Author: Maxsons Import_User

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Shout Out — Costa Coffee Redhill

COSTA COFFEE Since 1971.. did you know?

In Serbia, Cyndi and I got in a habit of going to coffee.  Lydia and Isaac both like it too.  That habit has continued to England.  However, we don’t have nearly the choice of coffee shops in Redhill that we had in Cacak.  One of our favorites (or favourites) is the Costa in Redhill.

I wanted to give them a special shout out.  I think they went above and beyond yesterday.  Cyndi bought me a insulated mug from Costa for Christmas.  Well, after using it twice (and only hand-washing) it had a bed condensation problem between the outer and iner mugs.  So bad that the paper inside was wet and wrinkled.  I took it in, spoke to the manager, and asked her if I could get another.  She said that usually I would need the receipt; however, since I was a regular, she would just exchange it even up.

Thank you Costa Redhill for fixing my cup even though you didn’t HAVE to.

Image from Kiran Raja Bahadur SRK via flickr

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Getting Ready for Prague — Day 6 of 101

weight-loss-yoga-synergybyjasmine.com

First off, days 4 and 5 were over the weekend.  I didn’t workout on Saturday.  Saturday was free day.  I don’t work out on Sundays.

Here’s today’s fat secret log.

My weight was up over the weekend; however, I’m not concerned.  The trend is in the right direction.  Also….

Another principle in the Body for Life book was don’t try to chase daily weights.  Take weight for a week and average it.  Then, do the same the next week.  Then, compare those two averages.  Why?  Well, because your daily weight changes.  I can make my weight change +/- 5 lbs by drinking or not drinking enough water, eating a large meal, or having a bm.  Average everything then compare the average.  Use trends to make sure you are going in the right direction.

As an aside, my own history and seeing fluctuations for myself (and knowing how they came about) makes me laugh when I hear people talking about wanting to lose 5lbs or less.  You breathe hard or eat a large meal and you can make that change….  :^)

image from synergy by jasmine via flickr

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More Evidence of a Double Standard

The Left's double standards regarding Gun Control,dictatorships,& ”concern for the innocent”

A couple of weeks ago, I made this post where I pose the question:  is there a double-standard?  Do liberals allow things done on their side to pass while criticizing those on the opposite side for the same thing?  I gave two examples:

  1. Afro Circus from Madagascar 3
  2. The use of the word niggardly in Game of Thrones book 1

I now have another, much better example:  The Des Moines Register has published a column that calls for deadly violence against the NRA and others who disagree with the author on gun control.  Arg, the goofy paper has the article behind a pay-wall.  I’m assuming the Fox News piece has the quotes correct.

Here are two quotes:

“I would tie Mitch McConnell and John Boehner, our esteemed Republican leaders, to the back of a Chevy pickup truck and drag them around a parking lot until they saw the light on gun control,” he wrote. … “And if that didn’t work, I’d adopt radical measures,” he continued.

 Declare the NRA a terrorist organization and make membership illegal. Hey! We did it to the Communist Party, and the NRA has led to the deaths of more of us than American Commies ever did. (I would also raze the organization’s headquarters, clear the rubble and salt the earth, but that’s optional.) Make ownership of unlicensed assault rifles a felony. If some people refused to give up their guns, that “prying the guns from their cold, dead hands” thing works for me.”

If dragging them behind a truck isn’t enough, then he would adopt “radical measures?”  He would pry guns from people’s cold dead hands?  Wow.  This makes my point perfectly:  will Nancy Pelosi, Billary Clinton, or Barak O. condem this man for his tone?  I doubt it.  But if Rush Limbaugh, Glen Beck, Sean Hannity, and others are condemned for much less (heck, those who listen to Rush are already called mind-numbed robots).

Now, don’t get me wrong.  I’m not saying this man can’t say what he did.  I don’t care what this man thinks or says.  I’ll defend his right to have his opinion to the end (even though he, obviously, does not think the same about me).  My problem is with a group of people condemning others for something they themselves do.  My problem is with the double-standard.  if something is wrong, it is wrong….if it isn’t then it isn’t.

Oh, one last thing before I post this:  I’m sure the Republicans do this same thing.  I think it is just as bad then.  But pay attention to this next sentence:  Republican != Conservative.  I think that conservatives are much more even and intellectually honest than liberals.

Image from robert reed daily via flickr

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Getting Ready for Prague — Day 3 of 101

body_for_life

I’m still getting up a 4.  My weight is going in the right direction.  I’m not eating as much junk.  

