Can I Go Crazy Yet?

I remember when I was younger, we'd hop in the car because mom said we were going somewhere. We'd all take our turns asking "where are we going?", "crazy" my mom would reply. I often wondered where crazy was, well as of the last few days I think I have officially found it.

I am a videographer, and I often shoot weddings. I have been in the process of putting together a wedding video for Maria and Oscar for the last few weeks. Generally speaking, I can put together the first minute or two within the first weekend at least, I like to know that I have a good starting point before I lose sight of what my plan was when I shot it.

Well, this particular video has been extremely difficult! The ceremony was not your typical ceremony, it was actually a vow renewal ceremony where dozens of couples participated. I didn't get my typical shots with them because there were lots of other camera operators there trying to get theirs too. The ceremony itself was about 2 hours long, so how do I choose what to keep and what to cut out? The final product usually only ends up being 7-15 minutes, I can't very well keep 2+ hours of content right?

Since there was a LOT of footage to pour through, I had to choose the right footage to keep. This process has been so tedious. I would get it to the point where my storyline was working, or so I thought. I would get a minute or two edited, have to leave the computer for one reason or another, then when I got back to it my mind was in a different place, and I wasn't feeling the editing that I had already done.

I literally threw away 3 separate edited pieces because it simply didn't feel right.

This is what you are paying for! I want to make sure that the wedding video that I deliver is the absolute best that I can put together. It is not only a reflection on me, but it is a reflection on the couple.

Today I finally got into a groove and busted out the last few minutes of the video and I can say that I am very happy with the results. One thing I do often is watch other wedding videos that local Utah videographers produce. I also spend dozens of hours weekly learning new techniques to be able to produce better videos.

One thing for sure is that Music plays a HUGE role in my ability to complete a project. I absolutely need to be IN LOVE with the project. I need to be in tune with the song, beat, up beat and down beat of the song, pace of the video footage itself, and more. I take inspiration from music all the time, in fact, that is the single biggest defining factor for how the video flows, it takes hours, in some cases, tens of hours just to find the right song for a piece.

I am excited to have finished the Maria + Oscar project (found below) and now I will be moving onto a new project that I shot a few weeks back "My Turn On Earth". Please watch the video, and share it if you like it!


This week my little ones decided that they wanted to throw magnets at each other resulting in a nice crack in my 59" TV which has now made the TV absolutely useless. Go my team! Can I go crazy yet?

If It's Worth Doing, It's Worth Doing Right

Now that my body is starting to show noticeable change, I am getting asked more and more lately what I am doing to lose my weight. My typical response "diet and exercise". It seems that most people are expecting a different answer, as if I invented some magical pill that is melting away my fat. I need to stop using the word "diet" in my response though, because I always follow it up with an explanation of how I am eating right.

The thing is, most people like the thought of being 50 pounds skinnier, and because of the huge movement towards "dieting" they assume that weight loss is achieved by following a "diet" which is typically associated with a "fad" diet. There is no magic weight loss pill. Some weight loss supplements or programs offer a guarantee to lose weight or your money back. If you start any weight loss regimen and hold onto it for a week or longer, you are pretty much guaranteed to lose weight. Juice diets, cabbage soup, cleans diets are excellent proof that your body holds onto waste. For the first week or so your body is cleansing, which is why you lose the ten pounds so quickly. We all have 10 pounds of waste in our system that can be cleansed by any sort of drastic diet change. It is not a magic trick. Making changes in your body will take a while, but you can't travel down the road without preparation.

If you really want to lose weight, find out what you should be eating prior to starting any sort of diet.
Recognize that what you NEED and what your body thinks it wants are two very different things. You NEED several servings of clean veggies and fruits daily. I say Veggies first because that is more important than fruit. Go to your favorite grocery store or farmer's market and pick out as MANY fresh veggie and fruit options that you can find. You will need to make a habit of going 2-3 times weekly because fresh fruit and veggies spoil rapidly, unlike the boxed foods we are all used to eating. Pick as many options as you can, that is so important! Even if Carrots are your favorite and you think you can eat them 6 meals a day 24 days a week, I PROMISE there will come a day when they sound terrible. By allowing yourself other options, you will minimize your desire to deviate from the meal plan.

