Tag: reboot

Frustrated, Angry, Confused?

Frustrated, Angry, Confused? I was.

Two things happened today that really hit home with me. First, I had a friend post that Americans spend $65 billion a year on the weight loss industry, despite a 95% failure rate. Second, I invested a hour coaching someone today that was frustrated, angry, and confused!

I get it because I’ve been there. The frustration and anger, with a dose of confusion, I saw today is all too common. Today was a prime example of what happens to people. My client has tried multiple programs seen success to some level on each and then returned to old habits. His level of anger, frustration, and confusion stemmed from the fact that he is very successful in his career and life overall. He is able to multitask and accomplish many things in life. He is extremely frustrated because he can’t make this lifestyle change work. He wants his habits to change now, but is not ready to stick with new lifestyle habits more than a few days or a week to get where he wants to go.

I know this situation and lived it. I’m great at helping others, was great at helping two organizations find success, love helping my church, and enjoy volunteering to help local nonprofits and schools. I was not great at taking care of me! I saw this level of frustration in me and see it when I speak to groups, have one on one discussions, and in the media.

I can help, I know I can help! I have the programs and have traveled the journey. I know what it is like to fall and keep getting up each time I fall. BUT, this comes down to one thing. That one thing is YOU! Are YOU ready to change? Just how committed are YOU to changing on a scale from 1-10? What is your WHY for changing? Is your WHY important enough to YOU to stay committed to your lifestyle change?

As my client and I parted, I told him to Keep it Simple, not to beat himself up anymore, and not to think about cheat days or anything else till we got his habits working. He promised to follow our plan through Sunday and then we will regroup!

My advice to you is don’t beat yourself up anymore, and commit today to your journey. Always get up right away when you fall. Keep things as simple as possible to change your lifestyle habits. AND, if you are committed and ready, contact me and let’s get you in a healthy lifestyle. YOU ARE WORTH IT!!

Note to ME and YOU: We are worth the effort. And always, Take Care of YOU!

2 August, 2017
I AM BLESSED

I was struck yesterday by the thought of just how blessed I am in life. I know I am blessed and I thank God daily for my blessings.

What was different about yesterday? Why did it ‘strike’ me suddenly? I have seen a number of my contemporaries pass over the last few years and in particular this year. Some were friends, some friends of friends, past co-workers, friends of my wife, some family (my brother in-law) and parents of younger friends/relatives. It all seemed to come together as I looked at that old picture of me at 360 pounds (the one I keep to remind me of where I was, and where I will not go back to) and thought of a cousin that lost her dad several years ago.

I don’t know why my mind works the way it does, but a wave of thoughts and emotion came across me. I thought about how bad a shape I was in at 53 years old. I thought about how many people I’ve known in my age range that I/we have lost recently and over the years since finding my journey. I thought about my younger cousin and other younger friends I know that have lost parents that are my age. I thought about life, problems, pettiness, and sadness. We get so caught up in the small things in life that we do not enjoy the people we have when we have them.

The emotion that came crashing down on me was focused around the realization that I could be gone now, that I would be gone now if not for that moment of clarity in 2009, that AHA moment created by the Fire Story my wife told me. How lucky was I? Why me? And then I thought about those younger people that lost their parents much too soon. They were my age and I don’t think of my age as old. Why them? Why have we lost them so soon?

I caught my breath, sat there, and thought for a moment. I thought ‘I AM BLESSED’. Then I thanked God for my blessings and prayed for those that passed much too soon and those they left behind.

I also thought about how I was on my way out in 2009 and how I am nowhere near that now. I was able to start my journey to healthier happier me. I was able to control my destiny. How many people get that opportunity? How many people think they are done when they may be able to change their present and future? I meet people every day that could gain that control. They feel too far gone or hopeless, but they are not. I pray these people find their moment of clarity and realize they can change and can create a journey to a healthier happier you. I know this is true because I was them in 2009. I was too far gone and hopeless. I AM TRULY BLESSED.

If I can help YOU, let me know.

Note to ME and YOU: Pray for that moment of clarity, that AHA Moment, that gets you to the healthier happier you. I pray daily for this for ME and YOU.

TheFatGuy

TheFitGuy

The BEAST

30 September, 2016
Transformation
I’ve been blessed to see major transformation in my life, help others to find transformation in their lives, and help organizations transform.

