Learning from a 'Loser'

I really hate reality TV – there are at least 100 reasons, primarily, if I am going to take the time to watch TV, why should I spend it watching pompous losers humiliate themselves for a wad of cash. But one exception (a guilty pleasure if you will) is the Biggest Loser. This show essentially features a bunch of overweight contestants at a ‘Ranch’ (a euphemism for ‘Fat Camp’) where they have access to personal trainers and compete with one another to lose the most weight. While I don’t buy into the wholesale concept, there is one unique feature – they follow the contestants after they leave the show to see how they are doing. The vast majority of the contests kept up with the plan, and all lost somewhere between 25% and 47%(!) of their ‘before’ weights. Each had a story to tell, and each had a reason for changing their lifestyles.

The beauty of this is that it shows how average people, with the right diet and a regular regimen of exercise, can easily lead a healthy life and bring their weight to an acceptable level. These people are now role models who show us that average Joes and Janes can take charge of their lives and keep the weight off.

As someone who has lost about 25-30 lbs in the past 18 months, I am often asked how I did it. My usual answer is this – Americans in general have two cultural issues preventing them from being thin – they eat indiscriminately and they don’t exercise. Once you watch what you eat and get even a small amount of exercise each day, you will start to see the difference in your life.

While I can’t make too much of a dent in the American public, I hope that these ‘Losers’ can.

Just a test....

For those of you who have recently joined this list, thanks and welcome. After waiting in the wings for a while, I think things are about to take off, and I am just testing some new publishing tools. Please ignore this message, and look for new content soon!

Thanks,
--Yonah

A little bit about my *OTHER* son...

I spend an inordinate amount of time talking about my oldest son, Mitch. With good reason of course, seeing that he is 2 years older than his younger brother, it goes without saying that I have two more years of experience and fun with him.

But Mikey is definitely a character in his own right. For a 21-month old, he is a big chatterbox. He also is completely in "Monkey See, Monkey do" mode with Mitch - whateve Mitch does/wants/has he wants it too.

But what I find interesting, is that Mitch, somehow is a catalyst for Mikey's beggining to learn religious rituals. For example, now that Mitch knows his blessings to recite before and after food, Mikey tries reciting them too. While he doesn't have all the words down pat yet, it is the intention that is starting to form a good habit. Even though getting Mitch to wear his 'Yarmulka (skullcap)' is still a little bit of a battle, the minute Mitch puts it on, Mikey wants his on too.

A tale of two neighborhoods.

Last week, the jewish community in Lakewood decided to collectively ban the Internet from its homes. While I don't agree with their actions, I do agree with their reasoning - the Internet has become a place where malicious individuals seek out innocent victims. Don't agree with me? try typing out a mispelling of the name of a famous website - like microsft.com or whitehouse.com. If you are not taken to a porn site, someone somewhere is trying to make a buck off of you - either by tallying page visits, or by trying to download spyware on your computer.

It is outrageous!

However, despite the evil people out there, there are still plenty of good uses for the web - like my blog, and like my kid's school's web site!

Other changes brewing....

In addition to moving my blogs to blogger, I am also looking at some other things:

1. A monthly newsletter e-mail
2. New features with better content on parenting
3. Better pictures!

Please comment on the new site, and give me some feedback!

Moving to Blogger

For a myriad of Reasons, I decided to migrate my site to Blogger from Movable Type. This will help me with many things including publicity, and offline publishing - so I can now write blog entries when I am not net connected. Of course, I still need to figure out how to import all of my old blog entries.

Long time, no write

Wow,

I haven't posted anything in weeks. I need to get better at this. While I haven't been posting, I have been mulling all kinds of site upgrades. We'll see if any of them transpire.