It's 2012, so now what?...

I have said it again and again...It's not the actual goal you set, it is all that you do to get there... The getting there is what has made my ride worthwile.  You can set all your goals but if you do not like what you are doing you are bound to fail.  Today I posted a picture of myself on our facebook account for Mid Valley Events.  I mashed up two pictures, one was from November of 09 when my brother and I had gone to the beach to eat at our favorite fish place, Dirty Al's and the other was a picture from this past November when I did a 5K in Donna.  Two years... yes TWO years and what have I done to myself...I have lost more than 120 pounds....I have completely gotten rid of my diabetes....I never get backaches....My blood pressure is normal....I have so much energy that I'm never sleepy....  I have made a better life... Worth every minute...

So now what?  This is a new year but my goal is still the same.  I want to bring as many people with me on my journey.  I don't know if that sounds bad in any way but it feels good to get people motivated and inspired to get out there every morning and do something about it...Is that wrong?  What was all that time wasted seeing TV and eating for... That was not fun....THIS is fun! 

Why don't people take that leap?....

Well being at that point you learn a lot about yourself... Why did it take me so long?... Looking back at that picture, I don't remember myself looking in the mirror and seeing anything bad. Your mind plays tricks on you making you satisfied with who you are...and I was...  That is what led me to get that way...and the habit of eating good and well not caring or knowing....  When I finaly realized that I had a problem it was too late. It was once I started getting sick, my sugar was out of wack and I would not be able to walk for a couple of days because of severe back problems.  My brother always said that I needed to lose the weight at that point.  What does he know, he is just a doctor right?... I had a fear of getting worse..a fear of being hurt....a fear of not being able to go to all the places I once was able to....

"When you have conquered fear, the only thing that is left is living"- wise hawaiian we met on a trip

I got over that fear and said that I had to change. Anyone can do it. Honestly as cheesy as it sounds, there is no secret diet, there is no magic pill... Just eat better and do more.  And the doing more is what was scaring me at that weight. Slowly, as I have written in the past, I chose different venues of getting my workout in as the weight came off... Results build motivation and then the snowball grows.

And so now that leads to today.  I may not be there yet, but I'm closer than I was yesterday. What do I got to say... Well I am at a good point, my best friends and I started Mid Valley Events, I am doing what I came to love and hopefully I am helping people get motivated to actually fulfill their new years resolutions. Yes there is lots of work that we put into doing our events, we spend countless hours working and planning.  It's all good... We have tons of work to do these couple of months.  I will continue working out, I will finish my FIRST marathon and I know that people will see what I do.  Just heard my cousin from Houston signed up for the Austin Half Marathon in Feb...he used to be 280lbs....I'm doing something right!

 My goals are set, it's what I do to get to them that will define me.

Pico de Gallo 100 we meet again...

How time flies....wasn't it just yesterday that we were riding out from sun up to sun down from a cold morning to a hot afternoon.  Well it's that time again. This year it seems like it is gonna be a wet, slippery, cold, ugly day....perfect weather to ride with 50+ other cyclist in a group.....  We will see how it is tomorrow... I hope for a smooth, accident free ride.  Been "trying" to diet all week "trying" to reduce my calorie intake, not a good way to carb up for a tough 100 mile ride.  Legs don't fail me....better yet, body don't fail me!  

MID VALLEY EVENTS

 Times have been rough the past couple of months but I guess everything happens for a reason.  Next year is going to so much better, we have huge plans and by the looks of it we should be good.   I have noticed so many more people getting motivated to get out there and start changing their lives.  Everyone that I talk too feels that if Eric can do it they can do it... I'm so glad that I can have an impact on others lives just by doing what I have came to love.  Starting back in 09 to getting to where I am today have become some of the best times and memories in my life.  So many thing have happened, met so many people and now we continue to create new exciting things.  The best years are coming.

  

www.mvevents.com

So the continued effort to keep healthy has lead us in a new direction.... Feel so good right now that we have started something big.  We have been working so hard to get our new organization up and running by getting it the right amount of exposure and buzz about our awesome events. Last month we did our first duathlon as MVE and it was a great success, it met all our expectations and everything went well and smooth just the way we had hoped it would go. People loved it! All our work and planning finally came together for one of the best races made in the valley.  We want to make different things, we want to bring fun back to exercise.... Now we start the planning for the next event "The Terra Run"........It's amazing what happens when we get together!  

