PROJECT: Briles 200 - Can Briles Come Out And Play?

I'm a horrible self motivator, kids....

...unless it's for watching tv/movies/sports, eating, drinking, doing absolutely nothing, fantasizing about being in the "Community" study group, or especially for going to hang out with friends and doing one and/or all of those things.  

(Move over Evangeline Lilly...  I'm now officially pretending that either Gillian Jacobs or/and Allison Brie have agreed to make out with me as a reward for completing P:B200 a success! PS. Watch Community!!)

After six months of PROJECT: Briles 200, I've lost 15 lbs and have gotten stronger, solely by adding one 30 minute weight training session per week at Cutting Edge Fitness and making some better decisions with my eating choices.  However, I knew going into this that it was really my activity level that I was going to have to bring up to make P:B200 a success.  As we all know, regular activity is the majorest factor in living a healthier lifestyle.  I go to Cutting Edge, I head out for a jog here and there, and I've been typing with my fingers a lot more with this blog, so there's that...   But to get down to 200 lbs, I need to get out and play more.  

The biggest obstacles in doing so is that I don't have any activities that I LOVE doing.  I get bored really easily and like trying new things, so I have trouble getting out there and doing them on my own.   I'm also one of those crazy people who thinks having fun is way more fun than exercising and hard work.  My brain has an aversion to choosing a workout on my own over great television, working on photos, or especially any social invite that comes my way.  It's like I have an addiction to socializing and I find that I have a good time doing anything when in good company.  It would be great to get active in a social setting.   Unfortunately, most of the time when I meet up with people, there isn't a whole lot calorie burning going on.   In fact, it's usually the EXTREME opposite.  That's gotta change if I'm going to get healthier!  

I was hoping to roll this plan out during the summer, but the new job crunched down on my time.  Now that I'm settling in a bit, I'm ready to start adding a new phase to the blog and his is where I'm hoping to get/NEED your help!  I'm hoping to build a community of "play dates" to keep me active while I search for the one or two activities that I'd like enough that I could do them on my own for regular exercise.  

Since I've got this whole weird having fun issue and I like hanging out with people, I'm hoping that I can get a bunch of you to invite me to "come out and play" and participate in whatever your favorite activities are.  YOU = Family, old friends, new friends, strangers, stalkers...  ACTIVITIES = Whatever burns calories more than sitting on my ass!  Running, basketball, hiking, ultimate frisbee, horseshoes, tennis, golf, crazy long Guitar Hero session, parkour, squash, chasing chickens around a farm...  I'm game for anything!

Are you a Yogi?  Let's stretch!   Is your daughter having a double-dutch tournament?  CrissBriles will make ya, jump! jump!   Is there a kickball game happening in your neighborhood?  Don't pick me last!  Are you teaching a pilates class?  Teach me what the hell pilates even are!...What pilates is??...What they ARE!?...  I guess I'm also looking for a grammar coach!    

If  you'd like to help me out and think we'd have a good time doing your activity, talk to me in the comments section of this blog or friend my Briles is Losing It page on Facebook and we'll set something up.  I will be writing about my play dates" and I'm also hoping to capture some of these adventures on video as I'm sure some of them, especially the one's I've never tried before, will be quite amusing.  

Unfortunately, I'm restricted to activity partners in the New England area at the moment, but I know some of you are reading from afar.  If you've got something you'd like to suggest, by all means, throw it out there and we'll see if we can't get it together sometime in the future.  So let's have some fun and help me get to my imaginary reward make out session with the girls from "Community" and more importantly get closer to making PROJECT:Briles 200 a reality.  Troy and Abed would!

PS.  I'm leaving you with a video demonstrating the natural grace, amazing agility, and raw athleticism you will be recruiting to partake in your activities!

Yup... Still Babbling...

6 months already, Kids!  

Yup, as October 1 rolled by, I’ve kept this blog thing going for a full 6 months!  That may mean diddly to you, but I consider it pretty impressive when taking into account the history of past projects I’ve tried taking on...   

...My screenplay “Anything For Money” (a comedy about a guy who starts a phone and cyber sex business in his dorm) that I got halfway through for my Film Writing class back at The Cuse.  We only HAD to write half of a movie as a final project...  thus why only half got done (If only the assignment had been for a FULL script!!...  Damn, you, Evan Smith!!)  I REALLY planned on finishing it.  I REALLY ended up not...  I graduated school and moved back to my parents’ house for the summer where after writing maybe two new pages, I, ironically, became distracted by a three month, long distance, love affair, consisting mostly of phone and cyber sex... on dial up...   with a now well published young adult novelist.     

...My painting; “Sunset Field... With Tree”.  Back when I lived in California, I went into a Michael’s Arts and Crafts Store with my girlfriend at the time.  As she shopped for school supplies, a bolt of inspiration struck me and gave me a crazy notion that I wanted to make a painting (that bolt of inspiration being some sort of huge sale on painting supplies).   The thing started off pretty well for someone with no painting knowledge or training whatsoever, then I decided to put a damn tree into the painting...  The tree was SO bad....  It just killed all inspiration to finish...

...The birthday photo collage I was making for my ex-wife. Well...  I guess the term “ex-wife” might explain that one... 


I guess you could call me easily distracted...  I think I've mentioned before that I may have ADD...

Long blog, short, I’m pretty proud I’ve kept this thing up with at least SOME consistency (yes, I'm counting 1 or 2 a month as 'consistent'), especially in the face of all the the life changes that affected so many of the big plans I had for this blog (and PROJECT: Briles 200).  This whole thing started back in April when I had a job that gave me a TON of opportunity to think about, ponder, meditate on, etc things or event write, work on pictures, etc while holding that job.  I rode the Red Line T into the city every day (that I went in) to work at a hotel.  There was a ton of time off due to slow business and when there was business, there was a lot of down time throughout the day.   Also, a lot of the work I did do for the hotel could be done with my thoughts traveling elsewhere. 

