Well…watched an interesting documentary yesterday about the obesity epidemic here in the US and, while I’m sympathetic with those of us who daily struggle with our weight, I think I fall on the side of the personal responsibility folks who counter attack when the blame is placed on the fast food industry. I was thinking about this the other day when I realized that I have not had fast food in over a year and it is a conscious decision to not eat that kind of stuff….I do understand the people who say that they don’t have time to cook healthy, and I had that same problem when I was working long hours. Then there is the cost….when you can get fast food for a few dollars for a meal, some people just can’t afford to eat healthy foods. I can admit that I have battled my weight my entire life and there was a time a few years ago that I weighed 210 pounds on this 5 foot 10 inch frame….but, through hard work and the weird ability to keep track of all the calories I consume every day, I’ve hit around 170 now and I’m shooting for 160 as my final weight. I guess I’m lucky that I can resist the urge to eat when I need to and I have the time to get in a couple of hours to exercise every day. One of the funny things about this is that I have three sons that have gone through exactly the same thing over the last couple of years, each of them going from over 250 lbs to about 160….and they did it the way that many obese people say just doesn’t work….eating better and less along with ramping up their activity….
So, what’s the answer…I don’t know but I do know what worked for me and my family…less than 2,000 cals a day and lots of exercise….okay, this one was supposed to have a point but I wandered around for a while and it never came…so you can consider this one a throwaway…and I do owe you one that makes a point later…but I’m not sure what that will be yet…
Well…it was an okay day yesterday and I got a lot done plus laid out in the sun and got some color…I discovered that “the Song Remains the Same” is on Netflix and I may have annoyed my neighbors some with playing it through the stereo…I didn’t have it up that loud, though, so I hope I don’t get a complaint letter from the management. I had a bunch of ideas for posts last night but I don’t remember them..I should have done a placeholder I guess. I hope I’ll remember them later today…not much to do today…need to cook some of the 10 pounds of chicken I got yesterday for lunch and then just the normal stuff…out with G later, too I think, but that’s about it….more later…
Well…just wanted to say a few things before I go off and make lunch…first, I haven’t really had time to read up on the repub debate last night so I won’t be able to comment for a while since I do want to have something pertinent to say that is not as banal as I can be, as you know….I do have an injury that is hampering my writing somewhat…the carpal tunnel has come back and I can barely use my right wrist…but that’s not an excuse…the last I checked, my wrist is not used for thinking….okay, I need to make lunch…I will be back later with more..so, come on back after you get back from lunch and get some work done….
I have a question about the whole Anthony Weiner thing…how can the repubs say a word when they still have David Vitter in the senate who actually broke the law by paying prostitutes over the course of many years? I do not agree at all with what Weiner did but none of it was illegal….just narcissistic and stupid. One other thing that made me smile a little was a new Pew poll that came out today on the Obama/Israel flap that went on a couple of weeks ago…it basically shows that the people are not buying the lies that the righties are putting out about it…even from the repubs themselves. So, maybe people are tiring of the lies from the right and finally want America to get back to the business of taking care of it’s people; not just scoring political points for the small right-wing base…we can only hope…
Well…I was extremely good last night and I woke up today full of vim and vigor…getting through the night was kind of a chore, though, but I did get a lot of stuff done…got the bike maintained, did the dishes, and cleaned some more…boring, huh? Oh, well…even Netflix is starting to be boring so I think I need to start figuring out new things to do…I was so desperate last night that I re-read the Sunday paper and was looking through every corner trying to find a book I haven’t read in a while…I thing I may need to talk to T to get another bag o books to get my brain working on every level again…I think it did that once but it’s been a while….not much to do today…I do need to clean up the car since the pollen and dust on it is about an eighth of an inch thick and the old thing just looks better clean…that’s about it, though and fighting the boredom is going to take some creativity that I just may be able to muster…more later…
Well..it’s been a busy day today..had lots to do to get to this point and I am now just sitting down for the first time today to take a look at the world of politics and put in my two cents. I am just amazed at the repub hypocrites that have the gall to ask ‘where are the jobs?” as a campaign slogan when, for the 8 years they held power, not one net job was produced by them or their voodoo economics of tax cuts, tax cuts, and more tax cuts. As I have said many times before, if tax cuts spurred job growth, why aren’t we swimming in new jobs with tax rates being at their lowest overall level in more than 50 years. I am more than frustrated by the dems not standing on any flat surface and shouting these facts; that the repub policies do not work for job creation…and I’m sure that business is not hiring just for the fact that they want a repub back in the White House to de-regulate some more and take the remaing shards of the American dream and rip it from the last few hands of the middle class…ignorance is going to be the end of this country I fear…
