Sounds like an easy question – right? I mean if one is healthy does that mean the BMI looks good or he can run a marathon? Or does it mean ones cholesterol levels are good or one’s blood pressure is 120/80? What about ones endurance levels even if one is fat? What about one’s fighting [...]]]>  

Sounds like an easy question – right? I mean if one is healthy does that mean the BMI looks good or he can run a marathon? Or does it mean ones cholesterol levels are good or one’s blood pressure is 120/80? What about ones endurance levels even if one is fat? What about one’s fighting ability even if she is old? What if one is nutritionally deficient – gets sick often but has a normal BMI?

I’m not trying to deflect here but I’ve found there does not seem to be one answer (honestly I’m not trying to re-write the definition so I come out ok). When I was younger I thought body builders did not make sense because they did not do well in fighting (the only thing that mattered to me as a young adult). I thought boxing was unless because they could not kick. I thought fat people could not fight!

You see I did not realize as a young man that there were trade-offs in life that everyone had to deal with that often defined them. In this post I will talk about my health challenges – not to elicit sympathy or to diminish my responsibility in the outcome so far, but rather to take stoke of what seems to work and what does not work… as well as what I’ve tried in the last year or so.  First take a gander at Roy “Big Country” Nelson – a fighter that should put to bed the myth that a fat man cannot fight!

Roy Nelson as other fat fighters I’ve know is in good aerobic shape but has hard as he works out – he also likes to eat. You see to be a good fighter – it is not only the good, physical, cut, strong fighters that win but also those that have kind of a spare tire but lots of savy that can win.

I am not saying that being in good physical shape is bad but rather it is not the only way to be a good fighter. Just like having muscles is not always bad even though you don’t see many great fighters that are muscle bound. One example I always say is if you check out the worlds strongest man contest – you see plenty of guys that have pot bellies. Muscles grow best if you don’t starve them.

Ok – up to know it sounds like I’m trying to say fat is good. No but I don’t think it is all bad. Take me for example. I am almost as fat as I’ve ever been this year (245) but I’m working out four to five hours a week with moderate aerobic exercise (bike and walking with some higher aerobic bag work, jogging, and hill hiking).

This year I no longer have muscle aches that plagued me at the end of 2010. I think stress and statins played a role as well as over exercising (I put in 10 plus hours working out back then a week).

I’ve tried low-carb diets as well as the blood-sugar diet (the food bill about broke me) in the last year but found every time I changed my diet (that was already nutritious and moderately caloric) – my body whet haywire fast. At first things went well but then I started craving bad food and sweets!

My blood pressure is good  and my cholesterol off the statins are only slightly elevated. I’ve had to stop taking the baby aspirin the doctors recommended as my blood was not clotting easily anymore.

It is real funny to me but in my younger days whenever a girlfriend would ogle at a tall muscle man – I would simply say I could kick is butt. I would then launch into an explanation of why muscle bound is bad (I guess trying to make myself look better).

I think I was a bit jealous of the physique and who knows after I cannot fight well in old age – I may just take up body building.

As far as health I have just weight loss goals as well as my continuing reduced stress commitment. My wife and I are supporting each other as if either one of us starts into the sweets – the other partakes.

So I am over half-way to my heath goals. I exercise without injuries (had to stop sparring). I eat well but not too often in excess. I stopped taking medicines that were making me sick. My blood pressure is good and my cholesterol is almost where I want it.

The thing I have to work on is continuing this trend of weight loss. So long as I can exercise and keep the stress down – what I am already doing  with diet (just eating 1800 calories or so a day) will eventually get me where I want to be – weight wise.

So while I had ballooned back to to 257 – I’m now back on track and am not going to make the hare’s mistake but rather take the tortise’s path.

In closing I’d like to say I am fat, dumb, and happy… soon enough to be just dumb and happy!

