Measuring success

In business, when a leader wants to make a change, the first thing that must be done is to set a goal and establish a clear way of measuring progress toward that goal. The measures must be reviewed and discussed often so that people can learn and make the necessary adjustments along the journey toward success. That's a lesson that I learn and re-learn at work almost every week.

Making a personal change works exactly the same way. The challenge with personal changes, such as achieving health goals, is being disciplined about measuring and adjusting as the days pass. At least, that is how it works for me.

A couple of weeks ago, I posted an article about a decision I made to make the necessary changes to become healthy. I set goals to track what I'm eating every day and to bring my lunch to work with me. Since then, I have faithfully tracked my nutrition everyday in SparkPeople. And I took my lunch with me all but one day. So far, I'm feeling really great about these changes. It is working... I have lost 1 pound each week.

SparkPeople has been an incredibly helpful tool. After the first week, I reviewed each day's nutrition and discovered that I was only meeting my daily calorie goal about 50% of the time. I also noticed that I really was not getting anywhere near the 3-5 daily servings of fruits & vegetables that people are supposed to have. This past week, I set a new goal to eat a minimum of 3 fruits or veggies everyday, hoping the calorie issue would just resolve itself.

It didn't.

I am now meeting my fiber goal consistently, and I'm feeling better, with more energy. But I'm still only achieving my daily calorie goal about 50% of the time, and I only lost 1 pound this week, just like last week. I'm feeling a little bummed about that...an aerobics teacher once told me that you lose more when you increase the fruits & veggies. But I guess it couldn't really just be that easy. The moral to this story is to be wary of advice from your aerobics teacher. I never did like aerobics classes.

As I reviewed all the progress graphs from the past 3 weeks, I confirmed what I already knew...when I am able to plan ahead what I will be eating, I do very well. When I don't...or when we eat out or go to parties, I always blow my calorie range for the day. The harsh reality is, I need to find a way to consistently stay within my calorie range. Ugh. I don't like that part. But I am making a new commitment today to do better than 50% this week.

I can count some other successes though. David and Abbey have both joined me in my quest to become healthier. We've been going on evening walks together most evenings. Abbey is learning to track her foods in SparkPeople, and experiencing the same challenges I am. And we're all talking about how things are going with our nutrition goals everyday. I'm counting this as a huge win. I'm hoping this will make it much easier for all of us to stay focused on improving so that we can meet our goals.

Slide Show by Kami

Kami gave me permission to publish a link to the full slide show of the kid's photo session, which you can view right now by clicking on the title of this post. There are about50 images in all, and they are fantastic! Enjoy!

Preschool Graduation

Emery "Graduated" from preschool at the YMCA this evening. The kids sang songs, received their diplomas, and told their parents what they want to be when they grow up. Very cute!

Grad Grad Graduation


Interview With a Graduate

Brother Ben Goes to Boot Camp

Breanna, Ryan, Josh, Karen
and Benjamin

Susan, Benjamin, and David

Tonight's Family Night gathering was a special celebration, both because it is Mother's Day, and because today is the eve of Ben's departure to San Antonio, Texas for Air Force Boot Camp. If all goes well, he should graduate before the July 4th holiday. Ben is so excited to get started with this new phase in his life, and we are very proud of him. I will miss my baby brother and look forward to seeing him again very soon!

One Flew Away

When I went out today to take pictures of the birds, one baby flew away just before I could snap the picture. He flew from the nest to the tree, and immediately upon arrival, mom & dad flew over to his branch in the big tree. Very sweet. Just two babies left in the nest. As I look at the nest, it's difficult to imagine there being another bird in the nest at all.

Bird Update

The babies are just about flowing out of the nest. I'm starting to think these little guys might actually have a fighting chance at life. I may have to take back what I said upon discovery of the eggs.

Berkshire Hathaway Pictures

I should have published these with the Shareholder Meeting story. David had a great time posing for me :-)



A Bunch of Fruits!


David with Warren and Charlie


More Fruits

SparkPeople and Sprint Alive!

I've been putting it off long enough.

Nido Quebein says that your present circumstances do not dictate how far you can go...they only indicate where you start. I'm not feeling very healthy right now--so that's where I'll start. (That's an approximation of what he said, not a direct quote...but you get the drift.)

