Updates

It has been 2 years since I posed here... so I decided to give an update.

Let me recap what's been going on for about the last decade...

I was married, X and I got divorced, I wandered for a moment trying to figure out who I was, I dated around, settled down, then got married.

Over the past 2 years, life has been great. I can truly say that I married well. I did not marry because I was lonely, I did not marry because I thought she was beautiful (although she is, both inside and out), I married because I love her.

So... there's the lesson people. Marry well.

There are a lot of things that you can glean from this blog, I'm open to thoughts and questions. Comment if you have questions... I will answer.

Good Bye

I have had this blog for 5 years and I think it's time to say Good Bye...

When I was going through my divorce this really helped me figure out who I was. It helped me stay settled.

When I was dating, it prevented me from making bad mistakes.

Now that I'm happily married, to an incredible woman that gets me... blogging here just doesn't feel the same.

So... 6 years and over 500 posts later... it's time to move on to the next part of my life.

Take care!

I hate taking pills

I hate taking pills. But... if there was a wonder drug that would let me grow hair, be as fit as I was when I was 21, give me all the energy and focus, and not have any side effects, I would take it in a half second.

Without water.

Sidelined!

I woke up this morning with a runny nose. My eyes were watering, I couldn't stop sneezing.

It took me a minute to figure out what this was... a common cold! I haven't had one in almost 12 years. Seriously.

L suggested that I get some Afrin since I despise taking pills. Afrin is a mist that you spray in your nose that's suppose to help with congestion.

I only have one question... If I can't breath, how can I get it in my nose???

Signed,
   Sidelined by the common cold

Love and marriage

Love and marriage. Wow... Where to start today?

Marriage is an interesting thing. I mean, it's one thing to meet someone (finally), marry them, grow in love until one of you dies or worse, a divorce happens. (Note: in my opinion, it's far worse to be divorced than to have a spouse die... if you want to know why I say that... drop me a comment and I'll do my best to explain the rationale)


So, in my current situation - I have 1 divorce, and she has 1 dead spouse - and between the two of us, we have 6 kids (we each have 3).

The difficult thing with Love and Marriage in this situation is that 2 people have fallen in love, but there are 6 other people that this is thrust upon. Blending and making everyone feel included can be taxing. After all... if 7 people are good and 1 person acts a little nuts... it can make the whole house of cards... shaky.

L has a daughter like that. Everyone can live in peace except this one person. It has nothing to do with whether I'm there or not. She isolates and attempts to reign in terror.

The questions is... how do you show love to someone that you would rather walk away from when they enter the room? She is after all... only a teenager.

100 days of marriage

I have been married for 103 days today. Wow... Interestingly enough "L" and I have known each other for less than a year.

 WOW.

The interesting thing about marriage is that there are no money back guarantees... so you better choose right.

L and I are getting closer every day. I cannot imagine what life was like before her. We still have open and honest communication, we hold each other accountable, and really enjoy each other.

Happy 100 days, babe!

Trying something new

I always promised myself that I would use my Galaxy Tab as a productivity tool and not as a toy to only play games, listen to music, or watch video. The only game that I have loaded on it is chess.

I do use it, to catch up on the news, check e-mail, social networking (twitter AND facebook), and of course for taking pictures.

Lately, I've decided to go a little further. Today, I downloaded Workout Trainier. It's an app that will work you through various workouts with a virtual coach.

I'm trying to make my life so there is no excuse. Remove all hinderances... Move forward!

I'll do it... tomorrow

I love to-do lists. I have so much to do, that I often write it down to make sure that I don't forget to do things. There's a great sense of accomplishment when you strike something off your list. It's like.. you've accomplished something.


Earlier this week, I found an organizer for my Samsung Galaxy Tab called "Do It Tomorrow". This to-do list has 2 pages... today and tomorrow. You put things on your list and you have the option of moving it to tomorrow. If you don't get it done, it will automatically move the task to the next day! An excellent app for procrastinators! HOORAY!


