The Great Deflate Update #1 -

Update

- I've now been in the DFW area for a little over a week. I just moved into my apartment today. I was living in an extended stay motel down the road and while it was okay it is good to be in a place to call home for a while. I have a friend from St. Louis bringing more of my stuff down sometime soon so I'm furniture-less until then, but what a blessing to have someone willing to do that. This guy really has a servants heart.

- I admit with the transition that weight loss has been difficult. I was hoping to lose at least five pounds last week, but I lost closer to three. I'm still pretty excited about that though. I know this is a long journey, but if I could lose three pounds a week for 50 weeks I'd lose 150 pounds. That is a great thought. Of course I really do hope it goes a little fast than that at least for now.

- When I was in St. Louis I would walk about four miles a day, but I haven't quite matched that here yet. The first few days I was here I went to Grapevine Mills Mall and walked. I was told the full loop inside is one mile. I never measured, but it certainly felt like it. I think I like walking outside a little more. There were so many distractions and food places in the mall tht I think I walked a lot slower.

- Last Friday I decided to try out the YMCA in Coppell, TX. I'm currently trying out the seven day pass for free. I like the Y. It has a good size gym and pool. The staff is fantastic. I only wish they were 24/7. I prefer working out late night. I can work my schedule to fit it though. You should check out your local YMCA and try out a pass as well.

- I've somehow hurt my left ankle. I'm not sure what it is from, but until I get a stride going and my mind off of it I keep limping as I walk. I hope I'm not exasperating it by continuing to walk on it.

- I tried to start doing weights as well this week. I don't want to lose too much muscle I lose weight. I think I should get a friend to help me work out a plan and proper form. I hurt my back fiercely and could barely move. I had a massage at the mall and it felt better. I don't want to make excuses nor cause permanent damage so I need to get assistance quickly on that issue.

- I am really falling in love with the entire metroplex. It is very much a shopping and dining town and there are so many good looking restaurants that it is a challenge not to try them out. I have found one I think is pretty amazing. It is a smaller chain that started in Austin. It is called Freebird WorldBurritos. It is like a hip Chipotle with a lot more options and different sizes of burritos. At first I got the spinach tortilla burrito, but then I cut the calories further and just started getting the burrito bowl. Yep, I've been here eight days and I've had four meals there. It is so good. I met the general manager today and talked to him about Higher Hope Balloons performing for a family night. I pray that works out.

Lessons Learned

So the first lesson I thought I'd speak about is goal setting. If you're like me you probably groaned when you read that. Yes, we all have been battered with the fact that we need to set goals. Sadly, most people I know either know they should and don't or they do for a time, but don't follow through.

Here are three tips I have for goal setting:

1. Set short term goals rather than big picture goals.

If you're like me and need to lose a whole lot of weight then you may have that big goal set, but it is so far out you'll be discouraged before you get anywhere near it, but if you set short term goals that are steps to a larger goal then you can hit those and gain confidence to continue to the next short term goal. I have my goals set out for two to three months at a time. These are my checkpoint goals.

2. Make sure your goal stretches you.

You goals should be possible for you to reach, but they shouldn't be so easy that you can wait until the last minute to complete them. You need a goal that you are going to have to consistently focus on to accomplish, but you know you can celebrate once you hit it. Just make sure after you hit that goal you set the next one and are ready to move on.

3. Be willing to reset your goal.

There are certain to be times that you will miss the mark. The thing to remember is not to focus on the failure but on the success. If you have a goal to lose 20 pounds but only lose 15 then you're still a lot further than you were before. You set the goal and you can change. Of course don't use the fact that you can reset the goal as a crutch. You should be going hard after your goals or they are just wishes.

My personal goals range from two to three month interval. My first goal is to have lost a total of 81 pounds by the end of September. That is a lofty goal, as I'm around 62 pounds right now. It will be tough to hit that, but I'm keeping focused on the goal until the last day and then I reevaluate. My next goal is two months after that and I plan to have lost 110 pounds by that time.

Resource

I thought I'd share my current favorite resource for motivation and information. When I started losing weight a friend introduced me to a social media site called Reddit. Reddit is kinda like a mass forum site where people post links and information and then comment. President Obama recently answered questions via Reddit and it was pretty popular. The site has millions of users and I had never heard of it until recently.

The different forums are called “subreddits” and you access them by typing the one you desire after Reddit.com/r/(insert subreddit here). I mainly visit two different subreddits. I go to “Loseit” for great information on weight loss. The comments answering questions are pure gold on this one. And I go to “ProgressPics” for motivation and encouragement. People post a variety of before and after shots on here from losing weight to gaining weight/muscle.

This is a wonderful resource. If you have a smart phone I recommend using the app Alien Blue to access Reddit.

Product

This weeks product is the Nutrilite Meal Replacement Bars. I am in love with these bars. They really do taste amazing. They are about 200 calories each and have 22 vitamins and minerals. There are made without high-fructose corn syrup, hydrogenated oils, artificial colors, flavors, or preservatives.

They come in four flavors: BlueberryCrunch, Lemon Twist, Cherry Almond, and Chocolate Crisp.

