Dropped Below 250 Pounds This Week! Weight Watchers, Tracking My Progress Update 8/9/11

I reached a big milestone this week. I dropped below 250 pounds! Woot!

I weighed in today at 247.2 pounds. I lost 3.2 pounds this week and have now lost 37.8 pounds since I started the program 19 weeks ago. I also exercised 5 of 7 days this past week, walking a total of 12.1 miles.

I really thought it wouldn't happen this week. I have stayed committed to the program for the whole 19 weeks and can honestly say I have not cheated myself. I have counted all of the points for the food I have eaten and not gone above my daily or weekly allotment.

I have also been diligent about tracking my exercise points.

But this past Saturday, while I was in Pittsburgh visiting my Dad and helping my daughter Mallory move in to her new place I fell of the wagon. Not completely, but it was about 4:30pm and I was starving. I was staying at my brother Tim's house and we broke out Tostitos and salsa.

Veteran Weight Watcher's members know that salsa is free, but the Tostitos...well let's just say I over indulged. After that we went to a very cool restaurant called the Double Wide Grill. I didn't completely overdo it there, but I did have Reuben egg rolls and fritters, which aren't exactly Weight Watchers friendly (lots of points!).

Tim and I ended up going to see Rise of the Planet of the Apes after dinner. No snacks there, but after the movie I was in the mood for ice cream. I ended up getting a non-fat frozen vanilla yogurt at a place called Razzy Fresh, which would have been OK, except that I decided to throw some mix-ins in. Jimmy's, brownie bites, etc.

Bottom line is that I didn't count the points on any of the stuff I ate Saturday afternoon/evening. But I will give myself credit. On Sunday I got right back on the program. Temptation is a bitch sometimes.

So one day of cheating after 133 days on the program. Am I disappointed in myself? Yes. But it did motivate me to keep going.

Yesterday my wife Tammy decided I needed to get some new clothes-as I am swimming in my work pants and some of my shirts are looking really baggy. Since I'm still a long way from my goal, we decided to go to Kohl's. I didn't want to spend a lot of money on clothes that might not fit me in 6 weeks, but it was nice to go into the men's department and find pants and shirts that weren't the largest sizes Kohl's offers. More motivation. Bought two pairs of pants and two dress shirts.

I'm now back on the program and ready to keep going!

Movie Review - Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011)

I was in Pittsburgh this weekend visiting my Dad and my daughter Mallory who is beginning graduate school at the University of Pittsburgh.

After dinner Saturday night, my brother Tim and I decided to go see Rise of the Planet of the Apes. The early reviews had been good, and as a fan of the original Planet of the Apes series I was looking forward to seeing the movie.

Rise of the Planet of the Apes is excellent. The story revolves around a scientist named Will Rodman, played by James Franco, who is working on a cure for Alzheimer's Disease. As it turns out, he has a very personal motivation for doing the work, as his father, Charles Rodman, played by John Lithgow (and very well I might add) suffers from the disease.

The company that Will Rodman works at uses chimpanzees for their testing, and Will early in the movie ends up adopting a baby chimp his father names Caesar.

Caesar, through circumstances I won't reveal here, turns out to be very intelligent and the movie follows his growth into an adult, intertwining his life with Will Rodman's continued experiments with the Alzheimer's drug.

The screenplay is very well written. As this is meant to be a prequel to the Planet of the Apes, the plot line of how the apes become dominant, along with how humans will succumb to the apes is revealed. My brother Tim noticed subtle references to the original Planet of the Apes series, which provides clues to future events in the inevitable sequels to the current form of the movie.

I enjoyed the movie. I particularly liked the fact that even though there is violence, the injuries (and yes some deaths) are not gory. In addition, the movie makes a statement on how man can discriminate against other men (or in this case apes) whom they consider inferior and how there can be a price to pay for that.

My only criticism of the movie is that I felt the computer generated image of Caesar was a little unrealistic looking. I believe the intent of the creators was to have Caesar's features be more human than chimpanzee, but I was uncomfortable with it.

