Jim's Place

Go ahead...make my day!

Happy Monday gang! How the heck are ya?! This is week 2 of my Body-for-LIFE challenge and I've been doing an assessment of where I am and where I want to go - not just with my fitness program, but life in general. Frankly, I've noticed some things that I need to treat as red flags that could easily sneak in under the radar screen...

I've felt so cruddy most of the time the last few weeks that it tamped down my expectations for my fitness program and pretty much everything else. I didn't lose my optimism or commitment to my goals - I simply didn't feel up to doing much of anything. And feeling that overwhelmed by sickness made it seem unlikely that my ambitious goals could be achieved - losing weight, racing in the time-trials, conquering my household, writing my book, having more of a social life, etc...

It's only human nature under such conditions to back off on your original goals and simply just focus on getting through the day. And I'm sure most people would understand if I said "This just isn't realistic with the constant illness! Geez!" and backed off on my big plans for 2014. My body sure seems like it would be okay if I stopped pushing it when it doesn't feel so hot! And I have to admit, I've been in more of a just-going-through-the-motions kind of state lately rather than my usual excited-about-my-BFL-program state.

But today I reasserted who I am and who I MUST be! I wish I didn't have constant illness to deal with - but it's here and I'll be (insert cuss word!) if I'll throw in the towel or settle for being anything less than passionate about life! Yes, it's a lot harder with a chronic illness, but I didn't come this far to back off now... It does require me to be a fighter, but geez, I've always been a fighter! So I guess I'm right where I belong! Instead of trying to hang on the ropes and hope I don't take too many punches, I'd rather see if I can land a few myself and win the round! Nuff said!

I hope my little revelation of how I'm approaching this latest temptation to "just take it easy" and thus settle for being stuck in a "comfort zone" helps you take inventory and determine if maybe it's time for you to get back in the ring... :)

Still hanging out with my vampire friends... ;)

Happy Saturday gang! Late start for me. Lately, I've barely started my day before the sun goes down! Yikes! It's nothing new - I've had issues with my sleep cycle for quite a few years. After seeing sleep specialists and trying lots of approaches to "correct" it, I've got a pretty good understanding of the nature of the condition. My sleep doc says it's not insomnia, but rather delayed sleep pattern syndrome. She said it is common for people with autoimmune disorders like mine.

I've had mixed success with shifting it more towards daylight hours and from what I've experienced it's pretty simple - when the illness is elevated the sleep-cycle goes topsy-turvy and when I'm feeling better it tends to automatically start shifting more towards a "normal" pattern. Of course, if I was a vampire, my current sleep-cycle would be perfectly normal as it is!

Of course, some people will suggest it's just a matter of behavior or discipline and in a minor sense that's true. I tend to feel my best late at night - and I tend to feel my worst during the day. So late at night when I finally get a breather from the illness, I don't really want to go to sleep! Heck, I want to enjoy feeling better before I shut things down! And it doesn't help to know that the sooner I go to bed, the sooner I get to wake up feeling awful! From what I understand a lot of people with autoimmune disorders also feel their best at night.

But despite all of that, it's important to me to do my best to get back to a normal sleep pattern. So much of what I like to do requires getting up before the crack of noon! My current approach is to continue to address the key contributing factor - the autoimmune disorder - along with my sleep "hygiene" that worked well last year. That basically consists of shutting down the computer, etc. by a given time, taking a few minutes to work through any emotions or thoughts that might be churning inside, avoiding caffeine after a certain time, etc.

Ok, have a good night! I'm going to start making my way towards the gym!

Time to dust off your dreams?

Happy Monday gang! Hope your week is off to a great start! I'm still fighting a cold or whatever it is, but I'm still excited about starting a new Body-for-LIFE challenge today! And for the next 12 weeks I'm not only going to focus on losing weight, but also addressing other areas of my life that really need my attention.

So many people avoid taking on commitments for personal growth/improvement because they don't want the stress or pressure that comes with challenging yourself. They're afraid of being disappointed if they don't achieve their goals. I certainly understand that perspective, but there's a significant flaw in that logic...

