This morning I was out walking my dog Chauncey when a neighbor’s dog came bolting out of their yard toward us. “Love! Love! Love!” That’s what I heard from behind their pink front door. Out came my neighbor, leash in hand. The dog looked to be a Shephard mix and as soon as she got to us, she crouched down and rolled over on her back. By now my neighbor had caught up with her and while putting the leash on she whispered, ‘good girl,” a few times in her ear.

We’ve never encountered this neighbor and dog before. All I had noticed was their pink door, pink shutters, and the hot pink and black yard flag that proclaimed, “It’s a Southern Thang!” She asked Chauncey’s name and asked if he were a good dog. I assured her he was and for a few moments, the two dogs played and rolled around while we talked.

When I started to leave she said goodbye to Chauncey, and I said goodbye to Love. I was corrected when she told me that Love was not the dog’s name. I apologized and told her I heard her calling the dog when she ran out. She laughed and explained this was a common misconception. Sugar was the dog’s name. I guess that too is a southern “thang?” Why then, was she screaming “love” at her? Turns out that my neighbor doesn’t believe in training her dog to negative words like “no” and “stop.” Instead she chooses words like “love,” “good,” and “nice.”

My mind was churning a bit as I wondered how you might get a dog to stop a negative behavior with a positive word. Perhaps the word doesn’t matter as much as the consistency behind it. After all, I get Chauncey to come by hollering “meatball.” He was used to getting a treat when I said this, but now he doesn’t have to get one every time. I quickly imagined how I might choose the word “fubar” as the get down command whenever I see Chauncey standing up on the counter ready to grab something. This is his new thing. Just started a few weeks ago and it is very irritating. As long as he has the same expectation when he hears fubar— that I will push him down, then I guess it could work. Eventually the word and my movement of taking him off the counter will trigger him. When the behavior comes he will expect the word. He will know I don’t like it when he does it. Then the behavior will stop. Easy peasy!

Hate this behavior! Should I yell “Get Down!” or FUBAR?

My neighbor added something else as she explained her command. I told her that it was interesting that she had picked such a word to be the command to react like a behaving, non aggressive dog. She agreed and said that more importantly, when people hear it, “they know what they’re gonna get….love” Interesting…. Just like Chauncey knows what he’s going to get when he stands up on the counter? “FUBARED!” (If you want to know what fubar means, here’s the NSFW definition. I learned it in the military.)

Now, I would never do anything to make Chauncey look “fubared.” In fact, far from it. It is well known to those around me, that even before Chauncey was born I had decided to raise him with no physical discipline. It would be an ironic and inside joke if I decided to train him not to get on the counter with such a word.

I always planned for him to be a Zen dog. One, that while needing discipline would not get it in the form of domination or physical punishment. It’s not as crazy as it sounds. You might be surprised what you can accomplish with patience, anticipation and true communication between dog and friend. It has been a challenge. He is only eight months old now and over 80 pounds. But, it was always in my mind that I would allow him to make doggie decisions and I would guide him to make the ones that were best for everyone in the household. How I do this and how sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t work is something I will be talking about. Let’s just say for now, that Chauncey is a wonderfully rambunctious work in progress. We have conversations about this and sometimes– he listens.

A zen doggie from his “om” collar to his yin and yang name tag!

The post Love and Zen appeared first on Observations from the Road Less Traveled.

Well…. Sort of.

Let me tell you a quick and cautionary tale about how I went from a “No Alarm Clock Required” life to one where the alarm went off nearly every day. Last year about this time, life changed for us. As a couple, we were no longer able to travel in the way that we used to. Some of our flexibility was still there but necessary decisions were being made that would make our home the place we would be spending far more of our time than we had in years before. My partner was finishing up the last year of a grad program and also needed to spend time building her brick and mortar business. I had decided that 2012 would be the “Year of Chauncey,” meaning that after many years of putting it off, I would finally make another Golden Retriever my fuzzy forever friend. I’ve been blogging and talking about my lifestyle for years so if you want a peek into how a day looked for me “before” go here. It’s funny because when I wrote that post, I had just hit a milestone of 1500 days with no alarm clock. Maybe I jinxed myself that day!

Still, being stuck in the house, working but not traveling started to wear on me and I decided to try temping as a means of learning new things and meeting new people. Temping then presented a permanent job and I thought, “Why not?” That turned out to be a poor decision on my part. Having never worked a nine to five in my life it was difficult wrapping my brain around getting up, commuting, and being required to be somewhere everyday. In the past I have been a paramedic, a researcher, a professor and an entrepreneur. None of which have required me to string more than 2 or 3 days together at once. I’ve always had boatloads of free time and control over where and how I spent it.

And so I quit. Let me be clear that I didn’t quit just because of the above. Honestly, the job had its problems. There were things about the company that led me to write that resignation letter and I don’t need to vent on those. They understand the issues. But in a broad sense beyond the apparent problems, my personal journey there led me to realize that it was totally soul sucking to spend 12 plus hours a day in a job that was not fulfilling. This is key. I don’t really have anything against the nine to five if it is what you want to do. But mercy! It has got to be fulfilling or else you just gave away time that you will never get back. That thought kept sticking in my mind.

As the Dave Matthews Band said in “Ant’s Marching,” the song I played every day as I drove to work,

He wakes up in the morning
Does his teeth bite to eat and he’s rolling
Never changes a thing
The week ends the week begins ….

Today I return to my previous life. A creative, aware one where my ways of earning a living are designed to be fulfilling choices —whether they are choices at a nine to five or choices with no alarm clock required. I’m not unemployed. I never have been. It’s hard to be unemployed living a life where I am the “CEO of Me!”

The post I Quit! appeared first on Observations from the Road Less Traveled.

Happy May Day Everyone!

Sitting here thinking about when my road trips will begin again. I hope the answer is, “very soon!” It has been a while since I’ve packed up and just let the wind take me. That kind of thing is hampered when you hold down a nine to five. You can’t just GO unless you have PTO or call in sick. Where is the fun and spontaneity in that? The good news is that my life is once again about to change. In the next day or so I’ll be going from this:

to this:

More on that in future posts!

