This past weekend we went out to the family farm and helped out for a bit. Here are a couple videos from that day.

And another:

And Christian tried his hand at mowing too! (Click the picture to see the full size image)

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So I’m sure you’ve all heard the saying when life gives you lemons, make lemonade…well by now I would have several truck loads full of lemonade sitting around.
Five weeks after my back injury I am back at it with no ill affects. I haven’t jumped back into my workout routine yet, but I will soon. I want to try to get back on track with my weight loss. On the good side of things, I’ve dropped another pound and am now down to 216. Only 36 more pounds to go. For you math people out there, I’m half way to my goal from my starting point.

The economy sucks! Nuff said. Financial issues have been the name of the game in our household lately and needless to say that causes a lot of stress. Hopefully my improved eating habits and workout routine will help dampen the negative effects stress can give a person.

We’re making some difficult decisions about our future the next few weeks. I won’t go into detail here in this public arena, but for those of you that know us, you are well aware of what I’m talking about. The sad part is we know things are going to get worse before they start getting better….just try explaining that one to your kids!

On a final ‘HAPPY’ note, Chiristian was selected to play in a regional football tournament this fall. We’re very excited that he gets this opportunity to face teams from Iowa, Wisconsin, Illinois, Kansas, Minnesota, and Nebraska. It should be a fun time for all.

Otherwise we are nearing transition mode again as football season winds down. This year it’ll be a bit different for us as Alex is going to take a swing at wrestling this year. The coaches think he’ll do good, so we’re hoping he will have fun with that. So it’s Basketball, Wrestling, Dance, and Gymnastics on our plate for activities through the winter. Hopefully that’ll keep the spirits up.

Take care and thanks for checking in.

-J

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Well about three and a half weeks ago I did something to my back. My Chiropractor thinks years on inactivity and poor posture in the workplace put my back out of whack. Increasing my activity (I started my workout routine shortly before this happened) irritated the issue and now here I am.
6 visits into a 7 session schedule with my chiropractor and he thinks I’m about 50% there. My right side feels great, but my left lower back is still not happy. Go figure that is the side I used to always lean on at my desk.
So.. When life throws you lemons you’re supposed to make lemonade right? I’m trying to use this time to fix my poor posture…talk about a huge challenge!! I’m also happy to say I’ve been able to maintain my weight, right around 30 lbs below my start weight these past two and a half weeks.

So I may need to adjust my goal date out a bit, but I’m holding true to my diet and so far its working…and suprisingly people are starting to notice.

What is funny is that I only had worked out for about two weeks when this happened…since then I have been craving to get back to my workouts, which if you know me seems like a miracle in and of itself. Needless to say, the pounds will once again be falling off once this lower back things gets resolved!

Jason

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I’ve had a lot of people ask me what I’ve been doing to loose weight.  So here it is, my two step plan:

1. Change my eating habits!  By doing this alone I’ve lost almost 30 pounds.
   1. For example here is my typical daily diet:
      • Breakfast – Nature’s Valley Granola Bar(s) and Full Glass of 1% Milk
      • Lunch – Any of the vast selection of Lean Cuisine meals and a can of Coke Zero
      • Dinner – Properly portioned meal. (Chicken Breast, Hamburger, Pasta, etc.)
      • Throughout the day a minimum of 2 Liters of water with a goal of 3
2. Starting this past week I’ve developed a rotating every other day exercise routine of the following:
   1. BowFlex every other day
      • 20 Minute Ultimate Body Workout minus the leg curls and extension exercises.  I do a total of 3 sets of 12 reps for every exercise
   2. Treadmill opposite days of BowFlex
      • 25 Minute workout consisting of the 20 minute Pulse driven workout with an additional 3-5 minutes of cool down walks.
        • This routine will get you to your maximum heart rate for a period of time for top cardio and fat burning work.  For me it’s around 175bpm.

So there you have it.  My secret.  Not much at all but it has brought me down almost 30 pounds so far and I’m hoping with the addition of the exercise routine I’ll drop another 30 or so pounds.  My goal is to get at or near 180.  For my height according to the BMI index, 174 is the top of the ‘normal’ range.  If I can hit that that’ll be awesome, but I’m happy with whatever loss I can manage.

I’ve also started a few multi-vitamins and some other supplements as well

• GNC’s Mega Men Multi-Vitamin.  These are taken as two capsules once daily
• GNC’s Ultra Fish Oil (1200mg).  I take one of these a day.
• I’m looking to add a third item that is supposed to help with skin elasticity.  One of my concerns is that if I drop too much weight too quickly I’ll have flabby skin.  Hopefully between the workouts, slowing down my weight loss (I dropped almost 20 lbs the first month), and this supplement I can keep my skin from getting flabby.

So there you have it.  The longest post on my blog in its history and the details of my dieting secret, er..former secret!

Ah…Also got one of these at work too.  Bye Bye curve and hello Storm!

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Well after almost two months of weightloss I’ve slipped a bit the past week and a half bouncing up about a pound and a half. So we’re going to work at it a bit harder to try and catch up. So far I’m still ahead of schedule to get down to 180 by the end of the year. Hopefully actually ‘working out’ every day with a rotation of the treadmill and the bowflex will assist even further with my weight loss.

In other news the boys are at full speed with football. Alex had his first scrimmage in the 9th grade Saturday morning and Christian unfortunately lost his first game 2-0 Saturday afternoon.

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Well another MBA class has finished and now I get to enjoy the entire month of August with NO homework! I never thought I’d enjoy it as much as I am so far, but it is so nice not to have that class assignment hanging over my head every week.

As such this marks the half way point in the number of classes required to get my MBA. Granted I won’t be done until November of next year, but it is a milestone nonetheless.

Other exciting news is that I’m now down about 23 pounds since I started my lifestyle change a little over a month ago.

Also, Christian has started football: Lakeville Football Assoc. His game schedule will be posted in a few weeks.

Alex also is ramping up for his freshmen year at HS and had football camp last week.

Otherwise I’m playing with my new toy

Sometimes it is fun to be the IT Manager! We just got a few of these in as upgrades. It’s nice to have all the keyboard buttons compared to my older 8100.

Have a great week!

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Well three weeks into my new regimine and I’m down 16 lbs! Christian has shed about 2 so far as well. Hopefully they will keep coming off. We’re adding a workout routine to our lifestyle change and will be rotating between a cardio and weight training.

This friday the Lohrenz boys (Me, Christian, my dad & brother) will be golfing at the Trinity Annual Golf Classic in Elko, MN. It should be a fun day with festivities starting at 10am and finishing off with dinner and prizes at 7:30pm! Hopefully the weather will cooperate.

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After dealing with weight issues for the past several years (thank you desk job) I’ve decided enough is enough.  I’m not a spring chicken anymore and if I don’t do something now I’m just asking for issues when I get older.

So, what better way to spend Father’s day than to work on cleaning up the basement and getting the BowFlex and Treadmill setup and ready to rock?  It is amazing how much gunk and dead critters can build up on stuff that hasn’t been used in years and sits in a basement.  Well dirty no more both items are ready to rock.

Christian, my 10 year old also wants to get in shape for basketball and football this fall, so he’s going to be doing a mini workout with me.  Together we hope to fight evil and beat the fat!

We will post updates here as we move forward through our venture.  Hopefully this summer will be a great success for both of us in relation to our health, our diet, and our energy!

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So I started my MBA at Bethel University last fall and now I’m almost half way through the program.  Needless to say it has been an interesting process to say the least.  Like most people involved in MBA programs these day’s I’m hoping it’ll give me that extra credibility necessary to be successful in today’s business world.  What I’ve found fascinating, especially since my wife is currently also in an MBA program at a different school is how people get stuck on ‘buzz words’ and terminology that will really only make sense to those that go through that specific program.

What I’m hoping to do is to draw out and take these ‘buzz words’ and get them into a format that anyone would understand.  So far it’s going well, but it sure puts and interesting perspective on MBA programs in general.  Are they training us to be the next executives, or are they training us to be advocates of the program?  I think there is a fine line somewhere in there and I hope to find it before I’m done with the program in another year and a half.

Anyway, ta for now…back to writing my environmental awareness for business paper (fun fun).

- J

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Well after a long and lengthy departure from messing with this site I figured I’d take another stab at it.

I recently updated my main PC to Vista Ultimate and with that came this series of apps called Windows Live Apps. Leary of MS related software I read up about them and found this little gem called Windows Live Writer.  It can be configured to connect to your blogs and send updates to them remotely.  Pretty cool! (I’m using it for this posting by the way)

Life as usual in the Lohrenz household has been hectic, crazy, busy, and any other synonym that fits in that category.

And in conclusion, I leave you with a photo of my mentor:

   Have a great weekend and enjoy the spring showers!

- Jason

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