Day 197 - 52% Progress

Hope everyone's weekend has gone as desired so far. Today I have a pair of shout outs to share...

Big Girl Bombshell had her one-year blog anniversary this past week. Making it a year on the blogs is no small feat as I see it. Think of all the bloggers we have seen come and disappear back into a vat of ice cream inside of a month or two. Not Jules, she has had a great year. As I commented to her, If a person can replace embarassment with pride in a year; that is a GREAT year.

Ann over at Ann is Livin' Large also had an 'versary this week, her 100 day'versary. She didn't rest a moment putting together a winner of a 100 day post. Here she jotted 100 ways she has benefitted from eating healthier. Number 10 & 69 are my favorites, check them out.

This week's weigh in concludes a week of inconsistency. I struggled to eat balanced and portioned meals from dawn to dusk and say to day. There weren't any all out binges or collapses, just not the degree of consistency I now expect of myself. Same can be said for exercise. I did get it in this week, but just the minimum amount I look for. None of my workouts, except for one, left me with that accomplished feeling. I sense my mind is in a difficult-to-please mood at the moment, not sure why, so I may be cutting myself short a bit.  

As of this morning I have knocked out 52% pounds.

In total 63.5 pounds have been knocked out over twenty-eight weeks, 1.5 of that this week.

Today I weighed in at 256.5 pounds.

Oh Yeah, Have a Great Sunday.

Responsibility 199 - Gotta Do It!!

Day 196 - OctGTD to NovGTD

Look at those geese. They are totally fearless, nothing disturbed them. Not even my presence. Do you think they somehow know I hunt deer and not birds? Yet, that is.

Big day today, party day for the six in the family (three that live under our roof) whom have birthdays in October. We'll have about twenty people in all grazing and drinking this afternoon. Good times, and, an afternoon of temptations.

October is all but done and that means the October Go The Distance challenge is winding down. For myself this challenge was to Walk/Jog 25 miles in October. I accomplished that with a weekend to spare. However, I feel I should've hit that goal at least a week ago. Having shared that thought with Robby (Fit Girl Vs World) she had a great counter thought, "I think it's an eye opener for a lot of people to see how much it takes to be consistent, to find the motivation, to do the work. I mean, try not to think of it as a finish line, but a launching point for other challenges."

She has an excellent attitude, even more excellent perspective. Fit Girl Vs World organized this challenge and her post HERE yesterday ask us participants to consider a few things as we wrap up. In appreciation for her fine challenge I've decided to dedicate those considerations to this post. Here are my thoughts...
How do you think you did over the course of the month?

• How do you think you did over the course of the month?
In a word; inconsistent. I accomplished roughly 1/2 my goal in the 1st week. From there I struggled to make the time to do the other 1/2 by month end.

• Did you overestimate or underestimate your capabilities? Why is this? Is this representative of a larger trend in your life?
Under; even though I got my mileage in by month end I know I had more miles in me. Why? I simply poorly planned for exercise time. Challenges, & anything goal worth attaining, deserve better planning rigor.

• Did you learn anything about yourself while doing this?
I learned, or validated, that I am capable of much more when I CHOOSE to go for it. I come away here believing that I need to either come up with a valid reason to not go for it, or, GO FOR IT.

• Can you apply what you've learned in #OctGTD somewhere else in your life?
Sure, we all have other aspects of our lives which need marked improvement. One such area for me is career planning. I've attained allot in my career, but, so much more is attainable and can be achieved soon if I put more rigor to going for it.

• Did you make any new friends through #OctGTD -- were you able to support each other?
Oh yes, especially through twitter & using the #OctGTD hashtag. I would not have met as many new fitness blog/tweeps had it not been for this.

• What was the hardest part of the challenge? (physical? mental/psychological?)
Hhmmm... I am going to say mental. It was purely my own mental 'greased-albatross-wrangling' which saw me barely achieve my goal versus exceed it. Physically, to walk/jog 25 miles for the month was not too difficult. Although when I set the goal I did think it would be more difficult as I was just starting to add jogging to my cardio mix.

• What do you think you did really well this month? (doesn't have to be about #OctGTD)
Follwoing through to see the goal was achieved. The old me would have seen my inconsistency and given up or cared less if I got to mile 25 by the deadline or a week late. My new 'determined commitment' saw to it that I succeed just as it has fueled my overall transformation for nearly 200 days.

• What do you think you could improve on? (again, doesn't have to be about #OctGTD)
Other than the previously stated plan to exercise better, I'll go with eating consistency. I've had some struggles this month eating very good day in and day out. More fair or even poor eating days in October than the previous five months.

• No matter the numbers you already entered, are you going to finish strong, or taper off?
I took up this challenge for added inspiration, a reminder if you will, to do the work needed to get healthy. Just because I have hit my #OctGTD challenge goal does not mean I have achieved good health. The need to keep going strong remains and actually never will end in my 'new' belief.

• Did you go the distance? And no, I don't mean did you hit 100% of your goal... did you put yourself out there and really try for it? Is 80% still something you can be proud of?
This answer is entwined in all of my above answers. In short; I left gas in the tank. But I am proud of myself, very proud. I shall not allow a moments negativity in my reflection here.

I'm ready for #NovGTD; are you?

Responsibility 199 - Gotta Do It!!

Day 195 - Depend On Me

Continuing on the fashion show here, today I bring you this marvelous blue checkered short with tan'ish trousers. I have no idea if they are tan, or beige or whatever. Sort of like when you buy paint, it looks tan on on the paint chip card but the real name is Grand Bagel Delight - WTH is with that? Why do I have to be tempted with hunger while shopping for paint?! Oops, sorry, I got off topic. So anyhow, there is another new clothes picture for you.

Yesterday after work my wife & I decided to meet at Target to do some grocery & party shopping for the weekend. I arrived a good 30 minutes before she did so I decided to wander the store for a bit and saw a few items that I haven't purchased in years but brought back memories...

