Squinting through the fog…

I love to make lists…

I have lists for the grocery store, list for goals, resolutions lists, work out lists, lists to help me with weight loss. I have a lot of lists!

Maybe one of the reasons I like lists so much is that I crave order. I like being able to check things off and know that progress is being made.

My life has very little of that -order- these days…

Everything seems pretty uncertain. Things I used to think were simple are now complex. Things I once had “checked off” have now been added to new lists.

Just to name a few: Will I return to ministry? Is it time to think new career? What would that even look like? Should I go back to school? Is any job offer the one I need to take? Should I be going for more? What is this teaching me? Is there something else I am missing? What am I teaching my kids? Is this failure? Was I supposed to have done something else?

…yeah, the chaos in my head lately is not a lot of fun… And, I am one that appreciates order.

I remembered a verse this morning, and in looking it up I loved what I read:

We don’t yet see things clearly. We’re squinting in a fog, peering through a mist. But it won’t be long before the weather clears and the sun shines bright! We’ll see it all then, see it all as clearly as God sees us, knowing him directly just as he knows us! But for right now, until that completeness, we have three things to do to lead us toward that consummation: Trust steadily in God, hope unswervingly, love extravagantly. And the best of the three is love. (1 Corinthians 13:12, 13 MSG)

Maybe your life isn’t as messy as mine is right now. Maybe you have everything under control.

Mine, however, feels a lot like I am squinting in a fog or peering through a mist…

I love Paul’s encouragement.

Trust steadily in God.

Hope unswervingly.

Love extravagantly.

There have been a few times I my life when I found myself driving through fog. …there’s really not much you can do. Your “brights” really won’t help. In fact, the harder you try, the worse it seems to work. The only thing you can really do is slow down, pay attention, and wait for things to get better.

So until the fog lifts… Trust steadily in God, hope unswervingly, and love extravagantly.

I’m not sure I trust ANY of them…

Following in the wake of Tyler Hamilton’s 60 minutes revelations about Lance Armstrong, an even bigger question loomed than “did Lance dope?” Its a question about the sport of cycling in general:

Is there anyone I can actually trust?

Allow me to give you a little back story.

It goes like this.

I have always been a fan of Lance Armstrong, but as much as I like the guy, I never have believed that he was 100% clean. My personal belief was that “back in the day” – pre-cancer – Lance probably used. …I assumed cancer was what changed him and his body, and created the Tour winner. I always figured that’s why he said, “I am the most tested athlete on the planet” instead of “I don’t dope.”

I was an even bigger fan of Tyler Hamilton. Seriously, I would have bet everything that the big bad world of cycling was out to get the guy. Boy, was I wrong. (I still can’t help but love the guy though…)

I also was a huge fan of Floyd Landis. Who couldn’t love that Amish freakazoid, right?! …that is until you claim his innocence, over and over again, LOUDLY. But guess what – yeah, he finally came clean about being dirty. …and did it looking like a total idiot.

So seriously. Who can you trust?

Are we really going to believe its just sour grapes? Book sales? Jealousy? …really?

Or are we going to just realize, and come to grip with the fact, that THE WHOLE FREAKIN’ SPORT is dirty.

…with maybe the exception of Vaughters and Garmin?? (uughhh)

See my problem? I can’t even trust the one team that says they are managing  their team and riders in such a way as to go above and beyond everyone’s bar of what “clean” racing should look like.

…here’s what I think.

I think we should just stick an astericks by every tour and every riders name for the last 20 years:

*this guy probably doped just like every one else in his generation.

And for the record – HOW is it that Contador is allowed to race right now!! He’s about to win the Giro!! He’s as guilty as Floyd and Tyler for sure!!

Come on… Tainted beef?? seriously??

Ironman Texas, Race Report

So… Where to begin? I guess at the beginning…

11 months ago I made the rash, late night, friend aided (blame it on peer pressure) decision to sign up for Ironman Texas. It was to be the first such event in Texas, and I had friends doing it too – so why not! …even though I had never tackled any triathlon longer than an Olympic distance …and even though I’d always said I would “NEVER” do an Ironman. (I mean, who would be that insane, right?) – but lo and behold I paid the money and got in!

