Life Experiment #25: Sleep Naked For A Month

It’s interesting to hear that.  I wonder why women are less likely than men to go commando under the covers?  Body issues?  All I know it seems like all us, men and women, can benefit from baring it all in the bedroom.  Sweet dreams.

Additional Articles On Naked Sleeping

Life Experiment #24: Become a Vegan For 30 Days

As a vegetarian I’ve always had this feeling in the back of my mind that I could do more.  I think it’s great to give up consuming animals like pigs, chicken and cows, but it seems like something is missing.  It seems almost hypocritical to walk around telling people you don’t eat meat, but you still wear leather, eat eggs and cheese and use products that are tested on animals.

I haven’t always been a vegetarian.  Up until about age 24 ate my fair share of cheese steaks and bacon burgers.  Like most people I grew up with, I never saw the point of going vegan.  I always thought those people were a little extreme.  Why are they so anger?  But then world blessed me with a little skin disease called acne.  A disease which compelled me to try vegetarianism and now veganism.  But now I realize the impact of this way of living is more than just a healthier diet.  It’s a better way to live.  But what does it take to get there?  What foods should I stay away from and what products should I refrain from buying?  I’ll answer these questions and more as I take on 30 days of becoming a vegan.

Why Vegan?

I’ve always been a vegetarian mainly for health reasons.  When people ask, this is what I tell them.  But after watching the movie, Earthling, I come to realize that the problem is bigger than health.  Humans are exploiting animals for our own benefit without any regard to the consequences. 

I would bet that if everyone who ate meat had to go out and kill their own food, we’d all have a very different view on it.  The slaughter process is violent and cruel with animals suffering along the way.  Animals are kept in small, dirty cages for months and years at a time with no regard for their comfort or health. 

Why do we still abuse and exploit other animals like this when there’s some many other alternatives out there?  Do six cows really need to sacrifice their lives so that some new car owner can enjoy leather seats?  Do we really need to force a cow to be milked for years on end so we can enjoy milk and cheese when products like soy cheese and almond milk are readily available and just as good?

What can vegans eat and use?

This was one of the first questions that popped into my head as I was thinking about this trial.  Vegetarian is easy.  No beef, chicken, pork or fish.  But no “animal products”.  What exactly are animal products?  The most common are all dairy products including eggs, cheese, milk, ice cream, yogurt and butter.  Then there’s all the hide products like leather, wool and silk.  And a list goes on to include less known chemicals such as:

• Carmine, Cochineal, or Carminic Acid
• Casein, Caseinate, or Sodium Caseinate
• Gelatin, Glycerin, Glycerol (or anything with “glyc” in its name)
• Keratin, Collagen, Stearic Acid
• Lactose, Lard, Lanolin, Lipids, Lipoids
• Monoglycerides or Diglycerides
• Palmitate, Palmitic Acid, Whey
•  Tallow, Sodium Tallowate

With all these chemicals I realized that becoming a vegan is a on-going education process.  When I started to look at the products that I used and the foods that I ate, I began to asking myself. “What’s this made of and is there an alternative?”  And here’s the easiest solution I came up with…

Vegan Shopping & Dining

If you want to become vegan then choose to spend your money at places that cater to vegans.  I don’t have my own kitchen to cook vegan meals, so I have to eat at restaurants that offer vegan foods.  I live in San Diego for most of the year and I’ve started to eat at place called Evolution Fast Food.  It’s a 100% vegan restaurant that serves the fast food counterparts to almost everything you would find at regular burger joint.  The menu includes vegan cheese burgers, fries, shakes and “chicken” sandwiches.  This makes the endless debate about what’s in my food an easy one.  I can order anything on the menu and its guarantee to be free of any animal products.  Oh, by the way, did it say that their food is amazingly tasty. :-p

As far as dining with other people who don’t share your views on diet, it’s just as easy.  The way I’ve got around this one is if you don’t know what’s in your food, then don’t eat it.  We can all benefit from eating less food.  Instead choose to eat only whole foods such as fruits, vegetables and nuts.  A good rule of thumb is to ask for no cheese or sauces (which usually contain eggs or cream) on your foods.

