Fess up, do you even know what your maintenance calories are?

Do you have any idea how many calories you need to cut to lose a pound of weight?

When you are trying to lose weight, do you just stop eating and hope for the best?

Are you flying blind for the most part?

You could be depriving yourself of valuable nutrients by just cutting foods on an elimination diet.

Try this experiment. For two weeks (out of your whole life) track your calories.

Use https://www.myfitnesspal.com/ to at least get a rough estimate of what you’re slamming down your pie hole.

It’s free and easy to use and will give you the information you need to take control of your diet plan.

I know after using it for years that my maintenance is 2500 calories and if I simply cut 250 calories a day. I can lose a pound a week and still keep my muscle mass.

An informed consumer…

Here is a a link to my YouTube video to give you a visual.

https://youtu.be/B0z4xhciL74

Good luck.

The post first appeared on Bob O'Hearn.

You know who they are.

Every week they’re on YouTube with all this exotic information,”do this, don’t do that, do that, don’t do this, never mind, don’t do anything, it might shorten your life span.”

But “be sure to hit like, subscribe, leave a comment and stay till the end where I’ll tell you what’s really going on”.

Of course.

It’s maddening.

These people are playing the YouTube algorithm to get paid and using you to do it.

The information is all over the map and they’re hoping you don’t catch on.

Big, scary, technical words, latest studies, on and on.

And any title that ends with a question mark?

Forget about it.

They’re just giving you the reach around.

If you are taking the right supplement and the right amount, all of a sudden, you’re taking it at the wrong time.

According to the latest study.

Th road to hell is paved with YouTube influencers who are trying to make a buck.

Off of you.

All week they are scrounging for a new angle to keep the hook in you.

Get a second opinion.

Please like and subscribe…..

The post Under The Influencer first appeared on Bob O'Hearn.

You only need to work a muscle group twice a week to see results.

If you do a whole body workout twice a week, you not are going to enjoy the experience.

After a proper leg workout you should be pretty much shot.

A four day push/pull routine is better but still pretty intense.

If you want to properly work a muscle group without ruining your day, do what I do:

The six day spread. (AKA Split)

Spread your normal workout out over six days.

The reason is you’ll be doing something every day and still have time to recover.

And you won’t have to wonder what day it is.

Day One: I work chest, shoulders and triceps.

Day two Legs. Only.

Day Three: Back and biceps.

Take a day off and repeat.

I guarantee you will feel better, enjoy your workouts and see better results.

Muscle up, kiddies.

And have fun.

The post The Six Day Spread (AKA SPLIT) first appeared on Bob O'Hearn.

Ladies, I know you’ve seen pictures of scary looking female bodybuilders who are hormone addled with big bulky arms and veins all over the place, but if you start resistance training, you will actually look smaller and more compact.

Women tell me, “I don’t want to get too big.”

Not to worry, you don’t have the hormones to put on size.

When you lose five pounds of fat and replace it with five pounds of muscle, the scale might not change but you will look firmer, curvier and healthier.

You will offset bone loss like osteoporosis, a condition characterized by weak and brittle bones, is more prevalent in women than men.

So grab a dumbbell (not your husband) and get healthy.

Repeat after me: Muscle is the organ of longevity.

The post Afraid Of Muscle? first appeared on Bob O'Hearn.

You’re at a party and an old acquaintance casually sticks their finger in your midsection and says, “When ‘s the baby due?’

You laugh it off for appearances but deep down you’re seething.

So you go home and google “fast weight loss” and we’re off.

You jump on the latest “diet du jour” and start seeing results almost immediately.

Now, you’re running every day, skipping meals and buying new clothes.

“Why didn’t I think of this before?” you say.

You are balls to the wall for months and reveling in your new look.

Until someone says you might have lost too much weight and you don’t look very healthy.

You agree, stop running, put the scale away but still watch your caloric intake.

What could go wrong?

A few months later you’re at the the doctor’s office for your annual physical, you get on the scale and almost faint.

