No Pain, No Gain

Slowly but surely

2010-04-12T22:16:00.001-07:00

So, I get a phone call from Phong saying, "good news and bad news. Bad news you're not in town. Good news, Ray's Franks will be aired on t.v. tonight, channel 39!"

Me, "STFU, stop playing with me cause I'll kick your ass when I get home!"

http://www.39online.com/news/local/kiah-king-kong-story,0,429033.story

Slowly but surely, we're moving up!

How do I feel? Great! Excited! Happy! At the same time, sad, because I'm enjoying this moment alone in my hotel room, 450 miles away in Odessa. Oh well, I will be back in Houston tomorrow.

So, thank you to my family, friends, supporters and customers!

Who would have thought..

2010-03-09T22:19:00.000-08:00

So, if you go back to my first post, "Corporate America vs. Entreprenuership," you see my comtemplation between working for The Man or being The Man. Who would have thought, it came sooner than later.

Right now, it's more or less, doing both. Juggling between the two has been overwhelming, tiring and by the end of the day, I'm drained. Eventually it will be just one and not the other once all is well.

Ray's Franks n More, owned by Hung Burgers and More Inc. Believe it y'all. There's no looking back now.

1302 Nance Street
Houston, TX 77002

Keto

2009-09-23T09:16:00.001-07:00

So it begins. 3 weeks (or try to) of being on the Keto Diet.

Breakfast

5 eggs. Occasionally add some turkey bacon to keep myself sane.

Mid-morning

50g+ of protein shake and 1 tbsp of natural peanut butter.

Lunch

8 oz Chicken or tuna w/ 1/2 cup of almonds, cashew, or walnuts.

Mid-afternoon

50g+ of protein shake and 1 tbsp of natural peanut butter.

Dinner

8 oz Beef or salmon w/ green salad and 1 tbsp of olive oil.

Late night

50g+ of protein shake and 1 tbsp of natural peanut butter.

This doesn't include my before/after workout shakes.

Lemonade Diet: Jump start, short term, to get rid of this silly fat. Exercise consisted of nothing but cardio.

Keto: Real deal, short term, "tone up". Exercise consist of all the cardio from the Lemonade Diet but with the addition of weight training.

Y'all probably think I'm crazy for doing all these diets. Just wait and see...

Crunch Time

2009-09-22T08:52:00.000-07:00

23 days. 8-15 lbs to go. 180's here I come! Believe it!

67 days til the big day. Crazy!

Reward and Relax

2009-09-17T07:03:00.000-07:00

Goodbye Lemonade, Hello FOOD!

Strawberry, Pineapple, Cantaloupe

So this week has been good. Tuesday: 2400 yards of HIIT. Wednesday: 23 miles @ G.B. Park. Today: Basketball for at least 1.5 hours. My reward: sandwich, salad, protein, or fruits. This probably does not sound to pleasing to most, but hell, after drinking lemonade for a few weeks, nothing taste better.

Yesterday's bike ride was pretty tough. It has been a few months since I been back on the saddle but I realized how enjoyable it is. People used to ask me, "so what do you think about during the 20, 30, 40... 70 mile rides?"

20% of the time, it is usually, "I wonder what's for dinner", "Do I feel hydrated or dehydrated, hydrated or dehydrated", "I hope the guy in front of me doesn't let one loose", "I wonder what everyone is doing right now", "I hope I don't get chased by any dogs". My thoughts are so random, you'd think I was crazy if you were inside my head.

But in all honestly, 80% of the time, my mind is free. Not to sound all cheesy or anything, but it's the truth. This is probably the only time I am most relaxed. I'm sure other bike riders can relate.

So everyone, get on a bike (or buy one first, preferably a road bike), go for a ride, and find out for yourself. Give me a call if you need a riding partner. Good stuff I tell ya!

Milestone

2009-09-10T23:32:00.000-07:00

So how do you think my week's agenda has gone so far? Lets go over them.

This weeks agenda:

30+ miles of biking. BAD WEATHER
2200 yards of HIIT. DONE
See 199 and under on the scale. DONE

For the biking, I still have Saturday left if weather permits.

For the HIIT training... eventhough I did not do it to the max, 2200 yards period is alot.

So now to the 199 lbs. Ready for pictures, proof? I'm sure everyone will see the pictures before they read this anyways. I have to tell you, this lemonade cleansing/diet sucked big hairy balls, but it was worth the quick results. Now to convert over to a "real" diet. Keto maybe? Who knows, but I have to shed 4+ lbs in a little over 2 weeks for wedding pictures. I'm so close now, it's game on baby!

216.2 lbs

199.1 lbs

Proof!

Goodnight World.

Going for Gold

2009-09-08T06:37:00.000-07:00

So after being on this short term diet/cleansing, I read about this....

MASON, Ohio — A Philadelphia eating champion has held on to his crown in a Cincinnati-style chili-on-spaghetti contest by downing 13 pounds, 9 ounces of the stuff in 10 minutes.
Bob Shoudt says he prepared for Monday's competition at Kings Island amusement park near Cincinnati by fasting from solid foods, beginning Saturday evening.
After winning his $2,500 cash prize, Shoudt said he was off to ride a few roller coasters with his son. He also declared that Cincinnati chili "tastes great."
More than 400 people watched the gorging by Shoudt and his opponents, including a woman named Sonya Thomas who put away more than 11 pounds of chili spaghetti, more than 10 percent of her body weight.

