Just a Little Bit Off The Top

 Recently I mentioned that I had an accident last year where I lost a bit off of my left pinkie finger. This was quite a significant event in my life and I thought just for posterity's sake, maybe I should put the experience down in writing. So with no further adieu, here is the story...

It happened on October 21st 2013. It was around 4pm or so. I have 94 Chevy truck with bald tires. They weren't bald when I bought the truck, but they are now. The problem is, the truck has a lift on it and so the tires are bigger, and expensive to replace, a fact that didn't seem to bother me when I purchased the truck. The tires have needed replacing for a good three to four years, but I have been putting it off and putting it off, unwilling to fork over the dough to get new tires. It's never been that pressing since I don't drive the truck very often, just the occasional trip to the dump or to help someone haul something big somewhere. Funny how when you own a truck, it seems like every man and his dog needs a favor. But I digress.

It just so happened on this beautiful Fall day my wife and I were taking a load of our neighbor's leaves to the dump. It was my first day off from working the night shift at work and I was running on about three hours of sleep. It was a warm day and I had my window down as we drove down the country road that led to the dump. A few miles from home I began to hear a sound, psst psst psst psst. The sound was in sync with the rotation of my rear tire. My first thought was that there must be a small rock trapped in the tread of my tire, until I suddenly realized I had no tread – not enough to trap a rock in anyway.

It didn't take long to realize the sound was air escaping from my tire, and it wasn't long after that we were pulled off to the side of the road and walking home. I did not have a spare or tools in the truck. Luckily a good Samaritan neighbor saw us walking and gave us a ride home. Shortly thereafter my wife and I returned to the scene with tools and the spare. I remember commenting to my wife on the way there, that this would be a good opportunity for her to learn how to change a flat. Boy was she about to learn a thing or two about changing a tire!

I had two jacks, a bottle jack from our Suburban, and an old-school bumper jack, like the kind that used to come in cars from the 70s.  

The evil bumper jack

I preferred to use the bottle jack, being aware that bumper jacks and high-lift type jacks can be dangerous as they can tip. It turned out that the bottle jack wasn't quite enough to lift those big thirty five inch tires off the ground. DANG IT.

Against my better judgment it was time to resort to plan B, the bumper jack on a cinder block to give it some height. I recall that as I was setting up this sketchy looking improvisation there was a voice inside of me telling me to WALK AWAY. I didn't have the right tools for the job. I should go buy the right kind of jack or call a tire store and let them come out and take care of it. But no, that's not me. I have kind of a problem solver in my make up, always looking for a way to accomplish the task. And that brought me to my situation: a ¾ ton truck jacked off the ground by the rear bumper, on a bumper jack, sitting on a cinder block.

I had the tire off – that voice in my head practically screaming at me to stop – and was trying to get the spare on, but needed to jack the truck up maybe just one more inch to line the holes up with the bolts. I grabbed the jack handle, and I am not exaggerating when I say I had this inexplicable feeling of terror as I ratcheted up the truck one more notch. I couldn't figure out why the apprehension. Everything at a glance seemed to be right. I had changed tires before... why was this different? Another click as the jack cranked up one more notch, the rear bumper of the truck creaking and groaning under the enormous weight it was supporting.

I remember thinking, One more aught to do it. CLICK!

At that moment I realized why the scary feelings, why the voice inside... too late. I had made a fatal mistake, something I should have known, something I should have seen. I blame it on the fact that I was running on so few hours of sleep. For those reading this who don't know, a truck is rear wheel drive. That means when you put the vehicle in park, it's the rear tires that are in park, not the front wheels. The front wheels remain free to spin.

Well, by raising the rear of the truck that last little inch, I had lifted the back wheels off the ground, leaving the front wheels free to roll forward. In my memory, the first movement seemed so subtle and small. I could see the truck just barely beginning to roll forward off the jack. Instinctively, I reached out with my left hand and grabbed the jack, hoping to stop my truck from falling off the jack and landing on the bare, exposed wheel hub and axle. I'm here to tell you, that once a ¾ ton truck starts to move, you ain't stopping it with your arm. It's gonna go, and you had better get clear!

Unfortunately for me, there was no time to second guess my actions. As soon as I grabbed that jack, WHAM! My left pinkie was trapped between the bumper of the truck and the jack. I could also feel, as the truck began to fall, the jack rolling up my hand and pinching my next finger as well. I knew this was very very bad, and chose at that moment to just jerk my hand free, before any more of it wound up trapped between steel.

The truck made an awful sound as it banged hard on the ground with a big crash. My finger was stinging, but didn't hurt too bad – I thought for a moment that I had escaped serious injury. Then I saw my wife's face as she looked at mine, and I knew something wasn't quite right. In fact, I learned later from her, that what she had seen from her perspective was a bunch of blood splatter my face as the truck fell, like someone had whacked a tomato with a hammer nearby.

Reluctantly, I brought my hand in front of my face. And there was my poor mangled pinkie finger, pulverized, the torn flesh hanging and bleeding around the exposed bone!

WARNING GRAPHIC PICTURE AHEAD

In the ER.  That dark triangular shape is my

finger bone.  yuck!

If you have never had the chance to see one of your own bones before, let me assure you that it has a shocking effect on the system. In fact, as my wife was driving me moments later to the ER, I passed out in the car from shock. I passed out one more time in the ER as the doctors and nurses were fiddling around with the injury... there's something about having a cold, saline-soaked gauze pad dropped roughly on exposed bone that causes me to pass out as well.

I should finish this up, as this is already a really long post. So, to make a long story short here's how it ended. The ER doctor told me that I was going to lose about half of my finger. But, a plastic surgeon who just happened to be hanging around came and looked at it. Since I'm not a smoker, he was able to perform a procedure where he sewed my finger to the palm of my hand. If I had been a smoker, this procedure would not have been possible due to constricted capillaries and not enough blood flow.

