Well, it certainly has been quite some time since my last posting here. Not surprisingly, no one really noticed. But, when you have 2 readers, it's hard to have people clamoring at your door to write a post. My hope is that my renewed (for now anyway) vigor to blog will result in more people actually reading this, and keep me going. But we will just have to wait and see, won't we?
Where to begin? Since I last left, there have been few changes in my life. For starters, I have a new car. Well, new to me. See, my old trusty steed (a 1998 Saturn SC 1) finally bit the big one. It was a bit of a difficult situation given that it was the first car I had ever bought. Managed to keep it for 8 years too, and a lot of miles. That car got me to Florida and back, and countless trips across the state, and around town. Overall, it was a great car for me, and I will certainly miss it.
But, not too much as I did manage to upgrade slightly in the motor vehicle department. The thing with the Saturn was it's main upside, was also it's main drawback. It was a small car. Great for things like gas mileage, but not to much for comfort and winter road worthiness. I am not a small man, standing at 6'4", and getting in and out of the old girl was becoming a chore. So I now rock a Subaru Forrester, which is in great shape, and I am quite pleased to say is my car.
That isn't the biggest change that occurred this summer however. Nope, that award has to go to my losing of over 60 lbs. in the span of 4 months.
Back in April, I foolishly stepped on the scale in my bathroom, and what I saw made me take a step back and really think. I am 28 years old, and as stated above, pretty tall. But when I read the scale that day, and saw 285 lbs., well, I was not pleased. I had really just let myself get out of control. I ate the same way I had when I was in high school, and running distance every single day. I ate the same way I did when I was moving furniture for a living, or delivering packages all day. Now, I wasn't doing these physical jobs, but still stuffing my face all day every day. I drank Mountain Dew like it was my job, ate at all hours of the night, and just generally gorged myself far too often. Well, this all needed to change, and change it did.
I started by cutting the soda. Not completely out, that would only serve to make me crave it and set up the inevitable fall in to drinking it all the time again. No, what I did was to simply change my default drink to water. Seems so simple now, but in reality, it is anything but. I have friends that have a difficult time with drinking too much soda, or energy drinks. And our daily lives demand that we be more attentive, and so we need caffeine, and sugar to keep us awake the long days, and short nights. So I simply switched to water as my go to beverage, carrying a bottle with me everywhere I went, and would on occasion, treat myself to a soda during a meal, or after a particularly good workout.
Step two was the working out part. I began to play basketball again, but in earnest this time. This summer my average week of basketball was 6-10 hours (or 3-5 days a week, at 2 hours a pop), of intense, game basketball. All pick up style, but still a good workout. And when I had to sit a game out because of not making a free throw, I go to a side court and run sprints, or work on high energy stuff. Anything to keep my heart rate up, and sweat going.
I also began a steady walking regiment. Popping in my headphones, and walking around town for anywhere from 35 minutes, to 2 and a half hours. Doing this, sometimes daily, was a huge improvement over my normally sedentary lifestyle I had been falling in to the last couple of years.
Step three was the hardest of all. Cutting back on how much I ate. Part of this step was cutting back on all the heavy, nasty food as well. Gone were late night trips to the drive thru. Severely reduced were the diner excursions. But most importantly, was the amount of food I consumed at each meal. By simply dialing back my intake, I could effectively get the same nutrition, without always feeling so full, and heavy. And by jigger it worked. I managed in just 4 months to drop my weight to 223 lbs. and my waist by 4 inches. I also feel better on a regular basis, with more energy and even my sleeping has improved (not a whole lot, but anything is better than nothing)
The next change coming is of the moving variety. I have found a place to live that isn't my parents house. It's a block from the campus of my school, close to town, and work. So all in all, it's a great location, and I should be moving in the next few weeks.
I am really going to try and keep this blog updated as much as I can. It really is my only place to just write anymore. I simply suffer from the all too common lack of motivation at times. Here's hoping I can change that. Until next time, have a great Labor Day.
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post. Growing up, I was a Detroit Tigers fan. Being a Tigers fan in the 80's meant that the names Trammell, Whitaker, Gibson, and Morris were the names I knew as some of my favorite players. That Morris was Jack Morris. He was the best pitcher on the team, and along with Gibson, had the greatest mustache. 
should get in. Morris deserves to be in, and I hope that it happens for him soon. After seeing Jim Rice get inducted last year, it keeps my hopes up that it will happen sooner rather than later. I will have to post sometime in the future about how the H.O.F. voting needs to be done in a different way, and not by the BBWAA. Writers can tend to be a bit petty at times, holding grudges against players they don't like (such as Jim Rice, who finally got in after almost 20 years).