Day 1: Calorie Counting Sucks

OakMonster.com - Hobbit Diet

5 Thoughts Calorie counting and logging food SUCKS. So much. Sure, the app helps. But hot dang! Finding food to nibble on SEVEN times a day takes a lot more energy than expected. Thank goodness my desk is well stocked. I don’t think I got a chance to feel hungry except for that gap between Tea and Dinner. Then again… …I rode my bike to and from work today. The ride home was brutal with the Santa Ana wind blowing into my face all the way home…on a beach cruiser. Longest mile and a half ever! And now my sinus...
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The Hobbit Diet: A Food Nerd Journey

OakMonster.com - Hobbit Meals

Alright. I’m doing it, kids. I’m going on the Hobbit Diet for a month starting May 1. 7 meals a day. For a month. Why are you doing this? Curiosity. I want to see if it’s possible to sustain the Hobbit Diet. That’s it. Pure and simple. This is a chance to prove once and for all if all Thais are descendants of Hobbits! I mean, we’re tiny people who love food, love to eat and have a good time. Okay. Maybe it’s just me. I set this as one of my 2014 goals. Before the summer gets crazy, leading...
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10 Goals for 2014

OakMonster.com - Brandon and Oakley with the Endeavor

Let’s do a quick recap of 2013 first. 2013 Goals: kind of 7 out of 10 Find a job I love? Check! Oh my god, check! Don’t finish last at Race on the Base? Totally check. What I didn’t expect is that I would stick with running and continue to run 5K races around the neighborhood. This year’s Race on the Base is my one year anniversary race, and also my last race in a series of 3 to receive my first ever series medal! Be able to do 20 burpees in a row? I wouldn’t say in a CONTINUOUS...
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On the Universe & Being Shameless

OakMonster.com - Talk Like A Pirate Day - Krispy Kreme - Captain Bubbles

It was Talk Like A Pirate Day last week. Since I’ve learned about the holiday 7 years ago, I’ve transformed into Captain Bubbles and gone to work as such. Every year. Last year, I sailed to the township of Long Beach to plunder a pastry shopped called Krispy Kreme. Since I was rogue at the time, I brought the booty to my good friend Doctor Justin to take to work.  This year, Captain Bubbles, now employed, repeated the raid and came away with pastries for her shipmates. One of my coworkers asked, “Where did you rent your outfit from?” “These...
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My Reading Evolution

OakMonster.com - Doctor Who - Silence in the Library

Brandon reads on average a book and a half a week. You wouldn’t believe how much of a relief it is when he got a Kindle for Christmas the year it first came out.  Our shelves were overflowing with books back then. We were taking boxes to our friend’s used bookstore or local library. At one point, I started re-selling them on Amazon. As for me, as you know, my goal is ALWAYS to read 12 books a year. Some years I did well. Some years I didn’t. So far, this year I’m on a pretty good path. Thanks to...
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Crushing on Superman

Henry Cavill - Man of Steel

Then again, who isn’t? Am I right? It’s been well documented that I love me the dark haired, blue eyed boys. So it shouldn’t surprised anyone that I walked out of Man of Steel with a crush. Hi, Henry. Yeah, you, sir. Clark Kent. Kal-el. Superman. (Nerd note: They’re just calling him “Kal”? That bugs the living hell out of me, by the way.) (More nerd note: Yes, I kind of like the new back story of Man of Steel. So I thoroughly enjoyed the movie up until he and Lois met, and it pretty much went downhill from there...
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