Laughing Cow, Spinach Chicken Bake

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So on my Optavia program we’re supposed to have a healthy lean and green meal at some point during the day. You’re supposed to eat 6 times per day and this is usually my next to last meal of the day. A couple of weeks I smoked a bunch of chicken breasts and had those throughout the week. Honestly chicken gets pretty boring for me, and it’s one of the highest protein, lowest fat foods we can have. (At least in the white meat, skinless variety) So it just helps accelerate your progress if you can have it more than say a tender juicy rib eye . . . I’d about do anything for a rib eye right now. Where was I? Oh right. Chicken. Extra lean, white meat chicken. Today I went to our local farm store for lack of a better term. It’s a store that sells a … Read More

Back to Flying?

John HurlbutUncategorized1 Comment

“Just a guy, trying to fly, both literally and figuratively” is the tagline I came up with for this website. Revisiting it today, I realize it’s as fitting as it ever has been. Originally I created this website in order to detail my frustrations with getting my 3rd class medical certificate through the FAA. I eventually conquered those challenges and went on to become a private pilot. During that I was able to reduce my weight from around 310 pounds to 247 pounds. My flight instructor nicknamed me “Wog” . . . it’s short for “Pollywog”. A Pollywog is what becomes a frog as it matures. During the process the Pollywog loses it’s tail. Through the process of getting my pilot’s license, I literally worked my tail off both fighting with the FAA to eventually grant my medical certificate and by losing 63 +/- pounds. I achieved my pilot’s license … Read More

MKJ – Saturday October 28, 2017 – Weigh In

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Share this PostBeginning600WeightPounds300LostCurrent500WeightWell I knew starting out weight would come off fast, trying to not get too awfully excited about this. But down 5.4 pounds this morning since yesterday. The counters above don't deal in decimals, but I'm down from 370.1 to 364.7. Yesterday I had a massive headache which I'm attributing to Keto Flu. This morning I seem to have more energy than I did yesterday and I think Teri and I are taking the dogs to the dog park so that should be fun. I may also get a new lens for my camera, not sure yet . . . Maybe I'll get in the plane later the afternoon and go for a putt too?

More Horses in the Stable…AND an Adventure!

John HurlbutUncategorized3 Comments

I’ve been using the excuse lately to not fly of “There are No Planes Available”. And while mostly that’s true, there are probably some other factors going on as well. I’m as heavy as I’ve ever been since my LapBand Surgery and let’s face it, no one has ever called a Cessna 172 “Roomy”. But with the demise of N1151M, the subject of the cover photo of my blog and the first plane I flew in my flight training, my flight school has been down to one single 172. With gorgeous flying weather, this has presented a challenge to obtaining an airplane to fly. Add to it that N84823 has been down in the maintenance shop for a week or so getting it’s 100 hour inspection and there literally were NO planes for me to fly.  They have replaced N1151M with a new (used, but new to them) 172, but … Read More

Finally Got Some Flying In Today!

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Wow, I can’t believe it’s been three weeks since I flew last!  That’s what the fall coming in in the northwest will do to you!  Gone are our clear blue skies and sunny, warm weather!  Enter perpetual gray days, fog, wind, rain, makes it tough to fly!  And it’s even more frustrating when you’ve been set off on your own to get some cross country flying in!! Of course it doesn’t help that over the past three weekends, I’ve been in Las Vegas, Tri Cities, and Southern California!!  So I HAVE been flying, just not at the controls.  Maybe next time I’ll say “Move over Captian, I need to get some hours!”  I’m pretty sure that would end my flying career. While we were sitting on the tarmac at LAX yesterday waiting to take off back to Seattle, I decided to check the weather in Puyallup for the week to … Read More

Why I Fuel Up After (nearly) Every Flight…

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As a student pilot, I’m learning a lot of things.  I’m learning about weather, airspace, cross country flight planning, radio communications, lots of things! I have a very conscientious instructor, one that makes sure that things are done just so to ensure the safe operation of every flight.  Not just our flights, but the flights after ours.  One of the habits she has instilled in me is fueling the plane after (nearly) every flight.  Now I’m getting flight training at a pretty kick @$$ flight school with a pretty kick @$$ FBO attached to it in Spencer Aircraft.  If I asked someone at Spencer to fuel up the plane I just flew, they would.  Do I necessarily like lugging this huge hose out to the plane, climbing up on a ladder, occasionally spraying cool blue 100 Low Lead Aviation Gas all over? No. I really don’t. So why do I … Read More

Livin’ La Vida Low Carb…

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As I’ve mentioned before, Teri and I are doing 3010 Weight Loss For Life.  It’s basically a low carb diet designed to shed weight quickly.  Well, it’s working.  So far about 5 weeks in, I’m down 35 pounds and Teri is down about 20.  We’re really trying to look at this as a lifestyle change. I’ve calculated it out and it seems as though we’re getting less than 30 grams of Carbohydrates per day.  That’s crazy low.  Contrast that to my previously standard Jack in The Box breakfast that calculated out to well over 100 grams of carbs and you can see why it was tough for me to lose weight.  I used to have for breakfast, more carbs than I eat in a day now!! Now this diet is also low calorie, so the combo of low carb, low calorie, is certainly a powerful combination that is yielding great … Read More

Planning My First Cross Country Flight

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No, I’m not going to the East Coast.  Yet.  But I did just book a flight lesson for next Sunday, June 22nd (weather permitting) that will be my first dual instruction cross country flight.  A cross country (XC) flight is defined as a flight that is more than 50 nautical miles from your home airport.  I’ve chosen to fly to Bowerman Field (KHQM) in Hoquiam, WA. The flight should look something like what’s depicted here in Foreflight.  It will require me to talk to controllers at McChord (KTCM) and Olympia (KOLM) as I transition across their Class Delta (D) airspace. Meg will be looking for my overall flight plan.  Not only the route we’ll fly, but how high we’ll fly, how much fuel we’ll consume, how fast we’ll go, and how accurately I predict when we’ll hit certain checkpoints.   I’ll need to be especially cognizant of the weather, paying attention … Read More

ANR Headsets – Bose or Lightspeed

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Thinking ahead again to WHEN I have my 3rd class medical certificate, I’m going to reward myself with a new headset.  General Aviation planes are loud.  Well all planes are loud, but GA planes don’t come with any noise dampening at all to save precious pounds.  You’re literally flying around in a soda can with an engine. A very loud engine.  So a quality headset is a must. Currently I’m flying with a nice David Clark H10-13.4 headset that I bought off a professional pilot on eBay.  David Clark makes some of the finest aviation headsets around and they’re virtually indestructible.  They have a great reputation and their customer service is second to none.  Even after buying new ear cups and a microphone windscreen, I saved about $100 on a new headset of the same model.   This headset is destined to be my passenger’s headset once I have my license. … Read More