Sunday Morning Selfie

Reestablishing the Routine

After three weeks away I return to my blog Sunday Morning Selfie. My name is Joe Bryant and on New Years Day I started this journal to hold myself accountable for all the decisions I make regarding my lifestyle, eating and exercise. My goal is to finally take myself out of the “obese” classification so I can live a long, healthy life. My plan was to publish a photo of myself and post my current weight EVERY Sunday morning in 2017. Obviously the goal of every single Sunday has not been met but I am back in town and on task and plan to pick up where we left off!

Yo Yo Dieting

I certainly put the Yo in Yo-Yo dieting. Looking back over the last decade I have had some successful stretches of weight loss that are often followed by months of not being mindful and undoing all of the hard work I put in losing pounds.

 This blog is what I was hoping would catch me when I started to Yo and it needs to kick in now because, as of this morning, I am at 229 pounds. That is a four pound gain in April and clearly the wrong direction on the Yo-Yo… BUT… what is going to make this time different is that I am owning the failings and resetting myself for success.  

I am still DETERMINED to see 200 pounds eventually and 250 pounds NEVER AGAIN.  I could spend the next few paragraphs making excuses, there could be many, and describing all the bites I took of decadent food, I am sure there were many, but what I had rather do is discuss the plan going forward and fill you in on what has been a crazy few weeks.

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

The first week in April Kelli and I traveled to New York to see our friend Alan White get inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of YES, the band Alan has played drums with for more than 40 years now. The tribute was long overdue for the band and Alan in particular,as I would think being in John Lennon’s Plastic Ono Band would be enough to qualify for RRHOF status even if you weren’t the drummer for the greatest progressive rock group of all time.

And if anyone is wanting to chime in right now and say “dude… RUSH is the greatest Prog. Rock group of all time”,  I encourage to watch the RRHOF ceremony on HBO and hear what Geddy and Alex had to say when they introduced YES. There would be no RUSH without YES. In addition to giving the induction speech Geddy Lee plays bass on Roundabout!

Alan is in the Hall of Fame for his music but he should also be in some sort of Hall of Fame for his tireless work helping people and contributing to the community. Last night was the premier of the HBO show and Alan used this as an opportunity to bring his award to a pub along with autographed memorabilia to auction off  and raised almost $7000 dollars for our dear friends Jerry and Lois Levin. Lois is in for a long battle and you can read about this special couple on THIS go fund me.

As Alan’s wife Gigi and I were discussing last night, Jerry and Lois photography has literally captured our lives. Our moments in the spotlight on stage on the air, our moments with our pets, kids and most recently for me, many special moments of my new teaching career. This couple captures magic with a camera and have been so helpful to so many people and causes. We will continue to look for ways to help them with gatherings such as last nights.

21st Century Men

Speaking of gatherings, I want to thank my friend BJ Shea for including me in last weeks gathering of 21st Century Men. This is a group of guys that takes a retreat together every six months to work on gaining the awareness and clarity that us guys, and everyone, can use to achieve what we want in business, relationships and most importantly for me, inside ourselves.

 The men you meet here come from diverse backgrounds and we all serve as a great sounding board for each other as we discuss our personal challenges and strategies to overcome them. 

The general premise is that guys usually do not have gatherings that don’t involve ballgames and brew. We do not gather as a group to discuss how we can be better husbands, fathers and citizens. This talking about important things, getting tools to increase your awareness, and getting some time to unplug, be with other guys and truly reflect must work well as I notice one common trait in many of the men who participate is early retirement after being incredibly successful at something.

21st Century Men is a non-profit led by Dr. Gary Moskowitz and Sean Nixon. They meet every six months and are always looking for a few more good men. We met at the Seabeck Conference Center last weekend and the sign on the door said “what happens in Seabeck stays in Seabeck” so I will not go into great detail or reveal any more names of attendees out of respect to privacy, but if you would like to participate in the October Man Camp you can get more information and reach out to Sean and Gary here.

April Showers

If you have been following my journey this year you know that March was crazy and April was even more nuts of a schedule. Interesting that both of these months started with trips to NYC!

 As a teacher and parent April is when it hits me that soon school will end and, this year in particular, that is going to be a really big deal. My daughter Emily is now 18 and is graduating from Newport High School, the same fine institution that I came from in 1981.

