{"id":1164,"date":"2012-10-19T11:12:13","date_gmt":"2012-10-19T15:12:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/lemasney.com\/?p=658"},"modified":"2015-06-18T13:58:51","modified_gmt":"2015-06-18T17:58:51","slug":"on-six-months-of-sobriety-and-nutritional-awareness","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lemasney.com\/consulting\/2012\/10\/19\/on-six-months-of-sobriety-and-nutritional-awareness\/","title":{"rendered":"On six months of sobriety and nutritional awareness"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"2011<\/a>

2011 to 2012<\/p><\/div>\n

On April 19th, 2012, I stopped drinking. I also began paying attention to my health in other ways. The urge to change came with a debilitating four-day downtime, in which I was hardly able to walk, had lots of time to think and process my life as it was, and decided that I was going to either change or die.<\/p>\n

Today, exactly six months later, I’ve learned a lot. Here are some of the things that I’ve learned.<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. A clear mind is better than a clouded mind.<\/strong>\u00a0Absent of alcohol, I am provided the ability to process situations, needs, and priorities more clearly. I was essentially using alcohol as a way to escape the realities of guilt, shame and failure, while also ignoring all the potential joy, sensation, and life of reality. For me, getting past the guilt, and engaging life, was easier while clear-minded. People treat and respect you differently when you are sober.<\/li>\n
  2. Life is easier when you are fit.<\/strong> To date, I have lost over 80 pounds. I am within 10 pounds of my final goal weight. I am within 2 percentage points of my target body fat percentage. I lost the weight by recording and knowing what I eat (about 1500 calories a day), and exercising lightly (10,000 steps a day) every day. I expect to reach my goal in November. People treat and respect you differently when you are fit.<\/li>\n
  3. Happiness is a matter of a lack of want and expectations.<\/strong> It is important for me to remember that when I do not have expectations or wants about outcomes from situations, people, or things, I can’t possibly be disappointed. When I expect or want, I often have a result of disappointment, and disappointment is specifically not happiness. People treat and respect you differently when you are happy.<\/li>\n
  4. The most important thing in life are people<\/strong>. Interacting with, helping, and sharing the joy of life with people is everything.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    So, I just wanted to leave this note to say thank you to all the wonderful people who have helped me to celebrate these last six months, and that it has been a genuinely great start to the rest of my life, whatever that may bring.<\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    I just wanted to leave this note to say thank you to all the wonderful people who have helped me to celebrate these last six months of sobriety, and that it has been a genuinely great start to the rest of my life, whatever that may bring.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":41882,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[3653,17],"tags":[905],"class_list":{"0":"post-1164","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-insights","8":"category-photography","9":"tag-weight-loss","10":"czr-hentry"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/lemasney.com\/consulting\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/bodyshot.jpg?fit=960%2C960&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3h6y2-iM","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1189,"url":"https:\/\/lemasney.com\/consulting\/2013\/04\/21\/on-a-year-of-sobriety\/","url_meta":{"origin":1164,"position":0},"title":"On a year of sobriety","author":"lemsy","date":"2013-04-21","format":false,"excerpt":"I am marking a very special anniversary here. On April 19th, 2012, I stopped drinking alcohol, and since then, I've learned how to live again. On Friday, April 19th, 2013, I noted one year of sobriety, and a lot has happened. Here are some of the highlights of what happened\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "insights"","block_context":{"text":"insights","link":"https:\/\/lemasney.com\/consulting\/category\/consulting\/insights\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1156,"url":"https:\/\/lemasney.com\/consulting\/2012\/08\/04\/on-why-i-often-reduce-my-use-alcohol\/","url_meta":{"origin":1164,"position":1},"title":"I sometimes drink. Here’s why I often ‘reduce my use’ to avoid alcohol abuse.","author":"lemsy","date":"2012-08-04","format":false,"excerpt":"There are a few things that are debatable while assessing alcoholism and alcohol abuse. It is not a science, in my opinion, in how one is finally regarded as an alcohol abuser, but rather an informed label out of many factors. Does it apply to you?","rel":"","context":"In "insights"","block_context":{"text":"insights","link":"https:\/\/lemasney.com\/consulting\/category\/consulting\/insights\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Captain-Lawrence-Imperial-IPA-1","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/lemasney.com\/consulting\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Captain-Lawrence-Imperial-IPA-1.jpg?fit=800%2C600&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/lemasney.com\/consulting\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Captain-Lawrence-Imperial-IPA-1.jpg?fit=800%2C600&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/lemasney.com\/consulting\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Captain-Lawrence-Imperial-IPA-1.jpg?fit=800%2C600&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/lemasney.com\/consulting\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Captain-Lawrence-Imperial-IPA-1.jpg?fit=800%2C600&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":72,"url":"https:\/\/lemasney.com\/consulting\/2012\/05\/19\/night-walk-in-ocnj\/","url_meta":{"origin":1164,"position":2},"title":"Night walk in OCNJ","author":"lemsy","date":"2012-05-19","format":false,"excerpt":"Tonight, Melissa and I took a walk on Asbury West Avenue from one end of Ocean City to 34th street, where we stopped at Wawa and had a 10 p.m. coffee. Love that place, great conversation, and well worth the walk. night walk in OCNJ (fitbit record)[\/caption]","rel":"","context":"In "consulting"","block_context":{"text":"consulting","link":"https:\/\/lemasney.com\/consulting\/category\/consulting\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"night walk in OCNJ (fitbit record)","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/lemasney.com\/consulting\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/05\/night-walk-in-ocnj.png?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1331,"url":"https:\/\/lemasney.com\/consulting\/2010\/06\/27\/188-of-365-is-about-appearances-in-inkscape-angels\/","url_meta":{"origin":1164,"position":3},"title":"188 of 365 is about appearances in #Inkscape #angels","author":"lemsy","date":"2010-06-27","format":false,"excerpt":"I recently got a request from repeat requester and friend Shannon who asked about a sketch thusly: Challenge:Punked out angel wings, with the caption \"I only LOOK like an angel\" Inspiration: A white, fluffy fru-fru dog who's well-deserved nickname is Punk (owned by a good and mutual friend of ours\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "portfolio"","block_context":{"text":"portfolio","link":"https:\/\/lemasney.com\/consulting\/category\/portfolio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Looks like an angel","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/lemasney.com\/consulting\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/06\/20100627likeanangel.png?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/lemasney.com\/consulting\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/06\/20100627likeanangel.png?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/lemasney.com\/consulting\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/06\/20100627likeanangel.png?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1098,"url":"https:\/\/lemasney.com\/consulting\/2012\/07\/20\/my-nutritional-progress-and-weight-loss\/","url_meta":{"origin":1164,"position":4},"title":"My nutritional progress and weight loss","author":"lemsy","date":"2012-07-20","format":false,"excerpt":"So in short, know what you weigh today, know what you \"should\" weigh, find out how many calories you need to eat to lose, track the number of calories you are eating, eat less than the number each day of calories to lose, and eat good, wholesome stuff. You'll lose\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "insights"","block_context":{"text":"insights","link":"https:\/\/lemasney.com\/consulting\/category\/consulting\/insights\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Losing Weight: John LeMasney before picture","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/lemasney.com\/consulting\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/9-1-2002-7-03-45-PM-1.jpg?fit=780%2C988&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/lemasney.com\/consulting\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/9-1-2002-7-03-45-PM-1.jpg?fit=780%2C988&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/lemasney.com\/consulting\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/9-1-2002-7-03-45-PM-1.jpg?fit=780%2C988&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/lemasney.com\/consulting\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/9-1-2002-7-03-45-PM-1.jpg?fit=780%2C988&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":5884,"url":"https:\/\/lemasney.com\/consulting\/2011\/02\/08\/39-of-365-is-a-life-swallowed-inkscape\/","url_meta":{"origin":1164,"position":5},"title":"39 of 365 is a life, swallowed #Inkscape","author":"lemsy","date":"2011-02-08","format":false,"excerpt":"\u00a0 I recently decided to jump-start submissions for requests on 365 by asking for random captions and titles for pieces. This isn't my idea. The best example of this I can think of is explodingdog who has done this for about 10 years. If you've never seen his quirky, sometimes\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "portfolio"","block_context":{"text":"portfolio","link":"https:\/\/lemasney.com\/consulting\/category\/portfolio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"A life, swallowed. 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