What do all of these transformations have in common? Commitment, vision, knowledge, energy, and a can-do attitude!
- Commitment to the transformation is key. In each case people fully committed to make a change, and in some cases a radical change. If you do not commit, then no other steps matter.
- Vision toward where you needed to go was also a common thread in these journeys. People developed a vision and started down the road toward that vision
- Knowledge was gathered along the way to travel the roads toward the vision. Knowledge about self and knowledge about the task at hand were key pieces to each transformation.
- Energy is seen in each instance. People develop a certain energy to move toward transformation and they harness that energy to get where they need to go.
- A Can-Do attitude is needed to make the transformation happen. Yes a positive Can-Do attitude can get you a long way down the road to transformation! As TheFatGuy says, you choose your attitude each day regardless of your life circumstances. You will make good, sometimes great life choices with a positive attitude.
You should know that YOU can transform your life at anytime! I have been blessed to have it happen in my life and blessed to see it happen in many other lives and situations.

Note to ME and YOU: Transformation can get you from where you don’t want to be to where you dream to go!

TheFatGuy

TheFitGuy

TheBEAST
26 April, 2016
7 Years on My Journey! WOW!
7 Years on My Journey! WOW!

Me at 342 on my weigh to losing 150!

Yep, on March 2, 2009 I officially started my journey! I weighed 351 pounds that day and was over 360 pounds in early February of that year. I was a mess! The weight came with 7 meds, a CPAP machine, multiple ailments, high blood pressure, high cholesterol and so on. Life was not good, not fun, and I was helping no one, most of all myself.

On that date I committed to ‘taking care of ME’. In my very first log entry the morning of that day I included this statement: “I need to take care of me so I can best help my family and community.” You see, I was not good at ‘taking care of ME’ so I could not help others the way I wanted to, the way I needed to help them. That is why I wrote “Fat Guy Diary: Out of the Fire!” I was not able to find my way out of my own personal fire, so I could not help anyone else find their way. I could not take care of ME so how was I going to help anyone else. I give my story away because I feel so blessed to have found my journey and see so many that need to start their journeys, that want to start their journeys. .

Back to the journey. I lost 150 pounds in 363 days. I have challenged myself in many ways since and have been able to do many things I never thought possible. Things like:

150 Reps!
- Coming off of the 7 meds
- Doing away with the CPAP machine
- Doing 150 reps of the stands at Stoney Field
- Doing 493 pushups in 30 minutes in a fundraiser
- Appearing on a Total Gym infomercial
- And more that I can list here…..
It has not always been easy. I have worked hard to establish better lifestyle habits over the past 7 years. BUT, during stressful times the almost 53 years of bad lifestyle habits creep in or other times, come screaming back. The biggest spikes have come when I have lost a loved one from my life. I’ve lost my father in-law, mother in-law, mom, and last week, my brother in-law. I can deal with most things, but these life events really impact my life. I am all about family so this makes sense. It also makes sense that I need to continue to work on my newer, better habits. This is very important.

It is important because I would have not made it through these times if I was not in shape and healthy. I would have not been able to help my family, if I was not taking care of ME. My family deserves the best ME to be there for them, I deserve the best ME to be there for ME. As I continue to set my habits in ‘stone’ it will make it much easier and better for me to help my family and others the way I want and need to help them. IT IS ALL ABOUT THE HABITS, THE HEALTHY HABITS.

The more habitual I make healthy choices the better off I am. The more habitual I make eating smart and moving more the better off I will be.

Note to ME and YOU: Good Habits and Good Choices lead to a Good Life, a Better You, a Healthy You!

Mike, TheFatGuy

PS The best way I know to honor those that have gone before me is to take care of ME and help others
2 March, 2016
Moderation and TheFatGuy

Moderation and TheFatGuy

How do YOU define Moderation?

Moderation was a foreign word to me for a long long time. Actually, several years ago, I told Dr.J of Dr.J & TheFatGuy that I had no idea what the definition of moderation was.

Dr.J and TheFatGuy (ME) have done different TV and radio spots promoting healthy living, making the healthy choice the easy choice, and anything promoting a healthy lifestyle. Dr.J is a wonderful person that works with MUSC and is, what I would call, the queen of moderation. She is in great shape and health, no body fat, and so on. When we started doing our spots together I noticed she always brought up moderation and doing things in moderation. Sounds like a smart thing to do, huh?

Well, we walked out of a session one day and I said, “You know, I have no idea what the definition of moderation is. If I did I would have never reached 360 pounds!” She just laughed, but I was a little serious about it and how moderation pertained to my journey. Moderation is much easier said than done with a person like me. You see I quit drinking in 1984 (recovering alcoholic), quit smoking in 1986 (nicotine addiction, 2 packs a day), and started my wellness journey to losing 150 pounds in 2009. Now does that sound like someone that knows what moderation is?

