Challenges are much better taken with friends

While my 90-day challenge has been going pretty well on my own, I decided last week I wanted to take it to a whole new level. So I reached out to my three challenge promoters and challenged them to participate in a team challenge with me and they all accepted. So today we all start together, and we are going to absolutely CRUSH our goals for this 90-days. I still have a 50 pound weight loss goal and now that I have a few friends to help keep me accountable, I have no doubt I will achieve it.

Oh, and my Virgin HealthMiles challenge is going well too. I'm up to over 8000 steps a day which is HUGE for me. My goal is to get that to 20,000 by springtime.

Week four of my challenge back home

Well week three of my challenge was very difficult. Three time zones and 60 hours of work in five days. I was able to maintain my weight loss however no real exercise during the week. Spent the week working and sleeping and flying. The next two weeks I am home and am going to head back to the gym. I also started a new challenge program through my employer where we wear these pedometers and get gift certificates for exercise (pictured). My challenge is still going strong and tomorrow we are back on the cardio!!


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Location:Inslee Rd,Hilliard,United States

Two weeks on my new 90 day challenge and crushing it!!

Well my 14 day weigh-in was this morning and I'm down 12 pounds on my new challenge. That gets me back to 65 pounds total weight loss over the last 8 months on and off the challenge. There's absolutely no question this challenge and the products work for me. I'm so blessed that it was introduced to me. My abdominal muscle is still a bit sore but better so my workout routine will pick back up this week while on the road to Los Angeles and Dallas. Catherine and I took a walk in the park this morning and I'll be back on the treadmill starting tomorrow. - Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

First week of 2012 update..so far so good!

Well six days into the new year and things are going really well. I'm down a total of ten pounds on my 90-day challenge and my pulled abdominal muscle is just about healed so I'll be back in the gym soon.

Something I'm participating in to improve my health is sponsored by my company, Northrop Grumman. They have partnered with Virgin airlines to introduce a health challenge which for employees who participate, can accumulate gift certificates and Virgin airline miles for the number of steps they take throughout 2012. The link for this program is below.

Basically they send you a special pedometer and you wear it throughout the day and periodically connect the device to your computer and upload and track your progress online. You can also setup challenges with other employees in your company and the contest is tracked online as a little friendly competition. I'm hopeful that this competition will help motivate me to walk/jog more as I'm pretty resistent to it. I like to bike and weight train, but really don't get much enjoyment out of walking unless I can get out to see scenery in the spring and summer time.



http://us.virginhealthmiles.com/pages/home.aspx

2012 STARTS TODAY!

Today I start 2012 and have built my life plan for the year including my vision statement, my core values, and my BIG GOALS for 2012. To hold myself accountable for these items, I am going to publish them here for the world to see.

A New Year and New Goals for 2012

I always love the last week of the year. I get so excited to prepare to start a new year. I'm a believer in setting BIG goals and tracking them all year long.

I always take the last week of the year off from my job just to review my current year and to plan for the next. I find that I hit the ground running January 1 when I do so and have a couple weeks up on those who just stop working the last week of the year.

I'm still working to make my goals specific for 2012 but some of them on my list include:

• Become a Visalus Ambassador
• Have 6-9 months of bills in liquid cash available
• Pay off my Mini Cooper
• Pay off all "little" bills (credit cards, etc)
• Lose 80-100 pounds and prepare for skin surgery
• Run a 5K
• Bike 30 miles in one shot
• Get another outstanding (TOP) rating on my performance review at work
• Start a real estate investment company

Big goals drive me to be the absolute best I can be. What are your 2012 goals?

Uh oh...starting my new 90-day challenge a week early!

Well I had a real eye opener this morning and as a result I am starting my new 90-day challenge RIGHT NOW. A pair of jeans I received as a Christmas gift (and intend to wear for New Year's Eve) which should fit no problem will not button. As a result I stepped on the scale and I am the heaviest I've been in two months.

