Finding Forrest: 30 December 2007

Empowering Your Health

Empowering Your Health by Dr. Asa Andrew

I suppose it is fitting that the first book I read for 2008 is related to health since I am going to try and live a healthier life this coming year. As I've mentioned before, Dr. Andrew came to speak to our company for one of our weekly devotionals several weeks ago. He believes a lot in natural medicine.

His book provided me a lot of insight. I've never really taken the time to really look into "eating healthy." I grew up knowing that if I eat fruits and vegetables, I'll be alright. Well, Asa seems to take it a step further. He goes into detail on the supplements you need and the lifestyle you need, etc...

I have to admit, following everything he says ain't gonna be easy. In fact I am approaching with a baby step mentality. I also realized that eating healthy (the way Asa describes) can be really expensive and time consuming. Both of which add stress to my life which is exactly what he says you don't need. Ironic huh? Nonetheless, I asked my current doctor about Asa's philosophy and he did not discourage taking his advice nor did he seem like it was a remarkable idea. He basically told me, "You're 30 - eat vegetables and fruit and get plenty of exercise." Now where have I heard that before?

Anyway, this was my first "health and fitness" book - ever. So, Dr. Asa Andrew, thank-you for getting my attention. I'll start making some changes.

BTW...Asa, you say not to use an alarm clock to wake up with because it will shock the body. What do you suggest doing with my 19 month old son at 5:30 am?

My 2008 Reading List

Previous Reading Lists - 2010 2009 2008 2007

Here are the books I am reading this year. If you have suggestions or have read any of these, please feel free to comment. Linked titles are books I've already completed and they are listed in the order that I read them. I have marked the books using a 5* rating. The more stars the better. My rankings are strictly based on how much the book impacted me. Also, feel free to take a look at my 2007 reading list.

Empowering Your Health by Dr. Asa Andrew***
Becoming a Category of One by Joe Calloway *****
How to Do Everything with Your Web 2.0 Blog by Todd Stauffer***
Strengths Finder 2.0 by Tim Rath***
Thou Shall Prosper by Rabbi Daniel Lapin*****
The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing by Al Ries & Jack Trout*
The Seven Minute Difference by Allyson Lewis***
Pagan Christianity by Frank Viola & George Barna*****
Velvet Elvis by Rob Bell***
The Reason for God by Timothy Keller*****
The Way of Jesus by Jonathan & Jennifer Campbell****
The Shack by William P. Young****
Mastering the Seven Decisions by Andy Andrews****
No More Mondays by Dan Miller****
Meatball Sundae by Seth Godin***
Boom! 7 Choices... by Kevin & Jackie Freiberg*****
Parent's Guide to Raising a Successful Child by Denise D. Witmer***
Who Moved My Cheese by Spencer Johnson***
Good in a Room by Stephanie Palmer*****
Descending into Greatness by Bill Hybels***
The Widow of the South by Robert Hicks***
Love is the Killer App by Tim Sanders*****
Surprised by Hope by N.T. Wright*****
The Likeability Factor by Tim Sanders****
The Power of Nice by Linda Kaplan Thaler and Robin Koval***
Judas and the Gospel of Jesus by N.T. Wright ****
The Encore Effect by Mark Sanborn*****
Laughter, The Best Medicine II by the Editor's of Reader's Digest ***
The Back of the Napkin by Dan Roam****
The Seven Slide Solution by Paul Kelly***
Encouragement: The Key to Caring by Dr. Larry Crabb & Dr. Dan Allendar****
The Christmas Sweater by Glenn Beck****
Tribes by Seth Godin ****
Groundswell by Charlene Li & Josh Bernoff****
Cleburne: A Graphic Novel by Justin Murphy, Al Milgrom & J. Brown**
The Art of Possibility by Rosamund Stone Zander& Benjamin Zander
No Easy Road by Dick Eastman
John Adams by David McCullough
America's Real War by Rabbi Daniel Lapin
The Irresistible Revolution by Shane Claiborne

Target Practice

Before you go out and practice target shooting with your .50 caliber sniper rifle, you may want to check out this video.

