Week 1 Progress Update

Well, its been a week since I started this blog, so here's a quick status update. The diet and exersize plan is going well, I've only cheated on the diet a few times. I'm still at 178lbs., but I feel good and I can see a noticeable difference. Today is my back/arms workout, and I'm meeting Ryan at the city gym for a little change of pace. A friend told me that one of the secrets to making a diet work is to constantly change your routine, so I'll be working out with a bunch of cops this afternoon.

After the gym, I'll be working the 5-Close shift downstairs at the Ale House. Business has picked up a little since USC is back in session. Also I've had better luck finding substitute teaching gigs for this week. There wasn't anything available today, but I'm working at Blythewood High School tomorrow, then doing a half day at an elementary school on thursday. This will be my first time in a non high-school setting, so I'm kinda glad its only a half day so I can see if its something I want to do in the future. As I've said before, everything I make from substituting is direct deposited into a savings account for the sole purpose of moving, so I'm trying to take as many assignments as possible.

On the family front, my mother turns 50 a week from tomorrow, and hopefuly I'll be able to make it up there for a visit. She's doing fantastic in Simpsonville, and looks great for her age. No one would every guess that she had a 27 year old son, or 3 kids who have given her as much stress over the years as we have. Love ya Mom!

Beerfest!

Well its been a long and exhausting weekend! On saturday the World Beer Festival came to Columbia. I had been reading a lot about the festival since it was announced, so when the folks at the Ale House (We are one of the festival's sponsors) asked if I would help out in exchange for a free ticket, I jumped at the chance.

The World Beer Festival takes place in a handful of cities across the country, and it just so happened they picked Columbia for this one. It is hosted by All About Beer magazine, and I have to admit, I was very skeptical at the thought of $50 a ticket to drink some beer at the Convention Center on a saturday afternoon. After this weekend, I can honestly say that it was worth every penny.

Basically, the festival attracts approximately 6000 people from all over the southeast, as well as pretty much every major producer of beer in the world, from big-names like Budweiser, to microbreweries in the midwest, and everything in between. All together, there were about 300 different beers to sample, and most people there tried their best to get to them all. Since the convention center in columbia has two equally massive ballroom spaces on two levels, they divided the festival into two "Beer Gardens", and the upper level was the Carolina Ale House Beer Garden.

Quite a turnout, and a very diverse crowd! There was also live music, seminars on beer tasting, and some of the best food in town. When I arrived, I worked at our booth for a while, handing out menus and trying to get people to come to the Ale House after the festival:

After I did my duty, I set out to walk around the festival and try some beers, have some food, and mingle with the other sponsors, like Zingo. What an amazing business idea this is! If you are out on the town, and feel you are too drunk to drive home, call Zingo and they will come to you on their little scooters, fold up the scooter and put it in your trunk, and drive your car (with you in it) safely home. Sure beats a cab ride, since the next day you don't need to go get your car. For about 20-25 bucks, well worth it in my opinion!

After the festival ended at 4, I headed straight to the ale house and worked a very busy shift until close, not leaving until 3AM. Went home and slept for a few hours, then went right back in on sunday morning to open the store at 10AM. This is part of my newfound desire to work as much as possible to put some money aside to move. I have also stuck to my goal of not spending money on things I don't need. The only non-essential things I have bought for myself in the past 3 weeks were bought with gift certificates from the holidays. Even though it was bought with a gift card, a sattelite radio to listen to Howard Stern is a borderline essential item :) I've had some unexpected expenses lately like $500 in car repairs, but all I can do is pay that and move on. It sucks not being able to treat myself for the time being, but it is a means to an end. I know that it will pay off once I'm down on the island!

I had no time to go to the gym saturday or sunday, but I stuck to my diet very well. I'm down to 178 pounds, right on schedule! Tomorrow I am off from both jobs for the MLK holiday and I'll have a bootcamp-like session in the morning! I hope everyone has a great day off work tomorrow, and I'll update again soon!

Day 3: Calling all Parrotheads!

Today I'll just do a quick update....

First of all, Jimmy Buffett is coming to Columbia on February 23rd! Tickets go on sale this saturday, and I'll be getting up bright and early to get good seats. If anyone else is interested, let me know! I saw Jimmy in Charlotte last summer

and it was a great time! It won't be quite the same in the winter, but I'm sure the loyal parrotheads will be out tailgating nonetheless.

Today is cardio day in the gym, and quite frankly I've been pleasantly surprised with how well I've stuck to this diet/workout plan so far. Today I'm going to do 45 minutes of various cardio (bike, elliptical, treadmill), and then some core exercises. If my legs are not in severe pain later I did something wrong! I'm on a 6-day a week workout schedule which goes as follows:

Mondays and Thursdays: Cardio Days

Tuesdays and Fridays: Chest workout

Wednesdays and Saturdays: Back and arms

Sundays: Rest

I'm being very good on the diet too. I had my usual light breakfast with Drew at the bagel shop downtown, and will have my protien shake after my workout, and a salad for dinner tonight.

