Earlier today I was out at the mall with my wife and daughter finishing up some last minute shopping. We were getting ready to head to the checkout, I was holding my wife's money because she has a terrible habit of losing it. She was just about to ask me for money to checkout and I was going to take my daughter up to ride those little carousels you see in a mall. Then I heard something, it honestly sounded like 3 thuds. Then, panic. People shouting, running everywhere. I grabbed my daughter and picked her up, with my wife in front of me we headed for the exit. I was trying to call 911, but apparently so was everyone else. The lines were jammed! I couldn't get a call through. We made it to our car and drove away from the mall ASAP. Thankfully were all safe and it was a false alarm(more on that in a second) but man let me tell you, had it happened 60 seconds later, I'd have had my daughter and been separated from my wife with no way to get in touch with her. I'd have been a wreck. Again, thankfully that wasn't the case and what ended up happening was slightly comical and were able to make light of the situation. The story goes police officers were attempting to stop a shoplifter and tackled him.......into a fairly large display case and caused it tumble over. People mistook it for gunshots and panicked. Understandably so, but its still insane that we live in a world where this is a legit fear. Like I said, were fine and our hearts have stopped pounding. I'm going to go enjoy my Christmas with my family, hopefully you are too!
Tuesday, December 24, 2013
Saturday, July 27, 2013
Congratulations To Me!!!
It hasn't been an easy journey, it's taken a bit longer than expected. Those last 5 pounds just would not go away!! I have a post daved as a draft on here that I may get around to finished, but I think it's dated December 29th. That's basically when the switch got flipped. The day I decieded I wasn't happy with myself and I wanted to change. Here I am almost 7 months to the day, and I have changed, and I'm happy with myself. So, how did I do it? I've had tons of co-workers, customers, and friends ask me how I lost the weight. My answer to them has always been: Nothing, I just changed my life. Hate to break it to everyone, but there's no secret potion and magic food you can eat and lose weight and KEEP IT OFF. I mentioned before that this is the first time in 10 years that I've weighed what I currently do. Back 10 years ago, I did the Atkins thing when it was huge. Sure it worked, I lost around 35 pounds in a few months. But here I am today telling you that I'm after 45 pounds, I'm back to where I was after the Atkins. So what went wrong? Well, what is Atkins? A diet. DIETS DO NOT WORK. Say it with me people, DIETS DO NOT WORK. Sure, you'll lose weight, but as soon as you stop the diet, it'll all just come right back.
As I said, I changed my life. I changed my eating habits. I work in retail, my lunches ususally consisted of whatever junk food place was around. Not anymore. I eat salads now, I eat more vegtables and I basically cut junk food totally out. I'm not going to lie, on occassion I get in the mood for chips or candy, but I do it in moderation. Take a couple bites, and put it away. I cut my soda intake down to nearly 0, and to anyone who knows me, that's huge. I could easily polish off a 2 liter in a night. Now, if I drink 2 liters a week that's a lot. I switched to water with some sort of flavoring in it(Mio, Crystal Light, etc)
I also changed my daily activity level. I joined a gym, I've been going for almost the entire 7 months now. I had to take a month off when I was in a car accident, but other than that, I've been going 4-5 times a week. I generally do 45-60 minutes on the treadmill or usually the elliptical. Then I do weights. Nothing major, bi/triceps, abs, chest/shoulder press.
I changed my mentality. I don't do things the easy way, I do them the right way. There's tons of small things that we tend to take shortcuts on in life. Parking spots for example. How many people drive around for 10 minutes looking for a spot so they don't have to walk 10 feet? Just park, and walk!!! It'll save gas, and burn a calorie or 3. The WORST time I see this, is AT THE GYM. Really??? You're about to go walk 3 miles on a treadmill, but you can't walk a few feet to the door? I mean, there's just tons of little things like this that I believe have helped me out.
That's basically it folks, all it takes is a little life change. If I can do it, you can too! And with that, I'm off to the gym!
Wednesday, June 26, 2013
Emotion Before Thought
I'm sure this will be an evolving post as its quarter after 1 and I'm a little drunk and I need.....no wait, its quarter after 1 and I'm about to PTFO. Anyway, I was in a leadership workshop not too long ago and the topic was "emotion before thought." And it stated basically just that, as humans we tend to react before thinking. Boy, were they ever right. Especially in this day and age with the accessibility of the internet, everyone is quick to react. I can't tell you how many times I've given someone MY OPINION and they jump down my throat and try to tell me I'm wrong. Uhh news flash: its my opinion, by very definition, I can't be wrong. Its even worse when you're trying to help someone out but they drank the Kool-Aid and they just can't take the time to think that "hey, his view may be valid and just might help me out here." Nope, but before they can think about what you're saying, they're already calling you names and set to prove you wrong.
Well, that's it for tonight. I'm sure I'll add more to this in the morning. Lates