Back

Back by popular demand. I will continue this blog. I completely left this blog alone. Hello.

Hello blog

Another chapter must be written.

MY Solution....

An issue that is affecting today’s society is obesity. Unhealthy eating can cause many problems towards a person’s health and the way a person lives their life. There are many people that suffer with this disease mainly because it is easily accessible to purchase junk food. This can be found in every convenient store and in vending machines that are located in public congested areas. In order to stop the urge to consume this type of foods, I believe we must increase the tax of purchasing junk food, inform people about the amount of calories that are in junk food, and what are the common problems that occur to a person’s body.

We must make a pro active approach at making it known that unhealthy choices are bad to children. I believe that one of the main reasons so many kids consume these foods is because they are one of the most inexpensive foods on the market. We have market that is full of healthy choices like bananas, apples, pineapples and vegetables but those are way more expensive than a Kit Kat bar. Go to any supermarket and grap yourself a pineapple and a chocolate bar. The pineapple will run around $4 while the bar is around 3 for a $1. If I was a teenager on a limited budget of change found in the back of the couch, I would clearly choose the chocolate. A whopping 450 calories in one bar. Give them three to eat, and they will, and they are on their way to being obese.

It only takes 3500 extra calories to gain one pound. A number that seems like a lot but in the world of junk food it is a number that can be taken out in one lunch. Besides gaining weight, these children get into serious health problems. In our area we have a severe problem with diabetes. It's a problem that can be prevented. Being that the Hispanic population is more likely to get diabetes, we have to even try harder to teach our children that making the right food choices is better for them. I say use scare tactics. Every kid can be scared into stopping a behavior you don't want them to do. When I was a kid when I would not want to go to sleep my parents would come into the room and say that the monster in the closet would come out at 11 o'clock if I would not fall asleep. You know what happened, I never stayed up long enough to see if there was a monster. Same thing with the kids. We need to show them what happens if they eat the wrong foods. The food is so highly taxed that they will not be able to buy games, toys, clothes, shoes. We got to tell them if they eat trash they will wear trash. If they are going to eat a doughnut they will die!

I know it might sound a bit extreme but death by diabetic coma is an extreme death. We do not want our children to have a poor quality of life. We want them to be picked first on the baseball team, to be able to run and play with all the other healthy kids. We don't want them to live a sad live because we did not teach them right when we had the chance. At age 20 the gain 40 lbs because of the pizza. At age 30 they gain another 30 because of the beer. At age 40 they get a heart attack. THE END! Our kids should not be brought up that way.

So how much should we raise the tax on the poison that we call junk food? Cigarettes right now are taxed so high that people are finally realizing that paying $6 for a pack of HEB brand cigs is outlandish. That's the same effect we want on food. A $4 tax on junk food. If they want a Kit Kat instead of 33 cents it would be $4.33. Now the chocolate is more expensive than the pineapple.

Not only with the children know that it is unhealthy to eat junk, they will also know that they will shorten their lives. Plus to top it all off, the food will be so expensive that it would not even tempt them to even buy it. Problem solved. By doing this and following it to a “T”, we can single handedly fix all our kids present and future problems. The tax money could be used to give all kid free admission to gyms. Give them a pro-active life instead of a life that will be unpleasant and exhausting.

JUST KIDDING. This is what my sister turned into class and I thought it was funny.

Folding napkins....

What is it that makes people tick? What motivates you to get up every morning and do what you have to do? To get somewhere where you want to be. I just finished my ride this morning and am here at Starbucks relaxing when cool old dude shows up and starts to fold napkins. Just folds napkins. That's all. Grabs a handful of them, puts them on table and one by one starts making sure all the creases are perfect. Making sure the napkin is perfectly squared off. Why?


No matter how early it is he motivated himself to get out here at 6 in the morning to do his morning routine. I know it's nothing great, does not make sense to us but to him that is what makes him tick. He has a passion for his napkin folding. I woke up to ride my bike and get my morning workout in, he has the same intentions. He woke up to get things done. Some people live lives to get by. Some people get up and make themselves do something. I like to get something done. It's way to easy to be the type that just gets by everyday, that's why there are many that do. It takes determination and will to get up and change that.


