#jesse mogle

[urbanlart]

Melrose Ave. between La Brea and Fairfax in the alley and such.

[engineeringmyalpha]

THE LOST WEEK: Week 3 but really 4 of Surge

Man, I am tired. Not just a bit sleepy but F'n exhausted. I should have seen this coming. I got myself into a concert series this summer that broke the dam last week with five shows in eight days. I wasn't getting my usual seven hours a night, I wasn't even getting six most nights. Five was hit just a few nights with some only bringing four. I tried to hit the gym but after a Wednesday lift I didn't see the gym again until Saturday. 

What's crazy is on Saturday I got to the gym, dressed, set up for knee raise, did 1 and felt the body object. I know from previous tweaks and stingers when the body isn't feeling it there is a line where not being a wuss and being smart about potential injuries is finite. I unloaded the weight and went to the grocery. I started the cheat day one day early and just gorged out. I knew the body needed fuel and I was prepared to go all out. Pizza, tacos, brats, ice cream, sweet potato fries, Wendy's: is was on.

I finished the fast today after Surge workout 4, spin class, ab class and a yoga session on Monday and of course Surge workout 3 today. Previously when I have accomplished the Four-fecta like that I have allowed myself a protein shake, banana, almond butter and walnut combo after just to be sure the body had something to use for repair as I slept. Not this time. I felt that a week of concerts, mild drinking, over consumption of calories and a cheat weekend meant it was time for me to go all out. This week will be the reboot of week three and I am already following the regimen with the intensity I have been for the last 10 weeks.

I can fall off the wagon but it's not like I can't jump back on. Hell, I'm in great shape. I can catch it no sweat.

I am not tired of this program. On the contrary, I enjoy the strict nature of this program. I am totally in to the myfitnesspal app that tracks every bite I eat. I already plan to keep using it once Complete ends at month four. 

I am looking into the BodyMedia Fit Core armband. Like Chrystian at Crunch discussed with me yesterday. I turns your life into a video game where you play off and compete with yourself to break previous marks and increase the intensity whilst knowing each calorie burned and each heart beat monitored. 

Anyway, time for final meal and bed. I gotta catch up on my rest . . . life isn't going to slow down because I'm fatigued. 

[engineeringmyalpha]

Week 2 month 3 SURGE

As I come down off my second fast of this month's program, Surge, I find myself reflecting on what all I have accomplished so far. Sure my body is tight and my muscles defining themselves more and more each day. Fat burns, muscle grows and I won't lie it makes me happy to see the progress.

Ultimately, what I am the most proud of to this point is my singular focus on achieving the goal of finishing this program. Start to finish, holding strong to the idea that what this book teaches and what I am accomplishing are not easy tasks to take into one's life. Not allowing anyone's opinions or statements to deter my blind faith in "Engineering the Alpha."

I have started Insanity and even finished it though it took me a month longer than it should have because I was drinking and smoking during the program. I have opened many a book on health and fitness only to abandon it or make changes to the curriculum because I didn't like a particular exercise. I have even gone so far as to convince myself that I have bad knees, back, hernia, stomach . . . yada yada yada . . . just to cut a particular exercise because I found it to difficult, repetitive or annoying. I am sure we are all guilty of this bullish*t. Last night I accomplished Surge workout 3 and then a spin class, ab class and finally a yoga class on on my fast day. I like these classes because the instructor is very knowledgeable about what it takes to have a well balanced mind, body and spirit. Admittedly, I broke fast at the 24 hour mark for 54g of Trutein, a banana, 1 tbsp of almond butter, 1oz cashews and 1oz walnuts. I figured my body went through a lot yesterday and the very least I could do was afford it some nutrients. Drank up some L-Glutamine, BCAA's, fish oil, multi-vitamin and some vitamin B and D to finish off my fuel session and went to bed for seven hours of solid sleep.

I feel great today and am on my way to a surprise Franz Ferdinand concert at the Echoplex. As I finish up today's post I am reminded how many people have tried to throw their two-cents into the cogs that run this machine over the last few months. People are always going to tell you their opinion on fitness and nutrition. I understand that and regardless of how annoying or unwarranted their statements may be, if you reject them outright you are either looked upon as an ass or miss out on hearing something completely ridiculous, counterproductive or actually informational. I let the sound of his (it's always a dude) voice sprinkle over my brain like a light rain. Neither making me drenched nor causing me to seek shelter. Most of the time it's the same nutrition crap I used to spew at people. Eat 6-8 times a day, no carbs after sunset . . . yada yada yada . . . The key is sticking to my plan . . not just for this program but for my life.

