I'm the father of a 5 year old daughter who is in serious need of a kill-switch to stop moving and a son who plays football and basketball and runs track and if allowed to would spend all day shooting hoops at the courts. I'm a man who works boxes, jumps rope, lifts weights, does plyometrics and at the very least takes a brisk walk no less than 15 minutes a day 6 days out of the week. And we all eat fruit like it's going out of style. So of course I'm all about First Lady Michelle Obama's initiative to reduce childhood obesity by promoting active lifestyles for children. Children and active. I'm not sure the two terms can even be separate and apart from each other. But sadly, in today's media-rich society 'tis true.

Let’s Move! is a comprehensive initiative, launched by the First Lady, dedicated to solving the problem of obesity within a generation, so that children born today will grow up healthier and able to pursue their dreams.*

Just recently my old flame (in my head), Beyoncé Knowles, joined the initiative. Below is her contribution.



What's up with Beyoncé's face derezzing? Scary, right?

Now check out the full work out with the reworked Move Your Body adapted from her original Get Me Bodied.



Reminds me of a boxing workout, minus all that hip work.

I can definitely see my little one doing this, or just doing her own thing. Whatever the case, the warm weather is here and definitely on it's way to stay, I hope you get your kids off the couch, out from in front of the television or video games. Get them outdoors and get them moving their bodies like we did back in the day on the playgrounds before playgrounds became places no one wanted their kids to be.

To learn more visit the Let's Move website.*

E.Payne is the author of Investing In An Emotional Letdown and I Didn't Invented Sex. For the past 3 years he has posted 600+ articles about fatherhood, marriage and everything in between here at Makes Me Wanna Holler.com. To learn more, click here.

Any man worth his salt knows that he will never always be right. In fact a real man knows that in this great big world of ours, he knows very little. This in turn has the positive effect of making him a sponge for knowledge and wisdom at every turn.

Additionally, the man who realizes, recognizes or if necessary, is compellingly convinced that he is wrong should and must apologize quickly. Why not? Real men don't play games. They don't allow situations that are within their control to get worse. They don't allow emotional wounds to fester to the point of wreaking havoc on their lives or the lives of others. If they are focused on succeeding, then they won't have time to navigate self-made chaos. If, upon apologizing for an offense a person opts to not forgive you or seeks to punish you, that's on them. Your responsibility as a man is to acknowledge your wrong and be accountable for it. In between acknowledgment and accountability lies the apology.

Apologize...quickly.



E.Payne is the author of Investing In An Emotional Letdown and I Didn't Invented Sex. For the past 3 years he has posted 600+ articles about fatherhood, marriage and everything in between here at Makes Me Wanna Holler.com. To learn more, click here.

If you are able to sit through your typical story arc of the good son (and in this case, bunny) turned loose cannon who's ultimate fate is redemption, the son who never realized his potential until right now, your standard wholesome enterprise being overthrown by the subservient but treacherous Number 2 who dreams of being Number 1, and a talking live-action bunny that poops jelly beans then you've got the chops for Hop, the new movie from the producers who brought us Despicable Me.

I do believe actor James Marsden (X-Men, Enchanted) has sunk to new low in his effort to capture the lucrative children's movie demographic. But I also found Hank Azaria to be masterful as the subservient Carlos, the head chick but number 2 in command of the candy factory at Easter Island, the homeland of Easter Bunny royalty similar to what the South Pole is to someone else we know. David Hasselhoff is quite good at being... David Hasselhoff. He definitely knows how to play himself making fun of himself. Gary Cole most notably remembered for his wonderful turn as Bill Lumbergh in the movie, Office Space, plays the disapproving dad of James Marsden's, Fred, to the point of cliche.

But before I go any further --- THIS IS A KID'S MOVIE! It wasn't meant for adults except for the occasionally dated references that only a parent born in the seventies and early eighties would know. My daughter and her friends liked it and the movie did well keeping their attention through nearly all of it's 90-minute run time. It has given them that much more to daydream about when it comes to Easter and the Easter Bunny.

