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...

PROJECT: Briles 200 - Cutting Edge Workout #1

Went for my first workout with Ann Marie yesterday. Alls I'm gonna say is OOOOOUUUUUCCCCHHHHH. Sensei made me hurt! It's a good hurt, but it HURTS. The wall sit I did okay at, but the lunges... ow, my bum!!...the lunges...I can't really bend down without my bum being in so much pain... and the quad machine... Well, in Sensei's quad machine, you're sitting in a leaned back position and actually have to fasten a seat belt across your waist for better form. I kinda felt like I was an astronaut strapped in for take off.... I always thought my legs were pretty strong, but with the way I was sitting strapped in to the leaned back chair, as I got to my fifth lift, my legs started shaking so bad it spread to the rest of my body, making it look like I actually WAS an astronaut taking off!

More to come once I've healed...

PROJECT: Briles 200 - Orange You Glad It's Inspection Time?

So a few weeks ago, during that magical time of year that I personally like to call "March Madness", I headed out of Boston to Providence, RI. I wanted to watch the first Thursday of NCAA Basketball Tourney action in one of the tournament host cities, which Provie was. I was planning on spending Friday there as well. However, Syracuse was playing that night, so the Orange loyalist in me said I should go join all the other Boston area alumni at our adopted alumni bar, The Pour House. Providence was good times, but I threw on my orange, custom made Rick "Action Jackson" tee, hopped in my car, then made like Charlie Sheen's lawyer and bailed out.

I knew it was going to be a great day, as my luck that afternoon was amazing. Driving back to the larger of the two state capitals, I had an easy, traffic free hour on a beautiful spring day that led me straight to a metered parking spot just three blocks up from my destination on Boylston St... AND thanks to the change from the McFlurry I pummeled on the way, I had enough quarters to pop in the meter so that it would take me past 8PM (when the free meter parking starts). Some old college buddies, a bar full of "Cusies", and I all cheered the the team on to a fine victory, adding to an already fiiine day.

Then, the city of Boston decided to play a little trick on me....

They put, what must have been, a Georgetown or UConn alum on parking meter duty that night, and that meter maid must have seen me walk away from my Honda Accord in a Syracuse orange shirt, because when I came back to my car, there was a bright Syracuse orange envelope with a parking violation in it under my windshield... and it wasn't even for a meter violation, it was for having an expired inspection sticker...

Now, I knew my inspection had expired at the end of January, so I guess I couldn't get too upset that some dumb ass, hard up to make quota, no fun, douchy Huskies fan meter maid had to drop a buzz kill on my day...

So why didn't I get it taken care of you ask?...

Well, I had just gotten some work done back in early January at which point, I TRIED to take care of it at a dealership service center outside of Boston that shall rename mainless (let's just say it rhymes with Spock Blonda...). When they checked out my car, they said I'd fail the inspection if I didn't get over $1000 worth of repairs done. They told me a bunch of stuff about a bunch of stuff about which I had never even heard before. I really know nothing about cars, but I felt like I knew about the basic health of my car and that they were trying to fleece me. I told them to forget it and made like Charlie Sheen's lawyer again.

Once I left Spock Blonda, I kinda handled the car situation like I sometimes handle my own health and checkups... I got kinda lazy... Then I didn't really drive it much, so I kinda forgot about it... And frankly, I got a little spooked that if I took it in somewhere else, that there was enough wrong with it to fail an inspection...

...Which is exactly how I felt when I headed in for my 'body inspection' by my new Fitness Sensei, Ann Marie Sheridan, for the first time (...as a trainer... I knew A.M. previously from rocking our friends', Ted and Alicia's, wedding party earlier this year. We were walk-in partners for the reception and performed a pretty legendary entrance... in our minds, at least...). A little frightened of what I was going to find out about my body, fitness levels, and BMI, I headed into her office at Cutting Edge Fitness fully expecting to hear that I needed $1000 worth of work done before I passed inspection for PROJECT: Briles 200!!!

