The Incredible Shrinking John

As some of you are aware, I have been on a strict diet plan for the last month and a half.  As of this writing, I am almost halfway done with a 97 day program called Weight Not. 

I am someone who has gone up and down in his weight for years.  But, as is often the case, it seemed to be getting more difficult as I got older.  Even though I was eating better than I was in my 20s, the lbs were not coming off.

I have been an avid listener to Mike O'Meara for 18 years, since his days on the "Don and Mike Show", which led to his own show on "The Mike O'Meara Show" (if you dont subscribe to this podcast, you are missing out.  One of the funniest around.).  As Mike himself puts it, he always has been a "gentleman of larger carriage" and for years, I have listened to him talk about his struggles with weight loss, and his failed attempts with various programs, such as Weight Watchers.  While he would talk about it comedically, it was a very real problem for him, and one that many of his listeners could relate to, myself included. It was the beginning of May, I believe, that he started raving about a new diet program he started called Weight Not. He was talking all about how much success he was having in a short period of time.

The key to Weight Not, he explained, is that it offered fast results, but in a healthy way.  There are many programs that work fine, but it takes weeks to even start to see the slightest bit of results.  Like myself, he is impatient, and he would sometimes get discouraged when he would work his butt off and see nothing happen.  With Weight Not, he was seeing a weight loss literally every day.

While all that sounded wonderful, I took it with a grain of salt.  After all, I dont even know how many times I have heard him talk about yet another program he was on, just to abandon it a month or two later.  Over the next couple of weeks, he kept on reporting his results, and was getting more and more excited.  So, I started to listen a bit more. 

The icing on the cake was when someone on his staff, RJ, joined the program as well.  RJ was a much bigger guy...his starting weight was 340 lbs.  So he had a lot more to lose.  In the first two weeks, he lost over 20 lbs.  Granted, because of his size, his was an extreme number, most peope would not have that kind of success in only two weeks.  But even if it was half of that, it was worth checking out.

So,on May 31st, I gave Weight Not a call.  I figured it wouldnt hurt to just talk to them.  45 minutes later, I was sold.  And on Sunday, June 12th, I officially started the program.  I waited until then because I was going out for a birthday dinner on the 11th to the Melting Pot, and I wanted to enjoy myself!

I wont get into the details of the program, but suffice it to say, it was a difficult transition. In the first 7 days, you go through a different stage then the rest, as your body slowly "detoxes" to get ready for what is to come. Those first few days, especially, were immensely difficult.  I was sure I would not be able to make it, that I had made a huge mistake.  But, getting on the scale every day really does get me through it.

That first day, I lost 2.8 lbs.  The second day, I lost 3.2.  Thats six lbs.  In two days. No exaggeration.  As hard as the days were, I was jumping out of bed in the morning to weigh myself.

After the first 7 "detox" days, I then started the rest of the 90 day program.  Even with the losses that I was seeing, there have been plenty of times where I wanted to quit.  Usually, those feelings dont last too long, luckily.  I get tired a lot, because I am not really eating that much.  Katie has been my rock, as always.  She has been putting up with me and my mood swings as I get through this.

Within a week, people started noticing the weight loss.  Its a good feeling, let me tell ya.  After a month, I had to go shopping for all new pants, because every single pair I owned were too big. The weight loss calmed down since those first two days; on average, I have lost .7 lbs a day.  Sometimes more, sometimes less.  I have even had the occasional day where I have gained a small amount of weight, but it was usually followed by a huge loss the next day. 

When I started the program, I joked that I would lose 60 lbs.  I really didnt think that was likely, but I figured I would aim high.  As of now, I still have 50 days left, and I have already lost a grand total of 31.6 lbs. While I have my doubts if I will actually make it to 60, as I have noticed that things have slowed down in the last week as my body has adjusted, I still am overjoyed.  Even if the program ended now, I feel a lot better about how I look and everyone seems impressed.  More importantly, Katie and Sam are happier with me, which is the most important thing.

I'll send another brief update when I am done on 9/16 with a grand total. In the meantime, this picture was taken about ten days ago, when I had lost so much that I no longer fit into any of my pants!  Since this was taken, I have lost an additional five lbs...

