Answering Your Own Questions

Someone said that you are five minutes away from the answer to your most difficult question. A fitness trainer I follow on social media recently posted a question. She asked “what is your biggest impediment to your weight loss?” They were the same excuses you’d expect to hear:

“I don’t have time…”

“Sweets…”

“Sleep deprivation/lethargy…”

“No support from my family…”

When I was selling gym memberships in the past, I asked that very question to clear up any objections that a potential client would have. I’ve heard some doozies as well, like “Why shouldn’t I work out at home?” Great question, why shouldn’t you? Why are you here wasting both of our time? So, when I had a one-on-one meeting with the fitness trainer for some potential coaching, she asked me the question.

“Me. I am the main obstacle to my success.” I could see the shock in her face, because I don’t think she heard that one before. It’s true though. For the time excuse, you could always reallocate time. You don’t need to spend X amount of time watching television or doom scrolling. Nor do you have to spend 2 ½ hours in a gym. Your sleep deprivation and lethargy can be due to other lifestyle choices like eating a poor diet, drinking or not getting a good night’s sleep. During June, I made the decision to improve my health through changing my diet, improving my exercise and severely reducing my alcohol intake. The results were astounding wherein I lost 12 pounds in a month! However, something did happen when there was the long weekend in July – I gained some of that weight back.

There’s a chasm between having a “great” night and a “bad” morning after. It’s roughly 6 beers and a few slices of pizza. Also, throw in a bar tab around $80. Multiply that by 3 and there’s your long weekend. All of the positive momentum made in the month previous seemingly was wasted. I indexed back to my previous conversation with the fitness trainer, “I am the obstacle to my own success.” I forgave myself for overindulging and got back to eating right and working out. It was that simple and I started to shed the pounds I accumulated.

Consistency is key. Having a daily routine helps me out immensely. In my previous job, especially in the beginning stages of the COVID lockdowns, I would wake up and immediately go to my computer to check my emails. Even before going to the bathroom! Those emails could have set my day down the wrong path, with someone giving me the what-for because something didn’t come out the way they expected. The day had no intentionality behind it and I was already behind the 8 ball. If I went out the night before and was hungover, that exacerbated the situation. The mind fog was there until the middle of the afternoon.

That mind haze adversely affected my creativity, whether it was coming up with solutions for work or trying to express myself on this medium. A lot of time elapses from blog posts and each time, I try to improve on that. Life happens and you have to forgive yourself - but not too much where you’re enabling. To clear up my mind haze, a simple run of a mile or so would help clear things up. Those endorphins that were released became more alluring than a night of FIFA and a 6 pack of Labatt Blue.

Every once in a while, I hit the same refrain through these pieces. Along the line there’s a duality of knowing what I should do and then actually doing something completely the opposite. Somewhere in my limbic system, there is a decision made to forego the healthy lifestyle with maybe a little moderation to pounding 6 IPAs. Somewhere in that loop, the next morning hangover is skipped. I don’t know why that is! After listening to an Art of Manliness podcast, I heard about the concept of disenchanting your bad habits.


Someone who abuses drugs turns to drugs to get a high, which feels good. But everything else about their addiction - what the drug is dong to their finances, their relationships, their professional life - feels very, very bad.

So, what's holding you back? We have to rationalize that these habits are, in fact, not rewarding. The way you feel and the lack of money you have should be very disenchanting. I looked at my receipts from the weekend and I was mortified. What did I have to show from those 3 days other than a really bad hangover, a few extra pounds and a few less dollars. I’m not sure when you’ll read this (maybe never) but July 9th is the Mississippi Street festival. I hate festivals, but I do enjoy the food and drink that comes along with it. The Portland Timbers play their rivals, Seattle, during the festival at 1 PM. I guess I could avoid it all together and I can do my morning run and complete my 60 minute Peloton Power Zone ride. Realistically, I’ll need to switch to a more filling and less potent beer. When it comes time to order another, remind myself about how bad I felt on my worst hangover day. There have been plenty. After all, a failure to plan is a plan to fail.

Speaking about plans, I’m pretty excited about a new avenue for A Drunken Production! With the change in the scope about beers, I think that moving onto a section called Good to Know will be fun. I’ve kind of started dabbling on my Instagram with adventures in grilling. Expect more food adventures and travels!