Not only did you regain the weight you lost, you gained an additional ten pounds. WTF?

It’s because your metabolism has been running the show most of your life and you decided to shock your system and completely overrule your metabolic guidance.

Metabolisms don’t like that.

If you had reduced calories slowly and sensibly, your metabolism wouldn’t have gone into shock.

But while you were doing other things, your metabolism was slowly and deliberately recouping its losses.

And then some.

Welcome to the boomerang diet.

Our bodies are wondrous miracles designed to keep us alive.

When it thinks you’re starving, it panics.

It temporarily shuts down.

And comes back with a vengeance.

The takeaway here is slow and steady wins the race.

Or you’ll be fainting at the doctor’s office like I did.

The post It’s not nice to fool your metabolism. first appeared on Bob O'Hearn.

This is Bob, and I weave.

I have been planted at my desk for days it seems working on assorted projects, writing chapters and taking client calls.

Kinda hard to break free for a challenging weight session in the garage.

What I do at times like these, is weave in short, intense workouts to keep me in shape and reduce my stress load.

One of my favorites is the is the Farmer’s Carry.

Farmer carries are a versatile and beneficial exercise that offer numerous advantages for strength, fitness, and overall health.

Did I mention cheap, too?

I take two fairly heavy dumbbells and walk up and down my driveway.

The lighter the dumbbell, the longer I walk and vice versa.

Farmer carries engage multiple muscle groups, including the forearms, shoulders, upper back, core, and legs. This promotes muscle growth and increases overall strength.

Here is a complete list of all the benefits:

Grip Strength:
This exercise specifically targets grip strength, which is essential for everyday activities and sports.

Cardiovascular Health:
Carrying heavy weights over a distance increases heart rate and calorie burn, improving cardiovascular fitness.

Posture and Balance:
Farmer carries require maintaining proper posture and balance, which helps strengthen the core and spine.

Functional Fitness:
This exercise mimics real-life situations where individuals need to carry objects, making it a practical and functional form of exercise.

Metabolic Benefits:
Farmer carries can boost metabolism and promote fat loss.

And ladies:
Weight-bearing exercises like farmer carries can stimulate bone growth and improve bone density.

The post E-I-E-I Oh, that feels good! first appeared on Bob O'Hearn.

I always hated sales.

All the smarmy marketing buzzwords, the phony rah rah, the corny training videos and the constant push for more, more, more.

I loved the position, the money, the independence, the travel, the company car and of course, the constant boinking of secretaries.

But all the rest would hit my gag reflex.

What I did to gain all the business was treat my existing customers like they hit the lottery.

There were country dance lessons, lobsters flown in from Boston, cook outs, I hosted events that would be like comedy shows, I graduated all the brand new techs that would soon be my customers.

It was Jimmy Buffet concerts in rented buses every year.

And the news traveled fast.

I traveled with a laptop and a guitar.

I held babies at Baptisms.

Any restaurant with a piano in the lobby was fair game.

All my customers knew the words to “Let Me Jump Your Bones.”

All the female techs in Albuquerque became the “Bonettes”and sang backup at Society of Nuclear Medicine meetings.

All my managers were definitely on Xanax.

I have pulled customers kids off of drugs and even had to bail one out.

I accompanied female techs to court for their divorce.

I would have lunches delivered and then show up to kill with my crazy jokes.

Half the city had my Amex number so they could order lunch while I was out of town.

(My yogurt enema story brought a whole department down in Vegas)

I held deep secrets that would be divulged after too much to drink.

I was everybody’s confidant.

It was nights, weekends and all occasions.

Nothing that required a package insert.

I never spent a Christmas at my own home.

My customers did the selling. My phone was always ringing on Monday mornings.

Non customers were feeling left out of the Dupont experience.

It was all basic street sense. Courtesy of the rough and tumble streets of Boston.

Emotional intelligence that didn’t come from Wharton.

I could walk in a room and the fish would stop swimming.

