I Am a ‘Visual’ Person.

You did see my interview with Tim Kaufman aka Fatmanrants.com ?

EXCUSE SMASHERS EPISODE 17 Ray Martin

Tim mentions that I am motivated by ‘visuals’.

I have thought about that several times since then.

In the interview, I show Tim my cell phone ‘wallpaper’ is the picture of a measuring tape showing the length of my scar on my chest.

So yesterday a added another picture as the ‘wall paper’…

I often am asked,  “RAY!! HOW CAN YOU JUST EAT VEGGIES AND FRUIT AND BEANS!?” (wfpb=Whole Food Plant Based No Oil)

And my first thought is It is easy!  and Fun!!

(There are 20,000 eatable Plants in the world, so, variety is not an issue!)

(( Also SPICES are like a ‘FIRST KISS’ over and over and over…. as well as some of the RICHEST SOURCES of antioxidants in the WORLD!))

The best reply I could give is, “WHY DID I WAIT SO LONG TO START EATING LIKE THIS!?”.

But the ‘visual’…

Kinda macabre….yes, yes it is…

But that could be said of the Standard American Death Diet that ‘we’ have accepted as ‘NORMAL’ and allow to destroy the vitality of a wonderful life we all started with.

But anyway…. you can be assured that IF I ever leave my phone sitting on the break room table, folks will know FOR SURE who is the owner !

Right?

THAT PICTURE reminds me every time I see it, (or the one of the scar) of what I AM PLANNING TO NEVER ALLOW TO OCCUR in my life again.

I do not plan to allow the Standard American Death Diet to have me in a By Pass Recover Bed again.

I count NO calories, I measure NO proteins, I FEAR no Carbs.

I eat to be HEALTHY, not to lose weight.

oldmanskinandbones.com

You did see my interview with Tim Kaufman aka Fatmanrants.com ?

EXCUSE SMASHERS EPISODE 17 Ray Martin

Best RUN Ever! So Far! YeeeHiiii!

Best run this week for Feeling Good!  Maybe even the best ever!  So FAR!

Second Loop was faster than the first by 47 seconds per mile !!!

#oldmanTHIS #wfpbno #eatplantsrunmiles #Ifearnocarb

MAYBE this is all starting to ‘fall into place’ !!

It was just 129 days ago today (July29,2018) that I walked away from my ‘SAFE’ Treadmill, and ventured into the wild untamed world of ‘the streets’ (Since March 22, 2018 I have run almost 270 miles)

(Now I lament the waning of Summer and the lazy sunrise bringing shorter days)

But I have a plan.

%$#@!*&^% BUT RAY!!!!!!!)^^%#$%$?>”:#@!!

YOUR GONNA HURT YOURSELF!

No, I’m not.

Not as much as someone who eats junk food, oil based salad dressings, Burgers and Fries, and ANY processed CRAP America calls ‘food’ (including animals dead body parts and calf growth secretions called ‘milk).

Tell ya what, y’all ‘naysayers’ do your thing, and I’ll do mine, and we will see what works out.

Keep in touch ok?

I’ll post my Lipid Panel at the end of August, Run over a hundred and twenty five miles in July and August, and plan my Birthday Party in 2065.

Want to play along?

I dare ya…..

I do not count calories.  I do not measure proteins. I do NOT FEAR Carbs. I exercise/run because I feel good, NOT TO LOSE WEIGHT.

oldmanskinandbones.com

OH YEAH!  It was 1028 days ago I had a Triple By Pass, and it has been 28 months that I have been without ANY MEDICATIONS… except the FOOD I eat.

Keep in touch!

 

What is the Average Age of an American Male?

According to Google it is 78.74 years.

That means I have 15.5 years remaining.

Wow!

What a bummer!

I need more than that!

I can’t accept that for myself.

I’m going in for more y’all…

In my opinion, if every bite I take is going to repair the damage done by the Standard American Death Diet I lived by for 60 years, then in a few months a large measure is repaired or replaced by regular cell replacement….

And those cells are going to be replaced by a food intake of Whole Food Plant Based Nutrition!

That is a WIN-WIN for me!

OK, I gotta go eat a snack now… Black Grapes are on the table this morning!

YUM!

