I almost can't believe that it has now been over six months since I have been to Las Vegas. A variety of circumstances have led to this half-year break. They included having a colonoscopy, a trip to Greece, my wife's trip to help her sister, my wife's trip to assist our son in moving here, actually having our son here, a mystery respiratory illness, a trip to the Grand Canyon, several Phoenix Suns games, a Seattle Mariners spring training game, various concerts, driving my non-profit's clients to several medical appointments ...
It sounds a little busier than it has actually felt. Unfortunately, I have also been running extremely bad in poker, which started right at the end of my last Las Vegas trip. Either that, or suddenly I now really suck at poker. It has been a very frustrating (in poker) last six months. I am hoping that a trip to Las Vegas will help get me back on track.
I decided not to write a Part II to my last post. However, I will speak here of one of the two things I was going to write about. With several things serving as motivation, I decided that I needed to do something about my weight if I hope to live several more years. It is funny sometimes to look at the perspectives that we have integrated into ourselves. I was a skinny kid. My siblings were also pretty thin. However, I've had a huge appetite almost my entire life. In high school, I was very active in sports. I was a victim of the freshman 15 when I began college. I was pretty slim when I began my first professional job after being poor during graduate school -- which certainly helps keep weight down -- but over the years, my weight went up. The glory era of online poker didn't help as I played poker almost every night back then. Anyway, after hemming and hawing after deciding not to pay $1,100-1,500/month to get semaglutide shots, I decide to man up and cut out sugar and carbs from my diet. I am not following any particular name diet plan and am not feverishly counting my carbs, just cutting out all the bad stuff. Monday, March 10 will be the two-month mark since I began. As of the morning of March 7, I have lost 26 pounds. the first 20 came off pretty rapidly the first month, but things have slowed down the past four weeks. However, what I am doing is very reasonable. I was surprised that I have not missed many things I regularly ate, but the temptations seem to be coming a little bit more the past couple of weeks. However, I am a stubborn dude and have largely stuck with my plan. In the past two months, I've had two days when I ate a lot of carbs, usually due to some life circumstance, but they actually seemed to help me bust through some weight plateaus I had been stuck on. So ... a slimmer version of lightning36 will be invading Las Vegas this coming week.
I plan on playing some poker with some friends and maybe doing a few meals with some. Hit me up if you want to fling a few cards together or grab a drink/meal (keto in my case, of course). I have felt pretty bored the last few weeks. I am really looking forward to this trip.
Thanks for reading!
Congrats! I need to get my act together and lose some weight, too. Being age 55+ doesn’t make it easier!
ReplyDeleteIt used to be soooo much easier to lose weight. Ahhh ... to be young again! I have been surprised that this has gone so well for me. The scale continues to encourage me. I weigh less, I look better, I feel better. I've curbed my appetite a bit, but have been making sure to sub in the right foods when I am hungry.
ReplyDeleteI wish you success for improving your health. I never had a serious weight problem as I have always been athletic and conscience of my health. I did find my self over weight by a mere 15 lbs. Then I quit drinking beer, for several reasons. Lost that 15 lbs pretty quick. Still enjoy ciders, seltzers, and tequila. I will end this comment with this quote I recently shared on FB. "You can 100 problems in life. Until you have a health problem. Then it's the only problem. Suddenly the things that used to stress you, money, relationships, deadlines, etc.. feel so insignificant. Without health, even the best things in life lose their meaning. Health isn't just a small part of life, it's everything.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your perspective. Looking back, I was concerned about my wife, my kids, my job and the people we served, money for everyday life, putting away money for retirement, ... Everything but my own health. Even now, I can't really explain why I haven't done anything about my weight until recently. I guess that, in my mind, I am still 36 years old and weigh 175 pounds. The reality is starkly different.
ReplyDeleteFirst: congrats on gaining control over your impulses! It's never too late to get healthier, and the older you get, the more critical your health focus becomes. As has been said, it impacts every part of your life - how long you'll live, how comfortably you'll live those years, your ability to play with your [gulp] grandkids, etc. As a family guy, I know these things are VERY important to you & your wife.
ReplyDeleteAs far as the questioning your poker abilities, I believe every one of us goes through a dark period --- several times (for me at least) where we doubt our abilities and question whether we're running into bad luck or bad play. I've always found that getting outside analysis from trusted sources is key to your growth and stopping self-doubt. For me, that answer is my own blog posts detailing my thoughts. I suggest the same to you: put out a few hands that concern you & give your details as to the how's and why's. See what kind of responses you receive.