Rox

I made some rookie mistakes yesterday when I added fruit and vegetables to my protein shake. I put so much in that there wasn't room for hardly any ice. By the end of the drink, it just tasted like lukewarm beet juice. Today's is much better!
 
1 scoop of market pantry chocolate protein
3 tablespoons of organic fat free vanilla yogurt
1/2 large organic cucumber
1 handful of organic blueberries
lots of ice
 
This is a much smoother taste. And according to the interwebs, cucumber is a natural anti-inflammatory!

After more than two years post-op and almost three years on this board, I've decided to create a blog. I never made one before because I didn't want the responsibility of keeping up with new entries and dreaming up fresh and exciting content to share. But I've come to recognize that blogs, even when they are abandoned, can provide a permanent link to some great information. So, I'm going to use my blog to answer questions that I see come up over and over in the online VSG community. I'll put each topic in a separate entry so they are easy to link to.
 
A bit about me: I'm a retired techie. I wrote techincal documentation for end-users, administrators, and programmers. I also worked on websites and UI design. After retiring, one of my projects was getting healthy. After years of trying to lose weight including a stint with Weight Watchers in person, Weight Watchers online, hiring a personal trainer, hypnosis, and a brief fling with Alli, I decided to try weight loss surgery. At first, I wanted the band. After learning more about it, I decided on the sleeve.
 
I had VSG through Kaiser Fremont in May 2011. I got to my personal goal in March 2012. I've been staying there since.
 
I hope you find the information I provide useful.
 
Lynda

In May I wore a skirt that was rather snug. Today I put on the same skirt and i can spin the waist band around without any problem. It looks wonderful!
 
The pounds are falling away and the dress sizes right along with them. What a great feeling. I can only imagine what it will be like after surgery.
 
The Salvation Army and Goodwill are going to receive tons of clothes from me soon. So excited. I can't wait to purge the closets. I have planned to start with my winter clothes. All 22/20 are going out the door.
 
I have a pair of jeans that I keep as motivation. I try them on once a month. I plan to try them on Sunday before surgery so I can see how far I've come to my goal.
 
Let them fall is what I say, let them fall!

Hello all I swear I am so bad at keeping a blog LOL anyway here is the numbers and updates
 
As of today I am maintaining my 115 pound loss. I haven't met my personal goal yet but I feel I have had great success keeping my loss so far. I gained 15 pounds when I moved to VA (no sidewalks mostly driving) but I am able to get back on track quickly now I am in MD (more sidewalks and accessible parks to jog/walk)
 
here are the numbers
 
My surgery weight was 287
My current weight is 175
My goal weight is 135
 
As you can see I have a long way to go but I am confident I will get there.
 
I plan on starting a Vlog on you tube on my 3 year anniversary.
 
I am still a junk food junkey but now I have learned that I have to stop eating the bad stuff and that helps.
 
On a more personal note My husband and I have decided to rekindle our relationship we will celebrate our 25 anniversary Sept 29 of this year. Wish us luck.
 
Inbox me any questions you may have
 
until next time
xoxoxo
COCO
 

This has been the worst three days!
 
I moved on Wednesday, while on day three of liquid diet. The move took three days! Everything hurts. Protein shakes alone did not help. I have a car full of crap to unload and it's raining buckets. I just want my new home in order befor surgery! I feel like crying.
 
But I had some broth and I'm beginning to feel some what better. Maybe a power nap is in order. Lol
 
My sister was to come to be with me for the surgery and she called today to tell me she has something wrong with her leg and is at the ER. She may need surgery. I'm pulling up my big girl panties and pushing forward.
 
Then I thought about my mom all weekend during the move, I miss her so much; she's been gone for six years but it still feels like yesterday. I wish my mom had taken the chance to have the surgery 10 years ago. I honesty believe she would still be here.
 
Ok shaking off the blues, I'll be my own sunshine along with the help of fellow sleevers. This is our month July, the new me is itching to come out, some are ahead of me and some are behind, but we will all graduate!

