“Diet and exercise are critical to quality of life and, ultimately, longevity.”

This is the only thing keeping me on track right now. I have been dieting for about 2 weeks and it’s not as easy as it looks. I have literally given up most of my old eating habits for a newer, healthier, alternative.

Gone are the days of bacon and eggs for breakfast, or beer and snacks while watching a game on TV. Gone are the “fries and gravy” lunches and the after-work patios.

My new diet consists of oatmeal and grapefruit breakfasts, a salad and pita bread for lunch, and fish or chicken with lots of veggies, for dinner. Oh, yeah, and eight glasses of water a day.

I’m constantly hungry.

Along with this, I have also cut out a lot of junk food, like chips and soda pop. In fact, I’ve cut out most sugar, and fillers such as bread. I admit I still can’t drink coffee without sugar.

Eating like this is torturous. I refuse to give up, though. I want to live to see my golden years. Besides, there’s so much more I would like to experience before I go.

As far as exercise goes, I just got a clean bill of health from my doctor, so I’m slowly implementing an exercise regime. To tell the truth, it only consists of a half hour walk in the evening.

Being as heavy as I am, I’m limited to what I can do. Walking seems like a good start. The neighbors must be wondering. In all the time I’ve lived on the street, I’ve never gone for a walk, not even to the corner store.

I thought about dusting off my bicycle, pumping up the tires, and taking the odd bike ride, but I look so odd at the moment (my ass covers the entire seat and then some). I’m just too big for the bike – any bike. I’d really give the neighbors something to laugh about if I started riding my bike around the block.

Eventually, I would like to start bike riding, but that’s way down the road. I need to shed at least fifty pounds first.

After two weeks of diet and exercise, I am only seeing a three-pound difference in my weight, and most of that is likely water loss. It’s a slow, depressing journey.

I have two mission statements. One is my company’s statement, and the other is my own. I don’t tell anyone about my personal mission statement, and the other, I simply follow out of necessity. I need a paycheck (for now, anyway).

In the 20 years or so in which I have been a loyal employee, I have been subjected to no less than 50 courses, seminars, workshops – all this in the name of employee improvement. It seems that with each executive shuffle, we are guaranteed at least one mandatory workshop. The new management wants to mold us according to their vision.

Very few are of any real value. We all sit through them, however, like a bunch of yes-men. We nod and pretend it’s interesting. “That’s it, it’ll be over soon. Next year the new execs will abolish this model and create their own.” Sigh…

You see, the number one rule to surviving the monotony of the corporate world is to smile when appropriate, act as though you give a s**t, and always keep one thing in mind: as long as you do a good job and satisfy the person directly above you, you’re going to be just fine.

Oh, and one more thing: Always keep in mind that you really don’t have a choice. They will tell you that they “value your input”, but at the end of the day you have to accept whatever is given to you. You are, after all, a team player – are you not? Team players follow orders and respect the chain of command for the greater good of the company. Team players will always put fellow employees and the company first.

While my company’s mission statement drones on about “customer service” and “results oriented” people and services, my mission statement is geared towards how I envision my ideal life to be. It tends to be much less structured than the company blueprint.

My company’s mission statement goes something like this:

“We are a customer oriented company whose goals are to provide our external clients with the highest level of service possible through an empowered and highly skilled workforce.”

And so on…

My mission statement is as follows:

“I will strive for freedom and self-sufficiency while remaining trapped within the corporate environment. I will learn to differentiate between things that will benefit me and things that will continue to enslave me. I am a self-oriented individual who will work towards independence and a life of my choosing and, ultimately, a life outside of the corporate world.”

Well, I joined the masses this week and started taking public transit to work.

I live about 35km from the most northerly commuter station. I drive there and then catch one of three trains into the downtown core every morning. The drive is great because it’s in the country, nice scenery and very little traffic.

The lot is huge, so there is never an issue with finding a parking spot. I always assumed that I would have to arrive at 5am to get a spot.

I was amazed at the generous amount of space there was in each car. Plenty of room to stretch. Similarly, the ride was also very quiet and comfortable. I could learn to like this.

I caught myself nodding off a few times. I wanted to try to avoid this, as I have a bad snoring problem. Come to think of it, I also have a bad drooling problem. It’s not pretty.

So, after an hour or so of reading, sleeping, or whatever, the train arrived at Union Station – the main downtown terminal. By this time, we were very tightly packed, and it takes a while for everyone to get off. That’s the only drawback. Arriving and leaving downtown is very hectic. The terminal is filled with thousands of commuters, taking dozens of different trains and buses, all heading in different directions.

Boarding the train in the morning at the start of the line is great since there are hundreds of seats from which to choose. Boarding at Union Station in the evening is not quite as pleasant. There are literally hundreds of people trying to fill the hundreds of seats all at once. The good thing is that as we head north and make a few stops, the seats become more plentiful.

Walking from the station, I head to my office building. There is a literal sea of people (several thousand) and the only thing I can think of is how lucky I am to be walking with them and not against them.

This will take some getting used to. Usually, I simply park in the underground and take the elevator up to the lobby. Oh, what the heck, the walking can only be good, right?

By the time I am in the lobby and waiting for an elevator, I’ve lost 99% of the crowd and my day begins as usual.

I won’t lie and say that the crowds don’t bother me, they do. However, it’s short lived and most of my commute is peaceful. I didn’t realize how much a person could accomplish on a train. The thing about driving to work is that your eyes can’t leave the road for a second. There is nothing you can do while driving. I enjoy this part of the train commute and I plan to read several novels in the next little while.

I’m only 3 days into it, so I’ll let you know how it goes. I can’t wait to try this in the winter. I’m going to save hours of commuting time each day. I can put up with crowds for the peace of mind I’ll have, not having to drive through snow, sleet and ice.