I was a roofer then… and living most of the time in OKC – so began my excuses for training – but I did try…

Fast forward to the start of this year and I changed jobs. Now I work all night half the week and I’m supposed to sleep during the day. The one benefit is that I have a couple extra days off during the week, but when I told my new co-workers I was going to attempt to train while working they all said I was nuts.

It actually went pretty well at first, but as my mileage needs increased it started to get a little crazy. For instance, if I needed a swim (of at least an hour) and a run of two hours, and needed to eat, then that left me maybe 5 hours of sleep. By the end, I was also fighting an injury to my upper back that had me at a chiropractor twice a week – which took even more time away…

Let me give one more shout out to my doc (and friend) John Tuggle! He did IM Texas as well and finished, beating his goal!! It was his second Ironman and he’s a stud. I wouldn’t have been able to race most likely had it not been for him… Thanks Tuggle!!

In the end, my training was “what it was.” I was resigned to the fact that I had trained as best I could: Less than ideal, and about two months behind schedule – but I did my best and was as ready as I could be given what I had to work with …next time though, I will start training harder a lot sooner!!

Let’s talk facebook for a second… I’m a big FB guy, and despite what some people think – I didn’t post my training for ego

I made a decision to start using a training app to track my training on FB. I used a training journal early on, but it was much easier to just keep it all on FB by the end. I really never expected anyone to pay any attention to that… I underestimated how much FB could involve my friends and family in training – and ultimately in my race. The encouragement and accountability from facebook was very valuable! Priceless in fact… I am still blown away by all the support!

I left for Houston on Thursday to pick up my race packet and tour the expo and IM village. It was a pretty amazing experience. Athletes everywhere! The buzz was definitely in the air. I also got to see Tuggle, and Jon Woodford, and Andrew Gale, and Chuck Cash – all guys I had trained with… Some of us had dinner that night, which was perfect, as I was alone in town. We all went to the HUGE race meeting together to – and it finally sunk in – I am racing an Ironman.

All Ironmen!!

Friday was bike and bags drop off day – all of which were pretty seamless… Then I just chilled and tried to rest until my family got there that evening. By the time they arrived it was time for bed. I slept maybe an hour and a half. …I was already pretty rested, and my nerves were in full attack mode.

RACE DAY!!!

Saturday morning, I had scheduled a wake up call for 4am. I didn’t need it, because I was up at 3:30am! I figured I might as well quit trying to sleep, so I put the ice and water in my bottles, got dressed, ate a small breakfast and headed to the course. …I wanted to be early anyway – and I was! I got to wait in line for transition to open

I actually didn’t have much to do when I arrived. I loaded the bottles in their place, then I hiked myself and my wetsuit to the swim start.

It was pretty darn cool waiting around at the swim start. The atmosphere was electric! Everyone was checking each other out, praying, and starting to sweat …we were about to get racing!

We started heading into the water right after the pros – btw – I walked right by Mirinda Carfrae!! She wasn’t racing, and if I had anything to get an autograph with/on I would have!

I had decided to race with a wetsuit even though the water temperature made it “not legal.” I wasn’t competeing for any age group awards or a Kona spot, so for me the decision was about time. I knew I would swim faster with my wetsuit, so I did. I’m guessing probably a third of the field did the same.

I had a great swim! 1:20 is 5 minutes faster than I predicted for a fast swim time! I was only 5 minutes behind Woodford!! …that’s just insane. That being said, that swim was easily the most violent thing I’ve ever done. Maybe I should try running with the Bulls next year? It was nuts… People trying to swim over me, through me, on top of me… I got kicked in the face once, elbowed numerous times, actually pulled backwards once – it was just plain crazy. I decided pretty early on to swim a tad aggressively and to look for open water! …and for about half the race I think I found it. The other half was just nuts. When we entered the channel it wasn’t as crowded as I thought it might be, which was good, but I still had people all over me. It was really nice to hear the cheers from the crowd along the channel! …but at some point along there, I went to do a breast stroke kick and felt both hamstrings start to cramp. I’m glad it was about over, and I just focused on swimming to the end free-style and trying not to cramp.

I felt pretty good coming out of the water, and I went to the change tent happy with my swim. I was determined to take my time in the transitions – and I succeeded! Lol I also changed clothes every time in transition.

