I always had more fun playing rec league with buddies anyway. We’d rent an arena, get 30 guys and go at 10 at night to play hockey for two hours.

This Budweiser commercial airs with the Superbowl, if you’ve ever been a rec league player, or a minor leaguer.. this will make you smile.

Imagine, you go to play the opposing team, the normal fans would be 5 people max in the stands.. then all of a sudden… you have fans, mascots, hot girls painted, video crews, replays…

wow.

This video is awesome.

In 2011 I was somewhat a whirlwind of work. I told myself in 2012 I was going to step back, work smarter. Work less, live more. I’ll still of course carry my end of things with people I work with, that’s my job. =) I just refuse to be glued to my computer is the thing.

So three weeks ago today, I underwent surgery, I’m still mending and every day has seen an improvement so I can’t complain. I still am sore (of course), I have a nine inch scar on my stomach that is awesome. I previously had an eight inch scar that was an inch wide, 1/2 inch deep… so my old scar has been replaced with a new and improved scar. lol This one is small, skinny, will go away or at least fade in time. yaaaaay!

The doctor got rid of my hernia I didn’t even know I had, which def. explains why I could never loose belly fat, no matter what I did. What was odd was my belly never jiggled.. it was solid mass. That should have been my first clue. It looked a little like roid gut, except I don’t do roids.

So now that it’s gone.. I’m *much* skinnier than I was. Bryci keeps saying.. YOU’RE SO SKINNY! to me when she sees me checking out my scar or something.

side note – chicks dig scars, just sayin.

Yesterday I went for my 3 week check up. Doc told me I am still swollen so I’m going to get even smaller. About 70% of my swelling is gone, but 30% or so still remains. He told me I have around 4mm of fat on my tummy as well. I had asked him how much fat I actually have since he just saw me open. He said he couldn’t pinch fat on my stomach if he tried, so for the first time in what… eight years? I am EXCITED again about working out.

I can’t start working out just yet of course, I’d fuck myself up. I need to chill till April/May area at the earliest but this doesn’t mean I am sitting idly by. Doc told me that he would suggest I loose 10 pounds, maybe 15 if I was able. This is internal fat, surrounding my organs. Most of you have it, it’s where fat grows first.

So when you start a diet or new health regime and you’ve lost three pounds but you can’t really see much of a difference… it’s because you lost it on the inside. That’s where it always goes first.

Yesterday i decided.. go time.

For the next 90 days, I am going to subject myself to nothing but healthy foods. No grains, no milk. Removing those two, believe it or not, you’ll lose weight. I know, you’re thinking… but Milk and Bread is good for you! umm.. No, no it’s not. Pasta isn’t either. Sure, they taste delicious, but they’re far from good for you.

Dr William Davis did an interview with Macleans recently on “The Evils of eating wheat and why shunning it will make you skinny“.. here’s a quote..

Q: How does wheat make us fat, exactly?

A: It contains amylopectin A, which is more efficiently converted to blood sugar than just about any other carbohydrate, including table sugar. In fact, two slices of whole wheat bread increase blood sugar to a higher level than a candy bar does. And then, after about two hours, your blood sugar plunges and you get shaky, your brain feels foggy, you’re hungry. So let’s say you have an English muffin for breakfast. Two hours later you’re starving, so you have a handful of crackers, and then some potato chips, and your blood sugar rises again. That cycle of highs and lows just keeps going throughout the day, so you’re constantly feeling hungry and constantly eating. Dieticians have responded to this by advising that we graze throughout the day, which is just nonsense. If you eliminate wheat from your diet, you’re no longer hungry between meals because you’ve stopped that cycle. You’ve cut out the appetite stimulant, and consequently you lose weight very quickly. I’ve seen this with thousands of patients.

If you’re wondering why/how Milk is bad for you.. check this article (there are hundreds online).

“The countries with the highest rates of osteoporosis are the ones where people drink the most milk and have the most calcium in their diets. The connection between calcium consumption and bone health is actually very weak, and the connection between dairy consumption and bone health is almost nonexistent.”

I know, again.. we were told Milk was good for us growing up, right?