While the results weren't GOOD (otherwise why would PROJECT: Briles 200 be happening?...), they weren't HORRIBLE, HORRIBLE... Ann Marie was a little surprised at my strength and was encouraged for my prospects. Overall, the meeting went well. Sensei took my measurements (as promised, see them embarrassingly posted below), discussed how and why her particular type of weight training is really good for creating lean muscle (which is GREAT, because my muscles have said they also wanted to lose a lot of weight), and even discussed how she is also going to, "Start discussing mental preparation for what's in store, because you (Briles) are going to be a lady killer and I (she) want to make sure that you have a solid state of mind before unleashing you (Briles) to the public and the innocent women who won't know what hit them." Well, aaaaaallllllrighty then!! How am I NOT supposed to get fired up by THAT??? (Although... I WAS confused by her use of the future tense in conjunction with the term "lady killer".... )

I start my real weekly workouts with Ann Marie this coming Tuesday. It's only thirty minutes long, but it promises to be like a clown fight!! (intense...)

As for my car, I took it to a trustworthy, legit local guy who I used last year to do the inspection. Just like my own inspection with A.M., my car, while still a little banged up, was good enough to pass.

Orange is what you want to wear for a Cuse game, Kids... not what you want to find under your windshield wiper... violations, financially for cars and health-wise for bodies, are costly!!! Take your car and body in for their necessary inspections, no matter how afraid you are that they're going to fail. The good news is, that even if they do, you can still fix them.

MY STARTING MEASUREMENTS

Weight: 239 lbs

BMI (Body Mass Index): 33.5

Recommended BMI for a male for Male 32 yrs:
Low BMI <>

Recommended BMI 18.5-24.9

High BMI 25-29.5

Very High BMI > 30

Body Fat %: 31%

Recommended Body Fat Percentage for Male 32yrs:

Low: 5-7

Recommended: 8-20

High: 21-25

Very High: > 24

This isn't really the stuff I'm worried about, but will be fun to see what happens....

Bicep Relaxed: 13" Flexed 14.7"

Chest: 43"

Waist: 44" (my pants say 40 or 38", so I'm not sure what Sensei is doing to me here...)

Hips: 44.5" (it's all in the hips... it's all in the hips... )

Quad Relaxed: 24 Flexed 24.5"

Calf Relaxed: 18" Flexed: 17.5 (Is that supposed happen?!?!)

PROJECT: Briles 200 - This Blog Brought To You By...

Exciting news, Kids!!

I've gotten a great response with a lot of well wishes from all sorts of people about BRILES IS LOSING IT! and PROJECT: Briles 200. One of these responses has come in the form of SPONSORSHIP!! (Kinda...)

After reading about PROJECT: Briles 200, my friend, Ann Marie Sheridan, owner and trainer of Cutting Edge Fitness in Newton, MA contacted me, asking about the 'fitness/nutritional regimen" that I'll be undertaking to make PROJECT: BRILES 200 a reality. I asked her that if by "Fitness/nutritional regimen" she meant, "Walking to Subway to pick up my Italian BMT instead of ordering a sub to be delivered through Foodler.Com?..." She said, "No..." Hard ass...

After discussing Cutting Edge Fitness and their strategies for getting people into better shape (just two thirty-minute workouts per week!!!), Ann Marie offered for Cutting Edge to be one of the tools I use to get myself healthier, which was a fantastic offer!! However, if I completely played by Ann Marie and Cutting Edge's rules, using the training sessions would be against the spirit of PROJECT: Briles 200. 'Regimen' and 'my brain' aren't really two compatible items in my reality. I'd have a hard enough time committing to going out drinking on the same days twice a week, never mind working out in a gym where I'm expected to be on time and answer to a trainer! It's just not my style. I might be able to keep it up for a few months or so (and that's a BIG might), but even if I did keep it up for a few months, or even a year, it probably just isn't something that I would/could keep going once I've achieved my goals for PROJECT: Briles 200.

However, after THINKING about it, I realized that I'm going to have to make some decisions to stick with SOMETHING on a regular basis. Having that be some weight training with an incredibly positive friend/supporter/FORCE, like Ann Marie, is something that I could commit to for once a week for a while, then take that training with me for the rest of my life.

