sweat

I haven't blogged in a while, so I thought I needed to check in.

I'm not sure who I am checking with since this is not one of those nationally acclaimed blogs. But the writing is therapeutic, so I will write.

I started out several months ago typing about trying to loose weight and lead a little healthier lifestyle. I am pleased to report that I have lost 28 pounds since Dec. 26, 2009 and I am down about 2.5 inches in my waist.

Before you ask, I will tell you how - Counting my calories and exercise. If you ask my bride she will tell you that I have become a little obsessive about working out. I started working out in December doing P90X 3 days a week and eating around 1800 calories a day. In March I started doing Crossfit 5 days a week and upped my calories to around 2000 a day. It has been difficult and a challenge. But now I really enjoy working out and having my hind parts kicked! In fact, I enjoy it so much I look forward to what the next WOD (Workout Of the Day) will be on most days.

Little things are different. My friends at work have noticed that I have a neck. My bride told me the other day that she never imagined that she was a "muscle" girl until I started having them. All in all, I feel better about life and myself.

So grab your kettle bells and get to work!

Reaction

Knee jerk reactions to things suck. I work in a place where if something negative happens there is a new policy within the week. And while I understand trying to prevent similar negative things from happening again, it seems to me that some problems are caused by a person just not being wise or following the rules. In the last year there have been several new policies and procedures that are obviously meant to make things better but in reality these new rules make work more difficult. I am not sure you can have policies the help people with wisdom or common sense. Have you noticed that "common sense" seems to be less common now?

I read this week the commissioner of the National Football League is looking into banning the age-old 3 point stance used by linemen. He argues this will cut down on the concussions that take place each season in the NFL. Concussions are obviously dangerous and in football, men hit each other with all their might and power. But don't you think the issue could be less about the stance and more about the 6'5", 350lb linemen that run a 4.8 / 40? I don't know the mathematical equation for figuring out pounds per square inch, but I have to believe that if the players were a bit smaller the issue of concussions would be a little less.

The first lady, Michelle Obama, has begun a nationwide campaign against childhood obesity. The focus of the first lady is going to be on more physical activity, healthier food in schools and more accurate food labeling. The President has created a task force to research this issue and report back to him in 90 days. There was an article on Yahoo.com about childhood obesity and said there are three factors that keep a four year-old child from being obese. First, family dinners, which means being together for the meal. Second, more sleep at night. And finally, less television. Many of these ideas coming from the President on down to Yahoo! seem like the blatantly obvious. Yet our country is going to throw how many millions of dollars at this "issue." There is no doubt obesity will continue to be a health and financial strain on this country if it is not addressed. Is the best thing for our society's long term health really another task force, committee or initiative that is nothing more than lip service. Those don't bring about true change. Since many schools have made P.E. voluntary, what about mandating physical education programs at all public schools that will get kids moving for 1 hour a day? Just a thought.....

In my opinion, knee jerk reactions are simply the folks in charge being short-sighted in their attempts to have a solution quickly. Sometimes, the problem is in a few "bad apples" that make poor decisions. Sometimes there is a glaring deficiency that needs to be addressed. The challenge comes when you try to rebuild the whole machine when the only problem is a squeaky wheel. Staying with the machine analogy, if you need to replace the engine don't just refill the windshield washer fluid and expect things to work properly.

May you see that some solutions to problems are neither quick nor easy and sometimes it requires thinking long-term. May you have the wisdom and common sense to make the decisions that face you each and everyday.

nothing

What to write?

Blogging is all about having something to say and communicate. I have been trying to be consistent with blogging about things that come to mind.

It's been a couple of days since I last blogged, so I sat down today to blog.

Nothing....I've got nothing.

Nothing to say about family. Nothing to say about work.

So this entry has nothing.

We have an acronym at work - S.S.D.D. For this post I will clean up the meaning, Same Stuff, Different Day.

And sometimes that is what life is like. It just goes. Wake up, live, go to sleep, do it all again. Nothing significant to report. It doesn't mean that there is nothing good going on. It just means nothing super noteworthy or out of the ordinary.

May you see there is nothing wrong with a day or so of just living. Sometimes it is good to have nothing going on.

sitting

I sit here tonight typing while watching my bride bustle around the house. It's bedtime for the boyz and my bride is helping the kiddos brush teeth. I was responsible for batheing the older two and reading with them. She took care of everything else - the baby and his bath, staightening up the house, doing the dishes after dinner. Seems I got off extremely light, AGAIN.