My personal favorites are the LemonTwist and Chocolate Crisp. They both fill the sweet-tooth craving and are satisfying. They're great for a quick breakfast. I recommend warming the Chocolate Crisp for about 8 seconds to achieve a softer texture.

The bars come 12 to a box for single flavors and cost $27.75 or you can get a 16 bar variety pack for $37.00. So for a little over $2 you have a healthy fast meal.

These are great for weight loss and folks that find themselves in a hurry often without time to really stop and eat.

The biggest downfall is that I find myself craving one for the taste more than I need one.

If you'd like to try the Nutrilite MealReplacement Bars please visit http://HigherHopePromotions.com for more information. I'm not a nutritionist nor scientist like the great folks at Amway, but I can try to answer any questions you may have below.

Look forward to updating you all again next week as “The Great Deflate” shrinks onward.

Jason Vaughn

http://HigherHopePromotions.com

Thanks for commenting and sharing this post.

A New City and a New Me

Last night at 9:41 PM I entered the state of Texas once again, but this time I am not just here to visit I am making this new home. Specifically I have just moved to the Flowermound/Lewisville area of Dallas, TX.

I am truly excited to be here. I love the optimism and pride of Texas. I love the history and independence of the state and it's people. As I was telling a friend, I was born a South Carolinian, I'm an American by the grace of God, but I'm a Texan by choice.

"I wasn't born in Dallas, but I got there as quick as I could." - Zig Ziglar

with this new chapter in my life I thought I would begin a new blog documenting some journeys I'm on. Primarily I'll be discussing my goals, progress, and ideas on health.

I've been fat all my life. I was a fat kid, a fat teenager and I'm a fat adult. I've done dieting and exercising on and off forever. My whole family is also fat.

Well about two years ago I weighed myself and I was at 330+ pounds on New Year's 2011. I was absolutely amazed at what I read on the scale. So I made a decision that day to change, but I needed an incentive to motivate me because apparently health wasn't enough. So since I am a family entertainer I made a promise to all my clients that if I didn't lose enough weight to weigh in below 300 pounds by June 1st that every gig I booked would be absolutely free. That would be several thousands dollars and I could not afford to lose that money.

So I worked at my weight over the next five months and I did manage to weigh in at under 300 pounds. I was quite happy with myself and looked forward to continuing to move down in weight.

Unfortunately, a few weeks after that I had a lump in my jaw area diagnosed as late stage Hotchkin's Disease. I was scared out of my mind. I immediately went back to eating horribly and justified it that if I was going to die I might as well go fat and happy (I was certainly fat, but I wasn't very happy). I joked with the doctor that at least chemo is good for weight loss. He didn't think it was funny either.

Due to a lack of insurance I had to wait for a while to get a full diagnosis, but I was finally seen at a clinic in St. Louis. Thankfully, the biopsy came back and they said it was a benign tumor. I was somewhat relieved and soon after that I had the tumor removed.

The surgery was fine (though expensive), but I developed a severe cough for a few months after that. I went to the doctor several times, but they couldn't find out what it was. So I would just lay around and eat because moving at all caused a painful cough.

Eventually the cough went away, but I had fallen back into some awful habits of laziness. I had also grown depressed and hopeless over my weight.

Well in May I decided to become a distributor of Amway Global. Amway Global is a direct sales business that has been around for over fifty years and according to Forbes is one of the top privately held companies in America. They have a huge range of products from vitamins to energy drinks to gift albums. They're also partnered with companies like Bass Pro, Best Buy, and Office Depot. I absolutely love being a part of such a great company.

Since Amway Global is a direct marketing business, you are working with a sponsor to help volume flow though your business from customers and finding others interested in making money. It is a system of people helping people and getting paid based on the volume your business creates.

Well I say all that because after I started my business, my sponsor humbly came up and confronted me about my obesity and asked if I was willing to tackle it. At first I was taken aback because of his boldness, but after thinking abut it I knew I had to do something. So with his encouragement, and using several great Amway products I started to eat better, take the right vitamins, and exercise.

I was amazed to discover when I weighed myself I was at 380 pounds!

That was in late May and in the last three month I've managed to lose about 60 of those pounds and I now weigh closer to 320. This blog is meant as a journal for me as I go through this to fitness. I also hope it encourages you and as I have found many of the Amway products amazing I would certainly love to find some new customers if they would improve your life as they have mine.

Each week I'll be updating this page with a new post of progress, some information I've been studying about health that week, some personal motivation, and a product I've found helpful. Of course as an Amway distributor I do make money when I see products, but that doesn't make the information less valid, just as someone from Texas saying that Texas is the best state in the union doesn't mean they're wrong just because they may be biased.

So I hope the information I share helps you. If I mention a product you think you can find more information and order at http://HigherHopePromotions.com. Should you discover it doesn't do for you what it has done for me then I'd encourage you to use the 180 day return policy.

So please make sure to check back here every week for what could truly change your life.

Thanks for stopping by and I look forward to your comments and questions.

Jason Vaughn

http://HigherHopePromotions.com