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.

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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.

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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?

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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.

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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.

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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...

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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 153 - Fuel For Life Award

Good Morning, Good morning! Um, is it morning where you are? If not Good Day to you then.

Today I have a pair of doctor appointments, yeah I hear you; yippee kay yay for me. Boring you with details I wont do today but I will say this is the day I will learn just what that blemish was I had removed, or mole as some have come to refer to it; factually it is a skin lesion. Shoot, failed; I went & bored you didn't I?

Final doctor tidbit is that I'll get these surface stitches removed. If you looked at my progress pictures on Thursday then you saw in my 40% shots I have that bandage on my right cheek still. Looking forward to saying sayonara to those stitches & the bandage.

Misunderstood and Admired honored me with an award yesterday - Thanks again!

He sent some very kind & admirable words my way with his award presentation, you can read them on his blog via that link there. If you are not a follower of Misunderstood and Admired, you really ought to check him out.

With sincere appreciation I accept this award and at the same I must spread credit for it out amongst my fellow bloggers with who I am engaged regularly. Together we put blogging to use. Blogging is not a video game, it is not aimless surfing of the net to kill time. Yes, it is enjoyable but it is also beneficial & useful to our missions to getting healthy.

Lets see, I have been blogging for well 153 days now. On day one I expected blogging to be simply where I would organize my thoughts on how to go about losing weight. Maybe, probably not, but just maybe I'd gather some pointers along the way too. My expectations were low, but my curiosity was high. Thank goodness it was too as I've been rewarded a zillion-fold for my explorations. A few blog visits here a few more there, and wow; I was buried in a torrent of new knowledge I could put to immediate use thanks to bloggers such as all of you.

This award has some responsibilities to follow, so let me get down to business...
1. List three things that you are happy about at this very moment
a- I am happy about being able to rise above my own self-imposed perceived limitations and enjoy the immense surprise from my own results
b- I am happy about having family by my side & having all of you here in blogosphere join me too
c- I am happy about the Chicago Blackhawks possessing Lord Stanley's Cup

2. List three things that played a big part in your current focus on weight loss and inner growth
a- Shutting out negativity. We can fail, learn from failure, and even feed off of it. But negativity too often is the straw that breaks the back of many an effort to get healthy; I have chosen not to accept or even acknowledge any negativity on this mission - none
b- One at a time. Success happens one choice at a time. I have planned to lose 121 pounds, but I attack the plan one choice - one decision - at a time; just one & no more.
c- A new respect & a new approach to food. I haven't talked about this much, or perhaps not at all; but I shall in a post soon

3. Pass this award on to a blogger that you feel really deserves it
'A' blogger huh, just one... whew who oh who do I give this to?
Ok, I will stay within the same essence of the presentation in which I was given this award...
Someone I've had as a friend from the beginning (she was the first to ever post a comment on my blog in fact)
Someone whose energy I feed of off
Someone who has demonstrated they can put it all together into a rhythm and groove
Someone who has FUELED my tank

Thank You DAWN

Responsibility 199 - Gotta Do It!!

Day 64 - Happy Fathers Day

Happy Fathers Day ~ Our plan today to visit our fathers... drive from St. Charles MO to Marion IL (for BBQ @ 17th Street Grill ~ temptation alert), to Benton to visit my fathers grave, to Elmwood Park to visit Cathy's father, to Round Lake to park my butt in my recliner.

Wedding was a blast; there you see the happy couple. Hot couple too, it was mid-90s outside for their gazaebo wedding. For a wedding gift we got them a large bottle of Crown Royal & a couple of Chicago Blackhawks Stanley Cup Championship T-Shirts. Good time had by all.

Overall I didn't over indulge in food, maybe I came close to that fine line between getting my fill and getting more than one should fill up on. If anything the beer is what took me over the line. Although I was conscious of the beer impact as for the first time in my life I drank the '64' brand, just 64 calories per bottle. It had less flavor, make no mistake, oh the sacrifice!

Blogging is just not as fun from the phone via cell phone. I can post easy enough by sending pics & text to my blogger email address, e.g. this post was made via email and not directly on the blogger site. Problem is I can't do so on blogger directly via cell browesr, nor can I post replies on your blogs; but I can see & read your blogs. Oh well, I'll be back home tonight.

Enjoy the day!

Responsibility 199 - Gotta Do It!!

Day 56 - Saturday Serious

A great week is in the rear view mirror. One I will remember forever thanks to the Stanley Cup Champion Chicago Blackhawks. We capped of the week with an amazing experience at the parade & rally downtown yesterday. We were two of the two-million fans & of the Blackhawk Nation who showed up to participate in the fandemonium. It was truly amazing.

