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My Quest to Become That Guy!

Updated: Sep 7, 2022

If I want to Change Anything; I have to Change Everything

I haven’t recorded any content for my podcast or my blog since the May 2021 interview with Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva. I had to beg my podcast network to air the interview; they didn’t. I was told my interview with Dr. Kelly Victory would not air, as she was viewed by the network as the anti-vax lady because she was disputing the misinformation from Dr. Fauci about masking, vaccines and Covid 19.



I am going to reboot my podcast & blog, but I won’t be wasting time trying to expose the lies of the radical leftists who have taken over the Democrat Party and are “fundamentally transforming” America. Voters deserve whom they elect! It’s nice to be “right,” but, so what? I realized what a big waste of time talk radio and podcasting about politics have become.


In case you don’t know, I had kidney surgery in June 2020, and lost my left kidney due to a cancerous growth. I had been practicing intermittent fasting and regular gym workouts all through 2019 (see link below). My body withstood the surgery well, as I was 175lbs at about 23% body fat, and I had a super easy recovery from surgery.

About two months after surgery, I tried to get back on my training schedule and went for a 5-mile bike ride followed by a 30-minute pool routine. Later that night, I felt a slight pain and pulling feeling near the surgical site, so I backed off training the rest of 2020.


Note: I remain cancer free as of this writing!


As 2021 rolled in, I spent time with my family, my mom, Patricia (My Love) and our beloved Randa, enjoying dinners, daily walks, play time and an easy life. I had become complacent and lazy in 2021, and found I took shorter walks so I could get back to my couch and recline to watch tv, I had canceled my gym membership as I refused to wear a mask while working out, and I enjoyed my chips and Reese’s peanut butter cups daily. I did not workout at all in 2021, and hadn’t exercised since my surgery in June 2020!


In June 2022, my birthday came around, Patricia and I took Randa on our annual road trip up north to Cambria and Carmel. Ah yes, wine country, good food and relaxing with my little family on the coast. I realized, the farther away from Los Angeles County one gets, the better life is, even in Communist California!

When we got back home, I noticed I had lost a couple pounds, even though I didn’t adhere to my intermittent fasting routine on vacation. When I actually got on a scale after my vacation, I realized that I had put on an extra seventeen (17) pandemic pounds since my surgery in June 2020. My little feelings got hurt.


Then, I came across this video on YouTube; “How I Lost 50 lbs in 5 Months WALKING!” In this video (link below) Kathleen Hart talks about how she was able to lose 50 pounds in five months by simply walking and counting steps. Hart said in her video that one needs at least 10K Steps per day, which turns out to be about four (4) miles per day. This is exactly what I had found in 2019 and when I coupled the walking with intermittent fasting to lose 30 pounds in four months without going to the gym!


So, on June 26, 2022, I decided to start tracking my steps closer with my Fitbit and returned to the gym when the mask mandates in Los Angeles County dropped off the map. I tried to get 10K steps per day, which was easy on the weekends but difficult (I thought) during my work week.

On workdays, I found I was only getting 3K-4K steps per day by the time I got home at 6pm. And although I got a couple hundred more steps, maybe 1K more, taking Randa out for her evening potty break, I wasn’t anywhere near 10K steps per day.


Then, while perusing YouTube for more fitness tips, I found this video by Gritty Soldier, a U.S. Army Ranger who “rucks” for fitness and burning calories; Top 10 Benefits of Rucking! I remembered my miles of force marching in Army Basic Training (1975) with a full rucksack and rifle!


After watching this video, I gave it a try, as I used to ruck Runyon Canyon in Hollywood with my dog Evy a few years back. So, I started rucking on the weekends with a 20# pack, four miles the first time, and 3.1 miles for the Extortion 17 memorial ruck, in memory of the 30 Special Ops operators and K9 Bart who gave their lives on 6 August 2011, in Afghanistan.


After finding I can actually go four miles with a 20-pound ruck, I also began to increase my daily walks with Randa from 1K to 4K steps, sometimes with the vest, sometimes without, but never less than two miles per night. As I started to burn more calories, I started to see results pretty quickly.

One day I was listening to Mike Glover Actual on YouTube, a former Green Beret, who talked about the police officers who responded to the school shooting in Uvalde, Texas. Glover pointed out how some of the cops who responded to the school were actually a liability rather than an asset, due to their lack of fitness, and it got me thinking; I carry a gun for work every day, am I an asset or a liability?

