Day 354 - Leslie, Elle, Kathy, Jenn & Me

This morning I opened up Blogger to see what's up and write a post. Lots going on out there, and lots of thoughts bouncing about my head. So many I am at a loss as to what topic to snag and gab about today. So, since I seem to be a bit scatter-brained this day, let's just spitball shall we; random thoughts/comments/whatever coming at you ready or not…

The Chicago Blackhawks are going to kill me before anything else. With just 3 games to play they have yet to clinch a berth in the playoffs; not what we expected from our defending champions. They can still make the playoffs and probably will, but their recent inconsistent muckiness has seen many fans move on to chewing other peoples finger nails.

CRAP a tweeter I follow tweeted this recently: @LeslieGoldman "Don't eat CRAP: Caffeine, Refined sugar, Alcohol, Processed foods. @ellemcpherson (Her trainer's philosophy. Seems to be working for her!)". First this tweet gave me flashbacks of the early 90's when Elle Macpherson was 'the' gal who could get us guys drooling the fastest. Well, most guys; I still say Kathy Ireland was 'the' gal of that day. As much as I enjoy reliving fantasies of Kathy & Elle, this tweet grabbed my attention more for the CRAP reference. Think about… what percentage of your daily intake was CRAP when you were at your worst? Honest reflection; I'll say 60%+ myself. On my best days; 20% or less'ish… meaning I am not certain. Something to pay more attention too. Check out Leslie's blog here!

And you can check out Elle here, and, Kathy here (yeah, Kathy rules but Elle's site is better).

News is that the U.S. Government may shut down soon. Huh, meaning they have been working up until now?

My Ford Expedition hit 145,000 miles this week, picture proof above. This week it has also been knocking and making uncool sounds. I think it is a tank of bad gas, something I personally have been accused of often. But ever since filling up at a grocery store last Sunday this racket has come & gone. Hopefully the octane boost added and running this gas tank dry remedies this woe. My goal is to have this ride around for another 145,000 miles of 7 years, whichever comes first; I know, not realistic.

Seriously, word is that 2 Billion people are predicted to tune in to watch the royal wedding; Seriously?

I have another shout out for you: Jenn over at AGirlWhoLovesCupcakes, also tweets as @iheartreading. Jenn achieved some cool fame recently that many of us will only dream about; she found herself on a highway billboard, the link there will take you right to her proud post. Did you check it out? Yep, pretty cool huh? Plenty more reasons to follow Jenn… the food pics on her blog are tasty looking, her writing is top notch, and my fave Jenn'trait is how she ends each blog post with an {I am grateful for} list. If you didn't check her out yet, stop being a fool and get over there!

My final thought for the day, and a thought for everyday really:
There is no such thing as courage without fear.... to be fearless is to be foolish...

Respect Fear, Embrace Courage, Achieve Victory!

Responsibility 199 - Gotta Do It!!

Day 297 - Fill In The Blanks

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Fill In The Blanks...

This week my eating plan contains _________ .

This week I will take a box of toothpicks and _________ .

This week my exercise will consist of _________ .

This week when I stumble from plan I will immediately _________ .

This week I will take that odd-sock from the laundry and _________ .

This week I will challenge myself to try _________ .

This week I imagine myself punching the snot out of _________ .

HAVE A GREAT WEEK!

Responsibility 199 - Gotta Do It!!

Day 289 - 57% Progress

Good morning, well almost afternoon.

It is weigh in day for me, first in three weeks. The number three is key it seems as over the past three weeks I have lost three pounds. Good, not great but certainly as I tell many others; any loss is worth celebrating.

Over the past three weeks I have picked up my exercise effort, this past week especially. I can feel it, I feel it in energy levels, in strength, in stamina. And I am enjoying the feeling.

Over the past three weeks I have had great days of eating, and good days, and a few so-so days. Calorically the great days I am around 1800 calories in, good around 2000, so-so around 2400+... So it is very easy for me to see why I lost just three pounds. Eating consistency, plain and simple.

I am eating in a manner that is allowing me to lose weight slow and steady. Slow and steady has been my approach from day one and will remain so through to the end. Now that said, it is a bit slower than I'd like; about 1/2 pound a week slower than desired.

The adjustment needed to get that extra 1/2 pound a week off is not in exercise, nope just keep doing what I have been doing the past couple of weeks. Food, being more vigilant in my food intake and keeping the days intake consistently under 2000 calories will see it happen.

