Shipwrecked & Comatose

Many years ago, around this time of the year between Christmas and New Year's Day, I was regularly attending a yoga class at my gym.  Several of the members of the class were complaining about how crowded the gym was going to be in the coming weeks as new members would be signing on for their new year's resolutions. My teacher piped in, "The gym is going to be filled with obnoxious fat people."  This teacher usually came across as your typical new-agey spiritual yoga guru who encouraged a non-judgmental attitude in class.  She continued with even more ire.  "I just want to tell them, 'Just give up.  Give up. It's not going to work.'"  This yoga teacher would talk the talk, but she couldn't walk the walk.  How different was she from the rest of us?  How many of us long-time gym rats complain about how crowded the gym becomes in January due to the number of people making exercise resolutions they probably won't keep? I admit the annoyan

I apologize for the lack of progress posts in the past few weeks.  I haven't had much reason to post.  Things are pretty much on an even keel and the program ends this week. Over the past year many of my friends who have been following this journey have thanked me for my honesty.  That had me doing a lot of thinking about the importance of honesty in a weight loss program. Accountability is one of the most important pieces of any weight loss program.  Weight Watchers has built an empire on it (although many members suffer a bit of embarrassment at weigh-ins).  In Lean Eating my coach looks at my photos, measurements, weight, and bodyfat percentages and it gets recorded when I finish a daily assignment or say if I did a workout or performed a habit.  I have given myself even more accountability outside the program by telling everyone I know about it and making it a part of this blog.  If I fail, everyone knows about it. What good would it have done me if I hadn't been hone

Sorry I have missed a week of updates.  Honestly, there isn't much I can say about the past two weeks that can't be consolidated nicely into one post. The dreaded family celebration of gluttony known as Thanksgiving is over.  I don't want this post to be any sort of confessional about what I ate.  As the coaching team at LE has said, "What happened last week stays in last week."  What I should remember most is how grateful I was that the weather cooperated and that I was able to make it to Chicago to see Kevin's family and what a great time I had with everyone.  If I'm going to remember the food, I'm going to remember how much I enjoyed everything and not obsess over every calorie I ate. I did make a few observations while I was away though.  My trip was a learning experience in so many ways. The observation I made is that old habits die hard and I should never automatically assume a new habit is in place.  I have spent a lifetime wolfing down la

I have been seeing this one all too often now that Christmas is approaching. My original reaction to this was to post a "Happy Holidays" status every time I saw one of these memes.  I decided to do something slightly more mature and make a somewhat rational blog post about it. I'll start by asking a simple question.  Why do you feel a need to say this? It's Merry Christmas to you.  Let me repeat that.  It's Merry Christmas to you. To you. That's just fine with me.  You can say whatever you want to say.  If Christmas is your holiday and it's the only holiday you want to celebrate, there is nothing wrong with you celebrating it. My question is why do you feel the need to enforce your holiday on everyone else? I have made posts in the pasts about why it can be uncomfortable and not always feel like a greeting of good cheer when someone gives you a greeting about a holiday you don't celebrate .   It sometimes seems to be that some Christian