Eating and Living Healthier in 2008

I have never been a health nut. I have never cared what I eat or whether it was bad for me. After a few trips to the doctor in the past 6 months for various things I've decided that maybe it's time to start thinking a little more about my health. I think it's especially important now that I have hit the age of 30. So, for my 2008 goals, I am going to try to make better choices and choose healthier habits. This by far, is going to be my BHAG (big hairy *** goal) for the year. It's not going to be easy for me. I am going to use this page to try and track my new habits. Baby steps.....

Bought Sushi for the first time, Eating two apples a day for snacks, Eating at least one vegetable at dinner each night, stopped adding sweetener to my coffee.
Leaving out the sugar in coffee is hard. I dropped the habit. Now I drink water. I also stopped by soft drinks at the grocery store.
Eating bran flakes in the morning for breakfast. Wait, the fact that I am eating breakfast is good. I use to not.
Eating fruit for snacks at work.

Losing Weight - 2008

When I was a Freshman in college, I weighed in at 190 lbs. It's 12 years later and I am now at 230 lbs. So, one of my goals for 2008 is to get down to 205 lbs. I am going to keep track of my progress here.

Week 1: 230 lbs.
Week 2: 233 lbs. - muscle gain? :(
Week 3: 233 lbs.
Week 4: 228 lbs.
Week 5: 228 lbs.
Week 6: 228 lbs.
Week 7: 228 lbs.
Week 8:
Week 9:
Week 10:
Week 11:
Week 12:
Week 13:
Week 14:
Week 15:
Week 16:
Week 17:
Week 18:
Week 19:
Week 20:

Gazelle Budget Lite by Dave Ramsey

I am pretty excited about the little tool. It's the Gazelle Budget Lite. Our team just finished this up a few weeks ago. It's a very, very, simplistic budget software that quickly spits out a recommended budget for you based on your income. Each category is based on percentages recommended by Dave Ramsey. After your budget is set up, you can then make adjustments according to where you live and what your situation is. When you click the arrow on each category, you can read more about the items that should be budgeted for that category.

This tool is a small preview of what is available on MyTotalMoneyMakeover.com. The full version of the Gazelle Budget Software has a WHOLE lot more and comes as a part of your membership to the site. Anyway, play around with this tool and create you a budget!

Daily Bible Reading

Training for the Country Music 1/2 Marathon

Below is my training log for the Country Music Half Marathon on April 26, 2008. Completing it is one of my 2008 goals. I am just aiming at finishing it since this is my first. I hope to run the whole thing, but walking it is not out of the question.

Here is the training program I am going to attempt to follow. I found it and some other good tips here. Basically, I need to be up to 3 miles by February 18.

**10-Week Half Marathon Training Schedule**
Week	Mon	Tue	Wed	Thu	Fri	Sat	Sun	Total
1	3>	Rest	3	3*	Rest	4	Rest	13
2	3	Rest	4	3*	Rest	5>	Rest	15
3	3	Rest	4	3	Rest	6	Rest	16
4	3	Rest	5	3	Rest	8	Rest	19
5	3	Rest	5	3	Rest	10	Rest	21
6	4	Rest	5	4	Rest	11	Rest	24
7	4	Rest	6	4	Rest	12	Rest	26
8	4	Rest	5	4	Rest	9	Rest	22
9	3	Rest	4	3	Rest	8	Rest	18
10	3	Rest	3	Walk 2	Rest	13.1	Rest	21.1

Let it snow!

Although there wasn't a huge accumulation of snow, for about 20 minutes there was a beautiful downfall. We took a few minutes to bundle up and go outside to let our son see what it was like to fall on his face. He wasn't too impressed but he was glad to be outside even though it was freezing.

So, 2008 has arrived. I've gotten off to a good start on several goals. One of the things me and my family are doing is reading through the Bible together. Our son obviously isn't following along at only 19 months old, but maybe he will take more interest in books. Right now he has none.