Am I FAT?!

I think I must be getting fat! I keep getting these e-mails "from the office" saying people are talking about my recent weight gain and how the pounds are inching up, and of course, that I need to respond by going to this website for the solution! Yesterday, I walked out the door and there was a card saying I could lose a LOT of weight with NO exercise. I checked out the website, sure enough, the answer is in a pill! For only $12.95, I can get a week's supply of nutritional power, literature, AND my own personal weight loss coach! What a deal! But...I'm not fat and too smart to fall for these scams. You get what you pay for and get out of life what you put into it--especially with health. If all you want to do is take a pill and be well, it won't work. If you want to lose weight and never exercise, it won't work. If you want to hire a professional coach that can actually kick ass, you can't do it for $12.95! I wonder how many people do this stuff? Probably a lot considering how many scams there are today--they are NOT doing them to lose money that is for sure! I don't like people like this--they take people's money and break their spirits. That's bullshit. That's not making the world a better place...God help them in the next life because they'll need it. I love what I do. I help people be healthy--for LIFE! That my friends is the best "work" of all in my book...Keep moving...Ragin' RJ!

The Business of WELLness

I was stressed today. The business side of wellness is actually very intense. The country is entering a firestorm--a complete shift from the doctor taking care of you to YOU figuring out how to take care of yourself. The system has failed to make us healthier. We are fatter and more out of shape than ever. Companies are scrambling to incorporate wellness processes into their daily business--which is where I fit in today. Responsibility is finally shifting towards personal responsibility for one's own health--as it should be. It's incredible to me how hard I have to work to get people to be WELL! I mean really--how many things in life can you NOT find any problems with? How can you say anything bad about being healthy? There are NO side effects! It should be easy to get people on board right? WRONG! It defies logic to me. People are so damn stubborn about refusing to be healthy! By God, I am NOT going to be healthy, NOT going to exercise, NOT going to eat well. Result? Spending a whole lot of time in pain at the doctor's office constipated. That's right constipated! :o( People that eat like crap don't crap! Many people don't crap for 3-5 days in America--no wonder we are so jacked up! Don't even get me started! To "cure myself" from all this today, I headed straight for the yoga studio after work. Interestingly, I felt like a different person after the class. Like my go(o)d friend Steve Ilg says of wholisticfitness.com, "It's all yoga." He says first--it's breath and posture. If nothing else, breathe and stand up straight! That got me into the front door of the yoga studio tonight...more breath and posture got me home...Keep the chi baby! Ragin' RJ!

Stents & Thugs

Breaking news yesterday about how heart stints basically don't work with exception to emergency situations. The bad thing was that the "solution" was more drug therapy! LA News only briefly mentioned "life style" changes as "part" of the solution--how about nearly ALL of the solution! A bowl of daily oatmeal and a walk can go a long ways! My God--we are a country of absolute idiots! Millions being spent on stents when getting off your fat ass and eating some natural foods would be the real fix...Americans cease to amaze me...in their quest for the "easy way," they make it the hard way. Hell, it is easier to hit the gym and eat well everyday--get a clue!

Yet another pro "athlete" (and I hate to really call these kind of jerks athletes) is in legal troubles from being a thug. Pacman Jones--NO relation!, is now in trouble over the Vegas shootings that injured three people. They flashed his arrest record last night--it's shameful! It seems like every week some dumb-assed pro jock is being arrested or shooting someone. What bullshit! Millions of dollars in salary, and they are still gangsta thugs. To me, being a true "athlete" is a position of honor in the Greek sense. You strive for excellence at all times--the Greeks called this Arete'. These guys are role models for millions of kids--they don't give a damn about anything but their now narcissistic wants--classic examples of hubris which is "perverted pride." They are shameful. I wouldn't walk across the street to talk to one of these idiots. The NFL and other sanctioning organizations need to start banning their lame asses. I for one have chosen to not spend my money supporting their behaviors. It's not okay. People should speak out and FORCE these kind of people completely out of the game. Pro sports are there to make money--that is their model objective, so if people stop "buying" into these thugs and their destructive and negative behaviors, then maybe the organizations would listen. Ragin' RJ!

"Peace Through Strength"

Yesterday, I went to the Ronald Reagan Library in Simi Valley, CA for inspiration. Say what you will about RR, but he had vision to do the right thing. I once again realized that my country is worth fighting for even if it is not always the most popular thing to do. His naval vessel bears the slogan "Peace Through Strength." I could not agree more. Being fat and out of shape isn't going to do a damn thing to help America in the coming century. Yesterday was emotional...my second visit to the RR Library and just as awe-inspiring. Another thing about Ronald Reagan was that he was NOT fat! He was fit throughout his life. Ultimately, we all have to die from something in the later years...even when we live with fitness and health, but I have to believe that he accomplished more and enjoyed a different kind of life through decades of physical fitness and health. Stay the course for American wellness! Fight the GOOD fight--I WILL! Ragin' RJ

Critics vs. Truth

The last decade I've taken a lot of heat for my direct stance against obesity and sloth. The usual labels for me are "health nut, unreasonable, or zealot." When I interviewed Jack LaLanne for my master's thesis a few years ago, he told me he'd be six inches taller if he had not been beaten down so much throughout his career! He told me for over 50 years he's been labeled a zealot, crackpot, dangerous, along with others. So, I guess when you consider that I'm drawing the same kind of fire, I'm on the right path! He also told me to tell people the truth--the truth was his #1 recommendation to me as I launched my career into health and wellness. Since LaLanne is "THE" most successful person in the history of American health and fitness, I'm taking that recommendation to heart! My reality check is this--what would Jack do? And I'm not talking about that dumb ass Jack in the Box! It is not pleasant or PC to face American obesity head on--but we must. Ask yourself two questions.

1. Will our increasing obesity make America healthier in this new century?
2. Will our decreasing fitness enable us to efficiently defend our country?

To someone like me, it really about national security. My family raised me to believe in a strong national defense. I did not serve in the military, so this is my form of serving my country--to get America Fit and Strong. If you are justifying obesity and sloth for America and still saying Jack and I are unreasonable, I have one more question for you...how reasonable will it be for many of our children today developing diabetes because of their parents feeding them crap for food when their lower extremities get amputated because of diabetes?! Look over end results of diabetes--then do the right thing to save our country before it's too late...Ragin' RJ

"Any stupid ass can die. You have to work at living!"
--Jack LaLanne

Warrior Welcome!

Noble Warriors! WELL-come to my humble blogspot where I use many swords of wellness--and all of them are sharp! At times it is necessary to release my frustration over America's ILLness or to just rage about whatever is going on in the wellness battles. NO PC--just SR (Social Responsibility) to do the right thing for promotoing kick-ass health!...Ragin' RJ