It’s 3 days after Thanksgiving, and you are tired of turkey and leftovers. So, you decide to go out and eat or order on UberEATS. What do you do to stop adding to the pounds? Here are 5 proven methods to stop from overeating when eating or ordering out!
1. Track before you attack. The first rule is always to figure out what you will have before departing. Most restaurants now post nutritional values in menus on their website. Read the menu, pick your menu items, and record the calories before departing. Like a good soldier, never eat without a good plan of attack.
2. Bring it to Boots! Portion control is the key to keeping your weight down and your friends happy. In my case, my friend is a bear/dog named Boots shown below.
I always think of my buddy Boots when craving a big steak. I then make a conscious choice. I eat 5 oz. instead of 10 oz of a Porterhouse, cutting my calories in half and making my dog leap in delight! This trick also works with humans, but it is more fun with dogs. Half your plate and make your friend feel great!
3. Stop the cravings at the Concierge. Rule 3 works best when traveling, but is easily modified during the current pandemic. I had access to a concierge lounge back in BP (Before Pandemic) time, when I was traveling a lot for work. I would hit the concierge lounge and load up on vegetables before going to a restaurant for dinner. Many times, I would skip dinner and just eat in the concierge lounge. I lost over 100 pounds following this trick. I swear by it! The approach still applies even with limited or no travel. Eat some vegetables or small appetizers at home before ordering or eating out. Fill up on veggies, instead of filling out on steak and burgers!
4. Eat like a Plebe. The faster you eat the more you repeat (think Buffet). When I eat out, I go back to my training and eat like a Plebe! We learned to eat slow at West Pont, by squaring our meals, so we would not wolf down food.
Here is how you square a meal. You lift your fork straight, bend your fork at a 90 degree to your mouth, straighten your arm back out, and then bring you fork completely down. You do not bring your fork back up until you completely chewed your food. On top of this, you needed to take small bites to be able to recite knowledge to senior cadets without your mouth full. All served to slow how fast we ate, and cut down on our food intake, while practicing good manners. 35 years later, I still eat like a Plebe.
5. 3 out of 5 Ain’t Bad. I cannot claim this last rule, since I learned it from a colleague. Every meal at a restaurant usually includes 5 options: bread, appetizer, entrée, dessert, and alcohol. The simple rule is to keep it to three!. Either Bread, Drink and an Entrée or some other combination. Remember scrap 2 and keep 3! While I can’t claim this idea, I can confirm it works and claim the below song parody to emphasize. Make like Meatloaf and remember.
I want you,
But I don’t need you,
And there ain’t no way I am ever going to eat you,
Each morning I wake up with a why in my heart and head; sometimes two! What is a why? A “why” is the motivation for taking on something difficult and the purpose for doing so. A why drives you forward even when you feel you can’t go on. Why’s are imperative to change a bad habit or get out of a rut.
I did not always have a why nearby. I did not have an overall cause or purpose from 2007 to 2014. I wandered without a why, for those seven years. In the process, I gained over 100 pounds, lost my drive, and in general was a bear to be around. The years of wandering without a why are described in this blog: Fit to Fat: Lessons Learned While Doubling My Weight
Then three things hit simultaneously at the end of 2014 that got me back on track. First, I learned that I had a serious health issue caused in part by my weight. Second, I received an invite to my 30th West Point Reunion. Third, I received a discount to Weight Watchers (now WW) through my company. The three combined to develop that first why. I decided to lose weight and increase fitness to look presentable for my 30th reunion and regain my health!
I was introduced to the power of “why” at Weight Watchers and have expanded my understanding through my own story and experience. Here are 4 things you need to implement your unique why.
1. Visualize Your Why. It is important to have a visual representation as to the outcome you want to obtain. A visual representation serves to remind you why you are making the change and helps to keep you motivated when times get tough. One way to do that is to create a Vision Board; a series of pictures and text snippets that visualize your goal.
Below you see the visual representation of my first “why” that I created at WW on the Hay House Vision Board app (located here Hay House Vision Board). I wanted to do two things as represented in this Vision Board: to lose weight to look decent for my reunion and to get healthy in memory of my parents. Pictures include my company from West Point, a picture of my parents, my WP graduation picture, a picture at near peak weight with a classmate, an image of my family, and me working out in support of my mission! I topped it all off with my class moto “For Excellence We Strive, 85”.
