Live with Passion!

Tony Robbins has to be one of the most passionate people I know(along with my good friend Don Messing!). His mantra to LIVE WITH PASSION! is posted in my "personal development studio" right alongside many the tools I use to help me learn, grow and develop. These tools include the basics such as my stationary bike, my treadmill, my weight bench, full length mirror(yikes), laptop computer, DVD/CD player, iTunes, reading material, heart rate monitor, reading material(all personal development stuff of course), lots of cool artwork and lots of vibrant yellow paint. My stationary bike faces the full length mirror and has an awesome view of our dream backyard on our own piece of heaven on Earth. From my window I can look out and watch my favorite person in the world, my wife Sammie, training her beloved dogs to also grow and develop! See a pattern? My Hour of Power in the morning listening to Tony Robbins expound on Life with Passion sets the tone for my day and life. Time to hit the shower tho' and get to work, one of my most passionate things I do!

Every Day in Every Way I'm Getting Stronger and Stronger!

Just finished my 2nd cardio workout of the day and also my Hour of Power with Tony Robbins! This morning I did about 40 minutes of hill repeats in the woods behing the house! Very cool morning, literally and figuratively! Light fog settled in the woods and listened to the continual calling of our resident pileated woodpecker as he greeted the sunshine and the day ahead! His continual calling brought the repeated reply of a flock of turkeys nearby and then the resident crow population woke up and chimed in! AWESOME AM! Today was another dietary success story for me as my 3rd day simple sugar free, ie No Candy, etc. Started after the morning workout with a soy milk/whey protein/fresh berry smoothie and held the pace thru the day with lots of fresh fruits, nuts and protein bars. My fluids are now largely sugar free, though still of the Red Bull, AMP, Monster variety as well as coffee and the occassional water. Finished the day on the stationary bike indoors for over an hour listening to Tony Robbins! Now it is time to turn in!

Step Two: Eliminate Simple Sugars From Diet

Step One was to make the decision to eliminate simple sugars from my diet and I made this decision a while back and have had a couple false starts in trying. My previous failures are largely a result of failing to tell enough people of my decision! That means subjecting myself to the scrutiny and pressure of my peers. The decision to eliminate simple sugars will be difficult as the sugar addiction is probably the single strongest and longest addiction of my life! I've eliminated other addictions from my life over the years including cigarettes(previously 2 pack a day smoker, quit 18 years ago), alcohol( just a problem since I started drinking pretty early on, quit over 20 years ago) and "other substances"( now 20 years clean and sober) but the sugar addiction has remained nearly constant for my entire 48 plus years. The addiction to sugars probably started as a comfort thing, rather than an escape thing, and has been problematic for my entire life and helped lead to my peak weight of nearly 450 pounds 3 years ago, along with other predilections towards obesity. I underwent a very difficult gastric bypass procedure 3 years ago on April 11, 2007 and it nearly killed me. Post-operative complications included infection, kidney failure and blood clotting that kept me in the hospital for over 6 weeks after surgery and kept me out of work for 6 months or longer, depending on who you ask! I came home with a handicapped parking placard and a walker, as well as a hospital bed on the first floor of our home since I could not get up a flight of steps! As the Virginia Slims ad used to say, "You've come a long way, baby" and I've decided not to risk my future health and happiness any longer. My goal weight of 190 pounds may seem extreme to some and probably is, but then again I'm a bit of an extremist anyhow! More to follow as it is 1115pm and I need to be up and exercising by 6am tomorrow morning for this plan to succeed! The idea for the blog is to open my life to the scrutiny of my friends and my enemies to hold myself accountable to succeed!