While we are still on an emotional high from this past week we realize it is time to resume our serious attention to our missions to get healthy. Oh we didn't take the past few days off. We did put exercise on the shelf for the past two days while we celebrated, but that's all we fluffed on. Eating was still kept to a healthy level and we woke up this morning feeling good and glad we didn't indulge through our guts the past few days.

This morning we got up and got out for a walk around the Rollins Savannah; a 3.5 mile loop. Up there you see my wife as we stepped off on our walk. It was a great walk on a foggy and dreary morning. I completed it today in 62:55 which was a PR for that loop; cool! When we got home I grabbed two of my boys, Andrew & Cameron, and we hit the home gym for a workout through that routine. Whew, yeah, safe to say we're back on track here. At least that is what my sore muscles are telling me.

The Rollins Savannah is such a cool place to walk, run, bike, whatever people which to do to work up a sweat. Allot of wild life there like this little gal to the right. She was mucnhing on breakfast about 40 yards (36.5 meters for those who've gone metric) off the trail.

It is just about 1 p.m. here in the Stanley Cup Champion time-zone. I await the delivery of a new refrigerator, old one is days away from dying, and the kids are starting to assemble in the family room to watch the World Cup match between England & USA. Go Red-White-&-Blue!

Responsibility 199 - Gotta Do It!!

Day 55 - Party On!

Please bear with me while I am in this state of Hockey championship bliss. I will return to health related blog posting soon.

My wife and are out the door and on our way to the parade to celebrate the Stanley Cup Champion CHICAGO BLACKHAWKS...

I'll be back later with pictures and to follow up on your blogs.

Have a great Friday everyone!

Responsibility 199 - Gotta Do It!!

Day 54 - HAWKS WIN THE CUP!

The game went into over-time in Gme-6 and on an improbable shot missed by most onlooking eyes the puck found the corner of the net and the celebration was on - they did it, the Chicago Blackhawks WON the STANLEY CUP...

Team Captain Jonathan Toews is the first to receive Lord Stanley's Cup...

Patrick Kane, who scored the game winning, Cup clinching goal, hoists the Cup in celebration...

Let us not forget Duncan Keith who took a puck to the face in an earlier game and sacrificed 7 teeth in his labor to bring us a Stanley Cup...

Ladies & Gentlemen, the Stanley Cup Champion CHICAGO BLACKHAWKS...

That's all I got to say today.

Responsibility 199 - Gotta Do It!!

GO HAWKS!

Game 6 is underway.

I'm seated & pshyc'd up.

Will this be the night!

GO HAWKS!

Day 53 - Shrimp vs. Moo

Good Morning, how goes it this fine day Bloggy People?

Who likes SHRIMP?

I like shrimp. We took the kids out to one of our favorite steak houses last night; Backyard Steak Pit. It was the final act in celebrating our youngest's graduating 8th grade. We had the huge gathering of the clans to celebrate a couple weekends ago. Last night's dinner was just my wife, our kids & I in a more intimate celebration over food. We've done this for each 8th grade graduation and the assumption is we will do so for each high school graduation starting next year as well.

Anyhow, back to shrimp. That picture is one of the gorgeous grilled shrimp on my plate. It, and all of the shrimp & scallops on it, were works of perfection. I tried to do it justice by immortalizing one of the shrimp in pictures with my cell phone but feel I failed to capture it's awesomeness. I don't know, looking at it makes me wish it were dinner time again.

Now you may be wondering, "Didn't he say they went to a steak houses - their favorite favorite steak house"?

Why yes we did, and, no I didn't order any steak. Pause... letting that sink in for a minute... I can't believe it myself. During the drive there I was struggling with what to order; we've been there so many times I have the menu memorized, literally. I was thinking of going with the smallest fillet on the menu, it is an 8 ounce hunk of heaven. But by the time we sat down I had convinced myself that I could do better, that I really didn't want to take any chances of voiding out the past few days of hard work (3 mile walk Monday & did the full dumbbell routine Tuesday before dinner).

You should have seen it. This healthy-alien currently inside of me who is firmly in control, I haven't come up with a name for him yet; have any ideas? Well he, or maybe he is a her, was going at it hard with the hungry-demon who has been in control of me for a couple of decades. The creature is not too happy about the new kid, alien, on the block let me tell you. The expletives were flying, bleep bleep bleep was heard throughout my head, the creature even tried the "don't you love me anymore" routine.

Too my surprise the alien won yet again, yes it does still surprise me; and the creature crept away with his head down to go moap behind a kidney for the rest of the meal. Grilled Seafood Kebab with wild rice and a garden salad is what I had. The old me would have had the 20 ounce hickory crusted ribeye with fully locked & loaded backed potato and that same garden salad with the croutons, bacon bits and super-duper fattening dressing which I omitted last night.

This morning, so glad the alien won!

