(Written on 30 December 2006, just hadn't had a chance to post until today)

Yep, it’s that time of year. Time to reflect on the past, and make plans for the coming year. However, I decided to start a little early. My fresh start began on December 16th. As I mentioned in my last entry, it was time to get back to a higher rate of compliance, due to my starting to backslide. And I jumped right in.

Since the 16th, I have prepared all of my meals, and brought them to work with me. Water, too. They have the fluoridated stuff at work, and I won’t touch that with a ten foot pole. Plus, I figure if I stay away from the cafeteria, the apple pie can’t tempt me. *chuckle*

It is interesting, however, the looks that one gets, when you walk into work with a 34 quart cooler. And because I’m vertically challenged, it looks that much bigger when I’m carrying it. *chuckle* That was the biggest one that I could find with a handle, and I can just barely fit all of my meals in it. On the weekends, I work 12 hour shifts, so I have to prepare 4 complete meals to bring with me each day, as well as the water. Just carrying the thing is a workout in itself LOL

But the short term results have certainly been worth it. In the two weeks that I’ve been near 100% compliance, I’ve lost 6 pounds. In spite of my now eating much more food than I was before. Right now, my only cheats have been a black cherry soda, a Lindt truffle, and a single serving pack of Pringles. Considering I’m now eating 6 meals a day, I’d say that I’m doing pretty well. : ) My one consistent ‘cheat’ is two squares of either 65 or 70% cacao, extra dark chocolate each day. Both for its antioxidant value, as well as helping to meet my daily quota for fats.

Many of the foods that are touted as being good for bodybuilders are very much avoids for us O types. Whey protein, milk, wheat pasta, potatoes, and others, with whey protein being touted the most. Many of the protein powders for bodybuilding contain whey, and it was challenging to find an acceptable protein powder that I could consume. I finally ended up using Universal’s Egg Pro Ultra Free. While it does have dextrose, an avoid for O’s, and is a metabolic inhibitor, it was a far better choice than a product with aspartame, or some other kind of artificial sweetener. I only use it once a day as part of a post-workout meal, so its effects should be minimal. Egg protein powder, a cup of oats, and mixed with chocolate almond milk, in addition to a banana, makes for a good post-workout meal.

So for 2007, an experiment is born, and I will be the test rat. Hmmm.....where is my wheel to run on? *chuckle* Can a person, eating per the principles of ER4YT, make similar, if not better gains, than a person who consumes items that are touted as being beneficial to bodybuilding, and yet are listed as avoids by ER4YT? I think so. If a body is being fed a clean fuel, more of that energy can go to the repair, and building of new muscle, rather than being wasted on dealing with inflammation or other negative effects caused by the consumption of avoids. I guess we’re going to find out, aren’t we? Next time, I’ll try to have some measurements handy, so we have a baseline to go from, and see how the numbers change as the year progresses.

May you all have a happy, healthy, and prosperous New Year.

Yep, as the title says, I’ve taken a bit of a detour from my once healthy habits. However, I would like to take the opportunity to thank my next door neighbor for being partly responsible for my recent downfall. *chuckle*

You see, due to my work schedule, I haven’t been able to partake in the Halloween festivities in the past few years. So the week before Halloween, I asked him how many trick-or-treaters I should expect. To which he replied, “About 200". Ruh-roh, I hadn’t quite planned for that many. So the night before Halloween, I drove home from work, and at 12:30 in the morning, I’m at Wal-Mart buying more candy. At 1:30 a.m., I was sitting on my living room floor, surrounded by candy, and loading them into little trick or treat bags.

So Halloween came. The trick-or-treaters were cute in their costumes, and I had my opportunity to support the dental profession one day out of the year. After all, dental professionals have families, and children to send to college as well. *chuckle*

However, my neighbor was slightly off in his estimates.............by about 100. Now, when I say 100, that doesn’t mean that I was suddenly left with 100 pieces of candy. No, that would be more like 500 pieces of candy. And so the nibbling began. After a few weeks, I wasn’t even making a dent in the candy. So I shipped half of it up to my brother’s at Thanksgiving, and still had a fair amount left. This weekend, I took the remaining candy to work, and let them enjoy it. I needed to get it out of the house!

Enjoying a few pieces of candy turned into enjoying a few sodas here and there, a few more wheat products, the oh-so-delicious, and yet evil apple pie at the hospital cafeteria. It finally dawned on me that I was starting to backslide. So it’s time for me to nip things in the bud, and get back on track.

You see, on the 18th, it will have been two years since I first started the ER4YT journey. When I started ER4YT in December 2004, I was at 176 lbs., on a vertically-challenged 5'4" frame. By September of 2005, I was down to 140 lbs. In January of this year, I started weightlifting again, and quickly jumped up to 165. However, that gain was more fat than muscle. As the year has worn on, the ratios have slowly reversed, and the amount of visible fat has lessened, while muscle mass has increased.

