Monday Musings

I like to start the week dishing out (what I find to be) some useful information. Maybe you'll find it useful too!

The blog PickTheBrain talks about How To Prepare Healthy Meals Faster Than You Can Order Takeout. Keys include creating a routine, making simpler meals, cooking several things at once, and eating the same things more often. This works for me during the week because I'm single, like to work out until about 6:30, don't have extraneous time to cook extravagently, and also don't mind eating leftovers. I like to save more elaborate meals for the weekend and recruit friends to help with the menu. Instant get-together!

If you're into meditation, you'll find a good primer at GoodLife Zen. They share Ten Important Tips To Start Meditating. Whether you believe in this stuff or think it is all a bunch of mumbo-jumbo, it will help you focus more on the present, which I think is a good thing.

Finally, the folks over at the Freakonomics blog pose a simple question - What's The Smartest Way To Spend Your Rebate? Being in the savings/finance/investing field, my natural inclination is to say put it in savings or pay down debt! However, last time I checked I was in the human/fun/spending crowd as well - tough choices! But, if you're gonna blow it on something big, watch that you don't use that $600 as an excuse to spend an extra $600 you don't have. If it wasn't in your budget before you had the $600, chances are it still isn't in your budget! As for me, I think I will use most of it to pay down debt and the rest as going-out money in Miami for my budgeted vacation to see my best friend from college. I can already taste the ice cold adult beverages on South Beach...

Your turn to share - How will you be spending your rebate?

Enjoying Sunday

Hey everyone - sporadic blogging lately. I'll do my best to remedy that. For now, enjoy a Zen-inspired post...

Today, Sunday, April 20th, was a fantastically productive day. I woke around 1100 - later than I wanted - but still in time do get breakfast, shower, and start my day with plenty of time to get things done. I started working in the yard around noon. I mowed, dethatched, raked, mowed again, mulched, and did a final mow with the bagger to get everything cleaned from the yard. First mow for the spring, so it needed it. The backyard will hopefully dry out by next weekend.

Then, I went shopping for groceries. I had no list, which could have been dangerous, but I didn't spend too much. I got a steak for tonight, and some stuff for the week. I decided as I was cooking that I would sit at my kitchen table and eat. Usually, I sit in front of the TV and mindlessly eat while I watch similarly mindless TV. Not tonight. I've been reading a lot of things about "being present" and being focused on what I'm doing that instant. I decided to turn off all electronics, cook my meal, and enjoy - nay, savor - every moment. This is how it started:




Perfect weather for a grilled KC strip steak. I added a couple small ears of corn on the cob, and finished with a mix of sauteed vegetables. Pair it with a nice Cab Sauv, and it turned out very nicely.

So, I sat at my table sans distractions and enjoyed my food. I'd be lying if I said I had any major epiphanies - I didn't think about my lot in the world, how to end hunger, or about the past or future. All I thought about was now. How does this steak taste NOW? How do the vegetables taste NOW? This corn tastes great NOW.

If I could give everyone one recommendation for this week, it would be to eat a meal while being focused on the present. Eat your food and have no other distractions. We have so many things vying for our attention in a given week - workouts, work, friends, TV, computer, web, blogging, news...the list goes on and on. Stop giving time to distractions for one night - think about the food - be it steak, etc... or whatever you like to make. I promise it will be one of the best meals you've had in a long time!

Weekly Goals

Hey everyone - before I do another update on my yearly goals, I thought I'd throw some weekly goals out there. Maybe you all can help hold me accountable! I have a health evaluation on Wednesday - free through work. They take my blood and give me back some numbers. Fun times. I don't think there is much else to it. If I get back some good info, I'll be sure to post it here.

As always, if you have any issues, insights, or comments, please let me know!

Weekly Goals:

Work out 5 days - spinning, weights, and running. I've done 4 no problem, but Friday has proved to be elusive. I'm hoping that I can get up early Tuesday and Friday and lift.

Eat out only on Tuesday night - IRA season is over Tuesday and our department will celebrate by going to Flat Branch. I'll enjoy some appetizers and maybe imbibe, but I'll control myself.

Meditate - This is a new one. Does anyone that reads my blog actually do this? I may have to consult some of my resources before getting back into this one, but I'd like to focus on being more mindful of myself and being present in the moment. I tend to worry about the future and focus on negative actions from my past instead of enjoying now.

Do something social during the week - I tend to get home from working out after work and just lay around the house. I find it funny that I have to tell myself to be social these days. Nick - GET OFF YOUR ARSE! SHOWER! TALK TO INTERESTING PEOPLE!