Plus, having a puppy puts a necessary damper on my ability to take off. My puppy Chauncey was born on August 19, 2012 and went from this:

to this:

and now he’s fully ready to hit the road with me:

So, until a new adventure is written I’ll enjoy looking at one of the past. An oldie but goodie, as our journey took us to Palm Springs Ca. where we ventured up the mountain, down the mountain and over to a nudist resort.

The post Going From This To…. appeared first on Observations from the Road Less Traveled.

Each day at my job, I write a positive message on the task whiteboard visible to all that enter my workspace. In the beginning of this practice of writing on the board I used to put trivia, interesting facts, vegan quotes and such but as my time there passed, I realized that positivity was what was needed to be spread there more than anything else.

The work environment can be a rough one particularly when people are unhappy for numerous and valid reasons. Home problems, financial difficulties, job dissatisfaction and other instabilities can make a work environment a perfect storm for 8 plus hours of misery. As I’ve dealt with many of these problems on my own, I’ve tried, more times then not, to present a positive perspective to inspire but to also deflect some of the negativity that can sometimes naturally flow in the work place.

Over time I’ve noticed that so few people at my job are fulfilled and “happy” and I’ve thought about the effect this can have on the energy that is released. Could it be that a “happy” person exposed to such malaise can actually begin to believe that their lives are also as chaotic and miserable?

Several years ago I created a video for my 6th anniversary and surprised my wife by having a group showing of it with many of our friends present. The video was full of photos and video clips of our previous 6 years in a loving relationship. A guest of a friend came up to me afterwards and said, “Nice video but it didn’t show any of the arguments that I bet you had over those 6 years.” True and thank you for noticing Gargamel. I realized in that moment the perspective that I had chosen to live. Of course there are bad times in my relationship but I had always chosen to focus on the good because in my view there is no point in focusing on the bad unless you want the bad. Recently I found that I had not always been living up to that perspective.

This past Friday I wrote on the whiteboard the quote by Gandhi that you see in pic above, “I will not let anyone walk through my mind with their dirty feet.” It was a quote that I came across online as I searched for the days quote but as I so believe, nothing is by accident. It is a startling quote for me and one that I want to share with my readers along with this understanding: If you surround yourself with people that ooze negativity it is hard to stay positive but it is well worth the effort. The alternative to striving for positivity is allowing yourself to wallow in negativity and that can never be the best option as negativity stops forward progress, self evaluation, growth and your ability to love and appreciate what you have right in front of you. There are always positives in your relationships, your job and your life if for nothing more than to give you the tools to move on to the next stage of each. Finding this truth requires diligence and sometimes it requires removing yourself from environments and from people who will offer you no more than to track through your mind with their “dirty feet.”

Don’t let anyone do that. Be conscious of these moments when they arrive and become conscious of how you allow yourself to respond. Do you follow along or do you refuse and deflect their energy? Do you begin to not see what makes your job right for you because it is wrong for someone else? Have you missed a moment today in your relationship that was beautiful because others chose to discuss the ugly side of theirs? Did you jump on the “ugly” train and forget that which was beautiful?

The post The Force of Group Pain and the Power of Positivity appeared first on Observations from the Road Less Traveled.

Ready to head optimistically into the new year. 2012 was a painful, yucky year that I am glad to see go. I lost my mojo so deep in the muck that I could not see even the smallest seedling of it until late this year. Lots of changes for me–many dramatic. I give them a voice here just so I can say so long to them:

Don’t Become a Slave to A Narrative
First and most significantly, I learned something about my past that really shook my foundations. Without going into extended details I will just say that what I thought was true, even through the memory of my own eyes, was probably something that I created within my mind to cope with a tragedy. This revelation rocked me and made me question memories of who I am. This event was a great part of my life narrative–it was a corner that was turned long ago and seemingly everything was shaped from what followed. But it was not real. I will most certainly write about this revelation in my book, but for now I will just say that this moment taught me a very important lesson about allowing your life to be ruled by a narrative. We all have a story, something that changed who we were…. or so we thought. I had to take this new information and let go of the past as I struggled to understand “who am I?” I am who I am in the present and the past and its narratives cannot hold me or dictate my future any more.

Plant Powered is My Journey
Second, I will say that after 3 or more years as a vegan I am really tired of the title. One of my 2012 resolutions was to communicate the positives of veganism to as many people as I could. I did and what I found is that veganism as a title is so alienating that few wanted to listen. I was never pushy. That is not my way. But I grew tired of the conversation being met with enthusiasm and then the inevitable cheeseburger. Everyone gets to where they need to be on their own time and you really don’t need to believe as I do. It’s your journey. It’s my journey. So while I will continue to talk about being plant based, plant powered and about my new journey in 2013 into being raw food centric, it will be more about my experiences rather than to proselytize or to recruit. I have a book in the works for meat lovers who want to go plant based and if you want some info on veganism you can always click the “vegan diaries” tab at the top of the blog. I won’t delete my old posts as I see them as good resources for those interested in becoming plant based foodies.

Everything Changes. When It Stops Working Find Something That Does
Third, I changed my line of work and for the first time in 14 years I am no longer an academic. I don’t teach in any structured university environment anymore. More so, after 7 years I have left an incredibly independent life of working at home to join the ranks of the daily work world. I have never really been expected to be at work from 9-5 every day all week and it has been a tough transition. But I believe this is a purposeful experience and I am learning a lot about how to manage a new lifestyle. Of course I will be blogging on my experiences and ideas about this.

When I Change, What I Write Changes
So the blog is rebooting for 2013. In the past three years I have blogged on travel, food and the ideology of escape. That no longer works for me. After a lot of soul searching and looking in the mirror I have found that there is no reason to look for escape—I’ve learned to make the world that I have landed in, a place that I run to–not away from. I am closer to peace than I have ever been and I’m not going to stop now!

So now “Observations from the Road Less Traveled,” will be about being ok with being still. It will be about looking for solutions right where I stand instead of seeking answers in some other land. It will be about the joy of a new life experienced with a new narrative! The blog will present itself through the topics of work, life and balance. I will still be traveling and writing about trips in the life section. This section is also where you will find my foodie experiences. I will be blogging on my work perspectives in the work section and in the all important balance section I will attempt to verbalize how I am managing this leg of the journey.

