day fitness challenge! Just post below to let us know your intentions.

Comment away!

And Boy oh Boy! What an amazing adventure it’s been getting to the New Year.

Seems like I traveled all over the great USA. I spent time ministering to kids with Live Offensively For God Ministries. Went rock climbing and sleep outside in a desert under the stars in just my sleeping bag for the first time ever. All along the way making new friends and trying new things that pushed me outside of my comfort zone.

This is the year that my the vision for my life grew. I started dreaming bigger than before.

This is the year that I got married!

It’s also the first year I lived completely debt free, and above my means. I didn’t have to live paycheck to paycheck.

So let me take you on a little photo tour of my year:

A Year of Travel

I traveled all over the USA this year. Some of my favorite places where out west: Wyoming, South Dakota, Montana, Idaho, Washington and Oregon.
This was the first time I ever saw the Pacific ocean from the Oregon Coast. It was beautiful.

I visited Devils Tower and had a crazy adventure during the night. We got stuck on the side of the tower during a rain storm, and it was pitch black out. Our only illumination as we climbed down came from the spectacular lightning show. Our adrenalin pumping adventure was capped off with a fast run through thick mud and underbrush to the safety of our vehicle.

I went Kayaking at Devils Lake in Wisconsin.

I saw Crater Lake for the first time. It was beautiful.

I even saw Mt Rushmore, which isn’t as exciting as I thought it would be. What was exciting are the Black Hills behind Mt Rushmore. Awesome climbing and beautiful hiking!

A Year of Rock Climbing

I did a lot of Rock Climbing this year. It was something I wanted to get into more. I was blessed to have the opportunity to do it often. This is mostly in part to my good buddy, Joe Baker, for taking me.

I got to climb in one of the best climbing spots in America, Smith Rock in Oregon.

More of the beautiful Smith Rock.

A Year of Alpine Adventure

I traveled to the Wind Rivers Range in Wyoming this August to go alpine climbing and backpacking. It was an amazing experience! I spent a total of eight days in the wilderness. Not a campground, a WILDERNESS. It’s a place that if you were injured you might just end up dead.

This place was just awe inspiring on every single level. The sheer size of the mountains, is just indescribable.

And yes I did hike in the same two pairs of pants and two pairs of shirts for 8 days.

A Year of Brothers

This was a year that I formed a real band of brothers with some close guy friends for the first time.

My Live Offensively Band of Brothers (and sister!)

The year I got Married!

The very best, and I mean best day of my life took place this year in 2009. This is the year that I meet and fell in love with my wife. It didn’t take long for us to get married after meeting. It was a match made in heaven, and she is an amazing woman.

The Best Day of my Life was August 29th, 2009.

A Year of Lifestyle

For me, 2009 was really a year all about lifestyle and dream building: How I want to live and how I will live.  Both me and my wife have BIG DREAMS.

Enjoying the finer points of financial freedom.

Taking my wife on a shopping spree, because every women should be pampered!

My Audi

A little gift to myself, for an awesome year.

What did you do this year?

Was it spent trapped inside a cubical?

I certainly hope not, and if it was, I hope 2010 is the year you break free and achieve your dreams.

YOU CAN SEE THE ENTIRE SET OF PHOTOS NOT FEATURED IN THIS POST ON My FLICKR HERE