I became part of the fabric of the nuclear medicine community.

I knew everybody, from janitors to CEOs.

I knew when all the big deals were going down and who was doing who.

I knew things that could topple hospital systems.

I built customer’s first web sites and owned the domain names for years. (Until lawyers started calling)

I never had to pitch my product. Thank God.

To prove my point, after ten years, they had the sales force take a very basic product knowledge test.

I failed.

The top rep in the country couldn’t pass a basic Cardiolite test?

Yup!

Nobody but me could believe it.

But that’s between us.

The post The Reluctant Sales Rep first appeared on Bob O'Hearn.

Ever wonder if there’s any accounting for the way we treated our human movement systems after we pass?

Will we be asked “What did you do to yourself?”

In the beginning, most of us arrived here healthy and mentally intact.

But then you showed no appreciation for the miracles that we are, and went to work showing how much you didn’t care.

You became sick and tired and unable to complete your mission

Whatever that was.

We became a burden to loved ones, the government and the healthcare system.

Early on, you developed diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure and all sorts of cancers.

You occupied hospital beds meant for the seriously ill.

You were no longer able to work and unable to leave the house without the help of the local fire department.

That’s OK, we’ll pay for it.

It’s all about you and your limitations.

Obesity isn’t something that you all of a sudden wake up with.

You have to work at it. It’s deliberate and selfish.

Your grand finale will be when you drop dead at a Vegas buffet.

Oh., your parents will be so proud.

The post Desecrating The Temple first appeared on Bob O'Hearn.

My specialty is training clients that work out from home.

As I’m fond of saying, “Home is where the hard is.”

A commercial gym will cut into your finances, your personal time and your sanity.

Nothing like fighting traffic after work, only to find someone sitting on your favorite machine texting all their loved ones.

If you look at the shots of me working out, you might think that’s all I’m doing.

You would be wrong.

Besides guaranteeing my future health, I am actually washing dishes, drying clothes, baking potatoes, cooking chili, uploading files to enlightenedrogue.com, taking client calls and designing meal plans.

I can even play with my dog.

There are so many tools and inexpensive equipment pieces at your disposal.

I will be discussing these tools in the future.

Working out from home ensures you never miss a workout.

It’s always right there waiting. No excuses.

Like, what are you gonna do, not go home?

The post All In A Day’s Workout first appeared on Bob O'Hearn.

Jesters were professional entertainers who used comedy, music, storytelling, and acrobatics to amuse royalty and courts.

Beyond entertainment, they often acted as social critics, using their privileged position to mock political figures and offer witty, sometimes scathing, commentary without fear of punishment.

Their roles also included acting as diplomats, spreading rumors, and providing a unique form of comic relief.

You just read my job description.

In 1990, someone thought it was a good idea to add me to an already wildly successful medical imaging sales force.

My transition was bumpy, awkward and cause for second thoughts by the leadership.

I was the drunk at midnight choir.

I would be pulled aside after every meeting and given friendly lectures about being disruptive.

A dock working, musician, professional chef and stand up comedian was the square peg in their round hole. Ouch!

Not knowing the first thing about sales and marketing, I still added my five cents at business meetings.

I was the cause of uproarious laughter when I poked a little fun at things I thought ridiculous. What did I know?

I used the only tools I had at my disposal to reach and entertain customers.

I used to have lobsters flown in from the east coast on dry ice.

That night, I would cook, tell jokes, play the piano and hand out product brochures.

And then get all their business.

Other reps would complain that it wasn’t fair because they didn’t know any jokes. Can you imagine?

After one meeting, a product manager approached me about my idea of writing a song for the tenth anniversary of the product.

I was surprised because that went over like a fart in a space suit when I brought it up in the meeting.

Long story short, all my wild and crazy ideas were adopted over time.

I wrote and performed music and comedy skits all over the country, I created patient education videos for customers and the company.

I think “Taking The Test” might still be in circulation.

I had a company wide newsletter and a web site. The first.

