Tuesday, October 25, 2011
Success is Beyond the Finish Line
While I was tightening the laces on my shoes a young woman pushing her baby in a stroller took off down the trail. About a minute later I took off in the opposite direction. Sand Plum Trail is a meandering trail that is a mile long. It meanders around an area about an eighth of a mile in size, and is marked of in quarter-of-a-mile increments. She went clockwise. I went counter-clock wise. And, for me, it was slow going for the first quarter of a mile. I was just not into this walk. However, once I passed the first quarter of a mile I picked up my pase.
I never know how long I am going to walk. There is always something back at the house that I need or want to do. And, these days, I just cannot find the enthusiasim for walking. The only thing that gets me through my walks are my desire to loose weight, and build stamina. And, I guess that is true for everyone. I have spent almost my entire life abusing my health. It is hard to change that pattern of behavior. By the time I retired from my sedentary trucker's lifestyle I had no muscle mass anywhere in my body. I have now lost 50 pounds, more or less, and plan to loose another 30. I am achieving my goals, but taking more time to do it than I wanted it to take. My biggest setback has been the Oklahoma winter and summer. I did good last spring, and I am back up to as many as 5 miles/day of walking here in the fall.
By the time I had reached the 1/2 mile point I was up to my normal walking speed. I am naturally a slow walker, and even the 18 and 1/2 minutes that it takes me to walk a brisk mile is a fast pase for me. Now, by the time I had the finish line in site the young lady and her baby were walking past where we began, and starting another trip around the trail. Until that point I was considering making this a 1 mile trek, and coming back later for another. Seeing them start another round pushed me unenthusiastically into another round. Actually, I thought I would go to the first 1/4 mile marker, turn around and be satisfied with 1.5 miles for the walk. But, the closer I got to my turnaround point the better I felt. And, when I reached that turn around point I kept going. So, I now have a 2 mile start on the day, and I plan to take a least one more walk at some point during the day. When I take the walk will depend on what I can get accomplished at home. But, somehow, I will find the desire to keep going until I reach my goals.
Three Steps to Success.
1.) Set your goals.
2.) Remind yourself constantly of why you have set your goals.
3.) Keep pushing toward your goals. It will always be that little bit of extra effort that gets you closer to your goals.
Three More Steps to Success
1.) Keep it simple.
2.) Keep it fun.
3.) Get it done.
Sunday, April 3, 2011
Self-Inflicted Wounds
Back in February, I started out having a discussion with my doctor about my sleep apnea. She asked me if I was using my CPAP machine. I said no, I did not seem to need it. She started talking about my readouts show that my heart seemed to be doing fine, but wondered why I told her that I have times that my heart seemed to stop beating sometimes, and I would become short of breath. What it boiled down to was that this stuff was not happening when I was trying to sleep. I was simply getting emotional about stuff that I would think about on a day to day basis.
Now, by writing this down I am simply following my doctors advise. Since our discussion, I have been monitoring the things I am thinking about when these episodes happen. It boils down to only a few things. Here are the reasons in reverse (least problematic) order:
4.) My worry about not being able to work. I am growing more anxious every day about it. My physical health is improving, but my mental anxiety over this situation causes a lot of emotional distress.
3.) My music and my photography. My inability to earn money through working keeps me from being able to buy the toys I need to be able to improve my music and photography.
2.) I start thinking about what it is going to be like this summer when I see people that I have not seen in 40+ years.
1.) I cannot keep from dwelling on the losses I have had that, for the most part, can be attributed to bad decisions that I made, and the career path that I chose.
I am writing all of this down at the suggestion of my doctor. She thinks that my emotional health is more of a problem than my physical health. She thinks that if I write it down I may realize that most of the decisions I have made were good decisions with bad results that could be attributed to how other people reacted to them. At least that is what I think she was saying.
Now for the hard part. Here is a bit of the analysis I have made on each of the 4 areas of concern.
4.) I need to understand that I am now living off of the money that I paid into the system for my retirement. I need to understand that the condition I am in is the reason that I paid part of every paycheck I ever had into this system. I am now collecting what I paid for. I should be enjoying my retirement instead of being worried that I don't deserve it.
3.) My music is improving. Just keep working with the tools I have. Have some confidence in myself. Working at improving myself is easy. Having confidence is not. I have always given pieces of my life away because I thought other people deserved things more that I did. I have always felt that I was less than equal to everyone else. All I can do with my photography is just keep shooting, and hope that one day I can get the equipment that I need. I need to understand that I have the artistic ability. I have produced some excellent work under severe time constraints. And, what I lack most is experience on the business side. But, I can learn that. The art was self-taught. The business acumen can be self taught.
