You ever stop and think about how short life is? Sometimes you need to seize the moment, take charge and make changes. If something is not right in your life, you need to step up and make the changes to make it right. Might be your health, it might be your relationship, it might be your job or the way you do your job.

We all take life for granted, or at least most of us do.

I’ve been taking time away from work, that is to say.. I’ve been making an effort not to work as much. I still work of course and I love my job, I love my life but one of the things I have always been really passionate about is writing. I also wanted to get more active in regards to simple cardio.

Every morning I ride the bike with the 50 pound flywheel (it will burn your legs quickly if given the chance) and I write my next book. I’m so freaking excited about it, I then read things to Bryci and she gets excited and wants to know what happens next.

This is the sort of thing I am talking about. Changes in your day to day life that enrich your life, bring back the spring in your step.

Next week my camera should arrive and then the following week Bryci and I get back to shooting which is what I truly love to do. Writing comes so natural for me, so with any luck someone will buy one of my books and tell me they enjoyed it. Small victories, knowing you made someone else smile. that’s what it’s about.

Don’t allow yourself to get caught up in the bullshit life can throw at you from time to time. Seize the moment, seize the day. Carpe Diem, motherfuckers. We get one go around, so why not do what you want to do, having fun when you want to have fun?

You know why I hadn’t started writing before this? I didn’t think i could do it. For whatever reason I had talked myself out of it before trying it.

Bryci is my heart, my soul. She is also my muse. She motivates me in ways I can only wish for others. Thank you my girl.

So with Sunday upon me, I shall relax, chill, and seize the day. I suggest you do the same.

I am about to undertake something I have done in the past. This plan works, I have personally done this and you can read about in this blog if you click the 15-21 category on the right side.

Is this a diet? Yes. I know diets suck, keep reading.

Diets don’t work in the sense that people do them, lose weight, then go back to eating the way they were and they’re shocked when they gain the weight back. If anything, this a lifestyle change in that if you do this and you actually stick to it.. you’re good.

It’s not easy but nothing worth doing ever is.

Turn up the heat by Dr Phillip Goglia. This is the guy hollywood calls to rip actors and actresses into shape for roles.

A little about me as far as my starting stats.

I’m not an overweight guy by any means, but I do have 10, possibly 15 pounds of fat I’d like to lose before I start the weight gaining process (via muscle building). I already have a program I created from reading books, articles etc that i have used where I can gain muscle at a decent rate, without doing 1/10th the work guys in the gym do. Working a 5 second cadence, you can do almost almost anything if you’re trying to build but we’ll talk about that another day. I am still recovering from surgery and I can’t start lifting until May area so I’ll tackle this then.

Alright, where was I… oh yeah, my stats.

I stand 6 feet tall. I weighed myself this morning 18 minutes after waking and I weighed in at 182 pounds.
(ideal time to weigh yourself is within 15-20 minutes after waking, your body has settled by then)

I forgot to measure my body fat % and body mass index this morning when I weighed myself. It’s been two hours since then, I just took my readings and I have a 22.4 body fat % and 24.7 bmi (body mass index) %. The best time to check these two numbers is at night, before bed, making sure you have not drank water within 2 hours. Water will screw with your numbers .

This is what I use to get these numbers.. bought on amazon.com.

The only true way to do a baseline for these numbers is to chart it out over a day at 5 diff times, then average the numbers. I’ve been told this at least, take it for what it’s worth.

So.. the diet part of things, how does it work? Well, the plan is called 15 in 21. It’s a quick-start version found in the book shown above. The book has this small plan as well as a 90 day lifestyle change that teaches you how to change your eating habits and get healthy, keeping weight off etc.

The claim is 15 pounds in 21 days. Sounds crazy right? Wrong.

This magazine article writer decided to try the plan and he had some of his co-workers try it as well.

In 21 days, following this perfectly (or so they claim), the writer lost 19.6 pounds. The other three guys that did it lost 15, 12, and 15 pounds. I guess it sort of comes down to what you’re working with when you start. If you’re like me, and more or less trim/healthy.. it’s going to be harder to drop 15 pounds (I think) as opposed to someone that is 300 pounds.

Click any for larger size. This will detail what you need to do easier.

here is the page scan for ladies reading this, Bryci snapped an iphone pic..

So today it begins, again.

If I am being honest with myself, in the past when i tackled this I allowed myself to derail. I would see a 4 or 5 pound loss and think, I’m fine, I’m good. I want pizza.

