On the brink, but it's not what you think...

The political posturing of our public servants over recent days is despicable. Nobody can claim credit for anything right now. It's analogous to offering to give CPR to someone you just shot. The vast majority of us are not short sighted enough to lose the fact that it has been poor policy, over-legislation and under-management in our governments and big business over the last 20 years (at least) that has made making an honest living one of the most difficult things to achieve today. Nearly none of us would accept the excuses or self-centered behavior we've seen them demonstrate from our employees or children. Why do we accept it from our so-called leaders?

People with little or no credit should not get loans. If they do get credit and can't make their payments, they should lose their asset. Businesses that routinely extend credit to risky customers should go out of business. Our government should enforce legislation that protects us all from fraudulent and devious activities. Complexity in systems encourage manipulation and chaos. It's time to get back to some basics.

This said, now that we're on this slippery slope let's pray that our leaders put together an "investment" package that 1) clearly defines the rules for which businesses qualify for "investment" , 2) as with the airline packages in the recent past, loans, instead of investment, state a term for repayment at favorable but fair rates, 3) no special interest funding or earmarks and 4) investigation and accountability into the firms and the past legislation that allowed debt to accumulate and be traded at the magnitude we're seeing.

There are a lot of smart business people that can guide this wreck forward. Paulson isn't one of them. It would be interesting to know how much of Henry Paulson's estimated $700 million net worth is invested in interests that might be involved in this so-called bailout. For that matter, full disclosure would be more than interesting for those crafting these financial devices. After all the money is spent scooping up these assets, the bad debts will still exist, right? Do you really want the federal government deciding to foreclose on your house or reposess your car because they now own the loan you weren't qualified to get in the first place? Warrants, loans, or just gifts of money do not erase bad debt. Nobody in this equation is going to forgive missed payments.

It should make all of us sick that the executives of these "failed" companies have fleeced the system for billions of dollars while they ran their firms into the ground. These are the same companies that, through their financial might, have influenced our public servants and shaped favorable legislation that has built the culture of industrial irresponsibility that has created infamous names as Enron, Ty, MCI, and I predict Fannie Mae, Lehman, and Goldman Sachs will join them before this is over.

The saga, and weight loss continue

I've lost 14 pounds since my last post on May 24. I'm particularly happy with this as I spent a week driving the Hot Rod Power Tour and a 4 day weekend in Florida playing. So while I wasn't able to exercise during these travels, I was able to continue to eat according to my plan (mostly). This morning's weigh in placed me at 214, down from 228.5 on May 24 and 290 on December 1, 2007. I was also able to put on a pair of 34" waist pants this morning, something I haven't done in at least 3 years.

The Hot Rod Power Tour was phenominal!
I was sorry to see it end, and I can't wait for next year. Next year it will begin in Madison, WI and make a stop in Racine and Warren, MI at the home of GM's design center. I'm wondering how they will route from Racine to Warren; if they will go north through WI and MI or south through Chicago and Indiana. I would prefer a northerly route, but I'm thinking they will drop south and I might be able to sleep at home the 2nd or 3rd night. In any case, I'm scheming my upgrades to get done prior to next year so I'm not the same poor sap that was driving a bone stock car next year.

I had a B&B PRT exhaust system installed on the vette over the weekend at Bloomington Gold in St. Charles, Il. I love the angry sound it makes now when I'm on the throttle, and I like that it purrs along when I'm cruising on the highway; it's the best of both worlds.


I also got some great news from my doctors last Friday. As I think I mentioned before, I developed heart failure in January 2007 and had an ejection fraction of 10% with atrial fibrillation. I've read somewhere that the prognosis for someone with an EF of 10% is 1 year. I was worried about this up until the point when I had a hybrid-maze procedure performed in February of 2008 at Northwestern Memorial Medical Center by Doctor Richard Lee. My EF had improved from 10% to 40% last year, but dropped back down to 30% by February. I had a check up last Friday and am happy to report that during the 3 week period in May I wore a long range heart monitor I showed no episodes of atrial fibrillation and that my echo cardiogram showed my EF had improved to 45%! Normal is 55% so I have some room for improvement, but this is happy news. As a result, I was taken off of Amiodarone, Lasix and potassium. I will wear a monitor again in August and if I still show no signs of afib then I can get off of the Warfarin, which will leave me on Toprolol, Lisinopril and fish oil. Life is good.

