Tuesday, July 31, 2007

Week One of Weight Watchers Down

Lost 4 lbs on the first week!

I really found it remarkably simple. I don't feel or see any effect but I was happy to see the scale.

Starting Weight - 243.8 (grossly fat)
Week One Weight - 239.8 (grossly fat minus 4 lbs)
10% loss (WW 1st Goal) - 219.8 (24 lbs)
My Goal - 205 - I think 6'2" 205 lbs has a nice ring to it.

I certainly have no expectation to drop 4 lbs a week, but I am hopeful 2-2.5 is realistic.



G

Monday, July 30, 2007

Bonds Watch - Vick Support

Maybe I am the only guy outside of San Francisco captivated with Barry Bonds hitting his next 2 home runs. I think it is amazing. Has he juiced? Probably. Did Gaylord Perry do everything he could, legally and illegally to make a baseball dance, you bet. I don't see anyone clamoring for him to be removed from the Hall or have his 300+ wins reduced. In fact, I remember a series of ESPN spots glorifying his 'antics'. Can you compare Bonds to Perry and others already in the Hall? From the cheating is cheating standpoint sure you can. On top of that, Baseball must take a good part of the blame for the 'Steroids Era' in that they turned a blind eye to it all. There was NO testing, the home runs were good for a troubled game. On top of all of that is the sheer # of juicers, and that includes the Pitchers. Pitchers in this whole deal remind me of 'He Who Must Not be Named' in the Harry Potter Series. If we don't talk about them it will just go away? If a good percentage of people 'cheated' then how do you single out ONE guy? Say what you want but his sheer volume of jacks and how he turns on a ball is ridiculous.

On to Vick, or more correctly the 'Vick Supporters' I saw on the news last night. Give me a break! Chanting "Innocent until proven guilty". I am glad you learned that phrase as it gets kicked around to death. Last time I checked the phrase applies to the Court of Law and NOT the Private world of business.

Let's do a simple test; Doctor A from Hospital "insert your favorite Saint here" gets indicted on Federal charges for the same crimes as Vick. Doctor A is a middle aged white guy and is an OB-GYN(for giggles sake).

Answer the question:

A. Doctor A continues to practice at the Hospital while he awaits trial
B. Doctor A gets suspended with pay while the Hospital reviews the charges
C. Doctor A gets suspended without pay
D. Doctor A gets fired, can't get hired anywhere else

Tuesday, July 24, 2007

July 24, 2007 - before there was www there was ww

Weight Watcher's that is!

Here's the deal. I don't see myself as big, not just 'fat' but tall as well. I was always the runt growing up. I don't think I hit a 100 lbs. and 5' 5" until my Junior year in High School. I know if you break out my Bar Mitzvah picture (13 years old) I am at least 2 inches shorter than my 5' tall mother!

So here I am 'trapped' in a 6'2" frame that is now holding a BLOATED 243.8 lbs according to the Weight Watcher's scale at the Monday Night Meetings I started last night.

Now, I did have a successful stint at WW back in 2002-2003, but then I had a GREAT support group. I took over an office who had 3 women who had lost a combined 120+ pounds! They dragged me to meetings, made sure I ordered good stuff at lunch, etc... Now I am on my own, though I have been drug into this by a buddy who has 5 other guys going (the cynic in me wants to know his cut :)).

I'm not totally out of shape. I can run 4-5 miles at a 9 and 1/2 minute pace. I just need to fix my eating issue, hence the WW.

A funny note on shape, a couple of years ago I told Cydney I was going to the gym to get in shape, she must have been 4 at the time, and she asked me "Daddy, what shape do you want to be?" I laughed for about a minute and said, "an upside down triangle", then she asked "what shape are you know"...I never answered, but I guess sort of ovally would have been good :)

I know there are lots of success stories out there, care to keep me motivated?

Tuesday posts will now include what I weigh...how's that for motivation?



Gil

Monday, July 23, 2007

July 23, 2007 - 5 years down, a lifetime to go

Today is my youngest daughter's 5th Birthday.


Happy Birthday Rachel!