This is a rare weekend night home for me. My job keeps me booked most weekends and I am in the 5 month of 6 straight months working second shift (2:30pm - 11:00pm). My bride misses me when I work so much at night. She misses the help at bedtime. And having been home for two bedtimes in a row, I understand why.

My bride also misses hanging out at night with her man. Before this shift work job, I was home almost every night (except when I was making extra money as a basketball referee). We used to sit at home at night and do nothing but watch TV and eat. This is the biggest problem in our marriage - when we are together, we would rather sit and do nothing with eachother then get anything on the "honey-do-list" accomplished.

I have heard so many people over the years talk about how miserable they are when they are at home. Or the guys who would rather be anywhere than at home. I have actually heard people say before they are only with their spouse because it costs too much to get a divorce.

I am blessed to truly ENJOY my bride. I love being at home with her and the boyz. I actually miss my family when I am gone from them. And here's the crazy thing - they love having me around. It's amazing to be married to someone I consider my best friend. Now we have our moments like any couple, but I love being with my bride.

It's funny - when she is moving around the house trying to get things in their place, I often make her stop for a kiss, a hug or just to stop and look at me. This is annoying for her 'cuz she's in a groove and wants to get things done so she can be finished and then sit.

That's our theme for the last eight plus years - sitting. It's why we both gained about 35 lbs. our first year of marriage. It's why none of the stuff that needs to be done around the house gets finished. It's why we still don't exercise or read or doing anything "that would be productive." We love to be together as a couple and as a family - and there is nothing wrong with that.

May you understand that quality time spent with your loved ones is what they will remember, not how big the house was or how well your 401(k) is doing. May you remember it's not about the possessions of life but about the passion for living.

endings

Last week was a week of loss. There was the immense tragedy in Haiti that took the lives of tens of thousands of people. Closer to home, I knew of three people that died last week. All of their services were on Saturday.

I was at my bride's grandfather's memorial service this weekend, in Mississippi. And like these gatherings seem to do, I was reflecting on life. My life, other's lives, life in general. Of course the thoughts about death and the end of one's life also went through my mind for a while.

My bride's grandfather was born in 1933. In that year, work started on the Golden Gate Bridge. Hitler was named the German Chancellor. The first flight of all-metal Boeing 247 took place. The Blaine Act was accepted by Congress, ending prohibition. Mount Rushmore was dedicated. The game of Monopoly was invented. U.S.A. and Canada drop the Gold Standard. The first drive-in theater was opened - and that was just through June of that year! It was a big year in America and a big year around the world. There were many changes coming to this globe that were in full swing in 1933.

I never met my bride's grandfather, so I have no idea what kind of man he was or wasn't. I have heard some stories from my bride and I heard more stories this weekend as people reflected formally and informally about his life. The one thing I can say about him was he had seen this world change...drastically.

At one point I was standing in the back of the church holding my infant son. I was gazing at him and in total awe of the innocence that surrounded him. He literally has his whole life (as many days as God grants him) ahead of him. He doesn't know about the world and all of it's horrors and blessings. He is only aware of a few things - when he needs to eat, when he needs to sleep and when he needs new britches. Now he laughs and "talks" all the time, but I don't think he is aware of what that means. His only cognizant thoughts are hunger pangs, when his bed is calling his name and the discomfort of a squishy substance on his buttocks. Everything in his world is quite simplistic.

So I was thinking a good bit about life and death.

I wondered if my time would end when I was an elderly man who had lived a full life or if my death would come before my three sons understood death. (Right now "to die" means you fall down from a light saber or gun blast and then get up to "fight" some more.) I wondered if I would outlive my bride or leave her first. I wondered how I would respond if my brothers and parents passed away before me. I thought how horrible it would be to outlive my sons.

You ever wonder how if you dwell this much about death anytime other than at a funeral, you are considered morbid? I digress.....

I got to thinking briefly about my funeral or memorial service and the things that might be said and the people who might show up. I wondered if the service would be filled "to capacity" with people who knew me or if it would be a family gathering. My thoughts at this point were completely selfish. I wanted to think that I was pretty special and important to a lot of people and they would ALL want to be at my service to pay their respects.