Silly Putty, this stiff was in my Christmas stocking every year. And like most stocking stuffers it was played with for 10 minutes at most before joining the rest of the small toys in the bottom of the large toy box. But for those 10 minutes my favorite thing to do with silly putty was rip off small chunks, pat my sister on the head leaving them in her hair...

Baseball cards, I owned thousands of these. I recall they cost about 25-cents for a pack of 12 or 15 cards. My mom wall papered a wall in my bedroom with several hundred, that was cool! This pack is $2.99 for 4 cards, yikes; not cool!...

Allow me to day how much I really do believe in today's word; Dependability. What does this word mean to you? Performing as required, that is what it means to me. Yes, a bit of Marine is coming though in me in that meaning...

When we think of dependability we usually think of it in the context of others we rely on being dependable. How often do we have those same thoughts focused back on ourselves?

Who is the primary person we have to depend on to get healthy? Simple question, right? It is ourselves. Your success is dependent upon your ability to perform as required.

Believing that as I do, is very comforting to me. I am most at ease when I am in control of myself. When my fate is not in my control, not only am I not at ease but I am not at my best.

Please don't get me wrong, we need help, we need others to stand arm-in-arm with in our mission. But if we can't depend first on ourselves then we ought not expect others to make being-healthy happen for us. It just doesn't work that way in personal health & fitness.

Responsibility 199, Gotta Do It!!

Day 194 - Courageously Burning Lettuce

To shed the darkness of obesity for something better is Courage necessary? If you consider embarking on a mission to get healthy to be very challenging, to be unknown in some respects if not many, or to be one where you success is at risk from the start; then you likley also consider courage to be a necessary attribute to embrace. If you disagree, please share with the class.


Good day yesterday, no great day. Had a follow up visit for my cheek scar and all is healing as it should at this point so says the doc, excellent. Got in the cardio I mentioned yesterday in the morning and followed that up with solid eating through to the end of the day. Let's see if I can follow that up with a repeat today.

For those that asked to see the new clothes, I am here to make your requests reality; feast your eyes to the right... clashes withe sea-foam'ish green walls doesn't it?

How many are a fan of the show Burn Notice? My kids love the show so I see it on from time to time, thus I am familiar with it. I win't go as far as to say I am a fan as if there aren't goals being scored or checkered flags being waved I have a hard time giving the television time.

That said, this not a post about a television show, rather it is sort of about calories. Each day we take in calories and burn off calories. Most if not all reading here understand how the math works. Knowing the math is important. No, it is critical for understanding the basics of health if I may dare say so.

Breathe easy, I am not going to bore you with a caloric math lesson. If you want that, there are a zillion websites, try this one. Or better yet, Allan over at Almost Gastric Bypass has written some great posts on the math, give his site a search.

Knowing the math, I am interested in how to make it a fun ride on the caloric teeter-totter? Why make it fun? Well, because I like it fun, and fun it will be. If that is not reason enough then consider my (or maybe your) dozens of previous missions to get healthy. Myself, many times I just plodded through focusing on the math, and just the math. Sadly, I quit each of those missions.

A common and key learning from all of those attempts; if you don't enjoy what you are doing, your chances of success are a skosh above zero. Accepting the mission to become healthy is hard enough, particarly mentally; why make it harder still by accepting that it has to be boring? Not me, not this time. Here is one way I try and keep it fun...

I wake up, and while attending to the 3-S's I ask, What will I burn off today?

Yesterday, I committed to burning off not exercising the day before, at least 400 calories.
Today, I committed to burning off a piece of birthday cake since I will be avoiding three birthday cakes this weekend. I do not plan on eating any, not one bite, but I am going to burn one off anyhow!
Recently, I committed to burning off 10 heads of lettuce. Figuring 75 calories per; 750 was my target that day.
Once, I committed to burning off all the carbs I ate the day before. Figured a target burn of 200 carbs or 800 calories; the biggest culprit in that number were the 150 carbs of spaghetti with bolognese from dinner.

Sound goofy? To some it will. To others it won't.

Getting healthy ought to be fun! So get busy having fun & fit.

What will you burn off today?

Responsibility 199 - Gotta Do It!!

Day 193 - Rewards Rock, But

GO, that is my word for the day. I am not at work this morning, so no fancy white board. Just cheap ball point pen to scrap paper. No picture of new clothes today either. I just got back from a 2 mile walk/jog combo where I posted a new PR at 29:03 minutes. So you see me in my cheap workout shirt trying to get this post put together so I get on to eating some breakfast and a take a shower...

Where do you want to GO today?

Rewards rock! And they certainly can help motivate, they do for me. But those of us that use rewards for attaining milestones must keep rewards in perspective. The rewards are not meant to be the primary, or even secondary, reason we strive to get healthy.

Rewards are simply carrots we dangle to help us alongside the real reasons we do this. For everyone our real reasons are different and most of us have shared them from time to time with each other. If I were to hazard a guess, and I shall; a guess at the commonality amongst all of our real reasons I would say longevity & happiness may be the big two. Fitting into smaller stuff may be a close third :-)

For my 40% to goal weight reward it took me a couple months to cash in that reward. Simply I debated whether I really needed the hitch-haul I had originally set out for that goal. Mixed into that self-argument was the looming reality that I needed a whole new set of work clothes. As I shared last week my wife ended my internal argument for me and took me shopping, so new clothes it was. I Love My Wife!

For my 50% to goal weight reward it took me a couple days to cash in. There it is below, my new hunting rifle. Bought it on Sunday, the day I verified I had eclipsed the 50% mark. Illinois has a 1-day waiting period before you can pick up purchased rifles yet it took me two days to get back to the store to bring it home. For any fellow hunting or shooting enthusiasts out there I picked out a Savage Arms 7MM Rem Mag Rifle w/3-9x40MM Scope.

Now on towards the 60% milestone which I hope to attain by end of year at the latest. 

Responsibility 199 - Gotta Do It!!

