I guess I’m going to do this every month or so, mostly because it keeps me honest and motivated and on track, and because I think that at least some of you are on the same path as I am.
How am I doing on my life reboot goals? Let’s see.
- Drink less beer.
So this one ended up being the most difficult thing to be consistent about, and I finally just decided that, at least in the short-term, I’m just not going to drink any alcohol at all. I’m about two weeks in, and holy shit has it made a huge difference in literally every area of my life. Here’s something I wrote at my Facebook thing this morning:
You know, it may not seem like much, but this is a big deal for me. I’ve been struggling to get my weight below 165 for months, and nothing I’ve done has seemed to work. I’ve been able to get down to 163 for a day or so, but I’ve mostly floated between 163 and 167 for too goddamn long, and I decided that it was time to instigate OPERATION: GET FUCKING SERIOUS ABOUT THIS.
So I finally cut out the last thing that I could cut out of my diet and lifestyle: booze. I haven’t had any alcohol in two weeks, and for whatever reason, that appears to have been the key to unlocking the door that leads to “UNDER ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTY POUNDS FINALLY”.
I realize that weight is just a number, and I realize that what’s important to one person is not necessarily important to another person. I also realize that trying to get to a particular number may not be helpful or even healthy for some people, but for me, chasing 159 has been good motivation to stay active, eat healthy, and take better care of myself for a whole bunch of reasons that aren’t even about that number.
I don’t really go way up and way down. Since I started actively trying to get healthy about a year ago, I’ve lost 32 pounds, and stayed on a general downward weight trend. That’s great, but just getting the last few pounds to drop off has been so hard, and so frustrating, that I was wondering if it would ever happen.
So getting this weekly report from FitBit that’s not just a down arrow, but a down arrow that’s over one pound is awesome. It’s empowering, and it makes me feel like I have a level of control over my body and my health and my life that I haven’t felt for too long.
Shoutout to my son, Nolan, for giving me great nutrition advice, to Zombies, Run!, for making it easy and fun to exercise every day, and to myself, for being disciplined and committed to taking care of myself.
- Read more (and Reddit does not count as reading).
I spend about an hour every night before bed reading. So far, this month, I’ve finished Leviathan Wakes, three issues of Lightspeed Magazine, Part One of The End of All Things, two issues of Mother Jones, and three issues of The Nation.
Reading is such an important part of nourishing my brain and inspiring me creatively and intellectually, and it’s something that is worth making time to do. It’s also just plain enjoyable, especially when so much of television is boring as hell. This week, I’m going to see if I can clear the pile of comics I’ve had building for a couple months, including issues of Bitch Planet, Trees, The Fade Out, Saga, and Wicked + Devine.
- Write more.
In addition to writing lots and lots and lots of answers to asks on my Tumblr thing, and doing that AMA that turned into a partial FAQ, I started seriously working on my next work of short fiction. I’m about 500 words in, and I’m going to get at least that today. My self-imposed deadline is the JoCo cruise in just under a month, so I have something new to share with the nerds. Oh, and I did that dumb thing about Blake the alien.
- Watch more movies.
Have you heard about MUBI? Every day there’s a new amazing movie, and it is there for a month. It’s curated by people who know what the hell they’re doing, and it’s just fantastic. I’ve been watching stuff there, and some standouts include Steamboat Bill Jr. and a rewatch of Clerks. I also stumbled into an amazing collection of B-movies and exploitation movies on Amazon. Mixed in among them is the infamous classic pre-code film The Road To Ruin. Anne and I have been watching screeners, too, including The Big Short and The Martian. I still need and want to see Star Wars.
The whole point of watching more movies was to get inspired to be creative and start figuring out what I could make on my own. I’m definitely getting inspired, but I still haven’t figured out what I could film with my DSLR, a crew of two people, and a tiny cast on maybe three locations. I’m getting there, though.
- Get better sleep.
I read a thing on Medium about how this guy stopped drinking alcohol, and one of the things he didn’t expect was how well he started to sleep. I can add my voice to that. For the last couple of weeks, I’ve been getting tired earlier than I have in years, getting into bed, and falling asleep well before midnight. I think, on average, I’m going to bed at 10pm, and falling asleep quickly. Last night was the first night in a long time that I had a stressful dream, and I haven’t had a nightmare or a panic attack in my sleep in over a month. I’m waking up before my alarm every morning, and getting a lot out of every day as a result.
- Eat better food.
