Happy Birthday to Mistr Roolln is right!

Man on Top book update – master of your domain

Dear friends,

How are you? I am fine.

As many of you know, Galya and I have been working furiously on our book for quite some time. We are extremely proud, excited, and nervous to be on the verge of publishing it; nervous to the point that my hand was shaking as I forced myself to finally click "send" to get it off to our pre-readers. Talk about scary!

Thankfully, our pre-readers have been generous with their praise, [seemingly] honest in their critiques, but loving enough to actually call us out on the bloopers, typos, grammar mistakes, and outright blunders in the book. I couldn't ask for a better group of critics and editors, but I'll be honest and tell you that I said a little prayer before opening each email back or before answering their phone calls. I said this was scary, right?

Well, now that all the comments, corrections, and critiques have been gathered up and processed, it's just come down to some design and formatting work, the reshooting of a few exercise photos, and then my hand will be finally shaking as my finger hovers over the "publish" button. Now that's really going to be scary!

The publishing date is not yet decided, but we're getting close. Like close close. In fact, if you want to be one of the first to hear the news, just fill out the little form up in the right margin or down at the bottom of this very post!

Um, Man on Top?

Meanwhile, we've gotten a few comments about the title; "Man on Top." What's up with the title? What's this book about? 

Here's a bit from the introduction, and I think it will clear up the the title for those of you with your mind in the gutter. Jeez, it's not like we picked a suggestive title just to be suggestive... ;)

Introduction

What’s my inspiration to write this book? The 30,000 foot answer is that I feel like I can help you. If you’re reading this, it’s very likely that you’re overweight and out of shape. Well, that was me for most of my life. I’ve been there, lived there, and finally got out of there, just a few years ago. I’d never been a man on top of anything.

My journey out of “there” began in earnest about 10 years ago, and while I have done a lot of looking back, for the most part it was to take note of how I did it and to wonder why I hadn’t done it earlier. For the first time in my life, I feel “on top.” Why did I wait so long?

Man on top

Yeah, don’t think I’m something I’m not, or worse, don’t think that I think I’m something I’m not. I’m not really the alpha male type, so I’m not "on top" like that. I’m not a business leader, infomercial salesman, or cult leader, either. I’m not even the type of husband to proclaim “I’m in charge!” (although I am when she lets me). No, my version of being on top is being on top of things; taking charge of my own life and health as high level goals, down to the specifics on exercise and diet to support those goals.

This book is to inspire you, the reader, to get lean, slim, ripped, jacked, buff, tight, huge, or even (if it’s your thing) healthy. It’s to teach you a thing or two about yourself, while keeping you sane, happy, and healthy – all the while, keeping your family and friends sane and happy. That way, they’ll be happy for you and all will be right with the world.

This book was written to build or rebuild confidence, as only a man confident in his abilities to change will enact lasting change. This book is to put you on top, whether it’s on top again, or on top for the first time.

So, that's the gist on the name.

By the way, I meant what I said in paragraph two, up there; the goal is to keep the reader sane, happy, and healthy, but it's also to get or keep family and friends on the reader's side, as one of the biggest obstacles to lasting weight loss is lack of social support. It's not that they don't love you, but when it's hard on them, it becomes hard on you, and that's all it takes to ditch it all and go back to old ways.

How do we keep the reader and family simultaneously sane? By only changing what's really necessary, and only when it's time. Diets that ask the dieter to change their world are also asking the dieter to change their family's world; if the wife and kids are already slim and trim, they don't need to change, now do they?

Master of your domain

Be the master of your domain, control what you can control, and manage the rest – these three simple phrases give a man the power to make his own lifestyle changes without taking the family unit down in flames.

Be master of your domain - Every man has some lone wolf inside of him, even when surrounded by cubs and his b... er, mate. You're the alpha male of your own little pack, after all. Most of you find your own food for breakfast, then it's off to work. At work, there's lunch, and that's all you, brutha; your domain! Man on Top will teach you to master these moments, and mastering your domain is critical to your success, and it's really not hard.

Control what you can control - There will always be situations where choice is taken from you ("Happy Father's Day, Daddy! Here's breakfast in bed."). You will learn how to enjoy them, get back on track, and not let them kill your weight loss momentum. It's not hard, when you know the little tricks.

Manage the rest - It's not worth micromanaging your whole day. You've mastered breakfast and lunch and learned to control most of what pops up unexpectedly and get right back on track. No guilt and no second guessing yourself, because that's just not manly.