Day 192 - Bacon & Belts

Yesterday was a good day, woke up early and hit the weights for an hour before work. Salads for both lunch (with tofu & egg) & dinner (with venison medallions). Looking for some even more good today.

Today's word is STRIVE. Striving for a day that is as near perfection as I can deliver. Perfection is impossible in my mind, we are human and not capable of it. But we can come very close and when we do, we succeed.

In yesterdays post I failed to mention a cool NSV. Last May, about 1 month after I started this mission, my wife & I went to game 1 of the Stanley Cup finals. We also went this past weekend. In the nearly 5 months between the two events I've accomplished the ability to sit in that seat without smushing my hips against the armrest & I can cross my legs comfortably. I am giving that an Oh yeah!


Deb over at Deb Shrinks (who I also gave a shout out to this past Sunday) was first to guess yesterdays picture riddle correctly; a safe. I wasn't sure if I gave away too much of the safe door in the photo, but, then I never know how much is too much in so many aspects of life. Several others later guessed similar. Hmmm, I need to find a real doozy for the next time. Um, is doozy a real word? 

From our 2 deer we harvested the backstraps & tenderloins, the rest is being made into 48 lbs of sausage-stix (like slim-jims) & 97 lbs of bacon. My wife thinks I am nuts (out right ROFLAO nuts)  for having so much of it made that way. Then last night the garage door repairman came by to do his job. Thirty minutes of manly hunting talk later he took a check to cover the cost of parts & 10 pounds of bacon as payment for his labor. Nuts huh :-)

When was the last time you bartered for something?

New clothing that was made possible when I notched 40% of my goal.

Yes, long-sleeve shirt weather is here.

Belt, new belt - but how long before I have to take a punch to this one?

It came with 7 holes, and I am using hole 5, so just 2 more to shrink into.

The belt a size smaller would have had me using hole 1 but the tip wouldn't reach under the loop, odd.

I sound like a fashion driven socialite and I am so the opposite, too funny.

Responsibility 199 - Gotta Do It!!

Day 191 - Pic At This

Thought I'd spend today putting up some pictures. Why not start with a picture of something, something that you may or may not know what it is. If you think you do, offer a guess, otherwise, I'll come back tomorrow with what it really is. So take your best guess, it costs nothing and won't hurt a bit.

- - -

Our daughter Ashley turned 18 this week. It was just another day as a high-school senior for her in most ways with one exception; she got to vote for her first time. Thanks to early voting in Illinois . Her birthday cake was as she wanted, a stack of chocolate donuts with candles on top; and it was for breakfast. Hey, she wanted chocolate donuts before getting off to soccer practice.

- - -

Part of her day also included a trip to a couple of banks to close out her children's savings account and get her properly set up to bank as an adult. I wonder if she can spot me $5 until Tuesday?

- - -.

My wife and I went for a walk yesterday evening. Felt good to get out and walk for some exercise, first real cardio I've done in a week. All of the neighborhood trees planted along the roadside parkways are void of leaves. The rapid leaf loss this year has more to do with the high winds of late versus the temperatures which have been quite warm the past few weeks.

- - -

Good thing I saw this lawn decoration while it was still a bit light out. If I hadn't noticed it until one of my 4:30 a.m. walks I may have well been freaked out enough to run. Hmmm, that may not have been a bad thing. We used to go bonkers on the holiday decorations when the kids were grade schoolers. These days they could careless and participate less in such things. Thus we do not decorate at all for Halloween and my once Grizwold like Christmas display pales in comparison to a decade ago.

- - -

This past weekend my wife & I went on a date. We took in our first hockey game of the 2010-11 campaign.

The Blackhawks 2010 Championship banner looks great hanging from the rafters of the United Center.

Now we need to get another, and another, and...

- - -

Today's word of the day is ABLE.

I am able to rule this day and end it healthier than I started it.

How was your weekend?

 Responsibility 199 - Gotta Do It!!

Day 190 - 51% Progress

Whew, after 4pm here on Sunday, I am never this late with a post. But today I am obviously. My wife & I woke up this morning and got busy having fun and haven't stopped all day. Just haven't had any computer time until now. Before I get going any further about myself, allow me to send up a shout out to all of you.

Deb from Deb Shrinks, On Thursday she wrote a post that I could have written myself as well. Deb. I've thought of writing a post on this topic myself. Deb beat me to it, and she did quite well, so I shall abstain from a go at it myself. If you've ever had difficulties taking a compliment, then you too will be able to relate to; read and enjoy.

OK, Home for a weigh in for the first time in three weeks, and a mix of good and not so good I suppose with this weigh in. My hope was to lose 4.5 pounds over the past three weeks, staying with my chosen pace of 1.5 pounds per week. So here is the result...

I have slapped away 51% pounds off my body.

Slapped away in total have been 62 pounds over twenty-seven weeks.

Today I weighed in at 258 pounds.

Therefore I dropped 3.5 pounds over the past three weeks, a pound short of the 4.5 desired loss. Certainly I feel great for having continued to lose weight. And certainly I am not surprised I came up a bit short. This past week has been a challenge with being ill and then just succumbing to being busy so I have had probably my most inconsistent week of exercise in many months.

Thus not allot of self reflection needed to see what I need to adjust to get the pace kicked back up to where I want it. I just gotta get moving like I ought to be moving. And move I shall.

Hope all are having a great weekend!

Responsibility 199 - Gotta Do It!!

Day 189 - Got New Clothes

Enough is enough, a phrase that applies in oh so many ways to life. Certainly being obese itself has that day dawn where we stand up, or stay seated, and say enough is enough! And those of us who are parents can agree we regularly take a child aside and demand, enough is enough!

Well yesterday was an enough is enough moment for me, enacted by my wife (pictured to left) and fueled by my own lack of action to get new clothes that fit my lessor sized me better. Yep, she took me clothes shopping after work.