Well, if you go back to the 30’s and 40’s, into the 50’s even… you’ll find there were other things people were told were good for you that we today know is not true.

Is it possible that Wheat and Milk are actually harmful to us?

Sure, why not? Obviously not the same risks as cigarettes but do your research, you’ll find they’re not good for you. I was shocked. It kind of sucks, last week I was eating two huge whole wheat turkey sandwiches per day while recovering, along with 2 to 3 huge glasses of milk.

Derp. My bad.

So now what am I doing?

Well, for breakfast, I make a protein shake consisting of Muscle Milk protein (see pix if curious if good for you), a tablespoon of flaxseed oil, one teaspoon of Macha green tea, 1 cup of Almond milk, a cup of frozen strawberries and one fresh banana. Blend and drink. This provides you with omega 3’s, your healthy fats as well as protein, carbs, you name it. This will beat the shit out of what 99% of people have for breakfast health wise.

Hell, my doc suggested this mix to me yesterday. He said he’ll drink this and then be fine through 8 hours of surgery when needed.

The key to loosing weight safely, is retraining your metabolism. Drinking the needed water, one once per pound of body weight. So if you weigh 150, you drink 150 ounces over the course of the day and no, this will not damage your kidneys, again, do some research if needed. What this will do is flush the toxins from your body. If you’re at the desk all day, drink 75% of your weight in water… so 150 pound person would drink 112.5 ounces (150 x .75 = 112.50)

If you do nothing else but cut wheat, cut milk, drink water, you’ll loose weight. Nice hey?

We’re not even talking about the rest of what you’d be eating.

Veggies – as much as you like.

Fruit – try to keep under 2 pieces per day, otherwise fructose can cause insulin spiking which would cause you to soar, then crash later

Meat – fish, turkey, chicken, beef – all great sourced of protein (in that order)

Grains – stay away from all grains, no exception. This means things made with flour too so no more oatmeal, cereal etc

Milk – almond milk is almonds, ground in water. That’s it. No actual milk yet it tastes so close it’s stupid. It’s also healthy fats, omega 3’s… so yes, this is a good thing because you’re supposed to be eating 20-25% of your daily intake as healthy fats.

Believe it or not, this is pretty straight forward. Some might even say easy.

So I am giving myself 90 days to shed 10 pounds. 90 days is 12 weeks, so if I loose 1 pound a week, which is safe to do with it staying off, I can reach my goal. Then, come the 91st day.. I start in on Occum’s Protocol, which calls for a 5 second cadence when lifting. I got bigger then I have ever gotten using this last time I did it. B said she’d never seen me gain size that fast.

I’m pumped and yes, I will shot before/afters down the road, count on it.

So that’s what’s been up for me. Been busy, healing, living.

I’m just about to start writing again as well.. I know, I know, you’re excited. Thing is, i’m not going to list my books here when i write them, they won’t be jamesdot books. They’ll be ME books as in, my real, legal name. I figure… why not have some fun? Always cool to be able to point out to family and friends that you’re also an author, right?

Hope your life has been great, hope the week treats you awesome.

I’m off to shower, perhaps even shave for the first time in weeks. I’ve trimmed prior to this but nothing beats a hot shower and a clean close shave, ya know?

So the other one has a taper in it for an hour or two, stretching it out more…

So there ya go, updates for those bored as fuck.

Growing up, I always had small ears. Not a clue why, well, genetics I suppose. I wanted to get tunnels a long time back, but I figured my ear lobes were too small. I have little ear lobes. I mean, SM all.

So about 3 months back or so, Bryci and I are driving home from our accountant and I figured, fuck it, go time. I told her I had a detour if she was fine with it, she said sure and off we went. We went down to a well known tattoo shop and we sort of know the owner so I told him what I wanted to do. He asked what my end goal was.

I didn’t want pierced ears in the sense of having studs or something. Some guys have diamond studs and that’s fine, but I’m not the blingy kind of guy. No disrespect to those with studs, they’re fine.. . just not my style is the thing. I like tunnels, but I didn’t want too big. I see some guys with huge tunnels… damn. great for them but I know my lobes are not that big and well, I’m not really into that look.

I wanted my end goal to be a 0 gauge.