I ended up having my finger sewed to my hand for about six weeks, and I'm happy to say things went about as well as I could expect. I am still recovering, but I still have use of the finger even though it's a bit shorter now and can be sensitive to certain things, like cold and it hurts now to use my pinkie to try to play chords on the guitar.

In the end though, I am just thankful I wasn't injured more seriously, or even killed. I walked away from what could have been a very serious or deadly accident and I feel so blessed to be able to say that. And if I've learned anything it's to listen to that inner voice next time when it's trying to warn you. If you are experiencing feelings of terror while performing a task, there's probably a reason! Use the right tools to do the job, and if it's a big job where a mistake could mean injury... wait until you've had some sleep and you're thinking clearly!

And now you know... the rest of the story.

Over and out.

After the first surgery, my finger

stitched to my hand

After the 2nd Surgery to release the finger

This picture shows how much of my finger I lost... 

maybe a quarter of an inch

Playing With The Big Dogs

I thought that maybe I should share my latest and greatest paintball escapades from last summer before the memories slip away into the mists of time to be lost forever.  This is a two part blog which will cover two separate days of paintballing for me from last summer... both awesome days and memories for me.

First of all, I have actually gotten to the point where I really don't have a dedicated group of players / friends to play with anymore.  There's a few of us sure, but not enough.  For a while, I tenaciously hung onto a small group, refusing to give up.  I would plan days to play, only to have half of the guys dog out at the last minute.  It's a strange phenomenon in the paintball world.  You can get a bunch of very enthusiastic YESes when you try to plan a day of playing, but you can usually plan on at least half of them backing out by the time the day arrives.  Lots of really lame excuses too... like, "Sorry man, I really wanted to go, but had to mow my lawn."  Shut UP!  I have to mow my lawn too!

ANYWAY... It got to the point where I was tired of being the man in charge, always making the arrangements, begging people to play - I felt like a dang Amway salesman half the time - , making the phone calls, sending the emails, etc.  So, last summer I kind of threw in the towel on all the bull crap and just decided to start playing with other groups out there.  For once, I figured, it would be nice to be just some dude who showed up to play paintball, instead of the big leader in charge of everything.  I put myself out there on some Facebook pages and before long I was invited to a group of paintballers and started going with them.  I had to pay a little extra, since these were actual paintball fields, ie places of business but the $5-$10 field fee is worth it to me.  I'm with people who ACTUALLY want to be there and didn't have to be coerced by my forceful pleading.

PAINTBALL STORY #1

Through Facebook, I heard about a group that was going to be playing on a field in some river bottoms not too far from where I live.  I decided that I was going to go.  I tried to get some friends to go with me, but nobody could - too busy mowin lawns.  I almost didn't go because I was nervous to just show up all by myself, but in the end I determined I would go.  And boy am I glad I did!

After driving around a bit on a dirt road, I finally reached the paintball field and parked my car next to several others.  As I shouldered my gear bag, gun, and folding chair, I could hear the sound of shouting, and paintball guns firing rapidly in the trees.  A ball of ice formed in the pit of my stomach.  Who were these guys?  Would I be any good today?  It had been over a year since I played.  Would this group of players accept me?

I eventually turned a corner in the path and some of my fears were instantly realized as I saw a large group of what I would call college kids standing around in groups, laughing loudly and telling war stories from their previous game.  Now here I come strolling up, a lone dude and stranger, wearing old, faded camo, and surely and old man to them.  I could feel their eyes upon me as I found a place for my stuff, and started setting up my chair and gearing up.  I felt awkward and nervous as I zipped up my tactical vest and aired up my Tippmann Phenom off to the side, away from everyone else.

The field was pretty dense river bottom land with some towers and bunkers scattered around.  It turned out to be much smaller than I imagined, and that resulted in me getting eliminated pretty quickly from my first game.  The opponents being able to get to our side of the field much quicker than I had anticipated and I was hit while moving forward and not being as cautious as I should have.

But, I am happy to report that after that game I became a lethal force to be reckoned with!  I can't recall too many paintball days where I racked up so many kills.  LOL  By the end of the day, they were all calling me The Terminator and fighting over who's team I would be on for every game.  I left that day feeling deeply satisfied.  That's one thing about this sport that I think appeals so much to me.  I might have been twice the age of these kids, definitely slower than most, and yet because of my age comes experience and knowledge and I was able to use that not to just level the playing field, but completely turn it to my advantage.


PAINTBALL STORY #2

There's a local paintball field in this area called Crossfire Paintball run by an avid paintballer named Gary Taylor.  Gary happens to be a big fan of GI JOE ( a man after my own heart ) and every summer he has a big all-day GI JOE scenario paintball event.  It's usually based on GI JOE vs COBRA in some fashion or another complete with props.  He usually has a professional paintball team travel over to play the part of COBRA while the rest of the disorganized mass takes on the roll of GI JOE forces.

It was mid July sometime and I convinced my little brother, Blake, to come with me to the GI JOE game.  He had come with me the year before as well.  We got there totally excited to play even though the temps were in the mid 90s.  COBRA this year would be played by a pro team out of Salt Lake City called Bad Karma, seen in the video below:

I remembering eyeballing the Bad Karma guys as my brother and I were getting our gear on and preparing for the day.  Bad Karma looked sharp: matching uniforms, unit patches, radios with mics, and a sweet array of weaponry.  Intimidating?  Yes.  But some of the coolest paintballers out there too.