I created my own new position as E-Marketing manager and built an in house video production studio at the home office.

I created the first e-mail marketing campaign.

I implemented ideas that were once considered laughable.

Stuff they don’t teach you at Wharton. Because they can’t.

The next time you have what they say is a stupid idea, think of me, I got a million of them.

And they all worked.

The post The Jester Approach: first appeared on Bob O'Hearn.

I have found the “Breakfast of Champions” is 30-40 grams of protein within 30 minutes of rising.

You can get 30 grams of protein for breakfast by combining high-protein foods like eggs, Greek yogurt, cottage cheese, and lean meats, or by using protein powder in smoothies or oatmeal.

For example, a ham and cheese omelet can provide over 40 grams, while a breakfast burrito with eggs and meat or a Greek yogurt parfait with nuts can easily reach 30 grams.

If you’re in a hurry, make an omelette the night before an toss it in the microwave first thing.

When I’m pressed and lazy, I have two protein bars and black coffee.

A lethal combination.

Protein will boost your metabolism like crazy, kill your appetite and promote muscle synthesis.

Look out world.

The post Feeling Your Wheaties? first appeared on Bob O'Hearn.

After you finally retire, get ready to meet all your new friends.

Unfortunately, they’re all wearing lab coats and scrubs.

They’ve been waiting for you…with a blood pressure cuff, a hospital gown and a warm rectal thermometer.

Oh, you’ll never be lonely again.

You’ll have all the friends your insurance plan can buy.

They’ve been waiting for you. They know the drill.

And you will welcome them with open wallet, because all the years of not taking care of yourself has taken its toll.

You used to be a football star in college, but now you can’t fart without throwing your back out.

Everything hurts.

And you have all day, every day, to dwell on your achy breaky conditions.

And that’s not all, CVS, Walgreens and Rite-Aid are lining up for a payday for your new collection of orange bottles.

And think of how well read you’ll be as you comb through all those old Reader’s Digests and National Geographic magazines.

For hours.

You get what I’m saying?

Good.

The post Is This Your Retirement? first appeared on Bob O'Hearn.

I ran up on my own shadow under a street light early this morning and it gave me pause.

What the hell is an elderly man doing running around in the darkness for no apparent reason?

I watched my shadow moving to the music in my head and I had to smile.

Why would I do such a thing?

Why would I disturb my dog and leave my comfortable bed at an ungodly hour to put my body through such rigor?

What sort of person, approaching their eighth decade, and without a gun to their head, resorts to this form of self torture?

I had to admit, it feels good. It feels natural.

At that moment I had no aches, no pains and no worries.

All systems go.

My body is fully functioning without the help of a prescription pad or a well meaning medical community.

I can’t say for sure how running will affect my longevity, but I’m pretty sure……the shadow knows.

The post The Shadow Knows first appeared on Bob O'Hearn.

I never check the Arizona weather before I go to bed, because I know what I’m going to get: yesterday and a few degrees hotter.

So imagine my chagrin when I open my garage door at 3:30 am for my morning run when I see a furiously dancing rain puddle illuminated by a street light for effect.

Here I am, ready to go. Got my Apple watch set, got my running shoes on, my airpods in, my trusty water bottle on my hip and my lungs in full anticipation.

Talk about a let down.

Now what do I do?

Then I remember my military days. Neither rain, sleet or snow could cancel a day’s training.

One morning, just before our morning run, all hell broke loose weather wise.

It was rain, wind and scary thunder when our platoon leader asked the company commander if we were going to postpone.

His answer was “Left face, forward march….DOUBLE TIME!

I thought “What a heartless bastard.”

Then HE got in front of the formation to lead us.

Right into the shit storm.

Talk about leadership.

I had to smile to myself as I stepped out into the pouring rain.

I guess I’m a heartless bastard, too.

The post Heartless Bastards first appeared on Bob O'Hearn.

I started lifting weights religiously in Vietnam.

I saw a bunch of heavily muscled guys bench pressing a truck axle and curling sand bags.

