Why you should never waste your time on Yelp.com.

I had a recent bad experience with a local pizza (Cecil Whittaker's pizza located on West Clay in St. Charles Mo.) place that I had been a loyal customer of for over 12 years. I was shocked by the experience and so I called the owner of the restaurant to discuss it with him. I knew him and we have spoken a number of times over the years both in-person and over email.

I wanted him to be aware of the situation first, and out of respect I gave him a call. To my utter disbelief he told me to write it down for him and then basically hung up on me. Clearly he no longer cares about customers. His excuse the next day was that he was very busy.

Anyway, I digress. So in my frustration with being overcharged, treated poorly, and then being dismissed on the phone I decided to place a Yelp review. I posted the review and the very next day discovered that it had been removed.

I wasn't notified that it was removed, nor was I told why. Thinking that it was removed for putting some person's name in the review, I edited it and removed any reference to an individual. I then reposted it. The very next day again, it had been removed.

Then I remembered that they had done the same thing to me not more than a year earlier. After doing some digging, there are apparently a large number of both people and businesses that believe Yelp to be dishonest. Some people believe that negative reviews are removed for businesses that pay an advertising fee to Yelp. Others believe that Yelp is dishonest by not providing a reason for the removal of a person's review. Still others believe that many of the positive reviews on Yelp are fraudulent in nature.

Check out this link for a Forbes article talking about this very thing.

I don't know that we will ever know the complete truth. I know that Yelp has been involved in a number of lawsuits. I will never support them again with a review, either positive or negative. In my opinion they are a very dishonest company and I definitely will not trust any of their reviews in the future.

Why waste your time?

p.s. Go to Imo's or Stefanina's for the best St. Louis style pizza available. Avoid Cecil Whittakers if you care about good service and good pizza!

http://imospizza.com/

https://www.stefspizza.com/

Celery is stout!

I have never really loved the taste of celery. I have eaten it lots of times over the years, but I usually used it as some type of transport shovel for something that tasted much better like dip, or peanut butter, or almond butter, well you get the idea.

I always thought celery was pretty bland. The fibrous and watery flavor just didn't appeal to me. I know it is very healthy to eat so today I added two large stalks to my juice. I also put in a granny smith apple, a handful of spring mix, some strawberries, and some blueberries.

I get my smoothie all blended up and take my first big gulp, and I taste CELERY. Nothing but CELERY. My smoothie has a nice purple and red fruity color to it. The texture of the smoothie is nice and smooth, not gritty at all. The flavor pure CELERY. Apparently CELERY has a stronger flavor than I ever gave it credit for.

Celery, you have won this battle, but you won't win the war my friend!

This one is going to be rough to drink down. I'll probably taste CELERY for about 4 hours.

My advice, use celery in your smoothie, but limit it to 1 stalk or a partial stalk.

Here is to our health! Happy drinking!

Doors are being opened!

So the first chapter is finished and it looks like I could have as many as 16 chapters left. Chapter 2 is underway. I am so happy I received another permission today! 

God is opening doors around me for this book. When you are thinking you may reference someone else's work in your book, you have to send them a formal permission request for the citation or quote. I have had to send some already for this book, and they have all came back with permission for the citations. Normally you have to do negotiations just to get permission and they can always say No, of course. That has not happened with this project. Praise God! He is always in control!

Getting back on the wagon.

Well, I fell off the proverbial wagon last night, and had a cheat meal. Not one of my prouder moments, but it happens. Well, technically, I didn't fall off, since I did drink my whole food smoothie for breakfast. I did have a transgression against healthy, whole food, non-processed eating though.

Last night my wife and I decided to have a cheat/junk meal and we headed to Sonic! One footlong chili and cheese coney later I decided I absolutely had to have some ice cream. So to finish myself off, we headed to Dairy Queen. I decided to go with a large Dairy Queen soft-serve. Served in a cup sans any toppings of any kind. I am trying to make great food choices, or at least better bad choices. So rather than have the sundae, I went with just the plain ice cream.

About 30 minutes later, I felt absolutely terrible. The footlong coney dog with chili and cheese tasted fantastic. The ice cream was wonderful. Both hit me like a ton of bricks!

