Aren't Kids Sneaky Inspirations?

A great weekend for my wife & I. We went to see Ashley at college & got there just in time for her soccer game. They won, but she did not play. Being one of two freshman on the team playing time has to be earned. She played in their first two games. Go figure that the game she gets zip time is the game we drive 4 hours to go see. Oh well, we went to see her much more than we went to see her play.

After the game we went back to her dorm room; not as neat as it was when we dropped her off there a month ago. We met some of her new friends who were on their way out to go bowling. We took her to dinner somewhere she loves to go; Olive Garden- yuck! There we chit chatted for a couple of hours and just hung out. All seems to be going well with her at school. She adjusted much quicker than we expected. Not that we expected her to have any serious issues with the transition. It is very pleasing to know that your kid was able to leave home and take flight in a big way. Oh she has a long flight ahead of her, but so far she is soaring.

Here is a fun picture I snapped on the way home yesterday...

A tanker truck filled with coffee; wonder how many cups that equals?

We didn't take too  many photos on the trip, and I don't have anymore to share here right now; but there is one photo that I wish I had taken but didn't.

When we were in Ashley's dorm I was reading what she had scribbled on her white board. Allow me to note here that her white board looks marvelous as it was expertly hung by a master of stuff hanging a month ago. Ok, the hanging bit was not really the marvelous part. What was marvelous was what she had scribbled. Any guesses what she had written there?

Nope, not how much she misses us.
Nope, not when she is coming home next.
Nope, not even what she is going to buy us for Christmas.

She had goals writing on her board. Those objectives she considers so important that she wanted daily reminder of them. Huh, what a novel idea...

Decide what is important to achieve, commit it to writing, and display it in a place that when you wake everyday, you remind yourself of what is important to you.

Aren't kids sneaky inspirations? 

I'll be buying a white board today after work.

Responsibility 199 - Gotta Do It!!

Day 284 - BYO Shout Outs

Welcome to the fun that never ends, it is a day I an calling Bring Your Own Shout Out.

Simply I am in the mood to send out some Shout Outs. Please read up and connect with these fine bloggers and then share some shout outs of your own either here or back on your blog...



Emmie over at Skinny Emmie hit a fabulous milestone, her 100+ pound barrier has fallen! Emmie is one of the most positive beacons out there!


Two Fit Chicks & A Microphone have just released their first podcast for 2011. I am big fan (but getting smaller) of Shauna's & Carla's blogs, works, and this podcast. Remember, you do not need an mp3 player to listen, just listen from your computer via the link there; ENJOY!


The Mission over at The Heavy Man also broke through his 100 pound barrier recently. Dude is looking good, flip through his daily pics holding up today's newspaper and you will see.


Josie over at Yum Yucky always has fun yet relevant stuff going on and right now she is doing a challenge called Plankmania. Check out those video of some brave challengers; I am going to give this a try later this week and see if I can produce an effort worthy of sending her. How about you, daring enough to get your plank on?


Renea over at Renea's Skinny Love hit me up with a food-pic yesterday I couldn't get out of my head. Thanks her, I will be trying Flatout Pizza in the near future.

Ok, there are some bloggers who have grabbed my attention lately, how about you...

Bring Your Own Shout Outs

Responsibility 199 - Gotta Do It!!

Day 269 - Do Tell; How Do You Feel About...

Day TEN of the New Year. Yes, the year is already approximately 1/36th over. Boy, that went fast.

So tell me, tell all of us, or if you insist just tell yourself... but do tell; How do you feel about yourself so far in 2011?

If you are a Resolution setter, how have you done sticking to them through 10 days?

Not a Resolutionist, Ok; how are you doing period in your quest to get/stay healthy?

Oh, and I must apologize to you. As I said this is day TEN. I should have asked you these questions on day TWO. Yes, I am assuming we all succeeded in accomplishing our intent on day ONE.

Simply my point is this; each and every day we wake up we need to ask ourselves that question; how are we doing period in our quest to get/stay healthy?

I get the sense some of us only ask ourselves this, and truly give it due thought, once a week or so. This is not a question to ponder only when we weigh-in once a week. This is not a question to ponder only when we flip the calendar page to a new month.

Daily, daily daily; talk to yourself. Challenge your self to be honest about what you are doing to achieve that which you want. If it is not working out as desired, then keep talking to yourself. Don't worry who is looking on wondering why you are taking to yourself, ignore the peanut gallery & just keep talking. Ask yourself, what has to change to get the momentum and progress you need? Do not accept excuses, don't blow smoke up your own backside.

Just keep talking and then get busy doing what you & yourself have agreed to.

Have a nice chat and a great day!

Oh, the picture above, just a random pic of me using the treadmill over the holidays; OORAH!

Responsibility 199 - Gotta Do It!!