If you're like me and you're home on the weekend without the spouse or even if your spouse is with you, take the kids out to see Hop. They won't be disappointed. And for the time they are engaged with the movie, neither will you.

Disclosure: This is not a paid review. However this reviewer did attend a complimentary private screening of the movie, HOP. This review was not influenced in any way by the movie's producers or it's affiliates.

E.Payne is the author of Investing In An Emotional Letdown and I Didn't Invented Sex. For the past 3 years he has posted 600+ articles about fatherhood, marriage and everything in between here at Makes Me Wanna Holler.com. To learn more, click here.

You're a man. You're passionate about your goals. Whether you dream big or small you have a dream. When you lay your head on your pillow at night that dream talks to you. When you wake you wish you were in that dream.

But you're not. Why? Because you have a Plan B.

That God-given itch inside of you is your calling, your destiny. That thing you were meant to be. But having an itch doesn't necessarily preclude knowing how to scratch it. Nothing worth having has ever been easily achieved and if you cheat to get it, you typically lose in the long run.

So if you don't know how to achieve your goals/dream, get close to someone who is doing what you want to do. Make them your friend. Get them to pour their knowledge into you. Have a pen and pad when you are around them or take clear mental notes. Invest in continuing education. Attend seminars or webinars. Immerse yourself in Google until you become an expert in what it is you'd like to do.

Right now you might be saying to yourself (or me), "Being an actor doesn't pay the bills." Well here is where you're "Plan B" kicks in. Figure out how to make your money work for you so you can survive. Set an investment or savings plan so that you can live off of savings for 6 months to a year and then go hard during those 6 to 12 months. Create a cushion of cash to keep you off welfare and to keep a roof over your head or find someone's roof to live under, but be good to them while they are being generous to you.

There is no Plan B. Plan To Be successful. By having a Plan B you simply rob yourself of your potential. If you've got kids, then you'll just have to plan to be even more successful. In the end, if it doesn't work out at least you know you tried. And another door will open for you that you will know to go through.

Plan To Be successful. And remember success is a term that only you can add value to as it is different for each and every one of us.



E.Payne is the author of Investing In An Emotional Letdown and I Didn't Invented Sex. For the past 3 years he has posted 600+ articles about fatherhood, marriage and everything in between here at Makes Me Wanna Holler.com. To learn more, click here.

A critical rite of passage for a man comes when he is broken. Broken from a belief system that had him full of himself and left with the only the ashes and shrapnel of his folly. This can happen by circumstance or at the hands of another man...or woman. It is that moment or series of moments when all of your self-aggrandizing, a.k.a delusions of grandeur get flushed down the toilet. Humiliated, shamed, lost, you are officially broken.

What happens next separates the real men from the other men. A man's true, defining character comes forth once all is lost. I'm no Army man, but I believe wholeheartedly in breaking a boy (a male pretending to be a man) purifying him of all his foolishness and then building him back up in the way he should go.

If you are going through a challenge right now that has you teetering; you might even already be broken. Regardless of where the blame lays, use this as opportunity for growth. Learn from your mistakes and rise above them into a new you.



E.Payne is the author of Investing In An Emotional Letdown and I Didn't Invented Sex. For the past 3 years he has posted 600+ articles about fatherhood, marriage and everything in between here at Makes Me Wanna Holler.com. To learn more, click here.

A real man doesn't come out of the gates swinging. He comes out prepared, trained and as filled with as much wisdom as he can absorb. Being prepared allows him to manage his circumstances whether he's fully knowledgeable of them or not. If you throw in a healthy amount of spirituality you have a warrior-king in your midst --- someone who is both just and strong as circumstance requires it of him. Regardless of what his appearance is, or what some outsiders perception may be, on the inside, it is the content of his character and the beauty of his soul that truly determine who he is.

Welcome to AP Manhood, meaning Advanced Placement Manhood. There's plenty of Manhood 101 circulating around the Internet and it is absolutely necessary. But everybody is required to take a 101 course. Only a select few make it to the AP class and then survive once they get there.

