Day 63 The "Fat Guy" List and The Habit Exchange

Day 63

The “Fat Guy” List and The Habit Exchange

Sometimes plans don't exactly go as planned! Anyway, we didn't do the 5K today, we're planning on doing it Monday evening about 5:30pm. I'm excited about it! I'm a little disappointed that the scheduling didn't work right tonight, but that's OK! Staying upbeat and positive is very important to anything, especially losing a dramatic amount of weight. And it has to be a genuine positive attitude. It's easy to fake one, but I sincerely try to condition my thoughts to be upbeat most of the time, despite circumstances that may exist.

We're just 48 hours from the great barbecue rib showdown of 2008. We're meeting friends for ribs on Tuesday night. The special at the restaurant we're going to is “all you can eat”, but the great thing is you don't have to select that option. I will not! Ribs are loaded with calories. One single rib, depending on size, can have as much as 477 calories! Ouch. I may opt for a chicken choice. Or request really small ribs, more along the lines of 250 a piece. I wonder if they've ever had someone request “small” ribs. “Uh, excuse me, these ribs are way too meaty, could you take them back and give me some small ribs, ya know, mostly bone if you could.” And by the way, that calorie count is without any sauce. Oh my word, ribs are scary to a calorie counter! I'm sure they have some excellent alternatives. I'll be just fine!

I just received a new big and tall catalog in the mail. I don't really know how this one found me, I've never bought anything from them before. Maybe I'm on some kind of “fat guy list”, I don't know. Is there such a list? Probably. Actually I bet the other big and tall store I have done business with, sold their list of big people, or maybe this new catalog is a division of the bigger company. All of their stuff in this new catalog is less expensive. Most of it is “on clearance”...Great, maybe I made the “Fat poor guy” list. Hey, that's just fine by me, I'm all about saving money! Of course sometimes saving money can backfire. The last time I bought jeans at the big and tall store I learned that lesson. Irene was trying to convince me to buy the Levis. I wouldn't do it, because they were sixty-five bucks. And the store had a no name brand on sale two for seventy. I went with the cheaper jeans and boy was I sorry I did. When a person is as large as me, they have to be aware that they are much harder on clothes than a normal size person. I didn't think about that in opting for the less expensive no-name brand. Within a week and a half, both pairs had ripped out beyond repair. The denim used to make these things were nearly paper thin. That's why they were so cheap! You get what you pay for huh? I was so upset, and Irene tried to get me to take them back and complain, but the closest I came to driving all the way back to Tulsa with my ripped out britches was an angry voice-mail to the manufacturer, and they never called me back. Probably too busy counting their money and making sure their denim supply was the worst quality possible. It'll be so nice to wear normal sized clothes. To be a 2X or even just a plain old 1X would be so nice. I've been a 6X for so long! I wont know how to act.

My goal for the next weigh day is to be into the 430's. It may be too early to talk about, since it's over a week away, but it shouldn't be that hard of a goal to hit. 439 would be a nine pound loss. That's completely do-able. That weigh day is the 25th so I'll be patient! It feels so good to be on my way down. I've discovered that I can sleep longer. It's weird, but even with my C-PAP machine, I could never sleep more than about six hours at a time. Now, on some weekends I'll sleep nine or ten no problem. And I know that even slender people can have sleep apnea, I'm really beginning to think that I'll be one of those big people that lose the weight and the sleep apnea. I'm completely conditioned to use it every night, I can't imagine sleeping without it, but I look forward to not having to mess with it anymore! I certainly hope that's the case when I get down there to 230 or 250, or where ever I should be. I've also noticed that there really isn't a walking problem at all anymore. What I mean is, before at 505 lbs, just walking across the parking lot would wind me, not now. I can walk fast without breathing hard at all. Feels great I'll tell ya!

It's funny how when you start doing the things you need to do, other habits just fade away naturally. I use to play poker on the internet for fun every night. I mean every night. I spent hours upon hours playing poker, sometimes on multiple sites at the same time. I would be in a Poker After Dark freeroll on Full Tilt, while playing a $500 dollar freeroll on Poker Stars, while playing another free tourney on NLOP. And if we deposited ten bucks on Poker Stars, then I'd be in a dollar tournament of some kind too. I was poker crazy! But that all changed on September 15th, 2008. I have played a couple of “play money” tournaments on Full Tilt, using Irene's free chips, but that's about it. I've replaced my poker playing with working out and writing this blog. I think that was a great substitution! I exchanged a time consuming, some might say bad habit, with a couple of great habits. And I did it without meaning to really, I didn't come right out and say, “I'm going to severly limit the number of poker tournaments I play”...It has just happened naturally. There's only so much time in a day right? Speaking of time, it's late and the 4:45 am alarm is set for another Monday. Thank you for reading, good night and...

Good Choices,
Sean