I found my bike really easy, and loved getting to see my family! The kids had signs, and I even stopped to pose with them for a picture – then it was off to do 112 miles…

The ride was actually very scenic. The roads were pretty nice. I think there was only one section of chip and seal, which was awesome. I went out faster than I intended – but it was hard because I really felt good. At the halfway point I was averaging 17mph, but by the end, after the hills took hold, my overall average was down to 16mph. I was still pretty pleased with that, although I think I stopped too many times. I made a last minute decision to take one less bottle, and so because of that I think I stopped probably twice more than I needed to. My nutrition plan also failed miserably. The sport (jelly) beans that I planned to use became super sticky in the humidity. The powerbar bite size ball things were also really hard for me to digest… All that said though, I enjoyed the ride. My time even with stops was reasonable, and I had fun talking to people and riding hard for 112 miles.

Getting into T2 felt like a relief. My feet were killing me, so again, I took my time If they gave an award for the longest transitions, I might have won that one! I finally pulled it all together though, hit the restroom once more, and headed out.

Boy, was I in for a shock! When I tried to run – and I did seriously try – the sides of my ribs on both sides cramped. It actually took my breath away. I was only going to run for 3 minutes, but I probably only lasted 20 seconds – not good! I made the decision to just walk for a while. Then a tried to run a few times with no luck, so I made a hard call to walk and recover – for a full hour.

That hour felt like such a defeat! Looking at my watches, I could also tell that if I couldn’t run, I was doomed to not finishing. For a while there it was pretty bleak. To make things even worse, Dana was in the wrong spot on the run, so she missed me coming out of transition, and I wouldn’t see them until mile 9! I felt alone and in trouble. But I kept on going…

Its funny how things get stuck in your head. On that first lap, people would yell, “Way to go Charles” and I would be amazed – then I’d remember that my name was right above my number and they were just reading it …they didn’t actually know me. On the second lap, I started hating those encouragers. They were telling everyone, “You’re almost finished, keep going” and I would think, not me. I suck. I still have another lap.

I mentioned watches – as in plural – because I wore two. One watch I wore the whole race. I started its stopwatch function at the gun, so it had the running tally of how many hours. It also had the actual, physical time. That watch allowed me to see either how close I was to 17 hrs or how close I was getting until midnight. The other watch was my Garmin. I put it on just for the run and it calculated my speed and distance, as well as how log it took me to do each lap. I spent most of the race looking at those two watches.

After the first lap, I finally got to see Dana and the kids. They were so happy and relieved to see me! My loop took longer than I expected, and they were pretty worried about me. Caleb kept running alongside me asking if I was okay. Aaron was taking pictures, and Ashley was just bouncing with energy. I told Dana what was up and that I thought I had it all worked out. By that point I could run for a minute and walk a minute. That didn’t last long, but it gave me the will-power to get through that second lap.

As I started the third loop, I had to pass by the finishing gate again one last time. I got so emotional, realizing that instead of finishing, I had to do another loop. I threw down my water cup, and I started crying! Just around the corner though was my family!! They were so happy to see me and Dana couldn’t wait to tell me that if I kept up that same pace I was sure to finish. My brother-in-law Tim had been calling her from Lubbock with updates from the website that showed my time splits.

On that second lap, two things happened: I only walked two 15 minute stretches (instead of a full hour) and I realized that if I tried to run longer than 45 seconds, all the muscles in my legs would seize and cramp. The new plan was to run 45 seconds and walk 1:15. I kept that pace up for almost the whole third lap.

After being so emotional, and then seeing my family one last time, with a new plan in place, the third lap seemed to fly by! I also had something new to enjoy – the Woodlands in darkness! There were some pretty cool sections through the forested park area, and to light the way, the race committee placed glow sticks along the path. It was actually pretty cool to look at!

By that point in the race, the field had thinned so much that there were very few of us still out there. With each athlete there seemed to be a bond of friendship and suffering.

I particularly enjoyed talking to an older Athlete from Mexico. As we parted I called out, “Viva la Mexico” and he raised his arms.

As I got closer to the end, and my legs finally had about all they could take, I started to notice that I wasn’t the only one stumbling and bumbling my way to the finish line. There were athletes all bandadged up, all bent over in various zombie leans, everyone trying just to keep moving forward. It was pretty amazing.

