Bear Lair

Where I've Been...

2011-05-22T12:45:00.000-04:00

I know I haven't updated this in a long while, so here it goes.

I have still been losing weight and trying to stay on track, I have hit a plateau and have been at the same weight, 390ish, for quite some time. I've still been drinking the gallon of water a day, and I have bought myself a decent weight set and I use those every now and then, and I still park far away at places. I think I am at the point where my "water weight" is gone and I have to start working much harder to lose the actual fat, but our pool opens soon and I plan on being there any time I am not at work, so that should help a lot!!!

Speaking of work, I have gotten two new jobs since the last time I posted. They are both part time but I enjoy both, most the time :) I work at Subway as a sandwich artist, well I tend to do a lot of dishes when I work but that's my title. It is fun and challenging at times but I like it, I say most of the time because like any other place you get the "Ummm... Oh wait no... Let my 5 year old order..." people :) I also work at Michiana Used Music & Media, I worked there a while back and ended up leaving and the next day BuyCo hired me. Stuff ended up just not working with BuyCo and when the owner of Michiana Used contacted me I made the tough choice to leave BuyCo and my older brother Mike, who also works at BuyCo, to join Michiana Used. I think it was the best choice for me, we are busier here and I am getting taxes taken out so it won't slam me at the end of the year this time!

I started Vlogging daily and post those on youtube... My Channel... For those that don't know what Vlogging is or stands for, it is Video Logging, I take clips of myself doing whatever it is that day and make a Vlog of it and upload to youtube. I have done one everyday for 78 days so far, I plan on doing it for at least 1 year, my only setback is I tend to upload at sporadic times, I need to have a set time that I do them.

I have also started another endeavor called "Tom's Turkey Tuesdays" I just decided one day that I could help people and wanted to see how little it would take to feed 10 people in need. I went to the store and bought a loaf of bread, a package of turkey, sliced cheese, pretzels, some mini twizzlers, a ten pack of water, and lunch and sandwich bags for $13.97. Then I made up the lunches and my Mom and I headed out on Tuesday morning to hand deliver them. It went great and inspired people to help out, my older brother made a website devoted to it and his goal of making everyone self sustaining and we named it Change Michiana. We have done Turkey Tuesdays for 10 consecutive weeks now, I Vlog the people's faces and "God Bless You's" every week and put those videos on my youtube channel as well. The first 3 weeks my older brother and I took turns buying the supplies for the lunches but since then we have not spent a penny out of our pocket. Thanks to friends, family, friends of friends and family donating us with money or supplies we are set for a little while now!!! This past week we gave out 24 lunches in 12 minutes, the need is great and we feel like we are doing a lot but could do so much more! I'll attach that video so you can see the responses of the people we give to:

But that's what I have been up to the last couple of months, so I've been doing a lot, staying busy and trying to stay weight conscience. Oh I also started playing Minecraft with my older brother and Mom and I got our fishing license and have been going fishing when we make time for it! Mom caught 2 small fish last night, I have yet to catch anything but it will happen :) I'll also try to update here more and let everyone know what's going on in my life!!!

What are you doing?

2011-01-25T18:02:00.001-05:00

That is the question I get asked the most whenever I tell anyone I was 106 pounds heavier (yes I am down to 394lbs now!) on March 28th. I don't like when people reference their diets as life changes but it is exactly what I have done, it's not a 1 week thing it is a life thing. It took me a long time to want to change, I was looking at pictures of myself at work on March 28th, 2010 and just started crying, I was killing myself and I had to change... I'm no weight loss guru and don't have all or maybe any of the right answers, but I'd like to share what I changed in me and what is working for me.

First and foremost I completely cut out pop from my life, no diet, no caffeine free, just NO pop. It is insane the amount of calories, sugar, and sodium alone that is in 1 can of pop. I was drinking at least 2 liters of Mt. Dew a day at work, then usually going home and having a few cans throughout the night. I now drink water, at least 3 liters a day and usually more then that. My older brother bought me an Ice Mountain (I am picky and only like Spring Water, and Ice Mountain is my water of choice) 3 liter jug. I fill that up everyday and make it my goal to have to fill it back up and put it back in my fridge every night. Here's a pic so you can get an idea of how much water that is (there is also a paint drawing of my fridge, will take a real picture when I get home :)...

I have also cut out bad fast food, I don't go to McDonalds, Burger King, Taco Bell, etc. when I go grab something for lunch I head to Fazoli's and grab a salad and 2 breadsticks, or Subway for a footlong. You have to be smart where ever you go though, there are some very unhealthy choices even at Subway. I go for the oven roasted chicken breast on Honey Oat, provolone cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers, and ranch dressing. I also try to stay away from snacking late and if I do I grab fruit or a yogurt 99% of the time. Now don't get me wrong I crave things like anyone else, pizza, wings, Asian, and I allow myself to have those things. I just make sure that I don't allow myself to have those things more than once a week, if I "cheat" on a Monday then the rest of the week I make sure I eat right. Most places have a grilled, broiled, non fat coated and fried option even if it is not listed on their menu, just ask, if not then have a salad. I also try to stay away from chips, fries, hashbrowns go for fruit cups, applesauce, cottage cheese, side salad most restaurants have a number of options and if you can't substitute then just don't eat it!

I also exercise, I bought a $20 dumbbell set from Wal Mart it's easier to wake up and grab your weights and do even a 5 - 10 minute set before you jump in the shower, then waking up an hour early and heading to the gym. Just find something that will work for you, kick boxing on dvd, palates before bed, yoga in the morning whatever you feel comfortable doing. I also try to park further away at stores, restaurants, gatherings, that little extra walk from your car to where ever you're going will make all the difference if you do it enough, you also don't ever have to fight for parking spots :)

My best advice to give anyone trying to lose 300 pounds or 10 pounds is make it easy on yourself, if losing weight is a chore you're not going to do it. Fill your fridge with water not pop and high sugar juices, get rid of your chips, cookies, fatty foods, and fill your cabinets with fruits, vegetables, yogurt, apple sauce, rice cakes (there are some really good ones out there), pringles are even a better option then chips if you can't totally give up on the salty snack. Do some quick research at your grocery store, grab a bag of your favorite chips and look at the label, fat, sodium, carbs, sugars, then grab a bag of say chex mix that you might like, is it better? Then that's a start! I went cold turkey and just stopped eating and drinking this stuff and maybe you have the same willpower but if you don't then that is ok, do it in gradual steps, cutting back will net you weight loss as well, just don't cut out pop and then still eat a bag of chips you're not helping yourself at all.

Some other great advice I can give that really has nothing to do with exercise or food, is to share what you are doing. You will be surprised at how many people really care about you and will try to help uplift you. It doesn't have to be a blog with half naked pictures of yourself on the internet either :) Tell your close family, your co-workers, your gaming friends, even waiters/waitresses that ask how your day was... "Great! I've lost 10 pounds this month!!!" It makes you feel great about what you are doing and a lot of times people will ask you for help. It also keeps you accountable, it's always good to have someone there that will give you that little push if you start to slip or just need someone to talk to.

Well that's my strategy/advice for what I have done in a nut shell, I am always here if anyone wants to talk, I can always use more accountability friends and seeing someone else go through the weight loss transformation with me would be cool :)

398.8

2010-12-04T02:28:00.000-05:00

I know I haven't updated everyone in a very long time (96 days to be exact) but I felt that updating every week or every month was somewhat pointless. I set a goal for myself to be under 400 pounds by Christmas of this year and decided not to post anything until I reached that goal. Well I weighed in about 20 minutes ago and this was the result...

I also wanted to update everyone with the front and side view pics I have been uploading so here they are as well...

I was sitting at 405 before Thanksgiving and tried hard to still enjoy pigging out but keep it under control :) I ended up gaining 3 pounds but have worked hard since then to get the weight off. I started going back to the gym, I have been slacking on that, and really watching what I eat again, hard to get back into that trend after Turkey Day :) Thanks again for all the support from family, friends, friends of family/friends!!! It really means a lot and seeing the response I get from everyone really makes staying on track an easy thing to do! I love you all... 350 Here I come!!!! :)

Diet Food?

