I'm back and FATTER than ever...

I'm officially back from my little Utah adventure weekend. It was a really fun time. I got to see a lot of old friends and eat A LOT of good food. I must say that it was good to be in old Utah. I made it a point to stop by KUTV and visit some of the people I worked with before I made the trek out here to LA. That is always fun. I will admit that I am glad that I got out of there. The people were great, but the atmosphere and the hours are brutal.

Being with my family aside, one of the best parts about being home was hanging with my friends. Like the good old days, we got together at The Pie near the University of Utah. A lot of people showed up to my surprise and we had a good old time catching up. Also, my loving family treated me to a hearty steak dinner at Diamond Lil's in celebration of my upcoming 28th birthday. It was a very gluttonous event. All I need to say is that there was enough meat and drinks to feed an entire crew of viking. (For Pie and Diamond Lil's See the pictures below.)



Turns out that my trip home was the perfect little getaway for me. It's always fun to spend a good chunk of time with my awesome family in beautiful Park City. I'll be going back soon, so if I didn't manage to see you this time around, chances are I will do so next time.

Also, today I found out that I am apparently Obese. This comes as NO surprise to me after all the food I gorged on during my little trip. This information was brought to light by my boss. No, he didn't say, "Kristian, you are sure looking super fat today." He gave me a copy of this BMI Chart that his doctor gave to him. This Body Mass Index puts you in one of three categories: "Normal," "Overweight," "Obese," and "Extremely Obese." You simply match up your height with your current weight and it tells you what category you are in. I know what your thinking, obviously, I am not obese, so it is clear that this BMI chart is not a perfect science, but it has given me even MORE motivation to cut back on the junk, eat less, and exercise more. In fact, I remember back in High School, when I was in the best shape of my life, this BMI chart still said that I was overweight. I guess it's just another part of having rich Norwegian Viking Genes coursing through my veins. See where you stand:

New Month, New Goals...

It has been my new years resolution to have monthly goals. As everyone does, I started off on the right track. I had good results in January, but February was a different story, not so successful. So I am determined to have better results in March. Ideally, I would like to have my goals written down by the first of the month and I know we are already 5 days into March, but it's better late than never, right? And as the battle of "Old" Kristian vs. "New" Kristian wages, I am determined to do EVERYTHING I can to make "New" Kristian victorious. Accomplishing monthly goals is one of those things.

Here are my March Goals:

1. Work Out at gym 3 times per week.
2. Read one book this month.
3. No Fast Food this month.
4. No Carbonated drinks this month.
5. Do my taxes.
6. Eat half as much as I normally do.

They are very similar to January's, but I feel like they are good goals to have. If I meet these expectations, I feel like I am at least making some progression in my life. And that is VERY important for me right now.

"I against I" OR "Defeating Kristian as Kristian"

You may recall that at the beginning of the year I laid out several goals that I wanted to accomplish each month. I must say that January was a very successful month, but February was very different, my goal-accomplishing skills were much "less effective." Thinking back I see my main mistake was not starting the month with any specific goals in mind. And without any concrete aspirations, it is nearly impossible to accomplish anything.

There are several reasons I am trying to challenge myself. For one, I really want to become a better person, and I feel like I have been much too stagnant for the past year. And two, I like a good challenge and I feel like if I make a "to do list" every month, I will feel like I am being successful once I accomplish those goals. It's not easy breaking old habits. It's almost like my new self is fighting my old self to the death. Most of my old habits are lingering around, while my new self wants to break through and take over. In a sense, it's just "Old" Kristian vs. "New" Kristian.

"New" Kristian vs. "Old" Kristian

Battle Statistics:

Round 1 (January 2008): Victory to "New" Kristian

Round 2 (February 2008): Victory to "Old" Kristian

Round 3 (March 2008): The final round, TBD

As you can see, the score is even, "old" has defeated "new" and "new" has defeated "old." Next month is a big month, it will truly determine if I really do want to change. I'm hoping for a "New" Kristian victory. If that happens then I am on my way to change. Stay tuned...

Afraid of "Failure?"

I had a major failure today, and it was hilarious. I was supposed to set up a conference call for my boss and I accidentally sent out the wrong phone number late yesterday. Out of sheer habit I put an 818 area code instead of the 866 area code. And this morning, one minute before the call was to begin, I dialed the number, and some guy named "Victor" answered. A wave of panic came over me as I realized that ten other people were about to make the same mistake. I took a deep breath sent out an apologetic email to all attendees saying that I sent out the wrong number and added the correct one. I then dialed the correct number and everyone joined the line in a matter of minutes. Just as business was about to begin, one of the attendees mentioned poor old "Victor." My boss then joked that we might as well ask him to be on the show since we had all called him. Everyone on the line was laughing by this point, including me. Although the whole experience was quite embarrassing, I was relieved that everyone had taken my ROYAL FAILURE so lightly. I am really lucky that my boss is so great. He is by far one the best Executives in my department.

After that moment of great dignity, I realized that I am not being so good with my goals this month and I know it's mostly because I have not written them down. This is proof that an integral part of accomplishing any goals is actually writing them down. I'm not about to make excuses, but part of the reason is because of my recent move. Things have been pretty hectic, but I am still doing my best to keep up on my goals.

We all fail, in fact some of the funniest stories of our lives come from our own major screw ups. Coincidentally, I stumbled across this website today that is nothing but examples of people failing at life. The Fail Blog is a collection of photographs of undignified moments from others lives. It will be sure to pull you out of any bad mood. Even in the wake of one of the biggest failures in NFL history, this could even help Patriots fans realize that it's not over after failure. You can always get up, dust yourself off and try again, right? Kind of like this guy....

One Month Later...

January is official behind us, that means its time to review my monthly goals. You will remember that I laid out a few goals for the month with hopes of actually following through and accomplishing them. I figured setting them at the beginning of every month would make it easier for me to meet them. Here were my goals for the month of January:

1. Gym Membership & workout every weekday(drop weight approx. 10lbs)
2. Eat half as much & No soda for entire month.
3. Write in blog at least twice a week.
4. Read 1 book this month.
5. Spend money only on necessities.

Lets see how I did as far as meeting those goals. Here are the Results

1. Joined Gym, workout every weekday (partial check, the work out I'm doing has me resting on Tuesdays and Thursdays.) And I only dropped 2 pounds.
2. As far as I can tell I have been eating a lot better this month. And I think I only slipped 2 or 3 times when it comes to drinking soda.
3. My blog has NEVER looked better. I superseded my hopes on this one.
4. And I am pages away from finishing my book for the month. (I haven't been able to read as much as I would like due to my recent move.)
5. I have been extraordinarily good and watching my finances this month.

I wouldn't go as far as saying "Mission Accomplished," but overall I would say I was pretty successful. Time to think of some new ones, and I'll post them.