75 Hard Experience

It’s the everyday things that change us.

“Watch your thoughts, they become your words;
watch your words, they become your actions;
watch your actions, they become your habits;
watch your habits, they become your character;
watch your character, it becomes your destiny.”
– Lao Tzu

For some reason, I remember the end of the quote as your habits become who you are.

I sit right now trying to make my habits into who I want to become. But it seems like that daily grind of doing something everything every day is what is getting me.

I want to be a motivational writer and podcaster. And this blog is my attempt at doing that. I am working to make myself better, and helping those around me become better, so they can make the ones around them become better, and if everyone becomes a better person, the world would be a better place.

Lately, I’ve let everything get in the way of this simple goal. I haven’t been writing or podcasting. I haven’t been working on myself as much as I should. And I haven’t been growing. Everything has a season, but I think we shouldn’t let a season go by without improving ourselves.

I just let a season go by without improving me and it sucks. I feel horribly behind at everything. At work I haven’t been doing the simple things to keep going. I’m a salesman, and I haven’t been prospecting, which means I haven’t been bringing in new business. I’ve just been working the business I have and now I’m behind.

At home, I haven’t been working on being a better husband and father and I think it is affecting my relationships with my family.

Physically I’ve been missing workouts and eating poorly so I haven’t been losing weight or improving my physical prowess like I want to.

It all comes back to the simple habit of trying to improve yourself every day.

For me, that is reading at least 10 pages a day out of a self-help or business book, listening to a book, and listening to podcasts that help me be better. (Andy Frisella’s Feal AF, the guy that came up with the 75 Hard Program that motivated me to start this site is a good one to listen to).

Over the last week, I’ve started reading again and listening to more podcasts. I’m hoping to motivate myself into getting better a little at a time. As I get better at me, I’ll get better at doing the grind, which includes this blog.

If you are still reading this blog, thanks. I hope it is helping you become better.

Ben Branam

The post The Grind... appeared first on 75 Hard Experience.

The Slow Carb Diet has been working for me!

My Reason for Using the Diet

I’ve been fat my entire life... almost.

Throughout school, Middle, and High School, I was fat. I liked sports when I was younger but it never stuck. I just gave them all up as I got older.

During my senior year of High School I took a weight lifting class that changed my life. I discovered that I liked the gym. And became a gym rat for the next couple of years.

That was the first time I lost weight. That catapulted me into wanting to be a police officer (coolest job in the world) and to do that I become a United States Marine.

But Marines are in shape. I had to lose a bunch more weight to be excepted in the Corps. My diet at the time, stop eating, and run with a trash bag on.

It worked. I lost another 20 pounds and was excepted into Boot Camp.

During Boot Camp, I was forced to eat what there was, and there was no seconds. I lost another 30 pounds in three months.

Then I started putting it all back on. Slowly. Only a couple pounds per year. In 2003 I was a Marine in the invasion of Iraq. There was no food to eat for a long time, and I lost weight again.

I got back to the “real world” and was hailed a hero. And friends take their hero fiends out to nice dinners and BBQ. I ate a ton and put on all the weight I’d lost plus more.

Then over the last ten years, I’ve been putting on a couple of pounds per month until I hit 355 pounds. I didn’t know what to do.

Then I heard this 75 Hard Challenge from Andy Frisella at the MFCEO Project and wanted to try it.

I was motived to try something new.

Something Different!

Something that might actually work!

Part of the challenge is to be on a perfect diet for 75 days. I’d read about the slow carb diet years ago in Tim Farris’s Book, The 4-Hour Body, and decided to try it.

The Slow Carb Diet

The Slow Carb Diet is a simple program that doesn’t count calories, measure dishes, or weigh food. Simple. Simple I could do.

All of it was great for me because I was traveling a lot for work at the time and needed something I could do on the road, eating out with clients and coworkers, and something that I didn’t have to explain in detail to anyone.

The Slow Carb Diet has 5 simple rules to follow:

Rule 1 – Avoid “White” Carbs

Anything that is colored white and is a carbohydrate is out. This includes all bread, grains, processed carbs, sugar, and white potatoes. Anything that has flour or sugar is out along with white rice.

Anything that spikes your blood glucose levels is out. And this is the real secret behind the diet.

The easiest way to look at this is anything white in color is probably out. Cauliflower is probably the exception (I don’t like it, but it makes a nice rice substitute for any dish that would have rice as the base).

Rule 2 – Eat the Same Meals Every Day

Pick your default means and just eat those. This isn’t a grand quiescence you will eat to enjoy. Save that for time with special people in your life and for your cheat day.

Pick a couple of meals for breakfast, lunch, and dinner and just repeat over and over again.

You aren’t eating to enjoy these meals. You are eating to fuel your body, mind, and soul. Don’t fuel the growth of your gut.

Rule 3 – Don’t Drink Calories

Nothing... period... almost.

Drink water. Clear, pure, good. It’s what your body craves and wants. Your body will actually filter all that other crap you drink to get to the water to fuel your life.