I don’t count calories, nor measure protein, and I sure don’t live in the FEAR of Carbs! (wfpb carbs!)

oldmanskinandbones.com

100 Miles Run X 2 and George Strait …?? DO WHAT!!??

The moment I took this picture I had just ran 100 miles in a month for the 2nd month in a row.

Not bad for oldmanskinandbones.

Not bad since 1026 days ago I had a Triple By Pass, and had no idea what life would be after such a major surgery.

(It was sometime after this picture was snapped and no one was left in the room but myself, but Betty and LeRoi , when I ‘came back’ and thought I was on a the sixth floor of a submarine.   Oh, and Chris the Nurse was there.  I did not like Chris the Nurse).

But I am fine now.  And I made up with Chris the next day, and never saw him again.

That, is ok with me.

So 1026 days later I have lost 82 pounds, am off all medication EXCEPT Whole Foods-Vegetables-Fruits-Beans-Legumes….

…and….

… after two and a half years of the WFPBNO Lifestyle (Whole Food Plant Based NO OIL)[not even Olive nor Coconut Oil] I began to exercise, and,  OF ALL THINGS!    I STARTED RUNNING!!

I REPEAT !!!!!!!************!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!************!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!******************!!!!!!!!!!!!!********

I LOST THE WEIGHT BY EATING WFPBNO…

THEN I started exercising and THEN RUNNING.

MY Change in life style was to be healthy AND NEVER HAVE ANOTHER HEART ATTACK.  I DID NOT GET THAT BY joining a gym, nor buying spandex workout clothes.

I DID NOT WANT TO WORK OUT.  BUT, after the body was in better condition/healthy, then I FELT LIKE WORKING OUT.

Please, do not think (as many do), that I workout/run to get healthy, or lose weight.

I now workout and run BECAUSE I GOT HEALTHY.

There is a world of difference in those two statements.

SO ANYWAY….

(see first picture above)

This morning I ran past the 2nd 100 mile month.

I now have four days remaining in the month to run 25 more miles and earn a virtual award on STRAVA for finishing 200 kilometers in a month.

Oh YEAH!!

Now, when I completed the 100 mile mark this morning….. I KID YOU NOT!! The next song that started in that moment was …

I KID YOU NOT!

I love this song and have the greatest respect for George Strait.

But the song is about a fellow getting older in body, but not the spirit….

Here are the lyrics…

I still feel 25 
Most of the time
I still raise a little Cain with the boys
Honky Tonks and pretty women
But Lord I’m still right there with’em
Singing above the crowd and the noise
    Sometimes I feel like Jesse James
Still trying to make a name
Knowing nothing’s gonna change What I am
I was a young troubadour
When I wrote in on a song
And I’ll be an old troubadour
When I’m gone
Well the truth about a mirror
Is that a damn old mirror
Don’t really tell the whole truth
It don’t show what’s deep inside
Or read between the lines
And it’s really no reflection of my youth
Chorusx2

I know many think I am too old, too ‘OCD’, ‘flash in the pan’ or ‘balls to the walls’….

… and well, that may well be true…

… I’ll be damned if I let some number, or a ‘damned old mirror’ try to tell the truth about what is deep inside, or read between the lines, and define what is the reflection of my youth…

If you want to know who or what I am …. ask me.

I ain’t afraid to tell you.

But don’t ask ‘my age’, and don’t ask a mirror….especially a ‘damned old mirror’… and think THAT DEFINES ME.

And among the things you may hear me say ‘I ‘am, you will hear that I am first of all a ‘wild and crazy WFPBNO person’… and you will hear that I am a ‘runner’.  I will tell you I am a kind person who does not want to inflict pain on anything like dogs, cats, cows, pigs nor chickens etc.

I am not going to eat them, and feel good that I am a ‘hand on the knife that slashes their throat so they can die in terror and pain, so I can feed a learned choice of consuming their rotting dead body parts.  (If you eat ANIMALS, your hand is on that knife that slaughters them).

But you will not hear me say I am a vegan, nor vegetarian.

I am WFPBNO.

***********

Pictured just below, is my ‘MATURE aged English Bull Dog Buddy’  Elton Lord Tennyshuz

I asked Betty if he was considered in his ‘Golden Years’, a ‘Senior Citizen’, or what.