That's it, keeping it simple here in my review of my own performance on this mission... Doing good, having fun, and I understand I am capable of more and how to produce it.

In a sentence, how would you review your own performance?

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 243-249 Enjoying These Holidays

Hello Bloggers, Hope all have been doing well this December & Holiday season.

Myself I am having a blast thanks in very large part to being fitter and friskier than I have been in years. I've been having so much fun wrapping up things at work for the year, connecting with family & friends as the holidays near, and continuing to exercise and eat well. While I have gained a bunch of energy it seems I have struggled a bit with time management. But not in a bad way, simply I'm enjoying being active having fun so much that I've struggled to make time to sit down and do things like get my blogg'n on.

Twitter has seen allot more of my time the past few weeks that the blogs; so much easier to connect with folks when time is tight from the cell browser than blogs. For those of you that don't tweet I'm sorry to have been absent from you for a while. So what do I have to say today? Who knows, making this up as I go which is my norm. Let me share a few thoughts via photos...

As I have said I continue to get in the exercise and am eating well. Let me not mislead you though, while my eating has been well, but not phenonemal. Thus my weight loss has slowed to a crawl, but the scale still leans a bit more downward each time I step on which has only been about once every 10 days since the holiday season has started.

Exercise, still loving it even though the winter is here and messing around with my outdoor cardio. We have to find fun even in the cold and here is a bit of fun I saw along my walk the other day...

This snowman came complete with mini-guitar and it seems he had a band mate at one time who didn't cut it and was knocked over so this guy could go solo.

In recent years I have felt older than my actual age at times, these days I feel younger than my years...

And I choose to not get old anymore.

Last week my truck hit a milestone turning 140,000 miles...

Averaging about 20,000 a year and I'd like to get another 140,000 out of it if I can. Wishful thinking I am sure but with one kid entering college each of the next 4 years, I will do all I can to get as much life out of my truck as I can my own body.

This is just a reminder to myself to stretch more than I do...

Why I still don't respect the need to stretch as much as I should I do not know. If these ladies can do it, so can I!

While I have not always been healthy in my approach to my weight I have always been on my game in my approach to my dental health...

Here are my x-rays from yesterday's semi-annual exam & cleaning. Yep, those are fillings you see there. I think I have had 6 or 7 in my life. I didn't have any until I was 20 and that year I had 4!

And just because I like to have fun, you get to look at this...

Are you really surprised?

Have fun everyone; Have FUN!

Responsibility 199 - Gotta Do It!!

Day 236 - Potluck Calls Them Out

I can hear myself sloshing about from all the extra hydration I've been taking in as part of DecGTD. Trying to drink more in the morning and less in the evenings, but some days that doesn't work out. Yesterday was one such day. After 8:30 p.m. I chugged about 60 ounces of my 118 consumed. Really I am not sure if it matters when the water gets guzzled, does it? But I prefer not having to hit the out-house so often that late.

Moving on to food, doesn't that picture up there look tasty? Our division had a holiday potluck and there was food everywhere. Every over-indulgent concoction ever created found its way to tables through out the building. One easily could have consumed a 1,000 of calories with each sampling. What did I bring to the potluck, lean and lovely venison sausage of course...

Luckily for me, I had a busy schedule so opportunities to visit these treats were few. Plus I know better where as a year ago I would have lead the charge to conquer the feast. During a lull my final meeting of the day our conversation turned to all this food at work. Shout outs for the amazing chocolate-dream cake, whoots for those phenomenal rum balls, and even a fist-bump was had over the high fructose corn syrup laden fruit tart. Yes, it was a buffet of dieters excuses just waiting to be had by anyone needing justification to jump ship.

However what struck me and set me to pondering was how nearly everyone at this conference table was making fun of their weight, and most were heavy if not obese technically; and more so the complete lack of self respect they projected as they stuffed their faces. Now I know this was a holiday shindig, and I sound a bit bah-humbug'ish here, but my sense was these thoughts they let loose were more their norm than just momentary holiday deviations. This event just gave them comfort to share their norm publicly. Seriously, I was left in deep thought of; WTF!

After thinking about it for a while I realized what was really bothering me was this; did I sound this sad when I used to do the same? Oh I know I used to do the same, and I bet I was just as sad. Most obese folks do this I believe; push off the pain of our reality by making light of it in effort to validate it if only for the moment. You know, I am getting frustrated just writing this post and reliving that experience yesterday. So I hope you get what I mean here because I need to change topics. Please do share your thoughts but I must move on...

