Day 191 An Official New Waist Size and "Twittering" Along The Way

Day 191

An Official New Waist Size and “Twittering” Along The Way

What a fantastic day. Did it go exactly how I wanted? No, not at all. But it was good. I had two more “wow look at you, oh my, you've really lost the weight” kind of encounters today. I love those. They can just keep right on coming and coming. All they do is fire me up even more. One person commented, “you're gonna have to break down and buy some new clothes.” Very true. The jeans I was wearing at that moment were 54's, at least 5 sizes too big, and I'm counting each inch as a size. But with a maxed out belt on they stay up, at least for now. When I arrived home to get ready for the “Lose To Win” Seminar tonight I decided to try on the size 48's that I bought a month ago. Remember these? I knew they wouldn't fit when I bought them, but that didn't stop me from trying to squeeze into them that very first day I brought them home. I did get them buttoned that day, but the comical results and possible internal injuries told me that I'd better wait a little while longer. Well, I decided that today meant I've waited long enough. I pulled them down out of the closet and marveled at their tininess. Looking at them and holding them up causes a strange struggle inside my brain. Part of me still sees myself as that 505 pound guy wearing 62's, and sometimes 64's. I'm looking at these “tiny” 48's and my brain is saying “keep dreaming buddy, you couldn't get a leg into these jeans.” That's fine, because I've always been a dreamer, and if I've learned one thing in the last 191 days it's this: We all have the power to achieve our dreams if we truly decide to make it happen, then champion the cause and defend it with everything in our power. Anyway...back to the jeans. A month ago I had to lay down on the bed to button them. As I pulled them up over my rear I could tell that I wouldn't need to be horizontal to button these little things. No, not this time my friend. I pulled together the button and button hole like they were meant to be together. They hugged each other tight, but not too tight. It was a good kind of tight. They fit! Then confetti started falling from the ceiling and a marching band came right out of the closet playing “Eye Of The Tiger,” it was crazy. OK, maybe the confetti and band was all in my head, but that's how it felt. Like a celebration, a triumphant celebration. Now when someone ask “Sean, what size are you?” I can honestly say 48 waist. I'm not sure if anyone will, come to think of it, I can't remember anyone in the last 20 years asking me my size, but whatever! If it happens I'll be ready! But “size 48” will only be my answer for a limited time...We're on our way down to a previously unimaginable size.

Last night I missed my scheduled weight training because I had to be on the air for severe weather coverage. Like I said yesterday, my plan was to get it in sometime today. Well, that's the “didn't go as planned” part of today's schedule. I just had way to much to do and the weight room closes at 9pm. So, that's OK, I'm alright with this, I'll simply do the planned upper body routine tomorrow. Tomorrow will not be as packed as today. It frustrates me to miss it because I'm all about the “c” word. Consistency is the key to this deal. If you've read along the way, you know that already. Consistency, consistency, consistency! If you consistently make good choices, then you'll consistently have good rewards, it's a very simple arrangement. But I shake it off now...I can't go back and rearrange my day to make that weight training happen, so I move ahead with positive momentum. Courtney had a tremendous amount of studying to do tonight, so Irene and I headed to the trail after dinner and busted out a 5K. I did about five “burst” of jogging along the way, but settled into a power walk after my left shin started burning to beat the band. I'm sure it was a good burn, but what do I know? I've said it numerous times, I'm not an expert! And you know how cautious I can be, easy does it right? Anyway, the 5K tonight under the stars was an incredible workout. Every time Irene's pace would get a little too far ahead, I'd jog to catch up. By the time we finished she was still a good minute in front of me. Irene can flat out move! And when she walks, she not only power walks, she shadow boxes, and stretches, and lunges, and all kinds of things that make me wonder if she's alright up ahead there. Oh, she's alright, alright. She's doin' fine, real fine, and lookin' real fine too! After all, she's lost over 100 pounds too! I need to ask her if I can post some “way before” and “in progress” pictures of her fine self on this blog real soon!

I enjoyed the most flavorful breast of chicken in the world tonight, accompanied by a pile of tomato slices, probably too much salt, a half a baked potato, and a few individual pieces of deep fried okra. I would describe deep fried okra to my friends and readers in the great white north, but it wouldn't sound good. OK, I'll try...It's a green vegetable full of little sticky seeds that you can eat. It's sometimes boiled, or pan fried, but my favorite is coated, breaded, and deep fried to a golden brown. Not the best “calorie value” food in the world, but that's why I had only a few pieces, like exactly three. Just enough to say, yeah, that's good alright. It was a good meal and well below what I had left to spend on dinner. After our 5K, I enjoyed a 90 calorie Blue Bunny Fudge Bar, that's right, chocolate ice cream on a stick! Who says losing weight has to be boring and without yummy things?

As if this blog isn't enough of my daily dealings and experiences as I go from 505 pounds to 230 or whatever feels good and right, today a friend of mine and regular reader suggested I “Twitter.” What in the world? Twitter? Apparently it's a big craze sweeping the world, and I just happened to be completely oblivious to it's existence. I was given a quick tutorial and now I'm “twittering” regularly. If you're interested, and trust me, I completely understand if you're not, you can “follow” my “twittering” at any given time by going to www.twitter.com/seanaanderson The extra “A” in the middle stands for Allen, that's my middle name. Twitter, it seems, answers a very simple question: What are you doing right now? For me it might be what I'm eating right now, what I'm doing at the gym right now, or how I'm feeling right now or what I'm doing at work right now...or basically any number of things that could probably lead to “Sean Overload.” I may try it out and not like it, but I'll give it an honest try, if for no other reason than the fact that so many people are nuts about Twitter. Remember when we didn't have cell phones and e-mail, let alone Twitter and texting, or computers, and remember when the word “blog” didn't even exist? How did we ever survive? Oh yeah, we got along just fine, in fact we got along just great! I just received an IM on my PC and a millisecond later my camera/video camera/alarm clock/mp3 player/hand held internet/stopwatch/date book/phone device buzzed to notify me of it's arrival. I disgust myself sometimes! Communication has certainly been redefined in the new millennium.

I'm going to turn off all of these sometimes ridiculous devices and get some sleep now. Thank you for reading. If you attended the free Ponca City Medical Center “Lose To Win” seminar tonight, you caught a good one! I certainly enjoyed speaking briefly after Fitness and Life Coach Melissa Walden's awesome presentation. If you couldn't attend, ask someone who did to tell you about Melissa's wood burning stove/metabolism analogy. I was only scheduled for five to ten minutes, Irene told me it was still 15 minutes. I just can't help it sometimes. When you're as passionate about something like I am about this journey, you can't help but talk about it to whomever will listen. And an auditorium with people on the same kind of journey makes for some good listeners! Take care of you and I sincerely appreciate your support! Good night and...

Good Choices,
Sean