Well, I still want pizza, I mean.. come on, it’s PIZZA.

I figure I will give 21 days to this. See what it does. Document every step of the way, daily weigh ins, daily bf and bmi stats.

Let’s see what happens, I lost weight with this before. I can and will do it again.

Time to turn up my metabolism!

Now which of you is going to do it with me?

What inspires you? Is it something in life such as art, written word, perhaps music? Maybe it’s a person you know?

Myself, I am inspired by several things in life. When I hear a good story, I want to write. I want to create. When I see a great photograph I can’t wait to pick up my camera.

Lately Bryci and I have been talking a lot about the future, what we’d like to shoot, where we’d like to shoot. It’s painful because I don’t get my new camera for another 16/17 days still.. but it’s coming at least!

Nikon literally finalized the firmware for this camera *today* so when I get the camera, it is basically under 3 weeks old, from the factory where it was created. I don’t think I have ever owned anything that new, have you? I’ll have the first D4 in British Columbia which is kind of cool, not that it matters I guess. I know of some major camera chains in BC that don’t even get the D4 from the first shipments but I ordered mine waaaay back when they announced it. As in, that day, that morning sort of thing. A guy’s gotta get back to work you know.

I think if I were to look inward at my life, I’d say Bryci inspires me more than anything. She stands behind me in everything and she’s so amazing, she actually makes me want to be a better human. I do believe in other lives, or previous lives.. they have to exist. I mean, how else do you explain me ending up with an Angel? I must have saved a busload of children from certain death or something to earn the karma points that got me into her heart.

Ok Ok.. enough mushy…

I went to see my doc today for my 7 week check up.

Yup, it’s been 7 weeks (this Wed that is) since I had surgery for my hernia, my intestines getting reworked, my fascia getting tightened etc. Bryci was right there in the room with me when I disrobed. My surgeon was amazed at the progress. I was much flatter then he expected my stomach to be. Hell yes that was great to hear. Anytime you can shock your doctor with your progress, it’s a good day.

I was given the green light to start cardio so tomorrow.. Hello Mr Spin Bike. We invested in a good quality one some time back, might as well put the fucker to use! I am allowed to start lifting again in about a month according to Doc but myself, I am going to listen to my body instead. I honestly don’t expect to be ready to go in a month. My abs were cut for crying out loud. They still sting sometimes when sitting up.. so if it takes 6-8 weeks before I start thrashing my core, I’m alright with that.

My goal is 170 pounds. I currently weigh 180.2

I did weigh 187 when I went into surgery.

I want to get to 170 via proper eating, water intake and cardio. Then, I start the asteroid stack and pick up where I left off with the five second cadence taught in Tim Ferris’s Four Hour Body. He didn’t start the method, he merely carried it forward. Geek to Freak as he calls it, works. I tried it myself and Bryci told me she’s never seen me gain that kind of size before. Five second cadence REALLY thrashes your body in a good way.

Well, you’re up to date now, hope your Tuesday rocked!

Oh yeah… I forgot.. I am not writing ONE more JamesDot work style book… I am writing TWO. They will be released at the same time, odds are… end of March/April area.

It always trips me out when I see people tweet to @Bryci saying she is their wallpaper on their phone or desktop on their home computer. I know it catches her off guard as well. She doesn’t see herself as some internet celebrity or whatever category she;d be in. She sees herself as B. Just the girl next door that is literally, the girl next door.

Someone sent this pic in to us, well… tweeted it to Bryci I should say. We shake our head, so honored that people love what we’re doing. Who am I kidding, they love Bryci! I could be a monkey with a camera, as long as I steady the fucker and push the button to snap the pic.. haha.. that’s my job summed up btw.

So.. Saturday is here!

I was going to see my Mom today, but the weather is still sucking a nut. Stupid winter, seriously, fuck off already.

Instead, I am going to spend a good portion of today writing my second book. I had been toying with whether to write some fiction or jump right back in where book one left off work wise.

I decided book two will be my manual. Best way to describe it would be.. if I could time travel back ten years and I was going to still be doing what i do today, THIS NEXT BOOK will be the one book I wish I’d have in my hands. It would have saved me a lot of time, a lot of headaches. In the book I am going to answer a lot of questions I have gotten and go deep into describing, explaining, teaching you how to do this, that, the other.

Don’t want to give things away just yet right?

