WWJB - What Would Joe Blog

Day 100 - Day of reckoning January 5th 2010

2010-01-05T01:48:00.004-07:00

I was extremely bored the other night, no Top Chef, no Project Runway... so I was clicking around the Internet...poker was down for some reason, nothing new on Craigs list. I started thinking.... hey I remember this cool blog about some fat guy who was trying was trying to eat 1000 doughnut in 100 days or something no no no it was gain 900 lbs and get his own TLC show "1200lb blogger" no no it was..... ah crap I'll just look it up so I head to my favorites file - I tend to click everything as a favorite so it took awhile.....OH CRAP! That fat man is me.

Right off the top I want apologize for not living up to my end of the blogging partnership. I really used my blog to motivate myself and really enjoyed the accountability and the encouragement people gave me and you kept up your end of the deal and I failed mine. So this would be a good time to curse me (Ass****, jackass, sphincter boy) I know I have cursed myself at times as well. Thank you for all your support for the last 100 days, this has had a great impact on my life.

That's right here it is 100 days - the question is did I fail or succeed.
The answer is YES.... I did lose the 100lbs YEAH BABY! as a matter of fact I think I lost closer to 110lbs.
The problem I ran into was I once I got to the 50 or 60 pound lost mark I would gain back 10lbs and then lose it again so technically I lost 100lbs I just gained 45lbs back. So let me do some syferin here, I believe if I got my gozeintas and gozeouttas right I lost 55lbs.

I would normally use this time to whine about my inner demons and my desire to be a stronger person and I am sure I will mention it again in a later blog.....but for now I am going to revel in the victory over 55lbs of fat.... I feel about as good as I have felt in the last 20 years.

I am going to go after the other 45 lbs now and I will continue to blog (or start blogging again) about all things Joe so keep reading and THANK YOU again for all your support.

Day 30 - 36 - Speed Blogging - Mon-Sun. 10/26 -11/01/09

2009-10-31T11:02:00.004-07:00

I have bouts of losing focus combined with being a lazy ass, this is can be a very potent combination. I have managed to fall a complete week behind documenting my own life - it's not like there is studying or research needed just write down what I did....seems hard to mess that up. I am now going to give you a synopsis of the past week...to be honest it will probably be all out of order with most of it made up as the mental cocktail that is Joe also includes a very short attention span.

Monday
Monday is my laziest day of the week.
I always have good intentions when I go to bed Sunday night after a big day of soccer to get up and head to the gym. Then the morning comes and I ache and it is so early, the day usually slips away from me - I can usually justify this with the need for a day of rest. I am eating now so today I had oatmeal in the morning with nuts and apples and late in the day I had carrots and celery...eating is so overrated.

Tuesday
Today I went to the Y and decided this will be the week I increase my running to 2 miles and I would begin lifting weights. I did my 2 miles in 24 minutes...I was happy with that. I asked my workout Guru Jamie for the simplest workout possible and he gave me one exercise for each muscle group...it is still boring as hell but it goes a lot quicker.
I got a call today from Christie that one of the Tuesday men's teams dropped out and she was putting together a team to fill in....that's right BONUS SOCCER....how great is that. We played against a super jackass team, they are a bunch of donkeys who think they are so good when they just aren't...some are almost as bad as me and that is really bad. The boys played with us Hector and Diego - in the interest of speed blogging I will just tell you jackasses did what jackasses do and a little fracas broke out between Diego and this guy. The guy was behind him and ended up getting him in like a Full Nelson wrestling hold and everyone started moving towards them....all I could think was somebody is going to start punching him. So completely out of character for me a 46 year old, bald, fat man with low testosterone I ran over and tackled him. OK it was a fairly crappy tackle I didn't get my head to the right side and didn't get my arms wrapped around correctly...if I was still in high school I would have had to take a lap for that effort...I did keep my legs driving though. All and all it was way cool and no one got hurt (especially me), I think I got a little respect from the boys for my protective machismo (did I mention I didn't get hurt)!

Wednesday
Went to the Y ran my 2 miles and lifted some more weights in the morning. In the afternoon I went to the Chinese superstore Lee Lee's - it is actually more of multi cultural market with foods and products from all over the world...it is way cool...kind of like a Fear Factor prop store. I got a bunch of veggies, fruits, miso and some superfood seaweed for smoothies....everything is way cheap - kind of like the third world on 75Th ave & Cactus.

Thursday
I got up and made a superfoods smoothie from this recipe I got online from this raw foods guy David Wolfe. David Wolfe is like the Le Bron James of the raw foods world (yes there is a raw foods world) from his website he also appears to be making a lot of money catering to the tree huggers, Vegans and occasional fatties that stray his way. I like the information but I am still to cheap to shell out $60.00 for 2lbs of Goji berries or $140.00 for 4 pounds of algae....I wonder if I could get used algae at Savers hhmmmm... Back to my smoothie, I combined all the good things I read about into the blender: freshly juiced (from my new juicer) carrots, cucumbers, beets and fresh ginger with spinach, dates, apple cider vinegar, cayenne pepper, oatmeal and the $2.99 reconstituted sea weed. I blended the crap out of it and the final product resembled a foul smelling Nickelodeon slime product that was the most impossible color of green...man it made a lot. My wife and the kids watched this process and seemed amused and disgusted at the same time...I offered them some....no takers....this had now turned into a bit of a challenge. I started drinking...well more like masticating this "smoothie"....the family looked on....Cheryl immediately left the room, followed quickly by Hannah...Lebo needed to watch....I told him to go brush his teeth for school...he balked...he wanted to watch me hurl this all over the kitchen....I would not give him the satisfaction....I powered through and am a better man for it. I learned a few things from this experience apple cider vinegar and sea weed do not go together and superfood smoothies need to be less super and more smoothie. I am still eating everything raw and not eating very much at all - my allergies are getting worse.

Friday
Today started a bad couple of days for me - my allergies have been getting steadily worse each day and today they are really awful. Through most of the 28 day fast allergies were not an issue..because of the fast or just nothing blooming or whatever that bothered me...I don't know but the more days I eat the worse I feel. My brain is messing with me hard today, I decided to use crackers for my avocado raw dip thing I made instead of carrots or celery...my brain said it would be OK. As I have mentioned before I have this internal saboteur that is very cunning and fierce, I didn't even see it coming. Today I also had a diet coke from QT while getting gas, I have not had a Diet Coke in a month...no big deal it tasted goooooodddd! I never got to the gym today just didn't feel very well - I also continue to weigh myself everyday which is not good I am not losing any weight at all...I gained 2 pounds...ugh!

Saturday - Halloween!
Today is the usual youth sports day with Lebo having two soccer games - Hannah had no games but went with her good friend Lexi and her mom Cindy (her Y coach) to practice for her club volleyball tryouts tomorrow.
Lebo's first game was with his old team (Cisco White) they played very well - he started in goal and played good, he didn't see much action and made one mistake (it lead to their only goal) - he also played forward and scored a goal....it was a good morning. In the afternoon he played with the Cisco Black team he started in goal and did very well against a pretty good team. Gave up two goals one impossible to get in the upper corner and one easy one spinning off his hands into the goal, he also made some really good saves...a very good job!
Spent the evening at Church for the big Trunk or Treat event it was crazy our little church had about 1100 people come through it was amazing. We had fun hanging out with some friends handing out candy and BS ing, I avoided candy completely but did have popcorn and pumpkin pie. When we got home I was so hungry I made a turkey burger and mash potatoes - as you can guess this was not a raw meal - I gave in to my saboteur - weak weak man.