Mostly though, I was thinking that I didn't want to get to the end of my life and have everything I did be for nothing. I don't know what that means specifically, but in part it means I will live each day like it could be my last. I guess in the end I want it to be known that I was a follower of Jesus, that I loved and cherished my wife, instructed and blessed my sons and provided true commradery to my friends.

May you see your life for what it truly is, a daily gift from God.

spirals

Why is it that when life gets going at a whirlwind pace, some of the basic things begin to fall by the wayside?

Let's take for example the need to exercise. About five years ago I was in a place where I got up every weekday morning at 4:30am and drove to Buford to exercise with about 20 people. Granted, I was in the police academy, but still, I was there every morning but one (That was when my car died on the highway and Big C came to the rescue at 5 in the morning). I would run and do all sorts of strength and conditioning drills. It was winter time, and even when it was 20 degrees outside, I was still there. Once I started working on the mean streets of Norcross, I continued to exercise and try to stay in shape. Then two years ago, I was made a detective. This was the beginning of the end of exercise and eating right. It was a different pace with different stressers and the influence of "seasoned veterens" to eat at "The Golden Trough" regularly. Inside of 18 months, I had gained back most of the weight I had lost in the academy. It was a vicious cycle that I tried half-heartedly to break. Recently, I have hit this issue head on and am being purposeful about exercising and eating better.

A couple of weeks ago my bride and I started a relation spiral dowhill. Nothing major, just life. The boyz, work, the house, the schedule. A missed opportunity to be sweet to one another, a miscommunicated thought or word, expectations that were never met. All of a sudden, we both found ourselves feeling that we weren't doing okay with each other. But we didn't say anything at that moment...or the other moments that I know presented themselves. So the cycle didn't break until the other night when we talked through things. Now we have to be intential about pulling out of the funk we have been in.

When negative cycles like these and thousands of others creep up in our lives, there are a few words that need to be applied to how we deal with those cycles - intential, purposeful, vigilant, honestly. One can't deal with negative patterns half-heartedly, otherwise the desired results will not be acheived. Positive change will never be acheived by maintaining the status quo.

May you see that true change in your life comes through the ideas of hard work, elbow grease and blood, sweat and tears.

stick with it

Ever notice how breaking a habit or negative pattern in your life is NEVER as easy as starting said behavior?

Two weeks ago I decided I would try to do two things - blogging and lose some weight. I have successfully written 5 times on this blog since then and I am happy to report I am down 10lbs. since starting on Dec. 28.

The blogging is a little more of a challenge because I have to not only find time to sit and type something, but I also have to figure out a topic. The weight loss has been a very different kind of challenge.

My bride found this website a little over two weeks ago that helps you figure out how to lose some weight. You plug in your current weight, target weight, gender, age and how many times a week you work out. The calculator then gives you a target date for your weight loss to be achieved. I plugged in my info and was told I would be down to the target weight by April 6, 2010. The site told me i could eat 1800 calories a day for maximum fat burn, 2100 calories for some fat burn and 2700 calories to maintain weight. I then downloaded a app for my Crackberry that counts calories taken in through food and calories burned for every activity in a day. according to the app this morning, i am averaging under 1800 calories a day, and have a net calories difference the last ten days of -16580. you know what that means? it means I am hungry every day, have headaches and want to eat everything in sight. i would love nothing more than to eat everything i prefer everyday. but instead i have been eating malt-o-meal or a homemade egg mcmuffin for breakfast, a protein bar for snack and lunch and then trying to make the best choice possible when eating out with my colleagues each week night.

I miss burgers, french fries, fried chicken fingers, honey mustard, ranch, pizza with sausage and pepperoni and peanut M&M's just to name a few things. I don't like tough choices when it comes to food. But if you want results, you have to make tough choices.

It's like life. when you have to make changes for the betterment of your life, you have to sell out to the idea and be fully committed. you can't make wholesale changes with a half-hearted attitude. Trust me, i am the king of excuses and procrastination, just ask my bride or my parents. but this last two weeks has been out of the norm for me. The question i face everyday is "will i make the right choice?" That question isn't just for food. It's the question we all face when there is a decision to make.

May you see that the choices you make reflected the time and effort you put into making them. May you understand the easier choice may not always be the wise one.