Well, It looks like I am on my way and the baby steps are working. I weighed in this morning with a drop of 4 lbs. This Sunday I joined the YMCA with my family and have been two days now. I also watched what I ate and tried . . . note I said tried, to keep away from breads, excess starches and sweets. I had a few tempting moments though as I found a pound of fresh chocolate cake hiding under some tin foil in the kitchen. While I am normally a sucker for a good chocolate cake, I did put some in a bowl and topped it with marshmallow topping and a spoonful of Smuckers Triple berry sauce. OK, moment of weakness . . . but it passed. I got it on the spoon and looked at it. Immediately a light went off in my head that asked, "What the heck are you doing." I took pride in my will power as I slid off the dilectable dessert into the trash. Sad, I know, but that little dish is not getting me closer to where I want to go. Once upon a time I used to climb, ski, mountain bike, scuba, hike and run. Nowadays I am relegated to sitting at my desk working and I get my exercise by taking water bottles to the kids bunny hutches out back. I know, really taxing right? The gym yesterday felt good as I started to get into the rythym again. I felt a little pressure in my fingers where I was obviously retaining some water, but at least the scale showed this morning I was moving in the right direction. So for now I can say that my attempts at improving my fitness are working.
As for Finances, I feel as I have taken a few steps back again. The YMCA, while inspirational and helpful in my pursuit of my health goals set me back $500 for the half year. I also found out that I need to buy new tires for my wifes car. Additional expenses that I was not planning on. I also fly to Vegas this week for work and may end up spending additional money that I do not have. Although I am not much of a gambler and will most likely not be spending any at the tables, I may get a few t-shirts or hats for the kids and the wife. While not a huge expense, I have to remind myself that this experiment is all about baby steps and I must forge ahead and keep diligent. My wife is also pressing for a new chair in the family room. While I agree it is a necessity, the near $700 price tag on the one she wants will most certainly put us back even further. Add that to the expense of my MBA classes that I have begun to pursue again . . . starting tonight, and I can honestly say that I feel I am losing this battle a little at this time.
Well, That is all for now. I am still researching some additional methods for maintaining motivation and drive as well as additional techniques to get myself in better financial and physical shape and will apply those lessons as they apply. All for now. . . Keep striving forward.
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
Sunday, January 3, 2010
More focus needed on the PLAN
OK, today is January 3rd and I am beginning to realize that more of a plan is needed if I am to succeed in my quest for better health and finances. While I was busy yesterday helping out a neighbor with setting up for his daughter's sweet 16 party and then attending it with my two daughters, much of my original plans for adding to my success in my two areas of development have gone by the wayside so to speak.
My original plan was to take baby steps to help develop the necessary momentum and habits needed to guide my life back on track but I think additional goals would be helpful in focusing these efforts and guiding those, "baby steps."
Here is where I stand. Yesterday I actually had a chance to step on a real scale and even in my birthday suit I weighed in at a hefty 260.5 lbs with a fat % of 35.5. Finances have are still about $60k in debt but I need to make sure to add up the real numbers again as I fear something may be missing. This includes both my wifes and my debt as I hope to make a dent in both. This also does not include our mortgage and second mortgages which stand around $225k.
Health: Yesterday I did try to watch what I ate and did stay away from candies and beer. These two things alone did help somewhat as my weight this morning scaled in at 258lbs and 35% fat. I plan on introducing some fiber into my daily routine and get back on vitamins today. I do find that adding vitamins to a daily routine helps in promoting my energy level which helps in a variety of other tasks during the day. The fiber just helps keep things flowing . . . :)
Finances: Yesterday I did avoid having to buy lunch. While I was helping my neighbor we opted to go out to lunch and while we were going to buy lunch out, my neighbor who was also the coach of the town's girls basketball team suggested we celebrate with the team at a local pizza parlor where I ate for free. I know that was a small "baby step," but then again, what is a baby step anyway.
Goals today would be to read up on some other potential sources for getting better at health and finances and include them in upcoming issues to see what effect they will have. I am sure that consistency of effort will continue to be my main focus, but it would be good to add pieces of others efforts as well.
