Life is full of challenges

Yikes. I can't believe I let a full month slip away without even one blog entry. I'm not going to make excuses. Since I won't except them from others, why should I waste the coalition's precious few seconds of reading time on lame ass excuses & whiny bullshit?

Currently "life's plate" contains helpings of...

Sick children. Baby has an ear infection and the older one has Strep. Joy. So my wife, who envisioned a week of mall lunches & playdates for the kids with her teacher girlfriends (Winter break here in the NJ public school system), has been captive to the house. You can only watch so much Noggin.

Ailing & aging family. My 96 year old Grandfather (the last surviving grandparent I have), who has raised me like his son & who I love like a father (mind you this has caused much conflict over the years with his son/my dad, but that's another story in itself) has been in the hospital for over a week. He's still currently there. As his caregiver and his P.O.A., I am going to be faced with some difficult decisions in the coming days/weeks. He can still take care of himself, but he can no longer be alone. Ideally I'd like to bring him home and get a home health aid, but it's too soon to tell if this is going to be possible. He's still sharp as a tack & I cannot bring myself to put him in a nursing home. Still praying over this one...a lot.

"Clean Eating & Exercise". I weighed myself this morning and was 194.6. Not as bad as I thought. Considering my inconsistencies of late. I bailed on the MH Belly Off Club. I felt as if I wasn't getting a decent workout on M&W. I needed to hold some iron in my hands and these workout were just not providing that. The Friday Body Weight work outs were much more intense. I have been doing the MH transformation workouts and I find those to be effective. Eating has been hit or miss. Not spot on perfect as I know I have done in the past, but not over the "top pork rinds and cola" bad either. A few beers here and there and some desserts that I simply shoud not have eaten, but my wife helps keep me in check, she is the best.

I just finished reading N.R.O.L. (thank you Marcol, I first read about it on one of your posts) & will begin a new routine on Monday. It's a great book.

Thoughts and prayers are welcomed. I'll make a stronger effort to check in more often. While I have not made many comments lately, I have enjoyed reading all of the coalition's posts.

Focus

"You can have big plans, but it is the small choices that have the greatest power. They draw us towards the future we want to create."

- Robert Cooper

I've been reading a lot lately. Currently I am reading "Build Your Mind, Your Body Will Follow" by Vincent D. Cocilovo. This is not your typical "fitness" book, however the title says it all.

Oh the mind is a beautiful thing, yet it can still be the "poison pill" we all strive to avoid. The difference? Focus.

Last week during my cleanse (during which I lost 8 lbs. by the way) I had to make a choice on where to direct my focus. Was I going to focus on my hunger and how much I missed simply "chewing food"? Or was I better off focusing on the goal of cleaning out my system and spring boarding back into clean eating? At times it was hard, but I chose to focus on the latter and it really made things easier for me.

There has to be a "bigger picture" for each of us. It will be different for everyone (as it should be). Keep in mind that the bigger picture (long term goal) is compromised of "snapshots" (short term goals) that we build upon along the way. So metaphorically speaking we should take snapshots along the way, making sure that they are helping us create our desired bigger picture.

BTW - Week one of the Men's Health Belly Off 2008 (MHBO) is going great. I'll post some stats soon. I am taking "snapshots" each week , but I'm going to save posting them for a while hoping for a more dramatic effect.

Oh Pooh!

On Tuesday I began what has become an annual January ritual for me; the colon cleanse. Be warned before you click on this link there are some images not suitable for the squeamish.

http://www.blessedherbs.com/

I am on day 4 of a 5 day liquid only fast. My "meals" consist of a packet of the "toxin absorber" mixed with apple juice (5x a day), plus some vegetable broth for lunch and chicken broth for dinner. That's it. No chewing required.

In the past, Day 3 was always the hardest, but this time Day 1 seemed to be tougher. I think it was because up until I began the cleanse, I had been overeating and over drinking so my body was like "What the F?"

I'm not going to lie. I'm hungry. But at this stage (less than 48 hours to go until I break my fast) it's just as much a mental as well as physical challenge.

And yes...there has been some interesting "stuff" coming out of me.

Why do I do it? 2 fold I guess. One is as I age I do believe that getting all the crud out of your system is a good thing. To use the analogy of a car engine, I've got years and years of motor oil all clogged up in me. Even though there is no history of colon cancer in my family, it can't hurt to be proactive. Secondly, this experience has given me a far greater appreciation for food and what I will choose to put in my body.

"So why aren't you skinny if this is your 3rd cleanse?" you ask. Great question that I don't have an answer to. Maybe I wasn't ready to make "life changes". Maybe I gave into temptation too quickly and easily. Maybe I wasn't about to turn 40. Maybe I just didn't have a plan going forward.

Well now I do.

Sunday I break my fast & I'm gonna eat like a pig. NOT...just checking to see if you are paying attention as you read. I'll be having some egg whites and oatmeal. Probably the finest in quite some time. Monday I will be begin the Men's Health Belly Off 2008 challenge. I have a friend who will be doing it with me. Although I will be modifying the meal plan, I love the workouts and am a big fan of Craig Ballantyne's Turbulence Training whose principals compose the workout.

In addition I have the growing coalition (growing in a good way) as a support group. I plan to be more active (at least weekly) in both postings and comments.

