For quite some time, Mel had been wanting to take Frank, our cat, for a walk. We thought it would be a fun experience, plus, maybe it could work off the tremendous gut that he had acquired. We figured that curiosity would get the best of him as he entered a huge world, virtually unknown to him except from our bedroom window.
So we finally bought a harness and a leash, and tried to take him to the park that is right next to our apartment complex. I stress "tried". What we ended up with can best be described as mixed results. He wasn't entirely cooperative, which is understandable, since he hasn't been outside, besides us carrying him out on the balcony or porch, in about a year and a half. He is a true indoor cat.
After carrying him down the stairs, we set him down to walk. Well, he didn't really "walk". He more or less sat there, scared out of his wits. After a few minutes, however, he crept toward a set of bushes next to the building. We wanted him to stay on the grass, but, naturally, he kept getting into the dirt. We found out that he has an amazing ability to make the bottom half of his body to go dead, preventing you from dragging him or making him go where you want him to, without tremendous effort. After about 20 minutes, and about 20 feet, our "walk" of Frank ended with us taking him back up to the apartment. It was great. If nothing else, it was fun, and funny. Plus, we got a few great pictures out of it. Here are a couple that pretty much sum up the entire experience. Enjoy:
IMG_2890sm.jpg
IMG_2925sm.jpg
Thursday, April 24, 2008
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
Pregnancy update
As you all know, my lovely bride, the foxy Melissa is pregnant with our first offspring. Here is a page to track her progress through the magic of photography. Check back often for updates. I'll also try to do more updates on m'blog as well.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/robotkinson/sets/72157604556106048/
Ciao.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/robotkinson/sets/72157604556106048/
Ciao.
Sunday, April 20, 2008
Weighty issues. Part deux: Rob becomes a fatty.
Let's pick up in August 2003, the time of my marriage to Melissa, when I weighed around about 170 or 175 lbs. Seen here, in one of our engagement photos: RobMel_engaged.jpg. Not too bad, eh? Kind of skinny, but not too skinny, if you know what I mean. I was 27, almost 28, and I had just accepted my first full-time job after graduation a few months before. So, I was sitting at a desk for 40 hours a week, and I was now married. That's a dangerous combination, as I was about to find out. I was heavier than I wanted to be, but I wasn't terribly unhappy with my weight. But it sure didn't take long for me to start expanding. It happened incredibly fast, in fact. I don't know for sure, because I wasn't weighing myself a4t all, but I imagine that I gained 30 pounds in just a few months, and more than 40 within a year. It really snuck up on me too. I just realized it all of a sudden, and it wasn't easy to deal with. Here are a couple shots of me that were taken between 10 months and a year after we got married:
Rob013.jpg RobandBillBeach2.jpg RobMelSF.jpg
Remember, I had been a scrawny kid with exposed ribs, so to be over 210 pounds was mind boggling. It didn't help either that some people would comment on it when I would see them for the first time in a long time. These people should be punched in the face. Did they really think that I didn't know I was gaining weight? In their minds, did they think they were doing me some huge favor or something by reminding me that I was now fat? I mean, in my head I already thought that I looked like s***? So for someone to mention it to me didn't really help the esteem. It is a weird phenomenon, when people are ignorant enough to make comments like that. There weren't that many people who would do this, thank goodness, but it is just the few that ruin things.
I know that there are plenty of other friends and family members that were blown away by my weight gain, considering my scrawny former self, but they were sensitive enough to my plight not to mention it. And I appreciated that. I do remember having talks with my Dad about my weight, but he wasn't one of those people I was referring to. He talked to me about it out of concern for my health, which I understood and appreciated. He didn't want it to eventually get out of control and cause health problems for me my entire life.
This weight problem constantly hung over my head (and over my belt!). I had a hard time being happy when I would look at myself and it totally bummed me out that I weighed a lot more than double what my wife weighed. But Melissa was incredibly supportive through the whole thing, even though she was probably thinking, "this isn't what I signed up for when we got married!". But on occasion, when the opportunity presented itself, she would encourage me to try and make a change. I know that's not an easy thing to tell your spouse—you don't want to ruffle feathers.