2010-09-13T10:22:00.000-04:00

I'm getting ready to go camping with the family for a few days, yes real camping, in a tent! So we are having a lot of the usual camping food, burgers, hot dogs, tater salad, s'mores, etc. I've had an itch to make something I made about, 2 years ago? now, so my Mom suggested it for camping...

Pulled Pork!!! I cooked it low and slow for 9 hours (225) then turned up the heat (325) and slathered in Sweet Baby Ray's for another 30 mins, Pulled it to strips and added more seasoning and BBQ Sauce and cooked for another 25 mins. Finished it off with another quick squirt of BBQ sauce (the bottom picture was taken right after). It is really, really good (Had to taste test of course). And yeah this in no way would go under "Things to eat to lose weight" :)

Day 151 Now with scales!

2010-08-29T02:20:00.000-04:00

Yes I finally am posting pictures and now with a scale update. I have still been doing the usual, eating healthy, absolutely no pop, drinking a LOT of water (more than usual this week actually), and trying to exercise whenever I can (they closed the pool this week though to drain it due to algae, so Fatty and I didn't get to go on Thursday, we did throw the baseball around for a little while though).

So here are the pictures:

Day 1/151:

Day 15/151 side:

My Dad (Thanks again) bought me a scale last Sunday, I tried it out in the store and it read 427.4! a loss of 72.6lbs (also tried again later at home and it read the same thing)!!! But that's not the best part about it, I weighed myself countless times in the last 15 minutes because I did not believe the scale but this is what it read numerous times (or within .1 lb difference):

So if it's true that the "scales don't lie" I am now down to 419.6!!! I have lost a total of 81.4lbs in 151 days!!! The numbers on the bottom are what my daily calorie intake should be, umm but screw that I eat less, I'm not going to lose weight eating almost 5k calories a day.

Thanks again for the support and the amount of people behind me, Oh I also got a new shirt 4XLT! and a new pair of shorts size 50 waist!!!

This blog is in not an ad campaign for the exclamation mark! :P

Workout Videos?

2010-08-06T17:39:00.000-04:00

I finally got to the gym last week!!! I only made it there 3 days but it was good and I plan on getting back again this week for more sweating :) My workout consists of 15 minutes on the elliptical, which usually hurts my knees but I figured out if you actually do a walking motion as your foot comes up it takes a lot of stress off your knees. Than I do about 15 minutes on our weight machine, I can get in 2 sets of each of the workouts I do in. Then I go to the pool and swim 25 laps, do a couple leg workouts (water aerobic stuff) then finish up with 25 more laps.

So what do workout videos have to do with any of this you may be asking, well nothing... I recorded day 1 & 2 at the gym and plan to keep making these videos, most likely once I get a new camera though. But here are day 1 & 2...

Day 1:

Day 2:

I still don't have a scale yet but my Dad and I found a couple that are in my weight range from $70-$90 so I may be getting one soon. Once I do I'll start weighing in each week on Sundays and letting you guys know where I'm at, followed with pictures at the beginning of each month (this months will be up as soon as I get someone to take them).

Day 116

2010-07-25T13:12:00.000-04:00

Yesterday was day 116, I know I said I would post pictures every month or two months but yesterday was a milestone day.

We went to the fair and I was weighed on the "guess your weight" game. Last year in July I did it and I weighed in at 475lbs, and the time between then until I started this journey in March of this year (8 months) I know I gained a lot more weight. I know I weighed over 500 lbs, but don't know the exact number, so we'll say I weighed 500 for weight loss sake.

On to this year the guy at the booth walked around me a few times and he guessed 145lbs, I said this leg? He laughed and then guessed 444lbs, now I know this is a fair game and I do not know how accurate these things are but the one I was weighed at 1 year ago was the exact same booth, and I one last year (he guessed 485lbs, I weighed 475lbs) This year the guy was right on the money I was teetering between 443-445!!! So being generous and using the 500lbs mark I have lost 55ish lbs in 116 days!!!

Here are some new pictures from last night with the day 1 and 15 side by sides again...

Day 1 and Day 116:

Day 15 and day 116 side view:

I still have not made it to the gym, but I was watching my older brother's house and pets for him last week so my plan to come home swim and then work out didn't go so well. I am going to pack my bag in the morning with swim trunks, goggles, towel, and workout clothes and keep it in my car so I can use after work (obviously clean workout clothes and dry towel/trunks each day :P ) And if anyone wants to join me for a swim or workout session at around 8:15ish on Tues, Wed, Fri, let me know (Monday I will most likely go around 1:30ish, Thursday is my day to hang out with Fatty, Saturday is usually family day and we usually swim or do something energetic, and Sunday is my day to relax and spend time with my Dad usually, pretty much my free day) Thanks again for the support, it is surprising to see how many people are supportive and all for someone getting healthier!

Day 105

2010-07-13T12:19:00.000-04:00

It's only been 17 days since the last post but I had a few people ask me to do side by side pictures so here are pictures from Day 1 and Day 105 (front), and Day 15 and Day 105 (side).

So there you go :) I've been swimming a lot recently, still haven't made it to the gym but I did do about a half hour straight of laps in the pool earlier this week. Thanks again for the support from everyone, it helps!

Back to Life

2010-07-07T14:14:00.000-04:00

I am back from vacation as of Monday night, it was nice getting away for a week but like all vacations it went by way too quick. We stayed at my Aunt Loreen's house like usual, played basketball, football, bingo, dice game, cards, mud boggin, went to the beach, made bonfires, ate at Katy's Ice Cream Shop, and relaxed a lot :)

I drove a Ford Bronco in my Aunt's field that was just drenched in a nice rain storm, I was getting almost sideways from drifting through the mud, and I got us pretty deep in a big mud hole that 4Lo got us out of. My Cousin also brought out his ATV but I was exceeding the weight limit, hopefully next year I'll be able to ride if he still has it.

My Cousins/2nd Cousins and I are all really close so we pretty much hang out all week and mess around and do whatever. We went to a gas station at 1 in the morning and got some pizza and basco sticks, and the next night we went to Mobile and saw some drag racing until about 3 in the morning. We went to the beach on Sunday, it was 93 degrees, and played catch and messed around and had a good time cooling off and getting burnt. We also played bingo and the dice game, roll two dice get doubles win a prize unless it's double 3's and all your stuff goes back, and won stuff that my Mom and Aunt's brought.

Katy's Ice Cream Shop made a nice profit off of us and it has become tradition to go there at least once whenever I am in town, we went 3 days in a row :) (For my weight loss fans I had a berry fruit tumbler fresh fruit and vanilla ice cream every time I went). My Aunt is also a really good cook and we got some good home made breakfasts and dinners while there. On Sunday after burying my Grandpa, nice ceremony my Great Uncle did it and did a really nice job, my Aunt made a big Turkey dinner with all the fixings. Speaking of my Great Uncle, Eldy, he took us to a few scrapyards and then to lunch at McDonald's and later in the week bought us all pizza and cheesy sticks.

I had a great time and can't wait to go back again, hopefully it won't be a whole year and I'll get up there to see my family sooner.

Phase 1 Complete!!!

2010-06-26T23:23:00.005-04:00

Well today is day 88, I must have counted wrong or I was hoping we were leaving on Thursday :P But Phase one has come to an end and as I promised this post will have the before and after pics so far! I'll let you know beforehand I am wearing nothing but a pair of boxers, I thought that this would be the best way to take the pics.

Before pictures though I thought I would let you know that my Mom and I went shopping today. I have gone down two sizes in my pants, 56 -52, and also 2 sizes in shirts 6XL-4XLT (I tried on a few 4x's today and they were about an inch too short so an LT, being an inch or two longer would be just right). I still do not know how much weight I have lost though since I was too heavy for all the scales I tried and I didn't have the money, still don't, to buy the scale from Casual Male.

So without further ado here are the pictures:

March 30th, 2010

April 13th, 2010 (first time I thought of taking a side view, my bad)

June 26, 2010

June 26th, 2010 (Side View)

So there ya go! I never took a picture of my back, hands, feet, arms (out), thighs, or legs beforehand I just didn't think of all that. I may do that for phase two, since I have lost a lot of weight in all those areas (I'm thinking of posting pics every month? 2 months? having a goal and knowing when I need to put pics up always puts your mind in the right place :) well at least mine) I have also kept to everyone of my goals, from water drinking; I have not had a single pop since March 29th, haven't been eating before bed, trying to stay away from junk as much as possible, exercising more I love the pool!

