Steve v5.0

Posts Tagged ‘Recreation’

My wife booked a few camping trips this summer.  They’ve sometimes been a dietary challenge for me- kind of a junk food-fest as we opt for convenience over nutrition.  We usually head over to Costco (our favorite warehouse store) to stock the coolers and trailer to the brim- and that lends to a super-sized bulk-buy of… well… stuff.  It is a bargain though, I give it that, but we end up hauling huge quantities of food to and from our destination; which is good because, if we ate everything we bought, we’d be too bloated to move under our own power.

We seem so rushed as we prepare for these trips and that usually has us filling the camper with LOADS of stuff moments before launch. I’m thinking now that If we paced ourselves a little during prep that we’d probably be more inclined to split out the giant-sized boxes of this and pallet-sized loads of that.

Camping itself has evolved for us over the years.  When my wife and I first started camping we didn’t even have a tent.  The whole affair was just a dash into the wilderness with little more than a bottle of water and some jerky.  Things changed when we started camping with other couples; we started buying gear.  It became a whole “keeping up with the Joneses” thing with us- though not really a competition, more like gear-envy.  We now have more crap than we can haul- thanks to years of accumulation and the family reunion camping trip we catered in the summer of ’01 (that one took two trucks to haul all the stuff).  I mean, geez!  Numbered crates with inventory sheets, tents, trailer, lanterns, sleeping bags by the score.  Why do I need three camp stoves (one of which puts out 90,000 Btu’s)? Ugh!  It boggles my mind.  It’s either garage sale time or the local scout troop is going to get a donation.  I don’t even like camping all that much.  Oy!  (take a deep breath…and…exhale.  Better now?)

I do like the family time though.  So I guess it’s all good.  Moving on…

Today I plan to take a little more time in preparation for the trip.  Instead of dumping a flatbed full of stuff into the family truckster I’ll take the time to split out just what we’ll need for the trip.  I’ll also go light on the packaged snacks and bring more fruit and vegetables.  I want to make our family trips less about food and more about enjoying time together away from everyday stress and electronic distraction.  We’ll see how it goes.

Rock on.

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Sigh.

I’m back from vacation and at a time when I’d typically be wondering where to begin I find myself more focused and motivated than ever.  Why?  Because it feels like “crunch time“, baby!

I’m usually pretty good about getting things done early and under budget.  Once my train is on the tracks and heading out of the station there’s no stopping until my destination is within reach.  Sometimes it’s like some kind of locomotive mantra theme song playing in the background, “Produce results, produce results, produce results.” I guess I’m wired that way.  Sometimes the ol’ train just goes right off the tracks though and when that happens I find myself right back here- pondering, plotting, and chanting my mantra until I’m rolling again.

Important to the whole process has been the two primary components of getting anything done in a hurry, focus and urgency.  Accomplishing any goal requires a hell of a lot of focus while (for me anyway) urgency becomes something like the water rising behind a dam; spilling over and out as I get closer to my goal-date.  Sometimes that sense of urgency builds to anxiety when not enough urgency has spilled out into action.  Then comes a flood of action to prevent the dam from breaking and wiping out my train.

Wow, that’s a whole lot of half-thought-out simile and/or metaphor.  Like I need that gumming up the works.

Moving on…

Here’s the thing, the focus, the plan; Do what works, avoid what doesn’t, focus on my goals, get it done.

What Works:

1. Focus on the Goal (lose 40 lbs by my next birthday 6/6/09)
2. Take Action (gym/exercise daily, portion control)
3. Monitor Progress (weigh-in, journal, blog)
4. Adjust As Necessary (50 Tips)

What Doesn’t:

• Ignoring what works
• Skipping breakfast
• Stopping at the pantry
• Junk food
• Quick fixes
• Everything other than what does work
• Whining
• Miscellaneous, etc. (a.k.a. “life lint”)

So… Spring Break was just that, a break.  Break time is over and now it’s time to get back to working what works.

Rock on.

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I’m off to a camping trip- last one of the year. It’s all of us guys, so it’s a burp, scratch, and fart-fest while our better-halves are left to fend for themselves. They’re looking pretty happy. I don’t know why.

So, I hit my latest weight goal! Let’s see if I don’t manage a reversal with camp food. Thinking positive as always.

I’ll Twitter if anything warrants it- hey, even if it doesn’t. I mean it’s Twitter, right?

Good stuff: