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“The democracy will cease to exist when you take away from those who are willing to work and give to those who would not.”

“The two enemies of the people are criminals and government, so let us tie the second down with the chains of the Constitution so the second will not become the legalized version of the first.”

“The man who reads nothing at all is better educated than the man who reads nothing but newspapers.”

“Laws that forbid the carrying of arms…disarm only those who are neither inclined nor determined to commit crimes…Such laws make things worse for the assaulted and better for the assailants; they serve rather to encourage than to prevent homicides, for an unarmed man may be attacked with greater confidence than an armed man.”

“The beauty of the Second Amendment is that it will not be needed until they try to take it.”

“To take from one because it is thought that his own industry and that of his father’s has acquired too much, in order to spare to others, who, or whose fathers, have not exercised equal industry and skill, is to violate arbitrarily the first principle of association—the guarantee to every one of a free exercise of his industry and the fruits acquired by it.”

“I think myself that we have more machinery of government than is necessary, too many parasites living on the labor of the industrious.”

“Were we directed from Washington when to sow and when to reap, we should soon want bread.”

“I predict future happiness for Americans if they can prevent the government from wasting the labors of the people under the pretense of taking care of them.”

It's hard to keep centered about anything lately. The election process is very disturbing and distracting. Thought I would offer some quotes from one of the men who seemed to know lots about setting up a working democracy. Too bad we have amended, legislated and judicated our way out of the original intent of our fore fathers in keeping government small.]]> http://www.joplinglobeonline.com/znewsblog/woitowitz/?entry=entry081027-192022 webadmin@joplinglobe.com Tue, 28 Oct 2008 01:20:22 GMT http://www.joplinglobeonline.com/znewsblog/woitowitz/index.php?entry=entry081004-070835
There are still many sorting projects that must be completed and unfortunately they require my attention. I can’t delegate the tedious job of looking at everything, deciding what is important and what needs to be thrown out to anyone else. The job will get done this weekend because I have been stacking everything I must sort around my desk. I can barely get to my desk because of the surrounding debris. Today is Saturday, I intend on getting an early start and completing the task before lunch. Got to set a goal and a time to complete it if you want to get it done.

That happens to be my lead in to this weeks weight loss tip. Setting goals and then establishing a time frame to get it done is the single most important task an unfit person must complete before any level of success can be achieved.

Let me provide you with an example.

I set the goal of reaching 130 pounds by Christmas. When I set that goal, my weight was 178, two months ago. Great! I have a goal; I have a time to get it done. How am I going to achieve the goal?

1. Test the goal, is it reasonable? Is it reasonable to expect to lose 48 pounds in five months? I must be completely honest with myself when I ask myself this question. Have I lost 10 pounds in a month recently? Have I ever been able to lose 10 pounds consistently for two or months in a row? The answer to those questions is NO. Can it be done? YES, it can be done, but maybe not by me. It has taken me almost 8 years to lose 200 pounds. Using my math skills, I can clearly see that amounts to 25 pounds per year. Further breaking down results in an average of 2 pounds per month, a bit below the frequently recommended rate of 1.5 pounds per week. After this portion of my goal setting, I have selected an either/or option.
NEW GOAL: By Christmas, I will weigh 130 pounds or wear a size 8.

2. Decide on a path to reach the goal. When the goal is weight reduction, options are limited. I can eat less and I can move more. That is the only way to achieve weight reduction. Simple, uncomplicated, fundamental. My first thoughts are not the right ones. I’m thinking to myself…I hardly eat anything now. I consume an average of 1500 calories per day. I get up Monday through Friday at 3:30 am and go-go-go until after 10 pm most nights. I can’t possibly eat less or do any more than I do right now. GOAL-GOAL-GOAL. Focus on the GOAL Sherry! CAN’T is a word that does not belong in a goal setting/mapping pow-wow. What am I willing to TRADE for my goal? I will move more. I will eat a little bit less during the week.
3. Select the specific action for movement toward the goal. I chose to lead a Zumba class four nights a week. I will consistently do more when I am accountable to others. Four nights a week, a group of people shows up expecting me to lead them in a Zumba class. I can’t get out of it. I don’t want to get out of it, but my nature is to look for ways to make life easier for myself.

