Sometimes I Forget That Putting Myself First Isn't Selfish, It's Necessary. ..

I'd like to introduce you to two people that made an impact on my life over the last week. The first one is Dolvett Quince. He's a personal trainer and has trained many Hollywood stars and is currently one of the trainers on The Biggest Loser. The other is none other than Oprah. 

As many of you know, Oprah is now a Weight Watcher. Her battles with weight has been very public for years. Me and Melody had the pleasure last Wednesday of sitting in on a conference call with thousands of other people. She talked and answered questions for almost an hour. It was really cool listening to everything she had to say. The one thing she said that stuck the most with me was about her "Me Time." She mentioned about this lady she interviewed in 1992 for her show. She told the audience you have to make yourself First. Not your family, not your friends, or even your job, but you. She said the lady got booed really bad. Oprah however, said it made an impression on her. Oprah said she gets up every morning and takes a hot bath. Some morning it's 22 minutes, some mornings it's 25 minutes, but she does it everyday. While she's in there, she prayerfully meditates. Forgets about everything but her for those minutes. She then gets out and gets on a treadmill for a little while. After that, she can do whatever she needs to for the rest of the day. I thought that was a good idea, but didn't give it much thought afterward. 

Later that night I read an article in Parade magazine about Dolvett Quince. You can read it here. In it he talked about different things about his life and about the show. The part in the article I liked the most was that he talked about not only being physically fit, but being mentally fit. He talked about making yourself a priority too. He talked about if your trying to accomplish a goal, that should be the first thing you work on everyday. Not the fifth, or even the eighth, but the first! He said if you are trying to lose weight, then that should be the first thing you do every day. Get up walk on a treadmill, go for a jog, or go to the gym and walk for 20, 25 minutes on an incline. Sweating and feeling good. The heart is pumping and you're getting your circulation going. Then after committing just 25 minutes, the rest of the day is yours! 

After reading that and hearing Oprah, I started wondering if I have been going about this all wrong. It makes sense. Getting up at 5:30 every morning and rushing to work. Get of around 3:30 and rush to second job. Get off there 5:30, rush home and try to eat something healthy and then change clothes and get to the gym and work out for an hour or two. It was taking a toll on me. Since Christmas, I had been finding it harder and harder at the end of the day to get to the gym. I was making excuse after excuse not go. "I got in 15,000 steps on my Fitbit today, I'm good." Or "I had a really tough day at work, I'm too tired to go to the gym." We even used an excuse to go see one of our sons so we didn't have to go to the gym. 

At my last weigh-in Thursday, I gained 2.4 lbs. over the last week, making me go back down to 69 lbs lost. After that meeting, I decided enough is enough. I've got to make myself the priority! I need to get up early Monday through Friday, and I need to be the first thing I work on! So Friday morning at 3:30 a.m. my alarm went off. I was slow to rise, and get around, but I got up went to the gym. I got there around 4:30, stretched and got busy. I got my whole set done, changed and in truck by 5:45. I had time to stop and get me an unsweet tea at the convenience store next door. I drove to work and got there 25 minutes early, so I took a little "Me Time" and read some on my phone before I clocked in. Ill admit it felt really weird not feeling sleepy or sluggish, but I liked it that I was ready to go! My energy stayed up almost all day. I had a little bit of a tired moment in the afternoon when I sat down for a short break, but soon as I got back to work, my energy level came back. So far it's been one day trying this new approach, but I'm anxious to see the results.

All Pain, All Gain....

That looks just like me the last couple of weeks. It all started after our Weight Watcher meeting two weeks ago. On the way home I was drinking a unsweet tea and had been eating some of the ice when out of the blue I was in excruciating pain. One of my teeth on the upper side had broke, exposing the nerve. I hurt so bad, I had to stop in the middle of the road and cry. Fortunately we were on a country road and nobody was coming. I sat there for a couple of minutes till the pain subsided enough I could drive home. I didn't realize it had broke at first. I thought it was just the cold from the ice. So, stupid me a little later, without thinking, threw another piece of ice in and starting chewing. Immediately the pain hit again. Thankfully, we were only a couple miles from home. When I got there I took some ibuprofen, and the pain went down enough were I could sleep. When I woke up the next morning, the pain was back. My guess was, as I slept that night with my mouth open, I had sucked in some cool air and that is what was causing the pain. I called later that morning at work, and found a dentist who would pull it, but because of finances and infection, I had to wait a whole week till I could get it pulled. I went in on Thursday morning and they pulled two teeth. I went to Weight Watchers that evening and had lost 8.4 lbs in one week! That was mainly because I was having trouble all week eating. Since I've had them pulled, I've had a little trouble eating because of the sensitivity in the area of where my teeth were. I am hoping I lose weight this week, but I don't think I will lose quite that much this week. I was joking that if I could lose 8 or 9 lbs a week because of a bad tooth, that maybe I should've left it till I had met my goal. 

Since the first of the year, me and Melody started working at the school part-time. We clean the elementary building at the school in the evenings. It's not that bad of work, but the problem for me is trying to get to the gym afterwards. I won't lie it has been hard. Working for almost 12 hours everyday then going to the gym afterwards for a couple of hours, it really takes a commitment. There are times I pull up and think, "I don't want to do this," but I still get out and do it. Afterwards, I feel a lot better that I talked myself into it, but there is always that brief moment where I almost decide not to. Those are so hard! 