She said he was ‘Mature’.

So, that is the end of that subject.

Anyway, we are sitting on the back porch after my run this morning, and the words of the song ‘Troubadour’ start going through my mind again.

Well the truth about a mirror
Is that a damn old mirror
Don’t really tell the whole truth
It don’t show what’s deep inside
Or read between the lines
And it’s really no reflection of my youth”

I guess the same can be said for a ‘picture’ as well as a mirror.

And all of that can be said about a friend who happens to be an English Bull Dog too….

*************

{{I suffer from an ? affliction ?  of ‘hearing’ or thinking of a part of a song to go with almost every event that occurs in each moment in my day.

If I try to ‘make it happen’ it doesn’t go so well, but if I just let it ‘flow’ it gets pretty good…… well, in my opinion.

I have a cousin (Donnie Martin) who is so much more advanced in this…. affliction …..

He is so much fun to be with when this ability is shared and enjoyed…. we think ….. our wives don’t though …..}}

****************

The song that played on my head set just before I made the 100 miles complete this morning was ‘REELIN in the YEARS’ by Steely Dan.

(Yes, I have song extremely special songs on my running play list….)

The first verse really stood out to me this morning….

“Your everlasting summer
You can see it fading fast
So you grab a piece of something
That you think is gonna last
But you wouldn’t know a diamond
If you held it in your hand
The things you think are precious
I can’t understand…..”

I thought about folks, omg, even entire populations who have grasp at the ‘everlasting summer’ of losing weight, ‘getting ripped’, six pack abs…. and the whole buffed up, or ‘bikini’ body thing….

Folks, do you not realize all that is ‘fading fast’ and it won’t last!  Dieting is a ‘everlasting summer’.

Pursuing ‘ALL THAT’  and the hopeless emptiness it offers…. is nothing compared to the simple plain truth of just being HEALTHY.

Summer will pass, Autumn will arrive, and soon Winter will be all around you like the cold hard fact IT is.

Hows that ‘bikini’ body gonna work for you then…?

Will you be fit enough to endure those cold dreary days with enough HEALTH, to make it to the next Spring?

Please consider the route that leads to sustainable HEALTH.

Avoid the foolishness of counting calories, measuring proteins, and fearing CARBS.

*************

Yeah, oldmanskinandbones.com is rambling on a bit today…

… but HEY!  wasn’t it Led Zeppelin that said….

“…Got no time for spreadin’ roots
The time has come to be gone
And thoough our health we drank a thousand times
It’s time to ramble on…”

“…I ain’t tellin’ no lie
Mine’s a tale that can’t be told
My freedom I hold dear
How years ago in days of old
When magic filled the air
‘T was in the darkest depths of Mordor
I met a girl so fair
But Gollum, and the evil one
Crept up and slipped away with her
Her, her, yeah
Ain’t nothing I can do, no…”.

But then the Allman Brothers Band said…

“…Lord, I was born a ramblin’ man
Tryin’ to make a livin’ and doin’ the best I can
And when it’s time for leavin’
I hope you’ll understand
That I was born a ramblin’ man…”.

(See?  what I mean …?)

Things I learned from the Interview with Fatmanrants.com

EXCUSE SMASHERS EPISODE 17 Ray Martin

#1. Take off my glasses

#2. Stop slapping the table top. (Suggested by Betty)

#3. Since Elton LT wants to be ‘in’ the Interview, give him a chair next to me, or at least introduce him….

#4. DO NOT FORGET to hang my ‘running bling’ behind me…..

……. like Tim has!!!

#5.  Meet Tim in person.  Give him a big hug.

******

There were the early days of giving up meat, and soon after dairy products, and I remember feeling all the ‘GUYS’ were going to think my heart attack and surgery had destroyed my ‘manliness’.

Fatmanrants.com  was my first defense.

You want to measure your excuses and you fears against Tim’s story?

CLICK HERE to read about Tim’s story…

So I conclude with the last entry of this blog…

#6.  It is always good to have friends.

Thank you Fatmanrants.com

You are this oldmanskinandbones.com’s dear friend

I love a little competition!!

The FIRST 5K Run, I ever entered, I placed 3rd in my age group, and brought home a medal.

