What is Normal Eating?

This is something that was given to us during our ZSBC meeting this week:

"Normal eating is going to the table hungry and eating until you are satisfied.  It is being able to chose food you like and eat it and truly get enough of it - not just stop eating because you think you should.  Normal eating is being able to give some thought to your food selection so you get nutritious food, but not being so wary and restrictive that you miss out on enjoyable food.  Normal eating is giving yourself permission to eat sometimes because you are happy, sad, or bored, or just because it feels good.  Normal eating is three meals a day, or four, or five, or it can be choosing to much along the way.  It is leaving some cookies on the plate because you know you can have some again tomorrow, or it is eating more now because they taste so wonderful.  Normal eating is overeating at times, feeling stuffed and uncomfortable.  And it can be undereating at times and wishing you had more.  Normal eating is trusting your body to make up for your mistakes in eating.  Normal eating takes up some of your time and attention, but keeps its place as only one important area of your life.  

In short, normal eating is flexible.  It varies in response to your hunger, your schedule, your proximity to food, and your feelings." (Ellyn Satter, 1998)

So what does this say to you?  To me, this is a gift of forgiveness.  This helps me understand that "normal eating" isn't some impossibly unattainable state of being.  "Normal eating" is what we do to survive.  It accommodates special occasions and whims of fancy.  It does not cover dieting, for dieting is an unnatural way of sustaining life to attain a state of being that can be achieve through "normal eating".  As I learn more and more about what it takes to eat normally, I find it is exactly what I have been doing except for two big differences: 1) portion sizes; 2) food choices.  I have found that super sizing meals may be economical if you compare the quantity of food you get for the money. However, do you really need more food? Also, the food that you should eat defies pretty much everything that Americans are bribed, coerced, and programed to accept as food.  When it comes down to it, the ingredients to your meal should be readily available in nature.  I am very sure that herds of Big Macs are not running wild among the plains somewhere.  If there were, there would be safaris run by Ronald McDonald from the back of his Range Rover.  Can you really see Ronald McDonald with an Elephant Gun?

In short, it tells me that eating is first and foremost needed to sustain life. However, eating should be enjoyed and relished as an experience.

So, what does "normal eating" mean to you?

Being "Big Stuff"

I had a great time looking after my son during our "Dada & Son" weekend.  Since I come home so late from work and classes every day, I wanted to give my wife a break to let her recuperate a bit.  We didn't do anything fantastic.  We basically followed our set routine and just let my wife lay low.  However mundane you might think that would be, I found the whole experience pretty exciting.  This weekend was one of the few times that I really got to notice how much my son is growing up.  He climbs up on the step stool to be at counter level so he could help Dada fix meals.  He loves running around outside and views new things with a sense of wonder that I have somehow forgotten. I still get tickled when we walk around outside our complex and hangs on my leg as cars roll by.  I know he knows what they are, but at the same time I remind myself that they seem like giants because of his height.

One thing did stand out this weekend.  My son was on his step stool playing chef as I was fixing some water from the refrigerator.  I usually have a large cup of water regularly throughout the day and he enjoys trying to drink out of that cup like Dada, but usually gets most of it down his shirt.  Today was different.  I decided to give him his own water in a cup his size and see what he would do with it.  When I put it in front of him he placed what he was playing with down to the side and firmly grasped the cup in both hands.  He then ever so carefully brought it to his lips as he took a REAL drink.  He didn't try to suck the water out like he would through a straw or try to tip it back like a body shot during Marty Gras.  I was SHOCKED and cheered with my hands above my head.  He just looked up, grinned a huge grin and went back to drinking.  He drank the whole cup without spilling it.  I couldn't have been prouder seeing that the day before he spilt most of a cup of water down his entire shirt.  In the Drinking department my son graduated from being a baby to being "BIG STUFF"!

I am amazed when I see things just 'click' with him.  It is like he tries, and tries, and tries with disastrous consequences.  But with just one slow, methodical attempt that succeeded, he now knows the best way to do tasks that earlier would frustrate the fool out of him.