I also should add that Freida Pinto (of Slumdog Millionaire fame) looks great in this movie, playing Will Rodman's girlfriend, Caroline Aranha.

This is a great movie, well worth a visit to your local theater. I also was very pleased when the famous line from the original Planet of the Apes (1968) uttered by Charlton Heston's character, Colonel George Taylor was once again spoken in this movie. Do you know the line I'm talking about?

I will let you discover it for yourself in Rise of the Planet of the Apes.

Weight Watchers, Tracking My Progress 6/22/11, Down 25 Pounds!

Weighed in tonight at 259.2 pounds. I now have a total weight loss of 25.8 pounds. Got a medal for hitting the 25 pound mark!

Exercised 6 of 7 days this past week. Brisk walks. Went a total of 16.5 miles this week.

With my Dad still being in the hospital up in Columbus, I was a little worried that I wouldn't be able to maintain my discipline and follow the program with all of my travel there this week. But I did. I'm also pleased I got some exercise too.

I Googled the term "25 pounds" as I wanted to find a cool graphic. But I found something even better! Check it out:

Quite Possibly the World's Largest Potato-25 Pounds!

Father's Day

At this time last Sunday I wondered if Father's Day today might not be a reason to celebrate.

My Dad (He has involuntarily contributed to my blog from time to time.) fell during my daughter's graduation from Ohio State last Sunday. As a result of the fall, he required surgery on his neck (Waiting...). The great news is that he is doing well and will fully recover.

I credit both my Dad's perserverance and the wonderful care he is getting from the Ohio State University Medical Center for my optimism and for his long term prognosis.

I knew Dad would be OK when at one point this week the nurses asked him if he knew where he was. His answer? Ann Arbor! (Dad is a Michigan grad.)

So I can celebrate Father's Day. Dad will be OK. My daughter Mallory is attending her first National Athletic Trainers' Association Meeting as a certified Athletic Trainer fresh out of Ohio State. My son Brian has moved to New York City, has a job and is close to finding a permanent place to reside there. And my youngest son Michael has just finished his junior year in high school.

Everyone is happy!

Oh, not to mention my wife Tammy and I will be celebrating our 25th wedding anniversary in 3 1/2 months.

Get Well Fast Dad!

My 80 Year Old Dad is on Twitter!

If you follow my blog, you already know that my Dad has contributed some interesting thoughts over the last couple of months. His contributions (click on Dad in the label cloud to the right) were sent to me via email, which I then copied into my blog, whether I had permission from him or not!

Now my Dad has joined the Twitter Universe! His Twitter handle is sandosthe. Follow him: http://twitter.com/#!/sandosthe

Of course, when he published his first tweet, he emailed us to go look at it...

Here's a sample:

sandosthe Tom Sell 

Rats spelled backward is star; ecim spelled backwards is mice.

4 hours ago 

sandosthe Tom Sell 

If you want to ruin what could be a great day, put your underwear on backwards.

8 May 

sandosthe Tom Sell 

@tcsell smart asses with Ph.D.s will be eliminated in the new world order!

Dad (sandosthe)

Soccer In America-My Dad's Thoughts (Written February 5th, 2011)

My dad's thoughts on soccer in America!


To All Family Members by Birth or Blood,


I was surfing the net last night and found a blog by, a Jiresell, in which he, rightly so, laments the fact that MLS (Major League Soccer) has not released itʼs 2011 schedule for league play which begins March 11th (since then released). If releasing the schedule for major league football, basketball, or baseball or even college ball, was this slow there would be a national uprising and commissioners of the different sports, subject to skewering if caught. Why not the Commissioner of soccer? By the way the United States is the only civilized country that does not call it football.