As always I thank you for walking down this road with me. Let’s have a great 2013!

Spencer Hope

The post Say Goodbye to 2012 and Hello to A New Blog appeared first on Observations from the Road Less Traveled.

Coming soon….the reboot of Observations From the Road Less Traveled!

The post 12-21-12. The beginning is ….here. appeared first on Observations from the Road Less Traveled.

So it’s been a little over three months since I declared that I was going to run a half marathon and lose 40 pounds. Just reading that sentence seems a little crazy. But that’s what I’ve been trying to do. I’ve got three months to go and amazingly it looks like I’m halfway to both goals.

My first month of watching what I ate went swimmingly. I lost 10 pounds without effort, which is why I love it when I behave like a good vegan and eat properly. I’ve tried to avoid smashing down bags of Lays chips and jumbo portions of Sour Patch Kids. Sometimes I’ve failed but I know that when you take excessive sugar and bad carbs out, fat has an easier time leaving the body. Today I’m not sure how much I weigh because the scale died from constant checking, but according to the Wii scale, I’ve lost between 17-20 pounds. About halfway. With three months to go I just might make it. An additional fifteen to twenty pounds seem possible. I’m not sold on that number though. When it feels right I’ll know and that may be about 10 pounds away.

Which brings me to the running.

Last time we talked about this goal I was ready to break the milestone of running 10 minutes without stopping. Today I can run a 5k (3.1 miles) without stopping, and then walk 30 seconds before hitting it again. On weekends I try to have a long run of 6 or 7 miles. I also stopped running on the treadmill because longer runs are simply unmanageable inside. One weekend I went to a high school track and ran an incredible 24 laps. When I finished I thought, “Wow, you should just do that on the street. At least you can look at something.” So, I’ve started to just head out and run.

An amazing transformation. I really can’t believe I’m doing this. I always wanted to run long distances regularly but I never imagined that I could discipline myself to do it. My dedication and desire to run 10-15 miles a week has really surprised me. This dedication seems to have crept up on me ….or maybe I’ve just been too focused on the pain.

There’s a t-shirt that says, “Pain is weakness leaving the body.” Well, I must be pretty weak because from the day I started running in October there hasn’t been one day without hip to toe soreness or pain. Not one day since have I walked down the stairs without the silent scream. It’s becoming… irritating. This is especially remarkable for me because in my house I am famously known for stating the obvious—“I hate pain.” So for me to endure this and continue is a “teachable moment!” Still, if I weren’t at a symbolic halfway point, a place where I’m thinking the pain will soon begin to subside, I would be convinced to reconsider.

At the end of the day I believe my pain has come from too many long runs too quickly. After I quickly graduated from the Couch to 5K app, I logged on to Nike + and tracked my outdoor runs on my iPhone app. Nike’s half marathon training program is pretty intense and I never felt I was recovering enough, so a couple of weeks ago I returned to my race’s more conservative beginner program.

I’ve been reading running magazines and books and I’ve learned how to judge injury from soreness. So far I haven’t had a run stopping injury. But now I run with a knee brace on because somewhere after 4 miles I notice a instability in my left knee. Last week I started wearing a lace up ankle brace on my right ankle. Something bad starts happening to my ankle after 6 miles. Icing and epsom salt baths help tremendously. I think I’m now steady enough to keep going, healing on off days and strengthening during runs while increasing the miles toward March’s destination of 13.1 miles.

Here’s a video I watch on my iPhone when I’m soaking in the tub, wondering if I’m up to this. It’s totally inspiring, summing up the struggle and triumph of running and reaching for a goal. And the song that’s playing? Can’t put that on my iPhone and run because I wouldn’t be able to run while crying! From the site Beautiful Athlete

Running can be lonely and that in itself is a lesson to be okay with. No one in my house is able to run. I haven’t been able to hook up with anyone in my neighborhood so far. A few weeks back I joined a local running group and headed out to a meet up. We met in a parking lot and decided which way we were going to run and everyone took off. They were so much faster than me. It was humbling that I never saw them again until the run was finished. I focused. Ran my pace. Did 3.5 miles running alone. I did have thoughts of never showing again but I’ll get past that. A marathoner once said, “Whether you come in first or last you still finish.” So in my mind I try to get past ego while pushing my speed gains appropriately. I may never be fast. Another runner once said about trying to be a speedster, “Maybe you just suck at that.” Maybe I do and I’ll always be a turtle. But when I close my eyes at night and think about the next days run, I’m a gazelle passing everyone. I would love to have a running buddy to help me get through the rough spots but if I must do this alone I suppose I’ll be better in the end?

Running burns an incredible amount of calories. After a 6-7 mile run my monitor say’s I’ve burned well over 600 calories. This seems like a good thing but an hour afterward I’m asleep–exhausted. I run most times in the morning so I’ve had an overnight without food. Even a quick breakfast can’t prepare me for my run’s calorie burn. If I don’t eat a lot and well throughout each day I can be in trouble. Depleted and weak. It’s a challenge. But I try very hard to eat lots of good carbs for energy and keep the protein sources coming to keep my muscles strong. I take iron tablets daily to combat my well-documented anemia that is often worse in runners who deplete blood cells from the repetitive striking on pavement and the battery that is running. But I love it.

I’ve decided to run a 14K next month to prep for the half marathon the month after. 14k is almost 9 miles. I figure if I’m not able to do that by then, I may not be able to manage things by race time. This is a curious balance—losing weight, yet needing to eat enough to keep me strong enough for the next days run. Sometimes if it’s safe to zone out like on the track, I’ll run listening to an audio book, but I’m starting to run more and more without the need for distraction. I find solace in the sounds of my own hypnotic shuffle. It’s actually kind of fun. Wow. Am I becoming a runner?

I hope you enjoyed this post. I’ve thought a lot about enhancing the experience of Kindle subscribers who get the blog sent to them wirelessly. Writing longer posts on occasion will give you more to chew on while reading bedside. See you next time!

In the meantime, here are a couple of interesting links and bloggers I’ve come across.

Good Form Running presented by New Balance Shoes

Black Girls Run

No Meat Athlete

Runners World Article, “Why is Running So White?’ (link)

Beautiful Athlete

Run Janelle Run

The post Halfway To A Half Marathon appeared first on Observations from the Road Less Traveled.