This leg of my journey began two months ago. I have lost five pounds per month. I have dropped 2 inches off my waist and 1¾ inch off my hips. It is now time to evaluate my progress towards goal. My clothing size is 12. I am wearing my smallest pair of size 12 Levi (non-stretch) jeans. I am expecting to move to a size 10 by the end of October. So, I can reasonably expect to reach my goal size by Christmas, but it wouldn’t hurt to do a little bit more to secure the desired result.

Here are the encouraging words I speak to myself:

That which does not kill me only lends to make me stronger.

I also like the simplicity of this one:

To be or not to be, that is the question. Whether ‘tis nobler in the mind to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune or to take arms against a sea of trouble and by opposing end them. To die, to sleep, no more and by asleep to say we end the heartache and the thousand natural shocks flesh is heir to. HAMLET

Hamlet did go on and on, he should have stopped at this point and answered his own question. I can chose to live well or I can chose to live badly. Life is full of difficulties, but how uncomfortable I am while enduring the difficulties is up to me. I may be working harder and doing more, but my reward for all this labor is a leaner, stronger, less pain filled body. I’m all for less pain.

Hope this helps.
]]> http://www.joplinglobeonline.com/znewsblog/woitowitz/?entry=entry081004-070835 webadmin@joplinglobe.com Sat, 04 Oct 2008 12:08:35 GMT http://www.joplinglobeonline.com/znewsblog/woitowitz/index.php?entry=entry080927-104301
My background and strength is in compiling data and analyzing it. I have an amazing plethora of data, plus my own personal experience with morbid obesity, to draw from. There are a lot of programs, pills, food, surgical procedures, drinks, etc. available that promise weight loss. So why are Americans continuing to be overweight?

I have a mini quiz for you:

1. Are you overweight and continuing to gain?
2. Are you overweight and maintaining your current weight for more than a year?
3. Are you overweight, but making permanent lifestyle changes to reduce weight?
4. Are you overweight, but desperately trying one program after another, throwing good money after bad, without any meaningful long-term success?

If you answered yes to 2 or 3, you are in a good place. If you answered yes to 1 or 4, you are out of control and needing professional help.

Today’s blog is addressed especially to those of you who are out of control. It may seem a bit harsh, but getting the attention of an out of control person is difficult.

Attitude is everything. What you think about yourself can create a deadly, self-destructive attitude. If you think so, you will make it so. Here are a few bad attitude inducing statements:

I hardly eat anything, but I still gain weight. (NO way!)
I have tried every diet, they never worked, my DNA makes me predisposed to be big. (NO way!)
There’s no hope for me, I’m too far-gone, I can’t exercise, might as well just accept the way things are. (NO way!)

If you are more than 100 pounds overweight, you are still employable, but you have to be careful what line of work you get into. It’s going to be difficult to spend long periods on your feet. Walking very far or very long is challenging. If you are trying to find a job, you are going to have a hard time. We are more educated these days about obesity. Employers are concerned with the bottom line (profit). Over weight/obese people are less productive than fit normal weight people. Over weight/obese people use more sick days and personal days. Over weight/obese people require more medical care, causing insurance premiums to become more expensive. All things being equal, if you are competing against another person with identical skills, experience and educational background you are most likely not going to be the person chosen for the position over a fit normal weight applicant.

When you reach 200 pounds overweight, you won’t even leave the house unless you are forced. You spend most of your time sitting and watching television. You might still be able to hold down a job, but you are becoming an increasing burden to your co-workers, family and friends. They have to handle most of the endurance tasks because you can no longer be on your feet for very long and you tire easily. No one is going to waste time arguing with you about the reason you can’t do anything about your weight. Friends and family are simply going to indulge you when they must interact with you. The more obese you become, the more friends and family try to avoid you. The more alone you are the more self obsessed you become, resulting in more time alone because when you do have an opportunity to spend time with another human being the only thing you will talk about is how terrible you feel, how much pain you are in, and/or you will talk about all the people who have wronged you and exactly how innocent you are (you have never mistreated anyone in your entire life).