So I have never had my ears pierced before, so i went in and I started with a 8 gauge as my first piercing. There was this girl in the waiting area and she asked what i was doing. i told her.. her eyes went huge. She looked at B.. B smiled and nodded… it’s like the girls were in on something and being s guy, not knowing shit about piercing… i was left out of the joke.

The joke was this.. when people get their ears done.. they start at gauge 14 or 12.

Gauges go in 2’s so.. 14…12…10…8…6…4…2…0

So I jumped four full sizes ahead of where people start usually. This means larger needle popping a whole in my ears. The needle was decent sized and yes, there was def. a sharp WTF feeling when pierced. Meh, not that bad.

So right now, I am a 8 and you generally wait 1-2 months between moving up sizes. I’m going to a 6 gauge when able. I tried the other day but my lobes were not stretching out. Fuckers. I tried the typical hot wash cloth on the skin for 2-3 minutes, still.. nothing.

So today, I’m trying a different approach. I was told that hanging some weight from my ears will stretch out the lobes a little. Nothing too crazy but weight works. I have these little weights from a camera stabilizing unit so I asked Bryci to thread these to my ears to weigh them down a little. So as I sit at my desk.. my lobes are slowly stretching *hopefully* out. Then I’ll slap in my 6 gauges later if all goes well.

These are 8 gauge tunnels.. the new ones are black, bigger.. slowly but surely I’ll get there. I’m weighting them down here in this pic to stretch them so I can move to 6’s.

I just snapped this with the iphone to show you the new ones.. the shine on the 0 gauge is the mirror light. These are black. I changed the levels in this next pic so you see the hole better.. so you see the size difference better. The photo above is the way they look, the photo below is with levels changed.

I’m sure there are some guys out there that think guys with pierced ears are _______ (fill in negative shit word here). My reply to those guys would be simple, good for you. I could care less what others think, it’s what I want that matters. One of the first things I noticed when I had my sleeve started was you get to see people’s reaction before they open their mouth. Some people are open minded and they simply don’t care. Most people could give a shit if you have a piercing, tattoo etc. Those that get bent over something so trivial, I feel sad for. To live life with such a closed mind, ewww. That would seriously suck.

Next up.. aside from of course moving to gauge 6, then 4, then 2, then eventually 0.. (2-3-4 months between each to prevent blow outs where the ear lobe gets ripped) would be having my sleeve completed. See, right now, it’s needing to be redone as far as re-inked to make it blacker. Then after that, the inside areas get done. Not sure if I am going to go with shading to make it three dimensional or add color or something else but it’ll be bad ass when done.

The same guy that did my last ink (be the change on my left arm) is going to do it. He’s amazing, so I’m excited. I wanted to do something with buddha somewhere, but not sure where because I don’t want to ink most of my body. I like most of my body being ink free, easier to see tone that way when you’re working out.

Belly Fat

I can’t quite explain how different my outlook on working out has changed in the past two weeks. Two weeks ago tomorrow, I underwent surgery. I have lived the past seven/eight years with mass frustration. See, I could work out, I could add 3 and 4 inches to my arms, chest, B will vouch.. when i start trying to gain size, I gain size quickly (thank you muscle memory) but my stomach did nothing. I did massive bouts of cardio, eating clean, drinking my weight in water and my body would rip up fast… but my tummy was this blob of FUCK YOU. I was so pissed. Why won’t my stomach change!!?? God damn it, I am doing all the right things!!!

Then I see a doc and he tells me my fascia was damaged and oh yeah, I had a hernia. A fucking HERNIA for the past 7-8 years. So no amount of working out was going to flatten my stomach. I needed surgery. Fuuuuuuck.

So, two weeks out… I had the surgery, I have less then 1/2 inch of fat on my stomach.. I am bloated still mind you but every day I get a little smaller, a little tighter. I was told I can’t start working out until April/May but to be safe, I am not going to push myself hard until June. Excited doesn’t quite cover it. Finally, I can get back to having my six pack. When done, I’ll post before/after pix. When you see what i was rockin belly wise, without sucking in… you’ll shit. I 1000% guarantee you regardless of seeing pix of me here or there, videos from behind the scenes shooting with the Bella ladies.. I was a *lot* larger belly wise then you thought.