If you cook a lot of your own foods at home, then choose to shop at groceries stores that offer a lot of vegan options.  Whole Foods is usually a good option.  In San Diego, you can find a lot of good stuff at Trader Joe’s or Henry’s Farmer Market.  Most health food stores will carry what you need.  There’s replacement for almost every dairy and meat product including soy milk, soy cheese, soy bacon, soy sausages and ground beef. 
Vegan Products

In terms of cutting out vegan products, this one’s going to time some more time.  Not buying anything leather, wool or silk is an obvious choice.  I’ve already been using a single hemp-based soap for my deodorant, shampoo, body wash, toothpaste and laundry detergent.  Dr. Bronner’s Magic Soap is chemical-free and animal-free.  Again, when choosing products, the best rule-of-thumb is to avoid any chemical-based products and choose natural alternatives.  Health foods stores like the ones mentioned above are also probably a good place to look for vegan products that aren’t tested on animals.

Vegan Information Resources

A lot of veganism is about educating yourself.  Below are some sites I found helpful.

1. Earthling – Even as a vegetarian, this movie gave me a new prospective.  Be prepared to completely change your view about diet after watching this film.  You may never eat meat again.
2. Happycow.net - a worldwide guide to all the vegan and vegetarian stores and resturants near you.  Use it to find vegan-friendly food whenever you are.
3. PETA’s Vegan/Vegetarian Starter Kit – Great information you can use to get started on your path to plant-based diet.
4. Cyberparent & VegProductGuide – both which offer comprehensive listing of animal products and what foods they’re in.

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Photo Credits: Farm Sanctuary

Life Experiment #23: Keep A Time Log For A Month

What if you found out that you were going to die today? 
Would you spend your time differently?
Have you done everything you set out to do in life or
are you just waiting for the right “time”?

I’ve gotten to the point where it’s hard for me to answer these questions.  As exciting as the Navy has made my life, it’s also taken away one my most precious resources….my ability to choose how I spend my time.  In an effort to regain control of my time, I’ll be tracking my time over the next month.

The Value of Time And Why It’s Wasted

The problem with time is we don’t assign value to it.  Most of us start our careers in jobs that pay us hourly.  The more hours we work, the more we get paid.  Regardless of how productive we are during those hours, we get paid the same for each hour.

Then we go off to college and get jobs that pay us salaries.  We’re forced to work a 40-hour work week and regardless of how productive we are, we’re still stuck in an office for 40 hours.  So whether we’re checking email or producing reports, we value our each hour the same. 

But they’re not all the same.  Focusing your time on high-value tasks and eliminating and delegating the rest are the keys to personal productivity.  My goal with this trial is to understand how I spend my time, so I can be more productive and work less.

The Dream of The 4 Hour Work Week

One of my favorite books of all time is Tim Ferriss’s The 4-Hour Work Week.  The book focuses on the premise that the ideal job for most of us is one that takes the least time.  If given the choice, most of us would rather not work and live our lives as we choose.  The book then goes on to explain how to design your ideal lifestyle through eliminating time wasters and outsourcing tasks as much as possible to a team of virtual assistants all across the globe.

My goal is to not have to get a job after my after my enlistment in the Navy.  I want to spend most of my time traveling the world and learning new skills.  Spending my time as I choose fit.  Over the next two years, I’ll working to earn passive income to replace my current income.  Learning how I spend my time now is the first step.

How To Keep A Time Log

I’ll be recording every minute of my daily routine from the time that I wake-up till go to sleep and everything in between.  Here’s the tools I’ll be using:

• Excel –Using a spreadsheet, I’ll record the time and date every time I switch tasks to something else.  I’ll be recording what I’m doing, what category of task it is (work, fitness, sleep, eating, socializing) and how long it takes.
• Paper – For all the time I’m not at my desk, I’ll use a piece of paper to record the time and task.

At the end of each day, I can take a look at my time usage and start to analyze it.
Did I accomplish everything I set out to do today?  Where did I spend most of my time?  Was it productive?  How could I make better use of it?  Could I eliminate, automate or outsource any work? We’ll find out as I track my time everyday for the next month.

Helpful Articles On Tracking Time

• StevePavlina.com – Triple Your Personal Productivity
• LifeHacker.com – Use A Daily Log To Keep Yourself Focused On Productivity

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Photo Credits: Toni Verdú Carbó

Life Experiment #22: Exercise In The Morning For A Month

It’s 4:30 AM.  The alarm goes off.  I wake-up and think to myself, “OK, I set my alarm early, so I can workout this morning…but this bed is so nice and warm…I’ll do it tonight.” At which time I promptly reset my alarm to 5:45 AM and go back to sleep.  Only to wake-up what seems like minutes later. 

