Secret Fitness Techniques

Wow, this year went by so fast that it was a blur!

I was looking over my notes and trying to determine how I did with my resolutions this year. On the positive side: I lost weight/fat and improved muscle tone, and vastly improved my hiking endurance. On the negative side: I did not bicycle enough, I had knee and shoulder injuries, and I did not consume enough protein.

My resolution for this next year is to continue hikes and lifting as is, but increase protein and bicycling, and be more careful about injuries.

I wanted my self-discipline and self-motivation to be stellar this year but it was a year full of stress. Stress may be the reasons for the injuries and for a very long "cold," or maybe it was over-training. So, let's try it again next year, and every year, and let's use the same secret techniques that have produced a good work career for me. To remind myself, what to do...

Set goals. What worked well last year was a target waist size and related weight loss, a defined "easy" hike mileage, and increased reps... when my weightlifting buddy wasn't looking. Begin with the end in mind. At work, it's been the number of technical reports published.

Be proactive. What worked well before was to madly cross-train, using all off-work time (no hanging around the house watching TV!). Just do it, the Nike ads say. At work, my interest takes over. Nobody has to tell me what to do, since I'm doing it. Do keep in mind that I have a desk job.

Do not overdo it. Think no over-training injuries. Allow both the mind and the body to win. Think win-win. At work, it has been distributing success credit to others.

Key is playing nice, smiling, sharing, mentoring, being courageous, keeping integrity, and demonstrating patience... with myself and others at the gym, trail, road, and work/lab. However, I do admit that I avoid some people to...

Be happy, and stay happy. "Do what you can with what you got," is my mantra... and...

Remember to rest. Nothing beats eliminating drama and reducing stress, and thus getting good sleep. The body has to heal itself after the carnage. Add regular massage, too.

Shhh... those are my secrets. Don't tell anybody.


- © 2012 by Willy

P.S., a happy new year to you.

It's The Attitude

The classic punch line is "There's got to be a pony in here somewhere..." after you're handed a pile of manure.

That's the attitude!

Whether it is at work or home, a good attitude and positive outlook is key in living a happy life.

I just got back last week to normal cardio after three months of downtime due to hurting a knee in yoga... another stinkin' injury. Three months of boring swimming and vastly reduced caloric intake made me look forward to recovery. Out of that I developed stronger shoulder girdle muscles, and I am now enjoying the Fall leaves on my hikes... more so than ever.

I had a bad relationship years ago that almost took me over the edge... she stunk and she gave me shit. I realized that I was lucky to be rid of such a hindrance. The albatross around my neck gone, I have become much more active and happy.

Same is true at work. For the last year I have been the subject of an investigation after false accusations for which I just got cleared of charges. However, I am being relieved of that responsibility anyway, which stinks like manure. "Don't throw me in that briar patch, Mr. Bear," I told the director. I was much too busy and stressed, and will enjoy the reduced workload.

I've looked and found three ponies out of three piles of manure handed to me. I feel blessed.

- © 2012 by Willy

Appreciation

I like it here. I came from a third-world country, and appreciate what we have here. I've been around and this country is the best there is.

Like me, there are many Americans that reflect an uplifting version of democracy. Of hope and trust in our system... that is not shared by others.

Most of us believe in our careers and our work because the job fulfills us and gives us a reason to live. We believe we may actually do some good, whereas others can't wait for early retirement.

Most of us stand tall in front of flag for the singing of The Star Spangled Banner at game or graduation. Others walk around during the moment.

Others don't seem to like their life and disrespect their country, which is their loss. There is always going to be some discontent, and most of us accept that. God help us all.


- text © 2012 by Willy

P.S., A good attitude is healthy.

The Best Sweat

There came a time during an elliptic gym workout when it did no good to towel my face dry of sweat... more was immediately generated. Then the same was true when climbing steep trails. Now, especially, in Hot Yoga class... I just leave the sweat.

There also came a time when sweaty people looked better... more accomplished maybe; tougher; or perhaps birds of similar feather. Sweaty faces are the best looking. As they say, the best kind of sweat is the kind dripping from your face.

Finally, my office temperature felt cold enough for me to open a window, since I do not control the wing's thermostat... nor do I want to... and my office neighbors said that I was creating tornados at my door. I noticed that I only use my home air conditioner to sleep... and the heater is seldom used, period.

Then I got my epiphany: it's not just the sweat. I realized that I'd rather accept most situations, and be happy. And admire others who do the same.

It dawned on me that I am not sweating life. That life is no sweat. Life has become easy. This is, by far, the best sweat.

- text © 2012 by Willy

Aging is Healthier

First, I've stated earlier that us old farts have an advantage: We live simpler lives... with no kids, spouse, mother-in-law, school, mortgage, drama or worries. This gives us more time, flexibility and focus. Thus we are happier, enjoy ourselves and train more... a clear advantage over youth.

Two: Harvard researchers have stated that optimistic people... people with a better mood, a better sense of well-being... tend to have healthier blood pressure, cholesterol and weight than pessimists, and less heart disease. When you're happier, you take better care of yourself.

Three: Author and celebrity Doctor Mehmet Oz says that there are no limits on what the human body can do except what we put on them. We don't think as quickly but are more clever. It's not just wisdom but how much we want to win. The secret is wanting it more. We become happiest at our fifth and sixth decades because it all comes together, it begins to make sense, of what life's about. Oz's prescription: Do daily rigorous activity, eat real food, and give your heart a reason to keep beating… a desire.

It IS really all in the attitude... happiness, acceptance and satisfaction leading to a desire to live.

