In the past, I had always wanted to lose weight, but I don’t think I ever really WANTED it.  It was something that I wished I could do, but never could really commit to.  It was never important enough to force me to muster the will power to make permanent lasting changes to my diet.

There was also one other problem.  Quite honestly, I didn’t really have any clue what to eat, and what NOT to eat.

At first, I just started with some simple things.  Portion control.  Just eat less.  That was a start, but then what?  What else could I change?  I decided another good idea would be to start cooking at home instead of eating at restaurants so much, and especially avoid fast food.  Another step in the right direction, right?

So, now I’m going to cook at home, and eat less.  Great.  But… What do I cook?

I received some advice about cooking healthier meals.  That advice was to shop the perimeter of the grocery store, and avoid all of the boxed processed foods down the aisles.  Focus on the fresh produce, meats, and dairy items instead.  Cooking with fresh ingredients became the last step to eating healthier to try and lose weight.

 Had 2011 progressed like any other year, I probably would have yet again failed.  I had a plan for a few simple changes, but there were two things missing.  First, I still didn’t REALLY know what to eat and what not to eat.  I had no idea what was making me fat, I was just doing some things that common sense told me would help me lose weight.  Second, I still lacked that all important motivating factor that would stay with me for the long term.

Luckily I didn’t have to wait long for that motivator.  In late February, Becky and I found out we were going to have a baby.  Right then and there, my life was changed, and I had found my motivation.  I made the decision that I was not going to be a fat dad.  It was just that simple, and that definitive.

By that point, I had probably lost somewhere around 5 pounds.  I had seen some results, but nothing staggering.  I decided that I needed to make a few more changes.  Still not knowing what to eat and what not to eat, I decided to eliminate food items that added no real nutritional value to my diet.  It seemed like the obvious next step.

As a result, I eliminated “empty calories” from my diet.  Essentially,   I stopped buying chips, and pretzels, and other snack foods.  I also stopped buying pop, and beer.  I replaced the snack foods with fresh vegetables like carrots, broccoli, and peppers.  Pop and beer were replaced by water.

I continued with this plan for about 5 months, and saw slow but consistent results.  Around the time that Warren was born in September, I had lost 20 pounds.  I was down to 210 pounds and I knew I still had quite a ways to go.  It was at that time that I came across a book called “Why we get fat, and what to do about it.”  It isn’t a diet book.  The author doesn’t present a diet, but rather, presents information.  He discusses study after study that have been conducted surrounding weight loss, weight gain, and nutrition.  Ultimately, the book made me realize that much of the popular wisdom about diet and weight loss is wrong.  Completely, and totally.

After reading this book, I finally understood why the changes that I had made to that point had worked.  In addition, I now had a better understanding about how the food we eat acts inside our bodies and what REALLY causes us to get fat.

I was able to make a few more tweaks to my diet.  I stopped worrying about fats as much, and became much more careful about sugars, and processed carbohydrates.  I also made a real effort to add whole grains to my diet.  For snacks, in addition to my veggies, I started eating small servings of cheese, and other protein rich foods like hard boiled eggs, unsalted raw mixed nuts, or beef jerky.

With these changes, I felt more satisfied, and my wight loss continued.

As of yesterday morning, I reached my goal weight of 175 pounds.  I have more energy than I have had in years, and I feel great.  It took a little over a year, but I have lost a total of 55 pounds.  What excites me the most though is that I finally feel like I am equipped with the knowledge to make this a permanent change in my life.  I will never allow myself to get fat again.

In the end, the changes that I made were simple, although, not always easy.  It meant giving up foods (and beverages) that I really loved, but in the end, those foods aren’t worth the price when it comes to my weight and my health.

Here 12 tips, based on the things that I have learned over the course of the last year.

