Beautiful Life of Zig Zag Zoom

I have researched many articles, books, websites, magazines, and more on weight loss. The concluding result. Weight loss takes hard work, dedication, and  is a lengthy process. Many of you have or are now struggling with weight issues. You have tried diet after diet only to fail and gain it all back. The truth is, no one diet plan works for everyone and most do not work at all.

First goal of any weight loss should be to maintain lean body mass (aka muscle) and get rid of the fat. By doing this, you get healthier not just smaller. With this in mind, rapid weight loss does not work. It took several years to put on the weight, it takes a long time to take it off. How long? It depends on how much you have to lose. You should lose between 1.5 and 2 pounds a week to lose fat. Any faster and you start to lose lean body mass too. If you have 100 pounds to lose, that equals out to 50 -67 weeks to lose the fat. Wow, that is a long time right?

Think of it this way, how much more fun years will you have if you lose that weight? One or even two years is nothing in the scheme of what you will regain if you lose the weight. If you are over a hundred pounds over weight, you can lose a little faster, maybe 3 to 4 pounds a week for a while. However, if you are like me, you also want to look good naked. Nothing worse than losing 100 pounds and still scared for anyone to see your body. Men, you know you want to go shirtless and women, you know you want to wear the sexy little outfit. That is why the goal is to lose slowly over time.

Good luck and let me know how you are doing.

I have been working hard at losing some weight since the beginning of the year. I was at 205 pounds when i joined the YMCA on January 2nd. I have been hitting the gym between 4-6 days a week every since. I have lost over 6% body fat and have lost thirty-five pounds of weight to a current weight of just under 170. I am very excited that I am getting very close to my weight loss goal of 50 pounds to reach a goal weight of 155 pounds.

I am 5’7 and I was in a size 40 waist for pants and I was beginning to feel like crap every time I buttoned up a pair of jeans. I just got back from Walmart where I tried on a pair of 34 jeans and they not only fit but they were a little loose.

I have always been told that once you hit your forties, it is very hard to lose weight. I have found that to be the case. I am currently 42 and five years ago when I tried to lose weight, it fell off quick. This time, it has been a struggle and I hit several plateaus. It was hard hitting the gym and not seeing any weight come off but I kept going. Not only have a lost the weight, I have improved my strength and increased my weight lifting ability. When I started struggled to get five reps on the bench press with 90 pounds. I am currently benching four sets of seven reps at 155 pounds and have a quick recovery time. I would most likely be able to do even more but I do not try to push too far since I lift solo with no partner to spot for me.

As far as my eating, I have cut way back on crap and try to stay at 1800 calories a day with a little protein with every snack or meal. I take one meal a week and eat anything I want. This seems to help keep my metabolism pumping. I did not count calories for the first few months but started to count when I could not budge below 175 pounds. I am now back on a slow steady weight loss and I am hoping in the next couple of months to finish off and star on maintaining my weight. At 175, I started eating a little bad for a couple of weeks but seemed to maintain no matter what I ate as long as I exercised. I am hoping with sticking with this for seven months now, I will be able to maintain once I reach my goal weight. I think adding a little more muscle mass has helped to speed up my metabolism a bit.

I encourage anyone of any age to get up and get going. You will feel better and once its a habit, you will start to crave exercise and eating great. You can take ideas from different diet plans but most are crap, the key is will power, exercise, more exercise, and eating right. I will write more about what I did in the next couple of weeks. Please share and success you have had by leaving a comment here.

I was shocked and angry to hear the news about Governor Mark Sanford’s recent scandal. The whole thing is nothing new in politics; however, this one hit me personally. I have had very little faith in politicians over the last several years. Lies, scams, and lack of morals have infected our nation and have taken all our faith in public representatives. I have not heard or seen any candidate that I could believe in or trusted.

That was until I first heard Mark Sanford speak. He said the right stuff and stood for true fiscal responsibility. He stood up against the stimulus package and even fought not to take it for his state. I was excited to hear him speak and it did not hurt that he was from South Carolina which was my home for fifteen years. I finally felt that there was hope for our future and that he was for sure the up and coming leader to take the White House in the 2012 election.

