#bendoeslife
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Dear Gus & Magnus,
Haircut day for the little Choate boys, then we went to buy me a new coat and get some lunch. Anything to be out of the house -- pipes still frozen; blarg.
Later, I made my first in-person appearance at the Beebe Poker Classic since 2014. (I played in the virtual game in 2020.) It was fun to play -- even though this is the first year I showed up without a costume -- and it was also fun to catch up with lots of dudes from my hometown. I finished in the middle of the pack. Bone won his sixth (?) bracelet, beating out John, Daniel Sowell, and Jed Davis in the end.
When I mentioned how much fun it was to have Bo playing cards in the side game that popped up while Will was still in the tournament, he said, "In about ten years, the tournament has the potential to grow exponentially because of the feeling it gave me for him to be there -- we'll all be bringing the young ones."
While I wasn't thrilled about staying up until 1am, I am already looking forward to next year's event.
Dad.
Little Rock, Arkansas. 1.20.2024 - 10.27am.
#john choate#zac white#jed davis#ben davis#will choate#matt sexton#derek berry#jacob white#derek finley#beebe poker classic#poker tournament#poker#cards#bpc#gambling#dudes#bendoeslife
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Rules: answer questions then tag bloggers you would like to know better.
Tagged by: @therunnymoonsover
Name: Dale
Nickname: Never had one
Zodiac: Libra
Height: 5’11”
Languages: English, French, German
Nationality: American
Favorite season: fall and winter
Favorite flower: Snapdragon
Favorite scent: lilacs and lilies of the valley in spring, smell of the first run of the furnace in fall, rain
Favorite colors: royal blue, yellow. (though almost all my clothes are black. Go figure)
Favorite animal: Dogs, bears
Coffee, tea, or hot chocolate: Coffee
Average amount of sleep: 6-7 hours if I’m lucky
Dogs or cats: dogs
Number of blankets you sleep with: summer: one light blanket and sometimes just the sheet. Winter: flannel sheet, down comforter
Dream trip: My dream trip includes a repeat visit to Iceland, one of the most fascinating landscapes I’ve ever seen, really literate and kind people too. Scotland: I’ve been to Glasgow, Edinburgh and St. Andrews, but really want to go north into the Highlands, and Shetland Islands. Then south to Greece - I love Greek mythology and history. And finally, further south into Africa along the Rift Valley from Kenya as far south as it goes (I don’t remember the southernmost country off the top of my head.)
Blog established: 2012, after I learned about bendoeslife from a Facebook post. I don’t like FB, and liked the fitness focus, at least where I landed. It’s still that but now also just a place to post about my day.
# of followers: 297. I actually didn’t even know that until I started filling this out. Looking through that list reminds me how many people I followed who no longer post and makes me wonder about where they are now.
Random fact: I’ve been wrestled to the ground by the Secret Service. I worked for a PR firm in Washington back during the Reagan years. Shortly after Reagan was shot, my boss (the PR guy) was with Nancy Reagan and I was there staffing an event. I needed some answer from him and ran up to him while he was talking to Nancy Reagan. And down I went.
Tagging @goldensquirrel, @morningmiles, @justina50. You know you want to.
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Update after three years.
I now weigh more than 400 pounds. I’m down 22 pounds though and weighing in every morning at https://twitch.tv/bendoeslife - so, follow there if you feel so inclined.
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Bendoeslife is back. This time on twitch. He's also on IG if anyone wants to follow along.
I've been following Ben since the do life days and met some of my favorite people at his visit to DC. He, Jed, Pa and I went for a bike ride back when I was a baby triathlete. They are such nice people irl. Good luck getting back to your good habits @bendoeslife
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Hi there!
It’s been about a month since my last Tumblr post, but I thought I’d check in real quick. Still doing well, weighing in daily (M-F for me) on the Bendoeslife twitch stream. Great motivation to keep going.
June 9th (Day 1): 293
Monday September 16th: 269.7
Monday October 14th: 262.4
Hope you all are doing well!
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Okay, so my experiment didn’t give me the result I was hoping for. My intention was to eat under 1300 calories and under 20g net carbs, go for a walk and weigh in at least 1-4 pounds lower today! Curses. At least I hit the goals that I can control, my food intake and walking. I’ll just try to keep this up and wait for my weight to follow suit. Gotta say, I did not expect a stall like this on my way back down from my recent gain. Oh well!
