Sunday, June 19, 2011

On turning 43

43 is no great shakes as far as birthdays go. Excitement about birthdays has long since passed. It is not a decade nor a "fiver" birthday. It is even far enough past 40 and far enough before 45 as to be entirely unremarkable. None the less, it has been good to me.

Since I am 43 I have decided to just go with it and be me. Here are a few things I have decided to be comfortable with about myself.

I am a slob. I do not put things away as I go. I do not keep my desk neat. I do not clean my house. I do occasionally reset and straighten up my surroundings, but that is not the same as being neat. It is a real effort to me. The only way I can be neat is to not have things around me.

I am not a planner. I have spent a lot of time trying to convince myself that I am a planner but it simply is not true. Not only do I suck at it, but most of the plans I make are not realized and I am OK with that.

The best things that have happened in my life have been happy accidents. Berea College-check. Elementary Education Degree-check. Working in a preschool after college-check. Meeting Paige at that same preschool-check. All of those things happened based on accidents and being open to the moment. I am also OK with that.

I like people and, for the most part, people like me. Especially little kids. I am not really sure why, but I am happy about it.

I hate theory. I like reality. I deal well with it most of the time.

I am, generally, an optimist. But, when I get negative, it can be pretty overwhelming.

I like working on teams, but I don't have a natural interest in being a leader. I am content with being a contributor.

I like making people happy. It is probably my favorite thing to do.

I hate long term projects. Give me a tight deadline for the end of the day and I flourish. Give me a month long project and I am worrying today.

I can be pretty course in language and action. I try to be aware of others sensitivities, but sometimes I just have to let it all hang out.

It is much easier to hurt my feelings that I am comfortable admitting.

I wish the party would never stop. Well, at least not until I am tired.

I think you get one big go around and you should make the most of it.

I like working on my motorcycles and bicycles as much as I like riding them.

Foresight is not one of my strengths. It is the downside to the whole "living-in-the-moment" thing.

Thursday, June 2, 2011

Trying something new

I have never embedded a video before so this is all new.

I first read about Gary Taubes at the Rivendell Bicycles website. His book, Why We Get Fat and What to Do About it is what inspired me to try low carb eating. Rivendell had him out for a lecture recently and posted the video on You Tube. See if you like it.

Wednesday, June 1, 2011

Should I be disappointed?

Well, today was the big weigh-in. A full pound down since May 1. I figured the weight loss was slowing down, but only a pound? Oh well. According to what I have read, the initial loss on a low carb diet is the fastest. My wife says I am definitely getting thinner, and that has to be good.

On the other hand, most of the exercise I have been getting of late has been of the resistance variety. We had some trees cut down and have been processing the brush and smaller pieces (the big pieces have to wait for the chain saw to return). We also put up a pool which required lots of lifting and tugging. It is possible that I added a couple of pounds of muscle but I am not sure about that. The one thing that supports that is the fact that my body fat dropped by 2%. I know these things are notoriously unreliable so I am not putting too much stock in it, but I try to keep the conditions the same each time I get on the scale/fat % measure-thingy-soon after waking and a couple of cups of coffee but no water or food.

I do plan an extra weigh-in this month. I turn 43 on the 19th and I want to know what I weigh on my birthday. Perhaps I will show some progress then.

And, to answer the question that I posed in the title of the post, Heck No! My life is more than just weight loss. I feel great and things are going well for me! Plus, June happens to be my favorite month. Not because it is my birthday, but since I started first grade back in 1974, June has always been the month to look forward to. School is out and summer begins. That tradition continued through the first eight years out of college as my the focus of my jobs changed when school let out. Even now that my job is not specifically attached to the school calendar, I still get that excited feeling on June 1. I am sure that part of it is knowing that my kids are out of school. I can live vicariously through them.