Whew! What a day.

Finally found a killer routine that I'm sinking into and love. I purchased a book about military training and learned about a technique called Daily 16s. Basically, there are six cards: one warm-up card, two stretching cards, and three workout cards. These are routines designed to be done ANYWHERE, yes, calisthenic style. Basically, you grab the warm-up card, then pick a stretch card and an exercise card. You go through the warm-up, 10 second stretches, then 5 reps of the exercises. You do 20 minutes of whatever your fitness activity is going to be - for me, today, it was running 2 miles. Then, you jump back into the exercises, this time 10 - 20 reps per exercise, following by the stretches to cool down, now at 30 second holds. Brisk but intense, I love it.

A few days from the cleanse and feeling great. Today's meals? Had granola with dried cranberries, sliced almonds and banana with soy milk. Had a peanut crunch bar for a snack, with some of my birthday dark chocolate, and lunch was a nice homemade stew. Whoomp!

I had someone on another forum tell me "still on the USANA bit. Hey, whatever works for you man" ... I wanted to share the reply here, for those interested in the business that I partner with ...

It can't be whatever works for me, coz that's not how the biz works! It's whatever works for the customers and team, because if the first don't like the product or the second isn't successful, then neither am I ... it is great to be in a business for once where instead of disciplining employees, I am empowering team mates and to know those who introduced me only succeed when I do. One of my Canadian team members had this to share after a week ... "I thank God for this incredible opportunity to better myself and in the process being able to help people in need." Now that's POWERFUL. We are all part of some vision, we can choose to create our own or tap into someone else's. I'm excited to have found someone with a vision right in line with my own - to positively impact the lives of others. It's a tremendous opportunity! So, to answer your comment - YES still with them because this is the place I belong, and what I've always dreamed of doing and now am finally able to actually go out and DO!

In health and success,

Jeremy

Okay, this is the last day of the cleanse. I had an incredible experience. I'm down about 7 pounds, and again, I emphasize the point is NOT rapid weight loss ... anything more than a few pounds per week is not going to be quality fat unless you are extremely overweight ... the point is a break from the glycemic rollercoaster many of us subject ourselves to when not eating clean.

It is funny, I feel like I am passing the baton. I conclude my cleanse this evening, and my wife starts hers today. She had started one earlier but then life got in the way (lol - we were packing for a move, and I suggested perhaps the timing was a bit off) so she is excited to try her first one. She is not overweight at all, her purpose is not to lose weight, either, but she has been eating some convenience foods, going out, etc, and wants to get back to what works best for her - food combining - so this is a way to stabilize things and go from there. She is hypoglycemic so the cleanse is perfect because it is eating every 3 - 4 hours and each meal is a combination of protein, fiber, and healthy fats in addition to carbs - just the way to keep blood sugar levels stable.

It is cooling off again here in South Dakota. Whooomp. Walking my daughter to dance class in a few minutes, looks like we'll have to bundle up. Her class is at the bottom of our hill, where main street runs through town. She has a blast, and I'm really looking forward to it. I feel like the odd man out, because with my home-based business, I'm one of the few men there - the rest are moms, so I'm kinda like Mr. Mom ... should be interesting to see what conversations we engage in today. I look forward to the opportunity to get to know the other moms and get more tapped into the community. I met our phone guy at my son's football game (the person who installed our phone service) and he is an active member of a local church. I talked to him a bit about getting involved with some community projects. I'm excited about doing this ... we used to participate a bit in Atlanta and just haven't gotten that aspect off the ground since the move, but it is past time to do so.

Not much else to report. Planning and strategizing on two fronts - business and fitness. I start a new training cycle tomorrow. I'm either going to connect with someone local and do a traditional weight training routine, or start a military-style routine of calisthenics/endurance. Probably the latter, but we'll see, I'm still mulling. I purchased a book over the weekend to design the program if I choose to go that route, so I'll be posting the routines and my progress.

For the cleanse, my exercise has mainly been walking and then something I learned at a recent seminar that is designed to get the lymph nodes pumping in the morning - a combination of exercise recommendations from the visionary Edward Cayce and traditional Tai Chi movements (go figure that one out) but hey it keeps my wife and I feeling great and is fun to do together at 6am.

I'll keep ya posted!

Jeremy Likness

Enjoying this cleanse IMMENSELY. Down about 5 pounds since I started, but more importantly, feeling AWESOME. The bloating from the bit of dairy I had is completely gone, and I feel clear and like the fogginess has lifted. It is hard to describe for someone who hasn't allowed their body to take a break from high glycemic, highly processed foods, but you will be amazed the clarity your thinking and senses take on after only a few days of breaking out of that cycle.

Day three we can begin incorporating foods beyond the bars/shakes. For a midmorning snack, I had a bag of mixed raw nuts with my peanut crunch bar.

Watched my son play his football game at what is called the "Prospector's Bowl" next to our local rodeo grounds. Unfortunately, the team did not fare well, so I won't get into the painful details. My son had a few great plays, one time recovering a fumble on kick return and another receiving and downing it. I scared a few of the teenagers who were in "hack circles" - this is hackey-sack, also known as footbag, small little bag or ball that you kick around in a circle. I stepped up and they were like, "Ha ha you want us to throw this to you?" I nodded, then when I did a few rainbows and stalled it on my knee, I began to receive some respect. LOL. It was fun.

Dinner was the highlight. We stopped by the grocery store and picked up fixings for a salad. This is what I had:

Mixed field greens (romaine, iceburg, raddicchio, spinach)
Sliced carrots
Sliced red and green peppers
Mushrooms
Raw sunflower seeds
Raw walnuts
Black olives
Pepperocinis
Raddishes
1/2 sliced avocado
The dressing was a balsamic vinagraitte (sp?)

YUM YUM.

Today I'm going into Rapid City to pick up some goodies for my birthday (now that I'm 30, I just receive checks, no gifts, LOL). Probably hit the bookstore, one of my "gifts" will certainly be a book for my daughter, and then if there is left over we will head to the bookstore. We also have a Creative Living expo going on today, so we'll check that out and see how it might integrate with USANA. Last week was a breakthrough week for me with USANA, both a pesonal best income but also gave myself a promotion - now I am a Director with the company. How exciting, I left my job as Director of IT in April, so it has taken me just five months to move on to Director with this new business, this time where I get to choose my own salary and build an international team of independent entrepeneurs.

I hope that everyone is having a blessed Sunday and I look forward to an exciting week ahead!

Jeremy

Ewww parents. They can really challenge us at times, no?

So I wandered outside today (a beautiful day, by the way - high sixties/low seventies after a few days in the forties) and opened the mailbox. Guess what? There it was. A nice, white USANA box addressed from my parents. My mom had taken the package that her vitamins come in and used it to pack my birthday gift!

So I came inside and tore it open. There was a card and a small box, about twice the size of a deck of cards, wrapped in birthday paper. I tore open the card and read it, and pulled out the check they had written as a gift.

Now I was puzzled - a check AND a gift? Wow, I guess the big 3-0 warrants going the extra mile.

So I tore off the wrapping paper. And then, I started to get this feeling that maybe I wouldn't be "opening" my present just yet ... you see, inside there was nice, shiny tin foil. That means momma was sending food.

I tore open the foil, apprehensive of what I might find. My worse fears were confirmed. There, staring me straight in the eye, were three representatives of the greatest nemesis I face when following clean nutrition: DARK CHOCOLATE.

Yes, pure, unadulterated, organic dark chocolate. In fact, the bars were in three different formulations. The first bar? 55% chocolate. The second? 65%. The third? A whopping 77% chocolate. All of the bars had basically cocoa, cocoa butter, and sugar as ingredients, just varying amounts. I had hit the chocolate gold mine, and that bar of 77% chocolate was the motherload.