So let me know what you think so far and I'll be posting again soon with new pics! And Thank you everyone for all the awesome support from Family/Friends, to Co-workers, to all the people at GCC. And a Big special Thank You to Dr. Bob! he is an awesome friend and we have inspired each other to keep going with our goals.

Addicted Part 6

2010-06-19T18:15:00.000-04:00

I haven't done one of these in a long time so I thought today would be as good as any :)

Modern Warfare 2:

I have reviewed this game 2 times already I think but after playing it for this long I just wanted to say I'm still interested/addicted. I play at least every night (multiplayer) I have prestiged 3 times now and am getting close to my 4th. For those that don't know in multiplayer you gain levels, which cap at 70, when you hit 70 you have an option to just chill at 70 and keep all of your weapons and attachments or Prestige. You can still gain rewards at 70 and still get points, and new callsigns and emblems. If you decide to prestige, up to 10th prestige, you lose all of your weapons, attachments, and killstreaks. You do get to keep any callsigns or emblems you have achieved however, once you prestige there is a whole new list of callsigns and emblems you can unlock, and you have to level to 70 again until your next prestige (if you decide to). So pretty much if you don't play enough and don't want to start over DO NOT prestige.

Red Dead Redemption:

This game is awesome! I have played both single player and multiplayer and there are both very addictive. I have not beat the game yet but am currently in Mexico killing banditos. If you live in a cave and have not seen any reviews, trailers, etc. This is pretty much the western version of Grand Theft Auto. Your decisions determine if you are a hero and can do jobs for the many cities in the area or if you are a bandit and gain money and negative honor by plundering, stealing, and killing. I have gone the heroes path and am enjoying killing bandits along the way. There are also many side quests and in game challenges that can be done, from sharpshooting, to collecting goods (usually from killing animals and collecting pelts, meat, or feathers, or from herbalism), to rolling on the ground 100 times.

Multiplayer is a lot of fun too, you get in a lobby of up to 12 real people, who you can kill and get points for if they are not in your posy. Speaking of posy's, you can have up to a posy of 12 people who you can do any of the online quests with, taking out bandit hideouts is all that I have done so far but the same goes for multiplayer there are tons of side quests and challenges to do.

My Rating: Single Player 10/10 Multiplayer: 10/10

Bioshock 2:

I beat this game in 1 night but it was 9 hours of continuous play pretty much so don't take that as it's short and sucks. Bioshock 2 was better than the first in my opinion, the levels were darker and more advanced, and playing as a Big Daddy is awesome. The add-ons to your suit and power-ups you get are great and the vast amount of weapons and unlockables make this one better than the first. The story line, I won't ruin it for you, is also very good and keeps you guessing the entire time. There are also puzzles to solve to open the next door or get to defeat a boss, etc. So it's not just a shoot em up, or grind em up with your Big Daddy arm, and kill kill kill game it actually takes some thinking and the use of the right weapons. This is another game that makes you choose between helping the sisters or killing them and determines how your fate will be decided at the end of the game.

My Rating: 10/10

Nier:

I have not played a ton of this game yet, but from what I have played I have to say I really liked it. It reminds me of Devil May Cry to an extent, you are a hero trying to save your daughter and protect the town you live in. This in an RPG/fighting game, you have quests to complete and a large world to explore. You can buy weapon upgrades and other random items, collect goods from killing animals and looting them or foraging the land. There are many monsters to kill and some pretty epic, difficult bosses to defeat. The one big thing in this game is collecting "words" these upgrade the magic powers you can control and are obtained from killing the demons throughout the world. Once again I will review this again when/if I beat it, and I will rate at a later date.

Final Fantasy XIII:

This game is great, the amount of monsters to kill and the combat system are better than I thought it would be. You have to decide what you want to upgrade, Magic Damage, Melee Damage, Healing, Tanking, or Buffing/Debuffing. It makes the game feel more epic and gives you a chance to customize your own gameplay. Later in the game you can also choose your team setups and actually adjust different presets to determine what each member of your team will do. Like usual you can usual skip "trash" mobs and bypass certain areas but usually upon further looking there are usual chests, which are floating balls in XIII, and some of these contain some great loot. For some XIII starts out slow but once you get later into the game it becomes filled with epic battles and hours of upgradeable content. I have yet to beat the game but am on the final disc, so I will rate this and come back and re-review once I have defeated it.

My Rating: 10/10

Darksiders:

Darksiders is a pretty epic game, just a kill kill kill collect souls and kill some more game. But it's fun and keeps you addicted, and there are many levels and enemies to kill. The massive amount of combo hits you can rack up really make the game seem more epic and achieving a high combo just feels good. There are side levels to complete to advance through some of the story, these usually involve doing a certain thing like killing all the enemies a certain way, or killing a set amount of enemies in a time limit and at the end you open the door collect your reward and move on to killing more stuff. You work for different demons or monsters to reach the final goal of killing the end boss, and can turn in souls to upgrade your weapons and unlock different abilities.

My Rating: 8/10 (The game is addicting but I think re-playability will be low)

Borderlands:

A good game overall, should have been on the top of my list since it is a shooter RPG, but it gets boring and just feels repetitive. Unlike other RPG's the quests and the lack of different enemies makes it feel like you are just doing the same thing over and over again just in different areas. The weapons in the game are great and if you find the right ones can really do some major damage to the enemy. There are a wide variety of weapons from long range, to pistols, to fully automatic rifles and there are also elemental features your weapons can have, adds extra damage or a ticking damage to enemies when shot. The bag space seemed to small even after upgrading to a larger size, I was always having to sell or drop weapons that I really didn't want to. The boss battles were all good and none of those were repetitive at all just the mobs in the open world that also keep respawning and just being annoying. Vehicle play takes away some of the repetitiveness since you can usually just drive right past or over the enemies but I think for me just seeing the same thing over and over again got old. All that being said as weird as it sounds I would recommend playing this game, it is fun at first and didn't feel old to me til later hours of play.

My Rating: 8/10

This is getting really long so I will make a list here of games to look for next week: Fallout 3, Split/Second, Skate 3.

Games Beaten: Assassin's Creed, Bioshock 2, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, Fable II, Fracture, Gears of War 2, Halo 3, Kung Fu Panda, Lego Batman, Lego Indiana Jones*, Prince of Persia, Prototype

Calories, Oh Calories

2010-04-21T18:30:00.000-04:00

I looked these numbers up a while ago and have been debating on posting them, but it is pretty crazy to see so I will. This was an average full day (Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner) for me before I decided to be smart about my health and food habits...

Breakfast: McDonald's

2x Sausage, Egg, & Cheese Biscuits
1 Hashbrown
Sm. Orange Juice

Lunch: Taco Bell

3x Chicken Burrito w/Red Sauce

Dinner: Somewhere late night (IHOP)

2x2x2 (Bacon, Eggs, Pancakes w/syrup & butter)
Hashbrowns
3x Mt. Dew

Drinks/Snacks: Usually after midnight

2 Liter Mt. Dew (I would drink this throughout the day)
Big Bowl Cereal w/sugar & milk
Chips (aprox. 3 servings)
Something Sweet (i.e. Vanilla Wafers)

Calorie Count: 6480

So as you can see I was literally killing myself and I was getting little to no exercise unless someone else initiated it. So here is a new day usually...

Breakfast:

Fruit
1 Slice Banana Bread

Lunch:

Turkey Breast
Green Beans
Deviled Eggs
Jello w/whip cream

Dinner: Subway

Oven Roasted Chicken Footlong w/light ranch, lettuce, tomato, cucumbers

Drinks/Snacks:

Water
Water Flavoring (Sugar Free 10 calories!)
Fruit (Usually Oranges/Grapes)

Calorie Count: 1627

Average Daily Calorie Loss: 4853

So I'm doing a lot better and I usually don't feel hungry til late night and than I usually grab an orange or something that isn't going to ruin my weight loss. I have allowed myself to, what I like to call cheat, about once a week but even then I am pretty cautious about what I eat and usually still have water to drink. I am still going strong with the new lifestyle and like I said I will post pictures on Day 86 (I have taken a pic each week to see the change in progress!).

