My favorite thing

Tina posed a question on the Facebook page ... "what has been your favorite part of being part of FWSW this season?" I answered, "read my blog to see my answer." I have to admit that I'm sorely tempted to write "read my comment to Tina's FB post to see my answer." That would have been hilarious.

Taylor copped out and said something like, "I can't pick a single moment. They're all special." Those answers are often true, but still feels like a cop out. It's like a football player being asked about an upcoming opponent and saying something non-committal like, "we're going to compete." It's an answer, but it's not informative.

But I'm forced to give Taylor a pass on this one ... because I'm going to say the exact same thing. It's been a great season for me. I've learned so much and I've come so far. I also know that I'm not done, but I feel equipped to get where I want to be. This season has truly been life changing.

... and yet, if you're going to force me to pick a moment (try using the "don't be a cop out" line and see if it works), I would exploit a loophole and claim a type of moment rather than a single moment. And my favorite moment(s) would be ... any time I get a chance to talk about the program. There are so many good people involved in this program that I'm genuinely excited about it. I tend to enjoy talking about things that excite me. I talk about the program at work, with my immediate family, with my out-of-state family, on Facebook, at church, at the gym, and other even more unexpected places.

Let me assure you of this ... from the vantage point of a timid, skeptical contestant at the start of this program to a confident pre-alumni striving to succeed, this program changes you for the better. Well, "this program" doesn't change you ... it's the people who genuinely love you, invest in you and challenge you.

Color Vibe

My family ran the "Color Vibe" race today. It was interesting. To the best of my knowledge, the whole idea of having fun by tossing color bombs on each other was inspired by the Hindu Festival of Holi. It's a ritual where people say goodbye to winter and welcome the spring. There might even be some fertility mojo going on too, but I'm not completely sure. There's a lot of these kinds of color run events in the US, and I doubt that very many folks have made the connection to Holi. Over here, it's just fun.

It wasn't a religious moment for my family today. It was fun and made some nice memories. We got some really good pictures of the color splashed all over us. That was cool. We hung out with some friends from FWSW. That was cool too. We didn't run it as a race, but just enjoyed the nice weather and strolled the whole thing. That was also cool. My kids did a fine job, and I'm both proud of them and thankful for them. They're good boys.

While my wife and I have been fully immersed into the "boot camp" mentality of FWSW, we've been bringing our boys along at a slower pace. They're not always eating the same things we are and we aren't expecting them to do all the same workouts, etc. When we get to "maintenance mode" then we'll all be on more similar schedule regarding diet, physical activities, etc. We have tried to plan this out in a way so that the boys wouldn't resent our family's move to a more fit lifestyle.

I think there's a danger of getting into shape and being pushy about it with the ones around you. I can tell you this ... one of the reasons I was so reluctant to get in shape is because I knew people who were in shape, and I thought a lot of them were jerks. They often had a smug attitude and would drop guilt bombs indiscriminately. Not every fit person is like that, but enough are that it was one of my excuses (a lame excuse, but an excuse nonetheless).

So, I'll just throw these two thoughts out there:

1) If you're in shape, there's no need to be a tool about it. Be healthy. Help others when you can, but realize that being pushy or arrogant is counterproductive.

2) If you're not in shape and have had issues with superior-acting fit people, get over it. Your health is yours, not theirs. You don't get a free fat pass just because someone else plays the part of a fool.

The Nickell Chin

Quick! Name famous people with famous chins! You've got ten seconds! Go!

I cheated and used a little googling ... Kirk Douglas, John Travolta, Ben Affleck, Chevy Chase, Huey Lewis ... and the big chin himself, Jay Leno. Most of those are famous cleft chins, while Jay's is just plain huge. I left out Jabba the Hutt, because this was a "one chin per entry" contest, and his multitude of chins would be cheating (he's not real either). The point of all this chin talk is that I have finally ascended into the ranks of rarefied chin air. I am now the proud owner of a Nickell chin.

I'm not exactly sure what others call it, but in my family we call it the "Nickell chin" because my Granny Nickell had a very pronounced chin. My mom has it, and to varying degrees, my siblings have it (my little brother once popped a balloon that grazed his chin ... his is that pointy). I guess I've had it all along, but it's been buried in several layers of neck fat. Seriously, I hadn't seen a Nickell chin in the mirror in more years than I can remember. If you look at the photo accompanying this blog, you won't see a hint of the famed family trademark.

As I've lost weight, it's been particularly obvious in my face. I'm so much thinner in the face and I can see the reemerging Nickell chin. This is not a little thing ... it's highly motivating to look into a mirror and reclaim a birthright. How many days went by and I couldn't see my chin's natural shape because I was so out of shape? I love my chin! Every time I look in the mirror, I am reminded that I come from a great family ... and that I have a new, wonderful FWSW family as well. I don't ever want to lose sight of my chin again!

Answer to yesterday's riddle ... we have THE same middle name.

A target on my back

I'm going on record as saying that I'm shooting for an eight pound loss this week. I know that I have to bust my butt to get it. I'm also aware that I could do everything right this week and just not hit eight pounds. In weeks past, I'd set goals and kind of hedge a bit to protect myself from disappointment ... but I've only got a little over two weeks to go. I'm going to put the target on my back and let it provide extra motivation.

Due to the short nature of today's blog, I'll leave you with a bonus in the form of a riddle: What do Frank the Tank and Winnie the Pooh have in common? Tune in tomorrow for the answer!

Caribbean military paranormal romance novels

Last summer, I took the wife and kids to FandomFest. It's a Comic-Con/Star Trek convention kind of thing where you can buy overpriced merchandise, get autographs of genre celebrities (for a fee) and have a good time. We met Erin Grey (Colonel Wilma Deering of the Buck Rogers TV show), Colin Ferguson (Jack Carter of Eureka fame), Peter Davison (the 5th Doctor) and many others. It was pretty cool and the whole family had a good time (seriously, even my wife enjoyed it).

One of the celebrities we met was an author who's name I cannot remember. We were told she was the world's leading Caribbean military paranormal romance novelist. I have never read her books, but I'm guessing they're kind of like Twilight, but with a lot more saluting and ganja. If they ever make those books into movies, I'll bet the soundtrack will be totally awesome. She showed me that if you try hard enough to find a niche, you can be the world's best at something.

I think that kind of mentality can help you get into shape. I try to juggle five or six milestones at a time so that when I hit a wall in one area, I've got something else I can do. For example, I still try to set records on the stair stepper (current best 100 flight time is 14:40, and I've went over 300 flights in one session as well). I've got milestones for pace and distance in running too. And of course, there's the scale.

After that horrible weigh-in, I needed the encouragement of reaching an important milestone. I hadn't taken a stab at "fastest time for a one mile sprint" in a while, so I tackled that one. My previous best was 8:54. Tonight, I ran it in 8:02. It took a lot out of me, but it felt good to get a win. This kind of thing may not work for everyone, but it helps me quite a bit. Victory begets victory. Each win is a building block in the Lego tower of fitness (savor that metaphor for a little while) ...

I'm going to tackle another milestone ... and another ... and another ...