Until next time . . . .
My original plan was to take baby steps to help develop the necessary momentum and habits needed to guide my life back on track but I think additional goals would be helpful in focusing these efforts and guiding those, "baby steps."
Here is where I stand. Yesterday I actually had a chance to step on a real scale and even in my birthday suit I weighed in at a hefty 260.5 lbs with a fat % of 35.5. Finances have are still about $60k in debt but I need to make sure to add up the real numbers again as I fear something may be missing. This includes both my wifes and my debt as I hope to make a dent in both. This also does not include our mortgage and second mortgages which stand around $225k.
Health: Yesterday I did try to watch what I ate and did stay away from candies and beer. These two things alone did help somewhat as my weight this morning scaled in at 258lbs and 35% fat. I plan on introducing some fiber into my daily routine and get back on vitamins today. I do find that adding vitamins to a daily routine helps in promoting my energy level which helps in a variety of other tasks during the day. The fiber just helps keep things flowing . . . :)
Finances: Yesterday I did avoid having to buy lunch. While I was helping my neighbor we opted to go out to lunch and while we were going to buy lunch out, my neighbor who was also the coach of the town's girls basketball team suggested we celebrate with the team at a local pizza parlor where I ate for free. I know that was a small "baby step," but then again, what is a baby step anyway.
Goals today would be to read up on some other potential sources for getting better at health and finances and include them in upcoming issues to see what effect they will have. I am sure that consistency of effort will continue to be my main focus, but it would be good to add pieces of others efforts as well.
Until next time . . . .
Friday, January 1, 2010
A journey to improvement
Well the Journey begins . . . .
As I had mentioned yesterday, my two biggest weaknesses are Health and Finances. Not because these are bad, but more because I know they could be much better.
While I used to be very active and paid close attention to my fitness level, that focus has disappeared in the last number of years and I am now, regrettably in the worst shape of my life. While I am about 6' tall, I also now tip the scales at just over 250 lbs. For some, that weight might not be an issue, but when you combine that with the feeling that you are squashing your insides when you bend over to tie a shoe . . . it is bad. I actually tried to train last year for the Army Ten Miler that is run in Washington DC last year and recorded over 250 miles running by July of last year. For one reason or another, I never seemed to get faster although I was able to run 5-6 miles without stopping. I had hoped however that this effort would have resulted in a loss of some weight, but alas, it did not.
Finances are also something that needs some serious work. When my wife and I purchased our house as newlyweds some 13 years ago, we had never planned on having kids in it and living here for so long. While the house is nice for a small family we know we have out grown it. Several times my work has offered to transfer us but that has not happened. Now that we are looking to move, we realize that we will not be able to unless we can work down some of our debt. We currently have tens of thousands of dollars in debt built up in credit cards and loans. This has to change if we are ever to move.
The Plan this year is to do and record a positive step taken every day to improve each of these two areas of my life. The objective is to develop a habit of positive steps every day and to record these steps and record the change in positive direction these little daily steps make.
I will break the post up into three sections to record what I did that day in each category, even if it happens to be a very small step. Then I will attempt to recap their effects if any on the overall conditions recorded earlier. Since last night set me back on both, I will briefly state the two things I have done today to move in the right direction.
Fitness: 50 Situps, 50 Push ups, As soon as I can find my Wii fit disk the kids lost, I will log my BMI as well.
Finances: Updated a complete listing of current debts and balanced checkbook.
Effects: None noticed so far.
Have a great night.
As I had mentioned yesterday, my two biggest weaknesses are Health and Finances. Not because these are bad, but more because I know they could be much better.
While I used to be very active and paid close attention to my fitness level, that focus has disappeared in the last number of years and I am now, regrettably in the worst shape of my life. While I am about 6' tall, I also now tip the scales at just over 250 lbs. For some, that weight might not be an issue, but when you combine that with the feeling that you are squashing your insides when you bend over to tie a shoe . . . it is bad. I actually tried to train last year for the Army Ten Miler that is run in Washington DC last year and recorded over 250 miles running by July of last year. For one reason or another, I never seemed to get faster although I was able to run 5-6 miles without stopping. I had hoped however that this effort would have resulted in a loss of some weight, but alas, it did not.