86 Days...

2010-03-30T15:33:00.000-04:00

Before I tell you about 86 days I just want everyone to know I am a very happy fat guy, I love myself and my family and friends but I need to change my size and this is what I plan on doing (This is me on March 5th, 2010 I will put before and after pics up on the 86th day).

There are 86 days left until my family and I leave to go on our annual family reunion. I got looking at some pictures from last year and it hit me... I am OBESE. I have decided to go on a "diet" for 86 days, now this doesn't mean I am going to crunch every calorie I can for 86 days and than go eat 12 pizzas in a sitting and gain it all back. The 86 days is there because I know that there is no way when going to my family reunion that I will follow my "diet" so 86 days and then a week of eating not so good, and than back to eating right after that.

I hate the word diet and I have been on them before and they have failed me, or I failed them? I am going to make a decision to change the way I live my life, as dumb as it sounds a life change. I am only 25 years old and I am topping the 500lb. mark, I actually do not know how much I weigh because I outweigh my doctors scale. I have come to the fact that I am scared for myself, being this big is not good for my heart and various other issues I have (bad knees, looking sloppy... my clothes are too big in some areas, etc.). So to prevent my death I am going to try to lose weight and get healthy.

I have talked to my Mom, and two brothers so far and they are on board to "coach" me and help me out along my journey and my Mom and younger brother are going to "diet" with me. I told them I do not want to be a diet Nazi and only allow ourselves to have a piece of fruit and a glass of water for every meal but I made myself a "To Do/Not To Do" List... Here are my ideas

To Do:
-Drink Water @ Restaurants
-Salads/chicken instead of burgers, fries, fried foods
-Low sodium if possible (I also have high blood pressure)
-Bring lunch/dinner and waters to work
-Park further away (grocery store, restaurants, etc.)
-Keep Fruit (grapes, oranges are my favorite) in my fridge
-More routine sleep
-Exercise (we have a gym at our apt. and a pool soon)
-Chew Gum (curb appetite)
-Drink Water (in general)
-"Play" more (more active)
-Better Hygiene
-Keep Room/Car clean (the less food/pop residue that's visible the less I'll crave it)
-Smaller portions

Not to do"
-Buy 2 liters of Mt. Dew (AT ALL, I used to drink a 2 liter a day)
-Go to Taco Bell everyday ($3 is a cheap lunch/dinner, but obviously deadly :P )
-Snack on crap all night
-Eat right before bed
-Eat on impulse
-Buy pre-made food (Frozen Dinners, Frozen Pizza, etc.)
-Be Lazy

So that is my plan, if you know me and can help keep me on the right track than please by all means give me a little nudge here and there if I start slipping :)

More Presents!

2010-03-04T03:34:00.000-05:00

My older brother Mike and sis-in-law Samaree gave me my presents today at work!

The first is a pic of everything they got me:

The WoW Scourgewar TCG Box set!!! Comes with a large playmat, looks like a giant mouse pad, over 100 cards, a nice card case, a cool poster with a card checklist, and a loot card (Tiny)!

A mini zombie punching bag, for those stressful days :P

Two Chicago Bears Super Bowl XX Glasses (awesome find btw!)

Thanks guys!!! Now I have to find a spot to display everything :)

Addicted Part 5

2010-03-01T12:23:00.000-05:00

It's been a while since I've done an "addicted" post so here goes...

I've played a lot of stuff since my last addicted post back in FEB 09! been over a year already...

But here are a few reviews (of stuff that I actually remember playing :P )

Lego Batman:

This game like the rest of the Lego series is just fun, especially if you have a love for legos like I had/have. There are tons of levels, 30+, unlockables, hidden areas, and hours of lego smashing/building. And it's Batman!!! You can play as the hero or the villain, including Batman, Robin, Batgirl, Joker, Penguin, Clayface, Poison Ivy, Catwoman, the list goes on :)

My Rating: 10/10

Devil May Cry 4:

I said I'd review this in my last post so I guess now is as good as ever. I still have not put a ton of time into this game, and it's not because it's not a great game. I actually don't know what it is, I love this game just like the other DMC's in the series. I just keep buying it again when I have bought something else and it gets put on the back burner. Like I said I love it, from what I've played, there are a lot of baddies to slice and dice or shoot to death, unlockables for your weapons and devil arm, and once again a lot of cool areas and side missions. I really need to sit down and beat this game, I have never taken this long not to beat a game :)

My Rating: 8/10 (great game but I'll rate again when I actually finish it)

Banjo Kazooie: Nuts and Bolts

Another fun game just to mess around and waste some time with, that being said it gets repetitive. There are a ton of ways to customize your vehicles and make them your own and essentially make each level your own by the way you play. You can stay on the ground or fly depending on your vehicle set-up, oh and making super fast motorcycle type vehicles is really fun. I spend some good time just messing around and making vehicles and trying them out, I think more time than actually playing the story. The story is good and easy to follow but like I said gets repetitive, go here collect this and that turn in to open that... good but not great, and I sold the game because I was bored with it. Still if you can get it used for a cheap price and want to spend some time just messing around it is a good game to buy.

My Rating 7/10

Prototype

I put a lot of time into playing this game, because it was somewhat challenging and a lot of fun. Levels are big and free roaming is great, there are tons of side missions and baddies to destroy. The story line keeps getting more intense and the city more overrun by the plague. I ended up beating the game and still playing (until I had to return to the guy I borrowed it from) because there was more to do and I was still having fun. The different "weapons" you get make the baddie beating great, and by weapons I'm referring to the way your body switches to a giant axe, or whip, or giant spike, and the special abilities the allow you to destroy a whole block make it even more enjoyable. The one large flaw is that this is another repetitive game, but the fact that you're killing tons of baddies in single sweeps and blowing up cars and feeding on people's memories almost make you forget that you just did the same thing in that last mission.

My Rating: 9/10

Call of Duty: World at War

I'm not going to do a huge review on this game, it is an amazing game and I would recommend it to anyone but CoD:MW2 is out now and is better and I love it! I do need to get this game again and actually beat it, the later levels when playing on the hardest difficulty are... HARD.

My Rating: 9/10 (offline only, never played multiplayer)

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2

This is pretty much the reason I started this post again, I am literally addicted to this game. The campaign was actually good and didn't have you whipping through just wanting to finish it. You actually get a feel for all the different weapon classes and I think it actually got me prepared for the multiplayer action that was to come after I beat the campaign. There are many weapons, explosives, levels, and opposing forces to kill. There is also a Spec Ops that is pretty much bonus side missions, they are challenging and make you actually think and use your skills to manage your way to a victory.

My Campaign/Spec Ops Rating: 10/10

CoD:MW2 Online Multiplayer

I was just going to continue writing this along with the first part but playing online is like playing a whole new game, so it'll get it's own section. I am beyond addicted to playing online and killing people... ummm online fake people that is :) There are 70 levels of unlockables to open, from weapons to call signs to kill streaks that will decimate the opposition. After you have ranked up to level 70 you can go prestige and pretty much start over and level up again but this time with a prestige sign next to your name and the ability to open up more unlockables. I have played other multiplayer first person shooters on Live before and the amount of childish bull crap has always been a big hindrance to the game play. MW2 got it right, and besides the few Nuke boosting idiots and the occasional little kids messing around talking about balls and dicks on the chat (which can quickly be muted) it is an extremely enjoyable environment to play in.

My Rating: 10/10

This was a long addicted but it's been over a year, to keep with tradition here are the games I've beaten since the 1st addicted post:

Games Beaten: Assassin's Creed, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, Fable II, Fracture, Gears of War 2, Halo 3, Kung Fu Panda, Lego Batman, Lego Indiana Jones*, Prince of Persia, Prototype

Early Birthdays are great!

2010-02-19T16:11:00.015-05:00

My Birthday is March 5th, but my family got paid before and after that day so I got some presents early!!!

My mom got me a TV, 32" Sony Bravia 720p HDTV. It was regularly $448 but I ended up getting a floor model that was on sale for $398 and another 10% off so I got a $450 TV for $383!!! I hooked up my computer to my tv since I have an HDMI port on my video card, the computer looks great. I was watching some HD videos last night and playing WoW in 1600:900 resolution and it's amazing!!!

My Dad got me a Blu Ray player (my younger brother sold me his that he just bought 2 months ago for $75, regular $130, so my Dad just bought that for me!) He also gave me 2 gold tipped HDMI cables.

