Pomegranate Lime Chiller, Shaken, not Stirred

Okay, so a lot...I mean a lot has happened since the last time I made an entry into this collection of experiences. As of March 20th I've lost 40lbs, found my raison d'etre and beat back sciatica with the help of a lot of people and Father making good on a promise: D&C 89:18-20. I'd quit drinking anything with alcohol, quit coffee and right about the time I gained momentum with that, I developed sciatica...after taking a lot of time off from running at my doctor's advice I finally got frustrated enough to kneel and ask God to make good on the promise in the Doctrine and Covenants. I'm embarassed to think I let it go to the point of frustration before I asked Father to help heal me. I was sort of frustrated, desperate and maybe a bit demanding. I hope He isn't taken aback. I never meant to suppose arrogance to demand anything of Father, especially when He's promised the gift that always follows obedience to the commandment. So I hope He wasn't offended.

I went for a run and felt so good that one mile turned into 2 into 3 and about 35 minutes (give or take) I had 4 miles under my belt and felt just fine. I stretched out for a while after and took a hot/cold shower and felt so good. I was thinking I'd be kind of stiff and sore the next day especially after a week long hiatus from running but I wasn't at all. I was so grateful. I don't remember if I thanked Father but I hope He knows I'm so grateful to Him for all the things He's done in watching over me during this journey. He's sent you to me to help me...what a tremendous gift!

Coach, this whole journey has been so incredible. I'm seeing things differently and I've never been as happy. Even when things pile up and get frustrating, the frustration doesn't last long and I know if I'm ever at wit's end, I can pray and I can talk to you. I know I have your support and love. You don't judge me or make me feel like I'm not going to be anything but successful. I can only imagine how it must have been as a child growing up in your home. If I could be a child again, I would hope to be raised by a mother like you. My mother was awesome too and she had so many other children to keep tabs on. I found myself taking on some of those responsibilities myself just to help her...so it was very different for me. I'm so grateful for you and how you encourage me and keep me honest. I would rather cut off my right hand than disappoint you...and I would follow you anywhere. Thank you.

I made that breakfast cereal because of the conversation we had when all you asked me was what I thought my physicalilty was calling for.  It was sort of a ad-hock/spur of the moment thing I felt inspired to make when I found myself energy depleted when I ran. My body kept telling me; "dude you need more protein." I didn't want to start eating animal protein again, not with all the whole plant protein available in my own home...and what I had on hand to supply my body with the protein I felt it was starving for...so when the breakfast cereal came together, guided by your loving encouragement, I thought you should have it...so in a sense, I made it with the intent to helping me have more endurance and then all I wanted to do was just turn it over to you and hoped you'd find it as tasty as I did and maybe one day add it to your website if you thought it was good enough.

You've given me so much I just wanted to give back something even if it was just a little recipe. I had the quinoa, farro, steel cut oats (which I neglected to add to the mix) as well as whole rolled oats. I had shaved almonds, chia, raw cashew pieces, sunflower and green pumpkin seeds, coconut palm sugar and shaved/shredded coconut...so I cooked the grain and mixed in the other things along with a couple tablespoons of pure amber maple syrup and coconut butter spread. I told you about how I made it and what I put into it not thinking you might use it for a project you're working on. So you tweaked it made it even better which is AWESOME! and I'm so proud for you to use something I made that you made even better! I'm so proud for you!

So tonight I felt myself feeling thirsty but didn't want to just have a glass of cold water...I wanted something sort of sweet but cold and tasty too...so I decided to piggyback off of a drink I tasted at FuD (the vegan restaurant in KC). So here it is. It was delicious! It has a sweet and tart taste all at the same time...

Pomegranate Lime Chiller

4oz Rooibos tea
4oz POM Pomegranate Juice
1t    Stevia
The juice of one lime
16 oz ice
Shaken....not stirred (thank you 007)

So my dear Coach...a gift for you on a hot day...please accept it along with my humble gratitude for all that you've done and meant to me. I love you so much. Every morning I pray, I give thanks for you and every night before I close my eyes to sleep I tell Heavenly Father how grateful I am for you and what you've started in my life. Thank you with all my heart...

A thankful Nomad is grateful for you
Cheers!

"This Time Where are You Houston, Will Somebody Listen, Is Somebody Out There?"

First of all, thank you to Tom Delonge and Mark Hopus for writing the song Asthenia for Blink 182. Great song which I totally plagerized for the title of this blog entry...but I'm not being paid for it so....don't sue me.

Okay so I've been a total lazy tool keeping up with my blog. I know this. I've been distracted and it's time to come correct. The whole center of my universe shifted from somewhere just north and west of the Gulf of Mexico to around 40.7500° N, 111.8833° W. If you have to ask, my friend the mostly all knowing (allegedly) Google can help you out with those co-ordinates. My most humble apologies to my avid reader. (since there is as far as I know, only one of you)

So, what have I been doing the last week or so since I've not written in my blog? Well, let's see. I managed to blow off 2 physical therapy appointments because the secretary scheduled me with a different therapist and failed to mention it to me. Nothing irritates me more than having to explain to 2 different people what hurts or is ailing me. Don't these people in the medical world put anything on a patient database and do their homework? Apparently its just easier to play the 20 questions game ever bleeping time I go into see the doctor, therapist, nurse pacticioner or whatever. Seriously, this is why I abhor/hate going to the doctor and taking a trip to one with my wife makes me want to punch a hole in a wall sometimes...its like every time we go in..."ma'am do you have any allergies to medication? Are you taking any medications at the moment?" Um no, she's playing the "$64,000.00 Question" with you! Just once I'd like to respond to the person filling out the dossier on my wife so the doctor can ask her the same flipping questions..."um, is she taking any medications? It would be quicker to list the ones she isn't taking...now run along and look on your computer and see what those are, I'm sure her internal medicine doctor had someone put them on a data base somewhere. If you get lost I'm sure Google can help you out." WHAT THE EFF?! I think I'd rather just get cancer and shoot myself in the face while simultaneously punching myself in the junk than go through that every time I went to the doctor. Which is why I have to practically have a bone sticking out somewhere important or something to get me to go. The only one I really trust is my orthopedic surgeon who rebuilt my right shoulder and that's about it.

I'm not a fan of doctors ordering tests for you when they're not needed or refusing one just because they tell me my insurance won't cover it until whenever. I think ordering a test or ordering therapy for a patient without first discovering a symptom that would lead a doctor to request a certain test or course of physical therapy is foolhardy, irresponsible and dangerous. Who are they all studying medicine under these days, Greg House? How about letting me pee in a cup first before determining if I might have an insulin problem before shoving glucose (read high fructose corn syrup) down my gob. Or thinking outside the box and ordering an MRI along with the x-ray before allowing a therapist to bend and contort my body and possibly causing further complication to whatever joint is injured. Oh and another thing...

Truth in advertising...sort of. I'm laughing my rather shrinking behind off at these stupid corn ads on TV. Recently the corn growers (probably failed football players from Nebraska or Iowa) have launched a campaign for high fructose corn syrup...some lady is walking through a totally airbrushed cornfield somewhere in Whogivesacrapfieldville, Iowa chatting up the camera saying, "experts have said that there is no difference in how your body reacts to high fructose corn syrup and cane sugar," ...blah, blah, frickety blaaaaaaaah! You know what, she's probably telling the truth. What she isn't saying is that though the body may treat HFCS and cane sugar and beet sugar the same since it's all processed, it's still most likely (and I haven't researched this other than just seeing the people where I live/lived) the largest cause of obesity, type 2 diabetes (and all the other types) and tooth decay in our country right next to the education department cutting out Phys-ed and the advent of PlayStation, X-Box and Wii. What she doesn't say is that if you quit eating processed sugar and so forth and get your sugar naturally from plants like coconut, the birch tree, and green leaf stevia etc, your body will thank you but the chemical companies and food additive companies etc will be pissed as Hell.