If at the end of the day you can go to sleep and say that you are satisfied with what you have done then all that work you did that day was worth it. You must say that you have accomplished something every single day. Live a purpose driven life even if it is something weird like folding napkins lol and you will find out that you will get more out of it.

New Goals...

If you have read my blog from the beginning, I have always said to set a goal for yourself..... then figure out how you are gonna get to that goal.  The getting there is what defines you.  Here is a new goal.... You will also remember me saying that I HATED RUNNING!!!! well I still do, but for some reason I feel like challenging myself to go out there and run a half marathon.  I will do it. I believe anyone can run a half marathon if they run/walk it but I want to do it non stop and in a respectable time.  And so the training begins....  I'm starting from nothing. No running legs, No sense of running in a straight line, hunch backed, dragging feet, horrible posture....  I got to work on all these things but I will get there. I've set a goal and now the work has to start.  In San Antonio no November 13, 2011 I will be passing by that finish line knowing that I am great....  Now let me go buy some shoes lol....

Consumed by work, but worth every minute - Hog Dash...

Hectic. That one word can describe how the last couple of weeks have been. In the span of about three weeks we have created something awesome. Remember when I said we were starting our own little boot camp program to get people into shape? Well it grew. We continued to grow and we started to develop a good following. The way we would structure our workout would be four days of training and on Fridays we would end it with an obstacle course and tug of war challenge. It was fun and challenging. We decided that we should create an event that consisted of running a 5k and put our obstacle course in it to make it even harder. And so the Rio Grande Valley Hog Dash was born. How could three people make something that turned out to be a grand success? I think we just made it at the right time. People are begging for something different. They see these races like tough mudder, spartan race and dirty dash and dream of competing in them. There is nothing in the valley close to what we did. We added the fun and excitement of mud running to our obstacle course bringing that level of race to our area. The rio grande valley does not have a culture based around being active. We want to bring that, to make people notice that living a healthy lifestyle can be fun. It does not have to be that boring jog at the track, those endless hours spent hearing horrible music at the gym looking at your body in the mirror. These races give you something to look forward to, they make you want to train because the ultimate goal is to compete and to do good. Our first race brought in over 300 participants. By far the biggest first race draw in the valley. How did this happen? I owe it all to my persistence in Facebook advertising. Word spread over the internet. The buzz was created and I kept throwing lumber into the flame.




We had media representation, everyone was a photographer, spectators and local celebrities. Look at the picture above... That's plain awesome.  Normal Joe's were hurling themselves face first into the mud.  There was no avoiding the mud, some tried to crouch through but to no avail.  Looking at all those smiles, hearing the grunts and  laughter of the masses combined was truly amazing.


The course was tough. Something people were not expecting because I never revealed a map or actually said what was going to be on it. Not knowing what is next is what we wanted to do. We wanted everyone to have a great time not expecting to come up to a 9 ft wall, not knowing how to get over a muddy steep pyramid or that running through soggy wet mud and suck your shoes right off your feet! People loved it! It turned out to be one of the best events in the valley. I don't think anyone has ever had this much fun at any event in this area like this. This was the first one we had ever done, so I won't say that it went as smoothly as we wanted but we gained an infinite amount of knowledge on what we can do next year to make it even better!






It has been hard work but it is worth it in the end. We gave something new to our community, that's all we wanted to do. I want to make a difference in peoples lives and I know I will continue to do that in my personal life and with my businesses. In this journey I will make a difference and I'm a so happy that Cindy Sergio and I have changed our valley in some way. It's a good start, now let's see where this leads us. I have always believed that you can make things happen, it's not hard, you just have to take that leap and work towards that goal. It's what you do to get to that goal that is the hard part but it has to get done and that is what makes you better.


The best part of it was that we raised money to give school supplies to the needy children in our community. Isn't that awesome? Yes...

I'm slacking on this blog...

Been suppppper busy these past weeks that I have completely forgotten to update my blog! Lots of races, Time trials, workouts and other fun adventures.... well life is good so don't be too mad at me lol....