ZAIVALA's SparkPeople Blog

Bear Report

Fri, 10 May 2013 07:43:34 EST

My Winter high was 236. Last Winter's was 248 if I remember correctly. And I'm starting my Spring Thaw -- down to 225.2 this morning.

No, I didn't win the Powerball. Would have helped.

I got a new diagnosis this Winter, one I should have gotten decades ago - Asperger's. I'm having trouble finding supports for this, except...

I have a new job, one that validates me as an individual and lets me help other disabled individuals. The training is killing me, being a...

Home At Last

Sat, 2 Mar 2013 11:26:18 EST

I am now moved in. I have moved my life, cat, TV, computer, etc. from tiny Blaine TN into the Big City, Knoxville TN (can you say Big Orange?).

Since early December, I have gone from being alone and having almost nothing to having almost everything I ever wanted. I have a woman who loves me completely for who I am, not what she wants of me or thinks she might make of me. She respects me, likes me, loves me, is WAY attracted to me. She is the best friend, lover, Priestess, everythin...

Going Musical

Sun, 20 Jan 2013 15:57:03 EST

Just wanted my SparkFriends to know that, at age 60, I finally got talked into going into the studio to record my first professional CD. Here's how it happened:

I attended, for the second consecutive year, GAFilk (The Georgia Filk Music Convention), and got some time in on my guitar and vocals. (Filk is the music of Fantasy and Science Fiction, often folk-based as is mine.) The appreciation of my music, as it usually is at these kinds of conventions, was very high.

I got...

Doin' the Bear Thing

Wed, 2 Jan 2013 15:16:11 EST

It's January 2, time for my Official High Winter Weight.

231.8. First time I've been over 230 this Winter, but...

Last January 2 I was 248. The January 2 before that I was 272.

My Autumn low weight have been 234, 223, and , this year, 209.8. (All these weight are from memory, but I have the logs to check.)

So it's a roller coaster. But I like the general trend.

This year I blasted the heck out of my Goal Weight. Next year maybe my origina...

Bouncing, Down

Tue, 21 Aug 2012 07:38:08 EST

Here's my recent weight history, thanks to keeping my Challenge Spreadsheets in the Pagan Place Challenges...

8/2/10 - 242
11/13/10 - 244
1/24/11 - 248
2/3/11 - 243
9/1/11 - 229
10/22/11 - 228
2/3/12 - 244
5/2/12 - 230
8/2/12 - 221
8/21/12 - 215

Up in the Winter, down in the Summer. I'm getting FURTHER down in the Summer, now have to try to not bounce back up this Winter. Bears and all, ya know

Moving along

Sun, 29 Jul 2012 10:14:51 EST

I had my big show yesterday. It went better than expected, not as well as it might have, and my energy ran out on me after my second set. I barely had the energy to drive home, and if I had stayed I might have had more opportunities to play. When I got home I hit the mattress and had a 2-hour nap.

But I'm still losing. Eight pounds in the last 3 weeks, and I'm within sight of my goal weight, set 3 years ago and so long unattainable. I can't tell you how many times I have considered...

Big Loser

Sat, 21 Jul 2012 10:37:34 EST

Four days ago I hit an all-time (last 30 years) low of 225-point something, and to show it was not a fluke, I had consecutive 225-point-somethings the next two days. Yayy me. This morning I was 22THREE-point-something.

I now own 2 pair of size 36 waist jeans (see, it was so exciting I almost typed 38 and would have been happy). I no longer can wear my 42s or my honey's 40s. I will be buying Wranglers for now, until I stop shrinking -- the brand I prefer costs too much to shrink ou...

Amazing Shrinking Man

Sun, 24 Jun 2012 19:42:59 EST

Well, the 42x30 jeans I was wearing just 6 months ago were literally falling off me without a belt. So I was wearing 40x30s, and they were feeling loose. Saturday I went jeans shopping at Voldemart (The Store Which Must Not Be Named) and tried on somed 38s. They felt a bit loose still, so I got some 36s. They fit! Granted they were "relaxed fit" but that still counts!

I haven't stepped on the scale for several days, but I've been hanging between 227 and 233... might have dropped a...