Time for my "holiday" from eating healthy and watching my weight to end. During the next 90 days I will:

- Lose FIFTY POUNDS
- Work my cardio to four days per week
- Have two shakes per day EVERY DAY
- Will significantly decrease my carb intake
- Will lose two pants sizes and one shirt size

It's time to get serious and right now. I have spent the morning getting totally focused on my goal. The next "after" photos I promise will blow you away. Please help me by supporting me in this challenge.

Some much needed time off

Yesterday started a long vacation from work for me. No more work till January 3rd and no more traveling for work till January 8th. Have a few things I want to accomplish during my vacation time in addition to spending some much due time with family and friends for the holidays.

- Start my new 90-day challenge 12/26
- Make my final clothing donation of 2011
- Get my 2012 goals specifically defined and captured in timelines with milestones
- Catch up on some reading I've been meaning to do for a few months now
- Plan a winter vacation (this one is done!)
- Put away my summer clothes (yah I've been procrastinating this one for weeks now)
- Get the Crosstour ready for trade-in
- Get my bicycle upstairs on the trainer so I can begin riding again

I'm sure I'll find a couple other things to do but needless to say the stay-cation will be a restful but productive one.

A Temporary Setback and Preparation for a New Challenge

I wanted to take a moment today and talk about my 90 day challenge (or lack thereof) and what I am doing about it to make a change today. My 90 days started of really fast with a quick 10 pound weight loss and signing on with my trainer to get back to the weights. Over the last two - three weeks I have lost focus due to the craziness that is my life and careers and while I'm not really gaining much weight (three pounds total) I haven't made it to the trainer and my cardio workouts consist of running through airports.

So I'm taking a step back and pushing the reset button. This is the promise I make to you who read this blog regularly. I will get back to my routine of doing two shakes a day (one for breakfast and one for my night meal - I eat four meals a day) starting today through Christmas Eve. Christmas Eve and Christmas day will be "cheat days" and I will eat whatever I want.

Starting on December 26th I will start a new challenge and I WILL lose FIFTY pounds in 90 days taking me into the 200's for the first time since I was 23 years old. I am also going to absolutely train for a spring 5K run as well if it kills me.

I know I can do this but I am reaching out to all of you today for your support. The holidays are usually hard to keep up with losing weight but if I get to Christmas and my net weight gain is zero for the holiday season I will claim victory. Make it a great week folks and all of you be blessed.

If you feel like you're starting over every day, you're doing it right!

When someone said this to me the other day I wanted to beat my head against the wall. Really, I have to feel like I'm starting over every day?

I took a step back and thought about this and decided I would try it for a week. Get up every morning and start my day from scratch. Take a look at my situation, lay out the action plan for the day and only one day, and execute against that plan like it was the last day I had a chance to do so.

Interestingly enough I noticed some things within the second day. First, I felt very enthusiastic about starting anew day after day. Like the momentum you get when you start a new diet or job. Changing the mindset to start over every day gave me that "new" feeling of excitement. Second, as a result of this renewed enthusiasm each day, it was much easier to execute on the tasks at hand. I didn't get bored or distracted in the afternoon and was able to drive all my tasks personal or business to completion. This is huge for me as I am always switching gears throughout the day and this "new day" mindset helped me stay focused.

So you should try this as well, wake up in the morning and "fire and rehire" yourself and pretend it's your first day on the job. Do this for a week and comment your results here.

Day 28 "The Tax Napkin Conversation"

Hello folks,

Wanted to relay something called the "Tax Napkin Conversation" that explains in some pretty good detail exactly WHY everyone should have a home-based business. Plain and simple if you don't, you overpay on your taxes. Here's a little diddy on what I'm talking about.

* All these numbers are based on average tax bracket of 30% or the tax someone with an average income is "responsible for"

Let's say for example you invest $500 to start a home-based business. That $500 alone is tax-deductible so at 30% you would get $167 dollars in REAL MONEY (Tax Credit) on your taxes.

