INTRODUCTION

Welcome everyone...and hello!

First off, I would like to start by introducing myself.  My name is Brandon Johnston.  I am 28 years old and am happily married to my beautiful wife Carrie.  My wife is currently very dedicated to her schooling, where she is currently being educated in the field of Medical Assisting.  We reside in one of those little "blink and you miss it" towns.  That's right, not even a traffic light in our little town, only a complicated little 5-way stop right in the center of town which seems to throw off those non-local residents.

In my professional life, I am a Corrections Officer in a state prison.  I absolutely love what I do.  It's definitely not a job for all and you figure it out very quickly if it's for you or not.  Our goal everyday is to make sure we all walk out the gates together just the same way we came in...safe and sound.  Before I ever got into corrections though, I was a chef, thus where I get my passion of cooking and baking.

In my personal life I am many things.  As I mentioned before, I am a husband to the most beautiful woman in the world.  We have been together since August 18, 2007 but are still a newly married couple, as we exchanged vowels on October 22, 2011.  My number one goal in my life is to be a Daddy, and I really hope that such a wonderful gift is not all too far down the road.  My main hobby that I have is Flight Simulation.  I know, nerdy, right?  I know that's what you're thinking.  Well, my dream has always been to be a pilot.  Although it would be a dream to fly the heavies, I know that is no career for a family man, and I will never let anything interfere with the dream of having a family.  I do however desire to obtain my private pilot's license.  There is a freedom that comes with leaving the boundaries of the ground and escaping to the skies above.  So for now, I use my custom built computer system and all the flight sim hardware I can get my hands on to bring a little bit of the dream to life in my own home.

Now, a little bit about why I started this blog.  Forever (as long as I can remember), I have always been a rather big guy.  Even as just a lil tike I carried on a few pounds extra.  Well, over the course of 28 years, a few pounds kept getting to be more and more  I have dieted more times than I can probably count on all fingers and toes.  I pretty much always done the same diet, which consisted of frozen diet meals and a lot food deprivation.  Now, every time I dieted I've always lost an extreme amount of weight, but always gained back the weight every time, plus some!  It was not until I stumbled upon Albert Einstein's view on insanity did my pattern of thinking change:  "Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results."  This was totally me.  I continually dieted the same way, eating the same type of foods, the same type of starvation, only to wonder, "why didn't it work out in the long run this time?"  I was INSANE!!!  This was when I decided to make a change for myself.  I used to be a chef, i love to cook.  I am done with all of these frozen meals that have only yielded me temporary results and happiness.  I now currently live by this principle alone when it comes to eating:  I have chose not to do away with the foods I love, but have chose to teach myself how to prepare those foods in a healthier fashion to become a more healthy person on the inside and out.  I am in control of what I put into my body, for it is my temple!!!

Now, although I will not tell you my starting weight that I was on December 31, 2012 (at least not yet...not revealing that HORRIBLE number until I have reached my goal), I will tell you the amount of weight I desire to lose, which is 130 pounds from the exact weight that I am right now.  Only thing is, I am turning 29 the first week of March, so yea, I basically have like 13 months to reach this goal of losing 130 pounds.  I know, 10 pounds a month, is it crazy...nuts...or is it even practical and realistic?  This is the reason I created this blog, my first ever blog.  Even though I started my diet on January 1, 2013, today, January 22, 2013, I am starting this blog.

I will be reporting my progress along the way, hopefully able to share something everyday, although I'm sure there will be days where that just won't be possible as sometimes my work schedule requires the occasional 16 hour shift.  I will be sharing pictures and recipes of created dishes and at the very least the calories per serving with those dishes.  I am a very active user of MyFitnessPal.  Anyone who is dieting needs to make MyFitnessPal part of your dieting life.  If you have no clue what I am talking about, go to http://www.myfitnesspal.com  They even have an app for all you smart phone savvy people out there (which I use constantly).  The service is completely free and you can track everything you eat.  They have an online food database of absolutely EVERY food you can imagine.  It gives me a real boost of confidence actually seeing in black and white what all I'm putting into my body and the progress that I am making.

I don't know how many visitors I will end up having to this blog.  Heck, I actually don't even really know how to get the news out there that I have a blog, but I am interested to see the results and at the very least hope that at the end of my journey I could help motivate someone to making their goals realistic.  Thank you all for your time and for getting to know a little bit about me.  I would love to hear from you and learn about you and the goals you have set for yourself.

Here's to happy and healthy lives!

- Brandon Johnston