When I describe myself to people I typically use the phrase “all or nothing kinda guy”. I am like a light switch that has no dimmer. I am ON or OFF! It has been this way with alcohol, cigarettes, and sugar. There are probably a few other things I could toss in for good measure.

Picture taken on our anniversary!

Sugar is one great example of all or nothing. No moderation, no dimmer dial. I worked at giving up processed sugar for 363 days while losing 150 pounds. The only processed sugar I knowingly ingested for those 363 days was 2 bites of coconut cake on my wife’s birthday in November 2009. It was Peninsula Grill’s world famous coconut cake. It is delicious and loaded with calories. Presently one slice has 2,400 calories in it! Yep, about a dozen regular candy bars. But, I had 2 bites and that was it! YEA!

I gave up sugar during this period because I knew I would struggle to lose weight, to stay on the journey if I did try to ‘manage’ eating any sugar during this period. I still struggle with it, but I do recognize my struggle and my issues with moderation.

That is what I want to share with you today. I know moderation in many things in life is an issue for me. I know I struggle with the idea of replacing an ‘ON/OFF’ switch with a moderation dimmer dial. Creating honest communication with ME (TheFatGuy) has been a key factor in any success I have seen in my journey. I always go back to honesty, self-honesty. It is the toughest honesty I have ever experienced and many people I know feel the same way. Taking a hard look in the mirror and realizing there are things I cannot control or do well.

SO, I may not be able to master moderation like Dr.J, but I am fully aware of what I do well and not so well.

Note to ME and YOU: You don’t have to master everything! Just look in the mirror and master YOU!

TheFatGuy

1 February, 2016
When life happens……

When life happens……

When life happens I have a tendency to revert to the 53 years of bad lifestyle habits that got me to weigh in at over 360 pounds. AND, life has happened a little too much these past two months. I had been OK with staying in a range of 215 to 230 over the past 8 months with the 230 number being in view a little too much. 230 was going to be the line I would not cross.

I had been in the process of rebooting myself and getting on the right track with my nutrition and physical activity when things started coming unraveled. During the week of April 13^th I was helping plan a 60 anniversary gathering at Blossoms on April 17^th for my mom and dad. I took my mom flowers on April 16^th, their anniversary, and talked a little about the event we were having the following night. One minute she said she was going and the next she wasn’t. My brother, Walter, and I tried to work on some special invitees that night to make sure mom was happy J I called the next morning on April 17^th to talk with my mom about the fact that Father Willey, our pastor, would be at the dinner. As she joked with me about him coming and her deciding to come, she fell to the floor. I knew it was not good as I could hear my dad talking with her. I stayed on the phone with them and steered my car to their house which took about 7-8 minutes. I knew from what I could hear that my mom had stopped talking. When I arrived at the house my mom was unable to communicate with us and was slipping away. The EMS and Fire professionals did a great job responding and getting my mom to Roper Hospital but the outcome was out of all of our control. Talking to the doctor at the hospital we found that she had a massive stroke with a significant bleed on the left side of her brain and a secondary bleed had started. Our only choice was to make her comfortable and at peace, as best we could. We had just over 4 days to come together as a family and say goodbye to my mom.

This was all tough on me and everyone but I thought I was handling it OK. AND, life happened again! On the day of my mom’s funeral, April 25^th, I was going to pick up my dad so our family could meet to go to the funeral together in the provided vehicles. As I drove down Rutledge Avenue I was in the left hand lane beside a Toyota SUV in the center lane. The GPS in the Toyota SUV told the driver it was time for him to take a left onto Vanderhorst Street and he proceeded to make an abrupt left turn into the side of my car as we both crossed the intersection of Rutledge and Vanderhorst. I was shook up pretty good but I did avoid hitting a hydrant and tree across the intersection! My first thought was to call my brother Walter to pick up my dad. And then I made sure my car was drivable. The police officer did a great job of making sure I got out of there in time to make it to my mom’s funeral.

The accident left me with significant left shoulder, upper back, and neck pain. Numerous doctor visits, PT sessions, and visits to the chiropractor are getting me back on track. Then came a great business/wellness retreat, followed by my annual week at Camp Kemo. Not all bad, just a bunch of life happening.

SO, Sunday (June 14^th) I wake up with much pain in my shoulder and neck weighing 245 pounds! It was/is time for me to reboot, go back to simple (KISS) and manage things a little better.

The first thing I see on Facebook that day is a good friend of ours, Devin Page, post a challenge to his friends to ‘set a 3 month goal, to get healthier, lose weight, get in shape and be a better person.’ Well this came at a great time for me, I’M IN! Devin plans to be 30 down during that time and I AM IN FOR THAT.

Second step was to get back on my muscle relaxers, get back to better pain management and get back to PT Monday. This has started!

