I Like to Move It - Move It!

 I noticed something at the end of the winter break - that the clothes fit a little tighter and it really upset me and I started to go down the old road of getting depressed and then they cycle starts all over again of eating because I am depressed and then the clothes will be even tighter and eventually not fit which will depress me even more so then I will eat more, etc.... You gt the idea! I was upset for a day or so and then I realized that I made choices that got me to that point so I can certainly make some choices to get me to another point. After all - that's what this is all about - choices.

Lisa and I made a deal the other day to get up and move each day - do something! Since making this deal we have walked the dogs, I have walked at the office around the building a few days, last night it was cleaning around the house and washing all of Lisa's buckets for this week's floral delivery (my hands still smell like bleach) and then finally it all built up to this...

I got up early this morning and hit the gym for the first time in a long time. I told myself you are not going to be where you were when you stopped going about 4 months ago (I know - shame on me), but just get in there and do something. I told myself OK - go at least 20 minutes on the treadmill at a decent pace and maybe throw in an incline and you will have accomplished something. So, after walking up the stairs and having to catch my breath (why do multi level gyms always put the cardio equipment upstairs) I made my way over to the treadmill, plugged in the tunes and started walking! Started off slow, but after a few minutes I was up to 3 mph and moving along at a good pace - added a little incline in there and hung on to the treadmill and felt pretty good. I got to 20 minutes and said I can go a little more - adjusted the incline down a little and put the pace up to 3.2 mph and kept walking. Before you knew it I was at 30 minutes and looked at the clock on the wall and thought I have a little more time - I can go a little longer. At 45 minutes I decided to step on off and hit a little bit of weights. I was impressed with myself - 45 minutes and I didn't die! It was actually refreshing and I enjoyed it!

Did a little bit of weights and then sat in the dry sauna for a few minutes and then got ready for work. I actually feel really good right now (might ache a bit later on - but it will be a good ache)!

I have also started shifting my way back to eating low carb and trying to stay away from processed carbs.

At the school where I used to work we always ended the morning announcements with "Make it a Great Learning Day!" This is true for everyone - regardless of how old you are. We all learn something everyday and we all have choices to make so why not make it a great learning day and make great choices.

Whirlwind Weekend

Saturday and Sunday were a blur and this morning I awoke to the alarm and say is it really time to get up. Stayed up late Friday night helping get ready for Saturday's weddings and laughing at my brother and Laura tease each other. They act like brother and sister and have fun picking on each other.

Saturday was wedding set up so breakfast was yogurt and fruit and some more protein with ham and a cup of tea. Then we loaded up and headed out. My awesome brother (James - the other one who doesn't blog) brought lunch so we stopped to eat a bite during set-up. I had a sandwich, Jalapeno chips, and fruit. Then, back to work! We finished up in the later afternoon and headed home. Got home unloaded and organized the boxes and containers for tear down of two weddings and then decided to go to dinner. The three of us (James, Lisa, and I) went to Clay's for burgers and fries. I had the queso burger (no picture - sorry). It is a burger served open faced with pico and queso on it. I love this burger!

Next, off to home to try to unwind and get ready for whirlwind day two! I got to skip the tear down of a wedding for once (my brother helped Lisa) because I had to be up at 3:30 am. Yep, you heard me right 3:30 am! Last year I started volunteering for the air show for a great friend of mine. He runs the motor pool at the air show. We are in charge of all the golf carts for all of the groups to use during the show. I really enjoy doing this! I'm glad he thought of me last year and I will always come back as long as he will have me.

The food was not that great on Sunday and my schedule got all out of whack, but I had a blast. I really enjoy watching the planes and talking with the people (mostly pilots and military) that I get to drive around during the day. It is a privilege to offer these people a lift when they are walking along the flight line from one end to the other and they really appreciate it to.

It's Monday now and back to a normal routine - told you it was a whilwind! Back to Sunday evening - one cool thing that I really enjoy is watching the planes leave Ellington field after the air show. As the sun sets and the jets begin to be taxied to the runway and take off it is really neat to watch a jet take off into the night sky with its jet engine glowing.

Next year - I will have to bring the camera.

Emotional Weekend

Well it was a long weekend and a very emotional one. I'm not going to go into the details with all of you, but just know that some things were said that really upset me and hurt. Maybe they are true, but I don't think so. What I do know is that the stress of my work situation is spilling out and effecting my personal life. I really do enjoy my job, but some of the people I work with have made some poor decisions that are effecting the entire team. I will leave it at that because I don't want to go into any more detail that may have a negative impact on me.

I have decided to do my best to not let these actions of these individuals bring me down and stress me out. All I can control is me and make the best of the situation. I get so worked up about things that it causes everything else about me to get so out of whack and go emotionally crazy. Then I impulsively react and that does not bode well for others or myself.

A good friend of mine had a great conversation with me a few weeks ago and helped put things into perspective and I have not been following that advice. My brother also has an incredible outlook on life and echoes the same thoughts. I am going to focus on what I can change and control. I know it will be a work in progress and I know that I will hit setbacks along the way, but I have to look at life this way or the outcome will not be a positive one.

Back to the things that were said this weekend - they made me start to look at things in a different perspective. I guess that was the one positive thing that came out of the comments! Here is what I can change and focus on:

1. Loving God and loving myself.
2. Being the best husband I can be.
3. Focusing on the positive things in my life.
4. Helping others - because it really does make you feel better.
5. Being more active - aka Get Up and Move!
6. Eating healthy and enjoying what I eat.

and - Living Well, Laughing Often, and Loving Much!