What a blur this day was. We literally closed on a house and then sped to the Hospital to deliver. We had only been back in Atlanta a couple of months, Cyd was just 20 months old...it was pretty hectic! Rachel certainly took her time that day and she continues to do things her way. In 3 weeks she is off to Kindergarten but I'll always remember that first time I held her.





G

Wednesday, July 18, 2007

July, 18 2007 - Stupidity

So, I'm stuck in traffic yesterday (on a side note can someone PLEASE do something about Piedmont Rd. from Peachtree to Lenox?) listening to ESPN Radio and I hear about Michael Vick's indictment on FEDERAL charges. Ok, now I am fired up! This is getting ridiculous with athletes. Black, White, Latino, I do not care! Some synapse is no longer firing in their brains that allow them (and yes it is still a minority of them) to do stupid shit. By stupid I don't mean ignorant, I mean plain out stupid. From firing AK-47's in the air (yes, a Sophomore on my beloved UF team did that this summer) to making it 'rain' in Vegas and the 12 other incidents involving Pac-Man to the latest with Vick it is reaching epic proportions. What is at the root of it? Personally, I think it is the way the gifted athlete is now coddled in our society that allows these guys to think they are 'untouchable'. Do you realize that USC just took a verbal commitment to play basketball from an 8th Grader...huh? An 8th Grader? Forget all the other things this means, right now this kid will live in a sheltered bubble for the next 4 years and have his every 13 year old whim attended to. Do you think at the end of his ONE YEAR college career (if he gets that far) and signs his first 7 figure NBA Contract this kid will have ANY moral compass?

I was also thinking about the background that most athletes today grow up in and how that effects their behavior until I ran across the dear Senator from Louisiana last night? How can you lump in background issues when the White, Upper Middle Class does something even dumber and on top of that HYPOCRITICAL.

Have you heard about Senator Vitters? He's the guy that took the seat of another CHRISTIAN CONSERVATIVE REPUBLICAN who left his Office in shame for marital infidelity. The guy he replaced railed on Bill Clinton (which is fine) and led the effort for his impeachment hearings on the grounds of infidelity all the while he was having an affair...really...how do you look in the mirror sir? So, along comes Vitters and he has all the same 'family values' as the last guy. He's big on life, big on family and has a 'strong moral compass'. That is until his phone number turns up on a DC Madam list. Now this guy is in REAL trouble and I don't mean lose his job and be shamed trouble. His wife is on record, when discussing infidelity in the Clinton White House, as saying that if her husband was unfaithful he should be prepared for a 'Lorena Bobbit' like incident. If I were Mr. Vitters I would remove all sharp objects and worry about his 'pound of flesh'.

No one is perfect, we all make mistakes. Fortunately, most of live out of the public eye so our mistakes are only seen by a few. If there is a lesson here, at least with the good Senator, is to practice what you preach. If you like to pay for sex, that's your business, but don't come our railing against infidelity and standing on family values. Seems like common sense to me but maybe I'm the stupid one.



G

Sunday, July 15, 2007

July 15, 2007 - The week that was...vacation











Like my previous post stated...Rosemary beach, what a place! If you are looking for a great relaxing spot with amazing amenities and a great beach check it out, http://www.rosemarybeach.com/.



Best way to sum it up will be pictures and a list of activities :)


1. Beach

a. swimming

b. shells

c. sandcastle construction

2. Pool

3. Tennis - the girls took a lesson, Ilene and I did a workout program and she took a lesson

4. Fishing - we went to a pier near Destin. We didn't catch anything but we saw people catching fish! We also saw a giant sea turtle, which was very cool.

5. Food - from the great local joints to the Sugar Shak we ate a lot!

6. Hanging out - it was great to just play and laugh with the girls, whether it was on the bikes, on the beach or in the loft!
G

Sunday, July 8, 2007

July 8, 2007 - Rosemary Beach, FL

The drive from Atlanta to Rosemary Beach took 6 and 1/2 hours. It was right at 330 miles so there was definitely traffic. A lot of the driving was not on freeways but it still moved well except for a few spots in Alabama and Florida when you go through little towns. The girls were great on the drive except for the occassional 'are we there yet'. Say what you want about mini vans but there is nothing liked a pimped out Honda Odyssey on the open road :)


Checked in around 4:30, got settled went for a walk, had pizza and went to Publix after the girls fell asleep. I'll take pictures of the place it is great!

