GenX meets GenZ in a cafe and it goes something like this

Can you even believe that I’m 53 years old today? I don't look as old as I am, though. I mean, look at my face. See? Not a day over 32. (See pic below and laugh.)

Sure, I’m bald and gray, and my crow’s feet have crow’s feet. But with this baby face I can pull 30's.

Not. Nope. Not even in fantasy land.

Don't worry. I'm not as delusional as all that. I look at least my age if not older. But anyway...

Had a scone, but came in for a muffin;

I went to a local café today for a birthday muffin, and it was quiet, so I thought I’d ask the person behind the counter a few questions. Here’s how it went. I’m the GenXer, so I’m pretty sure that’s what I said, obviously. The lines of the GenZeder, though, are fictionalized to protect all involved. 

GenXer: Hello, are you the manager?

GenZeder: No, just work here.

GenXer: But you’re over there and look like you’re managing things. I mean to me you’re doing all the merchandising and stuff, so you’re definitely essential here.

GenZeder: I’m doing the inventory and the inventory, well, it’s not adding up.

GenXer: Aren’t you supposed to say, “The inventory isn’t inventorying”?

GenZeder: Well, I was going to, but…

GenXer: So what you’re saying is that it’s not giving?

GenZeder: Slay

GenXer: Honey, always.

(Like I said, fictionalized for my enjoyment.)

My fit life today at 53 - after glance back, fully focused on the future

Mine is a complicated relationship with food, a relationship that leads me down a path toward self-destruction during particularly challenging eras of my life. Fortunately, at 53 I’ve been up, and I’ve been down many times before, so I’m no longer carrying the extra stress of not understanding my body or fearing that I’m incapable of making the kind of lifestyle changes necessary to get my nutrition, and ultimately my fat to muscle ratio, back in check.

I know nothing is permanent if I decide to stop accepting a status quo that is not to my liking. Earlier this year, as I detailed in a previous post, I decided to address my health to be able to attack the cancer of morbid obesity that has once again taken hold of me.

Enjoying a free 8-shot shaken espresso at Starbucks on my 53d b-day

My weight maxed out at 455 this time around, five pounds less than I weighed at my all-time high weight in my late 30s, the result of 9/11-related PTSD

I don’t know how I let this happen to me again after losing nearly 200 pounds by my 40^th birthday, back in August 2011. Reflecting on that now is not helpful. Setting goals and planning is. So that is what I am in the process of now. In fact, I’ve already lost 45 pounds, which is about 10 percent of my body weight since May of this year.

Now my goal is to achieve a much healthier weight, remaining mindful of my choices, day by day. I commit from this day forward to making choices filtered through my original decision to control my caloric intake and spur myself to exercise at least 10 minutes daily.

The goal this time is to get down to a weight somewhere between 245 and 285 by my 55^th birthday two years from now. It’s God’s whether I get there at all, but I am certainly going to strive toward my goal, so long as I have the functions working in my body to allow me to do so.

You may be thinking, “Hey, Brian, why would you want to stop at 245 if you are still considered obese, according to your height of 6 feet 1 inch, above 225. Well, I can only reply that I know myself, and because I’ve been down this road before, I know what happens along the way to my ultimate fitness goal.

I know that 285 is achievable, and it is a comfortable size for me. Any less than 245 pounds and I feel scrawny. So, I will focus on building muscle through resistance training, just as I did the last time I struggled with this monkey on my back, or should I say piggy in my gut? lol

"Where I'm From": A poem for my mom on her 65th birthday

Today would be my mom's 77th birthday. She passed away when she was just 69, from lung cancer that spread to her brain. Smoking robbed her from many years, and that has been a lesson to me to take care of myself. Life is precious. With all the temptations to self-comfort, taking care of yourself is sometimes not a priority when the world gets tough. But if I am not willing to do it for myself, I must be willing to do it for the people I love. If I have any impact on others like my mom did on me, people who love me would feel lost without me.

On my mom's 65th birthday, she asked my sister, my brother, and I to each write a poem. We were given only the prompt, "Where I'm from", and of course, we all start from one place, don't we? We are here because our mothers loved us enough to carry us in their womb and give birth to us. That is the start of it all. We are with our mothers, if we are lucky, for most of our lives. Too bad we cannot be with them in the end.

Anyway, I thought I would share this poem with you and perhaps encourage you to write your own poem for your mom inspired by the same prompt. If you do, please share it with me in the comments. I would love to know more about those who take the time to read my blog. You are the reason I keep doing it.

"Where I'm From", a poem written for my mom on her 65th birthday