After thinking through what wonders I saw this weekend, I thought about my trials and tribulations regarding my weight that have plagued me for years.  Really, how different am I with my struggles than my son is with his?  Thinking about it, I have had the tools in front of me for a while now.  I have just not been willing to choose to take a drink out of that cup as slowly and methodically as I can.  I have chosen to run through programs, diets, and exercise camps for the majority of my adult life hoping that the lessons and thoughts would stick to my body at the end.  Only to be disappointed when I find out that for some magic reason, nothing has changed.  It is depressing when you think about it and I know we ALL have thought about it.

I figure it is time to just put down my toys like my son, pick up my cup of health and fitness, and be 'Big Stuff' for once in my adult life.  My life has changed in the past 16 months since we have had this gift of a baby boy.  I need to and feel the urge to man-up and be healthy and fit in order to be around long enough to see him grown up.  I want to experience his wonder and excitement about the world as he experiences it.  The only way to do that is to man-up and be Big Stuff like my son.

I will be posting my fitness goals and weight goals on this blog for all to see.  I have noticed that if I stay in the corner and just keep that stuff to myself, it is easier for me to let things slide.  I would ask you, the reader of this blog, to call me out when you don't see a post of my progress in a while.  If you want to post your PFGs (Personal Fitness Goals) with me, feel free.  Together, we can pull through the hard stuff and get to the land of health and fitness.

'CLICK'!

Stepping Up the PAIN!

Last night was another class in our ZSBC experience.  Sifu had a lecture session on "Who are the (5) people you hang around the most and what effect do they have on you?"  To tell you the truth, you can answer this really flippantly, but our task was to really analyze it and recognize the impact it has on our lives.  The bottom line I took away from this session was that you have a choice to associate with almost anyone in the world.  The quality of the people you choose to associate with can help determine your mental stability and success in life.  Even when it comes to your family, you have the choice to limit your interaction with those who do not contribute to your well being or grow closer to those to whom you draw strength from.  Remember that this a mutual benefit type of arrangement as well.  You will find in life that the people that want to associate with you may see you as a source of strength, but you as an individual need to determine if you are getting what you need from the same relationship.  The correct balance of a relationship is when both parties are getting what they need from each other.  Are there draw backs, hiccups, or crap you have to filter through?  You betcha, but what relationship does not have that?  What we have to learn is how to filter the bad things in order to see if the good things are beneficial.

So after that introspective discussion, it was on with the PAIN!  Last class Sifu had us fill out surveys of the program.  To my surprise he went over the results with us before class.  It was interesting to see a split in how people viewed the workouts, but never the less George certainly took them to heart and adapted accordingly.  It was relay race time again, which is always a fun and supportive event in ZSBC.  He split the room up into 3 levels of pain that we voluntarily classified ourselves into: Blue Cones (Insane), Orange Cones (Mostly Sane), and White Cones (Most Sane).  Each level had a non stop work out that was geared for our level of physical fitness.  This is what the majority wanted in the class.  The people that wanted a good sweat got one and the people that wanted to really push themselves, REALLY GOT PUSHED!  Like always, everyone was supportive with clapping and cheering-on their fellow competitors.  I don't think the ZSBC would have the same effect with out that sense of fellowship that has grown since the beginning of the program.  We are all in this together.

Right now, I have a date with some Advil Liquid Gel Caps (my mistress these days). I look forward to next week and I hope you all will as well.

Fasting - A Necessary Evil?

This week's topic in the Zen Super Boot Camp covered Fasting.  Many people perform fasting for many different reasons such as religious devotion, spiritual growth, weight loss, medical procedures, or even as an influencing method.  Of course all of these choices are up to you, but the worst reason in the bunch would have to be for weight loss.  For the purpose of the Boot Camp, a fast is to cleanse the body of unwanted toxins.  Our daily lives bombard us with unneeded and unwanted substances that our bodies were not meant to deal with.  The accumulation of these unwanted materials are stored within the liver, kidneys, and even in our fat.

