Living Proof

"Even I can't stay on this Paleo diet." The challenge is over. I failed miserably. For the first couple of days it was okay. I usually don't eat my burgers with a bun anyway and kept up with my meat and veggie intake. As I kept reading about the Paleo diet, it also had some conflicting "beliefs" from dedicated followers. For example, some people feel it's okay to eat tomatoes, while others say stay away from them. Most say do not eat beans or coffee since the cavemen didn't eat them. But, they're naturally grown, perhaps found later on during the earth's life ...right?  Then you have to consider the strict rules in the quality of your meat - only grass fed burgers and steaks and organic vegetables and never buy fish that is farmed. Your life is basically dedicated to researching where your food is from when you're doing simple grocery shopping. And that's just it: it's not simple! While we try to cultivate a healthier lifesty...

That titles says it all, right? I’ve always struggled with anxiety, and most people say they’re “stressed out”, either from work, from school, from family problems or relationship issues. Then you have me: stressed at the drop of a hat for no apparent reason, or for irrational reasons. And then once something stress-worthy comes walking across my path, the panic button is no longer in sight. I’m overwhelmed, and sometimes, it actually hits that numb feeling, almost as if my body is trying to protect me from an overload of anxiety. Nobody in my life, except for my wife sees my full-fledged anxiety attacks. Nobody else, even family members can really see ‘the real Deb’ - the Deb that paces back and forth all hours of the night, shaking out her arms out to relieve that pins & needles feeling. The Deb that pours a glass of wine to take the edge off. The Deb that actually hops in her car, drives mach 90 only to get a prime seat at the bar. Things had to change... I had a good friend wh...

(The photo above was taken with my phone cam at the park where I walk.) It’s been a fun couple of weeks, between more job offerings/projects, better weather and best of all, finding an exercise routine that I’m absolutely excited about. I first started out by walking three miles one day. I decided to make that my an absolute must on a daily basis. Then one day, it stepped up to five miles. Mind you, I’m not running or even jogging, just walking. I prefer to walk outside, since the weather is beautiful. Madelene comes with me when she’s off or sometimes, I’ll go by myself or just use my treadmill, which isn’t the same as walking on the pavement with hills. I was doing it more for my heart health, when I realized my pants were starting to fall off and I needed a belt. YAY! I then risked the ultimate let down by trying on a dress jacket that I haven’t worn in about three years. In fact, the jacket used to be so tight, that I couldn’t even put the buttons together, no less get them r...

YOU CAN DO IT!... Remember the Gazelle by Tony Little? Remember how humiliating this looked? (My apologies to my best bud Lisa!) It’s the most unnerving, unsettling and unpleasant thing to have somebody talk to your personal trainer while you’re working out. Don’t talk to my trainer! I own her for an hour! We’re upstairs where the huge scary wall-to-wall mirrors are, and she is training me on free weights. She’s in charge of counting, as I try to perfect my form. A lady doing crunches on one of those big beach balls started chatting up a conversation with her about the dangers of smoking. Not only did my reps go up to 75 per set because there was a bit of a distraction, but I was compelled to say, “Is this enough?” My triceps swelled into huge knots. My personal trainer is a really nice lady and I know she doesn’t want to be rude, but she also doesn’t want to see me cancel the next day because I can’t move out of bed. I was always used to the old fashioned way to do sit ups. Either ha...

Downright humiliating. It’s what I felt as I did these freaky squat thrusts on a little mushy dome-like half ball on the floor, while these beautiful people walked past me as I stuck my butt out in “full” display. My trainer is one of those types who don’t believe workout machines will help all that much. She made me do 30 push ups (the half ass beginner ones), weird side leaps with a resistance belt tied around my ankles, looking more like my underwear fell down, 100 sit ups – but these sit ups were different – I had to lie on my back and push my legs into the air. I said, “This’ll never work.” How wrong I was. I got a Charlie horse in my stomach muscle. Who gets that? I could have done all of this at my house. But would I? …She even made me use one of those “steps” – the type of step that aerobic classes used from 1982 with leg warmers. I had to carry a 5 lb medicine ball and leap from side to side rotating each foot swinging the ball high in the air. I looked like some giddy gay ma...

What is it with people? I’m starting to wonder how people are behind closed doors more and more every day. I’ve been avidly working out at the gym almost daily these days, and I’ve been noticing more and more how people don’t give a rat’s ass about cleanliness or respecting other people in the gym and wiping down their machines after they use them or even flushing the toilet in the bathroom for the love of God! How hard are these tasks? It’s even a written rule that the gym has: PLEASE CLEAN EQUIPMENT AFTER USE. –Management Clorox wipes are available at every set of machines. What’s the problem folks? Don’t talk to me. Not in general, but if you see me on a machine working out, sweating my butt off and my iPod on full blast in my ears, don’t ask me questions or talk about the weather. I’m not a mean and unsociable person, however, it’s evident I don’t want to gasp for air to talk about how spring is almost here. One lady nearly had a full conversation by herself. She thought I heard ev...