Slimdude

Where I live here in Florida it is very hot out and humid. So me and my Son are hiding out in the A/C. If I get the motivation later, we might go for a walk. I need to put up posters because our cat is still missing. So if I take him out for an evening stroll, we can get that accomplished, too. The trouble is I get so lazy in the evenings all I want to do is lay around, watch TV, play with him and surf the net.

That’s why I exercise first thing in the morning. Otherwise, I know I would never do it. So I’ve only been home a little while, and I’m drinking water and he is drinking apple juice. We buy the kind that is either 100 percent juice and we cut it with water or we buy the kind that has Splenda in it but less sugar. I have some reservations about feeding him Splenda… but…

Anyway it’s nice and cool in here and I am Blogging and he is mostly watching KidSongs DVD but we are also playing with cars and trucks.

This morning my wife and I had our weekly counseling session after we dropped him off at DayCare and it went very well. We have had a good week, with no arguing at all.

Then I went to work and she did, too. My wife works at a local bakery and she enjoys it very much. I work on planes. The computer systems on planes, to be specific. Today was a weird day. Basically one of the software programs would not load right. Oh well. Better luck tomorrow.

I’m going to BlogSurf and check out some other BuddySlim blogs. I think I may get to join one of the Weight Loss Teams. But I’m not sure how much help I’ll be. I’ll try.

 —Matt

Earlier today, I already posted with a title from another book, “Best Life”… well, “Fit to Live” is another great book by author Pamela Peeke, who is also the author of “Body for Life for Women” which I have never read. She also appears on Cable TV quite frequently. I read this book a few months ago and really enjoyed it.

What got me thinking of it was reading everyone’s BuddySlim blogs and noticing how often we all eat to compensate for stress in our lives. It’s a really weird concept, if you think about it, and yet we all do it, OR we have to fight like crazy to resist the urge to do it. It’s like this : “Okay well everything else in my life is going badly, so I might as well have a slice of cake and ruin my weight-loss goals, too.”

How does that make any sense? There are plenty of foods out there that taste just as good and also plenty of coping strategies for stress that are way better than a box of donuts. So I’m going to try to be conscious of that in myself and my plans. When am I eating due to stress?

Anyway, the book “Fit to Live” goes into nutrition, stress, exercise, finance, clutter in the home and more. The idea is that all these areas are inter-connected. As you straighten out your weight problems, your finances, your stress… it all goes together. More of that “Best Life” thing.

Also she talks about how the world has changed. Terrorism, Hurricanes, etc… if you had to swim to save your child’s life, could you do it? If you had to rush down 100 flights of stairs could you do it? Could you even fit onto the fire escape? She talks about how we must learn not to use Excuses im our life to eat badly and stop exercising. Because “LIFE” with a big “L” will always happen!!

You will have bad days at work. Your kids will fray your last nerve. You will get that phone call to inform you that Uncle Milton has cancer. It happens. It happens to us all. But we have got to learn to stop turning to food. Healthy food will make us feel even better through trying times, as will exercise. But a bag of Doritos and sitting around does nothing for our stress or our hectic lives and certainly it does not help our waistlines.

I did work out with Leslie Samsone this morning. For breakfast I am having 3 egg whites with fat free cheese and salsa. A cup of mixed fruit. And some coffee with sugar free cocoa to sweeten it.

—Matt

Bob Greene, Oprah’s trainer… has this book called The Best Life Diet. I am a big fan of Oprah and Bob Greene. I think the way they approach weight-loss, weight maintenance and Life is very healthy and sound. It is exactly what I want. One of the “Rules” Bob Greene, as well as many other trainers and dieticians expound on… is not eating at night. I have a very very bad habit of snacking into the evening and then even getting up at night to eat.

That is one thing I want very badly to conquer. So this week I am going to work really hard on not snacking after dinner. I usually eat dinner between 5pm and 6pm and get to bed by 9pm. I am hoping that by working on this habit my weight will naturally fall back down.

I am listening to a CD I bought yesterday at Target. It is called “Planet Earth” and it is the latest Prince album. I have been a big Prince fan for a long time. I actually started being a fan when he was not even Prince. He was that SYMBOL. Those were the years of “Most Beautiful Girl in the World”. Lately, it’s been up and down for him. A few years ago he released “Rave UN2 The Joy Fantastic” and it could have been huge. Then he did “The Rainbow Children” and that was just horrible. “Musicology” was not too bad, and I really liked “3121″. But I have to say, “Planet Earth” is kind of boring. I’m dissapointed. You know, it’s weird that Justin Timberlake makes music like OLD Prince and Michael Jackson and does a way better job than they do now.

So what are my Plans for this week, and today… to have a “Best Life” ?

Well I am going to work out every day. I will try to do some DVDs, some walking and some strength training. Every morning like clockwork. I wake up between 4 and 4:30am. ALSO I think I am going to make myself (and you lucky Buddyslimmers) a promise. Very often I start these forums and these threads and then I give up when things are going badly for me.

But I promise I will stick with Buddyslim and this Slimdude blog for at least 12 weeks, no matter what. Even if I don’t lose one pound. Even if I gain weight. I do hope that in 12 weeks I will have met my goal of 140 pounds. Or close. The end of 12 weeks from now is November 4th, 2007.

On that date I want to be 140 pounds, done with the worrying about 20 extra pounds. And entering the Hard Zone of Weight Maintenance. Especially during the holidays. That is the season that de-railed me last year. But this year will be different, right?! Yessiree!

So… plans for today :

Workout * Marriage Counseling * Fix Some Planes * Clean a Little * Watch TV

Tonight is my favorite night for TV. They show “WifeSwap”, “Fat March” and “Supernanny”. Well…

That’s my first post for the day. Hope everyone is doing well and ready to tackle the week.

—Matt