Life Update

First and foremost…I suck as a blogger.  Almost 6 months between posts is too long.

Farm Update:

Between the goofy Spring (Early HOT weather, late freezes) and now the Summer drought, the few vines that did manage to set fruit aren’t filling them out.  In short, I think we can pretty much write off the crop for this year.

Music Update:

The Randy & Dave Show hasn’t played a show since April. Nothing is on the calendar.  My other project, OGHF isn’t really taking off so no changes there. In short, I’m pretty much in limbo.

Projects Update:

Started off the Spring making some good progress on getting some projects completed around the farm. Things have tapered off recently though.

Health Update:

My weight loss has gone pretty well this year.  As you can see from the gadget at the top of the page, I’m down almost 60 pounds since the first of the year. My original goal was 62 pounds by the 4^th of August (which isn’t as catchy a title as “50after50” so that’s what I went with). I probably won’t exactly make my original goal; I think coming in within 2 pounds is pretty good. I’ve actually updated my goal weight loss to be 100 pounds by a date yet to be determined. But lately I haven’t felt as great so my weight loss has tapered off.

This leads me to the next thing: 

 If you were ever a Boy Scout you learned that if you were in the woods and see bear droppings, there is a bear in the area and you should be on the lookout for it before it rips your head off. I have a similar situation going on. Last Friday I got a call from my doctor (never a good sign) telling me that my most recent labs show positive markers for the byproducts of tumor growth even though they could see no regrowth when I got checked last month. In short; the cancer is most likely back. Now they just have to find it. To that end I have a CT scan scheduled for Friday of this week hoping to locate the source of the “bear droppings”. If that is unsuccessful they’ll begin “invasive procedures” like biopsies and other unplesant sounding things in two weeks when The Princess and I return from our vacation with Dr Jeff and family at the Naubinway Nook.

So there you have it. I’ll try to keep you all updated.

The Second Half Is Starting

Every year I make it a point to watch some fantastic commercials that are broken up by the final NFL game of the season. Yes, I watch the Superbowl for the commercials (and to see the game ball because I used to work in the Wilson factory that makes them). And every year it gets harder to answer the question "What was your favorite commercial?'. This year I had to resort to creating categories and different commercials took top honors in different categories (I think I'm making this a lot harder than it should be).

Anyway, one clip spoke to me particularly deeply this year. I'm sure the folks at that car company think the commercial is about them, and I've heard some political pundits saying it's about the upcoming Presidential election, and some cities say it's about them, the list goes on and on. As I see it, they're all wrong because the commercial is really about ME!



You see, this blog chronicles the start of what I perceive to be MY second half in the game of life. This is the start of the half AFTER I took some pretty good hits and needed a break.

The hits last year looked kind of like this:

(not my actual film, but similar)

And this:

And even this:

Even the good events take a toll on a person. But halftime just ended and I'm back on the field refreshed, focused and ready to go.

And unless you want to get run over I suggest you get out of the way.

Inertia

Back when I was young and in college, I learned a few things in physics classes. One thing that sticks out in my mind is the theory of inertia or the fact that "A body in motion tends to stay in motion unless acted upon by some outside force". And likewise the inverse is true "A body at rest tends to stay at rest unless acted upon by an outside force".

I never really questioned this, and recently I've come to see it in action in my own life with my own 'body'. I spent most of the last ten years in a sedentary lifestyle (went back to school, studied/read a lot, got sick, got lazy) and my ever expanding waistline was proof of it. I didn't do much moving and really didn't feel like getting up to do much. I had developed a lifestyle that was unsustainable on many levels (more about sustainabilty in an upcoming post). I knew something had to change but didn't have the energy (mental or physical) to overcome the inertia. I believe the confluence of events in the last year of my life have provided the 'outside force' to make the necessary changes to my lifestyle. One month in to my new way of doing things, I'm already seeing some benefits. I'm pleased to report that as of yesterday for the first time in many years I tip the scales at LESS than 300 lbs. I already have more energy or vitality than I have in many years and I only see this trend increasing. And there is something less tangible to report. I am actually optimistic about the future for the first time in many years. I wasn't really pessimistic about the future before, just more like apathetic. Now I'm actually looking forward to 'forming' (or at least having a hand in forming) my future instead of feeling dragged along into it. I have a list of projects a mile long that I actually am excited about finishing. I'll be sharing my progress on them as they take shape as we get into Spring.

As a side note, ask The Princess what it's like to live with an adult with ADD. She'll be happy to tell you that I usually have about 70 projects half done. I'm fixing that too. I'm going to be finishing more. And I'm as excited about finishing as I used to get about starting.

Improvement is good.

I'll leave you with my newest favorite picture of The Princess and me. It's from daughter Miriam's wedding last month.