I looked at the Vision Board each day. It drove forward when times got tough. I looked at it after getting through TSA with my CPAP machine, so I could get good rest on a work trip. Or when hitting the hotel gym at 9 PM after work. Or when avoiding a beer and eating vegetables at the concierge lounge. Slowly but surely it kept my eye on the prize as I lost 100 lbs. before the reunion.
2. Adapt Your Why. Once you obtain one “why”, focus on another. Whys are not static. The excellence of today is the mediocrity of tomorrow. A new reason or mission can drive you on to greater things. Here are three of my subsequent “Why’s” to show you what I mean.
First, my reunion served to stoke two new motivations. Having lost 100 pounds, I wanted to lose the other 50+ lbs to achieve Lifetime designation on WW. Second, I wanted to do something to remember a fellow officer who was lost in Afghanistan by supporting returning Veterans. Combining the two, I created my second Why that led to the creation of the McEvoy Memorial Walk in support of the Merivis Foundation. I trained from August to Veterans Day in 2015 to walk 50 miles in one day in support of Merivis and the Young Marines of the Capital Area (read more here Go Big to Get Small – The Art of Improbable Goals ). In the process, this why drove me to my Lifetime weight goal and raised funding for these worthy organizations. Here is a YouTube clip on the walk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PaaijB9ybX4
My next goal was to maintain my weight and support the children of St. Jude’s by becoming a Certified Spin Instructor and riding the entire 4-hour St. Jude’s Ride for a Reason. I talk about this motivation in the following blog Spinning is Winning! A Ride for A Reason.
Spinning helped me maintain my weight, diversify my exercise regime, help a worthy cause, and gain a new skill. Now I was ready to play it forward with my current Why.
My current why came about due to two events: a milestone birthday and the ongoing pandemic. Having been given so much, I wanted to pass it on to others. I came up with a new acronym for my Why – CRAFT. The acronym stands for Coach, Religious, Author, Friend, and Teacher. You can read more about CRAFT here 5 by 5, Rumination on a Milestone.
In simple terms, I wake up each day whether in this blog, my continued workouts, or wellness programs paying it forward. It is now my mission to teach others how to heal both their body and soul, especially during this difficult time. To impart what I have learned through example, stories, and wellness programs. Read about one such wellness program called Peloton Pandemic Pandemonium here .
3. Share your Why. When you determine your why, do not keep it to yourself. Share it with friends and family to help prod you on and keep you on track. The ability to share helps you immensely. I am grateful both to my WW Round Rock Saturday group and my sister in law Sheri and niece Rachel for creating Facebook groups. These communities allowed me to share my motivation and progress toward health. Live and share your why with friends to keep moving forward!
4. Wake Up with Your Why. I end with the beginning. Each day you can take concrete steps to wake up with your why. I accomplish this through journaling and meditation. I use the Kindness Journal (located here Kindness Journal) to help prompt me along to realizing my why.
Each day I record three “I am statements” to help me visualize my end goal. Here is a recent example in pursuit of my current why: “I am a devoted coach that passes on the lessons that have served me on my health journey to improve the lives of others”. I also visualize my favorite moment from the day before and list the thing that I will do today to help make the world better. The journal helps me focus on why I was put on this earth. Along with meditation in the form of prayer, I remain fixed and progressing towards my why.
In closing, do not wander and wallow in the unknown without a why. Instead, visualize your why with these four simple tricks and build a better future for yourself and others!
I have a secret weight loss weapon when traveling on the
road – coffee cups. This wonderful tool
is ubiquitous at hotels. Here are three
simple weight loss hacks related to coffee cups:
The first is the obvious one – use it for coffee. Nothing gets the constitution working better than coffee. I drink one cup and you are ready for the rest room. But stop at one or two or you will have the opposite result since coffee is a diuretic. Also, if you are older like me and walking to the office you may not make it to the office a second time!