Another thing I've been meaning to bring up but haven't is the whole GMO issue. I read an article in of all places a leading women's magazine (normally I just look at them because of the hot movie star on the cover) but this one caught my eye because it talked about Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO) and I thought, "I've become more diet conscious, let's give this a read." What I read was about 4 and a half pages of double speak and duplicity. In the article they talked about genetically modifying salmon and farm raising them so they would grow faster and be available to consumers at a higher rate along with modifying grain that was fed to cattle...I don't recall what the modification was but the charlatans, errrr scientists said is that they didn't find any genetic markers that would indicate that the modified grain in any way altered the cattle they fed. So we're really NOT what we eat? Really? So those cattle they fed genetically modified grain, not altered in any way? I mean they still look like cows but their freakishly huge sci-fi not normal size didn't give any of these PHD (Piled High and Deep) types a moment for pause? How long did they research those particular cattle? Did they monitor and test the offspring of those cattle? Nothing in the article to suggests they did which leads me to wondeder... either they did and found next-gen modification in the offspring and don't want people to know about it or they didn't do the tests all together.

It's hilarious in our society today how it's perfectly okay for the FDA to approve steroids for livestock, steroids and growth hormones that end up in the meat consumers buy in the butcher shops and grocery stores and then shove down their cake holes, but if an athlete slams a syringe of growth hormone or equine testosterone in his butt cheek, he can be banned for life from competing in the sport of his profession and then waste my tax dollars sitting on CSPAN in front of congress and lying about it to millions...yet it's perfectly fine for our government to slam genetically modified grains and steroids into our food source and poison them with pesticides and herbicides...does anyone remember DDT? How duplicitous.

Okay, rant over. I realize that in this day and age it's impossible for anyone to get purely non-contaminated food, with all the chemicals in our water supply and airborne pathogens and particulates floating around it's a wonder the planet doesn't more resemble something out of a Robert Rodriguez zombie film (Google it if you don't know - I love Google) But I guess the tactical strategy going forward is to eat organic as much as possible in order to not get a larger dose of crap that's floating around in our water supply and squirming about in our soil. I truly believe we are what we eat...then so are the cows, horses, pigs, sheep, goats and chickens. If I omitted any other farm animals, my apologies in advance to them if they read this. I did leave out the ass but I think there's a Book of Mormon prophet that references an ass somewhere. I read that once...

On a much cooler and more serene note, I made a totally kick-@$$ fruit salad this week and some killer banana/raw cashew/cranberry/orange muffins just for kicks. (it's my variation of the banana-chocolate chip muffin recipe from "the web site.")

Here's the recipe for the fruit salad:

1/2 lb raspberries

1/2 lb blackberries

1/2 lb sliced strawberries

1/2 lb diced fresh pineapple

1T     coconut palm sugar

2T     shredded raw coconut

1HF* sliced raw almonds

1HF* chopped pecans

Juice from 1 whole Lemon

*HF = Hand Full

Combine all ingredients into a large bowl, cover with a lid and shake gently (or violently if you're in a hurry) to mix all the ingredients like I did, or you can just get a large spatula or spoon and mix them if you're not into "caveman" style mixing...cuz let's face it, it's all gonna be mush pretty soon anyway...and it's all good!

Over all pretty tasty and the amino acids in the coconut sugar gives it a nice muscle cell rebuilding property which at my age I need...

Again, loyal reader, thank you for checking in. And thank you for coaching me!

Cheers!

With One Step With One Flow You Will Know Synchronicity...

Okay, so here's the deal...today same as any other day recently, I've been feeling much better about my back. The doctor has told me she believes I have sciatica...fun for me right...not so much. Her advice; "stop running." I heeded it pretty much til it was either do something or fall face first onto a really sharp ice pick. I went swimming, did the elliptical trainer and some mild jogging in a really short circle in the community fitness center upstairs rubberized track...and I was going nuts.

I went to physical therapy and was again told why I probably didn't need an MRI and the therapist was really cool and told me most times with what I had which could be a mild case of sciatica, could be fixed over time with a regimen of stretching and rest and again little to no running. I had prayed for and fasted for help from God to ease my sore back and keep me from having nerve damage in my lower back and I just thought, "you know, I've been doing what is required for the blessing of "health to my navel and marrow to my bones - run and not be weary, walk and not faint" so why not ask for the promise that went with the principle? Yah, why not?

So I did.

As of today, I have very little ache and stiffness in my back, I stretch and do what my therapist told me to do, have appointments with the PT clinic through July and probably scaring the crap out of my Personal Health Coach.  (hey, I promised you and me and my body I'd listen to it and I have...promise) I have run nearly every day this week except for yesterday and feel great. No residual discomfort whatsoever...so what does this tell me? God answers prayers, He delivers when called upon and always has the game plan firmly tucked into his waistband and always calls the right play when it's needed. All I have to do is execute it and all will be well.

Today I ran a different route. I got about 3 and a half miles into my run and shut it down. At 10:30am the temperature in Warrens-tucky was about 88 degrees with 20 degrees less humidity and I was feeling a bit like I just needed to take a walk for a while...so my game plan was to run in the shade walk in the sun. That plan gives me a great chance to get a tan on my scary mask tattoo and my arms as well not to mention take the time to look around for things that might be beautiful and otherwise missed, besides I was sweating like a Fin in a sauna.

As I was coming up the street and headed toward home I came up on the Warrensburg post office and saw as I approached a guy who looked like an extra from "Night of the Living Dead" minus a the cool leprosy special effects makeup. He was maybe between the age of 70 and half way to Methuselah and moved like he couldn't decide to take the next step or take a dirt nap...poor bugger. I could tell he was going into the post office because he had decided to head up the wheel chair ramp to the front doors and at the last minute decided maybe that was more cardio than he wanted to do in a hot humid morning so he went around it. I quickly ran around him, grabbed the front door to the post office and held it for him so he could shuffle inside.

He mumbled something unintelligible to me as he passed by and after that I took off and headed home. It got me to thinking...Nothing happens by accident. Everything is in perfect sync. Had I not stopped to walk/run the rest of the way home, I would have missed the chance to help this old gentleman out and even though it was no big deal to me, just one random act of kindness shown an old man might parlay into something really big for him later on...okay maybe not but who knows? Maybe its just that when I'm an old codger and can't get my feet moving quite as fluidly as I do now, I'm hoping that the karma I banked early in my life will pay dividends when I'm half way to pushing up daisies.

So I thanked God for the surreality check and finished my run. I don't know how long it took but I know I was still sweating like I'd just run through a car wash and grateful for the experience. So I have that going for me.

Thanks for looking in!

Cheers.

What's for Lunch? FϋD!

The other day the wife and I went out to look at some prospective houses in the city. Saw a couple duds and then saw a really cool bungalow that I was excited about. Okay excited is kind of an understatement. I was more like the kind of excited a 18yr old guy gets kissing the incomparable 17yr old girl he knows is the love of his life for the very first time kind of excited! It had a lot of nice features, not much in the way of upgrades for us to do if we purchased the property and the price was right. It looked small inside only because the guy who owns the property at the moment has more shoes than me and Emelda Marcos combined and enough button down shirts and suits to start his own satellite "Men's Warehouse" (you're going to like the way you look, I guarantee it) and enough cologne to open his own counter at Macy's. The neighborhood is where we finally settled upon living when we move and so I thought all was well. I later discovered that wasn't quite the case. I think my wife just has this anxiety about  moving since where we are now is the longest she's lived in any one stretch of time in her entire life. I, on the other hand have moved more times than a high school freshman playing dodge ball with the school's baseball team pitching staff. (that's a lot).

