Q Factor
O ver the last few years, after a health scare, I’ve been working on trying to lose weight and keep myself as healthy as possible.
I say “as possible” because while I may not be a stick figure or a muscle man, I try and I’ve really made a lot of strides.
Food is also delicious and I like to have it. My portion control is better than it used to be, but I don’t really deny myself of too much. I’m still making progress. Baby steps. A few years back, I found myself in the (redacted) pound range. I was not in great shape but I also wasn’t in a great place to do anything about it – physically or mentally. Eventually, I started seeing myself in pictures and…
This is usually the point where a person says that they didn’t like what they saw in the pictures and they worked to change it. In my younger years, I didn’t like what I saw in the mirror. I thought I was ugly.
By the time I hit junior high and high school, though? I realized that if you can’t say anything good about yourself, it’s much harder for other people to say good things about you. So I began thinking – and believing – that I was handsome. The way I saw it? The list was Denzel Washington, Will Smith, then me.
These days, the list has grown to include some of your favorite actors/athletes but I’m still top 10. The things we tell ourselves should be used to pump ourselves up. I digress.
So I felt was handsome, but I knew I wasn’t in good shape. I knew I was eating too much and doing too little, but at that time, I wasn’t motivated to do much of anything.
It started to affect my job. It was hard to climb press box stairs – I’d be winded by the time I got to the top and got to my seat to cover my assigned game. It was hard to walk through parking lots. I didn’t enjoy that feeling – how in the world was I tired from walking?
After the health scare, I saw myself in older pictures and decided that I needed to make changes to do better for myself. So I changed my portions. I started to drink more water. I did things to reduce my stress levels.
And I decided that it was time to start exercising more.
I joined a gym and worked out three times a week. This did a pretty good job of keeping me honest.
The fees I was paying for the gym also served as a great motivator. That’s not a knock on any gym; when you’re paying for something, you want to get your money’s worth.
There was a period where money got tight, so I had to abandon that and changed it to walking on the track three times a week. This also helped, though I prefer walking on the land around my home just because of all the beautiful scenery. Tracks are great but there’s just not much to see. It’s hard to get hyped up seeing empty bleachers.
Everything else? Small changes. I’d take the stairs when possible to just get a little bit of activity in. I actively try to park further away from places to give myself a little walk to get where I’m going. When I can, I get to a basketball court and do a little shooting or do some push-ups. When I first started, I tried to lose all the weight at once and, if I didn’t, I felt like I was a failure. (That’s a column for another day.) Then, I realized small steps are still steps.
It’s not perfect. Like I said, I still like food. But I eat until I get full and I stop. I can wait longer between meals and snacks. I still like to snack, but I try not to consistently stuff my face. Additionally, the snack choices are more diverse. I’m working on it.
I’ve lost more than 80 pounds since I was at my absolute largest. I’d like to lose a little more and try to tone up. There are still some changes to make. I’ll join a gym again soon and get back to a consistent regimen. I probably won’t ever be Mr. Olympia, but I’m better than I was. And I’m still trying. In the end, that’s the best you can do.
FREE AGENCY DOMINOES
I absolutely love this time of year – when free agency hits in three of the four major sports – the NFL, NBA and NHL. I’m as much of a fan of cohesion and consistency as anyone, but I also like to see how teams try to defend their titles or how they try to attack the champions.
For instance, when the rest of the NBA saw the Golden State Warriors stockpiling Kevin Durant with Steph Curry and Klay Thompson and Draymond Green and Andre Iguodala, teams started trying to get their own assets to challenge them. The Rockets went out and signed Chris Paul to go with James Harden. The Raptors and Spurs swung the trade that sent Kawhi Leonard to The Six and DeMar DeRozan to the Alamo city.
The same was true in the NFL. Kansas City has taken strides to improve its defense to match its high-octane offense led by East Texan Patrick Mahomes. The Los Angeles Rams improved their defense and it got them all the way to the Super Bowl. The Jacksonville Jaguars needed a quarterback to match their defense; they went and got one in Nick Foles.
More intriguing to me is when free agents don’t leave. We go back to the NBA for this one. Let’s say that the aforementioned Kawhi Leonard decides to re-sign with the Raptors and they try to run it back. That decision affects at least two other teams –the Lakers and Clippers are both trying to sign him. Teams then have to make moves to make themselves better when the first option doesn’t pan out.
It’s going to be a very interesting next few weeks before the new seasons start.