Another great day of eating yesterday which included all that water. No exercise however, so not so great there. I was out from 6:15 a.m. until 8:30 p.m. with work and family, yeah; just an excuse. I need to get up earlier to get in more exercise especially during these times of year when our evenings are as busy as they have been.

Final thought but most important thought of the day; HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!

Have a great day one and all!

Responsibility 199 - Gotta Do It!!

Day 234 - Bussssyyyy

How goes your Tuesday? All is well I hope.

Super busy one here at work today & it will continue to be so with kids sports this evening. First time I've had more than 39 consecutive seconds to play today. At the moment my daughter (pictured) is driving me home from work; my truck is spending the night in the shop. Been a healthy day food wise and hopeful I will squeeze in some exercise this evening.

Be Good!

Responsibility199, Gotta Do It!!

Day 221 - Holiday: Bring It

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Who doesn't enjoy a holiday? Well, there are plenty of people that do not look forward to holidays for a variety of reasons. So the question instead should be who doesn't enjoy the holiday food? In less time than it takes to dredge a forkful of turkey through gravy I can answer that question myself with a I DO.  

Tomorrow is a holiday, Happy Thanksgiving in advance. We will be entertaining family and serving a very traditional Thanksgiving spread. I will say without reservation I am looking forward to the time with family and also the food that will surround us like a coyote would surround a helpless rabbit. Bring it on I say!

Getting healthy, I say bring that on too. And I've been bringing it since April. Is getting healthy hard work? Absolutely! Is it difficult? To a degree it is especially when getting started and sifting through the mazes of how to do it.

We are humans, so it is natural that we make most everything we do more difficult than it really is. On holidays, we can really make a twist out of enjoying the day while staying healthy. I have done it as recently as this past Independence Day and Easter. Fretting over the menu or the buffet that would be there that day; spending the day doing a careful tip toe through the maze of food before me.

I am not, NOT, doing that tomorrow or ever again. I am not making holiday's difficult anymore because they shouldn't be. Simply, what we do everyday is what we should do holidays. Sure, the food on a holiday is different in that it is more tempting. But our approach to the food that day should be no different than any other day. Practice the same good sense where portion size and nutrient balance is concerned. Don't make it any harder than that.

Enjoy whatever food it is that is part of your holiday within the same guidelines you'll apply to your food today, and the day after the holiday.

By the way, what is going to be on your holiday table?

Responsibility 199 - Gotta Do It!!

Day 209 - Simply, Got Purpose?

Back to health blogging after a two day break. These past two days I dedicated my thoughts to the USMC Birthday and Veterans Day respectively. While I am all about the "Me First" philosophy to being healthy and being our best in general, on days such as those I simply insist on placing less attention to me and more thought to them.

This week thus far has been a good one for exercise. Not great, but good. Have put in a couple of cardio sessions and one on the weights. For whatever reason I feel my weight sessions lately are lacking fire. The exception being the one at the YMCA this past Sunday. It simply could be I am bored with what I have been doing and need to shake it up not just a little but a good deal.

This week thus far has been another saga of inconsistency with the diet. Overall I have eaten good, but not great. My guard is not as high as it needs to be at present as I have been more open to temptation than I should. Saying that is simply frustrating because I am a simple guy, and discipline should be simple. Temptations are not good for you and thus should not be had; there for do just that and do not give in to them. A majority of the time I am A-Ok with that simplicity. But why not 99% of the time?

Note I purposely meant 99%, not 100%. No human can be 100% consistent with healthy eating day in and day out for a lifetime. And we ought not feel we need to be or try to be... 99% yes, 100% no; simply that's my opinion.

Therefore I repeat, why not 99% of the time? Something to ponder...

In quickly pondering this my mind quickly picks up on the word 'purpose'. Simply (I am 99% committed to over using that word today), simply what purpose does doing this serve? No, I am not asking what is the purpose behind my mission to get healthy. Rather, what is the purpose for doing what I am considering doing right now?

I believe in times of inconsistency that I am not asking myself that question, or any similar question, before I commit to action. Nope, just doing what is there to be done, whether it serves a purpose worth serving or not. So, the real challenge for me is not the act itself of eating something I shouldn't, or too much of a good thing, etc... rather the challenge is to simply check myself before I act. Simply before eating this or that ask myself "What purpose does eating this serve and is that purpose worthy to me."

