Patrick Says

Sometimes, it really sucks to have a workplace where a lot of meetings take place. For these meetings, we frequently buy sandwiches and chips and fruit trays and cheese trays from Sam’s Club. And when the meetings are done, these leftover food items become free game for anyone who’s hungry.

Which is cool if you forget lunch.
But terrible if you’re counting calories.

I literally blew past my calorie goal by 896 calories. All the top weight loss products in the world cannot help you lose weight if you don’t keep that calorie intake in control. So I’ll try again tomorrow. You fall off the horse, you get back on.

You may also notice that I’m putting this renewed weight loss effort under the category ‘Forty By Forty‘. Yes, I know that didn’t work last year, but 2009 was pretty darn awful all-around. Maybe it’s 41 by 41? We’ll see…

With The Wife’s severe health problems and recent (and current) hospitalization, it has occurred to me lately that I need to be healthier than I am currently. The boys need security. And while nothing in this world is that secure, I need to do my best to be healthy.

Also, during said hospital stay, a couple things have become painfully relevant. Clearly, Jen is the better parent. She’s great with the kids, keeps a cool head, does crafts, makes great meals. I, however, scream and yell a lot. I make processed foods and horrible diet choices for meals. So, maybe I can at least be the parent they can count for attendance. I could at least have that going for me as a consolation prize.

There’s a lot of debate about diets that work and diets that don’t work. But I’ve always believed that it’s all about lifestyle choices. Eat less calories than you consume and you will lose weight. (Don’t even get me started on gastric bypass and the ridiculous fad it has become.) So, I’m watching what I eat to see if I can get in better shape. I found a cool site and they even provide a widget for my sidebar to show you all how I’m doing.

So, keep an eye on that.

Remember that whole Forty By Forty project? The idea was to create either forty chapters of a book or lose forty pounds by my 40th birthday in October. Well, that kind of fell apart. I suppose, in theory, I could still try, but right now, my stress has never been higher and I’m overeating pretty much all the time.

As for writing, I got involved with a writing group. Which is a great idea. My complaint is that we’re writing about ourselves and to be honest, my life is about as exciting as plasma mounts. You get the idea. I’m boring.

I fancy myself a fiction writer. Even if I don’t actually produce…

I thought I should update you all on the Forty By Forty project I’d dreamed up back in…whenever. To be honest, nothing has moved on that. The Wife has had myriad health problems and to be honest, I wasn’t sure we’d get through them.

Still aren’t, really, but I can see us getting there…someday.

But yeah. I haven’t written except here and where needed. I have lost some weight, but that’s all been stress-induced. I usually pick that back up after the stressor has been removed.

So, there’s your update. I have to go to bed now.

So, I suppose an update on the Forty By Forty project is overdue. To be honest, I’m not sure which to do or both. I did some book ideas I thought I might throw out.

• Obviously, writing about the Forty By Forty project could be a book in and of itself. But that’s far kind of cheating. Plus, the project will be outlined here anyway.
• The original NaNoWriMo project I attempted last year. It’s science fiction with a good storyline (my opinion).
• Another possible idea is a book about my religious directions: growing up in the church, my questioning and ultimately dismissing, of Christianity. Could be interesting, even if I just wrote it for my kids to read someday.
• I could write a book about jobs in finance. Okay. I made that up.

I could probably come up with more ideas, but I’ll probably end up going with the science fiction story. Since I’ve been running through it in my head, for quite awhile now.