Life is Not Perfect

Fumbling and Tumbling: Recently my best pal Jeff has been gaining weight. He was down to 213 and now he is back up to 231. I can feel that pain that he must feel. Failing to get to a goal is frustrating, especially when it is something that you have to deal with every day. Let's face it, if you are an alcoholic or a drug addict, you can avoid drugs and alcohol almost all the time if you stay out of bars, lounges, liquor stores, seedy neighborhoods, fraternity parties, etc. You might walk into the wine aisle at the supermarket, but otherwise you can avoid the temptations. Food addicts on the other hand, HAVE TO EAT every day just like everyone else. There is no "COLD TURKEY" for the food addict. It is not like quitting smoking, where you are fine after the first 72 hours of abstinence. NO. Food addicts have to do the shopping at the supermarket surrounded by potato chips, ice cream, candy bars, bread, pastries, etc. The television advertisements are a non-stop parade of juicy burgers, fried chicken, Snickers bars, and restaurant ads.

The Battle Never Ends: It never ends for the fat person. You must face your worst enemy (FOOD) every day and hang out with him (or her) and make him your friend. Imagine if your next-door neighbor was a very powerful person who was trying to kill you and there was nothing that you could do about it except dodge the bullets? After a while you might get tired of the stress and of dodging and you might give up and die. That is what happens to us when we stop fighting the Food Addiction. We are letting the bad guys win and kill us. Every time I gain five or ten pounds it feels like a heavy lead weight around my chest when I go to the gym to do cardio. I have gained a few pounds this past week and I felt like I was going to die doing the cardio. It was just about five pounds, but it felt like fifty pounds. Weight kills you. Fat kills you. Your arteries are getting clogged up as mine are, and eventually one day you are sitting there with your kids eating a donut and you just flop over and die. It happens every day to thousands of people. Cardiac arrest. Heart failure. That is what gets put on the Death Certificate.

What are you going to do about it? I went to this meeting today, and this guy was talking about the fact that for 19 years he could not do step 4 of the twelve steps. He could not write a moral inventory. The reason (excuse) was that he was a perfectionist, and he wanted to be perfect. He realized he could never do a perfect inventory of his life of sins, errors, etc., and so he would never do it. At some point he hit another major low in his life and he finally realized that he was just bullshiting himself and looking for an excuse to fail. Similarly, for food addicts every day is a test, and many times we fail in one way or another. We cannot be perfect. However, we can try every day to do the best that we can and ask God for help and put it all into the hands of a Higher Power. God can help you, God can help everyone. There is no limit to what God can do.

Serenity Prayer: God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.

Weight Loss Champion Jared Fogle

If you wanted to think of great athletes, great war heroes, great world leaders, even great chess champions, you could probably come up with a pretty big list very quickly. But what about Weight Loss Champions? Who are they, and where did they come from?? In my never-ending quest to motivate myself and others in ways nobody can fully understand, I have come up with a new idea: A series of features on Weight Loss Champions. I was going to call them Fat Loss Champions, but some of them are still fat and flabby even though they weigh less. Without further ado, here is the first and perhaps most famous of all the members of the Hall of Fame of Weight Loss:

Jared S. Fogle (born December 1, 1977 in Indianapolis, Indiana), also known as The Subway Guy, is a spokesman employed by Subway Restaurants in its television advertising campaign. He is noted for his significant weight loss, attributed to eating Subway sandwiches (prior to his hiring by Subway). By his junior year at North Central High School, Fogle's weight was at 425 pounds (193 kg), and he reportedly wore size XXXXXXL shirts. Several years later, after his roommate, a pre-med student, correctly diagnosed Jared with edema, he was sent to the hospital. Jared's father, who is a physician, told him he might not live past 35, and Jared began to turn his life around. Interested by Subway's "7 Under 6" campaign, Jared went and tried his first turkey club, and enjoyed the sandwich. He developed his own "Subway diet", consisting of a 6-inch turkey club sandwich for lunch, and a foot-long veggie sub for dinner. After three months on the diet, he had lost nearly 100 pounds, and weighed in at 330 pounds (150 kg). He stuck with the diet and soon began to walk as much as he could, rather than using transport, and would even walk up the stairs rather than take an elevator. By the end of the diet Jared lost over 240 pounds (109 kg). Subway has used Fogle in a number of television commercials and sponsored in-store appearances throughout the United States. In addition to his work directly for Subway, Fogle also gives regular talks on fitness and healthy eating. Fogle has been lampooned or otherwise referenced in a number of films and television programs including Saturday Night Live, Robot Chicken, The Sarah Silverman Program, The Simpsons, South Park, Just Friends and Austin Powers in Goldmember. In the South Park episode Jared Has Aides, centres around Jared and his true "secret" for his weight loss! There is even a Stop Jared Fogle petition circulating from those who find him annoying. Even though Jared seems like a nice guy, he has a really bizarre smile and he seems to practice maintaining the grin on his face at all times.

