Like most Americans, I made a resolution to lose weight this year.
I have always counted myself in pretty good health, and have never really had a need to go to the doctor, unless it was for my pinched nerve in my neck or an occasional sinus infection. So, when I started having problems with headaches late last year, I just popped a couple of Excedrin Migraine pills and kept on with my day. For the most part, the headaches would go away for a while.
That is, until January 1, 2010. Since then, I have not had a day that has not been marred by the presence of a headache. As a result, my determination to go to the gym every day kind of got shot. First was the simple fact that I did not want to go on days were I felt like total crud, then I went to my general practitioner and he prescribed something that "should reduce the headaches." Well, not only did the medication not reduce them, they left me in a state of perpetual fog, wanting to do nothing but sleep until the last possible minute.
Then people started offering suggestions: "It's your eyes." So I went to 2 ophthalmologists, both of whom advised that the headaches were not caused by eye strain. "It's got to be something to do with your brain." So I went a got an MRI and consulted a neurologist; only to find out the only thing that is in my head (other than a small amount of brain) was a small cyst in one of my sinuses, and both the neurologist and one of the ophthalmologists who actually specializes in headaches assured me that the cyst would not cause the headaches. "Go to a chiropractor." I have been five times since receiving this suggestion, and the headaches remain.
I took myself off all of my medication about 2 weeks ago, mainly because they were not doing what they were supposed to, and secondly the general practioner that I started the year with prescribed me another medication that I have not gotten filled mainly because of how leary I am of returning to the fog, and since I have stopped taking the medication, I have been to the gym 5 times, each time burning at least 800 calories on stationary cycle.
As of today, I am down 6.4 pounds for the year, and despite having a dull throb in my head, am determined to workout at least two or three times a week (depending on how many times a week I have chiropractor's appointments).
That is where you, my readers, come in. I need a accountability system. I have one on a website that I recommend heartily for anyone trying to get into better shape: Myfitnesspal.com. One of my friends recommended the site to me last year during my what has become up till now annual attempts to lose weight. But I am tired of losing a few pounds, beginning to feel better, and stopping watching what I am eating or working out or both, only to have what I have lost come back, and usually bring along a few friends! So, the more accountability, the better I say.
The weight is coming off and staying off, this year! It is my determination that 2010 is the year that the weight comes off and with the exception of a pound or two, the weight is going to stay off, or if anything will come back in the form of muscle. So, in this the Various Meanderings of a Madman, on March 8, 2010, I am putting my flag in the sand and taking back my body. It will no longer belong to fat, or bad eating habits.
My only question now is: Who's coming with me?
I welcome your feedback on this or any of my other blogs. Please use the comments button below or shoot me an e-mail at childofking88@aol.com.
Until we meet again, remember, two wrongs don't make a right, but three rights make a left.
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
review of Extraordinary Measures
A couple of weeks ago, I had the "pleasure" of seeing Extraordinary Measures. You will understand in a little while why I used the quotation marks around the word pleasure.
I had actually been looking forward to seeing this movie because of the trailers that I had seen. I am a HUGE Harrison Ford fan and a pretty big Brendan Fraser and Keri Russell fan, so the thought of all three of them together in one movie made me want to see the film.
However, being that this was not a action film, like Brendan and Harrison are normally cast in, the selection of this movie was soon determined to be a mistake.
The movie was rated PG, so I was expecting a movie with no swearing, a good plot, and a few heart rending moments, seeing as how it is based on a true story, and is the story of a family that has 2 children plagued with a disease that kills kids before they reach teenage status.
Extraordinary Measures can definitely tug at your heartstrings, as it sucks you into its web the moment that you sit down when you see the two kids in wheelchairs and hooked up to breathing tubes.
The movie, however, did not deliver on the no swearing that is normally associated with PG movies. I believe I counted 25 different swear words, and cringed on more than one occasion because of hearing a string of profanity. And it was not the "normal"(if I can use such a term) swear words associated with PG films; the only swear word that I did not hear was the f-word. Yes, you read that right; this PG film used basically the whole gamut of profanity (which included the actual words for bastige, heck, darn, crap, sob, and even God darn). Considering the fact that every time that you saw Harrison Ford on screen, he was swearing, it almost made me want to get up out of my seat and leave the theater and try to go see The Princess and the Frog. Now, if you don't know my stance on profanity in movies, please go read my blog entitled "Why, Hollywood, Why" and you will understand why I am offended by any profanity in movies.