This has been my reoccurring habit of mine for the last month.  I’m not the only one.  A lot of my friends do the same thing.  We get motivated at one time or another to do an AM workout, but loss motivation as soon as alarm goes off.  I known there’s a lot to be gained from working out in the morning.  The question is, “How much?”  I’m about to find out as I take on 30 days of working out in the morning.

The Problem With Working Out Early

I think the problem of working out early comes from the habit of over sleeping.  I tackled this problem in my very first trial about two years ago when I first started this blog.  The feeling of waking up and working on my important tasks first thing in the morning was incredible.  I felt like I done so much before I even got to the office.

Since then, I’ve gone through a lot of changes in my life.  I got laid off from my job, joined the Navy and went through boot camp.  During all those different changes, I lost sight of the importance of waking up early.  This trial is an attempt to reclaim that habit.

Benefits Of Morning Workouts

I knew there were good benefits to working out early, but after doing the research I found so many more.  Below are some of the benefits of working out first thing in the morning.

1. Burn Higher Percentage of Fat – Most of us exercise to get a result like fat loss. So wouldn’t it make sense to do whatever gives you the best results with the least effort.  Your body burns more fat in a fasted state than after eating, so you maximize work out efforts by simple changing when you do it.I usually only eat in the afternoons and evenings, so mornings are when my body is most prime to burn fat.  I could double the amount of fat burnt by simply changing the time I work out.
2. Frees up the rest of your day – We’re all busy people with things going on in our lives.  Things will come up throughout the day.  So why not tackle exercise first thing.  According to a variety of studies, people are far more likely to stick with an exercise routine if they do it in the morning.
3. Helps The Environment – Do you ever stand in the shower for 15-20 minutes to wake yourself up?  Most of us take hot showers, which actually does the opposite and drains your energy.  An easier way to wake-up in the morning is the get your blood pumping with exercise. I found that on days where I can work out in the morning, I take quicker showers, because I’m already awake. I also use colder water because my skin’s not as sensitive to the temperature.  Less heat and water means fewer resources and a better planet.  Just think if everyone did this.
4. Energizes You – I’m noticed on days when I work out in the morning, that my energy levels are amazingly high in the morning.  I come into my office like I’ve drank three cups of coffee.   It’s not just the work out that makes the difference, but the amount of time that I’ve been awake.  Working out in the morning forces you to wake-up earlier.
5. Suppresses Hunger – Most people who work out in the morning are less hungry when they workout.  I personally don’t eat until the evening, so a morning workout makes it easier to go longer without food.  But if you eat breakfast, then you might eat less than if you didn’t work out in the morning.
6. Better Sleep – Doing a majority of your physical activity early means you feel tired later.  You’ll go to sleep earlier and feel more rested.  Compare this to an evening workout where you’re raising your metabolism right before you go to sleep.
7. Fill Your Head With Good Ideas – I love to listen to audio books in while I’m working out on an exercise bike or running.  With 30 minutes of listening each morning, you could learn a new idea and implement that day.
8. Less Crowded Gyms – Ever notice that gyms are more packed at night?  That’s when everyone goes.  Do the opposite of everyone else and go in the morning.  You’ll get more done in less time.

My Mourning Ritual

My morning ritual is going to consist of waking up at 5AM, getting dressed, then working out.  My goal is to do 20-30 minutes of cardio follow-up by several sets of calisthenics exercises.  There’s a lot different exercises you could do, but I think the most important thing is do whatever you can stick with and get your blood pumping for 20-30 minutes.  Exercise should be something you enjoy doing.

Other Good Articles On Morning Exercise

• Why Morning Exercise Is The Most Effective
• WebMD – Lose Weight With Morning Exercise
• Should You Do Cardio First Thing In The Morning Before Eating?
• AskMen.com – Fat-Burning Morning Workouts

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Other Updates

• My skipping breakfast trial is going better than expected.  I’ve already loss 5 lbs within the first week compared to the whole month during my intermittent fasting trial.  My hunger pains are less and less each day and I’m at the point where I really only once a day.
• I  started to loose motivation for the Study for the Security+ Exam trial, but a change in my study habits helped me become more effective learner.  To sum it up…don’t read textbooks like novels.  Use books like search engines to find what you need to complete your assignment.  Use questions to focus on your thinking.  More to follow on this in my conclusion.