That was a LOT of new stimuli every day!  Different people coming in and out of the hotel, different smells/sights/sounds on the T, lots of games of “OhHi” eyes with the ladies, oodles of time to think....    Sure, you see some of the same people from time to time, but for the most part, you’re always getting a different show on the T or at the hotel.  Every day shoved new experiences and new possibilities my way keeping me inspired, my senses tingling and my imagination brimming (see below).

A month and half after starting the new job, I found myself somewhere that barely lets me think about half of the things I need to actually worry about in the job, never mind my life and any of the extras outside of the job (such as this blog, my health, taking pictures) that I’d like to have go along with it.  Now, I have to drive the same 45 minute route to and from work every day with no people watching/funny smells/interesting conversations to experience.  I see mostly the same people everyday.  There are times when I get to new meet new people coming in to check out the property, but that interaction is pretty limited compared to what I’m used to.  I really don’t have a minute to myself all day, aside from my hour lunch, which is where I write this for you now.  It’s a tough pill for the creative mind to swallow.     

Don’t get me wrong.  It’s not that I don’t enjoy what I’m doing.  I actually do quite a bit... especially combined with the fact that I don’t have to collect unemployment two weeks out of every month (the main motivator for switching over to property management vs. event technology).  It just doesn’t lend itself to heading in the creative directions I had planned back in April, which is a major adjustment.  Major adjustments when I have actual plans aren’t my strong suit, thus, my excitement that I’ve been at least SOMEWHAT consistent in keeping this train on the tracks.  I have no delusions of grandeur that this is the greatest, most interesting blog by any means.  It doesn’t even come CLOSE to what I wanted to do with it back in April, but it’s still going and I’m counting that as a success for me.  

So, for all of you who've read and especially those who keep reading, thanks for hanging with me!       

PROJECT: Briles 200 - Is This Okay, Sansei #2

My realities are colliding, kids!  

Tonight, Top Chef D.C. ends and the new season of my one and only reality show guilty pleasure, Survivor, is about to begin!....   and I'm going to be playing along!!...   because I HAVE NO OTHER CHOICE!!!...

Obviously, I'm not going to be ON either show, but I will be EATING and COOKING like I'm on a weird mashup of the two shows...  Due to your friendly neighborhood idiot (that's me) making a banking boo boo by paying WAY more that he intended/needed/could afford to pay to a particular creditor last week and a paycheck that won't show for another 10 days, I'm going to be subsisting SOLELY on my surroundings (at home) for a bit.   The last time I went on a big grocery run was a solid 10-12 days ago.  I've picked up a couple things here and there, but I ain't got much in the house.    Since I have nary a dime to spare for the near future, I'm going to combine my two favorite realities by spending the next weekplus focused on getting creative cooking up whatever I can find around my place.  No going out to eat, no delivery, no showering, and no grocery shopping!  I'm totally kidding about the showering... (SOLELY because I have to go to work).  For a spontaneous, social bachelor like myself, it's going to be quite the challenge. I literally have to use all my energy to say no to any social invites when I have nothing else to do...  But if spending money is involved, I have no other choice!   


Now, I don't want to get too overdramatic about this...  In Top Chef spirit, I'm a pretty decent and imaginative cook (see below).  I can also don a Survivor buff and will fearlessly eat what you (or I) put in front of me.  And I've got sommmmme food in the joint...  It's not a ton, but I'm pretty sure I won't HAVE to lure a neighbor's cat into my place to make orange chicken (I hope...)  The real big problem is whether what I'm making is at least remotely healthy.  Which is why I've gotta ask... 

IS!..THIS!..O!..KAY!..SAN!..SEI???!!  

(I want you to hear a game show crowd, or perhaps an informercial crowd, shouting that out in your heads every time you read it...)

 It's a pretty crappy picture, but it was a pretty pretty dish, if I don't say so myself.  I totally just made stuff up and it was really easy....   So, since I'm sorta going Poor Boy Gourmet for a while, I'm actually going to go Poor Girl Gourmet on your asses and recipe this here dish out for ya...   What we've got here is some of my finest work as judged by my own taste buds and belly...   


You'll have to excuse the lack of precision.  "Machete don't text" and "Briles don't measure".  


1 Can of Black beans cooked in a pot on low heat with some onions chopped up and thrown in there.  I threw a little cayenne and garlic powder in there, as well.  It cooked for about a half an hour on as low as I could keep the gas flame.  Pretty standard stuff...   I also broke up a half a slice of pepper jack and threw that on top once it was on the plate.  Made two to three servings.  I threw a couple large spoonfuls of Trader Joe's Habanero Lime Salsa on the side.  


2 chicken breasts chopped up.  I tossed a bit of salt, pepper, garlic powder, cayenne pepper, and a good amount of cumin on them.  I heated some olive oil up in a weird pan that I think I've used once before... it's some cross between a wok and a skillet.  Alls I really know about it is that I got it in the divorce. I'm just going to call it a "skok"...   So I heated the oil up in the skok and threw the chicken in.  Once the chicken was almost cooked through, I threw in some sliced green and yellow peppers and half an onion in there.  A little more salt, a little more cumin, and a little more pepper.  Cooking everything uncovered for a few minutes. Then I threw a about 4 or 5 small blobs of Trader Joe's Red Thai Curry Sauce 
(which is the ABSOLUTE BOMB - but I know not great for you...) in, stirred it up, covered the skok and let it simmer for a few.  