This has been really easy, and a lot of fun. Anne and I pick out recipes from cookbooks and websites, and then we make it together. When we eat out, we go to a place with healthy food options, and I just don’t eat any junk food at all. I haven’t had midnight cheese in months, and I don’t even have the cravings for midnight cheese like I used to. Keeping track of my macronutrients has been very helpful for maintaining a balanced and healthy diet.
- Exercise more.
I was running almost every day, and I was up to week six of the Zombies, Run! 5K program when I hurt my left calf so badly I had to call Anne to come pick me up and drive me home. I’ve been getting physical therapy and massage for it, and I’ve been able to slowly rehab it to about 60% of normal. I’ve been able to walk for long distances without much problem, as long as I stop to stretch frequently. I’ve even been able to run a little bit — well, jog, actually, probably around 5 MPH — as long as I stop and stretch it when it starts to cramp up. It’s really frustrating that I don’t know exactly what caused the injury, and it’s annoying that it’s taking so long to heal. When it finally does heal, I am probably going to have to go all the way back to week three in the training program so I can work myself back into shape. There are certainly worse things in the world, but I’m really ready to be back on track with my training, because I’m running the Zombies, Run! Virtual 5K in March, and I want to run a marathon this year, too.
So now I’m going to grade myself, and wrap this up.
- Drink less beer: A
- Read more (and Reddit does not count as reading): A
- Write more: B
- Watch more movies: A
- Get better sleep: A
- Eat better food: A
- Exercise more: B
26 points out of a possible 28? Wow. I don’t think I’ve gotten grades this good since I was in elementary school, and my cynicism hadn’t fully formed, yet.
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One more daily goal I try to achieve: laugh at least once per day (= watching old MST3K reruns of course) or make someone else laugh, preferably my wife. 🙂
“I still haven’t figured out what I could film with my DSLR, a crew of two people, and a tiny cast on maybe three locations.”
Have you ever watched the British show Sapphire & Steel? It’s a masterclass on how you can make a weird SF show using a minimum of cast, sets, and special effects.
I’m looking it up right now. Thanks!
Ditto! Also, for me, scenario writing picking three locations (or less) is a great jumps start. Especially for short stories.
Oh yes, minimalistic and yet so very spooky…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dqah0bXh19E you mean this? I remember it well from my childhood.
Yes! I recently got the complete series on DVD and LOVE it. It’s like classic Doctor Who with 90% fewer special effects and 90% fewer explanations for what the fuck is going on–and it works.
Yeah, dropping alcohol is pretty noticeable. I love good wine but what I’ve decided is that I’m not doing the perfunctory glass of wine with dinner just because and pulling out nicer wine on the weekend if I want some. I’d rather have one really nice bottle every week or so vs 3 decent bottles that aren’t memorable.
Awesome work, Wil. Keep it up.
I stopped drinking about 3 years ago and it made me less tired, more focused and way more energetic. At first it was hard to skip the wine in a restaurant, but it got easier up to the point it is no effort at all. I would recomend it to anyone that has sleeping problems of has problems with focusing. I drank about a beer a day on weekdays en 2-3 glasses of wine in the wekends..
Wil, thanks for letting us be part of your reboot. It inspires me to do more, do better, with my life. Keep up the good work. And don’t consider any setback as a failure. It looks like you are doing a great job.
Wil, I recommend Saints from Image to add to your comic list! Really smart and engaging and beautiful art. Unique story – worth a look, I promise!
Congratulations on the sticking to things consistently; I’d probably get a B on the not much booze at all, but between C+ and a D- on the food front (It’s hard getting GF/DF snacks into the office that are still both good for you and appealing by lunchtime).
I think the “taking longer to heal” thing catches up with us all at some point after 40; I had these newish shoes that I thought were fairly comfy, even had gel soles in them… I didn’t realise that over the course of the day where I’d been wandering round and round the stalls at Thoughtbubble last November that I had been steadily acquiring a blister on the crease of my right big toe.
I only really noticed when me and my husband had to jog fairly smartly for the bus and I started to lag behind (well, more behind than usual; he’s 10″ taller than I am and I’m not very fit due to hyper-mobile hips and general lardiness). So, we missed the bus, and rather than wait an hour for the last one, decided to nip onto the one that left us a 20 minute walk (or, more of a 30 minute limp by this point) at the other end in the kind of drizzle that soaks through everything…
When I (finally) got home and took the boots off, I had already burst the blister and it had a blackened crust of blood and sock fluff, so I still have a pea-sized scar from it taking over two months to heal.