Of course, I am on my 5-day cleanse. And this is just day 2. Fortunately, I had already made my chocolate NutriMeal shake with a scoop of peanut butter, so with the healthy fats, protein, and fiber, I was satisfied. I stared at the chocolate, and thought about how it would taste with a nice glass of red wine. That's when the little print jumped out at me: store at 55 - 65 degrees. This was PERFECT. That is the same temperature we store our wine at! So, without further thought, I raced down to the storage room and sequestered the chocolates with the red wines.

Ah, the sweet reward awaiting me on Tuesday. I can't wait! (Don't worry, I won't be eating all three bars. Just a piece of the dark 77% one to begin with).

Thanks, Mom and Dad.

Now, what shall I buy for a gift to myself with the check?

P.S. Going great, down 4 pounds (we know it's water weight when it comes off that quickly), feeling energetic, trained a client early this morning and looking forward to my next snack of peanut crunch bars. I did my routine this morning to clear my lymphatic system and look forward to a nice walk this evening.

Take care,

Jeremy

Whew. So, whenever things start to slip, this is what puts me back on track. Basically, I've been suffering from a little of the old "cobbler with broken shoes" syndrome. As always, I have maintained at my weight of just over 200, so I'm not as concerned about health or other aspects. However, the team I am a part of has made a strong commitment to growing our business in the coming year. Part of that means discipline and massive action. I like focusing on the fitness side, because when I start to gain more control over my physique by lowering my body fat, I also find that the discipline moves into other areas of my life and helps me move forward with my business, etc.

So, I'm starting a 5-day cleanse today. So far, so great. The cleanse is loaded with fiber, protein, and healthy fats, so it is not like an extreme fasting or other process. It is less to magically "detoxify" and certainly isn't going to create an enormous amount of fat loss, but what it does do is puts me on some of the lowest glycemic meals possible for 5 days, which in turn levels my blood sugar and serves to break me out of a cycle of cravings that I get into if I've eaten foods that aren't as balanced as I would normally like.

I'll keep everyone posted. I actually bought an extra box of bars and healthy fats for my cleanse, because it is not about being hungry, so if I find myself hungry, I simply add more healthy fat to the shake and/or grab an extra bar.

So what's it like? Here's a daily breakdown based on my first two days:

Calories: 1555
Fat: 64g (13g saturated) 35% of total calories
Sodium: 1330mg per Potassium: 1880mg
Carbohydrate: 164g (35g fiber, 108g sugar) 40% of total calories
Protein: 102g 25% of total calories

Jeremy

I recently returned from our international event and we had a blast. I wrote a bit about my experience below. Today, I'll share a few photos from the event. Click on them for larger images.

First, the team that I am a part of was started by Australian physical preparation consultant Ian King several years ago. We receive different shirts at the annual events, and this is the slogan on the one for this year:



The Dream Team is international and people from all over the world were in attendance. Here is one group photo (that did not include everyone in attendance!)



I was able to meet and bond with the team that I have created. For example, while Eric B Shay is a member of my organization, we had not met until convention. We did not realize until we were together that we were long lost twin brothers:



While I have been a fan of Ian King's for years and had met him once at a seminar, this was the first time we spent this amount of time together as business partners. It was a very productive, energetic weekend filled with ideas and breakthroughs.



Here is another photo after I received a few awards from the Dream Team. We really aren't making obscure gestures - the awards are clear, so we were actually holding them!



I would not represent a company unless I knew they had the utmost honest, integrity, and quality in their business. I was able to go straight to the source, from touring the manufacturing, quality assurance, and shipping facilities at our home office:



... to meeting the founder of the company, Dr. Myron Wentz himself:



It is a true honor to be a part of the vision that Dr. Wentz has. His vision is for a world free of pain and suffering. It is a vision much larger than who he is, and will last beyond this generation to be fulfilled, but becoming part of something larger and tapping into that fabric woven between so many individuals who are focused on the same, positive growth in not only their own circle influence, but the world at large, is a power feeling indeed.