This morning I woke up early and ran 2 miles and now we are getting ready to hit the beach.




G

Thursday, July 5, 2007

July 5, 2007 - Random thoughts

1. We had a great day yesterday! My sister Tara, her husband Matt and the boys are in town we had just had a great day. Seeing T smiling and happy is great, thank you Matt. Watching Cydney & Rachel enjoy their cousins makes me smile. We went to the parade, ate, played, swam, ate and watched fireworks, pretty much what the 4th is about.

2. Still bummed I couldn't run, but my hammy is happy.

3. What's with all the rain at Wimbledon?

4. Want to be jealous? My friend Jon Barkan who already has a pretty nice life is on a trip to Israel with a big group and I love following his blog (I have it linked on the left). We already get each other on the sports and life tip, so 'watching' him in Israel is awesome. It's been over 7 years since we were there...time to start planning...

5. It's noon and I am meeting a buddy @ Chipotle to grab a bite before heading out to play East Lake Golf Club. I am psyched. I love the course, and it should be a great afternoon.

6. We are on packing lockdown for the next 36 hours until we leave for Rosemary Beach. By far the most stressful part of vacation is getting ready, at least for us.

4th picks and vacation to be posted later



G

Tuesday, July 3, 2007

July 3, 2007 - Friends

We just finished booking a September weekend to go to Vegas with the 'Dallas Crew' and that always makes me think about friendships. Ilene and I have been blessed to have met so many wonderful people throughout our lives, both individually and collectively.

I think friendship is also a function of where you are in life. Today, we find friends in different ways than just a few years ago. As a couple we now meet friends through our kids, and maybe some other random sources like our synagogue, American Jewish Committee or National Black Arts Festival, but basically it's the kids - who they are school with, play sports with or go to camp with. Personally, it's been really good. When we first got back to Atlanta we struggled to find the niche between the friends we had left 6 years before and new ones. Now, being back almost 5 years we've settled in. I can't say we have a group that we pal around with like we did in Dallas, but we do have a nice set of friends.

All of this got stirred from the, "It's time to go to Vegas e-mail". We LOVE our friends from Dallas. All the right things came together to form this great group: we had just gotten married, were in a new city, Ilene had a new job, and BAM - you have 4 or 5 couples that just bonded. Now this is big, the bonding, because the girls could all like each other or the guys could all be pals but that every one liked every one else was cool. We all don't even like the same things for the most part. As guys we all bond over sports, mostly pro and college football. The great part though is we all root against each other for the most part. Being from Philly I can't stand the Cowboys and vice versa, and don't even get started with Collegiate Athletics, there is me the GATOR (and owner of the last 3 big sport National Champions), a Maryland Terrapin, A Golden Domer from Notre Dame, a Longhorn and a Penn Quaker (ok, he went to an Ivy, no sports but he did sing in the Glee Club). I love these guys and can't wait to see them in September for what will amount to 48 hours.

It's close to same dynamic I have with my 5 or 6 closest guy friends from my childhood in Florida. We all moved to South Florida right around 5th-6th Grade. They all from New York but everyone has their issues in life :). We all had our own but things they have become my closest friends. We have lived together in college and after in some cases. We have shared in the losses of parents, the joys of marriages and children. If I picked up the phone this instant and said I need you they would be on the first plane out.

I think I am developing those same things here in Atlanta on an individual basis. It's a good feeling. I also realize though that all of the 'other' things will come into play. Can guys in there late 30's early 40's develop the same friendships as teenagers? Can I fit into a group that might already be established or will I circle the outskirts like a planet revolving around a star?

We'll see, but in the meantime I'm psyched for Vegas and locally I look forward to my weekly poker game, golf with whoever lets me join them and all the other places we interact with friends.

Like I started, we are blessed.



G