Heidi in front of FϋD 

After a few hours of house hunting and coming to a sort of consensus on which house we wanted to make an offer, we decided to head to the West Side of Kansas City for lunch. I read in an indie newspaper about a vegan restaurant called FϋD. After being seated on the street (our choice) we ordered our food; my wife ordered an Avocado sandwich made with one half an Avocado with seasonal sliced vegetables & Greens topped with Dillanayz & Thrillanayz (not sure what all is in them) on Cracked Wheat Bread and I ordered a "Jack Reuben" made from seasoned green jack fruit paired with sauerkraut and their own sauce and I'm not entirely sure what was in the sauce but the sandwich was delicious. To drink, I had what they call a Red Cooler made from fresh apple juice mixed with cranberry juice and brewed rooibos tea. My wife had a chocolate cacao chip shake made with raw cacao powder, raw cacao nibs, agave-cashew milk and crushed ice. All of their foods are whole and organic so I was curious as to how my sandwich would taste. Without question it was the best lunch I've had since I left my own kitchen. This place was totally legit as far as strictly vegan fare. I mean I've been vegan for just over 2 months and I have eaten at 2 different vegan restaurants. One was not really strictly vegan but made a good attempt (what my PHC calls "transitional vegan) and though there were no animal protein items on their menu, they missed on being a "whole food/organic" vegan restaurant, whereas FϋD hit right in the bulls-eye dead center!

We met the owner/proprietor, Heidi (pictured above in front of the restaurant). She's what I would describe as ecclectic and very, very cool and told us she'd been vegan for 20 years. We told her I'd been vegan for 2 months and a few days. She took the time to talk to us for about a half hour and was kind of surprised at what I had learned thus far about being vegan and what stuff to eat and where it came from and so forth. I explained I had a great personal health coach who was teaching me via Skype from Houston and she thought that was awesome. My wife told her it was weird, (not in a bad way) but that I'd taken a trip to Utah for a week alone and came home and declared that I was vegan and quit drinking alcohol and eating animal protein etc and told her how much weight I'd lost in such a short time. What was not lost on me was that as Heidi and my wife were talking I thought I detected that she was kind of proud of me for the first time in months. So all in all a great day and maybe we bought a house but that remains to be seen!

Thanks for reading!
Cheers!

Take Xylitol For Any Headaches, and Midol For Any Cramps

Funny story...the other night I'm bringing my wife a fresh baked banana-walnut muffin nearly straight from the oven...with a little notso butter and only about a 3rd of a muffin she says...because she is going to be asleep shortly and doesn't need to eat a whole one...which is good because the last 3 batches of muffins could pass as ottomans. They're seriously huge. Way more muffin than any one man should eat in one sitting. If I were Otis Spank-meyer, I wouldn't be too worried though because I still haven't figured out a way to mass produce them (muffins) anyway and then I'd have to give my Health Coach a massive kick back because they're her recipes anyway...but I digress.

My wife asks me (again) what is in the muffins, since earlier that day she called and told me that her wheat alergy is kicking up and was there any way I could make them without flour. So I asked my health coach and she suggests spelt I'd heard of spelt, that could work! Enter SPELT!

I've only casually heard of spelt before; sounds like something you pull out of a lake though there's nothing fishy about it, so I figured why not? Upon colluding with my health coach, operation Spelt was in full effect! I found some miraculously in Warrensburg and immediatly went to work making new muffins.

The muffins turned out fabulous and my wife asked me for that 3rd of a whole one as mentioned before...then she asked me that question I dread answering... "what's in these?" I started ticking off ingredients and when I came to Xylitol on the list of things (all of about 10 or so...find that on an Otis Spunkmeyer muffin and then keep adding ingredients/chemicals until you hit about 40 or so) she asked me...does everything we eat have to have xylitol in it? What other kinds of sweeteners do you use? Oh and what is xylitol anyway? I explained that xylitol comes from the birch tree and other natural plants like some fruits and corn cobs and the reason I use it in our food especially baked goods is because it has the reverse effect on our bones and teeth that regular processed sugars made from sugar beets and cane have on our teeth and bones like tooth decay, and also it helps prevent osteoperosis and so on...so that seemed to work for now...she said the name freaked her out which I find ironically funny because this is a woman who ingests about 6 different prescription medications daily, some of which are potentially dangerous to her internal organs like her liver, kidneys and heart and the word "DEATH" as a potential side effect in some of them...and she's worried about xlyitol sounding weird? That's macbre! She's coming around and trying new things so I'm very encouraged and I understand for her it will take time...Rome wasn't  built in a day...It's gonna take time :)

Cheers and Happy Mosh Pitting!

Doctor, Doctor, Can't You See My Hip is Burning?

Okay, there’s no other way to spell this other than saying finding out I have possibly got sciatica is massively disappointing considering I ran my best 5.5 mile time since coming back from my half decade hiatus from running. I had 5 different x-rays done and an examination by a doctor and she concluded that for the immediate future my running was going to have to wait. That in a word sucks! Okay that’s the dark cloud…here’s the silver lining:

As much as it is a bummer to have to reel in my running there are other things I can do to keep myself fit cardio-vascular wise and still keep on track to prepare to run a marathon in the fall if my doctors say it’s okay for me to do so…if not, no biggie right? I mean the main goal here is to be able to walk when I’m 100 and be fit doing it. My diet is on track and doing well. I’m eating better than I ever have and feeling so much better. So I have that going for me. I just can’t run for a while, and no one said it would be forever. I can golf, swim bike and use the elliptical trainer not to mention weight training as well so I have options. All is not lost. Actually swimming will help strengthen my core muscles tremendously and help build my lung capacity as well as my chest shoulder and arm muscles…and I’ve been saying all along that I really should improve my upper body strength. Nothing I can think of would do that better than having them pull 185lbs through the water for 3000 meters.

So while I’m disappointed about not running, the other options give me a lot of reason to be and stay optimistic. Then there’s the spiritual aspect of my training. There are things I believe are absolute truths things I know at the core of my being are right. Principles with Divine promise…things if I adhere to and obey, I will reap the blessings of those principles. So long as I continue to stay focused on my diet, mainly eating whole plants and grains and avoiding things like caffeine, and stay humble, I know Father will hold up his end of the bargain. He’s promised me and cannot lie. He has promised me that all things I desire in righteousness will be given to me and nothing will be withheld. What I desire is a functioning left hip and spine…and I know it requires that I heed the council of my health coach, my doctors and therapists…and listen for the spirit and follow the guidance I receive from it as well as what I am able to glean from the words of those who have gone before me…the ancient prophets and masters. They had a direct conduit to our Heavenly Father and I would be wise to follow their wise council as well as pray continuously for divine guidance for myself directly from Him. My main focus needs to be heavily entrenched in my spiritual recovery process and I know as I heal there my body will follow. It cannot help but do so. Also I've thought about fasting with the sole purpose of asking Father in Heaven to help me with my sciatica and all those suffering with the same affliction. Perhaps if I ask Father to help those who need his help and while He's at it relieve my discomfort and heal my spine as well we can work something out. Its worth a shot. If He needs me to show Him more...I've got more...

There are things I don’t but should and will eventually comprehend about all of this and while I don't, I have to have faith it will all work out. I know faith can produce miracles. I really believe that healing my hip and alleviating my sciatica would be a major miracle… I can’t wait to see how it all works out! After a trial of my faith, then cometh the blessings. I’m very excited! Very hopefull and I know good will come of this!