It's the 4th of July weekend, which means festival time. For me, the main event is Ribfest, more specifically live music. I'm looking forward to Ted Nugent, REO, Big Head Todd, Trace Adkins and Janesville. I'm told that Night Ranger and Styx are playing in Arlington Heights, so I may go to that instead of Ribfest, but I'm not sure.

Gotta go...

Food logs

Being at Indy yesterday screwed up my diet, but as my rules state, you have to allow yourself to cheat once in a while. Between the ribs and chicken I was set back 600 calories for the day. I normally have about a 1000 calorie deficit, so it was a really decadent day for me, and I didn't even get cake!

I promised to post a snippet of my diet regimen, so here it is. I keep a food and exercise log, and I'm religious about staying on top of it. I think it's a matter of accountability, as I find myself thinking twice about eating the candy or cookie knowing that I won't want to enter those calories in my log. I track my blood pressure and heart rate in addition to calculating my theoretic weight loss versus actual. If you're interested in receiving this spreadsheet to use for yourself, let me know and I'll send it to you.

5/17/2008	7a	whey protien + soy milk	177
		45 minutes elliptical
	12:30p	4 oz orange roughy	80
		caesar salad	220
		activia yogurt	70
	4:15p	gluten/fat free chips + salsa	100
		pudding	45
		2 apricots	34
	8p	caesar salad	300
		2 meatballs	125
		lasagna	300			137/83	68
			1451	966.00
5/18/2008	9a	whey protien + soy milk	177		229
	3p	turkey and ham subway salad	150
	6p	pear	81
		orange roughy	180
		activia yogurt	70
		bracolli	24
	8p	36 minutes ellipticala
	9:15p	pudding	45			146/85	72
			727	1690.00
5/19/2008	7a	whey protien + soy milk	177		229
		apple	70
	12:30p	salad and vinegarette	130
		chilli (quiznos)	140
	2:45p	pickle spear	5
	3p	panera mediteranian veggie sandwich - 1 slice bread removed	200
	6p	2xboca+parmisan	200			146/93	68
		salad and vinegarette	100
		activia yogurt	70
	9p	52 minutes stationary bike
	10p	italian ice	120
			1212	1205.00
5/20/2008	7a	whey protien + soy milk	177		227	133/79	68
	12:30p	ahi tuna and salad + vinegarette	220
		hot-n-sour soup	60
	3p	pear	81
	7p	ham and whole grain wrap + lettuce	215
		activia yogurt	70
		pudding	45			128/73	75
	8p	30 minutes stationary bike
			868	1549.00
5/21/2008	7a	south beach breakfast bar	140		227
	12:30p	1/2 bowl chilli	350
		3/4 house salad w/vinegarette (cheese and walnuts)	200
	8p	healthy choice chicken and rice	210
		activia yogurt	70
		pudding	45
	9:30p	sliced turkey breast	60			133/74
			1075	1342.00
5/22/2008	6:45a	whey protien + soy milk	177		228.5
	11:30a	apple	70
	12p	orange	60
		granola bar (whole grain)	180
		trail mix bar	140
	5p	8.5 oz beef roast	502
	6p	peach	38
		30 minutes elliptical				126/76	70
			1167	1250.00
5/23/2008	3:30a	whey protien + soy milk	177
	6a	banana	72
	11:30a-4p	indy: 5 pork ribs; 2 drumsticks; 2 thighs; 1 breast (all small)	1778
	8p	roast beef + english muffin + cheese	510
		6 cookies (bad dave)	540			137/82	69
			3077	(660.00)
5/24/208	7:30a	whey protien + soy milk	177		228.5
	10:30a	apricot	17
	11:20a	banana	72
	12:30p	english muffin+turkey slices+cheese	240
	6:30p	8 oz turkey breast	429
		salad + ranch free	70
		fruit (canteloupe + grapes)	50
	7p	slice of roast beef (1oz)	59
	8p	60 minutes elliptical						500
	9p	30 minutes stationary bike				126/70	73	200
			1114	1303.00

In for a penny, in for a pound...

