Occupy the Y: wk 12 - The Finish Line!

WE DID IT! We worked out 5 days a week for twelve weeks and lived to blog the tale!

Thursday was our last day with our trainer, Nicole Peel. We assembled in the lobby and she said, "Let's end by doing a 5k walk-jog."

So here's the crazy part: after 12 weeks I was like, "Ok." Seriously, if she hadn't killed us yet, what were the odds this would do us in? So off we hoofed from the Y heading west towards Forest Park. We walked, jogged, (more walking than jogging) laughed, and did just fine.

On our way home I said, "There is one activity we could beat Nicole in." All quietly looked at me with anticipation amidst labored breathing. "Teeter totter..."
I think Nicole will actually miss us, if for no other reason: comic relief.

According to our collective MyFitnessPal app the weight loss results since Jan. 9th are:

Dave -30 lbs!

Chad -11 lbs

Morgan -13 lbs

(I've lost 30 altogether since the fall)

What did I learn in 12 weeks?

• You can teach an old out-of-shape dog new tricks.
• You need someone who knows what you don't (Nicole Peel)
• You need some Hombres; people to do it with you (Dave Dubois, Chad McCarter)
• Humility is key. Humble yourself to a trainer, to each other, and to the reality that you and your body are where you are. Every day in the gym is humbling.
• If I can learn to workout, ANYONE can!
• I like it. I like working out more than sloth. It's good for my soul and my self worth and for those who love me.
• It's holistic; it's nutritional and physical. Dr. Haendigas + a workout program (+ God) = health
• The costs for nutrition & working out outweigh the future costs of debilitating health
• There is no cultural divide in the gym. We are all just humans in shorts & Ts sweating, trying to get better

 What now?

CONTINUE! Dave and I worked out Friday. And without Nicole, we put ourselves through a weight workout and even did 2 self-imposed sets of stairs (Oh Lord--I hate stairs...).

My goal for the twelve weeks wasn't a weight. It was a lifestyle. My goal is to continue 5 days a week. I'm also planning on buying a couple nice bicycles for Sandra & I to add to a more active lifestyle.

Thanks...

• To the Y for this opportunity; for their staff that is kind and encouraging.
• Nicole: she will never fully know what she's done to--er um, for me ;-)
• Dave & Chad: I could NOT have done this without Hombres!
• Sandra: constant encourager and the co-conspirator of this experience. 
• Sandy, Lisa, Trish and the host of encouragers in the gym.
• You: for reading, caring, praying etc. We are all in this together.
• God: He is the Giver & Orchestrator of all good things & this has been exceedingly good indeed!

As much as I am into words--words fail to capture what this experience means to me. It's definitely one of the most profound 12 week stretches of my life. Blessed...

Posts in this series:

1.9.12

1.16.12

1.19.12
1.23.12

2.3.12

2.13.12

2.18.12 

3.2.12

  3.24.12

 Peace,

    Morgan (lifetime member of the Tres Hombres)

2 Day Conversation w/Len Sweet

 Who is Leonard Sweet? 

Theologian, professor, author, preacher, scholar, futurist.

Checkout his bio here.

Download my PDF take on the experience here.

Last Thursday and Friday I had the honor of sitting with about 30 other people in an intimate room, having a conversation with Len Sweet.

Let me first share who he is to me. Some 20-ish years ago I decided to take this fledgling faith of mine seriously. Having no history in church whatsoever, I had catching up to do. That meant there were books and the Bible to be read.

At this time I was finding myself asking the question, "Do I really fit in this faith? Does a guy like me with a bent towards intellect and the arts actually fit in, in Christendom?"

Along came Sweet's book, "A Cup of Coffee by the Soul Cafe." My soul relaxed. "I DO fit! There is a place for someone like me!" This may appear like a shallow statement, but I assure you, none of us will sign up or show up to anything unless we can see ourselves mirrored there.

His writings helped ground me in spiritual disciplines and in theology. His book "Learn to Dance the Soul Salsa" helped me lead the most fun and interactive small group--it marked all of us. 

In a lull I got to share the essence of those last two paragraphs with Len. (And yes, we're on a first name basis.) And when the 2 days came to a close, I got into his space with a hug. A handshake seemed too linear--too Gutenberg ;-)

So how did I get in a little room of thirty people hanging with this spiritual uncle of mine? Via the generous staff at Westwinds church in Jackson MI. 

Their senior pastor, David McDonald was a student of Sweet's in seminary. Westwind's student journey designer, Ben Redmond, (Comfort of Vengeance: Nahum) is good friends with Oakbrooker David Horine who was invited, who then asked me, since Mark Malin was on grandbaby birth watch. 

I can't say enough about how God moistened my soul in those two days. I've been to so many great seminars with thousands or hundreds in attendance. But to be in an intimate room without microphones. Just voices. Natural interaction. Breathing. Talking. Together. So good...

I've put together a Tweet-style PDF that reflects my interpretation of our two day conversation. 

Click here to get the PDF.

