How I Gained 25 lbs in Nine Months
8 commentsThis blog post is about how I gained 25 lbs of body weight in only nine months. I gained this weight purposefully and without the use of any traditional body-builder supplements.
Three things were instrumental in hacking my body weight from 152 lbs to 177 lbs in only nine months:
- Waffle House
- Boost Plus
- Personal Trainer
Waffle House - I started eating a big breakfast at Waffle House every morning. The breakfast is three scrambled eggs, two slices of wheat toast, one cup of steamed hashbrowns, and a large glass of water. This huge breakfast helped set the stage for two larger meals later in the day.
Boost Plus - This is a true energy drink. One eight (8) ounce serving contains 360 calories. I drink two to three per day to give me an extra 700 to 1000 calories. The drink is primarily marketed towards senior citizens; you can find it sold in almost all groceries and drug stores.
Personal Trainer - I continue to work out with my personal trainer three times each week. He has really helped me with my diet and weight training. I believe a personal trainer or dedicated training partner is a very critical component for anyone serious about making a major change in their physique.
I have maintained my current body weight of 177 lbs for the past twelve weeks. Concerned about the effects that my weight gain might have on my body, I recently had a complete physical examination at my doctor's office. Everything is normal and I am very healthy.
Based on a simple electronic body fat calculation, approximately 11% of my current weight is fatty. Before hacking my body weight, my body fat index was measured with the same electronic method and ranked about 7%. I have grown in waist size from 32 to 34 inches. I plan to have my body fat calculated in some more precise manner soon.
Tuesday personal notes - FREEZING COLD 2006 EDITION
- Lady Sovereign lived up to the hype for me. She is the new Avril Lavigne. Check out the video diaries on her SOV MySpace page or this interview. Speaking of Jay Z, his HP commercial still rules.
- Slice of my life -- When I eat breakfast, I tend to stare into space. My mind wanders and I replay conversations or events or quotes. I take a really long time to eat my eggs, toast and hashbrowns - probably 45 minutes. I really enjoy going to breakfast by myself and having some quiet time at the Waffle House. It is good culture in the background.
- I heard a good quote recently - "Planning is priceless, but plans are worthless." I think this quote is from the book Good to Great.
- I really do not like it when people tell me not to work so much. Stop, please. I like what I do and it is usually fun. I am training for something bigger here. (Plus, I'm not really working at 6:30am! I'm writing this.)
- I have never seen anyone gossip as much as the personal trainers at my gym. (This statement sort of eats itself.)
- Our trade show last week in Orlando was awesome. It was the best show we have ever had. I did the introduction to our press conference, and it was pretty cool. I took all of my notes from Steve Jobs's Apple press conferences. Those have such great energy and he does the best product demos. I still have lots of room for improvement.
- A 7-inch LCD that our company makes was featured in the new HondaJet.
- My coworkers, my dad especially, are like oxen. I consider myself a fairly hard worker, but these guys put me to shame when it came to crunch time at the show. Mad props to D.G., A.R. and A.S.
Upcoming travel to Orlando, Florida
I will be leaving this afternoon to go to Orlando, Florida. The length of my trip, which is business-related, is eight days.
Our company will be exhibiting at the NBAA 59th Annual Meeting & Convention. This is a trade show for business jet aircraft.
We have a relatively large booth that is six hundred (600) square feet of occupied floor space. Throughout our booth, we have over three hundred and forty (340) square feet of aerial signage. These are complimented by over two dozen (24) informational placards located near hundreds of inches of liquid crystal aircraft-certified monitors.
Like the moments before any huge exam, I am feeling like there was more I could have done to prepare. But here we go to our biggest marketing event of the year.
Personal Notes, and How to Recognize a Stroke
- TED Talks on Odeo are really great. I think you should listen to a few. My favorite speech was Sir Ken Robinson on Education.
I learned some things about Waffle House. Waitresses make
about $3.15 per hour in base pay. Grill cooks make between $8 and $9 per hour.
Waitresses are incentivized by tips from customers. Grill cooks get a bonus
if their shift makes its sales goal.- Sales goals at Waffle House for each shift of each day are calculated based upon an average from the previous two years. I have seen third shift sales goals as low as $100 (very rare). Usually the weekday third shift sales goal at the store I frequent ranks between $150 and $300.
- A friend who worked at a suburban Starbucks here in Georgia told me that his shift would often take in more than $2,000. That's a lot of expensive coffee in only eight hours.
One of my top three favorite websites on the internet is Cool Tools. This safety tip is brought to you from Michael Hawley in Cool Tools Tips #19.
How to Recognize a Stroke
A neurologist says that if he can get to a stroke victim quickly he can totally reverse the effects of a stroke. He said the trick was getting a stroke recognized, diagnosed and getting to the patient within 3 hours, which is tough. Sometimes symptoms of a stroke are difficult to identify. But doctors say a bystander can recognize a stroke by asking three simple questions:
1. Ask the individual to SMILE.
2. Ask him or her to RAISE BOTH ARMS.
3. Ask the person to SPEAK A SIMPLE SENTENCE
(Coherently, ie: It is sunny out today)
If he or she has trouble with any of these tasks, call 9-1-1 immediately and describe the symptoms to the dispatcher.
Upcoming travel to Buffalo, NY
This weekend I will be going to a family wedding in Buffalo, New York. We leave Friday afternoon and return on Sunday, October 8th.