Take a look at your attitude. Do you have a good attitude or a bad attitude? When you change your attitude, you will discover your life situation will also improve. Weight loss is not a goal; it is a side effect of better living. You must establish life rules for yourself. If you do nothing to change bad behavior or a bad attitude, conditions will deteriorate and it will not go well with you. The result will be agonizing pain, never ending suffering, and cold empty loneliness. Who could possibly want terrible things for themselves?

The opposite would be a good attitude and an uplifting, encouraging disposition. When you make the change, pain may still be a part of your life, suffering may continue, but you can be certain you won’t be lonely anymore.

So, here is an exercise program that anyone can follow, no need for you to check with your physician before beginning. Start slow; consider each step carefully before proceeding.

1. Smile all the time.
2. Smile and say something pleasant to everyone you come in contact with.
3. Try not to see what is wrong in others.
4. Don’t look for any defect in anyone else.
5. Tell at least one person what you enjoy most about them every day.
6. Ask someone “What is the best thing that has happened to you today?”
7. Forgive yourself for being less than perfect.
8. Forgive everyone else for being less than perfect.

This is a very demanding exercise routine. You might end up a little sore the first couple of days. Resist with all your might the urge to quit the program. You can do it!

Or, you can just leave life the way it is and wait for things to get worse. If you think practicing the 8 steps above is going to be difficult, you have not seriously or thoroughly considered the consequences of the alternative. Choosing to remain just as you are, practicing the self-destructive habits that got you into your current situation in the first place. Take your time, consider carefully, your life depends on your decision.


]]> http://www.joplinglobeonline.com/znewsblog/woitowitz/?entry=entry080927-104301 webadmin@joplinglobe.com Sat, 27 Sep 2008 15:43:01 GMT http://www.joplinglobeonline.com/znewsblog/woitowitz/index.php?entry=entry080922-093628
Thursday our adventure began. Our goal was to attend this industry event, learn as much as possible at the lectures and spend as little money as possible. That was what we wanted to achieve. I will tell you at this point, we achieved all of our goals!!! But we did not realize what it would require physically.

We picked up buns, lunchmeat, deli cheese and a variety of beverages on Thursday before we departed. I made sandwiches for us to eat in the car on the way. We had ham and cheese for lunch driving down the highway. We had ham and cheese for dinner driving down the highway.

We arrived at the convention center late Thursday evening and registered. We had a bellboy bring our bags to the room and handed the car keys to the valet guy. The hotel has 2500 rooms (info important to the story). The energetic gentleman who assisted us to our room explained how we could easily get around the maze of hallways and levels. They have color-coded carpet!! We were staying on the “Delta” wing the carpet was red. The expo we were attending was being held in the “Magnolia” wing the carpet was green. There were other wings (lots and lots), but we stayed mainly to the area we knew. Chris got lost one time, he missed a little doorway and short flight of stairs, but because of his little lost adventure he was much more confident about how to get back and forth to our room. Good thing too, because I kept forgetting things in our room that I needed and he had to keep running back to the room to get things.

Why would he be running back and forth to the room? Why didn’t I go get my stuff myself? Because the outfits I had selected looked best in high heals, my high heals (4 pair) are 3 ½” to 4 inches high. They look real good, but you shouldn’t do a lot of walking in them, at least not the hike fest we encountered each and every morning when we began our journey to the expo area.

I must confess, it is not my nature to be so vain, but when attending any industry event I feel like I don’t fit in and those who look at me see an old fat woman. I try to dress for success and that helps me deal with the sick feeling in my gut that hits just before the moment I encounter other participants. You might remember my similar insecurity before attending the Zumba workshop. The amazing thing that the last two events have shown me, I am normal now. I’m not the odd professional in the crowd that makes everyone wonder, “what is she doing here?”

Part of the perks we received during our stay was a free breakfast. So we had coffee and some kind of bread for breakfast, lots of coffee. Friday’s classes ended around noon and we were dismissed to go to the expo floor and visit with vendors and check out new products and equipment.

