Archive for July, 2012

Scale Down, Nacho Challenges

Posted: July 31, 2012 in Mission
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Glad to report that I lost 2.2 pounds last week; On Monday morning my scale read 299.2

Nacho expected better and sat me down for a face-to-face. Actually I expected more too, and likely would have seen a better number if it weren’t for my eating out four days this past week. Even though I made better choices while eating out, eating out is just dangerous. With so many hidden calories in restaurant food, even better choices can kick weight loss in the shins.

Nacho told me to inch the bar higher this week and make more better choices, and better quality choices. Not wanting to take this gruff from a cat, I rolled my eyes and grunted. That, was not an example of a good choice. Nacho “reminded” me his claws are sharper than mine, and reflexes quicker.

Ok, we’ll let Nacho have a chance and play Trainer for a week. Who knows, this may be his big break; casual advice today, his own C25K DVD & Adidas shoe contract tomorrow?

Whose giving you your advice this week?

Examples Are So Close

Posted: July 30, 2012 in Mission
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Hope all had a great weekend. A new week is here, and it is chocked full of opportunities to better ourselves.

July is slipping away and August coming at us fast. Even though school doesn’t start for another three weeks for the kids, for ours; it never really stops.

Ashley, pictured above, is getting ready for a new soccer season. All summer she has trained everyday and is looking forward to tryouts when she goes back to college in a few weeks. This season she will face her toughest challenge to making the team.

Last November she underwent knee surgery to repair a torn ACL and this past May she had a second surgery to remove scar tissue which was hindering her regaining full extension. We’re proud of her for many reasons. Certainly seeing how she has refused to quit and let her injury determine who she is has shown us her maturity and commitment to herself.

I can look to all of our kids for examples of perseverance and commitment.

We look so far at times for inspiration and examples of winning. We spend big bucks on seminars or programs or books. We surf far and wide on the web to sift through commercial sites and personal blogs.  Many of these do deliver on what we seek and should be part of our source of knowledge and  motivation.

The sources for encouragement, for the reinforcement we need,  are so close.

We just need to look to our kids, spouses, family, friends and colleagues and see them as examples of how to desire success and achieve it.

See Me Walk

Posted: July 29, 2012 in Mission
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Here I go… A Saturday morning walk is what I need.

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One foot in front if the other.

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Is my fedora on straight?

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Keeping the sky above me.

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Carrying the sun on my shoulder, someone has to do it.

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My chin is wondering when we will be done, keep wondering big boy.

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Got the body moving and all over this sidewalk.

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Gut leading the way.

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Gratuitous butt shot, you’re welcome!

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When my 2.5 miles were complete & I got home I was as tired as Zinger!

Sunday, make it great!

Saturday, We’re Home?

Posted: July 28, 2012 in Miscellaneous
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Home, we are home this weekend! After three consecutive weekends away, being home for a weekend is worth shouting about!

One order of business today, my incredibly gorgeous wife & I go to the eye doc for our annual visit today. Above you see one of our sons who enjoyed that experience yesterday. Since our eye doc for the past decade does her business out of the Target Optical store, we’ll get to go grocery shopping afterwards; whoohoo!

Tomorrow we might run up to Milwaukee to enjoy their annual Irish Festival. A good time awaits us if we do. Since we’re off to Colorado for a long weekend next week, we’re trying to chill as much as we can this weekend, so no guarantees Milwaukee’s Irish eyes will see us.

By chill I mean keep the stress of what we choose to do to a minimum. Soon we’ll be off to get in some exercise which always helps keep stress at bay and aids in relaxation the rest of the day (ha, that rhymes).

Before I go, if you watched the Olympics opening ceremony yesterday, what did you think if it?

Myself I thought it was weak overall. Sure, overall a grand performance and well executed by the participants. Slow, didn’t have me going ‘wow’ at any point really, guess that’s it; not enough wow factor. Glad its over and the games have begun; Go USA!!

Enjoy your Weekend!

F is For?

Posted: July 27, 2012 in Mission
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ImageThis is not sesame street, not that there is anything wrong with sesame street; although I was partial to electric company as a kid.

Today being Friday, I got to pondering the letter F.

F is a cool word if for no other reason than FRIDAY starts with that letter. But, there are more reasons that come to my wandering mind, here are some…

F is for FOOD…. something I need to learn to control, not let have control of me.

F is for FINANCES…. something I’d have more of if each of you donated $FIVE to my paypal account.

F is for FIRE…. something I need more of in my belly to get my train (body/mind) really running on the tracks to good  health.

F is for FINLAND…. somewhere I have never been to but hear is very cool, and cold, and dark; so not sure I wanna go now.

F is for FIVE-K…. something I am going to do before Valentines Day (seemed like a lovely target date).

F is for FRITO’S…. something that I cannot eat out of the bag, but toss chili in the bag & I will dive in after it.

F is for….

Your Turn…. Silly of Serious, what does F have in store for you today?

Think! Dependability

Posted: July 26, 2012 in Mission
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It’s Thursday, so lets THINK today before the weekend gets here and grabs our attention…

Dependability

For me, Dependability is a trait I must embrace. My success is dependent upon my ability to perform my duty as required.

My duty here, to lose weight… to get healthier than I have been in 25+ years… to increase my odds of living long after the Cubs win their next World Series.

If I depend on somebody else to do my duty, none of that happens; I fail even before I get started.

