Day 14 Cookouts And Workouts

Day 14

Cookouts and Workouts

We have a bunch of family members on Irene's side that live within a very short distance from our house. It had been a while since we had a cookout with everyone, so it was decided that this evening would be the night, and our house was the place. The food started arriving this afternoon and it was my job to get it going on the grill. Everybody brought something to throw on. It was a a big spread of meats: Ribs, country style ribs, hot links, hamburgers, hot dogs, and polish sausage. I must have had twenty five thousand calories worth of meat on that grill. It was loaded up real good! It's family get-togethers like this that can really trip a calorie counter. I had a small lunch in anticipation of the cookout, so I knew I had over 800 calories ready for the meat. I forgot about the temptation of “picking” while preparing large quantities of food. Those ribs were begging me to cut a piece and enjoy their juicy goodness. I was so focused. I kept telling myself that I would have a plate when everyone was ready to eat and that was good enough to keep me at bay. I noticed something I had never noticed before. Every other cookout I've ever attended, it was all about the food. What are we having? When are we eating? How much will I get to eat? I've always been so focused on the food...but not tonight. I focused on conversation, I focused on visiting, I focused on enjoying the nice breeze on the patio, I focused on my iced tea and how good it was. And I enjoyed myself. Even after carefully preparing the ribs and all of the other meats on that grill, I wasn't that concerned with eating. I was enjoying myself visiting with family. For once in my life the food wasn't the most important thing to me. Come to thank of it, I was the one that finally said...”let's eat everybody”...But hey! The food was losing heat at that point! I made my plate very carefully. A hot link, a hamburger and a rib...No it's not the Atkins diet, but it sure looked like it. No bun for the burger, instead I dipped my burger and hot link in regular yellow mustard (yellow mustard is almost free by the way---very low in calories, but beware of honey mustard---Remember, not all mustards are created equal!). The rib had enough seasoning and sauce while cooking, so I didn't feel the need to add extra calories with barbecue sauce. I enjoyed my grilled meats at a very slow pace and it was good and all for about 650 calories! I survived a cookout, and one where I cooked all the meats! After everyone left, Irene, Courtney, and I headed for the walking trail. That mile is such a good workout for me at this weight. I sweat, my heart rate gets really high, and my legs burn. By the time I get back to the van I know I've worked out. As the weight drops it'll get easier and I'll increase my distance.

I'm really looking forward to getting back into the racquetball court with my racquetball partner, you might know him...his name is the wall. The wall never misses. The wall always returns my balls as quickly as I hit them. The wall never gets tired either. I don't follow the rules of racquetball, but I get the best workout ever just playing with the wall. The wall isn't even going to recognize me when we reunite soon. The last time I played with the wall was in August of 2004 when I was over 100 pounds lighter.

I was always apprehensive about working out in public. I finally have made myself get over it. After all, why am I embarrassed? At least I'm out here working on it! When I first started playing racquetball back in '04 I couldn't help but feel like a zoo animal on exhibit. The courts have a glass wall and people can see you in there as they walk by. They can even just stand there and watch you if they want. I would imagine parents walking by with their kids and saying things like...”Wow, check this one out...see Timmy, that's the unnaturally obese male couch potato in there...” I would imagine them reading a little info card in the bottom corner of the glass...”Hey dad, it says here that his natural habitat is a sofa, with a bag of chips, a remote, and a big glass of Coke Classic”...And the father would caution: “Don't get too close to the glass Timmy, if he misses the ball and comes back to hit that glass, it might break and he could get loose”. I know this is all in my head, I'm almost positive this never happened, and probably never will. If it does happen, I'll put on a good show...I'll make all kinds of noise! It'll be fun! Everybody has to start somewhere...ya know? Those people at the YMCA that look like they've been in fitness magazine shape their whole life, probably haven't...They started one day too. Just like me. Maybe not just like me, but still...They had to start somewhere! And so I refuse to allow myself to feel one bit of embarrassment when I start going to the YMCA to workout...I'll be there to do one thing and that's sweat baby, sweat!

I know there are big people like me that really don't care what anyone thinks of them. I was roommates during my comedy stay in Los Angeles with a guy who was as big or bigger than me, and he didn't care one bit. He would disrobe in front of everyone, it didn't matter to him one bit. He once took off everything and jumped onto a pool on TV. He didn't care about what the other people on the show thought of him and he didn't care about what people watching the show on TV thought of him. He was comfortable with himself no matter the size. I've never been comfortable with my size. I've always been aware of myself in public places. I never wanted to be “that fat guy”. That roommate by the way has lost a considerable amount of weight since then and is slowly getting it all off. And I'm sure that we are both losing the weight for similar reasons, the obvious health reasons are the biggest, but I'm also losing the weight because I don't want to be the fat guy everywhere I go. He didn't care. I admired that about him. Day 14 is history and I'm only two days away from stepping on the scale! I'm really looking forward to this weigh-in! If you too are losing weight—update us here! Comment with your progress! Thanks for reading and while you're here, click subscribe so you'll be notified with each new post.

Good Choices,
Sean