Just before starting up, Gary did a quick head count, and decided that the GI JOE forces were maybe a little too many, even for a team like Bad Karma to be expected to deal with.  So, he gave Bad Karma (COBRA) the chance to select two extra players from out of the rabble to be on their team for the day.  After a quick glance over the group, their team captain's eyes suddenly came to rest on my brother and I, and he pointed right at us, and said, "We'll take those two."

I would be lying if I didn't say I was pretty stoked about it.  Here was a chance to play with professional players, not against them, but along side them.  Not only that, but it would be a fun challenge as I think we were probably out numbered at least 3 to 1 if not by more.  I like being the underdog, I like having the odds against me, but knowing I'm on a team that possesses the capability to overcome those odds and be victorious.  As Gimli The Dwarf once said in The Lord of The Rings movies, "Certainty of death, small chance of success... what are we waiting for?"

I won't go into the details of the day's triumphs and failures as this post is already long enough.  But, I will just say that it was a blast and a pleasure to be a part of a good team that practiced sound tactics and discipline.  I look forward to playing in the GI JOE scenario again this summer, and hopefully meeting up with Bad Karma again, although it's unlikely I'll get chosen to be an honorary member yet again.  But, one thing is sure... it will still be a good time.  Enjoy a few pics below...
Over and Out.

 

The team pauses for a moment to listen before moving forward

Yours Truly making a mad dash across open ground.

COVER ME!

 

My brother, Blake, sees an opposing force coming our way!

 

Me taking cover... waiting.

Don't fire until you see the whites of their eyes.

 

My brother and I posing with Bad Karma.

We're the two dudes in the middle.

 

Bad Karma posing with some of the GI JOE team.

In paintball, war is Hell.  And then it's over and everyone is friends again.

One Big Update...

Okay, so it's been four years since I posted to this blog and it's high time I wrote and update with what's going on with my life, although I'm sure that most of my faithful readers have melted away into cyberspace to never be heard from again.

I'm going to put the blame on Facebook for my lack of blogging.  Facebook for a time seemed a sufficient medium to connect and to share my thoughts, but recently upon revisiting some of my old posts on this blog, I have come to realize that Facebook just doesn't quite fill certain gaps.  It doesn't really matter to me if I'm not reaching a bunch of readers out there.  If nothing else, this blog kind of serves as a journal (even though I happen to keep a handwritten journal as well.)

So, the latest:

Still living in the same house with the same number of kids (4) but they sure are growing up right before my eyes.  I'm still doing the same job, Security for The Department of Energy at a nuclear facility.  Still loving the job and loving life.

I have gone through almost a soap opera weight loss experience over the last nine months.  Last January, I turned 41 years old and vowed that during that year, I would really take my weight loss farther than ever before.  I started going nuts in June, and by the end of August finally achieved a HUGE milestone of getting under 200 lbs!  I haven't been under 200 lbs since I got married pretty much back in 1997.  I felt great and was really proud of how I was starting to look.  I was eyeballing that next 10 lbs that would pretty much accomplish my long term goal once and for all... and that's when disaster struck.

To make what could be a long story short, in mid October my truck got a flat tire on the side of the road.  While I was attempting to change the tire, the truck rolled off of the jack and my left pinkie ended up getting caught between the jack and the bumper of the truck.  This resulted in me losing about a quarter inch off of my finger, and a good 10 weeks recovering.  During this recovery time, my finger and hand were bandaged up and I was not allowed much activity as moisture, like sweat, would cause problems.  Therefore I did NOTHING and ate EVERYTHING for 10 weeks or so.  I gained 25 lbs and now here I sit, not quite at square one, but it feels like it.

Now that I'm about through feeling sorry for myself and being angry at myself, I am at a point where it's time for a repeat of last summer.  I want to feel that way again!  To look down and see the veins in my forearms popping at the surface of my skin, and my clothes getting so loose I was about to break down and go buy new clothes.

So, with that... Here I go again.  Over and out. 

Loooong Long Time

It's been four years since I've written in this blog.  I blame Facebook.  Anyway, I'm thinking of starting to write in here regularly once again.  Stay tuned...

Aerial Video & Photography RC Helicopter Sale

I'm officially throwing in the towel on my Aerial video and photo business. The rigors and demands of my full time job coupled with the responsibility of helping raise four kids have left me without the time required to devote to this business. I feel that for $1600 I'm practically giving this away. This heli could be used as a professional Aerial imaging ship, or just flown for fun as a hobby. Hopefully I can sell it and buy a nicer TV so the kids can watch Spongebob in HD. = )

Any questions, email me at blongmore@hotmail.com

JR XP9303 HELICOPTER TRANSMITTER

THUNDER POWER LITHIUM POLYMER BATTERY CHARGER

NICD BATTERY CHARGER

WIRELESS VIDEO/AUDIO DOWN LINK (so you can see what you're shooting)

HELICOPTER

DARING HOVER OVER WATER

IN FLIGHT AGAIN

PHOTO I TOOK OF MY NEIGHBORHOOD

QUICK CLIP OF ON THE JOB FLYING

LITTLE 15 SECOND AD I DID FOR WEST MARK CU

SOME ON BOARD FOOTAGE FLYING OVER THE SNAKE

My Answer To The Pirate Situation

Well, this post is a little different than my typical health & fitness post, but I hope you'll all bear with me.

If you've been paying even scant attention to the news you should be aware that the Somali pirate attacks seem to be back on the rise in the last little bit. I don't know if that's because there is an actually "Pirate Season" or if they have just been kind of laying low since their last failure when three of their buddies ended up on the bad news end of some Navy SEAL sniper rifles.