For dinner last night I tried out this new-to-me bread product, Joseph’s Flax Oat Bran & Whole Wheat Pita Bread. While I’m not normally a fan of pita pockets due to how annoying they are to work with, see image of food attempt, I was happy to bring another form of low-carb bread into my home. The taste was decent although I was reaalllyy craving to eat it with hummus. Alas, hummus is not allowed in my house due to its delicious nature, high carb count and the fact that I can’t be trusted to not eat an entire tub in one sitting.
Fun Fact: I used to go to Pita Pit every day for lunch and always ordered the exact same thing of double chicken, extra baby spinach, cucumbers and hummus. It got so bad that they started recognizing my voice on the phone. Obviously, I had to stop going there because of this.
Last night I totally repped my 2011 tumblr self by wearing my @bendoeslife “Do Life” shirt. Yup, I was one of the lucky ones to attend a meet up in San Francisco and walk/jog a 5k! By the time I exited my front door it was 7:30 p.m. which meant it was, unfortunately, pretty dark out. BUT I didn’t let that stop me from hitting my five miles! Nor did I let the gross 90% humidity prevent me from keeping my pace up. Although, it should not be gross out at night, night time is for cool breezes! I’m ready for fall weather to make an appearance now, please!
#fitblr#keto#ketoblr#low carb#keto diet#low carb diet#do life#low carb bread#daily weight#daily weigh-in#selfie#nature#myfitnesspal#food pic#keto food pic#ready for fall#go away humidity#hummus love
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Here we go again...
As a new year is approaching I can't help becoming introspective. I've been working really hard this last year so it feels like the Christmas holidays is the first time that I can stand back, take a breath and evaluate my life. No surprise, I feel tired, overworked and unhappy. Not surprising considering how little I've looked after myself. I'm also reaching, just about, my worst weight and feeling uncomfortable with my body.
I told myself this year I was goimg to focus on career progression and though I reached my goals for the year and got that promotion, I can't help thinking there must be a better way. There must be a more holistic, healthier way to reach all my goals without compromising the others. A balance between mind, body and spirit.
Before you ask, yes, I've just recently read Eat, Pray, Love for the second time... and though I think the writer might be bat-shit crazy, I can't help admiring the drastic measures she's taken in her pursuit of balance. I'm also currently rereading the blogposts of BenDoesLife. A wonderful journey of an overweight twenty something year old who managed to get to his goal weight by running everyday and ended up running marathons. Something I'm aspiring to do.
The BenDoesLife blog has inspired this one. I've realised a long time ago that sharing my personal battles with friends and family is very difficult for me. I've been thrust into a role of responsibility at a young age and showing weakness is okay as long as you put the silver lining around the dark cloud spin on it. As in, yes I'm working hard and am exhausted but Its just a busy period and once I get some rest or finish this project it'll be fine. You can't mention that you've been having anxiety attacks and chest pains or can't see any way how the workload is going to let up and feel utterly hopeless. Because at the end of the day it'll just make them worry more and what can they do about it? Right? That's what I've been telling myself but now I'm realising a big part of it is that I dont want to show weakness.
Well, that's the reason for this blog. To track my journey, to share and to lament but hopefully ultimately build an insoiring story that can help others as well. The main focus of the blog will be my weightloss journey but will definitely have honest sprinklings of my mental journey also.
Join me for the ride!
Will
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The Road Ahead
Some say that everything happens for a reason, and while I don’t agree with the concept of fate, I do agree that each decision we make has consequences…sometimes good, sometimes bad, sometimes both. Those consequences often lead us in a new direction. So in that sense, yes, everything does happen for a reason.
The 11 month journey with Fridgemagnet has led me down a path that I could never have foreseen. I’ve torn that carefully constructed wall down and let myself trust and care for someone. Although the relationship started out in deceit, I grew in so many ways from it. I learned that those walls might have protected me from heart break in the past but they also kept me from feeling all the joy that comes from being truly accepted and loved for who you are. Though I’m still standing in the rubble, I don’t feel pressed to rebuild that wall.
The betrayal spurred me to seek out Ben. For those just joining this trip, see blog entries 2-7 to see how Ben Davis came into the picture. As impulsive as I can be, prior to the catfishing experience, even I wouldn’t have dropped everything to walk with a stranger 15 miles down a road a state away. Meeting Ben, sharing our stories, and taking that risk, not only helped me separate him from Fridgemagnet but it also forced me to look deeper into myself and start asking some serious questions.