You keep your cloud right where it is. I am just fine in my world. When the last day of my 120-day program are complete we'll see who's body has changed the most over these last four months.

[engineeringmyalpha]

Don't let the white noise distract you . . . .

There are days when I am not sure what my topic will be and others when the passage practically writes itself. Today is the latter.

When I go to my gym I want it to be peaceful and serene. Yes I know I am there to tear it up on the steel but I don't want to be bothered and I certainly don't want confrontations with other gym members. I live in Los Angeles, there is enough bullish*t I have to deal with on a day-to-day basis that once I enter the sanctuary of the gym - where I go to better myself and elevate stress - I want it to be as hassle free as possible.

Most of us understand the etiquette of the gym scene or should . . . Don't walk in the space of someone actively working out, don't sit on a machine and play with your phone or otherwise take to much of a rest break, put the weights up when you are finished. One that I take very seriously is be friendly and don't take up a selfish amount of time on a machine or with a particular weight or dumbbell. 

I do circuit training and in accordance with such training it is expected that you complete as many reps of 2-3 exercises in a given amount of time. Today I was getting ready to start my 2nd circuit of three. The movements were: dumbbell reverse lunge, dumbbell front shoulder raise and dumbbell flat chest press. I needed to do them in that order, 4-6 reps per movement and complete as many sets as possible in six minutes. I set up the circuit with 40lbs for reverse lunge, 35lbs for front shoulder raise and 70lbs for chest press. 

This is where I make my point so pay attention . . . A man walks up and asks if I'm using all six dumbbells placed around me. I state I am doing a  circuit and will be done with the weights after a 6 minute on, 6 minute off, 6 minute on pattern totaling 18 minutes in duration. He is not happy about this and announces his displeasure with the amount of dumbbells I want to take up for my workout. Calling me selfish, I retort with, "you're being rude," and after some similar banter back and forth where he calls me selfish and says I can't use all these weights at once and tells me I should at the very least give him one of the 35 or 40 pounders so he can do his exercise. I tell him that I need all these weights and will be done with them shortly . . 18 minutes might seem like a long time but if your not following a program, which I have much experience with, then usually you can move around the exercises you're planning to do based on availability of the weight or apparatus you need. There were duplicate weights about 30 feet away that were also being used at the time so he decided rather than wait he would make it a huge confrontation and hassle.

He goes and gets a gym employee and brings her in to interrupt my workout. By the time they both enter my space I am about three minutes in to the six minute circuit and my heart rate and intensity are perfectly harmonized to really get the most out of this circuit. The woman and man make me stop so he can again voice his displeasure with what I am doing. I tell her, like I told him, that I would be done in 18 minutes (in fact, if the set had continued unimpeded I would have been ready to move up in weight without losing my six rep goal I had set for myself before the circuit started. I was feeling great and would have been done with the 35's - at this point - in three minutes.)

He states he wants the 40's (though later I'd see him using the 35's across the gym) and that I am again being selfish. I do not hold my cool and say, "fine take them I'll lunge with 45s!" I toss the 40s aside as he NOW decides to walk away and leave me alone. I switch to the 45's and continue on. I am pissed off. I lost two minutes in my circuit, heart rate down and weights switched mid way through to appease a stranger whom couldn't understand that I was doing this circuit and would be done soon. 

It's all I can do to not call him a bitch in public but I know better than to loose my cool. I know I'd have been tossed from the gym that very minute and perhaps subjugated to disciplinary action. But here, in this blog, I will call him a little cry baby bitch! Even now I am getting pissed of again about this dudes BS way of reacting to my workout procedure. 

Wow . . so many words to express my displeasure. I did not expect this essay to go on so long. I'll leave that bitch, baby and BS part in the blog just to allow my true emotions to play out in this project Alpha of mine. 

This man upset me so much I could barely concentrate on the rest of my workout. I did not eclipse the markers I was on pace for when they both approached me. The rest of the workout was beneficial but ultimately I was not able to let this incident out of my head. I had to write this blog about the experience just to leave it behind me. I am not a "drama" dude and will forget all about this by tomorrow's session and honestly, I couldn't point the guy out in a lineup and this just occurred two hours ago.