I realized a new goal and a new why, and that is a focus on service and giving. I was inspired to sponsor a child in Africa upon my return, but even more powerful for me was to commit to traveling TO Africa this year when our company sends over their team to help build, distribute foods and nutritionals, provide comfort and bring hope to the millions who are suffering in the rain forests that run with more blood than water.

For those of you interested in learning more of Dr. Wentz and his vision, I highly recommend his book, "Invisible Miracles": http://sanoviv.buyol.com/Group/L8YH2GU4MQZTBSUM.htm - I don't make a dime from the sale of this product but I know the vision will capture hold of more than a few hearts and minds.

I can also order/redistribute this if you have problems at that site, so don't hesitate to contact me.

Take care everyone, and thanks for allowing me to share a piece of the inspiration that I experienced.

Jeremy

Okay ... getting back on my feet again. Been a busy few days, catching up on calls, taking my children to their various activities, revamping the e-Book and everything else you can think of! All worth it, and all fun.

My daughter is having a blast in pre-school. She had her first dance class (ballet/tap) yesterday and will be going to gymnastics this afternoon. Her other activity is on Thursdays - piano lessons! What fun!

I was originally going to start a 5-day cleanse today (just received my kit) but then we were discussing logistics for a nice dinner for a special event and decided that I would do it after that dinner, because I want an un-interrupted 5 days of this. The last time it was a great kickstart to a program. This time instead of moving to a specific nutrition plan that I've tried in the past, I'm going for something new - Dr. Ray Strand's Releasing Fat program.

Did I mentioned he sat next to me on the flight back and we got to talk nutrition shop all the way?

Today I was playing e-mail catchup. Did a short routine with pull-ups and dips. Going to be mainly walking and calisthenics during the cleanse.

Tonight is my mentoring call for new team members as well as the team call, and then I am spending an hour with a coaching client.

This is a very exciting time. I am connecting with some great people who I look forward to featuring through various articles and tools in the near future.

Hope everything is going well with everyone. I have some pictures to download and post - when they are available, I'll let you all know!

Take care!

Jeremy Likness

How do we do it?

How is it a simple letter, a group of words fixed on paper, can so eloquently connect two people to each other across the void of distance, electrons, and light? Then we speak, and add a new dimension - tone and inflection, still simply waves and perturbations easily digitized and transported and reassembled at yet so familiar to the brain. Finally in person, we meet, we register, we click and connect, the picture is complete, and something eerie comes to the surface ... that internally, we were connected all along, that the meeting in person is simply a formality.

HOW COOL WAS THIS WEEKEND?!

Have you heard how the key to living a good life is to choose your friends, to choose to interact and surround yourself with the people who "have it"? This week, I was blessed to travel to a beautiful city in the valley amidst the mountains and connect with people who have it. Have what? Have freedom. Have happiness. Have a passion to help, a passion for success. People who are tapped in and connected to their vision. A vision that is not going to be fulfilled in this lifetime - WOW - a vision large enough to last beyond to the next generation. Does such a vision have time to selfish pursuit, ego, or material desire? That vision is too large, spans too far, and becomes something that is a part of something greater.

We said our goodbyes last evening and for the first time in my life I did not feel the stabbing pain of "goodbye" or the sinking feeling that I was somehow going to lose something, the dread of falling asleep in bliss and awaking to a new day with the energy lost. See, we CONNECTED and I know that the connection does not require a certain proximity. Nope - we are tapped into that fabric from which everything is woven and what a GREAT feeling.

No matter how deep the connection, nothing would ever draw me away from the excitement I experience as I come closer to my family. As I flew on the plane back, sitting next to the renown Dr. Strand, sharing our ideas about nutrition and learning about his incredible success helping people find the freedom they deserve (freedom from obesity, from diabetes, from overweight, from degenerative disease - his focus with his practice is to take people and move them into a healthy lifestyle, sound similar? Is it a coincidence that we ended up next to each other on fully booked flight ... or can we be objective and understand something greater is at work?) ... I digress ... as this experience unfolded, that excitement also grew because with every passing wisp of cloud I drew closer to my family.