3.  This is where I got REALLY creative (by my standards).  I had a bag of fresh small yams and half a bag of frozen turnip chunks that I had neglected for some time.  So I threw 6 skinned and chopped up yams and the half a bag of turnips in some boiling water with a medium onion (this ratio turned out great).  I let everything boil until ready to be mashed (20 minutes?).  After draining the water, I added some salt, a little pepper, a bit of cumin and cayenne, about a tablespoon of Brommel & Brown yogurt margarine, a few good squirts of honey, a few splashes of lime juice, and a quarter cup of pineapple juice, two solid pinches of brown sugar and a couple daps of the Thai Curry Sauce.  I wanted to mash the damn concoction, but I guess I don't have a masher (there was quite an extensive search...the ex must have gotten it...), so I just had to stir it up with a wooden spatula.  I got it 'mashy' enough to make do.  It was freakin' fantastic!!!  


I ate the plate you saw in the picture...  and maaayyyyybe an extra small spoonful of each dish, but after a light day, I had the the extra calories coming to me.  Everything worked pretty darn well together and it made at least two 'husky kid' meals, probably three 'regular person' meals, and four 'Ain't no way I'm not having more of THAT' meals.  Seriously, this meal was GREAT, really easy to cook all 3 at the same time and it was fun to just pull stuff from around the house, but will Ann Marie approve??


How'd I do, Sansei?      

Project: Briles 200 - Is this okay, Sansei? #1

Time to step this thing up, Kids.

 I know I said I was going to do a recurring segment called "Decisions, Decisions" before, but I kinda forgot about it (have I mentioned I may be a little A.D.D?)... That one will still come into play here and there. Luckily, the new job has limited a lot of the tough choices that would I have to make about what I'm going to munch on a daily basis, but there are still plenty of interesting eating choices I make...

This segment is called "Is this okay, Sansei?". The inspiraion comes from my weekly workouts/constant text messaging with my Fitness Sensai, Ann Marie, where she interrogates me about what I've been eating, then applauds me or yells at me accordingly...

I'm going to start posting pics of what I'm about to eat (or HAVE eaten, as it's highly probable that I'll brain fart this thing a bunch of times, forgetting to take the pictures before the meal...).  I'll then describe what it is, if needed, then let Sansei shame me or praise me based on that.  This day and age has brought a lot of health information our way whether we've wanted it or not, so I think we all have a pretty good fundamental understanding of what's healthy and unhealthy, but it's always good to get some reinforcement.  Hopefully, she'll give me some nutritional info as to what I put into my body along the way.  What I do with that information may or may is still at my discretion, but I'm hoping I'll hear enough to be swayed in the right directions.  

So here goes!!!

I walked down to my favorite coffee shop, Crema Cafe, located in Harvard Square for a little brunch and a hot cup of focus while I worked on some pictures and this blog this afternoon.   My friends Ben and Erin, or BErin, for short, introduced me to Crema when I first moved to Somerville.  It's ridiculously good.  The coffee, their baked goods, their sandwiches...  you can't go wrong!  I tried a piece of quiche there for the first time last week.  I'm not really a 'quiche guy' (nor should ANY guy be a 'quiche guy'), but when I heard what was in it I had to try it.   It was a slice of quiche with sweet potato, bacon, and goat cheese.  One bite and it EASILY jumped into the top 10 of my favorite things to eat in the woorrrrlllld.

It looked delicious, it sounded delicious, and it WAS delicious.   So I decided to go back down today to see if they still had it.  Unfortunately, they had switched the bacon for ham, but kept the sweet potato and goat cheese.  Still heaven in an egg pie...  Just not 'blow your mind all over your face' heaven in an egg pie...   Anyway, this is the ham one.  I also had a cup of black coffee with an added expresso shot...  and some water I brought.

Is this okay, Sensai?!


I also remembered to have a stranger take a picture of me on the way home through Harvard Yard!....

PROJECT: Briles 200 - Training Daze

Hard work is HAAAAARRRRD, Kids...

I'm already about to hit my second month on the new job and I'm still putting most of my attention and focus on figuring it all out.  Considering that about 75% of it is completely different than what I've done before, that two of the other three people in the office started the same day as me, and that it's our busiest time of year , I'd say it's going pretty well so far...  I think...

While I love the challenge I'm being handed, the real tough part about learning that 75% is that it's taken my attention away from some of the other things I had going on (i.e. taking pictures and writing) resulting in far fewer pics and posts to share than I was hoping for when I started this project.  I guess this is the problem when you start big projects when you're not getting many hours of work... then get a job that you have to be at for 40 hours a week and actually have to do stuff ALL DAY LONG.  What A-Hole thought THAT up!!???   The good news is that I've been able to keep my focus a bit on PROJECT: Briles 200 - at least in spirit, if not in writing.  Not that I'm losing a ton of weight really quickly or anything (which is what PB200 is all about... slow and steady), but I'm definitely making a lot of better choices than I normally would and have been keeping up with my weekly taining with my Fitness Sensai Ann Marie at Cutting Edge....   Which has me feeling pretty damn good!

All those choices have been small ones, but sometimes when you're faced with those same situations over and over again, it gets difficult to keep making those small good choices.  Even more difficult is when you're faced with no good choices and you have to try and make the choice of NOT making a choice...  Did that make sense?  Let's discuss corporate training....

Most new jobs come with a lot of new training.  I've attended quite a few different traing classes in the past two months, some single day sessions, some multi-day sessions.  Usually, I'd complain about the content of these classes.  We've all experienced it...  some ridiculously vanilla or overly double rainbow and kittens instructor yammering on about boreaphyll bringing the material to death...  However, in this case, I was pretty impressed that MOST of these sessions were somewhat interesting, even ENJOYABLE even...   (To clarify, when I say "MOST", I mean there were still one or two classes where I have no idea what was really said because I had thoughts of jamming my pen into my table neighbor's jugular to put them out of their misery, then shoving same said pen into my ear because it would feel better than having to listen to more of whatever godforsaken babble came bubbling out of the instructor like a BP oil job.   This is where I check with everyone that you've all thought this AT LEAST once in your life, right??  RIGHT?...  Fine I'MMMM the WEIRDO!!....)

