The other morning, my wife and I awoke to a beautiful dawn. This is one event we love to experience here in the hills - the fact that when we step out of bed, we can do our morning stretching/lymph system routine to a gorgeous sunrise.

Here are two pictures from our balcony, taken two minutes apart (click on them to see the larger version, then click a second time for even larger)

 

Ahh. The routine we use, I learned from Dean Mitzel, a facilitator at the "Breakthroughs" events held by Jeffrey Combs. These are based upon recommendations by Edgar Cayce, and that's an entire story unto itself. They are designed to get the blood and lymph system flowing in the morning and it is a GREAT way to wake up - my wife and I do it in front of the sliding glass window first thing in the morning as the sun breaks over the horizon, then we face the sunrise and say our morning prayer before going down for breakfast. There are twists, turns, etc. If I can find the sheet (I've got the routine memorized right now) I can fax it for those interested - just mail me.

Today was quite the day. I loaded 2,400 pounds (60 x 40) of wood pellets for our wood burning stove. Took two trips with the Pilot, then came home and off-loaded all but 5 of the bags into our storage room in the basement. The rest went upstairs and stacked near the stove, and then I cleaned it and prepped it for the winter. These are VERY efficient, renewable fuel sources - and for under $200 will heat the house for the winter.

I'm looking forward to relaxing this weekend. My mother is up from Florida to celebrate her father's 80th birthday, we go there tonight. My wife is gone all day at her real estate class - the next four weekends she takes those and then takes her test and will be a licensed real estate agent. We will pick her up and drive to the celebration. It's great to be so close to family.

I am going gung-ho with my routine. Since it's been awhile since I posted last, I thought I'd give you an example day to see what's going on.

Daybreak - "jangle" with my wife (a comic term we have for the routine we use to stretch, move, bounce, and shake in the morning).

Afterwards, we face the sunrise and this prayer ..

"In the hours of the day, Lord God, be Thou our guide. Direct our every thought, our every action, our every word ... that they may better glorify Thee through Thy Son, Jesus Christ, our Savior. In the name of Jesus Christ we pray, Amen."

After that it's breakfast - a Fibergy + SoyaMax + OptOmega shake. I then check e-mails and let the breakfast digest an hour while working on some STRONG coffee.

Then it's the workout. Here was my last workout:

2 minute warm-up - running in place, running in place and punching to the front and up, running in place and swinging my arms forwards and backwards, then rotating my neck, hips, and knees/ankles.

Stretches (held for 10 seconds each)

Triceps stretch
Upper back stretch
Chest stretch
ITP band stretch (a sort of "hip" stretch)
Calf stretch
Back/hip stretch
Modified hurdle stretch
Groin stretch

Warm-up exercises (5 reps each)

"Bodybuilder squats" - one rep is getting to the ground, kicking out my legs, doing two push-ups, kicking my legs back up to a squatting position, then standing back up.
Side leg raises
Elbow-to-knee crunches
Dive bombers (like a push-up but you start with your rump in the air, then dive down and up so you have your back arched and are forward of your arms at the end, then repeat)
Hip adduction
Side crunches
Prone flutter kicks
Steam engines (elbows behind head, kick left knee up and contact right elbow, then repeat with opposite leg/elbow for one rep)

Fitness activity - running

The entire routine is done at a 2.0 incline

2 minutes @ 4.6 mph
1 minute @ 5.6 mph
1 minute @ 6.6 mph
1 minute @ 7.6 mph
1 minute @ 8.6 mph
Repeat the last 4 minutes 4 times, then
1 minute @ 9.6 mph
1 minute @ 4.6 mph

Done ... 20 minutes total, approximately 2.3 miles

Then I repeat the exercises above, but do each of them with 10 reps, then repeat it again for 10 reps for a total of 20 reps

Then I repeat the stretches, holding for 30 seconds

Then I'm done!

I take a post-workout shake (Beverly Mass Maker - 3 scoops)

My next meal might be 3 oz of roasted chicken with scrambled eggs, 1 tablespoon of olive oil, hot peppers, and a slice of whole grain toast with 1 tablespoon of all-natural peanut butter

I'll have a Peanut Crunch bar for a snack

Lunch the other day was pinto beans, onions, bell peppers, and black olives on a whole grain tortilla with chili-lime baked corn chips

My next snack was one slice of whole grain toast with 1 tbsp all natural peanut butter and 1 tbsp organic all-fruit jelly (a mix of blueberry, raspberry, blackberry)

Dinner was a 9-bean soup with lean beef

Late night meal was about 2/3 cup of whole grain/all-natural granola with soy milk

There you have it, a typical day in the life.

I have a few exciting events coming up. I just placed the ad and published the press releases for our ribbon cutting ceremony this coming Thursday, to introduce our business to the local community. That will be a blast.

Even more exciting will be the teleconference call scheduled for every Monday moving forward at 7pm MST (1 646 519 5800 pin BYB1# or 2921#) ... I've wanted to have a call for some time to connect with my guests and clients and share some information beyond what the web site offers each week, and my wife got back from her seminar with Jeffrey Combs and said, honey, stop talking, start DOING! So that's what I am ... I am doing.

Thanks for your time and for reading this, I appreciate you. We'll talk!

Jeremy