Justice, at last...

Its been over a week now since our President told us that, after years of searching, Bin Laden had finally been killed.  In his words, "Justice has been done".

I, actually, first learned of all of this via Facebook, of all places. Katie was gone for the night, helping a friend with a birth. I am glad I couldnt sleep, because this was one anouncement I wanted to hear live. Although alone, I found myself cheering. I found myself smiling. And then, I found myself crying. 

The last 9 1/2+ years came rolling back to me, in one swoop.  For those of you not aware, I lost both an Uncle and a Cousin on that Tuesday in September. Both at the WTC. The pain this loss caused cannot be described here, and is a little too personal, to be honest.  Suffice it to say, though, that it was absolutely devastating in so many ways, to everyone in our family. Everyone dealt with in their own way.

Hearing the news last week brought it all back. And I wish I could shake the hands of everyone on that Seal Team, as well as President Obama.  The animal was put down, where he should have been put long ago. I dont know if there is a heaven or hell, but if hell does exist, I hope he is roasting in it now.

And then, the inevitable happened.  Both political parties started taking jabs at the other side.  Pathetic.  This was a victory for America, folks.  Can we just take a moment and celebrate without such hatred for opposing view points?  Is that really so much to ask?  One side seems to wish that this scum was still alive until their guy took office, no matter how many might have died in the meantime.  And people wonder why I consider myself independent;  just look at the behavior of our two choices, and you will understand why. 

But I digress...

In the days, weeks, and months that followed 9/11, I saved massive amounts of news clippings, magazines, internet articles that I printed, along with other things having to do with that time in our history.  I saved them so that, one day, I can take them out and TRY to explain to Sam what happened.  She was only 9 months old at the time of the attacks.  But, someday, I wanted her to read about the heroes we lost that day, as well as the heroes who still walk amongst us.  I wanted her to read all about Paul and Thomas.  Not just because of the family connection, but because they were worth reading about and celebrating, along with everyone else who did what they had to do on that fateful day.  All of these things have been saved in a box for years, and I open it from to time and look through it.  But its been years since I have added to it.  I took great pleasure this week in buying the latest Time and Newsweek, both of which covered the shooting of Bin Laden on their cover, and putting it in the box. 

I know I can never fully explain to Sam why that day happened...how does one explain this to a child of any age?  As I write this, I am 39 years old, and it doesnt make any sense to me, so how do I get a ten year to understand it? But I am glad that I can now tell her that the man responsible has been brought to justice. Sure, it took a while, but we got him.  Thats all that matters.  And yes, there are more bad guys out there.  They will probably strike again.  And we will get them, too.

To Thomas...I wish I had know you better.  I heard and read so much of you after you were gone, it was definitely my loss.  I hope that your wife was able to find happiness that was taken from her after too short a time together.

To Paul...Words cannot express how much your loss hit us.  You were loved so much, by everyone.  Your laughter and your sense of humor, especially, is what I remember best.  It breaks my heart that Sam has had to grow up not knowing you.  Although, she hears of you so often, she feels like she knows you as well as any of us.  She even has a framed picture of you on her desk. Semper Fi...

The death of Bin Laden cannot bring our lost loved ones back.  I know this.  But its still nice to see that, every once in a while, justice is carried out as it should be.

-"Jack"

Les Miserables: If it aint broke...why fix it?

Okay, I just need to vent here. The other day, I was fortunate enough to be able to take in yet another performance of Les Miserables. I think this was my 12th time, or somewhere close to it.  Sam has heard me talk about it since...well, since she was an infant, when I would sing the score to her as I tried to get her to nap. So I was thrilled to finally take her to see it.  To me, it is the end-all be-all of musical theater. The story and the music tug at my heartstrings every time, without fail.  As originally written, it is perfection.

I want to stress that I said as ORIGINALLY written.  I would love to know what brain surgen felt the need to tweak the staging and music.

The new sets, admittedly, look incredible, and the transition between scenes is as smooth as always.  However, with a show like this, they are not needed.  It worked so much better before, and used to be much more effective.  Sometimes, simple works better. Restaging classic scenes like "One Day More" is just unnecessary.