Once you have your supply of fresh produce, it is time to pick some sort of lean protein. I personally like frozen chicken breast from Costco. If you are into fish, it is an ideal choice. Once again, get as many options as you can.

You should be having a small portion of lean protein along with 2 cups of fresh produce each meal.
The nice thing about produce is it is very low in calories, so you can basically eat what you want and it doesn't throw off your day. One thing to remember, always eat more volume of veggies than fruit, or at equal parts fruit and veggies. Your body still needs carbohydrates, just not nearly as much as you once were taught. If you remember the food guide pyramid, it suggested 8-10 servings of carbohydrates daily, that is way WAY off!.

I have found some excellent low carb, low calorie whole wheat tortillas at Trader Joe's that I always keep in the fridge. Some days I am in the mood for a chicken breast and some asparagus, other days I may choose to eat a chicken taco with lettuce, tomato, jalapeño, olive, yellow pepper, bell pepper, and some clean fresh made salsa. We personally removed bread from our shopping list so we don't overload on the carbs. Noodles is another place that some people have a tendency to over carb and over eat period. Look for low carb, natural options. If it's colorful, you are generally on the right path. Whole wheat, organic stuff is excellent and tastes the same!

Once you have the "staples" of your daily meal plan, you can mix it up. Eat what tasted good to you or you won't eat it!

When we got started in our whole foods eating, we literally threw out everything in our cupboards and fridge and started over. You NEED to be that serious. If you are reading this, I assume that you sincerely want to make a change in your life. I watched a movie last night, Home Run. It was an excellent movie about addiction. Believe it or not, your inability to lose the weight that you want to is an absolute addiction to food. I used to literally not be able to say NO to a drive thru. If I was the least bit hungry and I drove past a McDonald's I absolutely had to hit it. My wife used to make me lunch every day, but I would throw it away and get fast food. Your addiction needs to be taken as seriously as a cocaine addiction, absolutely serious!

For me, I knew that I didn't have the willpower to cook for myself every meal of the day, so I opted for smoothies for breakfast and lunch. At first, we did Body By Vi protein powder mixed with fresh fruit. That did help me lose a few pounds, but when I realized that I wasn't losing weight like I thought I should I made some adjustments, and fine tuned my smoothies until I got where I am today. My smoothies used to consist of 2 scoops of protein powder, 8 ounces of Almond Milk, and the rest fresh fruit. I had some veggies throughout the day, but not as much as I should have. Now I make 7 smoothies at a time, so we have enough for a full day, plus breakfast for the following day.

For 7 smoothies I juice 14 carrots, 14 celery sticks, 2 apples, 1 pear, 3 oranges (peel included), then I mix it with about 3 cups of baby Kale, 3 cups of water, 2 cups fresh pineapple, and 2 cups 3 berry blend from Costco. For my protein, I use Flaxseed which is excellent for helping curb cravings, and it makes you feel full longer. I drink a smoothie for breakfast around 8, then another one at around 10-11am, then my third I drink at lunch. The smoothies are around 250-300 calories each, so by eating them at 2 hour intervals I am constantly feeding my body nutrients that it craves. I really enjoy my smoothies, and that is critical with any diet choices that you make.

I am now down 36 pounds from about 3.5 months ago, and it feels great! Now that I am eating 95% whole foods, I find it difficult to eat the crap that I used to. If I try to eat a greasy hamburger, I literally get sick to my stomach. I feel sick, tired, I feel like I have the flu. I even get debilitating headaches when I choose to eat like crap. Sometimes when we go out with friends, I look at the menu and think "mmm that looks good" so I get it, but then I regret it later, that has taught me to pay attention to what I know my body actually needs, and not what it wants.

I am glad to answer questions if anyone has any, I am not perfect by any means. I struggle with my addiction each and every day, but I will tell you that it DOES get easier.