Now I've never cashed in my reward for achieving 40% of my weight loss goal. A combination of never finding the hitch-haul I wanted on sale and a realization I may not actually need one. So this enough is enough event was also made possible by allowing myself to accept it by making it my long-ago earned 40% reward. Oh who am I kidding, she would have taken me shopping irregardless of my delay to reward myself.

My work wardrobe used to consist of trousers with tightly fitting 46" waistlines and 3XL shirts which fit as needed in the gut but tended to be baggyish in the chest. Being apple shaped its always been hard to find shirts which were cut well for me in both gut & chest. Well no, finding such a shirt was a dream and rare find to be honest.

Now that wardrobe has been replaced with comfortably fitting trousers that are 42" in the waist and 2XL shirts that fit well and have me less conscious about that gut to chest differential. There you see me checking out one such shirt. Like?

Have you rewarded yourself lately for your accomplishments?


Have a wondrously awesome weekend!



Responsibility 199 - Gotta Do It!!

Day 188 - Today's Word Is

As of late I have noticed more and more folks using visual aids for motivation. More specifically the use of single words scribbled on cubical white boards, or on sticky notes slapped on their monitors, refrigerators, etc., or even up on walls in the form of vinyl letter applications. Others we know goes as far as to tattoo their fave words that inspire them on their arms, legs, chests or...

Giving the use of single words some thought, I have decided to not get tattooed. Just want to end any anticipation I have may have created in the first paragraph that I am about to ink up here. Nothing wrong with ink, just not going there; not today anyhow. Giving thought, I believe that whatever we can find motivation in that gets us to set goals and achieve them, them leverage whatever that is. If it is a word, a quote, a poster of the U.S. Constitution, then get it up before your eyes and feed off of it.

We wade into each day with differing levels of energy, intensity, desire (how is that for some rapid-fire motivational words?)... Some days we need a bump to apply ourselves towards what we desire. Sometimes that bump is a simple nudge of a reminder that there is something worthy to be achieved today. And sometimes that bump is a hard slap to the face that you are in a hole and need to stop digging and climb up, out and move onward.

Motivation is whose responsibility? It is our own, What we say to ourselves, that is what more often than not is what keeps us on mission. A word, just one, can be all it takes to provide the bump of motivation needed today. Tomorrow, the same word may be the right word for the day. Or, maybe a different word is needed to get the fire started, stoked and ablaze. Perhaps one words gets the morning moving and it is another that is needed to carry the afternoon. To each his/her own!

What is your motivational word for this moment you are in?

For myself, you see mine for the moment there in the picture of my own cubical white board: DARE
I know, not your typical word that inspoires. But today I find I need to remind myself to DARE to be better. Being better is not easy, it is not just going to happen; I need to be bold enough to DARE myself to do that which is hard and requires effort if I want to reap the rewards that are quite obvious.

Not sure what word it is that will amp you up today, that's ok. Nothing wrong with doing a little word shopping for the one that pops up and grabs you...

Accomplish ~ Achieve ~ Act ~ Action ~ Ambition ~ Attain
Attitude ~ Believe ~ Challenge ~ Commit ~ Confidence
Control ~ Conquer ~ Courage ~ Desire ~ Determination
Empower ~ Encourage ~ Endure ~ Energy ~ Enthusiasm
Faith ~ Finish ~ Fire ~ Focus ~ Goals
Happiness ~ Honor ~ Humility ~ Imagine ~ Inspire
Integrity ~ Joy ~ Knowledge ~ Laugh ~ Learn
Love ~ Mission ~ Motivate ~ Opportunity ~ Overcome
Passion ~ Perseverance ~ Positive ~ Pride ~ Risk
Satisfaction ~ Spirit ~ Spunk ~ Strength ~ Succeed
Trust ~ Value ~ Wisdom ~ Zest ~ Chicago Blackhawks

Responsibility 199 - Gotta Do It!!

Day 187 - Veg Out Already

A fine sunny day it is here in the Midwest. Hope that is the case all day here and where ever you are too.

My head cold from earlier in the week has pretty much moved on. Energy is much better today so looking forward to getting in some exercise here. Eating has been fine, no train wrecks there just because I took ill. Which is an improvement in mind for me as in times past being sick was a great excuse to belly up to some comfort foods.

As of late I have noticed our dinner at home getting a little blah, particularly where side dishes are concerned. Too many salads from a bad or fresh fruit salads. Oh both a great and certainly better than not including some veg in the meal. However as I tend to get bored easily I am looking for some ways to amp up the side dishes at our table.

Before I get on here with what I am thinking for doing just that, please oh please; what do you do to turn a boring vegetable right out of the grocery bag into something the finicky eater will warm up to?

Some years ago I went on a rant with marinades and sauces. Primarily for use with meat but a few applied well to veggies too. Having recalled that rant I've jogged the memory which produced little; too early for serious memory function I guess. That didn't deter me however as all I needed to do here was sift through a folder of recipes we've scribbled down over the years and shazam, found a few. So here a couple I've decided need to have a go at home soon...

Zesty Garlic Marinade

• 1/4 cup vinegar
• 1/4 cup water
• 1/4 cup citrus juice (any you desire)
• 1 TBS soy sauce
• 3-4 cloves garlic minced fine
• 1 TBS fresh ginger minced fine

Simply mix all together in a bowl and marinade your veggies of choice in that same bowl, or in a large ziploc type bag, for an hour or more. I recall this one working well for veggies that cook up well on the grill. I also recall kicking it up a bit too with some healthy dashes of hot sauce, but, I kick allot of stuff up with hot sauce.
 
Oil-Free Sauce

• 3 TBS plain low or non fat yogurt
• 1/3 cup wine vinegar
• 1/2 cup water
• 1 TBS thyme
• 1 tsp parsley
• 1 TBS mustard (preferably a brown mustard)
• 1 clove garlic minced fine
• pinch of salt and pepper

Simply mix all together in a bowl and then pour into a bottle of carafe or whatever you can serve it from at the dinner table. This is great fro drizzling over steamed veggies or for use as a salad dressing. I recall over doing it on the vinegar before, my bad, so I corrected it with a pinch or two (maybe it was three) of sugar. Of course you can use a sugar substitute too and not just to correct a vinegar oops as I did but just include in the recipe if you prefer to make a sweeter version.

