12 WEEKS

Beverly & I in Harlem
Originally uploaded by kelsokraft

I have 12 weeks until my birthday. I have been slacking off in the weight loss department. This picture of me is from August 2011, but I look no different. In this photo I weigh approx 205 lbs. OK, I am six feet tall, but it is still overweight.

I currently weigh 203 lbs (got on the scale this morning), so since I started my weight loss journey in January I've lost 3 lbs.

I'm kicking into high gear. They say a safe weight loss is 1 lb a week. That means in 12 weeks I should be down to 191 lbs.

It is so hard t lose weight at the age of 40+. In the past I would have lost the weight in aboout six weeks.

I'm also not thinking 'diet'. I'm thinking 'health'. I am excersising for 1 hour a day, this is usually walking about 3 miles at a 3.5 to 4.0 pace. Either on the treadmill or outside (I alternate). When I have some energy, I will lift weights at night.

Although I am going for the 12 lb weight loss in 12 weeks, I do realize that if I start lifting, I may not get there, however, if my waist line shrinks, then that is also a sign that I'm moving in the right direction. I measured my waist and to my horror it is 39.5 inches. If my waist is a 36 by the end of 12 weeks I will be happy (that's sad).

OK...contract to myself. 12 lbs in 12 weeks and/or a 3.5 inch waist loss.

Wish me luck.

Non-Fiction List

I was going through some non-fiction lists, and although they were very interesting and helpful, I couldn't help but notice, a lot of the stuff I've read in the past and really enjoyed were not on these lists.  It seems only prize winning books get on most lists.  But what about those books that are in the back of the dusty library shelf? What about those books that people don't know exist?  What about those books about people nobody knows?  What about those books that talk about subjects you never thought could be interesting?

I decided to go through my book list from 2006 through 2012 and pull out my favorite non-fiction books.  I did go a little back in my memory past 2006 to get some older reads, however, most of this list are from books I've read in the last six years.  Some you may recognize, some you probably never heard of, while others you probably are going "I would never read that in a million years".  Everything on this list, I've given a B+ or above to.

Memoir / Autobiography

90 Minutes in Heaven – Don Piper 

A Child Called ‘It” – David Peltzer

Bird by Bird –Anne Lamont 

Fall Down Laughing: How Squiggy Caught Multiple Sclerosis and Didn’t Tell Nobody – David Lander 

Have a Little Faith – Mitch Albom 

Here’s The Story – Maureen McCormick 

How Reading Changed My Life - Anna Quindelin 

How Starbucks Saved My Life - Michael Gates Gill 

Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl – Harriet Jacobs 

Karen - Marie Killilea

Know It All – A.J. Jacobs 

The Last Lecture - Randy Paucsh 

Look Me in the Eye – John Elder Robinson 

Man's Search for Meaning – Viktor Frankl 

Moab is my Washpot: An Autobiography – Stephen Fry 

Mustaine – Dave Mustaine 

My Autobiography – Charles Chaplan 

On Writing – Stephen King 

Passing – Nela Larson

Passing for Normal – Amy Welensky

Rage to Survive – Etta James 

Roasting in Hell's Kitchen – Gordon Ramsey 

Tennessee Williams Notebooks – Tennessee Williams/M. Bradham Thornton

Through The Storm – Lynn Spears 

Wasted: A Memoir of Anorexia & Bulimia - Marya Hornbacher 

The Year of Living Biblically – A.J. Jacobs

Biography

A Capitalist Romance:   Singer and the Sewing Machine – Ruth Brandon 

Depardieu: A Biography – Paul Chutkow

The Man Who Invented Christmas – Lee  Standiford 

History

Triangle: The Fire That Changed America – David von Drehle

Other

Freakonomics - S. Levitt, S. Dubner 

Secret Windows: Essays on Writing – Stephen King

Where The Germs Are - Nicholas Bakalar

Non-Fiction Adventure

Hey I am joining The True Book Addict in her Non-Fiction Adventure.
http://non-fictionadventure.blogspot.com/


Reading Goal - 150 books.
Goal Dates: April 1, 2012 - April 1, 2017


...building this list may take a while


History
The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America's Great Migration - Isabel Wilkerson 5/18/12
Hardship and Hope: America and the Great Depression - Victoria Sherrow
History in Asphalt:  The Origin of Bronx Street and Place Names - John McNamara
The Northern Borough: A History of the Bronx - Lloyd Ultan
The Bronx: Bits and Pieces - Bill Twoomey

Social Sciences
The Souls of Black Folk - WEB DuBois


Memoirs
The Happiness Project - Gretchen Rubin
The Rat That Got Away (A Bronx Memoir) - Allen Jones
The Color of Water - James McBride
Black Like Me - John Howard Griffin
My Reading Life - Pat Conroy  4/2/12
Hellucination - Stephen Brio
Drop Dead Healthy - A.J. Jacobs 4/29/12
Dying to Be Me - Anita Moorjani
Death Be Not Proud - John Gunther

Autobiography
The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man - James Weldon Johnson


Biography
Devil in the White City - Erik Larson 4/18/12


Metaphysics/Religion/New Thought
Wishes Fulfilled: Mastering the Art of Manifesting - Wayne Dyer
Being in Balance: 9 Principals for Creating Habits to Match Your Desires - Wayne Dyer 4/13/12
The Success Principles - Jack Canfield

Health and Wellness
You, on a Diet: The Owner's Manual for Waist Management - Roizen & Oz 4/18/12
Why We Get Fat  - Gary Taubs 4/18/12
Eat Right For Your Type - Peter D'Adamo 5/7/12
The Paleo Solution - Robb Wolf 5/7/12


Other
10 People Every Christian Should Know - Warren W. Wiersbe
Late Bloomers - Debra Eve
Here is New York - E.B. White 5/10/12

Clarissa a few months old (1999)

Clarissa a few months old (1999)
Originally uploaded by kelsokraft

She's too cute I know. My baby! She'll officially be a teenager on Thursday *SNIFF*

Haven’t written in a while, I’m getting lazy again. Well partly lazy and partly the fact that I cannot post from my job. Anyway stuff has been happening, nothing earth shattering.

My son his home for spring break
My daughter will be 13 in 3 days!!
I start guitar classes again on March 28th


My reading is coming along. I was originally going to go for 85, but I think this will be the year I read the chunkies. I’ve not read anything too big yet, but I’m in the middle of “Clash of Kings”, and I plan to read “Drood”, and “The Godfather”, so that will probably shorten my list. Maybe I’ll amend to 75, we’ll see how it goes.

Here is what I’ve read so far this month.

March
16. Lives of Musicians - Kathleen Krull
17. The Astonishing Power of Emotions - Esther & Jerry Hicks
18. Sister - Rosamund Lupton
19. Lives of Writers - Kathleen Krull
20. Lives of Artists - Kathleen Krull