Concerning the plot, it was a fairly straight-forward plot: parents want a cure for their children, one parent finds a doctor who has a theoretical cure, and they spend the rest of the movie trying to perfect it and release it so the parents' children can get better. And of course, the drama is there with problems with funding; one child on her deathbed. But, having said that, I had a hard time accepting Brendan Fraser as a viable dramatic performer. I believe this is his first movie that was not either a comedy or a action film, and it definitely showed. His attempt at being dramatic consisted mainly of him squinting up his eyes and saying his lines. Harrison Ford and Keri Russell, on the other hand, both gave fairly good performances, but they were brought down by being in the scene with Brendan.
All in all, this is a movie that will find its home on Lifetime or the Hallmark channel, and may warrant watching when it comes onto basic cable; but, I cannot in good faith recommend anyone buying this movie unless they have to have every movie that one of the main actors is in.
Plot: 7.5/10
Humor: 8/10
Family Friendly Language: 2/10
"Family Friendly" Violence: 10/10
Nudity/Suggestive Situations: 9.5/10
Overall Movie Rating: 7.4/10
Disagree with what I have to say? Please leave your comments below or send me an e-mail at childofking88@aol.com
I had actually been looking forward to seeing this movie because of the trailers that I had seen. I am a HUGE Harrison Ford fan and a pretty big Brendan Fraser and Keri Russell fan, so the thought of all three of them together in one movie made me want to see the film.
However, being that this was not a action film, like Brendan and Harrison are normally cast in, the selection of this movie was soon determined to be a mistake.
The movie was rated PG, so I was expecting a movie with no swearing, a good plot, and a few heart rending moments, seeing as how it is based on a true story, and is the story of a family that has 2 children plagued with a disease that kills kids before they reach teenage status.
Extraordinary Measures can definitely tug at your heartstrings, as it sucks you into its web the moment that you sit down when you see the two kids in wheelchairs and hooked up to breathing tubes.
The movie, however, did not deliver on the no swearing that is normally associated with PG movies. I believe I counted 25 different swear words, and cringed on more than one occasion because of hearing a string of profanity. And it was not the "normal"(if I can use such a term) swear words associated with PG films; the only swear word that I did not hear was the f-word. Yes, you read that right; this PG film used basically the whole gamut of profanity (which included the actual words for bastige, heck, darn, crap, sob, and even God darn). Considering the fact that every time that you saw Harrison Ford on screen, he was swearing, it almost made me want to get up out of my seat and leave the theater and try to go see The Princess and the Frog. Now, if you don't know my stance on profanity in movies, please go read my blog entitled "Why, Hollywood, Why" and you will understand why I am offended by any profanity in movies.
Concerning the plot, it was a fairly straight-forward plot: parents want a cure for their children, one parent finds a doctor who has a theoretical cure, and they spend the rest of the movie trying to perfect it and release it so the parents' children can get better. And of course, the drama is there with problems with funding; one child on her deathbed. But, having said that, I had a hard time accepting Brendan Fraser as a viable dramatic performer. I believe this is his first movie that was not either a comedy or a action film, and it definitely showed. His attempt at being dramatic consisted mainly of him squinting up his eyes and saying his lines. Harrison Ford and Keri Russell, on the other hand, both gave fairly good performances, but they were brought down by being in the scene with Brendan.
All in all, this is a movie that will find its home on Lifetime or the Hallmark channel, and may warrant watching when it comes onto basic cable; but, I cannot in good faith recommend anyone buying this movie unless they have to have every movie that one of the main actors is in.
Plot: 7.5/10
Humor: 8/10
Family Friendly Language: 2/10
"Family Friendly" Violence: 10/10
Nudity/Suggestive Situations: 9.5/10
Overall Movie Rating: 7.4/10
Disagree with what I have to say? Please leave your comments below or send me an e-mail at childofking88@aol.com
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