Oooooh, Evangeline....

To be fair, I had some good instructors who made sitting through most of what they had to teach us the easy part.  The REAL training was more about how to keep myself from scarfing down any and all of the junk food they put in front of us!  It was so hard to concentrate!  I mean, my brain is already a mess.  I think I've mentioned before that I might be a little A.D.D...   I was already trying to focus by pushing out a thousand different distracting thoughts...  (Did I shut the A/C off?...  Look at the Blue Jay out the window!   Can't believe the Sox lost another player to injury!..   I really gotta make my buddy, Scott, watch 'Lost'!..  MAN, did I really love that finale, but what the F was The Island???!!!...  If I lost enough weight, could I get Evangeline Lilly to make out with me as a prize???!!).    So just when I was ready to sit down and be learned, I had to deal with a box of Dunkin Donuts Munchkins sitting in front of me!  I've already eaten a hearty, healthy breakfast, but since I lack whatever it is that normal people have telling them that they're full and don't need to eat anything else, especially free junk food, I have to use so much energy to fend off the 9.2% of the 10% of my brain that I supposedly use that is telling me to take out those sweet, doughy balls of awesomeness via consumption!  So now you're telling me that I have to learn whatever these people are teaching me about my job AND train myself to be more disciplined with bait right in front of me!!??  That's the mental equivalent of Ann Marie making me do a wall sit with 50lbs on my lap! I didn't sign up for this!!!  (For time purposes, I'll spare you a detailed history my entertainment marketing job in L.A. where I had access to and some control of a warehouse of free Frito-Lay, Pepsi, Nabisco, Hershey, Miller Brewing, and other products to much on any minute of the day and to take home.  Two words:  Beautiful DISASTER!!).

I actually did pretty good those first few mornings....  I kept myself to 4-5 Munchkins throughout the day annnnnd maybe a 6th and a 7th when no one was looking, but considering what I could/normally would have done to that box, I considered those successful days of training.

Ohhhh, Mini Twix...

A sampling

In another three day session, the instructors added some weight to my workout.  There were ten of us in the class.  There had to be at least $75 of junk food purchased to have at our disposal....  Bowls of candy in front of us at our tables most of the time and a room stocked with chips, cookies, candy, and whatnot.  It was like I was three minutes into my wall sit and then Ann Marie plunks another 75 el bees on my lap!!  I did well to keep myself in check again, but it really got me thinking about the workplace providing free food for their employees.

Beyond the junk food being my own distraction, I get that it's not a problem for everyone and that, as adults, we all need to make the right...  or at least better...  choices on our own.  I also understand that these guys want to keep us amped up, happy, and hyper for their sessions, but how is it helping them as trainers to feed us a steady supply of unhealthy sugars that are going to put people into lethargic sugar comas shortly after they eat them to a group that is probably already struggling to pay attention and stay awake?  If you're going to throw that much dough at providing snacks to keep everyone going, shouldn't there be some REAL healthy choices being thrown in there as well?  Fruits, veggies, maybe some nuts...   I'm pretty sure those thoughts of mercy killing and self-mutilation that I mentioned prior had arrived shortly after I had a moment of weakness/boredom and quickly plunked down a few Butterfinger minis...   annnd some Twix minis...  okay and maybe a small pack of Pringles.  I'm pretty sure that's not the desired effect they wanted from those snacks...

The hotel I worked at prior to my current position provided us free lunch and dinner in their employee cafeteria.  A great sentiment by management to be sure, but it seemed like we were getting the cheapest, most unhealthy food that wasn't even that tasty every damn day.  The entrees and sides they served had poor/older cuts of meats, maaaaybe fresh vegetables steeped in grease and butter, and a no-satisfaction guarantee.  They provided a meek salad bar and equally weak sandwich bar which both got really old really fast.  If you were lucky enough, you could time your lunch break right so that you'd be there when the kitchen lady brought up a decent sized container of fruit salad, but you had better get there before the housekeeping crew takes their break!

The housekeepers are coming!  The housekeepers are coming!

You have never seen the raping of a fruit salad like the ones I witnessed when the housekeeping team showed up in that cafeteria before anyone else had a shot at the fruit.  Seven or eight Asian women engaged in battle with giant spoons, fighting to the death for some canteloup!  While it could be highly entertaining, having to enter those fracases to try and get something healthy could be as dangerous for you as some of the entrees, so even though those entrees weren't great, they were still my and many others' choices more often than not.  Eating that muck, I always wondered what would happen to the hotel workers' health and productivity if they were being offered and eating better, healthier fare every day.  At least put out enough fruit so EVERYONE can have some!!  All signs point to healthier diets equalling less sickness, time off, etc.   Having made some changes to my diet and noting the way I feel, I have to think that management would see a change for the better.

My job.  My body.  My discipline.  (...and my photography and writing when I get the chance).  I'm in a MAJOR training daze right now!  It's all hard work and some of it is tough to get through, but I'm already seeing the benefits in all areas.  I'll be extremely happy when all the benefits add up to me making PROJECT: Briles 200 a success, but I'd be even happier if all the benefits add up to Evangeline Lilly making out with me...   Any of you kids out there able to help make this happen???

P.S.  I keep forgetting to put pictures up for progress tracking.  Since I got a lot of comments it, I'll tack this one of my friend, Erica, and I on here.  It's from a week and a half ago or so while Erica was visiting from out of town.  My head is looking a little bigger, so I think that means my body's getting a little smaller...  that's good news, right?

Is it just the pose? 

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SPORTS: I'm Not Feeling Bad About The Miami Heat...

