070707 - Feel like a Hobbit?

Motivation:

"Small deeds done are better than great deeds planned."
~Peter Marshall

Diary:

I used to watch "The Greatest American Hero" and I really enjoyed it. It had a great theme song, and the characters were interesting. There are days that I feel like I have been given some great power, but I was never given the instruction book on how to use my powers. This is like life, I guess - we have a lot of potential, but no instruction on how to do what it is we need to do to be great!

This week was a blow to my current project, as my trip to Detroit, Michigan made me cautious about sticking to my weightloss schedule, while not having a schedule at all. When I returned from my trip, I found myself being passed from counselor to counselor at my clinic, and finally I asked "Where did my personal advisor go? Is she sick?" This question was greeted with blank stares and "um, well, um, I don't think she is here." It was obvious to me that she wasn't there, and I was getting somewhat annoyed. I had a rapport with her, as she was one of the reasons I went with this plan. She knew my history, my medical needs, my quirks, and she had been through it before. She shared her story with me, her before and after pictures, and I got a real sense that she was an expert. Later I found out that she had some disagreements with the clinic management (corporate office in Denver) about how to treat the customer and employees. I can only imagine that, based on how she treated me and others while I was at the clinic, that corporate was not interested in people, but money. She was very people - oriented and I didn't have any bad experiences or hear anything negative from others about her, so I have lost some respect and trust for this clinic. I feel somewhat cheated as I paid money to have sessions with an expert, and the company let that expert go.
Now I am having to introduce myself and my story to newbees, and this is a tedious, emotion draining process. I have to explain how I do my dairy, that I cannot have milk, and that I am doing a specific plan.
The other problem is that I have been doing this longer than the counselors, and lost more weight, and understand more of the philosophy and practice - so why am I wasting my time, energy and money going to the clinic to basically train their people how to do their jobs. It is very frustrating.

So I said - why don't I just quit? I have lost a lot and they seem to have met all they can do - although I have pre-paid for counseling sessions, and I have 12 weeks left. It seems frustrating.

So I decided to ignore this problem for a while as it was making me sick, and I would make a decision on this later. I decided to take a break and read a chapter of a book I am assigned to read for a church outreach ministry. The book is called "The Externally Focused Church" by Rusaw and Swanson. In a chapter on relationships, I read the following:

It is said that a reporter once asked Henry Ford what makes for a successful life, and he responded, "Always finish what you start." I don't know if Ford actually said this, but I do know he lived it. Getting started is often the biggest problem we face, but finishing requires perseverance and determination over the long haul. ... No matter what hurdles you face along the way, remain committed to finishing what you start!

Normally, this paragraph would have just been a nice guesture, but since I had just slept in the same town that Ford made billions of cars, it stuck in my brain. I decided that this is a point where I normally would give up on a project. I am bored, ready for a change, tired of the work, and feel weak. I am not strong enough.. Then I hear Henry Ford telling me that the key of a successful life is "Always finish what you start." mmmm....

I went back to the clinic and decided to continue my weight loss weeks. I lost 3lbs this week, even with the road trip.
I did ask for one thing from a new counselor. Give me a glimpse to the future. I have paid the money, and feel that it is time to reveal the world to me. She shared with me what is going to come next. Once we feel that I have reached my weight loss goal, run out of paid counseling weeks, or stopped losing weight, then we will start a stabilization process which includes gradually adding foods to my diet including foods they have specifically hidden from me (nuts, dairy, pork, beans and rice, etc) , and start training me on how to eat in the real world. They will continue to monitor my weight - if I am gaining weight it is a sign that I need to adjust my foods or quantities. The goal is to maintain a target weight.

I have the information now, and I feel good. I will continue with the clinic until I feel it is time to change. I am not ready yet. Maybe after the 5K it will be time for stabilization, and I would also switch my training program from running to stretching and lifting? Not sure - we will see.