One of my fitness inspirations, Jon Benson, has a program called M-Power, where the M's stand for Mind, Meals, Muscle & Motion...in that order. Get your thinking straight and the rest seems to fall into place.

There is a saying that success leaves clues. We'll, there are tons of them on these blogs.

Start Strong Monday

Hey everyone -

I've got a few minutes & I wanted to share this with you. Sean Phillips (Bill's brother) has a great website called Start Strong Monday. Each week he streams a 3-5 minute audio file which I find to be packed full of good insight.

This current series is a 5 parter having to do with New Years resolutions and what he calls "obligation based motivation". Man, it's like he opened up my brain and looked right in.


I hope you all start your week off on the positive. Enjoy this.

Motivation Part 1: http://www.startstrongmonday.com/vol042
Motivation Secrets Part 2: http://www.StartStrongMonday.com

Make your decision

I have still been lurking, it's just that I have been totally swamped at work. My company just launched a new website and as the head of IT at my job, it's my responsibility to make it work. I've been putting in long hours and worked right through the New Years Holiday. Not that it mattered too much since with 2 small children, we weren't going out to paint the town. My wife has been great and very understanding of the demands placed upon me these last few weeks. Thanks baby, I love you!

Now...I have so many great things I plan to blog about this year, I just need a bit of time to get over this professional hump.

So, the question is...have you made your decision?

• Is this the year to make it "happen" for you?


• Will 2007 be different than 2008?


• In what way?


• Have you written your goals?


• Do you read them daily?

Once you make the decision, I mean really make the choice and eliminate any other option...the rest is easy. I'm not kidding.

Happy New Year - Happy New Life

Christmas Top 10

We'll, I'm actually posting what has evolved into a personal top 25 list. Just was wondering if others want to share some of their favorites?

Name - Artist
Christmas (Baby Please Come Home) - U2
Sleigh Ride - The Ronettes
Please Come Home for Christmas - Eagles
Celebrate Me Home - Kenny Loggins
Do They Know It's Christmas Time - Band Aid
Another Auld Lang Syne - Dan Fogelberg
Sleigh Ride - Leroy Anderson
Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas - The Pretenders
Rocking Around The Christmas Tree - Brenda Lee
Santa Claus Is Coming To Town - Bruce Springsteen
Wonderful Christmastime - Paul McCartney
(Everybody's Waitin' For) the Man with the Bag - Kay Starr
The Christmas Song - Nat King Cole
All I Want For Christmas - Mariah Carey
Driving Home For Christmas - Chris Rea
Christmastime - Blues Traveler
Feliz Navidad - José Feliciano
Little Drummer Boy/Peace On Earth - Bing Crosby & David Bowie
Grown Up Christmas List - Natalie Cole
Do You Hear What I Hear - Whitney Houston
Happy Holidays - Andy Williams
Winter Wonderland - Tony Bennett
Sleigh Ride - Andy Williams
It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas - Johnny Mathis
Home For The Holidays - Perry Como

P.S. 2 blogs posted Friday. Scroll down for "random thoughts".

Thanks Sharon!

Random Thoughts

You could say I've been more of a lurker these past few weeks. Laying low, reading often, compiling my thoughts - some deep and dark, others light and full of humor.

It has been said that when the student is ready the teacher will appear. I believe that God has a sense of humor and he has put many "teachers" in front of me throughout my life; some as recently as last weekend. Without going into too much detail, lets' just say I am convinced that God was hanging out with me and watching over me while I was in Florida. It's your call if you want to dismiss me as a kook. Too bad, it's my belief. If nothing else it's reaffirmed my faith, allowed me to refocus on the true meaning of the Christmas season and made me feel safe in some strange way. Safer than I've felt in quite some time.

I watched TBL finale on Tuesday. I love cheering on the successes of others. We all know fat/weight loss is NOT easy and in order to achieve long term success we must make these life long decisions, however when you dangle a $250,000 carrot in front of someone they are bound to be motivated. I thought I knew what my carrot was. Sometimes I'm not so sure. Find your "why" and you'll find your "how". I'm looking harder now than ever.

Lots of posts about those lamenting our "poor choices" lately. I'm guilty as charged. Sometimes I want to take the high road and say "Don't be such a pussy Gene. Suck it up." Dominate as Billy says. Other times I want to coddle and say "It's OK. There you go. Here's a tissue." Let's face it - it sucks sitting on the fence. You know who's not on the fence? Billy. End of story.

Speaking of Billy, I'm glad he decided not to pull back from Blogging as he indicated some time ago. His recent posts have been insightful & important to me. I'm sure to some of you as well.

I was sad to hear of Dan Fogelberg's death. Weird he died a week before Christmas. I know "Old Lang Syne" is sort of gay, but I admit I love it. It's in my all time Christmas top 10.

Speaking of Christmas (and before I ramble on any more and you all decide to unsubscribe from reading my blog posts - you guys wouldn't do that would you?) here (in true "song guy" fashion) is my Holiday wish for you all:

Blues Traveler - Christmastime:

If it's Hanukkah or Kwanzaa
Solstice, harvest or December twenty-fifth
Peace on earth to everyone
And abundance to everyone you're with

Catch you next week. I'll be in PA for a few days without web access.

One last chuckle. I Googled "Christmas" for an image to post and the one I found is called "christmas-balls". Yep. That's what we all need...balls. Fortitude. Sticktuitiveness. Guts. Chutzpah. Cahones. OK...enough.