Given my current employment in the field of national security and anti-terrorism, I was brainstorming the other day, and wondering what could the USA and her allies do to combat this problem. Let me first of all dispel any misinterpretations that may come from the picture I posted above. Let's be clear and identify this as the terrorism that it is. I think it's important that the UN and the USA classify them as terrorists instead of pirates. The word pirates in today's culture carries too much of a Hollywood branding of adventure seeking, peg-legged, hook-handed swash bucklers cruising the Caribbean in cool ships flying the Jolly Roger and drinking rum while singing, Blow The Man Down.

Alright, so here's my solution to the problem:

These terrorists are cowardly criminals, and it has been demonstrated they will tuck their tails and run if a crew demonstrates any form of a stiff resistance. So, if I happened to own a shipping company that was forced to sail in these dangerous territories, I would hold a meeting with all the other owners of similar shipping companies and propose the following: That we take a normal looking tanker and convert it into a disguised war ship. You could do things like have what would seem to be normal shipping containers on deck, that can actually collapse away to reveal 20mm cannons and .50 cal machine guns. Outfit the tanker with a small, fast and deadly attack boat. There's a lot of different options I'm sure.


Hire a regular crew to run the ship's day to day operations, but also have a secret crew aboard, maybe some guys out of Blackwater with special training to use the provided weapons as well as trained in close quarter combat and armed to the teeth that can deal with a boarding if it comes to that. Then just run the ship around through the normal shipping lanes, acting all innocent until they are attacked by pirates. When the pirates attack, strike back with no mercy. You fire on them and pursue until you've destroyed them. Maybe let one get away once in a while to spread the news. Change the appearance of the ship from time to time. I don't think it would take long for word to spread.


Right now the reason it has become so popular for these pirates to engage in their business is because companies and nations have been willing to pay ransoms much of the time. They have grown rich without little risk to themselves. At least until last year when they found out what a SEAL sniper can do from a fantail. But, if they knew that any ship they attacked could turn out to be heavily armed with experienced warriors aboard who will not only defend the ship and repel the attack, but will pursue them to their utter destruction, then my guess is you will see a sharp decline in these activities.

The problem is cost, but seriously, how much are they paying in ransoms and lost cargo every time a ship is hijacked? It would seem to be a cost saver in the long run. And if you're like me, the cost to benefit ratio wouldn't be all that important. I'd be willing to take some loss to be able to strike back at these cowards of the sea and send them to a watery grave.

The latest Roadblock

Well, it looks like over time, I've developed a case of plantar Fasciitis in my right foot. Here's a little explanation of Plantar Fasciitis:

The classic symptom of plantar fasciitis is heel pain when you take your first steps after getting out of bed or after sitting for a long period of time. You may also have:

• Stiffness and pain in the morning or after resting that gets better after a few steps but gets worse as the day progresses.
• Pain that gets worse when you climb stairs or stand on your toes.
• Pain after you stand for long periods.
• Pain at the beginning of exercise that gets better or goes away as exercise continues but returns when exercise is completed.

It's a condition that I've been aware of for a while, but has not been severe enough to impede my daily life. . . until recently that is. It may have been the backpacking trip in September that pushed things over the edge. It has gotten to the point where the pain doesn't fade away after a few steps in the morning, but stays with me every single step throughout the day.

This condition has really put a damper on my cardio workouts since I really like to run on the treadmill almost every day. Now, I've come to the conclusion that I really need to address this situation and can no longer just grit my teeth and run through the pain. The only thing to do is to let it rest and heal as much as possible. I've gained five pounds now due to this whole thing, and I take full responsibility for that. I'm the one who came to the conclusion that if I can't run, then there's no point in working out. . .and if I can't workout, then why bother eating right either? a dangerous dangerous thought process right?

Well, I've snapped out of that and am drawing a line here and now. I am not going to let Plantar Fasciitis cause me to gain back all the weight I have worked so hard on getting off. It's been two weeks since I've jogged now, and there is a HUGE difference in the pain now. It's still there, but it seems that I'm on the mend. I have to substitute other cardio in the place of running, and this has been a psychological challenge for me. I've just had it so ingrained in my head that running is such an optimum form of cardio, that anything else just isn't worth doing.

This week however I forced myself to stay off the treadmill after my lifting and did all my cardio on the elliptical and spinner bike. I even had a couple of cheat meals, and voila! I lost two pounds! So, I'm pleased. This was a big milestone for me mentally, because I was able to demonstrate to my subconscious that weight loss is indeed just as achievable with other cardio besides running. Now to just keep it up until the heel pain is gone.

The only obstacle now is, the only piece of cardio equipment I have at home is a treadmill. My workouts at work are the good ones where I have the other equipment available to me, including a stairmaster. I have to wrestle with a decision now. I want to get something for home, but can't afford an elliptical and a bike. So, which one for now? Eventually I'd like to have both. Especially because I think it'd be great if the wife and I could workout side by side at nights after the kids were in bed while we watch our TV shows on the DVR. We could go twenty minutes on either machine, and then switch and do twenty more. I see myself getting an elliptical first at this point. Seems like you get just that much more out of an elliptical than a bike, what with the arm movements and all.

Well, until any further developments. . . over and out.

Rocky Mountain High

I just wanted to dedicate a blog post to the recent backpacking trip I took with good friends into the Boulder White Cloud Mountains of the Sawtooth Recreation Area in Central Idaho. We covered about twenty five miles in four days through some of the most beautiful and rugged scenery on planet Earth. It was great to have my brother along this time, and though we ran into our share of problems, all in all it turned out to be a success in my thinking, although there are some who would probably disagree.

For starters the route I had planned out for the group is a seldom used route where the trail isn't always clear, safe, or not there at all. We were discouraged by a forest ranger to go this way, but of course, we just had to do it anyway.

