155: day six/seven

155: day six/seven

november 24/25

pep talk of the day

chicken or the egg?

Action comes before motivation!

I will allow success and love into my life… I deserve it!

Without a first move there can be no success. Most of us at times struggle with motivation and we’re draped with the heavy cloak of procrastination. We get caught spinning tomorrows in our vocabulary endlessly until tomorrow never comes. The weight of life’s cloak may become too heavy to carry, and what’s most important: the most difficult things to tackle, get buried.

We’ve all been there, whether it’s dropping a few pounds, making a difficult phone call; hey Mr. Bill Collector, two things; I’ve overspent and can’t afford to pay you back, and; aren’t you responsible for overextending my finances with your slick promotions and your need to up your quarterly profits? Anyway, can I pay you next..? Or punting* a broken relationship to the curb. I’m not happy. It’s not that Marge/Stan is a bad person, she/he’s not. And, I really love her/him. However, I can’t stand the way that…

Three years later and you’re still fat, miserable and broke: It’s not that Marge/Stan is a bad person. And… tomorrow I’m gonna hit the gym and dump my flab. You know, it’s hard to change, I’m comfortable. Sounds like justifications. Have you forgotten, miserable? Passionless? Stagnant? Living a marginal and unmotivated existence?

In my opinion: we’re behaving the way we’ve been conditioned. We’ve become pawns to many factors: family, school, corporations, the media, and tradition. We often do what we’re told without questioning the goals of those who are moving us around in the game of life. Until one day… we’re trapped, and comfortable becomes the easy way out. We still want more, but… tomorrow, tomorrow, tomorrow ---talking a big game with every breath we take.

That’s where action and motivation come in. We can have whatever we want from life! IF! If we break free of our conditioning. If we set our own definitions. If we take the good from the game while at the same time learning quick lessons from the bad --swiftly filing the bad out-of-site. And, most importantly, if we realize action always comes before motivation.

Whatever challenge/crisis we need to overcome, no matter how often we say, I’ve got to get motivated, progress will be absent from the formula until you take the first step, pick up the phone, or lift the first weight. The beautiful thing: once you do, with consistent effort the weight of the cloak begins to lift, life becomes easier, and marginal will no longer be part of life!

I may be a slow learner as that may be a simple lesson… I’m no longer a kid, apparently, when I was, I was a foundling. Perhaps that slowed my learning process. Regardless of the semantics I’m finally starting to move, hopefully in the right direction, which is part of the reason I share my progress with others. It’s a great way for me to keep moving and with each step I’m climbing out from the confusion of family and striving toward exceptional! It’s not easy, but I’m tired of talking a big game.

Sharing my health goals with you, if, You, are the one, You, who takes the time to read this, represents part of the movement. Not only does it help me to focus toward health goals, by bringing awareness to my life, but it also keeps me focused on writing, and the pursuit of something I’m passionate about. Including Seed’s & Euro Seed’s Brain Candy. We want to bring you an original, entertaining and enlightening Blog, where we share experiences… in a hopes to offer something relevant! Maybe even encouraging you to start moving and reaching for what you want most from life!

I wrestled with sharing another personal tidbit with you. I’ve decided that as part of my health goals, I’ve consumed my last drop of booze until after the completion of this challenge. What prompted prohibition?

Nothing really. It wasn’t a binge, a hang-over, discovering a tattoo on my ass, who the hell is Shaniqua?.. or anything else. I may fail miserably as the holiday season is bursting upon us. It’s just because I want to, and these updates help to keep me focused on the end goal. And besides, the Holiday Season deposits me in an emotionally charged place, I’m honestly frightened by the intensity it may bring this year (read ending in this Blog), and in that spirit, I think it may be best to imbibe with caution. If I do happen to fail with this portion of my challenge, I’ll let you know. If I do fail it will only be if my spirits are soaring!

*Relationships are not to be taken lightly. Especially when kids are involved. If you’re not happy, communicate, and only as a last resort, punt.

progress report

Today I must report a horrible defeat and a fantastic victory.

10 pounds in 6 days, mark my words. Day 6 has come and I hate to type this; I only carved off 7 pounds to tip the scales at 172 lbs… what a horrible defeat. No… stop that, what an amazing victory. 17 pounds to go 24 days to get there.

If that was the defeat, what was the victory, you ask?