It's easy to think that by just "taking life easy" you're going to minimize stress and enjoy life more... but what really happens? You end up living in a way where you often feel powerless over your body, your life and your dreams. Your impulses and habits call the shots - not you. Ironically, you feel more stress "relaxing" because you're letting your body or some other aspect of your life deteriorate.

I understand how overwhelming it can seem to commit to a fitness program or any other personal growth regimen, but what's the alternative? Without personal growth you tend to live in a state of stagnation, not feeling passionate about life, but instead fearful of it - with your main focus being on how to just get through the day with a minimum of pain...

I understand how painful it can be when your big plans come crashing down - especially when it's due to illness or some other adversity that was out of your hands. I understand how after years and years of trying you can start to doubt if your dreams will ever come true - and my heart goes out to you... But as for me, I'd rather dream and once again risk disappointment, than not dream and guarantee it... :)

Great job!

You know you're doing a great job fighting the illness when people doubt you even have an illness! ;)

"Looks" don't matter?

How ironic that it's not politically correct to judge someone based on their looks - unless they "claim" to have a chronic illness...

My "Secret"...

Happy Thursday gang! This week is really rolling along, ain't it?! Slow start for me today. I haven't felt so hot, kind of like a cold, but my guess is it's more of an allergy thing. But I think I've made good use of my couch time. I've been listening to my old Tony Robbins Personal Power CDs while reorganizing may computer disks to free up some space.

I'm not a fan of most personal growth programs because they basically leave God out of the equation. But Tony's program is kind of like the Body-for-LIFE of personal improvement programs - it just works, using proven fundamentals. So much of the New Age stuff out nowadays treats God as more of a cosmic entity instead of the God of the Bible. A common theme is that in essence YOU are divine, the master of your destiny and all you have to do is think and act in a certain way to "attract" whatever you desire... Frankly, I think a key motive of the New Age/New Thought movement is to pull people away from Christianity.

Personally, I'm gonna continue to resist the popular New Age approaches to "self-improvement". Lord knows I explored a gazillion of them! I'm just gonna stick to what I know works - do my best and trust God (yes, the one in the Bible!) to do the rest. As far as I'm concerned, that's the real "secret"...  ;)

It only takes 5 minutes...

Happy Wednesday gang! Hope your day is going well. I woke up earlier than expected and fairly well-rested for only 7 1/2 hours sleep - further supporting my contention that something on the medical front has changed for the better, whether it be the change in thyroid med or something not as obvious. However, I've been dragging today after having a couple of more-active-than-usual days - but I'm not surprised.

Anyway, I've been thinking about the things I want to accomplish in 2014. Certainly, my fitness/weight-loss goals are a big part of the picture, but there's so much more on the radar screen... However, it seems like I've had my hands full just doing my fitness program and occasionally having a little fun with flying my gliders or taking photos. It's not a matter of time but usually a matter of limited energy.

Even then, I've learned that many times the biggest obstacle is simply starting the task. I know everyone can relate to that normal aspect of human nature, but for me it's amplified by the constant feeling of sickness. So, today I sat down and tried to figure out what I could do about that perceived limitation. I decided that if I just did five 5-minute tasks a day, that would go a long way towards tackling my household and other pressing issues. Even on those days when I'm not feeling so hot I'm sure I can handle that!

Funny, that this isn't any new approach - I've known for many years that it was important to break down big projects into smaller tasks. Part of the issue is simply that I've tended to put unpleasant tasks off but just as much of a factor is the inherent feeling of overwhelm that comes with a chronic illness. My old approach was to dive into a task and not stop until it was done, but I don't have the energy nowadays to do that with most projects.

I guess my main point is that it's important not to settle for feeling disempowered - whether it be due to illness or some other set of challenging circumstances. For my fitness program, I've had a lot of success with my "Just show up!" approach which basically is tackling the same issue: breaking through the barrier of just getting started. I hope to have a lot of success in key areas of my life this year and as always I'll keep praying for God's strength and guidance along the way. I'd like to think I'm going to have my health fully restored, but regardless of how that plays out I'm confident I'm going to make big strides this year... even if it's only 5 minutes at a time... :)