Day 56 Picky Eats and Tiny Seats

Day 56

Picky Eats and Tiny Seats

Today crawled by at a snails pace. I guess I shouldn't complain about that, and I'm not really, it's back to work tomorrow. But when the day feels long I have to watch myself a little closer. I'm not worried about going over my calories, just occasionally mismanaging them. If I have too many calories too early, then I've short changed dinner time or I'll have to eliminate a late evening snack. I just had an apple, great snack! And really, that's all the calories I had left today. Apples are really good all by themselves. I say that because I use to slather a bunch of high calorie peanut butter on them. Apples with peanut butter are still a wonderful and nutritious snack, but at 100 calories per tablespoon,peanut butter is a little pricey for my calorie budget. I almost bought some celery the other day, but I didn't. I just don't know if I can enjoy it without cheese -whiz, cream cheese, or peanut butter in the celery groove, you get me? I must sound like a really picky eater, I don't think I am, but maybe Irene or one of my daughters could give a better assessment of my food pickiness. Just ask Irene about my rules for lettuce consumption, you'll think I'm nuts. And I'll admit I'm like a little kid when it comes to “food touching” on my plate. Only certain foods are allowed to touch. Two foods that have any kind of “run-off” shall not be placed on the same plate! I don't go to extremes with it, like eating only one thing at a time until it's gone then moving on to the next item, I just like a nice little separation between foods. Now if the meal is meat loaf, corn, and mashed potatoes, all rules can go out the window. You could put that meal in a blender and I would still eat it. Corn is always welcome to get into my potatoes and if a little meat loaf wants to jump in, well come on, the potatoes are fine! I remember our big family reunions when I was a kid and how I was always amazed at the pile of mixed foods some people would create. “Excuse me uncle, but your jello is getting in your potato salad, and that can't be good.” My grandfather was a mixed food eater. He didn't mind one bit if it was all up on each other. As long as it was edible, he had zero complaints. He loved apples too. Come to think of it, I don't ever remember him cutting up an apple and slathering peanut butter on it, he would just eat it like an apple was meant to be eaten. Tonight I sliced up a tomato, added a little salt, put it on a separate plate and enjoyed it as a side at dinner. I usually don't like to eat tomatoes without bacon and mayonnaise, or at least a hamburger or taco around it, but it was good stuff! Certain foods like tomatoes, pickles, onions, jalapeños, green peppers, and things like that can really add a ton of flavor value to your daily allotment without adding a bunch of calories. Can you tell I'm trying to not be so picky? I'm trying to broaden my food horizons and get the most out of 1500 calories a day.

Weigh day is fast approaching. I can't wait to weigh! How much will it be? I don't know! But I almost guarantee I'm below 450, I mean seriously six pounds would put me at 449...and I bet I've lost a little more than that. But I'm not guessing this time! The time before last I guessed too high and last time I guessed too low. I'll just wait until Wednesday and we'll see what this two week period has shed. I'll say this, driving Irene's little car is getting much easier, actually enjoyable a little bit. I've had to drive it a bunch lately since I killed Bambi's daddy with the van. At 505 lbs I could barely fit behind the wheel, it was a really tight and embarrassing squeeze, but now it's not so bad. I'm still a little big for it but nothing like before. I love getting smaller! I'll have another “smaller” moment tomorrow night when we attend the Ponca City High School Awards ceremony honoring Courtney and other honor students. The last time we attended the awards I was over 500 pounds and the little seats are a really tight squeeze. Almost impossible really. Last time I made myself squish into one and my legs went to sleep. I remember turning to Irene and telling her that I didn't know if I would be able to get out of the seat without some kind of major assistance, I mean I was in there real tight! It was horrible! The entire ceremony I was consumed with the thought of how I would get up once it was over. And what if someone says “please rise” I'll look completely disrespectful if I don't rise! I wish I had a picture of me in that seat, because I bet you couldn't even see the seat, it was buried underneath me. Tomorrow night I'll give you an update of how the seat felt and fit this time! Maybe now I can concentrate on the honors being given to my daughter and not the death grip of my arena chair. I'm very proud of Courtney, after almost a year and a half into her high school career and she still has perfect straight A's. She works very hard and very smart. She had to get it from her mother, because I never put that much effort into my school work. And Courtney does it with a part time job plus working out with us everyday! Courtney and Amber have made the whole raising teenagers phase of our life really easy. We're truly blessed by that. I'm proud of them both!

Amber even went jogging tonight! Jogging! Just the word sends chills up my spine. I couldn't imagine. A brisk walk is all I can do right now, maybe jogging someday, but wow. Way to go Amber girl! I bet you felt an amazing rush of accomplishment when you finished your jog. And a bunch of endorphins making you feel all good inside. Did you know that endorphins are released by our bodies as a defense mechanism? I read all about them. When we exercise our body doesn't understand the difference between running from a lion or running for exercise benefits. It can't tell if we're trying to save our life or just trying to drop some weight. So it releases endorphins to minimize pain and give us a rush of groovy feelings. That's my non-scientific explanation. Just Google “endorphin” and you too can read all about it!

It's time to call it a day 56. Tomorrow is fast approaching and I better get to bed. Good day today, did very well. Calories were perfect, the workout at the Y today was fantastic, and I can almost feel myself getting thinner! It's a great feeling my friend. Good night and...

Good Choices,

Sean