Signs from the Universe

Lately, I've been really slacking off, and that is bad. Allowing my schedule to serve as an excuse for "falling off the wagon" so to speak. Don't get me wrong, I've still been doing better than I was before I made the decision to get healthier. I haven't been eating turbo crap every day, and I've been doing a tiny bit of exercise here and there. Still, I haven't been as committed as I was in that first two week period.

I suppose it's because I did so well in that first two weeks that I told myself  "don't worry, Nick. You are doing great! You can slow down a bit, not take it as seriously and still lose weight. You just won't do it as fast, that's not that bad." The problem is, I have still been losing weight, but I haven't been dedicating myself to the lifestyle change that I originally set out for.

I've been skipping breakfast because I forget. Eating things that I shouldn't when it isn't my cheat day, allowing my cheat day (usually Saturdays) to drift into the night before and generally falling back into bad habits. Because I haven't had time to go to the gym, where I have access to the scale and the measuring tape, I haven't been taking the metrics I need to track my progress correctly. Because I haven't been tracking my progress enough, I feel like I can slack on new healthy lifestyle way of life.

In the last couple of days, I've been getting signs from the universe that I need to recommit myself. Some of those signs have been coming from my friends and family telling me to keep my blog up to date (once again, I very much appreciate how much you all care about me, even if I act like a brat initially when I am called out.) Some signs I've been getting are less personal, and they make me believe that we recieve signs from the universe all the time if we just listen closely enough.

For those of you that don't know, I listen to a lot of podcasts. I have an audio jack in my car, and a long commute to and from work everyday. Of course, I could listen to the radio and hear that new Mackelmore song 50 times a week

Don't get me wrong, that song kicks ass, I just prefer to hear the uncensored version at my pleasure on youtube. 

Check it out.

Instead, I choose to listen to a lot of podcasts. It's easier for me to pass the time in my car listening to interesting conversation than the same eight 4 minute pop songs ad nausium. In general, I like sports and comedy podcasts. Some of my favorites are The B.S. Report, The Savage Lovecast, Sklarbro Country, Doug Loves Movies, The Nerdist, WTF, You Made It Weird, and Stuff You Should Know. I know, I've probably lost some of you wondering, how this relates to weight loss in any way shape or form. Don't worry, I'm getting there. 

As I've discussed before, one of the big motivational factors for me starting this whole thing (other than my own repugnance) was getting my copy of the book "the Four Hour Body" by Tim Ferriss. Essentially, the book laid out a diet I felt I could follow, gave me ideas for motivating myself and gave my some tips I could use to speed up the process. Before I read that book, I had always heard that it was impossible to lose more than 2 pounds per month and stay healthy. This book challenged that idea and told stories of people who lost up to 20 pounds per month just by following a few simple tips. Yeah, it sounded to good to be true, but it has been working for me. So when I am waning in my motivation, who should appear as a guest on the WTF podcast but Tim fucking Ferriss. That along with all my friends giving me shit for not posting was almost all the kick in the ass I needed to get back on track. 

Then, just as the thoughts were percolating in my brain, I listened to this week's You Made It Weird episode with Joel McHale. For those of you unfamiliar with Joel McHale, he is a comedian who is one of thestars of the show Community and the host of E's the Soup. He is also known for having the exact body type I would want if I could choose that kind of thing. 

Ok, so a big part of it for me is that I wish I could pull off all the suits and skinny ties that dude wear. I love the guy's style. 

In any case, Joel discussed his diet on the show and apparently he follows the same Slow Carb diet recommended by Tim Ferriss. Of course, learning that one of my style icons has some of the same plan for keeping his body in shape as I do helped me to get back on the plan. I know that I will never have his body type (I'm too short and too broad, even if I weren't overweight) but it's good to see the general type of results one can attain from following the plan. Consider me back on the wagon.