A few months ago I took leave and deleted all of my Facebook accounts. (Read why here) I was a ‘several times a day’ user so it could have been a difficult transition for me. I was pretty dedicated to my reasons for leaving. For my stubborn personality, that was pretty much all I needed to end the Facebook relationship that I had nurtured for quite a while.

The other day I spent 2 hours chatting and catching up with a friend who lives out of state. Literally the first thing she asked me was when I was coming back to Facebook. I told her that I wasn’t and she feigned offense. It seems that she wanted me to be on Facebook so that she could keep up with what was going on in my life. I told her that when I was posting 3-4 times a day and posting pictures I couldn’t recall her ever saying anything back. “That’s ok,” she replied, “I still liked looking in on you and seeing what you were doing.” I told her I would start sending her a text picture every once in a while and after all we did talk on the phone.

I don’t miss Facebook. Every once in a while I might find out that I’ve missed something. Like finding out that someone I know moved from my neighborhood to a suburb 20 miles away. Yet, if she and I were really friends I guess I would have known that. So most of the time I just don’t know what I miss and that seems just fine.

Before I left Facebook I downloaded all of the email addresses and contact information of those in my network. I also downloaded birthdays and uploaded them to my desktop calendar. (see how to do this here) From there I try hard to note everyone’s birthday and send them a text or email on their day. Some people I regretfully miss (Sorry Tracey!!) but some I remember and that’s actually on par with how I have always been.

My partner is still on Facebook but it seems that we talk about totally different things these days. While parts of our old conversations may have spun off of Facebook updates, such as conversations about what Bob posted, what Bob did, or what Bob said, that’s no longer the case. Because that’s not a trigger to log in and look in, I think my partner goes without checking Facebook for days if not weeks at a time. Which in my view kind of highlights an undercurrent about Facebook. If you don’t say anything for weeks at a time will anyone send out a “what’s up” to you? Will anyone notice you are gone?

If you haven’t already noticed from my posts and glimpses into my lifestyle design, I tend to place a high value on being an individual who does not go with the crowd. Someone who seeks alternative ways of expression and maintaining some controls in a world that has many ways to control me. For me Facebook threatened that expression and I became one in a very large crowd losing significant control over my private information. Since I left Facebook I have not been without friends and perhaps this experience has highlighted them. These are the people that I’ve spoken to by phone, text, email or even those who have reached out across Twiiter to say “good morning” to me @spencerhope, causing my phone to buzz like an incoming text with their hello. For those who don’t have my personal phone number a “hello” tweet is a cool and quick way to say hello and keep the love line open. I recently joined a running group and there will be a get together party in a couple of weeks. I received an email from the group with a link to their Facebook page and a warning that there would be much that I would miss out on if I didn’t join the Facebook page. Oh well. I never wanted to read Facebook updates while I was running anyway.

Ultimately, while I miss out on some things I still mange to know some important stuff without Facebook. A friends’ baby is going to be a girl who will be named Alex. I found out the same day that she did. Hugs will be given at the shower next week. There is a party this weekend that I may not go to but I know about it. Last week a friend asked us to come ring in the New Year with them and we did. In perfect randomness I get emails with silly jokes and a ‘how are you doing’ note attached. And, when I lose touch I spend two hours catching up with much more energy and back and forth drops of information than I ever would or could on Facebook. In other words, life without Facebook goes on kinda like it used to. Remember those days?

I still have Facebook share links on this blog site. I truly hope that your enjoyment of the blog and the passing on of information that I share with you here and in the near future on the other blogs will not be limited to Facebook. If something I’ve said moves you to action, thought or change, tell a friend. Email a link or share it using any of the click on links below. Subscribe to the blog here to have it sent your email address or have new updates sent to your Kindle so that you’ll never miss an update. Post a comment on the blog post. Say hello by email at spencer@spencerhopedavis.com or on twitter @spencerhope . Stay in touch!

The post Life After Facebook appeared first on Observations from the Road Less Traveled.

GoAnimate.com: Oprah’s Three Questions by spencerhope

Like it? Create your own at GoAnimate.com.

I made the little video above because there was a time when I so bowled over by an Oprah Winfrey quote that it became a mantra of the moment for me. On her final show, she gave an incredible master class and shared her thoughts on what she perceived to be a core piece of meaning for many of us. She said, “I’ve talked to nearly 30,000 people on this show, and all 30,000 had one thing in common: They all wanted validation. If I could reach through this television and sit on your sofa or sit on a stool in your kitchen right now, I would tell you that every single person you will ever meet shares that common desire. They want to know: ‘Do you see me? Do you hear me? Does what I say mean anything to you?’”

Yes, that makes perfect sense and when she implored us to, “Try it with your children, your husband, your wife, your boss, your friends. Validate them. ‘I see you. I hear you. And what you say matters to me,’” I thought…wow…. this one conversation could be the key to breaking down so many moments of distress between co-workers, partners, spouses, children, parents—everybody.

But you see, you can ask a person to validate you but in the end if you don’t validate yourself first you will tend to walk around going from person to person asking them, “Can you see me?” “Can you hear me?” “Does what I say mean anything to you?” There are a lot of people to ask that of, but only one person’s answer really matters. YOURS!

And then one night I was scanning the TV and came across an ESPN E-60 program highlighting the story of former pro basketball player Chris Herren. He came up extraordinarily talented, lived life as a pro baller and made lots of money. He has a wife and kids and from all outside views many chances at a great life. But something was missing. Perhaps as a result of this, from his early days in college he has been an addict or as he is now, a recovering addict. At the end of the show, as he celebrated three years of sobriety he spoke of how after six years he had stopped shaving and brushing his teeth in the shower. He said that he realized that until now he could not look himself in the face.

That clip is here:

Amazing. Imagine not being able to look yourself in the face? After hearing this, I thought that the best beginning to a day and the best close to a day would be to walk into your bathroom, look yourself straight in the eyes and say, ” I see you.” “I hear you.” “What you say and feel matters.”

Can you do it? Start today!

The post Three Questions That Oprah Didn’t Ask Us To Consider appeared first on Observations from the Road Less Traveled.