Sunday - The best day!
Today is play off day at the Castle for two of my teams - Soccer troupe lost and Fusion won. In the evening WhyUCryin had a double header and we won both games. It was a pretty good soccer day overall, mostly because I got to play 4 games which is always good.
Hannah had a great tryout and made the club volleyball team, I was very proud of her effort and commitment. I hope she keeps it up she seems to really like the girls and the coaches - she is so excited GOOD JOB HANNAH!
Lebo had a game in the afternoon (this interfered with what would have been a 5th soccer game for me - see I can be Super Dad once and awhile), he played goalie again this time against the best team in the state at our age group. The defense played well and Lebo had had some good saves but the offense couldn't get close to scoring and the game was tied at the half. The game remained tied till about 10 minutes left in the game and Lebo took a hard shot straight on and couldn't hold it and punched it out and the kid followed his shot and scored on the rebound...bummer. In the process of making the first save he jammed his finger and wanted to come out I shook him off and told him to stay, a few minutes later he made a big mistake....he came out after a ball and stopped halfway and got stuck in no mans land and gave up another goal....then his finger really started to hurt. He eventually complained enough to get himself pulled...I was VERY disappointed...I wish he would get mentally tougher...not today though. The next goalie gave up two goals in about 2 minutes and we lost 4-0, the kids played well with only one sub but in the end could only get one shot on goal all game....we will get them next time.
I am not proud of my food day, in the morning I had hash browns, eggs with sausage and toast, in the evening had chicken nuggets and made mashed potatoes for dinner and had a chocolate cupcake for dessert.
Right now I feel miles from where I need to be mentally - I did not weigh myself today so I have nothing to report in that area. I understand I am sounding like a whiny little Be Atch and complaining about something that should be completely within my control...but it's not. I hesitate to show this part of myself because I don't like this part. I want to be inspirational and confident and motivated and mostly I want to be funny....I also promised to be honest...so there it is....right now I SUCK....maybe tomorrow I won't....we will see.

Talk to you soon,
Joe
Peace!

Day 29 - Today I eat...big deal 12-25-09

2009-10-29T11:28:00.003-07:00

I picked a good day to start eating because I hardly eat anything on Sundays anyway - I hate playing soccer on a full stomach. Some people can eat McDonald's between games or go to dinner and still play in the evening - I just can't do it and very few things come between me and food. I had a game at 9 am so I got up early and had a 1/2 cup of raw steel cut oats (oatmeal soaked in warm purified water rather that boiling water and steel cut oats are a less processed version of oatmeal - excellent!) with apple and almonds in it. I had some time between games so I got a organic banana and some fresh super green fruit juice from Fresh & Easy (it was nasty) for lunch. After soccer I went to work and cleaned a couple of offices then went to my sisters house for my niece Michelle's birthday (big 30), there were a lot of the usual delicious food choices pasta, sausage, bread and the such...I was really satisfied with the raw choice of salad and Balsamic vinegar - it tasted amazing!

The evening brought the last soccer game of the day, for the day I was 2-1 in my 3 games more importantly it was FUN! At home the family watched Land of the Lost with Will Ferrel I personally thought it was hilarious - Cheryl not so much.

As for the weekly weigh in it kind of sucked I was at 290 down only 5lbs from last Sunday, I am going to have to find a way to get the numbers moving down a lot faster to meet my goal....maybe amputate and arm or something.....I don't need arms to play soccer....hmm something to consider closer to the end.

Talk to you soon!
Joe G.
Peace!

Day 28 - Transition day 10-24-09

2009-10-27T15:33:00.003-07:00

Today I am starting to drink juice and eat a couple of almonds as a way of winding down the fast and ending it - tomorrow I eat. Well not eat eat I am planning on some juice and banana with the possibility of a salad - we will see how it goes. I decided today seems like a good day to end it for now, it is day 28 and completes four weeks of water fasting - unbelievable. I have really been reading a lot about how transition and what your body might be telling you when your ready. One of the big things was that you would start to actually get hungry again and I definitely am developing a growing hunger - not really like the old hunger more of a genuine need to eat rather than a desire.... I don't know it's not like I am that in tune to my body or anything - it used to be a mystery to me why I felt bad after an hour at the Chinese buffet.

Deciding what to eat and how to eat going forward that is the real question. After careful consideration and research I have narrowed it down to one of two things:
A. The Filbertos/Great wall/ Hometown buffet diet - this diet involves eating crap load of foosd once a day (for the most part this is only a guideline and may have to be increased to twice) - this diet featuring multiple cultures and use of saturated fats, with high sodium with unlimited carbs should supply the proper energy I need (side note this is not a physician sponsored diet - I got it from a guy named Jim at the car wash....I think his name was Jim...it doesn't really matter.....he is not a Dr.....even though he commonly offers breast exams to the ladies......yeah wait his name is definitely Jim... I remember because this chick Lydia said "JIM your disgusting and your not a Dr".....and I was like come on I need my car.....and she was all.....wait that wasn't Jim it was....hell I can't remember..... the point is he isn't a Dr....I don't think)
B. The second choice was a raw foods diet - which is fairly self explanatory....you don't eat anything cooked....so it's raw.

I went with option B the raw food thing - It is pretty exciting and I will try to explain it better as we go along - if you really even care at this point. This particular blog has taken the lead as the most tedious blog so far in my opinion and I am writing it - I can't even imagine what your going through.....I know it's getting worse....I will stop now.

OK now onto the traditional Saturday thing kids sports - My son had a soccer game this morning, he didn't get to practice all week because he was sick so he played goalie in the game. He played pretty well - our defense played really well and made the keeper job pretty quite -the other team did get dangerous one time and the boy made a very good save. We finally scored a goal late in the 2ND half after being in their end almost the whole game. Coach Bacon made a good choice with a goalie change and our regular goalie Mitchell made a absolutely spectacular save very late in the game to preserve our lead - it was really cool. Lebo played a short time at forward and had a good opportunity to score from a great pass by JJ...the only problem was it ended up on the useless appendage known as his right foot and pppffftttt opportunity lost - toe poke that sucker boy! Overall the kids played really well, our most complete game so far - and the littlest kid with the biggest heart scored the game winning goal - It was very cool for him and Mom and Dad.

Hannah had district playoffs for her school volleyball team... I missed her game because it was the same time as Lebo's...it did not go well they lost. It was a really frustrating volleyball season and we are all glad it is over. Hannah got a lot better over the course of the season but lost her way a bit toward the end.... she needs to get it back she has tryouts for a club team Nov. 1st - we will see.

We went to the Y today as a family in the afternoon and Hannah and I had a race in the mile run and I will be damned if she didn't beat me - I hate to lose even to my own daughter. I sprinted like hell to catch her on the last lap but she kicked it in and held me off....she ran it in 10:55 and I was at 11:04...this my best so far but I still lost....I was so proud of her despite the taunting that followed.

That's about it watched some movies and chilled with the family...pretty good day overall.
Talk to you soon.
Joe
Peace!

Day 26,27 - 1 Good 1 Weird - Thurs,Fri 10-22,23-09

2009-10-26T15:36:00.006-07:00

Thursday
Today was pretty awesome once again I felt great!
I went to my awesome Doctor Rebecca today (have I mentioned she is the best Dr. ever) for my bi-monthly shot....

Sidebar: A humiliating personal confession
I have been getting a testosterone shot every two weeks for the last 8 months or so - I originally went in because I was so tired all the time and just didn't have all the pieces of my youth working as God intended. My testosterone level was like 120 when it should have been somewhere around 600 or 800 - they have a bizarre chart that put my numbers between a female Bichon puppy and Taylor Swift - I mean who make these things that's just not right. On a serious note if you are a man with low energy and gaining weight it may very well be low testosterone or Project Runway - get it checked.