I feel somewhat like a hobbit in the "Lord of the Rings" story. It seems that I have one long challenge after another, but the supporting characters always changed. Losing my counselor is a blow, but perhaps she was there for the "Fellowship" part, and now we are moving into the "Two Towers" part. New characters, new friends, new challenges. I am a little more excited about what is around the corner, and with the knowledge and experience I have gained, am ready for the next battle!


Notes:

#Diet#

The trip to Detroit made me realize a couple things:

1) This diet program has really "brainwashed" (I use this term in a positive way, as some habits don't seem natural at first, so we have to train ourselves out of bad habits to be able to start new good habits.) me to eat real natural foods that are good for my body. Overall, I think I did ok, and I brought fruits and snacks with me - most of which I threw out when I got home. Next year I may consider buying a powered cooler that I can plug into my vehicle, but I am not sure. I stuck to the food diary, and only two hickups occurred.

a) The Detroit ballpark serves Brats, Brats, and more Brats. Every where I looked was "Brats". No chicken sandwiches, no Hamburgers, no Veggie Burgers, but lots and lots of brats. Since I currently do not eat pork, and sodium is a no-no, and brats are filled with a lot of un-natural foods, I was up a creek at the ball park.
I spent a good 30 minutes walking around the park on the first day, looking for a salad, or chicken sandwich. I found 1 chicken sandwich, but found that it was shredded chicken soaked in a sugary foreign bbq sauce. It was drenched in the sauce, and since they could not verify the ingredients, I did not consume. Finally, I found a greek vendor who was serving pitas, and could make a chicken salad from his ingredients. The only problem was I spent 1 inning of baseball and $8 (eight) dollars for a simple salad of green lettuce, grilled chicken, tomatoes, and olives. No dressing, no fun.
Could I have just eaten a brat? I guess. It just didn't feel right - not in a "I feel guilty about going off plan" way, but in a "I want to see if I can make it through a road trip without having to eat things that are not natural."

b) A trip north of town on our last evening took us by a Persian restaurant that caught my eye (not sure why, other than I tend to look for family local stores and restaurants instead of chain stores, and this looked safe and appetizing, and a little different. It was all three.)
I decided after looking at the menu that I was going to eat off of my plan, but choose all natural, real foods. I ate hummus, eggplant appetizer, Baba Ganoush, and a flat bread that was all delicious. It was perhaps more food than I would have at one meal, but none of the food was heavy in fat and was cooked fresh.

2) Overall, drinking a lot of water seemed to tame any hungry feelings. I had a snack every few hours on the road, and stopped several times to use the restroom and stretch. Very successful trip as far as health is concerned, from my opinion.

#Exercise#

Well, I have been working out every day, on the elliptical machines for the most part, in prep for 5K training at the end of September. Two interesting stories in this category:

1) I think I walked 5 miles a day in Detroit. Walking around the museums, downtown, belle isle, gardens, fountains, arboretums, and the Co-merica park. We even threw a frisbee around on Saturday morning, and walked the outside of the ballpark, then the inside of the ballpark, plus I walked all the way around the ballpark again to find a stupid chicken salad.

Do I remember ever walking that much on our other roadtrips? No. I remember walking some museums, but also remember sitting down a lot, waiting for my friends to finish their walking and then catch up with them.

It is cool.

2) At the workout center in my office, I workout at the same time as another fellow. We never spoke to each other. He would bring Netflix DVD's and watch movies with subtitles during his workouts. I like to blast my mp3 player, shut my eyes, and run like the wind on the elliptical machine.

I assumed, since he looked asian and always had the subtitles on for the movies, that he didn't know english very well, and I never tried to initiate a conversation with him.

He assumed, since I always shut my eyes and played my music a little too loud, that I was either pretentious or focused, and he never tried to initiate a conversation with me.

