$5 Heart Disease and Minivan Roadtrip

God bless the kids in my neighborhood.
They will play outside until drenched in sweat and developing hip bursitis from cycling for hours on end.  I guess if you're gonna do it, do it right.
But every now and then they make me feel like a jerk.
Today was my lucky day.
I was backing into my driveway when 2 of them ride up and ask if I want to buy some doughnuts.....oh the irony.
At that point I am faced with a dilemma of sorts.  Do I want doughnuts?  No.  Do I want to pay for something I don't want for the sake of their feelings.  Ok honestly, no.  Do I necessarily want that extra box of diabetes floating around for someone else to buy?  No. 
Ugh,...so I smile, say no thanks, and then watch as an 8 year old heart is crushed as he mentally spouts swear words over a dozen doughnuts and a heartless neighbor in spandex.
Such a dreamkiller, I know...

But the whole sell-doughnuts-for-the-sake-of-something kills me.  And honestly not just from a health standpoint, although there seems to be a little irony in giving $5 and receiving an increased heart attack risk and side of extra back fat. 
We humans are not as smart as we like to think sometimes.
Perhaps we should consider alternatives,...like just donating money.  Generosity....what a concept.
 
Boys, if you replace those doughnuts with egg whites, I will make it rain....slight stretch, but perhaps I will continue to let you leave plastic artillery in my yard for sport.

* * *
Great day at the gym.
Typical Tuesday I guess,...and yet not typical.
I met with a new client today, and it sounds like he is on board and ready to roll.  It took me a few years to grasp the whole its-not-my-job-to-convince-you-that-you-need-to-change-your-lifestyle mindset, but it was the best mind-shift I made.
Mainly because well, its true.
Fact is, people will change when they want it enough.  Whatever "it" is.
Unfortunately, we live in a society that will point fingers faster than a 5 year old, and has somehow lost a huge sense of personal responsibility for anything pertaining to self.
Funny, because here's the cold, and very harsh truth:
No one truly cares about your excuses.  Why?  Because they are just that: excuses. 
Wrong or bad?  No,...because coddling someone in their self-dug pit does nothing but put 2 people in there.
Hard to hear for some, I know...but tis true.

* * *

I mentioned the other day I'd post about the football game Saturday night.
Ah yes, Elon versus Appalachian.
First, it was me against 3 familial App fans.  I was out numbered.  Am I a huge Elon football fan?  Eh, I went there, yes, but there were many a game when I'm pretty sure the bar was packed before kickoff......and the game wasn't on TV.
Nonetheless, I rocked my Elon sweatshirt in the App section and prayed for no confrontation.  Mainly because I was soaking wet and covered in a poncho.  No one ever kicked ass in a poncho.  Period.
Mom sent them from the dollar store.
Not knocking on the dollar store, I'm just saying it was probably serran wrap with a hood...that just looked like a ginormous body condom...

 We had a blast,..packed in a minivan complete with a portable toddler potty and extra seating...

We waste nothing.
This is how a grown man tailgates with what little dignity he can muster while sitting in some cookie crumbs and possible dried urine from a faulty pull-up.
No chance the people beside us could cast judgement....

This was Boone-style beer pong.
No shirt,...no solo cups,...no table.  You rip off your shirt, hold tight to your 12 ounces of hope, and toss a tennis ball 15 yards and pray for the best.
Oddly enough, I respect that.  Then again, I was just a few feet away sitting in the back of a van eating salsa next to a toddler potty.
I judge myself.

We had fun to say the least, and survived the rain, Elon's loss, and everything in between.
I'll leave you with a few more pictures from a Saturday with the Parker siblings (we missed you Jan!!)...

Stretchy pants and corn pudding

Monday!!
You would think that after a nap and going to bed at 8:15 last night that I'd be well rested....ha, not exactly the case today.
Everything felt heavy and I was more tired than I anticipated.  Not sure if it was possible to overdose on B-12, but by 11am I was willing to give it a try.

I was coming off of a busy weekend, but a great weekend.  I started off my Saturday morning with some cardio at our fitness center here in the neighborhood.  18 minutes into my jog and the treadmill nearly blew up.  Just completely stopped.  I was pressing buttons, unplugging things, hitting things,...no luck.  I was forced to do the unthinkable...finish on the eliptical.  For the record, my quads HATE the eliptical.  I can put that thing on level 4 and be wanting my mama after 5 minutes.  For 25 minutes I thought I was going to go nuts.  I'm serious.  I was breathing like an asthma patient and my feet were literally going numb.  What a horrible mental image...and sounds so pathetic...I get it.  But at 6am on Saturday morning, it was my reality. 
Later that day we went to the Elon/Appalachian football game, so I was stroking it in cornhole by noon.  Ok, sort of an exaggeration...our boards are pretty slick, so I was actually struggling to put some back spin on the stupid bags to keep them on the board.  I analyzed this way too much, but you get the idea.  We had a great time, but I was pretty pooped after that.  How did we do that in college??

Me and my brothers tailgating...

Yesterday was my much-needed day off.  I could hardly keep my eyes open and was pretty much forced into a nap by 3pm.  I didn't fight it.  As I said, in bed by 8:15 like a classic 75 year old....way to go me.

Today was a good day...great time with clients and many laughs.  Mondays demand laughter.  My workout was pretty solid, but I was struggling to keep the weight heavy.  I wasn't as focused as I would have liked, so I had to just plow through the workout without considering how tired I was.  I'm looking forward to another strength phase and a creatine cycle.  Thanksgiving Day should probably be my jump-start to it all....I mean, my God I will practically be in a food-coma by 4pm.  Do I splurge on Thanksgiving?  Uh....yeeeaaahh.  I strap on my stretchy pants and attack my plate like Agustus in the chocolate factory and pray my pancreas doesn't explode.
Then, its back on track Friday morning. Not going to lie, I feel pretty miserable that night and drink pepto like water, but its only once a year...

Whew, ok, time for bed.  Its almost 9...living on the edge here in Mebane...
Night folks :)