Oh, the picture above. I have no picture at all that goes with the text of this post. Usually I do, today not at all. When such a predicament occurs, the only proper action is to simply post a cat picture.

I hope you enjoy this picture of Zinger as much as you enjoy your Friday!

Responsibility 199 - Gotta Do It!!

Day 203 - Candy Go Away

Fruit Count: 129 - We have collectively eaten 121 pieces of fruit the past three days. Mandy and Lanie are leading the way having eaten 7 & 6 pieces respectively yesterday alone. Our goal of 199 is being reeled in slow and steady, excellent. Keeping reeling it in folks; in, chew swallow and shout out how many pieces you eat today!

Here you go, here's some candy! I got candy... come on, you know you want some. Ugh, wrong. Bags of candy like this popped up all over the office last week. Parents bringing in leftover halloween candy they didn't give out, or, the candy their kids brought home just to get it out of the house. A brilliant idea really, and one that works as people of all shapes, heights, colors and smells flock to these bags and empty them in no time flat. Hopefully next week this phenomenon will abate.
 

There is my caloric intake for Friday. Liking those percentages much better than earlier in the week. The total calories consumed are lower than desired, especially for an exercise day. And I had an hour'ish before bed of noticeable hunger. Usually when I hunger, I eat. But this time I chose to just accept that hunger in fear that if I went for a final snack to quench it I may over indulge. Not sure why I felt unsure of myself, but I'm glad I recognized it and made a decision versus ignoring it all and just diving into a vat of ice cream. Accepting hunger is definitely not a behavior I can embrace for a lifetime, that I understand.

Exercise, as I said I got that in. Put in a 2.25 mile walk after work on a crisp 40F late afternoon. Chilly! Didn't time time the walk. I just set out  to get in the miles, and enjoy the peace while I ran down the battery on my ipod.

Saturday already... on the docket this morning is weight training and maybe some more cardio. Then later this afternoon/evening a great date is planned with my wife. We'll be going to the rifle range and then out to dinner and perhaps a movie. Looking forward to it!

What does Saturday have in store for you?

Responsibility 199 - Gotta Do It!!

Day 201 - My Endurance Video

Fruit Count: 73 - We have collectively eaten 73 pieces of fruit the past two days. Nearing 1/2-way to our goal of 199. Let's keep eating fruit people, it's good food for you; shout out how many pieces you eat today!

Our picture riddle was a good one if I may say so. Anne our Carb Tripper came right out of the gate with a great guess; a ceramic cow moo moo pitcher that pours cream. Now I have seen such a thing, and not just pouring cream. I wish I had one (Ok not really, don't add that to my list for Santa please) for if I had that would've made a great pic-riddle.

Dawn of Fixing Myself Thinner was first to touch on what it is with her guess of 'plastic horse toy or something'. Ann who is Livin' Large immediately followed up with her guess of  'a chess piece'. Then not long after that yet another Anne, Anne of How I am Losing It finished off the completeness of our riddle with her guess of 'a Knight from a chess set'. As you see there, that is indeed what it is. Good Fun. Well done!

Yesterday I got in my second of two committed cardio sessions for this week. My son & I returned to Lake Andrea where I set a challenge for this visit of jogging 1 mile of it's 2.25 mile loop. Not 1 mile consciously, that would be nice, but I am not there yet. Previous visits I jogged .85 of a mile, so I was looking for a slight challenge up for me to make it a mile.

Different from those previous attempts as well was the length of the jogs. Before, most legs were .125 miles; now for this challenge I mapped out four .25 legs; thank you Google Earth. As well as actually completing those four .25 mile jogging legs without stopping (my primary challenge here) was the added challenge to try and complete the loop in less than 29:32, my previous best. Here is the course I mapped out...

Away we went and the skinny on our result is this...

• The four .25 mile jogs: Achieved, all four loops jogged without stopping!
• The loop time: We completed the loop in 29:46 minutes, oh so close but no PR (Personal Record) today.Oh Yeah!

Andrew ran ahead of me at the end of the loop & took a short video of me finishing. Enjoy at my expense ;-)

The heavy breathing you hear is him, the cold air tickled his asthma. The heavy dude in black coming towards you, that's me. As I neared the line & saw him shooting I let out what was supposed to be a laugh but instead sounded like a goat giving birth to a pregnant-moose; a moment to visualize... I also blurted out 'Enough' although I am not sure why. Probably glad the the end was achieved. I'll give myself an Oh Yeah!