Third step is to work a plan for Eating Smart and Moving More throughout the summer with Polly, my wonderful and now skinny wife. Our nutrition system is in place and is working for me and her. The moving more will come with a scheduled plan of Total Gym workouts, , some body weight workouts, stands at Stoney Field, and walking with Polly.

I am blessed to be in pretty good shape even at 245, but that is not where I want to be. I have allowed ‘life happening’ to pull me away from my main mission and commitment to me and others in my life. My first post in my log/spreadsheet on March 2, 2009 included this line:

I need to take care of me so I can best help my family and community.

I need to remember this always. You need to remember this always! I thank Devin Page for posting at the right time for me! I look forward to success for me and all in this group.

Note to ME and YOU: Take Care of YOU! (It is that simple and that complicated)

TheFatGuy

PS: I want to thank Devin and Britni for being such great friends, especially over the past 4 years with the loss of Polly’s parents and my mom. Our conversations and your support have helped us more than you know. It has helped me stay inbounds and continue to travel my journey.

16 June, 2015
REBOOT!
Reboot- to restart, to bring back

I have used this word over and over again with my journey. Sometimes I think I might be wearing it out and then other times it saves me, saves my life. Rebooting to me means stopping what I am doing when I head in the wrong direction (weight, habits, or anything), resetting, restarting, and moving in the right direction.
- Stopping: I often need to put myself in check, sometimes in small ways and other times in big ways. I may realize my water intake is to low, sugar intake is too high, or my cardio is not happening the way it should. OR all of these things could be happening at once, which is a big deal. SO I STOP!
- Reset: I review my behavior and look at what I am doing well and ‘not so well’. When I see what I am doing ‘not so well’, I go back to a point in my journey where I was doing it well. I look at what was working to help me maintain my weight, lose weight, and progress and my journey.
- Restart: In my mind, I hit restart and reboot my journey. When I reboot I go back to the date where the settings worked! Where TheFatGuy’s operating system was running smooth and getting things done in good order.
- Moving in the right direction: Once I commit to the restart, I feel SO MUCH better. My mind and heart are back to where they need to be and I find it much easier to move through my journey!
You see, I have a tendency to put too much ‘junk’ in TheFatGuy’s operating system. The operating system gets cluttered with a touch of bad attitude, poor decisions, old/bad habits, and stinking thinking. I have too many files open, with many of them being files that do not positively impact my journey. SO, they slow the journey down to a crawl or they cause it to completely freeze up at times. When I reboot I end up closing ALL of the files and then opening the ones I need to really help me on my journey.

Today is one of those days! It is reboot time for TheFatGuy. I have gone through the above steps, started a 2 days cellular cleanse, and can feel my mind and heart moving in the RIGHT DIRECTION. Feels really good!

Note to ME and YOU: REBOOT as often as you need to REBOOT! It’s your journey! JUST STAY ON IT!

TheFatGuy
23 March, 2015
LIVING, LOVING, LOSING, LAUGHING!> LOSING

This is my third post on my tagline Living, Loving, Losing, Laughing! The focus today is Losing. Losing is fairly simple by definition: 1. resulting in or likely to result in defeat < losing a battle> 2. marked by many losses <pounds>.

Let’s take the pounds first. Losing weight, as in 150 pounds, was the most important goal between March 2, 2009 and February 27, 2010. I had to lose this weight or suffer the current and future consequences of carrying around 360 pounds plus on a 6 foot frame. I had to learn how to lose and how to take care of myself physically. I continue to work on maintenance today and how I gain and lose weight. I look at how I gain and lose muscle and fat and how that works for ME. I have learned a lot about losing weight and continue to learn how to manage those gains and losses.

I think . Not the pounds, but the losing we experience every day in life. These losses helped to fuel my stress and binge eating. Managing these losses is as important as managing each pound. I knew in June of 2010 that we were going to lose my father-in-law, Garvin. As we dealt with this coming loss, Polly and I were able to rearrange our lives to deal with the loss her dad and help her mom, dad and family with the loss. Managing my highs and lows during this period was hard, but taught me a great deal about life, losing, and winning. Losing Garvin was tough but also taught ME a lot about ME and life.

Also, sometimes we have to choose a timely loss to reach our ultimate goals. Other times we take a loss, learn from it and move on to develop a winning strategy. Defining what winning looks like to ME is very important. I know I cannot WIN every situation or every battle in life. But I do know I can say the Serenity Prayer and change the things I can in life. I can WIN the WINS that are important to ME.

So, learning how to deal with losing is very important to ME. I also know that the worst type of losing or failure is failing to try. I pray I always have the courage to change the things I can and WIN the fights I need to WIN.