Well…a normal Sunday yesterday with races and just taking it easy…one of the best F1 races I’ve seen in a while with rain, crashes, and a run from the back to the win for Jensen Button…didn’t do much else but cook and I think I have the foil pouch chicken zeroed in finally since it came out great…moist and tender…yummy….not much else the rest of the day and I think if I add up the sleep between the ups and downs, I only got about 4 hours…I know that’s not sustainable but still don’t know what to do about it. Maybe tonight will be better…not much to do today….I do have work to do around here today so I just may be busy most of the day and that will help…I am finally getting the winter weight off and the goal of 160 looks attainable in the next month or so if I keep up the work…at least that is something I can enjoy…I will have at least one more for today but I’m not sure if I’m going out for coffee today…still can’t warm up to Biggby but it’s the only place out here so I guess I’ll keep trying…more later…
Well…a relatively nice day yesterday that I just enjoyed with not a lot to do….it has been kind of cool to have the 24 hours of LeMans on all day so I could see racing whenever I wanted to…and having cable internet let me live stream it when it wasn’t on the tv…so, I’m still watching it right now for the next 30 mins and then out for a bike ride…but I think I’ll wait a while since it’s only 51 degrees and that is a bit iffy for going out in a t shirt….not much to do today…still haven’t heard from K this weekend so maybe today…if not, there are three races on this aft that I can watch and I do have some work to do around here so I won’t be too bored…just a little…I did get three out yesterday so I’m not sure if there will be more today…we’ll see…more later…
Well…it was a good idea to take the day of biking yesterday…my legs were turbocharged this morning and I did the longest loop without tiring…it just makes me feel so good that I can still do this stuff at my age…58 is creeping up on me…okay, not creeping but coming at me like a freight train and it is becoming easier to accept the changes that come with it. Oh, that’s not where I was going….have been trying to reconcile the loss of anger with being able to do this and have come to an idea that maybe the changes will help but might make the topics somewhat different. After all, none of the screaming I’ve done here over the last year and the 962 posts have made a damn bit of difference to anyone but me. So, I may start trying to be a little more introspective and talk about real things about life…and I do have the idea that I’m going to start another novel that will be about the weird but great childhood I had….oh, I guess that won’t be a novel since it really happened…it will be called “Sledding on the refrigerator door” and that will be one of the chapters that will deal with the creativity you need to have to have fun when you are poor….I’ll put another category at the top for you to click on and read what I have started….
Well….as you know, the healthcare debate is one that hits really close to home for me since I haven’t been able to afford health insurance for the last nine years and, under any plan that the repubs have presented, I’ll never be able to afford it until I turn 65 and qualify for Medicare. One of the things that just bugs the hell out of me are all of the righties attacking the health care reform bill with the lies that it has already resulted in higher costs and people losing their insurance…when you hear these things being said, just remember that most of the law has not even taken effect yet….so any higher costs or loss of coverage is because the insurance companies have decided to make those changes, not that they have been forced to by the law. Where are the repub voices that decry the insurance companies taking advantage of these lies to further gouge the people? They will never be heard exactly because the insurance companies own the repubs and have purchased their vote to both defeat the current law and to help them get their hands on Medicare to further control the healthcare market.
So, can we at least try to make the repubs tell the truth for once and do what is best for the country instead of just themselves and their owners? Geez….
Well…I kind of like that it rained yesterday and I could take the day off of all exercise to try to heal up the little aches and pains that I have been suffering for the past couple of weeks…and with the 24 hours of LeMans coming on in a couple of minutes, I am going to delay the bike ride this morning for a couple of hours…it is kind of wet out there with a heavy mist (yeah, that sounded weird to me, too) that would soak me before I got out a mile so waiting is a good idea…it is still in the 50′s after all. I find it kind of strange that the inner peace that I have been seeking for quite some time is having an effect on my writing…making it much harder to come up with topics and then to find the fire that I need to explode them here…but, I’m pretty sure that I don’t want that seething inner volcano back either….it is a conundrum that I find really interesting but on an objective basis….I do look forward to seeing where this takes me and what effect it has on the rest of my life; I don’t know how I can describe the feeling that has come over me…something like bemusement I guess…oh, well…I’ll keep you updated on the travels in this new world….it was funny yesterday when I asked T if she ever thought I’d be at peace and get to where I am now and she just laughed and said no….
Not much to do today…bet you thought I wouldn’t work that in today….I may meet up with K for a couple later and I have started to clean this place up and I’ll continue that but it’s going to be more of a laid back day…I am going to cook a pork loin with fresh broccoli and roasted red potatoes for lunch/dinner and I can’t wait to smell it cooking….I’ll try to get to another one later but you know how my Saturdays go….