Enjoy!

Responsibility 199 - Gotta Do It!!

Day 186 - NSV's in October

October is just flying by here, isn't it? Before you know it Halloween will be here. My wife already has candy at the ready. Last year I would have eaten a bag of it by now and forced her to have to buy more. not this year, no way!

My boy Andrew turns 17 this week; Happy Birthday son!


Our immediate & extended family has six birthday's in all in October. My brother-in-law Scott turned 49 earlier this month. And both of my wife's parents had birthday's earlier this month as well. Two more of our kids have them later in the month. So more happy birthday posts to come.
This week I have NSV's to share, well look to the picture for a pair of them...

First, that shirt there has been in my closet for 2 if not 3 years. A month or so back it was still too snug for my liking. Today I am wearing it with a new pair of slacks my wife bought me. She bought me 3 new pairs of 42's this past weekend. This pair of slacks is 'olive' in color and I couldn't find a shirt to go with it, that is what prompted me to try this one on and see if I were ready for it. How about that, this morning it fit just fine; maybe still a wee-bit snug. It felt good so today is it's maiden voyage.

Second, two more holes have been punched in my belt this week. Yes, I still have not purchased a new belt. Likely a new belt is in my near future as my wife is getting tired of seeing me 'play' with this one. The good news for this old belt, in addition to having punched 7 holes in it since April; it now wraps far enough around on my left side for the tip to go under the belt loop over there. There you see me holding the belt at its tip; thus the good news is that I don't need to use the double-sided tape anymore to keep it from flapping about.

What is your latest NSV? Come on, I know you've had one or more you may have neglected to share with the class...

Responsibility 199 - Gotta Do It!!

Day 185 - Quickie Food Love

Welcome to Tuesday, the only day of the week with 7 letters in it.

Bringing you a little food love this day. The picture there was made possible by my son Cameron. In that tray you see there marinading away are six venison backstrap chops. Picked his meat up while dropping off my doe for processing yesterday. These were quite yummy, sorry I didn't take a after-cooking picture. Was just too anxious to get them on a plate and start feasting.

Being able to share dinner with the family was the high point of my day Monday. Seems I brought a head cold home with me this weekend and that had me low on energy and enthusiasm much of the day. A bit better today I believe, hopefully this clears out as the day wears on as I'd like to get in some exercise this evening.

Yesterday I ate very well, there was no urge to eat junk because I felt like junk. This morning's breakfast was fruit & juice so I am off to a good start here. As long as my mental game doesn't get sick i wont suffer any illness related setbacks.

Ok, that's about all I have in me this morning. Hope all of you are doing well, being healthy and having fun!

Responsibility 199 - Gotta Do It!!

Day 184 - New Week (Day)

Monday, and it is almost noon here. That is late in the day for me to put a post up. It happens, just a busy morning, all is well.

A new week is here, or better said a new day. But so many reference Monday as a new start, so you can it a new week if you are more comfortable doing so. Regardless what you call it, at the end of the day, week, I'll be healthier than and the end of yesterday, last week. How about you?


No weigh in yesterday as I was away hunting again. I am feeling good and do not believe I have gained any weight. I am hopeful I have lost some weight, but I don't feel that either to be honest. We'll see when I weigh in next Sunday (10/24) where my goal is to see no more than 257 pounds on the dial. That would be a 4.5 pound loss since my last weigh in on Oct 3rd.

This weekend my exercise came in a 4 miles walked in the hill country. Not bad, could have been more. Eating was decent. It is always a challenge when hunting because most of the groceries brought are convenience foods. A good selection of fruit made it's way there too so I have good options at hand.

As for a hunting report, w only got two doe this weekend, friend of the family 'Shorty' took one and I did as well. Up there you see a picture of me on Saturday morning scanning the tops of the 5-foot high field grass for movement. A great time even though we only harvested two doe.

Be healthy & have some fun today!
Responsibility 199 - Gotta Do It!!

Day 183 - Get Looking Up

On Friday (two days ago for those of you still half-asleep) I mentioned a minor set back I had on Thursday (Thanks again for all the enouraging words) and that I was moving onward. And I did, Friday was a banner day actually. It was banner in that I ate great and exercised and got my healthy back on.

Yet, even though I knew what I needed to do, and I did it, I still found myself wanting to get angry and argue with myself over the set back. It must be cruel human nature to want to get down on yourself and needlessly drag out the negative. Why that is I do not know, but I don't like it. More specifically what I don't like is that I came to terms with the set back, and step forward again physically, but still I stepping forward mentally took an extra day or so to catch up.

Oh, maybe I am whinning here and I really ought not too. Especially since it was a small hole I dug myself into. If so, then I will stop as I dislike whinning and doing it myself is not something I can tolerate. What really matters is that my brain has caught up to my body and all is well. There is no perfection really, just great effort to be better. And better I am, that I am positive of.

Looking up, well you see me there looking up, and that is just what I am doing. Something that keeps me looking up is you, my fellow bloggers. And I'd like to share a few shout outs with you from some cool posts I've read this past week...

Luke over at "The Super Fatlete" had this post on Wednesday.
He shares a cool idea to pair up the obese / over-weight with mentors from endurance sports in effort to break their cycles of unhealthy living. Luke is looking to move this idea into reality He has hasked for feedback about the concept and suggestions about the execution. Check him out and share your words whether they be wise or whimsical. 

LauraLynne over at "Taking the Scale by storm!" had this post on Thursday.
She shares her boot camp experience and love she has for it. What really tugged at me with this post is this quote, "I'm not there to impress anyone". I know, that by itself doesn't say much. But read the paragraph it is in, and tell me you don't get tugged in too. She also goes on to talk very frankly about parenting. And after reading that if you want more LauraLynne as I did, read her NSV post from Wednesday. Oh heck read all of her posts! Seriously, check her out if you two have not met.

