Naively Optimistic for a Better 2012

I know, I know...I'm a few days late for a new years blog post. I'm a bit of a lazy blogger. I have also yet to write down any definitive resolutions.

I just hope, at this point, that 2012 doesn't hurt as much as 2011. Not just for me and my family, but for a lot of people. It seems to have been a horrible year for most people I know.

My 2011, in review:

• Had a good paying job, hated it but needed it.
• Wife gets extremely sick and has to have expensive surgeries.
• Got fired for not making sales quotas. I'm not a salesman, btw.
• Was denied unemployment so wracked up more survival debt.
• Got a new job that I like but pays very little and has crappy hours.
• Wife has more health problems.
• Got another new job, slightly better pay and hours than the other, but since I have to work both to make ends meet, it still sucks. I love this job, btw.
• Continue to work 2 jobs, for about 15 hours of work per day.
• To tired all the time to care about anything. I stop exercising. I start eating more to stay awake. And I get addicted to caffeine.
• I get fat again.
• 'Cougar Town' got cancelled.
• Still can't survive to we have to file bankruptcy. Everyone thinks we are doing just to be ass-holes. But we had no other options. Really.
• Brother-in-Law dies.

Now, I have to say that there have been some good things this year. I do have a job I love, where I get to play around with computers all day long. My kids are relatively healthy and happy. And they're doing well in school. A sister-in-law got engaged (not the same one that lost her husband). We have had a great holiday with lots of family time.

Now, in the spirit of blogging on the fly, I will now set my New Year's Resolutions as I write them. How's that for effective goal setting?

So, without further ado, and without any fore-thought whatsoever, I present you with:

Ben's New Year's Resolutions 2012

1. Lose weight. Again.
2. Break caffeine addiction.
3. Get into a house, with a yard.
4. Make enough money for Tauni to be a stay-at-home mom again.
5. Learn to play guitar. For reals.
6. Run a marathon and qualify for the Boston Marathon.
7. Write a novel. (my 2013 resolution will be to get it published)
8. Spend more quality time with my wife and kids.
9. Repair damaged relationships with certain extended family members.
10. 100% Home Teaching.

There are probably a few more things I should add to that list. Maybe I'll do some mid year resolutions to round it out a bit.

I'm OVERWEIGHT! Woo-hoo!!

I know, I know...being overweight isn't something you'd normally celebrate. But today it is, for me. For the past couple of years, I have been obese. And, as of this morning, I'm not. I'm only overweight.

So, I'm gonna say it again: WOO-HOO!  I'M OVERWEIGHT!

Honestly, I didn't expect this milestone for a few more days, but weight just fell off me between yesterday and today. I lost 2.2 lbs. Verified on 2 separate scales, so I know it's legit.

To celebrate, I went to the gym and burned 800 calories on the treadmill.

"What Caused You to Get Fat?"

On one of the forums that I frequent, one geared towards weight-loss and healthy living, someone asked the question “What caused you to get fat?” Instead of answering there, I thought I’d blog about it.

I read through a slew of excuses. People blamed kids, injuries, over-eating, depression, laziness, and even gremlins. You can go read the thread here. Or just skip it. I would.

The thing is, no my own weight gain sneaked up on me. I gained weight because I wasn't paying attention. One day, I was the picture of health. The next day, a few years later, I was a mush ball of goo, more like a picture of fuzzy jello. That isn't exactly true, and there were many contributing factors, including the above mentioned (except maybe the gremlins). But the biggest contributor was that I wasn't living my life. Life was running me, and I was just going through the motions.

I can't say that one day I just woke up and said "@$%&, I'm fat!" Because I didn't. I didn't even wake up and say "@$%&, I'm not living my life!" It was a long process. Or, I should say, it has been and continues to be a long process.

I started waking up around Christmas 2010, and still doing so. And it is changing my whole life, not just my fitness level. I slide, on occasion, or often, back into old habits. Much of this week has been like that, leaving me pretty angry with myself.

That's how I got fat.