It is 2012 and the real estate bubble collapse is still winding down to a new economic reality – what reality is still in question. The actions that led up to the really downturn I don’t think has really changed. Sure lending rules have tightened up but people generally still want the latest, greatest products and [...]]]>  

It is 2012 and the real estate bubble collapse is still winding down to a new economic reality – what reality is still in question. The actions that led up to the really downturn I don’t think has really changed. Sure lending rules have tightened up but people generally still want the latest, greatest products and they want it now – even before their current product has outlived its usefulness.

I’m not mixing examples, really because a house is just the biggest example of how we want the latest – greatest. Here is a quick funny video of how excessive borrowing helped get us into a mess. Afterwards I will speak to where we are and where I think we should be headed.

Ok – I know you are thinking that was so 2005 but is it really? Perhaps we cannot borrow ourselves into massive unsupportable debt in homes for a while but what about big screen TVs? Do we really need the latest computer, tablet, e-reader, gps mapper, or other such devices or can our old system still work for a while?

Many of you reading this will be thinking – John, if we can afford it – why not keep up with the Joneses? I would ask are are you borrowing to buy the trinket? If so then you cannot afford it. Arguably a car or house might not fall into this category but for most things – borrowing just does not make sense. It sets you up for unrealistic expectations, debt, and paying high interest rates that keep you from doing important things with your life.

So if you are not borrowing to get the latest trinket – why not buy the latest and greatest? Doesn’t supper-heating the economy help give American’s jobs? Isn’t this patriotic? First I would ask you if your old device or method has stopped working. If not what are you going to do with your old device that has not outlived its usefulness?

If you are giving the old device to someone that will get the full use out of it – perhaps this is not so  bad but if you are turning it back in the manufacture or “recycling” it – you are contributing to the myth of our age – that a super-heated economy leads to prosperity! You are buying stuff just to buy stuff with the latest bells and whistles!

If this was the animal kingdom – you would be killing just to kill instead of killing to eat!

Ok – do you want to know how I really feel? I don’t think most people are bad because they suscom to the temptation of commercialism but I do think they have not really thought things through. Is a life pursuing happiness by keeping up the the Joneses realistic? Can stuff make us happy?

NO!

It can only give us the illusion of happiness for a short time – until the neighbors buy the latest, greatest – then unhappiness rules!

That big screen TV is not as big, only 2D, not back lit or some other calamity that cannot be resolved without going into debt or spending hard earned savings (decreasing financial stability of the family) and finally achieve nirvana!!!!

Ok – you can see my point – it is a never ending cycle and with the R&D to production cycle shortening – it will be a never ending cycle. Why not search for meaning elsewhere and resist the temptation to keep up with the Joneses?

The first thing you will notice is relief! You see keeping up was not achievable in the first place.

The second thing you will notice is your finances improving. You will have more money saved and less debt for whatever turns out to be really important in your life.

The third thing you will notice is while you have older stuff – you can start focusing on helping family and friends, giving to charity, supporting your community and perhaps church – whatever altruistic notion that captures your imagination!

AND you will have discovered accidentally the path to happiness. Unselfish acts!

You will reap the rewards of taking the path less traveled.

Unfortunately I don’t think we will as a people, suddenly become frugal and good stewards of our money – but if enough of you do – it will pay benefits to you (and if you teach your children wisely) and yours.

I hope you have enjoyed my alternate reality today – check back for another tour of the universe.

Recently while on-call in my day job (requires I be near my computer), I tried to think of a new (for me) aerobic workout I could do in my garage. What I came up with is the ladder climb with the 7′ Husky ladder. What no stair climber machine for $2000? No I am cheap [...]]]>  

Recently while on-call in my day job (requires I be near my computer), I tried to think of a new (for me) aerobic workout I could do in my garage. What I came up with is the ladder climb with the 7′ Husky ladder. What no stair climber machine for $2000? No I am cheap I guess and whenever I’ve bought exercise equipment it usually gathers dust after the first few months.

