I swear, some people just wear my ass slick at times. Take the owner of the pick up and boat trailer in the picture, it’s just a picture I stole, but here is an individual who has the wherewithal to own a nice truck and speed boat to enjoy life with, and yet managed to fuck his entire week despite having the toys to have enjoyed it instead. No matter the circumstances, this dummy sabotaged his day himself. He can blame others, but at the end of the day it still comes down to he fucked himself. It is all about taking personal responsibility for your actions or in-actions in life. It is on you and no one else no matter how artfully circumstances can be spun. It is the same with so many fellow Weight Watchers who have all the tools such as passing basic junior high school level biology and nutrition and then purchased the Weight Watchers program month after month and still can not manage to lose a pound despite having everything laid out for them. It comes down to personal responsibility in using what has been laid in your lap. It is on everyone individually, no one else can be blamed.

I really had no intention of rehashing this topic today, but the feeling to do so was brought on after a face to face conversation with a friend who I had not seen in several months. This one conversation was not the sole catalyst, as it actually happens quite frequently in person as well as on line social media dealings with friends and folks I have a friendly association with.

Getting my ass down to nine percent body fat has come through hard work and personal discipline. I do not mind questions, and actually enjoy helping others. But goddamn it do not ask me how I have done it then get unnecessarily defensive when I explain how I live my life. Especially if you know that this is actually a return to how I lived for several years until I retired from the military in 2010.

I began Weight Watchers weighing two hundred thirty eight pounds last July. I was heavy for my five foot seven inch frame, but I was also a power lifer who lifts a lot of weight and eats a ton of food to power through my grueling weight training sessions. I used to eat six thousand calories a day very intentionally to get me through two to three hours of lifting followed by at least another forty five minutes to an hour of cardio vascular training such has hill sprints or tire flips using a three hundred pound heavy equipment tire. At my biggest and strongest, I weighed about 252 pounds and had no fear of going hands on to manhandle even the most unruly of inmates behind those stone walls of Lansing Correctional Facility where I was an officer. I had to be big, strong and in shape for my former job as a Corrections Officer in the prison. A place where the weak, including staff, are eaten alive by the inmates.

Skipping back ahead to where I began Weight Watchers, I was strong as an ox and could run pretty far and fast for a man my size and age, but my cholesterol and triglycerides were getting elevated and my blood pressure had become pre-hypertensive. I really needed to get the body fat off and quit concentrating so much on being strong and more on my health and wellness which I have committed my life to. That’s the point, I have committed my life to health and wellness over everything.

It seems the conversation always goes the same negative direction no matter if in person or online when someone has seen my success at getting my body fat down so low while being at the top of my game in physical fitness. The first thing said and asked is “You look so fit and trim.”” How did you do it?” “What is your secret, I need to lose x number of pounds.” If you know me and how direct I can be, it is perfectly alright to stop before the question if you are not prepared to hear my answer. No, really I would rather you not ask if you are just going to be another lame ass “Askhole” . You know the type who asks you a question then refuses to accept the answer because it might require discipline and a personal accountability to self. Hands down, this shit always comes from the individuals who say they want to lose weight, while not wanting to sacrifice their life. Those who want their cake and to eat it too. I really think some obese people only like the idea of being thin more than the reality. Like everyone wants to look like a body builder until it is time to do body builder shit.

I really enjoy helping people and strive to live my life in a positive manner. I have one friend that I have made on line whom I am coaching in power lifting through exchange of on line videos. I am proud of her success, especially given that she is sixty one years old. She approached me to help her and I agreed on the stipulation that she follow strictly what I tell her in regards to weight training, diet and rest. And I told her that if she was not serious, I would not train her. Brenda has now gone from a very weak and wobbly thirty five pound squat to having repped out one hundred and ten pounds on the squat and dead lift. I enjoy helping others when I see this success and also because in my military travels around the world and having been a Correctional Officer, I have seen more than my fair share of the ugliness the world has to offer.

Sorry, I kind of jumped around before getting to my next point about where the response to my answers always go south. I promote intermittent fasting with a high protein low carb diet all fitting into Weight Watchers Free Style program. I strongly advocate dropping refined sugar and simple carbs from your diet. Folks addicted to sugar, yes I said addicted, can not conceive of giving up sweets or going up to sixteen hours without eating anything. And they would not consider dropping sugar even if it gave them a one time shot at seeing Jesus hopping down the street on a Pogo stick. Damn people get pissed and defensive on this topic. Look, I do not give a flying fuck if you give it up or not. I do not have to live with you or your weight and health issues. If you want to continue struggling to lose fat while filling your gullet with Twinkies and HoHo’s then knock yourself right on out. If you want to ignore the reality of why you can not lose weight, it is on you and you only. It is a simple reality that losing weight is a matter of calories consumed verses calories consumed. Your feelings about the matter will not change this. In fact, when it comes to your feelings, it is mind over matter. The facts do not mind, your feelings do not matter. Sugar is a simple fast burning carb that rapidly fucks your blood sugar and insulin levels. It will give you momentary pleasure, but when you eat too much it will also cause you to crash much the same as cocaine or amphetamines will. It will also cause inflammation inside your body which drives most preventable ailments such as Type 2 Diabetes and heart disease. Too much will wreck your pancreas over time as well it can cause you to have a fatty liver. If you have control over the amount of sugar you eat, this is not an issue as small amounts are really not that harmful. But, if your ass is chubby and you can not lose your gut, you do not have control over it any more than a hard core alcoholic has control over a bottle of cheap whiskey or vodka. If you want to get butt hurt about this, it’s on you, and you only. Just do not whine that your ass is not dropping on the scale display.

Weight loss is a small part of my journey. My focus is really on living a life of health and wellness where I can enjoy my grand children into old age. Where I hopefully will never become a burden to my family. And should I ever do become a burden, I have the comfort of knowing that they realize I have done everything I can to not become one. I do this for the love of my family as well as for myself. I am totally committed to giving my family the piece of mind that Dad is not a lazy ass slob who ate his way into a nursing home. I also have a very physically demanding job. I am a truck driver who delivers construction and industrial supplies across a now, nine hundred and fifty seven mile route. I unload my own freight at each stop and have to lift heavy objects and move pallets which weigh up two thousand five hundred pounds to the back of my truck. I will turn fifty five years old in August and need to be able to do my job for at least the next ten to twelve years. The good thing is that despite my job being physical, I actually enjoy it tremendously. And right now, I am confident that I will be physically able to do it into my mid sixties if I keep living as I do.

My life in the military was all about being physically fit. I have a strong back ground in cardio vascular training as much as weight training, and I have studied nutrition and physiology until I wake up deep in thought with these subjects on my mind. Yes, I am a health fanatic and some people either think it is odd or do not like it. But here is the deal, I don’t fucking care if you find it odd or unlikable that I take care of my health and well being fanatic like a Jim Jones Kool Aid drinker. Yes, I am obsessed with my level of fitness, but it is in order to not be placed prematurely into a nursing home because my fat and weak ass could not get off the shitter by myself one day. It may be an ugly reality, but as someone else is having to clean your behind for you and assist you in getting off the pot because you can no longer do it for yourself, what kind of sugary treat are you going to cram down your pie hole once that task has been completed for you?