I have not had this kind of faith in a politicians in several years and I was excited. Well all I can say is “Thanks Mark!” You have restored my pessimistic attitude towards politicians. I once again am restored in my belief that politicians are sleazy double talkers who care about nothing but power and self-interest. It is like the feeling you get when you have evidence that there is a real Santa Claus only to find out that it was all fake.

Affairs happen and his marital business is between him and his wife. However, his lies and cover up and possible taxpayer trips make me crawl in my skin. This man is lower than the creeps like Barney Frank who do not hide their sleazy underhanded nature. If he has any respect for his state and the nation as a whole, I think he should man up and resign tonight!

I am glad this came out now instead of later when he became a candidate for president. Are there no clean respectable leaders left in the world. I am not asking for perfect! I am just asking for a leader who has some self respect for himself/herself, respect for their family, and respect for the people they serve. A leader with morals and character with honesty to admit they have flaws but have the desire to give their very best to do what is right for the people. I do not think such a person exist! If he/she does exist, they have no desire to climb into the sewer with the scum we now have leading our states and country.

Please let us have one true hero step forward to serve with dignity and respect!

How do you feel about Sanford? Should he resign?

I am not a huge fan of loans of any kind but I do know that many people use them when the need arises. The one key to getting any type of loan and most importantly lonas is that the person does their research. It is important to research the cost, the terms, and the reputation of the loan company.

PaydayLoansABC.com is a website loaded with reviews on the various types of Payday loans. They have a load of information designed to inform the consumer prior to obtaining a loan. They also have several offers listed on their site with an easy to apply for format.

There are many types of Payday loans and many require credit checks and faxing signatures and other time consumer processes. This website offers a No Fax Payday Loan from many providers to make it a quick and easy process.

The whole process of the loan processing looks quite easy and is just a matter of a few simple forms and some proof of income along with having a checking account. The information is designed for your particular state and there are some informative articles about Payday loans and the laws involved.

Though I am not a fan of Payday loans, I found this site a great resource for those people who do rely on those types of loans in emergencies. I highly suggest searching through the site thoroughly prior to applying. They provide the information and research, but it is your job to read that information.

The following is a sponsored review:

I have written many times about avoiding bad credit. However, people do some stupid things when it comes to credit and end up over their heads. They then want to figure out a way to fix that credit in order to purchase a house, buy a car, or obtain another kind of loan.

I checked out a site by the name of Bad Credit Loan Shop. This site is set up to provide informative articles explaining how to obtain loans if you have bad credit. They also direct you to places to obtain those types of loans. If you own a home and are looking for a Bad Credit Home Equity Loans or you are looking for a Bad Credit Personal Loan or any other type of loan, this site can provide you with the information you need. This is not exclusive to loans; they also offer credit card information as well.

Bad Credit Loan Shop is a well set up site with small articles about each type of Bad Credit Loan and what a person needs to do to achieve success with getting those types of loans. The sidebar navigation is easy to follow and one can find the type of loan they are looking for with an easy click. The design of the site is simple but fits the niche quite well.

The information is good and it is a quick way to find all the information you need if you are looking to get credit after ruining it the first time around. However, be aware this site is set up as an affiliate site which means that the site gets paid for each referral. There is nothing wrong with that and what I have seen, some of the offers they direct you to are quite competitive.

I am not a big proponent of credit but I am aware that many people use it and most people need it to purchase a home. This site provides enough information to achieve your goal of improving your once good credit. Check out BadCreditLoanShop.com if you are in need of help and good luck in fixing the credit mistakes of the past!

There are many people who live paycheck to paycheck and always wonder where there money goes. I have always been one to write down all my major monthly expenses each month. However, up till a few weeks ago, I never wrote down our dining out money, gas money, or any monthly left from paying the bills.

I am now a huge proponent of writing down everything. Karen and I have devised a budget that includes a weekly allowance for both of us, grocery money, eating out money, miscellaneous money, and gas and car expenses. With the exception of gas, which we pay at the pump with our debit cards, everything else is cash only. I carry an envelope for each kind of money and pull the right one out each time we need to purchase something. Dave Ramsey says it is harder to spend cash and he is right. It is much harder to part with money than with a debit card or credit card. Every dollar is earmarked and we try to stay with in our budget.

We are not perfect but we do seem to be more conscious of our money. We know how much we have and if we run out, we have to wait till the next payday. We both get paid bi-weekly so we fill the envelopes every two weeks. We do borrow back and forth but if we borrow from one envelope, we know that that category is short for the two weeks and we do not go and get more.