The major mistake was at Baker Lake where the trail forked and we were at a loss. The map we had didn't show that the trail forked. I was pretty confident that we needed to go right, but there was one in the group who thought we should go left. He volunteered to hike up ahead on the left trail to scout it out. Upon his return he reported that left was indeed the way to go. I still didn't feel right about it, but thought I'd give him the benefit of the doubt, as he is older than the rest of us and to my thinking has had a lot more of this type of experience. This turned out to be a big mistake.

To make a long story short we ended up on no trail at all, following a stream up into a steep, God-forsaken canyon strewn with giant boulders, massive fallen trees, twisted gnarled brush, and to my delight. . . bear crap everywhere. Down in the trees I couldn't see the peaks around us, but as soon as we got up out of the tree line, I realized that something wasn't right. I dug out my map and compass and quickly discovered we had over shot our intended destination, known as Slickenside Creek, basically a waterfall that tumbles down a steep gorge we wanted to climb to get to Noisy Lake.

This mistake cost us a day of hiking. The next day proved to be difficult as we had to climb the Slickenside Creek gorge and up and over 10,000 ft Windy Devil Pass all in one day. This turned out to be a monumental challenge to the group, straining muscles and relationships along the way. There is no trail up to the pass and we had to bush whack our way following my map and compass. There were still questions and disagreements about which way to go, but this time I refused to let anyone sway me from where I knew we needed to go. At last we came to the top of the pass and were rewarded with a tremendous sight of the Boulder Chain Lakes over the other side.

The rest of the hike went without a problem, but this was an amazing trip. I could sit here and write a small book if I really went into detail, but I'll let the pictures do the talking for me. I think I will do this hike again some day. I think it could be much more enjoyable without the mistakes and arguing.

The Intrepid Explorers ( I'm the one with the white T-shirt)
Castle & Merriam peaks beckon behind us

Yours Truly at the top of Windy Devil Pass feeling elated

The final push up to the top of Windy Devil Pass

The clear blue mountain waters of Noisy Lake greet
us after a grueling climb up Slickenside Creek

The treacherous path up Slickenside Creek
one wrong step and you'd roll all the way down

The shimmering waters of Baker Lake, last of the
clear, well marked trail

Castle & Merriam peaks stand as sentinels almost
defying you to continue onward

We hiked into the evening every night trying to make
up for lost time from mistakes and getting a late start

Sometimes Life Just Happens

Well, thanks to that pretty little thing on the right, I haven't been able to do much, and that includes working out. Let me introduce the world to Macy, my fourth child and second daughter. She was born on August 9th, and life has been a whirl wind ever since. Between family and friends helping out by bringing over meals and snacks for our family, and just having little to no sleep at night, the whole work out / eat right routine has been majorly interrupted. I am happy to say that I have only suffered the gain of a few pounds, which isn't bad considering the glutton I've made out myself sometimes. I don't just fall off the wagon, I jump off, doing flips in the air and laughing insanely all the way to the ground.

This is exactly what happened the last time I was on a successful path to fitness, and we had a baby. The difference this time, is I have been monitoring what's happening to me, and basically, I'm just not letting myself off the hook this time! Today was my first real day of working out and eating right, and it feels good. It feels good to know that I'm back on track. Maybe I'm not at the same cruising speed I was at before, but I AM back and slowly increasing the accelerator. It should take a couple weeks to get back to where I left off.

One thing motivating me is my backpacking trip coming up in a few weeks. My buddies and I, are doing a 20 mile four day hike in the Sawtooth Mountains of Idaho. It's high altitude and rugged terrain. I don't want to be the guy at the end of the line that everyone else has to stop and wait for. So, there's some motivation for me to lose as much weight and get in the best shape I can by mid September.

Well, more to come eventually.

Over and Out.

So Close No Matter How Far

Well, I haven't written much lately, because not much lately has happened. Since the 4th of July I have been plagued by the inability to really get back into my program with full force. I've been eating correctly for the most part, and I have been exercising here and there, but I've been indulging too much in bad food over the last couple of weeks. The good news, is that I've been maintaining my weight loss. I haven't gained any weight back and so I'm happy with that.

I've been thinking that maybe I have been hitting it really hard non-stop for a while now and that a little break is called for. Just some time to step back, look at my goals, guage my progress, and recharge the batteries. If I can do this without gaining weight or getting seriously out of shape than I don't see the problem with it. Like I said, I'm probably still doing my program at 90% and I'm pretty much maintaining.

The key is to get back into full swing shortly. I can't allow myself to become complacent now. And that would be easy to do. I'm so close now to achieving my goals. I can't suddenly lose focus and drive on accomplishing the end result that I want and desire. NO! Good enough, will not be good enough this time!

Also my Accumeasure body fat calipers arrived the other day, and I measured my body fat percentage. It was around 24% which falls in the "average" category for a male my age. So, I have a new short term goal, and that is to get that percentage into the teens ( falls into the ideal category ) within the next five weeks, and about ten pounds to go along with it. That is going to be difficult since baby number four is coming to the family in about four weeks. I'm going to have to really focus to not let all that interfere with my program. Sure I probably won't get to workout and eat exactly right for a few days whent the baby comes, but I will do what I can.

Its kind of funny how I'm almost in exactly the same situation as I was the last time we had a baby, three years ago. I was five weeks into Body For Life and had lost about ten pounds and was crusiing along great in the program. Then my son Bridger was born. It threw me off my program. People were bringing by meals for our family and treats, etc. I never got back on program and three years later I woke up and had gained all my weight back and more. So, here I am facing the same scenario again, except this time I'm actually five pounds lighter...And this time I WILL NOT GET THROWN OFF TRACK!

