Losing It - 4 Week Update

4 weeks into my challenge I find myself about 5 lbs down. When I stepped on the scale this past Saturday it read 260. 4, so I'll take it and round it down to 260.

The challenge started off with a bang, but my efforts have slowed of late due to a vacation and the hottest June I can remember pretty much ever. So, I've been pleased with my 5lbs of weight loss,  but know that my inactivity can't help my next few weigh ins. The hot weather does keep me sweting, but still, gotta get back on the horse, even if that means going out to exercise at dusk.

Thanks for caring and keeping me motivated!

What The...?

Occasionally in life, you stumble across something that makes you pause and reflect. Other times, you find things that make you say..."what the...?" Last night was a "what the....?"

A routine stop for gas turned into much more when I pulled up to the pump and noticed a well-placed animal head and antlers on the trash can near the gas pump. You know how sometimes you see something and you wonder how it got to wherever it was? Some people do this with big things like Stone Hinge, or the rock formations in southern Utah where one rock is teetering on the brink. Not me, I wonder what the thought process was on leaving this; presumably deer head on the rim of the trash can at a local petroleum depot in Culpeper.

Now, I’ll be the first to admit, I like to clean out the car every now and then while I’m filing up. But that usually ends up being an empty slurpee cup or a receipt or, you know general trash. Can’t say that I’ve ever been cleaning out the car during a stop for gas and thought “oh yeah, I need to get rid of that deer head in the trunk.” Or maybe, the person found it underneath his or her seat…I just don’t know what the thought process is there. But I’d love to find out, or maybe be a fly on the wall…or in this case, on the pump!

On Utah to the Pac 12

At the end of the movie “The Patriot,” General Cornwallis (played by Tom Wilkinson) says “Everything will change, everything has changed.” A little dramatic? Perhaps, but when Utah formally accepts an invitation to join the Pac 12 conference later today, everything will indeed change for the boys up on the hill in Salt Lake City.

If you just look at the dollar amounts Utah is looking at from TV revenue as a member of the Pac 12, you’ll realize how much things will change. Utah will go from around $1.3 million as a member of the Mountain West to $8-10 million in the Pac 12. The stadium is likely to be expanded and many of the facilities will be upgraded. Sure, anyone can throw dollar amounts out there, but the truth is, the financial impact on the school will hit so many areas, that it may even be hard to measure at this point.

As this story has developed over the last several weeks, I’m reminded of the movie Invincible, where Vince Papali’s friend is encouraging him to go try out for the Philadelphia Eagles. He says, “even if you’re down there, for one hour, you’re down there.” So too is the case for Utah and the Pac 12. It doesn’t so much matter where they fall in the PAC 12 pecking order immediately, the fact is that there is a table called the BCS, that table has a pile of cash on it, and regardless of year-in and year-out performance, Utah now has a seat. That is HUGE!

 

It’s no secret that Utah doesn’t exactly have a rich tradition, but over the last decade, you’ll find few non-BCS teams that have been better. The truth is, Utah got hot at the right time and recorded big wins during a pivotal shift in the college football landscape. They hit one out of the park with the hiring of Urban Meyer and he then turned the Utes into immediate contenders going 10-2 his first season and leading them to an undefeated season and a BCS bowl win the next year before bolting to Florida. From there, Kyle Whittingham was charged to keep Utah’s trajectory upward. While he struggled a little at first, he improved on his previous seasons win total each of his first few years culminating in a 13-0 unbeaten season and Sugar Bowl win over Nick Saban and Alabama. During that game Moose Johnston, one of the commentators said things like “Wow, wow, wow…” as Utah jumped out to a 21-0 lead and never looked back. Wins such as the Sugar Bowl win and even the dominant performance over Cal in the Poinsettia bowl last year have kept the Utah in the national conversation and have made them an relevant and attractive addition to the Pac 10.

It’s hard to say how competitive Utah will be moving forward. Even though they now have a seat at the table and access to more money then ever before, I suspect they will continue to improve and be a legit contender in the PAC 12. It appears as though they will be placed in the “South” division with the likes of USC, UCLA, Arizona, Arizona St. and the other newcomer Colorado. That’s not the easiest road to be sure, but it will also give Utah recruiting inroads in those places that they have otherwise not had before. In the short term though, Utah is poised to begin PAC 12 play in 2011 (rumored) and will have a JR. QB in Jordan Wynn with about 16-18 starts under his belt. They have a lot of young talent in the program already, and hopefully this move will allow them an additional influx of talent as they move forward into the Pac 12.

