Grace In Motion

It is hard to believe has already been a year since my Dad passed away. He wasn’t a person who said many profound things, but he had his moments. About the only thing he said consistory is, “if you don’t work, you don’t eat!” He set a great example of good work ethic. He didn’t believe in depending on the government for help, such as welfare or food stamps. He worked hard to make sure we had…

I’m 14 days out from my shoulder surgery. Some days, my shoulder doesn’t hurt at all. Other days it hurts like hell. I hope the surgery helps. I’m not always confident that a surgery will do what the doctors claim. When I had surgery on my lower back (lower lumbar fusion), it solved one pain and created another, which I have lived with since 2010. It’s not like the pain that led me to surgery.…

At the end of my last post, I mentioned my shoulder pain. Since that time, I have been to physical therapy, to finally getting an MRI, so that doctors could tell me what I suspected from the start of it all. I have a torn rotator cuff. They finally got a clue when 4 weeks of PT only produced more pain. It has taken me from early June til the beginning of this month (October) to get to this…

August 28, 2025, 0407 AM. I’m up because I never went to sleep. I made the mistake of drinking coffee at 8:00 pm. In just a few minutes, I will reach my 36 hour fasting goal. This is my first long fast of the week. I usually do two in a week. I think I hurt myself a few days ago by eating three very large, oatmeal, raisin cookies. SWEETS! I think it made fasting much harder this week. I had a…

I’ve been consistent with my diet, fasting, going to the gym, and cardio (walking/running) for about 30 days. As usual, my weight is fluctuating up and down. My brain is trying to attribute that to my working out and gaining muscle. My pants and shirts are fitting a little more loosly. I guess I should be glad about that. I should probably be taking some photos. I have been spending weeks in…

I began trying to seriously lose weight in 2015. It has been 10 years, and in all that time, I’ve only lost 33 pounds. My starting weight was 269 pounds. Apparently, my ideal weight is between 118-148 pounds. IMPOSSIBLE! I still think it’s impossible, but my mind is changing slowly. I don’t ever foresee being that small, but I think I can get really close. I think I would look somewhat sick at…

What traditions have you not kept that your parents had? My family still gathers for holidays, but not nearly as much as we did when I was a kid. I guess that is one tradition that has passed with the past. However, in my life, I have chosen to forgo the tradition of high carbohydrate foods and sweet treats. I always say that I grew up poor, but my mom and dad always made sure that we had…

Since the beginning of the year (2025), and really since I got out of the Navy in 2007 I have had trouble sleeping. I’ve had this problem for nearly 18 years. There have been times when I was awake for several days in a row. It’s not healthy, and I always felt horrible. As I think back over the last five years or so, the times I was sleeping best were the times I was intermittent fasting…

So, nine pounds lost in the last 11 days. It has taken six months this year to get to the point of wanting to get back onto my journey to better health. I am glad to say that alcohol was not my problem as in years passed. There was a time I couldn’t go a night without a bottle of wine. This year, it was candy and other sweets. After my Dad passed this past December, I was not able to get myself…

I’m on my 2nd 36-hour fast this week! I did one from Sunday night until Tuesday morning. Wednesday and Thursday, I fasted 20 hours between eating windows. I have been consistent with my zero-carb diet thus far. I’m not having many hunger pains or cravings. So, that’s good. I’ve been staying hydrated and doing some walking. I have known from the beginning of this process years ago that I need to…

One of the things that discouraged me the last time I was on my diet and fasting was the scale. One day I will have lost a pound, and the next, I’ve gained a pound and a few ounces. I’d get discouraged and go to the store to buy a snack, which would blow the whole thing up. I’d figure, what the hell? This isn’t working anyway. Then I’d have to start over. Well, that just happened again this…

It has been a while since I last posted here. I have continued to have difficulty staying on track. I have not been consistent at all. And sometimes, I go for weeks off the diet. This is a new week, and I am making a new effort. For the last two days, I have been fighting hard to stay the course. Yesterday, I had short ribs (a lot of them). Before I went to bed, I had some scrambled eggs. Today,…

Health? I’m still alive. I have a doctor’s appointment in a few weeks to discuss my bloodwork results. It could be bad news. Not that I fear the announcement of some deadly disease, but things like cholesterol levels, A1C, etc. Since October of last year, when my dad got sick, I have been off my diet and exercise. I haven’t been able to get back on track all this time. I have been sort of busy.…

I have no resolutions except to live my life the best way possible. I am a saxophone player, so I practice. I want to stay healthy, so I try to eat right and exercise (as usual). I want to be someone people can count on as a friend, a dad, an uncle, or a brother, so that’s what I will strive to be. I feel different this year. I have no parent alive to call or talk to when I need to. I still have…

I’ve been in Texas for a little over a month. I had a few days with my dad while he was able to talk. Then he got weaker. He had already stopped eating. When I got here he was in the hospital. I believe he knew he was dying. He wanted to go home. He absolutely refused to go to a rehab/ nursing facility. We brought him home where we sat with him as he made the transition. He passed away last week…

My dad becomes very restless at night. He cannot get out of bed unassisted, but he is constantly trying to get up in the middle of the night to get dressed. The other day, he kept saying he needed to find a job. He spent his whole life working. He always had a job and worked until he was at least 75. I don’t exactly know what goes on in the mind of an Alzheimer/dementia patient at night, but he…

0440: I woke up to my sister screaming my name this morning. She was trying to get my dad into the shower when he passed out. He had become dead weight. We got him out of the shower and opted for a warm sponge bath. He seemed out of it for a while but seemed back to normal. We got him cleaned up and back in bed. The reason for the shower was diarrhea. We ended up changing the bedding before…