One thing that the previous incarnation was known for was its use of a spinning stage. This is no longer true,its been cut.  Now, to me, this is not a big deal until the second act, during the barricade scene.

When Gavroche died, I wanted to see it.  It lost something when we just heard it.  Along the same lines, after the students are all shot to hell, I missed that slow pan when we see the other side of the barricade, littered with soliders bodies. Normally, this is a very powerful and effective scene...this time around, I sat in the audience, saying to myself, "Wha-?!?!"

My biggest petpeeve, though, and it happened repeatedly, was the changes in music.  I didnt mind when things are added, or when the wording was changed a little, but there were whole chunk of "dialogue" cut, as well as whole verses from songs.  Because I have listened to the symphonic recording more than any sane person should, I know every little line. Off the top of my head, I know there were whole verses cut from "Castle On A Cloud" and "Fantines Death". Sam even picked up on the "Castle..." omission because she has used it as an audition song.  There were other chunks missing, like the intro to "Master of the House", which was reduced to about 5-10 seconds long, it seems. There was also some incidental music cut, such as the beginning of "I Dreamed A Dream", as well as the reprise of "Drink With Me", right after the women and fathers of children are told to leave the barricade.  When done right, that can be a powerful scene. In past productions, it has moved me to tears. In this new version, they are given about 2 seconds to say their goodbyes and get the hell out of there.  Kinda ruined the moment.

Also, along the lines of the music...SLOW DOWN!!!  There were quite a few moments when they were rushing through the music.  As I said to Katie, since we were at the last show before they moved on to the next city, maybe the actors wanted to wrap it up since they wanted to pack up their crap and get the hell out of Baltimore.  Cant really blame them, if thats the case.

In spite of the above criticism, there was one or two changes that I actually enjoyed.  Specifically, having the opening take place on a ship worked suprisingly well.  And I enjoyed the way Javerts suicide was depicted; well done.

And the story and music still got to me.  Seeing it with Sam added a whole different wrinkle to the end; as Valjean lay dying, Sam took my hand, squeezed it hard, and put her head on my shoulder.  I was no good after that, the tears were a-flowing. So, even with the above changes...it still works. And I am anxiously awating the next time I can see it. Because even a modified version is better than anything out there.

And the Oscar goes to...

Nope, this one is not about the puppy.  This one is about the Academy Awards, airing this Sunday.

There was a time when I would have an educated opinion about the Oscars. A lifetime ago, I worked for a move theater, and would see 95% of the movies.  Even the crap. (And yes, there has always been crap.  Those people who say "They dont make them like they used to" are just fooling themselves, because they NEVER made them as good as they seem to remember). When you can see movies for free, you tend to forgive the crap, because all it cost me was my time.

But all those years of seeing movies for free spoiled me, since I usually watched them after hours, with a couple of friends/co-workers.  So, I never had to deal with the "human" element.  And now that I have to, there are very few movies that are worth going to the theater for, because of the rest of the audience. Its just not worth it.  Those few instances where I have braved the landscape is only after a movie has been out for weeks so that maybe the crowds have died down. Even then, I am usually shown that I was right to stay away.

The only exception to these rules is when I take Sam to a kids movie.  I go in with different expectations, knowing that kids are gonna be running around being stupid because people dont know how to parent.

Its not the quality of movies that have gone down;  I would just rather watch them in the comfort of my own home. 

So, I was looking at this this years major Oscar nominees, and out of the 25 (or so) movies that have a nomination for best picture, best director, or acting award, I have seen a grand total of...One of them.  And five of them I have never even heard of. 

Oh, and that one that I saw was Toy Story 3. 

Well, at least The Amazing Race is also on Sundays, so at least the night wont be a total loss...

In honor of Valentines Day...

I am fortunate that my bride feels the same way about Valentines Day that I do: Its a silly, made-up holiday.  We are one of those strange couples who expresses their love all year long, not just on one day that the flower and card companies agreed would be a good day to rip people off of money that they do not have.

