Day 279 - Give Me Teased & Taunted Over Self-Pity & Guilty

Is anyone else here an admitted yo-yo dieter? I am raising my hand here, which is hard leaving me to type with one hand.

Even after 278 days into this latest mission, the longest I have ever been on to seriously drop allot of weight; even now I still feel I am still struggling to stay focused on doing what I ought to do day in and day out. Even when I try hard and use my happy-focused face (see picture), it isn't always easy.

It is the mind-game of it all that really is the struggle though. By now I would hope this would be so 2nd-nature and that my mind would have stopped entertaining desires for vats of ice cream wrapped in bacon smothered in cheese sauce with a side of buffalo wings. But my mind still does taunt me so. Perhaps it always will.

I suppose there is an alternative; I could just give in. Oh how easy that would be. My mind would be at ease. Or would it? Wouldn't it just begin to taunt me in reverse, heaping scoops and ladles full of guilt upon me for diving into that which will keep me obese until my unfortunate death at a young age? Oh I know my mind would do just a thing.

So, I guess it is a choice of which mind-game I want to play. The game of being teased & taunted to eat what I know I shouldn't. Or the game of being self-pity & guilty for eating what I know I shouldn't.

I am choosing to accept the fact that I will be teased & taunted, perhaps forever, while hoping with all my super-hero powers that they will abate over time. And if not, I know I am strong enough to survive their assault upon my mind. I have to be - it is that simple; I have to be stronger than my temptations.

Which choice have, or will, you make?

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 125 - Ask Me Anything

Source

Happy Friday Everybody!

First order of business, get your motivation fix HERE, Misunderstood and Admired did it!!! A marvelous journey's milestone achieved, just marvelous!

For the most part a solid day, I exercise - had a great workout actually. You know when a workout is just going well, the reps are movements of art, the breathing is symphonic, the timing is precision. Well, maybe someday I'll have a workout that pristine but last nights workout was the best I've had in a long time, like years and years ago long time.

Food, good, not great. You can see I had a slight cave in at the end of the day. Not sure if that workout stoked up my appetite or if I simply let my guard down and let my gut make decisions on eating vs. my brain. If that is my stumble for this week and no more, I'll be just fine.


As promised yesterday's log looked like this....

• 6a - Tomato Juice, Peach, Greek Yogurt
• 8a - Milk
• 10a - Pear, Cheese Stick
• 1215p - Garden Salad w/ Tuna (canned) and Sesame Oil Dressing
• 245p - Muscle Milk Light (vanilla flavor)
• 530p - Exercise: Home Gym Routine, 5 sets of Crunches & Push Ups each
• 7p - Grilled Chicken Wings, Burger Patty, Coleslaw w/ Salsa (leftover night, the burger 5 oz. but not needed; but was aiming for protein after the workout.)
• 830p - 100 Calorie WW Ice Cream bar (hit by a sweet tooth attack and I caved)

A few weeks ago I had an exchange with a blogger where they asked a few questions of me about diet and then a few off topic questions. Nothing improper, just a blogger being curious about another I suppose. At the end of that exchange they suggested I do an 'Ask Me Anything' post. Having seen a few bloggers do this before I replied, sure, someday I'll do so.

Guess what, today is someday. So, Ask Me Anything, and I'll pop back in later with answers, or answer them tomorrow at the latest. You can ask anything, ask more than one question if so moved; I reserve the right to not answer something of course - I'm quite thick skinned so not likely I will abstain.

I'll seed this with a few of the questions I recall the previously mentioned blogger asking...
Q: How often did you exercise when you started?
A: Actually I didn't exercise the first week of my mission; that week was about changing my mindset and eating habits. After week one I exercised as often as I could make time, and then only for as long as I could handle it. I knew I had to get moving, but I also knew didn't need to run a race on day one. Short walks, short periods of time on a treadmill was all I did to get moving.

Q: When you were younger did you have problems with your weight?
A: Nothing more than being a bit chubby in high school, but that was corrected my senior year as I knew I was going to enlist in the USMC. It wasn't until my mid-twenties that I let life get in the way of making healthy choices.

Q: Do you like the beach and if so, do you prefer tanning lotion or oil? (recall I said he asked a few off topic questions, this was the oddest)
A: The beach I can take or leave. I don't make a beach a priority when planning a vacation, if one happens to be there, so be it. I am a white male of Irish-Scottish heritage, I don't tan; I burn. I use sun screen when I play golf, or attend outdoor sporting events. Never do I recall buying real tanning products.

Also a few of the blog awards have asked me to respond with 'x' number of random or unknown facts about yourself, these might be found interesting, or funny, maybe odd; they are quickly referenced here.

So, if interested, Ask Me Anything and have a great Friday!

Responsibility 199 - Gotta Do It!!

Day 2 - Need for Change

Good morning. Change is on my mind this morning. This challenge will take many many weeks to accomplish. Perhaps more than a years worth. Well if I do it in a healthy manner it definitely should take anywhere between 1 & 2 years. Lets hope closer to 1 than to 2... CHANGE, back to change.

In realizing the journey will be a long haul I figure that I need to make changes to my lifestyle that I will commit to absolutely to help me along. The question is what change to make first? Another question, how many changes do I have to make to bring about the results I seek? Certainly there is more than 1 that I should make. Heck, if there was only 1 change I needed to make to pull this off then this would be a snap, wouldn't it? Truth is I don't know how many changes I need to make. But, I figure I need to make 1 change to get started. And if I commit to making 1 change per week then at some point they'll all start working together and making a difference. That is my hope anyhow.

So here it is, CHANGE 1...

• NO MORE FAST FOOD

Fast food is not the evil that some would have you believe. The notion of suing fast food chains because they made you fat, or taxing fast food because it increases the burden on society to care for the obese among us is just insanity. Fast food is a choice, a personal choice we make for reasons of our own volition plain & simple. I am obese because I chose to make bad decisions when it came time to decide what to eat, whether to exercise or not, etc... not because fast food restaurants are all over the place.

That said, I realize that fast food is definitely a contributing factor of my obesity (I called it a 'condition' in my day 1 post - truth is that condition is my obesity so I shall call it what it is going forward). I chose to allow fast food to be a factor to my obesity, and, now I chose that it will no longer be a factor. From this day forward I shall absolutley no longer trade dollars for unhealthy calories at fast food restaurants.

Responsibility 199... Gotta do it!!