....I called in and changed my appointment to a check up so I could keep on top of the Gandhi thing and it was about time to check under the hood and kick the old tires. I was cheerfully greeted by super nurse Cheryl and she immediately asked me if I was still fasting, I affirmed I was and she was blown away that I was still going and still alive. Rebecca came in and was very happy to see me looking good and that my blood sugars and blood pressure was doing so well and with out any meds. She was still hesitant on the whole fasting thing but said I sure seemed to be doing well and losing a lot of weight. She then went to work on checking me over and said everything looked great and ordered some blood work and the trusty urine sample. As she was looking through my records she mentioned that it was time for my prostrate exam and the coughing hernia test thing that guys get, if I was up to it. This is about the time I wished I had one of those old man doctors that just don't give a crap and not a concerned, thorough and hot young female doctor. I won't get into the details from here but it was about the most hilarious thing I have been through in many years. To me this was a watershed moment of getting old - like one of those old guys in the gym that just doesn't care about being naked anymore - it was ridiculous standing with your pants down discussing your dangily bits....hilarious!

The rest of the day was cool got back to the Y for a class and got to run my mile. The evening was great because I of course got to play soccer with my Thursday team Insario (Jill & Christie). We played against Yo Yo Ma, they are a great bunch of super talented players - they make it so fun you don't really mind that they just kicked the crap out of you. Ended the night after work at home with my lovely wife and Project Runway on the DVR - lying in bed I had to smile on what a ridiculous wonderful day it was!

Friday
Today was a really weird day, I went to the Y in the morning for step and Yoga classes and really struggled through both as they went on I felt worse and worse. I ended up leaving early and headed home and went right to bed and slept for about 3 hours when I woke up I started to fell better but it took several hours to get there. I am not sure if it was a detox thing or one of my disease carrying kids gave me something, but I really felt like crap. By the evening I was feeling good again and went to work with my wife and we made the world a little cleaner place.
Ended being a OK day in the end but it was a weird one - I'm sure Gandhi had his days too.

Talk to you soon!
Joe
Peace!

Day 25 - Championship day! 10-21-09

2009-10-26T14:44:00.003-07:00

Today was awesome! I feel amazing!
Got up early today and fired up for the day - morning is not really my favorite time unless it's 2 or 3 in the morning that I don't mind but 5 or 6 or 7 not so much - not a problem today. Today was Pilates and Max Muscle at the Y - it was a good workout but not much cardio so I ran my mile after the classes and that was perfect.
The afternoon was cool not much happened, got some stuff done around the house. I used my meat grinder to grind up a bunch of chicken I got on sale and made ground chicken for the kids - Hannah loves chicken or turkey taco meat and I saved a bunch of money which I LOVE!

Lebo is still got a nasty dry cough and will have to miss another day of practice - bummer.

Hannah had her last regular season volleyball game for school, she played terrible and so did her whole team. They managed to win a three game match against a team they should have killed - but it was a very exciting game in the end. What was really cool was one of the girls that sat almost the whole season on the bench with no confidence and getting no respect had the game of of her life. She served like 14 straight points and had a hand in every other point of the 2nd game which they won - it was really awesome. We sat next to her parents and they were just so happy and proud - I just love that kind of thing, it is what makes youth sports so great!

Speaking of great sports the evening brought Soccer time!
I had two games one with the always fun WHEE! team - with my favorite teammates (Jamie, Christy and Jill) it ended being a meaningless game and a forfeit but it was still fun. We ended up playing against Hector and a bunch of other young guys - sometimes soccer is so very fun and so very frustrating at the same time. Just when I start losing some weight and feeling faster and more confident on the field, I play in this game - wow - those young guys are everywhere and beat you to everything, the worst part is they were so nice about it - damn them.

Game two was the championship game with my Fusion team - we haven't been good in awhile so it was pretty exciting. The team we played against is a nice team and they have been really good this season, also they have Jamie and Christy on their team - that is weird playing against them. The game started really rough for my Fusion team we were only a few minutes in when we were down 3-0 and soon after that it was 5-0 - it did not look good. We are not what you would call a comeback team, we are lucky to have 5 points in a game and now we are down 5-0 with about 3 minutes left in the first half. The the tide began to turn, we changed things up an started playing better defense and then we got a girl goal and the another (girl goals are worth 2 points in indoor soccer) so at the half the score was 5-4 - look out. The second half got better we kept the pressure on and kept scoring and played great defense, we ended winning 10 -5. The other team really blew it, the girls never subbed so Christie hardly played and when she and Jamie were in they hardly ever passed to them - STUPID. So anyway we are the Champs!!! Johnny tell them what they won......"You have won a new Castle Championship t-shirt!!!!"
YEAH BABY!!!!

I went to work between games so I was finished for the night and got to hang out with Jamie and Jill in the gym after the game - it was so much fun hanging out and joking around I really enjoyed it. After that I got home and Cheryl was still up so we watched Top Chef on the DVR and I stayed up and drank some water and played Internet poker till 2:30. I ended up waking up Cheryl at 2:30 to tell her I loved her, how great I felt and what a great day I had - I love being me!

Talk to you soon!
Joe
Peace!

Day 23,24 - Good Stuff Mon. & Tue. 10-19,20-09

2009-10-22T15:26:00.002-07:00

Monday
I feel great - better than yesterday!
Not much else to report for Monday, Lebo stayed home from school today - I got up early and took Hannah to the Dr. for a Swine flu immunization with the nasal spray. I am mostly against shots, pills and the like and we have never got a flu shot before. We have tried to limit the kids exposure to antibiotics and medication unless absolutely necessary. I believe if your good to your immune system it will be good to you, so if your always supplementing it and trying to protect your kids from every germ exposure they never can really build up the immunity they need when they need it. That said I bought into the hysteria and am getting both kids there immunization...damn sell out.
I ran a mile today on the treadmill today that is the new goal of running a mile a day for now and hopefully increasing as I go....we will see.

Tuesday
Feeling AWESOME!
Both kids back to school today, Lebo was dragging ass and really pushed to not go....but he has no fever for the last two days and I have got to get to the Y. Today was Yoga and step class, Cheryl and I went together and set up in my favorite little back corner. Yoga went well, I still can't get over how difficult it is for me, I think I am starting to get some flexibility though. The transition from Yoga to step class is comical because it goes from all relaxed to women rushing in throwing down steps and weights in their favorite spot even if your standing there it is so territorial...luckily I own my corner....back off ladies and yeah she's with me. I SUCK at step class - maybe because I have never been a dancer...unless drunk. I ended up having to leave the class - it was way more cerebral than cardio trying to figure out which way to go. I went out and ran my mile, right at 12 minutes my best so far. Rest of the day was cool Lebo skipped soccer practice still not breathing well and constantly coughing, went to work and that was about it - Great Day!

Talk to you soon.
Joe
Peace!

Day 22 - My wife is how old? Sunday 10-18-09

2009-10-22T14:02:00.002-07:00

Happy birthday to Cheryl!
My lovely bride was brought into this world October 18Th, 1963 (put your shoes back on she's 46) what a great day for me! Of course I was unaware of that then as I was not born yet....I am just saying.... no big deal if I am considerably younger than her...what four months is considerable if say you were hanging from a rope or waiting in line at the bank...whatever... Happy Birthday Cheryl!

Have I mentioned before how much I love, love, love, love Sundays it is by far the best day of the week and this was no exception.

Today started bright and early with a visit from an old friend of mine, we rarely see each other anymore and have not gotten together in quite awhile. Used to be we were always together and had great times and when Cheryl and I got married we all got along so well it was a match made in heaven. Last couple of years I started noticing we were getting together less and less often, we began to argue and there definitely was constant tension - Cheryl became frustrated with the both of us. I now realize I was wrong, neglectful with my diet and lack of a healthy lifestyle which ultimately destroyed the relationship - I prayed my new commitment would repair the bond with my old friend. Well all I can say was I was so happy by the surprise visit that it only re-energizes me to push forward and continue to be a better man - I may never eat again!