1. Portion Control – Eat sensible portions.  Don’t eat something just because it is there.  It is OK to push your plate away when you are no longer hungry.
2. It is almost impossible to eat healthy when you eat out.  Make your choices carefully, and substitute sides if necessary.  The “cheap bulk” items (usually side dishes) that restaurants use to pad their profit margin and make you feel full are generally the worst things for your waistline.  Restaurants also tend to bring you servings that are about twice the portion size that you should actually eat.
3. Cook at home if you can, and focus on fresh fruits, vegetables, and meats.
4. Eliminate snacks from your diet that add little to no nutritional value.  If you want a snack, eat something that offers your body the things that it needs!
5. Watch your beverages.  The liquid sugars and carbs can kill your diet!  Don’t drink pop.  Period.  It isn’t good for you, it’s full of nasty ingredients, and it makes you fat.  This goes for diet pop too.  Don’t be fooled by the artificial sweeteners and the zero calorie claims.  If you go to the coffee shop, skip the high calorie sweetened and flavored mixed drinks.  Go for coffee, or an americano.  Cut out beer.  This is another difficult change for many people (myself included), but it will be worth it.  Once you reach your goal, enjoy a beer occasionally, but it shouldn’t be a regular part of your diet.
6. Keep an eye out for saturated fats and trans-fats, as they are known to be bad for us, but don’t sweat the fats quite as much as conventional wisdom has led us to believe.
7. Buy quality meat.  It will taste better, and generally be leaner.
8. Be careful with simple carbohydrates and starches.  This includes pasta, rice, and potatoes.  Especially watch out for fries and hash browns.  Luckily many fast food restaurants have started making salads or fresh fruit like apples available as a side instead of fries.
9. Make sure you’re looking for whole grains.  When you buy bread, make sure that you buy whole grain bread.  The first ingredient must be whole grain or whole wheat flower.  If the first ingredient is enriched flower, put it back on the shelf.  When you buy pasta, buy whole grain pasta.  If you buy rice, buy long grain brown rice, or wild rice.  Avoid sugary instant oatmeal, and instead buy the old fashioned kind, and don’t load it up with sugar!
10. Make sure you get plenty of protein.
11. Avoid sugar.  This applies to processed sugar and high fructose corn sugar.  It’s everywhere, and it’s difficult to avoid, but you must.  Some people are even sensitive enough to sugar that they need to be very careful with fresh fruits and honey.
12. All that commitment is tough.  Find ways to treat yourself without blowing your diet.  A small bowl of frozen cherries or other fruit usually did the trick for me.  A small serving of ice cream every few weeks can be a nice treat, but skip the toppings, they can easily double the calories your ice cream dish.

The book made me think about the way I want to live my life.  no, that doesn’t mean that I want to adopt a subsistence lifestyle and disconnect from modern society.  What it means is that I want to simplify my life and become more in touch with the world around me.  I want to affect a real change in my life by unplugging from technology and letting life slow down around me a little bit.  Sure, I’ll keep my high tech job, and stay up to date on the tech industry, but when I’m not working, I need to step back and focus on enjoying the simple things in my life.

In many ways, this is a simple re prioritization.  It is an attempt to find a healthy way to deal with much of the stress brought on by the artificial sense of urgency that has infected my life.  It is also a way to make sure that I spend the quality time with my family that I should, and that I am mentally and emotionally present for them.

One way that I plan to start is to begin journaling.  I am going to pick up a pencil and write.  I think it will be healthy for me to write about my projects, my thoughts, my family, and use my journal as a way to slow down and reflect.  While I type much faster than I write, there is something more natural about writing by hand.  I can slow down and think, and I am not tempted to constantly edit as I write, since my pencil doesn’t have a backspace key.

I still want to share what I am thinking and doing, and enable a conversation with friends, so, I plan to type up selected journal entries to post them on my website.

I am excited about this new idea to put my thoughts on paper naturally, and still be able to share those thoughts electronically.

Will my writing be perfect? No, but maybe that is something else that will help me grow.  I worry so much about making things perfect that it paralyzes me.  In this case, doing something, although imperfectly, is better than doing nothing because I can’t make something perfect.

It has been over 10 years since I last wrote in this journal.  Back then, I was apparently going through a rough time, or maybe I just only wrote when life was crappy, which is probably more like it.

In the time that has elapsed, I have gotten married to a woman who is more wonderful than I ever could have hoped for, changed careers a few times, formed new friendships, strengthened old friendships, and been blessed with the birth of my son last September.

These are the important things in life, and they are the things that I have decided I need to make sure I fully appreciate.

Almost two years ago, I wrote a post on my website about needing to make some changes in my life, but it is only now that I am finally able to bring those changes into focus and understand exactly how great an impact those changes will make upon my life.

This is going to be a great year, and I am going to enjoy every minute of it.

Why?  Because I have decided to do so.

Last year, the company I work for was acquired.  It was a little scary at the time, since Becky and I both work there, but it has turned out to be one of the best things that could have happened to us.  Most of the “crazy” in the last year has been directly related to the amount of work that I’ve had to handle with the integration into the new company, and the aggressive release deadlines that our team has been under.

So, since that post, much of my energy has been poured into work, but I have been able to make a couple of big changes.

First, Becky and I have changed the way we think about, and manage our money.  We’ve made a commitment to get out of debt, and we are making good progress.  I’m very proud of myself for making this change, as it was one that was much needed.  The growing sense of freedom is motivating us to continue working towards our goal.