 The years of school plays, choir concerts and having a “child” will soon be in the rear-view mirror. Now Kelli and I have an adult daughter that is such an enormous talent in so many ways. I am very excited to see what Emily does next and hope that it continues to involve performing. In the past two weeks she has done some GREAT comedy sketches and writing as part of Newport’s Follies and absolutely brought the house down singing at Tula’s Jazz Club. There is no greater joy for me than seeing her shine on stage and it is so apparent to me that she is a born entertainer. (No idea where she gets that from)

 Her song is on my Facebook page and I highly encourage you to listen!

As a teacher I have discovered that April is also a very emotional time. This is when students start enrolling for the following year and when the Administration has to make decisions. based on the enrollment numbers, what classes will be offered come September. This was made particularly tense when District budget cuts were announced with the potential of ten classes being eliminated. Mine was a possibility since  I am new, my class is an elective, and I do not teach as many kids as some other programs. In spite of the tremendous accomplishments of KMIH, I could be cut back.

 The GREAT news is enrollment is up and I should be good for next year (although my final Evaluation is yet to come). 

Who knew that teaching would be so much like show biz? Driven by numbers and  money. Speaking  of which it would be nice to get public education fully funded.But I will save that rant for another time.

The other emotional component is that you realize you will soon be losing your Seniors. For me this is a particularly big deal as my Program Director of 889 The Bridge is graduating.

We launched our station on 1/31 and it is doing remarkably well!

 While many have contributed to the success we are having non more so than PD Leah Raissis who built the format.  I highly encourage you to download the KMIH app on your smart phone.  You will hear great music and 16 year old broadcasters that are some of the nations best.

 In fact a good time to listen will be this Wednesday at 3:00 pm as KMIH  will be doing a national live network broadcast for an hour!

 But enough about the past few weeks. What I would like to focus on now is the plan moving forward to get back on track.

May Flowers

You may have noticed that I have not mentioned going to 30/10 Weight Loss For Life yet in this blog. You also may have noticed I am four pounds heavier. Coincidence? I think not.

What worked for me INCREDIBLY well for the first ten weeks of 2017 was getting back on 30/10 and quickly dropping 30 pounds. What has not worked is getting “to busy” to go there and too much patting myself on the back for those first 30. If there is something in our lives  that is working SO WELL why is there a part of our brain that insists on sending out thoughts that sabotage our success?

This month those thoughts ranged from “Your at the RRHOF in New York lets celebrate” to “It looks like we are going to war with North Korea so might as well have an ice cream bar”.

But the main thought and obstacle was “your schedule is PACKED. There is not an hour to find in this week to go weigh.” While this was true it was only true because I made it so.

Yes, my schedule is packed. Building a radio empire with teenagers is incredibly time consuming. BUT, I must also make time to take care of myself, my home and my family. (I finally got the grass mowed to the first time this year yesterday)  

So my vow for May is to have a PERFECT 30/10 month and to block out my weighing time for the next four weeks. If I do not set these meetings now I will find other “important” meetings to fill that hour. While everything I do is  important ( I am not just sitting around watching TV and eating ice cream bars), I have to make accomplishing my weight loss goals a “top of the to do list” priority again. 30/10 Co-Founder Dr. Linda Degroot has given Kelli and I a tremendous opportunity to get to the weight we want to be at FOR LIFE and that is what I intend to do.

 With a perfect May I can easily get below 220 before Emily walks down the graduation aisle and whoever is sitting next to me in the Arena will have a bit more elbow room than when I was at 260 a few months ago.

 The mission is still the 190’s and with the help of 30/10 and this blog I WILL get there.

Teacher Treat Temptation

With all that being said I could use help in one area in particular. This week is “Teacher Appreciation Week” and there is going to be all manner of teacher feeding going on.

How do you avoid those treats at work when it is time to celebrate accomplishments, co-workers etc.?

 My wife Kelli shared a great tip with me that she recently dodged a birthday cake at work by making a sorbet out of one of her 30/10 products and joining the party but eating her own “treat”. Nobody questioned what she was eating, she got to celebrate her co-worker and, 20 minutes later when everyone else what feeling sugar bombed and bloated she felt great both physically and about the dietary decision she had made.

What are your tips for avoiding workplace landmines such as candy jars on desks and “appreciation” treats and meals? I would love to hear.

So I think that pretty well catches up up and gets me back on task. Sorry if this report is a bit long and a bit late coming. I started SMS as an accountability tool for myself and it is for myself that I write. If you are still reading thanks for indulging me and I promise more mindful blogs and less indulging in the forbidden foods in May.

Cheers, Joe