I celebrated Cheryl's birthday in what I thought was the best way - by leaving the house and going to play soccer - that's right SUPER HUSBAND! I normally play on three teams on Sunday but there is some kind of problem with one of my teams and blah, blah, blah I got put on a new team. So I show up for the game with my new team and they have way to many guys which means way to many subs and that sucks - no one is happy. So I talk to somebody else and get on a new team for next Sunday, I am going to play with Fusion which is a bunch of people from my Wednesday team...should be good. So now I am down to two Sunday games...aaarrrrgggg.... but my next game is with the best team ever Soccer Troupe....Awesome! This was a great game we played against a team that is very nice and usually pretty good - I was on fire I scored 4 goals and we won handily....I scored on a header, a chip, Back heel, hard shot and some more crappy goal....it was great (also highly unusual). After that the next game turned out to be a forfeit so I got to play some Bonus Soccer to make up for my lost game....That's perfect.

When I got home the house was quiet, Cheryl was relaxing watching TV with Lebo and Hannah was outside playing - Hannah and I went and cleaned some offices and got Cheryl Panda Express for dinner on the way home. My late game was cancelled (bummer) so we all sat together and watched Monsters and Aliens (good movie) family had cake and Cheryl opened her new Pajamas and slipper. All in all I think Cheryl enjoyed her birthday and I know I did.

Now onto the weekly weigh in - this morning I weighed 295 down nine pounds this week. To be honest I don't really care about the weight right now...I just can not get over how good I feel. I can honestly say this is one of the best days of my life...I know that sounds crazy....but I have literally not felt this good for as long as I can remember. Energy, knees, feet, stomach, heart, my clarity of mind, passion for life it's just amazing, way beyond the 36 pounds. I want this to be the new bottom, the new baseline I build the rest of my life on....I am very excited for the future....we will see.

Talk to you soon!
Joe
Peace!

Day 22 - M my wife is 46 Sunday 10-18-09

2009-10-22T14:02:00.000-07:00

Day 20,21 - Super Dad! strikes again Fri, Sat 10-16,17 2009

2009-10-20T00:54:00.004-07:00

Friday
Today was another good day, not much happened today I mowed the lawn and cleaned up the yard a little. I made a big mess going through my drawers and closet trying on of clothes. This such a funny part of losing weight - I think fat people save every item of clothing they ever fit into and every item they ever bought hoping to fit in. At the first sign of any success they start trying things on "remember this.. 1993.... our first date...almost" "these painters pants are getting close huh" "was I gay when I bought this shirt it's hideous....I got 2 buttons!". This can go one of two ways motivation or the start of the nose dive "if I can't fit into these parachute pants whats the point...I can't even zip this Starter jacket...get the brownies". I decided to move onto just purging the very largest beat up items I hold onto as my safety net clothes. This is another "fatism" hanging onto those items that fit no matter how big you get, each time you lose weight you vow to throw them away and most of the time you are sure you did but somehow they are always there when you need them - not this time burn baby burn.
Cheryl and I went on a date tonight, Hannah was at a sleep over and we took Lebo to my sisters house...then we cleaned a couple of offices together - dare to dream - it actually was quite fun hanging out .

Saturday
Lebo had two games scheduled today one at 8:00am and one at 3:30 in the afternoon. He woke up really tired and grumpy which is not that unusual, seemed a bit off but ready to go. He started off playing pretty well playing hard and making good decisions and then after a fairly hard run at the goal he started looking to the sidelines asking for a sub - I shook my head no - he glared. He kept playing and seemed to be getting slower and slower - I was getting angrier and angrier "COME ON MOVE!". At half time we were up and domination the game I met him half way onto the field and really ripped into him for his crap effort and told him he needed to push himself and if he wanted to be better he had to grow up and push harder. As the second half was about to start I could see he was just not willing to put the effort forward and was dragging ass hard - I told Jace we were going to have to sub him out - he mentioned he just didn't seem right...I scoffed. He came over to the sideline and I ripped him again....AAAHHHHH!!! - he ended up going back in and trying but just didn't have it . I was so disappointed I ripped him for a half an hour in the van after the game, shortly after that is about when he fell asleep. We got him home and he was burning up and I took his temperature and it was 102 ... he slept for the next five hours woke up for 1/2 hour and slept the rest of the night.... wow what a dick....Super Dad strikes again!
I did have a bit of redemption in the afternoon - Hannah had a big "faux cocktail party" event with her image girls group at church and really wanted a new dress to wear - she has plenty of dresses but really wanted something new to wear. We went together and scoured the local Savers I told her if she could find something for ten bucks I would get it and no shoes she would have to wear what she had....needless to say the dress was 15 and the shoes were 7. We had a lot of fun looking and making fun of all the ugly dresses, she made fun of everything I showed her of course "oh dad come on, I am not a little girl" "that's horrible" - we ended up finding the coolest dress and she was so happy and looked so beautiful in it.....Good Super Dad!
Talk to you soon!
Joe
Peace!

Day 19 - Eat something! Oct 15th, 2009

2009-10-19T23:40:00.002-07:00

So the calls of concern are starting to come in about the "Going Gandhi" thing - they usually start with "So have you eaten anything yet" "WHAT!" "your going to die" (maybe that's a little dramatic). I understand the apprehension people have because I also understand they really love me - which is awesome. I want to reassure everyone I am truly all over this and being diligent in monitoring my body - I can also tell you I have not felt this good in a very long time. My energy is getting higher every day, I have no stomach aches or gassyness (is it that a word), my joints don't ache like before, no more wild blood sugar fluctuations, I am not hungry all the time - I just feel so damn good. I will eat again I promise.
I went to the health food store today and picked up some turmeric pills and pure sea salt - Turmeric is good for joint inflammation, sea salt helps to supplement the need for iodine which most Americans are lacking in their diet. The things I take everyday are 6 ounces of Mondivia (a super food based liquid multivitamin), 6 Green tea pills, 1 turmeric, 4 calcium, 4 b-50 vitamins and a gin sing/black cohash mixture also 4 ounces of apple cider vinegar. The best part is I do not take anymore prescription medicine and I believe that has is a major contributor to how good I feel.

I still love to cook and cook many of the meals for Cheryl and the kids, Cheryl has continued her weight loss and is eating so good and continuing to exercise. Cheryl has been so supportive of me through this and she is constantly checking me out and questioning me "hows it going" "how do you feel" "when are you going to eat" - she is such a good wife - I am so lucky to have her on my side.

We have included the kids in the lifestyle change as well, they have been troopers and for the most part have gone along happily with healthy home cooked meals. Their sports schedules make fast food a convenient option for us but with a little planning we have avoided it so far. We let the kids have a free day a week where they can choose to eat one meal of whatever they want, it is a nice treat for being disciplined. I feel bad for not being a better example for them, we have the power to control what they eat and their attitude towards food - I know it is not to late to turn it around and get them on the right path.

So I am pretty sure this is the most boring post so far and feels a little self indulgent - just thinking through the situation and trying to reassure my loving family and friends. I have failed at many things in my life and have let that stupid sabotaging dark part of my mind control things that I want to really break it this time. My very best friend of 31years Bill told me today to start eating because I proved my point and "kicked it's ass" - I am not so sure yet....I got it reeling a little though.

Now onto something cool SOCCER - I got to play soccer with Insario (Christy and Jill and some other people) and it was super fun as always - damn I love my life!

Thank you all and I love you!
Talk to you soon,
Joe
Peace!