I've tried it out for a week, and true to form, I got about 30% of the items that I put on the list done. It worked like a charm! But... as I read on twitter:


Your desires w/o a date aren't goals, they're whims! Put a date to ur dreams and make them doable goals & a reality! - Don Brawley


So... I found this new app called "myLifeOrganized" or MLO as avid fans call it.


WOW, this is a powerful tool. You can set up projects, give yourself deadlines, set up recurring tasks... I spent an hour prioritizing what needed to be done in my life with due dates.


I could also tell what really wasn't important in my life because I didn't put dates by them... so I guess those aren't really hard and fast goals... are they.


Anyway... if you get a chance, check it out:http://www.mylifeorganized.net/ 

Current Struggles

Nothing feels as good as being health except:

• eating a greasy bacon double cheeseburger
• warm cake
• apple pie and ice cream
• steaming hot brownies

Really, the list goes on and on. Being healthy feels good, but unfortunately, you have to work in order to be healthy, and it's the work part that doesn't feel good. Eating healthy fuels the body, but it doesn't give you the same comforts as food that contains "fat". What is it about food that contains fat that makes you feel so good?

I wish I knew.

Anyway, I'm back at it again. I've started eating healthy again, and getting into the gym at least 5 days a week. I have got to get under 200 pounds... but the transition is hard. I know I'll feel better when I get there, but getting there is NO fun.

Role Models

I have never been one to play the race card... I think that each unique race brings its own unique benefits to the table. I've always tried to be the type of person that would study all ethnicity's and pick the best from each and bring them to the table.

So... the question is... why am I bringing this up today?

I was looking for a picture of a black  couple and was surprised to see how sexually suggestive most of them were. Then I decided to look and see how other races were depicted around the internet. 

So... my question to you today is this... how do you view other races? Do you have any stereotypes?

Live and learn...

So... I decided to try a pre-work out supplement - Jack3d. Under ordinary circumstances, I eat very healthy. I'm 92% vegetarian, I don't ingest caffeine, and I track calories, sodium, sugar, potassium and fat in my diet on nearly a daily basis.

I went to GNC and they suggested that I add a few things to my diet - a multivitamin and a pre-work out supplement.

The multivitamin has turned my urine bright yellow. A side effect of the Vitamin B...

The Jack3d has caffeine. I like the energy that I get from it, but the caffeine dependency - even after 4 days is driving me crazy. 4 days in...and work out is good.

Caffeine

Apparently, most supplements have caffeine. I generally have a caffeine intake of 0mg/day. That's right. I live my life in a caffeine free way. Because I fuel my body in an *ahem* clean way - never taking in anything that is (too) bad, when I start adding things to my regimen I pay attention.

What I'm feeling right now is the caffeine drop off... the drain. I hate this part...

A familiar feeling...

My leg muscles hurt. Primarily my calves and hamstrings. I did day #2 of the insanity work out yesterday. There was a lot of squatting and jumping. Usually, when I head to the gym and work out on the machines (Cybex, treadmill, elliptical, the new fangled stepper thing) - I can work out hard, not bother to stretch and do it again the next day with no issues.

With Insanity... I feel it. my body feels like it had a work out.

This is the 4th or 5th time that I've started Insanity. Generally, my body gives out before I do. I end up suffering from muscle fatigue and I can't make it through the work out by the end of the 2nd week. I see improvements, I just can't sustain the work out.

I eat very cleanly when I do something like this. There's no need to defeat yourself by eating poorly and working out this hard. Although I'm 92% vegetarian, I consume an adequate amount of protein and I supplement with protein bars in between my major meals.

I'm doing something different this time, I'm actually using real supplements!

Here's my eating day:

8am   - Oatmeal

10am - Zone Perfect Bar

12am - Lunch (Usually a chicken, vegetable, pasta medley)

2pm   - Zone Perfect Bar

4pm   - Dinner (Tempeh or Tofu)

I'm using the following supplements:

Jack3d - pre-workout

MDrive - breakfast/lunch

GNC Mega Men Sport - breakfast

We'll see how this works out...

Day 2 of working out...

As much as I complain about working out, there are interesting benefits that I do like, For example, after only working out for 2 days I actually stand taller. It's almost like the muscles have awakened and they're sayiung "yes! we're being used again!!!"