In conclusion: It seems the whole incident could have been passively resolved if the man would have been forthright with what weights he needed instead of going straight at me with "selfish" accusations. I could have asked what it was he needed and then deduced if it were possible to change what I was going to use to help him accomplish what it was I wanted which was to better myself and lift some steel.

Instead neither of us did that and frankly I didn't want to. I wanted to do what it was I had planned and be left the hell alone! I make concessions so often for people in this city. Every where I go there is someone in my damn way. People everywhere. It's the world we live in. Always someone in our way wanting what we want. 

I will look back on this in a day or two and not be happy with myself. Not because I didn't help this man but because I pride myself on being the better person. I believe in KARMA and doing unto others as you would have them do to you. The funny thing . . . . as I was leaving the gym and walking though the parking garage to my car a senior couple drove in to the garage and as they were passing me stopped and asked if I worked there. I replied snidely, "do I look like I work here," then immediately said, "how can I help you?" They wanted to know where to park for the movie theater in the same complex as the gym. I gave them directions and told them to have a good time. I even showed them where the working elevators were located. I'm not sure if that makes karmic amends for my actions in the gym but it did allow me to feel helpful and kind to strangers. 

Etiquette, common sense and common courtesy are not common in our world any longer and I do not wish to find myself a part of that negative movement. That being said, in the gym understand if someone gets to the equipment before you and it's not possible for you to work in without disrupting their synchronicity then move on or figure something else out that doesn't require a confrontation. I certainly have had to adapt during this Alpha program and surely I am not the only person capable of adaptation in this city . . . . somedays it just seems that way.

[engineeringmyalpha]

The fast is over, the journey is not . . .

I had a great conversation with a friend today about the lifestyle's we both once lead. See, I get that social media should be used with a wary eye on what you share because information, especially personal, can come back to haunt you if you expose it in the improper forum. I understand that my stories of debauchery could easily impede my success if I were to flaunt them in a way that made me appear flippant about their impact on myself and those in my life then and now.

An excellent friend once told me, "Never regret something that once made you happy." I concur. Absolutely I agree!! In fact, why should one waste time and energy on regret? Regret travels on the winds of despair. Time travel does not exist therefore regret is a waste of your emotional and physical chi. If you can't amend your decision that led to the outcome then why spend one ounce of energy looking back with regret?!

Instead, gaze into your eyes, delve deep into your own conscious and learn from the path you traveled so that upon encountering a similar fork in the road you will choose wisely and not have to worry that regret lies along the journey. 

Let's be clear, I am not thrilled with every decisions I've made in my 37-years of life. I claim responsibility from the moment I can remember my first memory . . . my cousin and I both having chicken pocks back when we were four and three respectively. Of course, I am not immune to normal human emotions so yes I do have feelings of regret and disappointment that creep into my mind and thus my life from time-to-time. I strive for the perfection a human can attain, which is to say that fallibility will almost certainly prevail as often as "perfection."

Understanding our society has the attention span of the "Up" dog - "Squirrel!!" - I digress. 

I feel I have not made a point in all this ramble so I will leave you on this thought . . .

I have been a drunk, a miscreant, a never-do-well and a disappointment - mostly to myself I feel this way. Never-mind the friends and family I have let down since I turned 18 and began a life of boozing it up more than I sobered it up. I have accomplished much in my life. Like so many functioning alcoholics I found it quite easy to maintain a lifestyle that burned the candle at both ends. Get up when you're supposed to and be on time when you're expected somewhere. Work hard, party hard....that was my mantra and like so many people whom adapt a hard partying lifestyle in college and then glide that same lifestyle right into their post-college life I didn't see anything wrong with what I was doing. Bills paid on time, phone calls made to loved ones, anchor dates throughout the year acknowledged, I was easily using my smoke and mirrors to great affect. 

Nobody is perfect. Role models are only an idea of how to live life. They are not to be followed with unbound fervor. I have seen people I previously put on a pedestal fall from grace like any other human. I want to promote good, healthy, clean living. I want to support you in your hero's journey in creating the alpha that lives inside you. I will tell the truth about myself because I can not lie, least to myself and thus neither to you. I surely will take a step back once in a while . . . the key is to ruminate on the decisions I make to assure I choose wisely when the next fork, the angel and devil on opposite shoulders, places me in a moment where I should know the right choice.