My younger brother bought me 2 figurines, an Illidan Demon Form and an original Batman and Robin remake set. Here they are:

Thanks guys for the great Birthday so far!!!

My New Rig!

2009-12-23T16:21:00.002-05:00

I decided to upgrade my PC again this year (did it 2 years ago, but didn't go all out). My mom gave me $500 towards parts for my Christmas present, and I ended up spending about $100 out of pocket. I ended up doing more research this year and we just had a PC store open up literally a few mins away from my house. So between the store and the internet I ended up getting a pretty nice system. Here's what I ended up buying:

Chiefmax 2038 case
ASUS M3A78-CM Motherboard
WHLB 1TB HDD
ATI Radeon HD5750 Video Card
AMD Phenom II x4 965 BE CPU
Corsair 4gb (2x 2gb) RAM

I ended up keeping my Power Supply and DVD/CD drive for now, I also added the previous 2GB (2x 1GB) of Ram I had so I ended up with a 6GB machine. I also have Windows 7 64 bit Ultimate.

All in all I am very happy with my set up, I ran a quick test to see how many FPS I could get in Dalaran today (World of Warcraft) and I was getting on average 30-35 FPS.

Oh I also kept my 20" HP 2009m monitor, I plan on getting an HDTV for my birthday in March so I may end up connecting my system through my TV eventually :)

UGH!!!!

2009-10-17T20:20:00.000-04:00

I TRULY HATE THEM!!!

Wins for Everyone!

2009-09-28T10:33:00.002-04:00

Well since my last post Irish and Da Bears have both WON two games.

Notre Dame beat Michigan State 33-30 and Purdue 24-21, Michael Floyd is out for the season with a broken collarbone, and Jimmy Clausen has a pretty bad case of Turf Toe. Jimmy was only in for part of the game against Purdue he was able to get 15/26 for 171 yards and a TD, he threw his first interception of the year as well. This brings his total for the year to 77/117 for 1122 yards and 10 TD's, he's already had a huge year but if he keeps this up he'll have his biggest year numbers wise for us. He was also #1 on ESPN's Top 10 plays on Saturday.

Da Bears... Jay Cutler is looking a whole lot better after that debacle against the Packers. We beat the Steelers 17-14 and beat Seahawks yesterday 25-19. The loss of Urlacher is not helping us at all on the defensive end and Hunter Hillenmayer (his backup) was hurt in yesterdays game. As usual Lance Briggs is stepping up and getting the job done though, the line looks pretty good and we had a lot of pressure on Seatle's QB last night. Devin Hester had a big catch for a TD to put us ahead, Greg Olsen also finally got a TD catch! We play the Lions at home this week, dating back to last season they are now 19-1 (they won yesterday) so I don't think we'll have much trouble with them.

In Fantasy News :) I won the semi-finals of our Fantasy Baseball League and am now playing for the championship this week. I outscored my oppenent 250 to 208 last week so hopefully I will win.

I won my first game of Fantasy Football, lost my second game to Fatty (Chris Johnson got 45 points), and will win this week to my Dad (He has one player left so unless he pulls of a Chris Johnson performance I will win).

That's it for now, I will post again next week after the games!!! GO ND n DA BEARS!!!

One and Done :(

2009-09-14T13:33:00.002-04:00

Well this weekend was not a good one for my football teams.

Irish lost to Michigan 38-34, our defense looked like crap in the 2nd half, and our offense couldn't hold on to passes. We have dropped out of the top 25 and with the win Michigan is #25 (boo).

The Bears also lost 21-15, Jay Cutler threw 4, yes FOUR, interceptions... That's the most in his career, now I understand playing in Lambeau must be difficult but Jay is not a new QB to the league he has played in big games. Granted the receivers were dropping the ball all night but we left what we said we planned to do, throw the ball to the tight ends, they got very few passes thrown at them. Defense for the bears looked good but took a HUGE hit, Brian Urlacher (my fav. player) is out for the season and will be getting surgery on his wrist after he injured it in Sundays game :(

My Fantasy Football team did not do anything special either, I should be able to pull out a win unless Lee Evans (WR Bills) does amazing tonight, wait and see I guess.

Boston Red Sox had a good weekend winning 3 games, I also won in Fantasy Baseball tieing me for 1st once again (3 way tie).

I'm hoping this weekened will be much better, ND vs MSU... Bears vs. Steelers, both at home!!! MSU looked like crap this weekend and the Steelers were not that impressive against the Titans. As long as ND can keep producing the big numbers on offense and the defense steps it up they should be fine. Jay Cutler and his receivers need to get it together and settle down they all looked very flustered, Bears D took a hit but still have plenty of weapons (It's gonna be hard watching the games and not seeing Urlacher in there the rest of the year).

35-0!!!

2009-09-08T14:18:00.004-04:00

So it's my favorite time of year, NCAA Football has begun and NFL's official season starts Thursday!!!

Notre Dame played this pass Saturday and we looked sharp! Yes we were playing Nevada, but they are not a push over team. They recorded a total of 307 yards but were only 2-11 on 3rd down conversions (0-1 4th down), and they turned the ball over 3 times. Jimmy Clausen and Michael Floyd stole the show, Clausen was 15-18 for 315 yards and 4, yes four, touchdowns. Floyd was the recipient of 3 of those touchdowns passes, one for 70 yards and another for 88!!! We also ran for a total of 178 yards making it a 510 yard game.

Defense also looked good, but could be better we did allow 307 yards (154 passing and 153 on the ground) but we did the job we needed to do keeping them to an 18% 3rd down completion percentage.

Irish won 35-0!!! We entered the season at #23 and with this shutout win and a 510 yard day we moved up to #18!!!

Bears have a big opener on Sunday against the Green Bay Packers (Boo!) in Green Bay. We looked good on both sides of the ball in pre-season and can hopefully keep that momentum and drive to win going.

In other news...

I'm in 2nd place in Fantasy Baseball (BUBWAY PARK) still. I lost 205 - 204 last week against the top guy in the East. I am playing the top guy in the West this week and am winning 30-6 right now. RSBoston is Fatty and he is tied for last in the East, in our other league he is 10-12, his players are still not producing when he needs them to.

Our Fantasy Football will start this Thursday with NFL's opening game, Titans vs. Steelers (Titans are Fatty's favorite team, gogo Titans!).

Fantasy Baseball

2009-06-25T13:09:00.003-04:00

I know, I know long time between posts...

This post isn't about not posting though, it's about Fantasy Baseball. My younger bro Fatty (Reflexions) has played Fantasy Baseball for three years now so I decided I would join him this year. I drafted a pretty decent team, and have traded, and picked up and dropped players throughout the season. I am really enjoying playing and it has given me a love for the game again. I loved going to games and watching the occasional Red Sox game on TV but just wasn't into sitting down and watching ESPN to see who was doing what in baseball. I started the season with a lose but only by 27 points, not bad for a rookie :) Since then I have done this...

Tied for 1st place!!! I won 7 games in a row before getting my next lose, 237 - 235... 2 points Come On!!! I then came back and won week 10, but lost last week (To the guy at the top of the East).

This week I am currently losing by 6 points going into today (Playing the guy at the top of the West). Hopefully I can get a win and go back on top of the West.

For those wondering Fatty is 3-8, bottom of the East. He has good players but it seems the weeks he takes the mediocre guys and puts them on the bench for the guys that are producing, the mediocre players end up exploding and the guys that were producing end up being mediocre. He is getting the points, 2375 points, out of his players but not enough to beat the teams he's put up against. Happily this week he is winning 104-51 at the start of today!

Chicago 09'

2009-03-16T13:27:00.003-04:00

Chicago! I love the city, I love Da Bears, I love the people.

Fatty and I went for our annual (2 years now) trip to Chicago on Sat. and Sun. This time we decided to stay for 2 days instead of trying to cram everything into 1 day like last year. We got to Chicago at about 11am Chicago time and headed to Smoques BBQ it was featured on Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives. It was great, large portions and it tasted amazing I got the Brisket platter with BBQ baked beans and fries. The Brisket was juicy and fallen apart, in a good way, and the baked beans were amazing there were so many fries that I couldn't even finish. Fatty had the pulled pork platter with mac & cheese and BBQ beans, he really enjoyed his too, it looked really good. From there we messed around for a little while in that area of Chicago until we decided to see if Hard Rock Hotel would let us check in early, they did.