A Fast can come in many forms.  Some non-specific forms of a Fast are:
1)  Air Fast - No food or water
2) Fruit Fast or Fruit Juice Fast
3) Pure Water Fast
4) Veggie Fast

These are just a few Fasts that you can try if you want, but the important things to find a PROVEN Fast plan and to follow it explicitly.  Deviations to prescribed plans could end up hurting you in the long run if you do not know the effects of changing the plans will do to your body.

So if you decide that you want to perform a Fast, when is the best time to do it?  If you do work a normal Monday - Friday, 08:00-17:00 lifestyle , then it is best to start the Fast on a Friday so you can work through the food withdrawals over the weekend.  This will help get you over the hump so it minimizes the effect o your job.

So our homework for this week is to determine if we would go on a Fast based on the information that we have learned about Fasting and how it affects the body.  I have been thinking about this ever since I started the Zen Super Boot Camp.  My wife and I have talked about this as well and we certainly have different opinions about it.

My wife doesn't see the need to do a Fast.  She says that when she feels majorly hungry she is ready to rip someone's head off and roll it down the street if you look at her wrong.  I have never seen it this bad, but she does get into a mood that you don't normally see her in.  Me on the other hand believe that a Fast can be a good thing.  Based on what I have learned, the release of toxins and the reset of my body's processes by this experience will out weight the discomfort the process my put me through.

I think that may go through a Fast just to say that I did it.  I am currently trying to find a Fast that I find agreeable.  My only worry is the increased loss of energy through the day.  I am already struggling in the morning without a strong cup of Irish tea.  When I cut that out, I may need to stand up at my desk in order to stay awake.  However, I feel that my weight loss efforts could use a boost from a Fast.  It has taken me 15 years to get myself into this unhealthy state, so I am open to anything that will help get me on the straight and narrow.  When I decide when my starting date is, then I will give you the blow by blow of my struggles and successes.

What do you all think?  Are you willing to go through a Fast? Why or Why Not?

the Holiday Sweet Tooth

This weekend we took Phillip to his first Easter Egg Hunt in our complex.  He wasn’t necessarily impressed with searching and finding Easter Eggs as he was with the 6 foot Easter Bear which Phillip nicked named “puppy”.  We still are working on the animal names.  Anyway, as we walked around the pool house with a bunch of other kids from the neighborhood we started racking up a number of plastic eggs with candy inside.  With Phillip not fully vested in the festivities, I figured it was up to Dada to 'represent' for the family.  I was on a roll with the baby boy on my shoulders when I noticed I filled his basket to the brim and was starting on a plastic shopping bag that was given to us.  It was then something popped into my brain.  “When did the celebration of the resurrection of Christ turn out to be a time to fill ourselves with mass produced confectionary crap?”  And what's up with Peeps?  Are they really food or are they the left over glue that holds Space Shuttle tiles on during re-entry?

Since I have been going through this Boot Camp my taste buds have been hyper vigilant to the taste of sugar and what I feel like after I consume it.  I hope to show my son that candy is a treat and not a snack or a meal.  However that is hard to do when images are screaming at him that juice boxes and sugary cereals are the norm and not the exception.  All my wife and I can do is try and hope for the best.

So, if you can, try celebrating this holiday with some good old fashioned homemade food.  You'll like yourself better in the morning!

Children's Games

Last Boot Camp Day we all were exposed to what George called 'Children's Games'.  As an adult it was a bit hard to swallow that we would have as much fun as the kids I see after school, but I was wrong.  Kicking soccer balls, running slaloms, and even sandwiching a ball between two people while running sideways got us sweating and laughing all at the same time.  

The evening culminated in a good game of dodgeball.  Of course this was not the dodgeball I remembered as a kid.  I remember lining up my shots with a 2 pound rubber ball as big as my head at another kid's noggin.  Putting all of my force behind the throw that could take him off of his feet if executed correctly.  However, we did what we could with what we had on hand.  Each person (about 35 of us) had a ball and formed a circle with our victims in the center.  Each ball weighed about half as much of air so there was no potential for damage.  Never-the-less we had our choice victims.  Having 40-50 balls screaming at our head makes you take pause regardless who you are or how much the projectiles weigh.  Or in Vira's case, instead of taking pause you could crouch down on the floor waiting for the on-slot to end.