So, as I sit here pondering life, I have a pup between my legs and another bitching at me from the wings.

I started to put an update here of everything that's happened since I left, but erased it... several times. If you want to know, go ahead and ask :-)

Instead, I'm writing about health and wellness. I'm a compulsive eater, and have been for years. Twice in my life I've allowed myself to tip the scales at nearly 3 spins and twice I've lost significant weight, like 120 pounds the first time and now over 60 pounds most recently. Why do we eat, especially when we're not hungry? For me, it was a crutch, like cigarettes, which I've had to quit also (3 months now). Stress, nerves, anxiety were all triggers to eat. The crappier the food the better too.

Why do we keep eating when we know it's going to kill us? Oversimplified you say?

Obesity contributes to sleep apnea. Doctors are learning that sleep apnia now contributes to many ailments, including hypertension and heart failure. I can personally attest to this. I'll go into those gory details another time.

In the last couple of weeks I've had several people ask me how I have been losing weight; what's my secret. It's no secret really; eat right and exercise. One guy at work is 37 and was told by his doctor that his blood pressure sucked, liver enzymes were too high and if he didn't change his habits he was heading for an early grave. That news shook him up. My telling him that cutting red meat out of his diet might have shaken him up more. I have two more guys at work that are both over 400 pounds. It's hard to watch them struggle to move around, and the work they do sometimes requires a good deal of dexterity and activity.

Recently my company decided to hire a dietitian to meet and consult to our employees. She had back to back appointments for two consecutive days, and we only have about 50 employees in our office, over half of them are usually out of the office on any given day. People are clearly interested, but are they committed to health?

Healthy habits aren't easy. I've screwed it up many times. But at 42 I want to live the remainder of my life on my terms and not be at the mercy of doctors, medicines, and bad health.

Well that's what I claim at the moment anyway. Healthy living is a day to day proposition. It would be so easy to fall out of my current healthy routine, eat a quart of Moosetracks and begin the downward spiral of guilt, shame and eating.

So here are my "BIG" rules of healthy eating. I'll post more information over what specific foods I've been eating over the next several days.

Eat mostly fish, chicken, turkey. Little or no red meats. When red meat, eat lean cuts and small portions. Same with pork.

Avoid starchy veggies like corn and carrots. Favorites are red, yellow and green peppers; radishes; green beans; peas

Limit breads; when you eat breads eat whole grain; jewel sells wraps that are gluten free; fat free and only 50 calories per serving

Avoid anything with enriched or processed flour

Avoid processed meats; turkey sausage is ok once in a while

No fried foods; grill and broil when cooking

No caffine

Limit soda; no more than 1 diet, caffine free, low sodium per day; sierra mist; diet 7-up; diet sprite

Drink water or flavored seltzer water; LaCroix or Canfields

Skim milk or soy milk only - limit to one serving per day

Watch the "low fat" foods - they are loaded with sodium

Snack on fruits

Watch nuts; they can be high in fat and sodium (even the ones that are supposed to be good for you)

Use meal replacement shakes and bars; read the labels; I use Wild Harvest organic whey protien with 8oz of soy milk from Jewel. These are not snacks, they are replacements

Special order when dining out. They will always do requests. Also, only eat half of your portion for foods that are questionable like soup.

Learn how many calories are in what you eat. Use www.calorieking.com and www.calorie-count.com

I often use measuring cups and a postage scale to make sure I know how much food I'm eating

Potatos in moderation if at all

No real eggs - buy eggbeaters or the store brand

No salt - get rid of your salt shaker - you'll get all the sodium you need from your food. Use Mrs Dash. (Ok, sometimes I'll use a dry rub on some meats, but I really use it sparingly)

Exercise between 30-60 minutes daily (elliptical or stationary bike for me)

Weigh yourself before bed and in the morning. I will typically vary 2-3 pounds from night to day.

Log your food and weight daily. I find keeping myself accountable makes it easier to stick with the diet.

See a nutritionist if you can't find the discipline on your own. Having to spend money should keep you accountable.