Day 18 - GOOOAAALLL!!!! 10-14-2009

2009-10-19T11:18:00.004-07:00

This was a very good day!
When you are on a journey...quest....thingy you look towards milestones as a gauge of success. Like Wilt Chamberlin when he slept with his thousandth woman then it was onto 5k, 10k, 15k it only motivated him to get to 20,000 and beyond or the guy who first deep fried a Snickers then an Oreo, a Twinkie was only motivated to find more things eventually being able to achieve deep frying actual Coca Cola....inspirational - what about Joe Biden it seems impossible to be able to stay focused on saying stupid things with out hitting those milestones of 0ne million, 2 million stupid quotes. The point being is I fell below the 300 pound mark today, over the last 5 years I have been close but never got below 300 and it has always frustrated me. Even last week I went only from 309 to 304 and I got anxious about sitting at 300ISH for weeks even though I am fasting it kept creeping into my mind - DAMN YOU BRAIN! 300 is my first milestone like the two stewardesses from Milwaukee, or the deep fried White Castle cheeseburger or this Joe Biden special "In Delaware, the largest growth of population is Indian Americans, moving from India. You cannot go to a 7/11 or a Dunkin’ Donuts unless you have a slight Indian accent. I’m not joking".
I am on the right path.
On to my day - I woke up to a favorable result on the scale and headed off to the Y for back to back classes with super trainer Sheryl and I was joined by Super wife Cheryl it was amesome had a great workout.
In the afternoon Hannah had a school volleyball game they lost but she was amesome - in her coaches infinate wisdow they sat her the first half of the second game till the score was 24-11 and then they put her into serve and she ran off 12 serves over (10 were aces) in a row to bring them to the brink before she got broke - it was amazing - I was so proud.
Then I got to play with both my Wendsday night soccer teams - I dropped Lebo off at soccer practice at 5:50 raced to the Castle played game one with Whee! - very fun because it has my favorite soccer teammates Christy, Jill and Jamie - we probably lost I can't remember but it was fun. Then I got back to pickup Lebo from practice and get him to church to make it to my 8:45 game with Fusion - we have not been very good the last several sessions but we did make the playoffs this time - we were playing against the super arrogant Code Brown team they are supposedly made up of a bunch of doctors and health care workers, not my favorite team. it was a great battle it got a little chippy at times and the play was pretty intense and physical. We were leading 2-0 with about 3 minutes to go and they scored...we got nervous because the last time we played them they came back and tied us at the last possible second -it sucked - not this time we said - as time ticked away with about 10 seconds left our goalie dribbles a ball into the corner.... our guy doesn't move there is no place to go.... the ball gets loose.... 5, 4, 3.... thats right they score....I did the only thing I could think of at the time to drop the loudest F bomb I have ever uttered....twice - not a proud moment and fairly out of character for me. To make a very long story short we ended up winning the game in overtime -it felt amazing - I play a lot of games every week and even though you really want to win it is mostly about just playing and having fun - this was one of those games you just really wanted to WIN and it felt GOOD!
Then I went to work and eneded a great day!
Talk to you soon!
Joe
Peace!

Day 17 - Back on track 10-13-09

2009-10-17T23:49:00.003-07:00

Man did I feel good when I woke up this morning, for as bad and out of sorts I felt last week this is a complete turn around. I got to attribute it to the detox factor of this Gandhi thingy, it is a noticibly different feeling then I have felt before. One of the things in my thorough (obsessive) research of the thingy is the importance of thoroughly cleansing your body the liver, kidneys digestive track and "I am in it to win it" in this thing.
Sidetrack Opportunity: I hate the expression "in it to win it" Amazing race, Top Chef, Project Runway whatever the show it is always the douchiest people that use it. Of course your "in it to win it" why else would you be there dumbass. Immediatly after someone says "I am in it to win it" I begin to intensly pray for their removal - who talks like that, God forbid that I actually meet someone that says that in a real competetive situation. (my sincere apologies to anyone who commoly uses this term....just keeep it to yourself)
There are many ways to go about detoxing generally the more unpleasent sounding the more effective they are, I will spare you the gory details but I am commited to using this opportunity to get my body where it can be healthy again - seems to be working so far.
This morning I got up and got to the Y for a couple of classes Yoga and a step class it was amesome as usual - my wife skipped her normal water arobics class and joine me - it was fun. The rest was pretty normal more to report later.
Talk to you soon,
Joe
Peace!

Day 16 - Damn Columbus Day 10-12-09

2009-10-17T21:56:00.006-07:00

I am now going to rant about Columbus Day!
Columbus Day is such a non holiday it is hard to believe it has stood the test of time. It has been pretty well verified that not only was he not the first person to find America, he never actually stepped foot on American soil. I guess in a way it is understandable how the government celebrates the guy as he was a money grubbing, dishonest, thief and murderer that made his living off the back of others - they also get a paid day off.
Here are some fun facts about Columbus:

He was Catholic but his parents were converted Spanish Jews (first Jews for Jesus I guess)
At age 14 he was a real life pirate in the waters around Greece
Columbus never set out to prove the world was round people already new it, he was looking for a overseas trade route to China and India
Columbus introduced horses to the new world
When Columbus landed in Haiti he thought he was in the Indies and named them Indians

Enough about Columbus - I had a great day today the kids were off school (another reason to dislike Columbus) and we got some long overdue chores done in the yard and hung out and watched a movie. Lebo's practice was cancelled so we all got to go to Hannah's double header softball game - She was awesome! - it was a really great day!

Talk to you soon,

Joe

Peace!

Day 15 - T.G.I.S. Sunday 10-11-09

2009-10-15T09:17:00.004-07:00

Thank God It's Sunday!
Nothing improves a week like Sunday, the best part of Sunday is it is a no lose situation for me. Best case secnario is I get to play a bunch of soccer (which evolves around Soccer Troupe game) still get to church and get to watch a movie with the family. Second best just play a bunch of soccer and watch a movie. Sometimes there is no soccer on Sunday (I know) usually it'sa a holiday which is also a win I get to spend time with family and friends. Sometimes my kids soccer team has a game - this is a wild card - some tournaments are brilliant and you wouldn't be anywhere else - then...theres the "others". While these are certainly captivating they can make you wonder why the kids, parents, coaches, refs, shirt vendors anyone showed up....soooo frustrating. This Sunday the kids had the last game of a tournament we were hoping to close it out with a win (after a 10-0 and 6-0 defeat) it did not happen - we lost 3-1. The kids played fairly well and we really battled at times - the end however was dissapointing in the way they just kind of gave up in the last moments of the game. One thing I have learned from working with youth sports, you just never know - kids are so unpredictable, it so very frustrating. So what I am saying is this would have been a good time for scenario two as I missed all of Sunday morning soccer (soccer troupe lost 9-5).
Still it was a great day the afternoon was cool, made the world a cleaner place by cleaning two of my office accounts hung out with the family. I also had Sunday night soccer to look forward to, the game started at 6:00pm - I got there at 5:30 hoping there would be someone there to kick around a ball...no one and no ball...must wait...bummer. Christie and the boys showed up at 5:45 - the boys are Jose, Diego and Hector they are like 21, 19 and 16 and they pretty much live at the Castle playing soccer, reffing and busting on eveybody especially us gringos. They are awesome group of young guys and amazing soccer players - also they are very gracious in there tolerance of my inability to play soccer - they are very encouraging and don't hesistate to pass me the ball (even though I don't always want it). We had a really great game it was a lot of fun I was really trying to run as much as possible because it was my only game of the day - we won. Then as we were shaking hands after game someone mentioned we had a double header - thats right BONUS SOCCER! I was a bit dead in the legs and could feel the effects of "Going Ganhdi" but it was awesome - came home and watched "Amazing Race" (got to love the DVR).
So the weigh in numbers I was 304 this morning, a bit dissapointing but under normal circumstance I would be thrilled with 5lbs in a week.
Another great Sunday!
Talk to you soon,
Joe
Peace!