Stay tuned for my take on Advanced Placement Manhood. Some of it may seem elementary, but sometimes it is the simplest of ideas and theories that are hardest to apply. Hopefully we can get a nice conversation going over the course of this month.

Be well. Be blessed. Be strong. Be powerful. Be informed.


E.Payne is the author of Investing In An Emotional Letdown and I Didn't Invented Sex. For the past 3 years he has posted 600+ articles about fatherhood, marriage and everything in between here at Makes Me Wanna Holler.com. To learn more, click here.

Garbage in, garbage out...

Garbage out, period.



Yup, folks, the above pic is me in the fall of 2010 after boxing away the backfat. Over the course of the spring and summer of 2010 I dropped weight from a whopping 205 pounds to approximately 180 missing my goal of 173 by a mere 7 pounds. I turned back the hands of time. I became a semi-lean, not-too-mean fighting machine.

And then I packed up my life and moved to Atlanta.

Dealing with a new environment, combating a very rough patch with the wife, and entering a highly unwelcoming job market all spelled one thing: eating comfort food. Hamburgers, more hamburgers, french fries, milkshakes with every meal, BIG breakfasts, home made lemonade and sweet tea, strawberry cheesequake blizzards (concrete heaven in a cup) from Dairy Queen, ribs, lemon pepper chicken wings, atomic chicken wings, fish tacos (these are actually healthy), and more french fries. Not to mention until I get a bike, I have to drive everywhere as nothing is walkable except the business district.

The food was good and the associated bloating, feeling terrible and lethargic was just all apart of the joy of food. In January I began working out with one of my neighbors, a former Olympian. It was then that I mounted a scale and discovered the ugly truth. In four months time I had gained back nearly all the weight I spent boxing. She assured me I'd lose it all and then some.

What did I think was going to happen? I'm not twenty anymore. In fact, I'll be forty in the fall. I was pretty depressed the day I got this news. So depressed that after working out, I pulled into a McDonald's drive-thru and ordered a Quarter Pounder without cheese (it was without cheese).

Then in March I went away to the Disney Dreamers Academy and was bombarded with so much "cruise ship food" that I had to draw the line somewhere. I began guzzling water like your average everyday dog and cat does. Something strange began to happen. I began to naturally clean out, detox, whatever you want to call it. I returned to Atlanta, vowing not to touch any drink with sugar in it any time soon. I took it a step further and swore myself off the stuff for lent, overlooking that my beloved coffee falls into the category of sugary drinks based on the way I like to drink my coffee. Not drinking fruit punch and sweet tea is easy, but coffee?! But 6 weeks in I'm doing fine. In addition to the sugary drinks, I've cut out white flour bread, and my other most beloved: french fries. Do I miss it? Yes. Am I tempted? Often. Do I miss being bloated and feeling heavy? Not at all. I'll take feeling and looking better over tasting and drinking heavenly creations, only to spend the rest of the day farting and belching, any day of the week.

I've managed to lose 7 pounds pretty effortlessly and last week I joined a gym not to far from my home that by New York standards would be completely unaffordable. But down here it's $29 bucks a month. I'm there 4 days a week for no less than 2 hours at a time, working out like I'm in a movie, trying to win the big game and the girl.

Garbage out! This is the remixed reboot of Bye, Bye Backfat. If you haven't heard the hit song that goes along with this blog series of mine you'll have to watch the videos. It all feels nice and natural. I'm getting my house in order --- my temple (my body), my actual domicile, my kids activities and my finances. It's all apart of the plan for healthy, holistic, rich and happy living.

Backfat begone! Garbage begone! Welcome healthy, wealthy, happy life!


E.Payne is the author of Investing In An Emotional Letdown and I Didn't Invented Sex. For the past 3 years he has posted 600+ articles about fatherhood, marriage and everything in between here at Makes Me Wanna Holler.com. To learn more, click here.