Run and Not be Weary

So...I'm on day 2 of no caffeine. Yesterday I took the day off and didn't run yesterday trying to give my hip the day off. I'm worried about the possibility of having sciatica. I've tried to stay more consistent on my regimen of herbs and so forth and and it seems to be working out rather well.

I didn't have any hip soreness or tightness this morning and so I decided to go running. Not a bad thing at all...I run the DD Loop which is posted below...

The one big difference I felt this morning is that before I started out I knelt and prayed to have the Lord's healing hand on me as I ran and to prove me herewith the promise of keeping the word of wisdom...I prayed and acknowledged I'd been 2 days off caffeine and could He please help me make my goal of finishing my run...

Not only did I finish, I finished a whole minute and a half faster than I have since the last time I ran the loop. Awesome huh?!

Okay so I'm off to get my blood drawn and see about getting an Otho consult for my hip! Fun!

Sorry this is so short today...Thanks Coach...I love you. You're the best!

Running to Safety

Apologies in advance to my Personal Health Coach for my slacking on keeping up with my blog. All the time she devotes to helping me and others to get and stay healthy, the least I can do is keep my blog current....so here we go.

After last night and the wonderful experience of receiving my patriarchal blessing in the mail, I felt I needed to celebrate by making a legit run this morning. I thought maybe a change of scenery would help reduce some of the boredom a 4-5 mile run can provide. Even with new music in my I-pod it can get tedious...

This morning I got a quick hello from Coach and a smile and thumbs up! Tooootally made my day! I know she's dedicated to seeing me through my transformation and that inspires me because I was a trainwreck when she found me.

I took off on my new route sort of making it up as I went along. This time instead of running west then south, I ran north then west to PCA road until it crossed the highway onto the north part of town then west toward were Walmart and the movie theater are located. Its a challenging run with a few decent hills and I was feeling really good the first 3 miles of the run and then I started feeling a little bit tired. I'm happy now that I drank my morning smoothie of ashuaghanda, chia, maca root and morenga powder along with half a cup of coconut milk, a T xylitol and 2 T of raw cacao powder. Also sampled about 3 T of red beans and rice prepared overnight and they tasted AWESOME!!!!! Great recipe Coach!

I ran the whole 5.44 miles and finished in 44 min 45 seconds. just under 9min/mile pace. I have to do better. If I'm going to run a sub 50 minute 10K in the near future I have got to step up my game. I have to do better than I have but I also realize I'm working thru siatic nerve issues and a sore left hamstring (sore from a 7 yr old hamstring tear while serving in Korea) issue so I'm not pushing as hard as I can in order to prevent making things worse. For the first time in my life I'm acutally listening to my body.



Overpass Loop

Coach has been riding me like an old stubborn army mule about quitting coffee. I love her for it. It's the hardest vice I have to overcome. Dang it! Beer and bourbon weren't this difficult. I havent' had any today and it's past 11am so there won't be any later. I can do this!

Thank you, Coach for keeping after me and encouraging me. I love you and only want you to be proud of me. If I can do that I know someone else will be proud of me too.

Cheers!

Upon Further Review....

So I had a night to sleep on yesterday's dust-up with the Mrs. What I've concluded (probably convolutedly) is that both of us over-reacted. She made a comment about stuff with onions and I came back with the comment about her having selective allergic reaction syndrome...(a distant relative to SDS or Selective Deafness Syndrome, which afflicts children from about the age of 10 until 18...or until 48 if you're a man). In other words, "she said some things, and I said some things..." Next thing you know its "here we go again!" So pointless.

I got defensive and she felt threatened...seems that's how wars get started or something. "Mr Breznef, your borsht taste like dirt from a field in Syberia fertilized with Yak dung."

"Da? vell, Mizter Nixon, your noze looks like za ski jump outside za Olympic williage ve haaf bin conztruktink for za upcoming vinter olympics in Mozkow, da? Vhat do you think of zat?"

The following morning we started talking again and rehashing the previous night's "discussion" about food. She told me she would rather eat things whole like a whole avacado or a whole carrot or whatever and that sometimes she just doesn't like things all blended together and could we maybe do that too. She didn't bring up onions...until much later.

So anyway, we're in the car headed into KC and she starts asking me if she can have a cashew as I'm eating a breakfast snack of cashews and Brazil nuts while we drive into town... Defensive-pig-headed me says; "sure, help yourself." She does and then helps herself to another and so on... After a while she asks me... "is all white rice processed." I answered that I believed so but I'd look on line via my android (sometimes) smartphone and see what we would see. Then answer was pretty much yes. All white rice has been processed/bleached or whatever by removing the husk of the grain thus removing the bran and fiber from around the grain. And then most of the time the remaining rice grain is "fortified" with vitamin B and polished so its nice and shiny... reminds me of that non-nutriant cereal varnish Clark Griswold was working on for Ed Shirley, his boss on Christmas Vacation.

On the way home, we stopped at Ghengis Kahn, my favorite resturant in all of KC. I had a wondeful plate of Mongolian barbequed vegetables...red and green bell pepper, a ton of white onions, jalepeno peppers, water chestnuts, zuccini, cabbage, mushrooms and the hottest sauce I could concoct along with sesame seeds sprinkled over the top and fresh parsley (which I won't be adding next time as it made my whole plate taste like spicy hot grass). Regardless it was delicious.

We made a pit stop due to heavy traffic on the drive home because she needed a "fix" (read Dr. Pepper) so as we're walking back to the car she admitted to me that her co-workers thought I was awesome and handsome and blah blah blah as if that was going to soften the next blow...she told a couple of them about our "discussion" about onions...about how I told her I didn't think she's notice them as much because I diced them so small and sautee'd them in coconut oil before mixing in the other ingredients...as if right? So we go from her angry at me to her "diming" me out to to her friends at work and this makes me sweet and attractive how? Whatever. I guess it is kind of funny but bottom line here is, when it comes to making dinner for my wife, I have to be like the soup Nazi on Seinfeld and say; "NO SPICE & NO ONION FOR YOU!"

Color me royally messed with. I guess I deserve that...or something. On a totally different note, she's not sure she likes the house where we're moving..."the basement is smaller than I remember and so is the garage..." Really? Whatever, if we decide we don't like it or she hasn't beat me to a pulp in my sleep with a cast iron skillet, I think its still okay to list and sell the house and move... that's still okay in this country right?

"...all these things shall be to give thee experience..." message received, Lima-Charlie (loud and clear).

Cheers!

P.S. Thanks for listening Coach. I love you.

You Think You're Better Than ME?

So last night was not a really good night. Didn't get my run in, had a really stupid fight with my wife. Apparently because I'm not a nurse, I don't know jack squat about nutrition or science and my thoughts and opinions aren't viable and not credible because I don't have a nursing degree or a degree of any kind. The argument last night had to deal with my buying nutritional in between meal bars. All of which contain no processed sugars or anything in them that isn't holistic. She claimed that eating them at work was making her fat. I mean she would have to eat like 900 of them for that to be true. There's like maybe 100 calories in them and none of those calories would lead to her retaining fat around her abdomen...

So she tells me that nuts and so forth are heavy in fat...and I'm like yes they are fatty but they contain the good kind of fat you need in your body not the processed fat that your body stores and can't digest or process. Her response was, "I'm a nurse, you think I don't know that?" Like what? I'm not a nurse and haven't been to college or whatever so it makes what I say less credible or the articles and documentation made my dudes and dudettes with PHd's in nutritional science not credible?  My dad used to pull that crap with all of us kids whenever we'd say something that hit too close to a nerve with him..."you kids dont' know sh*t," was what he'd say..."you haven't been anywhere or been to college or..."blah, blah, blah. Whatever. I'm happy he got his "sheepskin." I'm sure it has really helped him sort and deliver the US Mail. How does that work? I got a history major at BYU so I could be the Postman. Not quite the way he saw that working out I"m sure.