This week, we happened to be the only ones at the gym, and since most people were out for the holiday, we bumped into each other. He got my attention and introduced himself to me. He spoke perfect English and wanted me to know a couple things. First, he has seen me on the ellipticals every day for the last 6 months, and Secondly, "You are a machine!" He indicated that he lost 80lbs by working out and he has noticed my weight loss. He wanted to note this to me and connect.

I felt a little bad about my assumptions about him - I have dumb white guy syndrome - but I felt really good about this connection and his comments. I am starting to feel good about my body - need to lose more weight, but I am able to move more and move better.


#Fine Art#

I have been asked by the church worship committee leader to play another song for offertory in August. I am excited about playing and have already picked out two possible songs. Playing the guitar makes me feel cool and hip. Don't get me wrong, when I play the accordian, I enjoy it, but a recent practice revealed that I am not as creative as I could be. My friend Memphis played the accordian for one song, and his piano playing skills made me cringe. I am so ashamed that I cannot play music with style. I need to work on this.

#Money#

So, as part of my "Renaissance Man Project" I have been saving $12 in personal savings every day. This weekend it paid off! I sent $1000 of savings to a personal loan, and that felt really good. While I will never say that money = happiness, being out of debt does equate to some sense of freedom. I am determined to be out of debt - even if it means I cannot have some luxuries that I desire.

#Personal#

I turned the AC on this week - it is over 90 degrees this weekend. I noticed a pool of water at my feet this morning while typing on the computer. I saw that this was from "leg sweat" and decided that it was time to turn the air on. I gave in to personal comfort. (wimped out)


Just a note about the trip to Detroit, Michigan. Many people are asking "What happened?" I won't go into great detail, but it was fun. I would go again. Detroit is not the dangerous scary place that was depicted in Beverly Hills Cop. No one was shot while we were there. Twins won, museums were fun - especially belle isle. Gerald Ford was our president during difficult times.

You experience during a road trip can be altered by the strangest things. A mini-golf exhibit at an art museum would seem like a great fun experience, until a spazzy brat follows you through the whole thing - telling you that you should "HIT IT HARDER!" and fumbling and falling around and thinking it is fun or funny to interrupt your ball as it is on the way to the hole. This little spaz mumbled a lot, so understanding what he was saying was difficult. It turned into a disappointment.

On the other hand, stopping at the Persian restaurant was something that seemed like it would be a really bad idea. It was a little too formal for the shorts and t-shirts we were wearing, and we kept getting looks from our waitress that seemed like we were in the wrong place. It was as if she was saying "Why are you country folk here? Do you know what you are in for?" Once we got passed this, (thanks to Andy's knowledge of Russian language) we broke through the wall and actually enjoyed the meal, and the environment. The taste of the food reminded me of meals in Egypt. The manager came over and talked with us at our table for about 20-30 minutes and gave us some more inside look to Detroit and I thought it was great.

It is just strange how things you think are going to be disasters, actually end up to be very fun, and the things you think are just going to be easy, relaxing events, turn into be stressful, annoying times.

I am really glad and blessed that I have friends who enjoy going on these road trips and just trying new things, without any hang-ups or preconceived intentions



#Work#

Very busy week trying to catch up with emails and projects. I am starting to feel needed at work. Learning FrameMaker, Structured Authoring, and Templates. By the end of this project, I will be an expert in FrameMaker. I appreciate the honesty, respectfulness and the intellect of my coworkers. They are very smart, organized, and good communicators. They are also all older than I am, so have wisdom and experience that I do not. It is interesting.

When I visited recently with my friend from the old company I worked for, I realized that all of the people there are younger than I am. It would be interesting to have that scenario, but I think I would lose some knowledge transfer. Working with people who have "done it before", and are good about sharing and giving their time. It is very much what I need right now.



Gosh, I wrote a lot, but realize that I didn't hit a MAJOR DEAL! I hit my Goal! See the sidebar for my current measurements. The numbers are starting to look like a real person.
Lets try to discuss new goals and a 6 month review next week. I think we need to refocus so we don't get tired or in a rut.


more later,

Chazz

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