The perfect hard-boiled egg container. Almost as ubiquitous as coffee cups at the hotel breakfast counter are hard boiled eggs. They are a perfect source of protein and a great way to satisfy mid-morning snack or for lunch. A standard coffee cup can hold 3 large hard-boiled eggs. Place a lid on it and label it and now you have a ready-made free lunch to stick in the office refrigerator! See picture below of my friend adopting this new craze. Coffee cups can also serve as containers for the fresh fruit that is often set up on the breakfast buffet (don’t forget bananas and apples in your backpack). You could also use coffee cups for oatmeal. All three serve as wholesome snacks and lunch on the run. You also can save money if not on an expense account (or save your expense account to splurge on dinner!)
Larger cups for infused water. I love that a lot of hotels are now providing fruit infused water at the hotel. But I do not love the little dinky plastic cups with no lids. Answer – use coffee cups with lids and get 16 ounces of delicious water (to wipe away the effects of the second coffee).
There you have it. Coffee cups are not just for coffee anymore. Instead, they are a secret weight loss weapon for people on the go!
When people start on a weight-loss journey, they talk too much. They talk about the latest diet they are trying or the latest fitness craze that they are meaning to get to tomorrow. But talk is cheap. You need to listen to lose! Listen to your heart, listen to your body, and listen to others.
Listen to your heart. The you that you are meant to be is one heart beat away. So, listen what your heart is telling you to do. Do not turn to things that stress you out. The latest fitness craze does nothing if your heart is not in it. It just stresses you out and will cause you to stop when you are discouraged. Instead, do what you love. Also, be thankful for what you have. A thankful heart is a stress free, restful heart. Stress is often the reason for losing sleep and gaining weight. Lastly, strive for a goal that inspires you. Your heart needs to be in it to win it!
Listen to Your Body. Your body knows what it wants. That is the reason too many hamburgers and fries give you indigestion. Feed your body with the good stuff. Choose vegetables and fruit over candy and sugar. Remember, just like listening to someone, you must listen to your body closely to understand what it is saying. You may think is saying I need sleep when in reality your body is saying I need to exercise and get energy, or I am dehydrated, and I need water.
Listen to Others. Some people are struggling as you are and may have caught on to something new that you have yet to discover. Others may have won their battle with weight and have inspiring stories and important teachings to tell. Also, when you have met your target, listen to others to pass on your lessons and to provide you with a reason to stay on track.
Like all things, you learn more through listening than talking. So close your mouth, open your ears to Listen, Learn and Lose!
Most people try anything and everything to lose weight when first starting. They will try the latest supplements, liquid diets, eating only select foods (cabbage soup anyone), the hottest fitness craze, eating at only certain times – you get the picture. Let’s do A through Z and sticks to the wall and un-sticks my diet.
I was a proponent of the more is more approach for years and it didn’t work. Over the years as my weight climbed and my hope failed, I tried everything, many simultaneously, from being a vegetarian (failed because M&M’s are not meat!), popping Green Tea pills, cleansing in various ways, the latest exercise craze, and on and on… Then I discovered two things. Weight Watchers (WW) and the book Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less by Greg McKeown https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18077875-essentialism . Both teach the same thing – Do less, but better. The key to weight loss and a better, more successful life is by correctly assessing the few important priorities, focusing on these priorities exclusively, and dumping the rest. Mr. McKeown provides how to do this in his book and WW in its classed for a Essentialist’s Playbook for Weight Loss.
You can lose 170+
pounds like me by not doing everything but these three things:
Track everything you eat or drink. The best way to know how to lose weight is to
track what you eat. By consciously tracking
your food intake, you will better understand portion control and the trigger
foods you need to avoid. You use this
along with weekly weight tracking to find out what works and what foods to
avoid. That way you focus on what works,
rather than trying everything that doesn’t!
Be kind for yourself. You can’t focus on what is important if you
are unhealthy in body or your soul. It
is therefore important to focus on your health both mentally and
physically. Take time to journal
positive thoughts, rest, and relax. A
few minutes a day of being kind to yourself will not only help you lose the
stress that sabotages most people’s health.
Take time to exercise. Study upon study have shown that sitting is the
equivalent or worse to smoking for health.
It does not take much to get the exercise your body needs and craves. Get up for 10 minutes every hour and take a
walk. Also, block out 30 minutes in the
morning to recharge and energize.
Bottom line: You do
not need to do A through Z to lose weight and be a better you! All you need is the essential 1-2-3! Go out and practice Essentialism to gain a
new body and soul.
