Day 20 The Cowboys and Me: Victorious

Day 20

The Cowboys and Me: Victorious

Today was not an ordinary Saturday. I had planned on getting my walk in early then going to the OSU Texas A&M football game. An afternoon nap instead gave little time to get to the stadium for kickoff. (This meant a late night walk in the dark park, and I survived that just a little while ago) We arrived at Boone Pickens Stadium right after kickoff, and I fully expected to get a complete workout just walking to the stadium and up to our seats. It was not a workout at all! I wasn't out of breath one time. Why? Well, OSU has made it real easy to get to the stadium with their free parking shuttle bus routes. We parked and hopped on a bus and were dropped off maybe a half block from the front gates. When we got in the stadium we had a choice. Stairs or escalator. Which one do you think I chose? No, actually I chose the escalator. But with good reason! I was anticipating a big climb up the stadium steps and I didn't want to be completely depleted by the time we got there. So we stepped onto the escalator and discovered that our seats were no more than, oh I'm guessing here, probably thirty yards from the top of the escalator. We showed the tickets to the usher and he pointed to a big tightly packed group of fans. Our seats were somewhere in the middle of those people. I wasn't looking forward to “excusing” myself through all of those people, then finding our official seats, and then spending the rest of the game crowding those around us. Because I'm telling you, the inches they give each seat number is ridiculous. If the stadium were full of kids it would be perfect, but it's full of adults...some big and some small. And the small ones are the people that end up sacrificing their space for us larger people. Well, I just happened to notice four seat numbers vacant right on the front isle of that section. I asked the usher if we could sit there just until someone came along to claim them. He was indicating the answer was no, then I told him that I could see it was really packed tight up around our official seat numbers and I really didn't want to crowd anyone. After I said that he was totally cool with the idea. He completely understood and so there we were, right at about the forty yard line half way up on the isle. This meant absolutely zero stadium step climbing. To tell you the truth, I was kind of looking forward to the challenge, but I knew I would be much more comfortable where we were—with plenty of room. It was perfect except for the loud guy behind us who insisted on yelling at the referee after what seemed like every play. I've never understood yelling at the referee. Could you imagine the ref getting on his microphone and saying... “after further review and advice from the guy in section 332 row 53 seat 5, the call is reversed, the touchdown stands and I'm getting Lasik eye surgery as soon as possible”. It became rather entertaining to listen too after a while. What's funny is I'm pretty sure this guy was stone cold sober because they don't sell alcohol at Boone Pickens Stadium. I can't imagine what he would have been like after three or seven beers. My Uncle Keith and I didn't get to the game in time to take advantage of the standing tailgate invitation we had, so we just grabbed a diet beverage at the concession stand. I didn't plan on buying anything to eat at the stadium and even if I did, I doubt I could stand paying the really high prices and calories. I paid $4.50 for a medium sized Diet Dr. Pepper, for that price it better taste more like regular Dr. Pepper! It really was a fun time and to make it even better, the Cowboys beat the Aggies 56 to 28! By the way, nobody ever showed for the isle seats we borrowed making it real comfortable the entire game. The great thing is by next year at this time I'll perfectly fit in the very small space each seat number provides. That'll be nice!

When I arrived home I made myself a nice big ham and cheese sandwich with Miracle Whip and one hundred and forty calories worth of Nacho Cheese Doritos. I love Nacho Cheese Doritos, have since I was a kid, and now they're even cheesier! Some people wouldn't believe that a person could lose weight on some of the things I've had in the last 20 days, but again...portion control. I didn't eat half a bag of Doritos, instead I had a very satisfying portion for 140 calories. Oh, and the Miracle Whip? Only 35 calories per teaspoon, and I use less than that. Real mayonnaise is something I avoid because it's about 100 calories instead of the 35 I use with Miracle Whip, besides I've always preferred Miracle Whip anyway. Real mayo is something I put in the category of “bad calorie value” items. I know I've talked about eating whatever you want, but you still have to budget your calories and stay at or below your daily allowance. Things like real mayo, peanut butter, and real butter just don't have a good “calorie value” at all. I love peanut butter, and I'm sure I'll have it at sometime during this journey, but at 100 calories a tablespoon, I'll be very careful about when and how much I have. Did I mention I had a very nice desert too? After my hearty ham and cheese sandwich and Nacho Cheese Doritos dinner I still had over 200 calories remaining. So I had a banana split ice cream sandwich. Yep, I did! It's only 160 calories and I ate it slow and easy until it was melting between my chocolate covered finger tips. Is this really dieting? I know it must not sound like it sometimes. I like to keep some frozen treats in the freezer just for situations like these...It's at the end of the day, I still have calories left, and bam...Ice Cream sandwich with absolutely no guilt whatsoever. We also have some Blue Bell Dreamsicle Pops in there...You know, the ones that are like an orange popsicle on the outside and on the inside they're filled with vanilla ice cream? Those things are only 70 calories each. 70!! That's so nice to know huh? And these are not the “lite” or “fat free” or “sugar free” versions, no my friend, these are the real deal. The only difference now is a box in our freezer will last a while, instead of 24 hours like so many times before. I hate to admit this, but I once ate like six or seven ice cream bars in one sitting. They're so good! And you know how I am with ice cream...Wait, hold on...Let me re-phrase that...You know how I WAS with ice cream.

I'm so proud of everybody that is on board with their own personal missions to lose weight and get healthier while reading this daily blog. Your success motivates me even more, so please keep up the good work! And by all means leave a comment and give everyone who reads this an update! Don't be shy! The entire purpose of this blog is to keep me honest and accountable with my family and friends and most importantly with myself. And to show as many people as possible that losing weight doesn't have to be hard, and that it only takes the proper mindset and the ability keep track of calories and be a little more physically active. This blog is a lifesaver to me. Literally...a lifesaver.

Good Choices,
Sean