I think a more effective strategy is to uses common items you have already to get a good indoor workout when you need to stay home. I also walk, hike mountains, ride my bike and kick-box the bag but my free weights do mostly gather dust.

Take a look at this video and we can evaluate it.

This video gives me lots of ideas. I like the dragging stuff, ball throw, sandbag lift and sledgehammer hits. And it looks like the workout would not be boring. I would guess that firemen are truly strong given the clothes they have to wear while fighting fires.

As you all know figuring out what exercise to do with in climate weather sometimes is half of the battle. Even here in paradise (San Diego) we get the odd rain shower.

This was just a quick post to share my “new” exercise I discovered. Hang in there and remember the most important thing is to move some everyday!

Admittedly I was jaded long ago when it comes to liars. When I was growing up I used to believe that most people told the truth. Boy let me tell you I like most people that believed that were in for a rude awakening! All of the untouchable honest people in authority fell from grace [...]]]>  

Admittedly I was jaded long ago when it comes to liars. When I was growing up I used to believe that most people told the truth. Boy let me tell you I like most people that believed that were in for a rude awakening! All of the untouchable honest people in authority fell from grace so to speak. Teachers, policemen, legislators, presidents and even clergy! So what is a person to believe?

First let’s examine what honesty is and if you – like me, assume that a lie is the opposite of honesty, we can agree on a definition of honesty.

Politics always seem to be the most blatent examples of lying. Nothing has changed though – politicians all seem to tell half-truths in order to get the last minutes votes.

What is honesty? Simply telling the truth even if it hurts the person hearing it. Do we all tell the truth? Nope – we have all learned sometimes honesty is not the best policy. Early on children learn if their parents ask about the homework – say yes, I did it. Even through you may have completed most of it. The child then scrambles the next morning to complete the assignment in time and who was hurt?

I can think of many more examples of lying that seem to be ok and justified and hence – many would say honest (because no one got hurt and things seemed to work out better). So in light of a ‘loose’ definition of honesty does then lying mean omission of facts that will sway a person to your point of view because your point of view is right?

Do the ends justify the means? One can get into a discussion of ethics easily here as egocentric persons would argue that lying is better than telling the truth if you can have your way.

What does this mean practically? Does it mean you can never believe anyone again? No but you have to take what anyone says with a grain of salt. It is funny but if I get stopped by a cop – I ask myself what his frame of reference is and I consider if I can deal with him honestly. I have the same concerns from co-workers, bosses, clergy, lawyers, and anyone I meet.

What do you think of salesmen or commercials? Are you one of those people that think the big companies with the best commercials tell the truth? There must be some of you out there because they keep the lies coming at us fast and furious.

The commercials I dislike the most on TV are the drug ads. Have you ever wondered why the public would be target for ads when we cannot prescribe the medicines ourselves? Why do the drug companies thing we will ‘ask our doctor about (insert overpriced pharmaceutical here)’? Are our minds so easily convinced of nonsense that we just agree with any deep voice and sincere looking actor/actress on the TV?

There is a lot more to how products get advertised and hence we are lied to but you get the picture. The drug companies are trying to sell product. The have a responsibility to their shareholders and not to their customers really. They don’t care if an existing drug works as well (but will soon go generic), but rather they want to take market share from the other drug company or transition their existing customers to their new product.

So what I’m saying is through a chance of other self-interested parties including government, hospitals, and doctors – they will all watch their bottom line. And if everyone is lucky – the medicines will actually work and keep the cost of health care artificially high.

Sorry I did not mean to go on a rant about any one company/product but they are all like that. I’ve not seen any exceptions in any business, profession, nation, or people.

So what can you do to make things better (or as good as it can get)? Help educate your children and friends how the world works – as many buy into these delusions of marketers. For instance when shopping, name brands may not mean anything. Compare ingredients and realize the generic item may be made by the name brand manufacturer for a discount.

Listen to what people say and then watch what they do.

