My Buddha-ful Life

The good news is that I have landed where I was before my trip weight-wise (206.8, half a pound over my 206.3 pre-trip "low").   So, still on track toward my 195 late April goal. The bad news is that I woke up last night choking (rather violently) due to my sleep apnea and congestion.  I actually had a dream that someone grabbed my throat, dragged me across the bed, and started choking me.  I woke up gasping with a dry mouth and stuffed up nose.  (Attractive, I know.). Some of this is due to my ongoing problem with congestion, but I was told a year or more ago that if I lost weight - even though I'm not a classic sleep apnea patient - I stood a chance of reducing the blockage in my throat, even if only by a millimeter or two, and that could help significantly. I hate the image of the fat guy choking on his own girth.  I hate the fat guy snoring image.  I hate being that person.  I don't hate myself for it, but I hate it about myself.  I can ma...

Okay, Plant-Based, but I liked the alliteration of the title. Enjoyed an amazing Yucatan Quinoa Salad at lunch, and a black bean/Mexican salad this evening.  I've avoided pizza thus far, and bad Chinese food, but I have had two veggie burgers w/ fries, and a ridiculous bowl of pasta w/ melted cheese. So, nowhere near perfection, but some good decisions.  Mostly, I've enjoyed an açaí bowl, with granola, berries, banana, açaí, cacao, and honey.  I've had three of those - usually having one for breakfast instead of some pastry or Starbucks concoction. I have no idea how I'm doing weight-wise, but I confess where I've really fallen down is exercise.  I did yoga one morning, and took a brisk 3 mile walk one evening, but otherwise, nada. I could go to the fitness center tomorrow.  Also toying with a B12 shot.  They offer them here, mostly for those who have overdone it.  For me, it's about getting some revived energy and an overall boost. looking f...

Yesterday was a snow day, w/ all four of us stuck at home.  Wendy made boiled cookies, bought a bag of Ruffles, and between temptation and boredom, I had my work cut out for me to not just spiral out of control, especially since I couldn't go to the Y or go for a run. But the good news, I weighed yesterday AM (Dec 17th) and was down to 206.3.  That's quite a drop from the 213 I was at (in the afternoon) at the doctor's office before the New Year.  I know some was the time of day I weighed, but I will still take the momentum and claim it, because I could just as easily weigh 210, 211, or even 213 if I was not making strides, regardless of the time of day I weigh. All hail to the FOK community for keeping me charged, and here's to good behavior and commitment while I am in Vegas (tomorrow through Thurs AM).

I'm still finding ways to slip sweets into my day/evening.  Just craving sugar or at least a slight sweetness from natural peanut butter. I'm about to be on show site in Vegas with a producer that takes good care of the team with a fully stocked snack table.  Sweet, salty, healthy and decadent.  I have to dedicate myself to daily renewal with this.  There will be fruit, but there will be M&Ms.  I tend to graze a lot in the production office, sometimes out of boredom. I believe I have access to a workout room at the MGM Grand, and I plan to take advantage as best I can.  I make a lot of excuses onsite. Today, snow.  No run, YMCA closed.  Up to me to find time at home today to use kettlebells, do yoga, or something that gets the metabolism churning a bit.

Yesterday I bought Rip Esselstyn's Engine 2 Cookbook at Half Price Books.  A $30 book for $11.  Very excited about the recipes within, as I'm a big fan of Rip and the Engine 2 Plan. The downside is, I didn't exercise yesterday, and I haven't been meditating.  I don't know why I'm so scared to get on my cushion, but I seem to be avoiding it like the plague.  What am I scared of?  I know what it can do for me.  It's like being sick and refusing to take medicine.

I weighed yesterday, hesitantly, as it was my first day exercising this week, so I assumed my weight would creep back up.  But, I landed at 207 on the dot, down almost an entire pound from last week.  I'm doing something right, I guess.  Onward.  Miles to go, but the encouraging fact that I am at least moving toward my goal instead of away from it is fuel for the journey. 

I made my first batch of truly homemade vegetable soup this week.  I mean, I've been making vegetable soup for years, but the entirety of the process took about 5 minutes of prep time - dump frozen veggies, broth, and beef-less crumbles in a crock pot. While my brother-in-law and I agree on almost nothing, we both concur he makes the most righteous vegetable soup in the land.   Wendy said, "a lot of it is because he uses fresh vegetables."  I'd never considered it, but of course, that's how everyone's grandma made vegetable soup.  An hour or two in the kitchen, dicing tomatoes, onions, celery, okra, skimming corn off the cob, softening butter beans and black eyed peas.   So, I tried my hand at it this week and the results were pretty phenomenal.  A little basil and thyme helped as well.  And mushrooms, of course. I don't think I'll be going back to the frozen food aisle for my ingredients again.  I guess the best things in life take time. ...