I kept complaining about my weight, but I wasn't really doing anything about it. I was eating out a lot for lunch, I wasn't working out, and I was working a lot of hours. It was a pretty sedentary existence. My personality is such that when I start something, I always (or almost always) see things through till the end. I just often times have a hard time getting started. Motivation is not one of my strong suits.
So, in late December 2005, my friend Lance Oscarson, whom I sat next to at work at the time, said something to me one day. He said, "we should have a competition to see who can lose 30 lbs first." Now, Lance is a pretty big guy. He is probably 6'-3", and is a hockey player, but was carrying a little extra weight that he wanted to lose. So I said back to him, "you're on!" We decided to plan our competition to start after the holidays, the first week of January 2006.
I knew that I had weighed in at 212 at one time, and actually, I think I weighed more than that at one time, but, I'll go with 212 as my all-time high.
Rob013.jpg RobandBillBeach2.jpg RobMelSF.jpg
Remember, I had been a scrawny kid with exposed ribs, so to be over 210 pounds was mind boggling. It didn't help either that some people would comment on it when I would see them for the first time in a long time. These people should be punched in the face. Did they really think that I didn't know I was gaining weight? In their minds, did they think they were doing me some huge favor or something by reminding me that I was now fat? I mean, in my head I already thought that I looked like s***? So for someone to mention it to me didn't really help the esteem. It is a weird phenomenon, when people are ignorant enough to make comments like that. There weren't that many people who would do this, thank goodness, but it is just the few that ruin things.
I know that there are plenty of other friends and family members that were blown away by my weight gain, considering my scrawny former self, but they were sensitive enough to my plight not to mention it. And I appreciated that. I do remember having talks with my Dad about my weight, but he wasn't one of those people I was referring to. He talked to me about it out of concern for my health, which I understood and appreciated. He didn't want it to eventually get out of control and cause health problems for me my entire life.
This weight problem constantly hung over my head (and over my belt!). I had a hard time being happy when I would look at myself and it totally bummed me out that I weighed a lot more than double what my wife weighed. But Melissa was incredibly supportive through the whole thing, even though she was probably thinking, "this isn't what I signed up for when we got married!". But on occasion, when the opportunity presented itself, she would encourage me to try and make a change. I know that's not an easy thing to tell your spouse—you don't want to ruffle feathers.
I kept complaining about my weight, but I wasn't really doing anything about it. I was eating out a lot for lunch, I wasn't working out, and I was working a lot of hours. It was a pretty sedentary existence. My personality is such that when I start something, I always (or almost always) see things through till the end. I just often times have a hard time getting started. Motivation is not one of my strong suits.
So, in late December 2005, my friend Lance Oscarson, whom I sat next to at work at the time, said something to me one day. He said, "we should have a competition to see who can lose 30 lbs first." Now, Lance is a pretty big guy. He is probably 6'-3", and is a hockey player, but was carrying a little extra weight that he wanted to lose. So I said back to him, "you're on!" We decided to plan our competition to start after the holidays, the first week of January 2006.
I knew that I had weighed in at 212 at one time, and actually, I think I weighed more than that at one time, but, I'll go with 212 as my all-time high.
Friday, April 11, 2008
Weighty issues. Part one: From bean pole to normal.
The following story started out as a simple post, a theory of mine, but it has turned into a (not so) short story. Melissa chastised me, saying that no one wants to read a post this long, but I feel like I have a story to tell, so, I've decided to turn it into a series of posts, here is the first. Pardon my verbosity, but it is long. Brace yourselves. In fact, maybe you should take a minute to use the bathroom and get a drink if you deem it necessary.
Now, on to the story.
I have often wondered why men get fat when they get married, and I know that I'm not the only one who has wondered this. It has baffled top scientists for centuries. In fact, I think it's the 2nd most researched subject in the scientific world, right behind evolution. But therein lies the conundrum, maybe it has something to do with evolution. The only case I have to study is my own, which I admit for those scientists out there is not a large sample size. But guess what, it's my damn blog and this is how I'm doing it. I am going to tell the story of my weight, and then, I will get to my theory, so you'll have to bear with me and my ramblings.