2.) If I put myself in a situation that is too emotionally packed for me I am definately running a risk that my heart may not be able to recover from. My doctor has suggested that instead of seeing everyone at once at a major reunion I should try to use my retirement time to make some trips to visit one or two of them at a time. And, although I would love to see everyone at the same time, I am thinking that she is probably right in this situation. I have already had a pretty rough time this morning just from sitting down to write this note. So, I may have to forego a class reunion.
1.) Nothing has affected me more than the hard decisions I have made throughout my life regarding my children, grandchildren, mother and father, brothers and sisters, and my extended family. This is the part of my life that has dominated every decision I have ever made. It is what turned that punk from a small town in Oklahoma into whatever it is that I am today. And, I am finding it too hard to even write about. I am the youngest of six children. One of my brothers died before I was born. All three of my brothers are now with God. I cannot speak about what the rest of my family went through. All I can say is that being the youngest of the family is probably what instilled my feelings of not deserving what everyone else had, not being as good as others. I can honestly say that the fits that I threw, and all of the bad actions that I went through in my youth was those of a scared kid trying to tell the world that I was as good as anyone else. Somehow, I lost the fighting spirit of my youth, and accepted my feelings of inadaquacies. That was my downfall. I cannot undo the past. I have to concentrate on the future. My conversations with God is what is bringing me through these episodes with the knowledge that if God was mad at me for the decisions I have made he has already punished me for the wrongs that I have done. I also know that he is the only one that can return to me the losses I have suffered.
Now, by writing this down I am simply following my doctors advise. Since our discussion, I have been monitoring the things I am thinking about when these episodes happen. It boils down to only a few things. Here are the reasons in reverse (least problematic) order:
4.) My worry about not being able to work. I am growing more anxious every day about it. My physical health is improving, but my mental anxiety over this situation causes a lot of emotional distress.
3.) My music and my photography. My inability to earn money through working keeps me from being able to buy the toys I need to be able to improve my music and photography.
2.) I start thinking about what it is going to be like this summer when I see people that I have not seen in 40+ years.
1.) I cannot keep from dwelling on the losses I have had that, for the most part, can be attributed to bad decisions that I made, and the career path that I chose.
I am writing all of this down at the suggestion of my doctor. She thinks that my emotional health is more of a problem than my physical health. She thinks that if I write it down I may realize that most of the decisions I have made were good decisions with bad results that could be attributed to how other people reacted to them. At least that is what I think she was saying.
Now for the hard part. Here is a bit of the analysis I have made on each of the 4 areas of concern.
4.) I need to understand that I am now living off of the money that I paid into the system for my retirement. I need to understand that the condition I am in is the reason that I paid part of every paycheck I ever had into this system. I am now collecting what I paid for. I should be enjoying my retirement instead of being worried that I don't deserve it.
3.) My music is improving. Just keep working with the tools I have. Have some confidence in myself. Working at improving myself is easy. Having confidence is not. I have always given pieces of my life away because I thought other people deserved things more that I did. I have always felt that I was less than equal to everyone else. All I can do with my photography is just keep shooting, and hope that one day I can get the equipment that I need. I need to understand that I have the artistic ability. I have produced some excellent work under severe time constraints. And, what I lack most is experience on the business side. But, I can learn that. The art was self-taught. The business acumen can be self taught.
2.) If I put myself in a situation that is too emotionally packed for me I am definately running a risk that my heart may not be able to recover from. My doctor has suggested that instead of seeing everyone at once at a major reunion I should try to use my retirement time to make some trips to visit one or two of them at a time. And, although I would love to see everyone at the same time, I am thinking that she is probably right in this situation. I have already had a pretty rough time this morning just from sitting down to write this note. So, I may have to forego a class reunion.
1.) Nothing has affected me more than the hard decisions I have made throughout my life regarding my children, grandchildren, mother and father, brothers and sisters, and my extended family. This is the part of my life that has dominated every decision I have ever made. It is what turned that punk from a small town in Oklahoma into whatever it is that I am today. And, I am finding it too hard to even write about. I am the youngest of six children. One of my brothers died before I was born. All three of my brothers are now with God. I cannot speak about what the rest of my family went through. All I can say is that being the youngest of the family is probably what instilled my feelings of not deserving what everyone else had, not being as good as others. I can honestly say that the fits that I threw, and all of the bad actions that I went through in my youth was those of a scared kid trying to tell the world that I was as good as anyone else. Somehow, I lost the fighting spirit of my youth, and accepted my feelings of inadaquacies. That was my downfall. I cannot undo the past. I have to concentrate on the future. My conversations with God is what is bringing me through these episodes with the knowledge that if God was mad at me for the decisions I have made he has already punished me for the wrongs that I have done. I also know that he is the only one that can return to me the losses I have suffered.