Recently there has been a lot of controversy on the song “Baby It’s Cold Outside”. Now, I am not going to get into the controversy. No. Instead, I decided to use the melody, which I love so much, and make new lyrics that are appropriate for those losing weight!
Here is the song with the lyrics directly below:
I really should go play,
But it’s cold outside,
I got to get away,
But it’s cold outside,
I need to exercise,
So, I don’t get fat,
What do you think of that?
I have to go, go, go,
But my body says no, no, no,
I really should go and do my exercise,
But I despise,
The cold, the cold, the cold, THE COLD!
Most of us hate to exercise when it is cold outside. But it is a necessity if we are going to keep on our weight loss journey. So, how do you get your exercise in, when you don’t want to go out? Here are five tricks of the trade.
Bundle up and play! A key to good health is getting sun. So, the first thing is to layer up and get outdoors. Winter is a good time for high calorie burning especially if you are in Minnesota which I will be in a few weeks. So, layer up and have some fun with winter sports such as cross-country skiing, and sledding (as long as you are climbing up the hill after sledding down!) Take advantage of these great sports that are only available in the winter (or early spring and late autumn when you are in the frozen tundra up north).
Romp around in your romper! Those Marvelous Mrs. Maisel and Jack LaLanne fans out there know the power of the romper. The founding father of exercise, Jack, and Abe Weisman, Tony Shaloub’s character on The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel show us how it is done old school with simple calisthenics. Whether you are in the warmth you are home or in the Catskills as Abe, old school calisthenics can get your heart pumping. If you have YouTube,you might even want to one of Jack’s old TV routines shown here. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y4A3mdG5zbQ
Take your Dog for a walk! Some dogs are conditioned to walk in the cold. Boots, our Bernese Mountain Dog, gets way more active when its get’s colder. As you can see from his thick coat and bear like appearance, Boots loves the cold and can walk a lot further when it is 30 degrees than 100 degrees in Austin. So, take care of your body and take your dog on a walk to escape that pesky cat.
Dance fever. This last one comes from my daughter Kate the Great. When she gets done from a tough day teaching high school, she goes home, turns on the X-Box and “Just Dance”s. Whether with an X-box game or to some Venmo videos of Taylor Swift (I personally love “Shake it Off”, dancing is an excellent way to shake off the pounds!
Boots and that Pesky Cat!
These are just five ideas to keep in shape during the winter months. There are many more like chopping wood for your own fire or hot yoga, but these will suffice for now. Bottom line: Don’t get old, just because it is cold. Exercise and have fun!
I was temporarily derailed on my Weight Loss maintenance program the last few weeks. So much so that my Lifetime standing was potentially threatened. The first two weigh-ins this month I was off by two lbs. Not the worst thing but I really cherish my Lifetime distinction.
What got me slightly off track? It was not dramatic. I did not suddenly binge eat a bunch of M&M’s or stop exercising. Nor did I stop my other good habits (in fact they saved me – more on that later!). No, it was three items that without the habits that I learned at Weight Watchers would have derailed me permanently.
I think of these external items as the Weight Gain Axis of Evil! Before the discipline and training I received at Weight Watchers, this Axis of Evil caused me to balloon up in a matter of weeks. The diagram below shows the three elements of the Axis:
The Weight Gain Axis of Evil
Here is how they impacted me in my temporary setback.
Travel woes. Both weeks I was traveling for work out of town and had a delay on some of the flights. Plus traveling two time zones away.
Work Stress. I was taking on more work responsibility while still retaining my current work. In addition, I had a packed two-week schedule with deadlines and planes to catch.
Lack of Sleep. I could not sleep for the most part driven by the first two elements of the Axis. First, I kept thinking it was 5 am when it was 3 am because of the time zone difference. Second, I had to catch planes early in the morning and late at night. Third, the work stress and the tight schedule made me anxious making it difficult to fall asleep.
I caved in the past before Weight Watchers when I confronted the Weight Gain Axis of Evil. I would wake up too early or go to bed too late causing Cortisol to race through my veins. Then the stress elevated the cortisol level and the fatigue factor, making me eat more and exercise less. The result in the past; easily a five-pound weight gain in a week with additional weight gain until I could get of the loop.