A diet soda per day doesn’t seem to affect your weight loss, but, if you can do without it, do without it.

Red wine is supposed to be okay too. I don’t really drink so this wasn’t an issue for me. And part of the 75 Hard Challenge is no alcohol. So I haven’t tested alcohol or no alcohol.

Drinking calories is one of the most calorie dense thing we do.

Orange Juice Vs and Orange (from Healthline.com)

8 oz Glass Orange Juice1 OrangeCalories11260Total Fat0.5g0.1gCholesterol00Sodium00Carbs (SUGER)27g11.8gFiber0.5g 2.4gProtein2g0.9g

So stop drinking your calories! Learn to drink water.

Rule 4 – No Fruit

Fruit does the same thing as white carbs and spikes your blood glucose levels. Plus fruit is dense in calories and good stuff.

I know fruit is suppose to be part of a “balanced” diet. But how’s that working for you? How’s that working for Americans?

Obesity isn’t a national health problem yet, but it probably should be, and will be soon if you don’t do something about it!

Start by not eating fruit!

Rule 5 – Take One Day Off per Week

This is my cheat day! And I love it. I ...

Hope for the future maybe all we have this year.

As 2020 wraps up is there hope for the future? I have hope. Lots of it!

I’m trying to make 2021 my best year ever. I thought 2020 was going to be one of the best years ever but turned into a building year for me. New job, new career, new industry, a complete and utter change. And I like it.

Hope is a great gift. Hope deferred makes the heart sick. It’s hard to get anywhere without hope for the future. How’s your hope? Do you have any?

2020 has kicked all of us in the ass. And the complete truth is we won’t know how badly it screwed us, our country, and the world’s economy for years. We have to have hope the future will be better. Can you imagine living like we have this year for the rest of your life? Me neither.

I’m moving forward with hope. I’m starting a 75 Hard challenge today. I’m making my life better one way or another. I know that I can make myself better no matter what happens in the world. And no matter what happens in the world I will make my situation better.

I have hope in myself and the people around me, my family, and my friends. Whoever becomes president of the United States won’t make a giant difference in my life. Honestly, if my hobby wasn’t shooting and self-defense firearms I wouldn’t even bother voting... it makes that little difference in my life. Because I will win in life no matter who becomes president.

You need the same attitude. You get an attitude of winning with hope in yourself that grows into hope for the future. Hope is simply a belief that things will get better. If things will only get worst in life, why are we living?

You can find your hope anywhere. Look at the people that love you, do they need you? Do you provide anything for them? If not... why not! Give them something of value. Everyone is worth something. Find that something in you and give it to those around you and you will find your hope for the future.

If you don’t know what that “something” is you have; try a bunch of things until you find something you like, are good at, and can give away. Now get out there and get after it.

Like everything else in life finding hope for the future takes action. You have to do something. Hope will not find you sitting in your room hiding from the world. Get out there and do something. Go for a walk, meet some people, call someone, do some work for your job. With a little work, you will find your hope for the future.

Now go get something done!

Ben Branam

The post Hope for the Future: Day 1 of 75 Hard appeared first on 75 Hard Experience.

Now begins my season of work!

For everything there is a season.

There is a season to plant, there is a season to harvest. There is a season to rest and there is a season of work.

I had my season of rest while I was unemployed. Now I have two jobs and it is a season of work.

I’m not complaining, but my next day off is Thanksgiving! Two months straight. I’ve done worse. I’ll be okay.

Be careful of what you wish for. Now I’m in a season of work.

I finally found a “real” job that pays really well and wants me to work for it. I already agreed to help a friend on the weekends until the end of the year. I keep my word. So work is what I’m doing.

I work Monday through Friday at the real job and then on weekends to help my friend. The money is good, I just have to work for it.

I don’t mind the work. In fact I welcome the work. To be productive again.

What does the word “work” mean to you?

My kid thinks it’s a four-letter word and shouldn’t be used in polite company. He hates it when I talk about work.

Some people see work as that thing people were cursed by God in the Garden of Eden so long ago.

My wife is nutural about the word.

Me, I welcome the word. I welcome a chance to do something productive for pay. I enjoy it.

Do you look forward to work, or look to it as a “have to.”

Changing your mindset is easy. Say I got to work instead of I have to work. And find a job that you say I get to go to.

Right now I get to go to a real job, I sell car wash equipment for AutoBrite in San Antonio and am loving it! I also sell firearms on the side for Sparks Firearms on the weekends at shows. Both are great jobs and I love selling stuff to people.

I get to learn what people want and need and help them get it. I guess I have a personality for sales and have found my true profession late in life. I just didn’t want to be a widget salesman like so many I’ve met. I found products that I have a passion for and love learning about and talking about.

I get to work.

How about you? Do you get to work, or do you have to work?

Ben Branam

The post Season of Work appeared first on 75 Hard Experience.

75 Hard is Done!!!! We are the Champions! We Finished it... what's next.

The post Day 75 of 75 Hard Round 3 appeared first on 75 Hard Challenge.