We headed back towards the hotel and got valet'd for the first time, we then checked in and the concierge took our bags to our room. We had a deluxe king bed and a good size room, the Bowie room, and we were on the 17th floor! We had an excellent view of Millennium Park from our room and could see some of downtown too. We chilled in the room for a little while still somewhat tired from the drive, we decided to go to ESPN Zone before meeting my Dad and his gf for dinner at Hard Rock Cafe (My Dad and his gf were going to be in Chicago the same weekend we were there and we had no idea until a few weeks before we left). ESPN Zone was fun like usual, for those that don't know it's a restaurant and an arcade, we just played the arcade. Basketball, Football, Air Hockey, Racing, Madden on a huge screen, it was fun!

We then walked to HRC to meet up and have dinner, my Dad and E were already there and we got seated pretty quick thanks to Fatty's HRC card. I had my usual, HRC bacon cheeseburger with fries, it was good as usual and my dad said his burger was most likely the best burger he has ever had. To my surprise my dad paid for our meal, he then asked if we wanted to go to the Hancock Observatory, 94 floors above Chicago in a giant room of windows. It was dark and the view of the city from up there was amazing, and my dad paid for that as well. We then went down to see how long the wait at the Cheesecake factory was, 1 hour, so we went to the Lux and the wait there was 2 hours. We decided to head back to my Dad's hotel and see if there was a wait for the restaurant there, none!, we got dessert and just talked for a while before heading to their room to hang out before we headed back to our hotel. Dad and E paid for our whole night, Thanks Guys!

Fatty has been sick so we grabbed a cab back to our hotel and Fatty and I ordered Giordano's small pizza and cheese bread and sprite about an hour or so later. We played cards ate pizza and just relaxed til we fell asleep. The next morning we got up and checked out of the hotel, but we checked in our bags and grabbed a taxi to Ditka's restaurant for my Birthday present from Fatty, thanks again! I've been there before but just to buy souvenirs, the ambiance was great sports memorabilia on all the walls. The food was great I had The Fridge Burger with Ditka Fries, it was the best burger I have ever had it trumps the HRC burger and the fries had a little spice and we good as well. From there we grabbed a taxi back to the hotel and got our bags and had the valet get our car.

We headed to Navy Pier and started our shopping extravaganza, we spent the rest of the day walking and shopping and taking pictures of the water and the city from the Pier. We had McDonalds ice cream cones and large pops, walking gets tiring, before walking around and shopping some more. I got a lot of Bears and Chicago memorabilia and some random little stuff, Chicago golf balls, ping pong balls, shot glasses. I bought Fatty a Chicago shirt, Bears shorts, and a Chicago baseball. We ate at the Twizted Lizard I had nachos and fatty had two chicken tacos, it was good and my nachos were huge I only ate about 2/3 of them. We then decided to go see Watchmen in IMAX since the shops all closed at 7pm and we weren't ready to leave yet. The movie was good and seeing anything in IMAX is always better. After that we paid for our parking and headed home, we got home at about 1:30 am our time.

We had a great weekend, Chicago is always a blast oh and I forgot to mention that it being St. Patty's weekend they turned the Chicago River green that was a cool site to see (I'll post pictures up later when I get home).

Addicted Part 4

2009-02-26T14:27:00.002-05:00

I've picked up four new games since the last Addicted post; Midnight Club: LA, Prince of Persia, Shaun White Snowboarding, and Devil May Cry 4 so it's time for my reviews.

Midnight Club: LA: This is a racing game, no real side stories just your car and the opponents on the "track." I put track in quotes because the city of LA is your track you can use every part of it to race or explore. There obviously is a story and racers will contact you via your phone, it pops up in the lower left hand corner of the creen and you can accept challenges from there. There are a wide variety of cars, and even a couple motorcycles, these can all be tricked out with new parts, paint, and vinyls. A cool feature of this game is that you can also trick out the inside of your car from the seats to the color of the dash. There are some really easy races and than there are some that I have yet to beat. This is another game that I have not beaten but from what I have played so far I rate this a 9/10.

Prince of Persia: This is another good game in the Prince of Persia line. The addition of Elika, the female character, adds some cool features to the game. She can throw you at mid-jump so you can go longer distances and when you are about to die she will save you. There is somewhat a lack of fighting in the game but that is not really a big deal since the boss battle are fun and later in the game get challenging. The biggest part of the game is getting places by using the environment around you. Climbing walls, jumping from pillar to pillar, and using plates (with the help of Elika) to get to the next location. I will say that PoP is repetitive there are four "levels" and you fight the same boss at the end of each "level" and then you open a door and finish off the boss for that area, rinse and repeat that four times. The last boss fight is easy to a point the camera angle messed me up a couple times but I think that is the idea there. I give PoP a 8/10 just because of the repetativeness, I still really enjoyed playing the game.

Shaun White Snowboarding: I have not put a whole lot of time in the game, but from what I have played so far it is fun, but not fun enough. I enjoy flying down the slopes and doing tricks but I don't know if it's the controls or if it's just me but the tricks I plan on doing don't happen half the time. I've done many of the slope challenges and don't really see the point, I think the game may have been thrown together too quickly. Like I said it's fun just to fly down the slopes and get some crazy air and do some tricks, Oh and throw snowballs at passersby, but for the actual gameplay it's lacking. I'll review this again (if I keep it) when I have put some more time into it, but for now I give it a 7/10.

Devil May Cry 4: I made the mistake of buying this and Prince of Persia at the same time and decided to play PoP first. I have not even put this in the system yet, when I play it I will review it for real.

I'm going to add a new addition to my Addicted posts not so much to say "look what I've done" but just so I can remeber which games I have beaten. * = complete with all achievements.

Games Beaten: Gears of War 2, Fracture, Fable II, Lego Indiana Jones*, Kung Fu Panda, Halo 3, Assassin's Creed, Prince Of Persia.

Hard Times

2009-02-23T12:27:00.003-05:00

Fatty and I were out shopping yesterday, Circuit City, Target and MuMM. Last weekend when we were at Target I saw a man with a sign on the corner near the entrance to the plaza. I didn't do anything but keep driving, you feel bad but never know if the sign holders really are in trouble. Well yesterday the same man was there, his sign read "Disabled Vet Kids Lost Everything Please Help." Once again I just kept driving but something was heavy on my heart that this guy may really need some help.

We get $5 at work on Saturdays, kind of our reward for working on Saturday (no one wants to work on Saturday). I had the $5 in my hoodie pocket and decided I would give that to him. I turned in the opposite direction that we were heading and Fatty asked me where I was going, I said "That guy needs help." I pulled up and handed the limping man the money and he said "Thank You, and God Bless."

Fatty and I saw another man later on near Meijer, so maybe this is a scam but I told Fatty I did the right thing and even if they aren't disabled or vets they are still standing out in the cold and snow and freezing to get some money. These are hard times for all.

Addicted Part 3

2009-02-03T18:06:00.002-05:00

I've been putting some time into Fracture so I thought I'd rate it now...

Fracture: This game is fun and challenging, you make the game though. If you want to stand back and snipe everything than that is fine there are weapons to do that. If you want to make cover for yourself so you can get closer to the action than you can do that with the lowering and raising lasers (I previously said these were grenades, there are grenades that eventually run out but there are lasers that you always have). If you want to just go all crazy and run into the enemies and punch them in the face more power to ya, even though this strategy ends in death more often than not. Later levels you get to ride in a atv-like vehicle that will also lower the ground and allows you to create ramps, it also has an automatic machine gun on it that destroys anything in site. Now everything isn't that great, there are only 5 different enemies so you quickly learn how to defeat and defend against them. I give the overall game a 8.5/10.

On a sadder note, Matthew's beat me at Madden 09 every time we've played :(

Addicted Part 2

2009-01-23T15:58:00.003-05:00

I forgot to list Halo 3 as a game I own and I didn't review Assassin's Creed.