News updates

I'm gathering names and email addresses for those who want a heads up on the book. If you haven't already signed up, just fill out the form below. I promise not to sell your names, but I will be sending you updates on the book now and again!

Sign up for upcoming news on the new book!

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Thanks for reading!

Roland

P.S. Remember, that to be a man on top, you really need the support of your spouse, girlfriend, family, and friends. 

I just wanted to post this pic of gal and me that I found when I was looking around

I got mine!

Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution Day 2012 – Stone Soup Party

This past weekend, Galya and I hosted a Real Food "day in the park" on Saturday, and a Stone Soup Party on Sunday, all to celebrate Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution Day, and the beauty of real food.

On Sunday, we invited friends to bring some simple, fresh, whole food ingredients, while we provided the metaphorical soup pot and the stone.

It was a resounding success, as we not only made a large variety of dishes, but we showed that good food can be simple and easy, particularly when the ingredients are fresh a healthy, and surrounded by a fun and positive attitude.

I can't remember all the dishes we made, because many weren't "dishes" at all; simple foods like seared steak don't need a name. Steamed green beans with ginger are simply steamed green beans with ginger, and no fancy recipe name is required.

As people arrived, Galya, our friend Rupina, and I started chopping, cleaning, and cooking, and in the end, course after simple, delicious course was laid out in front of our friends. Of the top of my head, I remember the simple steak, a chicken and mixed veggie stir fry, mango, citrus, pomegranate, and jicama salad, green beans and ginger, a chopped veggie salad, sauteed "flying saucer" summer squash, citrus glazed chicken with rosemary, and a variety of cut up fruits and veggies.

Good food was had by all, and I promise that there are great food pictures and recipes coming soon (I'm just waiting for the "film" to be "developed.").

In the end, all of this "Food Revolution" stuff is about the kids, right? Imagine how Galya and I felt when we got this message from our friend Jenna.

"Okay so Kaitlyn was really impacted by this weekend. She has incorporated what she learned into her play time. She was making healthy treats. When she delivered my order she said it was a donut with strawberry sprinkles. Confused, I asked her how that was healthy. She responded, "I used all natural organic ingredients and the "donut" is actually an apple, and the sprinkles are from fresh strawberries." It is so cute!! Thank you and Roland for your positive influence."

You gotta love that! It's definitely the kind of inspiration we need to keep pushing the Food Revolution message to more kids and families. Thanks, Jenna, for passing this along!


The Stone Soup Story

I don't remember when I didn't know the story of "Stone Soup," but over the past few weeks I've come to realize that not everyone has heard it yet. So, here it is!

Stone Soup

Once a great famine swept the land. The starving people jealously hoarded whatever food they could, hiding it even from friends and neighbors. One day a wandering minstrel happened to pass through a village; he asked if he could stay for the night.

“You had better keep going,” he was told. “There’s no food here.”

“Don’t worry,” he said, “I have all that I need. I’ll be making stone soup tonight, and I have more than enough to share, should you be hungry.”

The minstrel walked off and pitched camp near the town square, made a large fire, and placed a pot full of water over it. When the water started to simmer, he drew a smooth stone from inside a soft bag, polished it carefully, and slipped it into the water. The villagers had never heard of stone soup, but they were now very intrigued. They watched from a distance, as the minstrel tended the pot, stirring occasionally with a long spoon, and licking his lips with anticipation. Soon, growls of hunger began to come from the stomachs of the villagers.

“I do love stone soup,” the minstrel said, loud enough for the eavesdropping villagers to hear. “Stone soup with onions is good when you can get it too, of course,” he added. He continued to stir, humming as he liked to do.

Soon one of the villagers slowly approached, offering out a few small onions. He gestured toward the pot. “Onions!” cheered the minstrel, adding them happily to the pot. “This reminds me of the salt beef and onion stone soup that I had last year. Now that was a soup to remember.”

After a few minutes, the village butcher stepped forward, smiling as he offered the minstrel some salt beef for the soup. ...and so it went, adding carrots, potatoes, cabbages, mushrooms, sausage, herbs, and spices, until the soup pot was brimming with a delicious soup; enough for all to share.

The villagers gathered around the soup pot, and the fire, staying long into the evening, eating, telling stories, singing, and dancing, while the minstrel played for them, but in the morning, they found that the minstrel had gone. Years later, long after the famine had ended, they still hummed his tunes, shared stories around the fire, and told their children about the finest stone soup that they’d ever had.

 

Are you surviving or thriving?

We appreciate you, too

Yours truly,

Wolen