Now, Ann Marie is pretty hard core. She's doing her own crazy training/dieting for a Fitness Bikini Body contest in June. (I WILL NOT be participating in that contest... THIS year...). And while I will not be going nearly as hard core as Ann Marie does on diet/training, I do plan on working hard at each of the horribly painful things I expect her to put me through each week and taking her nutritional advice, molding it to something that works for me and the project. She seems to think it's going to take NO time to for me to achieve the 200 lb level, but it will take a while for me to learn how to stay living at that level. Just to make sure I do though, she is going to be featuring my progress in her weekly newsletter... yikes!!

Tomorrow, I head in to Cutting Edge for my first day with Ann Marie. Apparently, all my measurements (bicep size, chest size, weight, body fat, bmi, etc) will be taken so we can measure results. I will embarrassingly post them all here so you can monitor my progress with us. Again, I'm not in it for certain muscle sizes or BMI, just to get healthier overall over a long run... I'm proud of myself for making the decision to commit to this once a week work out and excited to have Ann Marie support me while kicking my ass! Both of which should greatly increase PROJECT: Briles 200's chance for success!!!

Not gonna lie, it's my first time with a trainer... I'm a little afraid... and sore already...

P.S. Instead of a picture of me at Bloc 11 Cafe in Somerville when I post this, I'm posting the picture that is my motivation for PROJECT: Briles 200. I think the photo captures me at my largest.

SPORTS: The Most Least Shining Moment EV-ER... Citizen's Arrest!!

I am ANGRY... You could even say, I'm LOSING IT, kids...

I love college basketball and I love March Madness. This year's tournament was the best I've ever seen (even though Cuse went out early and Duke ended up winning). My favorite part of the tournament every year is the One Shining Moment highlight video they play after all the victory coverage on the final night. No matter who wins, whether it was my team Syracuse, or a team I hated, I would enjoy the footage and music to the point where my arm hairs would stand up as I got goosebumps and chills down my spine.

The original version by David Barrett was good, but the pace of the song did need to pick up as the pace of the game evolved. It was ALWAYS fantastic when they had the Teddy Pendergrass (R.I.P. T.P.!) version of the song playing over the highlights. It became less fantastic, but still ok when they switched in Luther Vandross' version of the song last decade. In both cases it was all about the tournament. I think they showed Luther a couple times in one of his versions... but it wasn't nearly as bad as Ms. Hudson's version. As many teams, players, and memorable moments from the tourney as humanly possible should be featured throughout the reel with no time for the artist to be seen.

This year, I am calling for CBS and Jennifer Hudson to be arrested.... for MURDERING my favorite part of the tourney!!! Not only did the video COMPLETELY pass over schools like Ohio University, who had a huge 14 vs 3 upset win vs. Georgetown, and Syracuse, a #1 seed, who had two wins and a close loss to Butler, but I think Jennifer Hudson's uvula (the thing that hangs down at the back of your throat) received more footage than a lot of teams... AND the version of the song was absolutely horrible! If you want to throw that crap at the women's tournament highlight reel, fine, but don't kill what really should have been One Shining Moment for arguably the best year in arguably the best post season tournament with irrelevant attempts at unneeded updates!

The Original Version - David Barrett Example

http://tinyurl.com/yjku4b2

The Best Version - Teddy Pendergrass Version Example 1996 - http://tinyurl.com/y9mpk46

Luther Vandross Version Example - 2003 http://tinyurl.com/bl8b5a

will have Ms. Hudson's version up when available...

PROJECT: Briles 200 - iHeart iPhone and FourSquare for Five Squares

Welcome back, Kids!

First off, I want to say thanks to the wave of great feedback and well wishes on this endeavor!! I hope I can keep you all interested, entertained, and involved!! On to today's post...

So I have a group of friends currently training for the Boston Marathon this year and every Saturday is their group training day. For the past few weeks to celebrate getting through their training for the day, they, with me in tow, have been heading out to a favorite Faneuil Hall watering hole that has $2 drafts of Bud Light on tap. For them, it's a good way to relax, get some carbs back, and take their mind off their training. For me, it's a good way to celebrate gaining 5 lbs in a day because while they were out running 200 miles and burning a thousand calories, I was probably stuffing a Jimmy Dean sausage, egg, and cheese sandwich (or two...and it wasn't 'probably'...) in my face after sleeping in and getting my ass kicked by 10 year old kids in Finland playing Modern Warfare 2 for a couple hours. Later in the day, I would join the marathoners in drinking 30 Bud Lights (and probably a shot or two thrown in) in an 8 to 10 hour period.

In a last hurrah of intentional bad decision making before I started PROJECT: Briles 200, I decided to join the same friends again last Saturday (I use the term 'last hurrah' loosely, because I'm going to join them again later today. HOWEVER, before I do join them, I'm joining another friend for a few hours of hiking this time!). In the course of that drunken 8 hour period last Saturday, I believe I dropped my phone twice (which is pretty standard even in a sober day) and spilled half a beer on it. I woke up ON TOP OF IT in my bed the next morning, so that when I lifted my back off the bed, it kind of stuck to me, only to fall off when it hit a a certain point of gravitational pull. I picked it up to find that half of the screen had died, the other half was extremely faint, and the sound wasn't good... Being that it's the only way for my ma to try to call me 5 times a day, I figured I better go replace it. And replace it I did... With an iPhone!!!

Don't get me wrong, I really liked my Blackberry Curve, but I only had it for 4 or 5 months before the robot nipple (others like to call it a "Track Ball"... ha!... weirdos...) stopped letting me select icons. In month 7 the ringer and speakerphone decided to quit on me, which made things a little difficult. At 9 months, half the screen died. Now, I'm not saying it was a bad phone. I did drop it every day... twice... but I used to drop my old Nokia every day for 4 years. I spilled stuff on it. I even hurled it against the wall, smashing it to pieces in reaction to my ex-mother-in-law screaming "INTERCEPTION!" from the other living room that had a tv 5 seconds ahead of the one my ex-father-in-law and I were watching at the end of the 2007 AFC Championship Game when Brady threw that pick to lose it. I put that puppy right back together and it worked fine. I figured this was a good chance to see what else I could get as a long time AT&T customer. The iPhone (with Otter Box protection http://tinyurl.com/ya8flc4... taking no chances....) won me over as soon as the extremely cute sales girl told me I was in line for an upgrade anyway.

I knew I was going to fall in love with the phone right away. What I didn't expect to do, was fall in love with App shopping for it right away. For the uninitiated to the smartphone world, Apps = Software Applications you can download from the internet to your phone for... well... any use you want, I suppose! There's THOUSANDS of them. I refused to get a data plan for the Blackberry, as I thought I really didn't want to be that connected all the time. BOY was I WRONG! I spent a good couple hours of that Sunday, just discovering and downloading Apps. I'll fully admit that I'm turning into an application whore now... but not without good reason!

As I was searching (free) apps (still not ready to dive into paid ones yet), I was thinking about Apps that could not only help make my life easier, but also help in PROJECT: Briles 200. I found this one application called FourSquare. It's really just another social networking site, but it allows you to "Check In" whenever you show up at a place of business. This allows for a few things to happen. It allows your friends also on FourSquare (and Facebook, if you desire) to know where you're at and see businesses you might be recommending or not recommending for a certain reason. It also allows you to earn points at the businesses (especially eateries and restaurants) you check in to. Some of the businesses will recognize those customers that are checking in regularly with coupons, discounts, or free stuff, which is pretty cool... and if they don't, then the points you get for checking in add up to give frequent customers certain fun titles in the application. For instance, if you're the one that checks in the most at your local Starbucks, you become the "Mayor" of that Starbucks. I don't know about you, but I'd LOVE to be Mayor! Yeeaaah.... Mayor Mark Brierley.... I like the sound of that!!...

I think I've mentioned that I have some A.D.D. tendencies... One of my big problems over the years in weight control is that I'll go out to a restaurant, and I'll seriously just FORGET that I'm trying to eat healthy/make better decisions. I just won't even think about it... I actually think I have a split personality. There's the one that really wants to be healthy and has control most of the time. The one writing this. Then then there's the "Awwww...F@#$ It!" personality that takes over when deciding when, where, what and how much to eat. I'll go to a restaurant with the intentions of getting a salad. The next thing I know I've got something covered in a whole lot of cheese and probably has a good amount of bacon on it (again... not "probably"...).

