I understand my uncle better

I have an uncle who in high school could run a mile in the 4:40 range. Pretty fast for that time. He is now in a wheel chair, suffering the effects of diabetes. My uncle is Hispanic. Diabetes runs in my mother's side of the family. It has taken lives.

Having also been a runner in high school I often asked myself how other runners came to be in the state they were in. I didn't quite understand why. I also still have a hard time understanding why people insist that running a mile in 14minutes is actually running. But I'll give them the benefit of the doubt since at least they are moving.

Recently though, I understand my uncle better now or at least his situation better. A life of seemingly inconsequential decisions brought him to a place where huge hurdles stood in front of him and being healthy. A few months ago my wife and I pledged to eat cleaner more natural foods. We started buying more organic things, I started drinking more milk because I determined through mindful tracking that my diet was deficient in Calcium. This lead to a bowl of cereal before bed. We quit drinking soda all together except for 1 or 2 on the weekends, and almost everything we cooked was fresh.

It seemed like we were doing well, but I ate more. I must have been because I gained weight. Then work prevented me from always making my lunch workouts and since I had been working at night after the baby went to bed I didn't get up for any morning workouts either. Soon I didn't get up at all for morning workouts. I also do not trade time with the baby for a workout because I enjoy time with her more. All of this lead up to me gaining 8 lbs in the month of October(actually in about 6 weeks.) The sad thing is I didn't eat any more than 10 pieces of candy around Halloween either!

Now, I know from the past that my weight naturally hovers at 170-175. Having been at 150-155 and in the best shape of my life recently, I feel fat. I see that people who were once athletes and are now obese might have suffered the same fate. Life combined in small ways to sabotage their health.

The good thing is the last time I reached my stabilized weight range (170-175) I was running in the 8-9-10 minute mile range for a 5k. This time I can run in the 7's already. So as I make changes and become more disciplined at attending my workouts I can only get faster and slimmer. Hopefully soon I'll be back to the 18-19 minute 5k! For now I have to make small daily decisions to workout and eat less. This weekend I have the Warrior Dash and in 49 days( Jan 9th) the Bandera 50k.

Being a parent

The best time I've had being a parent happened this Saturday after a long day going here and there. I cleaned up brush and took it to the dump, we went and had family pictures and then drove out to the lake to spend time with the in-laws.

We had a great time as we always do and on the way home. I told the baby, "I love you" which she responded, "I love you." I quickly and playfully said, I love you! And this went on back and forth a few more times. It was great. I haven't stopped thinking about it.

Of all the frustrating things that are bound to happen as she gets older, this one will make up for a lot of them.

500 days!

Today the baby will turn 500 days old!! It is amazing all the things a little baby can learn to do in 500 days. Amazing to think that 500 days ago I had no idea what being a dad was all about.

Breadwinners

There are lots of families where the wife/mother is the breadwinner of the family. Since I graduated from college it has not been that way in our house. However, there are days I wish it still were. It would justify me staying home with the baby and sending my wife to work everyday. I'm sure the arrangement would be to the detriment of the baby and her development but it does fuel some jealousy in me not because I don't really want to work, although maybe I am, but because I really like being Daddy and I feel like I'm pretty good at it.

I've learned to channel that into being a Daddy who works to make sure we are taken care of but if I had my wish I'd either be rich or my wife would make 150k a year, which is actually a lot of money too, and there would be no doubt that I should quit my job and stay home. Oh well! As it turns out, my wife is a great mom and a great woman. She's excelled at everything she's worked at. Teaching, running, and being Mommy!!