I felt like I couldn't breathe, and I felt like I didn't want to move. I ended up hitting the rack about 1 hour earlier than normal. I woke up this morning absolutely ravenous! That is what happens though when you eat food that doesn't properly nourish your body. Your stomach is filled up with junk food, but your body craves nutrition. Once your body processes that junk it is craves nutrients even more so you become hungrier than before. It is a vicious cycle folks!

To get back on the wagon this morning, I drank a delicious smoothie with the following ingredients:

1. Pineapple
2. Bunny-Luv Organic baby carrots
3. Granny Smith apple - the whole thing!
4. Some organic field greens
5. A couple of Sunset Mini cucumbers
With some prune juice for added sweetness.

Cheers!

Chapter 1 for my new book is a wrap!

I finished my first chapter up today, for my Christian book. Actually, it is a book primarily aimed at non-Christians but on a Christian topic.

 I sent it to the pastor that will be doing my technical review. I expect that review to take a few weeks, but in the meantime I will get started on chapter 2! I am very excited!

The first chapter is always the hardest part. I have also gotten permission from the groups that own the rights to NIV, NASB, and the King James Bible (public domain). I will be trying to pull together a cover in the next few weeks and then I will share it with you. Only 10 more chapters to go and a lot of work! It should be fun!

Day 12 - Hungry and hopeful!

This morning I woke up hungry and ready for my whole food smoothie!

I am feeling great and enjoying my diet. I am adding 3 pieces of bacon this morning because I will be working out and I feel like I need some protein.

It really helps me stay dedicated to this plan when I can purchase quality ingredients.

My ingredients for this shake are shown in the image to the left. I also added about 4 ounces of prune juice for sweetness.

Bunny-Luv Organic baby carrots - delicious, with a wonderful snap, and slightly sweet.

Sunset Mini cucumbers - cool, crisp, and so refreshing.

Wholesome Garden Organic Spring Mix - you have to have those greens! Delicious and so simple to use.

Granny smith apple - I love their bite. Always juicy, fresh, and sour. Wonderful apples and not just for baking!

Day 11 on my whole food smoothie plan.

Yesterday I actually started feeling the effects of eating this way. I am beginning to feel a lot healthier and more energetic.

My weight is down about 5 lbs. in 11 days! Good incentive to keep pushing forward!

The beard is coming off!

I grew the beard for about 4.5 weeks. The wife doesn't like it and it is kind of scratchy so I am taking it off today.

Some people have complimented me on it, but I think it makes me look old.

*Update - I had to use my head shaver to get the beard short enough to shave off. I knew that already, but was trying to be lazy. Ha! Who has time to look for the shaver? Luckily my wife saved the day again and brought it to me when she saw how much I was struggling. 

Skipped breakfast today

Not hungry this morning, so I am fasting for breakfast. I will make a smoothie for lunch.

How am I tracking my smoothie/whole foods plan? What tools am I using to be successful?

Hey everyone, I just wanted to write a note here about the software that I use to track my progress on this smoothie plan I am doing.

As you know, I am replacing 1 meal each day with a whole food smoothie. The smoothie is a mixture of fruits and vegetables only. All organic, healthy, and as fresh as I can make them.

I use my incredible Dash blender to blend my smoothie up to refreshing perfection!

The Dash blender is just as powerful as the more advertised brands, but it costs about 1/3 as much!
Buy Dash Today!

The other aspect of this "diet" if you want to call it that, is my tracking software. I almost always carry my Samsung Note 4 phone with me (Love it!), so I wanted software that would run on the Android operating system.

The software I am using is called Goal Tracker. It is really great! It even gives me a little alarm to remind me that even though bacon and eggs sounds great, that I need to drink my smoothie.

Check out Goal Tracker here! You can come along with me on my journey to better health, smaller clothing, and a healthier life!

Cheers!

Day 6 Breakfast smoothie!

No pictures today because I don't want to bore you with too many of those. I did add more fruit today, and ice. Seems to make the smoothie much more palatable, but I do worry about sugar a little. 

Today's liquid meal contained, an apple, 2 handfuls of grapes, 7 frozen strawberries, 7 baby carrots, 2 handfuls of spring mix salad (chard, kale, romain, etc...). Actually pretty good today! I am noticing that my stomach seems to be getting smaller! My energy level seems good, but no dramatic effects yet.

Lunch day 5 - too many vegetables!

Too many vegetables and not enough fruit in this batch. I drank it down anyway. Here is to my health!