I've been trying (unsuccessfully) to put away some cash to move with for some time now. Key West is considerably more expensive than Columbia to live in. Looking at houses, the average 3 bedroom rental is about $2500 a month. In Columbia, we pay $890 for a very nice 3-bedroom apartment! I've tried to save some, but it seems like lately I can't blow my nose without someone else needing 400 bucks from me for something. On the bright side, I'll be getting a nice tax refund in a few weeks thanks to President Obama who decided that as part of the stimulus that anyone who payed tuition in 2009 gets a refundable tax credit of at least $1000, so that will be added to the moving fund. I've been trying to work more days substitute teaching, but none of the teachers in my district have been taking days off lately! I suppose they just got back from winter break and are nice and rested, so hopefully this next week I'll have more to do. Ale House has been even worse, with the holiday slowdown. Restaurants in Columbia simply die when USC isn't in session!

Its gonna be a tough transition leaving Columbia, but unfortunately, there comes a point when its necessary to move on. I'm nervous about having new roomates, since I've had the same one since 2004:

Day 2: Why Key West?

Thanks to everyone who has visited and commented so far!

For those who don't know, here is a bit about Key West. Key West is the southernmost island in the florida keys, approximately 120 miles south of Miami, and only 90 miles north of Cuba. It is a small island, 4 miles long by 2 miles wide, and has a full-time population of about 23,000 people.

Key West has several areas: new town (very residential, toward the north end of the island), old town (the touristy area), and other areas like the naval base(the lower part of the picture).

The main tourist/nightlife area is on Duval St., where there are a bunch of great bars and hangout spots, some world-famous like the Hogs Breath Saloon, and these two: Sloppy Joe's, and Captain Tony's Saloon where Jimmy Buffett used to play before he was famous.

Ernest Hemmingway lived here while writing most of his best-known books

Key West is the southernmost point in the continental USA, and tourists always get their pictures taken by the marker at the south end of the island:

And KW is known as "the home of the sunset" because the water there is very calm and the sunsets look amazing:





On the home front, the diet/exersize plan is working so far! I have dropped 6 pounds since Xmas, down from 185 to 179. Today is back/biceps day in the gym, and I'm gonna try to jog on the treadmill for 20 minutes as well. This diet is killing me, but its easier to keep to now that i'm seeing results. I've developed a taste for diet coke, and am actually starting to lose my taste for fried foods. I've decided to deprive myself of alcohol until I'm at 175, since I tend to eat a lot of garbage when I drink. Hopefully I can do this in a week and a half or so! My official goal is to be down to 160 pounds before I leave, which will be tough, but I've done it before. I'll post before/after pictures when the time comes!

The hardest part of completing my goals is quitting smoking. The diet makes this even harder! I'm down to about 5 or 6 Ultra Lights a day, but certain times I just need a cigarette, like when I'm drinking coffee, or after a meal. If I still can't kick the habit after another month or so I'll try the patch or one of those methods. Until then, all I can do is try to fight the urge!

Again, thanks for reading! Tomorrow I'm going to post a few pictures of the houses that I'm considering, along with my future roomates! Be sure to read tomorrow and give me your opinions!

January 12, 2010

Over the past year or so, I have grown tired of my routine here in Columbia. While I have had some great times here over the past 8 years, and I will say Columbia is a fantastic college town, I feel that my life has come to a standstill here. I'm 27 years old, and moving from one restaurant job to another is getting old, no jobs relating to what I went to school for exist here, and those that do exist pay so terribly that I'd be better off waiting tables. Also, I feel unable to break my cycle of student loan debt on the barely-get-by money I'm making right now, and as some of you know, feeling like you're drowning in debt is one of the worst feelings in the world! I know its a recession and everyone is hurting, but I was always taught to find opportunity in tough times, so that is what I'm doing now.

I've decided to chase a dream that I've had for many years now, to move to Key West, Florida, my favorite place on this earth. The first few months of entries on this blog will be the steps I take to make this happen. First I will need a job down there, and I have already make progress in that category. I've gotten myself certified to teach high school mathematics in FL, and the school district has told me that they have a great need for new math teachers every year. I'm also looking into working part-time in a bar or restaurant there, as it is a major tourist destination, and it seems that would be a great way to supplement my income as well as meet people down there.

Several other things are going to happen between now and when I move (the actual moving date is TBD but I'm currently shooting for March), and I'll be following up with those on here. I find that when I put my business out in the open (like i'm doing on this blog), it is a great motivator to reach goals. Lets face it, everyone likes to brag when they accomplish something! The goals between now and the move are:

1) Quit smoking for good

2) Get into the best shape of my life

3) Get my debt situation under control

So I'll be updating this blog every morning and hopefully this will be a great 2010 for me, and I hope some of you will help encourage me on this journey!