Fit by 55

Weekly Stats

2012-01-17T07:26:00.000-06:00

Wednesday Cat Blogging

2012-01-11T08:57:00.000-06:00

Weekly Stats

2012-01-10T20:38:00.000-06:00

Up another half pound...dang

Tempus Fug It

2012-01-09T16:14:00.000-06:00

One of the little things that Einstein forgot to mention in all of his work about relativity is the phenomenon of time passing more quickly as you age. I mean...jeeeze....here it is already 2012. It only seems like yesterday everybody was all caught up in Thanksgiving and Christmas; now both are long gone and we are screaming almost half-way through January. Days seem to fly by turning one week over to the next. It's almost like, being on the downhill side of a usual lifespan, time keeps gaining momentum the closer you get to the end.

Anyway...that's my excuse for not writing more often.

Weekly Stats

2012-01-02T22:00:00.000-06:00

Looks like I gained a half of a pound last week. That's not too bad considering all the holiday foods and sweets I had consumed. I don't intent to keep going in that direction though and am getting back on a reasonable eating plan. This should be a lot easier since all the chocolate in my house is gone.

Texas Caviar

2012-01-01T13:22:00.000-06:00

I cannot start my year without eating black-eyed peas.

Bleah

2011-12-31T21:58:00.001-06:00

My wife is sort of allergic to alcoholic drinks so there's not much drinking in our house. Still....New Year's Eve, so I bought a bottle of non-alcohol champagne to whoop in 2012.

Bad mistake. Horrible stuff. Now I'm forced to wash my mouth out with ice cream.

Your Cheatin' Heart

2011-12-30T09:03:00.000-06:00

There is a particular type of person that always seems to pop up in any group with the goals of getting fit and losing weight, the liar....or as I like to use the more colorful label...the bullshitter. This person regals one and all with their extreme exercise and diet regimes. Massive amounts of workouts and super strict eating plans. These are the guys that claim running hundreds of miles a week, climbing hundreds of stairs daily, and generally completing more workouts before sunrise than top athletes perform in a month.

Oh...and they have no problems doing all of that. No wasted time in their lives for things like a job, or sleeping, or apparently even going to the bathroom. They are damn near perfect and they will take every opportunity to tell you so. One factor seems prevalent though...you never actually see them doing all these amazing things. They'll tell you how great they are doing but will not actually document. You'll also not see any photos of their huge muscle gains. They'll tell you they lost ten or twenty pounds in a week but you'll just have to take their word for it.

Pisses me off. It really shouldn't be any concern to me. After all; their claims are often so off the chain that it almost becomes comical to hear them go on and on. The bullshitter rarely realizes how obvious their BS is and are mostly deaf to the laughter of others who consider them a joke. The thing is, though, they are the people that typifies a real problem with a great many folks my age attempting to transform into a more healthy life. The bullshitters give the impression that anybody can do this and, if you can't, it's just because you're not as dedicated or whatever. They completely invalidate the premise that obtaining health is not some easily obtained goal that can be accomplished during your spare time over a weekend. The bullshitter dismisses the real life struggles of the rest of us which makes more than a few feel as if they are just losers and quit their own personal goals.

My goal....my blog....is devoted to the idea that this stuff is not easy. It takes time to get significant and lasting results. There are problems along the way and years of ingrained bad habits to change. There is no magic bullet. Failure is ever looming but the goal of transformation is possible for anybody, for any age. I'll never cheat. I'll never lie. I'll tell it like it is and let the chips fall where they may.

Now, if you will excuse me, I have to go run 30 miles and climb a mountain before lunch.

Weekly Stats

2011-12-29T08:45:00.003-06:00

This includes Christmas, which wasn't much of an active day nor was I concerned about what I ate (chocolate, mountains of it).

Wednesday Cat Blogging

2011-12-28T15:35:00.000-06:00

Stuff I Try Out

2011-12-27T21:10:00.000-06:00

Here's the alternative to the crappy GoWear strap I wrote about yesterday. It's called Fitbit and it's just about the neatest thing since sliced bread and peanut butter. This thing works great without all the problems associated with Bodymedia and their non-existent customer service.

The Fitbit is about the size of your pinkie which clips to your belt, pants, shirt, or you can just put it in your pocket. Through the day it measures how many steps you take, your mileage, whether you are just strolling or running, and it even has an altimeter function that can track how many flights of stairs you climb. You can check the stats on the Fitbit any time by pressing a little button. Another cool function is that you can take it to bed and track your sleep pattern ....documenting how long it took you to fall asleep and how many times you briefly wake up during the night.

The Fitbit downloads to a website every time you pass within 15 feet of the little docking station that also acts as a re-charger. On the website you can compile all the data as well as add other things like foods you have eaten, weight, and even what type of mood you are having on any particular day. Oh...and the website is free. Buying the Fitbit is all you need, no monthly membership required. They do have a premium website that gives the data in a lot more detail for about four bucks a month. I may get it someday but it's truly not necessary to get the stats you need and want.

I love this thing. I even bought one for my wife who is not all that into fitness tracking and she loves it too. It's not cheap. It runs about a hundred dollars but if you're serious about keeping track of all your stats, don't want to spend all your time writing stuff down in journals, and want something that gives instant feedback on your efforts....I highly, highly recommend this product.

Stuff I Try Out

2011-12-26T21:42:00.000-06:00

One difficulty in trying to keep track of your exercise activity and diet is...well....keeping track of it all. The little gizmo pictured above is one such handy tracker. It's called GoWear and it's by a company called Bodymedia. You wear this device around your upper arm and it measures your activity level during the day. It will even measure your sleeping activity if you wear it to bed. There is a web site where, for a monthly fee, you can download all the info and put in stuff like what you have eaten, what exercises you do, and your daily weight if you choose. It actually works pretty well as far as gathering useful data...but it has a couple of major problems.

This first one is, it's really not very comfortable. As I said, you wear it on your upper arm so you broadcast to everybody that you're fat and trying to monitor every minute of your day. Since you wear it on the same spot every single day, it starts to chaff and you need to take a vacation from wearing it every so often to keep from developing a really nasty rash. I found that I could only wear it about three or four days before I had to leave it off for a few days so that my skin could heal.

But the biggest problem is the web site. You have to download software in order to sync up the device to the tracking website. I recently obtained a new computer and....guess what?.....I could not download the software. I tried customer service FAQ; they told me to download the software. I tried customer service email; they told me to download the software. I called the customer service; they told me to download the software. I could not make them understand that downloading the software was the damn problem.

So....after over a year of paying monthly dues...I canceled the service. I still have the device and it's a hundred dollar piece of junk with absolutely no use to myself or anybody else. I would definitely NOT recommend that anybody try this thing out. Once Bodymedia has your money, they could not care less about you. I found something much, much better......and I'll talk about that tomorrow.

Christmas Eve

2011-12-24T23:00:00.001-06:00

Wednesday Cat Blogging

2011-12-21T08:03:00.000-06:00

Weekly Stats

2011-12-19T21:02:00.000-06:00

Something to celebrate this week. I'm no longer technically obese ....just fat.

Wednesday Cat Blogging

2011-12-14T05:39:00.003-06:00

Cold War

2011-12-13T08:21:00.001-06:00

I hate being sick. That's no big revelation, I doubt that there is anybody who enjoys being sick. I'm not sick very often but it seems like, every year about this time, I get clobbered with some type of bug which just makes my life miserable for a few days. In an effort to find a bit of relief, I'll drag myself to the store in search of some miracle concoction that will instantly cure all my aches and pains as well as make me handsome and happy...just like the teevee ads claim.