....The city of Cleveland however, can't be feeling too good.  I gotta imagine that there are two reactions going on over there right now: pissed off and pissed on.  

For me, Lebron's announcement tonight was awesome for a few reasons...

1.  Now I can officially hate Lebron without feeling bad.  He just somehow crippled an already crippled city, his own hometown team, for which, I can officially think of him as a dirt bag now.  He set it up to air his announcement on ESPN in a special show.  He couldn't even really explain himself clearly in those interviews.  At least KG heaped the love on Minnesota when he got traded.  Even if Bron wins a championship, his legacy took a big hit.

2.  Now I can officially like Dwayne Wade without feeling bad.  He definitely takes a hit for all the dramas he was causin' for our momma's with his documentary, 2nd meetings, etc, but in the end he stayed true to his fans and helped his NBA market become more relevant than ever.

3.  Now I can officially continue not caring What. So. Ever. about Chris Bosh without feeling bad.  Maybe he'll make me care with some more funny videos...  We'll see.

4.  Now I don't have to hear everyone yammering about where Lebron is gonna go every 5 seconds.

That's why I loved Lebron's announcement tonight....  but back to the crippling of Cleveland.   As a Boston fan that lived through SOME of the tough times PRE-2001, I have nothing but sympathy for Cleveland fans.  They have taken a lot of hits in their time as sports fans.  Those hits have all been listed far too often for me to do it again here, but as an outside viewer, I wouldn't blame Cleveland if they just gave up on life after this one.  I mean, this is like the bomb that left the guy in Metallica's 'ONE' video without arms, legs, sight, speech, hearing.  Initially, he was freaking out, recalling memories of Jason Robards, trying to communicate his frustration, and finally getting through to the doctors by nodding his head in morse code...  with the message "Kill Me".   When the doctors ignored him, the poor guy was left to lie alone with his thoughts about what he could be if he had each of those aspects of his body back and just wishing that the doctors would kill him.  I can see all those Cleveland fans sitting there thinking about the What If's of their sports legacy...  What if Jordan missed that shot? What if the Tribe hadn't let the Sox come back? What if Modell hadn't moved a beloved franchise?  All I can say is hang in there, Cleveland...   Maybe they'll develop the technology to fix you soon...    

PROJECT: Briles 200 - Property Management

Hey, Kids! Did you miss me???...

Well, I missed YOOOOUUU!!!

Sorry I've been gone for so long! You're probably thinking to yourselves, "What the hell, Briles! You promised us a long-running, continuous blog and a healthy Briles... In two months alls we've got is one lousy request to friend some dude named, Drew, on Facebook! What gives, Bub?!..." (Okay, you probably didn't think the word, "Bub", but I just caught Wolverine The Movie On Demand recently and have decided for added badass factor that the word "Bub" should be used anytime you're asking someone a question in a threatening manner. So now I'm forcing it upon you. You okay with that, Bub??...)

So for the past two months I've actually been in a heated legal battle with one Jillian Michaels. Yeah, the one from The Biggest Loser.... AND from NBC's new show LOSING IT with JILLIAN MICHAELS. The TV show that stole my blog title!! I've been flying back and forth to L.A. to fight the cease and desist order they put on my blog until I change the title. Luckily, I defended myself in court and won! Obviously, SHE stole MY blog title!! I mean, there's no possible way one of my reality TV friends DIDN'T put a bug in Jillian's ear about my brilliant title. I had no hard proof, but I won anyway. I'm very convincing... I'm putting money on my buddy, Schrader as the turncoat. He probably gave it to her for $50... the same exact amount he still owes me for that hotel room in Santa Barbara for Malkoff's wedding....

Juuuust kidding!! None of that happened. YET!! Well.. Schrader does really owe me 50 bucks. I really just had a CRAZY two months. It's amazing how little it takes for me to lose my focus....

The Bruins and Celtics got way further in the playoffs than I expected, which had me out and about, drinking and eating more than expected... I randomly befriended a visiting Dutchman after a matinee viewing of MacGruber (extremely funny movie, fyi), which got me out and about, drinking and eating more than I expected... I attended three 30th birthdays celebrations and two charity bar crawls (Yeeesssss, I said 'charity bar crawls'....), which got me out and about, drinking and eating more than I expected... And the nation's supposed slight economic rebound refused to find its way to the hotel I was working in causing the 'IT' in 'Briles is Losing It' to become defined as my hours and, thus, my cash supply... which gave me all the free time to head out and about with the little money I had, drinking and eating more than I expected...

Anyone picking up a theme here?

All my out and about-ness really killed "Briles Is Losing It!"'s, and sadly PROJECT: Briles 200's momentum! Did I have a blast the past month? I did! Do I have a lot of crazy stories I could share with you now? I do! Am I going to tell you any of them? Probably not. Why won't I share these stories on the blog? Aside from all my carousing, there was a larger force at work that became the true detractor of my pen's momentum. While this blog is nothing but good, clean fun, I didn't really want to be posting anything more until I was done with a job hunt... Juuuuust in case. I wish I could have told you sooner, Kids, but I had to keep to myself for a while... stay away from the public domain for a bit, ya know. The good news is that I'm here now, putting up this post... you know what that means, right?? Briles got a new jobby job! What kind of job? Well, I'm glad you asked...

Per usual, my new job has nothing to do with any of my past jobs. If you charted my entire career path, it would confuse you more than a Twin Peaks dream sequence. Luckily for me, my new venture happens to come at a time when I needed to make a clever connection between my health and something else in life to write about. As you could have guessed from this post's title, I'm heading into the exciting world of property management for a national apartment company.