Finances are also something that needs some serious work. When my wife and I purchased our house as newlyweds some 13 years ago, we had never planned on having kids in it and living here for so long. While the house is nice for a small family we know we have out grown it. Several times my work has offered to transfer us but that has not happened. Now that we are looking to move, we realize that we will not be able to unless we can work down some of our debt. We currently have tens of thousands of dollars in debt built up in credit cards and loans. This has to change if we are ever to move.
The Plan this year is to do and record a positive step taken every day to improve each of these two areas of my life. The objective is to develop a habit of positive steps every day and to record these steps and record the change in positive direction these little daily steps make.
I will break the post up into three sections to record what I did that day in each category, even if it happens to be a very small step. Then I will attempt to recap their effects if any on the overall conditions recorded earlier. Since last night set me back on both, I will briefly state the two things I have done today to move in the right direction.
Fitness: 50 Situps, 50 Push ups, As soon as I can find my Wii fit disk the kids lost, I will log my BMI as well.
Finances: Updated a complete listing of current debts and balanced checkbook.
Effects: None noticed so far.
Have a great night.
Thursday, December 31, 2009
January 1st, 2010
Today is the first day of the rest of our lives... We have heard this line most of our lives and yet we all know that we are destined for greater things that what we have currently. We wake up each day and tell ourselves that today will be different. Today is the day that will bring us closer to who we really want to be. Closer to our dreams. Closer to our true beings.
The day progresses and we end up going to bed at night a little more tired and feeling that we are no closer to where we hope to be.
Years ago, ok, many years ago, I graduated High school, ready to take on the world. I had such aspirations for what I saw myself doing and where I saw myself going. I wanted to travel the world, run a business, scratch that, an empire, become successful and create the type of life I had dreamed of. While it is true that I did some things I never imagined myself doing, aka participating in a internationally recognized adventure race, the world for the most part has yet to provide those kinds of experiences and adventures that I had thought possible many years ago. It is through this Blog that I intend to explore the possibilities of life and look back on choices I made, options I selected and things I have done that have kept me from exploring the kind of life that I have always dreamed of. For the next 365 days, I intend on writing about where I am, what I have done and where I have yet to go. It is through this discovery that I hope to also lead some people where they themselves would like to go and for others, maybe just a glance at possibilities that could be. I call my blog Health and finances because I feel that through these two concentrations are the two weakest points of my life . . . but during the course of this blog, I may actually find others that may have much deeper rooted issues that have caused the direction of my life to veer so sharply from the direction indicated by my heart. That is all for today . . . but at least the adventure begins. Where it ends . . . only fate knows.
Enjoy the journey.
The day progresses and we end up going to bed at night a little more tired and feeling that we are no closer to where we hope to be.
Years ago, ok, many years ago, I graduated High school, ready to take on the world. I had such aspirations for what I saw myself doing and where I saw myself going. I wanted to travel the world, run a business, scratch that, an empire, become successful and create the type of life I had dreamed of. While it is true that I did some things I never imagined myself doing, aka participating in a internationally recognized adventure race, the world for the most part has yet to provide those kinds of experiences and adventures that I had thought possible many years ago. It is through this Blog that I intend to explore the possibilities of life and look back on choices I made, options I selected and things I have done that have kept me from exploring the kind of life that I have always dreamed of. For the next 365 days, I intend on writing about where I am, what I have done and where I have yet to go. It is through this discovery that I hope to also lead some people where they themselves would like to go and for others, maybe just a glance at possibilities that could be. I call my blog Health and finances because I feel that through these two concentrations are the two weakest points of my life . . . but during the course of this blog, I may actually find others that may have much deeper rooted issues that have caused the direction of my life to veer so sharply from the direction indicated by my heart. That is all for today . . . but at least the adventure begins. Where it ends . . . only fate knows.
Enjoy the journey.
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