If you want to find out if you are a food addict, click here to take a quiz. 

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Looking Back At The Road Travelled

Today I was going through my phone looking at old photos that I took when I came across an image of me in one of my favorite blue shirts. I love the shirt, but for months I felt uncomfortable wearing it. Today I tried it on again and took another picture to compare the two, one from February 13th and the other from today, May 9th. I'm quite amazed at how different I look. Not just my belly, but my neck and face, even my arms look different.

This weight loss journey has been interesting to say the least. Losing weight is only a small piece of
the pie. Being able to fit into clothes that were once on their way to the trash heap is liberating to say the least. Losing weight is a daily struggle, it is important to have ways to demotivate, and recommit you each and every day. I get asked all the time is "is it worth it" and "does it get easier". The answer to both of those is absolutely YES! The feeling of having more energy and a desire to do MORE than I ever used to desire to do is astonishing.

At first you will have doubts, you will have huge struggles keeping away from the sweets, fast food, and other junk that caused you to gain weight. It does get easier! To make your way down any road, you must take enough steps to get you down the road. Although the road looks long, it is possible to make it to the finish line. All you have to do is take enough steps to get you there. Each and every step is a choice. Make more good choices than bad choices every day. If you fall down, get back up and recommit to doing better next time. Hang in there, it is possible!

I am still on my journey. I am nowhere near being finished with my weight loss. I have lost 36 pounds as of today, and I plan on losing another 64 by the end of the year. I can now see the finish line. I love the ride that I am on, each and every day is like a new HIGH. I used to dread the thought of going to the gym, we hesitated even starting a gym membership, but once I got started, I fell in love with the way that I felt afterwards. Now that I work out daily, I can actually see and feel my body changing. I am building muscle mass and losing fat.

The road we are on is not a sprint to the finish, this is a marathon. Slow and steady wins the race.

If The Pants Fit

It's so amazing to be able to fit into a pair of jeans that I've never been able to fit into. Katy bought me a new pair of jeans several months ago that she thought I'd like, come to find out they didn't fit. We decided to hold onto them and hope that some day I'd be able to squeeze into them. 

Lately I've been feeling like my pants and shorts were drowning me. The shorts that I held into last year are loose to the point that they're falling off me without a belt, and with a belt they're bunching up. Last year I popped several buttons on my favorite pairs of shorts, only to have the button sewn back in farther back so that I'd have more room. I also tore the crotch out of several pairs of shorts. My wedding ring is also fitting very loose, many times it's fallen off without me realiZing it. 

Yesterday I decided that I'd try to put a pair of pants on that I used to not fit into. I actually fit! There was plenty of

room to spare too! Not the laying down on the bed while you suck in your gut and hurry to zip it up kind of for either. The pants fit for real. 

I have about half a dozen pairs of pants that I used to love to wear that have been hanging in my closet for years, waiting for the day that I might actually fit into them again. Well, the day has come! 

I've been working my tail off for a very long time to get to this point. Fruit and veggie shakes for breakfast and lunch, healthy dinners, and daily trips to the gym. As of this morning I'm down a total of 35 pounds from mid January 2014. My goal is to be below 200 which is a number that I haven't seen since high school. 65 more pounds to go, hopefully I'll see that happen within the next 6-8 months. 

If you also struggle with your weight like so many of us do, remember two things. 

1) Every step is a choice, if you make more good choices with your eating and exercise than bad choices, it WILL add up and you will lose weight. 

2) It takes a while to change your body, it takes a split second to change your mind. 

As with any addiction, there will always be temptation. If you prepare yourself in every aspect of your life, you can win the battle! Make sure you only have healthy options at home. If you normally have lots of snacks and treats in your cupboard, try picking up  a bag of trail mix the next time you're at the grocery store. 

I used to not even be able to drive past a McDonald's drive thru without caving, now I can hit the drive thru for someone else in the car without thinking twice about getting something for myself. 

It gets easier. It really does. Every good choice that you make will make the next set of choices easier.