Healthy eating has enhanced my sense of taste. Good food is yummy. I’m starting week two soda and junk food free. It’s been surprisingly easy. I’ve dropped from a 20+ year average of approximately a liter of coke per day… to nada, not a drop. And, I don’t even drink coffee to ensure I still get my caffeine fix. I do drive the occasional crack-head to jobsites as part of work responsibility… but no caffeine. I was told when I said that caffeine was being removed, “you’re crazy” “you’ll get pounding headaches” “you’ll go through withdrawal.” To date… no side-effects, except for the victory, beer, beer tastes great, I never knew. Unfortunately as my palate becomes cleansed I’ve decided to cut beer out (see above).

Next up for weight loss goals: by Saturday December 1st, 8 more pounds are to be removed. This will bring me to a near-svelte 174 lbs. Lofty I know, but what the heck!

fitness fact/tip

Rest is an important piece of the puzzle.

Fitness often leads to obsession. Some who embark on pursuing health goals get carried away and the race for perfection takes over. Perfection doesn’t exist! Just as our mirrors and mind trick us while we’re packing on the pounds… they do the same in reverse. Once we start working out, we want results now… and if we push that desire too hard we risk becoming obsessed and one dimensional. Fitness begins to define who we are and it has a propensity of becoming nearly as hazardous as the lifestyle that brought us to a need to move in the first place. If you catch the bug… the gym, track, pool, whatever becomes a second home --- isn’t necessarily a good thing.

Why?

Do you know this person, “Yeah, I did 2 hours of cardio today. I upped my bench press by 35 lbs. My squats… I can run… climbed the mountain…” Good for you! And, could you be more boring? It’s great that health is important to you, but isn’t family, friends, work, etcetera, just as important?

As much as I’m going to sound hypocritical here: what’s the rush?

It’s good to have goals and milestones, however, unless you’re a competitive athlete, I suggest keeping them humble, cause if you don’t, you may become the person mentioned above and you may be “hot” on the outside --- mangled on the inside, though.

The endorphin rush from fitness is a powerful thing, coupled with the quest for results puts people in a precarious place where if you get too caught up in the goal, often those in pursuit forget a vitally important factor in the quest, recuperation. Letting the body cool and recover so you can move forward. I’ve at times been guilty of just that, so to ensure that I don’t fall into that trap this time around… two days off per week for recovery, and on Sundays, I’m taking a break from tracking my consumption. I’m still going to be soda and junk free, however, if I happen to eat a whole chicken --- there’ll be one less chicken for you!

Back to fitness, but I want to get bigger, fitter, trimmer, I want the results now, not tomorrow…must work out… must work out… thinner now!

Again, good for you. The problem with fitness: the above dialogue can’t possibly be for you, and when you reach your goal, what’s next?

We all can only get so big, so trim, so fast, so… fucking obsessed. In my opinion the biggest challenge with fitness, and why so many people fail: there is no end point. If we reach a goal, great, but the bar can only go so high… if you don’t agree with that statement, enjoy your steroids, stock up on whatever the newest fad supplement is, and try to blast your guns into oblivion until they explode. Again, boring everyone you come in contact with along the way.

And in the end, a new fad, a new training method, a new… and eventually you fall off the fitness kick due to injury, a shrinkage in genitalia, depression, or your obsession turns into delusion.

Sounds tragic. It’s not, if you keep it in perspective and you actually plan to live a long life. And if you pick activities that interest you, you’ll keep boredom at bay and you’ll likely always have your goals in site… you don’t need to ever get there, cause if you do, now what?

Nothing comes after perfection and if you reach it you may as well…

Bonus morsel:

First tracking free Sunday… I almost ate a whole chicken. Thanks beer!

consumed

Day six:

• B’fast: Tasty green goodness smoothie. 150
• Lunch: Mexican Chicken Wrap 400
• Snapple Iced Tea 190
• Dinner: b’bque chicken breast 400
• Spinach Grade A. 80
• 4 pints 600
• G total for the day. 1820

Day seven/sunday, never-you-mind:

Today I step off the counting bandwagon!

book update

Next post will bring you a fresh update… I took the weekend off.

love is in the air

Some offers have come my way, I’ve not sure if I’m going to answer the door.

financial forecast

December is a big month for me. I’ll keep you posted soon.

randomness

Sorry about my lack of randomness, updates, love stories, and financial outlooks, I’m feeling a bit off… down is the correct term for it. I’m not certain whether I’m okay or not. I guess the last sentence may be a clue to the answer. More on my feelings in a future update.

Anyway, if you’d like to receive updates on my progress pumped directly into your inbox, scroll down this page and at the bottom left you’ll find a place to subscribe!

Do you think a monkey would see the benefit of riding a dog?