Back home and trying to get aligned with my goals again.  Being onsite, no matter how good my intentions, always presents some limitations to my time and my options. Spent a good chunk of my leftover per diem at the Farmer's Market and grocery store yesterday stocking up. I don't feel healthy, and need to reconcile that.  Some of it is lingering illness, a persistent tickle and cough in my throat from my URI a couple of weeks ago.  Some of it is just not being active enough. Headed to Y this morning before work.  That'll help. Making homemade vegetable soup for the first time.  By the first time, I mean all fresh, not frozen, veggies.  I've always relied on the bag of "vegetable soup mix" at the store.  This time, it's fresh celery, carrots, onions, mushrooms, peppers, okra, etc.  We'll see how it goes.

Road trips are tricky.  Last night I ordered a salad and "pimento cheese crostini", which was really little soggy toasts with cheese spread on them. Today for lunch, it was a black bean burger and potato rounds from a sports bar.  Keeping it vegetarian, but not exactly the healthiest choices.  I never know when (or what) I am going to get to eat when we're in rehearsals, so I figure I better fill up a bit when I can.  Headed into rehearsals in a bit, and we'll go until 10p or so.   Reaffirming here that I intend to (a) eat vegetarian and (b) eat as healthy as possible. Next is coffee. I did a 200 calorie cardio workout on treadmill and some simple weightlifting this AM at the fitness center.  Plan to do more tomorrow AM.

So, when I went to the doctor's office for an upper respiratory infection over the holidays, the things I dreaded most was the scales and the blood pressure monitor. Changing the results of both of those experiences will take time. Especially at 50.  However, rack it up to a few days of eating more mindfully, a few trips to the Y, or just changing my weigh-in time to early morning instead of midday, but my weight dropped from 212.7 to 207.9 yesterday. It may be water weight.  It may only last for a day or two, but I'm taking it.  Any progress is welcomed progress, even if it is a bit of false or temporary progress.  That's how I'm looking at it.  This is all about momentum and daily recommitment to purpose.  Seeing a bit of that needle going in the right direction helps mightily with that effort.  For that, I am grateful. Here's to making today work as well, on show site in Charlotte, NC.  Across from a Wings restaurant and the NASCAR Hall o...

yesterday was just okay.  I missed my workout, and grazed a lot.  Can't say I adhered to my standards, from finishing off sweet tea that my dad sent over to taste testing the turkey dish I made for W & G. today, I head out of town on a biz trip for four days.  Not sure what kind of food will be available to us, so no idea how well I'll be able to adhere to my goals.  Gonna do my best.  Remind myself that it's a journey, taken one day at a time, and will require dedication pretty much every day to hit my goal by this summer.

Treadmills suck.  Even with an audiobook and a TV screen with subtitles scrolling along telling me about the feud between Trump and Bannon.  I just can't find the joy in walking in place for 30 minutes. But I'm doing it.  Because it's 17 degrees outside. 35 minutes today.  200 calories. Rip's Big Bowl cereal for breakfast. The slow crawl back to being fit. There's no other way.

So, I spent a lot of time yesterday stocking up on good food.  Sprouts and the Farmer's Market gave way to a lot of fruits, veggies, and my first attempt at trying Ezekiel Bread. I don't remember eating breakfast (bad move) but lunch was tomato & black bean soup, and dinner was sweet potato/black bean/rice bowl, drizzled with homemade cilantro-lime & honey dressing.   I dipped a couple of dark chocolate pretzels in peanut butter, and had natural peanut butter and honey on a slice of Ezekiel bread as a snack. Went to the Y to workout and it was precisely the carnage I expected in terms of overcrowding due to all those with resolutions.  I predict that by the time I get back from my first biz trip of the year (this time next week), it will have tapered off. It felt good, a lot of momentum yesterday, but work was not overwhelming and I pounced on that opportunity to get some shopping (and food prep) done.  The true test comes once I get back into the more ...

I've always felt that January 1st was a bogus day for starting resolutions.  It's a day of recovery, rest, and renewal.  To try to start a new lifestyle coming off of a late night, a possible hangover, and out of sync with your regular work schedule seems unrealistic.   So, I typically use it as a day to wade slowly into the water, regroup, and cast off any final vices that need one last acknowledgement. Thus, yesterday was popcorn at the Star Wars movie and Mexican food for dinner.  Vegetarian? Yes.  Well behaved?  Not particularly.  My son had a half-eaten bag of Doritos lying around from his NYE celebration w the guys . It didn't go untouched. Today, with a doctor visit just ten days off to check my blood pressure again, I know that the YMCA, meditation, and an eating approach that minimizes salt and sugars will be my friends.  No one is going to be cheering me on this time.  No telling all my healthy friends on Facebook, not Wendy who...