It was a good night all in all.  We had some new people join the Boot Camp.  My Buddy group accepted a new one into our fold.  I guaranty you that they did not know what they were getting themselves into.  I'm look forward to next week. See Ya!

Free Bird

Last night my Boot Camp Buddies (+ 1) and I went on our outdoor assignment for class.  We biked the Ballantyne Greenway, which is about 6 miles long.  Good company, great weather, it was a gorgeous afternoon to ride.  Riding through the blooming trees got me thinking about what Sifu talked to us about at our last Zen class.  He talked about the importance of living in the moment.  Easier said then done in this world, but as I rode on that path, the message sunk in more than usual.  It felt good to ride my bike. Dodging walkers and even enjoying the 4 year old running with her Grandpa.  It felt good to live in the present.  Pushing all of my troubles, wants, desires, responsibilities, and history out of my brain opened me up to take pleasure in just being there, breathing.  It was really enjoyable.  Another thing that I realized was that it was OK for me to feel this way.  It was OK not to be burdened at that moment.  It was OK to look past just where my feet were taking me and to fully absorb and experience the world around me.

If this sounds like it is a flashback of a chemically induced experience, I can assure you IT WAS!  Although the chemicals were not the illicit substances your probably thinking of.  It was due to the endorphins pulsing through my system from getting out of my desk chair and participating in what was around me.  I have to say that my mental outlook has started to finally change from the dogma that I have been making myself experience over the past decade.  It is nothing less than a freeing experience that I hope we all can help each other with.

So go out and enjoy the day.  Each one is a gift that we should truly appreciate.  Hope to see you all on the trail!

A special thanks to my Boot Camp Buddies: Jack, Elaine, and Caleb (the + 1) for a great time.

the Squashing of the Students

We had an interesting Zen Super Boot Camp workout on Tuesday.  George demonstrated that not all TaiChi "masters" understand the true meaning of the form.  He has seen some TaiChi "masters" line up a bunch a people in a line, all pushing the "master" together, but the "master" is able to withstand the pressure.  We learned that there are two tricks to this demonstration.  One trick is that if you achieve a proper form, the body can transmit the applied force of the people through the core and down to the feet.  This is the lesson he was conveying on good form means the harmonious transmission of Chee.

The other trick was that when you have multiple people trying to push in the same direction at the same time, any deviation from anyone in line can completely negate the force being applied to the 'victim'.  As a result, if you have 10 people pushing and the 4th person in line is not completely applying all of their force exactly in line with the others, then the 'victim' truly only receives the force from the first three people in line and some diminished force from the 4th and beyond.  To prove this, George lined us up and had us demonstrate this one person at a time with the others pressing against us.  Ultimately he was correct.  A few of us could hold out when everyone pressed 100%, but most of us stayed up for 50% which is still impressive seeing we had 15 people pushing in each line.

It just goes to show you that good TaiChi is more than an experience in mental stability and stamina.  It is also a lesson in SCIENCE!!  TaiChi for Mythbusters here we come!!

the Enemy Within

The homework for the Zen Super Boot Camp tonight is to write about the people who sabotage our goals and what you are doing to combat that.

Looking through my past and present, I have to admit that I have had very few people that have tried to sabotage my well being.  Thankfully I have had others in my life from whom I have drawn strength enough to turn away from the bad influences and focus on the good.  However, there is one person that has been a part of my life from the beginning which has influenced me in both the good and bad.  That is person is myself.  There are many times I have found my inner voice criticizing me far greater than any outside influence on the planet.  Part of its power is that it is extremely hard to get away from.  There is not room in my head to run away from it.  If I set goals for myself, the inner voices prods me to make them grand and in some cases too grand.  When I fail to meet those goals, it is the first sound I hear criticizing that I should have done better.  That, even if I tried everything in my power to accomplish something, that there was more that I could have done, but was just not strong enough to do it.  Over time this critical view gets stronger and stronger to the point where it starts to interject its will well before the goal has been set resulting in stagnation and apathy.