At least I watch a lot of movies 😉
Argh, forgot to recommend reading “Empire in Black and Gold” by Adrian Tchaikovsky….
I know you don’t know me, or likely anyone here, but I am so very proud of you! Keep going!
Wil, it amazes me and thrills my soul when you call Nolan your son. I am only ever referred to as a step-son by my mother’s husband who raised me after my father died. I’m 48 years old now and he’s been the only father I’ve ever had since I was 6, but I’ve never, ever been his son, only his step-son. He’s never acted like he didn’t love me, but he never fails to make the distinction that I’m not really his son.
Maybe he does that out of respect to your father?
That makes me sad. I’ve been my step-daughter’s father since she was 5. She’s now almost 19 and I never refer to her (except just now) as my step-daughter. I’ve never legally adopted her, but as far as she and I are concerned, she’s my daughter and I’m her dad and that’s how it will always be.
Noooooo not the midnight cheese!!! 😉
Seriously though, congrats on all the progress. Giving up beer is one I don’t know that I’d be able to do (despite knowing it will help me drop these last 8 pounds). Especially with training for a 50-mile trail race, I need some incentive at the end of my training runs….
It’s worth mentioning that wrestler/actor Andre-the-Giant was such a legendary beer “aficionado”, that when he finally quit, that single change (just the beer, he still had 2-3 bottles of wine at dinner) caused him to drop 100 pounds!
That was a really inspiring read, Wil. Keep at it and thanks for sharing your life with us. Like everything, it’s just one day at a time and one foot in front of the other.
Good for you! This gives me hope there will be a Tabletop season: XXXV. But seriously as man of possibly similar habits and disposition, who may be a decade further down the road than you, I can confirm that drinking can seriously mess up your sleep cycle. I still go out to a great game meetup at a bar every week or so, where they have a huge and tempting variety of beer on tap, and I indulge. But I know the penalties I must then endure. First off I am consigned to the snoring room for the evening by my spouse, fair enough; but I also know my sleep will be fairly restless and unsatisfactory. Now, I am a man of Irish descent (and all that stereotype implies) who back in the day could put away a fair amount of the suds, go home, sleep for 5-6 hours and wake up bright eyed and ready for work. Sadly in my forties that all began to change. I hope as a fellow beer enthusiast that is not your fate if you choose at some point to resume the drinking of the nectar.
Great job all around! I’m not sure if you have looked into these, but calf sleeves really are amazing. You kind of look like a 70s basketball player, but they really are amazing. I used to have mystery calf pain and shin splints, etc… and wearing those for every run (and sometimes after my workout to help speed recovery), has made these pains virtually disappear.
But congrats on your progress!
I heard this as well! I wanted to get some compression socks or something to help my legs.
Nice job Will. As a recovering alcoholic, I can attest to the fact that people do sleep better without drinking alcohol. At least I can speak for myself. I go to sleep hard and I wake up hard, and when I wake up I don’t feel groggy like I used to. And I do know that everybody dreams, but I rarely remember any of my dreams upon awakening (which includes nightmares, which used to be a big part of the dreams I was having to begin with). And as far as losing weight by not drinking alcohol, it’s actually a big key. Most people don’t realize the high sugar content that alcohol has. When I got sober I was in detox, and they took my blood sugar which was over 300. And that was the day after I had stopped drinking. Which explains the reason why a lot of alcoholics become diabetics as well. Another thing you went to shy away from when you trying to lose weight is bread. This includes pizza and tortillas as well as just the bread that comes in loaves. I was going to invite you to go run to cover stairs with me, but it seems like you have some injuries right now. You’re doing a good job with your lifestyle changes, keep up the good work.
I’m super excited about your Life Reboot (love the updates!), and I’m a cookbook author. I would love to send you and Ann copies of the cookbooks my husband and I wrote together. (http://meljoulwan.com/cookbooks/) Just shoot me an email through my web site if you’re up for it; it would make me so happy to give a little something back to you after all the insight/fun of reading your blog and awesomeness of TNG.
cover stairs should read “Culver Stairs”
Hi Wil. I’m I guess the Earth 2 Wesley (It’s my middle name) Congratulations on the diet. However, you do need to see Star Wars soon. at least so I can hear your opinion on it. Also, I’d like to hear your opinion on Legends of Tomorrow. Specifically whether you think it is more like a superhero version of Star Trek or Doctor Who. That version of Rip Hunter reminds me a lot of Picard. Beware the midnight mozzarella sounds like it should star Bruce Campbell.