I think Troy the photographer did a great job. If you want him to do some work for you let me know and I'll hook you up with him.

Settling In.

Here in Northwest Ohio winter has finally arrived (although I was OK with it staying away) and we're settling in for the duration. I'm also settling into my new eating routine.

Someone asked me today what 'plan' I was on. I replied "My own". Being the rebellious type I know myself to be, to attempt to follow a plan that someone else developed would be setting myself up for failure. I did do my homework though. I recently read "Eat To Live" by Dr. Joel Fuhrman and "Food Rules" by Michael Pollan. Much of what they had to say made sense to me. One of the points that the good doctor put forth is that we here in America are getting obese, spending too much of our income on healthcare and dying sooner than we should largely because of our lifestyle. I can't speak for everyone, but when I stopped and took a good hard look at myself, I saw that my highly processed convenience food diet and the 'stress level' in my life were killing me. My goal is to improve both.

I'm starting by cutting WAAAAAAAY back on the amount of 'fast food' I consume and replacing it with things my great-grandmother would recognize as food (i.e. fresh veggies and fruits) ala Pollan. I'm also pleased to report that I've avoided the office candy dish and 'celebration donuts' all year (I know it's only been 2 weeks but this is a BIG accomplishment for me).

I also have to give credit where credit is due here. I COULD NOT be accomplishing this without the direct support of The Princess who pre-prepares almost all my breakfasts and lunches (even though I've never asked her to). Even as I type this she's in the kitchen cutting up the green bell peppers that have replaced candy bars as my work snacks. I've added a 'ticker' to the header of this blog so you all can see how I'm doing with the weight loss portion of my plan.

In the meantime I'll see you all on the #twitterdiet chat session on Twitter every Sunday & Thursday night from 8 to 9.

Part of the plan

"No man is an island..." John Donne

Having a good support team is vital to success in all endeavors. This is true in business, organizations and life in general. I'm very fortunate to have the one of the best teams available. Personally, my family has always been strongly behind me and publicly I've found a strong support community in cyberspace. Recently I've found two VERY strong cheerleaders on the social network Twitter. This is me with diet, fitness and lifestyle authors @KCLAnderson and @LaughItOff (aka Karen CL Anderson and Rebecca Regnier)



These two lovely ladies (along with many others) are part of the support network known as the #TwitterDiet. If you'd like to know more about how it works, you can learn everything you wanted to know from @LaughItOffs book "Your Twitter Diet" (available from Amazon here: http://www.amazon.com/Your-Twitter-Diet-ebook/dp/B006M8OVE0/ref=ntt_at_ep_dpt_1 ). Yes, she 'wrote the book' on Twitter as a support medium for weight loss. I plan to go to this team 'early and often' as I get the ball rolling with my new eating plan.

I hope you'll stick with me too.

Here goes nothin'!

Today I celebrate the 20th anniversary of my 30th birthday (thanks to my friend Dennis for that gem). The last year has provided some pretty big milestones for me. I became a grandpa for the first time - LOVE IT (expect many pictures), I battled cancer - HATE IT, I watched the first of my four children turn 30 - AMAZED BY IT, I gave away my only daughter in marriage - STILL COMING TO GRIPS WITH IT and last but not least I hit the half century mark today - UMMM. While none of these events is earth moving in and of itself, when considered together they do provide some perspective on life. As I was musing over these things it hit me that if I'm going to be grown up some day it's probably time to start acting a little like a grown up. Hence the look at myself. Over the last ten years and for many reasons I have managed to gain about one hundred punds. Due to that (and I suppose somewhat the age) I'll borrow a line from country singer Jo Dee Messina and say "My Give A Damn's Busted". I no longer have the energy or drive to do the things I enjoy doing and since I plan to live a long time doing them, it's time to get my 'rear in gear' as they say and get healthy (or at least healthier). The first step in my plan is adjusting the way I eat. This should lead to step two which is lose weight. That should lead to step three which is getting the spring back in my step so I can get back to doing the things enjoy and hopefully enjoy doing even more.

The blog title is derived from step two (lose weight) and my birthday today. I've chosen a general number of 50 pounds I'd like to lose now that I'm over 50. Naturally I'd love to drop the entire hundred pounds, but I'm under no illusions about the effort involved with this. And I shy away from saying "GOAL" weight, because I don't want this to seem like a race to some finish line that when I cross I can go about things as I did before. My plan is to improve my life. Weight loss will just be a 'positive by-product'.

Over the next few postings I'll be laying out my plan and describing my support system. But I'll leave you here with an illustration:



This is me in 2001 (about 210 pounds)



And here I am in 2011 (310+ pounds)

Join me on this crazy trip. I'm gonna need all the help I can get.