Now because you own a home-based business that is based on word of mouth advertising, everywhere you go and talk about your business (and this is EVERYWHERE) you can write off the mileage at 57.5 cents per mile. Average drivers drive 12,000 miles a year but many folks drive MUCH MORE than that.

To stay conservative, lets use 10,000 miles x  $.575 or $5,750. At the 30% tax liability that equates to $1,725 for the year in REAL MONEY on your taxes.

So just for these two deductions alone: $1,725 + $167 = $1,892 in real money for a $500 dollar initial investment in your home-based business. Not bad eh?

Don't forget when you work your business, all product media, samples, money spent on events, etc are also all tax writeoffs.

In addition you can write off the use of your cell phone, a section of your home including mortgage, insurance, taxes, utilities, services (yes I write off my housekeeper even!). You should consult a tax professional for all the details here but I do it and I save THOUSANDS before I ever made one dime in my business.

Hope this educates those out there who ever thought about a home-based business or if you haven't but wondered why so many of your friends are doing it.

Day 16: Back Home after a Week of Absolute Insanity

A week in which you start with a flight into Biloxi, Mississippi for two days, head to Herndon, Virginia, and only late on Thursday night come home would be insane for anyone. Throw in some major changes with the actual work being done and much conflict as a result and the spiral of control is only an interesting topic.

So how did my challenge go this week despite this insanity? Very well actually. I did get a workout in this week and will have a session with the trainer today. There will be another treadmill session this weekend as well. As for food, I did get at least one shake every day, my vi-pak without fail, and as a result I'm down FIVE POUNDS this week for a total of 65 pounds on Body by Vi and 295 pounds total weight loss :)

I am so truly blessed to have found such a product to give me this chance to finish my transformation. And I get my products for free and pocket the money I was spending on much less nutrition for my body.

Day 12: Sundays are For Football in My House

So after several days and two cities (NYC and Huntington) I am back home and ready for a great battle between MY New York Jets and the Buffalo Bills. The house will be full of people and the media room blaring three TVs strong with football all day. One very challenging part about football Sundays is the food. There is always LOTS of food around and it is very easy for that food to be a) very unhealthy and b) in gluttonous abundance.

So what does one do who is on their challenge to stay focused?

1) Have lots of water in between the snacking/eating. It will help keep you full and fight against the urge to graze constantly.

2) Make sure a salad is part of the actual meal. A salad will fill the stomach with rough vegetation and still allow you to enjoy SOME of the lasagna or meatballs or mac and cheese and stay full.

3) Actually leave the food in a different room than the TV lives to help prevent grazing.

4) Have your shake for breakfast no questions asked :)

Ok folks time to finish up some chores before the guests start arriving. Have an awesome day, be blessed, and GO JETS!!

Day 9 of my 90 Day Challenge in NYC

Day 8 and 9 of my 90 day challenge started in Columbus but ended in New York City. I love the city so much. Such variety and cultures you never see in the Midwest. Don't know if I would live here but I absolutely must visit at least one time a year. I had an amazing dinner and fun with my friend Julie last night celebrating her birthday. We met at this restaurant called Grano Trattoria in Greenwich village. They are known for hand made pasta and the food was absolutely amazing.

Yesterday morning was my first weekly weigh-in and I didn't lose or gain any weight at all. I have learned not to get too upset when that happens just look back and see if I did anything that contributed and if not its a plateau that will come time and again.

So I'll sign off with a photo from 34th and 7th street taken this morning on the way to the train station. Thanks again for your support and thoughts and be blessed.




- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Location:Sunny Ln,Bethpage,United States

Day 7: Your Challenge Party is In the Mail

Day 6 of My Challenge

Day 6 of my Challenge brought another day with the trainer as well as some much anticipated news.


Back to the trainer for my third workout in six days. My body was extremely sore today going through the workout even taking Advil an hour prior. I currently am out of Go and Pro but have ordered a couple cases of each to be delivered in a week. I'm especially loving the Pro drink mix for the flavor and the sustained energy it gives me to carry through the workout. I'm excited to weigh in Wednesday as well as do my measurements to figure out how I am doing.