Hockey Update: GAME SIX is tonight of the Stanley Cup, puck drop is at 7 p.m. Chicago (central) time on NBC. No this not a paid promotion. My butt will be glued to my recliner promptly at 6:59 p.m. - where will you be?
GO BLACKHAWKS!

Responsibility 199 - Gotta Do It!!

Day 51 - Change #7

Dinner last night was scrumptious. Grilled Cedar Plank Cayenne Salmon with a side of Lemon Quinoa. Kept it quiet healthy yesterday since I took the day off exercise. I also made a chili sauce from Greek yogurt to go with the fish which was good too.

Hockey Update: The Blackhawks were definitely the better team on the ice last night and for it they grabbed a 3-2 series lead in the quest for the Stanley Cup. One more, just ONE more win is all they need to claim that trophy for the first time in my lifetime.

Now if you think that I am the hockey fanatic I come off to be you would be right, I am that indeed. But I am not the only Blackhawk fanatic in our home, in fact I pale in comparison to my wife. here she is with pom-poms ready to celebrate at any opportunity.

And here she is giving those pom-poms a workout after a Blackhawk goal, gotta love her...

Last week I passed on noting another change to commit to, it was Memorial Day last Monday and my post on that day was to have nothing to do about me.

In thinking about commitments this morning I do have another to add to the list. As the length of my mission grows longer I have the benefit of reflecting upon my efforts to review what has helped and what has not. It is not hard at all for me to look at my behavior today, compare it to my standard behavior over 51 days ago, and know why I have thus far been successful.

There are so many minor changes that are adding up, and then there are those few macro changes which are the backbone of the new me. Those macro changes are what I seek in identifying changes for this list I've been assembling.

This latest change...

Change 7...

• Eat fruits and vegetables every day

It doesn't matter how many servings, although in general the more the better. Looking back at the past seven weeks I have had days where I have eaten as few as three or as many as eight servings of fruits and vegetables combined. Why this change is worthy of noting is simply the impact it has had. The old me did not eat fruits and vegetables daily. On days I did manage to get some I'd eat one or two servings tops.

There certainly is allot to be said for the quality of your food contributing the quantity of your health. Fruits and vegetables certainly qualify as quality foods. My having chosen to replace snickers bars for apples, to replace six-slice bacon & cheddar omelets for green pepper & onion egg white omelets, to replace a big bowl of fruit loops for a garden salad, to replace pringles chips for a vine of grapes... having made these choices have me on my way to being healthy.

My favorite fruit lately has been Watermelon which is abundant in the grocery stores now. I've been eating so much the casual onlooker may feel I need a 12-step program for my addiction. Veggie wise I've been working Onions into dishes in more creative ways lately. A super versatile veggie.

What are your favorite fruits & veggies?

 
Responsibility 199 - Gotta Do It!!

Day 49 - NSV Punched

Try as I may I just couldn't wait any longer. Back and forth I went with myself on whether to buy a new belt, or, add a hole to my existing belt. My pants kept increasing their threat to fall down with each passing day, Finally, I couldn't wait to make a decision any longer. So there you see it, me, at my work bench about to punch a new hole in my current belt as soon as I finished taking that picture.

Oh, Thanks Dad for the hand-me-down  set of punches you gave me nearly seven years ago; I don't use them often but was so glad to put them to use on this need. Gotta love tools made in the 60's, or before; tougher than anything made today albeit they don't look as pretty.

Ahhh, it felt much better when I put my belt back on. Actually, I think I may need to punch another hole to get the snug feeling I need. But let me take a few days on that decision :-) while I enjoy the Oh Yeah moment only an NSV can bring!

Have you had an NSV recently you would like to share with the class?

Hockey Update: The Blackhawks didn't look good last night and the Stanley Cup series is now tied up 2 games a piece now; bummer... Back to Chicago they come for Game-5 Sunday night. Go BLACKHAWKS!!!

No real plans this weekend, which means time to relax, time to exercise and the need for discipline in the face of idle time. It is a weigh in day tomorrow which has the added anticipation of the 20% progress mark which is oh so near.

Have a Great Weekend!

Responsibility 199 - Gotta Do It!!

Day 48 - My W.I.D.T.H

I recently found a very popular blogger who is doing a series which I know many of you have likely seen if not have participated in. He asked bloggers to send him a note card in a picture which stated why they want to get healthy. He calls this the W.I.D.T.H - Why I Do This Here. I think it is an awesome idea and look forward to when he posts new cards which he does a few times a week. Naturally I sent him one of my own which he posted yesterday; here is my note card on Jack Sh*t, Gettin Fit. It is worth a scroll through his posts to read these cards and see some of the faces behind them. In many you can see the sincerity in their faces, their desire to get healthy. I found it motivating to say the least... Hey Jack, well done, Thanks!