My dad and my wife are brilliant people. I know it and in case my take on their intelligence isn't valid because I'm not a psychologist, just ask them, they'll both tell you they're brilliant. Not to boast about their knowledge, but because its true. However, what I'm experiencing is that while both of them are brilliant, they both lack (at times) inspiration. What I'm trying to do and I'm experiencing is inspiring and helpful...but being attacked by my wife doesn't make me feel inspired. It just makes me feel attacked. Its the old power struggle thing but what she doesn't realize is that I don't give a hoot in a "holler" about power. Its all imagined anyway. I don't have any power over anyone. I just have free agency to choose the right or choose the not-so-right. If others feel threatened by that, that's their issue. I just felt a huge energy drain from last night and into the morning. I've removed anything that will remind my wife that I'm on a different diet than her. I won't quit what I'm doing but I'm not going to have things around that would give her the impression that I'm taunting her or saying without saying; "in your face." or anything like that. If she wants to join me she can. I can imagine how much turbulence there will be when I return to the church too.

She told me last night all we've done since I've been home is argue. I also don't see that. We've had maybe 2 heated discussions, a fight (sort of) and a conversation about why her son and his pregnant girlfriend are still squatting in our home and why his destruction of walls and doors in our home is being allowed and why when he has a perfectly useful space to live, he's still here. After that blew up in my face I just stopped bringing it up and refuse to talk about it anymore or talk to them. All the rest of it is her thinking if we have a discussion with differing viewpoints, we're arguing and fighting. She's stressed about work, stressed about moving, stressed about her son and his pregnant girlfriend, stressed because the train wreck of their failed attempt to get married cost us money...all things I couldn't care less about because I'm powerless to change any of them. I'm trying to concentrate on things I have control over. My effort and my attitude. It doesn't mean I don't care about them. I'm just not going to get wrapped up in the blanket of stress over things I can't control.

Why is it when those who love you see you start to take a different direction or try and change, they feel threatened? Is it the fear that you might leave them or run from them? So what, they attack you so you'll feel good about staying or want to be around them even more? Really? All last night's dog and pony show made me want to do is get on my motorcycle and ride south til I hit the Texas coast. I know this hasn't been easy. I'm trying to remain positive.

This morning I pulled up D&C 122:7-8 and as I'm sure you know, it says:

7 And if thou shouldst be cast into the pit, or into the hands of murderers, and the sentence of death passed upon thee; if thou be cast into the deep; if the billowing surge conspire against thee; if fierce winds become thine enemy; if the heavens gather blackness, and all the elements combine to hedge up the way; and above all, if the very jaws of hell shall gape open the mouth wide after thee, know thou, my son, that all these things shall give thee experience, and shall be for thy good.

8 The Son of Man hath descended below them all. Art thou greater than he?

So that says to me...is okay...a lot of people have suffered even greater trials and tribulations and they're okay....You'll be okay too. All is well. It really is. It just stings sometimes that's all. And no I don't think I'm better than anyone else...I'm just me trying to be better than the "me" of yesterday, not anyone else...just that guy, the "me" of yesterday...needs to be not as good as the "me" today...that's it and that's all.

I know this was kind of a rant. If you made it all the way through it, thank you. I appreciate everything you've done and continue to do for me Coach. Thank you so very much.

Cheers!

Teecinno and Artie-bisque

    Today's title sounds like a bad made for TV movie right? So anyway, my ever loving PHC is trying like a mad bandit to get me off....of coffee...its possible and at some point I won't see the need for it. Actually, I realize I don't "need" it per-se, I just like the taste...so at her suggestion I decided to to try this wildly odd concoction called teecinno...its totally decaffinated and has this wild melange of flavor and what's really cool is I can brew it a cup at a time in my coffee maker! Bonus! Tonight I brewed up some and what do you know? It has a sort of mocha-coffee-ish taste to it...and as it turns out it tastes GREAT! Good thing too because I wasn't about to toss out my Starbucks coffee mugs!
    Now on to the next portion of this entry...the artichoke bisque...I followed the recipe to the letter...and it turned out tasting absolutely divine! OMG moment totally! However-dot-com...turns out there were waaaaaaaaaaay too many onions in it for my wife to handle as she has this on again off again onion allergy. The next time she orders onion rings at a resturant or at SONIC I'm walking home. :)
    So I felt bad that she didn't eat more than a bite. She said it tasted delicious but there were way too many onions. So what I learned from this situation: I need to be more aware of my wife's sensitivities...I mean I've been with her for going on 14 years. I know she's got this thing about onions and yet I still put them in there at full strength thinking maybe this time she will be able to eat them...guess that's what I get for thinking. I've come to the conclusion that what I need to do from now on is what I'm going to call "his and hers" cooking. I will make every recipe according to the way it was designed for my consumption and leave all the spices, onions and garlic out of what I prepare for her and let her season her food however she wants...I figure as long as she's getting something nutritious, its better than nothing...I on the other hand will be reaping the benefits of eating everything that's included in the recipe and getting the full effect of the nutrients in them.
    Reminds me of that song about women getting weary because of all the stress or wearing the same old shabby dress or something like that and when they get weary..."try a little tenderness." Or words to that effect. I guess I don't need her getting weary of me trying to kill her with nutrition...which also reminds me of a joke:
    This guy was at a funeral for his recently deceased 3rd wife. A distant relative asked him how he could possibly go on after so much loss in his life and he was curious about how this man's wives all died...The man calmly told his distant relative that his first 2 wives had died from comsuming poison mushrooms.
    Shocked the distant relative said; "I almost hate to ask...how did your third wife die?"
    The man nonchallauntly answered him; "she died as a result of a fractured skull...she wouldn't eat her mushrooms."
    Anyway....I just need to remain sensitive to her condition(s)...and not get my feelings hurt when she turns her nose up at something different. It's kind of funny, its almost like making something new for a child to try...good gracious you'd think I was trying to jam brussel sprouts down a 6 year old's pie-hole :) I'm joking...she's okay. I just need to be more attentive.
    And now for something completely different - I got my run in tonight, 4.6 miles in 39:15! not too bad. I did the complete distance without stopping and felt great after finishing. I tried to add a loop at livestrong.com but for some reason it wouldn't let me save it so I had to do a screen capture. The data in the right collumn isn't accurate. The 4.6 miles took me 39:15 not 38:25. Maybe next time I'll hit that 38:25!

    I did some weight training on Saturday with legs, leg presses, hamstring curls, quad extensions and squats...Sunday morning when I got up, I couldn't figure out why my legs and butt hurt...could not concieve of a reason even knowing I'd lifted weights with my legs the day before...total "DUH" moment...but the cool thing was after walking around for like maybe 5 minutes I felt no soreness and bounded upstairs to get my lunch ready. Totally weird this new lifestyle...and totally into its total AWESOMENESS!!!!!
    Thanks so much Coach. I love you for all you do for me...love you so much!!!

Cheers!

Stiff Neck'd

Okay so today I ran for the second day in a row. Shorter run than yesterday and I didn't finish the whole thing either time...I was pretty tired when I started so it stands to reason right?

I ran last night and it was nice and cool not too bad but today though the sky was overcast, it was still kinda warmish...so when i hit 3 miles it felt like 6 and I was getting knackered pretty fast...soooo I fast walked and ran alternately til I got home...

For breakfast I had mushroom stew with quinoa mixed in about 1 part to 1 part...it was AWESOME! so delicious! Oh and I dumped a huge dose of curry in it too...soooo good!