Hope everyone had a Saturday they can call great and that your Sunday will be better yet.

Responsibility 199 - Gotta Do It!!

Day 182 - Saturday It Is

Lanie nailed the picture riddle from yesterday right away. It was a cutting board. When I saw that I figured I made it too easy. But then a bunch of different guesses came in and the fun continued... easy or hard, there will be another day for another riddle.

Friday was a better day - Thanks for all the encouraging words!

This morning I am about to go out with the boys, and my niece, and trek through some Wisconsin hillsides and get in some more deer hunting. Looking forward to a great day outdoors, fresh air, void of stress and full of laughs. Outdoor activities, such as hunting & fishing, or activities such as skiing or hiking or basketball... activities such as these are great opportunities to get in exercise that is fun and do it with family and friends.

Not all exercise needs to be in a gym or on a running track. Not all family time needs to be in front of a television. Mix it up, mix in the fun. Now by mixing it up, I don't suggest mixing up hunting with basketball. Bad, only bad will come from that. And fishing while skiing, not likely to go so well especially if snow skiing.

What fun do you have planned fro this weekend? The weather is supposed to be summer-like in many areas that should be feeling the chill of fall right now. Get out and play!

Responsibility 199 - Gotta Do It!!

Day 181 - What The Friday

Picture riddle for Friday this week. There you see it. Looks geometrical, looks patterned. Doesn't look like the sky or a tie. Or does it?

This weekend I will be off hunting with the boys again. I will schedule a post for Saturday to reveal the answer to this riddle which I doubt will go unsolved.

Did you eat smart yesterday? Did you exercise? My answer is NO to both. While I didn't horrible, it sure could have been better. And since I chose not to make time to exercise, well; yesterday was not a good one. You could even call it a set back.

Set backs are going to happen. They come with a cool challenge though; the challenge to not string them into days or weeks or more. Whether the set back is small or big, and then get on keeping the distance until the next one as far out as possible.

It having happened, I feel the need to recognize it, to announce it to someone; and I am doing that here to you now. Now, this minute, is when I shall move forward once again. My very next choice will be a good one, I am putting the set back behind me and taking a step towards a healthier day.

For a while last night when the day was done I caught myself getting mad at myself; an argument with myself you could say. Had it been audible it would have had allot of bleeping out. However after a few minutes of self-anger I just stopped it.

When I realized what I was doing I also remembered where I was. My set back left me standing in a hole, albeit a small hole. But realizing that I had two choices, keep up the anger and risk getting so mad I'd actually dig deeper. Or, stop digging and climb out.

How often do we allow set backs to continue, in essence we see we are in a hole and we figure we can dig a little deeper & worry about how to dig out tomorrow. or next week, month, or when we hit 320 pounds? I believe such thinking is what got me to be 320 pounds.

So I am in a hole, and when in a hole what should you do?

STOP DIGGING!

What was the last hole you were in and when? Are you in one now?

Responsibility 199 - Gotta Do It!!

Day 180 - Aged Banana Bump'n

source

Thursday it is, in case you did not know. You probably knew that did you know that bananas are the world’s most popular fruit after tomatoes? While grocer’s like that they make up 3% of their total sales they are less than happy that bananas account for the most complaints from grocery shoppers. Some just go off at the sight of an overripe or even spotted banana. Fact is that a spotted banana is 6x sweeter than a green banana. So people, don't be shy of the more 'experienced' bananas amongst the bunch.

Yesterday my son & I visited Lake Andrea for some exercise. We followed last weeks walk / jog layout exactly the same. Decided to do this versus increase the total percentage of jogging. Oh I will do that soon, but yesterday I just wanted the challenge to try and be a better time, or, amp up the pace of both the walking & jogging. And that we did, we completed the 2.25 mile loop in 29:32 minutes, beating our best by 1:23 minutes. Oh Yeah!

Bumper Stickers, was doing some bumper sticker window shopping (what you don't do that?) and came across a few worthy of sharing...

Ah, many times in the past I could have displayed this one and related. Start a diet, flounder through it, lose steam, slip and slide and quit before even giving it a chance. In the end, all I did was lose time. Well, hopefully I also gained some knowledge on how to 'not' diet. Or even more optimistically I gained some knowledge on why 'I' quit the diet because the diet did not quit me.

Another I can relate to. In part the bad choices of my 20's & 30's left me really feeling life in my 40's. And when I'd look in a mirror, the show was not a good one. Fine, that may be so. But now I am going to try & reverse this bumper sticker and prove that a better life can begin in your 40's and you can improve how it shows too.

This one is pretty simple to relate to I believe. What do we say, eat less & move more to get healthy. I prefer eat smarter & move more, but let us not split bananas here. Get off the rump roast, eat less of it too, get on your feet, and move. Simple enough?

Well, this one is just silly I suppose. Why did I show it? Because it reminded me of the 1,273 excuses I have used in the past for why I was (still am) obese. Most were attempts to use humor to ease the pain of being obese and change the topic either in my head or with someone else. Have fun, laugh out loud, but be serious about our health - we can have fun and be healthy. But making fun of ourselves and leaving it at that, well that just is not funny!
 

This one you can fold in half lengthwise and just show the top portion in my opinion. Get healthy for yourself. Do it whatever way you inspires you to get it done. Lace on the Nike's and just do it and worry not one ounce what anyone else thinks about how you look, what you are doing, your progress or plateaus or set backs... all that matters is what do you think about yourself?

Source for all of the above bumper stickers.

Responsibility 199 - Gotta Do It!!

Day 179 - All The Weigh

Kenz, over on All The Weigh posted a questionnaire last week. I've seen it answered on a few blogs, have enjoyed the Q&A and am giving it my attention here and now. If you enjoy this, take the time to answer these questions too in a comment on her fantastic blog, or in your own blog post. If you do, let Kenz know so she can enjoy your answers too.

Here are my answers...