Endurance, that is the word for the day. This trait to me speaks to the ability to overcome the stress and fatigue that can come with the effort needed to be better than obese over the span of a lifetime. Sure, it applies to smaller spans too, such as my Lake Andrea challenge there. I've had to build up my endurance to be able to do that. Six months ago, no way. Eating better and Exercising better allowed that to happen. Now six months from now, whether I just maintain what I have now or improve my ability to do better; either way I'll have to endure the effort needed to do so. If I stop putting in the effort, then my endurance recedes and I recede back towards greater obesity. That's not going to happen.

Quickly, this post is way too long already; but here is yesterday's food intake...

Note to self; the "Red Robin Fajita Fiesta Pollo Salad" that appeared to be healthy and which was my dinner actually accounted for 910 (F54, C57, P49) of those calories; ugh! I should've known better, and I do.

Give me your FRUIT and give me your latest OhYeah! moment!

Responsibility 199 - Gotta Do It!!

Day 200 - Take A Swag

Wednesday seems like a fine day to have a bit of riddle with our good eats and exercise. So there it is, it is a thing or thang, maybe it is a this or that, perhaps even a what or huh... you tell me. Give us a guess. No idea what it is, the give us some swag (silly-wild-ass-guess). Tomorrow we'll see is any have nailed this riddle to the wall or knocked a nasty hole in it.

Fruit... yesterday we had a bit of fun on my 199th day here where we called out here, on facebook & twitter to see how many pieces of fruit we could eat. Thanks Lanie for the idea! I counted FIFTY pieces of fruit, including the four I ate. That is about a trio of fruit for those who stepped up to play, I'd call that a huge success. But it is not 199, so lets keep piling up apple cores, banana peels and grape vines on this thing; hit me up with how many you eat today and we'll keep this going until we get 199.


Decisiveness, a trait we have all embraced at times. Question is, are we decisive consistently? In April I decided to lose weight. That fine spring day, April 18th, I took prompt and determined action to do get healthy. Decisive behavior and a serious decision goes together like socks and shoes. No, like Laurel and Hardy. What, you don't know who they are? Hmmm, Mike and Molly?

Nope, not going to say that I am always consistent in being decisive. Certainly I feel I am more often than not. And in being honest there are some aspects in life I am more decisive than others. Family gets my decisive side quickly. Self needs I have been more reserved in being as decisive. That is a fault I have come to believe, one I am working to correct. Getting my butt in gear on getting healthy is proof of that.

Had another good day yesterday. My eating was good and I believe a bit better than the day before. The fat percentage was much better. I'd like to flip-flop those carb & protein numbers, I'd have to change things up further to do so. I take in a great deal of fruit and salads and veg which are primarily carbs. And it has been that way, what you see in that chart, for the most part since April. Those, I think, are high quality carbs so the numbers as you see them here should be fine for the long haul; please do share your thoughts if they differ.

Exercise was part of my day yesterday as well. The home gym routine was owned and as well push ups and sit ups were done. Oh, yesterday I meant to share this photo of me getting home after my walk/jog on Monday evening. It was a cardio session worthy of an Oh Yeah! I crushed my 2 mile loop where my PR of 29:03 minutes fell hard to an awesome late evening walk/jog effort. A new 2 mile 26:41 minute PR reigns and as well my new 1 mile PR is now 13:05 minutes. November has left the station with a full head of steam.

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 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 172 - Experience This Jack

As a kid I didn't receive allot of nutritional guidance. Sure I received some but I didn't shape any life long beliefs or habits. Scratch that, I developed a belief in butter cookies & a habit for eating them a package at a time.

As a teenager, well; let's keep those years out of this.

As a young adult I was the benefactor of a youthful engine and an active lifestyle. Even though I ate horrifically I was fit. For much of my 20's the fat cells awaiting their debut lay dormant.

When I got married (1st time), took a corporate desk flying job, hit my 30's, and gave up my active pursuits for the couch & increased time with my face glued to electronic screens (curse you AOL!); when I chose those changes I traded my health & sex drive for obesity & drive thru. Those fat cells erupted around my belly, under my chin, and filled those chick repellents called moobs.

Why, why did I become obese? Simple. I didn't know what I needed to know when young. I blame nobody but myself; the lessons of healthier ways were all around me. If only I had chose to realized them.

