Sunday Morning Selfie

Happy end of July! My name is Joe Bryant and this is my blog I publish on Sunday Mornings as a way to document my life and hopefully use the reflection time to make good choices about my lifestyle in the week ahead.

 I snap a quick photo and weigh myself with the theory being if I make my health and weight challenges public and on record I will have more accountability to lose the pounds. I started doing this on New Years Day 2017 with the goal of no longer being “obese” by years end. Read on to find out how that is going and hear my story.

Am I Wasting Time or Resting Up ?

I will start by admitting to you and myself that I have certainly had more productive weeks. As a teacher I get summers off! I don’t get them completely free as I still have a radio station to keep on the air, but my discretionary free time is considerably more in the last week of July than it will be the last week of September.

Looking back on the week I realize that many projects I have set out to accomplish this summer, such as learn a new curriculum to teach, re-stain the railing on my deck, clean out the storage unit I pay way to much for etc. have gone completely untouched.

I have done a few cool and productive things which we will discuss BUT what I find I have also spent MANY HOURS this week doing is staring at a phone, computer or television. I am spending too much time checking Trump’s twitter feed, tracking news on North Korean ICBM’s and posting cute pictures of my dog on Instagram.

Part of me says “you deserve some down time and you are just getting your rest before the long school year”. The other part says… “dude get your face out of Facebook and go do something in the real world”!

It really hit home that I need to maximum this precious free time better yesterday morning when I co-hosted Northwest Wild Country of Sports Radio KJR with my friend Bill Herzog. Bill asked when was the last time I went fishing and I realized that I had not been out a single time ALL SUMMER.

 Having summers off I obviously need to get better at using this time to either work or play harder. I don’t think this sitting around on on sunny day Facebooking and re-tweeting Trump is doing anyone much good OR burning many calories.

How do you make the most of your time? How do you balance the real world with social media and the virtual one? I don’t need every minute of every day to be productive but I also don’t want to devote several lost hours to obsessing about  how many people “liked” my post about my dog. (but thanks for liking it because it really makes Bandit’s Day).

Any tips on productivity, life balance and simply putting down the freakin’ phone that seems to be permanently attached to my hand this week would be appreciated!

I need to get more done in August than I did in July because school will be here before you know it! Bandit needs to get more done too!

 

LoisPalooza

Don’t get me wrong. I have not been totally twittering my thumbs all week. I did a fun radio show, went to the M’s game with my friend Ayron Jones, had a great picnic with some University of Arizona Boosters, worked a bit on the radio station, went to my first ever Union rally (It’s a contract year), AND made some headway on planning a big benefit concert and auction on August 13th I am honored to be the emcee for.

My friend Lois of Jerry and Lois photography is in a tough cancer battle and can use lots of support to help lift her spirits and pay her medical bills. Roger Fisher the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame founding member of Heart  guitarist secured a venue for a concert and invited me to participate which I am THRILLED to do on August 13th and ALL are invited!

 In addition to Roger and his band, LoisPalooza will feature harmonica legend Lee Oskar (Low Rider, Cisco Kid, Why Cant We Be Friends), the greatest Beatles tribute band on pretty much the entire planet, Apple Jam, (they don’t have the flashy suits and cosmetic surgery to get the Ringo nose like some of the other bands but close your eyes and it SOUNDS like the Beatles), Rockfish and his many friends, as well as the stars of tomorrow,EXAPSOS, featuring 18 year old Leah and 11 year old brother Zane Raissis PLUS an 18 year old drummer named Carson Dent who just performed with none other than Sir Paul McCartney last week!

Its’ a true see Rock Legends and Rising Stars all one one stage. There will also be some very unique auction items and probably a little cowbell playing at some point. (but don’t let that deter you)

This is all going down at the Blue Boy Golf Course in Monroe (Rogers hood) at 4:00 pm on Sunday 8/13 and you can get tickets and more info at www.loispalooza.org . The suggested donation is $30 and we would love to pack the place. Lois had done SO MUCH for so many including me that I would like to return the love.

She and Jerry have visited my students to photograph special events on several occasions and always out of the motivation simply to pay it forward. Now is the time to return some of that kindness and to quote Leah from EXAPSOS, “We are going to Rock the Blue Boy Golf Course down!” 🙂

Here is the concert poster!

My Current Weight

As I mentioned before I feel I have lost a great deal of time this week simply by sitting in one spot, playing on my phone and watching TV to see what crazy, apocalyptic world event is going to come down next. Unfortunately I have discovered that re-tweeting does not burn many calories. The previous week was filled with swimming,bike riding and a visit to 30/10 Weight Loss for Life which yielded a three pound loss.

This week the bike sat in the garage and I sat on my butt and the results are that I weigh the same, 225 lbs, as I did LAST Sunday. (actually I lost two tenths of a pound but we are dealing with round numbers, and unfortunately a still round belly, here)

How do you keep the fire burning to keep that fat burning? I seem to go thru stretches of motivation followed by weeks of semi-self defeating behavior like this one was. As I have written about in the past I find excuses to eat from many outside stimuli and for some reason North Korea launching ICBM’s makes those fudge bars in the freezer that I bought “for Emily” look really tasty.

 I guess all I can really do is reset and keep on doing. I almost talked myself out of writing at all this morning based on a lack of success and less than productive week. But then I realized the ENTIRE PURPOSE of this weekly exercise is to check in, acknowledge my successes and failures and learn from them.

My goal for the week ahead is to make a “to do” list and actually do some of it. Make a trip into 30/10 Weight Loss for Life on Thursday, make a point to exercise a little EVERY DAY, and to put the phone down and turn off the TV every once in awhile.

I am new to teaching with still plenty to learn. And one essential skill I need to work on is maximizing my time off to get more things accomplished and more fulfilling, disconnected recreational time. Any tips on that would be appreciated.

But for now its off to Safeco Field where I vow to avoid the brew and hot dogs and simply enjoy the moment. There is nothing like sitting in a beautiful ballpark on a sunny day. That’s the sort of “doing nothing” I hope to do more of in August!

Go Mariners! Joe