Posts by Paul Bomers
Free Access To My New Photography Course
As some of you already know I’ve been working on a photography course for beginners and it’s finally getting close to being finished where I feel comfortable getting some feedback on it. I’m looking for 5 – 10 people who have an interest in photography and own a camera, it doesn’t matter if it’s a point and shoot or a digital slr. I’ll give you lifetime access to the course including all the lessons, video tutorials, and bonuses for free in exchange for some honest feedback about the course as well as recommendations on how to make it better. When I say honest I really mean honest…if you think it’s amazing, tell me, but if you think an area makes no sense I want to know that too.
Who I’m Looking For
- 5-10 people interested in photography
- You must own a digital camera
- Willing to give honest feedback
What You Get In Return
- Free lifetime access to the course, videos, and bonuses
- Entered into a drawing for a free digital camera
- Free photography advice from me
- That fuzzy feeling from helping someone out
I’m not just looking for beginners either. If you’re already good at photography, but just want to help another photographer out that’s awesome too. If that’s the case and you’re local to Grand Rapids, Michigan I’ll buy you a couple micro-brews at one of the fine local breweries we have. Oh and before I forget…THANKS!
I’m Ready To Help – Sign Me Up
UPDATE: I’ve had an overwhelming response and I can’t say thanks enough. If you’re still interested in the course you’re welcome to still sign up below. You’ll be the first to know when it’s released and I’ll also be emailing out a giant discount for people who sign up ahead of time. Thanks!
[contact-form 2 “Photography Class Tester”]
A Story To Live By: The Fisherman’s Parable
An American businessman was at the pier of a small coastal Mexican village when a small boat with just one fisherman docked. Inside the small boat were several large yellow fin tuna. The American complimented the Mexican on the quality of his fish and asked how long it took to catch them. The Mexican replied only a little while. The American then asked why didn’t he stay out longer and catch more fish?
The Mexican said he had enough to support his family’s immediate needs.
The American then asked, but what do you do with the rest of your time?
The Mexican fisherman said, “I sleep late, fish a little, play with my children, take siesta with my wife, Maria, stroll into the village each evening where I sip wine and play guitar with my amigos, I have a full and busy life, senor.”
The American scoffed, “I am a Harvard MBA and could help you. You should spend more time fishing and with the proceeds buy a bigger boat, with the proceeds from the bigger boat you could buy several boats, eventually you would have a fleet of fishing boats. Instead of selling your catch to a middleman you would sell directly to the processor, eventually opening your own cannery. You would control the product, processing and distribution.
You would need to leave this small coastal fishing village and move to Mexico City, then LA and eventually NYC where you will run your expanding enterprise.”
The Mexican fisherman asked, “But senor, how long will this all take?”
To which the American replied, “15-20 years.”
“But what then, senor?”
The American laughed and said “That’s the best part. When the time is right you would announce an IPO and sell your company stock to the public and become very rich, you would make millions.”
“Millions, senor? Then what?”
The American said, “Then you would retire. Move to a small coastal fishing village where you would sleep late, fish a little, play with your kids, take siesta with your wife, stroll to the village in the evenings where you could sip wine and play your guitar with your amigos.”
How I Lost Almost 10 Pounds In 2 Weeks
For those of you that don’t know, I’m a huge fan of the 4 Hour Work Week by Tim Ferriss, so much so that I preordered his new and highly anticipated 4 Hour Body. The 4 Hour Body can pretty much be summed up as a cook book for the human body. It’s a rather large hard cover book where you read a couple of chapters about the “basics” and then jump to the chapter the best fits what you want to do. For me the first one was definitely about losing weight since I sit at a desk all day and broke my leg over the winter which definitely added to the nice little belly I had. Beer might have also contributed to the belly’s size btw…haha.
Here are a few of the chapters that I was particularly interested in:
- How to Lose 20 Pounds in 30 Days Without Exercise
- From Geek to Freak – How to Grain 34 Pounds in 28 Days
- Occam’s Protocal 1 – A Minimalist Approach to Mass
- Engineering the Perfect Night’s Sleep
- Ultra-endurance 1 – Going from 5K to 50K in 12 Weeks
- Six Minute Abs – Two Exercises That Actually Work
So how much did I actually lose? 9.4 pounds to be exact. I went from 156.6 pounds to 147.2 pounds in 2 weeks. I made a quick graph from the data in Google Docs to help show just how fast I was dropping weight. I also lost 2.5% of body fat, dropping from 17.5% to 15.0%.
So what all did I do? Well as the book suggests, I didn’t exercise, but I did follow what Tim Ferriss calls the slow carb diet. Basically you cut out breads, grains, and other high carb foods as well as sugars and instead eat more of a high protein diet that is heavier on lean meats, beans, and vegetables. Obviously he still lets you have a glass or two of dry wine a night which was a nice change for me after mainly drinking beer over the winter.
What Did I Eat?
Most of my meals started with a vegetable, then I added a protein. Breakfast was an exception as Tim wants you to get at least 30 grams of protein within 30 minutes of waking up. This was honestly the hardest part for me because I don’t eat large meals to start with, especially not in the morning. I ended up doing a combination of organic eggs, spinach, and black beans though to get as close as I could to 30 grams.
For lunch and dinners I picked my vegetable, broccoli was my favorite, and then added my protein. Lean ground beef, chicken, steak, whatever… The leaner the better. One night we even had spaghetti-ish squash. He suggests sticking to the same couple of meals so that’s what I did. I didn’t give up pop though and had 1 or 2 cans of diet pop a day. That’s the limit before it effects weight loss.
Cheat Day
Once a week the 4 Hour Body suggests you have a cheat day where you can eat / drink anything you want. Let me warn you from experience that you will feel like shit after eating really healthy for a week and stuffing your face with crap. Although it was nice to have beer, pizza, and anything else you wanted. I can’t argue with his methods on this, it works.
Before & After Photos
I wish I would of taken more than just a kinda front shot. The photos show a change, but not nearly as noticeable as it is in real life. The two spots in the photos where you can really see though are my face and stomach. Dang I was fat! Can you imagine the changes I would of seen if I had done a full 30 days?!
What Now?
Well for those who think this is one of those diets when you quit you gain all the weight back, it’s not. I’ve been off the diet for 2 weeks now and I’m only 1 pound heavier than I was when I was on the diet. I will say that I do eat healthier overall though, mainly because of how good I feel. After 3-4 days into the diet I had so much more energy I didn’t know what to do with it all.
I do want to do a full 30 days or possibly try some of the other cool things out there like the couch potato to 5k in 60 days. When I decide which I’m gonna do I’ll definitely keep track and post it up for everyone to see.
Overall I really don’t have anything bad to say about the 4 Hour Body. I recommend this book to pretty much everyone I know, I just wish more people would actually pick up a copy.
Special thanks to Pat Flynn for posting his Insanity Workout Results which led me to actually make this post and have the courage to post before and after photos.