Get your blood tested every 3-6 months when you've been able to make some progress

Consult your doctor with this program. Make sure they're ok with it. My nutritionist recommends I eat a minimum of 1300 calories, but I eat when I'm hungry and I only eat a reasonable portion until I'm sated.

Never skip breakfast. Even if it's just an apple or banana.

Shoot for 1-3 pounds per week weight loss

1 pound lost requires a 3500 calorie deficit

There are metabolic rate calculators on the web. Some incorporate your activity level in their calculation, but they all tell you how many calories you should consume to maintain weight. Use this as a guide to know what to consume to lose weight.

http://www.bmi-calculator.net/bmr-calculator/

http://walking.about.com/cs/calories/l/blcalcalc.htm

Remember that as you lose weight you need to recalculate your basal metabolic rate

Allow yourself to splurge once in a while. Even plan out when you'll allow yourself to have a slice of pie, cake, or a steak.

Protien is your friend, but don't try Atkins… it's misleading and dangerous. Watch carbs, sugars, and fats.

I went to Indy today, and all I got was this stupid look on my face

I went to Indy today, and all I got was this stupid look on my face

My biz partner and I took a road trip to Indianapolis today on an invitation from a certain software vendor who is trying to woo our allegience to their cause. I left about 3:30am to get there by 8am. We were 20 minutes late, but it was not a big deal. We listened to was remained of their presentations, then loaded into a group of SUV's and made our way to the track. I had a nice talk with another guest from Ottawa Canada while our driver fiddled her way through the traffic, getting honked and yelled at by the other drivers who were as baffled as we were by her erratic driving. At one point she just stopped and waited for the caravan to catch up to her, leaving the cops and the drivers behind us screaming and yelling at us to move.

I was not optimistic about any racing, and my pessimism was well founded as nothing happened. Instead we dined on pork ribs and fried chicken. My gut is still revolting over the breach of my diet. We talked to a lot of folks from our host and learned some much needed information about them.

About 12:30 three time Indy winner Johnny Rutherford came in and spoke to our group for a long while. His visit likely prolonged due to the incliment weather. For the record, his favorite production car is the Corvette (yay me!), former drivers can actually drive the speed limit, although he's had officers of the law acuse him of continuing to race, and he likes the taste of milk.

I'm such a dork.

We left early, forgoing a Stone Temple Pilots concert and I crossed my threshold about 8pm tonight, tuckered out, and ready to eat more bad food. I'll have to atone for my sins this weekend.

50,000 words! I win!

I've done it! Well, to a point. I passed the 50,000 word goal for nanowrimo today. yay for me. However, my book's not done yet. So, the writing continues. My reward? This nifty link, a certificate suitable for framing (lol) and a sweet icon.

It's that time of year again!

I got an email from one of my buddies last week telling me to get off my ass and start writing again. With the start of National Novel writing month approaching I've been trying to think of some themes and plots to put into words. My first several ideas ran along the lines of those I tried last year; good vs evil with some supernatural intrigue. My wife, not being the sort to withhold her opinion, let me know that she'd heard those plots before - last year... I guess I naturally gravitate to those themes as they are most interesting to me and what I often read in the likes of people like Dean Koontz.

I also read a lot of mystery, suspense and action novels, but I don't have enough research time for some of these nor do I know enough about how criminal investigation or the legal system works to pull those off right now.

This of course leaves me in the realms that would allow me to completely make things up without fear of losing credibility on the trivial mater of fact lol.

As I sit hear tonight the two leading thoughts are:

1) a story of a family coping with life when it's learned that fossil fuels have suddenly become so scarce that they can no longer be sold to the public given the out of control consumption of asia causing global economic turmoil, political chaos, and a chain reaction of events changing life as they knew it.

or

2) a compilation of short stories which are the back stories behind a single days newspaper headlines with several intertwined and related characters showing that while the world plods through each day thinking nothing happened despite the vignettes that make the daily news

Tick tock, tick tock... .November 1st is just around the corner so I'd like to have more than just the plot determined prior to the start of the contest.

I don't suppose any of you are participating in nanowrimo this year, are you? If you are, add me as a writing buddy! I can use all the encouragement I can get!

Boo!