Having come down from the emotional roller coaster that was Fridgemagnet and the thrill of being on the road with Ben, I spent a fair amount of time reflecting on what comes next. I even toyed around with the idea of taking my daughter on a walk across America and creating a “living classroom" by sharing our experience real time with classrooms around the world.
I was contemplating that when I ran across a few other sites about people who were walking across America. Two stood out to me the most. One was a site called Brett Bramble Walks @brettbramblewalks. Brett is walking east to west in honor of his sister who died from an overdose. His goal is to share her story and bring attention to the drug epidemic sweeping our nation. His story intrigued me because I struggle with an addictive personality and have lost family members to addiction.
The second walker I found was Angela Hatton @unitethejourney. Angela is walking from west to east to raise awareness of veterans suffering with PTSD. Both my brother and I are veterans and while I don’t suffer from PTSD, my brother does. Brett and Angela are incredible examples of people who are not only embarking on a once in a lifetime experience but also reaching out to spread change.
All 4 journeys have connected with me in some way and have been a stepping stone to what comes next. My daughter has firmly rejected the idea of walking across the US but maybe in time she’ll warm up to the idea. She’s only 11 so I think it’s a worthwhile idea to hold onto.
So, what comes next? I honestly don’t know. Regardless of what that looks like, I’ll be thankful for the encounters both big and small with others that led me there.
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Woke up at 5.30am ... I tried to get back to sleep but had the idea to catch up with where bendoeslife is on his journey. Guy is walking from coast to coast in the U.S. What right do I have to feel tired?! Seriously amazing though. I wanna walk the world. Also pretty convinced that Bradley Cooper should play him in the film.
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When you annoy yourself so much that you don’t want to blog...
I have spent a lot of time in my own head the past few weeks when I haven’t been blogging. I am SO ANNOYING in there. So really, dear fives, I’ve done you a favor by sparing you all the drama. But, a few things that I’ll try to be brief about ...
1. LifeDoesJed just posted about how frustrating it is to regain weight when you’ve lost it. This is also why BenDoesLife has disappeared. Again. I can’t blame Ben. Haters are HARSH. I’d hide in a hole of carbs, too. And when I fall, only my friends and family and acquaintances know about it. For Ben, he was on the cover of Runner’s World, for crying out loud. Back to 300+ pounds? Yeah, that’s shameful stuff.
But here’s the thing: MOST people will fight forever with food. Perhaps 1% of people diet, lose weight, and keep it off. For the rest of us, we struggle with building new habits, giving ourselves grace, and persevering in the face of adversity and donuts.
I actually very much dislike this fact. I am black and white, I am linear, I like things tidy. I want to lose weight once and keep it off forever. Life, however, is not like that. And in the eternal words of Dori from Finding Nemo, you’ve got to just keep swimming.
2. I ran four miles with long-time reader and faux-little-sister Krysta. She had never run that far before and had never run with someone, so it was a big deal to her. It was the first time I’d taken my foot out for a spin since plantar fasciitis started flaring up in my left foot. The foot has since been tight, but okay. So I’ll be running this week, but nothing terribly far.
3. Thankful this week for spring break.
4. People will throw mud as they will, and it is certainly no longer in vogue, but Weight Watchers works. For me. Their new points system (since the last time I joined, many moons ago) drives me crazy sometimes, but I really appreciate the group meetings. Even though they’re 85% filled with white women over the age of 60, it’s good to know other people are walking the walk and struggling with the same things I do every day. Although their struggle is walked out in SASS shoes.
5. Finally at the tail end of an annoying cold. Thank God.
6. Haven’t been crafty in a while, and need to get back at it. Creating is good for the soul.
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So I reached out to Ben Davis...
Aka bendoeslife to extend the olive branch and let him know that people like myself, who were really inspired by him, still care about him even though he gained the weight back and that he’d inspire us even more by getting up off the mat and running beside us.
I struggled mightily with the whole Ben thing. I still do. Ben was a hero of mine when I first joined tumblr and starting losing the weight. He was the reason I’m here. He was the dude who proved to me with actual video footage and empirical data that morbidly obese guys can run, eat better and lose incredible amounts of weight. When Ben hit put down the torch, I was fucking outraged. It was like finding out that Santa Claus isn’t real. I reacted harshly. I was cynical. I thought he quit after he realized that his journey, although incomplete, had been fully monetized. I learned about his darker side, especially how he treated some female followers. But behind all that anger, I was scared. I felt cheated. I lost a hero. I felt that if I allowed myself to be associated with Ben that I would fall into my old habits too.
