10×10 in 2010

Whatever befalls the earth befalls the sons and daughters of the earth. We did not weave the web of life; We are merely a strand in it. What we do with the web, we do to ourselves…
– Chief Seattle

Chief Seattle’s quote might sound like an environmental statement, but that’s not my point.  There’s a corollary:  What we do to ourselves, we do to the web – to those around us.  For anyone who has children this is intuitively obvious – especially after they repeat in public something we said in private, when they were at the other end of the house.  Kids hear everything, they see everything. This is true in a wider sense, though.  The choices we make have similar effects on those around us.

Applied to the 10×10 in 2010 project, I’m trying to be mindful that my decisions impact others.  If I die of a heart attack in the back yard, as my grandfather did when I was younger, I rob my family in a very real sense.  We are all examples, whether good or bad.  Changing my life with this big, hairy audacious goal helps me (I lose weight, get healthy), and hopefully those around me as well.

Day 28, 19 lbs total

The End of the First 4-Week Cycle

The 8 Minutes in the Morning program runs in 4-week cycles.  Jorge Cruise, the author, says to repeat the cycle if you have more weight to lose (I do).  In fact, since this is a year-long project, the cycle will repeat a total of 13 times.

Next week (tomorrow) begins the second cycle, where all of the exercises repeat.  The original 8 Minutes book is designed as a workbook, designed for you to write in each day’s progress and motivational notes, etc.  It’s already well-covered in graffitti from earlier cycles a few years ago, so I created my own packet in Microsoft Word with the exercises and journal entry slots.  Having it in an editable format is useful. I added a morning prayer to the front cover and am slowly changing the daily quotes to other, more personally-meaningful sayings.

Learnings This Week

Here are this weeks’ observations and learnings.  As always, if I did something stupid, it’s not a license for you to follow in my footsteps – let common sense apply.

• It is much easier to exercise in the early morning when the rest of the family is asleep. It’s hard to hear the body’s responses when the kids are swirling around like a desert tornado.
• Even the best recipes get boring if you eat them all the time.  Next time I make black bean burgers, it won’t be a quintuple batch…
• Weighing in on Thursday mornings after breakfast is a GREAT way to inspire the amount of panic necessary to hit 2 lbs by Sunday.
• Sharing your weight loss plans with a wide circle is a great way to get little motivational booster shots at random times.  Thanks to Terry, Dave, Brian and Vince this week for asking how it’s going, it helps keep me on track.
• Finding a smaller piece of clothing you can wear, something that used to fit, then didn’t, and now does again.  Pure Joy!

Have any learnings or comments?  Click the comments link below and let me know what you think! Words of wisdom, encouragement and correction always welcome. (All comments moderated to keep out the riffraff.)

Week 4 Results

• Starting Weight: 328 lbs.
• Last Week: 312 lbs.
• This Week: 309 lbs.
• Weight Lost: 3 lbs. (19 pounds overall)

Comments are closed.