I'm not going to get into the details of the who's, what's, and where's exactly, but I can tell you that I will be dealing with a couple of the rich and famous again in a client service type role, a la my L.A. days. Even more interestingly, I have to help run an entire apartment community!! My primary responsibility is going to be working with the numbers; calculating credits and debits, keeping budgets and scheduled hours in check, and keeping a lot of information extremely organized... Kiiiinda sorta like what I'm trying to do with my own health... I'm trying to watch what I'm eating, how much I'm eating, how much I'm exercising, etc. Essentially, I'm managing two properties now... my bod and my apartment community.

It is a major challenge learning all the new accounting, organization, and standards that are required for the job, mostly because I also have to assist any resident who brings an issue my way, which happens extremely frequently throughout the day and which distracts from learning and tasks at hand.

This job comes at the perfect time, as I need to rededicate myself to PROJECT:Briles 200. I was doing great there for the first month and half. I had lost about 10 lbs over that first month and a half, but then all these distractions came my way, including the new job, which pulled my attention in a thousand other directions. I started loosening my discipline on everything I had wrote about in the blog previously. I only missed two work outs with my Cutting Edge Fitness Sensei Ann Marie (which I did have legitimate new job reasons for), but I kind of threw everything else out the window because I had to prepare for and go on a few interviews, I had to focus on the new job, I had to go on about eight bar crawls... the distractions kept coming and I kept letting them be distractions. I maintained the 10lbs that I had lost, but there was no further progress.

While I have a solid base of understanding as to what's going to help me get healthier, I'm still learning, just like with the job. Distractions, in the form of life events or residents, are going to continue to come at me from every which way. I have to learn how to better deal with those distractions at the same time as keeping my focus and discipline aimed at my true goals. I think this new job is going to help out with PROJECT: Briles 200. Because of the need to strengthen my focus and discipline in managing the community, I'm hoping that strength will drift over to my personal life. I need it to. I AM managing two properties now.... Right, Bub?

CHARITY: Children of the Night and Knuckle Supper

Hey everybody, one of my L.A. buddies, Drew Stepek, has his second novel called KNUCKLE SUPPER coming out in October. He is a big supporter of the organization CHILDREN OF THE NIGHT and is teaming with them so that a portion of all the books earnings will go to help fight against child prostitution.

To promote his new book and Children of the Night, Drew is offering up a new XBOX 360 to the person who gets the most people to friend him in the next few weeks. Drew's a talented writer and COTN is a great organization, so I'm hoping that you'll sign on to be his friend and help me win the XBOX 360. If I do win, I will in turn donate it to the Make a Wish Foundation. If you do sign up to be his friend, please put my name in the personal message so he knows who referred him. I hope you guys will all introduce yourselves to Drew and help out both causes!

Feel free to repost to your friends who don't know me and compete for the XBOX 360 for yourself or have them put my name in as a referral and help me win it for Make A Wish!

You can friend Drew on Facebook here.

HEALTH - There Goes My Spam Diet!!

Salty, Processed Meats Found NOT Good For You In Recent Study

http://health.yahoo.com/news/reuters/us_heart_meat.html

Just read this article on yahoo.com. MINDBLOWING!! I mean, this study is a major game changer in the health world. This nation will definitely be leaving the 1960's MUCH healthier than the 1950's! Wait, what? Hold on a sec, Marty McFly... You're telling me it's 2010!?!?...

I make no secret of my love for processed meats, but I've always known how bad they were for me. So, am I an ass for assuming that we all already knew this? I had no idea there was still a debate going on that my beloved Spam and hot dogs probably aren't going to be adding years onto my life no matter how many birthday wishes I use to try to make it true... I know we still need to be putting the information out there for people to use... That's one thing... but I'm kinda, really surprised researchers still have to blow money on studies like this because health officials have to do battle with the ever-present, extremely well known American Meat Institute. Yeah, that's right. The American Meat Institute exists. Who knew? I'm assuming it's kind of like the NRA. I guess it makes sense that there's an institution out there protecting all of us carnivores' right to eat and carry meat, and to also do battle with these ludicrous health researchers who come out redundantly deprecating the value of processed, cured, and smoked meats.

PROJECT: Briles 200 - Meta Me Then You

So I've been thinking, kids... METAthinking...

...That is to say that I've been thinking about the way I think, which, in doing so, I came to the realization that I think I've always thought about the way I think. Confused? That's what happens when you climb into my head, baby!!!

I'm by NO means an expert on the topic, nor have I become a master of the process yet, but I have read some really fascinating articles out there over the last year or so about metathinking and how our brains not only think about things, but how they think about the way it thinks about things. I won't get into too deep of an explanation of these articles, vocab definitions, or the studies reported in them. Hopefully, my brief explanation will be clear enough, but I'll leave some of my favorite links on the subject for you to head to if you're interested... (consider it homework... FUN!!). I mostly want to just offer what I've learned on a really basic level and how I plan to apply it to PROJECT: Briles 200.

According to Wikipedia, "the prefix, "Meta", has Greek origins and means "after", "beyond", "with", "adjacent", "self" and is used to indicate a concept which is an abstraction from another concept used to complete or add to the latter." Got that?... Yeah, it took me a couple days too. Hopefully, this example will explain it better...

One of the common terms out there using the prefix "Meta" is METADATA. Among other items, metadata is associated with digital picture files. Say you want to take a color picture with your digital camera. When you press that button on the camera to take a picture, the camera takes in all the data (data=information) it needs of that image (such as light, colors, shape), to form an image file that gets saved onto your camera's memory card. Along with all the info the camera uses to create the image file, it also (usually) records metadata along with it. The metadata is all the data about the data in that image file, such as the time and date you took the image, the shutter speed, ISO and aperture you used to take the picture, and some cameras even record a GPS location of where the picture was taken. All that metadata is information about the data that is the image file.

What does this all this META nonsense have to do with me, you, and PROJECT: Briles 200, you ask??