Today’s Weight:  111kg
Today’s FatSecret log

So why the Body for Life book?  Well…inspiration.  There was a time in my life when I weighed 290lbs (131kg or 20stone 9lbs).  That is 45lbs more than I weigh now.  We went on a ski trip, I had a good time, however, I saw how out of shape I was.  I don’t ever want to be there again! What made the difference then was seeing it and wanting to take action.  I picked up a copy of Bill Philips’ Body for Life and started.  In that 12 weeks, I lost down to 245ish–about where I am now.  When we moved to Columbus around 2003, I decided to do another round and hit my low mark of 205ish.  About a year later, I started riding my bike to work and kept that up until we moved overseas.  While we were in Columbus, I met Rick Harrington (you’ll have to scroll down and read his post.  That link is broke…sorry…I couldn’t find anything else online about him) who had been a semi-finalist in the competition.  He was a big inspiration to keep going while in Columbus

In all of my weight-loss, one thing has been constant:  a body for life.  Unless you have only 5lbs to lose, some sort of weird crash diet isn’t going to work.  You need a lifestyle change.  Some people have had good success with paleo diet sort of things, some people do atkins, the list goes on.  For me, a total change is/was necessary:  I need to start eating healthier and exercising with a purpose.  What does that mean?

Exercise every day.  I don’t have weights (and can’t afford them at the moment).  I’m doing the Biggest Loser xBox game.  So far, it is working out better.

Eat right.  I like Bill’s idea of smaller meals spread through the day.  Portions.  Fist/Palm sized whatevers.  Easy.  It works.  For me, the hardest time to keep this up is when I travel; however, the good news is I shouldn’t be gone as much this year.

Free day.  Bill allows a free day where you can eat whatever you want.  In his Eating for Life Q/A section, he says:

I have people ask me all the time does free day mean you can eat whatever you want?  12 Krispie Kremes?  My [Bill Phillips] answer is sure.  But do it and be honest.  Eventually you won’t like how you feel after.

Sorry, that isn’t an exact quote, but you get the idea (here’s a link to an online discussion of people talking about it).  Yes, you really can have a free day and eat whatever you want.  I lost 90 lbs doing that.  The problem for me is planning the free day so it is that…a free DAY.  Not a free weekend.  Not a day + a night.  A day.  It let’s me put off cravings until the end of the week–very manageable–and if I still want it then I eat it.  But I try not to gorge on the 12 Krispie Kremes because I feel rubbish afterwards.

What does all of this do?  It gets you in a mindset of doing it.  You see you can live like this.  You see you feel better.  So you end up with a Body for Life.

Book cover image from awws via flickr

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Sleeping and Kids

Cry out loud

Before Lydia was born, Cyndi and I had someone give us a copy of Babywise or Along the Infant Way.  The basics of this are parent directed feeding, playing, and sleeping.  It worked wonders so we did the same thing with Isaac.  The same thing happened.  While he is going through a phase where we wakes up at 4am or so, he sleeps very well.  One thing we did for both of them was let them cry a bit if it wasn’t time for them to eat.

As Gomer Pile once said:  Surprise, Surprise, SURPRISE.  The Telegraph has an article talking about how it is beneficial for babies to cry a bit and not have parents respond immediately to their cries in the middle of the night.

Image from up your ego via flickr

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Ordering your Private World — Gordon MacDonald

Ordering Your Private World Gordon MacDonald

Back in 2006, I posted about reading Ordering Your Private World by Gordon MacDonald (link to the kindle book on Amazon here). Now, I don’t remember many specifics about the book…so this post is less of a review and more of a “Yes!  I found the book!” post.

See, one thing has stuck with me since reading the book:  to gauge how “ordered” someone has their life, don’t ask them how they are doing…ask them what they’ve been reading.  For me, I can look back over the past years–6ish since I read it–and I see the times I have the least order in my life (and feel the most stressed, etc…) are the times I quit reading.  I don’t read non-fiction all the time because I think it is important to mix things up.

Many times over the past 6 years, I’ve mentioned this to people; however, I could never remember the title of the book.  I was looking today for some of my old posts on Body for Life (or pictures from back when I did it) and came across the post I linked to above.  I thought I would post about it here simply because that simple measure has stuck with me for so long.

So, my question to you:  what have you been reading lately?  If you aren’t reading anything, why not?