So anyway, I shuffle into the store looking like the walking dead not having shaved or bathed in a couple of days searching for the cold medicine aisle. Mothers clutch their children as I lurch past them and security is following me whispering in their walkie talkies for backup. I turn a corner and see cold medicine. Lots of it. Not just for cold; for flu, for sneezing, for coughing, for sneezing and coughing, decongestant, expectorant, headache, fever, daytime, nighttime...the friggen list goes on and on. I'm standing there trying to match my symptoms with some particular product and the whole ordeal is making my head spin more than it is already. Security is grabbing their pepper spray. I need to make a decision, a purchase, and get out of there.

Then I remember when I was a little boy and caught a bad cold. My Dad use to fix me up with some really vile concoction of sugar and whiskey. Or maybe it was honey. Whatever, it was absolutely horrible and my Dad had to threaten me with a whuppin in order to get me to drink it down. I now understand that it's primary purpose was to knock me out so I would sleep and he could get some relief from a hacking kid through the night. It worked. I slept like a log and woke up feeling much better.

That's basically what all cold/flu remedies try to do. They don't cure, just mask the symptoms so that you sleep, so that your body can concentrate on healing itself. With that thought in mind I just grabbed a bottle of NyQuil (generic, of course).

Today I feel almost human.

Weekly Stats

2011-12-12T20:37:00.001-06:00

Not too bad, especially considering that I've been deathly sick and in bed for most of the last three days.

Editorial: Valeo continues to serve | CJOnline.com

2011-12-09T07:49:00.000-06:00

Editorial: Valeo continues to serve | CJOnline.com

Of course, any views that I express on this blog are entirely my own....but I'm quite proud to work for this agency.

Too Many Grains of Salt

2011-12-08T07:47:00.001-06:00

Salt in my diet is something that I use to never worry about. Of course I never worried about sugar and fat either, hence why I'm dealing with weight problems now. I've become more aware of how much sodium I use every day primarily because of my wife. She has a tendency toward high blood pressure and is able to manage it by watching her sodium intake like a hawk. Since my wife is the primary cook and grocery shopper in my house, that means I get to be on a low sodium diet with her....which is fine with me. My taste buds have now adapted to where I can't really tolerate any dishes loaded with salt, which leaves out many restaurants and all fast food joints. I've learned to use other seasonings (Mrs. Dash is great stuff) and we don't even have a salt shaker in our house. You would think that just not adding salt to food would be enough...but nooooooo.

Trouble is, there is salt in EVERYTHING! Not just a little either. The recommended daily limit for sodium is 2300 mg. or about a teaspoon of salt. I've been tracking my sodium intake for the last few days and have discovered that I'm eating about twice that amount. I get a lot of it through eating cheese, which I'm very fond of, and anything else that is even slightly processed. I'm not sure how to lower my sodium intake other than to eat more vegetables and fruit....especially for snacks. Somewhat difficult since the employee break room at work was recently outfitted with a super deluxe popcorn machine.

I wonder what popcorn tastes like with Mrs. Dash sprinkled on?

Wednesday Cat Blogging

2011-12-07T08:27:00.000-06:00

Stuff I Try Out

2011-12-05T20:32:00.000-06:00

I finally have my computer situation resolved and am back online.....knock on wood.

Among my many character traits (or flaws) are two that pertain to what I want to write about today. One is that I'm cheap. Well, maybe cheap is not the right word...more like cautious with my money. This stems from a few times in my adult life when I was poor. I mean really broke, as in literally not having two nickles to rub against each other. It was valuable experience that I hope to gosh I never have to repeat, but the memories of trying to scratch through each and every day still haunt me. So I like a bargain. I tend to go for stuff that costs less but gets the job done as well as more expensive things.

Eggs are a good example. I know that they have had bad press over the last few years...but really...it's all bull. Eggs are great. They are dang near the ideal food item. Loaded with protein, complete amino acids, and vitamins. Yes there is fat; but it's a good omega kind. There is cholesterol but recent studies are showing you can't increase your level by ingesting eggs and besides, there are even studies saying the link of cholesterol to disease is bogus. The consensus today is that eating a few every week is not going to hurt you and the benefits are quite lengthy. They are also CHEAP! About a dime apiece. I can eat on eggs all month for what a box of sugary crappy dried cereal costs.

Besides all that, I love eggs. Fried, scrambled, poached, sunny side up, omelet...I don't care how they are made, I love eggs. I figure I must have eaten thousands of eggs and I'm still not tired of them. Put a plate of eggs in front of me and I'll consider that a good meal any time of the day.

This brings me to my second character flaw....I'm a lousy cook. I'm especially lousy in the morning. After years of practice I'm able to brew a decent pot of coffee but that's about the limit of my abilities or desire first thing early in the morning. I can use a microwave though and I found something great to help me get that most important meal of the day with my beloved eggs. The little doo-hicky in the photo is a contraption that will poach eggs in the microwave. Just break open a couple of eggs (the most tricky part of the procedure for me, by the way), dump one on each side, nuke for one minute, and voila....two perfectly poached eggs made with no oil, butter, or salt. It doesn't get any easier and I'm not consigned to eat oatmeal every morning.

Now if I could just figure out how to break an egg open while half asleep.

Change For A Dollar

2011-12-04T13:28:00.001-06:00

There really are no words I have for the video below....except that it will make you feel human. Watch, I promise it will move you.

.

Wednesday Cat Blogging

2011-11-30T07:13:00.001-06:00

A bit slow on posting lately because my old computer had pretty much given up the ghost. Spent my spare time shopping around for one, hooking it up, and transferring all the old to the new. I'll be up again soon.

Black Friday

2011-11-25T06:48:00.001-06:00

At one time, I worked for a large retail store. I won't mention which other than to say the name began with a "T" and their logo resembled a bullseye. Anyway; when I started working for them, I was in the receiving department. A pretty low stress job. We would get there several hours before the store opened to unload merchandise from trucks, push it out to the floor, then store the excess in the back warehouse. The store would open for the day and we would go home. Not exactly an exciting job, but I've had worse and I enjoyed the crew of people I worked with every morning.

Then I got a chance to work during that particular cultural phenomenon called Black Friday, which is basically a national holiday devoted to buying stuff. I had never really experienced shopping on the day after Thanksgiving. This was primarily because I was poor and couldn't buy anything no matter how big of a sale was going on. Oh, I would watch the news reports and see all the mobs climbing over each other to grab crap that they normally wouldn't want...but since it was 25% off....gotta have it, gotta have it right now. I usually sneered at people being stupid and wandered back into the kitchen for another sliver of Thanksgiving pie. I had worked for the retail store for a few months and people warned me about Black Friday, but I mostly just brushed them off. What did I care? I didn't interact with customers and I would be gone by the time the store opened. Just another work day.

I arrived at the store at the usual time. We were told to go around to the loading dock to enter since there might be some customers waiting at the front. The store would open an hour early...this was before all retail stores started competing on who would open first on this day. I drove up and had to park on the perimeter of the lot because of all the cars and noticed a loooong line at the front of the store. There was no truck to unload that morning and all we did was push the merchandise out to the floor in preparation for the big sale. I had just finished the last of my stocking when the intercom announced that the doors were being opened. I immediately heard a low rumble. I looked up and a wall of people were literally running down the aisle straight toward me. I freaked and ran to the back stock room and my supervisor told me to save myself, go upstairs to the employee lounge, clock out, and go home. I was about to do so when the store manager grabbed my shoulders and with a wild look in his eyes yelled "I gotta have a cashier up front immediately!".