Makes me smile, I wonder how many people I know would see my tummy and wonder why I had such a pot belly. My Mom’s husband, my step father I guess.. made a comment to me once about how B must feed me well because I had a tummy. He said it (family) but I bet others thought it.

Knowing it wasn’t my fault and now, the roadblock has been cleared… yeah, beyond excited. I know the road back is not easy but the past 6-8 years have been far from easy anyway so this will be nothing.

If you have a pot belly but can’t for the life of you understand why (ie – you’re not fat elsewhere on your frame), go see a doc, it’s possible you too have a hernia and are simply unaware. I would never thought this myself if the doc hadn’t told me. I even got cool instructions.

So it’s been a fun two weeks.. but fuck yes, slowly but surely getting back to feeling normal. I’m sure B is pleased, she’s been Nurse Bryci and while it’s been amazing having her take care of me, I think she needs a break too.

I’l try and get back to more blogs this week. I am easing myself back into work mode this week, coming off all meds, so life resumes shortly. Oddly enough, as nice as the downtime has been, i feel like a rather retarded bump on the log, so getting back to work will be nice.

Because my fascia was redone, my organs have been squished up into my frame where they are supposed to be, but where they have not been for the past eight years. As such, you can well imagine they’re bruised and pissed off as well. My digestive track is a mess at the moment but I am sure it’ll work itself out. The issue with my organs being pushed up.. it pushes up my diaphragm which in turn compresses my lungs. Get ready to learn how to breath differently.

So yes, it’s been trying at times, it’s been frustrating at times and yeah, sometimes I seriously just wanted to call it. I was done. Tired, frustrated, fuck. I can’t sneeze right now, or cough for fear I’ll blow my stitches. I semi grumble when I need to cough, hoping it’ll work itself out. So far, so good.

I don’t mean to come as if I am bitching here, I try to blog what is going on in my world and well, this healing mumbo jumbo is my world right now. So be it. Bryci has been taking care of me, getting me things when i ask but being a typical guy at times, I don’t always ask, I try and do myself anyway. She’s put up with my moods, my frustrations, my aches and pains and she’s been supportive and amazing the entire time. She truly is an Angel.

I am slowly getting back to my computer, my attention span is that of a mouse at the moment. How often have you seen me go this long between blogs? I love writing and I just sit here and stare blankly at my screen when i try to do something. Sleep, hydrate, food. Repeat.

I’m on the road back and I’m getting better, but I’m not there yet. I will return to normal blogging and normal updates with work as soon as I can.

Any of you that have gone through surgeries, you know what I mean… it’s not that bad, but there are times… the dull aching pains that don’t stop.. you just want to punch something. On the upside, I am able to walk more now. I’m trying to exercise my core a little through walking more. Slowly, patiently, getting there.

have a kick ass weekend everyone!

Some of you may have noticed that I have been out of things lately. I’ve been a little preoccupied I guess. Not sure where to start so I’ll back up.. the year was 2004. I had moved back to Canada from the United States. I was in a dark place, life sucked. I was living with my then friend Clint in his basement suite in Edmonton, Alberta. It sucked balls, but it was a place to sleep. I had previously been in a longer relationship, and she was caught cheating on me. Not something I’d wish on anyone. Anytime you put four years into a relationship… only to have something like this happen, yeah, suck factor x 100.

Anyway, I was feeling sorry for myself (if I am being honest) and I wasn’t eating, I wasn’t sleeping very well. I was a mess. Loosing weight like crazy, I had given up. I was being a pussy, to be blunt. I understand sometimes in life we get kicked in the nards, but at some point you have to pick up the pieces, rebuild and move on. I knew this, but I hadn’t gotten to the that part yet. Like I said, I was feeling sorry for myself.

So fast forward about four months.. my appendix burst. I had no idea, I was rushed into surgery and according to the doc that operated on me, I was somewhere between the 40-50 minutes from death. Shock hadn’t set in yet, but it was close. The doc was in such a rush to fix me, they didn’t worry about the mechanics. My Fascia was mutilated.