Second, and probably most importantly, I have made a commitment to myself to pay more attention to my health.  I have changed the way I think about food.  We now do the overwhelming majority of our grocery shopping around the perimeter of the store, buying almost all fresh foods.  I’ve stopped eating fast food, stopped buying pop, and also stopped buying beer.

Don’t get me wrong, I still love great food, and will eventually allow myself the occasional beer as a special treat when we go out, but I am paying very careful attention to making sure that I am getting the right nutrition, and most importantly, appropriate quantities of food.

In addition, I have also starting making sure that I engage in physical activity at least 15 minutes EVERY day, and most days 30-45 minutes.  My next step is to join a local gym this week.  The one I plan to join is right on the way home, and I look forward to stopping and working out regularly on the way home after work.

What have these changes done for me so far?

I’m not stressing over money, and I’m coping with stress form work more effectively.  I’ve already dropped about 15 pounds (with a total goal of ~50 pounds), I feel better, and I have more energy.

Yes, my friends, change is good.

• I, personally, have never posted anything to Facebook that would incriminate me in any way.
• I haven’t posted anything that might cost me my job.
• I haven’t posted anything that might damage any of the relationships I have with friends and family.
• I haven’t posted any photos that would embarrass me, or anyone else for that matter.

So, why on earth would I be concerned with Facebook’s privacy issues?

First and foremost, Facebook’s business model is undergoing a fundamental shift. I ask you this question: Are you, as a Facebook user, one of Facebook’s customers? If you answered something along the lines of “Yes, of course Facebook’s users are their customers”, then this may come as a shock to you. Quite simply, you, as a user, are not Facebook’s customer. You, as a user, are Facebook’s PRODUCT that they sell to their REAL customers.

It comes down to one very simple concept: Data is king. Data is worth a boatload of cash.  Facebook has realized that there is a lot more money in aggregating data and selling it to others than there is in running a service that lets you keep in touch with your friends and family, and supporting it with targeted advertising.

I recognize how valuable this data can be, which brings me to my second major concern. There are lots of companies who have lots of data about us, but, there is a big difference between a company like Google and a company like Facebook, and that is the man at the helm. In my opinion, Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg doesn’t have the best track record when it comes to ethical behavior. Between the legal battle over who owned the original source code to Facebook, and more recently, accusations surrounding hacking email accounts to read other people’s email, I have decided that this is not a man who I want deciding who can do what with my data. If you haven’t read the book The Accidental Billionaires, you should.

My third concern is with the annoying behavior that Facebook has exhibited lately regarding privacy settings. When many of us created our Facebook accounts, we were under the impression that our accounts were private, or, at least, as private as we configured them to be. Even though I have my Facebook privacy settings locked down, Facebook has repeatedly added new features, and, by default, opted every subscriber’s account into an “open” setting. I have then had to manually go into my privacy settings and opt out of the new feature in order to protect my data.

I’m conflicted over this decision though, since I really do find value in Facebook. I am reluctant to leave because I have so many friends who use the service. I suppose, in a way, that should be one more reason to leave. I know, that probably sounds backwards. I have to wonder though, if I am having trouble leaving Facebook because so many of my friends use the service, it stands to reason that my friends would also think the same thing. By staying, I would continue to be part of the problem, by giving my friends one more reason to continue using the service.

I’m really leaning towards deleting my account, and I want everyone else to think about it to.

It’s been years now that I’ve known I’ve needed to make some changes, but I’ve always just thought about it and said “I wish”, as if change in my life was this unattainable thing.  Sure, there have been a few changes along the way, but not the ones I’ve been dreaming I could make.

I’m talking about changes in who I am.

I’m talking about changes in how I think.

I’m talking about changes in how I relate to others.

I’m talking about changes in how I view the world around me, and changes in how I perceive my place in the world.

It’s time for me to stop dreaming and start doing.

Through Twitter, I have had the opportunity to interact with others in Delaware, and on Friday, met up with a few of them for lunch at El Vaquero.  It was great to finally meet in person and make some new friends.  I’m really looking forward to continuing to forge new relationships and expand my personal network within the local community.

I am also excited that I have been offered the chance to write for a new web site focusing on Delaware, Ohio.  Look for my first post over there soon!

It’s been too long since I’ve updated here.  I’m going to have to make some time to write more often.

I had the opportunity to help out with some of the promos for the show.  I recorded a handful of lines for Brian to use.  He mixes them and puts some music behind them, and in the end, they sound pretty good!

Promo number 1

Promo number 2

Doing a little bit of recording for Cave Radio has made me think about doing my own show again.  I’ve wanted to do a podcast of my own for a few years now but I haven’t been able to settle on a topic.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=3L3kMuN8sjk

Yep, that pretty much sums it up!