I have 33 more pounds to go to goal!!! 135 ---> COMING TO GET YA!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
WOOOOOOO HOOOOOOOOOO

My second week postop was SO much better than the first week. The addition of kefir (liquid yogurt) in my diet really helped to bring my diarrhea under control & everything in the whole world looked much better after that!
 
My surgeon had me on 2 full weeks of clear liquids plus skim milk postop. It was definitely tough to go that long on just clear liquids, even with skim milk & the addition of kefir one week in. I was aware that many other docs do not require 2 weeks on clears, but I just figured this was my karmic payback for having a generous pre-op diet that was not just a bunch of shakes. Even though I had heard this might happen, I was still surprised to find myself never experiencing hunger...either physical or head hunger. A couple of times I was in a restaurant or somewhere else around yummy food, but I was barely tempted. The food looked good, smelled great...and still, I only had a tiny ripple of want, and then I forgot about it.
 
Here's what else surprised me, though...the number of pre-op and post-op sleeve peeps who encouraged me to cheat on, or disregard, my surgeon's instructions! Granted, nobody was encouraging me to eat a cookie or something like that, but several folks encouraged me to have some yogurt, or a protein shake, or pudding. Even though I knew it it probably wouldn't hurt me to give in, I chose to stick to the plan as outlined by my surgeon.
 
Maybe it's a small thing, but it seems to me that developing our self-discipline skills is a big part of this journey. I assume that my surgeon has chosen his post-op guidelines because he believes them to be the best way to ensure a successful start. Part of the information we learn on this & other WLS sites is just how much variation there is among surgeons, and their pre- and post-op plans. We know what other folks are being told by their doctors, and sometimes it might be easy to think, "Well, that person's doctor said it wasn't a problem, so why does my surgeon care? It won't really matter if I just....." I know that suggesting that someone have a yogurt is not the end of the world, but rationalization and justification are twin pathways on the slipperiest of slopes. I don't want to get started down that road. I will be the first to admit that my self-discipline skills can certainly use some work, but I am making the best effort I possible can to be successful on this journey.

Going to a party today where I will see people that I haven't since Christmas.
My surgery was in January and I have lost 96 pounds.
At Christmas my skirt/pant size was a 24. Tops were 24 to 28 or XXXL.
 
My sister bought me an adorable skirt and a sexy slamming blouse. Skirt size ---> 6 !!!!!!!!!!! The blouse is a plain MEDIUM. I cried and so did she. I kept looking at the tag on the skirt like it had to be wrong.
 
What a moment. I feel liberated and I feel like I have finally won the battle. I have no regrets going through with this operation. I am very glad I didn't have the bypass or the band. I feel very healthy.
 
Happy girl!! Have a good day everybody.

"Don't confront me with my failures, I have not forgotten them"



Jackson Browne


 
 
I can not believe I am going to write again. I spent 3 or 4 years somewhat journaling my previous weightloss effort. That came to a screeching halt around 19 months ago. And now I am headed into the land of VSG. I am scheduled for surgery this friday, June 28th. I am having my surgery done at the University of Wisconsin Hospital. I made my first phone call about the surgery in August 2012. I had been diagnosed with some arthritis in my knee and my activity level came to a dramatic halt. I had found 70-80 of my old friends and knew I really needed to do this for me. I had no idea I would be waiting 9-10months to get it done.
 
6 months with the nutritionist. My first meeting with the Surgeon in late January. A new nutritionist. 3 group classes. You need to lose 25 lbs before we do surgery. That sleep study has a two month waiting list. Approval May 6th. Schedule surgery for June 28th and meet with the doctor forJune 6th. Oh yeah you better have lost that 25 lbs by then. Start trying to lose the 25 lbs...again. Spend June 3,4,5 fasting and come in under the number. One last class and an EKG, chest xray, and labs. Start the two week liquid diet.
 
Six to seven slim fasts carnation breakfasts a day??? ick. Substitute some isopure and maybe some chicken and nuts every once in awhile. Hey it's now June 24 and this is really happening.
 
Oh yeah I guess I better tell my mom That can wait until tomorrow. I have really only told a couple close friends and my volleyball teammates. everyone has been supportive. A few have asked questions. But no complaints from me about who I have told. My family, we shall see. None of them live within a 1,000 miles of me, and to their credit they have always been real supportive. I think I hesitated in telling them mostly because I don't want them to worry.
 
