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January 15, 2018

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Man Hour

6 Week Fitness Challenge: Week 2

Well, this last week was a semi-success… at least for me. The dieting of this challenge wasn’t a “challenge” until I attended a private conference here in town. This lead to all sorts of disarray. Nevertheless, I’m still on track for shedding 1lb per week. Some days are better than others. Ironically, the thing I have the most challenge with is the strength training at moderate intensities and high reps… well, maybe not so ironically as I’m used to high intensity, low repetitions.

What *IS* ironic is that I’m starting to enjoy my runs. Yup, burning a couple hundred Calories via running is actually becoming less terrible, LOL!

The thing I like about it most is the measurability of it. It’s not hard to launch my running app and go until it says my aimed Calories were burnt. The same could be said for a treadmill… however, I find the small hill trail around my home far more difficult than the same caloric measures given by the treadmill settings.

All in all, it’s going really well. I’m definitely not starving and still struggling to finish all my meal plans. The workouts are taking longer than I’d like. And, while my body feels super tired, in general… it’s manageable and the results are enjoyable — looking forward to the soon to be grueling pace! 😉

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January 7, 2018

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Man Hour

6 Week Fitness Challenge: Week 1

So, I decided to take up a fitness challenge for one of many reasons this year. In short, I was sick and tired of being *insert whatever you’d like to improve about yourself here*. The truth is, I have all the knowledge and skill set for fitness and burning the fats off. I mean, I’m published on the matter when it comes to the specific use of kettlebell exercise. I even demonstrated an 8 week program that lost me 2 belt loops without more than 15 minutes of exercise a day… no change in diet.

Why jump on a program now?

Motivation.

The thing is, having such a busy lifestyle of being a work at home dad, startup entrepreneur x2, and being co-founder and c-suite to both companies… you “lose” that focus and motivation on yourself. And, there’s the saying: “If you pay, you pay attention.”

So, with encouragement from my coach and good friend, Professor Jeff Baldwin of Rebellion Martial Arts… I signed up with a nutritionist that he signed up with a year or so back… and, had SCARY amazing results.

All that said, I’m a week in. And, it’s been quiiiiiiite interesting.

  • There’s an entirely changed level of dieting. I used to have a keto-esque diet of high fat, high protein, low carbs. Now, I’m on a revolving diet of various macros as prescribed by Brian Martinez of Local Fit.
  • I’m also on a daily exercise routine, which I love…
  • That includes true cardio… which I hate… but, have always wanted to get good at. I’ve always gotten my cardio via HIIT, but this time, I’m running. And, I SUCK at running — LOL!
  • Oh, there’s a LOT of food to be eaten. I’m still adjusting, but MAN… 6 organized meals a day is a lot of food, volume-wise.
  • I’m loving the organization of the program.
  • And, I’m definitely seeing a small trickle of consistent weight loss.

It’s been an exciting week 1 and I’m hoping to ramp it up for week 2!

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January 3, 2018

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Child Development

THIS, Is His Childhood

Probably a week or two back, it hit me that my kiddo is four… almost five. School, social life, development, personality… even this weird “teenage” lackadaisical attitude he’s adopted when he doesn’t want to do a chore or what have you… it was weird that he turned from four to pre-teen overnight. And then, it really hit me…. this, is his childhood… right now, and, there’s not a moment to waste!

When you think about growing up, what comes to mind? Did you have a good childhood? Were your parents loving? Supportive? How about siblings? Friends? Activities? How were the memories? Good? Bad? Awful? Wonderful?

There’s a good chance its a big mixture of it. And, there’s also a good chance that, looking back… there’s a lot that everyone wishes their childhood could’ve improved upon. That, is the interesting thing… we can’t control our childhood. It is. We’re subject to the wills and designs of other people’s choices far more than we are our own… that is, until we “grow up.”

The thing is, these formative years are precious…. and, highly undervalued, no matter how many times you hear people say, “Cherish these moments.” and, that… “They grow up sooooo fast!”

Still… do we truly do follow said advise?

Again… it hit me.

I started this Daddy In The Raw… work at home dad lifestyle… which meant exchanging stable, well paying, good opportunities within the corporate sectors type job and lifestyle for….. the highly variant, high risk – high rewards based, entrepreneur life — SO THAT, I can spend as much wonder loving time with my family. THESE are the years. THESE are the moments. THESE are the times to relish and spoil yourself with. When these moments are gone, they are gone. It never comes back.

You DON’T know how tomorrow will unfold. You have today. What a waste, if you blindly sacrifice today… and, tomorrow doesn’t come… or, worse: isn’t what you suffered it to be.

So… it kept hitting me. This, is his childhood. This is one of the greatest gifts I can give him… that he’s loved, nurtured, prepared, trained, forged, and strengthened to meet the world… and, to become a person that contributes to those around him.

And… I kept on thinking and it kept hitting me… and, I realized in those moments…. I think, we’re okay…. I actually think we’re okay… I looked back on my meager Instagram posting and privately saved Snapchat stories….. and, the snippets below represent an over arching emotional theme of Nathan’s childhood experience.

He’s so happy he sleep laughs.

He goes on Daddy Adventures

From yesterday's #DaddyAdventure. #dadblogger #parenting #parentingblogger

A post shared by DrBenFung, Work@?Dad (@daddyintheraw) on

And, has lightsaber fights in the dark.

Beyond this, he spends an amazing amount of time with his mom… and, not to even say that my wife is a wonder-mom and hero-wife….. it’s just that they are so cute together and I can’t get enough of them. I just can’t…. I can’t handle the love and the purpose of why I’m on this journey.