The reason is our national psyche has been conditioned since Columbus, Erica the Red, America Vespucius, or the Phoenicians discovered our land and people from many other countries began to populate it. This conditioning began, very early, when the pilgrims and puritans began to play the native americans in the home grown, American sport, of lacrosse. The idea being for the non-native americans to win, win, and win by the biggest score possible. To always be on the offensive. Being offensive then, through natural selective, became part of our national gene pool. Other traits that were learned and incorporated into our national inner being were: impatience (do everything fast), if your going to win - win big, do not depend on your feet to get ahead, man has opposing thumbs - use them.

Another factor in americans not being as enthusiastic as other people from other countries about soccer (football) is that we have more sports to choose from, both amateur and professional. But the biggest factor is that soccer is slow. Not in motion and movement, for players are continually running and seldom slow down, but in scoring. The mentality of non-believers in soccer (football) has been conditioned to higher scores. Defensive playing in other sports is acceptable for it is part of the strategy to win and a tactic employed to eventually outscore your opponent big time. This is what the fans look forward to. Soccer (football) means sitting on a hard bench for 90 minutes, with a short break after 45 minutes, to see one or perhaps two points being scored. So our our mentally conditioning is such that it will take a much longer time to break down the barriers Americans have for soccer (football) and to give it greater stature.

In thinking about soccer, there is a serendipitous moment! Is there direct relationship between menʼs soccer (football) and a countryʼs status? Status meaning international influence and esteem, living standard, economic importance, and the many other factors that determine a nationʼs importance in and to the world. Using the insight and reasoning developed by Aristotle and his teacher, Plato, and not a more technical, statistical analysis, it is evident that there is an inverse relationship between a countryʼs status and itʼs mania for soccer (football). It appears that the lower a countryʼs status and worldly influence the higher their ardor and vigor for football (soccer) with the exception, perhaps, of Brazil.

As a countryʼs fervor for soccer (football) increases, its status diminishes. After World War II, Englandʼs avidity for football (soccer) increased, concomitantly with a decline in cricket. An empire where “the sun never set” became a much smaller universe. French, the universal language of diplomacy, was displaced, as Franceʼs national prominence decreased and soccer (football) became a more prominent sport after guillotining.

Japan, for a while too, had major status, but as baseball, relegated sumo wrestling to a background sport, and soccer (football) devotion and play increased, Japanʼs status declined, but not solely because of soccer (football). They still make a very good stable of cars.

The capstone on the premise of the aforementioned relationship - soccer (football) vs. status - is China. They are and will continue to be a rising power in the world and they play very little soccer (football). They are, however, very good at ping-pong and gymnastics.

So it could be an arguably assessment that if America wants to maintain its International status, it should both pay down the national debt and de-emphasize increasing the scope of soccer (football) in the United States.

Dad

Book Review-Water for Elephants (2006) by Sara Gruen by Guest Reviewer: Dad

I haven't read Water for Elephants, but my Dad and wife Tammy have. Here is my Dad's review, sent via email to me this morning. He likes it!
Review Part 1:
To all family members by blood or marriage: 

I just finished an excellent book " Water for Elephants " by Sara Gruen. I highly recommend reading it. On my reading scale it is a high 5. It is available at the I-Pad bookstore. 
Dad 
Reading Scale ( Sometimes known as the SellBSscale ): 
5. Very compelling. I want to read it through with no break, but contradictorly hate finishing it. 
4. An enjoyable and delightful book. I will keep it on my I-Pad or home bookcase. 
3. A pedagogic somewhat historical book. A didactic treatise. Hard to read! 
2. It was OK, but I would rather read the dictionary, at night, with no light. 
1. Why did I waste my money buying it and the time reading it. 
-1. Any biography or autobiography about a movie or TV star or non-classical composer or singer.
Review Part 2:
To all relatives by blood or marriage:

That excellent book ( 5 ) I recommended, " Water for Elephants " has been made into a movie to be released in April. You can see a short preview on the website Rotten Tomatoes.
From The Ringermaster

Dad "The Ringermaster"

Two Hour Delay-My Dad's Response

My Dad's response to my Two Hour Delay post. He's old. And funny.