Dividends

When my oldest child was born eight and a half years ago I was 265 + pounds. I had stopped counting after 265. My three children have never known me as anything but overweight and breathless. Although I'm not at my goal yet, I am now down to 215 pounds and in the best shape my children have ever seen me in.

Last night at my parent's house I got to reap some of the dividends of my hard work. At one point in the evening while inspecting my dad's garden with him, my daughter stole the ball cap off my head and took off running, giggling insanely as only little girls can do. A few years ago my reaction would have been to call after her to give me my hat back. But, instead I took off on a sprint right after her! When she saw my hot pursuit, she squealed for her brother to help. My six year old son joined forces with his older sister as they played keep away from the old man.

We ran and ran around the back yard, as I hunted them down one at a time, the kids giggling and screaming with delight. Eventually we all ended up on the trampoline where a giant wrestling match for the hat ensued. In the end we all lay panting on our backs looking up at the lavender sky as the summer sun slipped under the horizon.

It felt good. It motivated me to continue on this journey and see it to the end. I want to be there for my kids. I want to be active and healthy for them. It's moments like last night that motivated me to start this difficult process in the first place. And I gotta say. . . it has all been worth it.

Milestones

I've let a while go without posting to my blog, so here's a brief recap of what's been going on. First of all, I am glad to say that the weigh loss has been coming along pretty good. I think I've been averaging about two pounds lost a week. The last time I weighed in a few days ago I hit 214.8 lbs. I was pretty stoked to hit under 215 lbs. It's kind of a mile stone for me. A few years ago, I did Body For Life for five weeks and was doing great. Then for some reason when my last son was born I just completely walked away from it, and gained all my weight back. Well, I have officially passed by the weight I was at when I abandoned my last attempt. So, this is a major milestone for me. Now to keep pounding away at the fat.

This week is going to be pretty tough though. There have been a lot of call ins at work and we are very short handed which has forced a lot of overtime on those of us left. I will be working about 40 hours overtime this week by the time it's all done. Not much time for getting workouts in. I am trying to continue eating right for the most part, but have had a couple free meals. Plus, I am not getting good sleep which I hear is essential for good weight loss and muscle building. For example: I got forced to work a twelve hour shift (not counting the two hours it takes to commute back and forth) yesterday - Father's Day. I wasn't very happy about that, had to miss my Dad's BBQ. Then while I'm here, a guy calls in for the night shift which caused a split shift. Basically what that means for me is I got to go home at 7pm but had to be back by 1am to start an eighteen hour shift. So yeah, going to get about two hours of sleep out of the next thirty six hours.

These types of things happen in life once in a while. I'm expecting that this week I probably won't be losing weight. I'll be happy just to maintain, but I won't be surprised if I gain a pound or two just because of the hectic circumstances and lack of time to plan out good meals and working out. That said, the key is I'm not all down and depressed about that fact. In the past, a week like this would have been enough to knock me off the wagon for weeks. But, this time I feel so much more in control of things. There's not this desperate feeling that I'm losing control, or an overpowering pull to give in. I know that when these awful days are behind me, I will unceremoniously and quietly slide back into my regular routine and move on with my weight loss goals.

For now, here's to reaching a milestone!

Over and out.

The Real Power of The Mind

Well, today was the big weigh in. According to the scale I lost one pound this last week, bringing me down to 219 lbs on the dot. That brings me to a total of about 13 lbs since I started this seriously. One pound doesn't seem like much, but it's still a loss, and I will take what I can.

On the bright side, I think I had one of those weeks where maybe I traded a little fat off for muscle. I'm really feeling it this week in the fit of my uniform and gun belt this week. I think I lost inches this time around as opposed to just weight. I really need to invest in a body fat calipers, or at least just start taking measurements to guage my progress as well. In a way I guess I do take measurements. I always am aware of what hole on my belt I'm using, and how close I am to graduating down to the next hole. Or how much looser other clothes are beginning to fit. But, that is going just by feel more than actual numbers. I will have to make an effort on my next days off to get the measuring tape out of my wife's sewing kit and at least take some measurements.

I wanted to take some time to write more about the mental side of things. Just that, this morning I was listening to a radio talk show, and there was a phsychologist on as a guest. He was talking about the power of the mind, and here's a couple very interesting points he brought up: Apparently they've done some tests on people with multiple personality disorder and discovered some extremely strange things. For example: Some schizophrenics actually have thier eye-glass prescriptions change from personality to personality. And, while one personality can be really allergic to cats, when they switch to another personality the allergy is gone!

Stuff like that! Sounds hard to believe, but what does that tell us about our minds? It kind of goes along with what I've read in Tom Venuto's writings about reprograming our brains, and convincing our subconscious minds of what we are supposed to look like. I wonder how many weight loss enthusiasts are out there, that are aware of just how much our mind power can come into play when trying to get into shape and lose fat. I am just beginning to chisel at the tip of the iceberg, I think, but it's a subject I intend to explore more deeply.

By the way, the picture above is of Norman Bates from the Hitchcock movie, Psycho. He knew the power of the mind. = )

We Are What We Think

It's still a few days away from my weigh in, but I'm feeling pretty good. I had to put on my Sunday go to meetn' clothes this morning, which I haven't worn in about a month and I was pleasantly surprised by the fit of my pants. They were nice and loose. I had to put my belt on the third to the last notch. I could have gone one more really. So that was cool.

I'm pretty proud of my compliance this week to my program. I've stuck to the meal plan pretty good, and have been getting my workouts in too. Good ones.

Which brings me to my other thought. The importance of visualization. It's important to continually visualize what you'd like to see yourself looking like. The other day, I was running on the treadmill while listening to the Beowulf movie score on my ipod. I know it sounds a bit silly, but for some reason I really was getting caught up in the music. As I ran scenes from the movie played in my head, and I just kind of got stoked, pumped, energized. . .whatever you want to call it.