- © 2012 by Willy

Struggling Is Good

Sometimes struggles are exactly what we need in our life. If we were allowed to go through life without obstacles, it would cripple us... we would not be as strong as we could have been. Struggle is growth.

I'm mentally and physically tougher today because I've often struggled with work, kids, relationships and injuries. Relationships have been the toughest... I told my ex that I'd rather get shot than divorced. Monday I will effectively struggle with dozens of difficult people and scores of email where forty years ago I was struggling to know myself. Today I struggled pressing 100-lb dumbbells but twenty years ago it was 20-pounders, and in a week I will struggle with days of all-day hiking where fifty years ago it was the second lap around the track. I accept and even welcome these struggles.

Unlike Popeye, I am what I am, but that's not all that I am. Life will continue to hammer and strengthen me.


- © 2010 by Willy

Time

"Time is nature's way of keeping everything from happening at once," said Einstein. Time is a human contrivance, say the philosophers. A Higher Order Being doesn't need time... He can handle it.

"Time," I wrote as a kid, "is my most important ally," I was surprised to read. Maybe because I was more patient and led a simpler life then.

Before The Big Bang, there was no such thing as time. And the future is defined by our individual decisions and thus is extremely flexible... and hasn't happened yet. So, today, right now, is what I have.

If I really think about it, I do have as much time as I need. I haven't done badly and I aim to make the best of it.

OK, I've convinced myself, so off hiking in the rain I go.

- © 2009 by Willy

Shelter

Thankfully, I now live in a nice, comfortable house with plenty of space in and out. Not the Windsor Castle, mind you, but a darned good place for an engineer, brought on as an evolution to a long developing career. It keeps the rain out and gives me a place to sleep.

I was watching the back yard this morning and noticed a wren building a nest in one of the birdhouses. The wrens' loud song wakes me early on weekends, so I knew that they were around. The male wren is a hard worker, developing many nests.

I used to wonder how birds survive storms, but my observation is that they don't. Last spring, after a nasty storm, my bird feeders went weeks without needing refill. And this happens repeatedly.

If their instinct lets them, a birdhouse is the Windsor Castle to a bird. I have several birdhouses, but not all birds use them, and many die in storms.

I remember several times in my life when I had no home. Times were when I made like the wren and built my nest from scratch. They were bad times, long gone. Life is sooo good now!

.
- © 2008 by Willy

Touchstones

I'm visiting family this weekend, centered on my eightynine year old aunt Melita... the last of the elders of a large, tightly knit, ethnic family, now in assisted living... a place she calls her cushy prison. Today we had brunch at a nice ethnic restaurant and went sightseeing along old traunts. Also visited Delia, a cousin with Alzheimer's. Tomorrow, we have brunch at Caloli's (one cousin) and dinner at Carolina's (another cousin).

I am not used to the rapid and multiple conversations of my old cultural family group... sometimes they talk and listen to three conversations simultaneously... it's like having had a dozen cups of coffee, so even though I thoroughly enjoy them, I also enjoy the peace and quiet of my motel room afterwards.

Monday, I have all to myself, so I'm renting a bicycle to retrace some of my childhood rides... newspaper routes, school routes, and church routes, mostly... there was no family nor personal car 'till college, and I was and still am very hyperactive, independent and adventuresome, so I rode everywhere, in all weather.

What I am and do now is just an extension of what I was and did as a kid. There have been gradual evolutionary improvements, but no radical changes. From bringing home discarded TVs for parts to designing high-tech equipment, and from toys to the real things. I've avoided people all the way. I am what I am, and have always been. And aunt Melita is a touchstone I use to measure not only how far I've gone but if I've stayed on course. She'd tell me if I don't notice... and so would my many cousins.

My life's always been in forward motion, and will continue to be... quite the chicane.

- © 2008 by Willy
.

Keep Quiet

T. Boone Pickens once said that the higher a monkey climbs a tree, the more people that can see his ass.

Visibility has its drawbacks. You are a big, obvious target that others can not only sling mud at but shoot down too.

I like where I am. It's amazing to me how much power I have from the bottom. I can get a lot done without getting seen. And I don't get shot at.

The key to my mental health is to keep my head down. Survival is to say nothing and to try a little to look like I might know what I'm doing, which I do. I just keep quiet, and get things done.

All the monkeys up high spend most of their time and effort throwing mud at each other, and sometimes one of them gets killed. People can be such asses.

Not for me!

- © 2008 by Willy
.

Generations

"If they are happy then they are successful" is the modern generation definition.

My older generation defined success as having enough discipline and sacrifice to save the money to afford house, car and kids, the accouterments that went with it, with the requisite independence and contributions. Happy came a distant sixth.

"How is THAT going to make ME happy?" the newbies chant in unison.

The concept of independence has been lost through the generations. My grandparents were able to build a successful life without WalMart. My concept of independence is to stand on my own two feet and bother others as little as possible. Most of the current generation seems to think nothing of bothering friends and family for menial things like dropping off a car for an oil change. They don't even know where the dipstick is, the dipsticks.

My generation would not even think of moving back home with mom and dad... living in a tent being preferred... but many of the new generation do this with no shame... sponging off mom and manipulating dad.

My grandmother thought of a little fat as being healthy, wealthy and successful, since a little fat allowed a person to survive through a famine better than a thin person. Most of this new generation seems to be pure fat but couldn't survive a single day without food, the softies.

In business, the Peter Drucker generation believe success to be determination, goal setting, concentration and courage. Many of the new generation thinks of business success as being able to get something for nothing. They remind me of an irresponsible puppy, cute and entertaining, but useless.

Will this Rome burn?

- © 2008 by Willy
.