I really appreciate your sharing this, Wil. I’m almost 40 and worried about my health and know I need to do something about it.
I also want a long life with my awesome husband and I need to care for myself more. This is a good reminder.
Thank you for mubi.com! I know what I’m doing for my snowday/day off school tomorrow.
Hi Wil, I’m glad you are seeing positive results. That hopefully will keep you motivated. I’m doing something similar in terms of reboot, as I went through a large period of depression last year. Mine is very much focused on doing the things that make me happy, as I became a workaholic in a place that was treating me badly. I’m trying to be healthier too, my doctor warned me about blood pressure, but i don’t drink much alcohol anyway, so it’s all about exercise and how much i was eating.
Trying to decide whether i write some short stories too. I’ve started a blog of my own, and really enjoy putting thoughts down. It’s helped me a lot. I’d imagine you know a lot more about organising filming something, but don’t let anything limit you in that, I reckon you could put out something interesting and good not matter what you used.
I believe you’re right about the junk food. My oldest daughter and I are doing a reboot of our own, and I can’t help but think that processed foods have a worse effect on sensitive people.
I will be doing the Zombies Run! 5K with you, as well as a 3.94 miler in honor of Alan Rickman from Hogwarts Running Club. Run on, little brother–the calf will heal (I know this because I think I’ve damaged every part of me in 45 years of running…)
PS I saw TBBT episode with you and Mr. Spiner last night. You guys are really good sports!
I enjoy light pasta with vegetables and no meat, Wil, and more fiber in my diet. It keeps the weight off. Sleep really helps, too. You can lose weight while you sleep if you add more fiber to your diet to help regularity. No white bread, little coffee, and mostly water. Now that I’m older, and I don’t run six miles every other day like I did, I watch my diet more and it balances out well for me.
Hope you’re having a great evening.
Great post! I’m glad you’re feeling better. I, too, have been feeling better. Gotten onto medication, gotten a job, started to play music again… This could be a good year for everyone. 🙂
Nothing particularly “new” to add here, but like all the others, I’m very proud of your reboot. Would it help you at all if I (and possibly others) picked up the “midnight cheese” mantle? I don’t really know what-all that “bad habit” entailed, but I am absolutely intrigued by the possibilities! Love me some cheese!
I don’t drink beer ever (just never developed a taste for it), but I do have a nightly glass-plus of red wine FOR MY HEART HEALTH (of course). I doubt it’s actually doing me any good. Maybe I’ll quit once this one’s empty. We’ll see.
Ennyhoo, keep up the great work!
26 points out of a possible 28? Wow. I don’t think I’ve gotten grades this good since I was in elementary school… /
It’s amazing how much a person can do when they grok the connection between what they want and what they’re doing. 🙂 Congrats!
JSACorey writes good space page-turners 😉 love his stuff.
Just finished Patrick O’Brian’s “The Catalans” and have began reading “All the Light We Cannot See” by Anthony Doerr. Both are fantastic books. I’ve been reading so many mystery & sci-fi that I burned out a bit on them. That happens now & then.
I think O’Brian wrote ‘Catalans’ about 15 years prior to the Aubrey Maturin series (Master and Commander etal.) O’Brian was a remarkable writer. He published his first critically acclaimed novel when he was a pre-teenager… He wrote the Catalan trilogy in his 40’s and the Aubrey Maturin series beginning in his late 50’s.
I don’t know much about Anthony Doerr. I’d never heard of him, but wow, he is a talented guy with a golden pen and it looks like he’s been racking up awards. If ‘All The Light We Cannot See’ is any indication… he has a bright future.
Um… oops. Sorry. Don’t know why that all came out in all italics. I must have messed up the tags. I only intended the first line (your quote) to be italicized.
I’m doing a “life reboot” myself. I was a hard-core alcoholic (we’re talking “I could kill three fifths of rum in a weekend” hard-core, yeah, scary), and last summer I had to be hospitalized for detox. I fell off the wagon more times than I could count, but with the new year came resolve. I have had no alcohol this month (yay!). I haven’t weighed myself, but I can tell you I’m shedding a LOT of water. I’ve cut out wheat, grains and sugar, and that’s helped too. I’m also writing more and reading actual books rather than FARK or Reddit. So far, so good. Let’s do this, Wheaton. (high five)
Good for you! I wish you the best in continuing to stay on the wagon!
Let’s be honest, Runner 6 will probably be pleased you saved her again back in week 4.
I’m picking up running again myself, using Zombies Run 5K to get myself back to full strength, and I’m probably a couple of weeks from being able to tackle a 5K again. Looking forward to it.