I'm hoping to use FourSquare as a another means to get people who might be interested in helping me with the Project. What I'm looking to do is train myself to become good at checking in to whatever business I'm going to on FourSquare whenever I'm going for a meal, even if it's at my home (I believe I found a way to make my apartment a "place". I want to build a network of friends who might really like the app, but also tend to be always connected (like I know I will be from now on), will see my postings, and might send me a little reminder like, "Don't pig out, you fat bum!" Seriously, I'm basically looking for people to BERATE me over the internet. I know this isn't going to stop me from getting a bacon cheeseburger when I really want a bacon cheeseburger, but I figure if I can get it into my head that someone's going to be kind of "watching me", then I'll eventually be trained to give myself a reminder to THINK about the decisions I'm making before ordering/making food, which in turn will lead to better decision making! A. What do you think of my plan? 2. If you're interested in helping me out or you want help like this yourself, sign up at foursquare.com, download the phone App from there, then find me and friend me!

FYI - Don't be afraid to jump into PROJECT: Briles 200 with me. I'm here to help as much as I am to do. So PLEASE feel free to post any comments, questions, jokes, recipes, whatev! down below. If you've decided that you want to get healthier and you'd like to take the route I'm going to go or even if you have a different route and want to discuss it or just get some moral support, the more the merrier!

COMING THIS WEEK: The potential rewards I'm lining up for myself once I complete PROJECT: Briles 200 (...and if I can keep a blog going well for a year or so). Since I'm having trouble making up my mind, I'm thinking of recruiting you for a vote! Reward suggestions are welcome!!

COMING LATER THIS WEEK: An interesting twist to PROJECT: Briles 200 that I didn't see coming, but sure is going to help a lot!

Until next time! May the protein keep you full and the fiber keep you regular!

The Alpha Post - My rhyme, reasons, and Project: Briles 200,

Hi Kids!

Welcome to my blog! This is my first post. I know I'm a little behind the times here, as I just learned the other night that the word "blog" was the most looked up word on Miriam-Webster's Online Dictionary all the way back in 2004 (gotta love a good trivia night). I should probably be doing a vlog to be more recently out of date... I actually wanted to be an early adopter and do an hlog (holograph log), like Princess Leia, but apparently, that technology isn't easily accessible to everyone yet... which is probably for the best for both of us, because I have a hard enough time getting what I really want to say from my brain through my finger tips while typing, never mind from my brain and through my mouth when speaking out loud... so for now, I write!

So why am I doing this blog and why is it called "Briles Is Losing It"?

1. I really used to like to write. Stories, movie scenes, possible Onion articles... I really enjoyed it, and I think I was okay at it. I just had no discipline and I ended up following some paths that just eventually led me away from it. I haven't really written in a long time, so when I hit 32 this past February, I realized that I was getting dumber and having trouble putting strings of words together in a particular order to form what your kind call 'sentences'. Sooooo I thought, no matter who reads this, it would be a great way to keep more brain cells on life support for a while. So there's that...

2. As I get older, I'm having trouble deciding whether what I'm reading, watching, hearing, and seeing is getting crazier or if it's just me. I want you to help me decide. I'll throw up crazy stuff from time to time, just because I think it's worth sharing.

C. My Photography Virginity. I'm about to lose it. I'm about to start getting paid as a wedding photography assistant. I'm truly excited, but at the same time EXTREMELY nervous. I'm going to be working with an AMAZING photographer, who I am going to learn a lot from. What direction this is going to take me in, I'm not sure, but I hope to share some of my pictures with you, get your comments and critiques... maaaayyyyybe even sell a few prints once I get myself totally organized... It won't be the focus of this blog, but I'll put links to my pics up from time to time. I also tend to go on some adventures here and there... adventures that somehow put me into crazy stories and cool places, so I'll be sharing pics and stories from those as well.