This time however I was able to recover from the fleeting set back with the lessons I learned from Weight Watchers. Here are the 5 items that helped me.
Don’t Panic! – Like the Hitchhiker traveling the Galaxy (one of my favorite books), Don’t Panic! I remembered the rough patches I had before and how I eventually was able to overcome them. I was not going to let a two-week setback remain permanent. Remembering my Weight Loss Journey when I lost 170+ pounds, I knew if there were fits and starts in weight loss, there would also be partial setbacks in weight maintenance.
Look beyond the Scale – There are more things to Weight Watchers than just the scale. According to the Lifetime member rules, I only need to weigh in once a month to maintain my status. But comradery and the friends I have gained at my Round Rock class means more to me then a temporary loss of Lifetime status. THEY WERE THERE FOR ME AND I WILL BE THERE FOR THEM.
Listen closely at Class – While you are at class enjoying the comradery, listen! Two lessons from the last two classes helped me get back on track. One was the practice of mindfulness (see 4). The second was the discussion of the “The Power of Habit”. After class, I reread excerpts from that book and tweaked a few of my habits that had grown stale and needed tweaking!
Mindfulness – Weight Watchers has teamed with Mind Space to teach members the practice of mindfulness and meditation to overcome stress. After attending and participating in the recent mindfulness exercise that was introduced recently, I restarted my practice to handle the extra stress of the last few weeks. With the calming effect of mindfulness, I increased my sleep and it was deeper also.
Blue Dot Focus – I never lost my habit of tracking even during my set back. But I did lose the focus of trying to get a blue dot award (staying in a recommended point zone for a day). I had become astute at using every one of my weekly points and some of my activity points. In so doing, I had been paying less attention of hitting a blue dot 5 out of the 7 days in a week. This week, I went back to that goal and in so doing retained some of my weekly points.
My 5 ways to defeat my Weight Gain Axis of Evil may be different from yours. Indeed, you may have a different Axis. The point is to examine and to attack your weight gain nemesis with optimism, pluck and the lessons of Weight Watchers. In closing:
For many, losing weight and keeping it off is akin to warfare. It was for me. Many days during my year and a half journey to lose a 178 lbs. I felt like I was in the Battle of the Bulge. I was pummeled on all sides by my enemies – junk food, worry, and inactivity. I needed the right weapons to beat back the break in my defenses and drive to victory. And I found them in these five key weapons in Weight Loss warfare:
Bananas – The banana is the ultimate weapon in defeating junk food cravings for several reasons. First, they are very discreet and compact. You can hide them in your backpack or briefcase and pull them out whenever a junk food frenzy hits! Indeed, they were my weapon of choice in defeating my arch nemesis – Peanut M&M’s. Second, they come with their own protection a removable skin that keeps them clean and ready to eat in all sorts of terrain – Nature’s MRE. Lastly, they sustain for the long haul with their fiber and potassium. Eat one and you can drive past a full candy bowl without slowing down.
Sneakers are the ultimate weapon against our next enemy of health – inactivity. Sitting and remaining dormant are two of the most powerful armaments in our foe’s arsenal. There are more expensive tools to defeat them – gyms, the latest exercise equipment, etc. – but I have found the trusty sneaker to be the most effective. Sneakers are like the famous Kalashnikov rifle that the Soviet’s used in WW II. You could drop the Kalashnikov in the mud or march in the rain and it would always fire when you pulled the trigger. Likewise, sneakers are a lost cost, effective way to beat inactivity. For example, when I am out of town for work and know I will be away from the gym, I find a hotel about a mile or two from the workplace, lace up my sneakers and take a twenty-minute walk. I then switch into my shoes and put them in my backpack; along with my trusty banana that replenishes my potassium! There they remain until ready for access with my next bout with inactivity – lunch!
Audiobooks – Two other enemies in the struggle against weight gain is lack of knowledge and boredom. Audiobooks are the perfect antidote to both. Take them on a trek while walking on a trail and you will forget the foes trying to drive you away from your objective. I have whiled away the hours listening to James Patterson as I worked off the weight. Next, audiobooks provide you inspiration and knowledge to counter the enemy’s every move. For example, The Power of Habit taught me how to counter the triggers to eating. Walking with audiobooks strikes fear in our nemesis to health!