I received a call from my orthodontist today and my Invisalign trays are IN!!!!!!!! I am picking them up on Wednesday morning just before my next workout and flight to NYC for work. I've waited to get this process started for a few years now and I am so excited to get started.

I also have been working on a few ideas for growing my network marketing business. I signed up for a conference bridge and am going to have a November kickoff call with my team tomorrow night. Also want to run a contest for November to generate some buzz amongst my team.

I'm also looking at services that provide qualified leads to business owners just like me. Qualified as in folks who have pro-actively shown interest in starting a network marketing business. There are a couple of specific markets I am targeting and hoping to find the right service to pick some hungry prospects from in the coming couple of weeks.

As for my day job, the travel calendar is already booked up till Thanksgiving week. NYC Wednesday, Biloxi, MS AND Herndon, VA next week, and Austin, TX (Dell) the following week. Gotta love it.

Have a great one folks and be blessed.

Day 4 of My 90-day Challenge

Challenge Day 2 Back to the Trainer

My challenge begins :)

A Confession and a Start of a NEW 90-day Challenge

So today I realized I had started a new 90-day challenge a couple weeks ago (on paper) but I didn't really dedicate myself to it. This is not like me at all, and I vowed today I would hit the reset button and start RIGHT NOW with my new challenge. My goals for the next 90 days are

- Lose 30 pounds
- Lose 8 total inches (4 inches in waist)
- Work up to 5 miles of walking 2X-3X per week
- Re-hire my trainer and do weight training 2X-3X per week
- Make myself accountable to all of you by blogging my progress here

Please subscribe to my blog at the right either with your google account or via email to follow my progress. I NEED YOU TO HELP ME REACH MY GOALS!

A New Day and a Relaunch of JimmyRowe.com

Well this is a post that is WELL overdue. Been over two years since I have posted to this blog and its time I start sharing my life and the challenges in it with all of you. Since my last post I have taken a position at Northrop Grumman as Chief Architect / Infrastructure CTO and have been in this role for over a year. My position is focused on developing strategy and roadmap for the various areas of infrastructure and providing guidance and governance to the Operational Organizations on the execution of strategy. It's a job that takes me all over the country and I live away from home about 40 weeks or so per year. Our IT organization is going through a multi-year transformational activity so while very challenging this role has been exciting and more fun than work.

I also have started a new business promoting the Body by Vi 90-day challenge. This business has truly changed my thinking and outlook on life. I like to say it "transformed me from a selfish person to a self-less one" but it has done much more. On the 90-day challenges themselves I have lost 60 pounds and physically feel better than I have in years. As a promoter of the challenge and its products I have also helped about 75 people gain better health whether its weight loss, muscle gain, or just overall nutrition, and also have helped over a dozen people generate an income stream promoting the challenge as well. For me the greatest reward has been seeing both health and financial rewards by helping others. Truly amazing and something I've never experienced in my corporate jobs.

Looking forward to blog here more and share my life with all of you. Please subscribe to my blog posts with your google account or via email to the right of the posts here.

Thanks to all who read and comment and be blessed.

A new Macbook PRO for me!

I am soooo happy...got a new macbook pro 15"..and the fully-loaded one with all the video memory and processor you can stand.

It's WICKED fast...and I can run Windows 7 and MacOS in different windows and barely notice any performance issues at all.

I am ready to get back to school and to write my iPhone app now. More to come.

Am I actually blogging today

Well I am living the "Web 2.0" dream today (Twitter/HootSuite, LinkedIn, of course Facebook, Gdgt) and thought 'hey, why not a blog post too?'. I am really getting the hang of this work-from-home gig I think and the one thing I have learned is that without interruptions from office chatter and such, I can get so much more done (literally 4-fold) than I ever did which is leaving time for me to do other things. I decided this week I was going to start making constructive use of that time so I am literally scouring news, the web, etc to get some light to go off in my head as to what I want to do.