But now, it’s time to get serious, with regards to my weightlifting, and returning to a higher rate of compliance on ER4YT. A new year is approaching, and it’s time to start work on a new and better year. Numbers have been crunched. Ratios of proteins, fats, carbohydrates, and calories have been calculated. An eating plan has been drawn up. Now it’s time to make things happen. Not too long ago, Peppermint Twist sent me a quiz, and one of the questions was “Where do you want to be in 10 years?”. And I replied, “Buff, tough, and putting kids half my age to shame”. *chuckle* That, and putting the fear of God into any young man who wants to date my Girlfriend’s daughter in a few years. LOL However, he’s probably going to have to worry more about her, than me. *chuckle*

So as another year comes to a close, take a moment to reflect upon the successes that you have had, and are grateful for. Think about what didn’t go as well as you might have hoped, and what you have learned from those experiences. As Florence Scovel-Shinn once said, “All hindrances are friendly”. We may not understand the reason why at the time, but there IS a reason. The more we fight the Universe's workings, the more difficult we make our own lives.

May you all have a safe Holiday season, full of health, happiness, and harmony.

Awhile back, I wrote about trying to be aware of, and appreciating the many little gifts that are presented to us each and every day. And even though I make an effort to see and enjoy it all every day, on some days, there are things that happen that even amaze me.

About a month ago, changes started to take place in the Cheney household. And it took a few weeks for me to have my “Ah-HA!” moment, and recognize what had happened.

You see, several members of my Clan O’ Kitties had suddenly become affectionate. And when I say affectionate, I don’t just mean a little bit. I mean, “Who the heck is that kitty, what aliens abducted her, and what kind of replacement did they leave me?” affectionate.

While Beser is my youngest, she has also been my most ornery. As in hiss, muckle onto ankles, take swings at me with claws extended, and just skittish as all heck. You know, a n-i-c-e kitty. *chuckle* Beser was the kind of kitty that bolted for parts unknown whenever anyone stopped by the house. And allow herself to be patted by other people? Wasn’t going to happen. Ever. Or at least that’s the way it was.

Now, I have a Beser who actually comes looking for attention. My friend and workout partner has been trying for several years to befriend her, and it wasn’t going well. The other day, she actually came to HIM, looking to be patted. As surprising as that was, it got even more weird.

The other Friday, my Better Half came over for dinner. While sitting on the couch together, all of a sudden she started chuckling, and I couldn’t see why. She whispered to me that Beser was using her foot as a rubbing post. Now, I’m starting to feel like I’m in a Twilight Zone episode. : ) But it got better, well more weird, well, whatever. She propped her feet up on the coffee table, and next thing we knew, Beser was stretched out on her legs, and promptly went to sleep. Sleep! Now I’m waiting to hear my alarm clock go off, wake up, and realize that this was all just a dream. Nope, no such luck. This was real life, and I was colored confused.

Beser has also taken to purring far more often, and sleeping with me at night. Not at the end of the bed anymore, but curled up in the crook of my arm, with her head draped across my bicep or shoulder. One of those too cute moments that you can’t get to a camera. You know, the too cute moments that occur, where you really want/need to change position to get comfortable, but don’t want to disturb them.? Yes, they have me trained so well, I’ll suffer the discomfort for as long as I can.

Shorty, my Maine Coon cat hasn’t been quite so shocking, but even she has become far more affectionate. More meowing, more headbutts when looking for attention, and spending more time laying next to me on the arm of the couch. Nixie, well she’s always Miss Affectionate. No shocking changes from her.

For one to change, o.k., that could be considered coincidence, or the kitty entering a new phase in life. But to have Miss Ornery, uhh...I mean Beser, and Shorty become far more affectionate at the same time, something was definitely happening. And I finally realized that it was my sanding down, and painting my hallway that had made the changes. I was a little slow in considering the feng-shui changes that had occurred when I had worked on the house over vacation.

Now, if I could only feng-shui the house in such a way that they could start to feed themselves, and clean their own litterboxes. *chuckle* A man can dream, can’t he? : )

Until next time.

Such a nice word, and yet sadly, SO over. *sigh* But for the two and a half weeks I was on vacation, it was pretty good. And while the word vacation may conjure up thoughts of day trips, sleeping in, and munching on avoids, mine was not to be anything near that. Mine was more of a working vacation. And I have Dr. D. to thank for that.