Weight Watchers – An effective game plan and strategy is the greatest force multiplier on the battlefield. Weight Watchers provides that game plan with its program Freestyle. The program provides you the structure, support and tools to defeat cravings and the disinformation campaign that our modern lifestyle deploys.
Your Mind – The most powerful weapon in the weight loss struggle is your mind. The harbingers of weight gain use worry, negativity and self-loathing to distract you and bring you down. To counter them, practice mindfulness and positive thoughts. This will counter the senseless eating that often accompanies worry and restlessness.
The winning combination of the five weight loss weapons will bring you success. Use them and drive to victory and a new you!
I have just come back from a week of vacation and was able to maintain my Lifetime Goal weight at Weight Watchers when I weighed in the week following. How was I able to vanquish weight gain during vacation? I was able to maintain the hard fought 175 lbs. (actually lost a pound) using 6 simple tricks!
Washington at Night
Wherever I Went I was Walking! One of my favorite movies is Forest Gump and the line I love the most is when he starts the jogging craze in the 70’s – “From that day on, if I was going somewhere, I was running!”. Being on the backside of fifty and with somewhat creaky knees, I modified Forest’s plea to walking. It is low impact and allows you to take in your vacation at a more leisurely pace. Almost all the tours I took in Washington and Virginia historical areas were walking tours – averaging over 15 k steps a day with the peak day over 30 k. Walking the streets of Williamsburg and the hills of Monticello and Montpelier allows you to take in the sights and sounds of our Founding Fathers and Mothers the way they did. It also allows you to eat some more food and counter it with exercise.
Indulge but count. Which brings me to point to. You should indulge a bit on vacation. The new Weight Watcher’s program allows you to do just that. While on Vacation, I shared a few deserts with my wife for the first time in a long time. But I was also careful to track everything I ate to know that I was in striking distance for the week. By tracking and not attacking the buffet line, I was able to enjoy some of the colonial recipes and comfort foods in Virginia in a controlled manner. I was able to indulge and avoid the bulge!
Drink water to counter the beer. One thing that I indulged in during the trip was beer. I love microbrews and the beer recipes from earlier times (Williamsburg has beer based on 300-year-old recipes that are off the charts!). Besides counting the points for each beer, I was careful to drink water to remain hydrated and trigger my metabolism. Beer dehydrates you, so it is important to balance your beer with water that is clear! (A little Dad joke for you all!)
Destress, rest and learn something new. This fourth point is a critical one. You are on vacation and the purpose is to destress and rest. It is therefore important to put work on hiatus or at the very least plan the times people can reach you if critical tasks are at hand. Here is a case in point. I really needed to take a work call but there was a show about Martha Washington that I wanted to see which overlapped the call. I got to the show early to get a seat that would allow me to listen to the first hour of the show and then sneak up to a hill that had a great view of Williamsburg but was isolated enough to take the call. It is better to turn off on Vacation but in my case, I get more stressed if I do not balance critical work with fun. By planning, I was able to destress by learning about Martha Washington for the first hour and still was able to take a critical call. A little planning on vacation goes a long way!
Vacation with someone that has your back. It is also important to vacation with someone who understands how far you have gone on your weight loss journey and wants to help you. My wife Colette is great in this respect. She has always been able to maintain her weight (I envy her metabolism). When we go out to eat, she is very accommodating in the places we select and does not push me to eat something that would push up the points. On the flip side, she does not nag me not to eat something if I make a choice to indulge. Lastly, she knows how important it is to me to track my Smart Points, so she allows me to use my phone while at dinner.
Wait to weigh in. This last point is the most important one. The best way to maintain your weight on vacation is to not obsess about the scale. I did not weigh myself until the Sunday evening after I returned. In addition, I was mentally prepared to be higher than I normally am on a Sunday evening prior to my next Saturday weigh in. In this case, I was 3 lbs. higher than my normal Sunday weight but had confidence when I hit Weight Watchers the next Saturday, I would be at the goal weight I needed to maintain.
So, there you have it. Vacations are for fun! You can control and ultimately vanquish the vacation pounds by applying these and other simple rules from Weight Watcher’s Freestyle and other lessons learned.