Blog - I owe you all the rest of my quarterly update!

Breathe in. Breathe out.

There you go!

Quarterly Update #1

Sorry for the previous post, but it was necessary. If you want to know why, ask James Joyce or perhaps find the significance of his last chapter. Moving on -

So, way back when, I posted my resolutions and goals for 2008. We're 3 months into 2008, and since I do this in business, I thought it was only fitting that I give everyone a quarterly update as to my progress on these goals!

I had essentially 5 areas that I wanted to focus on in 2008 :

- Financial
- Physical
- Professional
- Charitable
- Personal

I've decided to update one at a time so I don't overwhelm my large readership... Let's start with the one where I feel I've had the most success - Physical.

Here are the general goal-concepts and corresponding updates:

Goal: Begin Training for a 5k.
Update: If you watch this blog, you'll know that I did not walk. I completed my first 5k in a personal best time of 31:57. And I'm not done. I'm running more 5k races. I enjoy running. I've got a great support network for this, and have to say this goal is 100% complete!

Goal: Resume weight training at Key Largo.
Update: I lift at least twice a week now - Mondays and Wednesdays - and have begun to see some results:
Okay, as you can tell, that picture is not me. I certainly don't wear underwear that tight. Anymore.
However, I've dropped about 8 pounds with weight and cardio training, am down a couple of inches on my waist, and have dropped a meaningful percentage of body fat. This one is a work in progress, and again, I need to thank my support crew who faithfully shows up to the gym with me! Thanks!

Goal: Expand healthy eating habits.
Update: This one is not 100% good. I'd say I've made vast improvements over my previous eating habits, and I really like everything I eat. Variety is a bit low right now, but I'm slowly adding to my healthy repertoire. I eat a low-cal, high protein, high fiber breakfast, have an apple a day, eat a reasonable lunch (most of the time) and then have a high protein snack before hitting the gym. I feel good about that. I'm getting much better on making dinners for the week, but slide off the healthy horse on the weekends. Anyone got recommendations here? Oh, and I still go out to lunch once a week. Usually Booche's on Friday, but that has varied lately. This is non-negotiable. One thing I'd like to remove from consumption is soda. I have less than 12 ounces a day, but that's 12 ounces (and around 200 empty calories) I could eliminate. It's just so tasty!

Goal: Add/explore daily vitamins and supplements
Update: Zero percent to goal on this one for 2008. I take some vitamin B6 occasionally, but it's expired. What's the shelf life on these things? I bet they just start to lose their effectiveness. At any rate, I've asked for some help and guidance in this area from a very knowledgeable friend, and hopefully I'll have a better update next time.

That's my story. You've read my update. A lot of you have given me encouragement and support along the way. I really appreciate it! I've learned a lot and really feel like 2008 has been a fabulous year so far for me - in all areas I'm trying to improve.

Now, how are you doing? What are you doing in 2008 to be healthier? Even if you're doing nothing - share!

Hiatus is over!

Okay - 2+ weeks away from blogging and I'm back. But, it feels like only one long day...

I last dropped thoughts onto this page yes in a post-race endorphin buzz and I hate to admit not that much has happened in my absence except we had a great month yes at work that came to a close nearly one week ago although we won't reap the benefits of our work until next Friday which will most likely be too late for me to enjoy this weekend thoroughly because I'll be going to Kansas City yes to go to the wedding of my best friend from elementary school whom I have not seen in many months because I missed him last time I was in Kansas City while I was sick even though I attended my own surprise birthday party throw by a few of my friends, one of which might be stopping into town yes on Friday which would be pretty neat because this is a friend I enjoy bantering with back and forth and although my breakfast meetings on Thursday serve as a suitable replacement it is just different enough to make me wish we were back in the same city where we could have impromptu get-togethers like the old times in college when I didn't work out as much as I am currently because I didn't have the focus on health that I currently have guiding me to create healthier dinners and workout quite a bit more like this week when I did spinning for the first time and ran another 1 2 3 4 5k and even found time to hit the weight room to try and help lower my weight which has come down yes but is holding pretty steady at the current level I am enjoying because it seems to be going well and being noticed by the opposite sex yes and has given me energy to do things I could not do before and has created focus and drive in my daily life translating into more efficient sleeping and scheduling of activities and even has allowed me to finish some books I have been wanting to read for some time including The Road by Cormac McCarthy during which I cried twice and I feel is the best book I have ever read even though I have yes just begun to read perhaps the best book of all time to which this post yes is alluding and when I use the word allude it reminds me that my friend asked me to write yes a euphemistic post yes perhaps detailing or spelling out my weekend exploits so yes I said yes I will Yes.