New theory

Sat, 26 May 2012 11:18:18 EST

I have been tracking my weight for years, thanks to the fact that I run a series of Challenges in a SparkTeam. I have noticed that my weight goes down in the summer and up in the winter. That appears to be something I have no control over. My goals are for the RANGE to get lower and maybe narrower. If I expect myself to maintain the weight I get down to in the height of summer, that is an unreasonable goal because my body WILL start storing fat as the weather gets cooler.

So. In th...

Job Interview

Wed, 30 Nov 2011 11:14:58 EST

I've been on Disability since 1998... for a mental illness from which I have largely recovered but still have some challenges. I have not been able to find work to supplement my SSDI, and it's not enough. I got trained in January of 2009 as a Peer Support Specialist... but all the jobs available at that time were full time, so I could not pursue them. I obtained my certification as a Peer Specialist effective December 29, 2010, and started applying for jobs...only to hear silence.

...

Part-Timing

Fri, 11 Nov 2011 12:18:24 EST

I've been on SparkPeople for a few years now. Have an impressive number of points. Still not to my goal, but not that far from it.

What have I lacked? Commitment. But in my case, it is because I have so bloody many things to commit to that I do each of them as a part-time job. I put in the hours I can when I can, and hope that I am advancing toward my goal of being the man I want to be. There is some evidence that I'm succeeding, and some evidence that I need to put more work into ...

Whack-A-Mole

Sat, 27 Aug 2011 15:08:20 EST

This has been a very hard time for me. I keep getting knocked down, and get up again. Maybe I'm whining a bit less each time, so that could be a good thing. But this has gone on for months now.

I got a place to live. It's nothing to write home about unless your parents are demolition experts. Now I'm finding all the deposits for water, electric, TV, Internet... I'm already having to get most of the money for the move from my mother, which galls me that I still need to do that at my...

Getting by

Fri, 25 Feb 2011 16:02:42 EST

Not really getting back into my work, either weights or cardio. Hopefully as the weather warms up I will have fewer excuses.

I'm about to jump to the next Trophy, get that tomorrow (today if I post a lot of messages to people). Always wonder what I'm doing to deserve it, but that's a jalapeno pudding so I won't eat it.

I love my SparkFriends, y'all keep me going.

What I Did With My Weekend

Mon, 22 Jun 2009 15:40:12 EST

I tried to post a blog here... the system kept telling me "No profanity please" but refused to identify which word(s) it felt were profanity. So please, especially if you are one of my friends or in one of my SparkTeams, go to http://www.xanga.com/mordewis and read the blog there (it's also on my MySpace blog if you're on my friends list there, but Xanga lays it out so much better and is my primary blog).

Bleh, Winter

Tue, 13 Jan 2009 05:45:11 EST

So I got my new bicycle... just in time for the coldest Fall ever. My weight has increased over the holiday season. Time to get serious and get into the gym, which I promise to do either later this month or first thing in February.

And what is it with SparkPoints anyhow? I tried to give thousands away in SparkGifts, and my total didn't even budge. I'm only a few hundred away from the next level, which I have perhaps earned by participation but certainly not from meeting my weig...

Oh, I've Been Out In The Woods All Day...

Tue, 26 Jun 2007 01:28:17 EST

Well, actually, a long weekend... Sapphire Spirit picked me up around 4:30 on Thursday afternoon, and we went to Splendor Hollow for SerpentStone Litha Gathering. Had an absolutely stunningly wonderful time, but I still had to watch my energy levels and take more naps than I'd like... it also threw my daily schedule way out of whack.

Good news -- I ate almost no meat over the weekend, lots of starch (which is OK on my diet), some salad... with all the walking I had to do and all t...

It's The Binge

Wed, 20 Jun 2007 17:36:50 EST

OK, I do not binge all the time... just the last couple hours of the day. Yes, I've read that you should have NOT eaten four hours prior to sleep. Doesn't help yet.

I'm also a cigar and pipe smoker. If I could afford the cigars, that would not be a problem -- I do not smoke around others (very rarely do I find someone who doesn't mind), smoking a cigar is a 45-minute commitment (re-lighting a cigar, at least what I've been smoking, is a baaaaaad idea)... so when I have a suffici...