About a month ago I wrote a post about losing weight and wanting to run a half marathon in March of 2012. It’s been a pretty productive month and I’m moving along at a good pace. I’m training slowly but surely and watching my intake of chips, candy and hot fries. My weaknesses. Since that post I have lost 10 of my 40 pound goal and while I’m not trying to do a “Biggest Loser” extreme routine, I have been working out in ways that are do-able for me.

Exercise:

Monday, Wednesday, and Friday I run. At first I struggled to run 60 seconds at a time. This was tough to swallow since I had been able to run an 8k just 6 months ago. Clearly when you don’t use it, you lose it! Today I am able to run 10 minutes before a walk break. Now that may seem like an impossible way to imagine running 13 miles in 5 months but slow and steady wins the race. To be on track for the half marathon training program that my race has released, I will need to be able to run 20 minutes non-stop in two weeks. I am pretty sure I will be able to do this and then follow their program in order to be ready on race day. Overall, right now I’m spending no more than 45 minutes warming up, walking and running.

As I’ve gotten in better shape, my problem with running longer distances has moved from the physical to the mental. It’s not that I can’t run for long periods, it’s just that I have trouble shutting random thoughts out. Then my breathing gets highjacked, my stride fails and I start walking. I’ll get this under control soon. I also run speed intervals where I up the treadmill speed for 60 seconds, then walk 120 seconds, then sprint again for 60. This I do 10 to 12 times and I’m not only getting faster but also becoming stronger. When I started I was at a 5 on the treadmill, which is a 12-minute mile. Now I can easily sprint at 7.5. I have my eye on 9.0 sprints just around the corner.

Tuesday and Thursday I strength train with a basic full body workout on circuit machines at my gym. In a 40-minute work out I cover both my lower and upper body and abs. I complete 12 reps, then 10 and then 8 with progressively heavier weights. I use light weights and I don’t increase overall weight rapidly. I want to gradually build tone and strength– not bulk.

Saturday’s I try to do something interesting like Trikking, tennis, or hot yoga. I take Sunday off but I find that during my week if I get stressed an extra 30-minute walk not only relieves that but also adds to my weekly caloric burn. I burn between 1500-1800 calories a week by exercising.

Diet:

My diet is a work in progress. Now that I’m not grabbing for chips, soda and juice my calories have to come from food in ways that I’m adjusting to. But in the tradition of the Body for LIfe program I do set aside one day a week to slam down some hot fries, chips, sour patch kids and twizzlers! As you may know from earlier posts I am a vegan and I have been challenged with eating well and working out at the same time. Am I eating enough calories to sustain my workouts? I’m not 100% sure but I think so.  I’m very conscious of my protein intake and I try very hard to eat the right carbs that maintain good levels of energy throughout the day. I feel pretty good and it seems I’m eating all the time with a goal between 1500-1700 calories a day.  It’s actually quite a pain to make sure that I’m eating all day!

A Sample Day: 1579 Calories, 103 g protein, 44g fat, 209g carbs
Ratios: 50% carbs 25% protein, 25% fats

Breakfast:
Ezekiel Sprouted Bread w/ Strawberry Jam and Vegan Butter

Snack:
Fuji Apple Slice with Almond Butter

Lunch:
Penne Pasta and Homemade Sauce (garlic, peppers, olives, onions)

Afternoon Snack:
Protein Shake with Maca Powder and Chia Seeds

Dinner:
Seitan w/Grilled Veggies
Kale Salad

Evening Snack:
Rooibos Tea Sweetened w/ Black Strap Molasses
100-calorie Raw Revolution Chocolate and Cashew Bar

I take the following supplements daily: 65mg Iron, 1000mg Vitamin C, 1000mg Calcium, 1000iu Vitamin D 1000mcg B12.

The Bottom Line:

Keep in mind that 1 pound equals about 3500 calories. I’m not a nutritional expert but this whole thing seems as simple as calories in and calories out. In the past month I’ve burned on avg. 1800 calories a week with my exercises. That’s 7200 calories a month or 2 pounds. I’ve also subtracted 1000 calories a day from the amount it would take for me to just maintain my weight. That’s 7000 calories a week x four weeks = 28000 calories or 8 pounds. Since I can verify that I’ve lost 10 pounds in the past month it seems that this is working. Not a lot of pain. Only 45 minutes a day. The only time I am hungry is when I get distracted by work and don’t eat at regular intervals. This is working for me!

So that’s my monthly update on this particular journey. I feel good. I’ve had no injuries and I’m dedicated to taking this one step at a time in order to stay healthy. My core is a little lumpy but I’m seeing body changes that I like. Muscle tone popping up again. Strength returning. If all goes as planned, next time I update you on these goals I will have lost another 10 pounds and will be running 30 minutes at a time. Join me on twitter @spencerhope for more regular updates on my weight and running quest!

The post 10 Pounds Gone in One Month- Exercise and Diet; What a Concept! appeared first on Observations from the Road Less Traveled.

I have an iPhone 4 and on the surface I’m not that interested in upgrading to the new iPhone 4S. Yes, Siri the new voice command tool that is said to do everything for you from finding restaurants to telling you the meaning of life is interesting but also a little creepy and I’m fine without it. I thought that I would use my existing phone’s voice control capabilities to dial numbers and play music by voice command but I never did. So Siri is not a draw for me. Plus Apple is fantastic in that they release upgrades that work on older models so many of the cool new features I will still have on my iPhone 4 and original iPad.

What I am interested in and will always be a sucker for is a good deal. I saw that Apple was offering buybacks on the iPhone 4′s and giving Apple store credit for them. I have no wish list in the Apple store but that reminded me that I once traded in all of my old phones and ipods to Amazon and received a healthy Amazon gift card which I used to deplete a good chunk of my wish list. And then it came to me—what about the Kindle Fire?

If you have an iPhone you can trade it in to Amazon and receive a gift card which you can use for any object they sell, including the Kindle Fire. As of today Amazon is offering $240 for an iPhone 4. $280 if you have it un-used and in it’s original box. You ship it to them at their cost and they will credit your account by gift card.