So that's the condensed version of my story. Excited and grateful that I have learned so much from following and reading about your journeys. You guys will never know the help you have been. Best of luck to all of you Peace, Jim

So this week has been pretty hard, but yesterday I realized some of my pain is already gone, and that's amazing! For a couple of months I had been getting bad, all-day-all-night pain in both hips/thighs, almost like a constant muscle soreness except minus the exercise that usually causes that sort of thing. When I was making my list of NSVs for the first time, I put that one up top. It was so bad some days I felt hobbled, and I'm 26. I didn't know what it was, but I wanted it gone.
 
Yesterday I stood up to walk around and realized that I had just stood up with no. Pain. Not only that, but I had BEEN standing up with no pain all day, and my relatively pain-free state has thus far continued. HELL YES. As hard as this first week is, I have this little victory to hang on to.
 
My other little victories/goals, scale and non-scale, in the rough order in which I hope to achieve them:
Get below 250. I've been above 250 for a year.
Start a series of every-morning pictures when I go back to work.
Fit into my favorite pants again (the size 18s that had started to hurt when I wore them)
Get below 230. I've been over 230 for a year and a half.
Find an exercise I like!
Get below 220. I've been over 220 for three years.
Buy NEW favorite pants ;]
Review my series of every-day pictures: six-month mark
Have my ankles and knees not ache every 8 hour standing shift I do at work.
Get below 210, which I haven't been under since I started college in 2005.
Donate most of my too-big clothes. (keeping some for comparison!)
Feel -- not even see, just feel! -- my hip bones again. I KNOW YOU'RE IN THERE GUYS.
Get below 200. I've been over 200 lbs since 17.
Fit into a pair of size 14 pants.
Get below 190. My lowest weight ever in my adult life was 187 at 16 years old, and I looked good. It's a shame I didn't know how good I looked, actually, but that's what you get when you're a slightly body-dysmorphic teenager. Sure, I was still pudgy, but I was awesome pudgy and I should have flaunted.
CELEBRATE THAT ****.
Get below 180 -- uncharted territory!
GOAL: 175-170

Good morning....
 
Day six found me feeling fine physically. I drove. I grocery shopped. I took the kids to McDonald's.
 
Being in the kitchen is hard for me. I have children that must be fed. While preparing plates of burgers and chips for my two youngest kids, I dropped a chip on the counter. I reflectively reached down and popped it in my mouth. Of course I immediately spit it out. However, the incident left me wondering.....
 
This morning I woke with an epiphany!
 
What I am going through each day post-surgery is the major reason that patients must go through "training" for surgery. All of the nutrition training was to help with the actual - in your face - reality that I cannot, under any condition, pop chips or anything else in my mouth without thinking. Nutrition training was to help train my mind to tune out the billions of food commercials as I watch TV during my recovery. Nutrition training was giving me a foundation or a home base to turn to when I feel that I must have something to eat or I will die. Nutrition training was to give me something to think about and cling to when my mind is going crazy and I panic because today's stress cannot be fixed by food.
 
Had I not had the time before surgery hearing about and thinking about what I must do after surgery, I would be a big fat failure. I would have been one of the people who cheats themselves by eating what shouldn't be eaten and stretched my stomach right back out to hold my dear and faithful friend, Food. I am not one of those and refuse to succumb to the overwhelming temptation to do so. I will hold on to my goal and let my goal be my friend. (My goal is to be healthy and active.)
 
I will survive. I am woman. Hear me roar! (You have to be over 50 to get this.)

My second week actually started last Friday and today is Monday... Oh, well. My biggest accomplishment today is that I waited till bedtime to use my muscle relaxants and codeine. My sprained neck is almost completely healed! That has been the most painful part of this surgery. I found that I now have thrush all over my tongue. I will sooo be talking to the doctor in the morning.
 