Fascia is a seamless web of connective tissue that covers, connects, and holds the muscles, organs, and skeletal structures in our body. Fascia envelopes every structure in the body, each nerve, bone, muscle, organ pf the body is surrounded by fascia. Muscle and Fascia are united forming the myofascia system. Fascia forms an integrated web that unifies the body, connecting all body parts together. Fascia covers about half of the muscles attachment of the body, thus muscle tone has direct connection with the tightness of fascia.

the white area, is your fascia

So to top this off, when they closed me up, they didn’t stitch me up. No stitches because I had a day nurse coming over twice a day to scoop out poison. See the white/cream colored guck in my cut? That’s poison. That is why I wasn’t stitched up.

So fast forward to the last three months..

I had been incredibly frustrated because I have muscle tone, I can gain muscle mass fairly easy actually but my tummy? Fuck no.. for the past five years I have had this pot belly. I don’t drink much (rare that i do) I don’t eat major shit food and like I said, the rest of my body is toned when i work out… so it was truly confusing how my body would respond to working out an diet, nut my tummy would not.

I seriously thought I was just starting to gain a pot belly or something. I didn’t understand how cardio, eating right, nothing seemed to make a huge difference.

old ass pic (2004) below and I was sick as hell, but it shows the size of the scar I had, keeping in mind, no stitches so mother nature closed on it’s own.

So recently, I decided to go talk to a doc and see what my options were. He took one look and he knew what was up. See, your Fascia holds your shit in place. If it’s ruptured, torn etc.. it doesn’t. So gravity kicks in and oh look, your body is now sitting differently. My Doc took one look and he knew I had a hernia going on, in addition to the fascia that needed repairing.

Oh great, this is going to cost a fortune. Faaaack.

Wait, what do you mean it’s FREE because the government screwed up the first time? They were saving my life.. I was/am appreciative of that. i wasn’t asking for a free ride.

Nope, not how it works James, Govt of Alberta screwed up so yes, it’s free to have this fixed.

My scar was 1.5 inches thick, running from my belly button to where pubes start. It wasn’t flat on the surface either because of the three layers to your skin, the middle one and top one didn’t close right, they folded in on the third layer. So, not only do I have this monster scar, it’s like a leaves trough for fuck’s sake. lol

So let’s refresh shall we?

I had this bum scar on my stomach. I had weight in my belly region because my fascia hadn’t been corrected properly. In short, I had an ass on my stomach. yaaaaaaay. No amount of working out was changing things, I’d lose a few pounds but because the muscle fibre had been compromised, my body wasn’t able to tighten up in the front. Loss cause basically.

So Doc tells me, he can fix this, he’d cut me open where my scar is, reducing the scar. He’d be able to climb in there and tighten the fascia as well so it’d be two birds with one stone. Then, side note.. he tells me I also have a hernia going on.

A WHAT?

A HERNIA?

He goes.. well, yeah, did you think you were just overweight in one region on your body? (yes, yes I did)

So he tells me when he is in there, he’ll fix that as well.

Sigh.

So I had a month to go. I was supposed to go into surgery Feb 2. They called me last week, they had a cancelation so they could fit me in right away.

This is where fear sets in. I had a new date, but anytime you’re going to have an operation on your core, trust me when I say… ouch.

So this brings us to today…

On Wednesday of this week, I went under the knife for four hours. I’ve got stitches internally with my fascia, and stitches externally with my stomach. Sore doesn’t begin to cover it. I’m on pain killers but jesus. I can barely get into bed and I am exhausted. Getting down that far hurts. I was chilling with Bryci today (she’s taking great care of me btw) and I drank some water…went down the wrong hole. Coughing started and fuck my life, I was in so much pain. Great times.

As i type this, i am experiencing head nods, moments of sleeping in my chair etc. Good times.

Forgive the typos, I be on meds yo

have a kick ass weekend!

Always wanted one, still want one. Someday, I shall own one. (yes, you can quote me on this)

1969 Camaro SS 396.

We all need goals in life right? My number one goal isn’t a car, it’s just to be happy. Seems simple enough doesn’t it?

Bryci makes me beyond happy. Jack makes me happy (when he’s not cockblocking anyway). Life is good.

