How do you #LiveALittle? | Blog Series | Featured Member: Ron in Kansas City

Ron in Kansas City

When did you start to #LiveALittle (make the changes)?  

Well, when I got my A1c done in January 2014 it had shot up to 9.9.  I should’ve wanted to fix that then and there, but instead I stayed on the “medication will fix this” path for 3 more months.  My doctor had put me on a new diabetes medication and thought it would do the trick.  Well 3 months later my A1c had only improved to 9.4.  At that point he told me that insulin injections were in my near future (3 months away) if I couldn’t get things under control quickly.  So right after that I decided to get busy with making changes.  The date I refer back to was April 28th.

What do consider your main accomplishments?  

Well so far I’ve lost 65 pounds, dropped my A1c to 5.9, biked over 400 miles, brought my waist size from 48 to 40, shirt size from 4X to 2X and just flat out feel great and continue to want to improve.

What does everyone around you notice as 'different'? Well, it seems like everyone first off notices the physical changes.  The slimming down has been pretty obvious.  When I look at older pictures I realize just how big I was but at the time I really did not seem to think I was so massive.

What qualities do you look for in the people you hang out with and allow into your inner circle?  Positive, can-do people.  Don’t like hanging around with excuse makers.  Sometimes I have to look in the mirror and remember that I was one of those people not so long ago.  

If you wanted to encourage innovative ideas on changing one's life, how would you go about it?  Well I feel like showing someone what has been accomplished often tells the better story.  The Before/After is very motivating to me.  I look at the success stories on MFP daily for my own motivation.  When asked I try to tell people to start with small goals and then build on successes.  For instance instead of changing your entire diet, just stop drinking pop for a week.  And then when you can do that, move on to another goal or two.  

How would you describe your personal #LiveALittle lifestyle change? 

I just focused on making little changes.  Logging on MFP was first, then after I had some data I analyzed and saw that adjusting carbs and/or calories would be a good goal.  Don’t try to change everything all at once.  It’s a classic setup for failure.  I also decided it was irresponsible of me to not use my abilities to their fullest when others did so much with limited abilities.  An example – my Dad has Lupus and has lived with it for over 30 years.  He has crippled up hands and can’t walk very well at all.  Does he let that stop him?  Nope – he is a Master Model Railroader and creates amazing things with his crippled hands.  He got himself a trike and takes long bike rides to try to keep his health that he does have.  

If you wanted to create an environment where motivation can thrive, what’s the first thing you would do?  Toss out negativity.  It gets people no wear and wastes a lot of time.  You need an environment full of “anything is possible” to prove that Anything really is possible!

How do you show that you believe in yourself?  

I keep working on myself.  I track things that help me stay on track.  I remind myself that the Ron a year ago couldn’t do that 50 mile bike ride or that 5K in under 40 minutes.  I look at my closet which has been reworked to get rid of my fat clothes.  I look at old pictures to remember where I came from.

Who, Whom, and/or What has influenced you the most?  Well there are several people who had a part in my motivation.  I suppose my Dad as I described above.  Also Ellen and Alicia really showed me what is possible when you really commit to something.  I had not seen Ellen in a while and when I saw how great she looked it really was amazing.  I’ve always looked up to her in the business circles we are in, but this showed me she is serious about bettering herself in all ways and she has accomplished so much!

What do you do to challenge yourself when you're not motivated?  

Tough question – sometimes I can self-motivate (by looking through MFP success stories or tapping in to the MFP community).  Sometimes I get motivated when my wife notices that I am slipping back in to my old ways.  It’s tough to do.  Still working on this!

When is breaking the #LiveALittle rules okay?  

Not really sure there is a reason to break any of the rules!

What does 'working on’ yourself mean to you?  

We are all works in progress.  Working on myself means that I am still trying to find the me that is the healthiest and happiest I can be.  Even when I achieve fitness (on whatever level that is) I will need to maintain it.  

What does empowerment mean to you?  

Helping others to see the power that they have in themselves.  I see so many people like me.  People that have not yet realized what they are capable of.  Trying to help them find that motivation is what I like to do.  

How and where do you find inspiration?  

I read all the stories I can find.  MFP and the #LiveALittle FB page give me a lot to work with.  

How do you keep your feelings from clouding your decision-making?  That is a tough one.  I am fighting this one right now.  I was laid off Friday from a company that I really loved.  I am feeling overwhelmed about the future and decided to eat my feelings this morning via a very large donut for breakfast and am fighting off a lot of fear at the moment.  Let me keep working on this one to see what I can do here.  

What’s the best way to keep your eye on future results or maintaining?  

You gotta remember where you came from to truly appreciate where you are and where you are going.  As much as I say “live in the NOW!” I know that I need to remember what old Ron was like and why I made changes to him.