I found that I am sleeping a TON! I'm lucky my mom and mother-in-law are helping me. Today I slept till 1:30! Such a luxury. I did do some cleaning and laundry but I found it hard to vacuum and the laundry is heavy. Oh, and the whole bending over thing is not easy.
 
I'm still drinking protein drinks, ramen with protein, a little bit of greek yogurt, cottage cheese, and a big cheat with a scrambled egg. The cheats happened when I was getting desperate and needed away to take my medicine or get in somekind of protein. The hardest thing for me to get down is the yogurt. I have to use very small amounts.
 
I've lost almost fifteen pounds now. I can't wait for the umbilical hernia to repair so that I can start sit ups. My stomach is still really swollen and not using my stomach has my lower back aching.

First, let me say honestly and with all my heart – I hate telemarketers.
 
I believe that anyone that is a telemarketer is an undiagnosed sociopath and should kill themselves.
 
Seriously, if you are a telemarketer – KILL YOURSELF! Really, I’m not joking…KILL YOURSELF, NOW… I’ll wait.
 
Now, this may sound like a conversation right out of sitcom, but it happened to me.
 
A telemarketing firm was trying to gather information about our company to include us in some kind of “green” business directory. My office was bombarded with literally dozens of phone calls.
 
Basically they wanted to know what we did, how many employees we had, the amount of our budgets, and the who’s who of our executive staff.
 
At the time, we had over 120 employees and everyone’s phone number is published on our web site. So it was very easy for the telemarketers to get ahold of us.
 
Apparently they had a team of callers, each with a copy of our phone numbers. We were getting repeated calls to the same phone numbers over and over, from different telemarketers.
 
Now as we are a service oriented business, we are trained to be polite and courteous to every caller, no matter the situation. They would call, we would politely tell them that we could not give them the information they wanted, 30 minutes later -a new telemarketer would call, rinse and repeat.
 
We had so many repeat phone calls that it was interfering with our regular business operations.
Finally, our executive director sent out an email telling us, next time we get a call, please tell them politely to stop calling us.
 
Day one was irritating, day two was annoying, and on day three – they finally picked my phone to call.
 
The first call I received, I politely told the sociopath on the other end that we could not provide them with the information they were requesting. Two hours later, I told the next sociopath, politely, that I was not allowed to give them (and I was not privy to) information regarding our payroll and budgets and to please stop calling our offices. The third call, I recognized the number on the caller ID, I was ready for them.
 
The conversation goes as follows:
 
Me: “Thank you for calling ______. This is Randy”
 
Sociopath: “Hello, I’m calling from ______. Can I ask you for some information about your company?”
 
Me: “I’m sorry, but I can’t give that information out over the phone. What information we do give out is posted on our website.”
 
Sociopath: “Can’t you tell me who your director is and the approximate budget size of your department?”
 
Me: “No, I’m sorry, but I can’t provide you with that information.”
 
“Your associates have been calling our office for the past two days asking those types of questions, and repeatedly calling the same phone numbers over and over.”
 
“Our director has told us to ask you to stop calling our office. I have had two other calls from your company in the past few hours. And I have asked each caller to stop calling, but your staff will not stop calling.”
 
“We cannot give out the information you want.”
 
Sociopath: “Hold sir.”
 
At this point I’m transferred to a manger or some higher up sociopath.
 
Sociopath Manager: “Hello, my name is ____. Don’t you want to be part of our “green” business directory? We are creating a business directory that features companies like yours that recycle and operate in and environmentally manner.”
 
Me: “I’m sorry, but we cannot release the information you want over the phone. If you want a list of our staff, it is on our website, but I don’t have access to or permission to give out financial information about our office."
 
“On top of that, your people have been calling us for the past three days, calling the same person multiple times, even after being told that we were not allowed to give out the information and please stop calling. Some of our people have gotten a dozen calls in one day.”
 
Sociopath Manager: “Maybe you don’t understand. Don’t you want your company to be listed in our “green” directory? I’m sure it would be a plus for your company to be recognized as being an environmentally friendly business.”
 
At this point, an evil thought entered my head. (Picture me sitting there with an angle on one shoulder and a devil on the other – scratch that, there was a devil on both shoulders! :-P)
 
Me: “I’m sorry, but maybe you don’t understand. We are an information business. And information is valuable. We charge for providing information.”
 