Photo Credits: Daniele Sartori

Life Experiment #21: Skip Breakfast For A Month

Is breakfast the most important meal of the day?  How did we come to believe this and is it really benefiting us?  I’m about to find out as I challenge the status quo and say hell no to this morning meal. 

Breakfast has become an American icon.  Everyone you go you see products and services dedicated to this special meal.  There’s bed and breakfasts and hotels that serve free continental breakfasts.  There’s special restaurants like Denny’s, The Waffle House and Duncan Donuts that specialize in serving breakfast foods. 

In the US, you have breakfast foods like bacon, sausage, eggs, omelets, donuts, toast, muffins, waffles, pancakes, coffee, breakfast bars and cereal.  Just think about how different cereals there are in the market and it’s easy to see why no one out is asking the question…

Should we be eating breakfast in the first place? 
Could all this talk about breakfast being
the most important meal of the day…be wrong?”

How We Used To Eat

Humans used to be hunters and gathers way back when.  This stage in human evolution is called the Paleolithic or Stone Age.  It was about 2.5 million to 10,000 years ago, before agriculture or refrigeration was ever invented.  Humans would wake-up everyday and spend all day hunting and searching for food.  By the end of the day, they’d take home their food and eat it.  Very little time was dedicated to sitting down and having meals throughout the day.

Ori Hofmekler’s book “The Warrior Diet” is based on this very principle.  We mostly need very little food during the day with our largest meal at dinner.  Hofmekler goes on to explain that during the “Undereating Phase” during the day our bodies:

• Detox by giving our digestion system a break.
• Our enzyme pool is reloaded which accelerates fat burning and ant anti-aging
• Insulin levels drop and stabilize.
• A fat-burning hormone Glucagon increases.
• The Growth Hormone increases to repair tissue and burn fat.

I noticed a lot of these effects during my intermittent fast trial.  On the mornings of my fasting days, I was mentally sharper without food and I could focus for hours at a time and work without distraction.  My weight also dropped, but I still maintained my strength and energy.

Won’t I Get Fat If I Skip Breakfast Everyday?

If you Google “Skipping Breakfast” you get countless studies that come up on how people who skip breakfast are more likely to become obese.  But if you really stop to think about that, it really doesn’t make sense.  By continuing your fast into the mourning, you are consuming less calories overall than someone who does eat breakfast.

I suspect that people who skip breakfast are the same ones that overeat for lunch and snack throughout the day.  They may be people who wake-up late and miss breakfast for time management reasons and not because they consciously choose to.  Skipping because you’re late to the office versus skipping it because you want to fast is to completely different.

Other People Who Support Skipping Breakfast

I first got the idea to do this trial when I read a book written all the back in 1900 by Dr. Edward Dewey called “The No Breakfast Plan and The Fasting-Cure”.  Dr. Dewey was a medical doctor that was called in to treat special cases that other doctors had no cure for. 

His basic treatment was to stop all medicines given to patients (which at the time included a lot of milk and alcohol) and allow the patient to fast until they he improvement.  Using this method he was able to treat a wide variety of ailments. The doctor himself suffered from severe cases of indigestion, until one day he talked to a friend who had just gotten back from traveling to Europe.

The friend noticed how Europeans ate much lighter in breakfasts than Americans…consisting of just a coffee and a roll.  The doctor decided to not eat breakfast one morning and noticed his energy levels go up and he didn’t have his usual indigestion.  From that point on, he suggested that his patients refrain from not eating breakfast.  The result?  He was laughed at by most of his colleagues.  But Dr. Dewey didn’t care, because he got joy from helping his patients, which was all that mattered to him.

An article on StrongLifts.com called “7 Reasons Why You Should NOT Eat Breakfast” claims that eating breakfast doesn’t increase your metabolism or prevent muscle breakdown.  It’s also responsible for impairing your concentration.  They mention two points I brought up earlier.  Studies claiming that skipping breakfast will make you fat are more about bad eating habits and are bodies aren’t genetically made to eat breakfast.

Another writer on FitnessSpot.com in an article called “Why You Shouldn’t Eat Breakfast…Again” talks about Intermittment Fasting and how they decided to do it daily.  They theorize that most of the misunderstood beliefs out there concerning breakfast come from fitness magazines which depend on supplement advertisers for their income.  There’s not a lot of money in telling people to eat less.  Maybe that’s why there’s only a few people out there doing it. 