Knowing what a huge classic Star Wars fan you are, Wil, I can’t believe you haven’t taken the plunge on The Force Awakens yet (despite persistent lingering wounds from Phantom Menace and other supposed “Star Wars movies” that don’t exist). Do you have a particular reason for having not seen it yet? (And have you miraculously somehow managed to avoid spoilers????)
I just haven’t had time, and in a post-prequels world, it isn’t the priority that it would have been at one time. I have heard some spoilers, but to be honest I don’t really care, because I don’t have the emotional investment in Star Wars that I once did.
I saw a Star Wars 7 plot-teaser that talked about the growing threat of a small radicalized organization… It sounded like terrorists & perpetual warfare and my interest evaporated. Perhaps I’m judging it too quickly, but I have no interest in anything that smells like fist-pumping fundamentalism anymore. We got season tickets to another local theatre company and re-upped our membership of the Portland Baroque Orchestra though… and got Akrotiri, Mottainai, & Star Realms.
BTW: Star Realms is a great little “quick-n-dirty” deck builder. Forget the cumbersome scoring cards though, they slow the pace of the game – just use pencil & paper.
Nice job! Tracking your progress has been really inspirational and has helped motivate me to make progress on my own goals, as well. Keep it up!
Wil, I’ve read The Fade Out and I love it!! It’s sooo good. I need to catchup on Trees though. I love all Brubaker’s stuff that I’ve read so far (which ,admittedly, is only Batman: The Man Who Laughs, Velvet, Fatale and Fade out … I gotta go back and read Criminal) Anyways, I thought it was cool we are reading some of the same books!
Keep up the good work on the reboot. I admire the giving up beer. You are giving me inspiration to try it for a month or two just to see what difference it would make. How has giving up beer affecting your homebrewing?
I’m hyped to see this. Whatever it is. Seriously, this goes on my Much Anticipated for 2016 list.
How do you replace the beer? I drink a lot of water anyway, but I find the beer is a welcome change of flavour as well as the fact I enjoy the many craft beers available here.
I can’t only drink water, but I don’t want soft drinks or orange juice as replacements as they are full of sugar (something we’ve cut out very ywell).
I drink iced tea, hot tea (herbal and green), and lots and lots of soda water. When I go out, I have bitters and soda, and it’s exactly what I need.
Ahh, I’ve heard a few people drink Tea, I might have to try a few and see if I can find something I like. I don’t do coffee.
try hot chocolate. It is only 8 grams of sugar per packet and very rejuvenating
Congrats! Giving up alcohol is a tough one, especially when it comes to being social. But as you said, the change has a ripple effect throughout the rest of life.
For movies try the Paramount vault on YouTube. I watched ” I married a monster from outer space” last night what a hoot!
I love that channel!
Thank you for continuing to post your progress. I am finding it quite helpful in my own life reboot.
For reading, there are actually a lot of good mixtures of fantasy and science fiction available. As that goes I’d recommend The Paladin Prophecy by Mark Frost, and as plain fantasy goes The Amulet of Samarkand by Jonathan Stroud. Stroud is my favorite author personally and some of his characters are the best I’ve ever encountered. Side note: the star wars movie is good.
Never downplay your own healthy weight loss! Awesome job, man! I’m sure that was a tough step to embrace!
For your movie watching, you should really check out some of the Busby Berkeley musicals from the 1930s like “42nd Street”, “Gold Diggers of 1933”, and “Footlight Parade”. They’re really amazing, especially considering film technology at the time.
Thank you for sharing the update Wil.
Awesome progress! Thanks for taking us all along your journey with you.
Just hate those injuries that keep us from doing what we want to feel better. And the fact that it takes longer to heal as we get older is just all the more irritating.
Hang in there and keep up the good work!
“I’m definitely getting inspired, but I still haven’t figured out what I could film with my DSLR, a crew of two people, and a tiny cast on maybe three locations.”
I just had a “Retarded Policeman” flashback. Take a parked car (one set), add yourself & a partner. 2 cops on a never-ending stakeout – 2 person improv comedy. Call it “Stakeout!” If you want special effects, make ’em cops in space. End ramble.
“…because I think that at least some of you are on the same path as I am.”
Yes, and it was inspired by your original Life Reboot post. It’s hard here (still dark at 4:45pm, and usually rainy, windy, cold, or a combination of all three), but yesterday I walked 17km in total, the first 5 of which were at an organised Parkrun – where our kids came along too and didn’t lap us!