So thankful for:

the staff @ Westwinds

Len Sweet

Dave Horine

Oakbrook

Sandra

a creative loving God

Occupy the Y wk 11: My Dorky Workout

So this week was a milestone for me: I've lost 30.5 lbs since last fall and 4.5 lbs in the last 2 weeks. Needless to say I was pretty pumped and excited.

I haven't been focusing on my total weight loss because it had been going slow for a while; I'd just focus on the weekly numbers. But after DeAnna at Dr. Haendigas' told me I'd lost 4.5 since my last weigh-in I was curious. When she said 30.5 I got a serious case of perma-grin!

After I workout today or tomorrow, that will wrap-up 11 straight weeks of working out and will leave just one more week with our trainer (and life to go)!

Thursday and Friday I was out of town for a cool experience (I'll blog about later). We stayed at a hotel and I learned an important lesson: ALWAYS TAKE YOUR WORKOUT GEAR. I didn't think I'd have time for it. Thought wrong.

Turns out I had time and they had a nice little room with an elliptical, recumbent bike and treadmill. "Oh well." I shrugged it off and headed out to dinner. I had an ale with my lobster pizza and in a moment of weakness took down a couple complimentary cheddar bay biscuits.

As I was walking the block or two back to the hotel I wasn't feeling too positive. I'd sat all day, eaten more food than usual and I was feeling kind of blah. I knew what to do.

I left on my black dress shirt, along with my sexy calf length black socks, threw on my sleeping shorts and hit the workout room. I looked like a class-A, USDA prime DORK! But hey, nobody knows me here ;-)

Another important lesson learned: drink an ale AFTER you workout ;-) "Ok , here we go--15 minutes on each machine, you can do it!" It was hard going. Every 5 minute increment felt like a battle. But I pushed through it and felt MUCH better the rest of the evening. The blah feeling was chased away.

The third lesson learned? Better to workout looking like a dork than be a well dressed blah-feeling sluggard ;-) If I can do this, anyone can do this!

Posts in this series:

1.9.12

1.16.12

1.19.12
1.23.12

2.3.12

2.13.12

2.18.12 

3.2.12

 

The Tres Hombres are at the YMCA gasping for breath Mon-Fri 4-5pm.

If you want to follow us on the Twitters we're
@morgancafe
@GraphicsKing209 (Chad McCarter)
@DuBeeDuBeeDoo (Dave Dubois)

@peel_nicole (Nicole Peele)

Peace,

   Morgan of the Tres Hombres

40 Days in the Word: Science (point 2, wk 1)

click here to view a PDF of point 2, in week 1 of 40 Days in the Word: 

The Bible is Scientifically Accurate

In America We are So...

Scared.

We are scared of public restrooms and germs even though virtually every soap we use is anti-microbial and a simple hand-washing now is akin to a surgeon's pre-op scrub-up 20 years ago.

We are scared of what's going to happen to our kids while they are away from us at school, or wherever; even though we live in one of the statistically safest communities.

We are scared the next president is always going to take away our guns even though no president has ever done it and it would be instant political suicide.

If it helps, I am tempted to be scared sometimes too. Just last week I watched as Slater drove away from our home alone, legally licensed. Fear crept in, "What if?..."

If it helps, companies spend millions of dollars to scare us into their products. Insurance companies, investment companies and every home cleaning product company, spend 30-60 seconds to remind us of the horrible things in store for us without their product. Cleaning product companies are single-handedly creating a nation of germaphobes.

Just for fun, every time a commercial comes on, see if you can see the fear-motivation of it. It's rampant.

The Problem.
Rational fear is fine. A few weeks ago there was a crazed gunman who shot 4 people in the vicinity of downtown Kokomo. I was scheduled to be downtown for a workout. The shooter had yet to be apprehended. No workout that day. Rational fear.

The problem is irrational fear takes our mind off of things truly worthy of our attention and diverts it to trivialities. Oh, and also gets us worked up. Stress. Blood pressure.

And it robs us of today's blessings. When Slate drove away I had a choice: fret about what could happen. Get tense. Furrow my brow. Breathe seriously.

Or I could celebrate that a great responsible kid with solid driving skills just embarked on a new phase of his life.

Every day that nothing is wrong is a gift! (Even some bad things bring gifts, but that's another blog.) And when we worry about things that could happen, we're spitting on today's blessings. Instead of being wrapped up in smiles and all that is right, we tie ourselves up in fruitless knots. And it's a choice.

The Solution.
Be thankful. Give thanks. Maybe the reason we often say, "Where was God?" when something bad happened is because we hadn't given Him any thanks the other 364 days of the year. If today's got no emergencies, no real problems, dance! Smile! Hug someone! If you're so inclined, thank God!

The difference between living in fear vs. thankfulness is right between our ears. It's a choice. Fear only has the power we give it. The solution to a fearful existence is a thankful spirit.

The next time you're driving, or standing in line somewhere, see how many things you can notice that are going RIGHT in your life. Everyday is full of gifts. We just need to see and appreciate them.

Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go wash my hands after typing on this germ-filled keyboard ;-)

Peace.

If You Wear TOMS, You're a Y Person

Why the Y? Why should I workout at the YMCA?

