Before I continue I must confess that I stole part of the title of this post from another blog I usually read - Amit Mehta - The dark side of online success. I just loved the whole “dark side” bit and though I’d use it. I’m sure you’ve heard me say that for the past 8 years working out of our home did see me put on a considerable amount of weight. And I’m sure many of you who do work from home can relate. I try my best during the warm months to do things in the back yard etc that tuggs me away from the confines of the office (oh how I love air condition when it’s muggy hot) and this comfy leather chair I park my ass on a daily basis. But even with a gym membership, the whole weight gain and staying healthy is a constant challenge.
Only recently my mom told me that one of the fellas I grew up with in my village had a heart attack… still sends chills down my back when I think about it. I believe he’s only about 7 years older than me.
Living in Canada where the winters can be long and brutal, you have the choice of learning to enjoy winter sports (no thanks), hitting a gym (I get bored easily) or setting up a home gym (basically new pieces of furniture that never gets used). So you’re stuck for about 5 months with no real activity if you do the type of work I’m involved with. However during the warm months “I do love me some outdoors”! When our girls were a bit younger we did some hiking and it’s something we did enjoy, so this year we’ve decided to get back into hiking. But you can’t hike if you don’t know the trails.
I think it was a couple days ago I was speaking with David Ledoux via email when he pointed me to Meetup.com (he had shown me the link about 2 years ago, but I never paid it any attention at the time) This time though, I hit the gold-mine. I was able to search according to my postal code and find so many freaking groups I wanted to join..it’s amazing. I lucked out and found a local hiking group here in Hamilton with over 100 members. No longer do I have to guess where trails are, how difficult they were or how to get to them. With my new buddies in the Hiking- Meetup … it’s all done for me.
If you’re not already using Meetup.com, I suggest you head over there and take a peek at what people are doing in your area. You’ll be amazed at how many specialty groups you can join and stay connected with people who enjoy the same things you do.
The latest Energy Drink PLUS Weight Loss.
Now you can pour your energy drink into a water bottle and Lose Weight!
I’ve never had to try to quit smoking, drugs or have problems with booze. But weight gain and staying in shape is something I’m constantly having to deal with. Gone are the days when I can use the excuse that I work from home in front of a computer as my excuse for my blimpdom (the gym membership took away my right to use that excuse). Last night I saw Caron going through the labels of what she was going to have for breakfast in the morning (today) to calculate the fat content, calories etc. I guess she’s keeping track of what she’s eating.
Everyday around 10 am i usually get the munchies, especially if there’s leftover dinner. Luckily (??) for me the bacon we bought yesterday was not placed in the freezer so i decided to cook some up.
Here is a short video clip of my finding.
BTW I usually cook more than 4 strips of bacon, so you can only imagine how much grease there would be if I went for the normal 6 strips. Maybe it’s time I pay closer attention to what I shovel into the cave in my face.
Wouldn’t it be great if we could get food that’s good for us, to taste like the ones we like? Like everything deep fried!
I’ve not been to the gym in over a month. It was a week before we left for vacation and I supposedly had too much work to get done before we left. So I had no time. Then when we got back, too much work to catch up on. After that… nasty snow storm “not sure the parking lot was cleared”. Then I went back to using.. no time!
Here are a few other excuses people use not to go to the gym:
I’m too tired.
I’m too fat.
I know what to do, but can’t be bothered to do it.
I hate my thighs/tummy/self. I wish I looked like a supermodel.
Exercising is hard.
I don’t know how.
It’s too complicated.
I’m too shy to go to the gym with all the good looking people.
They must be giving something away at the gym these days! With the start of the new year and all the resolutions it seems just about everyone is trying to loose weight or just get into some sort of “shape”. When we frist started to go to this health club back in early November 2006 the only really busy time would be around 11 am to 1pm (people who slipped in for a workout during their lunch break) and again at dinner time. Now no matter what time you go, it’s terribly busy… even at 11.30 pm last night when I left.
Since we started to hit the gym one of the things we’ve been trying to do is eat a bit healthier. Easier said than done! All the stuff I like seems to be stuff I should be avoiding;
- Chicken wings (deep fried)
- Chinese fried rice (yep fried again)
- Gravy in all forms
- Fried Chicken
- Jerk Chicken (with some skin left on)
- Never liked pop (soda), now I find myself wanting a pepsi
- Love my red meat (with butter?)
- Cream with my coffee
- Cheetos
- burger and fries
I’m sure by the end of the day this would be a massive list. So now my aim is to either find healthier foods to start liking or learn to cook the foods I like, healthier.
Have a great day!
Chris..
p.s. Now I have to build up the courage to get my prostate checked.
As mentioned in a previous post, we recently got a health club membership. Since we knew how out of shape we were. BTW… pay attention to your weight gain if you work from home, I gained over 35lbs in the last few years. The early part of the week we took the mandatory fitness test that’s required to use the facilities (just another money grab) During the test we had a 30min discussion with one of their fitness “experts” and he went on to explain confuse us about nutrition and how much and what we should be eating. Long story short… to eat the foods which are recommended it would surely send me to the poor house. Why is it that all the foods without all the fat, calories, etc is so expensive? Yea, I read all the package labels the last time I was at the supermarket, for what we were told to look for and what to avoid.
Final comment on this whole watching what you eat… why is is that everyone seems to have their own opinion. What we were told at this fitness test is not the same as what’s published by the Canadian Gov’t. And I’m sure if we spoke to another personal trainer they would say something different.
Hope you enjoyed the extra hr of sleep this am. I forgot to set the clocks back, so I was up and about my usual time.
Chris….
p.s. Why is it all the foods we especially like is no good for us… hope my deepfryer does not hear
p.p.s Do you believe in Karma? A good friend (rip Rick) totally believed in Karma and I must say I’m becoming a believer.