"I don't know how to do that", I told him.

"No problem, I'll train you" the manager said and proceeded to drag me through the mob to the front of the store, sticking me in front a cash register giving me a two-minute crash course in what to do over the the bedlam of customers waiting to check out.

For the next six hours I was at the cash register. No break. Not even a minute to catch my breath or yell out that I needed to go to the bathroom or I was going to wet my pants. Worse day of my working life. The upside to the whole thing is that I impressed the store manager; he thought I was a genius for learning what to do on the spot, so I received a promotion later on. It has confirmed for me that I can always do a great deal more when under pressure.

Still have nightmares about it though.

Turkey Day

2011-11-24T19:18:00.000-06:00

Wednesday Cat Blogging

2011-11-23T12:47:00.001-06:00

Time?

2011-11-22T07:49:00.001-06:00

Okay...I know what you're thinking...no post in a few days so I must be slacking. Not so! Just busy at work as this is the beginning of the season to be weird. I'm also trying to finish up some home repairs before winter weather sets in. I'm actually losing track of time.

Once I get the coming weekend out of the way, things should settle down.

Girl Scouts are Evil

2011-11-17T20:10:00.001-06:00

Well...no...not really. It's a fine organization, much better than the homophobic quasi-military group available to boys. Still, I do wish the GSA would quit forcing me to buy their damn cookies every year.

Of course, Girl Scouts don't actually sell the cookies to me. I get them from the mothers of Girl Scouts at my place of work. They usually hit me up on my way to the vending machines or scouring the break room for some left over snack; when I'm so hungry that you could sell me gum scraped off the bottom of a chair. The cookies seem good when I order but usually disappoint. Dry, mostly tasteless, and expensive....about 15 cents per itty bitty cookie.

Yet, year after year, I buy a few boxes. Absolutely not a good thing to be chomping on while trying to lose weight.

I do it for the girls.

Wednesday Cat Blogging

2011-11-16T05:17:00.001-06:00

My Agenda

2011-11-15T17:24:00.001-06:00

Well...actually...I did do quite a bit today. I went to work early, attended a lot of meetings, and had an employee evaluation where I found out my agency still likes me. A busy day but a good one. Later this evening I facilitate a support group so I probably will not get home until 9 or 10 tonight. No time for exercise but that's okay, because I didn't plan for it today.

Moral....missing a day here and there is not the end of the world.

.....or an excuse to give up

Leaf Grief

2011-11-14T20:11:00.001-06:00

I didn't do my usual exercise today. Not because I was lazy but because I had to do some yard chores. One thing that is different about where I live now and where I grew up is the presence of trees...lotsa them. Another thing that is different is that there is an actual change of seasons, and all the leaves on those trees fall to the ground. So my day was spent raking and bagging.

You wouldn't think that tiny dried up leaves would be so heavy.

My back is killing me.

No Hiding Place

2011-11-13T17:09:00.001-06:00

About a jillion years ago, I sang in a church choir. It was in a Baptist church and, though my thoughts about religion have changed over the years, I still have very fond memories of belting out songs in that church. There was absolutely nothing to do on a Sunday for a teenager growing up in the middle of nowhere Texas so....say what you will about Baptists; their services were entertaining and they knew how to enjoy themselves. One of my favorite songs, one that had everybody in the congregation jumping, was "No Hiding Place Down Here".

I bring all of this up because it's pretty obvious that the posts on this blog have been a bit sparse lately. This, my friends, is an indicator that I'm not doing quite all that I can toward my fitness goals. I mean...really....who wants to write posts about being a slacker? I stop writing. I stop giving updates. I'm hiding.

No more. Daily posts everybody. It's so dang easy to hide, to ignore, to build up that old familiar wall of denial. I'm trying to eliminate all of my hiding places.

I went to the rock to hide my face, but the rock cried out: No hiding place.
There's no hiding place down here.

Wednesday Cat Blogging

2011-11-02T07:59:00.002-05:00

Two Months

2011-11-01T08:46:00.000-05:00

No change at all from last month. Well, I did somehow manage to lose half a pound....whoopdee doo. My bodyfat percentage still hangs at 36% though.

I know what happened. October was a busy month at work and I did a great deal of sitting during the day. Feeling drained by the time I arrived back home, I was too tired to exercise. So I put it off until the next day...then the next....then th.......you get the idea.

Diet is not enough. I have to move more weights to get rid of my weight.

Halloweenie

2011-10-31T17:57:00.000-05:00

This is a rough time of the year for someone like me who has a serious sweet tooth and trying to lose weight. What to do about the tradition of giving out candy to groups of disguised little nose-pickers that come to your door, yell out "trick or treat", and stand there looking cute? Take a stand against childhood obesity and early onset diabetes and give out apples and bananas? I'm too soft-hearted for that. Besides, I don't want to get my lawn TP'ed.

I thought of getting really cheap, really crappy candy....things like ribbon candy, butterscotch hard candy, and stale candy corn. That would definitely deter me from sampling out of the Halloween bowl but, like I said, I'm too soft-hearted to inflict that upon kids. They did go to all the trouble of dressing up in costume. The least I can do is give out something to make it worth their while and to perk up their parents who have to drag their little darlings all over the neighborhood.

So...I get the good stuff...stuff I like....hence the problem. There's the bowl by the door. Oooooh lookie, an Almond Joy, I love those things, just one, it's a small size. Hmmmm..Reese's...yum...just one....dang that was good, maybe one more. Kit Kat eh? I bet kids don't really like those, they're more an adult candy.

and on, and on, and on....till I turn off the lights so that there will not be a chance of any more trick or treaters while I sit in the dark gorging on the last Toostie Roll.

Wednesday Cat Blogging

2011-10-26T09:03:00.001-05:00

Stuff I Try Out

2011-10-25T17:52:00.000-05:00

Trying to eat nutritious meals can often times be a real pain. There's the time spent preparing and cooking of course, but there is also the time spent having to buy the food in the first place so that it's always available when you want to eat. I deal with this by using nutrition shakes. Problem is...most taste pretty crappy despite the wild claims in their advertisement about how wonderfully delicious one particular brand or another may be. The least objectionable one that I've found has been Myoplex but, even with that, I have to add yogurt and fruit to mask a distinctly artificial wang to the flavor.

Then I stumbled upon Full Strength which is run by Shawn Phillips. I have a lot of respect and admiration for Shawn so my natural skepticism was tapered down a bit when I read about what he had to say about FullStrength. According to the website, it only comes in two flavors. The attitude is that they will not screw around making all types of wild flavors that most people don't like anyway; and I can respect that. After all, if the product is really good, why fill it with a bunch of artificial flavorings? Still....the stuff is a bit over $4 a packet...pretty pricey for me to buy a whole case without a clue if it was any good or not. On the website it will let you try out a couple of packets so I figured I could risk a couple of dollars for the shipping.

It's good! Really! I had the chocolate flavor, nothing else, just the packet with water added and it tastes exactly like a chocolate shake. No artificial after taste. No metallic flavor. No gritty texture. It takes some restraint not to chug it down and whip up another serving.

The only cons I can think of for this product is that it is not sold in stores and you have to buy it online. It's also more costly than any other nutrition shake out there...but man....it's worth it. Check it out!