Then I was three miles out; two miles out, and finally,  a mile out.

I was toast, but I knew I would finish!

Volunteers started to suggest we athletes hurry. …as if we didn’t have an exact plan of attack in place! …and as if we could push any harder!

Out of nowhere, as I entered the final stretch, Caleb appeared. He wanted me running with him, and kept telling me to hurry! I told him I can run a little, but that I wasn’t worried. I had plenty of time!

As it turned out, the internet didn’t update my last couple of splits, so everyone was very worried I had collapsed or something.

Caleb loved running alongside me, ever mindful to stay off the course, but close enough to be encouraging. He gave me a final wave and sprinted off to tell everyone else I was coming around the corner.

When I turned the second to last corner, they had taken away the sign for 2nd and 3rd laps – praise God – one more turn and the finish line was ahead.

I turned that corner running. I no longer felt tired. The crowd was screaming…

I hit the finishing mats and Mike Reily (the voice of Ironman) stopped me. He spoke into the mic – “Charles, are you ready for this?” With his arm around me, he pointed into the crowd as together they yelled in unison, “Charles Whitmire, you are an IRONMAN!!” …and I raised my arms to the crowd, which Mike seemed to love, then I headed under the finishing gate.

I saw my buddy James Thomas one more time, an he snapped a pic as they put the medal around my neck and gave me my finishers shirt and cap.

The kids and Dana came up and found me. They were elated, and exhausted. They had my bike and gear, so we could head to the car …one little pit stop to dry heave a while – but nothing came up

• To all of you who prayed… Thanks! I felt God’s presence all day.
• To all my facebook encouragers and well-wishers… Thanks! You rock!
• To my family… Thanks for supporting me, thanks for giving me time to train, thanks for your sacrifices and your love – you truly made all the difference!
• To Ironman… I’ll see you again in a couple years!

Next is my tattoo – pics coming soon 

I’m off to see the wizard…

In case you haven’t heard (or been paying attention to facebook)…

On Saturday May 21^st, 2011 – I will be participating, along with 3000 other crazy people, in Ironman Texas – here is the official website if you want to check out maps, etc.

• It’s the first Ironman (full 140.6 distance) to be held in Texas
• We’ll be racing in and around The Woodlands – which is near Houston
• An Ironman event consists of a 2.4 mile swim, a 112 mile bike ride, and a marathon (26.2 miles) …consecutively …all the same day. Nuts, huh?

This will be my first attempt at this distance, and although I have trained and I feel somewhat prepared, any and all prayers will be much appreciated!

It will be a long day! I am expecting somewhere between 1:20-1:45 hrs for the swim, 6-8 hours for the bike portion, and 5:30 or longer on the marathon…

My goals: (this is the question I get asked the most)

1. To complete the race before the time cut-off – 17 hours
2. To finish with a 15 hr at the beginning of my time
3. If I had a perfect race, and everything went extremely well, I might be able to beat 15hrs

Why am I doing this? …because I can?

I really have no “good” reason. When I heard last summer that they were creating this race, I signed up. Mainly, because I thought it would be cool to do the first one – and also because I’ll be turning 40 this year – so why not!

…by the end of the race I’ll either think it was a great idea, or it will be as my son has jokingly predicted – an epic fail.

Oh, one more reason – I want an Ironman tattoo! …and the only way to legitimitly get one of those (I hear) is to do the race

What scares me? …also known as what you can pray about…

• Well – finishing is a huge deal… And its also going to be a really tough effort. I think I’ll be okay, but I fully admit that I have some anxiety!
• I’ve never done a marathon. I’ve never wanted, or even considered, running that far… FYI – I am going to do the Galloway running method at a 3/1 – meaning I run three minutes and walk one minute. I will literally do that the whole marathon. If training is any barometer, then that puts me at a 12:00-12:15 minute mile pace. We’ll see…
• I’m also a little apprehensive about the bike portion. I have been riding a long time, but honestly, I still feel that 112 miles on a bike is hard. I also have to mentally tell myself to throttle way back, or else I will implode towards the end…

Thanks for reading  

And, again, prayers are appreciated! …on the plus side, you’ll pretty much have all day to do it

Is Lance Armstrong Guilty?