Sociopath Manager: “Yes, sir. But what has that got to do with being in our directory?”
 
Me: “Well, we charge for answering questions. We charge $25 for each question we answer over the phone.”
 
Sociopath Manager: “That’s a lot, to answer a question.”
 
Me: “Yes it is, but information is valuable. At this point I must inform you that this phone call is being recorded and if you ask one more question, you accept our terms and conditions and agree to pay $25 for each additional question.”
 
Sociopath Manager: “You’re kidding?”
 
Me: “Thank you for asking a question and acknowledging that your company is agreeing to pay the $25 per question fee. Please feel free to ask anything you want.”
 
CLICK!...
 
He hung up!...
 
The nerve!
 
When I hung up and turned around, my director was standing there with a horrified look on her face.
 
I asked, “What’s wrong?”
 
And she asks, “What if they file a complaint against us?”
 
I asked, “File a complaint with WHO? They called me, I didn’t call them. I was polite and treated them with respect at all times. They have been calling all our departments for three days now, repeatedly calling some of us, even after we have nicely asked them to stop calling.”
 
“Obviously, they do not care what we want or that they are costing us man hours and interfering with our operations.”
 
She says, “You lied to them. We don’t charge for answering questions over the phone.”
 
I replied, “They don’t know that. And how would they find out?”
 
At this point, my director gives up and walks away. With a worried look that said, “Somehow a telemarketing company is going to lodge a complaint against us.” Because I lied to a telemarketer!
 
But we didn’t get any more calls from them – ever.
 
P.S. I’m still trying to figure out who the telemarketing company would complain to and how the conversation would go?
 
I imagine it would be something like this:
 
“Hello, we would like to register a complaint against a business that lied to us.”
 
“Yes, sir. Could you describe the situation?”
 
“Yes. For three days, we have been repeatedly calling every phone number at a business, asking them for their financial information, budgets, names of staff, names of their directors and executive staff. And they have told us that they can’t give us that information and to please stop calling them. As our phone calls are disrupting their normal operations.”
 
“Yes, sir. Go on.”
 
“Well, on the third day of calls, I talked with a gentleman that informed me that THEY charge $25 per question. I was so perplexed that I hung up, told my staff to stop calling, and have been afraid to call them again – as we might get charged. Since then, I have been afraid to make probing calls to other businesses! Afraid to ask questions that even I realize no sane business person would answer over the phone.”
 
“It’s really interfering with my staff’s ability to continue normal business operations.”
 
“Since that time, I have learned that gentleman lied to me. They in fact, DO NOT charge $25 per question. I want to lodge a formal complaint!”
 
Pause
 
“Thank you for your call sir. I would be happy to register your complaint. But first I must tell you that this phone call is being recorded and that we charge $25 ……………”

Hey today is great day.... WLS has saved my life in so many ways. I have more energy self esteem and overall healthy than I have been in a long time. Yesterday I slipped into a size 14 capris and a large top!!!! I never imagined wearing a size 14 because it has been soooo long! Just wanted to share that I have lost 50 lbs and I am closely approaching my 6 months mark... I am praying to get down to a size 10 that would be totally awesome and my highschool weight(lol) I have been trying to exercise more and really stay active,. I pray for much continued success to all TD41

http://www.stuff.co....r-says-shes-fat
 
Dear Mum,
 
I was seven when I discovered that you were fat, ugly and horrible. Up until that point I had believed that you were beautiful - in every sense of the word. I remember flicking through old photo albums and staring at pictures of you standing on the deck of a boat. Your white strapless bathing suit looked so glamorous, just like a movie star. Whenever I had the chance I'd pull out that wondrous white bathing suit hidden in your bottom drawer and imagine a time when I'd be big enough to wear it; when I'd be like you.
But all of that changed when, one night, we were dressed up for a party and you said to me, ''Look at you, so thin, beautiful and lovely. And look at me, fat, ugly and horrible.''
At first I didn't understand what you meant.
''You're not fat,'' I said earnestly and innocently, and you replied, ''Yes I am, darling. I've always been fat; even as a child.''
 