Now in my mid-40's I am wiser thanks to time and it's gift of hind-sight. Upon realization we have experience, or dare I say wisdom, mid-lifer's like me tear this gift open like toddlers on Christmas morning. And we should, for inside is the means to forge healthy lives.

So what wisdom do I have? Well Jack asked me to share just that recently & I obliged. My thoughts on "What I wish I knew at 25 that I know now" and the thoughts of a handful of other 'experienced' soles can be read HERE.

Enjoy those pearls Jack so graciously threaded for us. If by chance you haven't already done so there, let me ask you your thoughts here; What do YOU wish YOU knew at 25 that YOU know now?

Responsibility 199 - Gotta Do It!!

Day 167 - Fun, Need More

Our picture riddle yesterday was fun for some good guesses. The most popular guess was the tassel rope/cord on a on a graduation cap. And that certainly was close, but not quite right. My fave guess was it being "polypropolene rope to keep my black silk shorts up during runs", thanks Ann :-)

Becky over at First Steps did get it right with her guess of "the gold honor cord I got to wear around my neck at graduation". The difference being that this was the honor cord I wore when I graduated, finally, in 2007. Thanks to all for playing and congrats Becky on nailing the answer. Good times.

The picture there is me on that day. It is actually a photo of a photo, our scanner died; hence the cruddy quality. Look at the face! Easily I am 310 if not much closer to 320 in that photo. Cheeks, chin, even my ears are fat! Not sure what exercise to do to slim the ear lobes. And the gown, it was huge. They had three sizes if I recall; Small, Large & Tent. So glad I have left the tent sizes and a chin or two in my wake recently.

Thursday was fun for me in many ways...

• Blogging, fun; so many of you posting up good news I can't get enough. I need more time to comment and draw even more inspiration from you. Oh, read a good one today here at The Right Fit.
• Twitter, fun; some of you connected up with me after yesterdays post and we got busy chattin up being healthy and goofing off a bit too. I had to let it be know to FatGirlvsWorld that the Giants will fall to the Bears Sunday night. She'll get over it.
• Work, fun; yes it was fun too. Someone tried to ruin my day with a project delay & I disarmed them with humor and understanding. Once the chip was off his shoulder we got the schedule re-set in a way that satisfied all.
• Eating, fun; I kicked butt keeping temptation at bay and chomping down on good quality choices. Well, um, maybe I did have a few too many beans in my salad.
• Exercise, fun; knocked that ball so far out of the park that it filed a flight plan with Captain Kirk. Or do you prefer Captain Picard? Sit ups, Push ups and walking. Then round two was a one mile walk/jog combo for time, the first time I timed such a combo; 15:14 minutes. So we'll use that as a benchmark to improve on going forward. This and Lake Andrea will be my personal challenges for the near future same as Stanton Hill was over the summer. Thanks Jody for giving me the inspiration to have such a personal challenge to keep exercise fresh, fun and meaningful.
• Family, fun; my wife is gorgeous, sexy and I can't keep my eyes off of her when she gets home. My daughter was accepted to her first choice of colleges and raked in a good size scholarship to boot. So now I wont have to sell as much plasma as I feared. My boys, well they didn't get in trouble yesterday so a thumbs up to them too.

October is here, I am having fun, and I want more!

What do you want more of?

Responsibility 199 - Gotta Do It!!

Day 107 - Stress Triggers Chow

Yesterday I made that smoothie you see there. It had been a while since I made one, we had a bunch of fresh ingredients on hand, so I went for it. Yes, I served it in a beer glass; I am a guy. What is it, well lets see if I can remember. I don't always measure ingredients, actually I seldom do, for this smoothie, I was just throwing stuff in the blender that looked good before giving it a whirl. The ingredients; greek yogurt, milk, strawberries, a banana, a wedge of watermelon, almond butter, sugar free cherry preserves (I admit I am addicted to cherries), crushed ice, uncooked steel cut oats. Probably sounds weird when written out, but if you tasted it without knowing the ingredients I bet you would have enjoyed it. I sure did, very yummy.

STRESS - stress is pinging me today like sonar ruins a submariners day - My wife enters the hospital tomorrow morning for surgery and will spend a few days there before returning home to recover for a month. We've both done well to put that reality aside while we vacationed, but with the vacation over, back to work today; we can't keep it put aside for much longer. Stress is something I usually keep at bay very well, actually I thrive in it. But this stress is different than every day stress, I think. It feels, smells and tastes differently, therefore I likely need to deal with it differently, or do I?