To all my family, friends, and supporters - I love you all very much! You are truly wonderful people who have influenced my life by just being a part of it.

To sum it all up here's a few quotes that I found that are very true and hopefully good words to live by:

"Those who bring sunshine to the lives of others cannot keep it from themselves" - James M. Barrie

"My life is my message" - Mahatma Ghandi

"He who allows this day to pass by without practicing generosity, and enjoying life's pleasures is like a blacksmith's bellows. He breathes, but does not live." - Proverbs

"God loves you not because He's blind, but because He can see" - Andre Rabe

Tuesday - October 4, 2011

No pics from yesterday - they are still on my phone. Last night was a quiet night at home. I should have gone to the gym, but a splitting headache and a severely hurting left eye (thanks allergies) kept me from doing much of anything yesterday in the evening. Made some good choices and some not so great choices. Major accomplishment though - I didn't stop or go out and grab some fast food which is what I typically would do when I don't feel that good. Major accomplishment for me and I'm patting myself on the back.

The Weekend - Wow is it over already?

What a weekend! It has been a whirlwind. The nice thing is that Lisa and I ate breakfast outside on the deck and patio on Saturday and Sunday. No pics from the weekend, but let me break it down for you. I ate more carbs than I had over the last week, but I made sensible choices and didn't stuff myself - well maybe I indulged a little last night at dinner.

Lisa and I went out on a date last night - yep you heard it right a date on a Saturday night! She did have a wedding, but it was a small one so while I ran to pick up a few groceries and dog food (oops - we ran out) she took the flowers to the bride. We got back home at similar times and we went to dinner at a really good Sushi and Steak place. It's a little place out in Katy and if you are ever in the area you need to go to Nikko Sushi and Sake Lounge! We had a gift certificate so we enjoyed ourselves and had an appetizer and dessert with our meal. Here's what was on the menu for us:

Chicken Katsu for our appetizer
I had the steak hibachi (steak tips, vegetables, and white rice) and a green salad with it
Then we had a custard style dessert with strawberries and whipped cream

Lisa had a california roll and a tuna roll and my mushrooms off of my steak hibachi and she also had some hot sake.

It was a great place and a great time and we will definitely be going back again (and taking my brother so he can have sushi - lots of that on the menu). But wait - the date didn't end there. Are you ready for the excitement of what came next - we went to.........

Academy to buy new tennis shoes! ( I know we are so exciting and young and hip)

Today I had cereal and protein for breakfast a chicken and spinach salad for lunch and then pork chops, small baked potato, and veggies for dinner.

I also worked on a project for work for about 10 hours or so this weekend. Not what I really wanted to do, but it needed to be done and I feel really good about what I accomplished. This is a massive undertaking that I am working on and have redone it twice now to settle my perfectionist tendencies. I am making a flowchart in Microsoft Visio of our electronic course submission system - every click, every action. It is getting quite massive.

So tomorrow is another day and I will start all over again and we will move on!

Week 1 Weigh In

Tomorrow's the day - I weigh in after week 1. I'm a little nervous about that, but I know that this is a process and it will take time. I will post tomorrow evening how it goes - I will weigh myself on the scale at the gym before my workout since I do not have a scale at home. I feel better even just after one week and I have to focus on 1 at a time just like my brother and I decided!

Looking Back and Moving Forward

So my brother came and had dinner with me while I was in Richardson for work. That still sounds strange - being somewhere for work. What a huge change from a year ago. That's right - we are coming up on my one year anniversary of leaving Pine Shadows and Spring Branch (I miss my friends) and embarking on my new journey of working for the TxVSN. I wish I could say it has all been uphill and there has been no looking back, but that would be a lie. Don't get me wrong - I love my job and the people I work with! My challenges have been in keeping with the routine of losing weight and eating healthy.

Anyway - back to the start of this post. We had dinner together and after dinner while sitting in my hotel room we had a chat about our journeys of weight loss and the good, the bad, and the ugly or those journeys. We have decided to make a new challenge with each other - we are taking it 1 pound at a time and the added bonus for me is to take it 1 day at a time. You will see some changes on this blog - there will be a lot more posts from me as I take this journey and I am even going to try and take photos of my food and post them to this blog. My brother is doing this and I think it sounds like a great idea - at least I will do my best.

Another change is that you will see the box with my weight totals change - I will post a starting weight as soon as I get to a scale and can weigh myself and then I will update it each month (I'm going to do my best to be consistent with when I weigh).

You'll also see me post about my activities for the day or week or whenever I feel like it. I know that is a key part to this journey - to get active and stay active! Need to get back that consistency that I had a few months ago.

So here comes your part - encourage, encourage, encourage me! There is a reason why I let everyone read this blog and post to it. I need some encouragement and accountability. That's the other part that I have for you all - help me be accountable. Words of wisdom would be great also as I struggle to figure out why God loves me the way I am and I learn how to love myself.

Wow - that's a big one that I just threw out there at everyone. That is something that I struggle with is understanding why God loves me when I don't love myself. This is my challenge that I face each day as I don't love myself - my brother summed it up the other night while we were talking. He said he loves himself, he likes himself, but he doesn't like the way he looks right now. I wish I could say that I am there or even close to there, but I'm not. I know that God loves me and I believe that, but I don't love myself right now. I let my physical appearance stop all of God's love in it's tracks. So this is another way that you can help me on this journey - any words of advice or wisdom you can provide would be a great help to me as I try to figure this all out.

That's it for now - time to figure this all out and begin this process of changing my eating habits, my weight, and my life - 1 pound at a time!

Love to you all!

Live Well - Laugh Often - Love Much!