Life is really, really good.

Here’s to the crazy ones, the misfits, the rebels, the troublemakers, the round pegs in the square holes… the ones who see things differently — they’re not fond of rules… You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them, but the only thing you can’t do is ignore them because they change things… they push the human race forward, and while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius, because the ones who are crazy enough to think that they can change the world, are the ones who do. – Steve Jobs

I wanted to share this with you. In my opinion, this is “it”. This is the difference between success and failure. This is why some people make it, while others fall short.

Lead, or follow? You decide.

Some people seem to think they are the same but they couldn’t be more wrong.

Also.. geeks get the girl.

Aren’t labels FUN?

Ps. Go buy my fucking book. It’s awesome. I teach you how to cook, how to tend to a flock of sheep and how to master Facebook.

I’m an expert on all things. Just ask me.

I’m kidding, calm down. No cooking, no sheep, no fb.

What does 2012 hold for you?

For me, more fun.

I pushed myself way to hard in 2011. Bryci tells me this over and over and she knows me better then I know myself, so it must be true.

So I figure fuck it, 2012 is time to turn back the clock on stress. Time to take back my life. Work less, live more.

I’ve started writing more, and I have many, *many* more books planned so that’ll be fun. I’m pondering a few topics right now. The path of least resistance is the goal. I know I could write a webmaster style book, detailing the how to of what I do but this might prove to be a pain in the ass. Not because I can’t write it or because I don’t know what I am talking about though. More like I’d piss off a few people.

This biz is ripe with drama, it blows for it. Some people are adults, others are children and that’s being polite. If you work in the biz, you know what I speak of.

My book would detail what I HAVE DONE, not what others do or what you should do. I’d write a book to myself, so if I could go back in time and hook James up with this ten years back, I’d have made less errors and had more positive outcomes. What would happen though, I’d have haters talking shit.

Haters gonna hate

No, I looked hard at Bella over my Christmas break and felt the direction for Bella was on track. I want to be more in the shadows with the ladies’ websites. What I mean is, if a model choses to do her entire site with webcam photos instead of full digital pix, that’s her call. I want to be the guy that says.. Hell yeah sister solider, I support your choice.

I love the Bellas, but I don’t want to be captain of the ship. I’d rather be the co-pilot. Some people out there might think I manage these ladies or I’m their manager etc. Nope, not true. Never have been, never will be. I think managers are, well, pointless. There, i said it. I am the best person to know what is right for me, fuck if I’d turn over my power stick to some manager so he/she can tell me what I should or shouldn’t do. I suppose this is another topic altogether isn’t it?

I did ponder writing a book dedicated to models, detailing my experiences (for what they’re worth anyway) with how to brand yourself, control your brand, good choices versus bad ones, outcomes either way etc but honestly, what the fuck do I know? I’m no model. I have no idea what the ladies go through. I can offer advice based on what i have seen but at the end of the day, we only take advice that we want to hear.

You ever ask someone for advice? They tell you something you don’t like, and although it might be great advice… what do you think? Pfffft. they’re an idiot. Fuck their advice.

We’re so stupid sometimes hey? haha. I know I’ve had my moments too.

I’d love to read a webbie book from a few people out there, more of a curiosity to see how they got to where they are. The issue I have found, is finding people that will be honest about things. It’s not easy opening yourself up. I was blunt in my book because I figured fuck it, why not. I might not win awards or even be that interesting, but I enjoyed writing it.

In 2012 what i can tell you about Bella is this. No new solo models that are fresh to the game. If a model contacts us that already has her shit together and is a hard worker, sort of like how Kiss Kara contacted us and joined Bella at the tail end of 2011, then sure, we’ll look at things. If she’s not a retard, and she doesn’t think we’re retards, who knows what the future may hold.

Evolution is the key to success right? Find like minded individuals and rock out with your cock out.

That’s what i always say.

Well, I’ve never actually said that.. but now I have.

Yes, the cocks are out. Both mine and Mere’s.

Enjoy your life people, it’s the only one you’ve got.

Now I am off to have a kick ass night with my lady. <3

Oh yeah, and cockblock. Fucking dog. So cute. Damn him.