And I was hooked.

I took my iron pills every day and somehow expected to look like these guys.

Never happened.

I ended up with tendonitis and a bad back.

What I didn’t know, and nobody ever mentioned, was that these guys were “juicing.”

They were “pinning” themselves with anabolic steroids., growth hormone and insulin.

Some even inject oil right into the muscle. Argh!

Anabolic steroids were illegal then, and still are in most countries.

Still…nobody talks about it.

They are dead men flexing.

I say “dead men” because most of these guys will never see fifty.

Even with all the muscle, they are too heavy for their own bodies and their hearts can’t take it.

You can’t get to this level without illegal drugs.

Some eat up to 8,000 calories a day in the off season.

Most likely, as this shot was taken, their bodies are riddled with anabolics, fat burners, and diuretics.

On stage they are starved and dehydrated.

A dangerous place to be.

Not uncommon for some to die right in the middle of a routine..

But that doesn’t stop them from selling us their “unique” programs , protein powders and supplements.

That’s where the real money is.

They make their fortune selling us on an impossible dream.

Beware.

The post The Dying Art of Bodybuilding. first appeared on Bob O'Hearn.

If your watch says you burned 800 calories today, don’t trust it.

This is my usual morning run, I go for about an hour and try to stay in Zone II, which is 60-70% of my max heart rate.

Fat burning territory.

I only trust my average heart rate and total time running,

I never trust calorie burn. It’s only a wild guess.

A Stanford study tested seven popular fitness trackers, and none were accurate for calorie burn, with some off by as much as 93%.

The reason is that they use rough estimates of heart rate movement, not your actual metabolism.

Calorie burn is personal. Age, muscle mass, stress, sleep, and hormones all play a role.

While wearables are great at tracking habits, steps, or even heart rate trends, when it comes to calories burned, they are playing the guessing game.

So WATCH out.

The post Watch Out! first appeared on Bob O'Hearn.

Back in the eighties most folks thought Sarcopenia was a small European country.

What we’ve discovered is that Sarcopenia is a condition characterized by the progressive loss of muscle mass, strength, and function as a result of aging.

It is a common condition in older adults, affecting an estimated 10-20% of individuals over the age of 65.

Causes:

Age-related changes
Hormonal decline (especially after menopause)
Decreased physical activity
Inadequate nutrition
Chronic diseases (e.g., diabetes, heart disease)

Symptoms:

Weakness
Fatigue
Difficulty with daily activities (e.g., climbing stairs, carrying groceries)
Increased risk of falls
Reduced mobility
Decreased quality of life

Diagnosis:

Physical examination
Body composition analysis (e.g., DEXA scan)
Muscle strength testing

We thought aerobic exercise would keep us healthy into our later years.

In those days resistance training was completely left out of the discussion.

Times have changed.

As we age, we need to maintain muscle mass by doing resistance training and eating adequate amounts of protein.

Protein should account for 10% to 35% of your calories.

If you’re an average adult. The recommended dietary allowance to prevent deficiency for an average sedentary adult is 0.8 grams per kilogram of body weight.

You can hustle but don’t forget the muscle.

The post Oldies Need More Than Sweat first appeared on Bob O'Hearn.

It was a life time ago. Thought I’d never get home.

I remember thinking how nice it would be to hear traffic again, horns beeping, kids playing in the park, seeing people shopping and caught up in their day to day.

Listening to something more interesting than heavily censored Armed Forces radio and Elke Sommers sign on with “Hello boys.”

Then four hours of polka music all afternoon. That was cruel.

Back then I would give anything to hear a toilet flush.

Life is so good.

The post Sensory Deprivation first appeared on Bob O'Hearn.

Time to break out the prescription pads. Yipee!

The AHA and ACC have decided that even more people should be on blood pressure medication.

Meaning that a systolic number of 124-125 puts you at risk, and the new normal is under 120. WTF?

On these medications, seniors are at risk for extremely low blood pressure given these new parameters.

