Tammy (my wife) left me on Saturday.

I do miss her and will miss her more.

She went to her parents for the 4^th…wait….you thought she’d left me for good. I didn’t mean to leave you with that impression. :) (that is a marketing ploy...people love "dirty laundry")

Love and Support is Key

To achieve your fitness goals, you need the love and support of a significant other, like I have with Tammy.

You need someone who can give you a gentle push down the stairs when needed, like I have with Tammy.

You need someone who can pick you up after they’ve kicked you so hard you can’t walk, like I have with Tammy.

Typing these words reminded me that I haven’t thanked nor shown my wife enough appreciation publicly on this blog, for her love and support since my hospital stay.

I will never forget the love and concern Tammy showed for me the very first night in the hospital. I could barely hold my eyes open….but there was Tammy, right by my side. She kept asking me questions about some paperwork while the nurses were working frantically to rehydrate me (so I wouldn't slip into a coma).

I couldn’t make sense of what she was saying but I could tell she was getting irritated so she came back the next night when I was more alert. She was wanting to know the death benefit of my life insurance policy.....

Here's a picture of my hospital room, or a picture of a hospital room....

OK, I made that story up about Tammy ….but the rest are true stories.

Tammy has remained supportive throughout, almost never questioning or doubting my training regimen. She has a unique way of pushing me to do more. Like the time I told her with great pride, “I finally jogged 2 ½ miles today!” She called me a liar…so we went to the high school track field and I ran a 2^nd 2 ½ miles that very day to prove it to her. Yes, Tammy really knows how to motivate me.

She used the same technique the day I passed the 5 mile distance. Once again, there she was pushing me in her own unique way….calling me a liar…so the next day we went to the track and I exceeded the five miles by running around the track 24 times which is 6 miles.

She uses a slightly different form of reverse psychology almost every week when she buys Cheetos, Gatorade, Doritos, or some other very tasty non-nutritious food or drink that she knows I can’t consume. Yes, despite doctor’s orders to empty the cupboards of simple carbohydrates, Tammy is constantly testing me. I guess she’s allowing me to show how strong I can be by seeing these in the drawer or refrigerator everyday and choosing everyday not to eat or drink them.

She last utilized reverse psychology during the shooting of my 30 day pics. I asked how the pictures looked, (I was talking about the picture quality).

She responded, “you look ok except for your gut”…..Yes, without the love and support of a close friend or spouse…it’s really tough to achieve your goals. Everyday I am thankful for having the love and support of my wife Tammy.

I had Brad (my youngest son) read and approve this for publication....so blame him.

Seriously though...Tammy's been very supportive....THANK YOU TAMMY!

Steve

The Shitake Mushrooms hit the FAN!?

.....a little bit.

I was convinced Tammy wasn’t reading my blog….why? Because she would ask me questions and the answers were in the blog. She was either not reading the blog or she was not reading for comprehension.

I ASSUMEd that she was not reading the blog and I decided to make some comments about her cooking abilities and choice of cooking implements….. you know…to poke fun at her.

I POKE FUN at myself in this blog…so no harm, no foul….right? I erred somewhere in my reasoning. Within hours of posting “Tammy’s Magic Toaster”, (I can’t type the words without snickering), we passed each other in the hall. She looked at me and said, “shut up”.

Couple of things:

1) It is not totally unusual for us to communicate in this way.
2) We were both in a hurry with other things on my minds at the time.

…so I continued with what I was doing. Later that evening, Tammy says, “I read your post about Tammy’s Magic Toaster. I guess you think that’s funny?”

The first thing that came to mind was to say, “yeah, that’s why I wrote it.”…but I decided not to say that. The second thing that came to mind…”Don’t taze me bro”!

I asked her how she found out...I had made another error. Apparently I had made the post and then walked away from the computer. Tammy said, “you better be careful what you leave up on your computer”. (in a smart-alecky tone…)

I said, “I guess I do.” (in a smart-alecky tone…) LOL!

She wasn’t really mad anyway…I told her I’d remove it but she said to just leave it on there….so all is well. Whew! That could have gotten ugly!!! :)

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Before I drop this subject entirely…if you know me, you know I can’t let something die, I have to kick a dead horse a few times to make sure he’s dead…

To the right is an actual picture of “Tammy’s Magic Toaster”, I wanted to post this for posterity.

I can see the boys reviewing this website after we’re gone. They will be thinking about all the meals their mother had prepared for them on the toaster and all the wonderful smells it created in the kitchen. The conversation might go like this...

Brad: “Alex, do you remember that Pumpernickel Toast she made in ’03? Man that was good!?

Alex: “Yeah, but what about the Whole wheat blueberry waffles in ’08…now that was something special, she really knew how to work that toaster.”….

Brad: “but what about the time she tried to cook the soup...”

Alex interrupted: “ Don’t bring that up! I told you I never want to talk about that EVER!”

Brad: “ok,ok…all this talk of food has made me hungry. I’m going to fix me some French Toast in the toaster, want some?”

L8r h8r,

Steve “Seve” Cooksey

Tammy’s Magic Toaster (it actually cooks toast, waffles and such…., no fooling!)

“Buzzards gotta eat, same as worms.” I love that quote from “Outlaw Josey Wales”. I was trying to come up with a catchy title that had something to do with my need to eat more and this quote came to mind.

Pondering the quote made me think of Rawhide…if you click on the link below, you can listen to Rawhide as you read the blog. :)

The Blues Brothers - Theme From Rawhide Shared via AddThis

I have a new problem TOO MUCH WEIGHT LOSS!! …Believe it or not, I’ve had that problem in the past. When I really want to lose weight…losing weight ain’t a problem. Now I have to find that middle ground where I maintain my weight, turning remaining fat into muscle….its a tough job but someone has to do it. :)

For supper on Father’s Day I cooked…oh yeah, I had to cook on father’s day. By that I mean…if I wanted to eat, “I had to cook on father’s day.”

You don’t want to eat Tammy’s cooking…unless it’s toaster waffles or her world famous bread toast, cooked in a real toaster.

Oooh, ahhhhh…that’s right, a “real” toaster. You have to put the bread slice into the slot just right or you could really mess it up. Hehehe. Tammy claims she reads my blog….if I don’t hear from her on this…I’ll know that she doesn’t.

Here is the picture of my Father’s Day meal. It is stuffed cabbage leaves and stuffed green peppers. All the ingredients are healthy, it’s made with maters, onions, garlic, ground turkey, rice and everything nice. :)

I have got to tell this story.

My first big weight loss occurred during the first Gulf War….NO not the very first one in world history, not when the Neanderthals attacked Cro-Magnon, I’m talking about Desert Storm, back in ’90-’91. Anyway, during that war I would come home from work and literally work out every night for hours watching the war news. I would only eat lean meats and veggies…very similar to my diet now. I lost down to 168 lbs and that was the lowest I’ve been since high school.

What helped me lose weight? A friend of mine and I made a bet to see who could lose the most weight. I did mine the right way (diet and exercise)…he lost his weight by eating one meal a day…and that one meal was not always nutritious. His skin actually turned yellow like he was developing jaundice. LOL! Heck, he probably was, I swear he would eat a cheeseburger and fries for lunch and that would be all he would eat all day.

Stevie "Wonder" Cooksey