The key here is to act quickly. The more phones they receive the lower the trade-in value will go. The sweet spot of course is to be able to purchase an iPhone 4S for $200 and get at least that much to trade so that you can buy the Kindle Fire for $199. Think about trading in all those old iPods tossed around. Video cameras too. The only hitch is Amazon does not allow trade in for their Kindles so you can’t upgrade your Kindle this way.

I haven’t decided to jump yet. $200 cash is $200 spent and I don’t see the need to do that even though I am eligible for an upgraded iPhone. I think the Kindle Fire would make a great gift either way. If you can swing the $200 cash (don’t use credit!) you can get both for the price of one. Something to consider but remember the trade values are moving as we speak!

The post Amazon Trade In: Get Both the iPhone 4S and the Kindle Fire For $200 appeared first on Observations from the Road Less Traveled.

Each night I spend a few moments visualizing running a 13.1 mile race this coming March. I know I will be able to do it but it would really be nice not to fall across the finish line convulsing and shaking. I’d like to make it in an energized and healthy way so, in my mind I am running fast, light footed and smiling as I cross the finish line.  Last March when I did an 8K I got incredibly sick before and after running.  Part of that was because I didn’t train for it. While I made it without passing out, it was only the second time that I had gone that far. The first time being a practice run the week earlier, which resulted in so much lactic acid build up that I was projectile vomiting 3 days later. But I still went ahead and ran the race and afterwards my body shut down.

At a regular physical later, I found I had several nutritional deficiencies, the worst being an iron count so low that a blood transfusion was mentioned. So I want to do it better this time. I want to train slowly but properly. I want to get my body in the best optimal and nutritionally sound shape so that this experience goes down easier.

Morning time is the time that I pay most attention to this preparation. I will need to be more conscious of my nutrient levels for success.  I figure if I can concentrate a great deal of good into the morning then I won’t risk forgetting things as my day moves forward.

I set my intention at night and then focus on making it a reality each morning.

So, I get up sometime between 8 and 9 and prepare for the physical part.  Three days a week I go to my neighborhood gym and run a segment of interval training. This takes only 30 minutes. I walk 5 minutes on the treadmill then do intervals of sprints/jogs/walks each lasting anywhere from 90 seconds to 3 minutes each. Lots of trainers will tell you that interval runs are best for cardio and strength development. If you run for 30 minutes non-stop on pace, the body will find a comfort zone. Pushing through intervals is the best way to build up the stamina I will need for the race.

Then I’m back home and within 30 minutes from the time I stepped off the treadmill I have my special smoothie:

Calories- 304, Protein –26g, Fat- 8.5g, Cholesterol-0, Carbs 40g

1 cup almond milk

1 scoop sun warrior protein

1-ounce goji berries

1 tsp maca powder

2 tbsp chia seeds

Raspberries and small banana

Goji berries are an excellent source of vitamin C, which is key for boosting my immune system and aiding in recovery after workouts. They also have a good amount of calcium in them.

Chia Seeds are necessary for fiber and heart healthy but non-animal sourced Omega 3’s.  It also makes me feel quite full. Imagine the Chia Pet commercial. The small amount of chia in my system expands so I feel full. This can be a bonus for people trying to reduce calorie intake and lose weight.

Maca powder is my happy powder. It balances my hormones so that my moods are far less up and down. My energy levels are through the roof without crashing backward.  I would add that both men and women report amorous feelings when regularly using maca powder. It’s the shot to the hormones that is probably the reason for this. Pre and post menopausal women use maca quite often.

On the days I’m not doing interval runs I try to mix something else in. I’ll go to hot yoga one day of the week or I’ll go Trikking or do a P90x workout if I’m feeling really strong.  My goal is to do something each morning 6 days a week.

I would say that the morning activity and smoothie routines are the main points of success for me. Getting them done and early at that, leaves me feeling accomplished and less likely to fall into bad habits later in the day. I feel good and don’t want to blow it by eating chips or letting something odd make me get off track emotionally.  If I were to do this in the evening I think I would be in repair mode, upset with myself over what I didn’t do properly during the day.

What I’m learning more than anything is that just 30 minutes of movement and 10 minutes of nutritional attention can make a world of difference for me. Setting intention the night before has become my secret weapon for goal success.

Some Resources:

Nativa Naturals Superfoods: (link)

Sun Warrior Protein (link)

Beginning with 5k in 9 weeks (link)

The post Setting Good Intentions: 13.1 Miles Here I Come! appeared first on Observations from the Road Less Traveled.

Facebook is banking that you are too tied to the service to quit them. They are hoping that you will be blinded by the beauty of Timeline and will be so busy clicking on your friend’s Timelines that you won’t see or understand that with each click you tighten yourself deeper into the cog. They are banking that you won’t have the time, tech savvy or knowledge of all the steps needed to undo all of the default settings they have put in place to open your identity to more people than you thought you allowed. They are betting that you can’t imagine life without Facebook. That you fear losing touch, losing the ability to share, and that you’ll forget that it was just a few years ago that you were staying in touch and sharing your life on your own terms and were doing just fine. They’re betting that you have come to feel that there was no life before Facebook and that there will not be a life for you without it.

Make them lose that bet. Quit Facebook. I am.

Take the Red Pill and Leave The Matrix

Can’t say that I didn’t see this new Facebook day coming. It’s been a queasy feeling for me for quite a while now. Admittedly, I loved Facebook. For all the reasons that you probably do: I liked sharing links, photos, stories, and happenings with friends. But in the past year or so I’ve noticed a trend in myself and in others in sharing more and more intimacies that I felt uncomfortable seeing or uncomfortable after I posted them. What was going on here?  I…we…were getting too comfortable with this medium. My opinion.

Then the privacy issues arose. First it was the realization that some of my personal pictures (nothing explicit of course but just personal) were not just tagged but swiped off the page and used in a way that I would never have willingly allowed. That was my fault for posting them and I felt that as long as I stayed in control of who my friends were, what sites accessed my info and what I deemed public, I would be okay. Yet Facebook started crumbling that false sense of control away and that’s when it really stopped being fun. Gradually I noticed more changes. Facebook allowed apps and other third party businesses ongoing access to users info as the default setting.  They expected users to be aware and savvy enough to go into settings and repeatedly change or delete them. Easy to do but I was troubled by the thought that many would not get the memo or wouldn’t think about the repercussions. Changing privacy settings became an ongoing activity. The fun was leaving the experience.