It's now been 4 1/2 months on my program and I am starting to get the hang of the eating and working out, but after almost 30 years of ignoring my body, I've got to get my flexibility back. After watching a video on YouTube about a man named Arthur who had an incredible transformation, He started doing yoga and was being instructed by a wrestler named DDP or Diamond Dallas Page. I started sending my blog to him and he responded a couple of times and retweeted it too! I reached out to him to get some help, and it turns out he has a whole website now set up and you can order videos that teach his yoga plan. I'm waiting on my first set to come in, but there is an app you can download that teaches you all sorts of things from exercise, to nutrition. He goes step by step explaining everything as you go, and Arthur wasn't his only transformation. He has had others, and each one has inspiring stories! What I really like about his exercise videos is he uses those people in his videos, not some great looking actor or actress. These are real every day people who have succeeded at what I'm trying to do! So far, I really like the program. 

This week me and Melody went to our first NBA game. We went to see the OKC Thunder vs. Miami Heat. It was really fun! OKC won by over 20 points. The coolest part about it was we both wore new, smaller outfits to the game. I wore a shirt that my mom had bought me 2 years ago to wear to my youngest son's high school graduation. It fit for the first time and I wore some jeans I hadn't wore in over a year too. I had given up on the vest I was wearing because I couldn't even zip it anymore, but Sunday it fit with room to spare! I'll admit it felt a lil odd wearing something other than my usually, but it also felt liberating too!

Sorry I hadn't written in a while, but. I've been very busy lately. I'm trying to get ahold of my new schedule having two jobs and working out, and as soon as I do, there will definitely be some more "ME" time! Take care and God Bless!

Me and Melody before our game.

Me, Russell Westbrook, and Melody

Arthur's Amazing Transformation!

The Stress Ball Is Not For Throwing At What Stresses You Out...

I've promised that I'll always be as honest as possible. I'm a little uncomfortable about this one, but in order to overcome it, I feel I must.

I talked about stress before and what it does to my eating habits. To try and calm down, I would eat. I could never sleep when stressed out, so I would eat a lot at night. After I finally got rid of almost everything that was stressing me out, the holidays showed up. Me and stress had been doing fine. I hadn't seen it in a few months, so I assumed we were done. I had unfriended it on Facebook, and I even unfollowed it on Twitter, but all of a sudden there it was. I didn't send it an invitation. I didn't ask it for a RSVP. I opened the front door and there it was. Showing up like it owned the place. It walked right in and sat down on my couch and refused to leave. I had tackled all other kinds of stress. Death. Work. Hectic schedules. Then as the holidays appeared and so did financial stress. I think it was the worse one yet. This year was the first-time in several years I didn't have more than one job lined up during the fall. Usually, I work my full time job and had a couple of part-time jobs.  We decided to take some time, and just slow down for awhile. Health wise it has been great, but on the financial side, not so much. This year at Christmas, trying to pay bills, and trying to provide for family and friends, I felt that sickening flutter in my stomach. 

Any adult knows that feeling. Butterflies set on a high level of frenzy in the pit of your stomach. It seems funny how everything is going along fine, then out of nowhere a bill shows up. You pay it, then another pops up. If I didn't no better, I would almost think bills are like rabbits. You put two together on the table and you turn around and its multiplied into four. Wait a few minutes, there are now eight. Then you get those under control, then the unexpected ones turn up. A broken water pipe. A broke-down vehicle. Before you know it, your outcome is greater than your income. The mounting stress can do a number on your health! Your mind can do nothing but think about finances. Wondering where your next dollar is going to come from. How are you going to pay for this or that? Then you toss and turn at night. You get little sleep at night. You are so tired at work, you can't focus. You lose your focus, then you get thinking about finances again. It seems to be a non-stop cycle! The best analogy I can come up with is that your stomach feels like a golf ball swung full swing in a tile bathroom. It just ricochets all over the place. 

You're so stressed at this point, your hair looks like you licked your finger and stuck it in a light socket! Your health takes a back seat, and you find your eating habits are locked in the trunk. You look for whatever cheap food you can to feed your family. You can buy a cheap roll of hamburger meat, that has 25% fat and a box of hamburger helper cheaper than you can a pack of chicken and fresh vegetables. You compromise on healthy eating so much! You look for deals that can put food on the table. Forget about if it's healthy. You can get a XL burrito for $1 for lunch, but a small salad will cost you $2.98! When there's financial a crunch, how do you stay healthy? 

I wish there were a simple answer, but it's not. I'm not going to give you a sugar coated, happy ending. I'm not rich. I'm not famous. I'm just an ordinary middle age man trying to get healthier. I struggle. I cut corners everywhere I can, so I can still go to Weight Watchers and the gym. I have to work hard to maintain my goal. I have to push myself at times. The hard work has been paying of though. As of last Wednesday, I lost another 2.2 lbs. and did that over the Christmas holiday! I was so nervous about all the food that was out there, but I passed the test! That brings my total in four months to 59.8 lbs lost! For the first time in since I started I could tell I a difference while working out. I can see it around my face a neck. I am also excited about my weigh-in this Thursday. Despite a really good College Football Bowl Season, I behaved myself. I dint make it to the gym as much as I would've liked to. I came straight home from work so I could watch all the games, but this week all the games I wanted to see is over, the  holidays are over, and now to try and get rid of the financial stress. Happy 2016!

My current weight 391.2 lbs.

Current total lost 59.8 lbs.

They may have lost, 

but I'm still proud of my Sooners!