It could be because the staff is warm and friendly. It's actually a place where customer service is not an oxymoron.

It could be because a family can workout ad nauseam for $47 a month. (more prices)

But maybe a more profound reason to choose the Y is your membership pays forward to help others in our community. As a non-profit, I bet you didn't know:

• Because they don't want to turn away anyone, they gave away 412 memberships in 2011 totaling $219,108. Part of your membership makes it possible for people to pursue health that can't otherwise afford it.

• They waived $58,090 in program fees in '11 so 270 children could participate in YMCA childcare, youth sports and aquatic programs.

• Bridges Outreach meets four times a week at the Y in its own dedicated space free of charge. This ministry feeds, tutors and mentors at-risk youth in our community.

• Kokomo Rescue Mission is afforded free use of the Y to its residents in their New Life program.

• CAM, a downtown resource for homeless people, uses the Y's shower facilities free of charge.

• Bona Vista staff brings clients to workout free of charge.

I could go on, but you get the picture. It's clear that the YMCA's mission statement is,

"...Put Christian principles into practice through programs 

that build healthy spirit, mind, and body for all."

They are living out their mission statement and I am thrilled part of our family membership goes to people in need in our community.

To say it, another way, if you're a TOMS shoe person, you're a Y person.

Peace.

Occupy the Y wk 7: YIKES! (Beautiful Mind)

(No, this is not my actual CT scan.)

So on Thursday at the Y we head over to the Paramount Weight Machines to start a rotation of three leg workouts. And Nicole says, "Let's do sets of 50." (We usually do 20.)

I'm thinking, "Holy schnikies, I'm going to have to bust it through these or there's no way I'm going to get 50 reps on multiple rotations of these three machines." And so I do. I'm kickin' 'em as fast as I can.

After I get done with the second machine (leg extensions), I get the slightest touch of a headache; but it goes away. After two more machines I'm back on Mr. Leg Extension. I'm kickin in. Then it kicks back: "WHAM!" Instantaneous ridiculously painful headache. Feels like someone hit me with a knife on the top/back center of my cranium. It stopped me cold in my tracks.

After sitting there a few seconds, I tell Nicole what's going on. "That's not good," she calmly and seriously says. "That's not good. Maybe you should get your blood pressure checked."

After a few minutes of walking it off and contemplating the rest of the workout and that freakish never-before-experienced headache, I decide to head over to Dr. Haendigas' office since I was due to weigh in anyway and they always take my vitals.

They take my blood pressure: high. "Let's get Dr. Haendigas in here." I get a little uneasy now as nurse DeAnna has instructions to not let me out of her sight. Hmmm. Enter Dr. Haendigas.

Doc: "I want you to get a CT scan."
Me: "Seriously? Do I really need one?"
Doc: "I'm concerned about the pain in your head while working your legs. This may be nothing but...yes, you are my friend, and I want you to do this."

Sidebar:
I cannot express how highly I think of Dr. Haendigas and her staff. When I'm there it doesn't feel like medical staff and patient; it feels like friends--well, because we are now. Having the nurses express concern and for Dr. Haendigas to look me in the eyes and say, "you're my friend and I want you to go." Well friends, that makes a profound impression. And it was great to hear DeAnna say, "You'll be in my prayers." I so admire and love these ladies. If you need help losing weight, I can't recommend Dr. Haendigas enough. And no, I don't get anything for mentioning her in my blog. I'm simply a fan...and a friend.

My day got even better when Sandra & I got to the hospital and our favorite nurse, Jaime Verlee was working ER. (Sandra missed her Y dinner to be with her man; she's my awesomeness!)

After the 5 minute CT scan, Dr. Williams came in with incredibly positive, almost pumped, body language and tone. "...we even had our specialist in Indy look at your scan already, and your brain is perfect...your brain is beautiful!"

"Doc, I'm seriously going to tweet that."

(At this point Sandra is officially over listening to me recant the doc's quotes...)

He explained that at this age they can see future nastiness like dementia, and other long term brain-related yuckiness and my brain looks awesome. He told me to go back to the gym and keep working hard!

So what happened--why the headache?
It seems that Jaime Verlee was the first to crack the mystery when she asked, "So were you breathing when you were kickin' these reps?" (She knew this from her own workout experience.)

As I reflected on her question, I thought probably not. I was probably holding my breath several times during the 50 reps and my brain told me to stop it, idiot!

Friday, Dave Dubois did a great job of explaining breathing and weights--all great stuff because I'm clueless to this world. Dave & I went on to have a solid 45 minute cardio workout on the elliptical machines. I felt good.

Lesson learned: breath, idiot! ;-)

Posts in this series:

1.9.12

1.16.12

1.19.12
1.23.12

2.3.12

2.13.12

2.18.12 

The Tres Hombres are at the YMCA gasping for breath Mon-Fri 4-5pm.

If you want to follow us on the Twitters we're
@morgancafe
@GraphicsKing209 (Chad McCarter)
@DuBeeDuBeeDoo (Dave Dubois)

@peel_nicole (Nicole Peele)

Peace,

   Morgan of the Tres Hombres