How I got here

I think I'd like to give a little history about how I got to where I am.  I come from a family of large people. We're mostly peasant stock. You know, people with broad shoulders and hips, built low to the ground, perfect for working the turnip fields (or olive groves in the case of the Spaniards in my background.) Anyway, we're designed to last a hard winter, you know? Perfect if you're working the fields. Not so amazing if you're a desk jockey, as so many of us are in the 21st century.

I think the story of my family was the common experience of many Americans in the second half of the last century. My parents married VERY young in 1949, and had four children between 1950 and 1970 (me being the last, and a bit of a surprise.) Dad was a physically active guy; he ran a building contracting company, worked like a mad bastard, hunted, fished, etc. However, our family came into being during the convenience food revolution. Dad had an amazing garden, and being Depression Babies, Mom and Dad both froze and canned produce, cooked out of the garden, and so on. But, there was a LOT of convenience food and junk in the house, too, and no real socialization to eat in a healthy way. I remember well  taking day-trips as a child and adolescent with my folks, and the common car-food was Doritos, soda, sweet rolls... all that shit (and I don't use that word gratuitously; it really is shit) that tastes good, and is nothing but empty calories.

Where day to day food was concerned, there was no push to control portion size, food was used as a comfort or a treat, and regular physical exercise was not encouraged. Compounding this issue was the fact that I was: a) the baby, and the only boy, and b) was born with a severe club foot. It was corrected through surgeries during my childhood, but it always was a handy crutch when I wanted to get out of any kind of strenuous activity. Mom's cooking did not exactly err to the healthy side, either. Being from Nebraska. there was NO NOTION of a meal without meat. None. Let me repeat it: Meal = meat. The idea of a vegetarian meal would have been greeted with the same horror and shock as if someone suggested Roasted Nun as a nice change of pace from the traditional Thanksgiving turkey. Plus, my dear Mother learned to cook in the early '50s. Campbells Cream of Mushroom Soup, mayonnaise, and Cool Whip constituted "The Mortar Trinity"; one or more of these substances was usually included in a dish to hold it together. You could feel your chest cramping as you soldiered through a slab of casserole or a pile of luminous Cool-Whip-and-Jello "salad." No lie.

Moving into my adulthood, I became more physically active, but have always been overweight. Through the influence of friends and loved ones, I developed a love of outdoor activities and travel. Over the last 20 years, I've been lucky enough to have hiked on six of the seven continents, whitewater rafted, skied, snow-shoed, snorkeled, surfed... and yet still, I'm fat. I've flirted with being in shape during my adult life. In 1999, I was down to within about 10 pounds of my ideal weight, was mountain-climbing, and felt great. However, socialization and an early life of poor choices around food and alcohol meant that I never really was in shape for long, because I reverted to old patterns in times of stress, or when I became lax in my resolve. I've never been over 240 pounds, but that's hardly a bragging point. I'm less than that now, but nowhere near my goal of 160 pounds.

The bottom line is, I'm still able to pretty much do what I want. I can hike, I can play frisbee, I can swim... and my fear is, that could all change, potentially rapidly, if I don't get my act together. I don't want a partial life (a half-life, so to speak), and I don't want to unnecessarily shorten my life, nor do I want a lessened quality of life. I want a quality life; hence this journey. For me, it's a combination of stating my intention to myself, and publicly; thus, multiple channels of accountability.

In the next post, I want to talk about the juice fast experience, and what worked and did not work for me. After that, I'm going to access my live-in tech support and love of my life to pimp this thing out, so I can add video, metrics which implies, *gasp*, weigh-ins and reporting them out. Can I get a halleluja?

By the way, if anyone is reading this besides Mathew, feel free to leave a comment, suggestion, or say hello, so I know I'm not just talking to hear my head roar :)