Here's hoping I make it. 

[engineeringmyalpha]

My first video about the food I eat for Engineering the Alpha

[engineeringmyalpha]

Week two of Adapt in the bank . . .

Monday July 8th and as I sit in my sanctuary listening to Joe Cocker's "With a little help from my friends" on the Woodstock vinyl I purchased last week on my artist's date to Long Beach's Fingerprints music I can't help but feel I have accomplished so much recently, least of which is commit to this run-on sentence :-)

From time to time I hear this voice in my head just going ballistic on me about what I'm doing with my life. I know I am hard on myself, like most of us are on ourselves. This voice in my head isn't necessarily right nor is it necessarily wrong. I've come to terms that the voice won't go away. Some days it's louder than I'd prefer and other days it barely audible.

Today I am content with what he's blaring at me. Sure, I could always try to accomplish more, not knowing if the voice will ever be truly pacified with what it is I have set about to check off my to-do list that day. 

I finished week six of the Engineering the Alpha program yesterday with an awesome cheat day. Indulging in some of my favorite flavors and feeling no guilt about it is an amazing sensation. I finished week two of not smoking a cigarette, though I still keep an e-cig near at all times to pacify that monster lurking in my mind, telling me I can not beat this addiction. I know that monster will be defeated therefore I disallow any comments made by my subconscious mind about this topic. I have begun to post videos about my favorite cycling event, The Tour de France. These videos act as my catalyst to advance my career as a TV/radio host in the field of sports talk/analyst. I keep active in my social media endeavors because everyone in LA swears you have to be involved in that to get a job in the hosting field. I work diligently at posting while also keeping in mind being unplugged from time-to-time is just as important as being plugged in to the virtual world.

 In fact, just now as primetime coverage on NBCSN starts for Le Tour I get this intense urge to smoke and have to reach for my rechargeable e-cig. It's 5 p.m. PST and the sun is still shining though I am holed up in my room finishing this post and preparing to post more videos I shot last week at the beginning of the tour and have still not finished editing.

Between "Engineering the Alpha" and "The Artisit's Way" I have my mind and body on full alert to alter what I am not happy with and to break down barriers I have built over the years that I believe hold me back. For those of you whom feel there is a need for change in your own life I can only say there is no time like the present. Having just clipped past my birthday and being closer to 40 than I am to 30 I have come to terms with my youth quickly fading in to my rear-view mirror. I feel young, I act young, I know that youthful vigor is often a state of mind as long as the body can keep up with the lifestyle of course, lol.

I am thoroughly excited about the tour having just completed two fantastic stages in the Pyrenees and am going to get on that task now. As I close out this post I have this sense there is a lot more I want to say and even more I want to do. I am not exactly happy with life right now, but having seen worse times, I am not to unhappy either.

Maybe I am just hungry . . . hahaha

[engineeringmyalpha]

Cheat day is exhausting . . . my belly hurts

Engineering my alpha took another turn today. Finally the day to eat everything I have been craving for the last 34 days and let me tell ya something … I’d rather not.

Here’s my rundown … 

French toast, chocolate pancake, red velvet pancakes, 2 eggs, 2 bacon, 2 sausage, hash browns, In & Out double-double, 2 orders of fries, chocolate shake, 3 servings of Trader Joe’s Ice cream, New York strip, jalepenos wrapped in bacon and stuffed with cheese and pasta with tomato sauce.

My belly is not happy with me. I have been eating so clean for so long I’m not sure this sugar rush is bueno! I am extremely thirsty even though I keep drinking water throughout the day. After tonight I have to fast until Tuesday at 2-ish so let’s see how my body reacts to that.

The idea, Roman states in “Engineering the Alpha," is to flood the body and blood with fat or leptid so that the body will continue to have fat to burn for energy. Once the body is efficiently burning fat as fuel it will burn through the fat I have given it today and keep going at the fat reserves in my body so I will lean out even more. I look forward to monitoring this progression through the course of the next week to see how this plays out.

Tomorrow I’ll keep you abreast of how my first ever 36 hour fast goes.