1. What was your highest weight, what do you weigh right now and what is your goal weight?
320 pounds, my last weigh-in on 10/3 was 261.5 pounds; my goal wight is 199 pounds. Whew, 320, i can't imagine how I tolerated lugging that load around for as long as I did.

2. What is your #1 motivation for losing weight?
I probably answer this question a bit different each time when asked, there simply just is not one reason. But if I treat '#1' as if it is the most important reason possible, then that reason would be to do all I can not to die at a young age as a result of my own poor choices. And to a lessor extent because I want to wear with confidence swim trunks without also having to wear a tarp of a shirt to cover up the moobage.

3. Have you always been overweight?
No, although I have most of my adult life. I was 'puffy' in high school. I was fit in my early adult years. That gave way to weight gain in my later 20's and eventually obesity by my mid-30's.

4. When you want to give up what inspires you to keep going?
The fear of posting on my blog that I gave up, that I quit something. One of the greatest benefits of blogging is the accountability factor. The thought of having to say to all who read that I gave up; not a pleasant one in my head.

5. What is the #1 thing you look forward to when you hit your goal weight?
Writing that blog post. I have it scripted out in my head, it will be epic! As well I look forward to strapping on 121 pounds of weight (not sure how) and feeling once again - one last time - how that used to feel as a celebratory remembrance of what I used to be and how far I have come.

6. Do you have support on your weight loss journey?
Yes, oh my yes. My wife is there for me. My kids are too. Our cats benefit too as I give them more nibbles off my plate; yes our cats beg like dogs. And of course, the weight loss / fitness blogging community is in my corner in a big way too.

7. What is your favorite exercise?
Weights, free weights over machines. I love feeling strong and acting strong.

8. What is the most important thing you have learned on your weight loss journey?
Choices, it all comes down to choices. You have the power to choose, nobody forces you to eat crap and lay around like a pile of it. The program, the diet, the exercise, the secret to succeeding is not in any of them. It is within you. CHOOSE one that you feel good about, CHOOSE to make up your own, but just CHOOSE to get up and move more and eat smarter.

9. What is one thing you have given up that you miss the most?
Ordering at the drive thru and getting your feast within 38 seconds. That instant gratification stimulus of the fast food world is as addictive as the food itself. Eating healthy takes more effort, time; and it should. Being healthy, being happy, being alive is an amazing reward and the best rewards come from passionate & determined effort.

10. What is your strategy for losing weight?
I follow no plan because I find them to be boring and not very fun. If I can't have fun doing this then take me back to 320 please. Let me tell you something, I am having allot of fun. What fuels the fun is myself, I believe in myself. I simply believe in myself to make the choices necessary to get healthier each day. Think about that for a second... believing in yourself, how simple is that? Simply I choose each day to eat less, or burn more, or both. Keeping it that simple removes allot of stress from the mission.

The hardest part was realizing that this is what I want. You have to want to be healthy more than you want to just eat food to eat food.... Until a person can say that then he/she hasn't made the commitment needed to succeed; I myself have made that commitment. I've said it before, many have, getting healthy starts mentally; realizing why you want to get healthy and what it is going to require from you. If a person doesn't know how much, or how little, work this will be... how do they know they are ready for it?

Healthy weight loss does not happen by accident. We have to get ready for it, do a little homework. Know why you want it, what is involved is, and how you will achieve what you want. If you've done that, you've done the hard part. Now, if you believe in what you have come up with, you've set yourself up for success. All that is left is the simple part, commit to your belief in yourself and go gett'em.

Responsibility 199 - Gotta Do It!!

Day 178 - All Questions Answered

Good morning fellow blog fanatics. Great day to do what? Work; yep I gotta do that. Exercise; yep I gotta do that. Eat healthy, yep... Whatever you do today when the day is done & you look back on it, make sure you can do so and say it was a great day.

Today's picture is of my wife & I watching Ryan play soccer a few days ago. Hot day for October, 80F+. But there you see me in a black Chicago Blackhawks championship t-shirt and Cathy in a hockey jersey. What else are we supposed to wear now that hockey season is under way again?

Still getting caught up on every ones blogs from the past several days while I was unable to do so. Why oh why is it that from my blackberry I can't reply to blogspot posts but I can to worldpress? Frustrating.

The mission continues. I feel real good, got in plenty of miles during the hunting weekend. Didn't weigh in from the weekend and as I eluded to on Saturday I won't for a while to see how I do just mentally feeling my way through this. This morning I feel good, feel on track I guess you could say. Next weigh in will be on 10/24. If I weigh in at 257 or less on that day, success :-) ...If not, doom & gloom :-( ...place your bets!

It was brought to my attention that the shout out links from my Sunday post were not working. Not sure why those links went so wrong, but they are now fixed for you to go back and check out Bobbie & Carrie if you missed them Sunday.

Questions. I received a mess of questions via post comments, emails, tweets re: the subjects of my past few posts. Questions are always welcome and definitely enjoyed. Time for me to be sure I am answering them, so here I go...

Hot Sauce, Sunday I shared pictures of my hot sauce collection with you. From that I've been asked...
Q: Do you try them all or are they collector's items?
Q: Now are the hot sauces actually OPEN?
A: Collectors items. When I get duplicates, I will use the dupe. Otherwise if it is not in my collection it goes on a shelf and stays there unopened. I use hot sauce, and allot of it, so I buy as needed for my taste buds too.

Q: I guess now isn't the time to tell you I cant stand hot sauce?
A: Sure, anytime is a good time. All the more for me :-)

Q: Do people give you hot sauce for Christmas and stuff?
A: Absolutely. And birthdays, and just for fun. I would guess at least 1/2 of the collection has been received in gift wrap. When people say, 'he is hard to buy for'; they are not talking about me. Just go to the grocery store.