Halo 3: The story is short but on higher difficulties takes a lot of skill, unless you enjoy being one shot multiple times. I have played through and beat the game on Normal difficulty and have recently been playing on Hardcore. The online play is great because of the amount of people that play and the bracket system works pretty well (matching your skills to others in the same skill range). Like any game you play online, well any game that faces you against other players, there are those that are just amazing at the game and pwn you over and over again. This helps the game though making those that are not as good play more to get better. For actual gameplay I give it a 8/10, for online play 10/10.

Assassin's Creed: This is a game I have bought or borrowed multiple times, the gameplay is great. Climbing walls, hiding in the shadows, and assassinating enemies how's that not fun. There are also some fun achievements to acquire, getting all the hidden flags in the game, killing all the templars, etc. It does get somewhat repetitive, your missions are always to go and kill the target, but there is always something to do or find in the towns/areas you are sent to. I give it a 9/10, this will be the next game I finish, need to get it back to work soon :)

Fable II 2: Well I beat the storyline last night, it ends kind of dissapointing I won't give any spoilers but it wasn't as epic as I thought it would be. I still say this game is a 10/10 though the ending does tie the story together and makes you want more, more DLC anyone? I'm now working to find all the gargoyles and silver keys in the game (50 of each) there are also 6-7 more Demon Doors I need to open. I'm also experiencing something I have not experienced in a council game since Phantasy Star Online or EQOA... The trading from the community of other players, I made over 3 million gold from selling items that I've gathered. There are also a bunch of players that are willing to invite you to tag along so you can get some of the achievements (even though I would not do this, achievements are something I want to get).

Once again let me know your ratings and what you think, Matthew hasn't beaten me in Madden 09 yet but we haven't played :)

Addicted!

2009-01-20T15:39:00.004-05:00

My "big" present from my Mom this year was a Xbox 360 (this about the 4th or so that I have owned). I was without a console system for a long time and had missed playing the games, so I asked for one for Christmas.

The top three games that I asked for were Fable II, Call of Duty: World at War, and Gears of War 2. I ended up getting only one of the games from my list, Gears of War 2, but I also got Flatout: Ultimate Carnage, Fracture, Fight Night Round 3, and Kung Fu Panda and Lego Indiana Jones which came with the system. I have also picked up The Incredible Hulk, Fable II, Madden 08 (my brother has this game and it was only $9.99) and Madden 09 Collector's edition. Oh and I also am borrowing Assassin's Creed from work.

I thought I would do a little review of the games, nothing too major don't want to bore you.

Gears of War 2: I love the first GoW and beat that in a few days, I also beat GoW2 on hardcore in about 3 days of gameplay. Keep in mind when I start playing a game I play for 6-7 hours a day so this game is not as short as the previous makes it sound. The weapons are better, the enemies are harder, and the gameplay and general look of the game is amazing. Some of the achievements for the game are outright crazy though, kill 100,000 enemies for example. I give it a 9/10.

Flatout: Ultimate Carnage: I have never seen or heard of this game, I was almost dissapointed when I opened it because some of the racing games out there are just horrible. This game however is one of my favorite racing games I have played. You race in three leagues; Derby, Street, and Race if I recall correctly. In all three leagues you get points and nitrous based on the amount of damage you do to others cars, that being said if you want to just flatout race and get first in every race you still have opportunity to max out your cars. I give it a 9/10, this is the best derby game I have ever played.

Fracture: I haven't put much time into this game, so I will not be giving a rating yet. I however will say from what I have played it has been fun, you are equipped with rising and lowering grenades. These raise or lower the terrain so you can go over or under obstacles and make cover for yourself when fighting enemies.

Fight Night Round 3: I have played and enjoyed this game before, in career mode you make your own character and change his features and attributes. The starting fights are pretty easy and don't take much skill, later fights obviously get harder and make you learn the fighting system. This is not a button mashing fight game, even though you can turn on that form if you want to, it actually takes some skill and getting used to using the right and left analog sticks to perform punches. Another feature allows you to buy new gear, fighting styles, tattoos, and even "dirty" moves. I give it a 8/10, reason being I got bored after doing the same thing again and again.

Kung Fu Panda: I watched and liked the movie so I was actually happy to get the game. Yes it is a kids game and it is beyond easy, I beat all 13 (If i recall correctly) levels in one night. The game however is fun and there are some challenging puzzles and boss fights, the last fight actually taking a little skill. There is also a pretty neat use of the points you earn, upgrading your moves to make them stronger or updating your clothing. I give it a 10/10, mind you if you do not like kids movies/games you may not like this game, who can go wrong with Jack Black though?

Lego Indiana Jones: Another kid based game, not that this game is only for kids it's Indiana Jones and Legos what adult doesn't like either of those? This game is just plain fun, there are a lot of levels, you actually play through the first three movies, hidden items, puzzles, hidden levels and even a hidden character... SPOILER ALERT: You can unlock Han Solo!!! I took the time to get all the achievements in the game, some of these are time consuming put none of them are impossible. I give it a 10/10.

The Incredible Hulk: This game is fun, I am a little biased though Hulk is on my top list of super heroes. Smashing buildings, bad guys, cars, civilians, and tanks, oh and jumping miles into the air... how is that not fun? It is a open world game, you decide where to go what to do and if you want to take the next mission or not. One of my favorite moves so far involves picking up a vehicle and making fists out of it. Some of the enemies get incredible annoying and make it so you have to kill everything before you can move on, but I think that actually betters the experience. I give it a 8/10, this is another game that I have not put a ton of time in however I will rate it again once I beat it.

Fable II: Ummmm it's Fable but better. There are so many things to do in Fable II once again you choose to go Good and defend Albion or go Evil and destroy Albion and it's people. Your appearance and even your dog's appearance change with your every decision. There are a long list of quests to be completed and achievements to get. You can buy houses, shops, can rent out your houses for cash (cash is paid every five minutes even if you are not playing), there are tons of clothing, tattoos, hairstyles, weapons, and books (used to gain emotions for you and your dog). You can also marry and have kids, but don't make your wife mad mine left me and Child Protected Services took my kid, what I was out killing bad guys and making us money. I give it a 10/10, people complain that the game is too short, co-op is not fun because you can't bring your own character into others towns and that the exp system is not made correctly. All of these can be altered by the way you decide to play the game (except for the co-op play issue, you still get exp and gold does it really matter if it is with your character or a pre-made one?).

Madden 08 and Madden 09 CE: I have not played either of these actually, I have played Madden 08 before but not since I have purchased it again. I will do reviews on both, well all three actually Madden 09 CE comes with NFL Head Coach 09 as well, once I play them.

Let me know what you think and drop your ratings on these game if you wish.

The End

2008-12-29T01:22:00.001-05:00

:( Bears :(

As Good as Gould!

2008-12-23T00:29:00.005-05:00

So I haven't posted since the Titans beat Da Bears.

Our playoff chances looked slim, we needed Vikings or 3 other teams to lose to even worry about winning our Monday night game. Well...

Everything went the Bears way, Vikings, Bucs, Eagles, and Cowboys lose!!! Tonight was the game of all games for the Bears, and we won in overtime thanks to a Robbie Gould Field Goal. Sure our WRs only had 3 catches but a W is a W, and I honestly love the fact that our TEs are getting the ball. Our defense played like they needed to play, Alex Brown anyone?

Matt Forte had 23 carries for 73 yards and a TD, Daniel Manning had 4 kick returns for a total of 117 yards, and the Tight Ends had 9 catches for 86 yards and a TD, Lets Go Bears!!!

Oh ya and Lions are 0-15, yes that is 0 wins and 15 losses...

The Grathwohl House is Divided

2008-11-09T11:52:00.004-05:00

Da Bears vs The Tennessee Titans!!!

We all know I am a huge Bears fan, but my brother Matt is a huge Titans fan. Titans are undefeated and have one of the best looking defenses in the game right now. They hit like no other team, and no Polamalu does not count as a team in himself, and with Chris Johnson running the ball they can rack up the score on Offense as well.

This game will be the battle of the two best rookie running backs...

"Chicago’s Matt Forte ranks seventh in the league with 641 yards and 4 touchdowns on 169 carries, while Tennessee’s Chris Johnson is fourth with 715 yards and 5 TDs on 146 attempts. ~Larry Mayer (chicagobears.com)"

All of Da Bears losses have come by 3 points or less, we need to stop the run (we have our good weeks against the run and our bad weeks, let's hope this is a good) and we need to be able to score on offense. Kyle Orton is listed as Doubtful for today's game due to the ankle injury he suffered against the Lions last week. Grossman did not look horrible last week but he was playing the Lions. We all know that Grossman can have Tom Brady-like numbers or like well... Rex Grossman.