The Giant Killer

2011-10-21T09:01:00.000-05:00

Once upon a time
there was a boy named Jack,
who was told to take a cow
to market and...
Yeah, yeah, we know,
said the crowd to the old man,
about the magic beans
and the beanstalk
climbing to heaven,
where you met a giant
and killed him.

It's true, said the old man.
When I was young
I climbed a giant beanstalk
to the clouds
faced danger and excitement,
gathered wealth
and slew the terrible giant,
the story is true.
The old man harrumphed
eyeing the smiles of the crowd
that did not believe.

There are no such things,
said the crowd to Jack,
as a beanstalk so high
or a giant in the clouds.
You're old and senile,
confusing your life
with a fairy tale,
and if it were not so funny,
it would be sad
to listen to your delusion
day after day.

How can you scoff,
said Jack to the crowd,
when I have proof,
such as the magical harp
I freed from the castle
of the fearsome giant,
or the stump
of that great beanstalk
out in the field,
as wide as a house.
Don't take my word
see for yourselves.

What you call a harp,
foolish old man,
is only a radio
and the stump,
what is left of a tree.
What about the goose
who laid golden eggs?
Show that,
and maybe we will believe.
So Jack stood
and held out his hand.

The goose died,
since they never live long,
but I traded the last egg
for these.
He opened his hand
to show three dried beans
and said with glee,
These are worth more
than any gold or jewels.
They are the same magic beans
that I used when I was young.

And the crowd laughed
and walked away,
leaving Jack standing
his hand outstretched,
holding his beans,
till he knelt on the ground
and pushed the seeds
into the earth
and waited.
I'll show them, he said,
and waited.

Homeland

2011-10-20T05:00:00.000-05:00

Wyman Meinzer's West Texas from Wyman Meinzer on Vimeo.

I've lived in Kansas for over 20 years....but I still love and miss where I grew up.

Wednesday Cat Blogging

2011-10-19T07:41:00.002-05:00

Vitamins

2011-10-13T09:05:00.005-05:00

One supplement in which there is some controversy are vitamins. Do they help? Are they necessary? Is it a waste of money?

My opinion is that they help. I take a multivitamin/mineral tablet every day. I know that the purists will say that one can get all these nutrients through food but, realistically, I'm not sure that you can eat all the varied types of foods to get everything from A to Z every day. Vitamins are something of an insurance policy....it covers my daily requirements even when I don't get to eat all the right types of foods during a hectic day which, by the way, is pretty much every day.

I also believe that it helps keep the immune system working at peak efficiency. Oh, I get sick once in awhile. The usual colds, bugs, and whatnot; but I rarely get lay-in-bed-wish-I-was-dead type sick. It's kind of odd that, though I'm the oldest person in the group of people that I work with, I hardly ever have called in a sick day. I'm thinking that making sure I have my vitamins, while not preventing sickness, helps me fight it off and recover much more easily.

I take a blend designed for men age fifty and over. It supposedly has stuff in there to promote the health of body parts that are of concern to men my age. I just buy the generic store brand with the thought that vitamins are vitamins and that there is no difference between store and national advertised brands. In fact, I'm pretty sure they are made by the same companies anyway.

One thing that is odd though....they list all the vitamins and minerals on the back label in super tiny print. These are suppose to be for guys over 50! Don't the packagers know that most of us are half-blind? They might be trying to slip some crack cocaine or plutonium in there for all I can tell.

Saturday Push Ups

2011-10-08T21:34:00.001-05:00

The challenge is how many push ups can I do in one minute, but I'm finding that my first challenge is to do a minute's worth of push ups. Still....17 this week. I'm getting stronger.

Wednesday Cat Blogging

2011-10-05T21:16:00.000-05:00

One Month

2011-10-04T07:39:00.001-05:00

No drastic changes after one month. In fact, hardly anything to notice at all if I go by the scale. It turns out that I didn't lose a single pound....but take note. Though I weigh the same, my bodyfat percentage went down 3 points. Whipping out my trusty calculator, I figure that I have lost six pounds of fat from my body. That's fat, purdee blubber that I'm not carrying around in my body anymore. Just a little reminder that a scale will not tell you squat about any changes to your body. Like most things...it's the totality that counts.

Speaking of ---------

Neck 16 inches (no change)
Chest 45 inches (+1 in.)
Gut 47 inches (-1 in.)
Waist 42 inches (-1 in.)
Hips 42 inches (no change)
Thigh 22 inches (no change)
Calf 15 inches (no change)
Forearm 12 inches (+1 in.)
Bicep 14.5 inches (+ half in.)

Saturday Push Ups

2011-10-01T20:57:00.001-05:00

Well...I'm up to 15. That's one more every week since I started doing this thing. I know it's not much but remember that I haven't attempted a push up in DECADES. I could probably do a lot more if I was sloppy with my form, but the memory of a screaming D.I. just will not let me get away with that.

Wednesday Cat Blogging

2011-09-28T08:12:00.000-05:00

Saturday Pushups

2011-09-24T22:01:00.001-05:00

A really good friend of mine named Boyd has started a little something he calls "Push-Up Saturday". The deal is to record yourself doing as many push-ups you can in one minute. When I first started, I could only do ten. Now I'm up to twelve or thirteen...depending on how you start counting. Nothing that I'm really proud of but it's a start. I'm shooting for a goal of doing fifty in one minute.

I'm probably going to have to practice quite a bit to get there.

Eating 9 to 5

2011-09-22T08:46:00.004-05:00

The hardest place to maintain your plan to eat healthy is probably at work. This is kind of a problem if a good chunk of the day is spent at work. Unless I bring my own food, the photo above shows my only option if I happen to get hungry. Gee-dunk machines, offering a variety of overpriced crap guaranteed to leave you still feeling hungry, a bit poorer, and maybe a little nauseous. The candy machine offers everything from popcorn to Pop-Tarts. At the very bottom are a few selections of gum and off-brand mints that have probably been there since the $1.25 candy bars sold for a quarter. You can wash it all down with an ice-cold can of high fructose corn syrup infused water...or just get a bottle of plain water for a slightly higher cost.

For me it's critical to take, not only lunch, but something healthy to snack on through the day as well. Stuff like fruit, cottage cheese, yogurt, maybe nuts....anything but the calorie dense but nutritionally sparse fare I might find in a machine. Experience has shown me that when I don't have anything brought from home and I get that urge to munch....and I always do....those machines look mighty tempting. I can convince myself that a bag of pretzels is healthy, that a Reese's Cup has protein so it's not so bad, or just plain out say I'm hungry and screw the diet.

I avoid the temptation by carrying my own food. It means that I have to haul a cooler to work. It also means that I have to make time in the morning to pack all the food I want to eat during the day. Still....probably the best way I've learned to avoid using the machines is to make sure I don't have any money in my pockets which, considering my profession, is not all that hard to do.

Wednesday Cat Blogging

2011-09-21T05:25:00.000-05:00

Stuff I Try Out

2011-09-20T08:39:00.000-05:00

There are all kinds of breakfast bars, drinks, and various dry cereals marketed toward those of us who are trying to get and stay healthy. Most of them taste only slightly better than the container they come in and all of them are way overpriced. You're paying for a concept rather than the food.

But I'm cheap....and I hate shelling out hard earned money for stuff that I have to choke down while convincing myself that it's good for me.

Enter oatmeal. Pretty simple stuff. I look at the ingredients and there is no long list of chemicals that I can't even pronounce, much less understand what it might be doing to my body. Oats. That's all. Just oats. Good protein source. Great fiber source. Fills you up and stays with you for a few hours. It takes about two minutes to prepare. I really like it with a bit of brown sugar but, if I'm avoiding sugar, I'll toss in a small pat of butter (real butter, not margarine gunk). If available, I'll throw in a few walnuts. A serving costs about ten cents. How many meals are you able to buy for a dime?