Breakfast Day 4!

Apples, broccoli, grapes, carrots, little pineapple, blackberries, and a few prunes! Yummy!

Our God is an AWESOME God!

Katy Perry has been quoted as saying “I don’t believe in a heaven or a hell or an old man sitting on a throne. I believe in a higher power bigger than me because that keeps me accountable,”

It is interesting how she thinks of Jesus. Like many of us that grew up in church, she probably saw all of the paintings of Jesus and the artist renderings of the kind man with long hair. The man who looked so gentle, kind of like a Biblical Mr. Rogers. The man that sometimes had a dove on his shoulder, or in his hand. The man that is holding a little lamb in some artist renderings. Our buddy, our friend. We shrink Jesus with these images of him. We belittle his Awesome might.

Yes he is a loving, caring God. He does have those attributes, however he is the most Awesome and Powerful King. He is the most high Priest. His power is awesome, and it is limitless. The Apostle John (A Disciple,1 of the original 12) who was called "the Disciple Jesus loved" was a true friend to the Earthly Jesus. John traveled with Jesus, John ate with Jesus, and they were friends. Think about your best friend. You probably get excited to see them. You probably have inside jokes. You definitely do not fear them, or should not fear them if it is a healthy relationship. John had that with Jesus. Later in John's life he was exiled to Patmos for teaching the Word of Christ, for being a Christ follower. Jesus revealed the future to John on Patmos. John wrote this revealing down in what was to become the book of Revelation. When Jesus revealed himself, in his glory to John, John tells us that he fell at his feet like a dead man. So awesome and powerful was this image. That John was terrified in his presence. John had known this man when he walked the Earth. John had walked beside and behind Jesus when Jesus walked in humility as a man, and hid his glory to accomplish his Father's work. Yet, in his glorified presence he was terrified almost to the point of death. He fell at His feet as though he were a dead man. Jesus is the most high King and he is the Judge of God. His judgement is perfect just as he is perfect. My pastor made a good point that sometimes our image of Jesus is smaller than it should be. The larger we make our image of Jesus, the more we realize who he is and what he has done for us, the smaller our problems become. Big GOD, small problems. Small God, BIG problems. Our problems are temporary and fleeting. Jesus does not want us to be afraid. We can handle anything, because Christ strengthens us.

(Revelation 1:12-18 - NASB)
12 Then I turned to see the voice that was speaking with me. And having turned I saw seven golden lampstands; 13 and in the middle of the lampstands I saw one like [a]a son of man, clothed in a robe reaching to the feet, and girded across His chest with a golden sash. 14 His head and His hair were white like white wool, like snow; and His eyes were like a flame of fire. 15 His feet were like burnished bronze, when it has been made to glow in a furnace, and His voice was like the sound of many waters. 16 In His right hand He held seven stars, and out of His mouth came a sharp two-edged sword; and His face was like the sun [b]shining in its strength.

17 When I saw Him, I fell at His feet like a dead man. And He placed His right hand on me, saying, “Do not be afraid; I am the first and the last, 18 and the living One; and I [c]was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of death and of Hades.

Stay strong in your faith, and recognize Jesus Christ for who he is.

Thanks for reading!

New Year but not a New resolution.

Last year I had a lot of success losing weight and keeping it off by eating only real foods, and avoiding excess starches. Right at about 30 lbs, my weight loss stalled, so I am trying something new.

I am having 1 whole food juice each morning for breakfast and nothing else. If I am absolutely starving, then I will eat 1 can of tuna in water or 1 can of sardines packed in pure olive oil. I do that for convenience though, any lean and natural source of protein (egg yolk and 3 whites, lean chicken, etc...) would also work.

I use my Super powerful Dash blender to pulverize/atomize the whole fruits and vegetables into a smooth, refreshing, and nutrient dense smoothie!

The Dash blender is just as powerful as those other powerful blenders on the market but it costs about 1/3 as much.

I will be skipping 1 meal per day for the next 30 days, and then I will be moving to two smoothie meals per day after that until I reach my idea weight. Throughout my journey I will tell you about my smoothies, my successes, and my failures, so stay tuned! Thanks!

Favorite foods!

New book is hard work, but so worth it!

Worked hard on my latest book today. This book requires a great deal of research and concentration. It has to be as good as I can make it. I'm not ready to release the title yet, but I will soon. God willing!