Day 12,13,14 - Irritated Th, Fri, Sat.10-8,9,10, 2009

2009-10-12T13:51:00.004-07:00

Thursday
It was OK, I overslept and did not get to the gym - I did get to play soccer at night which was a lot of fun - we won the game!

Friday
Spent much of my time laying around being irritated at just about everthing - did not go to the gym, did not accomplish anything and watched my sons soccer team get beat 6-0. I don't know if it was the toxins being expelled from my body or what but it sure felt like a dark day.

Saturday
Woke up early for my sons soccer game at 8:00 am, they got soundly spanked 8-0 - it seemed like more. Still can't really find my mojo - feel extremely irritade and frustrated - just want to eat something to make it better. Spent a good part of the day looking into the refrigirator seeking something - I know this fasting thing will end, I know it can't be today though.

What a frustrating 3 days - my mind is really protecting it's territory and trying to break me, I can't let it win.

Day 11 - Doctor feel good Wednesday 10-7-09

2009-10-08T13:40:00.008-07:00

Today is a new day!
Woke up this morning with a new attitude......(funky music starts to play) no not again....not Patti LaBelle

I'm feelin' good from my head to my shoes
Know where I'm goin' and I know what to do
I tidied up my point of view
I got a new attitude
Ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh
I got a new attitude

Stop! Stop! No more singing! ....I have got to stop watching Project Runway before I go to bed.

Today was my opportunity to take 2 classes at the Y with my favorite super trainer Sheryl, unfortunately I had a doctors appointment and could not change it (I tried). On the good side I had a doctors appointment with my super doctor Rebecca - I love my doctors office. Rebecca is probably 30 or so and quite good looking - her nurse is named Cheryl (I know) and she is awesome, quite funny and cute. They do a great job and really take good care of me.

Isn't it funny how everybody loves their doctor - you mention you went to the doctor and out of nowhere "you need a doctor, I got a great doctor" " they always get me in" "top of the line" - meanwhile they are 100lbs overweight, diabetic, high blood pressure ........ ummmm......never mind.

As I waited for Rebecca (I hardly ever have to wait, their the best) I noticed this whole rack of
brochures:

I couldn't help but notice how happy everyone was - heart attack YEA! - Acid Reflux OH BOY! and the best of all Irritable Bowel - LUCKY DUCK! This should be the first item on the agenda for health care reform. I am slightly intrigued by bladder urges though - she looks so happy.

After I told I mentioned to super nurse Cheryl about the going Gandhi thingy she couldn't believe it and left saying "I am telling Rebecca, your in trouble". Rebecca was fairly cool about it she didn't exactly endorse it and warned me to be careful, she didn't throw me out either. She said the bottom line is do you feel good and are you staying in tune with your body - I feel good doc. As an update I have stopped taking all my diabetes medicine (numbers are great) and my high blood pressure medicine (122 over 72 looking good) it has been a long time I haven't taken - never want to go back.

As I put my clothes back on (oh. did I forget to mention that all visits are completely naked not just the patience Doctors, nurses, receptionist, told you I have a great doctor) I saw the most bizarre and disturbing marketing item ever. I assume you are familiar with the majestic and revered Native American symbol the flute playing Kokopelli. The Kokopelli has been worshipped since at least the time of the ancient Pueblo People and showed up on Hopi pottery in 750AD.
Example:

This is what the noble Kokopelli has been reduced to:

That's right it's a Kokopelli playing a colon...............I have no response to that.
Talk to you soon,
Joe
Peace!

Day 9 & 10 - Bummer - Mon. 10-5-09 & Tue.10-6-09

2009-10-07T23:38:00.005-07:00

Monday
Today I woke up ready to kick some fanny, I am riding high on my big week one- bring it on world!
My usual routine is to get up and head right for the bathroom, do my business and measure the success. Every day I have had a good result sometimes 2lbs maybe 3lbs or 5lbs - I was coming off a day with 4 1/2 soccer games and no food so.......drumroll.......309....I stand and stare. Didn't it say 309 yesterday morning - what is this Groundhogs Day. OK my feet must have been on there wrong - damn that scale is dusty there must be 2lbs of dust on that thing (pick it up dust it off check the ground underneath) there lets try this again.....re run drumroll.......309.....as my daughter would say "Are you kidding me" - how is that possible, I am crushed.
I know what your thinking, "you selfish man you have so much success and your complaining about one setback, shame on you" and your right - probably just retaining water or something - no problemo!
So I got dressed and headed to the Y for 8:00 am Mat Pilates and the 9:00 step class - I left the Y with the Gloria Gaynor anthem "I Will Survive" ringing in my ears and wailing like a drag queen.

You think I'd crumble
you think I'd lay down and die
Oh no, not I
I will survive!
Look out belly I am coming for you!

Tuesday
As I start to stir awake from a restless night sleep - part anticipation and part apprehension - Gloria starts to take over my mind lifting me up

It took all the strength I had not to fall apart
kept trying hard to mend the pieces of my broken heart
and I spent oh so many nights just feeling sorry for myself
I used to cry Now I hold my head up high
I know I will stay alive
I've got all my life to live
and I'll survive
I will survive!

Boy I feel gay today, I have got to get that song out of my head.....any whoooo.....off to my friend the scale. Routine time - tinkle and weigh in....address scale "Good morning old friend this will only hurt for a moment"......check for dust and then climb on (I have a digital scale so it sort of does this loading thing with zero's) 0 0 0 0 0 0 "COME ON" 0 0 0 0 0 0........309......how can that be.....two days of exercise and fasting and nothing......this is not good.

This is typically where things breakdown, you start to doubt what your doing and you begin to listen to your internal saboteur "See I told you it wouldn't work" "Whats the point, you work so hard for nothing" "This is stupid! no one believes you can do it any way""Quit". I can't really blame my brain, we have worked together on creating this body for a long time and now I am screwing with the program - he is just defending his territory.
Being fat is a strange phenomenon - I mean you know your fat - hell you probably have been fat most of your life yet it still catches you by surprise. You walk past some windows at the mall and catch your reflection or see a picture, some little kid tells you "your fat", someone makes a joke at your expense and everyone laughs. It never really sinks in, you write it off with "that shirt makes me look fat" "that kid is a brat" "what a dick that guy is". Then one day you go to the doctor and he says you have diabetes or high blood pressure or bad ankles whatever and you are stunned and ask how did this happen - he is just as stunned that you had to ask "your obese and you have been for along time".
Then you get it, you go crazy and do whatever you can to lose weight and you lose 20 or 50 or 100 pounds but never really convince your brain to get with the program and so many times it slips away....it hurts and makes the next time even harder.....it terrifies me.
My hope is this time I can persuade my brain to come along with my heart and be a team player - I mean it's not like I overwork it or anything it owes me for skipping college and becoming a janitor - we will see.

HIT IT GLORIA!
First I was afraid
I was petrified
Kept thinking I could never live
without you by my side
But I spent so many nights
thinking how you did me wrong
I grew strong
I learned how to carry on
I will survive!

I did get moving and got to the Y for 8:00am Yoga and 9:00am step class and got to play two soccer games at night - Yeah bonus soccer!
Talk to you soon!
Joe
Peace!

Day 8 - Moment of truth Sunday 10-4-09

2009-10-05T12:56:00.002-07:00

I woke up this morning hoping for a good result from week one on the 100 day weight loss thingy, it has been a good week and I feel really great. As I got on the scale I realized that I was running late for Sunday soccer (the best soccer day) my first game was with the best team ever Soccer Troupe. This team is so fun because everyone knows and trust each other we have great fun - we also tend to win most of our games - I LOVE IT! With that said we had a double header this morning on the outside field and did not get the results we were looking for we lost both games. They still were fun games, we played short in the first game with only one guy sub and the second game two people had to leave and we were a man down - I know what your thinking "thats why they lost" - no - the other team played two men down and still beat us - not a proud moment - still a lot of fun.

