Day 9 Tuesday Afternoon

Up at 6:10 a.m. - 6.5 hours of sleep. weight - 186 lbs. 7:15 t0 8:45 a.m. - Quad City morning Optimist Club. drank 30 oz. of 1/2 orange juice 1/2 water during meeting. stopped by Fusion store and drank 3 oz. aloe vera and 12 oz. warm green tea. taught lessons and classes 9:30 till noon. At 2:20 p.m. had 14 0z. fresh juiced carrot apple ginger drink. 3:00 to 8:00 p.m. taught classes, drank 20 oz. Gatorade during that time. After classes I went to Ross's 24 hour restaurant and no I didn't eat, but I got a quart of chicken noodle soup and took it home. I drank two big mugs of the broth and left the solid part for my wife. It was hot, spicy, salty and delicious. I think it could have an effect on me tomorrow. Another good day of fasting ended. reason # 9 for fasting : to develop patience.

Day 8 Monday Monday, So Good To Me.

Up at 7:40 a.m. 9.5 hours of sleep. weight - 187 lbs. 8:30 - drank 23 oz. Arizona Green Tea with ginseng & honey - 23 ozs. 10:00 to noon office work. 12:15 to 1:30p.m. - did elevated, progressive, 2 second, perfect push ups - 210 total.. as well as 50 leg lifts with bricks on the feet and 50 sit ups holding bricks. 15 minute heavy bag work out. bicep and tricep curl routines plus rope wrist rolls. Had a good work out but didn't push my self hard enough. I'll have to work harder Wednesday. 2:30 p.m. - drank 20 oz. Gatorade. 3:20 - drank 8.25 oz. Muscle Milk -15 grams of protein. taught classes from 3:30 to 8:45. Had a good day today and felt really good. Looking forward to Wed. the 10th day of the holiday of Fastivus. I'll celebrate by working out even harder. Hard to believe the holiday of Fastivus will be 1/4 over. Reason #8 for fasting - to set a good example of discipline to others.

Day 7 Does Seven Days Make One Weak?

Awake at 8:00 a.m. up at 9:30. 6.5 hours of sleep. weight - 188 lbs. Watched History Channel for 90 minutes - learned about the dinosaurs demise, politics and the history of hell and the devil. 10:45 a.m. did office work. 1:00 p.m. helped choreograph martial arts dance. 3:00 went for a 50 min. walk. 4:45 watched the Hubble movie in 3D at the IMAX theater. Relaxed for the rest of the evening. Drank only water all day and felt very good - better than expected even. It's good to rest on Sunday, but back to hitting it hard tomorrow. reason #7 for fasting - to give the stomach and intestines a rest.

Day 6 Reaching the 1st Plateau

Late entry for Saturday, March 27, 2010 - up at 7:00 a.m. - 8.5 hours of sleep weight - 189 lbs. taught class from 8:30 to 10:00 a.m. 10:20- drank 20 oz. Gatorade - left for Chicago to teach a seminar on effortless kung fu at Johnny Tsai's Kung Fu school, the oldest kung fu school in Chicago. Had 15 oz. orange juice and 15 oz. coffee sipped on them all afternoon. Taught seminar from 1:30 to 4:45 p.m. had a lot of fun teaching did some rolling hands sparring for about 15 minutes at the end. I think they had fun and learned something as well. Left Chicago at 5:30. Arrived in Moline at 8:00 p.m. 8:10 - drank 8 oz. of egg drop soup broth. 9:15 - drank 20 oz. of cranberry and mixed juice drink. Had a great day today. The seminar went very well. I felt a little sluggish in the third hour on the ride to Chicago but the orange juice and coffee gave me a lift. Notice how my weight did not go down at all from Friday to Saturday. This is not unusual, the metabolism is slowing down - one of the main reasons people get frustrated with diets, but also what allows one to fast. reason #4 for fasting - to help overcome fear.

Day 5 Over the Hump - Now Climb the Mountain

Late entry for Friday March 26, 2010. Day 5 - Up at 6:15 a.m.- 7 hours of sleep. weight - 189 lbs. Taught early class with 4 students in attendance. Did four sets of 50 Knuckle push ups as well as 100 leg lifts and 85 sit ups. Did a lot of stick and staff training. 8:45 to 9:35 sipped on 15 0z. orange juice and 15 oz. cup French almond toast coffee at Cup o' Jo's. Taught 10:30 class till 11:45. Drank 8oz. whey protein - 25 grams. From 1:20 to 2:20 p.m. did the hour of power with Jeanette, Dan and Nathan. They each did their own number. I chose to do 42 per minute for a total of 2,520 knuckle push ups. 2:00 to 5:00 p.m. - tended to the school and building business 6:00 drank 20 oz. Muscle Milk. 6:30 t0 7:3o speed read a book on chi kung at Borders. tired by 8:00. in bed at 10:30. Felt much better today. Had more energy from the start. Yesterday was a rough patch but you have to endure some discomfort to get to the good part. It is worth it. reason #4 for fasting - To sacrifice a little now for greater well-being in the future. (of course, it's always now.) - Later.