I’ve long been a fan of Lance Armstrong.

I saw him race once when he was still young (so was I back then) in 1990. It was pre-cancer. The race was a criterium in the Fort Worth stockyards. I can still remember sitting with some fellow Texas Tech cycling teammates on the porch at Spaghetti Warehouse watching him almost lap the pro field. Every time he passed us his lead grew a little bit more – as did his legend.

Then came cancer and as one athlete died, another stronger one was reborn.

He was still an amazing freak of nature – but now he was also a Tour contender. Before, he’d been capable of a stage victory or two at the most. He’d been a classics guy: full of strength and power. Post cancer Lance, however, had shed the sprinter/triathlete weight of his past. He was focused and changed. …and he would go on to win more Le Tours than anyone else in history.

Some say the cancer drugs gave him an edge. I don’t think so…

Others say – and have always said – that he raced dirty. …and honestly, I don’t know. I’ve always felt personally that pre-cancer Lance probably doped. Post cancer though I felt that he raced clean.

Lance has always said, “I’m the most tested athlete in the world.” …as if to say, “go ahead, test me, I’m clean” – but some have always wondered if he was really saying, “go ahead and try to catch me.” Its always been a little vague.

New allegations and investigations have surfaced. They seem to be coming close to calling Lance a doper.

You can read more about the new investigation here

Let me be clear, I have no idea if Lance Armstrong is guilty or not, but I do think that cycling’s doping problems go deeper and are more significant than anyone has previously believed. You may or may not believe Floyd Landis – which makes some sense given all his flip-flopping. …but this article about Dekker paints a sad story about the state of cycling.

Here are a couple excerpts:

Thomas Dekker said that getting rejected by Jonathan Vaughters and Team Garmin in 2008 was the “wake-up call” he needed to turn his life around. He achieved fame, fortune and success too early, and needed to be brought down to earth again.

Dekker, now 26, turned pro with Rabobank in 2005, after two highly successful years on their continental team. His successes continued in the ProTour, but publicly things started falling apart in the summer of 2008. Ultimately it was announced that a doping control he gave on Christmas Eve 2007 was positive for EPO, and he is currently serving a suspension through July 1 of this year.

And this one…

Even the prospect of losing his contract with Rabobank didn’t bother him. “While everybody was writing, speaking and worrying about my situation, I was close to signing a super contract. The day after the 2008 Tour de France I met with Jonathan Vaughters. That ‘the clean team’ was interested sounded logical to me. It gave me a way out of the other situation. I had decided I’d change as soon as I put my signature to paper. Like always I was in control, who else? The bubble…”

Vaughters and Dekker met in Brussels the day after the Tour, “and it was fantastic. They offered a super contract. When we said goodbye that Monday, Vaughters just told me: ‘Thomas I only need to control your blood values, because that’s the routine we follow as a team. After that the only thing left is your signature.’ No problem JV. I had nothing to worry about. Hey, I even had a letter from the UCI in which it was written that there were no problems with my blood values. The bubble…”

However, he soon came crashing down. Within days he heard back from Vaughters, who said, “’I'm sorry Thomas, but the deal is off. I can’t sign you. The rumours, the control I did. You know our team policy. You made a mistake that you didn’t have to make. I know your qualities, I’ve followed you since you were an U23 rider. This is bad. I’ll give you some advice: get out of this and move on. Use your natural talent.’

Like I said, I have no idea whether Lance doped or not. I truly hope he raced clean.

…but you have to wonder. What’s even more tragic is that its not just Lance you have to worry about.

The really tragic question for professional cycling may turn out to be, “Is anyone racing clean?”

I am resolved…

Honestly, I love new year’s resolutions!

Call me crazy (many have!) but the idea of a fresh start, new goals, and a better future have always appealed to me.

This year though, personally, things are a bit different. I have two huge goals looming in front of me like an ever approaching horizon. In May, I am doing my first Ironman Race. I’m going to attempt Ironman Texas. For you uninitiated: That’s a 2.4 mile swim, 112 miles on the bike, followed by a marathon. I’ve also decided that its time to fully explore ministry opportunities again – which means that our family will most likely move this next year.