They picked me up and we visited with my grandparents and had a terrific lunch together. Afterwards my uncle stopped by. Isn't family fantastic? My wife ran into the room and said "Come here, fast ..." and we rushed to the living room to see a large 5-point buck standing idly in the backyard, gazing at a doe on the other side of the creek will two young ones, their spots already gone, rested in the garden.

My daughter was excited at the surprises that I brought her and of course I had to sit next to her for most of the visit. I know my wife had a long day so I offered to drive us home. I put in the CD from the convention and let the memories trigger as I drifted back to my home.

It is hard to describe how you are moving across the plain and then suddenly you realize that dark band in the distance is not low-lying clouds but a majestic range of mountains - Black Hills if you will - that is slowly sweeping upwards to meet the sky. We have the most dynamic rainstorms and one side of the sky, blue, literally mixed and swirled with a complex pattern at the storm from as the dark clouds edged onwards and eventually blended into the mountains themselves.

As we moved into the valley, the sun exploded from the clouds. The hillside was illuminated. Imagine the stark contrast - the sun is on one side, shining bright through clear skies, onto the side of the mountain, that has a looming, ominous storm behind it. Imagine how the black, dark backdrop illuminated the gold and copper leaves turning as winter creeps into the range while the sun slips towards the horizon.

I was lost in paradise. We slipped in the Dances with Wolves CD - the symphony was appropriate. As the violins and strings cascaded in a complex rhythm that was layer upon layer, we wound higher into the hills. Bright colors danced on the side of the mountains, while the dark storm swirled to one side and the colorful wisps of red clouds soaked the sunset. The air began to cool immediately ... it was 85 degrees when we entered the hills and rapidly dropped to 65 ... then 60. The breeze picked up and the fresh mountain air simply flowed around us and made the trees whisper in synch with the music.

We reached our humble town nestled in the hills and as we climbed the road to our house, the valley was awash in color as the bright homes that declared their uniqueness reflected the last bit of dwindling sunlight. We pulled to the house. The dark grass that was turning brown in patches was windswept. There were petals scattered by the wind. I stepped out into the cool air and gazed over the valley and simply stood their electrified by my purpose.

What is freedom like?

Is it a million dollars?

Is it not having to report to work?

Is it living in another country?

Is it drifting weightloss in free fall or outer space?

Or can it truly be as simple as receiving the grace to sit on a step, to look over a beautiful valley, to drink in cool, fresh air and a marvelous sunset while the Ponderosa pines whistle softly and your daughter giggles in your ear?

Can I even share how amazing it is to be free? Is it possible to even connect? This was an incredible experience to me. My, how lives can be changed. How people can embrace health and living life. How we don't have to struggle and worry about what's next or how we can climb or who we have to push in the way ... instead we can love and share and instead of condescending we are ASCENDING in our PEACE and living in the moment. We can pause to enjoy a masterpiece called life that God created and blesses us with every day if we only pause to stop and look and listen and yes, even HEAR his voice he speaks so softly, but a whisper, yet when the only other sound is a giggle and a whir then the laughter and the connection and His love can be felt.

I am happy to be home. I cannot wait for tomorrow. I am excited to share this journal as I begin this last quarter. I will soon turn 30 and I am proud of the legacy I have participated in so far ... yes, proud ... the proud the father feels because it is not something I could have done alone, I am so connected with the most incredible team in the world, people who just lift and give and share, and what a feeling that is to be not alone both inside and without. I can't wait to see what new challenges lie ahead and how they will serve me to grow and be able to take on greater challenges. I welcome the challenge. I am awake, I fell awake, no longer sleeping or sleep-walking through life or walking on the line between the arrows ... now I am awake and leaping and climbing and going where no one else has gone, and doing it of my own accord, but not alone, no, not alone.

It is great to have purpose and vision, isn't it? Isn't it awesome to be in pursuit of greatness - a greatness greater than who we are?

I had to sit and write and share, I am so full I have to let some out so that there is room to receive more. Thank you and God bless.

Jeremy