Part 36 - Man Up And Follow Through!!

     Hello, and welcome to Part 36 of The Rendering...Man Up And Follow Through!!  Now normally each week or whenever I post for that matter, I like to talk about my weight loss journey and how it affects my life.  I am going to do that this week but I am going to cover some other things on my mind first.  I am not going to post a weight today because my last posting was so recent.  I know that I was up 2 lbs. at this week's Weight Watchers meeting but I am working on losing that ASAP.  I have been finding it harder to track everything that I eat this time around but I know that is something that I need to own.  I know that actions speak louder than words and I need to prove myself with my actions.
     So, what else has been on my mind this week?   I have a dear friend, Veronica Diamond, who was nice enough to nominate me for the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge.  When I saw this I wasn't quite sure how to react or how I felt about it.  To be honest, I found myself a bit confused, annoyed, and a little honored.  Allow me to explain a little.  I knew that ALS or Lou Gehrig's disease as it is known was just that, a disease, but I didn't really know much more about it.  So what is ALS exactly?  Here is what I learned...

    

     Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), often referred to as "Lou Gehrig's Disease," is a progressive neurodegenerative disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and the spinal cord. Motor neurons reach from the brain to the spinal cord and from the spinal cord to the muscles throughout the body. The progressive degeneration of the motor neurons in ALS eventually leads to their death. When the motor neurons die, the ability of the brain to initiate and control muscle movement is lost. With voluntary muscle action progressively affected, patients in the later stages of the disease may become totally paralyzed.

     That there is the actual definition taken straight from the ALS Association's website.  I mention this for one reason; I have heard both good and bad things about this ALS Ice Bucket Challenge.  One common thing that I have seen was a questioning of the rules for this challenge.  Some rules say that if you are nominated you either donate $100 to ALS or you dump a bucket of ice water over your head.  The other set of rules states that if you are nominated you have a choice, donate $100 to ALS or donate $10 to ALS and dump a bucket of ice water over your head.  So, here is my issue, and there are a few.  Raising money to help out with research and what not for ALS is a great cause so I can't see why, if you choose to participate in the challenge, you can't donate at least $10.  Now, some people take issue with being nominated because they feel like they are obligated to donate.  No, not at all, I don't feel that anybody should be obligated to give to a certain cause or any cause for that matter.  In fact, if you don't want to participate then don't.  You won't look like a schmuck.  Nor should you feel obligated to donate to ALS.  If you want to be a part of this I am sure it will work for any worthy cause that you see fit.  I have heard arguments from people trying to defend the first set of rules that allows you to just take the bucket of ice water without donating because they say it "draws awareness to ALS".  Fine, I see that point but honestly, that is the reason I posted the definition for what ALS is.  You see, I was aware of ALS already and when I wanted to know more about what it was I turned to my old friend Google.  However, even though I am now not only aware but educated about ALS, my phenomenal use of Google really didn't do much to help ALS or any other charitable cause. 
     So here is what I decided to do, I ACCEPTED MY NOMINATION WITH PRIDE!!

      As you can see from the video, I took my bucket.  Mind you, this was no 50 gallon drum challenge but I did use a 5 gallon bucket of water and apparently some gravel thank you very much.  To this bucket we added two large bags of ice, REAL ICE, as there are some that think cold water is sufficient, BTW IT'S NOT, and let it soak for about 10 minutes to get nice and frosty.  I even added in a little fun and intrigue by having a masked man wearing San Francisco 49's gear do the pouring of what was a numbingly cold dousing.  Most importantly, before I did any of this I made my donation to ALS.
     I am not saying this to brag but to explain the part where I said I felt honored.  Even though I was only able to donate a small amount I was honored that somebody thought of me as a choice to help out a good cause and rather than just doing the water challenge to "be part of the crowd", I was actually able to do something to help. 
     Ok, let me recap, confused about the rules, annoyed by the, as they say, slacktivism (which by the way is a GREAT word), and honored by the fact that somebody thought highly enough about me to choose me to help out a great cause.  So I will end my discussion about this whole ALS Ice Bucket Challenge deal with this, I challenge every single person that reads this!
     No, in fact I do not challenge you to the Ice Bucket Challenge because I have already made my nominations.  I challenge you all to follow your hearts on this.  If you are indeed feeling charitable there are any number of causes that need our support. ALS, MS, Cystic Fibrosis, Sickle Cell, or any other need that, either, isn't being met or needs help in any way possible.  You may disagree, but in some way every little penny counts no matter how cliche that sounds.  If you are not led to be charitable that is fine too.  How does that old saying go?  Charity begins at home.  So if you are able and led to then by all means do but if not then don't.  My challenge is simple...try.
     I was asked by somebody this exact quote, "and this does, or proves or accomplishes what?" referencing my video of the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge.  I think that I have answered that above but there are a few other benefits that came about for me from doing this.  I had some good laughs and good memories with some people I consider family and as I told you in my last post, I will always choose the adventure!  I must admit that even though this was for charity and I did have fun doing the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge it personally accomplished something for me.  Yep folks, time to bring this all back around to my epic journey that I have been traveling on and documenting through this blog.  The ALS Ice Bucket Challenge has shown me that in part, I am a practitioner of SLACKTIVISIM in regards to my weight loss.  