PRO: CHEAP!
Solid basic nutrition
No additives, no artificial anything

CON: Okay...it's pretty boring by itself

Verdict:

Oatmeal goes along with my philosophy that one doesn't need to spend a great deal of money on specialty foods in order to eat healthy. It seems to be the mindset that eating healthy costs way more than just eating junk food. I disagree. I feel that highly processed and packaged food, and I use the term food rather loosely, is actually more costly. A bowl of oatmeal costs much less than some oatmeal breakfast bar. A piece of fruit is far less than some super duper breakfast drink.

Keep it simple.

Home or Gym?

2011-09-19T18:45:00.000-05:00

It's an age-old problem...or at least an old problem to aged me. Where to exercise? The logical answer is at a gym. After all, these are places pretty much devoted to exercise. They have a bunch of weights, machines, and people who seem to be there for the explicit purpose of exercising.

Therein lies my problem...or neurosis. People. I hate 'em. Well, I hate being around them in a gym. I know, I know; it's all in my head. I get very anxious dressing up in exercise duds and getting on the machines, especially when I'm surrounded by fit young people pounding out twice my effort without breaking a sweat or interrupting their texting conversation. I keep telling myself that I paid my dues at the gym, I have a right to use the place, and besides...so what if I'm horribly out of shape...that's why I'm at the gym. Still doesn't matter. I'm all self conscious about people who, even if they did notice my presence in the gym, could not care less about what I am doing there.

Then there is the hassle factor. Working out at 5am is NOT what I really would like to do. I'd rather be sleeping, having sex, drinking coffee, surfing the internet, washing dishes, just about anything but get dressed and drive to a gym. In this effort to change my lifestyle any excuse at all to skip going out to the gym will rear it's ugly head and derail that effort with distressing ease. Too hot, too cold, too dark, too wet, too sleepy, I woke up with a bad case of bed head.....the list goes on.

The one way out of this is to do my exercise at home. I bought a few hand weights at Wally-World. Nothing fancy and they are fairly cheap. Just to keep them all together I also bought a stand for them, also fairly inexpensive. I rounded it out with some wussy weights my wife had on hand. This works pretty well. There is no exercise done on a machine in the gym that you cannot do just as well, or better, at home with a pair of hand weights. All I have to do is shove all the cat's crap aside, unfold my exercise bench, and go at it....no need to dress or wake up enough to operate a vehicle. No waiting for somebody else and I can take my own sweet time. I don't have to check my appearance or body aroma and, when I'm done, I'm home and a pot of coffee is ready for me.

And with gas prices lately.....

Wednesday Cat Blogging

2011-09-14T05:11:00.000-05:00

A Look at Myself

2011-09-07T18:00:00.000-05:00

YAAAHHHH!

I've been away for awhile. Sorry about that but thanks to all the readers that expressed concern for my well being. I'm fine...my computer wasn't, but it recovered. One thing that I meant to do last week was gather up all the measurements for my body; kind of a starting point that I hope to quickly and permanently leave behind. Taking a look at myself is always a frightening proposition. I tend to squint when looking at a mirror or at least not let my eyes travel down below my neck. I also hate scales because they never have anything nice to say to me. The thing is though, if you want to get somewhere, you have to know where you are starting. Below is where I'm starting.

weight: 208.8 lbs
bodyfat: 39%

neck: 16 inches
chest: 44 inches
gut: 48 inches
waist: 43 inches
hips: 42 inches
thigh: 22 inches
calf: 15inches
forearm: 11 inches
bicep: 14 inches

I'm not posting any photos but suffice to say, my body resembles a pear with toothpicks for arms and legs. I'll see if all of this is reversible....in only one year.

Day Before

2011-08-29T19:30:00.001-05:00

Stuff I Try Out

2011-08-29T13:41:00.002-05:00

If you are looking for a supplement with no additives, preservatives, and processing agents it is available...it's called food. However; sometimes it is just not feasible to whip up a balance meal when you haven't much time, nothing healthy on hand, or just plain do not want to cook. I'm not a big fan of supplements but I have to admit that meal replacement shakes are pretty handy.

The major problem is that most of them taste like lightly flavored motor oil. The Myoplex though is okay...provided you jazz it up with fruit and milk or yogurt. I generally make it with water, throw in whatever fruit I have on hand, and add a small container of fat-free frozen yogurt. It's quick, it's easy, and actually tastes comparable to a milk shake. There is an added bonus that the stuff is loaded with vitamins and minerals. It also has a lot of fiber which is good, but gives you the side effect of cutting some ferocious farts later in the day...so you may have to time your interactions with others.

Pro:

Quick, portable, and easy, no cooking required

Nutritious and satisfies hunger

As far as supplemental shakes go, it is actually good tasting

CON:

Expensive

Requires a blender

Gas producer

Verdict:

Not great but not bad. Real food is always better but you can't always get real food. These meal replacement shakes help me from eating other things when I'm hungry so that I can stay on track in my diet aims.

Challenges

2011-08-25T18:18:00.003-05:00

I've participated in a lot of fitness challenges. Well...to be more precise...I've started a lot of fitness challenges. I've actually completed none and I sit here trying to figure out why.

Oh, I start off like gangbusters. Most people do. We get all excited about a 6-week, 8-week, 12 week, whatever challenge to lose weight and get fit. Books are gathered. Diets are planned. Gyms are joined. We count down the days to the start of challenge and go roaring full speed with high expectations and bounding confidence.

A couple of weeks into it we peter out; tired, sick, overwhelmed, guilty, and disgusted with ourselves. We crawl away with the shame of failure. If you are like me and announce your grand challenge to the world, it's doubly humiliating and you really hope that all your friends won't ask you the dreaded question "so how's that challenge going for you?". The real pisser is that we usually end up in even worse shape than when we started.

What the hell is going on?

After starting and failing at so many challenges over the years, I think I have finally figured out what I (and maybe what a lot of other people) are doing wrong. I'm out of shape and trying to live the lifestyle somebody in shape overnight.

Think about it. I start a diet and exercise program which neither my body or mind is developed to cope with. As a result; I get hungry, tired, sick, and just generally feel a great deal worse than when I started. I get so discouraged than any excuse at all is enough for me to abandon the challenge.....rationalizing to myself that I've had unusual stressors or that I just don't have time in my busy day to do what the challenge requires of me. I beat myself up over an over about being unable to complete a challenge when, the simple fact is, I'm really just too out of shape to begin in the first place. Shawn Pillips' book Strength for Life notes this phenomenon and suggests a twelve day regimen to prepare a foundation for beginning a more intensive effort in developing long-lasting fitness....a sort of pre-challenge challenge. The idea is to adjust the body and mindset to the changes that need to be in place before taking on other changes in lifestyle and activity level.

This is what I will attempt at the beginning of my year long project in about four days. 12 days following a program of diet and exercise to prepare myself for the changes I wish to incorporate for the next year and the rest of my life.

"Life is occupied in both perpetuating itself and in surpassing itself. If all it does is maintain itself, then living is only not dying." --- Simone de Beauvoir

Wednesday Cat Blogging

2011-08-24T17:28:00.000-05:00

I Need Energy

2011-08-23T20:14:00.000-05:00

I don't know what's wrong with me today. I just have no energy to do anything at all. I'm not really tired. I feel rested well enough. It's not like I have any particular chore that I want to procrastinate about. I just feel sluggish. No energy. No desire. No drive.

