Monday Weigh in #5

Weight Loss for the Weak! ( Don't feel obligated to post your weight just how much you've lost )

I've lost 1 pound.  Putting me down to 278!  I'm glad to be back on the decline again.  I'm actually feeling a lot better though.  The last time I did my runs I didn't feel like I was hyperventilating or anything.  I'm starting to feel the muscles get worked my legs and my abdominal region.  All in all I'm feeling better.

Struggles and Victories of the Weak!

Due to a tropical storm hitting the coast of Texas I wasn't able to do any of my runs this week.  I have, however, been able to do a significant amount of walking as we've had a friend come in for a visit.  This always entails a lot of walking around at the River Walk and other various locals across the San Antonio area.  Thanks for helping me keep on the wagon April!

How can I improve?

This week instead of asking for suggestions I'm going to offer one.  I call it the Grocery store workout.  I know we all like to get that close parking spot, but think about that extra 50 yards as a mini-workout.  Another thing I always make sure to do is to take my shopping cart back the cart return thingys.    I know there are small things and while I know it seems like a pain in the ass,  every little bit helps and I promise it's not going to kill you. 

Don't forget...the cake is a lie and the cube had to die for it.  Until next time.


P.S. - I'd like to thank Witless Exposition (aka - The Translator) for creating this cool little button for me.  She's so good with this kind of stuff.

My Dog is a son of a bitch

No really...female dogs are called bitches.

Glenn Beck...the Anti-Christ? (3WW)

Nah...he's not that important, but the whole "Restoring Honor" March that occurred a couple weeks ago has got me wondering...Does Glenn Beck listen to the things that he says?  I mean really listen?  Most comics that mock Glenn Beck don't even have to say anything, they simply play a clip of his show and people start laughing.

The man is more reliable for a joke then President Bush ever was.

I don't really understand his charm.  I know that a lot of Tea Baggers (not sure I'd want to be called a tea bagger either politically speaking or otherwise) are really outraged at how the country is being run and honestly I don't blame them.  And while they have some good ideas (I'm sure there's a good one...somewhere?), I find that they tend to blow small things out of proportion.

Will disallowing bullets to be made from lead lead to the banning of guns in our country...I seriously doubt it.  On the other hand, if I shoot someone am I really worried about giving them lead poisoning, probably not.

And, as if only to insight the ire of millions of sensible people, they pick (unofficially of course) the dumbest politician to ever grace the political landscape, as their representative.  Yes...I'm talking about Sarah Palin.  The woman who refers to herself as a pitbull.  The woman who thinks that being able to see Russia from her stoop is sufficient international diplomacy experience.  The list goes on and on.  Thank you John McCain, thank you so much for empowering this moron.

Anyway...back to Glenn Beck.  Truth be told I've never watched the man's show, but it seems as though he would sooner feast on the souls of the left then make any compromise that might help this country move forward as a whole.  Isn't compromise what this country was founded on?  Isn't that why we elect individuals who, in theory, have the experience to find common ground and make a difference?

I've never been a fan of the party system...2 parties or 6 parties, all it does is cause polarization of the American people.  "If you're not with me you're against me!"  "If you don't believe everything I said then I'm sorry, but you'll have to answer for your actions in the here after."  Why can't we see some merit when it comes to a contradictory idea?  Glenn Beck.  That's why.  People like him, people that encourage a closed minded approach to life, people that encourage a "my way or the highway" mentality.  These people are the reason that our country can't make any social progress.

I wish that our ideas about politics and life could be more robust.  In my 29 years on this Earth, I've never come across anything that couldn't be looked at from a different point of view (with obvious exceptions i.e. murder/rape).

Now I'm sure there are some left wing people I could name that are doing an equally good job and fucking us in the ass with their party propaganda, but again I don't listen to them.  The reason I mention Glenn Beck is because he's so outspoken.  I can't think of a left wing broadcaster that is as outspoken as he is and so that makes him my target for the day.

Monday Weigh in #4

Weight Loss for the Weak! ( Don't feel obligated to post your weight just how much you've lost )

I've gained 4 pounds this week.  So I'm now sitting at 279.  I'm still at an overall lose, so I'm not feeling too discouraged.

Struggles and Victories of the Weak!

Taco Bell and Pizza Hut...the dynamic duo of fast food.  At least that's the way they feel to me.  It's actually been months since I've gone to Taco Bell and I was pleasantly surprised to find that the amount of food that I normally order felt like way too much last week.  Unfortunately my brain and tongue just wouldn't listen to my stomach and I finished the whole lot.  I'm going to do better this week though...last week we had a lack of things to eat at the house and didn't make it to the grocery store.  I really feel like that's where things fall apart for me...it's so much easier to call Pizza Hut then to go to a crowded, loud, grocery store.

How can I improve?

As you know I do the couch to 5K program 3 days a week.  I've been thinking of trying to put together a morning exercise routine of some sort that includes some more traditional exercises like push-ups and sit-ups.  I know at first it'll be difficult with my flabby arms and the donut around my middle, but those are the things I'm most self conscience about.  Any suggestions for a simple routine would be extremely welcome. 

Don't forget...the cake is a lie and the cube had to die for it.  Until next time.

World of Warcraft (3WW)

I am in the midst of the first break I've taken from playing the massively multi player online role playing game (MMORPG) called World of Warcraft (WoW).