…an Ironman and a New Job - that should make for an exciting 2011!

But how do I set resolutions for all of that?

By the way – over the past few years, I have become a student of “less is more” when setting goals or resolutions. Its my belief that most plans fail due to attempting too many things at once. In other words, don’t have 10 resolutions …have 3 at most.

My list  is actually not a list this year – its just one thing: This year, I resolve to “live” with Colossians 3:1-17 as my guide.

Yes! …I still want to lose some weight. …and get in shape. …and be a better dad/husband. …and I need to train.

But this year, for me personally, I believe those things will come if my priorities are right. All those things are a by-product of a life well lived and in order.

Listen to the passage I’ve decided to “live” with this year! (Living with it simply means I am going to focus on it, read it often, maybe even memorize it, definitely study it a lot – it will become my guide and pattern for living each day.)

Here is the passage (Colossians 3:1-17) from the Message:

^1-2 So if you’re serious about living this new resurrection life with Christ, act like it. Pursue the things over which Christ presides. Don’t shuffle along, eyes to the ground, absorbed with the things right in front of you. Look up, and be alert to what is going on around Christ—that’s where the action is. See things from his perspective.

^3-4Your old life is dead. Your new life, which is your real life—even though invisible to spectators—is with Christ in God. He is your life. When Christ (your real life, remember) shows up again on this earth, you’ll show up, too—the real you, the glorious you. Meanwhile, be content with obscurity, like Christ.

^5-8And that means killing off everything connected with that way of death: sexual promiscuity, impurity, lust, doing whatever you feel like whenever you feel like it, and grabbing whatever attracts your fancy. That’s a life shaped by things and feelings instead of by God. It’s because of this kind of thing that God is about to explode in anger. It wasn’t long ago that you were doing all that stuff and not knowing any better. But you know better now, so make sure it’s all gone for good: bad temper, irritability, meanness, profanity, dirty talk.

^9-11Don’t lie to one another. You’re done with that old life. It’s like a filthy set of ill-fitting clothes you’ve stripped off and put in the fire. Now you’re dressed in a new wardrobe. Every item of your new way of life is custom-made by the Creator, with his label on it. All the old fashions are now obsolete. Words like Jewish and non-Jewish, religious and irreligious, insider and outsider, uncivilized and uncouth, slave and free, mean nothing. From now on everyone is defined by Christ, everyone is included in Christ.

^12-14So, chosen by God for this new life of love, dress in the wardrobe God picked out for you: compassion, kindness, humility, quiet strength, discipline. Be even-tempered, content with second place, quick to forgive an offense. Forgive as quickly and completely as the Master forgave you. And regardless of what else you put on, wear love. It’s your basic, all-purpose garment. Never be without it.

^15-17Let the peace of Christ keep you in tune with each other, in step with each other. None of this going off and doing your own thing. And cultivate thankfulness. Let the Word of Christ—the Message—have the run of the house. Give it plenty of room in your lives. Instruct and direct one another using good common sense. And sing, sing your hearts out to God! Let every detail in your lives—words, actions, whatever—be done in the name of the Master, Jesus, thanking God the Father every step of the way.

There’s definitely enough in there to make a year’s focus on, eh?

So to you and yours, I wish you a happy and blessed 2011!

I am resolved… How about you?

What do you make of the Twinkie Diet?

Did you read the story?

Twinkie diet helps nutrition professor lose 27 pounds

This guy, Mark Haub, lost 27 pounds in two months… Here’s an excerpt of the story from CNN.

For 10 weeks, Mark Haub, a professor of human nutrition at Kansas State University, ate one of these sugary cakelets every three hours, instead of meals. To add variety in his steady stream of Hostess and Little Debbie snacks, Haub munched on Doritos chips, sugary cereals and Oreos, too.

His premise: That in weight loss, pure calorie counting is what matters most — not the nutritional value of the food.

The premise held up: On his “convenience store diet,” he shed 27 pounds in two months.

For a class project, Haub limited himself to less than 1,800 calories a day. A man of Haub’s pre-dieting size usually consumes about 2,600 calories daily. So he followed a basic principle of weight loss: He consumed significantly fewer calories than he burned.

His body mass index went from 28.8, considered overweight, to 24.9, which is normal. He now weighs 174 pounds.