We went to our room; I changed my outfit and my shoes (another pair of heals). Chris and I agreed we were hungry and should get something to eat. We were both tired of ham and cheese, so we agreed to get lunch at one of the hotel’s many eateries. I told him that we should eat before entering the expo. Chris thought there would be food provided at the expo (free), so he recommended we go to the expo floor and see what they had. That is what we did.

The expo area was enormous, with incredibly bright colors, bright lights, thumping sounds and enthusiasm. When we entered, a couple of young female greeters handed us scratcher cards. If we got the card stamped at four booths, we could scratch the card and we would win a prize!! I now had a mission. I had to find out what my prize was and I had to complete the task immediately. Chris was only interested in food and he could not be distracted from his primary mission by a stupid prize card. In addition, he had seen the length of the lines at the four required stops and knew it would take more time than he was willing to spend delaying his next meal.

I should mention that Chris had been struggling with a sinus headache all morning. (Tylenol was not helping) Chris was also completely unaware I was a bit cranky (PMS-ing). I didn’t know why I was feeling a bit cranky and short with him, but when he became annoyed with my desire to complete the scratcher card and win my prize, I became annoyed with him right back. I spied a tent area giving away smoothies, I mentioned this to him, he didn’t want a smoothie, and he wanted real food. So, even more annoyed with one another, we departed the expo to go in search of a place serving real food.

As we were walking and searching, Chris began to explain to me how our unsatisfied hunger was my entire fault because I had led him to believe there was free food waiting for us inside the expo. I did not recall ever providing him with such misinformation, but he claimed I told him several weeks ago about all the free food available all over the place. After that it was all down hill. I no longer had an appetite. I definitely did not want to sit down and eat with him. All this was taking place while I was hiking in 3” heals. I told him to go by himself and get lunch, I was not going to eat with him and he could catch up with me later. I walked away to sit on a bench in the sunlight and calm myself down. Chris followed me. It ended with Chris going to our room to eat a ham and cheese sandwich and I searched for a quiet area where I could sit, calm myself and quit crying. I must state at this time, the preceding is my side of the story; Chris’s take on the disagreement would be totally different than mine. Actually, Chris is always confused when I get upset with him, because he is unaware of any offensive words or offensive tones he uses with me that might trigger my agitation.

After about a half-hour or so, I returned to the expo floor and walked around. I was not in any mood to speak with anyone; I just wanted distraction. The lights and excitement lifted my spirits and I started enjoying the event. Chris caught up with me about an hour later and I told him he better be nice to me or he wasn’t allowed to accompany me.

I was having a few problems with blood sugar by this time, breakfast had been early a bagel and coffee. I was ok as long as I didn’t squat down and stand up again, or bend over, those activities would cause me to get light headed and dizzy.

At 4:00 pm, the sponsors of the expo were hosting a reception FREE FOOD!! They even had an open bar. We went to the buffet; fried pickles, spicy hot Buffalo wings, celery, carrots and assorted mini tarts. I had never eaten a fried pickle, how did it ever occur to someone to fry a pickle? Under normal conditions, I would have skipped the fried pickle. The hot spicy Buffalo wings, under normal conditions, would also be on the skip list because I cannot tolerate hot spicy food. These were not normal conditions. I was about to DIE of starvation. Ok, maybe that is a little bit of an exaggeration, but I was hurting from lack of food. I placed three fried pickles on my tiny plate; I added several pieces of hot spicy chicken, and a large pile of celery. Each time I took a bite of the chicken I would take a couple of bites of celery to cut the burning in my mouth. After a few bites, I desperately needed something to drink. I settled on red wine, to soothe my stomach after eating the hot spicy food. The raspberry tarts were very good (I had two). The fried pickles were the best food I had ever eaten. It’s amazing how wonderful anything you put in your mouth tastes when you are beyond hungry. The chicken I did not enjoy, I ate it, because it was protein. I ate a huge amount of celery to cut the “hot” stain left in my mouth. I had two glasses of red wine. The combination of the food, the drinks on top of the earlier conflict with Chris exhausted me. We departed the expo floor and as soon as we were in the maze of hallways leading to our room, I took my heals off and walked barefoot the rest of the way.