I love spaghetti, but scarfing down 13+ lbs?!? If I was to do that now, my stomach will literally explode.

Here are my goals for the next few weeks:

3 weeks until wedding pictures. Goal weight: 195 lbs give and take.
6 weeks until Las Vegas: Goal weight: 190 lbs.
12 weeks until Wedding: Goal weight: 180-185 lbs.

Binh has been helping me out with my weight loss. He told me about the Lemonade diet/cleansing. I told him I'll be a guinea pig and do it, log it, and take beginning and ending pictures (will post sometime this week). Done and a success. This is going to help me transition into a normal diet big time!

He also introduce me to this crazy HIIT program. I can probably run a good 1-1/2 hour of basketball thanks to his workout.

This weeks agenda:

See 199 and under on the scale. New Orleans gave me a minor set back but nothing that I cannot recoup from.
2200 yards of HIIT.
30+ miles of biking. Now that Trung is home, I have someone to go riding with.

Everything is so close yet so far.

Corporate America vs. Entreprenuership

2009-08-17T14:30:00.000-07:00

Yes, I am a late bloomer to the world of new form blogging and internet social societies. The last social website I was a part of was MySpace and that was to look at pictures. For blogging, was Xanga and that was back in high school.

I guess the new things are Blogger, FaceBook and Twitter. 2 out of 3 I created so I can view pictures and videos. Maybe I'll make use of this one. Whatever... away with the past, on with the new, and back to the subject.

So, I have been contemplating on what to do next year as far as career goes. Right now I am sitting pretty, working for an Oil & Gas company, slowing moving up the corporate ladder. Laid back, work 7 to 4 (regularly, but not as of late, 7 to 7ish), taking advantage or all training and schooling the company provides, decent salary, insurance, 401K and all the other great perks of working for "The Man." Why leave right?

On the other hand, why not start your own business and work for yourself. Look at the big picture optimistically; your business does great, blossoms immediately and you are making, let’s just say, twice to three times your salary. Worth it, but if it was that easy, everyone would do it, right?

Why the sudden change?

In the past three years, I have worked for five different companies, and each move has been for the better (of course). Right now I am at the bottom of the totem pole at my company. There is tremendous room to grow and I can probably spend the next 20-25 years here if everything goes right. This would be the perfect situation for someone who wants to settle and become that loyal employee.

I am not content with that.

So where do I go from here?

That is what I have been contemplating on. For some of those who do not know, my dream is to open a hamburger joint. Well hitting the lottery would be a dream, but what’s the odd of that? So not necessarily a dream, but something I really want to do and I know I would enjoy doing. Are my hamburgers even good enough for me to market and start a business with? To me, yes and that is a risk I am willing to take and find out. (Two keys to being successful: ambition and confidence.)

Right now, I am slowly marketing my burger just to get feedbacks. I ask them two questions; "How do you like it?" and "Would you pay to eat this?" So far, everyone who has tried it has really enjoyed it. But sometimes I feel that people avoid telling the truth so they do not hurt my feelings. Honestly, I need the negative feedbacks in order to proceed forward. Let me just get 50-100 feedbacks from random people and go from there.

Given that they are tellind the truth, the feedbacks I am getting are very good. Here is a few: "Damn where you buy this from?", "Let me know when you open up your place", "I'd drive for a good burger", etc.

The only negative is the size, but that is an easy fix. I can go into details on how far I have looked into building my franchise, pros and cons, but that can wait for another day.

The hold backs: wedding, ecnomy & money, and my soon to be wife’s fear of the risk.

Wedding. Right around the corner, but I do not plan on proceeding with this until next year, so this hold back is obsolete.

Ecnomy & Money. The way the economy is now, it is almost impossible to get a business loan. Unless things take a turn for the better next year, I would have to save and/or borrow. I actually have a few interested investor friends. Also, with the wedding coming up, which is a big chunk of change out of the pocket and we do not know whether we will be profiting, breaking even, or taking a lost. Whatever happens happens. You are also probably thinking I am crazy wanting to pursue a business when I have a stable job during this tough time. To you, it is tough times, to me, opportunity. Crazy, I know.

Significant Other. The fear of failure, which is normal. Nine out of ten times, it is the women in the relationship who tends to tell the man to think realistically and think what is best for the family. To her, why change our situation if everything is good the way they are? To me, why not take the risk and hope for the best? Why go through life asking the question ‘what if…’

There is also the subject getting a new house and starting a family. With the start of a new business, getting a house is definitely out of the question, unless, as I stated earlier, your business just booms. I told her that I do not mind staying home for the first year or two in order to do this, so we are good on that. With starting a new family, this subject can be a blog of its’ own, so let’s just skip it for now.

So, why now?

Five years ago, I was not making burgers because if I was, I would not be writing about it now. With all the feedbacks I have been getting as of late, it just makes me want to go after it.

So, why not now?

I figured, I am 25, take the risk now. Everyone knows the two outcomes: success or failure. You already know what success can lead to. With failure, it will give me time to recoup and go back to what I was doing, but I get the satisfaction of knowing I tried.

A good friend once told me that we are the few who have the capabilities of being successful. One step at a time…

Looking forward to 2010!

Alright, too much rambling, back to work.