I believe metathinking has been a really important process in my decision making for a lot of my life. This may sound strange to those of you who know me as a pretty spontaneous, whimsical person, but while I am horrible at calculating math, I have always been able to recognize that my thoughts are emotionally charged. For certain parts of my life (work, relationships, social aspects), I have been good about being able to quickly question, analyze, and calculate those initial emotions/thoughts, and gather my metathoughts about that initial thought process, leading to a higher percentage of good decisions/considerations/relationships and a better understanding of myself.

Where I have been lacking in this process is when I eat and spend money on food. I think I've mentioned before that I'm kind of ADD. I tend to FORGET (whether accidentally or intentionally) that I'm not supposed to be eating a Big Mac and an M&M McFlurry. I just WANT some crab rangoons, egg rolls, and pork fried rice, so instead of cooking up the chicken breast I have defrosting in the fridge, I head to Foodler.com and order some Chinese. My impulses and cravings almost always get the best of me in these situations. I HAVE a lot of the facts and know how, which is an important part of making healthy choices, but I have to figure out how to jog my brain to use that knowledge in tandem with the metathinking process.

Now, I'm going to be thinking a lot more about my food decisions as they're happening, hopefully instilling another string of discipline into my life. That doesn't mean that I'm not going to enjoy the bad stuff too, I just need to do it with increased moderation.

For example, as I start busting into a half gallon of ice cream during 'LOST', I need to think about WHY I am eating the ice cream when I know there are healthier options around. The easy and first answer to come to my mind is and will ALWAYS be, "I want to eat ice cream at any given point of every day of my life cuz it's AWESOME". Why do you want to eat ice cream when you know it's bad for you? "Because it tastes good?" Why does it taste good? "Because it's sweet and creamy and it comforts me.." Why does it comfort you and what is it comforting you from? Why do you REALLY need to eat a whole half gallon? Why not a bowl there, stud?! Why?! Why?! Why?!

I also need to focus this discipline towards my activity levesl. Part of the whole PROJECT: Briles 200 thing is to be more active. Activity is going to be key to the success of this mission... and frankly, it's been a slow start. Aside from heading over to my weekly workouts at Cutting Edge Fitness, I've been soft on that front. Part of it is my crazy work (or in a lot of cases non-work) schedule and some of the responsibilities I've taken on recently, but mostly it's due to my laziness, lack of discipline, and desire to watch the classic 1990 volleyball movie, SIDE OUT , for the 52nd time in my life on a GORGEOUS afternoon where I could have been out AT LEAST walking around, taking pictures or, even more actively, out for a jog. At that moment when I saw that SIDE OUT was available to watch, I just sat down and watched it... no questions asked (aside from "Who was hotter than Courtney Thorne-Smith in the those days?"). The metathinking process has to start right before I sit my ass on that couch. I need to start firing questions away about why I'm choosing to be sedentary rather than going out to enjoy a beautiful day.

I don't know what it is about my health that keeps me from the metathinking process I use in other aspects of my life, but I want to train my brain to start this ultra-examination at the moment of decision-making in my eating/exercise/overall health habits. I figure that if I can develop the ability to sit back and think about what I'm actually about to put into or not do with my body, I can swing some of that good decision-making from other aspects of my life over to my health.

How do I make that happen? By asking strings of continuous 'WHY's about how I come to the decisions I do and examining all the facets/motivations of my thought process when considering a subject beyond just the initial emotions/thoughts that I have when that subject is placed in front of me.

I actually think all of us would benefit from this line of thinking when it comes to our health... To inspire you to start metathinking the same way and to inspire you to call me out when I make the poor choice, I'm introducing a segment to "Briles Is Losing It!" called "Decisions, Decisions!" Now that I've been blessed with an iPhone, I'm going to start taking pictures of the foods I am choosing between at the point of decision making, posting them, honestly telling you which one I chose, and the thought process behind why I chose to eat what I did. Will you be interested in this? Probably not. It's more going to be a picture food journal for my own use and a way for me to somehow coin the phrase/make money off of the term "Metadiet" (which I think is only being used by some company as a name to hock some weight loss pills), but I'm hoping some of you will get involved in the discussion, call me out and ask questions as you see fit!!

That was a bit heady for me... My brain hurts now... Where's the ice cream?!?!?! (just kidding, Ann Marie...)

Enjoy your homework!!

Thinking Meta

Metathinking - A Key to Creativity

Are You a Master of Metathinking?

metacognition.org

DATING, PROJECT: Briles 200 - The Swedish Fish That Got Away

I'm gonna need some better bait, Kids...

Forest Gump's Momma always taught him , "Life is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're gonna get." Although I personally like to remind myself, "Life is like a box of chocolates. Try not to eat them all at once, husky mcfatboy!", I'm totally on board with Momma Gump and feel her adage also applies to riding the Boston T. I want to be ready for all situations I encounter on the T, which is why I'm hoping PROJECT: Briles 200 helps me not only feel healthier, but look healthier too.

For those out of the know, the T is Boston's version of the subway. It goes below ground. It goes above ground. It's my main mode of transportation around the city. Most folks who ride it sit miserable and aloof, especially on those extra wintery mornings when a foot of snow is getting dropped on the city above. Having suffered the nightmare that is a Los Angeles driver's commute for almost 7 years, I can't sing the T's praises enough. Is it perfect?? Not even CLOSE. I'll take being hauled around the city while being able to read, chill with an iPod, or, perhaps... even write a blog post... on a less than perfect public transpo system over having to worry about insane traffic jams that form in every direction I try to turn, creating stress and road rage aplenty for me and my fellow road warriors, any day.