In this newly motivated state, (maybe it stems from my viking heritage) I bumped up the treadmill to a faster speed. It wasn't long before the sweat started to flow. the muscles started to burn, and my lungs were heaving for air. With the thunderous strains of the music score roaring in my ears, I locked my own gaze in the mirror. For a moment in my mind I became Beowulf. I wasn't running on a treadmill anymore, I was locked in mortal combat with the monster Grendel.

It's funny now to think about it, but I can't deny the powerful effect it had on me at the moment. I was pushing myself harder and longer than I normally would have. Since then, I've been thinking about how much of a mental game this all is in the end. How much of our ability and potential are hidden and locked away behind doors of self doubt, fear, laziness, or complacency. It's all a mind game. Our bodies are merely robots that only react to the input we give them. Calories in vs calories out. Over eating is a mental problem. An inactive, sedentary life all stems from our minds.

Just some things to think about I guess.

Over and out.

No Time For Contentment

I have now reached a point in my weight loss and fitness efforts where I have been before. I am far from my ultimate goal of six pack abs, but have also come kind of far too. You have to understand something about my personality. Something about myself that I have known for years. I am laid back and easily content. I am not typically a hard driven, goal oriented person. I have to set a goal just to set goals.

My current fitness level is about as far as I usually get before dropping off the program and gaining my weight back. Not because of discouragement. It is my own success that is my enemy. At this point I am feeling pretty good about my accomplishment so far. My clothes are fitting much more loose and I can see and feel a difference. And there is a part of my personality that now says, "Alright that's pretty good. Let's settle down and take it easy now for a while." Basically there is a part of me that is content with my current fitness level.

The problem is I know that deep down, I know that this contentment leads to complacency, and that leads to failure. Thankfully, this time around I am aware of these self sabotaging tendencies of my past. This time around will be different. Not only am I shedding pounds of fat, but along with that fat in a way, I am also attempting to shed some of the old me. That part of me that back in high school just barely got good enough grades to keep my good student discount for my auto insurance, even though I could have gotten straight As if I had wanted to. That part of me that has never bothered to set goals that are too hard, or venture out of my comfort zone.

So, I'm writing this particular post to myself. Do not sell yourself short by deciding to be content with where you are at now! In the end it is a cop out. For once in your life get out of that comfort zone and actually believe in yourself! Believe it and you will achieve it!

This time will be different. I am not going to be content and stop here. I have much more to do. I can do it, and I will do it. I will continue to attack attack attack, until the enemy is utterly destroyed. This isn't a diet or a program that I am doing temporarily to shed a few pounds. This is my new life. These are new habits I am forming for life!

Over and out!

Damage Report!

Well, I weighed in last night, even though I was thinking about avoiding the scale after this week's debauchery with food and travel. My thinking was that I had probably gained weight, and I didn't want to depress myself by seeing the damage on the scale. Then, I realized that what I was actually doing was avoiding accountability. In Tom Venuto's book he talks about being accountable. And that lack of accountability is one of the biggest reasons people fail on diets.

I mulled it over in my head, as I stared at the scale in the corner of the training room at work. I was already dressed down for my nightly PT session. Then, I just decided, that I was avoiding accountability and responsibility for my actions if I did not weigh in. So, I stepped over to the digital scale, turned it on, and stepped on. To my surprise and relief I can say the damage isn't too bad. Looks like three days of complete abandonment of my eating principles cost me a gain of about 1.6 lbs.

Of course I'd rather have seen no gain at all, but I'm not going to complain. That's not a bad price to pay. And I can see how my new lifestyle is starting to embed itself in my brain and becoming habit. I know in times past a three day departure from my routine would have usually ended as a complete abandonment down the road of everything. This time, it wasn't even a struggle to get back in step with my new way of living. In fact, this time it was a relief to get back in the swing of things. I couldn't wait to get home, back to my healthy food. I couldn't wait to feel the pump of swollen muscles in the gym, and a sweat soaked t-shirt clinging to my skin as I pushed for one more minute on the treadmill, bike, or elliptical.

Am I obsessing about my health, nutrition, and weight loss? I hope so! That's what needs to happen to fully reach my goals. . . an obsession! Priority number ONE!

Goal for this week: I am going for two more pounds on the scale. By the time I workout on Tuesday morning at work, I am 218.2 lbs or under. I am two pounds lighter of fat because, I have eaten correctly and stayed with my program of working out. I have pushed myself this week to make sure I get those workouts in and that I am giving it 110% in the gym. I have also dutifully kept track of my calorie intake in my food journal. This has given me the baseline I need to keep track of my progress and to know where I stand at the end of each day.

Over and Out.

The Comeback Workout

I just wanted to note real quick the great workout I had today. I'm proud of myself for getting in there and getting it done. I'm calling it my comeback workout, because it's the first time since being back from Oregon that I Felt really good. I don't know if it all came from a deep desire to punish myself for the days I was off my routine and program, or if I just started to really get off on the endorphins.

I was busy all day long. I had to get the kids' inflatable pool set up, and I had to assemble the boys' basketball pole and hoop, which took all day pretty much. And on top of that, I had to try to do some repair work to my truck. I was getting kinda down as I saw my window of opportunity slipping away for a workout. I wasn't even going to do it, but around 8pm I just suddenly got a burst of will power, and I went for it. I just did weights, working chest, biceps, and forearms. I really got a good pump, and felt great at the end.

It was like I stood up in defiance or something. I know that most likely the scale is not going to love me tomorrow night, but I've decided I don't care this week about the scale. The main thing is, I'm feeling back on track, and with the program again. In fact, I might just skip the scale for a week, and just set a goal to work really hard every day. I also got my eating back in check today, and I'm feeling great about that.