Day 261 - 53% Progress

In a word, STUCK, is how I shall summarize my holidays. Stuck as far as weight loss overall. I didn't weigh myself as frequently over the last month-and-a-half, although when I did my weight continued creeping down at times, or didn't move at others. Yet, when I weighed in today I came in up a few pounds to see 255.5 pounds on the scale, a mark I weighed in at in mid-November.

While I knew I dipped into a few more holiday / new years eve treats than I should have, I didn't expect that result. Thinking back, I should have expected exactly that. Even though I was getting in some exercise, it wasn't as determined an effort as I was putting in last spring, summer & fall. Simple math right? Take in more calories than you burn off will result in weight gain 100% of the time.

The positive mind within me finds victory in this weigh-in however. Over the past month-and-a-half which covered the holidays I was STUCK. I didn't pack on 10-15 pounds of holiday cookie wight which I've done many a year. I didn't sit idle on my butt giving zero consideration to exercise which I've done many a year. So compared to those many other years the 2010 holiday eating season was victorious.

My aim remains to weigh 199 pounds or less in life, and that will happen in 2011.
My intent remains to lose 1.5 pounds a week, assuming I do just that I'll reach 199 by the end of September.
My stretch aim would be to weigh 199 by the end of June when we depart for a Hawaiian vacation.
My intent needs to amp up to lose 2.25  pounds a week for that to happen.

In 2010 I came to know some important and cool abilities which I possess:
I know how to lose 1.5 pounds a week...
I know how to eat healthy...
I know how to exercise with purpose...
I know 2011 is going to be another great year, just as 2010 was.

Responsibility 199 - Gotta Do It!!

Day 198 - Let's SEE November

Hope that all enjoyed their Halloween. Two of our four kids still trick-o-treat; the oldest and the third oldest. The other two don't want to be bothered by it, or feel they are too cool, etc. Too bad, the other two do it mainly to hang out and have fun with their friends and that they do.

November is here and it is not going to wait around for anyone to enjoy the ride it has in store for us. Nov. 1 will soon be Nov. 2, then 3, 17, 23, 30 and done. So now, this minute, is the time to open your mind to the success possibilities for this month. Is your mind open? If so, then I bet one or more possibilities is dancing before your eyes.

Pick one, you may have more, but just focus on one at a time here. Got one? Great, what do you want to do with this possibility? Your attitude is correct if you think that is a silly question whose only answer is to turn that possibility into reality. Fine, bit harder question then; how are you going to do that?

If you believe it is important that this possibility becomes reality, then it does not deserve to be left to chance. It deserves a plan, a plan you can S E E... If you can see it, then you greatly increase the probability your possibility will become reality. Seeing is not hard, not at all. Simply take that possibility and...

Set a goal for it for this month; remember this is important so be specific with what reality will look like...

Establish a plan for how you will achieve; keep it simple but be sure to consider the actions you will take, the support/facilities you will need, the guidelines/rules you will follow, etc...

Execute your plan an action at a time and continuously review & improve your plan as November unfolds.

Here is the health/fitness Possibility dancing before me now: Weighing less than 250 pounds. If I stay true to what I have been doing, then I will end the month weighing 250 even. But if I amp my act up just a bit more, I can get into a new decade and also into the lower 1/2 of this 200's century. Here is how I shall SEE it...

Set for November if a goal to Weigh-In on Nov. 30th (a special Tuesday w/i for me) at 249.5 or less. My scale reads in tenths, but I record in 1/2 pound increments and I round the tenths up to the next 1/2, so 249.6 will not cut it, 249.5 it must be.

Establish a plan could be as easy as just doing what I have been, BUT... I just told you yesterday that I have been inconsistent with both eating & exercise recently. So leaving it at that shouldn't leave me brimming with confidence, and it doesn't. So here is my plan...

• No Fast Food, Candy, or similar food as poor in quality
• Exercise 5x week; 2x Cardio & 2x Strength & 1 Flexibility Workout (that will be new for me)
• Drink 2 liters, or more, of water a day
• Participate in #NovGTD, log my miles and tweet it up each day
• Calorie intake will be no more that 2000 calories and carb controlled
• Avoid inducing fasting response, eat 6x a day; 3meals and 3 snacks
• Eat breakfast at home to avoid skipping it
• Take fruit to work for snacks to avoid grabbing poor quality snacks at the office coffee shop
• Every other lunch at work will be a visit to the salad bar which is a treat since it is a good one
• Plan out evening meals to avoid creating last minute high-calorie dinners of convenience

Execute the plan. And I shall. I'll also continuously review & improve in my head and as well put up a review for the week prior in my normal Sunday weigh-in posts.

What November possibilities are dancing before your eyes?

 
Responsibility 199 - Gotta Do It!!