Day 6 Learning From The Past

Day 6

Learning from the past

Today being the first Saturday of this mission, I knew it would be slightly more difficult. It really wasn't that bad at all. My determination is so rock solid at this point that I truly believe you could take me to a buffet restaurant and I would still eat within my calories. I had this same determination in 2004, but this time it's different. It's different because I've learned from the mistakes of 2004. I understand myself much better, and that understanding makes me stronger. It's like a football coach watching film of a game his team lost, then adjusting his strategy to win the next game. This is my next game, I've watched the film of the last one and I know exactly what went wrong. In case you're not familiar with the story, I'll tell ya: In March of 2004 we all got busy. Irene, Me, Courtney, and Amber were all on the wagon, supporting each other and exercising together everyday. We had family weigh-ins every two weeks. After a little over four months we had lost over 200 pounds collectively. I had lost 115. Then we went on vacation to Kansas City. We hadn't really discussed our strategy for calories during the trip until we were in the vehicle on the way out of town. We decided that calorie counting had no place on our little before school getaway. We decided for that four day period we would eat whatever we wanted. Well, we immediately found a bag full of goodies. Little Debbie snack cakes, Nutty Bars (my favorite), and high calorie soft drinks and chips filled us as we drove. When we arrived in KC, we immediately looked for a restaurant to really cut loose. We found one, I don't remember what the place was called, but I bet they remember me! We were on a tear. At the hotel they had a very nice complimentary breakfast full of all the bagels and cream cheese and donuts you could ever want. Our first night in the room, we ordered pizza as a fourth meal, or was it a fifth? Who was counting? Not me! We were livin' large and eating way too much every chance we had. Of course we told ourselves that when the trip was over, it was back to counting calories. But, here's where we messed up. The practice of counting calories is not something I plan on doing for the rest of my life. It's not really hard or anything like that, but I just wouldn't want to do it forever. Counting calories now is a way to lose the weight, but it also teaches us lessons on portion control. Sometimes we don't realize how many calories are in what we eat, but counting calories lets us know, not only the calories but the size. Counting calories teaches us how to make healthy choices while budgeting our calories. We didn't understand that part of the journey. We didn't understand that counting calories was suppose to teach us how to eat better, control portions, and not eat just for the sake of pigging out. It was suppose to teach us lessons in eating that we could carry on for the rest of our lives. Instead of recognizing these lessons, we acted like we had just been rescued from a deserted island and we were going to make up for all the food we didn't get before. When we got back home it was like we completely forgot about the plan. We stopped working out on a regular basis and started being dishonest about our calorie intake (I know I did) And once you start being dishonest with yourself, then it's all over. One day led to another and before you know it we were right back to eating whatever we wanted, as much as we wanted, and we didn't exercise. We would say...”hey, we have to get back on the wagon”...”yeah, let's start Monday”...and Monday we would continue our old ways.
We have a plan now. We have goals. We have watched the film so to speak of our past failure...We are determined. We are learning how to eat again.

My late Uncle Jimmy never had a weight problem that I know of. He was always very slim and he was never obsessed with food in the least. He use to say...”I eat to live, I don't live to eat”...I've always remembered that. I haven't really followed that way of thinking, but I remember!

Two people asked me today if I was going to share this blog with the listeners of my morning radio show. Wow, should I? I think I will. It is very personal though, but I've always been very personal, sincere, and real with my listeners. However, I've never revealed how much I weigh. Hmmm. I think I will share the address of this blog with them. If it helps one person with their struggle, then it will have been worth it.

Today was interesting. I had a couple of remote broadcast, the second being from noon to three pm. They were cooking out at this one...Hamburgers, hot dogs, brats, and everything to go with them. It was lunch time and I was ready to eat something, but I knew that I didn't want to spend too many calories. I decided I would check the calorie count on the packages they were using. I settled on a Bratwurst without the bun and mustard. 315 calories, and it was good and juicy. I ate it slow and enjoyed every bite. That's another thing we'll talk about soon. Eating slow is so important!

I'm going to go walk! Have a great day and thank you for your support!

Good Choices,
Sean