It’s a tough question because most guys I know think they’re an asset simply because they were in law enforcement or the military (or both) and carry a gun (CCW). Most guys I’ve met have a very high expectation of themselves in an emergency, but most fail to realize that when the shit hits the fan, we don’t rise to our highest level of expectation, we rise to our lowest level of training.


Most of us don’t want to think of ourselves as a liability. Most of us play a silly game called, I won’t tell you the truth about you if you don’t tell me the truth about me. You’re ok, I’m ok; we’re solid. But are we? I wasn’t and I knew it. Most men I know who carried a gun or still carry a gun daily for a living, have huge egos, and as we age, we become great storytellers but are no longer what David Goggins calls practitioners.


Note: If you want straight-up honesty, no bullshit motivation about training, losing weight, and mastering your life, you must check out retired Navy SEAL David Goggins.


Since my June 2022 epiphany, I’ve made a lot of changes in my approach to food, work, training, and personal defense. I realized that in 2021, I became what Goggins calls civilized; I stopped being a practitioner and became a storyteller. I was resting on my past achievements while becoming fat, dumb and happy! I was no longer That Guy, if I ever was.


I’ve come to realize that Goggins is That Guy. Mike Glover is That Guy. Jocko Willink is That Guy. Gritty Soldier is That Guy, Rener Gracie is That Guy. I asked myself, “what would That Guy do in my position? That Guy would stop making excuses--real or perceived--about not getting enough steps due to my work hours and just get after it!


“But I’m a busy guy, my mind yells, I have an important job; I really need to take care of myself. I need to be kind to myself and rest.” Bullshit. I realized I ain’t that busy…and I do have the time, but I have chosen to allocate it to things that made me a liability rather than an asset. So, I’ve readjusted my life once again; it’s the next evolution of Gil trying to become That Guy.

All Navy SEALs I’ve listened to talk about “becoming comfortable being uncomfortable.” This is a very powerful concept. Goggins says that most people operate at only 40% of their capacity, and that’s when people quit…at 40% output. I’m trying to reset my 40% to as high as I can get it.


Walking with a 20lb ruck on your back for 3-5 miles is uncomfortable. I do it weekly. Walking my dog with a 20lb weight vest is uncomfortable. I do it nightly. Eating one meal a day is uncomfortable. I do it daily. Being a new jiu-jitsu student at age 66 is uncomfortable, but I’ve added it to my lifestyle twice a week. I love it all and I feel myself getting stronger, physically and mentally.


When I heard Dr Jordan Peterson and retired Navy SEAL Jocko Willink talk about being “dangerous, but disciplined.” I knew that’s what I wanted to become. That Guy: dangerous, trained, protective, but disciplined.



THIS IS MY NEW & IMPROVED LIFESTYLE


MONDAY-FRIDAY (note I do not go to the gym anymore-weight training will be added in the future)


● 0830-1700 hrs (3000-4000K steps) my regular work schedule

● Water & ceremonial Japanese green tea throughout my fasting day

● 1800 hrs - one meal a day (OMAD) with Patricia

● 1900 hrs - Evening walk with Randa – 20# weight vest (two miles)

Total steps per day: 8000-10K steps (I try to get as close to 10K steps per day)


WEDNESDAY

● 0830-1700 hrs – workday

● 1830 hrs – short walk with Randa

● 2000-2100 hrs - jiu jitsu Gracie University


SATURDAY

● 1000 hrs - Jiu jitsu Gracie University – before breakfast

● 1130’ish - breakfast



● 1330-1400 hrs - afternoon - 1.5 mile walk w/weight vest with Randa & Patricia

● 1630’ish – dinner with Patricia

● 1900 hrs – evening walk with Randa (two miles) – sometimes w/weight vest/sometimes not


SUNDAY

● 0930’ish – Breakfast with Patricia

● 1330-1400 hrs - Afternoon - 1.5 mile walk w/weight vest with Randa & Patricia

● 1630’ish – dinner with Patricia

● 1900 hrs – evening walk with Randa (two miles) – sometimes w/weight vest/sometimes not

###


Sources

“How I Lost 50 lbs in 5 Months WALKING!” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=syIiDU5SIa8

Rener Gracie; Top 10 Questions For Your First Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Class https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bYnlWdXvvH4

Jocko Willink & Dr Jordan Peterson Dangerous but Discipline https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a4PS_DhzyDg






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