I’m also going to do several chapters on models, for models. How to be better at what you do. How to be true to your fanbase without looking fake. How to basically be genuine and in the book it’ll be clear, if you’re not genuine, stop now. People can smell a fake a mile away, right? I’m going to teach a few things I have learned along the way, for what they’re worth anyway. Some people will enjoy it, I am sure some will think I’m crazy. Difference is I guess, I have the experience to back it up, so it’s not opinion I’m writing from, it’s personal experience. It’s not law of course, some might try my ideas and fail miserably… to them I’d say, learn how to read better. LOL. JOKING.. sheesh.

No seriously, the book is just that, a book. Not a blueprint, no guaranteed success. Just me teaching you what i wish i knew back then, from what i know now. Again, this book will be written to me, from me… if time travel existed.

There will also be several chapters in the book from Bryci, teaching ladies her beauty secrets. Yes, Bryci is going to help you become happier about being you, living within your skin.

So yes, it’s going to take some time to pen. I’ll cover as many aspects as I can, so if you’ve ever wanted to get into the game, I’ll help show you some of the things you need to do, some of the things you need to consider, what is involved etc. Take it for what it’s worth.

As for the book title… any ideas?

ps. Some of you possibly read a post I made yesterday about someone from my past. After the fire was out of my belly from writing the post. I took a shower and felt that it wasn’t very Be the Change to have this out there in the universe. Sure, we get mad but sometimes, we need to take the high road. Karma exists and it doesn’t play favorites. If someone has done you wrong, relax. Karma will even the score. Believe it.

When you’re young, you’re asked “What you want to be when you grow up?”

Remember? I bet right now, if you were to ask yourself and be honest with yourself, you’d have an answer that just might be very different from what you’re doing with your life. Why? Why aren’t you doing what you wanted to do?

If you’re like most people, it’s because you needed to pay the bills and then life happened. That’s what we always say. I know people that have kids and they hate their jobs, but they need to pay the bills. They need to support their family. People seem to want better, but they just are not sure of how to get their safely, without putting their family or what they have at risk. Sound about right?

So what if.. and I’m just spit-ballin here… what if you took baby steps to reach your dream?

Start slowly, one day at a time moving towards your goal and before long, you’ve arrived.

My first jobs after high school as well as my second jobs, all the way into third, fourth, fifth jobs were retail hell. I worked at restaurants, I worked at the mall, I was even an electrician’s first year apprentice. I needed to survive, to pay the bills. I hated my job because it wasn’t what I wanted to do so in time, I bought a camera and slowly.. started to shoot.

Some background if you’re new here..

I grew up around photography. I grew up looking at Playboy, from the age of four onward. My Dad liked his Playboy, my Mom on the other hand, did not. I wanted to be the person that created this beauty. This was well before it was sexual. It was about beauty, the way the light danced across her body. The smile, the eyes, the colors. I wanted to create art, with people.

My goals weren’t about how much I’d make. I never stopped to ask myself if I’d be rich doing these things, or if I’d be able to buy a house. I asked myself how I’d be able to create art, and later I figured out a way to do it. Although at the time I didn’t see it as my escape to a new career, I saw it more as I’m doing what I want to do.

Aren’t we always told the key to life is to find something you love to do, and find a way to make money doing it?

I know a few guys that wish they could do what I do. So why can’t you? Nobody starts at the end, they start at the beginning, with a dream. They start slowly and over time, doors open and opportunities present themselves, or rather, you make opportunities present themselves. Get a camera, shoot a friend for free. Get experience and confidence. It does pay off.

Right now I am going through a waiting period and it’s driving me nuts. I am waiting for my new camera to arrive so I can start shooting again. The future is a lot brighter then it’s ever been and I’m excited. Bryci is excited, we’re both thrilled with what lay down the road. Just *wait* to see what we’ve got coming next…

I’m currently writing my next book, and I’m also planning something big photo wise. Life is good. I didn’t get here overnight, but I never stopped believing I could get here either. Sure you’ll have set backs and sure.. sometimes life will kick you in the nuts. So what? Get past it. What are the other options? Give in and be some person that let life beat you? Ewww. that would suck. I refuse to settle for less, and you yourself should always strive for better.

If you can chose between success and failure, and believe me when I tell you.. you CAN choose.. why not choose success? Stop worrying about what others think, what others do. Start worrying about how much you’re smiling.

It’s a lot more fun.