The hardest part is going ot the gym... alone. Starting a high intensity work out... alone... And pushing myself as hard as I can because if I don't do it, no-one will. It's the ultimate test of self-discipline. The thing that I need to really grasp is that "if I can excel in this... I can excel in anything." SO I need to carry this drive over into other aspects of my life. Right?

There are so many areas that I rely on raw talent, that if I added discipline, I would be a super star.

Anyway... those are my motivational thoughts for the day.

Get-r-done!

Day 1... finished...

It truly is amazing how quickly you can get out of shape. 

I completed Day 1 of Insanity... again, and it completely kicked my but. Not too long ago, I was in the gym 5 days/week. I would do an intensive cardio work out, a little strength training... it felt good. I made the mistake of going roller skating and tweaking my knee. I took a couple weeks off... ate really poorly... the scale didn't say that I gained weight, but I could kind of feel it in the way that fat weighs less than muscle.

Anyway... I went to the gym... did the fit test... and WOW... what? It kicked my butt. The numbers were around the same as they were when I started Insanity the 1st time over 1 1/2 years ago. It was like all the progress that I made... had been stifled.

No worries tho... I'm back on track.

This time? No stopping until I'm under 200 pounds!

The First Day...

After a few false starts, I'm starting the Insanity work out... again. I plan on eating cleanly. Doing all 6 days of the work out... I will... I WILL get this done...

What do you dare???

On my way home today I stopped by a rest area on the highway and took a picture of a monument that states: "We dare defend our rights." The sun was behind me, so there was no way that I could take the picture without my shadow in the picture. I boldly centered myself in the picture... and "snap!"

In looking at the picture, I saw something that I don't usually see when I look in the mirror... and that is - how far my spare tire extends over my waist. Wow... I'm fat.

So... what do I dare?

I dare to buck the trend of being in one of the fattest states... I'm all into eating healthy... exercising... getting fit. 

I have my life in line... my blog helped with that. Now? I have to get my health in line.

Here's to my battle of the bulge!

On small step for man...

Lately, life seems to be a  little too "one step forward, to steps back" for me.

Not in the sense that there's anything wrong with married life. I have married the most incredible woman on the planet. There is so much love, respect, and cooperation abounding that it makes my first 16 year marriage seem like it was run by a bunch of 5th graders with a limited trust fund - recklessly dysfunctional.

It's all the other things that are messing with my 2011 action plan.

I'm still trying to manage life in 3 different cities... this causes havoc in my monetary and dietary goals.

Honestly, my diet has been LOUSY for the last 3 weeks... I admit it, part of it is completely stress related.

So... what am I going to do about this?

Discipline.

I need to get back to a disciplined lifestyle.

So let it be.

Yeah... not so much...

When I was a teenager I wasn't the type of person that attracted good looking women. I was always the friend.

When I was in my 20's, it wasn't much different... but I DID get my first "real" girlfriend. She weighed at least 50 pounds more than me. Didn't quite know what to do with a girlfriend, but we had a child and were married for 15 years.

When we divorced, and I started dating again, it was more of the same... the world wasn't ready for someone that was nice and genuine as me. I had a lot of first dates.. not very many 2nd dates. I dated a few women - but none of them lasted over 3 months. Primarily because I didn't want to compromise. I couldn't be in a relationship with someone that was shallow or needed to be in a relationship. In my mind, I raised one wife, couldn't raise another one.

So, now I'm in my early 40's... I met this incredible woman... married her. 

More on this topic later... 

catching up...

Okay... so, I was doing this strange countdown until my marriage... right? Well... the task has been done. We're married now. The one thing that I'm sure of is that I've chosen well. I have chosen the most incredible woman that matches my personality well.

Why is it so important that she match my personality? Why can't we match each others personality?

That, my friend, is a good question...

My personality can be a little... obnoxious. I admit it.

I like open and honest communication. Even if it makes me uncomfortable. I really want to know what's going on inside your head.

I don't like leaving things unresolved.

I obsess over problems or open action items.

More later... just wanted to bring the countdown to closure...