Day 4 Livin' off the fat of the man

Up at 8:30 a.m. 8.5 hours of sleep. weight - 190 lbs. started teaching at 9:30 done at 12:45. drank a Naked brand fruit juice smoothie at 11:15. At 1:30 p.m. had a fresh 12 oz. carrot-apple-ginger drink plus some supplements. 3:30 p.m. had some Dole strawberry-kiwi 15 oz. 8:00 p.m. had a 20 oz. G2 Gatorade. Today I felt kind of sluggish, not that much energy, but that's not unusual for the fourth day, even with the extra hour of sleep. The body is adjusting to the fast. Taught classes from 2:00 p.m. till 7:00 p.m. this evening and felt better. I'm still excited about the Push ups for Peace event. It's only 36 days away. In the mean time I'll be " livin' off the fat of the man" so to speak. Tomorrow will be the hour of power training at 12:15 p.m. I will be doing about 2500 push ups in an hour. Come and watch -admission is only a dollar. Reason # 4 for fasting-to help the spirit overcome the flesh.

Day 3 Discipline

Up at 7:30 a.m. 7.5 hours of sleep. weight - 192 lbs. 1o:3o drank 14 fl. oz. Muscle Milk -25 grams of protein. 2:00 p.m. drank 12 oz. coffee with 25 grams of protein. taught classes from 3:00 to 9:00 p.m. At 6:45 drank 20 0z. Gatorade. did a couple of workouts including sparring and about 375 push ups during the evening. I have to say I feel really good so far. I had a student tell me a while back "I could never do what you do, I don't have the discipline that you have." So it occurred to me that no one has discipline to start with. It is something you acquire through persistent, continuous effort over time. So don't say you can't do something because you don't have the discipline. Just work toward your goal. If you fail, try again. The discipline will take care of it self. It's how much you want something that will take you there. Reason # 3 for fasting - To strengthen the mind. (and make your body smart). See you then.

Day 2

Up 6:20 a.m. 7.5 hours of sleep. weight - 195 lbs. Drank 30 oz. 1/2 orange 1/2 water from 7:15 to 9:15. Taught 10:30 class. Drank 20 oz. Lifewater. Drank 22 oz. acai/amazon energy drink. Gave a demonstration at Palmer College at 4:00. Taught classes till 8:45 p.m. Well, that was my day except my morning Optimist Club meeting at 7:30 a.m. today. On my second day of fasting I'm going to talk about health care. We don't have health care in this country. We have disease treatment, but not health care. We spent 137 billion on diseases last year that were considered preventable, mostly due to obesity. Taxpayers paid for 1/2 of this cost. Excess body fat is linked to thousands of cases of cancer, not to mention diabetes and heart disease. With 1/2 of our population over weight and 1/3 obese, we have no health care because too many people don't care about their health. Until people take responsibility for their own health, we will have a health care disaster. Reason #2 for fasting- To detoxify the body.

Day 1

Up at 7:45 a.m. 7.5 hours of sleep. weight- 201 lbs. 12:15 p.m. - drank 14 oz. protein drink called Muscle Milk. Contains 25 grams of protein. Worked out 1:15 to 2:15 p.m. Taught three classes this evening from 4:15 to 8:45. Did only about 400 push ups throughout the evening. I feel really good today. I'm very excited about the next 40 days. Why fast? Reason #1 To stop the yearly cycle of weight gain. Until tomorrow, stay hungry for knowledge.

The Holiday of Fastivus

I 'm sitting here on the eve of the biggest holiday of the year. Tomorrow is the first day of Fastivus. It occurs on the first Monday in spring. During that time, followers must observe a few simple practices for about 40 days. First, there is no eating during this time. Fastivians must be at least 20 years old to participate in this and begin with only three days and increase one to three days yearly. Protein drinks are permitted on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Diluted fruit juices on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. Only pure water is consumed on Sunday.This fasting is not discussed with non-fastivians unless it is brought up by a non-fastivian (or eater as they are often called). It is considered bad form to initiate a discussion about one's own fast. After thirty years of celebrating Fastivus, one can become an elder in the discipline. The Grand Elder has two responsibilities. To perform a feat of strength at the end of forty days fasting, and to keep a journal of his thoughts. Look ahead in the days to come on the progress of the Grand Elder's fast and training for the feat of strength. Remember : Fastivus for the last of us.

Why?

Why the name Shaolin concepts for this blog? I chose it because Shaolin chuan Kung Fu is my art and way of life. Martial arts is an art because we reflect on why we do what we do. Martial arts is more than just punching, kicking , blocking, throwing and joint locking. It's even more than just self-defense and fitness. It's about that journey we all must take. The challenge we give to ourselves. The next challenge for me is 41 push ups per minute for an hour, a total of 2460 in an hour on my 41st day of fasting. Why? Because first of all, it's fun. Second, we'll be raising money for charity, and third we'll be drawing attention the the issues of hunger, obesity, fitness and preventable diseases. I will be starting my fast on Monday 3/22/10 and attempting the world's record forty one days later on Saturday, May 1st 2010. I will keep you informed of my condition as the fast and training continues.

It is getting closer to the start of my yearly fast and world record attempt. There is a lot of misunderstanding of what I am doing and why. Fasting is not starving or dieting. It is a personal introspective journey into the discipline of controlling desires, cravings, urges, impulses and other short term cognitive behavior to reap the benefits of more long term gratification. Did I lose you? In other words, if we can focus on what we really, really want in the in the long term rather than doing something that we regret later, we'll be happier. Why do we not exercise when we really want to be in shape? Why do we eat when we really want to lose weight? Why do we smoke or even do drugs when we really want to quit? Fasting can unlock the answers these strange human mysteries.

Welcome to My Blog

This is my new blog. I plan on keeping a journal of my thoughts and insights starting soon. I will be doing my yearly fast and at the same time preparing for another world record attempt. Many people ask me all the time about my next record and if I am fasting. This will be a way for me to inform those who are interested.