I had to deal with a pinched nerve in my shoulder/neck area all during my run yesterday and today....it was brutal and not very fun...but I tried to power through it and managed but ended up on the masseuse' table for an hour and a half... that helped considerably...I now feel much, much better.

I tried the refried bean recipe from my coach...its delicous...and the tomato soup was wildly delicious! I'm so blessed. I'm excited for my next meeting with her on the 8th. She has been such an inspiration in my life. She's encouraged me to not just concentrate on one specificl area but be a well rounded guy and embrace the total person concept...She's so awesome...totally dig her!

Cheers!

Another Day...Whew!

Every day I wake up its a blessing. I get one more day to try and figure something out....like well, anything. I'm not sure what I'm going to learn today but I'm pretty sure it won't get lost on me. Each day is a secret, sacred journey. One step at a time, one moment at a time, one day at a time...all in the here and now...in the moment. I don't have to worry about yesterday since I have no intention on revisiting it. Everything that happened yesterday was perfect. I got to take some interesting pictures. I learned how to use my laptop camera and fiddle with the pictures with some editing software...so it was all good.

So that's what I did yesterday. Not your garden variety excitement. Of course getting out to get in a 4 mile run yesterday followed by making and devouring a chocolate smoothie made with coconut water, raw cacao powder, cacao nibs and mejoll dates (I was out of bananas). It was AWESOME!!!!! I took a long hot/cold shower after, smiled when I thought about Coach patting me on the back after finishing my run and her smiling at me hoping she's proud of me and feeling her with me every step of the way in soul and spirit. I love that about her. I can always tell when she's there. Her spirit wiggles into my soul, hugs me and kisses me and tells me I CAN and WILL. What a tremendous blessing!

After my shower and scrubdown, I headed over to the Central Missouri University campus and Lion's Lake to take pictures. I got shots of the bell tower where the Muslim community and the rest of Warrensburg gathered in the wake of the 9/11 terrorist attack on the WTC. I remember it was a very somber and holy moment for a lot of people. One Imam from the Muslim community addressed the people there and decried the attack on the United States and basically said that nothing good will come of this. It was a really incredible moment, Muslims and Christians, Buddhists and non-denominational people all gathered together. It was a very polarizing moment. I'm sure it was like that all over the country.

I took some pictures around town and haven't had a chance to edit them yet but I'm sure I will soon. This is the first time I've put any pictures on my blog so I hope they look okay. I'm sure if they look like pig-swill someone will tell me :)

Cheers.

P.S. I love you Coach!

Bad Dog - NO BISCUIT!

I get home from work yesterday, everything seems normal...I go into my bedroom and see my three hounds slinking out the door with their tails between their legs...and then I see it..."the horroraaaaahh."

My beloved hounds managed to pull the box my Personal Health Coach sent me off my dresser and helped themselves to chia seed, farrow grain and spicy seaweed and some dried fruit...I was not happy...that was the downside. The upside, my dogs won't have to worry about fiber or getting enough high protein grains for a few days. I just hope they don't get sick.

The bummer side of it is now I have to go out and buy chia and farrow along with dried beans so I can make a couple of Coach's bean recipies. I'm hoping to make the red beans and rice and one other bean recipie this week and just fuel up and rock!

I stepped on the bathroom scale 2 days ago and got a definative measure of 195lbs! Its the first time I've been 195 since 2006 when I ran the Air Force Marathon. So needless to say I'm very excited.

I ran my new 4+mile loop today and only stopped for a quick 100 yard quick recovery walk about  3 miles into the run then ran the remaining mile+ home. I'm very tired but I feel really good regardless. All day today I thought about Coach and how much she inspires me to do good all areas of my life. She's really trying hard to get me to focus on my spirituality and fitness telling me in so many sweet words that if I take care of my spirituality, the rest will follow and I'll be happy too. She didn't use those exact words but I am recieving her sweet message loud and clear and I love her so much for treating and caring for me as a total person and I really appreciate that she tells me that her mentoring comes from a place of love for me and caring about what happens to me down the road. I'm so blessed to have her leading me. I hope some day I can in some small way contribute to her efforts to help others...I love her so much and the work she's doing. I'm all in with what she is about. I just hope some day to do more and stay on board with her and be part of her team even if she only needs me just a little bit...anything I can do to help her for all she's done for me....seems so understated.

Again thank you coach...Thank you for "taking whatever was broken and endeavoring to help it become whole." Thank you.

Cheers!

When is Dinner...not...Dinner

Today was a pretty good day. I got in a nice run (4 miles...ahthankyou!) and after showering and scrubbing up my lymphatic system :) my wife and I decided to go for a drive after running a few errands.

Our drive took us to Clinton, Missouri...a small town about 25 miles south of Warrensburg. Actually the town's population is larger than Warrensburg but the sheer ruralness of the town is somewhere between small town USA and Winter's Bone." (Its a movie). We hit a few antique shops and bumped around the town square for a while...a lot of the shops have since closed/went out of business. My favorite place in the square was an ecclectic and eccentric shop called; "The White Rabbit." Great place. There were skeletons dressed in a top hat and tux holding a raven ("ever more!") and another one with a blond Marilyn Monroe wig and a gauze wedding dress. I did mention it's ecclectic right?

Around 5pm my wife announced she was hungry so we started hunting for something to eat. The hunt took us to a little Mexican resturant at the south end of town. Can't go wrong with Mexican food right? I mean for a burgeoning vegan, there's always veggie fajitas chock full of jalepenos right? I'm cool with that...however-dot-com...this place was much, much different...even Different would say; "this is a slightly odd place with a side order of not normal." kind of place.

The help was great. Our waiter was prompt, kept our glasses full of water and was attentive. We ordered veggie fajitas for me and cheese enchilada with refried beans and rice for my wife. When our food came my fajitas were mostly red onion a slice or 2 of green bell pepper and a fist full of jalapenos...there was a condiment plate with sliced iceberg lettuce, diced tomatoes and a golf ball size blob of guacamole. The hot sauce tasted like tomato sauce with cayane pepper, a dash of chili powder and a notion of cumin...and who knows what...pretty elementary school lunch room-esque. My wife's food; a cheese enchilada, refried beans under (yes I said under) melted cheese and some rice...she said tasted like cheese wrapped in a tortilla drowned in melted velveta...in a word...gross.

So not exactly Taco Bell and not exactly elementry school cafeteria either...somewhere south...I mean way south of that. When we first walked in the resturant I noticed that there were only 2 people in the place eating. I sort of in an off the cuff manner said to the girl who seated us..."I think we just doubled your business." My wife choked and tried not to laugh and said to me as we were seated, something about me being an a-hole or something as she's holding back tears laughing. After my "onion" fajitas, I have a slight clue as to why the place was so bereft of clientelle. Might have something do with the food... It was just not...let's just say if I were the infamous Simon Cowell of the X-factor and late of American Idol...my critique would be: "that was just dreadful...if I'm being honest."

And Now, Without Further Adeiu...RUUUUUNNNNN!

Finally...I get a run in. Dang after like 4 days I miss running and so its frustrating not to get to do that. Thankfully I have managed to stay on task with what I eat and drink. Over a month and no barley pop or visit to my old nemesises Jack Daniels and Capt Morgan (life love and loot my ever shrinking backside!) Its safe to say thanks to milk thistle and proper diet I no longer have a "little Captain in me."

Last week this time I stepped on the scales at the local gym and it read 203! Not too shabby. Today before my shower I stepped on my bathroom scale and it read 195lbs! Okay it might be off a few lbs either side of that so I'm not going to do naked cartwheels down my street or anything but if it's even 3 lbs off either side that means this will be the first day I've been below "2-bills" since like 2008. Four years of lugging that extra weight around. Makes me wonder what it did to all my internal organs and joints and my spine.

