Joe Dillon comes to Matrix

I was so inspired by Joe Dillon when he came to speak at my Vistage group meeting in January that I invited him to come to Matrix to present to my staff.

About half of the staff attended -- not bad for a Friday morning when a bunch of people were out. Besides, not everyone wants to be lectured about diet and exercise.

Joe did exactly what I expected him to. He was informative, motivating, outrageous and pedantic. His presentation about diet really makes you sit up and think about all the junk that we put into our mouths each day. It makes me feel bad about all the chocolate around the office, and the birthday parties when we serve nothing but pure sugar and more sugar.

But Joe makes an amazing case for healthy living. He is in his 60s and he looks amazing. I guess the bottom line for me is that I want to grow old and live a good life. When I retired, I want to be in good health so that I can travel and keep doing the active things that I do now.

I had skipped my power walking for a week because of a cold, but I'll be back on the treadmill this week. Even Maki wants to get in on the program. At Harris Teeter yesterday, we got a bunch of raw nuts, egg beaters, and lots of chicken. So far, I have lost about 5 pounds and I feel great. The walking with weights really makes a difference and I can feel myself getting toned and strong. Stay tuned for more progress reports.

I'm back on the treadmill

So I'm finally back on the treadmill and it feels great. They say it takes 28 days (or is it 21?) to make or break a habit, so I'm day 12 into a new routine. What's the routine? 5 minutes of stretching and 25 minutes on the treadmill, at a fast walk, with small weights. I'm going to work up to 30 minutes on the treadmill and heavier weights, but I'm trying to just get back into the habit of exercising.

The first week was brutal. It was just sooooo hard to get up, put on my sports bra, and just start stretching, much less get on the treadmill (that black piece of equipment that mocks me every time I enter the basement). Of course, it helped that the scale showed I had lost 3 lbs, but that's probably mostly water.

A presentation by Joe Dillon (http://www.thejoedillondifference.com) at my CEO group meeting earlier this month did the trick. He gave us flabby CEOs a routine we can follow: 30 minutes of fast walking with weights 3 times a week + lean protein and carbs at every meal. I'm not quite ready to throw out ALL of the sugar in my diet, but I'm being more careful, especially after the sweets of the Christmas season.

I need to make a few more workout CDs to make exercising interesting, but that's why God made iTunes, right?

If I can lost 10 pounds, I will feel like a million bucks. Stay tuned on my progress.