Recently though, I have found a renewed peace in what someone (external of my brain) told me.  “Life is a journey and not a destination.”  This is simple to say, but in this busy life that I lead it can be forgotten pretty easily in between the goals (or destinations) that I set for myself to show progress along the journey.  In order to combat the negativity that my inner thoughts throw in my path, I choose to literally set myself apart from the stressful situation that I am faced with.  When I start to feel stressed about a situation, I consciously step back and take a look at my life as a whole.  I flash images through my brain of my beautiful wife and son, my parents, my brother and his family and remind myself that this stress (in the long run) means nothing.  What matters to me in the long run is that my wife and son has food on the table and a roof over their head and (most importantly) that I am still breathing.  Remembering these images and reminding myself of what is truly important, frees my mind to tackle the problem at hand.  I know that even if my family and I fall onto true hardship, the network of close friends and family that we have been blessed with will come to our aid and enable us to be truly be strong in order to persevere.

Now this approach did not and has not come easy and you may want to roll your eyes and say "that never works!"  I was not able to really employ and benefit from it until I had a major life change recently.  Nonetheless it has helped me stay calm and approach my inner negativity with patience and confidence.  Confidence in knowing that I am only in control of my personal actions and thoughts, which empowers me to press on to do things that I have always wanted to but was frozen with the fear of failure.  I am not cured from my inner critic in anyway, but by reminding myself what is truly important in life has helped me gain a few precious first steps in enjoying my journey that God has given me.

Now I ask you, when you look around your life, what do you see that truly matters?  If you focus on these few truly wonderful things or ideas do you feel happy? Focused? Freed?  If the answer is ‘yes’, then I would write those down and remember them.  If the answer is ‘no’, then I would say you have not truly found what is truly important.  Your inner voice will tell you, like mine has.  Sometimes the voice inside your head tells you more through silence, then through noise.  Focus on this and see what you come up with.  You may be surprised at what you learn about yourself and what you have been missing that truly makes you happy.

Mission Statement

One of our assignments for the boot camp is to make a mission statement that we are to live by as we make our transformation.  This is what I am choosing to live by:

"I choose to live a life where 'Yes' is used more often than 'No'.  I choose to live my life where I am my best coach of encouragement, not my biggest critic.  I choose to bring my mental and physical health to the forefront of my existence.  For without it, I will be no use to my family and friends who depend on me.  Above all else I choose to enjoy the journey of life rather than rushing towards its destination.  To enjoy truly enjoy the journey is to truly appreciate the existence the God has blessed us with."

What is your mission statement?

RECIPE: Spaghetti Squash with Ginger Chicken

This is my first attempt at posting a favorite recipe of mine for all to enjoy.  After our group talk about nutrition and healthy eating I thought it would be a good idea to share what my family enjoys as a health meal.

Now my wife and I are different when it comes to cooking.  My wife likes cooking with a recipe and I enjoy looking into the pantry and guessing what goes well with what ever I find.  This recipe is one of those that I just came up with when my family went to go visit my mother this past summer.  It is so very delicious and so very easy to make.  It is basically a grilled boneless chicken breast sliced over a bed of spaghetti squash and sliced cherry tomatoes with a drizzle of ginger salad dressing over top.  Ummmm umm good!  Here is what you need to do:

Ginger Chicken over Spaghetti Squash

Serves: 2 people
Prep Time: 5 min
Total Cook Time: 15 min

Ingredients:
(1) Spaghetti Squash - Small/Medium Size
(2) Boneless Chicken Breasts (frozen or thawed)
(1) Container of Cherry Tomatoes
(1) Jar of 'Naturally Fresh' Ginger Dressing

Prep/Cooking Directions:

1. Grill the boneless chicken breasts like you normally would.  Try not to make the outside of the chicken breast hard by over cooking it.  It will taste better if you watch the chicken and cook it until all of the pink is out of the center.
2. When you place the chicken on the grill start preparing the spaghetti squash.
1. Slice off the ends of the squash
2. Slice the squash in half, longwise.
3. Clean out the seeds and the guts like you would a pumpkin at Halloween.  
4. Place both halves cut-face down in the microwave for 12 minutes. (If you cook it any other way it will take forever!)  You can cook the squash longer if you like it a little more squishy, but we like our squash a little crunchy.  It helps with the overall feeling of the dish.
3. While the chicken and squash are cooking, take your tub of cherry tomatoes and slice them in quarters.  We like lots of tomatoes, so we slice the entire tub, but it is totally up to you.
4. When the chicken is done (no pink in the center), take a spoon full of the Ginger dressing and cover the top of the chicken breast with a think layer.  Keep the ginger covered chicken on the grill for a good 3-5 minutes until you see the ginger dressing start to 'caramelize'. You'll know what I mean when you do it.  If you are doing this on a Forman Grill, it won't caramelize as much as it will on a traditional gas grill, but just keep it there for 3-5minutes anyway.

Serving Directions:

1. When the microwave beeps, take out one of the halves of the Spaghetti squash with a pot holder. DO NOT TAKE IT OUT WITH YOUR BARE HAND!!!  My first degree burns let me learn that even if it has a skin, it is still hot as hell!
2. Hold the squash vertically over the dish you want to serve it in.  Take a fork and gently rake out the squash starting from the top moving to the bottom with long strokes.  Shorter strokes will make shorter strands of squash.  One small half is usually enough for one person.  Once both halves are raked and separated in their dishes, then throw away the skins.
3. Take a chicken breast from the grill and slice it width wise (short wise) into 1/4" slices.  When the entire breast is sliced, then cut all of the slices down the center (basically in half).
4. Place the sliced chicken on top of the squash. Presentation is everything so make it pretty.  Think Julia Child.
5. Drizzle your ginger dressing over top off the chicken and squash.  Just do as much as you want, but I suggest 3-4 Tbsp, but adjust it to your liking.  Just don't drown it.
6. Take the sliced tomatoes and place as many as you like on top.  

ENJOY!!  This is as healthy as you make it.  Drown it in dressing and it will taste heavy and blah in my opinion.

If you want a little special kick to the Ginger sauce, mix the following ingredients together.  

Special Sauce:
(2 cups) 'Naturally Fresh' Ginger Dressing
(2 Tbsp) Emeril's Green Pepper Sauce (We have to order this online.)
(1-1/2 tsp) McCormick Lemon Pepper (California Style)

Someone make it and let me know what you think!

the Relay Race

Yes, tonight's glorious event for the Zen Super Boot Camp was a relay race.  Not a normal relay race by any means, but a relay race non-the-less.  We broke up into 5 teams which competed head to head.  I have to say that Team 2 kicked butt all night, but I am a bit biased.  I will spare yo the play by play, but some events did stand out from others.  One leg we had to swing a mini hoop around our arms while we ran up the room, circled a chair, and then back to the next in line.  Going up the room went ok, it was the transition around the chair is where you needed some safety glasses.  The quick change in direction sent hoops flying at other contestants which made sure that everyone was on their toes and getting back to the start as soon as possible.

The other leg that was noteworthy was called the 'wiggly walk'.  I am not sure which brain child came up with this move, but it consists of the person taking the hoop and rotating it from side to side like a steering wheel.  While performing this seemingly innocent maneuver, you also had to swing your hips from your furthest extent to the other furthest extent all the way up the floor, around a chair, and back.  It looked like a cross between 'Driving Miss Daisy' and the 'Bear Necessity' dance BaLoo did in the 'Jungle Book'.  Most of the people were good sports and did a great job.  They were like 'Stella getting her groove' back Shaolin style.   For others (like me), we were just trying to hold on to the last bit of dignity left for the day.  Now I have been known to get down with my bad self rivaling some of the more talented white guys on the dance floor.  I have a wife that will vouch for it.  It is one of the reasons why she married me.  But for some reason I could not bring myself to swing my hips 'like I did not care'.  It was almost like if I was caught, I would have my man card pulled.  However, in the spirit of the competition I did the best I could do at the time.  The next time I will have to leave my ego at the door and 'swing it' with the rest of them.  But I don't think you will find me practicing that move anytime soon.

