Monthly Archives: January 2011

Over the course of about three years I can say that I developed a bit of a weight problem. In some part of my brain I knew it to be true, but for the most part I just thought I was humming along at roughly the same weight. My clothes seemed to fit the same. I felt the same walking around. But there were a few subtle differences. Some of my pants didn’t quite fit right. And sometimes I’d get winded on long flights of stairs. And mentally I avoided jogging like the plague, but I told myself it was just because I didn’t feel like it. Laziness was my grand excuse.

The real kick in the gut came when I realized I had gained over 30 pounds. Juuuuust about 10 pounds a year.

(more…)

Respect. It’s one of those intangible, abstract concepts that everyone seems to know something about. I bring it up today because I think about it often. What it is, how to recognize it, what it’s worth… What does it really take to earn someone’s respect? Inquiring minds want to know.

After doing a lot of research (read: talking to people) and doing a lot of reflection (if it worked for Freud, it could work for me right?) I’ve come to a conclusion. It doesn’t take much to earn a person’s respect. Really, not much at all.

(more…)

Part of my day to day philosophy has to do with how and where I spend my time and energy. Do I spend my time trying to affect the things within my control and reach, or do I spend my time trying to affect the things that are at arms length or farther?

I ask myself, what are the things I can change today and what are the things I can change tomorrow. That is where I try to put my focus. I say try because I haven’t perfected the system yet but I’ve found it’s a pretty good way of keeping perspective in life.

(more…)

In the recent past a rather large event took place for my little spot on the web. After a surprising amount of hard work, time, effort, and energy, an e-book was released. I was pretty excited about that, and I still am; as a result of that excitement I attempted to fistbump the entire internet. I was less than successful on that front but I think the enthusiasm translated well.

(more…)

I try to hit the gym four timers per week, every week. Sometimes I fall short a session or two, sometimes I go over a session or two. In the infrequent case of a serious time crunch, I may end up missing an entire. Sucks but it happens.

I do this because I believe it is necessary to enable my continued growth as a man, human being, and valuable member of this planet. There’s even a mantra involved. After all, it might be a little difficult for me to change the world if I die unexpectedly from a heart attack that could have been prevented. So in short, exercise is not (not anymore at least) my enemy.

The sticking point, for me anyway, is diet. Nutrition. Clean eating. Now, I don’t eat as poorly as I used to. Not by a long shot. Back in the day I was an avid supporter of the “two burgers a day keeps the munchies away” philosophy. Fast food chains loved me.

But it had to change. It took some doing but it got done. I changed my processed sugar intake from moderate to low, my salt intake from low to near nonexistent, and my fresh fruit/vegetable intake from near nonexistent to moderate.

Decent improvement, but there’s plenty of room to grow.

Why am I bringing this up?

When I work out, I think about my nutritional plans in between sets, and I watch the New Years Resolution crowd (you don’t see them in the months before Jan. 1, and you see less of them as the days wind on) attack the machines and treadmills. I see them come in, some half-assing it and some giving it their all. Most disappearing inside of 8 weeks.

The reason, in my mind, has to be the mindset. They have the same problem that I have. It’s not a life or death situation to them (even if it is, medically speaking, they don’t truly see it that way). You hear amazing stories of triumph where someone averts near certain death by losing X amount of pounds and keeping them off; the show Biggest Loser is a testament to this. Those people truly believe their life hung in the balance and so they made the changes needed.

Yes, I know they had trainers and nutritionists, but talk to a personal trainer who changes $100+ a session if all it takes for someone to make significant changes is some well toned former athlete breathing down their neck. My theory is that I need to look at nutrition as the difference between me growing old with my partner and me leaving her a young widow. I think that sort of Do-or-Die mentality is necessary sometimes to overcome the inertia of complacency.

Start Small

Mindset changes are easier to make permanent when they aare incremental. Large shifts that throw your sense of being out of whack get met with resistance. Small changes that can be adapted into your life without unbalancing you can be much more effective.

I’m going to start with a meal. Just one. Instead of throwing out my entire kitchen or attempting to co-op semi-healthy ingredients into healthy meals, I’m going to choose one meal (breakfast lets say) and focus on changing that meal into the nutritional powerhouse of my dreams.

And then I’ll go to the next, and the next, healthy snacks too. Each piece building upon the last. Life changes made permanent at a comfortable pace.

You can do the same with exercise. I know because I did it. Start walking short distances that you would normally drive for convenience. Then longer distances. Then jog.  Lift books or full suitcases until you can lift weights. Keep doing more in increments, until you realize that you’re stronger than you’ve been in years and in better shape than you previously thought possible.

Adapt this do-or-die mindset and start small somewhere in your life today.

I haven’t made any substantial comment here on the blog yet about the controversy surrounding Wikileaks’ massive release of classified information but a recent story gave me a reason to.

Twitter (the company not specifically the service) has been in the news for successfully beating a gag order on a request to reveal information about some of their users. Users who have or have had ties to the Wikileaks organization. I won’t go into the details of what is happening with Wikileaks, you can find more than enough information with a simple search. The reason this is significant is because it appears that Twitter is the first in a string of big name companies to stand by the people who made it what it is; the userbase.

Shocking, I know.

(more…)