I've been told that having a proper diet can maintain activity. I've also been told that exercise can rev up the mind and body throughout the day. I'll see if there is anything to those rumors.

But right now....I don't even have enough juice in my brain to change my mind.

Wednesday Cat Blogging

2011-08-17T17:03:00.000-05:00

I Hate Wearing Glasses

2011-08-15T19:36:00.003-05:00

I really do. It always feels like I'm wearing a mask, it screws up my peripheral, and with bifocals I'm continuously doing the head nodding routine to try and find just the right focal point. Plus, lotsa people already consider me a nerd and glasses do nothing to dispel that notion.

Still....I have to be able to read. My arms are no longer long enough so I need glasses for most of what I do every day. It can be embarrassing to be in a room full of people and squinting trying to figure out who is there, folks think I'm flirting with them. So off I went to get an eye exam. I haven't had one in about four years and figured that I may as well use some of my insurance which I pay out the nose for all the time. What I find out is that my eyesight is still crappy...but not anymore than it was four years ago.

I think that is the same goal I would like to achieve in this project. I don't expect to have the physique I had thirty years ago but it would be nice to not get much worse for the next several years. Maybe...just maybe....I can reverse a few things. I'm not trying to get the body of a teenager again, I just want to get the best body that a 55 year old can have.

Besides......nerds are suppose to be skinny

Stuff I Try Out

2011-08-14T11:51:00.007-05:00

Okay....so I know that peanut butter is not exactly the food of choice for losing weight, but I love the stuff. Besides, like most everything else, it's not the food that's bad for you so much as the quantity of the food you eat. Peanut butter is a good source of protein and fiber. It has a lot of fat...hence the need to moderate yourself with a bit of common sense. I'm particularly fond of the Natural Jif (crunchy of course) because it is very low in sodium and contains no high fructose corn syrup.

Pro:

-nutrient dense food that requires no preparation and is tasty and filling

-natural ingredients and low salt content and no HFC syrup

-no need to stir; most natural peanut butter looks like brown snot and quickly goes rancid

Con:

-this is NOT a low fat product, they make low fat PB but it tastes like mud (actually, I have a more vulgar descriptive label..but you get the idea)

-not good if you have a peanut allergy

Verdict:

Yes, it's got a lot of fat. Yes, it's high in calories. Yes, it's one of those processed foods that I railed against in an earlier post.

But it's damn good. If I have to give up eating good stuff just to be skinny...quite frankly....I'd rather be fat. I'm pretty sure there is a way to have both.

Diet Fads - Paleo

2011-08-12T08:11:00.003-05:00

I'm always amused by claims which state if one only eats certain foods, robust health will appear and weight will magically melt away. It is comforting. Who doesn't like to think that, by just eating, one can gain a great physique? And the logic is somewhat sound....after all....we ate our way into being fat...we should be able to eat our way out of it as well.

One of the hottest diet fads nowadays is called the Paleo diet. It goes by the premise that humans are genetically predisposed to eating lots of meat, a few plants and fruits, and perhaps nuts. I guess this idea comes from a concept of Conan like cavemen hunting down and grilling mastodons as compared to a modern overweight guy munching on Cheetos while watching TV. It's an interesting idea....but complete bull.

First off, prehistoric humans actually ate....pretty much whatever they could find. They had no "diet" per se, just a day to day struggle to get enough food to survive. If that meant killing something, great. If it meant finding something that was already dead, even better and safer. The knowledge of any plant that didn't poison grandma was passed down through the generations. How did this truly paleolithic diet work out for the health and fitness of cavemen? They had a grand life expectancy of under 30 years...tops.

What we do have a genetic propensity for is in storing fat when it is available. Humans that were able to do this had a much greater chance of surviving frequent lean times. Cavemen most likely went a couple of days or longer without food on a regular basis. Modern humans have difficulty going a couple of hours without eating and, since most of us don't have to chase down our food or be chased by something that thinks of us as food, the storage of fat gets a bit out of hand. The greatly increased lifespan also makes the long-term effects of being fat a lot more obvious.

So...is the Paleo diet good? The premise is. Cutting out processed carbs is definitely good for your health. Raw (as in unprocessed and fresh) vegetables are absolutely good for you. Lean meat is, I believe, a healthy part of any diet too....to a point. Most people eat way more meat than necessary.

I still believe the best diet is common sense. Eat a variety of fresh foods. Avoid processed and canned items. Treat high fructose corn syrup like plutonium and stay away from it if at all possible. Use small portions. Get up and move around once in a while to burn all the fuel you put in your mouth every day.

Pretty simple. Not exciting or sexy and it doesn't sell books.

Wednesday Cat Blogging

2011-08-10T08:12:00.000-05:00

Exposing Myself

2011-08-09T08:14:00.006-05:00

I haven't posted in a few days because I'm struggling with an conundrum. Just exactly how much of myself should I expose to the world through this blog?

I'm not talking about exposing my body. I'll probably do that through the year but it will be in an attempt to gauge progress and I'll give warnings to any reader who might be easily frightened. No, I'm talking more about personal exposures of my daily activities. I want this project to be a detailed account of all the stuff that goes on with a day-to-day journey to reach my goal in the next year. I can write about diet and exercise but can really only go so far with those subjects; besides, that can be a bit boring after a while for both myself and readers. What I need to do is detail the million and one things which pop up every day to derail us from attaining these goals that though we desperately want to achieve, somehow manage to fall short of actually completing.

One problem I have is my profession. I work in the mental health field and most of what I do every day is confidential. Not top secret as in national security but still stuff that I can't go into with much detail because it involves other people's private lives. I have to deal with a host of legal and ethical issues which force me to severely edit what I share about my working life....and that can be a problem if my working life is a big chunk of my week and the source of some of those things that might be hindering my progress.

After much thought on the matter, I believe I have reached a solution. I will not describe the agency I work for (so don't ask). I will not talk about any client, even using a pseudonym. I will not give professional advice or observations; anything I write here is purely my own opinion, which you can take or discard as you see fit. I will write about my daily experiences as they pertain to how it effects my own state of mind, motivation, and periods of discouragement.

In a nutshell....I'll have no hesitation of exposing myself but I'll limit it to myself.

Stuff I Try Out

2011-08-04T08:22:00.003-05:00

There was a time when I was a vegetarian for a few years. I eventually gave it up for a host of reasons but did discover one very important thing....I don't have to eat meat with every meal or even every day. While a vegetarian, I would search out all kinds of things to put some variety into my diet and perhaps even find replacements for meat. Most of the vegetarian faux meat products are pretty horrible. I think this is because they make an effort to taste like meat. Morning Star became a favorite because it doesn't try to mimic the flavor of meat. It tastes like...well...it tastes like Morning Star. If you are looking for a substitute for a fat laden greasy pork sausage patty, this will disappoint you; but if you're interested in some soy protein in order to cut down on your meat consumption, it's worth checking out.

Pro:

High protein with fairly low fat content.

Easy to prepare (one minute in the micro-nuker)

Great alternative to traditional breakfast meats like sausage or bacon.

Con:

Can be a bit pricey. Up to $4 or more for a box.

Sodium is high.

Does not taste like pork sausage. In fact, it's kinda bland. I use hot sauce to add zip.