I have my wonderful Personal Health Coach to thank for her support and care and nurturing nature and her always encouraging me, helping me and keeping me focused when I feel like straying off course. Every time I think about dropping in on the Taco Bell drive through or ordering something I shouldn't eat from Arby's or something, I think about having to come clean with her face to face and the look of disappointment I might get and that's all it takes to keep me focused and "just say no."

My run was awesome. Albiet on the treadmill, I ran the entire 4 miles on a 2.5 uphill grade and averaged about an 8:45 minute per mile pace. On my next run I'll adjust it to 3.0 degree uphill grade and see how my pace is. While my hip is touch and go, I think indoor running with outdoor in the sunshine stretching post run is better for me. I am going to see the "bone cruncher" tomorrow to get adjusted and see if I've got joint issues in my left hip socket. As of right now an hour after my run my hip doesn't feel sore or hurt so maybe some thorough stretching post workout will keep me upright and going forward toward my goal to run a marathon this fall.

Okay, so I'm off to make Mushroom stew and possibly some jalepeno bisque' which I love. Kale salad and Quinoa cereal for my afternooner snack sounds about freaking delicious with blueberries, black berries, a splash of coconut milk and pure organic maple syrup. Tomorrow morning breakfast...green pancakes and ham...er um not ham just green pancakes lol (SYKE!)

Thank you Coach! You inspire me to be better than I am every day...if not for that I would only be as good as I am right now and therefore stale,stagnant and FAT!!!! :)

Cheers!

SYS

Mall Food

Yesterday began another long and arduous day of looking for a home in the KC-metro area. It also presented me with another challenge of finding something to eat that didn't derail my diet.

After 5 hours of looking at houses my wife and I were both hungry and the closest thing was the mall...and the impending food court. There was everything there from fruit smoothies to pizza to sushi to Greek gyros to Thai food or more likely something that resembled Thai food...made by real Mexicans :)

After looking at all the different places to try and get my Vegan grub on (and there were many of them) I finally settled for a place that made salads and panini sandwiches. But let me digress here for a second. It seems every single place in the food court had some dude or dudette with a tray carring a rolled up mystery something or other skewered with a toothpick saying; "you wanna try?" Really? I guess if I weren't concerned with what I eat...I could just fill up on samples of mystery meat roll-up and beat feet outta there and not drop a single thin dime in the place but honestly I'd have been better off eating the toothpick and throwing the mystery blob in the trash. So there's that. Everything has its price.

So we ordered. My wife a Ceasar salad (w/chicken and parm. cheese) and I had a portabella and avacado panini with romaine, red pepper, red onion (which I asked them to not include) and tomato (which they forgot to include)...which I guess happens when you're 30-40something being paid minimum wage and it's the only job you can find. Regardless she did a great job, notwithstanding the missing tomato and unsolicited red onion, the sandwich was delicious and filling and I was able to enjoy it without "going off the reservation." I was really proud of my wife too for going with a salad...and we might have found a house...maybe :)

Cheers!

...if the foot fits

Ever have one of those days where no matter what you say...anything...gets turned around and interpreted as an affront to whomever you're speaking? How does that happen? What impish a-hole ethereal scoundrel sits up on his invisible perch and decides; "today no matter what this poor soul says to the person he cares about and worries about is going to come out as an attack and I'm going to cause her to lash out in the most hurtful and unintended manner and say things she wouldn't normally say to try and crush his feelings and make him want to leave and just sew conceit and turmoil...yeah, that's the ticket...

I've had clergy, supposed spiritual leaders and even read scripture that says; "after a trial of your faith, then cometh the blessing." Well, how'd I do? I guess the blessing is, after the end of the day, I'm still here, the furious maelstrom of emotion and anger has been forgotten and I woke up without an icepick in my skull, so I guess its all good. (sorry, a little gallows humor) Basically I'm no worse the wear and tear and I learned sometimes no matter what you say or how you say it, sometimes it's just best to zip my kale salad ® hole and just be quiet.

A lot of stressful stuff has been happening at mi Casa del Loco, and for the most part a lot of helpful coaching from my Personal Health Coach, working out and trying to focus on doing what's right, reading at least a paragraph or chapter of any Scripture from the Bible, BofM or poetry from the ancient Southwest Asian masters has helped me stay focused. But yesterday in the worst way (worst being the optimal word) I so wanted to just drown out yesterday's B.S. in the remaining Irish whiskey and beer I had left in my fridge. I'm not an alcoholic (that I know of) by any means...but yesterday it would have been so easy to just plop a low ball on the mini bar, fill that bad boy and just pour that amber anesthetic down the hatch...but that would mean that little wicked ghostly spectre of temptation wins and I'm the loser...so...in spite of how much it would have deadened the crap of yesterday...I decided it wasn't who I wanted to be...so I decided to offer the "peace sign" (the V with two fingers) to the afore mentioned imp, but I was too tired to raise the accompanying index finger. Taking the advice of Lara Bush, I just said..."NO!" Thanks Lar...(also a very awesome Texan) the other of course my PHC. So...what this all means is my "wagon" hit a very huge pot-hole yesterday on my road to wellness and low and behold the wheels stayed on and I didn't fall off and hurt my head (read hangover).

The other thing was how wonderful and comforting it was to feel the divine influence of my coach encouraging me..."you can do it, it's going to be okay. Your faith is being tested here and you're doing just fine. Trust me and you'll get through this. I love you...I believe in you. You can do it." That is what I felt her saying. What a wonderful blessing. Thank you so much, so very, very much.

Cheers!

Thank You!

There is so much I could say about the last week. Mostly it's been a week of highs and lows. Certainly the low points were canceling a much anticipated wedding and bailing one of my beautiful childen out of jail and hearing another one might be headed there in short order...

The highs far outweigh the lows however. I'm healthy, I have a roof over my head and a job that enables me to provide that roof. It also happens to be a job I enjoy so that's a huge bonus. My increasing health and decreasing waistline is a plus as well. When I left Utah to come home I weighed myself on my sister's bathroom scale and it read 223lbs + change... I've been home a month now...4 weeks. Thanks to my wonderful (doesn't even come close to describing her) Personal Health Coach and following her program as close to the letter as a beer and bourbon drinking meat eating guy can...(NO BEER SINCE UTAAAAAH!!) I've managed to whittle away at my weight and waistline rather proficiently and haven't touched so much as a whiff of beer (in its bottled state) or bourbon or Irish Whiskey since I've been home.

Today after an hour on the eliptical trainer I stepped on the scale at the gym...it read: 204.something-something lbs. That's nearly 20 lbs since coming home from Utah. I have my evolving and progressing and continuing education about foods and what they can do for me to thank for it and of course the brains and beauty beind it...You Coach!  Thank you for everything; for lovingly teaching me about food and how it can make me better, heal me, strengthen me and even slow or reverse to some degree the aging process. And for just showing me unfeigned love period. I am so blessed. If I live another 72 years, I will have carved upon my headstone: "The First 48 Years Were My Fault, The Last 72 I Have My Personal Health Coach To Thank For. Thanks For Helping Me Outrun the Grim Reaper For More Than a Century!" or words to that effect.

I'm so excited. Going to make stuffed avacado now. I love you Coach!!! ThankyouThankyouThankyou!!!!!!!

:)

If We Get Chicken Soup For Our Soul, What Kind of Soup Does the Chicken Get?

