Slashed, up or down, winding path, reality
Those 5-6 pounds I put on during my pre-holiday cookie eating blitz are long gone. I am back to my November weight and maybe a pound or two less. I actually am trying to shave off another 4-5. I’m in good shape but I think losing a kilo or two will get me to a point where I would be happy to maintain at. To help me get there I have made a change in my dinner routine. For forever my routine was eat dinner and then shortly afterward have a glass of milk along with something sweet as desert. I had no nutrional or hunger needs for this, it’s just something your body gets accustomed to. What I have been doing for the past week and a half is after dinner I get a big glass and fill it with ice water. I continue to drink these throughout the night. Besides curbing the feeling I need to eat sweets by making you feel full on water, it does a good job of hydrating me to the max. The only downside are the frequent bathroom trips. So far it’s working well. On weekends I allow myself to grab deserts, it’s all about balance. It’s funny, many times Ali will proclaim how easy it is for me to stay thin, it comes naturally. Hah, hardly. I have made so many modifications to my exercise and eating habits since I turned 30 it is like night and day. The only throwback I have to my old eating ways are the pop-tarts I allow myself to have for breakfast during the weekends. Those are total garbage food but it’s just about the only junk I eat routinely.
That leads me to a related idea. Goal setting or more specifically how you measure yourself. To me there are three schools of thought, up, down, or don’t care. There are people like me that set my goals above me. I want to always try to keep improving in something I work at, physically, financially, or competitively. There are those that use people below them as examples. For instance, well things may not be great for me but at least I am better off than so and so. With these people, this attitude is usually a convenient way to not do things, to do less and feel ok about it. Then there are the don’t care people. The people that have a family history of cancer, diabetes and heart problems and decide to be fat chain smokers anyway. These people I have little sympathy for as they deserve whatever comes to them. My point? There isn’t really one other than it has been on my mind.
It’s funny how things can lead you down memory lane to trigger something you hadn’t thought about in a long time. The American Idol exit of that Mario guy meant that Nikko Smith was put back in the show since he was the last one voted out. As I was looking for info on the situation I read that Nikko is the son of former great Cardinals shortstop Ozzie Smith. Then it hit me how much he looked like Ozzie and I never realized it. That then got me to thinking about how Ozzie Smith used to be on this baseball skills show that used to be hosted by Johnny Bench on a regular basis. The show was on every Saturday and I hardly ever missed it. It went over basic baseball skills with various major leaguers. It was at the time in my life where I seriously thought I was going to be among them someday. I loved that show and I loved Ozzie Smith.
Speaking of reality TV, you would think with my WoW obsession that I wouldn’t have time to watch any TV. Well it has been scaled back for sure (not a bad thing) but I keep up with American Idol, Survivor, The Apprentice and the new show The Contender. I love the Contender. It’s a boxing show that has Sugar Ray Leonard and Stallone as hosts. It is just a very compelling show. They have a great mix of personalities and the first 2 elimination fights have been nothing short of fantastic. It’s gotten poor ratings thus far but I would give it 2 huge thumbs up. Check it out, Sundays at 8 on NBC.