How do you bring courage and conviction to risky situations?  

You gotta make the best decision you can with the data you have and then move forward.  You won’t always be right, but you have a better shot at achieving greatness than if you play it safe and do the same old thing day in and day out.  

What values are you committed to?  

Love, loyalty, continuing to better myself and those around me.  Laughing at myself and moving on when needed. 

What do you do to live a balanced life?  

I try to make time for myself.  I didn’t in the past.  I now know that 30-45 minutes of exercise daily really isn’t optional most days.  It really keeps me driving towards my other goals.  As I face time off from work during this layoff I have already told myself that I will spend some time every day working on myself.  

What dreams and goals inspired you to succeed?  

Again – go to MFP and read the Success Stories.  So many other people have made this journey before me and their experience has offered me so much inspiration and encouragement.

Men: We are Not Superman. We will Never Be Superman. We are Mortal. | #LiveALittle

**Disclaimer: Some of what I'm about to tell you is hearsay but I tend to believe all source where my information came from.** I heard of the death of a man I have known about for approximately 20 years. He was 49 when he died last week. His funeral is tomorrow. His name was Joe. He was a nice man. We had worked in the same bar & restaurant industry back in Topeka. We didn't know each other well but in passing we would say hello and call each other by name. When I learned of his passing I was curious of what killed him so I reached out to some mutual friends and the information I received blew my mind. Apparently Joe died due to complications of cancer. What blows my mind is that he just learned of his stage 4 lung cancer 3 to 4 weeks before he died. He apparently went into the hospital with stomach pain and got diagnosed with lung cancer that metastasized through his liver and pancreas. He didn't even have the chance to fight the cancer. He was too late. One thing about Joe is, he didn't go to doctors. He felt as though they were "over-rated".
Middle aged men don't go to the doctor because we are afraid that we are going to told we are not Superman. That we are mortal. That we can get sick. But this is silly. We can fight. We can get treatment. We can beat or control cancer, diabetes, heart disease, etc.
Go to the doctor. Ellen made me go. She nagged, and nagged, and nagged, and nagged until I went. When I finally went I was told bad news and I was told I was not Superman but I'm doing everything I can to live better and healthier. I encourage you to nag that man in your life. Don't stop nagging. Get him to go. Tell him to "Man the fuck up" and go to the doctor.

Tell him about Joe. Tell him how Joe's family wishes they could nag him but they can't.

Fear of Death is Fear of Regrets

My biggest fear is death. Apparently a lot of others are just like me. Public speaking is the #1 fear of Americans with death being a close #2. That means more people would rather be in the coffin than giving the eulogy. But death really isn't my biggest fear, its actually the 5 minutes before you die, assuming I'm going to die of old age in a nursing home somewhere. That 5 minutes before I die will be my time to face all my regrets. That's what scares me. Those regrets. At that time before my death I won;t care what people think about me, what people are saying about me behind my back, I won't be worrying about small dumb shit that doesn't matter, but I will be thinking about about all the times I did. How I let others effect me negatively. How I missed out on amazing crazy opportunities because I was worried I would look silly in the eyes of others. How I stayed at a job I hated because I was worried about truly finding something I loved and took a chance and went for it. My worry is that I will spend my entire life worrying but the last 5 minutes sad because I worried. That last 5 minutes scares me to death, literally.  I want my last 5 minutes to be thinking about the amazing things I did, the loving people in my life, and having no regrets.

That Mother F*cking Restart Button

The feeling can be wonderful. Everything is going good. Exercising on a regular schedule. Eating the right things. Going to bed at a good time. Then it happens. The bottom falls out. One lazy day turns into two, then five. A week goes by and now a month later exercise has gone to the back of the mind. Eating crap food. Sleep schedule starts going to hell. You've gone completely off track and the self madness starts to set in. Is it all worth it? 

Nope. Time to hit the restart button. 

We sometimes have a hard time imagining the end result. Which is life. Living longer and living healthier. It is easier to just living in the moment instead of planning for the future. But this isn't a saving account. This is life. Is there a huge difference between living to 55-60 and living to 85-90? You bet your sweet ass there is. That's 25-35 years. 25-35 years of laughing, movies, watching our younger family members grow up, and a lot more. 

I needed to hit that restart button again and I did. I've made a huge goal this time. I've vowed to run 100 miles. 2-3 miles a day for how ever long it will take me. No other focus right now except that goal. I need to prove something to myself. Pushing that restart button is not going to be embarrassing. 

Living to at least 85-90 is the long term goal. 

One thing is very clear, hitting the restart button is a lot better life choice than hitting the "power off" button.  

I must #LiveALittle

Warning: Accountability is not included.