My No Breakfast Plan

1. Don’t eat breakfast – simple enough.  This will give me more time in the mornings to do other things such as working out and journaling.
2. Eat a light lunch – based on the suggestions from “The Warrior Diet”, I’ll be cutting down my lunch to only fresh fruits, vegetables and nuts.  So I’ll be eating mostly a salad with fruits and some nuts.
3. Eat a normal dinner – Eat what I normally eat for dinner, which is all vegetarian.  My personal favorites being veggie burgers or potatoes tacos.  Hofemekler suggests that you can “pig out” on your dinner in his book the “Warrior Diet”, because you’re consuming most of your calories during this meal.  I have a feeling that my eating habits will be about the same.
4. Continue Intermittent Fasting – In addition to cutting out breakfast, I’ll be continuing my Intermittent Fasting twice a week.  What this means, is basically not eating lunch twice a week.  This will allow me to fast for 24 hours from dinner one night until dinner the next night.This brings my total meals per week down to 12.  If you compare that to my old habit of eating three meals a day, then that’s a 42% decrease in the amount of food I’m eating.  I’d say thta with a lighter lunch, it’s probably closer to 50%.  It’s exciting to how my weight will continue drop during this trial.

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Photo Credits: theilr

Track My Spending Conclusion #18: Six Tips On Spending Money

Just finished my month of using Mint.com to track everything I spend money on and the results are surprising.  I thought I knew where all my money was going, but when you sit down and start tracking it, the result can really open your eyes.  Above is a screenshot of my spending for the month.

Tracking your money is a great habit to start. It’s like standing on your bathroom scale every morning and seeing how much you weigh.  Did you overeat this weekend?  Eat too many carbs? The same can be said for spending.  Did you spend more on something you know you shouldn’t have?  Are you saving for what you really need?

I’m definitely more aware of money being spent.  Although I didn’t institute any kind of firm budgets with this trial, I did use the Mint.com’s budget feature that bases your budgets on your prior income and spending habits.  Initially I thought I had some pretty solid budgets for spending, only to find out that I went over in some areas. 

Here are six lessons I learned from tracking my spending:

1. Learn from your past – It’s one thing to track your money, but if you don’t do anything about it, then it’s pointless.  At the end of this month, I looked at all the areas that I had spent money in and realized there’s areas I could cut back in.  Other areas gave me information I can use for future decisions on areas of my life where I spend money.
2. The longer you track yourself, the smarter you become – What you’re spending now and what you will spend six month from now may be completely different.  You may have another child, get fired from your job, get married, divorced or move.  Your life constantly changes and so budgeting is an ongoing process.  But the longer you track your money, the better you’ll understand how to spend money in the future.
3. Get a receipts for everything – Receipts make tracking your money a lot easier.  You don’t have to keep writing down what you’re spending all the time.  Every few days, I take all the receipts out of my wallet and enter the cash transactions into Mint.com. 
4. Use money to set goals – What are some few major purchases you’ve been thinking about buying recently?  How are you going to pay for them?  Write them down and set a goal to save a certain percentage of your income towards buying them.  Saving is fun when it has a purpose and it will make it easier to justify cutting back in other areas to get it.  Without a goal or purpose, money has no value.
5. Tracking makes you feel more in control of your money – Do you ever have that feeling of guilt when you’re spending money?  Like maybe you could spending it on something more important?  Tracking your money helps to get a sense of control of your finances.  Every cent that leaves your pocket has a purpose…a planned budget it’s a part of.  You’ll start to make more rational decisions about spending.
6. Put some thought into how you spend – Unless you’re independently wealthy, I’m sure most of us are out there working to earn money.  Sure there are those people that work for free, but for most of us, money is a precious commodity that we use to live our lives.  Why wouldn’t you want to spend at least a couple of minutes each week deciding how to spend this resource?

Now that I have a tracking system in place, I’m going to start some stricter budgeting.  Really looking at what I actually need to spend money on what I can do without.  At the end of each month, I’ll take a look at my spending and make decisions  on how to spend it the following month.  I set-up a Google Calendar alert for 27th or every month to ask the following questions…

Reducing Spending And Increasing Income

1. What are five ways I can spend less or no money in each category next month?
2. What are five ways I can earn more income next month?