Let's begin in my past, as a rail thin kid of 5'-11". At high school graduation, I weighed 125 lbs. Yes that's right, 125 lbs! Within a year or two, I settled in at a 'robust' 145 lbs, and stayed there for some time. This is what I looked like, at 21 years old, 145 lbs: Rob011.jpg.
After a few years, I started slowly putting on weight; not a lot, but a few pounds here and there. For a while I was about 155. Then I was up to about 165 or 170. At this point. I considered myself a tad chubby. Now, mind you, 170 is not fat, or chubby, or anything even close. I especially know that now. But when you are used to being between 125 and 145, 170 seems pretty darn heavy (If only I knew how big I would become). Here is what I looked between 160 and 170: RobandMel010.jpg
All my life, I always assumed I would stay skinny. After all, I always had been skinny. I had never been a workout fiend, or a runner, but I was reasonably active growing up. I played basketball, hiked and whatnot, even though I didn't go out of my way to workout. My dad, the wise old man that he was, warned me that someday it might catch up to me. He had been a beanpole as a youth as well, but as he got older, got a little bit bigger. He wasn't huge, not even close, but he had a bit of a gut; the usual kind that men get as they grow older I suppose.
But all my life I have been able to eat, and eat a lot. I think I eat more than anyone in my family, and have since I was an adolesent. As a teenager I would often times go to Blimpie or Subway for a foot long sub. On several occasions, I remember being hungry enough to eat another foot long sandwich. That's 24" of sandwiches. No exaggeration, and I was 125 pounds at the time. On other occasions, on a stop at Burger King, I'd get two Whoppers, instead of a Whopper and fries. This occurrence was especially prevalent during the 99 cent Whopper days.
Tune in later for part two, Rob becomes a fatty.
Now, on to the story.
I have often wondered why men get fat when they get married, and I know that I'm not the only one who has wondered this. It has baffled top scientists for centuries. In fact, I think it's the 2nd most researched subject in the scientific world, right behind evolution. But therein lies the conundrum, maybe it has something to do with evolution. The only case I have to study is my own, which I admit for those scientists out there is not a large sample size. But guess what, it's my damn blog and this is how I'm doing it. I am going to tell the story of my weight, and then, I will get to my theory, so you'll have to bear with me and my ramblings.
Let's begin in my past, as a rail thin kid of 5'-11". At high school graduation, I weighed 125 lbs. Yes that's right, 125 lbs! Within a year or two, I settled in at a 'robust' 145 lbs, and stayed there for some time. This is what I looked like, at 21 years old, 145 lbs: Rob011.jpg.
After a few years, I started slowly putting on weight; not a lot, but a few pounds here and there. For a while I was about 155. Then I was up to about 165 or 170. At this point. I considered myself a tad chubby. Now, mind you, 170 is not fat, or chubby, or anything even close. I especially know that now. But when you are used to being between 125 and 145, 170 seems pretty darn heavy (If only I knew how big I would become). Here is what I looked between 160 and 170: RobandMel010.jpg
All my life, I always assumed I would stay skinny. After all, I always had been skinny. I had never been a workout fiend, or a runner, but I was reasonably active growing up. I played basketball, hiked and whatnot, even though I didn't go out of my way to workout. My dad, the wise old man that he was, warned me that someday it might catch up to me. He had been a beanpole as a youth as well, but as he got older, got a little bit bigger. He wasn't huge, not even close, but he had a bit of a gut; the usual kind that men get as they grow older I suppose.
But all my life I have been able to eat, and eat a lot. I think I eat more than anyone in my family, and have since I was an adolesent. As a teenager I would often times go to Blimpie or Subway for a foot long sub. On several occasions, I remember being hungry enough to eat another foot long sandwich. That's 24" of sandwiches. No exaggeration, and I was 125 pounds at the time. On other occasions, on a stop at Burger King, I'd get two Whoppers, instead of a Whopper and fries. This occurrence was especially prevalent during the 99 cent Whopper days.
Tune in later for part two, Rob becomes a fatty.
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