When blood can’t get to the brain, bad things happen.

The American College of Cardiology (ACC) and American Heart Association (AHA) are financed by diverse sources including individual donations, corporate sponsorships, like Big Pharma.

Big Pharma? Say it ain’t so.

Time to book that Hawaiian sales meeting.

This means that an eighty year old and a healthy twenty year old should have the same blood pressure.

Smell something?

I gotta go check my blood pressure.

The post One size does NOT fit all: first appeared on Bob O'Hearn.

If the actuarial tables are to be believed, I’m almost dead.

To the medical community I should be rocking on my porch with an ice tea and comfy slippers.

At this stage I have nothing to prove, and no one to prove it to.

But at 3:00 am my internal alarm goes off and the battle begins.

Why get up? Why go running down the road in the wee hours?

No one will know, no one will care and no one will be the wiser.

It’s not gonna matter in the long run.

It’s just me and and my biggest critic…me.

I have been overriding my own objections for years and that won’t stop until the final verdict.

Toward the end of my nightly run and my legs are ready to quit, there’s a shortcut I can take that will have me punching my garage door combination in minutes.

But I never take it.

The high I get from winning that battle stays with me all day.

I am experiencing that high right now.

Until tomorrow….

The post Motivation’s a dream, discipline is reality: first appeared on Bob O'Hearn.

I was almost 71 when I passed these certifications.

I was 90 days out from a VA detox from Xanax and alcohol.

I must have still been high when I signed up.

When I received the materials I panicked.

It looked like day one at med school. WTF?

I immediately tried to get a refund, stating “I don’t wanna be a doctor, I just want to train people.”

This was the whole body, respiratory, digestion and the nervous system. Yikes!

I always loved exercise and I was going to use this knowledge to generate another revenue stream

Saving my own life was also a good idea.

After passing my certifications, I was immediately hired by LA Fitness and quickly found they’re not into fitness, they’re into money.

The Gambino family could learn a thing or two from these guys.

I had to wake up a bunch of dead brain cells to pass these tests but the knowledge I amassed in the process is with me today.

The study of the body and the nutritional training I received is incredible.

Eighty is only a year away and I have to say, I’m in great shape and ready for anything.

I mean…anything.

The post Plan the work, work the plan: first appeared on Bob O'Hearn.

I had a great weight workout late yesterday afternoon.

I went to failure on almost every set.

Needless to say, I was very happy with myself.

Unfortunately, employing that much intensity that late in the day can wreak havoc on the nervous system.

Long story short..I hardly slept.

Note to self: Gotta go back to training earlier in the day.

So when it comes time for my run in the wee hours, I got nothin’.

That run sets the tone for my entire day and I don’t want to deprive myself.

So I reach for my sneakers.

My dog picks up my grumbling, whimpering, self dialogue and joins in.

Believe me, I welcome the sympathy.

It is then when I think about those tortuous, hideously cruel dark mornings in basic training.

Well, If that didn’t kill me…

Then my inner weenie chimes in to remind me that I’m almost eighty years old and the street sweepers may have to recover my body when the sun comes up.

Regardless, I have to win this battle or else I could lose the one that will inevitably be here tomorrow.

So I stagger to the kitchen, grab my water bottle and I’m off.

To the victor go the spoils.

The post The Battle Within first appeared on Bob O'Hearn.

When you’re in sales, with a huge territory and a big nut to hit every year, the last thing you want is to be dragged into one of those dopey committees that would require a lot of your time and energy.

In Dupont, the all consuming aim of the company was safety.

Sales came in second.

Dupont used to make gun powder back in the 1700’s and unfortunately, they unalived a lot of their employees by forgetting to add water when they were grinding the powder down.

There were daily explosions and employees flying everywhere.

They even had had baffles installed on the windows of all surrounding buildings so no one could drop in unannounced.

That made Dupont a huge insurance risk, to put it mildly, and they had to insure themselves.