Zen Boot Camp Buddies

One of the things that I am starting to like about the Zen Super Boot Camp is the fact that they set you up with a couple of "Boot Camp Buddies".  The goal is to have a small support system made up of the same people that are experiencing the program right along with you.  My current buddies are Elaine, Jack, and Chrissie.  All are doing their part to keep all of us up and motivated to stay with the program.  We have already started to text and email each other to keep our focus on what we are suppose to do in class and in life.  I kinda relate the experience to that spot in "Finding Nemo" where Dori and Marlin are about to exit the East Australian Current (EAC).  This is where the sea turtles instruct our intrepid duo on how to exit the EAC properly.  If you watch the clip you will understand sometimes how I feel when I receive instructions from our instructors.  I look forward to greeting what lays ahead of us as a team!

Zen Super Boot Camp

As this new year has started I have already experienced some major changes in my life.  Last year the Mrs and I had our first child, who we will call the "baby boy".  I have to say that he is so rat blasted cute, that it isn't even funny.  The other major change occurred when I left a company that I had been a part of for 10+ years to start a new career in another another company.  It is a big deal to leave what you have known for your entire adult life to date and start a new life as it were as the new guy in a different industry.  However, I have determined recently that life is not a destination, but a journey we must all experience while we roam these lands of the physical world.

Well the last 10+ years of my "journey" has left me with a good bit of baggage which I am determined to drop along the roadside.  As I was stopped at a traffic light on the way to my new job, I happened to take a survey of the Chick-fil-a bags that littered the floor board.  I seriously think that I have single handedly subsidized my local Chick-fil-a over the past year, morning, noon, and night.  I should have a drive through named after me.  But I digress.

Taking a look at my surroundings gave me pause enough to finally do something about my weight and my state of mind.  Recently I have noticed my family's growing concern about my weight and its effects on my health.  I come from a family with numerous physical ailments which I could be staring down the barrel of if I don't change my ways soon.  Over the past decade I have packed on an average of 7-8 pounds extra per year until I have reached my current weight of 270 lbs.  I am only 5'-10" so you can imagine what that looks like on my frame.  According to the doc, I should be around 185 lbs for my body type.  For anyone that knows me, we all can agree that ain't going to happen.  I personally believe 200 lbs is my ideal weight for a healthy lifestyle.

I'm not going to lie, I'm a big boy and 70 pounds is a significant amount of weight to shed.  I sport a 44" waist, which took me by surprise a few weeks ago as I started buy clothes for my new job.  For some reason I have some REALLY missed placed priorities that need to be corrected.  Especially now that I have a son that will be looking up to me.  Being a good example for him really weighs on me (no pun intended).

So this brings me to my recent decision.  After some good web searching and some soul searching with the Mrs, I have decided to participate in a Zen Super Boot Camp put on by The Peaceful Dragon here in Charlotte, NC.  Now I am not sure what your thoughts are about Easter philosophy, but this is something that actually appeals to me.  I realize that the majority of my problem is mental and not necessarily physical.  The Zen Super Boot Camp is designed to work on the mind first through meditation and TaiChi which will in turn help the body respond to physical conditioning.

I know, it sounds like a 2am infomercial, but it is a serious program that has been honed over time by The Peaceful Dragon.  Plus it helps that I like the Eastern Philosophy and Martial Arts. Something has got to work and being a professional procrastinator doesn't help within the self paced lifestyle of the local gym. We will see what happens over the next year.  To participate in the program you must commit to a 12 month program that deals with meditation, TaiChi, strength training, and yes a little Kung Fu to boot.  For me to commit to a 12 month program, I must be desperate.  But sometimes you just have to let go and let God.

So follow me as I travel along the windy road of inner inspection in order to facilitate my physical correction.