I didn’t kick him when he was down, but I sure as shit jumped over his body to save myself. I mean imagine how the dude must feel. I have a hard enough time going back outside for a run knowing that I need walk breaks, or that my shorts don’t fit the way they should. I imagine everyone’s judgmental gaze burning a hole in me. I can’t imagine how shameful and guilty he must feel about letting his followers down, or even worse for feeling like he somehow took advantage of the situation.
My reaction was weak. It was wrong. It was childish. I should have offered to run with things, or to carry my fallen hero on my back until he could get back on his feet. WE should have done those things. Instead, we changed URLs, moved on to CF, paleo, powerlifting, swimming, whatever.
Ben might be radio silent, but if you are a former Do Lifer, one who still does life, or someone who is out there trying to take back your life from obesity, depression or the destructive cocktail they combine to make, please know that I’m here with you and we can fight the good fight together.
I’m not saying we need to raise the old flag. I’m just saying we don’t have to do this alone. Everyone and anyone is welcome, even Ben.
#do life#bendoeslife#ben davis#do life movement#health#fitness#weight loss#running#depression#obesity
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Six years ago @bendoeslife came through dc! Six years ago I met @notovernight for the first time... And @cupcakeconditioning too I think. @easybeinggreene was that out first meeting too, or maybe second... I miss my bRunch friends!
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Hey!
Good to see you again, hope you’ve all had a good week! I’m still making steady progress, did I have a slight gain Saturday morning and Sunday morning (are out Friday night and Saturday night, go figure), but down for the week.
June 9th (Day 1): 293
Monday September 9th: 271.8
Monday September 16th: 269.7
I’m weighing in each morning, and have been since June 9th. Seeing pretty solid steady progress. I found out Mr Do Life himself is streaming daily weigh ins on twitch, so I’ve been sharing my daily weigh ins on there as well for some extra accountability. If you want to join in search for bendoeslife, on weekdays the stream starts at 7 pacific.
While I’m here I’ll share today’s workout. It was pretty good till I got to the sets of 10 squats, that really took it out of me! See you soon!
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This guy...
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Starting Over Inspiration
I find it rare to find fitblrs that are brave enough to talk about setbacks that can come from weight gain after weight loss and the challenges of trying to getting back on track.
Here is someone who is doing that: Ben Does Life. I have always admired him and I admire him even more now. Check his blog out. He is awesome.
http://bendoeslife.tumblr.com/
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Empezando un nuevo reto
Hola a todos,
Hoy, 02 de Enero de 2014 empiezo con este pequeño microblog en donde actualizaré periódicamente todo lo que voy haciendo para lograr uno de mis objetivos para los próximos meses.
¿Cuál es el objetivo?
Estar en forma nuevamente (si es que alguna vez lo he llegado a estar)
¿Cómo será el blog?
En el iré compartiendo las diferentes actividades que vaya realizando, los pequeños retos que me vaya planteando, así como todo lo que vaya aprendiendo en este camino.
Mi idea es hacer de este blog algo muy similar a Ben does life (http://bendoeslife.tumblr.com) de Ben Davis.
Ben tiene una historia de motivación que ya tiene un par de años en internet y gracias a su éxito, escribió un libro sobre su experiencia y actualmente invierte parte de su tiempo a motivar a otras personas
Este es un resumen de su historia
¿Por qué un blog?
Principalmente por dos razones:
Compromiso. Al plantearme este reto de manera compartida y pública, me comprometo ante todos los seguidores del blog a seguir hasta el final del camino. El simple hecho de que al menos alguien estará pendiente creo que me impulsará a seguir avanzando día a día hacia mi objetivo.
Motivación. Un blog es un punto de entrada para que todo aquel que me quiera dejar un comentario o algo por el estilo lo pueda hacer. De esta manera, podré continuar animado y sin duda podré ser capaz de afrontar el compromiso en el que me he metido.
¿Las reglas del blog?
Postear periódicamente las cosas y experiencias que voy realizando para lograr la meta.
Cada mes realizar un post con un pequeño resumen con información acerca del progreso realizado (peso, medidas, distancias recorridas, fotos, etc.)
Espero que me acompañen en este reto y no defraudarlos :P.
En los próximos post hablaré sobre los objetivos a mediano plazo y que pienso hacer para conseguirlos, así como el punto de partida (peso, medidas y fotos).
Sabin L.
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