My second team the Zorros had to forfiet as only two of us showed up, so we played a pick up game that was pretty fun. The next game was also a forfiet so I got one of my favorite things in the world - Bonus Soccer! I played golie in the game and did pretty well against a good team. The high point was I miss read a ball and took one right off the face - I saw it leave his foot and the next thing I new it was on my forehead - Ouch.

The last game was in the evening on the outside field with Y U CRYIN this team is really good (I am happy they tolerate my miserable play) - they are really great players - the stuff they can do with soccer ball at thier feet I couldn't do with my hands. We won the game and I missed four easy opportunities to score off great passes nothing unusual but alway frustrating.

Back to the morning - This morning I weighed 309 from my starting weight of 331 - 22lbs in one week - wow! It was a great start to my goal and it is very exciting to be on track - feels like a lot longer than a week. I had considered breaking the fast today and starting back on the food thing, but I am staying with it - I don't think it is time yet - I don't know when but not yet.

So often I have had success in losing weight and killed it by "rewarding" myself with a little splurge. I always convince myself that I deserve and can handle a day off the reservation - even only a day or two into it. It feels like some kind of self sabotage that I can not begin to explain, maybe its the fear of falure or putting yourself out there - ? maybe I will figure it out through this.
Talk to you soon,
Joe
Peace!

Day 6 & 7 - Family time - Fri. 10/2 & Sat. 10/3 2009

2009-10-03T22:23:00.009-07:00

Like most weekends this one revolved around the kids. I love love love the kids sports and activities (I love them even slightly more than playing soccer, unless they play terrible or get benched then I think I could be playing soccer right now - I know SUPER DAD) and this was a very busy weekend.

Hannah's Friday and Saturday were crazy - it started on Friday with 4 games in a volleyball tournament that went till 9:00pm and then we headed off to church were she went for an all night lock in at Amazing Jakes. We picked her up at 7:00am Saturday to get her to her first game of 5 at 8:00an. She was amazing in all the games and is really becoming a very good player - so exciting. She was granted a reprieve of sorts because she had a double header softball game scheduled for Saturday night but the game got cancelled - that would have been interesting.

Lebo and I had to miss the last 2 volleyball games as we had a soccer game 2:00 in Estrella Park (I help coach the team along with my super friend and super soccer teammate Coach Bacon) - our team won by a lot 12 to 1 or something, the team played great and the boy had some goals and a good assist. Nine of our eleven kids scored in the game, we tried to hold the score down - but do you know hard it is to convince kids not to score - they did a great job!

Cheryl joined the "Going Gandhi" craze on Wednesday and completed 3 days of fasting, I have a feeling she is quietly kicking my fanny in losing weight - she is also a Y fanatic and has been going everyday for the last month or two (shaking fist in anger) "Damn you Cheryl and your determination" (in the spirit of full disclosure Cheryl as super as she is is not super trainer Sheryl).

As for me I have completed one week of "Going Gandhi" and I feel amazing - I am not sure when or how to end this phase - to be honest it scares we quite a bit to give it up - I know it has to end just haven't figured out how yet.

Another strange thing in all this Gandhi stuff is I sign onto Google Friday and it is Gandhi birthday - weird - so I celebrated his birthday with fasting and service.
Friday I volunteered at the Y for their annual super duper clean up day - I spent most of my four hours sanding and taping off stuff to be painted. It was a little crummy as most of the taping was baseboards, baseboards are really low (low places suck) - did I mention I hate getting on the ground. I did enjoy my time, they were nice people to hang out with (even though super trainer Sheryl wasn't there DRAT!) I worked with one lady at about ten minutes in asked if I was doing community service as well - I said no - she seemed shocked and proceeded to tell me how much it sucked to be working off that DUI and how those bastards took here car away - I crawled to a new spot and kept taping.
Pretty great weekend so far, tomorrow is weigh in day for week one - moore importantly it is the best day because it is SUNDAY SOCCER! Sunday is the best soccer day by far, 4 games tomorrow WOO HOO can't wait to tell you all about it!
Talk to you soon,
Joe
Peace!

Day 5 - YEAH ME! Thursday 10-1-09

2009-10-03T18:18:00.003-07:00

Still on track with the Gandhi thingy I never thought I would make it this many days - still feeling great.
This morning I got up early and headed to the Y to see if I could redeem myself from yesterday and hit a few new classes. There was a 8:00am Yoga class - I thought that would be a good relaxing start. I got in a little late and they were already achieving enlightenment - I grabbed a pad and got into my criss cross applesauce position (I believe that is a yoga term) and got dialed in. Soon as there was a break and it was then explained that we take off our shoes and socks in yoga and we use a special yoga mat not just a exercise mat...ooohh laddy da da. Once I got going it was cool transitioning from the child pose (Garbahasana) to downward facing dog, onto Warrior 1 then warrior 2 and 3 (that would be Virabaharasana 1 2 3) lots of stretching and breathing and balance.
There are some things I confirmed and others I learned about myself -
Confirmation 1: I am not flexible at all
Confirmation 2: I hate getting on the ground
Confirmation 3: I am fat
The thing I learned (and it surprised me) is that I have terrible balance, I was all over the place falling, tripping it was embarrassing and humbling. The class ended with that cool music playing, slow stretching and what I was waiting for the mantra OOOOOOMMMM, OOOOOOMMMM it was awesome! The ladies were all very nice and told me to make sure and comeback, most importantly I didn't fart through the whole class YEAH ME!
Right after Yoga was step class with my favorite super trainer Sheryl WOO HOO! I will not bore you with the details (only guy in class, weights, step... yadda yadda) it was really hard and wonderful. I was almost always screwed up turning the wrong way and stuff but I kept moving the whole class and KICKED ASS -Sheryl said I did great YEAH ME!
Now on to the important part of the day SOCCER - Thursday is super fun soccer day because I get to play with Christie and Jill on a really good team in a tough league. I don't always get to play on Thursday because of Lebo's practice (I know what your thinking SUPER DAD) so this was a special occasion. My legs were pretty much mush after the last couple of days of soccer, Y classes and fasting and I really struggled through the first half - but I didn't suck. The second half there was some discussion about a goalie change Ian wanted to play out (he did a amazing job in the first half) so I offered after everyone else balked at it. Let me describe my goalkeeper ability...hmmm...checking thesaurus.......abhorrent, appalling, horrid... I think shocking describes it best for me, the best skill I have is taking up a considerable amount of space. I am not sure if it was the Yoga or maybe the fasting but I achieved nirvana in goal - I was a wall - they fired shot after shot, low shots, high shots, benders, skidders I faced it all - feet, hands, head, belly I saved everything - I was Kung Fu Panda. OK - I had the best defenders (Christy and Jill) and we got a lead from Amy, Ian, Josh and Clay and we could just pack it in - I did have some good saves though - The most important part was I DID NOT SUCK - YEAH ME!!
Talk to you later.
Joe
Peace!

Day 4 - Adverse effects Tuesday 9-30-09

2009-10-02T15:37:00.006-07:00

Still "Going Gandhi" Yeah baby! Day 3 was a bit of a lazy ass day, I decided I would pick it up a bit. I went to my first exercise class at the YMCA - on a side note: the Y (that's what the cool kids call it) is the best, they have great classes, the best equipment and a such a friendly family atmosphere THUMBS UP Y.