Yesterday I rocked out my best work out in my 48 days of working at getting healthy. Came home from work a tad early to get in my P.T. clothes, then had to do a conference call; ugh. But when that was done I hit the weights and busted out a great session on the dumbbells. Increased the weight on a couple of the exercises and pumped up my attitude as much if not more than my body. The routine done, I wanted more. So recalling some valuable advice from some of you where one of the best times to do cardio is right after strength training I marched upstairs and jumped on the elliptical. An hour later I was good, I didn't want any more.

Did you get in your exercise yesterday? Or Today??

Food, I ate great yesterday too. Here is the turkey breast I roasted while I worked out, I love multi-tasking...

Not sure why I chose an over-the-top/aerial view for this picture; seems like an odd way to look at food. It didn't look like this for long as the kids had me carving up as soon I as put the camera down.

Alright, I have training all day today so I need to get some real work done before heading off to class. I'll catch up on your blogs later today. And then tonight is is Game 4 of the Stanley Cup. The Blackhawks lost an overtime tilt Wednesday night in Philadelphia. They still lead the series 2-1, but we gotta take this one game at a time. Sound familiar?

Responsibility 199 - Gotta Do It!!

Day 43 - 19% Progress (and HAWKS WIN)

Hooray it is weigh-in day! Seriously, does anyone really feel that ecstatic about a weigh-in before they get on the scale. Personally I cannot say that I really feel ecstatic, but I do look forward to them. They are a validation of my behavior of the past week, whether or not I have lived up to Responsibility 199... Gotta Do It!!

So let's get down too brass tacks. Brass tacks, does anyone reading this really have any brass tacks in their home? Brass, what is so special about brass tacks vs. say aluminum, or... yeah, who cares.

It is with grand jubilation that I report to you that this weigh in calls for an Oh Yeah! As of just moments ago I am now at 19% of the way to my goal; I've lost 23 pounds in six weeks, 5.5 of them this past week. Today I weighed in at 297 pounds.

Could it be? Could it seriously be that I have exited the 300's and will never go back for a visit?

Oh how I hope so!

No, "hope" need not apply here. I will NEVER revisit the 300's!!!!

Let it be said that May, 2010 was the last month I ever put a scale over 300, NEVER Again; NEVER!

Two days ago I received in the mail my reward for reaching my 10% weight loss goal (12 lbs. lost ); my new workout clothes. It sure felt good getting them in hand and knowing I earned them versus just buying them because I could. In just ONE more pound I'll have that 20% weight loss reward in sight. Nice to know, but let me not get ahead of myself.

Before I get to what is going on today, did everyone see my quick post yesterday evening of my wife & I? We attended game one of the Stanley Cup and we were like kids in candy shop; a sugar-free candy shop :-) I know most don't care two shakes about hockey so I will keep this brief. But my wife & I are life-long hockey fans. And the blood in our veins is Blackhawk Red. For the better part of the past decade our team has struggled and missed the playoffs. But the past two years they found their steel and have the Blackhawk nation on edge. When they were last in the Stanley Cup, 1992, I couldn't afford a vowel let alone tickets to such an event. But today, thankfully we could, so we went. Who knows when in our lifetime they will ever make it back. And did we get our moneys worth. A back and forth brawl with the Philadelphia Flyers for the entire sixty minutes. In the end, the score was 6-5, BLACKHAWKS WIN; see for yourself...

That pic may be a bit fuzzy, sorry; pic from my cell phone. One game down, three more to go and we are the Champions! Ok, deep breath, relax...

Today will be a challenge as it is party day. A party at the sister-in-law's to celebrate a couple of 8th grade graduations, Cameron our youngest and Alicia our niece. Also my wife's Uncle just turned 75 and of course we'll party in honor of Memorial Day too. I am sure many of you have similar food challenges this holiday weekend. We've been there before, we will be here many many times ahead. We also know how to survive these events and enjoy ourselves while even enjoy some tempting foods without completely wrecking our hard earned progress towards our weight loss / healthy living goals. What, need a refresher on what to do at a party and not over do it? So do I, it is always a good idea to revisit what works when faced with the challenge of temptation. Easiest way to do that is revisit some posts or mine, and comments of yours, on just that topic. My Day 13 post is where I asked for help and your comments which helped me come up with a game plan, and my Day 15 post illustrates just how well I did employing that generous and useful advice of yours. Or, review this - I just remembered that I've summarized allot of that good advice on my MY WHAT? page; once there just scroll down to the section titled, "What My Mission Has Taught Me...".

Ok, I have rambled on enough here. Whatever you do today enjoy it and stay healthy doing it!

GO BLACKHAWKS!

Responsibility 199... Gotta Do It!!

My wife & I at game-one of the Stanley Cup...

GO HAWKS!!!