In the days that followed I had some painful revelations that have shaped my whole life. I learned that:
1. You must be fat because mothers don't lie.
2. Fat is ugly and horrible.
3. When I grow up I'll look like you and therefore I will be fat, ugly and horrible too.
Years later, I looked back on this conversation and the hundreds that followed and cursed you for feeling so unattractive, insecure and unworthy. Because, as my first and most influential role model, you taught me to believe the same thing about myself.
With every grimace at your reflection in the mirror, every new wonder diet that was going to change your life, and every guilty spoon of ''Oh-I-really-shouldn't'', I learned that women must be thin to be valid and worthy. Girls must go without because their greatest contribution to the world is their physical beauty.
 
Just like you, I have spent my whole life feeling fat. When did fat become a feeling anyway? And because I believed I was fat, I knew I was no good.
But now that I am older, and a mother myself, I know that blaming you for my body hatred is unhelpful and unfair. I now understand that you too are a product of a long and rich lineage of women who were taught to loathe themselves.
Look at the example Nanna set for you. Despite being what could only be described as famine-victim chic, she dieted every day of her life until the day she died at 79 years of age. She used to put on make-up to walk to the letterbox for fear that somebody might see her unpainted face.
 
I remember her ''compassionate'' response when you announced that Dad had left you for another woman. Her first comment was, ''I don't understand why he'd leave you. You look after yourself, you wear lipstick. You're overweight - but not that much.''
Before Dad left, he provided no balm for your body-image torment either.
 
''Jesus, Jan,'' I overheard him say to you. ''It's not that hard. Energy in versus energy out. If you want to lose weight you just have to eat less.''
That night at dinner I watched you implement Dad's ''Energy In, Energy Out: Jesus, Jan, Just Eat Less'' weight-loss cure. You served up chow mein for dinner. (Remember how in 1980s Australian suburbia, a combination of mince, cabbage, and soy sauce was considered the height of exotic gourmet?) Everyone else's food was on a dinner plate except yours. You served your chow mein on a tiny bread-and-butter plate.
As you sat in front of that pathetic scoop of mince, silent tears streamed down your face. I said nothing. Not even when your shoulders started heaving from your distress. We all ate our dinner in silence. Nobody comforted you. Nobody told you to stop being ridiculous and get a proper plate. Nobody told you that you were already loved and already good enough. Your achievements and your worth - as a teacher of children with special needs and a devoted mother of three of your own - paled into insignificance when compared with the centimetres you couldn't lose from your waist.
 
It broke my heart to witness your despair and I'm sorry that I didn't rush to your defence. I'd already learned that it was your fault that you were fat. I'd even heard Dad describe losing weight as a ''simple'' process - yet one that you still couldn't come to grips with. The lesson: you didn't deserve any food and you certainly didn't deserve any sympathy.
 
But I was wrong, Mum. Now I understand what it's like to grow up in a society that tells women that their beauty matters most, and at the same time defines a standard of beauty that is perpetually out of our reach. I also know the pain of internalising these messages. We have become our own jailors and we inflict our own punishments for failing to measure up.
 
No one is crueler to us than we are to ourselves.
But this madness has to stop, Mum. It stops with you, it stops with me and it stops now. We deserve better - better than to have our days brought to ruin by bad body thoughts, wishing we were otherwise.
 
And it's not just about you and me any more. It's also about Violet. Your granddaughter is only 3 and I do not want body hatred to take root inside her and strangle her happiness, her confidence and her potential. I don't want Violet to believe that her beauty is her most important asset; that it will define her worth in the world. When Violet looks to us to learn how to be a woman, we need to be the best role models we can. We need to show her with our words and our actions that women are good enough just the way they are. And for her to believe us, we need to believe it ourselves.
 