Verdict:

As I said, I discovered these when I was a vegetarian and have continued to use them long after I had gone back to eating meat. It's not something that I eat every morning, but they are a good way to add variety to a breakfast and get good nutrition without loading up on animal fats.

Wednesday Cat Blogging

2011-08-03T08:19:00.000-05:00

What's It All About

2011-08-02T07:23:00.004-05:00

So what is this project to 55? Simply put, it will be a documentation of my effort to attain that elusive goal of health and fitness by the time I reach the age of 55....a bit less than 13 months from now. To that end I'll be posting every day (or at least every day that there is a computer available) about my progress, lack of progress, setbacks, breakthroughs, and whatever crosses my mind at the moment. There will still be the Cat Blogging Wednesdays because I like cats, especially mine. I'll do some product reviews to discuss which things are helpful and which are total crap. I'll probably post videos, particularly on days where I'm not feeling much like writing. I may put up some half-naked photos of myself during the year but I will limit that out of fear of being made fun of by friends and family.

Some of my more geekier friends tell me that blogs are dead but I'd like to think that it is still a good venue to express oneself. I'm especially interested in writing about this project because there just isn't a heckuvalot out there about people like me who want to get fit and healthy....people who start off with a lifetime of bad habits and very little, if any, exercise experience. I see a few here and there and, like myself, they fade away and give up for one reason or another. The main purpose of this project is to detail where things can go wrong and how to get quickly back on track. This blog will include lots of failures along the way but, hopefully, solutions as well.

What I May Be

2011-08-01T17:31:00.003-05:00

That really is the question I'm asking myself lately. I'm pretty solid on knowing who I am having long ago gone past youthful angst and any so-called mid life crisis. I'm happy. I'm content. I'm comfortable.

Almost.

For the past few years I've been trying to achieve a goal of health and fitness. There are a great many things that have gotten in the way of that plan; work, divorce, marriage, finances, age, .....oh...that last one...age. I'm coming up on my 54th birthday in a few weeks and I'm being met with the reality that I'm kinda getting old. I'm starting down the backside of middle age. Jeeze, I'm an adult!

Now I know all the bull people say about "age is just a number". Yeah, and my number is getting high. I look around at other men my age and, you know what's happening?....they are dropping like flies. Massive guts, high blood pressure, diabetes, you name it.

How do we get here? Decades of neglect. The accepted wisdom is that there is nothing a person can do about it. Muscle loss comes with age and with that loss comes less activity. Fat increases each and every year. You can't turn back the clock and cheat the karma of bad living and bad habits.

I think that's wrong...and I intend to prove it.

Starting on August 30th I am launching a one year project to absolutely change my body. I will document what works and what doesn't. I will be fit by 55 is my goal. I have a pretty good idea of what I want to end up with but not convinced on this date whether it is a possibility.

"We know what we are, but know not what we may be." -- Shakespeare Hamlet

Wednesday Cat Blogging

2011-07-27T18:25:00.002-05:00

Hell Yes It's an Addiction!

2011-07-25T14:44:00.005-05:00

I get into arguments with other people sometimes about whether or not smoking tobacco is an addiction or just a bad habit. Strangely enough, those that object to labeling smoking as an addiction seem to be those who have recovered from addictions themselves...such as alcohol, meth, crack, etc. It's almost as if they don't want to let any others in the so called recovery club if their drug of choice is nicotine. Almost snobbish.

Well...let's look at the definition of addiction; engaging in a behavior (such as ingesting a chemical) that consumes a large portion of your consciousness, and that behavior is continued in spite of the knowledge that it is extremely harmful or personal wishes to stop.

Gee, that certainly describes my smoking habit. My days pretty much revolve around cigarettes to some degree or another At least twenty times every day I suspend whatever I'm doing to dose myself with a few shots of nicotine. I know tobacco is bad for me. Beyond making me stink the tobacco will eventually kill me in what will likely be a painful and nasty death. I want to stop. In fact, I don't know of anybody over the age of 30 who likes smoking. I want to stop, I want to stop, gawd I want to stop....but I keep buying them, paying any price asked. I calculate that, since I started seriously smoking, I have given myself over one million doses of nicotine. Come across any addict that tells you they have given themselves a million injections or had drunk a million shots, and you would probably describe them as pretty hard core.

And like most addicts of any type...I relapse. There are no support groups for smokers. No anonymous 12-step meetings. No coins. No detox centers. No treatment centers. A smoker is on their own.

Which makes me more determined than ever to kick this addiction, habit, or whatever the hell you want to call it. I AM A NON-SMOKER!

damn...that sounds good

I AM A NON-SMOKER!

Wednesday Cat Blogging

2011-07-20T07:52:00.000-05:00

This or That

2011-07-11T19:32:00.003-05:00

I had a comment a while back from Don who noted my difficulty with both trying to avoid junk foods and attempting to quit smoking. Don made the suggestion that I concentrate on giving up the cigs and worry about the diet later. The reasoning is logical....both are attempts to modify deeply ingrained behaviors and maybe doing both at once just makes everything twice as hard; hence twice as likely to fail.

This is where I do battle with one of my big character flaws; the idea of doing something all out or not at all. In my goal to get healthy I tend to want to do it all at the same time...diet, exercise, and getting rid of the damn smoking habit. Of them all, smoking is the one that gives me fits. I quit smoking and all I want to do is eat. I eat properly I want to smoke. I exercise but I can't do it with the intensity needed to do any good, so in frustration I want to smoke.

Bloody hell!

So what I'm going to do is focus entirely to quit smoking. Oh...I'll still watch what I eat and how much. I'll still exercise. I'll do those things but without a driving goal. I'll just do them so I can develop good habits for when I do get down and dirty with my weight. Until then...for a couple of weeks anyway...I'm concentrating on giving up cigarettes. The little counter in the upper left corner will be updated when I have smoked my last. Most blog entries here are going to be about quitting this filthy habit, my progress, my struggles, my (hopefully) success.

Because, let's face it, without doing that, I may as well just resign myself to dying in a very few years.

Wednesday Cat Blogging

2011-06-29T07:18:00.000-05:00

Week 4 Day 3

2011-06-22T08:34:00.003-05:00

A lot of people think, that when I counsel people, I just sit and offer up advice and solutions to various problems. More specifically...that I fix those problems.

Hardly.

My job, and it's much harder than fixing some one's problem, is to get the other person to realize that their solutions are not working. It's often a source of amazement for me to have a person desperately seeking my advice spend a whole session telling me why they are going to continue doing the things that got them into their unhappy situation in the first place. I often end up asking them the famous Dr. Phil question..."so, how's that working for you?". It's considered a major breakthrough when a person can come to the conclusion that "it's not working very well at all" and open themselves up to trying something different.

I'm no different. My very good friend, Boyd , made some observations and comments concerning my diet that I had been listing for a few days. Good, sound advice and given with his sincere desire to help me attain the goals I wanted.

But what did I do with all that great advice?

I argued. I rationalized. I read every comment he made with a "but, but, but" going through my mind to explain why I was doing what I was doing and why it was the right thing to do. Even while complaining that what I was doing wasn't working.

Geeze....how embarrassing. Time to take some of that advice which I make a living out of giving to others.

Insanity is doing the same thing over and over, expecting a different result. Sanity is the knowledge that if you want something different in your life, you have to do something different in your life.

Thanks Boyd.