I've seen a number of bloggers chat about stress and how they succumb to eating poorly when stressed. I am no different, I can probably attribute a good half of my obese-ness to eating because I was stressed, bored, pissed, whatever emotional state I looked to sooth through food.

Today, I am stronger in the head than I used to be and thus at less risk to stress eating. But, being committed to getting healthy and being healthy for the rest of our lives we know that this is a daily effort. Each day we must make a mental commitment to good choices before we can then succeed at actually executing them. No matter what the day brings as it wears on, stress, joy, misery, amazement, smiles, jeers, whatever; we have to leverage our mental strength to not eat because of emotion.

Sounds so easy doesn't it? Ha! If only it were.

The fastest way to set back those weight-loss goals is to give into emotions and eat to calm them. So how do we not do that which we know will harm us? First we must learn what triggers us down that dark path, the path of the stressful chow down.

What triggers your stressful chow down?

For me idiots stress me to a bad place. I know, idiots is a bit strong. When working with others who refuse to learn their craft to be able to contribute at a high level, they drive me to eat burritos. Nothing wrong with ignorance, we are all ignorant at times. If you work hard to learn hard and deliver hard at what you do, no stress on me working beside you there. But if you are careless about your work, then get outta my way and pass me that burrito!

Another is complete lack of organization that causes lost time, money, effort; whether at home or work. That said lets understand I am not uber-organized, but, I am organized enough in all things to be productive. In the past I have been super organized about eating, so organized that I had the cookies right next to the candy bars which were right next to the twinkies, etc... so being organized has a bad side too I suppose.

When spinning my wheels because I am in an unorganized mess, I look for king size snicker bars. If all are working to improve the situation and its organization, no stress on me working alongside the effort to get better. But when the complete mess around us is accepted and ignored, then get outta my way and pass me that candy!

So, lesson objective; know what triggers you and watch out for them. Then, have a page in your mental playbook ready to go to when stress triggers you. Everyone's playbook may look different. Here is mine...

Each day as I start I have a mental plan of when & what I am going to eat across the three meals and two snacks. When stress pushes me, I pull out that playbook and am reminded to stick to my healthy eating plan. Just having that playbook reminds me I am committed & dedicated to Responsibility 199.

If I must eat, in my desk at work, truck glove box (who has real gloves in there) & pantry at home I keep these places ready with healthy snacks. At hands reach I have a healthy choice awaiting, makes it easier to succeed and suppress the trigger to chow down.

An alternate to eating during stress is even better than grabbing healthy choices. Hobbies are great alternatives, if you have any that is. Myself, I guess blogging is a new hobby of sorts. When tempted to get into the chow down line, jumping on the blogs is a great way to avoid doing so.

I know some who say reading a book does it for them. Reading reduces their stress and gets their mind focused else where. Reading, not-blog reading, but books I can do it for a while but if I am really stressed it isn't a quick enough relief. Writing on the other hand, that does calm me. Whether it be an email, a draft of tomorrow's blog, whatever; writing allows me some escape from the source of the stress.

When a work spending time on hobbies may not be ideal, nor may reading for leisure. Getting up and taking a walk to the opposite end of the building, or the other building, works for me. I work at a large corporate complex so this is an option for me sometimes. Otherwise at work if I can't wander, I change to another project. I manage a half-dozen projects at a time on average and when one is driving me to burritos, I put it aside and grab hold of another for a while. The point, do something different.

And of course, work out to relieve stress. Exercise leads to fitness, duh... which leads to increased energy, yep - duh... which leads to increased confidence, uh-huh it does... which leads to better ability to deal with stress, true? For me it is.

 What do you do to put the stress chow down back in it's box?

Responsibility 199 - Gotta Do It!!

Day 104 - Miles & Fillets

Home again and that means the hard work has resumed in earnest.

My son Andrew & I were going to go tackle Stanton Hill yesterday but the soccer team was using the field adjacent to is so it didn't seem like the right time. So we went off to Grant Forest Preserve instead. That preserve is divided into two loops, a north & south. Each loop in itself is a good workout. There is also a trail that connects the two loops. Combined the total distance is 5.6 miles. Since I was looking to replace the challenge of the hill workout we walked them both and covered that distance in 84:19 minutes. A great walk and time spent with my son.