Commentary: I always figured that Jared had either gotten bariatric surgery, or that he was a cocaine addict, or otherwise lost weight by some artificial means (heroin will do it too). The idea that somebody could eat only two submarine sandwiches (hoagies) every day for a year and lose 240 lbs. (109 kg) still boggles the imagination. Who can eat the same two sandwiches over and over again day after day? The fact that no one else has ever done it again makes me wonder just how full of shit the whole story is. After all, nobody actually saw Jared eating Subway sandwiches every day during the year when he was losing weight. He told everyone this "Subway's Diet" story long after it had happened and he had already lost the weight. Maybe it is true, maybe it isn't. As the Subway ad used to say, "Life: It's all about choices." One way or another, Jared made the right choices and he has kept his weight off for ten years. He turned his greatest liability into a successful career. Jared turned his obesity into a million-dollar success story, and that makes him a Weight Loss Champion!

Update: 3/29/08: Jared "The Subway Guy" Fogle has divorced the wife who stuck with him through thick and thin, The ENQUIRER has learned exclusively. Elizabeth Fogle, the submarine sandwich pitchman's wife of six years, walked away with a lot of his lettuce, according to court documents obtained by The ENQUIRER. Elizabeth received more than $230,000 from Jared Fogle Inc., the company Jared set up for his personal appearances. She'll also get 60 percent of the proceeds from Jared's deal with St. Martin's Press, which published his life story.Jared's father, a doctor, introduced his son to Elizabeth, a nurse, while Jared was in the midst of losing weight off of his 425-pound frame. He was a student at Indiana University — and they hit it off right away. Jared lost 245 pounds in a year after developing his own Subway sandwich diet, consisting of a 6-inch turkey sub sandwich for lunch and a foot-long veggie sub for dinner. Subway advertising executives heard about his weight-loss story after he was featured in an article in his college newspaper.The restaurant chain began featuring him in commercials in January of 2000, and Jared became suddenly famous. Countless television commercials later, Jared is still cashing in on his notoriety, but becoming an overnight celebrity gave him a big head and caused trouble at home, according to a source close to the couple."He loves being a celebrity, but I think Jared's become too controlling and seems to have a bit of a mean streak in him," said the insider. As his marriage to Elizabeth fell apart, their arguments became public."Jared has season tickets to the Indianapolis Colts games," continued the insider. "On some occasions, he'd argue with Elizabeth at the games, and she'd be crying. "The couple separated in March 2006 and their divorce became final on Oct. 18 of last year. Court papers reveal that in addition to proceeds from Jared's company and his book, Elizabeth will get 60 percent of the sale of the home they own, their 2004 Volvo and substantial portions of the couple's investments and retirement accounts. Since the divorce, Jared, 30, has been dating a series of women who accompanied him to Colts' games, and he's now got a steady girlfriend, said the source."It's a wonder he's stayed thin," added the insider. "At the games, he pours down one draft beer after another and his favorite food is nachos covered in cheese."

Food Court Critters

Miami (WSVN) -- Several food court restaurants in South Florida's Dadeland Mall were temporarily shut for serious unsanitary conditions. According to complaint reports from the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation, there were gruesome discoveries made behind the check-out food counters of the Dadeland Mall in Kendall. A report made about Chicken Kitchen restaurant read: "Observed roach activity as evidenced by 30 plus live roaches found by water heater, crawling on kitchen area walls and on food storage shelving, over bags of croutons, under food prep counters and cook line." The report also found that "hot water was not provided/shut off at employee hand wash sink." Another restaurant temporarily shut down was Sarku Japan. In their report it read: "Observed rodent activity as evidenced by rodent droppings found. Twenty plus fresh droppings found on top of walk-in cooler." After disgusted shoppers learned about the discoveries, Dadeland Mall released a statement that read: "We are committed to providing a safe, clean shopping environment for our customers and mall employees. We were aware of the closures and remained in contact with the restaurants; both re-opened this morning following a successful inspection by the Division of Hotels & Restaurants." Several restaurants are not an immediate threat to the public, but the violations require further review, including Mandarin Express, where there are apparently roaches as well. All restaurants cleaned up within 24 hours and have since re-opened.

Commentary: Let's face it. Deep down inside we all know that those food courts at the mall are probably pretty filthy. Most of the time they are employing teenagers to maintain the food standards, and if anything goes wrong, you can bet nobody will be reporting the problems. Whenever I go to a mall, I try to eat at the busiest place, because I figure the food is being made faster than the bugs can get to it. If you have ever been to a slow restaurant where there aren't any customers, you can bet there is a good reason why it is empty. I got food poisoning when I ordered lasagna at a latin food restaurant. So now I make sure to order steak at a steakhouse, Itialian food at an Italian restaurant, fish at a seafood restaurant, hamburger at a hamgurger place, etc. The odds are better that the food will be fresh if you stick to the most popular items on the menu at any restaurant that you visit. How are you all doing with regards to fitness and exercise?

Vitamin Hut Altered Labels?: The owner of three Vitamin Hut stores in Broward County allegedly removed expiration dates from vitamin supplements and replaced them with altered labels, according to the Florida attorney general's office. Attorney General Bill McCollum's Economic Crimes Division seized the vitamin supplements and filed a lawsuit against Gary Dubin of Pembroke Pines. Dubin may have violated the state's standards for fair business practices. Vitamin Hut, which sells vitamin supplements and nonprescription health-related supplies, has stores in Fort Lauderdale, Pompano Beach and Sunrise. The lawsuit has been filed under Florida's Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act and centers around allegations that Dubin should not have marketed the supplements with altered labels.