The older we get, the more loved ones we lose to accidents and illness. Their passing is always tragic and far too soon. I sometimes think about what these friends - and the people who love them - wouldn't give for more time in a body that was healthy. A body that would allow them to live just a little longer. The size of that body's thighs or the lines on its face wouldn't matter. It would be alive and therefore it would be perfect.
Your body is perfect too. It allows you to disarm a room with your smile and infect everyone with your laugh. It gives you arms to wrap around Violet and squeeze her until she giggles. Every moment we spend worrying about our physical ''flaws'' is a moment wasted, a precious slice of life that we will never get back.
 
Let us honour and respect our bodies for what they do instead of despising them for how they appear. Focus on living healthy and active lives, let our weight fall where it may, and consign our body hatred in the past where it belongs. When I looked at that photo of you in the white bathing suit all those years ago, my innocent young eyes saw the truth. I saw unconditional love, beauty and wisdom. I saw my Mum.
Love, Kasey xx
 
This is an excerpt from Dear Mum, a collection of letters from Australian sporting stars, musicians, models, cooks and authors revealing what they would like to say to their mothers before it's too late, or would have said if only they'd had the chance.
All royalties go to the National Breast Cancer Foundation. Published by Random House and available now.

Ok, the good news. I graduated from walking indoors to walking outdoors. Now the bad news. Monarch butterflies are bullies!
 
I've finally gotten enough endurance and stamina to start walking outdoors. I still don't like exercising, but I do like the effects. And I just can't make myself use either my recumbent bike or treadmill - they're just too boring. And besides, the computer is just 10 feet away the whole time, pouting from lack of attention. Did I mention that my Dell is an attention wh*re?
 
So I have to get outside to walk. I have a state park just a few miles away and there are some nice nature trails that are about 1 mile in length.
 
I've only been out there with my best friend. That way, if we run into a bear or wolf, I don't have to outrun the critter, I only have to outrun my friend!
 
But this week, my friend is out of state, visiting his sister in Ohio. So it was questionable if I was going to motivate myself to get out and walk today at the park. But I mustered up the energy and drove out to the park.
 
So here we go. I got my bright yellow shirt, the $5 forest green cap that I picked up in Alaska (is says, "If you ain't the lead dog, the scenery never changes!") and shades. Oh goodie, I look like a guy cruising the park looking for other guys - that has been known to happen at this park.
 
Luckily for me the park was almost deserted and even better, no one was on the trails. So I started my normal route. Around the lake, skirt the canal and head back to the car through the flat areas.
 
There are some ups and down areas that I think help strengthen my legs and ankles, but not so steep as to cause me pain, or worse, hurtle down hill out of control! Going uphill is no problem. I just don't do down's very well. I'm not good at getting down, boogieing down or going down hill.
 
Anyway, back to my story. I was minding my own business, walking the trail, hugging the shade, and lost in my own thoughts when suddenly a black shape swoops out of the woods. Mere inches from my left arm.
 
And I did what any manly man would do. I flinched and started windmilling my arms (oops, I meant to say, "used my master karate skills"), to swat away whatever that deadly critter was - to keep it's venomous fangs away from my throat!
 
A lifetime later (or about 3 seconds in real time), I realized it was just a huge Monarch butterfly fluttering by. He casually fluttered across the trail and back into the woods. But I swear, this was no ordinary butterfly. I think it was a Pimp butterfly, cause he fluttered with a limp and was very colorful, like a pimp, and had an attitude. I swear I heard him say, "Punk ass bit*h!" as he fluttered back into the woods.
 
I'm sure he told all his butterfly friends about how he - a 1 ounce butterfly - scared a 280 pound man and made him flinch. I guess I'm lucky he didn't give me two punches for flinching or have a smart phone to capture a video of whole thing. Otherwise, I might be on Youtube ring now, going viral.
 
P.S. The good news is: I managed to walk just over 2 miles AND, as a bonus, got in a killer arm workout. But I fear the psychological scars may never heal.
 
Keep Pimpin that Sleeve!