Prioritizing My Spending

1. What 20% of my spending contributed to 80% of my happiness?
2. What 20% of my spending causes 80% of my problems?

Using the top two questions, I can continually challenge myself to keep reducing my spending lower and lower, while at the same time creating awareness on income opportunities.

The bottom two questions provide an opportunity to prioritize spending.  It allows for questions like…Does spending $10 on a book versus a movie make my life better?  Was the $410 (25% of spending) on car repairs & insurance really worth it?  How often do I really use my car?  Could I have spent that money on something else more important to me?

Intermittent Fasting Conclusion #19: How to Lose 5 Pounds Fast

I just finished my 30 days of Intermittent Fasting and I have to say that it’s one of my best experiments so far. I never knew that fasting could be such an amazing experience. Here were my results:

1. Increased Energy Levels – During the experiment I actually had more energy on days that I was fasting than on non-fasting days. It’s easy to explain to anyone that’s ever had a big meal and felt sleepy afterwards. Think post-Thanksgiving dinner.At work, I didn’t leave my desk for hours for long hours at a time, because I had no distractions…no post lunch sleepiness, no need to go eat. I just focused on whatever I was doing.

 

2. Weight Loss – I loss some weight during the trial. About 5 lbs. I sure I could have loss more if I had exercised more consistently and eat a little bit better. But I basically ate the same as I did before the trial, just 20% less calories. I’m sure I’ll continue to loss more weight as I continue the fasting until I get to really where I need to be.

 

3. Saving Money – I normally have to pay for my own dinners after I get off work, but twice a week, I cut that out saving me at least $40 during the trial. Not a huge savings, but that’s about $500 a year or $35,000 over the course of my lifetime! Eating less means savings more.

 

4. Eating Less – I thought I’d be really hungry on days after my fasts, but I found that I couldn’t eat as much on days after the trial. I ate about same or less post-fast. And not eating for a while makes you really sensitive to how food makes you feel when you eat.

 

5. More Awareness of What Causes Hunger – One time during a fast I was walking through the food court of a mall and noticed that I wasn’t really hungry before, but after being bombarded with smells and big posters of fried foods, my hunger went crazy.I realized that hunger is more of a mental thing than anything else. We’re conditioned to eat food in response to smells and pictures. We eat with when we see friends and family. We eat for special occasions like Christmas and Thanksgiving.  It’s easier to control hunger when you know what causes it.

 

How To Deal With Hunger During A Fast

When I first started fasting, I did struggle a bit. It’s like anything else it takes a while to get used to it. The very first time you try it you will be hungry and not sure how to deal with it. But after you stick with it a while, you learn how to deal with the hunger and realize that it’s only temporary.

Here are some ways I learned to deal with hunger during fasting.

1. Drink Tea or Coffee – In my original post of this trial, I was skeptical about drinking anything other than water, but I soon came to find out that drinking tea was such a nice break during the fast. I choose to drink some hot green tea during some of my trials. I’d suggest drinking it when you usually have a meal so it simulates consuming something during that time.

 

2. Stay Hydrated – You probably get a lot of your water intake from a lot of the foods you eat. Don’t forget to drink plenty of water throughout the day while you’re fasting. It will fill your stomach up and keep away the hunger pains.

 

3. Avoid Stress – Don’t do anything stress or high energy on your fasting days. Save that stuff for later. Just get as much rest and relaxation as you can on these days and it’s a lot easier to deal with. What’s great about Intermittent Fasting is you can change the days you do it on. So if you normally fast on Monday and Wednesday, you can always change to Tuesday/Thursday or Sunday/Tuesday.

 

A Few Helpful Books On Fasting

Here are a few books to get you started if you’re curious about what fasting is and how to start it.

1. Eat-Stop-Eat – This was the book I orginally suggested in the beginning of this trial and what I based on it.  It’s probably one of the easiest ways to get started with fasting.  It only requires two 24-hour periods of fasting a week.

 

2. Fasting: The Ulitmate Diet – This book is filled with a interesting stories about various people who have used fasting to cure all sorts of illnesses and lose incredible amounts of weight.  A good book to read if you’re interested in trying out fasts of a week or longer.

 

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Photo Credits: Alan Cleaver

Life Experiment #20: Become Security+ Certified in 30 Days

Don’t you always hate it when you have to take those really hard tests on subjects that you don’t really care about.  But you need to do it to pass the class…and didn’t you think that test taking would all be over by the time got of school?  Luckily for m for me, it’s test taking time again.  