I'm going to say Da Bears beat the Titans 24-20

MyMiniCity!

2008-10-21T16:12:00.000-04:00

So I was messing around on the net today and found this cool little website. You build a city by the amount of visitors that come to your page. My city is called "Sograk" it is a name I've used in games I've played for a long time.

Visit my city here

Priceless!?

2008-10-19T10:42:00.003-04:00

Toll for Speedway- $0.50
Admission to Speedway- $5.00
10 hours of entertainment- Priceless!!!

For anyone that does not know my bro Fatty and I both worked at the South Bend Motor Speedway when we were younger, since then that has been "our" racetrack. This year it was put up for sale and with no buyer or anyone taking care of the track any longer, it was pretty much shut down. At the beginning of last month a group of fans, old employees, and volunteers decided to restore the whole place to be race ready again (see that transformation here). October 18th was set to be the Save SBMS day and what a turn out it was. The stands were packed the parking lot was full and there were 198 drivers signed up to race.

Fatty and I got there at 11:45 and watched the qualifying until about 1:45. Races started about 2:30. From the very first race til the very last race the drivers were on the ball and seemed to really want a win. There were a lot of wrecks, isn't that half the reason we watch?, and a lot of "at the line" finishes. The last race ended at 9:30 and we got out of there at about 9:45. It was a great night and by the turn out I hope someone will buy it from the current owner.

You can see a lot more pics here

No road wins

2008-10-12T12:31:00.002-04:00

Notre Dame 4-0 at home, awesome!!! But... we're 0-2 on the road, if we would have beat North Carolina yesterday we would have been ranked. We had the game the first half, we came out firing and playing great, then the second half we turned the ball over 3 times.

I am still satisfied with a 4-2 record and we still had a very good day besides the 3 turnovers and the L. There are only two more games that I am worried about, Boston College and USC. The record should still end up looking good at the end of the year.

Bears are #1 in their division and we should get a win today against the Falcons, as long as we don't turn the ball over. We looked amazing against the Lions but they are the 0-4 Lions, hopefully we can pull some of the good things we did in that game to fire us up for todays game.

2 by 3

2008-09-28T17:50:00.002-04:00

Two weeks in a row the Bears have lost by 3 points. Like Urlacher said we have to play all the way to the end of the game. Sure we let Griese pass for 407 yards but if we would have played til the end we would have won. Eagles defense is strong, but with a hurt McNabb and Westbrook we should do pretty decent as long as we don't turn the ball over.

I'm 2-1 in my pro fantasy league and I should win today making me tied for first place, last year I was 3-10, I should end up doing pretty decent this year.

College football was surprising this week with #'s 1, 3, 4, 9, 16, 20, 22, 23, 24 all loosing. ND won, so now they are 3-1 and we should win most of the rest of the games, maybe we'll actually be in the rankings this year.

WoWaholic... still

2008-09-26T20:29:00.004-04:00

Disclaimer: To anyone that doesn't play WoW or have any clue what that is this will mean nothing to you :)

I am still playing WoW (World of Warcraft) I quit for a month a little while back, after the guild I helped form disbanded. I applied for a few other guilds and got into the 16th ranked guild on our server. They are an end game raiding guild and are raiding BT, and Mt. Hyjal. They have killed 2 new bosses since I joined (both kills on nights I was not able to raid).

Last night however we killed Illidari Council they are the boss right before Illidan himself! After the kill we started the event that takes you to Illidan and starts the fight with him. This will probably be the nerdiest (it's a word) thing I have said but it was amazing being able to see him finally. We were just messing around and knew we were going to die but surprisingly with no coordination at all we got him to 80%.

Here are the pics of the guilds kill and my first look at Illidan:

Football Season is Here!!!

2008-09-08T13:39:00.002-04:00

Well football is underway, and both of my teams won!

I actually attended the ND VS. SDSU game. Notre Dame didn't look the greatest but we did win 21-13!!! We were sloppy on Defense and lacked the big plays on Offense though.

The defense allowed a lot of receivers to be wide open and took way too long to get to them and make the tackle. There were also a lot of broken tackles, we need to wrap up and make sure we finish the tackle. When we made "the play" the D did a great job, there just seemed to be a lot of tired players early in the game.

The Offense was not that bad and our run game was better than I thought it would be. However Clausen was hit or hurried too many times when he had wide open receivers, he seemed to either not see them or not know if he should make the pass.

I am looking forward to next Saturday and seeing how we improve and take on the Wolverines.

DA BEARS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We beat the Colts, it was a Super Bowl rematch and Da Bears came out on top this time. Kyle Orton was decent and did a good job hitting the receivers or throwing the ball away when he needed to. The O line was great and showed that we still have power where it counts. Matt Forte shined in his first NFL game, our run game was great and reminded me of the old school power house run offense the Bears are known for.

Now the Defense was a little.... AMAZING! They were all over the field (in a good way), kept pressure on Manning the entire game, forced fumbles, they were just all out good. They too reminded me of the old hard hitting, fumble forcing, power house defense!

As you can tell I am a little excited and hopeful for both the College and NFL seasons this year. As long as ND can improve on their little mistakes we should be a pretty decent team. If Da Bears can keep that defensive power going and Orton keeps playing the way he did yesterday we will do great this year.

I need a second or a new job

2008-08-28T18:50:00.002-04:00

I am at the point in my life where I am ready to move out, nothing wrong here at home but I am 23 and just want to be independent.

So I am looking for a second job with some flexible hours since I do manage BuyCo. A second job is what I am looking for but if anyone knows somewhere I could go that is paying between $8.00-$9.00 an hour and is truly full time (40 hrs a week) please let me know. I enjoy managing BuyCo. and it is a good job but I do not work enough hours to be able to be on my own.

Pics of Randomness

2008-08-20T01:15:00.008-04:00

A couple good things and fun things happened to me this year so far. So I thought I'd post some pics of these occurrences.

I graduated High School... FINALLY... I went back and graduated after 5 years and got my diploma!

I also took a trip to Boston with my Dad and Fatty, first time being there and we went to a BoSox game which was my first major league game!

I also made it to my annual family reunion in Yale, MI, which is always fun.

MySpace actually good for something?

2008-08-16T01:01:00.004-04:00

I have a MySpace and a Facebook, but never really liked either. I kept them updated and checked on both pretty often to see if I had any new messages or friend requests, and they are good to keep in touch with old friends. The thing I don't like about them is all the spam you get on them and some of the annoying adds.

Which brings me to the reason it is actually good for something. I'm a big guy and have been single almost all my life. Earlier this week I got a message from a girl, I would usually blow this off but thought why not say hi back. Well I'm glad I did, we've been talking non stop for the last couple days and she is amazing! I can't wait to meet her and get to see her in person (yes I am smitten and am like a lil kid on christmas :P )!!!

New BuyCo.

2008-08-15T11:04:00.002-04:00

BuyCo. has been around for over 8 years in our area (Grape Rd. in the Outpost Sports Plaza). We have recently moved though, that area was just dying down and didn't seem right anymore. We are one the corner of Main Street and Eleventh Street, we are the big red brick building with the ceramic sign still attached.

So far we have done pretty decent here, the area is nice and we are getting a lot of foot traffic. We are also getting a lot of phone calls asking where we moved to, or what we are :) For those of you that haven't been here before we are a used store. We sell cds, dvds, games, and gaming systems, everything we sell is guaranteed. All of our items come from the community though, so if you have old stuff laying around or you don't play that system anymore give us a call and if we have the cash we'll buy it from ya (574)252-9222.

Bear Lair

2008-08-15T01:47:00.002-04:00

I've started this many times and said I'd keep it updated every time. Well now I have a laptop that I take everywhere with me, so writing stuff will be even more easy now. So I am starting again, and will hopefully keep up with it.

I love writing and expressing myself through words, this will be a blog about me and my life. I'll throw in stuff about where I've been, what I've been doing, and anything else I feel like expressing. This will also give me something to do while at work, between actually doing work, and talking to people on here.