This is a happy day for Utah fans and alumni. It ranks right up there with the two BCS bowls and the final four appearance in 1998. The sky is the limit for the University of Utah and I cannot wait to see it all unfold!

GO UTES!

Beach Time

I'll be heading out for a much needed beach vacation to the Outerbanks. I am confident upon my return that I will have a myraid of stories and tales of woe from my trip to share with you.

In the meantime, please enjoy some of my favorite posts from the blog thus far:

• Red Grange
• The Trouble With Flossing
• Who Stole the Meatloaf?
• An Evening with Mike & Mike in the Morning
• Time for a mustache?

Also, when I return I will be officially launching a new fantasy football blog. I'm very excited about this project and hope that it'll catch on, so look for that. It is already linked on the side there, but I don't have much content as of yet.

Cheers!

I'm Losing It!

Several years ago, right before I met my wife, I participated in a fitness challenge. At the time I was single, didn’t have a lot going on, and could really focus on the challenge. In 10 weeks I dropped somewhere between 35 and 40 pounds. Since then life has gotten a little wider for me and I have easily put back on the weight I lost and then some (like 60 pounds).

12 weeks before my 30th birthday last fall, I thought a fun little gimmick would be to try to lose 30 pounds by the time I turned 30. It didn’t work. In fact, I might have even gained a little. I don’t consider myself “fat”, but I am not where I want to be. I owe it to myself, to my wife, and especially to my kids to be as healthy as I can be and to be around as long as I can be.

As such, I have decided to take my goals to the inter-webs and post them here on my blog and on other forums and social media outlets that I currently use. I’m calling my challenge the “Losing It” challenge. This is not a crash diet and I have set no specific time table for when I want to hit a certain goal, I just know that things need to change, even if it is slow and steady.

So here’s what I’m going to do. I have started a workout routine that I will add to weekly. I am going to do my best to cut out sweets but for the weekends and special occasions. And, I am going to post my progress here once a month. For weekly updates, I will post a “Losing it” box on the right hand side of this blog and put my weekly weigh in results there.

One of the big challenges I will face in this is that eating healthier often requires the consumption of fruit. Which, outside Watermelon, I don’t eat, so if anyone out there has any healthy tips for me for good foods to eat, or good vitamins or nutrients, please let me know.

If you have been looking for motivation to improve your fitness or eating habits, you are welcome to follow my progress and post your own in my comments section. Or, if you want to just help motivate me, become a follower on this blog and keep tabs on my progress!

Wish me luck!

Me on American Idol

Last night wrapped up another season of American Idol. It was the culmination of a process that started probably last summer or fall with thousands upon thousands of people auditioning for their one shot at fame and fortune.

Idol has been going on 10 seasons now and in that time I have gone from being in the age-appropriate bracket to audition to now being no longer eligible. But it made me wonder, really, could I have been a contestant on American Idol?

If this show had been around when I was in high school, I don’t think there is any question that I would’ve auditioned. I think me and all my friends would have gone to the closest audition locale and camped out if need be to audition. I think I can honestly say that that time represented the height of my singing confidence…maybe a few years beyond like 21-23 somewhere in that range. This is not to say that I am not confident in my ability now, it’s just that sometimes when you are that young you still don’t know what you can’t do, and that’s a good thing.

So, here’s what my audition would’ve looked like in, let’s say, anywhere between 1998-2002 (I understand it started in 02, but had it been around when I was younger…you get what I’m saying, just go with it) :

Me: “Hi my name is Andrew and I’m going to be singing ‘Don’t Look Back in Anger’ by Oasis. “

(Singing)

Randy: “I don’t know dog…I’m not sure the Brit-pop is really your thing man…it was good, not great. It was just alright for me”

Paula (still on the show): “I thought it was just marvelous, I could really tell that you really didn’t want the person you were singing to, to look back in anger.”

My internal dialogue: “Right, well, I just like Oasis.”

Guest Judge Rob Thomas: “I think you did good man, I think you’ve got a good sound, you just need to work on your wardrobe.”

Simon: “Frankly Andrew (pronounced ON-drew) I thought it was a bit boring and forgettable. I mean, you’ve got a decent voice, but what else is there? This is something you might see at a high school senior solo night or something..."