5K - 31:57

I did not walk.

That would be the first thing I would tell anyone if they inquired about my first 5k. I did not walk. Today was the big day. The day I've been training toward since the first of the year. A goal that seemed too far away to be real. A race my friends and I discussed numerous times over breakfasts, lunches, and dinners. Would it ever get here? Yes, and I did not walk.

January's bitter cold was the antithesis of outside running. I tried jogging outside a few blocks in what seemed to be a warmer February. My lungs seized up from the bitter cold; I was defeated. But today, I did not walk. After 3 months of consistent training with weights and running on a treadmill, after shaving off several pounds, after reducing my body fat by more than 5%, I ran in the 2008 Columbia St. Patrick's Day Race.

It'd be easy for me to say that the reason I did not walk was because I had worked hard for three months, pushing myself, dedicating time, energy and focus toward my goal. But to say such a thing would be minimizing the HUGE impact of all those who have been a part of this from the start. No, I'm not going to start of by giving the cliche Oscar-esque speech. This may be sappy, but if I were to single a few people out of the numerous supporters along the way -

Stephen P: Day in and day out, you reminded my of building toward my goal. You gave me tools to track my progress and inspiration to keep me on track. Seeing your progress and hearing you talk about all your race times and experiences solidified in my mind that I can, in fact, run a 5k and not die.

Rob P: When I said I wanted to finish in under 45 minutes, you laughed. When I said I wanted to finish in under 38, you scoffed. Under 35? You still were not happy. I ran a personal best 31:57 and I feel like I can do better. Thanks for helping me change my mindset.

Mark A: Day of the race. I start out a little overzealous, maybe a bit too confident in my abilities. Out of the gate fast, but I'm tired at the quarter mile. My pace slows. I'm jogging. People are passing me. Failure begins to creep into my brain. I hear a familiar voice from behind. You ran beside me. I wanted to stop and walk on at least 4 occasions. I just wanted to catch my breath! But no. You wouldn't let me. You knew I would finish disappointed would I have stopped to walk. You ensured my months of training ended up a success on race day. You allow me to close this blog post with a phrase that has boosted my confidence in my abilities more than anything in recent memory.

I did not walk.

Why I Love Wikipedia

"Wikipedia is the best thing ever. Anyone in the world can write anything they want about any subject, so you know you are getting the best possible information." - Michael Scott, from The Office

Okay, so I don't love wikipedia because it is the best possible source of information (it is not). I love it for two reasons - it satisfies my intense curiosity for new knowledge and it allows my undiagnosed A.D.D. a safe outlet. I'm addicted to clicking on the blue links. No, I don't actually have A.D.D., but you could see where I might after seeing my most recent search history on Wikipedia.

I was watching Survivorman, and he was running from a Jaguar. I wanted to know what a Jaguar looked like and why they were so feared. Enter wikipedia. Follow my thought process.

Jaguar Wow, this guy is scary. Fast, lean, and likes an occasional swim. Jaguars are also Apex predators. Hmm, what is an Apex Predator? Follow the blue link

Apex predators pretty much kick ass. They shape their local ecological system. Not all are huge like a great white shark. They are the subject of fantastic hypothetical questions like "Who would win between a Grizzly Bear and a Tiger?" I wonder if I can find a list of all Apex Predators.

This list of Apex Predators is pretty neat. I didn't know there were so many Apex Predators. What would happen if you put them all in a hypothetical room/aquarium? I wonder who would come out. Probably not humans, which are also on the list. I wonder what wikipedia has to say about humans.

Humans are funny. This is illustrated by the funny picture of us the page. **Warning** it includes cartoon nudity. I wonder why they have that picture as an illustration for humans?

That picture is on the Pioneer Plaque, a plaque we sent into space on the Pioneer 10 and 11 spacecraft. This is a pictorial message of humanity intended for extraterrestrials. We apparently want them to know men are a happy, waving gender, characterized by bad haircuts. Women, on the other hand, are standoffish, have wide hips, and lack genitalia. We don't want to offend E.T. by making him see nudity... Also, almost no top-level scientists were able to decode this message. So, in case this one didn't work, we decided to use our super technology (at the time) to send out ...

The Voyager Golden Record. Awesome! We haven't gone platinum yet, but a golden record rocks! I had heard about this before - it's a record containing numerous things - including many songs from human history. You'll find Bach, Beethoven, and Chuck Berry, among others. Nice. According to Steve Martin on an episode of Saturday Night Live, when E.T. finds this record, their response will probably be "send more Chuck Berry."

Amen brother.