In the 2nd 5K Run I entered (and ran in a cold rain) I placed 7th, with places 1st-4th, running three times my’speed’.

In the last two 5K events, I placed about middle of the pack of my age group.

I have yet to finish last.

I try to remember that the only real competition I am in, is with the old Fat Ray who drove around parking lots waiting for someone to leave so I could get as close to the Handicap Spots possible.

Now I park far away from those spots and WALK the extra steps.

Having a FitBit Iconic has surely changed the way I look at a lot of things , like ‘step counts’ , Miles I walked this month …. etc

And since that ‘smart watch’ came with a free account with a thing called Strava…. I use that ‘app’, a lot!

It is like a big bragging rights/KUDOS Billboard that most runners check on the hour, or get automatic updates.

One of the other features you get is monthly ‘FREE’ Competitions, or ‘Events’ you can enter, and compete with other runners around the WORLD!

I was sharing my current standings with Betty…

In the July 2018 10K Competion, I am :

Current Place 102,888/104,969

Right!! I am in 102,888 th place in all categorizes.

In the June 2018 10K Competition

I Placed 158,189 of 228,711

Awesome!  Right?

I am in several Clubs, and Groups and I can see where I stand with these folks, in the Running Clubs, in the Runs on Strava….

One Group, so far, has 15 participating in the July 10K.  I am in 15th Place.

I love it!

HOW??? you say…. How can I love to be in last place?

Remember, my competition is with the OLD RAY… that Fat Ugly Fellow that had me under control for about 60 years.

Another way to look at it is this ….

My British Accent Speaking, Smart Phone, (Siri) tells me there are appx. 7.28 BILLION people alive in the world at this moment….

… that looks like this….. 7,280,000,000.

The way I see it, of the 7,280,000,000  people who could have entered the race, only, they didn’t enter…

So…. I do and I PLACED.

They didn’t enter, neither placed, so they are ‘behind’ me in the standing.

But, then again, I beat the ‘OLD ME’, and THAT is what matter the most.

Well, ok, the ‘runners’ always say, “… you beat every one still sitting on the sofa!”.

And I DID!

Anyway, In June I competed and finished the 10K

Final Leaderboard

Current Place 158,189/160,782

And again I say, ISN’t that just wonderful!?

Wait till next June…

oldmanskinandbones.com

(‘Superman’ is in the house, just give me a minute …)

[ OH ! I did get rid of all those medicines, but I still have the ‘cape’… and I’m not afraid to use it…]

 

WHAT IS wfpb ? How do I start ?

I could say, “… just decide to NOT KILL YOURSELF with your Fork, or a Fast Food/Drive Up Window Diet, or a Standard American Death Diet (SADD), or a ‘pleasant’ DEAD ANIMAL MUSCLE TOXIC DIET’.

But, I won’t stoop so low as to be ‘hateful’, and ‘mean’ like that ….

Betty always tells me I will …”… catch more flies with sugar than salt …”.

So…. I will try … to be ‘sweet’…

WFPB is not scary.

WFPB is not difficult, nor complex.

WFPB…. to some, is how God created ‘mankind’ to…. ‘live’ …. since Adam and Eve kinda hung out with all the other ‘creatures’ in the garden of Eden…. and the Animals lived with each other as well as Adam and Eve…. you know, just ‘chilling’ and walking with God in the evening…

Everything was just fine, and no one died, or ate each other …..

… for a while.

Then things went off track after the Forbidden Fruit, and ….

well, wars have been fought …. brother against brother …. and all kinds of sad stories have been told ever  since … everything  … fell apart…

(get it? … the ‘FALL’….?)

ok, Sorry…

As simple as I can put it ….

wfpb ( Whole Foods Plant Based) is like a WHOLE APPLE, instead of drinking the processed juice, or taking vitamin A in a pill form.

wfpb is like eating a baked potato.  NOT french fries, not potato chips.  Those are fried in toxic FATS/OILS …

wfpb is eating vegetables and fruits and legumes… beans, peas…..

Anything else is PROCESSED and changes any goodness that was in the item to begin with….

There are many who have done such a better job of explaining this than I.

They have been doing this explaining to many more, and much longer.

One of these people is Terri Edwards.