Wednesday, December 22, 2010
Nutrition Rules to Lose Weight and Gain Muscle
Because I am realizing that my body is trying to shut down on me again I have become bound and determined to get back on track with my fitness program of proper diet and exercise. I am finally learning to listen when my body talks to me.
**********
Nutrition Rules to Lose Weight and Gain Muscle
1. Eat every 2-3 hours. These meals should contain complete protein, vegetables and fruit.
2. For weight loss, have complex carbohydrates for breakfast and one hour after a work out only. For maximum muscle building you should also have simple carbohydrates such as dextrose and maldextrin with complete protein during and after exercise. For both weight loss and muscle gain, ingest complete protein, vegetable, fruit and complex carbohydrate meal one hour later. These carbohydrates are rich in fiber which will help you feel full longer.
3. Take greens plus/V8 as a vegetable supplement if you can't prepare vegetables during the day.
4. 25-35% of your diet should be good fats. These include extra virgin olive oil, salmon/fish oil, or other monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats. Try supplementing with flaxmeal or high DHA/EPA fish oil daily.
5. Only drink water, dark teas, red wine (one glass a night) and coffee.
6. Plan out your meals every Sunday. It will help keep you on the right track for success. Try and pack meals for the work week on this day in containers that are easy to bring to work.
2. For weight loss, have complex carbohydrates for breakfast and one hour after a work out only. For maximum muscle building you should also have simple carbohydrates such as dextrose and maldextrin with complete protein during and after exercise. For both weight loss and muscle gain, ingest complete protein, vegetable, fruit and complex carbohydrate meal one hour later. These carbohydrates are rich in fiber which will help you feel full longer.
3. Take greens plus/V8 as a vegetable supplement if you can't prepare vegetables during the day.
4. 25-35% of your diet should be good fats. These include extra virgin olive oil, salmon/fish oil, or other monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats. Try supplementing with flaxmeal or high DHA/EPA fish oil daily.
5. Only drink water, dark teas, red wine (one glass a night) and coffee.
6. Plan out your meals every Sunday. It will help keep you on the right track for success. Try and pack meals for the work week on this day in containers that are easy to bring to work.
Friday, October 8, 2010
Becoming a Personal Trainer
The knowledge and craze among people to stay fit and look attractive is increasing. With passing time they have become more body conscious and have been investing in gyms and personal training to stay fit and healthy. So if you are passionate about keeping your body fit and are inquisitive about what factors play an important role then starting your career as a personal trainer would solve your purpose. There is several personal training courses that would help you gets the kind of training you are looking for. Fitness experts are an important part of fitness and healthcare industry. Today earning a handsome income is very easy being a personal trainer.
A personal trainer gives coaching and training to an individual personally and takes care of his entire body fitness. Personal trainer is well educated about all kinds of exercises for different body parts and diet that will keep the body healthy from inside. Personal training courses will help you learn basics and advanced things that are important to stay fit. A personal trainer with good experience can earn great money. Today everyone is so busy in their work schedule and usually hire personal trainers to tell them how to eat and exercise. This helps them in staying fit and looking attractive.
A personal trainer with certification from a reputed institute can very easily get a job and find a way to start his career. One can start by working at the gyms and spa centers and if you have enough money to start with your own gym you can even do that too.
With personal training courses you get the certification that shows your genuineness to the customers and they feel that you have all the knowledge that takes to be a personal trainer. The customers feel confident about you and his trust in you and your gym starts to build from that very moment. Personal training courses ensure that you acquire skills and education to help your clients stay fit and improve the fitness and power levels. There are many personal training courses like:
Nutrition
Injury Prevention
Fitness Assessment
Anatomy
Basic Aerobics
Cardiovascular Training
You can keep learning and acquiring more skills and certifications as you get more experienced in the field and become a fully skilled and informative personal trainer. This will help you in moving ahead in your career and establishing yourself as a qualified personal trainer.
Article Directory : http://www.articlecube.com
Amy Jones, the writer of the article enjoys helping people by providing information on personal training courses australia and personal training courses sydney tips.
A personal trainer gives coaching and training to an individual personally and takes care of his entire body fitness. Personal trainer is well educated about all kinds of exercises for different body parts and diet that will keep the body healthy from inside. Personal training courses will help you learn basics and advanced things that are important to stay fit. A personal trainer with good experience can earn great money. Today everyone is so busy in their work schedule and usually hire personal trainers to tell them how to eat and exercise. This helps them in staying fit and looking attractive.