Sure, I can enlist the help of others to provide assistance in performing my duty; and I do. You for example, I’ve enlisted your help by putting this blog out their and leaving it open for you to share your thoughts, tips, tricks, and so on. You can encourage me, please do. I can hire a trainer to educate me, perhaps I should. Anyone can plant ideas in my brain, I have room for lots and lots of ideas.

However, with each decision and action I am called upon to make in performing my duty, it is me, and only me, who can actually make each decision, perform each action.

I succeed only if I depend upon myself.

What does Dependability mean to you and/or how does it relate to your personal mission to get/stay healthy?

Sad, Silly, Super

Posted: July 25, 2012 in Miscellaneous
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ImageSad…

Tuesday morning we had a monsoon wake us up. When walking through the office parking lot, I spotted this lonely banana on the asphalt, apparently dropped by it’s purchaser. I assume it’s fate was to eventually be run over by a vehicle looking for a parking spot; so sad!

 

Silly…

A man visits his aunt in the nursing home. It turns out that she is taking a nap, so he just sits down in a chair in her room, flips through a few magazines, and munches on some peanuts sitting in a bowl on the table.

Eventually, the aunt wakes up, and her nephew realizes he’s absentmindedly finished the entire bowl. “I’m so sorry, auntie, I’ve eaten all of your peanuts!”

“That’s okay, dearie,” the aunt replied. “After I’ve sucked the chocolate off, I don’t care for them anyway.”

 

Super…

My wife is super. This fall I return to school to start my MBA (Masters in Business Administration). Being the supportive and fun woman that she is, she bought me some school supplies including these retro-folders from my youth; very cool!

She also bought me a new leather briefcase to carry them in. I know nothing about such things, which maybe a good thing as she hasn’t told me what the cost of the briefcase was, hmmm…

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That’s all I have today folks; keeping my approach simple and focus sharp…

 

Think More, Weigh Less!

Scale Back, Look Ahead

Posted: July 24, 2012 in Mission
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Good news, I lost 2.8 pounds last week.
Sad news, I’ve lost that same pounds a dozen times over passed decade.

On Monday morning my scale read 301.4, which is a far cry from my where I got it down to in 2010 when I was on fire and the weight was melting off. The first half of 2011 I maintained and then relapsed in the second half. An attempt to refire the engines at 2012 start only sputtered and I spent most of the first half of this year wishing I’d just get going again.

This past month I’ve come back to blogging, tweeting and thinking rather than wishing. I’ve managed to get the attitude dialed in with the help of many of you and your fine comments, blog posts and tweets. Now I’ve got the scale turning downward again.

When I look back I get frustrated quick, mad even. There are so very many bad decisions made which I can point to as reason for why I’ve yet to achieve my ultimate goal. Oh so many!

I’ve come to realize, and I have to continuously remind myself, dwelling on the past to the point of frustration is an equal barrier to what I want. Looking back is not always productive, and with weight loss seldom is. When I do look back, I can only do so long enough to learn from what has worked and why what hasn’t didn’t, and then look ahead.

Ahead of me is where my ultimate goal resides.

Ahead is where I must look to for what I can do to achieve my ultimate goal.

Ahead is where I am headed.

Please, I mean PLEASE, join me!

I was taking pictures all over the place yesterday; here are my eats from Monday…

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Breakfast: 1whole egg & 2 egg whites, fried w/out oil

Snack: Venison snack stick (not pictured)

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Lunch: Tuna fish (canned) under stewed tomatoes & chilies, topped w/ slivered almonds

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Snack: Yogurt

Snack: Almonds (not pictured)

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Dinner: grilled chicken thigh w/ skin, quinoa w/ strawberries

Water: 104 ounces

Back To The Opportunity

Posted: July 23, 2012 in Mission
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ImageJust playing with the web-cam on my laptop with that picture. I missed half my head, and the webcam thinned my hair line, so I need to play some with it some more.

Our trip to Cleveland was a success for our son with the soccer team he might play for a year from now. As well my wife and I had a great time taking in the sites of the Cleveland area. Highlights were…

Vacation is over… back to the grind, and by grind, I really mean back to opportunity.

Exercise is an opportunity I shall grasp firmly today. Dang heat will be 100F here, so it very well may be at the YMCA, but exercise will be had.

Nutrition is an opportunity I shall grasp just as firmly; good thing I have two hands. No more that 1,500 calories and no less than 100 ounces of water are more goal.

Simple works best for me more often than not. So I’m not going to seek opportunities more complicated than that for today.

What opportunities are you going to grasp today?

Aurora, In Memoriam

Posted: July 22, 2012 in Miscellaneous
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May these dozen innocent souls rest in peace and never be forgotten…
Veronica Moser-Sullivan, 6
Alexander “AJ” Boik, 18
Micayla C. Medek, 23
Jessica Ghawi, 24
Alexander C. Teves, 24
Jonathan T. Blunk, 26
Alex M. Sullivan, 27
John Thomas Larimer, 27
Matthew R. McQuinn, 27
Jesse E. Childress, 29
Rebecca Ann Wingo, 32
Gordon W. Cowden, 51

Well wishes are still needed for several survivors who remain hospitalized, some in intensive care. May they heal and return to their families soon.

We are blessed to be alive, and we must live up to this blessing bestowed upon us.

Wake this Sunday and take a moment to remember those lost and those who survive. Then hug your family, call your loved ones too distant to hug; and share this blessing.

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