But you might expect other indicators of health would have suffered. Not so.

Haub’s “bad” cholesterol, or LDL, dropped 20 percent and his “good” cholesterol, or HDL, increased by 20 percent. He reduced the level of triglycerides, which are a form of fat, by 39 percent.

“That’s where the head scratching comes,” Haub said. “What does that mean? Does that mean I’m healthier? Or does it mean how we define health from a biology standpoint, that we’re missing something?”

So what do we make of this?

Can we really eat anything we want and still lose weight?

…apparently, yes!

Here’s the takeaway lesson for me: I EAT WAY TOO MUCH!

I’ve been “trying” to lose weight for two years, and I work out a ton (well until the last two weeks) – but I also eat pretty much anything I want. Sure I “say” I limit or watch what I eat …but truthfully, I do not have any idea the amount of calories I eat in a day. I also splurge way too often.

So for me the article and his diet are helpful. …they help me to see that if I truly want to see weight loss then I have to scrutinize what I put in my body.

Maybe that’s why Lance Armstrong was always measuring his food when prepping for the tour victories…

Really?

Saw this commercial for the first time during game one of the World Series RANGERS  vs. Giants …rooting for the Rangers if you didn’t already know.

This commercial is pure brilliance!! …and very funny. Like all good comedy, we can all absolutely relate! Enjoy

 

Maybe its all the beer?

That’s a screen capture from cyclingnews.com. It’s from an article entitled, Armstrong hoping form comes in California.

In case you can’t quite read it, here’s the excerpt that intrigued me:

This year he hasn’t had the collarbone surgery to interrupt his training, but indicated he’d had “health or physical problems” which have cropped up periodically and pushed him off track. He hasn’t been bad, but has not had the kind of confidence-building showings that help bouy a rider through the intense training prior to a Grand Tour. Armstrong said he hopes the Amgen Tour will turn this around.

“We’ve had some glimpses and maybe some false starts, but it has not been as easy or smooth – not that last year was easy or smooth – but this year has been fairly tough. I don’t think we’re pulling the fire alarm, but now is the time that the signs need to start pointing up,” Armstrong said.

BUT WHAT REALLY CAUGHT MY EYE?

Right across the page – the huge ad for Michelob Ultra – It’s Lance and his new sponsor. Hmmm… Could that maybe be part of the “form” problem?

Why do I twitter?

I’ve been thinking lately that I may give up twittering…

Twitter has a lot of advantages. It allows you to get a “message” out there. It creates a community (of sorts) and allows for you to participate in that community. In some odd way it allows you to be part of something… It’s streamlined and simple and many, many people like it and use it.

On the downside though, and this may only be for me, Twitter can also serve as a weird form of online voyeurism. You can “follow” pretty much anyone, and so in essence you can choose who you want to listen to, who you want to pay attention to, and who you want to “stalk.” I end up being more of a “fan” than a friend. …and in me, again this may just be me, it’s creating a weird sense of alienation. It’s as if I am standing outside the window of the shop, peering in but never being asked inside.

I’m sure, for me in particular, it relates to the fact that most of my twitter friends are pastors, youth ministers, and church planters. Not that those people are bad, its just that they are not part of my current life and reality. Yes, a few of them are friends (and they are on facebook as such) – but most of them are from former networks. Most of the people I follow, I don’t really know. They are from networks that I used to need, or at least I thought I needed. They are people that I used to need to listen to from networks that a part of me still wants to cling to and be a part of…but I’m not.

With twitter, and again this may be just me, there are also very few real interactions. Sure, occasionally someone will @repost or @reply or DM me. But those interactions are increasingly rare. What I end up with instead of friends and community, are odd encounters where I read about what’s going on in someone’s life, with an understanding that I am not really part of their life – just a voyeur.

Facebook – as much as I hate to admit it – is much different. I actually know the people who are my “friends.” And while I may not always speak with them, or hang out with them, the interactions seem much more consistent and genuine. It’s still not the same as real community, but it is somehow a community.

I started my twitter journey with the acknowledgment that it was basically the facebook status – and that alone. It used to be enough, I guess. …It’s not anymore.

So I think I’m giving it up… If you need me, just add me on facebook