I am here to tell you that if you budget out every dollar before the month begins, you will have more money than you thought you had. Any excess goes straight for debt payoff. It also causes you to avoid high price stuff and look for the bargain in everything. No more value meals at McDonald’s, we go straight for the dollar menu. Drinks in diners are now water not the $1.50-$3.00 sodas. It takes some getting use to but we are working toward a long term get out of debt goal!

The key is for the whole family to be on board and stick to the plan. If the the plan is not discussed and agreed on by all, it will not work. Communication is key to successful money management and it makes a much healthier marriage.

Get on board and get a budget done. it will be the smartest decision you ever make!

I was reading an article on the news about Beer Garden Party now being allowed for Halloween in Athens, OH. It is an open air beer party. This brought back memories from my younger years.

When I was around twenty, a local frat house had a wild Halloween beer party for all the college kids and their friends. It was a blast. They had a wet t shirt contest and the top three winners got to give away their t shirt brand to some lucky guys.

All of the t shirts were donated from the local beer house. The top winner gave away four Captain Morgan t shirts. The catch was, the guys who won the t shirts had to do shots of whatever brand was on the shirt. I wanted to do shots of Captain Morgan rum but I ended up in the group that won Miller Lite t shirts. It was cool and I got wasted. That was the days when drinking was fun and no one got carried away.

The only problem we had was a few guys who won the Jack Daniels t shirts got really drunk and puked all over the dean’s car. That was a mess and some of my frat friends got in trouble for it. Luckily the dean was cool and all he did was made them wash and wax his car.

Those were the days when as long as you kept the parties under control, nobody gave you any trouble. I remember quite a few wild beer parties from back in those days. I am not sure why that news story brought all the memories back but I am glad to share my story with you.

Do you have cool beer party stories? Share them by leaving a comment here on the blog.

Happy Halloween and bottoms up!

We are getting close to the election. It is time for all Americans to up their voice and vote for something besides just following a certain party. Look up who voted for what and who is voting for things that follow your views. I have never met anyone who agreed 100% with a party yet they vote that way anyway. It is time to look at the person not the party.

Our future and our children’s future has been given away by bailing out businesses and banks who did a crappy job. They could not or chose not to manage with any common sense. Because of this, they should have been allowed to fail. No one is bailing us out! If we make bad choices, we have to deal with them. It is time to vote for candidates who agree with the people they are paid to represent.

Do not waste your vote on which ever candidate is the best talking. Don;t vote for the incumbent because he has always been there and why change. Don;t vote for a pretty face or false promises. We will all be taxed higher! This is a fact. The way the government has ran the budgets has caused such a debt that there is no choice but to raise taxes on everyone.

Think clearly and vote for who you think will represent you and your family. From President all the way down to your town council, do your research and vote for the best thing for YOU!

Have you made up your mind yet? Please share your opinions by leaving a comment or two.

We paid off our last credit card with a $1000 payment and now we owe no credit card companies. I took another step in reducing my monthly bills by calling my satellite provider and negotiated a $10 reduction for a year. They gave it to me since I have been with them a long time and have always paid my bill on time for over 14 years.

I am still working to get my income up by finding a better job. However, I am slowly working to reduce my out going. I would have totally wiped out my satellite except my 80 year old mother lives with us and she hardly gets out so this is her one vice.

I have also sold off a website to bring in a little money. Slowly but surely I am starting to build funds to whittle away the student loans to become debt free. If anyone has any other good ideas, please feel free to share.

I am glad to see that Dave Ramsey really does try to include all emails on his show. My wife sent an email a few nights ago and we assumed that it did not make it on the show that night so it would just get pushed aside. To my surprise, I was watching his show tonight on the Fox Business Network and at the end of his show, he read my wife’s email.

Karen was so excited but missed the show so now she is staying up till one in the morning so she can see the show. She is quite goofy that away. Dave has such common sense and approaches it in such a folksy down to earth way that he appeals to many and pisses off some too. I am just glad he was able to inspire Karen to jump on board the get out of debt wagon!

If you have not seen or heard of Dave Ramsey, I suggest you check out his website to see what he is all about. Better yet, tune into his radio or TV show to see him for yourself.