CLICK HERE TO READ ABOUT HER !!

www.eatplant-based.com is her web site.

On her web site, she has a very simple, yet concise explanation of WHAT IS “wfpb” (Whole Food Plant Based)

CLICK HERE TO SEE HER ARTICLE !

Again, it is simple, and easy, and will free you from the chains and shackles of the foolishness of ‘DIETS’.

Following wfpb, you can eat when you are hungry.

Following wfpb, you can eat till you are full.

Following wfpb, you can eat till you are full, anytime after you just ate, till you were full, and now are hungry again … (did that make sense?)

Following wfpb is not starving yourself, or trying to trick the body into a ‘survival mode of operating’ …. (really folks, when the Human Body sees evidence that there is a case of starvation occurring [low or no carbs] It will do some really drastic things to keep Itself from dying … whether you like it or not … {you can’t FOOL Mother Nature})

Following wfpb, you can eat potatoes, and bananas… as often as you want, till you are full, and still get healthy.

(Really, I saw the video that says you MUST AVOID Bananas, because they are BAD, EVIL, FULL OF SUGAR AND CARBS…. omg…. please….. I am evidence you can enjoy Bananas and WHOLE FRUITS and lose … well, I am at over 80 pounds at this writing ….. really)

Following wfpb, you never need to COUNT CALORIES, Never need to MEASURE PROTEIN, and NEVER FEAR wfpb CARBS.

(wfpb CARBS are your best friends.  processed carbs are toxins.  These two things are not like the other.)

Following wfpb, you will get healthy, or else God, Nature, Mother Earth, the LIFE FORCE, or what ever you want to call the Creator of all things, really screwed up in making the human body, and providing the fuel, to run it on.

I know, that most people think they have to follow some painful, starvation diet, focus on one part of the complex, to obtain health…. suffer and all that self punishing stuff …

But it IS as simple as was said a couple of thousand years ago, “Let food be thy medicine, and thy medicine be thy food.”

( Now we do know that Hippocrates said that in Classical Greek, and never used ‘Thee’, nor ‘Thou’ KJV … just saying ….)

(And we also know Hippocrates was in a running debate with a ‘dead animal carcass eater’ back then.  And we know, that debate continues today).

The bottom line is a Healthy Human Body is going to be at best health with the Natural Foods, and not by Man Made Substitutes that pretend to ‘know better’ than the Creator, and create ‘Short Cuts’, and the ‘Easy, Least Resistant Route’ to ‘health’.

‘Free Ride’ is best sung by Foghat, not practiced by the ‘buffed 6 pack abs’ trainer at the all night fitness chain ….

Your just going to have to realized HEALTH is not obtained by a ‘Miracle Pill’, ‘Easy Way Out’, or ‘chastising the Human Body’, or trying to ‘trick’ ‘IT’ because ‘IT’ is so stupid, that it need to be ‘FOOLED’ into six pack abs, and sexy Bikini and Speedo bodies, tanned like a ‘god’, or ‘goddess’ in The Hollywood Lie.

I am listening to the New and Updated Edition of THE CHINA STUDY by T. Colin Campbell PhD, Thomas M. Campbell II MD.   I have listened to the book more than a dozen times.

If you want to learn the truth about the Standard American Diet, the Powers of Industry and Government, and the Truth about Curing Cancer, Heart Disease, and the other most common reasons people die, read this book.

You will find out a simple truth….

…. that truth is, that you can be a responsible Human Being, and take charge of your HEALTH, by taking charge of your Fork and Spoon.

You can control Heart Disease, Cancer, Diabetes, Dementia, etc.

Or you can ignore what science and life style has show as true.

*********

I have a confession to make.

I get worked up on this subject of Nutrition, Health, Heart Attacks, Full Disclosure, Independence,  Freedom, the American Dream, Self Determination,  Advertisements, LIES, Half Truths …. and Light Houses.

Why I think if I get angry or pushy, or better at DEBATING, etc., I can ‘win’ an argument, and PROVE a point, thus be the ‘WINNER’.  At that point I would expect that everyone who was an opponent, being defeated, would surrender to my wonderful skills as an Orator of TRUTH, JUSTICE, and THE WHOLE FOOD WAY …..

But, I am wrong.

I have been shown the truth of the lighthouse.