Commentary: I am old enough to remember when vitamin and health food stores were run by eccentric cranks who got most of their merchandise from local health enthusiasts and little vitamin companies. Bottles often had typed labels (this was before he computer age). It was not unusual to buy something and then find it had gone bad and was full of those little bugs that get into cereal/bran, etc. I tried health food back in the 1980s and gave up because a lot of the stuff looked very marginal and it was usually very expensive. Nowadays, vitamins and health foods are a big business, and yet most of those vitamin shops like GNC are still very expensive. It is not surprising that some places have a lot of their merchandise expiring on the shelves. What do you think of back-dating vitamins? It means you are paying for chemicals whose integrity has chemically degraded due to age. Besides such practices being unethical, it is certainly contrary to what a vitamin and health food store is all about!

Fat Porkers Cannot Wear Seatbelts-NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Like a lot of consumers, Paul McAleer focused on comfort when he recently went car shopping. Adjustable seats, a tilt steering wheel and extra height were all important. Because he's a self-described "fat guy,'' the website designer also has to check to see if he can fit in the seat belt. While McAleer buckles up when he drives, a new study found that seat belt use declines as body size increases. But even large drivers who want to use a seat belt may be thwarted because not all carmakers offer bigger belts or extenders. "It would be in their best interest to make seat belts longer in the first place,'' says McAleer, who lives in Chicago.

Federal standards that specify the length of auto seat belts date back four decades and only require that seat belts accommodate a 215-pound man. Some manufacturers offer bigger belts or extenders anyway, but other auto companies have concerns about effectiveness and liability. Vanderbilt University psychologist David Schlundt studied the relationship between seat belt use and weight after noticing that obese people sometimes struggled to fit into the auto restraints. "They really have a hard time getting that belt buckle over them,'' Schlundt said. "They have to stretch it out and then over and then some can't see the buckle.'' Schlundt and his colleagues at Meharry Medical College in Nashville reviewed nearly 250,000 responses about seat belt use from a national telephone health survey by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Based on that 2002 data, the study found that seat belt use declined as body mass index increased. Only about 70 percent of extremely obese individuals reported always using a seat belt, while nearly 83 percent of normal-weight people always used their belts, the study found. More than half of those killed in auto accidents weren't wearing seat belts, according to the latest federal figures. The study's findings were published in the journal Obesity.

"I hate seat belts because they always seem to ride up and strangle me,'' said Peggy Howell, the public relations director for the National Association to Advance Fat Acceptance. "But I wear them for my own safety and because it is the law.'' Howell said people sometimes contact her group to get information on extensions. McAleer, who runs a website called Big Fat Blog, said he's worried the study will focus criticism on the obese instead of the design of seat belts. His new car has seat belts long enough for him, but he said his wife has a harder time buckling up. Government regulations for auto manufacturers don't use BMI to determine dimensions for seat belts. The standard instead says belts must fit up to a 215-pound man who has a seated hip circumference of 47 inches. That was set in the 1960s.

When the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration considered changing the rules in 2003, it estimated that more than 38 million people, or 19 percent of the total U.S. population, were larger than the seat belt requirements. The NHTSA decided not to revise its standards since most top manufacturers including Ford Motor Co., General Motors Corp., Chrysler LLC, Nissan Motor Co. and Honda Motor Co. have seat belts that are longer than required. The companies each provide an average of 18-20 inches of extra belt length, more than enough to accommodate the largest percentage of drivers. Many of those manufacturers also have seat belt extensions or longer belts that can be purchased or installed at dealerships. Ford offers their extensions for free, said Wes Sherwood, a Ford spokesman. Several brands, such as Honda, BMW, Hyundai, Mercedes-Benz and Porsche, do not provide seat belt extenders. According to the NHTSA, an incorrectly sized seat belt extender could fail to provide upper body restraint and may pull the lap belt onto the abdomen during a front impact, possibly leading to internal injury.

Commentary? Seat belts can be very uncomfortable for the overweight. When I was at around 400 lbs., seat belts did not fit, or else they were very tight. I actually talked my way out of a traffic citation for not wearing my seat belt when I showed the officer that the seat belt was too small for my gut. Not something to brag about, but that day I felt like I had beat the system thanks to being obese!

Hair!

I spotted a few of these beauties at the gym and would like to share the photos. Most of these were taken while they were lifting weights, so they had their arms up:

She is doing the French Curl for the triceps.

Here she is at the bottom of a squat.

Military Press (shoulders)

Strectching helps to avoid injuries.

Crunches on the big rubber ball.

new customer checking out the gym.

this one is personal.

So where do you stand on hairy women (or men)? Is it alright if they are hairy and do not shave but are very clean? Do you think it is it different if they are hairy and also have a bit of that garlicky aroma?? Is it alright for men to be hairballs but not for women to be hairy? Is there a double-standard?