Saturday, looking good in my outfit complimented by a different pair of high heals; we made the hike to the lecture hall. Chris brought a bagel to me. At noon the lectures were over and we resumed our visit to the expo hall, this time without arguing. There was a food court at the back of the expo hall; we debated the excessive prices for pizza ($7) plus $2 for an 8oz bottle of water or soda. Chris wanted to find a restaurant, I reminded him excessive unnecessary walking was painful for me in my beautiful high heals. He handed over the $18 for the pizza and two mini bottles of water. I couldn’t eat all my pizza, so I gave it to Chris to finish.

One of the vendors provided us a ticket to a private party being held Saturday night at 8 pm at the nightclub in the hotel. We were told by someone (a big liar) that food would be available at the party. Because of this information we did not eat dinner, we did snack on the last of the ham and cheese, without bread because I had placed it on the top shelf of the frig, too close to the freezer, and froze the bread.

We departed for the party at 7 pm, I was wearing a beautiful little black dress and an incredible looking pair of Victoria’s Secret 4 ½” heals. I could not walk fast, so we had to leave an hour early so we would not be late. It took less than a half hour for us to cover the distance from our room to the entire opposite wing of the hotel where the nightclub was. When we arrived at the area of the nightclub, I realized I forgot my ID. ID was required to attend the private party. Chris had to dash back to our room and find my ID. It was inside my change purse, not my wallet, and I was uncertain if I had left it in my purse or in one of the pockets of the pull behind brief case I had been using to put things in the vendors had given us. Chris is not a big fan of scavenger hunts, but he dashed to the room, found my ID and returned in time for us to get in line for the event.

We entered, it was loud, the music was a steady stream of techno. There was an open bar. I had red wine again, all the while on alert for when and where the food was being offered. After two glasses of wine, an elegantly dressed woman carrying a tray was stopping at eat table and offering the food to them. She made her way to our table, she leaned forward offering what was on the tray. I had seen the neatly lined sticks from across the room; I did not know what the sticks were coming out of. When she bent forward lowering the tray, I could clearly see she was offering sushi!! Actually it was raw salmon, rolled neatly into a cream cheese mix. No thank you. I would wait for the next tray. There was nothing else, only the sushi. I am allergic to fish, beyond allergic, if I were to eat it I would die, literally. We danced for a while; I think it was because of the pain killing effects of the red wine; it was a lot of fun. Chris even enjoyed dancing; he was disappointed (for real) when I told him, “We have to go find real food.” It was 11 pm and Chris was informing me that we probably couldn’t get back in to the party once we left. I told him, “I’m ok with that, I have had enough fun to last me for the rest of the year”. We found a country bar/food place almost next door. We went in and found a table. The waiter came to our table to ask for our drink order, ice water, and I just wanted a quick burger. The waiter informed us that the kitchen was closed. NOOOO! I pathetically explained to the waiter how Chris and I had been slowly starving to death since entering the hotel. He told us that room service was 24 hours, so we thanked him and lingered a few moments to finish the ice water before we began the long journey back to our room. Just as we were getting up to leave the waiter returned like a white knight to give us the good news, “the cook was willing to prepare food for us!!” I told the waiter that he was a wonderful man.

There is a physical effect that takes place in the body when the stomach is empty for a long period of time. The actual stomach pouch shrinks. So, the waiter must have thought I was insane claiming to be starving when I only took three or four bites out of the burger he brought to me. I could not fit even one more bite into my belly. Chris finished his burger, I offered him the remainder of mine, but he couldn’t eat anymore either. We put it in a to-go box.

Sunday, we awoke at 6:30 am, showered, dressed and began getting our possessions together, check out was 11 am and the lectures would not be over until noon. The hotel would store our baggage until we were ready to leave. As we were gathering our things, we came to the conclusion that we were worn out. We had to drive 10 hours to return home. We decided to pass on the final day of lectures. I put on my jeans and sneakers. We called down to the bellboy and the valet parking guys; we were assisted to our vehicle and wished well by those who assisted us.