We spend a lot of our time focusing on eating the right foods, finding healthy recipes, and taking the right vitamins. These are very important parts of the weight loss process, but we also need to make sure we are incorporating the right exercise program into our lives. While some people already have an exercise program that works well for them, if you are one of those people who does not, hopefully this will provide some helpful information about starting a program or improving an existing exercise program.
One of the questions that I am frequently asked is “what kind of exercises should I be doing?” In picking the right exercise routine it is important to remember that while the same exercise plan may not be appropriate for everyone, there are some fundamental principles that everyone should be working on in order to get the most out of their workouts.
Principle 1: Set aside some dedicated time for exercise.
Many of us do a lot of walking as part of our job or part of our daily routine. While being active is great, there is a difference between exercising and being active. In order to get the most out of your exercise time you need to set aside some sacred time designed just for your exercise. As a general rule of thumb this should be 30 minutes a day, 3 to 4 times a week. If you can do more than that, fantastic, but everyone should be aiming for at least 30 minutes every other day. You can choose to exercise alone, or with a group. Some people love to exercise with their family, some with a good friend, or some prefer to use their exercise time as personal time. Whatever your preference, make sure it is a regular routine that you can count on as part of your life.
Principle 2: Mix it up
Great athletes have repeatedly shown that the key to a successful exercise program is variety. The body adapts over time to the same exercises and routines. Over time muscle memory kicks in, and the body gets less out of a repeated exercise unless you mix up your workouts and introduce some new work outs as well. A good routine should incorporate some cardiovascular exercises, and some weight exercises. Make sure you work all your major muscle groups. Your cardiovascular exercises can be as simple as strenuous walking, jogging, running, elliptical training, swimming, dancing, or bicycling. The weight exercises can involve weight lifting, push-ups, pull-ups, sit-ups or crunches, or resistance bands. Find the combination that works for you. You can choose to do both cardio and weights in the same workout, or you can separate them to different days. If you are just starting out I recommend a day of cardio followed by a day of weights. When you do weights, don’t make the mistake of working every muscle group in the same work out. Do chest and shoulders one day, thighs and buttocks another. The one exception I recommend to this would be to incorporate a short abdominal routine with most of your workouts. The body’s core muscles which include the abs and back muscles are able to recover quicker than other muscle groups, and once you have gotten use to exercising them on a regular basis you will notice less back pain, and improved performance in your other exercises.
Principle 3: Keep track of your progress
As you get used to your exercise routine, you will notice it becomes easier, and may become too easy. That is the time to bump it up to the next level. That can involve increasing your time or distance if you are working on cardio, or increasing your weight if you are working on weights. Keeping a record of your progress will not only motivate you, but will also help you identify the workouts that work best for you. By keeping track of your progress you will be more likely to try to continually improve your workouts rather than fall into the rut of continuing an exercise that is not sufficiently challenging your body.
Principle 4: Have fun
Find a routine that you enjoy. Exercise does not have to be a painful or dreaded part of your day; on the contrary it should be a part of the day you look forward to. If you are not enjoying the exercise you are doing, look for a different one. It is very difficult to maintain a program long term if you do not enjoy it.
 
We have a lot of resources available to help if you need suggestions or examples of routines. Come by the gym at Foundation and talk with the trainers to get some additional workout ideas. We can also help you arrange a fitness evaluation to help determine your ideal heart rate during your exercise. While this isn’t a comprehensive guide to fitness, I hope it helps if you are looking for some direction on getting started.

Ahh, progress. We have a new supermarket in my neighborhood. It is beautiful, brightly lit, with almost anything you could want, from artisan bread to flat screen TVs.
 
And as with all businesses, they are doing everything they can to make the shopping experience as awesome as possible.
 
But they may have jumped the shark on this one:
 
There is automatic water mister to keep the produce fresh and pretty. Just before it goes on, you hear distant thunder and smell fresh rain.
 
When you pass the fruits, you smell fresh cut apples and peaches.
 
When you pass the vegetables, you smell hot buttered corn on the cob.
 
When you pass the milk cases, you hear cows mooing and you experience the scent of fresh mown hay.
 
In the meat department there is the aroma of charcoal grilled steaks and sausages.
 
When you approach the egg case, you hear hens cluck and cackle, and the air is filled with the pleasing aroma of bacon and eggs frying.
 
The bread department features the tantalizing smell of fresh baked bread and cookies.
 
I don't buy toilet paper there any more.