Slacktivism is a portmanteau of the words slacker and activism. The word is usually considered a pejorative term that describes "feel-good" measures, in support of an issue or social cause, that have little or no practical effect other than to make the person doing it take satisfaction from the feeling they have contributed. The acts tend to require minimal personal effort from the slacktivist.
     
     It hurts to realize that I am not doing ALL that I could be doing to lose this weight that is killing me.  I go to my Weight Watchers to make myself feel good and I write this blog to gain even more encouragement but then I allow myself to slip and eat things that I know I shouldn't.  Ever since I returned to my Weight Watchers meeting and started again at writing the blog I have been struggling.  I know that my environment hasn't been the best.  There are always desserts and what not around here and to a point it almost seems like sabotage but that is just another excuse to not give my all.  My father and sister are not trying to sabotage my progress and it is not fair for me to expect them to not have these treats around. 
     I now find myself with more money due to working a much more regular schedule and lots of OT.  This means I am eating out more often again.  If good old Craig Shinkle orders lunch at work that doesn't mean I have to.  Doing this challenge and experiencing all of the things that I did I must now MAN UP AND FOLLOW THROUGH!!  I am doing an OK job but I can do better!  If I can take 5 gallons of ice water I can do this!
     I know this week's post wasn't as colorful as normal but this is what was on my mind.  I want to thank you all for the support and I hope in one way or another you all find some way to meet my challenge and help out.  I love you all and may God bless you all throughout your week.  To be continued...

Part 35 - Let's Talk Turkey

-DISCLAIMER-

      The following post was written a few weeks ago but never finished due to some computer issues.  I apologize for the delay but I am still going to post this one.  I have since remedied the computer issue and I have also added a laptop to my box of tricks so that I now have a backup to avoid further computer issues, knock on wood.  I cannot thank my friend Aaron enough for donating his old laptop to me, it really means a lot.  Without further delay I give you Part 35 - Let's Talk Turkey.
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     Well hello there.  I am glad that you have chosen to read this week's post.  Whether you are a returning reader or brand new to The Rendering, I say welcome.  This week will be a little different because I am just shooting the breeze so to speak.  Normally, I find a topic or a direction to aim for in each week's post and I try to stick to that.  I am abandoning any general direction this week so let's just talk some turkey!

     Well, with that being said, I guess that I will start by saying that, as I said I would, I have made my return to my Weight Watchers family.  I truly am encouraged and very happy to be able to say that.  Not only have I returned but so has somebody very special to me and we are going to whup some ass this time around!  In my last post I gave you all my current update on where I stood with my weight.  I told you that I was at 626 lbs. but I may have spoken a bit out of turn.  The weight pic that I posted in my last post was actually about 2 weeks old and taken just after a fun week long battle with a cellulitis infection.  I have taken the most recent weight so that I would have an accurate starting point and here it is.

     So in an effort to be as open and honest as I can be, I give you my actual weight.  I am only 6 lbs. heavier than I previously reported but it is still 6 lbs. more than I want.

-UPDATE-

AS OF THE FINISHING OF THIS POST, 8/20/14 MY NEW WEIGHT IS...

 MAKING PROGRESS!  