Randy: “Alright, Simon yes or no?”

Simon: “It’s a no from me.”
Randy: “Rob Thomas…?”
Rob Thomas: “Yeah man, I’m going to give you another chance.”
Randy: “Paula Abdul…?”
Paula: “A million percent YES!…”
Simon: “Then it all comes down to you Randy…”
Randy: “I don’t know dog…”
Me: “Come on Randy; give me one more chance…”

Randy: “Alright, it’s a yes from me, WELCOME TO HOLLYWOOD!”

So there you have it, I think I was good enough to make it to Hollywood, but not much beyond that. While I think I can carry a tune pretty well, and it was good enough to sell about 30 Tapes of the infamous band Tandem, I don’t think I’d have the range or the chops to hang with the idol hopefuls in Hollywood…particularly the group numbers. My response would be… “Wait, we have to dance? Nobody said anything about dancing.” Plus, my song choices probably wouldn’t have been to Simon or Randy’s musical proclivities…James Taylor, Oasis, Counting Crows, the Wallflowers, the Beach Boys etc…

Oh well, the best part about never auditioning is being able to sit back on my couch and say, “oh yeah, I’m totally better than any of these clowns.”

As for Seacrest, I bet he would’ve liked me…

A Farewell to LOST

Six years ago, when LOST started, I was a bachelor fresh out of college looking to make my way in this world as a temp. Several “real” jobs, and six years later, I am a married father of two, and as the LOST journey comes to and end, I feel like in many ways my own is just beginning. Now don’t get me wrong, I don’t view this show as life-changing or life-altering. It’s a TV show, so you have to have some perspective there, but, I do feel in a lot of ways like I have taken part in something that at the very least, won’t soon be repeated and I feel that I owe it a proper send off.

The reviews for the finale have come in mixed. They range from “this changed the way I view the afterlife” to “I can’t believe I wasted six years on this nonsense.” To each his or her own, I suppose. The one thing I find puzzling on some level about the dissatisfied fraction of viewers is that this is a sci-fi and faith based show…and you expected all the answers? That’s not realistic. Heck, that’s not even reality,! Life so rarely delivers effortless answers. Some of the greatest movies ever made, books ever written, or stories ever told leave a lot up to the imagination. Some people don’t like that, but for me, I like the fact that the door was left open just enough for us to come up with answers and resolutions in our own minds as to what really happened. To me, that’s a winner…especially living in the “real” adult world where the use of ones imagination isn’t often encouraged but rather, we are to do our jobs, go through our routine’s and return and repeat. Cogs in the wheel.

The one thing that LOST did really well, or should I say the writers of LOST did really well over the last 6 years was that it changed the perspective of the show on the viewer and required the viewer to see things through a different lens. Some walked away frustrated with the final season because they looked at the end and said “oh, so they were all dead anyway, that’s dumb.” No, they weren’t and no it’s not dumb. In any show, when you are given new information, you have to reevaluate from the point on where you learn the new info. You can’t just apply it to where you’re at and reach your conclusions. That’s kind of silly. You can learn a lot by simply paying attention! LOST writers and producers kept people guessing for a reason. I suspect that if you go back and watch the entire show, knowing what the end-game is, you’ll probably pick up on subtle hints that were dropped throughout and now that you are viewing it through the proper lens, you might find that you like it a little better. Then again you might not, that’s your choice…your, free will (if you will!)

In the end the show was about redemption and it was about the relationships that you build in life and the importance of holding on to those relationships. It also focused on the power of choices. You can choose one path or you can choose another, but either way, you choose. I’ll admit, I’m not nearly as good a friend, brother, or son as I probably have been in the past. Life gets in the way, we all move on. Some of the characters received a grand redemption on the show and others received theirs in very subtle ways. So too goes the pattern of our lives. We have our ups and we have our downs, but in the end, it still comes down to people, particularly the ones we surround ourselves with and how we treat them. Hanging on to grudges and negative feelings don’t help us progress, in fact, quite the opposite, they become an albatross that we have to overcome but only can do so once we are ready to face that challenge and make that choice. For each person, it comes in its own place and its own time.

Did LOST change my world view? Nope. It just reminded me that I needed to make sure I maintained perspective, which I often struggle with. So, farewell Jack, Sawyer, Kate, Sayid, Hurley, Ben, Locke and the rest of you! It has been one heck of a ride.