A good portion of T rides are pretty calm. Most people sit grumpily trying to avoid eye/verbal contact with anyone else and tactile contact with the hand rails that are there to help the standing passengers stay standing (Public transpo DOES tend to get a little germy). It's AMAZING people watching. Even on normal rides, it's fun to check out other passengers and try to figure out where they're coming from or going. If it's a good day, you'll get to watch the homeless guy using the hand rails as a pull up bar. Sometimes you get the crazy lady asking for donations to help get her cats back from the aliens that took them. It gets reallyinteresting when you get the street performers who hop aboard and put on a thoroughly entertaining show in a matter of minutes, dancing, running up the train walls, and doing back flips down the aisle... And while the performers are fun to watch, it's even more fun watching which passengers offer up a buck or two for tips and which shy away, frightened when approached by a performer and their tip-collecting hat and/or skull cap.

During a lull of these exciting times on the T, it can be fun to play a little innocent game I like to call, "OhHi Eyes" with young women (actually, now that I think of it, quite often it can be old women too). "OhHi Eyes" is when you get caught checking out a member of the opposite sex (or if you happen to swing the other way, same sex) or you catch someone checking you out, after which, a game of cat and mouse with each other's lines of sight ensues. The look that starts the game can be made with purpose or can be quite accidental. It only matters that two people catch each other's eyes at some point. For example, I take a break from my Metro newspaper, bringing my eyes right into the line of site of a young woman. I quickly look away, but then look back trying to see if maybe she was looking at me first. Meanwhile, she looks up and catches me again. Again, I look away, now wondering if she was looking to check out my studly self or if she was looking to make sure that I wasn't staring at her creepily like a possible sex offender. Generally, the game goes on until someone gets to their stop or one of you gets too creeped out/embarrassed to look again and then starts to pretend to read the local ads posted along the sides of the car walls... "Oh, yes... I WOULD love to learn Swahili. Or one of 40 other languages....".

I don't really know what the whole goal of "OhHi Eyes" is. I think it's just fun because so many people are TRYING to be so aloof, its kinda fun trying to give a little attention to and get a little from them. Also, I'm a bit of a spontaneous, impetuous guy with a decent romantic sense, so I kinda have this notion that maybe I'll meet someone on the T at some point. Sometimes, not often, but sometimes, there is a little bit of a connection there, and the "OhHi Eyes" go back and forth in mutual agreement. As a single guy living in the big city, I'm still relearning the world of dating, approaching women, etc and am still confused about the rules of engagement while on public transportation. Is it creepy? All three of the female friends I have asked say, "Yes." I mean, why is it any different than approaching someone in a store or a Starbucks? If you're interested in someone, you should just go talk to them because you don't know if you'll ever see them again, right? Not that I even come close to having the balls to approach someone on the T yet... Approach someone in writing on Plenty Of Fish... No problem!! (Yes, Plenty Of Fish, the dating website with all fish themed references... Yeah, I've used it... I've dated a couple fish... I'm not ashamed... much...) But I digress...

In line with the unpredictability of what you're going to see on the T, just two hours ago, my coworker, Butters and I (yes, his last name is really Butters. No, he is not like the South Park character, however they DO share the same 9/11 birthday), hopped on the Red Line train after work. We sat down right across from two very, very, very attractive... VERY attractive... blond young women who were speaking a language I could only guess and/or truly wanted to believe was Swedish... I mean VERY... I was EXCITED!!... Hot Swedish girls riding public transportation in the afternoon?! Butters has a long time gf, so I had them both to myself. I mean this is the kind of scenario that only happens in zany 80's movies... right up my alley! I'll throw them my best "OhHi Eyes", they'll throw theirs back, we'll all hit it off, and then there will be a montage of the Swedes and me galavanting around Boston for the rest of the day doing things like taking a Duck Tour, catching the view from the top of the Pru, them picking me up from an adorable ice skating spill in Boston Common, pretending we're CHEERS characters at CHEERS, and catching a home run ball in the Monster seats...

Now, despite the extra love on my body that some might consider "handles", I've been told I'm good looking enough on a handful of occasions (By my mother AND my Memere AND an aunt who married into the family). Whether received warmly or creeped out, I can usually engage a women in a game of "OhHi Eyes" when I really try.

(Haaaa.... It's happening RIGHT now! Swear on my my mom's soul! I did't start it, but I TOTALLY just caught a girl... No time for "OhHi Eyes" right now, miss... I'm blogging!!!)

With this golden, Swedish opportunity in front of me, I flashed my best "OhHi Eyes" look at them (It's been described as a cross between Blue Steel and Bambi). I threw the bait out there about four times, but I just couldn't get these Swedish fish to bite! I couldn't get one of them to even glance in my direction. I was kind of shocked... They got off at the next stop and even deboarding, I got nuthin'! Maybe they were just too engrossed in their beautifully weird sounding Swedish conversation (it kinda sounded like, "Smorgen Burgen Borgin!..."). Maybe cute, but husky American guys just aren't good bait... Maybe my stained Patriots hooded sweatshirt, beat up jeans, and reusable Whole Foods bag full of gym clothes made me look like a hobo... Whatever it was, my "OhHi Eyes" confidence shaken, I couldn't help but think to myself that it was the middle "Maybe". Which made me glad that the very reason I was riding the T at that moment was because I was heading to my new lean muscle temple for PROJECT: Briles 200, Cutting Edge Fitness, where just a couple weeks ago my FitFit Sensei, Ann Marie, told me that when she was done with me, I was going to end up a "lady killer" (By which, I hope she's not referring to, like, Jack the Ripper, or anything... maybe I shouldn't be admitting to this whole "OhHi Eyes" thing... does this make me creepy? It does, doesn't it?...) A.M. absolutely killed me tonight in our second session, which is great because the sooner some of this weight comes off, the sooner I'm going to be able to put out better bait for my next game of "OhHi Eyes". Those Swedish fish don't know what they missed...

I apologize to all of you who thought this was going to be about candy...