My first class was Muscle Sculpt, we used weights, stretchy tubes, and a step for the class. Everyone was settling in and choosing their equipment, I couldn't help but notice I was the only man in the room. The ladies seemed to know what they were doing and getting right down to business getting their 3lb, 5lb, 8lb weights - I of course being the only man chose the big 12 pounder and the big fat blue stretchy tube - WHAT NOW LADIES! Started off easy enough marching in place in front of our step with our weights - another side note: the class was led by a trainer Sheryl she is awesome - then it began, "OK shoulder press up and down and up and down" "arms extended and out and out reach and extend" "keep marching" - I really started to questions those 12lb weights. Then the stretchy tubes (ominous music plays) - they seem innocent enough I mean there just stretchy tubes, actually there quite evil. She had us twisting them all around our bodies reaching, lifting, stretching, marching it was like a torture scene from the movie "Saw" - who thinks of these things. The class had to be cut short because of some scheduling thing, when it was announced the class groaned and from the back a small cry of "yeah" arose. Sheryl perkily asked as I limped out "how was it" I acknowledge my approval with the only appendage that did not ache THUMBS UP!

The next class was a cycling class, I gave it a try and that is another sick practice (who invented those seats they are insane) I was luckily saved halfway through because we had meeting to go to. Overall I really enjoyed it and plan to return next week.

Enough about that lets talk soccer - Wednesday soccer is pretty fun I play on two teams Fusion and WHEE!. WHEE! is super fun because I get to play with my favorite players Christie, Jill and Jamie, I am lucky because I get to play with them a lot. I was running late for my first game (Fusion) because of Lebo's soccer practice and showed up at halftime - man I sucked - I mean I usually suck - but that was a different kind of sucking. Game 2 (WHEE!) was not much better my team played super terrific but I really sucked again - my legs were like stone and ached. I may have to reconsider this life changing (goal, challenge....) thingy if it is going to adversely effect my soccer (I would have thought Gandhi would have been a good soccer player) - we will see.
I just realized I have been spelling Gandhi's name wrong (Ghandi) - what a dumbass.
Talk to you soon!
Joe
Peace!

Day 3 - Fast approach - Tuesday, 9-29-09

2009-09-30T11:25:00.001-07:00

So I am still Going Ghandi and it is going well, you can absolutly feel the toxins and crap leaving your body. I have spent quite a bit of time researching this fasting thing and it has been uncanny how the predicted effects have followed. Your breath gets stinky from toxins leaving the body through your lungs, slight back ache as the intestines that are close to the spine purge toxins, my muscles have tightned up a lot (mostly my legs) as toxins build up and find there way out and some tiredness (of course I am fairly lazy so it may not have anything to do with that). Overall it has been amazingly easy and enjoyable, there is also quite a nice euphoric feeling attached to fasting - it worked for Jesus, Buddah, Moses, Isiah, King David, both Madonnas and Beyonce so.....

I didn't really do anything today besides go to the kids soccer practice and a little working -
no exercise today - lazy ass.

On a seperate note, I hate those Charles Scwabb commercials where the actors are bizzarly animated and creepy - what is the point - investing is "fantasy" or your money is being handled by Disney - just don't get it.

Talk to you later,
Joe G.
Peace!

Day 2 - Going Ghandi Monday 09-28-09

2009-09-28T22:13:00.004-07:00

So I am almost through day 2 of the 100 day (hmmm..what to call it, adventure, plan, journey -I will have to work on that) thingy. I have been fasting for these first two days Sunday and Monday, I think it will be a good jump start to the (quest, challenge, goal...ahh) thingy. I really like to fast, it is a great feeling of accomplishment and cleansing - just drink a lot of water and the hunger goes away pretty quickly - I have gone 4 days before with no problem .

I think more people would fast if it was cooler you know hipper for the kids- so I have come up with a hot new marketing term for fasting "Going Ghandi". I believe this will be the perfect counterbalance to the Kanye West, Joe Wilson douche syndrome we are currently in.

You make the call

"Be the change you want to see in the world" "My life is my message"

"YOU LIE!" His reasoning - "it was spontaneous"
"I realize that my place and position in history is that I will go down in history as the voice of this generation....this decade." Countless others examples of douchebaggery

Certainly this can be something that can catch on, Ghandi has his own movie staring Ben Kingsley (by the way if you see the movie Ben Kingsley was born to play that part), has easily 20-30 books written about him, he respected women and held them in higher regard than men and he spun his own cloth and made his own clothes.
He is the perfect new hero for this generation, movie star, surrounded by the ladies and his own clothing line. So when you start hearing - Dude#1: "dude want to catch lunch" Dude #2: "nah - I am GOING GHANDI" or instead of people yelling "EAT SH*T and DIE!" you will hear "eat nothing and love one another" remember you heard it hear first. Let's get on the band wagon now, put on the Khadi wear, the Topi cap and the sandals - stop all that eating - walk 100 miles just to get a beat down by the man - do it now so later you won't be called a "whandi".

Besides going ghandi on Monday I also did a 20 min interval routine on the treadmil and "picked up weights" (this is a Leboism named after my son) did chest, shoulders and back - I am sore today.
Talk to you soon!
Joe
Peace!

Day one - the virgin blog Sunday 09-27-09

2009-09-28T08:45:00.005-07:00

I have decided to start a blog, some of my favorite people in the whole world have a blog - they have inspired me to give it a whirl. Deciding to write a blog is one thing but what to write about, that is something else.
I have been considering an idea for quite a while of pursing a goal of losing 100 pounds in 100 days. It seems possible to me, I have been trying to find out on the Internet if it is - I can't find any success stories..yet. I have tried to find out the timeline for biggest loser, it looks like about 100 days on the "Ranch" and then sometime at home before the finale - men typically lose 100 pounds in that time period. Cheryl loves, loves, loves biggest loser, I have only seen a few episode can't really get into it.
So I started on Sunday September 27th 2009, 100 days will make the deadline date January 5th, 2010 (did you know you can just google 100 days from today and there is a calculator that will give you the date - matter of fact there is like 20 such calculators - the Internet is so wonderful and strange - who creates these things). My starting weight is 331 (5301 ounces, 150277 grams, 4809 troy ounces -so if I was made of solid gold I would be worth $4,770,528.00 - more calculators) I have been heavier in my life but this has been my fairly consistent weight for the last couple of years. I am certainly not a self hater or anything, I don't care for being fat really but I don't obsess on it or either. The fact is it will help to lose the weight - there is the health issues (diabetes, high blood pressure etc....), encouragement for my wife, the example I set for my kids, smaller clothes means more room in the suitcase when traveling, being a smaller target for flying objects (bird poop, spit, sneezes, dropped sodas and those flying pieces of wood like in the movie "Twister" that haunts me every day) and I may be with any luck and by Gods will be just a little better soccer player (fingers crossed).
So why am I telling you all this, why is this pertinent to your life - well it's not really. Usually when people want to lose weight they keep it a secret, the bigger the person the bigger the secret. You get afraid of letting everyone know because you might fail and look like a fool or you will draw all this attention that most fat people don't want. Mostly I think you get afraid of the accountability & vulnerability that comes with exposing your secret weight loss desires. It is easier to talk about the reason you can't get started or bust out the self deprecating humor and mourn the failed attempts in the past. The times I have had success in losing weight has been with a set goal, support from friends and family and a good plan - hopefully this will be the recipe for success again.
I will try to be a diligent poster and keep those who are interested in the progress and process along the path. I will also try to make it as entertaining as possible and not just all about this little weight loss challenge. I hope to get better at the tech side of the blog with pictures and graphics very soon.
Exercise today was playing 3 1/2 games of soccer (well one was a forfiet and I didn't really like the team so I mostly stood around - why can't people just stay with their man)
Wow, cool my first blog!
Talk to you soon!
Joe G.
Peace!