These days you have hundreds of neurotic, distracted and paranoid sales people driving company cars all over the country.

Even in a minor fender bender, if a savvy motorist heard the word, Dupont, their backs immediately went out.

They called their lawyer before they called their doctor.

This did not make Dupont happy.

it became a recipe for a Dupont safety committee. Ugh.

Nobody volunteers. You are drafted.

When I got the call, I wasn’t happy.

The first team conference call went nowhere, of course.

Nobody had a clue…but I did.

I created the “Eye on Safety Program”

I dressed up like a cop, wrote music, created a newsletter, put out a CD and performed “Lookin’ Out For Stupid” at the National Sales Meeting.

I had the most fun I could have with my clothes on.

Looking back, I think the fact that I had no business experience and a wild imagination helped me a lot.

I even won the big sales award that year.

What a country!

The post Lookin’ Out For Stupid: first appeared on Bob O'Hearn.

I was only in sales a few weeks and dissolving rapidly.

I couldn’t get my arms around the idea of success in a huge territory of Arizona and New Mexico.

I didn’t know anyone out here and I damn sure didn’t know how to get from point A to point B.

I spent eight years on a distribution dock back east humping radioactive packages.

I didn’t even know how to fill out an expense report.

I called my boss one day and told him I was going to travel to Albuquerque and he said, quote, “What are you telling me for?”

Huh?

This was a little too much freedom for me.

I had always been considered a top performer in the company and had no idea how I would make a name for myself under these circumstances.

I thought I would be forgotten and any hard work I did would go unnoticed.

Until…

…the phone rang at midnight. It was the Syncor pharmacy manager who was very upset that his shipment of Thallium 201 was lost in transit.

This would have shut the city down and allowed the competition to swoop right in and grab the business.

This guy was not a Dupont fan to say the least.

No one in sales had any idea how exactly our product got to the customer.

Except me.

So I jumped in my trusty Taurus and headed for the airport with some blank bills of lading and Yellow III stickers taped to all sides of the car.

When I got there, the guy at Delta pointed to a mountain of missorted packages and told me “Good luck.”

Long story short, I found all the missing shipments and spent the night delivering product to Phoenix, Tuscon and all the way up to Flagstaff.

This event would mark the start of a very successful sales career for a guy who was embarrassed to say he worked on the dock.

The post When Calamity Turns To Opportunity first appeared on Bob O'Hearn.

This picture reminds me of my last day in Vietnam. It was just after the TET Offensive and our base was still recovering.

My nerves were shot from anticipation. I couldn’t believe I was finally going home after more than a year in that steaming hell hole.

I couldn’t wait to hear the sound of traffic, horns beeping and the hustle and bustle of the life we all take for granted.

As I was walking through the village for the last time, I saw a group of ragged little kids running around trying to shake down soldiers for spare change. Nothing unusual about that. Life in the jungle.

Then I saw this beautiful little blonde headed boy. He was dirty and had sores all over his body.

I was crestfallen. Here I was finally going home and this beautiful little boy was doomed to a life of war, disease and terror.

This was 1968 and the war showed no signs of letting up.

I often think of him and wonder what his life was like.

God help him.

The post Left Behind first appeared on Bob O'Hearn.

By the time she grew me up enough to send me off to war, the toll of ten kids were plainly evident.

Her teeth were shot, her hair had yellowed and her legs were a lumpy, painful, blue from varicose veins.

She wore a housecoat twenty four seven and never left our crowded, chaotic apartment.

On the rare occasion she would venture out, she would use my father’s tweed overcoat and an old kerchief.

It was usually a cigarette run because the kids were in school.

It was a heartbreaking sight.

But her spirits were always high and her sense of humor was devilish.

She loved music and a good high ball.

If anyone had a reason to bemoan their plight, it was her.

But not my girl, she was one in a million.

I miss you, Nora,

Love, Bobby

The post One In A Million first appeared on Bob O'Hearn.

I’ve been in kitchens since 1958. I cooked on trucks, ships, planes and battlefields.