I've played this game with several friends (both online and real life) for about 4 years now.  I won't pretend that playing this highly addictive game hasn't had negative repercussions on my life but, on the whole playing this game has been a fairly rewarding experience.  I've had a great deal of fun for a relatively low price, I've met a lot of really nice people, and by God my warlock is a bad looking dude!

On the surface it's kind of difficult to see how such a simplistic game could gain such a following (11 million+ players) but, really WoW is ingenious in its simplicity.  The questing and leveling is very easy to begin with and at later levels you get to see some really visually awesome monsters and areas.

Most zones feel very mysterious the first few times through and it's exciting to discover new areas of what has become a vast environment.  Some question while mundane in their actually task offer insight into the story of the area and some even tie into the lore of the game, making you feel like you're part of something.  The shortness of the quests makes it easy for a player to feel like they've accomplished something and made some progress in the game.

So...having said all that I'm sure you're thinking "Well why the hell did you quit playing?"

Well, with 4 continents, thousands and thousands of quests, and a ton of dungeons (my favorite part of the game), WoW is a HUGE time sink.  I mean huge.  If you have other hobbies either they will suffer or your WoW habit will.  At some point you realize that you're seriously struggling with the choice between your online friends and going outside to play a game of softball (my other hobby).

While playing the game the world is so immersive that it becomes really easy to lose all track of time and space around you.  I've sat there and played for what seemed like a very short session (30-40 minutes) and stopped only to realize it was 2 hours later.  It's like the game causes a time warp in your brain...and its not the good kind.

It's been a little over a month since I've logged in and I honestly still think about playing sometimes.  Its especially difficult when I get bored.  I've started to fill my time with other things, like softball and jogging and quality time with the Translator, that to me seem a lot more productive.

I do plan on going to back to WoW as a hobby when the next expansion (an expansion is basically an extension of or change to the content that the game already has) is released.  This time however I think I might use the parental controls that are available with each WoW account to limit my own usage....or maybe just an egg timer so I know when I've played enough.  The developers at Blizzard have made WoW a lot more friendly for the casual players like myself and for that I am very grateful.

Thanks to folks over at 3 Word Wednesday for the challenge.

Monday Weigh in #3

I'm thinking of taking a page from the play book of a blogger the Translator follows.  I really like the format that this particular blogger follows and I think I can adjust it for my own purposes.  Now the basic way I'd like to see this work is to have folks respond to my question of the week in the comments to this post and maybe have folks repost this in their own blogs with their own input for each section.  Lets start something people!1!!

Weight Loss for the Weak! ( Don't feel obligated to post your weight just how much you've lost )

I've lost another 2 pounds this week.  So I'm now sitting at 275! 

Struggles and Victories of the Weak!

I was able to keep my up with Couch to 5K again this week which felt really good.  I'm still having issues with making myself go on Saturdays though.  Just something about getting up and going in the morning when I know I can sleep in.  Another issue I had this weekend was with snacking.  The Translator brought home a bunch of free snacks from the temp job she worked this week...those snacks included a rather large box of Famous Amos cookies.  Enough said.  I was also defeated by the Chinese food monster, however, I limited my egg roll intake to 1 and I got the steamed rice instead of the fried rice.  So not a total lose...at least I don't think it is.

How can I improve?

I've been giving a lot of thought to making my daily lunch a salad instead of a sandwich.  I've tried this before and actually managed to find some satisfaction so far as hunger is concerned.  At the time I had more disposable income then I do now so I was able to get grilled chicken salads from Chick Fila.  My question for the week is...How can I economically have a satisfying salad with some protein in it and not spend my entire lunch hour preparing it?  

I think I've finally come up with a closing for this weekly post.  It may be a little stolen but, I still think its kinda funny.  So here it goes....

Don't forget...the cake is a lie and the cube had to die for it.  Until next time.

My Fair Lady (3WW)

It is generally my policy to abstain from the consumption of musicals.  I've even gone so far as to ban the playing of The Sound of Music in my home but, last night my fair lady made me watch "My Fair Lady" and I have to say...not that bad.

I could have lived without a few of the songs and certainly 3 hours was a bit excessive but, while I was bored with some songs I was highly entertained by others.  I particularly enjoyed the songs featuring Professor Higgins. There is indeed some merit to pondering the question "Why can't women be more like men?"

And then there's dear Audrey Hepburn...someone put a halo over that woman's head.  She's so beautiful and so charismatic.  You can't help but love her, even when she's playing a simple flower girl.

The basic gist of the story (if you haven't seen it before) is that a well to do professor of phonetics makes a bet with another well to do colonel that he can turn a simple flower girl into a lady simply by altering her way of speaking.  Of course, in the process he empowers the flower girl's confidence and unconscientiously teaches the woman to respect herself.

I won't ruin the end for you though I'm sure you can guess what happens.  Like I said before, all in all a very good movie.  I really enjoyed Sabrina and Breakfast at Tiffany's a lot more, so far as Audrey Hepburn movies go, but this movie is one of the better musicals I've seen in my time.

Anyway...I appreciate the prayer and support in my weight loss endeavors.  I couldn't do it without the Translator, even though she thinks she's a bad influence, she really helps me to remember that I can be strong.  That I can say no to cake...hard as that may be.

This is also, my first time doing 3 Word Wednesday.  I actually really enjoy the idea and it certainly made me pick my words more carefully.