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elmURLess Textual Tales

First off...good for you for making the important choice to get healthy. I personally had my moment of truth a couple years ago and decided to make the plunge. I started one way and modified my beliefs as I went. I have my swings or my offs and ons. I am currently trying desperately to get back there...but it's hard with a pregnant wife in the house. So I do what I can right now. Not sure how old you are...but it's good you are meeting with a trainer (even if it is until you get a feel for what you are doing and then do it yourself). I started having back issues and had to start some weight training. It was the only thing that alleviated my back pain. Anyway...I ended up losing 70 pounds on my path (then I gained about 15 of them back). So I did something good. I started out believing that there was only one way to get healthy...then I learned a lot down the way. Now I know there are many ways to get where someone needs to go. The important thing is...chose a path that you can stick to. The other important thing I learaned...is that you can't outrun the fork. Meaning...exercise is a good way to help lose weight...but the hard work has to be done in the kitchen. So whatever your version of getting healthy is...I applaud you!

I am also guessing if you call your trainer BUH-LOCK-AY... AY-AY-RON too many times...he might make you do something that you don't like. 🤪

The Pitralon F? Yeah...to me that stuff smelled like motor oil that was stuck in a hickory smoker. I did not care for it at all.
 
Thanks @dangerousdon for the encouragement. I have long deluded myself by saying knowledge was not the problem - it was the execution. Which is partially true, but me asking for and accepting help from another man is really difficult.

I quit high school football because I was intimidated by the weight room. I did not know how to ask for help at the time nor how to confess my fears. This is despite the head coach begging me to rejoin the team. I was 6'3" and about 225 at the time. He needed an O lineman. My Dad was not around after age 8, and my experience for asking for help in little league baseball and pee wee football had never gone well. So I just quit the high school team. This is despite a senior who was headed to play at Southern Miss putting his arm around me the day I had to run laps for skipping the weight training and encouraging me not to quit. All I would have had to do was to say to him or the coach "I have never been in a weight room, and I know I am going to be so pathetic that everybody is going to laugh at me." I think he would have taken it from there and got me where I needed to be in my head. That is one of my greatest regrets in life because I love the game and missed out on the rewards of being on a team. But I honestly don't think I had the ability to identify & confess my fear and ask for help at that point. I saw it as a sign of weakness that would be met with brutal dismissal. This is part of the reason I am so passionate about encouraging men and boys to identify their fear, name it, ask for help around it, and face it head on. Of course that also means challenging men and boys to respond to such vulnerability with their own vulnerability. "What are you scared of, and is there anyway I can help you to face it?" Those are two questions great mentors ask. Knowing which fear is the enemy and who your allies are in facing it is everything.

The older I get, the more I realize that fear is my biggest obstacle. I will, Lord willing, turn 50 in November, so I decided if I wanted to be on this earth long enough to be here for my wife and daughter, then I would have to intentionally abandon the DIY approach to my weight loss. Thanks for sharing your experience. It really means a lot to me!
 
dangerousdon said:
I am also guessing if you call your trainer BUH-LOCK-AY... AY-AY-RON too many times...he might make you do something that you don't like.
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I called him that on day 2, but decided not to on day 3. My brother-in-law recently said, "If you don't hate your personal trainer, they are not doing their job." So I do not want to tempt fate.
 
elmerPHuD said:
o I decided if I wanted to be on this earth long enough to be here for my wife and daughter
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This is a huge motivator. Mid 2017 I realized (not discovered) that I had a host of chronic issues that frankly I was neglecting and or was taking the approach that doctors would fix it with a pill. I learned that if you don't take a hold of your own health...no one else will. Not even health professionals. I am likely one of the crazy ones. But to be honest...I am significantly healthier now than I was five...ten...fifteen...and even 20 years ago. To be honest...I am likely the healthiest I have been since I left the Marine Corps in 1998. I might even be healthier than before then too? But no one was going to do it for me...and honestly (and I am dissing medical professionals...they have their place and can be a great tool...I have a great relationship with some of mine) the doctors were not going to get me healthy either. I had to do it on my own. Sometimes it was really easy...other times my journey was and is the hardest thing I have ever done. But in the end...I took hold of my own health...and I got healthy all on my own. It looks like you are taking steps in the right direction. Oh...and you and I are about the same age. I turn 48 in December. And I think we are of similar size too. I am currently 6'3 and 270 (like I said...I gained about 15 pounds back...need to get rid of those) and have a large frame. I was 330 pounds. If you want to discuss what I did and how I did it and what kind of issues I had, I am happy to discuss...just send me a PM.
 
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Catie's Bubbles Le Marché Du Rasage
Edwin Jagger DE87
Wilkinson Sword Classic 2nd use
Grizzly Bay Tuxedo
Humphrey's Rose Witch Hazel
PAA Tombstone splash

The Catie's Bubbles Le Marché Du Rasage gets ignored too often. Too many other good choices. Imagine a fresh, clean, ocean scent. Imagine air drying your bath towels in salty air. This is a beautiful scent. It is a salty soapy scent. Reminds me a bit of the Swedish Dream Sea Salt Soap from Kala. I rushed a bit on this one as I had 10 minutes to get the shave in. Happy to get a DFS with zero nicks, which have been all too common for me lately. I am still trying to get use to teaching through a mask. However, what I like even less is trying to read student faces behind their masks. I rely on their facial feedback to shift gears in class. It is surprising how much you can get from just eyes though. My wife is pretty much exhausted with 3 weeks of teaching 3rd graders while also developing lesson plans for online options. But everyone is in good health. The monthly paychecks keep coming, so - blessed. 🙏

I have to share this email my wife's principal sent to the staff today. This is how you know you live in rural West Tennessee. 🤪

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Hope all is well with you all.
 
Nice shave yesterday Todd...even if it was a bit rushed. I am probably the only wet shaver in the world who has never tried Catie's Bubbles. I know, I know...hard to believe for such an iconic shave soap...right? Your wife's email is a funny one. My wife is from rural Pennsylvania. I know there they pretty much close schools and shut the whole state down for the first day of buck.

Thanks for sharing my friend!
 
dangerousdon said:
Nice shave yesterday Todd...even if it was a bit rushed. I am probably the only wet shaver in the world who has never tried Catie's Bubbles. I know, I know...hard to believe for such an iconic shave soap...right? Your wife's email is a funny one. My wife is from rural Pennsylvania. I know there they pretty much close schools and shut the whole state down for the first day of buck.

Thanks for sharing my friend!
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Your not alone @dangerousdon, I have never tried Caries Bubbles either, not sure why, just haven't.

As far as the first day of buck season in PA...Not only do I get the day off, but it is one of our paid holidays.
 
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