I'm recognizing my mistakes this week, and why I made them. A main mistake was I didn't really set a goal for this week. I knew that I would be falling off the wagon when I went to Oregon, and I think on a subconscious level, I actually planned to fail this week. I never made a plan for success during the trip. Now, that I know that, I can plan better in the future for life's disruptions.

So, here's to another week. I might have taken a couple of steps back, but now I'm going to charge ahead. . .like a linebacker, and plow through into the next week.

Over and out.

Back in The Saddle

I'm trying to keep a positive attitude about this week. It's been one of those weeks where a wrench was thrown into the gears of my routine. I had to fly to Portland, OR. to help my brother move here to Idaho. We got up early Wednesday and flew to Portland, spent all day sweating and grunting as we loaded up all his stuff into a U-Haul. Then straight away, we took off, trying to beat rush hour traffic. We ate once at a sandwich shop at around 11am before loading the U-Haul, and I don't think we stopped to eat at a Wendy's until around 6pm maybe. By this time I was ravenous and there was no way I was settling for a salad. So, I went for some big burger and fries. At the gas station we bought chips and licorice, and we didn't stop again till 2am to check into a motel.

The next day, right back on the road until we got burgers again at a Jack in The Box at around 11am. I didn't eat again until I got home around 5:30pm that night. I was dying for something healthy. I immediately made and consumed a chicken wrap with tomatoes, I guzzled water all night, and snacked on some carrot sticks. I have to say that for two days, I basically broke all the rules and went against everything I know about losing weight, I'm not going to beat myself up about it too much since a lot of the main factors were out of my control.

The main problem was allowing myself to get too hungry. When you go as long as we did between meals it is almost impossible to resist temptation when you're standing there at a Wendy's to order food. It's also impossible not to reach into those chips and licorice when you're really hungry. I'm used to eating every two to three hours, so my body was wondering what the heck was going on! The other bad thing is, that getting that hungry, was probably putting my metabolism into "starvation protection mode" and slowing waaaay down to conserve energy. Then when it was suddenly bombarded with high fat calories, the sensible thing to do was to store as much of that energy as possible.

On the bright side, I think I expended a lot of calories loading and unloading the truck those two days. What effect it had, I don't know. I am feeling a bit apprehensive about my weigh in Sunday night. I'm afraid I might have done enough damage to negate some of the progress I've made up to his point. The good news is I have two days before my weigh in to try to recoup back some of that two days of debauchery. Honestly, I will be pleased if the scale just stays the same and shows no loss, but no gain either. I have a feeling at this point though, that I might be showing a couple of pounds in the plus column.

I just need to plow forward. Get back in the saddle so to speak. And that's going to be the difference. In times past, I might have given up after a week like this. In times past, two days of debauchery would have led to an entire week of it, and then eventually to an entire abandonment of my plan altogether. I may have gained a couple pounds this week when all is said and done, but that is not going to stop me or discourage me from continuing onward. I knew when I began this, that not every week would be perfect. I knew I would suffer from set backs and some disappointments. The key is going to be to not let those set backs and disappointments discourage me, and cause me to self-sabotage.

Arighty then. . .enough typing now, it's off to the basement for a workout. Back in the saddle!


Over and out.

Another Week Down. . .In weight that is.

Alright! Today was weigh in day, and it turns out I was pleasantly surprised with a weight loss of 3.2 lbs! I'm pretty stoked about that, but to be honest that's losing more in one week than I really should. Anything more than two pounds a week, and you're running the risk that some of that loss is lean muscle, and I DON'T want to sacrifice lean muscle just to feel better on the scale.

I was surprised because I was not adhering as strictly to my program as I have before. At least in terms of working out I wasn't. Unless you count playing paintball for a day, and working hard physically in my garden and yard as working out. I did get one official workout in out of four days. The one thing I did do right was stick to the correct eating plan pretty well. That reaffirms what I've been told before; that what you eat is 90% of how effective your weight loss plan is going to be.

Anyway, this next week will be tough to keep it up. I have to fly to Portland on Wednesday with my brother, and then we're driving back Thursday. Staying with any kind of program those two days is going to be pretty tough. I'm expecting we'll be hitting McDonald's restaurants on the road and crap like that. I'm trying to come up with a plan where this little trip will have the smallest impact possible on my current fitness gains. I hate to go backwards after the hard work I've put in over the last several weeks. We'll see how it goes.

For now I'm just reveling in my new level of leanness, and enjoying the success thus far. I can see into my future and I know I'm on the right path. I'm armed with the right knowledge and I have the will power to stay on this path until I have achieved my goals.

Over and out!

Exercise Can Be Fun

This morning I went and played paintball with some of my friends for a few hours and had a super fun time. And talk about a workout! Lots of running, crawling, ducking, etc. I've been playing paintball now for about twenty years, so this wasn't like anything new to me, but I've never looked at it as a form of exercise. It was just something I did.

After today I thought to myself that I would be in great shape if I found a way to play paintball every day! And it wouldn't even be a task, or a chore. It'd just be plain ole' fun. I would just have to watch my calorie intake is all.

I think that's part of being fit and in shape. Not just spending time in the gym and counting calories, but living a more active lifestyle period. On top of working out and eating right, I could play paintball more often, maybe start up mountain biking again. Stuff like that.

Well, that's my thoughts for the day. Today is supposed to be my back workout, but I'm struggling coming up with the drive after playing paintball. Maybe later tonight. My weekly goal of losing two more pounds is quietly whispering to me in the back of my mind, "Don't skip your workout. . . .don't skip it."

Trust me you get plenty of exercise trying to avoid one of these welts!