If he hadn't come up with this whole ER4YT thing, I might have enjoyed my vacation. But, Nooooooo, he had to come up with this whole idea thing, and now I ping off the walls like a SuperBall inside of a shut box! So of course, I had to actually use all that energy for good. And what fun is that? : ) I've accomplished more around the house this past vacation, than I think I ever have in the past. Damn all this energy! *chuckle*

I was forced to take a few days off, as my energy and ambition were far beyond my body's capabilities. Of course, I should have seen it coming, but I was in that Go! Go! Go! mode. However, my body made it absolutely clear that we were taking a break. I had spent a couple of days shoveling stone, loam, and mulch around the yard. The day after that, my workout partner and I started a new workout routine that was heavy on abdomen work. And the next day, I was either hunched over on a ladder, or pushing a pole and paint roller, helping to paint my Better Half's kitchen and hallway. After three days of all that, my body said, "Enough!". I woke up the next morning, and my back was tight. I could lay down, and I would be o.k. Sitting up was uncomfortable, and walking was not really an option. If I was on my feet for more than a few minutes, all of the muscles around the trunk of my body would start to tighten up. Yee-ha.....not.

While I may have been somewhat immobilized for a few days, the Clan O'Kitties certainly didn't mind. They were good company, and certainly got spoiled rotten for the time that I was couch-ridden. Since they were taking such good care of me, I had thought about putting little nurses caps on them, but thought it would be better to keep all of my digits attached. : ) Kind of hard to feed them, if I can't pull the tab on their cans of cat food, yes?

But at least with all of this energy, I'm making progress around the house. Projects that have been in limbo for several years are finally seeing progress. Windows have been caulked, a ramp for the shed built, the hallway FINALLY sanded and painted, the basement has been primed and spackled. I also had the joy of getting insulation for the attic. Extra insulation is always a good thing in colder climates, but it became a project just to get it up into the attic. You see, I don't have a full-sized opening up into the attic. And there was no way that a roll of insulation was going through that opening. So I had to unroll it in the kitchen, climb the ladder, and pull it up through the opening. Then I had to somehow fold it up enough to get it out of the way, so I could bring more up. Ahh..the joys (and curses) of home ownership. But I got it up there.

But now the push is on. Winter is fast approaching, and it's time to button up the house for the winter. On the plus side, that means I can spend more time working on the inside of the house, and not have to worry about keeping the yard pretty. : )

Hopefully, with things slowing down, I can actually catch up on other things. Due to my constant rush to get things done, I haven't had the time to hang out here, or to stay in touch with some of the people that bring a smile into my life. Yep, nothing like a good dose of guilt to round out ones day.

Back to work for me. I have a computer here with spyware that needs to be beaten into submission.

May all that is yours by Divine right find its way into your lives in miraculous ways.

No, not THOSE F-words! *geesh * : ) I’m talking about the other f words. You know, fairs, fried dough, and french fries. Yes, it’s that time of year. The rides, the exhibits, and all sorts of critters, both big and small.

If you ever want to feel like you’re surrounded by a sea of avoids, the fair is the place to be. I think the only items offered for sale that wouldn’t be considered an avoid would be bottled water, and the fresh-squeezed lemonade. Other than that, it’s eat at your own peril.

Some things that you see offered for sale at a fair leaves one to wonder who was so bored, that they came up with such a creation. Or abomination, as the case may be. Who was so bored one day, that they thought it would be a good idea to deep-fry a Twinkie? Then again, it may have been someone that was more inebriated, than bored. One of those, “Hey y’all, watch this ” moments. I had heard about deep-fried Twinkies, but had never actually seen one in my neck of the woods. Well, not until my Better Half and I walked past a vendor’s trailer at the fair last Friday night. You know, there are just some foods that you look at, and just say to yourself, “You couldn’t PAY me to eat that”. Even if I wasn’t on the BTD, I still wouldn’t be touching that. To spoil a good Twinkie like that is just wrong. I didn’t say it was good FOR you, I only said that they were good. : ) At least from what I can remember. I think it was before I started BTD in December of 2004 that I last had a Twinkie.

In spite of the thought of a deep-fried Twinkie making my stomach do a turn or two, I was more than happy to chew my way through a big ol’ chunk of fried dough. It’s been a few years since I’ve been to a fair, and fried dough was always a must. No fair experience was complete without it. And even though tempted, I was a good boy, and passed on the fudge. The usual tradition for me in the past was to walk out of the fair with a pound of both peanut butter, and chocolate fudge. Mmmm....talk about instant weight gain

But after all of the weight that I’ve managed to lose in the past by eating according to ER4YT, and the good weight that I’ve put on from weightlifting this year, I have no desire to lose the gains that I’ve made. Inhaling all of the delicious aromas that wafted their way around the fair was plenty enough to keep me content.



So if you had thoughts about going to a fair this year, whether it be for the food, the rides, to pat the animals, or to see the exhibits, there’s still time. If you don’t know where to look for fair information, just bring up your favorite internet search engine, and type in “[your state] state fairs”. Many fairs, and state fair associations are online these days.

Time for me to go work off that fried dough. : )

Until next time.