Day 4 Fried Mushrooms And Ice Cream, Oh My!

Day 4

Fried Mushrooms and Ice Cream, Oh my!

Day 4 is coming to an end and with it another successful day of counting calories. Somebody asked me today if I write down everything I eat. No I don't. It's easy to remember, I have a running calorie count in my head all day. If you're trying to lose weight too, maybe writing everything down is good for you. I just prefer to cut down on the paperwork. After all, it's 1500 calories...three meals and a couple of snacks a day...Now if I were keeping track of my old eating habits I might want to carry a computer around to organize all the data, but not on 1500 calories. I'm kidding! I've never really consumed unnaturally large portions. Ok, there was that time at the Golden Corral that I ate enough for a small community, but they had just swiped nearly fifty bucks from me for the four of us to eat and I was determined to get our moneys worth in fried shrimp and steak. Contrary to what some might think, I don't always eat a big bunch of food. That's a common misconception about extremely obese people. Most fat people don't consume a dozen eggs, a pound of bacon, a half dozen biscuits, and a half gallon of gravy for breakfast. Most of us just eat too much-too often, and lead a very inactive lifestyle. That's me! I'm sitting down most of the day trying to figure out what I'm going to eat later, and if I do get a workout it's usually a trip to Wal-Mart. Wal-Mart and I have a love-hate relationship. I love the low prices everyday, but could they put the cheese and the ibuprofen a little closer together, and if I need something in automotive too, I'm gonna need to rest...that's a workout. So it's not record setting amounts of food in one sitting that has made me this big, it's consistently eating more than I need, more often, with very little physical activity.

Temptation is a very dangerous thing. If someone put an order of deep fried mushrooms from the Hideaway in front of me right now, wow...that would be a big temptation. I love those things. If a Braums Banana Split was offered I would have to fight the temptation really hard. But I firmly believe I could say no at this point. It doesn't mean I'll never have fried mushrooms or ice cream again, In fact I had ice cream just last night, it wasn't a banana split, it was a soft serve cone from McDonalds. I just can't allow myself to cut loose and pig out on anything, unless it's lettuce or celery or pickles. Yummy. I'm being sarcastic. The thing I love about calorie counting is: I can have just about anything in small portions.

When I'm faced with temptation I have to remember my long term goals. I have to remember what's at stake. And there isn't a food that's worth dying young over. Some might say...”Sean, just because you have an entire bowl of mushrooms and a banana split doesn't mean you've blown the entire thing”. I understand that way of thinking, but I also know myself. One bad decision leads to another, one bad choice can make me feel completely defeated, and oh well...I'll just start again Monday. Never mind that it might be Wednesday. I have to start on a Monday! Isn't that a weird way of thinking, but I don't think it's uncommon among people like me. I'm dealing with temptation by focusing on the future and all of the changes that will come with being healthier.

The walk tonight was noticeably easier. I know this is only day 4, but my pace was a little quicker. I didn't really walk any longer than before, just a little more brisk. My heart rate was coming up real good. Courtney agreed it felt better and easier. We had an early dinner today because Irene had to leave early, so by 4:45pm we were done with dinner. I just moved the afternoon snack to 9:15 and had a granola bar for 170 calories.

Another important element of this journey is drinking more water. I must increase my water intake. I drink coffee in the morning, then ice tea or diet soft drinks. But water is something special and we all know it! It increases your metabolism. It cleanses your body. It taste great! Ok, two out of three isn't bad. And good bottled water is mighty tasty when you want a nice cool drink. It's amazing, at work I have access to all the bottled water I can handle and it doesn't cost me a dime, but I'll still dig in my change tray to get enough together for a soda. That's changing. And with a flavor packet mixed in, it's like having kool-aid...so I can drink up!

I love it that my wife and daughters, and my mom, and other family members, and Rachel are all working on this together. If you are too, then great! Leave a comment or message and let me know how it's going. We can do this. We must do this. We will do this.

Good Choices,
Sean