Wednesday, January 30, 2008

Stand back, I'm getting sentimental

So, Shane and I spent the weekend at the Homestead Resort in Midway, Utah. We went with two wonderful friends, Kathie and Diane. The time together was splendid and the weather could not have been better. Saturday started with a killer breakfast at Ruth's Diner up Emigration Canyon, then on up to the Homestead, spending Saturday afternoon Cross Country skiing at Wasatch Mountain State Park.

Now, considering it's January and the weather has been balls cold but it could not have been a better day. In fact it was a perfect winter day. Clean air, blue skies and warm. We skied in short sleeve shirts and were perfectly comfortable. Later that night we enjoyed a wonderful dinner at Snake Creek Grill in Heber City. I would recommend this place to anyone at any time, it's fantastic!

Sunday morning was almost too perfect. Brunch at the Homestead Resort, a lovely melody from the Baby Grand piano, a real fire roaring in the wood burning fireplace and close to 30 deer outside the picture windows walking in the light falling snow. Really, a storybook setting.

As I took a breather I was thinking of just how blessed Shane and I are. We have wonderful accepting friends and family. We have the luxuries in life to spend a weekend away from home, if only for a night, when so many people just don't have this opportunity in life. We live comfortably and have great jobs. I am blessed to live in the State that I do. Although the air can be toxic it is an amazing state. I am blessed to live in the United States of America. I have traveled throughout Europe and parts of Eastern Europe. We have spent time in Canada and Mexico and can say I love the U.S and the freedoms we have.

We can put gas in our cars and have a nice warm home. We can buy the groceries we need, plus some. All in all we are blessed. I hope that more of us take a second to stop and look around at what you have and feel the same. We truly are very, very lucky.

The end.

Thursday, January 24, 2008

I would marry Heidi Klum

It's true...if Shane was not in the picture and it truly was a possibility, I would marry Heidi Klum. OK, so there is the small "gay issue" but that aside...hell, screw the gay thing, she is HOT.

So, Body for Life is going well. Very well. I hit a plateau with my weight and have been sitting at 200 lbs for a couple of weeks now. That's ok. I am still getting up in the morning to exercise, I am still eating well and feel so much better. I will keep on keepin' on, heading to my goal by May 7th.

The best thing was my recent visit to American Eagle on Saturday. Shane was working and I was bored so I headed to the mall. Now, in all actuality I don't do this often, but I felt like shopping. I thought I would go buy a pair or two of jeans size 34x32.

Thinking there was no way in hell these would fit, having these on hand for when they will in a month or so would be a bonus. What do you know...they actually fit and they fit NOW. So, this helps build my desire to stay on course and motivated to make sure I do this.

Next up...a 5k or half marathon. I am not a runner and don't quite enjoy running. But I have been thinking more and more about such a goal. My fear is myself, telling myself I am not ready or can't do it. I suppose this is when I just go for it, telling myself I will not fail. I have the support of great friends and a partner so time will tell.

We are heading to the Homestead resort in Midway, Utah this weekend for a nice get away. Cross country skiing on Saturday, dinner at the Snake Creek Grill on Saturday night and a nice relaxing evening with friends. Hopefully all of the exercising over the weeks will assure I do not succumb to a long painful grueling death by skis on Saturday.

Tuesday, January 15, 2008

I am doing Body for Life

Wow...I am on fire, a second post within a month. Perhaps I will keep this up??

So, I have a friend that decided he needed this ripping body before he and his wife head to Vegas in March. For several weeks I listened to him talk about Body for Life. Then, a couple of weeks before Thanksgiving my employer decides to extend to employees in Salt Lake City a challenge of such. It sounded pretty simple, maintain your weight throughout the holidays.

Now, think about this one. You have the joy of weighing in at work and sharing your oh so lovely number with those co-workers around you. Why not! So, I took it one step further. I started Body for Life the week before Thanksgiving. With my friend, and a couple of other co-workers our small group of four signed up with a goal of maintaining weight.

With the help of my partner Shane I set up my daily menu's for the first month and off I went. Not only was I eating absolute foreign foods such as cottage cheese and powerbars I started working out. My goal was to go from 222 pounds to 200 pounds by New Years. Although I was shy of my goal by three pounds I was still completely jazzed that I have lost what I did and have maintained Body for Life.

Something else happened on the way. Turns out, the room to the east of our family room truly did not house the revolutionary clothes hanger 3200 and moving walkway, it was actually a full on weight system and Pro Form treadmill. I utilize this equipment fairly regularly and I am now running. Granted, after several weeks I am not running marathons, closer to half marathons. But hell, I am up to 2 miles.

Not only have I now lost 20 pounds, my clothes fit better, my pants are not tight and I actually had to buy belts. The kicker, I feel so, so much better. I turn 40 in May and have made it my goal to look and feel better at 40 than I have since high school. I am half way there and half way to my goal weight.

I will continue to post on my success. A thanks to my friend Eric for introducing me to Body for Life and encouraging me to go for this. Now, I hope my friend Jeremy who started the same day I did is doing as well. Something about cops and doughnuts???

Friday, January 11, 2008

And it's here

So, for years my friends have asked and asked, Chet...for lord sakes BLOG. I am not a big reader, never have been. So, you think I am any better with a Blog? I will certainly give it a try. Afterall, my Myspace account was a total flop. I have 3,851 friend requests from Natasha. Who knows, maybe she really is hot?