     This week's Weight Watchers meeting had a simple theme that I figured was a great message for me to hear given my goal to get back on track.  We talked about making small changes that would help us to reach our goals.  I know I have talked about taking baby steps before so I guess now it is time to fall back on what I already know.  I think that one of the small changes that I am going to make is to wean myself off of creamer in my coffee.  It may take me a bit because I don't care for black coffee too much but if I force myself I believe that I will develop a taste for it.  Not only will this save me a few points and calories each day but I think that it will help me to discover some underlying flavor notes in the coffee that I drink.  Tasting it stripped down and natural may make me appreciate it even more.  Of course, this means that I will need to phase out the artificial sweetener too if I want the true experience of the coffee but heck, that crap is bad for you anyway.  

     So what else has happened this past week.  Well actually, the past three weeks.  I know that I said I was back to writing this blog and I am indeed but there may be a week or two that I miss a post but please allow me to explain.  As I have previously said, I was able to find myself a new job after my old employer announced a major layoff.  I now work for Xerox and even though there are some bumps that we are working on smoothing out I really do like this company.  I am basically doing the same work that I was doing at my old job but I am encouraged to see the new direction and what lies ahead for this new company.  As with many new companies, there is a high demand for extra hours and that means long days and longer weeks.  In order to try to avoid working 12 hour days anymore we have gone to working 6 days a week, Monday through Saturday and occasionally Sundays.  The fact that I now have to work Saturdays puts a lot of pressure on me to get what I can get done in the few hours of free time that I actually have.  It may not seem so, but this blog can take me quite some time to actually write.  I just don't sit down and spit out meaningless drivel.  I put a lot of thought into what I write.  Last weekend I had a choice to make, I could sit down and write or I could pursue an adventure.  This blog is very important to me but there are a few things that are more important.  One of the most important things in my life is my family and getting to spend some quality time with them.  Losing my mother in 2013 has really made me try to appreciate the very short time we have with those that we love and I want to take advantage of every opportunity to go on adventures and make memories with them whenever I can.  So what was the adventure that I chose to embark upon rather than writing a post last week?  I went after the great white whale!  Well, not exactly...

      It wasn't exactly a "white whale" but it was a nice sized bullhead.  I spent my day fishing with my father, niece, and nephew and this was one of our many catches along with several sun fish, blue gill, and some very nice bass.  Even though I did not get to write my blog last week, I would not have traded the laughs, smiles, and memories of that great day for anything in the world.  So with that being said I hope you all understand that sometimes I am going to choose the adventure over the blog and that is where the bear craps in the woods as they say. 

     Now let me tell you a story that I heard this week (or a few weeks ago at this point) that made me chuckle.  I will not include names because this is not my story but the part that made me chuckle was a bit dark because I was thinking of how I would have handled it.  I will warn you all right now, this thought of how I would handle this situation certainly isn't the mature adult way to handle it but it made me laugh.  I don't want to get the details of the story wrong so I will just paraphrase.  Basically, the storyteller has lost a good deal of weight and in the process of life, like ya do, they were spending time with a young child.  Now for any person who has spent any amount of time around children you will all know, I am sure, children can be brutally honest.  Some people find this offensive but as a fat guy which, by the way will ALWAYS draw the attention of a child, I find the innocent honesty refreshing.  For those that have not had the opportunity to experience a massive weight loss or known somebody who has here is a little fact, the weight may melt away but the skin, well, it gets a bit flabby and wiggly.  So what is a small child to do when they notice a bit of extra wiggly arm skin?  Play with it of course!  Now let it be known that the storyteller handled this in a manner that I am sure is much more appropriate than I would have but here, after some thought, is how I would have handled it.  I would invite the child to a movie night, possibly at the Hargus's, and we would watch The Beastmaster.  This is a fine film from 1982.  Those of you who are familiar with this movie might see where I am headed but for those who are not let me shed some light on my darkness.   

     This fine fellow being held at sword point by the Beastmaster is known as a Winged Devourer or Vore.  Take notice of his or hers, not really too sure, arms.  Perhaps a wing?  Perhaps just a bit of flabby, wiggly skin due to weight loss?  Either way it is what this creature does with his flaps that counts.  As you may have guessed from the name, they use these flaps to devour humans.  Yes, DEVOUR HUMANS!  Let's see if a little child wants to play with somebody's arm flaps after watching this.  I told you that is was a bit dark but it made me laugh all the same.  
     I will leave you with that thought for this week and I will do my best to get a new post out this Sunday.  As always, thank you all for the support and I look forward to reading your comments.  God bless you all.  To be continued...