Family members by birth or marriage,

America's kids today are wussies, primarily because they are coddled, according to Amy Chua who wrote the very controversial and argumentative best way to raise children in her best seller "Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother". When I read the E-Mail my older son wrote about his son and the working of snow days and because of them getting to sleep in a couple of hours longer or all day depending on what the school declares is their decision on hours of closing. It made me think what would Amy do. Probably what I did between 1937 - 1948 when I was going to school in Pennsylvania.

In those days ( commonly called "the good old days" by people who didn't live through them ) bussing was very uncommon unless you live 10-15 miles away from school. There were no snow days! I remember as a grade schooler determining how deep the snow was by what goulashes by mother put by the front door - 2-3 inches, rubbers which fit over shoes; 3-4 inches, two buckle boots; 4- 6 inches, 4 or 6 buckle boots. Anything more than 6 inches you just waded through it and wore wet socks all day from the snow that got down in your boots.

To make matters worse there was not a cafeteria at school so you had to plow home at noon and then back to school for the afternoon session. When I think back it seems like we lived 8 miles from the school, but in actuality it was about 1 1/2 miles. most of it uphill, both ways, for you always took a different way home. As a grade schooler the greatest thing that could happen when it was snowing or snow was on the ground was for the high schoolers to have already gone to school ( they started 15 minutes before grade school ) that way they would have partially cleared a path as they marched to their classes. We had a bunch of older kids in my neighborhood who tramped down a path and made it easier for us little kids.

There were no 1-3 hour delays unless it was determined by your parents. Although a delay was nice, this was considered being late for class by the school, resulting by having to stay late and make up the time. Which option was better, I still reflect on now, and debate the up-side and down-side.

 The other problem in those days with snow ( or cold ) was you really had to bundle-up. Down clothing had not been invented, and light weight, but warm material a thought for the future. So to prevent perma-frost from building up in the body you layered clothing. And unlike today where this is still the method of keeping the body from hyperthermia, but the clothing is light-weight and very warm, back then the material for clothing was heavy weight. The theory being the heavier it was, the warmer it would be. Wool was the material of choice. Of course the more wool garments you wore, the warmer you would be. The down side, though, was after wading a short distance in snow up to your knees, you would start to sweat ( girls would only perspire or gleem ) and worse of all itch, and with no way to satisfactory scratch through the many layers of clothing, it became a more wretched walk to school and more disconcerting the realization you would have to do it over on the way home. Think of Ralphie in the movie "Christmas Story" on clothing, and it will give you a clear, realistic view of the way we dressed. Most first period classes started a few minutes late to give us time for a thorough scratch.

High school was different, for now parents were weaning kids away from parental control to prepare them "for life's experience". So if you walked out of the house during a blizzard to go to school wearing a T shirt, they might admonish you and suggest something warmer, but let it up to your judgement as to what to wear. Snow boots were absolutely forbidden to be worn my high schoolers under penalty of being snow balled to death. There were never any reports, as I recall, of kids dying because of this.

With all the problems encountered because of the cold and snow, being hit by snow balls added to the weather hazards. It behooved a person to continue to swivel the neck ( much like fighter pilots do ) to watch for enemies coming from behind and always carry a snowball in your hand, preferably one that had partially melted then refroze into a iceball.

One thing I kind of liked back then were no weathermen ( weatherperson ) or as they are now called meteorologists (probably because TV has not invented them yet) to give detailed, comprehensive weather reports. If you wanted to know what was going on weatherwise you went outside and looked or turned on the radio and heard the announcer say rain, snow, warm, or some other one-word description, with about the same accuracy as they now have.

Dad

Dad

My Dad's Christmas Note!

I had to share this. My Dad lives near me in West Chester, Ohio. He was with us this morning to open presents and will be over this evening for dinner. Both my brothers went to their in-laws this year. Very funny!

TO ALL THE PROGENY OF THOMAS, A JOYOUS SALUTATION ON THIS MOST PROFANE OF DAYS

Although no one will be at my house this year, I have decided to observe "Festivus for the Rest of Us" for it is truly a more spectaculas event and contains less mysticism than that other holidays. I will prepare the traditional meal of baked spam, turnips, rubarb, and for dessert raisin upside-down-cake and chicory coffee.