Strange thing, we went to Waffle House for breakfast. The waiter was a real nice man; Chris asked what was going on at the gas stations? Turns out, while we were away, living in this giant separate world of mazes and colored carpet and open bars and no food, the city of Nashville was out of gas. There was no gas in the whole city of Nashville. The waiter told us a story how a man cut in line the day before and was shot by another man waiting for his turn to get gas. WOW!! We drive a Versa, Chris didn’t need any gas. We finished our breakfast and began our journey home.

When we stopped to fuel in an area outside Nashville, there was a limit of $40 so they didn’t run out of fuel also. Gas prices in that area were running around $4.00.

We arrived safe from our little trip away. I don’t desire to go anywhere else in the near future. Robert opened the gym this morning so I could sleep in, I will be going to work around noon today. I have a Zumba class at 5:30 pm, life is now back to normal; or at least normal as I have come to know it.
]]> http://www.joplinglobeonline.com/znewsblog/woitowitz/?entry=entry080922-093628 webadmin@joplinglobe.com Mon, 22 Sep 2008 14:36:28 GMT http://www.joplinglobeonline.com/znewsblog/woitowitz/index.php?entry=entry080824-214005
It might be a good idea to take a good look at the military and those whom we love who will be called to serve before you cast your vote in November for the next President of the United States. Our military forces are covering two fronts at the moment.

Mr. Putin (leader of Russia) is behaving very badly and extremely bold because he is well aware of our inability to cover a third front adequately. We can rattle our saber all we want, we can make all the threats in the world, but unless we have the troops to follow through with the threats, the Russians will not behave with any reduction in boldness. It is just the opportunity they have been waiting for, for more than 25 years.

Our sons, husbands and brothers will be the ones called upon to defend our nation next. Remember Pearl Harbor and the Twin Towers? Shame on anyone who says we deserved those attacks. When non-combatants are attacked, only a traitor to our nation would speak words of apology to those who conducted the attack!!

So, when the next hostile attack against the United States comes upon our soil, what man do you want in charge of the men you love? What presidential candidate do you trust when you consider that the blood spilt may belong to your son or husband?

Don’t pick a presidential candidate just because you feel confident he won’t send your men into harms way, pick the presidential candidate who can lead when hard choices must be made. Normandy was a tough choice, the ocean turned red with the blood of our American men who fought to take that beach, but they had to perform that selfless mission. Their sacrifice preserved our freedom.

Taking no action emboldens our enemies. You can be certain that our enemies will become bolder; the men of our nation will be called upon to defend our way of life; consider carefully who you cast your vote for, because he will be the one that leads them.

The most common statement I hear from this election year is the promise of change. Most of the problems that exist today are because of the many ways our Constitution has been amended over the years; the laws, the legislation, the judgements. I’m all for change, but the change I desire to witness would be to change back to simpler ways, eliminating much of the gray areas.

What specific changes would I want to see? I want to see a united United States. I want to see a “one Nation under God, indivisible” country. I want to see every able body person doing as much as possible not to be a burden to others. I want to see a can do spirit revived in our nation. I want to see representatives who are not interested in becoming more powerful by making our citizens more dependants upon government. I want to see change in the attitudes of our representatives demonstrating that they know the money they are spending is not their own, it is borrowed from the hard working citizens of this nation. Less taxation is a change I could live with. Less taxation for everyone, including the rich.

Maybe it’s time that everyone takes a look at where the money comes from that the government dishes out. You want free medical care and housing for unwed mothers, the working people won’t mind if you pick some money out of their pocket and give it to them. You want to send aid to foreign nations, ok, just take a couple more dollars from the workingman. You want to bail out the mortgage companies? No problem, take a few bucks from the workingman. National health care for everyone? Go ahead; take a few more dollars from the workingman again.

Better not let the workingman know what you’re doing or maybe he will stop working.
]]> http://www.joplinglobeonline.com/znewsblog/woitowitz/?entry=entry080824-214005 webadmin@joplinglobe.com Mon, 25 Aug 2008 02:40:05 GMT