I received a call from Sprint Alive! about 10 days ago offering me 3-5 free calls from a certified "health coach." Reluctant and skeptical, yet intrigued, I accepted the offer to take advantage of this benefit. And I'm really glad I did.

Diane called me last Thursday morning at 8:30 during my morning commute time. Immediately when she called, I regretted the decision to let her call me.

"I already know what to do to be healthy," I lamented to her, "I just need to do it. Maybe I don't really need a health coach after all."

Diane said, "So you need someone to help you be accountable--I know how to do that."

In reality, I need both nutrition and exercise plans. But focusing on both of those at once seemed like too much to bite off at once, so I chose to start with nutrition. She asked what I normally eat and said that I'm really not doing all that bad--she told me what I already knew...I needed to be more proactive to planning my meals. I made 2 goals that morning.

1. I will write down everything I eat this week.
2. I will take my lunch to work everyday instead of buying food from the campus restaurants at Sprint.

I was feeling pretty good at that point, and agreed to receive a 2nd free call from my health coach a week later. I got off the phone feeling really great about my plan.

Then the week went by and Diane called me this morning, again at 8:30 during my morning commute time. I didn't want to answer the phone when she called. I reluctantly admitted that I have not done 1 thing in the past week that I had committed to her on the phone. "I see," she responded. "Why didn't you keep your commitments?"

Well, the truth is that I just didn't plan those commitments very well. Thursday I was already on my way to work when she called, and I didn't have a lunch with me. Then over the weekend we went out of town. Monday I had lunch with my friend, Greg. Tuesday I had lunch with my friend, Dan. And Wednesday was a team "Food Day" at work (where I was unable to resist having both a brownie and a piece of chocolate fudge cake.) In short, I just never got started with my plan.

However, today, just before Diane called me, I stopped at the grocery store and bought food for lunch at work for the next week or so. As I type, I am enjoying a Boca chick'n patty, a bunch of grapes, and some non-fat yogurt to dip them in. At Diane's suggestion, I'm also trying out some new Fiber One granola bars or South Beach granola bars for a snack. And I've re-committed myself to documenting what I eat in on my SparkPeople page.

I have several reasons for wanting to be healthier. First, I just want to feel better. Second, I would like for my clothes to fit better. Longer term, I would like to lose 20-30 pounds. And I would like to become a "health coach" for my family. I think we could all benefit from making better choices about how we eat and exercise.

Diane said she was really proud of me. She said that last week I was in the "planning" phase of my change. She said that now I sound more like I'm in the "action" phase. She will call me back in 2 weeks to check on my progress. I'm sort of looking forward to the call.

Berkshire Hathaway Shareholder Meeting

David and Tyler and I visited Omaha on Saturday following our UNL visit the previous day--it was our second annual trip to see Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger share their infinite wisdom and expertise with 31,000+ shareholders at the beautiful Quest Arena. This year's spectical did not disappoint. Doors opened at 7a.m., and we found our spot in line about 25 minutes prior. It was pleanty early to ensure a good seat. Tyler remarked on the way in that it felt like we were going to a General Admission rock concert, only it was with all old people! It is fun to see old guys in suits making mad-dash to find a good seat. I came away with the same general ideas as last year--that life-long financial success depends on marrying the right person, earning a living doing something I love, consistently raising the bar on my own performance as well as that of the people I lead, reading lots of books--especially chapters 8 & 22 of The Intelligent Investor, and if I'm not going to be a full-time professional investor, I should plant my money in a good index fund.

UNL Visit

David and I took Tyler to visit University of Nebraska at Lincoln on Friday--he absolutely loved it! The university was terrific...very similar to MU in practically every way--and they offer a fantastic Actuary Science degree program. I was particularly impressed with these things...
* Beautiful campus
* Strong sense of community around the sports teams
* Caring people
* Impressive website
* Generous scholarship opportunities
* Not TOO far from home
* Tyler's eyes sparkle when he talks about going to school there:-)

Ryan's a Blogger?

I know what you must be thinking..."Surely not Ryan." But it's true. My dear brother--the one that David loves working with so much-- has now joined the blogsphere. Check out Ryan's Blog!

Our Babies are Growing Up

Aren't they just so sweet? They've about tripled in size since the Monday morning post. Mama Robin has become very tolerant of us peeking from time to time. She just stays put as long as we keep a reasonable distance away from her nest. She spends a lot of time out hunting for food during the daytime.