Brandon, Who Lives At Home

What a week its been, another week of the 3 mile formula and it was full of mostly ups. Yesterday I wrote how I got a goods night sleep and the day felt promising, and it was a great day. I did my full 3 mile walk yesterday, and was so incredibly proud of myself, I was unsure how it would go leading up to it, but once I got started I knew I had what it took to get it done. Had to push myself, sometimes it feels like I knock the first mile out fast, yesterday was not one of those days, but I got through it, and the second, and the third. It seemed like I sweat more during that session than I have any single day that past four weeks, at least that's how it seemed. So if we take a look at the numbers last week I did a grand total of  13 miles, the most week sum yet, but the month is officially over so lets combined my total miles. Week 1: one mile a day. Week 2: two miles a day. Week 3: a mixed bag because I was sick, but it equaled to the week before. And this week I did 3 mile...

With how things have been rough lately, yesterday in-particular, I set out to make sure I wasn't having another 2AM sleep debut. So I set a bedtime,  ten o'clock, I decided that's when Id go to bed, Id put on a couple episodes of King Of Queens and drift off, and so I did. I ended up waking up at 5am (I had to take the trash out anyways) and felt great, the pain I had been waking up with most of the week was not present. I had a nice bowl of Honey Nut Cheerios and the day has begun. I don't know if 6 hours of sleep is good but its great for me, I haven't slept like that in quite a long time. My knee seems to be feeling much better too and the prospects for the day look promising.

Well guys, I couldn't do it. I could not make it to 3 miles today. I got just barely got over one mile and called it quits. My body just wasn't being receptive. I woke up with some back discomfort that seemed to be fading way, but came back right as I got ready for my walk. I also have not been mentioning whats been going on with my knee. Lately my left-knee has been getting stiff and maybe even a little swollen. Ive had problems with this knee since I took a tumble in high school and broke my fall with it. Its given me problems before, I was suppose to get it looked at last year but I couldn't  afford to go under the machine they needed to use. They told me that their best guess was that I have some kind of ACL or other ligament damage, but they wouldn't know until  they could use the proper machinery. I was prescribed some anti-inflammatory and some steroidal medication and that seemed to make a subtle difference. But when my knee starts to get heavy usage it gets st...

Good morning everyone, its Thursday! The toughest parts of the week are over, and now we are at home stretch before the weekend. I got to bed really late last night, and I slept  so-so, woke up with back discomfort that seems to have died down quite a bit. Ready to knock this day out, I seem to have a strange amount of energy and umph this morning so today's 3 miles better look out, I'm coming in strong!

I tossed and turned all night throughout my sleep, and I got to bed quite late, actually I normally do. I woke up kind of aching all over. Had an egg and bacon sandwich for breakfast in addition to my regularly water in take. I don't know if Ive discussed this or not but Ive been drinking a lot of water. I have this big bottle (pictured below) that I fill up first thing in the morning and drink. I generally drink about a bottle and a half before i begin my exercise at 2pm, and at least another bottle full before the day is over.   Today I began my 3 miles a bit sluggish.  I just tried to go in with enthusiasm, and perhaps I did, but my body just wasn't into it. I was just struggling with it so much today and couldn't wait for it to be over, once I got to the one mile point I thought " this could be it, this is enough, at least I did something." But I charged ahead in spite of the defeatist mind frame I was in. It just seemed longer than ever, but I did it. ...

I would like to share with you a very personal blog entry I wrote a couple years ago. I was in a very dark place, and severely unhappy. It sort of chronicles my life a bit too.    Hi, my name is Brandon Hall. I’m from a modest sized town in Ohio called Middletown, and I’m overweight… by a lot. I’m obese, and for as long as I can remember I always have been, and for as far as I cant, there are pictures; thus I’ve pretty much always been fat.  When I was younger though my weight got me categorized as chubby, a size I wish I was now. Like a lot of overweight kids, I had to compensate for my extra baggage, so I was the class clown in school.  Tricking people into laughing with me was much better than them laughing at me. This was me for a while, and I was okay with it. It meant that I had a lot of friends, and a lot of people knew me, I wasn’t always a hit with the teachers, but tha...

When I was attending University, I was taking a English 101 course and the teacher was a sweet old lady who simply loved everything about her job. She loved reading, writing and all things that related to them, and she spoke about them with passion. Rarely have I come across someone with that much love for what they do. The one thing she would urge to us every single day, even when she wasn't feeling very well, was that we always charge ahead with enthusiasm in all parts of life. Ive used the line at least once, or twice in previous post, but its something that git burned in my head, and something that I believe we should try to do. With all that said I went into yesterday with one thing in mind, that my 3 mile walk must be started and completed with no bullsh--, I charged ahead with enthusiasm, and had one of the best workouts Ive had in the over 3 weeks I've been doing all this, so my English 101 teachers mantra serves a great purpose on motivating you to go into things th...

Yesterday I had a decent nights sleep, but I have woken up with some back discomfort, I feel like I always do. My bed isn't the best but I manage, I also noticed I have a bit of a cough, one of those sharp itchy coughs that makes you feel like you need to force another to get that feeling from the back of your throat out. I also notice a bid of lingering throat pain, but its different than before now. Seems Ive traded off some symptoms for other ones, but all in all I almost feel back to normal. Its Monday and its not going to be the easiest week because last week was so inconsistent, but Ive already prepared my mind for whats to come, wont have another week like last week even though I'm not 100% recovered from this cold. My body is able, so here goes, stay tuned.

Honestly, I'm feeling a bit better than yesterday, and I feel as though I can charge into next week on a clean slate and full of enthusiasm. I had a rocky road last week, but I road it just as well. And although I had my faults I didn't throw in the towel, and I believe I handled everything rationally and with logic. I still think back to the time when setbacks like the ones I occurred last week would have spun me into a spiral of doubt and irrational behavior. Progress is progress. Today turkey is on the menu for dinner, with a side helping of multiple episodes of the Twilight Zone. Here's some cool news, Ive been noticing how I'm getting gradually more space in confined areas, first my friends car, and now the shower, it hadn't dawned on me just how much more space I had till I dropped my shampoo, and normally the maneuvering would be awkward and snug, but I had a lot more space. Its a small, subtle, but huge victory. Here's my weeks recap I did for YouTub...

Here is a picture of me at my high school graduation. This should have been one of the happiest days of my life, but behind that perfected fake smile is a lot of pain. I had lost over 30 pounds my senior year walking 5 times a week, drinking plenty of waters, cutting back on meals and swapping junk foods for yogurt. But that 30 pounds lose was invisible to the naked eye, and I still was, and felt huge. I remember the outfit my mother bought me, she actually dared to buy me a 4x shirt from Kmart, I was struggle with 6x then, so this was shocking. To my surprise it it fit, though incredibly snug, and it left a good portion of my belly exposed, but she bought me some black stretching pants, I just had to wear them over my belly. My mom said I Was handsome, but the truth was, I looked and felt a mess. And when I arrived at the high school it got worse. I was pretty much alone, as I looked around amongst my peers, looking for distant friends, I had no one. I simply stood in one spot un...