117 Found Days - A Win Anyway Blog

Some good things going on this week. First of all, despite some 'popcorn challenges' at War for the Planet of the Apes and Valerian, I am down to 213.8 from 219.6 earlier in the week. Which reminds me, I need to do a couple of video reviews. Looking at adding a challenge to Facebook to help people make $100K in 100 Days - something I was going to pair with another speaker on, but, as it turns out, I will now be doing primarily on my own. I've already connected with a few people that will be a part of this project. Also, a few people who have simply been very encouraging to me regarding this project and my speaking career. One concern with this project was that it might take away from my primary goals. On the other hand, if I focus on my primary goals, this new goal can certainly be achieved as a by-product.  A win-WinAnyway prospect. Kristi and I are also looking to make a big change for our family. Prying eyes might be reading this blog, however, so I'll have to ke...

The month is flying by - Rachel spent two weeks at camp, Bailey & Braden a week at camp and currently on an 11 day trip to see their bio-dad - and a whole lot of life in-between drop-offs & pick-ups. Diet & Working Out continues to stall. Heck, life is stalling. Some motivational speaker I am - can't lose weight, isn't getting anything done, except, y'know, keeping up with six kids, working with several coaching clients, heading up a Professional Toastmasters group, prepping for TEDx... Well, ok, I'm propping myself up a bit, just to keep my own ego from shrinking like a popped water balloon on the hot sidewalk. Meanwhile, I have enough awareness to know I can be doing more. I can help more people as a coach. I can help more people as a writer. I can help more people as a speaker. I can be a better person. Maybe that's what these 117 Days will end up being about. I still have 32 days, just over a month, to actually have some concrete production to talk a...

8 days gone by. Crazy I tell ya. Wanted to blog within a day or two of my last post, and thought, 'no, too soon', and now it's 8 days. I've worked out 6 of those 8 days, and been really good on the diet all 8 days, and am down to 213.4 this morning, down from 218.8 the date of my last post. Progress. I signed a new keynote coaching client, which eases the financial pressure at home a bit, but a job may still be in the offing. Life is still filled with lots of little appointments - including my own visit to Urgent Care on Tuesday with a swollen and painful left hand - gout flare up, despite my daily management meds. Prednisone almost has it cleared up. Picked up Rachel from Camp yesterday, got an oil change - you know, all these things add up, and finding time for all those things like websites, etc., just seem to get eaten up by the urgent needs of now. I've been focusing on my Twitter account more lately as well - averaging about 2000 impressions a day, wit...

I gotta say, not much happened over the Long Weekend. I took three of the kids to Despicable Me on Saturday - they loved it, I tolerated it. I worked out Sat & Sun, but not Mon & Tue. I stayed on my eating plan Sat, but not Sun-Tue. We caught up on the last 8 episodes of Gotham. We bought and Kristi put up a screen door - something she's wanted to do since we moved into this house 7 years ago this month. Didn't really do anything for the fourth - I'm not a big fireworks guy - all the walking & waiting. We ordered pizza, watched a movie, and Kristi drove the kids around and found a spot to watch the fireworks for awhile. The Long Weekend, when I wasn't in the midst of doing, was a lot of thinking about what I SHOULD be doing, without actually doing any of it, because I was also thinking about what ELSE I SHOULD be doing, while doing what I did. Which made it a Long Weekend. No holidays for awhile. Just a couple of camps, a few doc appts., school starti...

If you follow me on social media, you've probably already heard I was selected for TEDx Colorado Springs. I am, of course, over the moon about this development, and look forward to keeping you abreast of my progress through their coaching and rehearsal process. The big event is Nov. 4th, 2017. I count this as the biggest success, career-wise, for me during this 117 found days period. As of this morning, post-workout, I am at 216.2 lbs. Down all of one pound since June 1. I've been tracking my eating and my workouts closely in May and June (I've been tracking my eating for years), and the results are telling. I stayed totally true to my diet (low carb, no sugar) only 7 days each month. less than 25% of the time. I worked out 13 times in June, and 18 times in June, so basically once every 2 days. When I'm off the diet, most of the time, about 3 out of 4 days, I'm WAY off the diet (popcorn, Junior Mints, Ben & Jerry's, Twizzlers, chinese food, etc.). In ...

Saturday I auditioned for TEDx Colorado Springs. 20 people auditioning for 10 spots - and we 20 were narrowed down from 80 submissions. Won't find out til July 8 whether or not I'm in the final 10. Enjoyed the experience - not quite the same as a contest, nerve-wise - reminded me more of trying out for parts in college. I know I spoke well, but I'm not sure my content is quite what they are looking for, despite my attempt to tailor my Win Anyway message into their 'Just Around the Corner' theme. Didn't work out Sat, Sun, or Mon, but did today. Struggles on the diet, what with going to the movies, watching movies with the family, and not doing a good job avoiding popcorn, ice cream, junior mints, etc. Even last night I succumbed to pizza - we bought three of them for Rachel's summer party. We promised her a party since her birthday is near Thanksgiving, and it creates party issues. We offered Riker one too, but he hasn't been overly anxious about it. ...

This is a second deck view, we were on the first level. This week has been a good one - though it certainly hasn't been 'less busy', by any means. Mom flew home Tuesday, after a good visit out here. Bad timing, though, since she got all the hot weather and this weekend Denver is nice and cool. Oh well, the visit to the ER for heat exhaustion and dehydration was exciting... Wednesday was the Rockies game, which I've documented fairly well on both FB and Twitter. Ian Desmond, who plays 1st base and/or Left Field for the Colorado Rockies, befriended a child with Neurofibromatosis during his time with the Washington Nationals, and now does a tremendous job raising money and awareness for NF. Part of that is bring NF families to the ballpark. All 8 of us were able to go, watch batting practice, meet Ian, get autographs and pictures, then spend the night watching the 1st place Rockies get pounded by the Diamondbacks. C'est la vie - baseball is about the long run...