I cooked for the mob, the government and the penitentiary.

I graduated from the The Chef’s Training Institute in Boston and worked some of the finer establishments on the East coast.

I have been around and have my AA membership card to prove it.

I am also a certified nutritionist and a fitness professional.

I love the food game but it has its pitfalls.

The caliber of what goes for the title of “Chef” these days leaves a lot to be desired.

You can be experiencing the finest cuisine in the dining room, while knuckles are being dragged back in the scullery.

Which leads me to what I’m still brooding about.

I was a food runner at a local country club, a job I enjoyed very much.

I was working doubles, which was demanding, but I could easily handle it.

On this particular Friday night, the fried fish special was really taking off.

So the sous chef, a bully in his own right, started raising hell and making threats. Nothing unusual.

This time it’s at me and it’s personal. Guess I wasn’t moving fast enough.

Now, he’s got a 78 year old white guy who he has no respect for in his sights and he’s off to the races.

He threatened to put me in the hospital, break every bone in my body and maybe even shoot my dog.

He didn’t let up. You could hear it in the dining room.

It went on for at least twenty minutes.

I’m thinking, “I’ve been through hell and back in my long life and now I’m gonna meet my end in a dingy kitchen with a range fork up my ass?”

When it blew over, he was all apologies and asked for my forgiveness and my understanding.

I, of course, agreed and when he walked away I put my French knife back in the drawer.

Fool me once….

The post Murder On The Menu first appeared on Bob O'Hearn.

The long game:

I was 62 when I cashed out of Bristol Myers Squibb in 2008.

I was worth well over a million bucks in cash and booty.

Never satisfied, I went out the BMS back door and came in the front and offered my video production services as well as an e-mail marketing plan before anyone was aware of what that was.

The business ran it’s course, I had some financial failures and now I live in Arizona on social security.

I wouldn’t change a thing.

But social security doesn’t quite cover everything, so I need to supplement my income.

This isn’t a financial planning message…it’s purely physical.

If you need to keep on, keeping on , listen up.

For the most part the work you will get will be physical labor.

If you’re not up to it, or don’t look the part, this part of your golden years will be very difficult.

At almost 79, I train every day and feed myself like an athlete.

If you came from a good corporate position and you find yourself in a service industry trying to make ends meet, you might be in for a culture shock.

The human resources manager might also be the receptionist.

It can be long hours, demanding customers and very interesting co-workers.

Just a reminder : The game ain’t over…yet.

Stay in shape or hell will come early.

The post Working Overtime first appeared on Bob O'Hearn.

I started running in earnest on January 1, 2018. The route I charted was exactly 4.9 miles door to door.

It commenced at 4:00 am rain or shine. A safe bet in Sun City Arizona.

At the four mile mark I always ran by the Fry’s gas station and I would notice the gas price was $2.22 a gallon .

It never changed. For three years. I thought it was broken.

I had just had my car repossessed a few weeks earlier, so it didn’t matter to me that much.

But I would still take notice.

Then we had an election.

And that folks, is the rest of the story.

The post Dump At The Pump first appeared on Bob O'Hearn.

When people ask me how much formal education I’ve had, I usually say, “Not enough to hurt me.”

On April 11, 1968 I boarded an old Pan Am jet at Cam Rahn air base, headed for Fort Lewis, Washington, to trade in my jungle fatigues for a steak dinner, a new uniform and a flight home to Boston after a year in Vietnam.

I had an excitement headache for three days.

At SeaTac airport, my pain turned to shock when a group of college students lined up to yell “baby killers, murderers and war criminals” at us as we boarded our planes for our final leg on our much anticipated journey home.

I am reminded of that day as I see young college students today with just enough intelligence to be dangerous, wreaking havoc all over the country today.

Blocking traffic, destroying works of art and being a danger to society.

College should be called institutions of lower learning.

Rinse and spit.

The post Institutions Of Lower Learning first appeared on Bob O'Hearn.