Day 320-331: Hello & Happy Pi Day

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Hello friends... Happy Pi Day!

You do know that today is Pi Day right? Well if you do not, you are likely not a math geek like me. Even if you do know it is Pi Day you may not be a math geek. Math geek or not we can all enjoy Pi Day.

Today is March 14th, or 3.14, thus Pi Day; get it? When I was a kid in school we didn't do anything special for this day. Today it receives attention in school and is used to unwind a bit. Pie served in the cafeteria, something frowned upon in many of today's school cafeterias. Teachers and students alike will bring in pie for the class to share. Some teachers will piggy-back on the topic and actually teach a bit about this uniquely strange number. As well they'll salute Albert Einstein's birthday which happens to also be Pi Day.

Yes I have found my way back to my blog after nearly two weeks away. Thanks to all for the emails, posts, tweets and carrier-pigeon asking where I've been and wishing me well in my absence. I am here, amongst the living. As noted in my last post my schedule has altered a bit and I've had trouble finding time to blog. I also took some time off for a long weekend away to Albuquerque and then another weekend away to Milwaukee.

Now, while I have found my way back here I cannot in all honesty say that I am not lost. I fear and feel that I've gone off-road re: prioritizing my health. Over the past few weeks while time has been tighter and while away for fun in the southwest I've performed horribly. Finding time for exercise has been sporadic at best. And daily I've found reason to enjoy too much of the bad stuff.

It is alarming to see the inequity in effort required lose weight and gain weight. We can eat well and work out and lose 1, 2, or even 3 pounds a week on average when we are vigorously disciplined to our mission. When we are vigorously disciplined in the other direction, we can gain 5-10 pounds a week.

Speaking for myself a ten pound gain is what I've seen happen here over the past few weeks. Much of that I know occurred over my four days in Albuquerque as that was allot of fun wrapped around some ugly displays of gluttony. I have a handful of pictures to share from that trip and as well some other stuff going on in my world lately, but I will hold them to share later this week. Instead let me stay on the health & weight loss topic here.

While I am disappointed I've allowed my schedule change and vacationing to get the best of me I am not discouraged. I've learned allot over the past near eleven months and know just what I need to do. The only thing preventing me from re-losing that 10 pounds is myself; not knowledge of facilities. I know what to do and have all I need to do it.

Tonight I have a date with the elliptical and I'll be stoked and fueled for that workout as I know just what I'm eating today and when. Looking forward to it! Oh, and we do have a pie in the house for the kids to enjoy with their Pi Day celebration. But that pie is not in my plans for today, instead I'll celebrate Pi Day by recalling some Pi Trivia.

Like...

If you have a circle the size of the known universe and calculated it's circumference to do so for that number to be accurate to within the radius of a single proton, how many decimal places of pi would need to be used?

Again - Happy Pi Day!

Responsibility 199 - Gotta Do It!!

Day 149 - Dream Through It

Yesterday I was very focused on eating after my weigh in. Even though I did get in a walk yesterday morning it wasn't an extreme workout by any stretch. Steel cut oats, tomatoes, fish & green beans; were just some of the good foods I worked into my eating. With my gout all but gone I am ready to get the exercise engine kicked back into higher gear. You can bet that exercise is on the agenda for this day.

The t-shirt you see in the picture there was being worn by a student at my sons soccer game last week. I am not sure what sport this girl participates in but I have to say I like the t-shirts they have. I blurred out her last name on the back to protect the innocent; hmm, anyone else have a sudden desire to hang out & watch "Dragnet"?

When I saw this shirt I immediately thought of THIS post by Jody, if you haven't read it then give it a read; you won't be disappointed (um, is that a pun?). The subjects are similar, although not identical.

All of us have experienced disappointment in our lives. And we've let that disappointment impact us further than it needed to. We wallow in the pain of what could have been but wasn't. We stop believing we can have or be that which have been trying to get but not been able to. It could be a professional aspiration, it could be someones heart, it could be a health goal.

But what this t-shirt is calling on us not to do? It is telling us to keep our focus on our dreams. Or, it is telling us to not dwell so heavily on the yesterday's disappointments we've had that our focus today is misplaced.

Have you ever done this; been so caught up in a disappointing experience that you just stopped trying to live better & accepted just living for a period of time?

Yes, I have, I have done so in previous attempts to get healthy. I've been so disappointed I have stopped caring enough to improve my health for years at a time. I've had projects at work end in failure and have spent months afterwards doing just the minimum to get through the day. I've tried to get the girl of my hearts desire at the time to take notice to no avail and given up on the pursuit of romance for long stretches of time.

So, guess that means we ought to avoid disappointment, right? No, hardly. We need disappointment to become better. Today's failure is the foundation for tomorrow's success. Disappointment ought to be given due focus, learned from, and then focus returned to the dream.

Sounds simple, and it is not that simple. But simple or not, no matter our disappointments; we owe it to ourselves to keep our focus on our dreams.

Responsibility 199 - Gotta Do It!!