Note to ME and YOU: God grant me the serenity
to accept the things I cannot change;
courage to change the things I can;
and wisdom to know the difference.

TheFatGuy

27 September, 2011
Habits!

Habit: an acquired behavior pattern regularly followed until it has become almost involuntary.

Good/Bad, You Choose!

This past week was a week of constant stress and emotion. It was a week off log for me and a week Polly continued to log. Polly’s dad passing on March 31st was an emotional roller coaster for Polly and me. I allowed myself to go off log for the week and it was a week of ugly eating habits coming back to the surface with other bad habits creeping in that ended in a 8 pound weight gain. Polly maintained her weight and has seen a consistent weight loss since mid-November. She is down 15 pounds since starting to log her daily food intake.

This all brings to light the need for healthy habits in my life. I know that 32 years of adult bad eating habits have not been erased by 2 years of smarter choices, good habits, and logging. It would not take me long to return to obesity, diminished health, and 7 drugs I do not want to bring back into my life. As I look around, read, and study my issues, I see that we all revert to those ‘almost involuntary behavior patterns’ (yes, habits) that we unconsciously revert to in times of stress. It can be VERY HARD to deal with these ‘bad habits’.

Good News! Although it can be hard to deal with years of unhealthy or bad habits, they can be changed. This past week is a good example. If I had stayed on log I would have stayed around 219.2 pounds instead of jumping up to 227.6 pounds. I went back on log yesterday and know I will find myself back on the proper path. I work to Keep It Simple (KISS) knowing it is hard. The log helps me to move back to simple. Many times in life I/We come up with elaborate fixes to hard problems and bad habits. That seldom if ever works, at least for me. Going back to the log (fatguydiary that is) and Keeping It Simple helps me to combat those years of bad habits that are so hard to shed and so easy to give into in difficult and stressful times.

Note to ME and YOU: Work daily to develop your healthy life habits and Keep It Simple (KISS)!

TheFatGuy

9 April, 2011
LIVING, LOVING, LOSING, LAUGHING! All in an Instant!

I was doing some ‘self-research’ this morning and ran across this post from 2011. I was 2 years into my journey of weight loss, health, and fitness at the time. I needed this post then and needed it again today!

Living, Loving, Losing, Laughing! is not just the tagline on my website, it is something I have thought about and strived to live by these past two years. I continue to explore me and how these words apply to my life. On Thursday at 1:05 PM these words all came crashing together at one instant!

My wife, Polly, called to let me know that her father, Garvin, had just died. The feelings I experienced at that moment were more overwhelming than I had expected. It has been a long year in anticipation of Garvin’s passing. We were told in early June of 2010 that Garvin had less than 3 months to live. The news was tough. Polly and I wanted to make his time with us as comfortable and happy as possible. We also wanted to help her mom, Effie, with her desire to see Garvin pass at home in Pickens. Armed with the knowledge that Garvin only had 3 months with us we were all pretty worn out by month 10. It took a mental and physical toll on everyone involved in the situation, especially Polly’s mom.

As I experienced all the emotions that go with losing a loved one, I immediately thought about my tagline and how it applied to my relationship with Garvin. Since 1982 Garvin has LIVED life with the thought of staying sober and helping others find sobriety. He has used his story to help others learn to LIVE life without alcohol. Garvin and Effie welcomed me into their lives in 1984 and almost immediately we developed a caring LOVING relationship that I have been blessed to experience these past 27 years. The LOSING part is the tough part. LOSING Garvin and all of his Garvinisms (the old sayings only he could generate) is a difficult task. I can only cope with this loss knowing that his suffering on earth has ended and he is in a much better place with God. I hope and pray I will see him there one day. LAUGHING is the easy part for me. Garvin could ALWAYS make me laugh. Whether it was the first time I heard a story or the 1,000th time I heard a story, I always laughed at the way he would tell it. I might know the punch-line, but I could never replicate the delivery.

I have learned much more about life from Garvin than I can include in this one blog. He has dealt with more demons in life than most of us and still was able to carry a smile and a kind word with him wherever he went. His life helps me on my journey and helps me to keep things in perspective in my life as I deal with
the ups and downs of weight management and life management.

My favorite Garvinism is ‘shake hands with the men and hug the women!’ I cannot do it justice in this blog, but I can see him smiling as I write it!

Note to ME and YOU: Part of taking care of ME is letting the people in my life know I love and care about them. NEVER HESITATE TO DO THIS!

TheFatGuy

2 April, 2011

Tag: reboot

7 Years on My Journey! WOW!

When life happens……

I need to take care of me so I can best help my family and community.