   A father receives a frantic phone call at 4 in the morning. It's his daughter.   
  "Daddy, I screwed up big time," she says between sobs.
  The father replies; "its okay, calm down. Where are you?" Knowing pretty much by the feeling his gut tells him, she's in jail.
  "In jail Daddy, and you're going to be so mad at me when I tell you why."
  The father takes a deep breath and tell his distraught daughter, "its okay. I  think I have a good idea of why you're there. Just sit tight and I'll be there in a while." After which he sets his alarm for 7am and rolls back over and goes to sleep.
  Promptly at 7am the alarm goes off just as his phone rings. Again its his daughter and she's frustrated by now and it shows in her voice; "where are you?" she demands.
 "I just woke up." he tells her. "Just sit tight. I'll be there soon."
  With the number of the bail bondsman in his hand and money to bail his daughter out of jail he sets off.
  After 2 hours the bail is paid and she's free to go but not before being charged with driving while intoxicated, having illegal drugs and drug paraphernalia, a moving violation and no insurance.
   The father loves his daughter so instead of chewing her out and telling her how she screwed up, he tells her everything will work out in the end if she's willing to sacrifice, work hard and focus on what's most important; putting the night's events in her rear view mirror and taking care of herself and her infant son.
   After dropping is daughter off, the father has time to reflect on his actions during this moment. He wonders if he did the right thing. If perhaps the others of his children he's helped out of similar spots in the recent past has helped them or hindered their growth and maturation process. He wonders aloud to God if this is some sort of test to see just how much patience he has or is it a teaching moment for him from God and God saying to him in a still small loving voice... "my son, you are the definition of insanity. You keep bailing your children out over and over thinking that they'll learn and do things differently, but all you're doing is enabling them and teaching them to think that they can make descisions with halting consequences and their parents will fix their missteps. YOU are holding them back. STOP IT!!! You can not continue to do what you're doing and expect a different result. That is just plain crazy..."
   So the father thinks to himself... "right? So I guess some times the hard thing to do, let them dig themselves out of the mess they've made for themselves though hard to do, is the right thing to do;" he says to God as he drives home.
   The feeling that stirs in his soul tells him he's finally getting it figured out. And the thought occurs to him in that moment; "I didn't say it would be easy. But I promise it will be worth it."
   Though it's difficult for the father to not worry about his daughter - for there will always be a father's concern for his children; his lesson learned is this:  it's okay for his children to make mistakes, learn how to fix them and its okay to be supportive without being enabling...support strengthens, enabling weakens... DUH! Why is it so hard to see that sometimes?

:-)

Making Progress

On Monday I had a doctor's appointment for a physical. It went pretty much as I expected.

me: Hi doc.

doctor: Hey Mark, how are you since the last time I saw you?

me: Very well actually, thank you.

doctor: Your vitals look great. You seem to be very healthy. How old are
            you again? (doctor chuckles) just kidding.

me: Funny.

doctor: Any new tattoos, surgery scars or bumps, lumps etc?

me: Not this time sorry.

doctor: It's okay I had to ask...okay so you look fine and your pulse and blood
            pressure are great! See you in a year.

me: Thanks doc.

Okay I know that was boring...here is what he failed to mention: last year at this time my 73 inch tall body weighed a staggering 223 lbs. When I was home in Utah I stepped onto my mother's bathroom scale and it said 223 lbs. That is roughly 45lbs of someone I don't want to be. So I decided to do something about that. That's where You came in Coach.

2 weeks after returning home from Utah and meeting with my Coach, commiting to changing my eating habits and trying to cut out meat from my diet, my weight on Monday, 9 April 2012 was 209lbs!!!!

To say I was stoked would be an epic understatement. I knew I was dropping poundage because my clothes started looking less like they were being stretched over the "hey Kool-ade" pitcher guy and more like they fit my shrinking torso!

I know I'm a long way from getting to my target weight of 175 - 180lbs but now I know that goal is very achievable if I stay disciplined and eat "super foods" and take care of my body as I promised myself and Coach I would when I signed my contract with Her.

Thank you Coach!
I love You!!!

Tea with Coach

I had an amazing meeting with my Personal Health Coach yesterday. We talked about the "staff of life" ...grain and briefly about dental work...ouch! I'm happy the chat about grains and "super grains" lasted longer than the dental work/heavy metal talk...though the more I'm given to read and learn, the more I believe I need to get my chicklets updated ASAP!

So I'm super pumped up after my chat with Coach. I drive home and it seems like the drive lasted about 30 seconds when in reality it took just over an hour. I don't know what it is but talking about nutrition with Her. Her spirituality elevates the level of mine and convinces me I can do ANYTHING! Her nature is so gentle and accepting of me and I truly know and feel the love She has for not just me but all life. She is truly a beautiful emmisary of God and I am fortunate to be taught how to eat by Her.

I get home, take care of a couple things and immediately go and get on my running shoes and shorts and out the door I go. I ran my old loop - 5.6 miles... the run I made every day in training for the 2006 Air Force Marathon. Previously I'd run this loop since starting this path 2 weeks ago and had never made it all the way around  without stopping to walk 2 or 3 or more times between start and finish of the run. Yesterday - different story. Pumped full of hope, love and feeling the rush of having one of the most important conversations in my life just an hour and a half earlier I lit out for my run around the loop, quietly asking Coach to accompany me in spirit on my run. When I flagged and felt like walking I just asked Her to help and encourage me a little bit but not carry me and let me do the work.. Suddenly I would feel a burst of adrenaline and my feet got lighter, my legs stronger and my air richer and more plentiful. Everything around me seemed to get brighter and more brilliant..greener, more lush and the sky bluer and more vibrant; the hard pavement beneath my feet softer. Truly amazing!

47mintues and 25 seconds later I made it back to where I started my run. All the way around the loop, ran the whole way and asside from the small blister under the callouse on the ball of my right foot I felt tired but otherwise very, very good! All I kept thinking was thank you Coach. Thank you for everything! I love You!

Thanks Coach.

Easter Confession: I have found "Seitan" and he isn't that scary

After being with my coach now for 10 days and trying to put only good things in my body, I have reached a new high for me...trying new things has never bothered me but to actually make food for myself and anyone else who is brave enough to eat some of my concoctions, I'm happy to report that even my wife, Karma tried the "hearty mushroom stew" (two bowls of it) and loved it. I thought it would be too peppery for her but aparently not! WOO-HOO!
Now for my confession. I opened my food diary for the first time since the 3rd of April (much to my chagrin) and realized it'd been nearly 5 days since I'd logged what I ate throughout a day...and it's not because I had any remorse about what I ate...just got forgetful...I hope coach isn't too irked with me...feeling pretty inexcusable about now but determined to get back on track. I have been eating well and staying away from processed foods as much as possible, coffee excluded...but this morning learned a valuable lesson about half & half...fat is better than fat free...sweet! (I'm still trying like mad to cut back). I don't even think it's the caffiene anymore. I just like the taste...go figure, and I hear coach saying..."and you're not liking dandelion greens because they're bitter? But you'll drink a cup of coffee?...whatever!"   :)

So today was Kale Salad with the veganaise/almond butter asian dressing! OMG! How awesome did that taste this morning?! Normally I'm eating organic oatmeal with cacao buds and the like for breakfast. This morning it was Kale Salad...soooo delicious!

When I went to buy seitan at Whole Foods last night I asked a clerk where I could find "seitan" to which he replied; "in Hell dude, duh!"
He motioned for me to follow him while I'm snickering about his obvious pun...he directs me to the cooler where tofu and other soy based protein stuff is kept cool and points... "there's seitan."
We look at each other then back at "seitan." I go..."doesn't look all that evil or frightening to me."
"Me either," he shrugs. "Peace dude." And he walked off!

Okay, goofy but funny. You had to be there....I WAS! HAAAAA!!!
Love you coach. Thank you!