One day, I read a quote from a person named Anne Lamott.

She said the following….

“Lighthouses don’t go running all over an island looking for boats to save; they just stand there shining.”

It occurred to me that I had been running around looking for ‘boats’ to save.

It also occurred to me I could do better just ‘shinning’ and not looking for boats that didn’t know, nor care, that they ‘needed’ , anything.

My wife Betty heard a quote many years ago, and she has shared it with me many times ….

“Until the pain, of remaining the same, becomes more painful than the pain of change, there will be no change…”

I can debate, present, pontificate, proclaim and declare, and yes, even get really pushy… and until someone is ready to hear the truth about Health, and Nutrition … they will not hear.

I get upset that I was not told I could avoid the Triple By Pass, its scar on my chest, and the cost I will be paying for another TEN YEARS.

I can get really upset at the lack of FULL DISCLOSURE by the Medical Professions, Industries, Governmental Departments, and TV Advertisements and Fad Diet Gurus … and all it does is waste my time… and show me a fool for wasting my time and breath.

Besides, would I have listened?

Would I have Changed my life style and give up the things I was …. used to …. (addicted to)…?

I have been critical of folks who were told they could ‘change’ the path they were on, and avoid much pain and suffering…. yet they never changed…

Would I have changed that night in the ER when they ‘mean ol’ Lady Doctor’ told me I was having Heart Attacks, and did I come to the Hospital to be funny, or get help….?

Oh believe me, she GAVE NO OPTIONS.

But if she HAD…. would I have chosen a wfpb life, and committed to everyday after that to eat that way, and avoid the option I allowed?

Well, I think we know the answer.

And folks, here we are back at the starting point of this ‘conversation’.

More times than not, Humans chose the Path of Least Resistance.  We seem to want a Magic Pill, a Easy Way Out.

We tend to be Lazy.

Until the HIND SIGHT shows we had a chance, and a Better Path, and it was NOT CHOSEN.

*********

I think I am most angry with myself.  October 2, 2015 I made a choice to undergo a Stent Placement which failed October 3, 2015.

Then I chose to undergo a By Pass Surgery.

I do not recall being told about what results were expected except I might DIE without the surgery.  Scared out of my wits, they could have offered many things, and I would have accepted.

Laying in the Cardiac Intensive Care Unit, after a failed Stent Placement, is NOT THE TIME to make decisions about Life Styles, and/or Modern Medical Miracle Procedures.

By that time, you are all but another income source just like a ear tagged ‘livestock’ at the Slaughter House Feed Yard.

Oh… I am angry…. and I find the anger each month is only rekindled by another payment to the Medical Facility to which I signed permission/CONSENT, to hold all I have over my head as a threat, should I fail to make the ‘payment’, They were so gracious to allow me to make over 12 years.

I was also never told, to change anything about the life style that got me to that condition of having a ‘need’ for a Triple By Pass.

In fact, I was told to only ‘be moderate’ in the things that ‘might’ contribute to Heart Disease.  It was probably genetics.  It was in my ‘family’.  Eat two pieces of Bacon, instead of three.

The only thing that I was told TO STOP DOING was Cigarette Smoking.

I had STOPPED SMOKING in the Spring of 2008 …  7 1/2 years before the Heart Attack.

You see, Stents and Miracle Surgeries only treat the symptoms … not the cause of Heart Attack.  And the ‘Professionals’ do not want, nor have the time to tell you what you need to know.

The wonderful American Medical Gods are not fixing the PROBLEMS…. they are getting ‘better’ at keeping us alive longer till our next ‘need’ for more surgeries and medicines and visits back to thier offices.

They are actually keeping us dying longer, and ‘needing medical and pharmaceutical intrusion’ into our pocket books and lives.

Most of ‘merica is dying longer, NOT LIVING LONGER.

… and it is just getting worse …

**********

But if we ate the food that made Healthy Humans ‘Live’ longer till we died, then  we wouldn’t be at their mercy.

********

So where should I place my anger….

*******

I’m gonna shut this off now.  I intended this to be a ‘plug’ for Terri Edwards and her wonderful web site….

Oh my……

oldmanskinandbones.com

CHECK OUT Terri’s PAGE! CLICK HERE!