This is the second of my Father’s Day blogs and it is inspired by a movie that I just saw on one of America’s most famous Father figures – Fred Rogers. Some may not think of Mr. Rogers as a father figure. He was not the image of the prototypical human father. He was not strong, dominating or particularly stern. He did however have characteristics of our heavenly Father. An image of compassion who suffered the little children to come to him. He sought to protect children from the vagaries and violence of the modern-day world through the explanation of the simple truths of compassion and right living.
One of the most compelling parts of the documentary was the explanation of Mr. Rogers’ daily ritual to control his weight. From his days in the seminary to his last days on earth, Mr. Rogers sought to maintain a weight of 143 lbs. Why do you ask? There were three main reasons and each of them is compelling.
Weight control – Mr. Rogers was pudgy as an adolescent boy. Although the documentary does not cover this in detail, I suspect that he was bullied over his weight (more on the impact of that later). Because of his concern to be happy and healthy, Mr. Rogers strove to maintain his weight at 143 lbs. daily. He had a daily ritual where he swam 1 mile in a pool and then weighed himself to make sure that he was at 143 lbs. I am no Mr. Rogers but I have a similar construct related to weight maintenance. Each week before my Weight Watcher’s weigh-in, I strive to weigh 185 lbs. or less. This is within the weight allowance to maintain Lifetime status but there is a more important reason for this target (as there is for Mr. Roger’s target which I will explain later). I was in the class of 85 for West Point and our class motto is “For Excellence We Strive, 85!”. The reason I believe in this moto is explained in this blog Life Lessons – Strive for Excellence Always!. The reason for Mr. Rogers weight goal is even more inspirational!
2. Leadership – It is hard to contemplate that a meek and mild man such as Mr. Rogers as the ultimate leader (especially in the current climate of shouting on both sides of the political spectrum) but he was! In my mind, he was the penultimate leader. He came of age when TV was reshaping the culture of America. He was dismayed with the children TV shows of the day that were nothing more than people shoving pies in each other faces and frantic cartoons of action and violence (unfortunately it is only worse now). He made it his mission to slow down the pace of TV and to talk to children in simple truths about love, compassion and being a good neighbor. He did this without puppets not pageantry.
After seeing the documentary, I got additional perspective on Daniel the Tiger. I always knew that Daniel the Tiger was an extension of Mr. Rogers but the documentary showing Mr. Rogers as a kid cemented it. Just knowing the period and seeing Mr. Rogers as a pudgy, sensitive, rich kid indicated to me that Daniel tiger and Mr. Rogers were one in the same. He must have withstood a lot of bullying and poured out the lessons of dealing with that pain in the words of Daniel the Tiger. You can viscerally feel the inspiration and the heart of Mr. Rogers every time Daniel the Tiger explains his experience and fears. The attached link on the death of Bobby Kennedy is one example Mr. Rogers on Assassination. Fred Rogers led the fight to protect our children and his message resonates now more than ever. As Jesus proclaims in Mathew 18:3: “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.”, Mr. Rogers sought to protect to the hearts of little children and those of adults to seek a higher calling.
3. Love – In the end, Mr. Rogers’ weight and message is one of a Father’s Love. His reason for maintaining a weight of 143 was due to the number of letters in a three-word phrase: I (1) Love (4) You (3). Mr. Rogers’ message to both himself and to the rest of the world is I Love You just the way you are! It does not matter if you are a different race, creed or color. It does not matter if you have a disability (see clip Mr. Rogers on Disability). You are a creature of God with a purpose and passion to better the lives of you and your neighbors. In this time of discord and constant bickering, we should strive to be good neighbors like Mr. Rogers. To see the good and with love, overcome the differences. And like Mr. Rogers like one another for their unique characteristics. I will close with a song by Fred Rogers and Josie Carey on the Mr. Rogers show and this clip concerning 9/11 Mr. Rogers 9-11:
I like you as you are
Exactly and precisely
I think you turned out nicely
And I like you as you are
I like you as you are
Without a doubt or question
Or even a suggestion
Cause I like you as you are
I like your disposition
Your facial composition
And with your kind permission
I’ll shout it to a star
I like you as you are
I wouldn’t want to change you
Or even rearrange you
Not by far
I like you
I-L-I-K-E-Y-O-U
I like you, yes I do
I like you, Y-O-U
I like you, like you as you are
Weight Loss and Leadership 