Hunting, our trip brought in these questions / thoughts...
Q: smoked pork, anyone???
A: Yes is always my answer. I've never hunted hog, but I smok'em and enjoy'em :-)

Q: Are you taking the hide to Hartford (WI) to get it tanned and made into gloves, moccasins, etc.?
A: We allow the meat processor to keep the hides and they donate them. Maybe someday we'll get the urge to see what we can do with the hides, thanks for the tip and referral.

Q: All that just for a dollar?
A: Oh how I wish hunting just cost a buck.

Q: Can deer not see the color orange?
Q: aren't the deer afraid of that hat??
Q: My son wants to go as Mafia for Halloween w/ his buddies. I think this hat is in order, don't you?
A: I sure hope not! And no they cannot as deer are color blind. We wear the blaze orange for our own safety to prevent from being mistaken by other hunters as an animal. And, it is also the law in Wisconsin when deer hunting that you must wear 50% blaze orange above the waist. Not to mention, blaze orange is rather slimming, don't you think? As for the hat & mafia, imagine for a minute Marlon Brando in his $2500 suit and thus blaze orange felt hat? Ok, stop imagining now, moving on...

Q: Please tell me that is not your real hunting hat?
A: It is! I hunt in a blaze orange Fedora because, well, just because I CAN!

Q: Have you seen the movie "Escanaba in da Moonlight"? Good deer camp fun and yooper accents.
A: Nope, have not. It is on the list of ones to watch though.

Q: Enjoy your weekend Patrick. Though I love bambi I will wish you luck getting something since I know you won't waste it.
A: We are a family of hunter's who eat & share what we harvest. We do not kill any animal for any other reason. To do so would be wrong and unethical in our belief.

Q: Imagine if the deer had guns as well, to make it fair.
A: That would definitely be sad as I could not wear my orange hat with confidence any longer.

Q: Cameron's deer, how many points?
A: Five. Sunday morning hunting started at 6:41 a.m.; we had made the 1/2 mile trek up the hillside and were in position just prior to that. It was quite foggy in the pre-dawn light with visibility at most 60-70 yards. At 6:45 a.m. I hear Cameron who is about 20 yards away fire his Savage 7mm; I was sitting next to Ryan. Instantly Ryan & I spin around, we see one doe bounding towards the fog cloaked tree line and stop. Ryan takes aim and fires a split second after the doe leaps into the white curtain, he missed. Looking back at Cameron, he isn't certain if he hit the other doe or not. Yes, other doe; he thought these were both does. Long story this pair of deer was barely visible to Cameron, but he got one in his scope cross-hairs and took a shot. When I walked up to the deer to discover it was a buck, I was thrilled. The fact that it was just 5 point was a bit of a bummer, we generally would not shoot a buck less than 8 points. But during youth season this unwritten rule is less adhered to.

Q: Any pictures of Cameron's deer.
A: I chose not to share a picture of his deer here as it is what it is, a dead deer, and can be graphic. And I respect those that are not interested in photos of animals, fish which have been taken from the land & waters. If you really want to see Cameron's deer, you have that choice; I've found the least graphic picture and to see it just click here. If you choose not to, all is fine.

Responsibility 199 - Gotta Do It!!

Day 177 - Monday Short Shots

Monday is here! Although I think I left my energy back with Sunday.

Short post this morning to acknowledge the new day, the mission continues. Day 177 already, whew.

There I am about 11:04 p.m. last night eek'ing out every drop of caffeine from that Diet Mt.Dew.

Thirty minutes later we were home, Cameron's deer safely on ice in the garage, the vehicle unpacked and the boys in bed by midnight. I needed a shower first, so did the boys but they are boys, so mark me down for 12:15 a.m. when the Zzzzz's started.

Here is Cameron at that same time.

Here is Ryan at that same time.

Ryan did not get a deer, we saw no more yesterday afternoon. Just too warm (70F) for much activity.

There are plenty of more opportunities this fall/winter.

Ok, I'll be back later to get after all of the questions many have asked via comments to recent posts and of course get after your blogs which I have not been able to do while away.

Responsibility 199 - Gotta Do It!!

Cameron Gets a Buck

Cameron took down a buck this morning 4 minutes after the start of the days hunt. There he is in his box stand. Sorry but not showing a picture of him and his buck, too graphic. We'll be back out soon to see if Ryan can get a deer too.
Sincerely, Patrick. (Sent via my blackberry)

Day 176 - Sunday Shout Some

It is weigh in day, however, I am not home today. Today I am some 4 hours north-west of home hunting in Vernon County, Wisconsin. I'll weigh myself tomorrow, or, maybe I won't. The same will be true next weekend too. Perhaps I won't weigh in for these next two weekends and put my mind to the test of not relying on the scale to reinforce that I am making progress. We'll see, what do you think?

What a gorgeous Sunday. Almost too gorgeous for deer hunting really. But I can't complain at gorgeous weather. What I do insist on doing here is sending out some shout outs to a few bloggers I've enjoyed this past week...

Bobbie aka Anonymous Fat Girl is enjoyed by many here and many more who have no clue who I am. Her blog, cool; her posts, cool; and her Fitness Warrior Wear, COOL! She unveiled her wearable site this past Wednesday and I must say, Bobbie and her fellow fitness warriors are looking intense and down right good in her gear. Check out her stuff and check her out if by chance you and Bobbie haven't crossed paths yet.

Carrie from My Healthy Journey Begins wrote a post this past week about trusting oneself which I both enjoyed and connected personally with. She talks of mindful eating which I find value in and am working and putting in mroe and more of my trust in. Carrie & I connected on twitter and she too is participating in the October Go The Distance Challenge which I gave a shout out to last Sunday.

Pictures, I have some more pictures for you. The picture up there is of my wife's shot glass collection. We had that display, and all of the hot sauce shelves you see below, custom made a year or so back. Over the past decade in our travels we've slowly built up our respective collections to the point they needed they out habitats.

I am not sure how many shot glasses she has, I'd guess 75'ish. My hot sauce collection is about 300 bottles...

Have a great Sunday everyone!

Responsibility 199 - Gotta Do It!!