It has been quite some time since I wrote anything or posted just because of the nature of my lifestyle. I try to be honest and open about my life to those who question but always it isn’t all that it seems. In the last 7 months, I have run every gamut of emotions and every feeling possible. In this time, I have changed my life for what I feel is better. I will run down a list of things that have happened to me that have shaped my life in the last 7 months. I hope that y’all understand my state of mind.
I began a diet back in January when I woke up around and went to shower. I walked by the large mirror in the bathroom and felt so repulsed by my image that I decided then to help myself. The next few months, I was able to shed some weight and I began to feel better about myself. I began this trip and transformation at a whopping 322 pounds. After nine months of dieting, I weight a spry 250 pounds. People say that I look better and I know that I look better than I did (though I hold myself in low self-esteem to being with). My “Battle with the Bulge” will be a life long struggle because of my family’s genetic composition. I am more built like my mother’s side of the family and mom’s family is generally bigger people. Now, though I am watching what I eat, my diet hasn’t stopped me from the goods of the southern pallet (e.g. fried chicken, BBQ, et. al.) that I love. I just have to love in moderation. I have also still been drinking throughout the whole thing so I haven’t given up everything that I can and do enjoy. My goal for the end of the year is to be back at 240 again but I am not going to cry and moan if I can only get to where I am because I am proud of where I am now.
Recently, I also, in an attempt to better my life, am quitting smoking. (I know, dieting and quitting smoking at the same time is nuts but when have I been normal, yanno?) After I noticed that I was going through around a pack and a half each day, I realized my addiction and decided to address it head on. My goal is to be smoke free by the end of the year. I have had some help. I purchased on of those e-cigarettes from the internet. By having this on my person at all times, I was and am able to cut my cigarette intake from 25-30 a day to 7-9 a day. I have done this in 3 weeks with the assistance of the e-cigarette. The e-cigarette works the same as dieting in that when you diet, self-help books tell you to eat 5 small meals or whatever to curb your appetite. I use the e-cigarette the same way. Instead of going and getting another whole cigarette, I take a hit or two from the e-cigarette and the craving is calmed, thus elongating the time between real cigarettes. I was spending around 35-40 dollars per week on smokes but now I am down to 12 bucks per week. I think that I can do this with help and with self-motivation.
In the same vein of changing lifestyles, I am going to get a new car. The Tahoe, as much as I love it, represented an old part of my life. One with cigarettes and gluttony. My Tahoe is large and bulky and it carries around a lot of stuff that is not needed in my life. I will also mention that my Tahoe gets around 17 miles/gallon and at 80 bucks a week or so gets expensive. My truck is the main reason that I don’t travel too much and visit my brother or my friends that live in other states. I, thankfully, have found a car that I fit in and really like. My new car will be a VW Passat TDI (which is the diesel model). The Passat gets 30 miles/gallon in the city and 40+ miles/gallon on the highway. It’s a clean burning diesel and doesn’t produce all that smoke that is normally associated with diesels. After I procure this automobile, I will be traveling more to visit friends because I can.
Now for another note. Here are some of the things that I have been listening to that have kept me sane (or insane for that matter).
The Dear Hunter “The Complete Color Spectrum”: I saw this band live when they opened for Coheed and Cambria last year and I was awaiting this album for the longest. The CD is 36 songs long and each song is related to a different color of the spectrum and how that color makes you feel. Sheer brilliance in my opinion.
Volbeat: Danish hard rock band with some popular songs. I recommend “Fallen” and “A Warrior’s Call” but there is a hidden gem on their first mainstream American record where they cover “I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry” by Hank Williams.
Rise Against: American punk band that is angst in a note. For good old fashioned American Rock, I suggest giving them a listen.
Black Tide: A band from Miami that are 20 and 21 years old. They are new metal and completely shred. Their new album “Post-Mortem” has some good ones but one in particular “That Fire” really rocks and melts faces
Operator: A band that only put out one CD but if you liked Chris Cornell, give them a listen. The lead singer is a dude named Johnny Strong (no joke) and was in some movies, his biggest being the first Fast and Furious movie. He was Leon if that helps.
I hope that I can do more of these posts. Most of my posts will be opinion and observational posts as they come to me. I hope that this is a good read and helps to understand where I am at the moment.
Proud of ya, kid! Keep grinding.
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