Then in the past months the changes have accelerated. An example is the recent email sent that said Facebook would no longer send emails when someone posted on your wall or responded to something you posted. This had been a way for me to limit online time but also know when someone connected with me. I saw this as Facebook’s way of keeping users online. Now, if I wanted to keep the emails coming I had to go in and change the settings.

In the past month I noticed that it seemed my friends weren’t posting as much as usual. I came to find that Facebook has instituted a new setting where all of my friend’s posts are set to show up in my home page feed as “most updates” instead of “all updates.” This meant that I wasn’t seeing the posts of my chosen friends and they weren’t necessarily seeing what I posted. What’s the point of sharing if Facebook decides what I am seeing? Facebook now rates posts as important “top stories” and puts a lot of what they want at the top of my homepage feed based on a confusing algorithm of factors. Again, I would have to go in and change the settings for each friend. Not something I wanted to do.

 Last week Facebook announced Timeline and other sharing changes and it became clear to me at least, that users are losing control of their profiles under the guise that we will be sharing in better ways. Now friends can see everything posted since we joined Facebook and no one is sure if there is a way to really, really stop non- friends from seeing what we once thought as private without first taking extended and ongoing measures. Think about how many times you saw this post from friends on Facebook in the past week:

Do me a favor: please hover over my name here, wait for the box to load and then hover over the “Subscribe” link. Then uncheck the “Comments and likes” choice. I would rather my comments on friends’ posts not be made public. Thanks** Then repost if you don’t want your EVERY MOVE posted on the right for everyone to see! I’ll do the same for you if you want. Just click “like.”!!!

This infers that you must do this process with each of your friends. Good luck with that. I hope you have the time to do that, and then set up privacy settings on other things, and other things, and other things. Check this short clip out:

But again this is just how I feel and why I am leaving facebook. I’d like to provide you with some links to articles that have broken down the issue in far more detail:

From CNN: “With “Real Time’ Apps, Facebook is Always Watching” Where you will read about the potential that Facebook can access and share what you are watching on Hulu, Netflix or listening to on Spotify with your Facebook friends.

From the CNN article cited above. Can you find yourself in that Matrix behind Zukerberg?

From CNN: “With Timeline Feature, Facebook Goes Eternal (or at least tries to).” Where you will see how Facebook wants Timeline to not only reflect all of your posts since joining but also wants you to go into Timeline and post things about yourself from the past all the way back until you were born if you would like to. Yes they would like you to. Not a big stretch of the imagination as users already share wedding dates, child birth dates, and family moments. Facebook wants to be the only place that you share and they want you to share everything.

From Mashable: “Facebook’s New Features Might Not Be as Private as You think”
From ReadWriteWeb “’Read’ in Facebook- It’s Not a Button So Be Careful What You Click!”
From Huffington Post: “Facebook Logout Tracking: Privacy Concerns Arise over Alleged Cookie Snooping”
These three will give you the low down on what all those clicks and settings are setting you up for.
All of these address concerns that even when you are logged out of Facebook they are still tracking your browsing information. Also that when you click “read” on certain sites your reading history will be shared with friends because you have defaulted into an information sharing application. You will then have to go into setting and change it or risk embarrassment when you click to read an article titled, “What’s the Best Way to Remove Pubic Hair Before Having Sex?”

And finally from Mashable, my “favorite” piece. “No, You Aren’t Going to Quit Facebook.” Where the author closes by saying, Yes, Facebook is changing and not all of those changes are going to be improvements. But as long as the online social graph is centered around a Facebook-led ecosystem, threats to quit the service are just that — threats.

In other words you are hooked so just deal with it.

How to Leave Facebook :

So I’m leaving Facebook for the reasons above and more. But since so many people seem to believe that it’s is an impossible act, let me tell how you can leave Facebook and maintain many of the activities you have become accustomed to since joining the service. Follow these tips and then read how to drop your account.

Tell your Facebook friends that you are leaving and tell them how you can be reached. Post this note over a few days because again, it just may not show up on some feeds. This will also give your friends a chance to say goodbye on this medium and tell you how they may want you to contact them in the future. Don’t burn any bridges that you will want to cross later just because you’re quitting Facebook.

What about talking to friends?
It used to be sufficient to talk to friends face to face or by phone, letter, email or text. You can still do that. Don’t have emails for all the new people that you’ve made friends with? Yes you do. All of your Facebook friends have an email attached to their account and it is posted on their info pages. This is a piece of information we have willingly given all of our Facebook friends. Take them with you. If you have a Yahoo email account (if not get one) you can import all of your friends email addresses into your Yahoo address book. Log in to Yahoo, click on “contact,” and then “import contacts” next the Facebook icon. You will then log into Facebook and all of your friends email addresses will be part of your address book.
Say  ”Hi”every now and then.

What About Birthdays?

Agreed. One of the nicest ways to show you care on Facebook has been the tradition of wishing a friend happy birthday. You can do the same once you are off Facebook. Log on to Facebook and click “events” from the left panel. Then click on birthdays and scroll to the bottom of the page where it says “export.” Click this and every friend’s special day can be added to your offline calendar. If you have a Mac these will be added to iCal. If you don’t have a Mac open a Google account and set up a calendar. Click calendars and under “other calendars” toggle to “add by url.” Cut and paste the web address Facebook gave you. All of the birthdays will now be there. You can even set alarms to remind you by email or on your desktop of these dates.

What About Phone Numbers and Addresses?

Not everyone shares this info on Facebook but if you want contact information stored in your phone ( emails, addresses, and phone numbers ) just make sure that you have the Facebook app. Click on the “friends” icon and look for the blue arrow in the upper right corner. It will give you the option to sync contacts. Click this and your phone will be downloaded with all available info from your friends profile including their smiling profile pictures.

What About All Those Great Pictures Shared?

