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My Spare Tire
Confession time. I’ve put on more than twenty pounds since this time last year. My belly is all jiggly and the man-boobs have returned. Pants and shorts without elastic in the waistband are uncomfortable. It’s not my fault. A penchant for sweets had nothing to do with it. My gym closed last May, tendinitis in…
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Swap Resolutions for Priorities
For most of my career, instead of days off for “lesser” federal holidays, my employer has given us the week off between Christmas and New Year’s Day. Depending on when the holidays fall, I usually add days of vacation time to either end — both if possible. Most years, the holiday vacation is my longest break from the…
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Losing My Addictions
My weight has varied by less than three pounds for going on two years now. Not gaining is great, but I really want to shed the oldest fat in my body — fat that settled around my waist decades ago and is now firmly entrenched. The weight is less the issue than a desire to end the jiggling. If…
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Thinking about Retirement
I got my first steady job in the summer of 1972 at an ice-cream store in a brand new shopping mall. I was fourteen. Except for a month or two in 1977 after my employer went out of business, I’ve worked at least one job ever since. Those early positions were more character-building than income-producing. Saving…
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The Longest Night
Winter is my least favorite time of year. I hate cold weather, and the shorter days trigger my Seasonal Affective Disorder. Throw in all the holidays that revolve around food and a tendency to carb-load, and the biggest gift I get every year is an extra twenty pounds–or more–that I spend the next twelve months…
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Creeping Forward
To the best of my knowledge, the move I’m about to make will be my fourteenth–not counting any moving my parents did while I still lived at home. Most–all but four–took place when I was in my twenties and involved moves between apartments. This is just the second time I’ve moved out of a house,…
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Just Two More Weeks…
As expected, I closed on my new house yesterday. The contractors got to work right away, and seem to be playing well together. Even though it’s Saturday, the painter volunteered to work today, which means the flooring installation can be moved up. Thanksgiving makes moving in next weekend highly unlikely, but I should definitely be…
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I Gotta New Attitude
When I joined the gym last fall, I really didn’t think I’d stick with it. Nothing about my track record gave me reason to think otherwise. After a few weeks of sporadic and half-hearted use, any home exercise equipment I ever purchased went unused. I don’t know what made me think I’d go to the…
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Stressed!
Okay. I admit it. I’m stressed out. My upbeat, positive attitude has helped me to cope. But the quantity of major life events I’ve experienced this year has just about depleted the sunshine I’ve managed to set aside for dark and cloudy days. In graduate school I remember reading studies about a stress scale that…
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Success!
In early 2011, I got within spitting distance of 250 pounds. That’s about sixty pounds more than I should weigh. My Body Mass Index fell solidly in the obese range. To tell you the truth, I’d given up. For exercise, I rode my bike–weather permitting, which ended up being a pretty subjective decision. Too hot.…