Not only does someone need goals to succeed but they also need promises. Self promises. It is incredibly hard to make self promises when you don't have very much self love, worth, or esteem. You can't trust yourself. You've already spent years of breaking promises to the one person you are supposed to love completely unconditionally, yourself. That was my dilemma. With this new #LiveALittle lifestyle I needed to make some self promises but I needed to get down to the nitty gritty of what they should be.

My first promise needed to reflect why I was even making an attempt at a new #LiveALittle life. I wanted to get out and be more active. Seeing the world was becoming more of a priority to me and my new job was giving me the opportunity to get out more.  A flight to Las Vegas via Southwest Airlines put a huge scar on my self esteem at the beginning of my journey.
Got to the airport early, grabbed a coffee at the Starbucks, read some articles on my iPad waiting for my flight at the gate, got A list seating, boarded the plane, took out my laptop, sat down, buckled my seatbe........ Try again, buckled my seatb.......... Damn, suck it in fatty. Buckled my seatbel............Holy shit. I'm too fat for the seatbelt. This was one of the biggest eyeopening experiences of my life. It was all making sense, how could I travel and experience new things if I couldn't fit in normal airplane seats? I also had recent memories of how I couldn't ride the roller coasters at Worlds of Fun in Kansas City because the safety bar wouldn't latch due to me being too big. This was serious.
Promise #1: Live a healthier and more active lifestyle. 

Sitting for long periods of time in front of the television watching entire seasons of shows like Sons of Anarchy, Walking Dead, Breaking Bad, and Mad Men used to fill my weekends. I didn't know anyone in Kansas City and I didn't have any intentions to meet anyone so getting out and about was detoured again by bullshit. If I wasn't too fat to do it, I was too lazy. Notorious for always mumbling to myself, on the long lazy ass weekend of extreme Netflix watching, "Damn, I'm so bored". How in hell could I be bored?! I lived in amazing city with hundreds of things to do. I had no right complaining that I was bored. Choosing to stay at home and not venture out was my own doing. Laziness was my problem and a fear of change or trying something different. A change my pattern is what I needed, and to live outside my current comfort zone. Focus on starting local, and go from there. Needed to look for activities happening in my community like Waldo Days, Irishfest, Union Station, or just garage sale driving, and venture more out from there. With this new way of thinking I would hardly be at home. Always be moving.
Promise #2: Never complain about being bored.



Not only would I complain about being bored sometimes I just wouldn't want to move. Just lay in bed. Making excuses why I couldn't meet new friends for happy hour or go on a 12 mile bike ride through Lenexa & Overland Park. Lying to myself was something that came very easy. It's something I still struggle with daily. Constantly want to lie to myself and make up excuses to not live a little bit more. To just give up and lie. This is possibly the toughest of all of the promises. Still struggle with it but I've come so far.
Promise #3: Stop making excuses & lying to yourself

The fourth promise I needed to make to myself, in order to live a better and more productive life, seems like it would be a tough one but it's really not. I compare it to removing a bandaid. What's the least painful way to remove a bandaid? You guessed it, just rip it off. I needed to get the negative out of my life. Negative people, vices, habits, thinking, everything. I've got to be really careful here because some of you reading this might take it personally and I think I'm talking about you when I mention getting the negative people out of my life. If you are taking it personally and think I'm talking about you you're absolutely right. Only negative people would think that way. If you haven't heard from me in awhile then at least you know now why. So at least it's a win/win? Getting rid of negativity was like I was having a fire sale. Everything negative must go! Smoking cigarettes, GONE! Shitty unloving girlfriend always complaining and talking mad smack on all her friends, GONE! Getting liquored up weekly, GONE! I still enjoy a drink now and again but seriously, if you're over 35 and enjoy getting schammered daily or weekly you might want to reconsider your choices. But hey, its your life, this is just a promise I needed to make to myself.
Promise #4: Cut out all negativity

So far my promises seemed very doable. I needed to stick to them. Figuring out how to keep myself accountable was the tough part. Talk the talk, no problem. Walk the walk, "Houston we have a problem." Accountability. I figured the best way to create accountability is to tell the masses what you are going to do and the promises you are going to make. I knew the perfect place to announce my promises and ask for assistance in keeping them. In fact, asking others to examine the same promises and maybe make them for themselves might even increase that accountability. People relying on others in a full accountability circle, what a great concept. The #LiveALittle Project members were perfect for this and the promises I was making to myself fit right in with other struggles people face with trying to live a #LiveALittle life. So not only would the word of the promises spread but the word of The #LiveALittle Project would spread with it.
Promise #5: Spread the word about the #LiveALittle lifestyle and encourage others to make the same 5 promises

http://TheLiveALittleProject.com