Well. You might have to give up a lot of them. Many friends only post pictures to their Facebook pages. You can always ask by email if they will send you a couple. They are friends after all and that shouldn’t be a big deal. But prepare yourself that this may not be a part of your life as much as it has been on Facebook. BUT you can set up a drop site for friends to place photos. This works especially well for families. For example you can go to Flickr and open a free account and load pictures to it. Call it, “The Johnson Family Picture Page.”  Then make it password protected and send that password in an email to your family members asking them to post family pics there. It can be a very fun way to make sure that only family sees pics, comments, and posts. If you are a Mac user or have MobileMe, upload a family album and password protect that for your family members who can then upload and add their own pics to the slideshow.

Be bold and start a new family tradition.

What About All Those Great Picture Albums on Facebook and Links that My Friends Share?

You would be surprised how many photo albums are viewable on Facebook without the need for you to log in or have an account. A great example is this Facebook based album of photos from the Wall Street protests. You’ll be told you need to log on but you don’t have to in order to see the pictures. Just click cancel every time it asks you and keep viewing. Many Facebook fan pages are the same. (example 1, example 2, example 3) You only need to have a Facebook account to post there, not to read them. So you can look at them as a means of weaning yourself off Facebook or as a way to be there but not there. As far as cool news links, Twitter is the place to be in my opinion. I get more interesting and diverse links there than from any other place. You might want to try Twitter. Follow a few celebrities @MsTerryMcMillan @PamGrier @andersoncooper news sites @HuffingtonPost @cnnbrk or pop culture sites @popsugar @peoplemag to get the feel of it, and then find some of your friends (through email address or invites) and start talking. It can be far less intrusive and actually quite interesting. Roll over the Twitter names to see these pages.

What About All my Friends on Facebook?

Now you didn’t expect me, who says you don’t need an alarm clock, don’t need a grocery store and who constantly tells you to walk down the road less traveled, to be the one to tell you to stay on Facebook just because you have friends there did you? Your friends are wherever you are. Wherever they are. Or they are not friends.

Be bold. Step out and find your own way…..again.

How Do I Close My Account?

****UPDATE****  Before you take the step to delete your account go to “Account Settings” and click the blue link for “download a copy.”  Even if you have made copies of all the pics and such on your account this option will download a folder of all of your posts, pics and videos posted since you joined.  It will take a while for it to archive but when done this is a nice extra source to download to your hard drive.****

Go to your account and click on “security.” You are given the option to deactivate the account by clicking on the blue link.  Understand that deactivating your account just puts it on pause. No one can reach you but Facebook maintains all of your information, posts, friends lists, and pictures. Another tricky option because you think that this ends it but it doesn’t. They keep the info and they’re hoping that you will not make it through withdrawal and sign back on and pick up where you left off.  It is your call on this one but if you really want this to end, make sure you are logged on and go to this link. Click submit and breathe. You’ve done it!

What’s Next For Me After Facebook:

Spread this post far and wide and especially to your Facebook friends. I will be off Facebook by October 2, 2011, both on my personal account and blog/business feeds on Facebook. As to my business side of Facebook, I am a firm believer that there are ways to market your business/book/work off Facebook. I’ll be writing on this later. After October 2, I won’t have “share” links for Facebook on this blog. If you share my work, please do so on Twitter or pass it along by email or post links on other lists that you may belong to.  I appreciate your friendship and your support. Look out for an email from me saying “Hi” every once in a while. Stay in touch. If you are a Facebook friend you will stay so unless you “unfriend” me by email. Connect with me on twitter @spencerhope and on the blog. Subscribe for weekly email posts or set me up on your Kindle reader. See you on the other side!

The post No Facebook Required: Leaving Facebook-Why, How, and What’s Next appeared first on Observations from the Road Less Traveled.

I am a procrastinator. I would say I am a professional at it because what I do to earn a living seems to get so much better work out of me when I wait until the last minute. I always have been this way and how I wish I were not because I am also a person that likes to take on big tasks that really need preparation. When I was a teenager and played basketball during the fall, I never worked out or played during the summer. Every year the first week of practice would find me in bed sick, sore and unable to move as my body broke down. Yet every year I did the same thing, willing to accept that pain rather than prepare and do better.

Today I am embarking on a dual goal of running a half marathon in March of next year and also being 40 pounds lighter when I take that run. I think I have more than enough time to get in shape for that run but you see, I always wait until the last moments to prepare–or not prepare. I’m not a stranger to running. I do it every once in a while, sometimes when I travel I like to run in a strange city. I wrote a blog about running an 8k in March of this year and how sick I got doing that. So I’m going to try to make the coming event a well prepared for one. I’ve been a good girl and downloaded all sorts of iPhone apps to take me from couch to 5K, 5k to 10k and then 10K to half marathon. I plan to follow the directions to the letter.

I also plan to focus on losing weight and gaining muscle during this time. Being a vegan has been tough on my body. At first I lost 20 pounds by doing nothing but changing my diet. I got really comfortable with that vegan freedom and just sat around enjoying that I could lose weight without working out. Then the muscle tone started leaving me and I started feeling too weak to work out. Then the weight started coming back. Using BMI calculations I should weigh 40 pounds less than I do right now. Never mind that the last time I weighed 40 pounds lighter I was 14 years old and was a flat chested, long legged coltish looking teenager. I’ll still give it shot. I’ll shoot for a big goal and see where I land somewhere in between.

The goal is to stay healthy, eat properly, workout, run and do it all with planning and consistency. No waiting until March!

And of course, I’ll be blogging on my adventures with this goal. Follow me on twitter @spencerhope (roll over name to follow) or my facebook page and you can subscribe by email or view the blog on your Kindle to keep up with the good, the bad, and the ugly of what awaits me.

Some Tools I Hope to Utilize:

A Combination of workout programs:
P90 X -link- (Only Plyometrics, Ab-Ripper and Yoga Workouts)
Body for Life -link- (For Weight Training)

Running Applications:

Couch to 5K (link)
Bridge to 10K (link)
Nike Plus Half Marathon Trainer (link)

Staying a Healthy Vegan:

Becoming Vegan- The Complete Guide to Adopting a Healthy Plant-Based Diet by Brenda Davis and Vesanto Melina
Veganomicon – The Ultimate Vegan Cookbook by Moskowitz and Romero

The post The Art of Procrastination-Losing Weight and Running a Half Marathon appeared first on Observations from the Road Less Traveled.