Eating was dialed in yesterday as well. First day back so we had to hit the stores and stock up. Enjoyed some fresh fruit during the day and some grilled halibut for dinner. Eating out is fun, trying new restaurants is something we look forward to especially when we travel, but cooking at home is hard to beat at times.

Halibut is an awesome fish, I've never caught one on my own, hope to make it up to Alaska someday for that pleasure. Hey, did you know, The largest Alaskan halibut ever caught while sport fishing was 459 lbs? A mighty big grill would be needed for that catch.

Just a great tasting fish and one that is very versatile for cooking with. It stands up to grilling, bakes well without disintegrating, absorbs flavors well or tastes great on its own. Oh and cats, cats will flock to you when you bring it inside from the grill to set it on the table. If cats like it then it must be good; no?

Last night I made two fillets, one was rubbed in a buttermilk-ranch powder which I picked up at Williams-Sonoma as an impulse buy, one of my better unplanned grabs. The other was dusted in a spicier concoction - so sorry I didn't take any pictures; that why you get that Native American tribal art picture of a halibut instead.

Walleye is my favorite fish to eat by far, but I think Halibut is a close second. Third, probably tuna (not in the can silly) which I like raw or with just a quick sear.

What is your favorite fish and how do you like it?

Responsibility 199 - Gotta Do It!!

Day 70 - World Cup Feast

The USA plays Ghana today in the World Cup. Only sixteen teams left and the remaining games are elimination games. Win, and move on. Lose and go home. Our kids are huge soccer fans and all into the World Cup fever. The game starts in about an hour.

This morning they awoke and asked that we have a feast for the game. Ok, I like a feast, so I ask what they want; chicken breasts, salad, fruit, wild rice; does any of that sound good to them? Oh no, not for a world cup game, "We want a Bacon Explosion!", they say in unison. Apparently my wife made them a deal; if the USA makes it to the round of sixteen they can have a Bacon Explosion. Yeah, our kids love there Mom allot :-)

The Bacon Explosion, have you heard of it? (click here for recipe). Oh it is nothing short of a culinary master piece. As good as it is, it is also very bad. An all out blitzkrieg on a healthy diet. Being the trooper I am, with the help of my son Ryan, I have made one for them. There you see the one we made this morning as it hit the smoker for its 2.5 hour smoke bath. Basically the Bacon Explosion is a pork lovers delight that consists of pre-cooked bacon bits wrapped within a layer of Italian sausage and then that layer of sausage rolled up in a lattice of bacon slices. It is about the size of an american football before it gets smoked. I also put some onion and jalapenos in mine.

Whew, I am getting so hungry writing this. However, I am making this Bacon Explosion for them for the most part. I shall allow myself a small slice of this delicacy, and no more. We are also grilling up some corn on the cob and a salad will be made as well. This morning my son Cameron whipped up a batch of salsa which I've shared with you before (click here for that recipe). I'll get a bunch of that salsa goodness busy in a good sized salad and that will be my main course. The slice of bacon explosion love will be my side dish.

Exercise, we went on a walk this morning to get some cardio in. I plan on getting in my dumbbel routine sometime this afternoon after the game too. Definitely trying to be sure I burn off whatever Bacon Explosion that does enter my body today.

What are you up to today? Watching any World Cup action??

Responsibility 199 - Gotta Do It!!

Day 30 - Change #5

Time to commit to another change. This week's is a food commitment. Well, maybe it is a behavior commitment. That makes no sense, everything we do to get healthy is a behavior commitment. Yep, it is a food commitment. Why am I rambling?

For perspective, I know for a fact I have done great harm to myself in not knowing when enough is enough. Not necessarily when eating a meal, sure there too, but I am talking about on a daily basis. Eating late is something I've done out of habit for years. Dinner may be at 5, 6, or 7 p.m., and bed time a few hours later. But seldom a day would go by I wouldn't eat another snack, sneak a nibble of something, just before bed. And I am not talking a 100 calories snack, nope. Two or three times that amount most likely and more so on some evenings. Why? No idea. But I know it is not only not healthy, but I know I cannot get healthy if I allow myself to do so. Therefore...

Change 5...

• Don't eat after dinner

For the past month I have lived this change, minus one or two days, and my progress to date certainly has something to do with not eating anymore after dinner is done. So today it just seems to make sense to chalk it up as a change to commit to.

Have you made any commitments to change lately that are making a difference in your life?

Responsibility 199... Gotta Do It!!