Spring 2011

Wow it has been a VERY long time since I have posted anything. I believe that I was about to head back home to Montana when I last wrote. Quite a lot has happened since then. I visited Denver for the first time ever and LOVED it. There seems to be so much to do there indoors or outdoors. We (Jenny and I) did a lot of both. We went to several great breweries in the area including: Odell, New Belgium, and the Coors Brewery. We also took a hike that was advertised by Vanessa Veiock (Jenny's best friend from high school) as a nice little afternoon hike. It turned out to be a giant hike up to almost 14000 feet. We were rained and hailed on with lightning all around. We survived (although soaked) to eat some great pizza at BeauJo's. It was a great trip. We left and headed north up to Yellowstone National Park. It was a great road trip and we got to see all the important animals including: a black bear, buffalo, elk, and even a moose. We continued on to Sidney to hit up the Richland County Fair and Rodeo. It was great I got to see a ton of people I haven't seen in a long time. Jenny got to see my vast number of cousins which I think was a shock to here considering her and her sister Julie are the only kids in there family. Well that was the summer in a nutshell.

Mountains of Colorado (before the hailstorm)


Me and Jenny at the New Belgium Brewery

Jenny at the falls of the Yellowstone

The Montana Border at the top of the Bitteroot pass (very scary)

Fall 2010 was mostly consumed with Iowa Hawkeye football and school work. I got to go home for Thanksgiving for the first time since I was in high school which was nice. Also as an end to the year I got to spend Christmas with dad in foggy California. I got to see dad's new house, spend some quality time with dad and Beau including a snowboard trip! Incidentally I have decided I don't want to snowboard anymore and will be switching back to skis next time. Too much of a hassle to be worth the fun value. The end of the Christmas story actually leads in to the spring. After witnessing my supposedly college football playing brother being an overweight underachiever (sorry Beau), I decided I needed to look at what I was doing with myself as well. Also we three boys (Dad, me, and Beau) weighed ourselves and I weighed almost 240 pounds with jeans on which was unacceptable.

First I needed a workout plan. Dad helped with that by hooking me up with the P90x workout system. Its a great workout system with three different varieties: classic (more weight lifting), lean (more cardio), and double (both). The workouts are six days a week and each workout has its own video for you to follow along. Jenny and I chose to push each other to work out more and we decided to go with the lean version to start things off. It includes some weight lifting, some cardio, core, and even some Yoga.

It is now the end of March and I feel absolutely great. I have more drive to finish all of the workouts and more energy for everyday things. I'm stronger and feel more fit everyday. I still have lost a little bit of weight but the important thing for me is that I feel better about. I do have a bit of a belly but that's what I get for not eating healthy and drinking too much beer. But that is what I hope to help with a better diet.

Living with a vegan/vegetarian certainly helps with my eating habits. There are definitely more vegetables in the house than I have ever been used to. I have been cooking more and find that I have been doing kinda well with it. I'm trying to eat less processed food and more homecooked stuff. I took a tip from a Men's Fitness magazine that helped me plan more for the week. I seasoned and marinated a few cuts of meat so that they are ready for any evening's meal. I'll see how that works out. I have also been making a fried rice a lot. Its easy and its fast. I'm also trying not to fill up on pasta so much even though I love it. Jenny has also introduced me to some tofu and other "meat" things which has mixed results haha.

Well there is my update. I'll try to do this more and show some different workouts, meals, and trips. Excellent talk to you soon!