The Department of Defense has mandated that all DOD Information Assurance employees become ComTIA Security+ certified by December 31 this year.   
While reading about technical jargon may not be the most exciting thing in the world, I’m a big fan of learning. I’ll be using this trial as a chance take on a subject who is not that interesting to me and condense it down and make it easy to understand. 

My Study Process 

Here is my basic process for preparing for the exam: 

1. Read one chapter in textbook everyday for 19 days.
2. Take notes on each chapter everyday.
3. Review my notes from the previous day each day.
4. Retake a practice exam 2-3 5. per day until the exam.

Reading  

Although I prefer a speaker, video or audio program a book is all I had available. Books are nice in that all the information is organized into chucks so you can go back reread stuff if you don’t understand it. For this test, I’ll be using All-In-One Security+ Certification Exam Guide produced by McGraw Hill. 

I’d suggestion anyone trying to study for the exam to get some sort of guide or book at the least. A class would be nice, but you got to work with what you got. The book has 19 chapters, so I’ll be reading through each one everyday and taking notes. 

I’ve already started reading a couple of chapters and I found that the easiest way to get through it and understand it is to 

1. Quickly read through it once.
2. Take the practice exam at the end of the chapter.
3. Then read the answers and grade yourself.
4. From the questions you can get an idea of what topics and facts are most important to understand and use that as basis for your notes.

Note-Taking 

I’m famous around my shop for producing Quick Reference Guides for complex materials. Navy deals with a lot of complex and complicated machines and information systems. And expects its technicians to read and understand it all.  Chucking down that information just it easier for people to understand.

One quick reference guide I made took a 650-page manual and condensed down the most important information to 1-page, 3-column document that anyone could print and study. 

For this trial, I’ll be taking each chapter that I study and making one page, quick reference guide for each chapter. The easiest way to do this is to pick a topic and then create a list with details to support that topic. 

Here’s an example: 

The main thing with note taking is find the most important information and condense it down. Don’t worry about using complete sentences or writing everything down.

Reviewing 

Everyday, before I read a new chapter, I renew the notes I took the day before. That way I’m refreshing the information in mind. So when it’s time for the test, it’s a quick review and I’m not cramming all night for it. 
I also emailed everyone that I worked with and told them I would be posting a new chapter study guide on the Intranet everyday. That way I can keep myself accountable and not slack off the on the studying. 

Practice Exams 

For this test I’ll be using a Pass4Sure Practice Test.   The Pass4Sure tests are a great way to understand what the test is going to be like and how the questions are going to be ask.  The software has a 300-question Practice Test, which gives you the answers as you go along and you can mark questions that you want to go back and review.  Also included is a “Virtual Test” which simulates taking the actual 100-question exam and giving you a score at the end.  I plan on doing these tests as much as I can up until I take the actual exam.

How To Get A Free Exam Vocher If You’re In The Navy

The Navy offers free exam vochers for Information Systems Technincans (IT)  to get Security+ certified for free.  You can use several different options to get the exam paid for.  Just go to there website and find out more.

Life Experiment #19: 30 Days of Intermittent Fasting

I remember when I was 17 and keeping weight off was no problem.  You’d eat whatever you want and think nothing of it.  But at 27, weight control is getting harder and harder.  After a lot of searching, I think I’ve found one of the easiest and inexpensive (it’s FREE) ways to lose weight.  It’s called IF or Intermittent Fast.

Most fasting typically last 1-3 days or some can even go a week or more.  But Intermittent Fasting is process of only fasting for 24 hour periods or less.  Over the next 30 days, I’ll be fasting twice a week for 24 hours at a time to lose weight while maintaining my muscle mass. Read More…

Life Experiment #18: Track My Spending For 30 Days

Where did all my money go? That’s a question I sometimes ask myself at the end of a pay period. I’ve always hated budgeting. Even though my Mom, the accountant, has always tried to instill in me good money management habits. I’ve never seem motivated to do it. I think I’m just scared to know the truth about where all that money is going.

My recent experiment to end credit card debt has made me more aware of my relationship to money. For the most part, I’ve switched to only using cash for all my non-bill purchases like food, entertainment, gas and clothing. But now it’s time to figure out how I spend my money. Read More…