4. Money. I think we're all losing it... so let's talk about ways we can save money, make some extra cash, etc. Mostly, I'm going to be pimping other blogs from people like Kimmy Gatewood and Amy McCoy, whose blogs have a lot of easy helpful information that will be relevant to what I write about. Check them out at

http://cheapskatewood.wordpress.com/

http://poorgirlgourmet.blogspot.com/

5. The Main Reason: (Initiate booming echo-y voice) PROJECT: Briles 200!!!!

Starting today, I have initiated PROJECT: Briles 200. What is PROJECT: Briles 200, you ask? ... And I'm glad you did ask, because I was rudely going to have to tell you whether you asked or not.... For those of you who know me, I think we can all agree that I've been 'bigger', or as my ma would say, "Husky" (as in, "Excuse me, miss. Where is your jeans section for husky boys?...) for most of my life. I actually can't remember the last time I weighed below 200lbs. The closest I think I came since about 4th or 5th grade was when I had to shed some lbs to make skydiving weight after 9/11 happened in 2001. I hit about 218 for that. 2lbs under the maximum 220lb limit.... and that was my first date with the ex.

How embarrassing would that have been to hear upon trying to sign up for the jump on an adventurous first date with the date standing there... "Sorry, Sir, you're too heavy for the chute to hold you up in the air safely. Your weight would just cause the chute to collapse and you would rocket like a meteor into the earth's crust, creating a giant crater that... actually... now that I think of it... we could then sell tickets too as a side attraction.... Let's get you in a jumpsuit!!!"

Now, I know I'm not BIGGEST LOSER big, but there was a time when I came close. My heaviest was between 275 and 285... I don't know for sure becuse I would always hop off the scale with a Homer Simpson-esque yelp before the needle stopped pinging in between those points. Either way, I got BIG. That was after I got married and found out I was going to have to choose between me, personally, living happily in Hermosa Beach, CA, but living with a wife who was miserable living there or moving to her hometown in S. Jeresey where she would be happy (theoretically) and I would have to see what I thought. I got pretty depressed early on in that process and started packing on pounds... becoming less active... By the time Jersey was done with me and Boston took me in, I had been living around 275 lbs consistently.

Getting out of my tough situation in Jeresey helped, but after making a couple quick lifestyle changes (including having less stress), I dropped 35lbs pretty quickly. I've been holding around 235 for about a year and a half now. I've definitely had some fluctuations, but I've been pretty good. Now it's time to climb down from that plateau to an even healthier spot! I want to get to 200lbs!

Should I accomplish this feat, it would be the first time since my childhood that I was at that weight. Now here's the thing. I'm not just in this to lose weight. I'm in this to live healthier for the rest of my life. The idea here isn't for me to go nuts and drop weight fast. I like a lot about the way I live. I don't want to just start eating salads all the time, quit drinking, go exercise for 2 hours a day for a few months, drop 35-40lbs and say "I won!!" I've done that kind of weight loss before (see 'losing weight for skydiving') only to balloon back up to a higher weight when I reintroduce the way I REALLY like to live back into the picture.

The idea is to navigate my way through the next year figuring out what steps I can take to drop weight gradually, create habits that I enjoy, and still live my life the way I want to without becoming one of those people who ONLY lives to be healthy. I'm going to document this project on here, not only as a journal for myself, but hopefully so I can get you involved and we can all share tips, stories, and laughs together about the whole process. I'll get into my game plan and the reward I'm planning for myself later. FYI - I'm going to add a picture of myself from wherever I am when I write an entry to this blog, then we can all see how the weight loss is going... if all goes right, I should have a gigantic head in no time! Yup... that's a pic of me at the laundromat today... sorry, I'm so unkempt... It's laundry day!!

I'm hoping I can be disciplined enough to get a post up here every few days, but we'll see. My schedule is hectic and my mind is very ADHD, so I'll do what I can. Again, I'm not about killing myself for this blog or for PROJECT: Briles 200. This is supposed to be a fun exercise, so, again, we'll see what happens....

That's it for now! I'm gonna go for a short jog. PROJECT: Briles - Today is Day 1!