So… after it was done hitting me, the moment passed and the realization came to pass…

This, is his childhood. It’s a pretty great one ♥

And, I think we’re doing alright.

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December 31, 2017

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It's A Phase...

New Year 2018: Goals. Dreams. Hopes.

Now, in case you missed the drama that was our Christmas lead up and all… you can read about all that here. The short version is this:

  • We all got the flu, and it was terrible
  • One thing after the other kept happening
  • Culminating on Nathan getting a consistent high fever… throwing up all in our bed, to which, the sweetheart kept apologizing for it… AND, our guest bathroom backed up with blackwater (aka sewage) due to the mainline needing clearance… so, I had to hand battle all that with a small trashcan as a bucket… with service master folks also detailing out far later that much needs repair and replacement… none of which could be done until the day after New Years day… yeeaaaaaaaap.

Well, tonight, we decided to keep things VERY chill. It was a welcome change. We slept in… finally. We had Japanese takeout; having Japanese food for New Year Eve had become a serendipitous tradition for this time of year… kinda just happened. We binge watched a bunch of I Love Lucy on Amazon Prime… I made some steak. Kiddo, yet again, had waaaay too much screen time.

And, we’re still coughing and sputtering the left over drainage factors of having the plague… I mean flu…. no, I mean plague.

HOWEVER… my wife and I looked back on this Christmas and New Years season.

To be honest, I’m usually Mr. Positive. In fact, I even won “Mr. Encouragement” back in college. Pretty much everyone knows me as a very positive, optimistic, upbeat kind of guy… it’s hard to get me down and I usually can find the silver lining… behind any cloud… even if that cloud happens to be come from a cyclone.

Nevertheless, if I’m speaking/typing honestly… this one had me down. I found myself getting to that point where I just couldn’t take it anymore.

If one more thing were to happen, I would’ve just cracked.

I wanted my Christmas. I wanted my New Years.

Then… we looked back. And, it really wasn’t all that bad.

Some Self Introspective… Perspective???

The immediate time surrounding Christmas and New Years may not have been as traditionally festive, but… there’s a lot we did.

  • We decorated the house, more so than every before…. just a tragedy that we were the only ones to enjoy it as we got so sick as we did.
  • We took Nathan ice skating for the first time. He LOVED it… sitting on that seal ice skate helper thing… ridiculous and amazing.
  • We went to Disneyland twice and really soaked in the holiday ambiance.
  • We helped serve at our church Hanging of the Greens.
  • We got an espresso maker for Christmas and I’m getting the hang of the bottomless filter — epic coffee.
  • Nathan loved the season, even if he was sick — all the countdowns, the calendars, the socks…. everything!
  • We got to spend a bunch of time together — the entire purpose of this work at home journey.
  • Ultimately, while we’re “sick”… we still have our health. I’ve seen an alarming amount of posts of folks sharing how seriously bad news (the type that has a terminal ending) has been unveiled during this time… making the flu, honestly, while miserable… is something one can totally bear with.
  • I’m a part of two, successful, startup companies — one digital, one brick-and-mortar… both which I get to work, virtually, from home.
  • We live in the best city in the world.
  • Our kiddo is a happy, sweet-hearted, considerate four year old… even though he’s bratty from time to time… and, aren’t they all?
  • I mean… I keep listing things and realizing…… sure, we had a string of bad days… even a string of bad weeks. But, all in all, 2017 was much better than 2016. In fact, 2017 had a lot of wins that probably would just keep this blog post running on and on… and, on… and…… on.

So, how about some goals, dreams, and hopes???

2018 Goals, Dreams, and Hopes

So, without any filtering or organization… here they are:

  1. Fitness — I’ve signed up for an exciting 6 week transformation challenge. I’ve never done anything like this before and honestly, did this for a few reasons (1) accountability, (2) challenge, and (3) to help improve my martial arts training… speaking of…
  2. Martial Arts — Having added Muay Thai training to my pursuits for 2017, I’ve unfortunately and essentially put BJJ on the back burner. For 2018, I hope to ramp up the training for both. If I keep to it, I hope to get a Yellow Arm band ranking for Muay Thai before 18 months of training (which lands me around Oct 2018, or so?) -AND- I’m hoping to really explore no-gi BJJ as I develop in this blue belt phase, and really establish a foundation on my game. I’ve always felt a slower learner of BJJ… still, it’s not about when you “get there,” it’s about the fact you’re on that journey.
  3. Business — The hope is that UpDoc, Inc will hit an incredible stride this year on multiple fronts, becoming the influencer, incubator, influencer brand I know it can be. I also hope that Recharge will be positioned for franchise standards by mid-end of this 2018, with an expansion into San Diego for 2019.
  4. Family — 2017 was a re-centering on purpose… one of our goals was to spend much more quality time together as a family and I know we accomplished it in the most precious of ways. For 2018, I want to hold this value point and get into family rhythms in addition to the impromptu style that is the Fung family… I want a certain regularity, tradition, and/or identity to be additionally established… you can never love on your family enough and I never want to lose sight of that.
  5. Mentorship — The Pathfinders mentorship program I founded had its 1st year in 2017. I hope to grow this into a budding community where it becomes a place where mentors of mentors can be groomed, molded, and set free upon the world.
  6. Creativity and Content — Q4 of 2017 proved to be so busy that I really slacked on blogging, broadcasting, and the like. I want to recommit to this for 2018, perhaps actually getting regular Relate In Eight content out there… maybe even doing a regular live broadcast to help businesses build their brands.

Annnnd… I think that’s it for now…. I’m just typing on the fly since I have a moment to do so. In all cases….

2018. I’m ready for you. I pray you hold treasures of achievement, goals, and pleasant surprises all year.

Happy New Year!