I will enunciate for each member of the family, in their absence, an Airing of thr Grievences, except for Dylan, who is to young to have any - not counting potty training. After dinner and before partaking of dessert, I will have the traditional Feats of Strength, which since I will be the only competitor will consist of getting out of a chair the quickest, carrying the heaviest load of laundry and getting to the bathroom dash. Other events may be added later.

This year the Festivus pole will be aluminum and not the artifical plastic pole being sold for strictly commercial purposes. The pole will have a place of honor by the fireplace.

While you will not be here, you will all be in my thoughts as I look at the Festivus pole.

Dad

Movie Review-True Grit (2010)

Just got back from the theater after seeing True Grit with my Dad, my two sons and a friend of theirs. I'm a big Coen Brothers fan (Raising Arizona, Fargo, No Country For Old Men), and was really looking forward to seeing their new work.

I haven't seen the original True Grit (but I DVR'd it tonight on TCM), nor have I read the book. I knew a little about the plot going in.

Typical for the Coen Brothers, the screenplay was outstanding. There is definitely action in this movie, but it is the dialog that is the highlight. In addition, Jeff Bridges as Rooster Cogburn and Barry Pepper as Lucky Ned Pepper are outstanding in their roles. The best performance has to go to Hailee Steinfeld, who plays Mattie Ross, the girl intent on avenging the death of her father.

I learned something in True Grit by the way. When camping and sleeping outdoors, surround yourself with a rope. Snakes won't cross a rope!

I use Flixster to rate movies, and I gave True Grit 4 out of 5 stars! Go see it.

Restaurant Review-The Wildflower Cafe & Coffee House

A couple of weeks ago we were looking for a good place to go to a family dinner for the Saturday after Thanksgiving. We would have 8 people, my wife, our children (ages 22, 20 and 17), my father and my brother and sister-in-law. We live North of Cincinnati, in Liberty Township, Ohio.

8 is a tough number to go to dinner with during the holiday season. We wanted a place that took reservations, and would be a treat for everyone. My wife had heard about the Wildflower Cafe & Coffee House located in Mason, Ohio, so we decided to give it a try on Saturday night, November 27th, 2010.

What a great place. It is very small (located in a former private home). They took reservations. It has a very quaint and casual feel about it, with the menu posted on chalk boards.

Wildflower boasts a great selection of wines and craft beers. What is most unique about this place is that they strive to use locally sourced and/or organic ingredients in all of their dishes.

With 8 people we were able to try multiple dishes. We started with the Organic Cheese Board (cheeses, olive medley etc.) and the Shrimp Fonduta, served with crusty grilled bread. Both were absolutely delicious.

Two of us had the soup of the day, a white bean and cilantro soup which we enjoyed very much.

Of the entrees we had as a group, the consensus was that the hamburger (served on a pretzel bun and rated #1 in Cincinnati by Cincinnati Magazine) lived up to it's billing. In addition, the quiche served with homemade potato salad and crusty bread with a raspberry jam and the spinach and walnut ravioli were excellent. I very much enjoyed the grilled chicken breast with walnuts and a champagne sauce served over risotto. My father had the Apple Pork chops with potatoes and sauteed vegetables, which he would recommend. My sister-in-law had the Gourmet Grilled Cheese, which for her tasted just ok. My brother had the short rib special, which he enjoyed very much.

Service was very good. They have a very nice patio in the back of the restaurant which I imagine would be very nice to dine at in the summer.

I highly recommend the Wildflower Cafe & Coffee house. You can go and enjoy a very casual sandwich and soup, or try one of their higher-end entree's. My experience on this particular evening is that both are excellent. I look forward to a return visit very soon!

Wildflower Cafe & Coffee House
207 E Main
Mason, Ohio 45040
(513) 492-7514
http://wildflowercafeandcoffeehouse.com/