I know I really want to code an iPhone app but I do not have a Mac computer (my wifey does, but not me). I think I am going to have to break down and spend the cash and get one. I LOVE LOVE LOVE Apple but have been too stingy/cheap to spend the bucks to get the laptop with the speed and features that I want and even the lower-end models are wayy too expensive to "settle" on, so I am on a mission to obtain one over the next month or two.

I also think I am very interested in getting involved with the local IT scene and what some of the small and medium biz IT shops are doing in Columbus. I have started making some friends around town in that area and since I have spent the last 10 years or so in large enterprise its something I am passionate about getting more involved in.

I also am studying for my ITIL v3 Managers Bridge course and exam coming up in October. One of those qualifications that I have to keep up given my job is being an ITIL expert for my company.

OK enough for now, check out my new Gdgt widget I posted on here (going to try to get it in the sidebar going forward.

gdgt gadget list widget

I am loving me some windows 7

Some say that windows 7 is just windows vista dressed up, but that's not quite right. Although the code base is basically the same, saying Windows 7 is a dressed up vista would be like saying that Windows XP is a dressed up Windows 2000 Workstation. If that's the case and Windows XP is still highly used in the world today, then by all means, dress my vista up.

There are a few things I really like about the Windows 7 beta I am using on this desktop. First, the dock. It very much resembles the MacOS dock and keeps your open programs nice and neatly organized. Second is the desktop background changes. Again, much like the Mac, there is an option to slide show your desktop backgrounds without the use of a third party product. Third and most important in my book, is SPEED. Raw and utter speed. I have ran Windows XP Pro, Vista Ultimate, and Windows 7 Ultimate on this same machine over the last couple of months and Windows 7 Beta is blind fast, extremely responsive even with Aero graphics. This is a fast computer, but the video card is basically stock and where vista was very sluggish, Windows 7 is rockin.

This is coming from a die hard Unix/Linux fan, I am very impressed with how much improved the 'dressing' is on Windows 7. Hopefully Microsoft won't screw it up before it releases RTM.

School's out and its time to find me for a while

Well, I rewarded myself today for a job well done in school these last two semesters by taking the day off and pretty much not doing anything. That is RARE for me these days.

Its hard to shut down the brain for a day unless you distract it like playing video games or something, but I ran a couple of errands and such which helps.

Can't wait for the weather to get consistently warm...ready to get the bicycle out and ride.

I am soooo ready for school to be over (for summer time anyway)

Wow its been a while since I wrote anything on this silly blog. I have been bombarded with work and school stuff for the last couple of weeks. Lots of changes at work with all the layoffs and reorganization.

It is odd though that while most people picked up an extra "hat" during this last round of layoffs, I actually had my workload lightened up quite a bit. I am not sure if that is a good thing or a bad thing, but it has allowed me to get caught up on the work I have had on my desk over the last few months that has received no attention at all.

My class is about done too, and no more until fall (at least). I am ready for warm weather and the summer time without school.

Hopefully my summer won't be filled with lots of The Poopy Experiment

Crunch time all around

Wow, what a week!

Both of the teams I manage at work are in the midst of delivering major projects in the next couple of weeks. It is making work a 24 x 7 operation this month. On top of that, I just finished a class last week and started a new one this past week and the transition between classes means large final projects on top of initial reading assignments that are hundreds of pages.

I have been feeling overwhelmed, but I am getting through it. Now if I can just fight off this cold I'm getting.

Oh well, enough for now...have to start reading for the next week's activities....

Mad Money Widget

Class Dismissed

Boy I'm glad that I have finished my assignments for this class a day ahead of schedule. Work is so crazy that I literally had to take a vacation day to finish up the assignments. I have worked the last two weekends in a row and do NOT plan on working this weekend.

I have started reading my textbook for my next class starting on Monday. I only have 200 more pages of the 250-page first week's reading assignment...URGH!