Katie and I met doing theater. We were friends for a long time before getting together.  At the time, I was going through a divorce, so Katie and I proceeded as friends. My daughter Samantha was my number one priority, and I put all my time into trying to build a good life for her.  Katie was there when I needed it.  She knew when to help, and more importantly, when to leave me alone to figure out my own way, to figure out what works for Sam and I.

(Its funny...Katie and I kissed on stage long before we kissed in "real life"...)

(And yes, I am dressed in a grass skirt and coconut bra in this picture.  Ah, the things I do for the stage...)

Over time, I realized that the perfect woman was already there, as my best friend.  Everyone has someone who is their perfect match; unfortunately, some people never find them.  I am one of the lucky ones who found his. 

At times, she drives me crazy.  At times, her upbeat attitude and positive thinking irk me to no end, seeing as how I am a glass-half-empty kind of guy. But I would not change a thing about her.  God only knows what the future will bring; there will be happiness, there will be sorrow.  But with her by my side, I will make it through just fine. She makes me laugh, she makes me cry...but, more than anything, she makes me smile.

To paraphrase the poet Roy Croft...I love her, not for what she is, but for what I am when I am with her.

And how will we celebrate Valentines Day?  With a simple "I love you", and a kiss or two.  The same way we celebrate every day of the year.

Oops, I almost forgot...

I forgot to mention the 4th family member.  Two weeks ago, we adopted a 9 week old Puggle (half Beagle, half Pug), who we named Oscar.

In two weeks time, he has really integrated himself into our lives.  The girls love him.  So, I love him, too.  As much as I want to ring his neck half the time.

I have not raised a puppy in a long time.  The last dog I had I got when she was 2, so I missed out on the teething and housetraining stage. Not so much, this time around.  I just keep telling myself things will get better...right?  (Somebody PLEASE say they will get better)  Patience is not one of my strong points, this is nothing new.  And my patience is being tested, without a doubt.  But, one look at Sams eyes when she sees the puppy...well, it makes it a little more tolerable. 

Even if my hand is covered in band-aids from scratches and bites.

First time for everything...

So...um...yeah....my wife has been telling me for some time that I need to start a blog.  So, here goes nothing.

For someone who is always speaking his mind, I got nothing, at the moment. Right now, I am simply trying to figure out what I am doing here. I suppose I could start with a little basic bio information.  That seems like a safe place to start. I will expand on all of this as time goes on, I am sure.

My name is John Sheldon.  I am a (very) happily married man.  I know some of you reading this think you have a wonderful spouse.  And I have no doubt that they are a wonderful person.  However, they pale in comparison to my wife, Katie.  This is a simple fact;  accept it, and move on.  Her one flaw is her taste in men.  How she puts up with a schmuck like me is a mystery, but I am glad she does. I met Katie doing theater, a hobby that she and I are both passionate about.  I'll expand on my theatrical career in later posts.

I, also, have a ten year old daughter, Samantha, who is a godsend.  She and I have been through a lot together; my current wife is not the mother of my daughter. That honor goes to my first wife.  She and I separated when Sam was 2.  In the years that followed, Sam and I went through a lot, as I seemed to become her primary caregiver.  I found out how hard it is to be a single parent, to be a mommy AND daddy at the same time.  At times, I failed.  At times, I succeeded.  Through it all, she and I formed a bond that is still strong to this day.  How she turned out is the one thing I am most proud of.


I live in Halethorpe, MD, right outside of Baltimore.  I am fortunate in that I live close to my parents, who are about ten minutes away in Columbia.  Also, my younger brother, and his family, lives within a half hour, and my older sister and her husband live about an hour away, in Virginia. 

I work as a payroll analyst for a health company. Essentially, a payroll CPA, although I am not an accountant. But its that kind of work. And yes, its as exciting as it sounds. So, I doubt you will hear me talk much about it.  I will, however, talk about the band of misfits who make up this office.  I say this with nothing but affection, however.  I geniuinely like (most of) the people I work with.  They make it bearable.

That covers the basics.  God only knows where this blog may take me, but Katie feels like it will be a good outlet for me.  We'll see what happens...