Week 3 Day 4

2011-06-16T22:00:00.001-05:00

Meal 1: bowl of oatmeal, pat of butter

Meal 2: small bag of Cheetos (my bad)

Meal 3: leftovers of meatloaf and wild rice

Meal 4: missed

Meal 5: pork & veggie stir fry, rice

Meal 6: handful of unsalted in-shell peanuts

Workout: jogging

Week 3 Day 3

2011-06-15T21:00:00.001-05:00

Meal 1: Oatmeal with pat of butter

Meal 2: No time to eat

Meal 3: Kashi Mayan Harvest Bake frozen meal...it was really yummy

Meal 4: Homemade fruit salad

Meal 5: Meat loaf, wild rice, broccoli

Meal 6: Grapefruit

Water: 16 oz per meal

Workout: Lower body, at home with hand weights

Wednesday Cat Blogging

2011-06-15T08:58:00.000-05:00

Week 3 Day 2

2011-06-14T21:38:00.004-05:00

What I ate today:

6am Meal 1: 1 bowl oatmeal with blueberries

9am Meal 2: 1 cup cottage cheese, 1 yogurt

12pm Meal 3: 1 bowl homemade fruit salad, handful of nuts

3pm Meal 4: Protein shake

7pm Meal 5: serving of steak and peppers, 2 whole wheat tortillas, 1 cup sherbet

10pm Meal 6: 1/4 ounce cheddar cheese, 1/2 grapefruit

and 12 glasses of water (about a gallon)

Week 2 Day 4

2011-06-09T08:00:00.003-05:00

It can be discouraging. Wanting to lose a bunch of weight, watching what you're eating, exercising, hunger, temptations, sore muscles....then stepping on a scale and thrrrrrpppppt! After more than a week on this challenge I've lost a grand total of 1 lb. I contribute that to the theory that I've already lost most of the easy weight and losing more bodyfat is going to be a slow process.

I am starting to feel better. Much more energy and not quite as hungry all the time.

Still sore though.

Wednesday Cat Blogging

2011-06-08T07:15:00.000-05:00

Week 1 Day 3

2011-06-01T10:50:00.003-05:00

I have difficulty eating breakfast. My usual habit is to drink several cups of coffee, supplemented with a few cigarettes, in an attempt to jump start my brain and body in the morning. That works for the short term...but very bad for me in the long view. So one of my challenges in this challenge is to start the day with a healthy meal. The photo above is one of my standards; two poached eggs and two vegetarian sausage patties. It totals about 200 calories with 32 grams of protein and 8 grams of carbohydrates. No butter or oil, just a bit of hot sauce on the patties and black pepper on the eggs with a glass of water on the side. The whole thing takes about five minutes to whip up so I can prepare it, eat it, and go.

It's pretty tasty too.

No Pain...No Gain

2011-05-31T08:12:00.001-05:00

Day 2 and, whilst cutting up strawberries for a fruit salad, I managed to slice into my finger. Okay...so I'm just a big wuss...hurts like the dickens though.

Week 1 Day 1

2011-05-30T19:08:00.000-05:00

Only Hours Left to Go

2011-05-29T18:47:00.000-05:00

Weekend

2011-05-28T19:25:00.001-05:00

Weekend

2011-05-27T20:37:00.001-05:00

Some Day Soon

2011-05-26T09:12:00.000-05:00

Wednesday Cat Blogging

2011-05-25T08:06:00.000-05:00

Eight More Days

2011-05-23T17:35:00.000-05:00

Hail Storm

2011-05-21T20:45:00.001-05:00

2011-05-21T11:23:00.001-05:00

Happy Easter

2011-04-24T07:03:00.000-05:00

Easter Dissonance

2011-04-23T21:53:00.003-05:00

People spend a lot of time arguing about the damnedest things and, in the process, generally try to ruin things for others who don't follow their narrow viewpoints.

Case in point....Easter.

Easter means many things to many people. For some, it's a holy day. For others, it's a celebration of spring. For still others, it's a Sunday in April, big deal. For kids, however, it is a very big deal indeed and has nothing at all to do with religion...it's about candy. Easter eggs! Chocolate rabbits! Jellybeans and Peeps. It's a hunt, a hide and seek game played with a mythical rabbit that stashes goodies in the yard for girls and boys to find.

But that isn't good enough for some who insist that such activity is blasphemous to their idea of what Easter is all about. Somewhat ironic since even the name "Easter" is derived from some Germanic goddess. Then, on the other extreme, there are those who go nuts at any public display of anything that hints at a practice of religion. These are the people who rename things "egg hunts" and "spring spheres".

Above it all there are the retailers who go ga-ga in selling as much candy for the day as they can, knowing that another chance will not occur until Halloween.....a holiday that really sets the pious on edge.

Why destroy Easter? Pray at sunrise if that's your thing. Dance naked in a field if that has meaning to you. Sleep in and skip shaving if you desire. Let the kids have fun. Enjoy the start of spring. Easter is what you make of it not what you want to make it for others.

As for me.....I'm going hunting for a chocolate bunny.

Fraidy Cat

2011-04-18T08:17:00.002-05:00

Completely off track. I finally got the wound on my leg to heal, came through a sinus infection, eased the pain of chigger bites all over my body....only to be laid low with a toothache. If it isn't one damn thing, it's another. The toothache is a particularly nasty bugger. The other ailments just involved pain; the toothache is pain on a whole different level.

Go to the dentist, you say?

Well...yeah....I will...I suppose.

Gawd, I hate the dentist though. It probably goes back to when I was a kid and had cavities filled by kindly Dr. Cherry. He really was nice but he had a bad habit of being very honest and let you know "this is going to hurt" right before he bore down on a tooth with his Black & Decker industrial sized drill.

But that was a long time ago and dentistry has come a long way. The last time I went, they gave me nitrous oxide. Great stuff. It wasn't so much that I couldn't feel any pain...I just didn't care. The dentist could have ripped out my tongue and I wouldn't have minded. The dentist that I'm going to gives some type of sedative that gets you so high you not only don't feel pain, you don't even remember going to the dentist in the first place after it wears off.

Still....old memories. Fear. Anxiety. Wait....my tooth actually feels better.

Wednesday Cat Blogging

2011-03-30T07:36:00.002-05:00

Wall

2011-03-29T09:00:00.003-05:00

I'm up against that dreaded brick wall...trying to break under 200 lbs. I seem to be hanging just above it; getting tantalizingly close then creeping up a couple pounds. I feel that if I could manage to slip under 200 then the weight would start falling once again and, in no time, I could reach my dream goal of 175 lbs....or maybe even my fantasy goal of 160.

Maybe it will happen this week.

Wednesday Cat Blogging

2011-03-23T07:56:00.000-05:00

One Month

2011-03-21T21:54:00.000-05:00

Not much difference. Well...maybe a little. Still have a couple more to go. Let's see what happens.

Grace Under Pressure

2011-03-18T20:11:00.004-05:00

I think something is wrong with me.

My job is somewhat stressful. It requires me to think and juggle several tasks during the day. I deal with intense emotions from other people. I'm required to make on-the-spot decisions that are often seconded-guessed by my superiors if the results go astray. The paperwork load is so immense I can't go to the bathroom without writing a report about the experience. I have watched my job burn through a lot of people...some not even lasting a couple of months.

I've done it for 15 years and love it.

Here I sit after a very long and hectic day looking forward to being on-call for the next 40 hours or so and I can't for the life of me figure out why I don't seem to be affected by the same stress that makes so many others crumble. I'm not super-human. I don't have any particular skills in dealing with pressure. For some reason though....the more stressful my job is during the day...the happier I am. It invigorates me.

Like I said; I have a screw loose somewhere.

Works for me though.