A personal trainer with certification from a reputed institute can very easily get a job and find a way to start his career. One can start by working at the gyms and spa centers and if you have enough money to start with your own gym you can even do that too.
With personal training courses you get the certification that shows your genuineness to the customers and they feel that you have all the knowledge that takes to be a personal trainer. The customers feel confident about you and his trust in you and your gym starts to build from that very moment. Personal training courses ensure that you acquire skills and education to help your clients stay fit and improve the fitness and power levels. There are many personal training courses like:
Nutrition
Injury Prevention
Fitness Assessment
Anatomy
Basic Aerobics
Cardiovascular Training
You can keep learning and acquiring more skills and certifications as you get more experienced in the field and become a fully skilled and informative personal trainer. This will help you in moving ahead in your career and establishing yourself as a qualified personal trainer.
Article Directory : http://www.articlecube.com
Amy Jones, the writer of the article enjoys helping people by providing information on personal training courses australia and personal training courses sydney tips.
More Than Physical Fitness
http://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/adhd/
This web site does not endorse any company or product. This post is for your information only. It is your responsibility to obtain the information needed to make an intelligent decision about the advertisement.
*************
For every disease there is at least a dozen names for that disease. I'm not a conspiracy theorist, but I believe money is involved with most of every name, and most every diagnosis. For instance, I was diagnosed with "sleep apnea" about 6 years ago. I am recently retired from a 35 year career as an over-the-road trucker. I had to carry a CPAP machine on the truck with me. I have not used that machine since the day I retired. I have been sleeping gloriously well since climbing out of the truck up until the past few days. My machine is in Oklahoma. I am in Nevada. But, I will be able to use that machine next week to see if it helps. Personaly, I believe my current sleep habits are because of Nevada weather, the projects that I have going, and my own social/family situation. These may be part of the "sleep apnea" symptoms, but what I am getting at is that the name "sleep apnea" does not cover all of what is wrong with me. And neither does ADHD, ODD, nor all of the other medical names that medical people come up with. These names are used to briefly describe what doctors believe/know about the symtoms. Moneywise, from there it goes to the free market. what anyone can make you believe is up to you. Selling you cures or medications is the place of the free market. And, so it goes in the world of fitness. You can buy every gimic that comes on the market, but if it's not used it won't make a difference to your health. But, as consumers, we must remember that many of the things we are offered are nothing more than gimics.
This web site does not endorse any company or product. This post is for your information only. It is your responsibility to obtain the information needed to make an intelligent decision about the advertisement.
*************
For every disease there is at least a dozen names for that disease. I'm not a conspiracy theorist, but I believe money is involved with most of every name, and most every diagnosis. For instance, I was diagnosed with "sleep apnea" about 6 years ago. I am recently retired from a 35 year career as an over-the-road trucker. I had to carry a CPAP machine on the truck with me. I have not used that machine since the day I retired. I have been sleeping gloriously well since climbing out of the truck up until the past few days. My machine is in Oklahoma. I am in Nevada. But, I will be able to use that machine next week to see if it helps. Personaly, I believe my current sleep habits are because of Nevada weather, the projects that I have going, and my own social/family situation. These may be part of the "sleep apnea" symptoms, but what I am getting at is that the name "sleep apnea" does not cover all of what is wrong with me. And neither does ADHD, ODD, nor all of the other medical names that medical people come up with. These names are used to briefly describe what doctors believe/know about the symtoms. Moneywise, from there it goes to the free market. what anyone can make you believe is up to you. Selling you cures or medications is the place of the free market. And, so it goes in the world of fitness. You can buy every gimic that comes on the market, but if it's not used it won't make a difference to your health. But, as consumers, we must remember that many of the things we are offered are nothing more than gimics.
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
Chocolate Milk vs Condoms
Milk gets trashed. Not good for kids. Huh? Well, do the condoms fit?
Florida School Bans Chocolate Milk
Florida School Bans Chocolate Milk
Training and the Military Fitness Center
It is my opinion that anyone can follow the information contained on this site to achieve top level fitness. In the military fitness is a lifestyle. From the moment you get off of the bus at boot camp you are programed to reach the highest level of physical fitness. And, this is why this has to be one of my top picks for web sites containing information on physical fitness. To top it off, the information in this site will surely be your cheapest way of reaching your highest level of physical fitness.
Military Fitness Center
Military Fitness Center
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