Don’t buy anything from a telephone or door to door salesman – if you really want the item – shop it from reliable stores or websites.

Don’t take investment advice from financial planners or brokerage houses  – These people do not beat the stock market. If you don’t want to learn finance but want to invest in stocks, bonds or mutual funds, invest in an indexed fund. You will beat the professionals most of the time and avoid the brokers that want to churn (constantly reinvest for their commission) your money.

Look at yourself. Do you tell half-truths to other a lot for not really good reason? If so start picking you words carefully so you can tell the truth more often. The only thing you have going for you in this life if your good name. If you lose that – life will get harder.

My final piece of advice is to hope for the best in people but act only on verified information. That way you can protect yourself and still have a positive outlook even if you find yourself surrounded by liars (I should explain during the political season I am on liar overload… I’ll cheer up eventually)!

Welcome back to leananmean.com. I made the decion last March to close this website down but over the the many months I’ve missed the oppertunity to speak out on various goings-ons around me. I guess I have a big mouth and I need an outlet to expouse my views.

What you can expect from [...]]]>  

Welcome back to leananmean.com. I made the decion last March to close this website down but over the the many months I’ve missed the oppertunity to speak out on various goings-ons around me. I guess I have a big mouth and I need an outlet to expouse my views.

What you can expect from me is the occasional post about anything that seems interesting – especially if I think whats out there is not the whole story. I should have pleanty of fodder. I will continue to speak about heath and fitness too as this is an interest of mine.

What’s happened this year of interest in my life? I was promoted to Rokudan (6th degree blackbelt) in Kenpo. That was totally unexpected but perhaps should not have been. Let me explain. A few years back I received our organizations lifetime acheivement award and a couple years back I was entered into the Kenpo Hall of Fame. I created a website for the karate school here so I guess it should not have been surprising that 10 years after my 5th degree promotion (where I had to write a thesis), that I would get the largely honorary (no specific deliverables) promotion to Rokudan.

Anyway I am happy to have the new degree and I’ll try to live up to the standards of this honor.

On the weight loss plan – I am not focusing on any diet anymore (as that seems fail mostly) but I am going to try and achieve a balance of mind, body and soul. I’ve never had a problem keeping my mind sharp. I have an MBA and I received my windows 2008 system administrator certification from Microsoft this year (3 tests).

As far as my body, injuries and appetite have been my downfall. Interestingly enough working out at the karate school (specifically sparring) and bag work at home (throwing punches incorrectly) have actually kept me from working out. I’ve inured my wrists, hands, knee, and feet over the last year and had to take time off for recovery. Although I’ve tried to do different exercise – it was a challenge this year.

As far a soul – I’ve reconnected with my Catholic roots and I’m trying to reconcile the child understanding of the faith with the adult version. The child version was far easier… all I had to do was go to church with my parents. Now I have to actually study the bible and ask the Lord for forgiveness as well as find time to worship, help the needy and pray. Whew… I actually find it all very rewarding and I feel like I’ve plugged a missing dimension in my life.

As far as the plan forward – mostly it is the body that needs work. I am not dieting any more but simply going to eat healthy meals (yes – fewer calories than I actually need but I’m not counting) with the good tasting foods I grew up on. For instance I’ve started drinking whole milk (from no milk since I was a kid) because it is very satisfying and helps be stay full.  Many more examples but in a nut shell I am feel satisfied all of the time now and should slowly take off the inches.

I’m steadily working out again since my last sparring session. I re-injured my knee and cut my face. The face injury healed fast but the knee still smarts. But I am able to bike, hike, walk and do bag work. This year I am going to stop sparring for the most part as 80% of the time I get injured. I don’t really need to spar to stay in shape for self defense and I’m not going to fight a MMA match anytime soon so why go overboard. I’m not anymore. I’m gonna be smart about this now.

Welcome back and I hope you stop by from time to time. I also wish all a happy new year!