Day 198 Wearing The Fat Jeans plus Life, Liberty, and The Pursuit of Happiness

Day 198

Wearing The Fat Jeans plus Life, Liberty, and The Pursuit of Happiness

Today was a nice improvement over the last couple. I'm still experiencing some of the sneezing, but most of the symptoms have subsided, and that's good! Fitness and Life Coach Melissa Walden was my guest on the morning show today, and she always gets me fired up! It was a nice start to my Tuesday. Tomorrow is weigh day, and after the lower amount lost last time, I'm really anxious what I'll find on that scale tomorrow. Whatever it is, I'll be a big boy about it this time! I really didn't expect a slow down after the first 130 pounds. I expected a slow down after the first 180 or so. I figured the last 100 would be considerably harder to shed. And maybe this isn't a slow down that can't be boosted. Maybe with my improved eating schedule my metabolism will pick itself up, maybe with a few more “burst” in my workout routine, I'll burn more fat. It's all good really, you know what I mean? Good habits bring good results, pure and simple. Tweaking those good habits and fine tuning our performance might enhance the results, but the results will come one way or another. Good is good, and I'm doing fantastic, so there! I feel better.

I attended the “Lose To Win” Seminar at the Hutchins Auditorium tonight. Irene and Courtney had to miss this one because of Courtney's work schedule. Melissa Walden presented another fine program. I noticed more and more people asking questions like never before. That's a good thing! I hosted the event, filling in for Cathy Cole, and it went off without a hitch! I only talked for a few minutes after Melissa, keeping it real brief to avoid a sneezing fit in front of everyone, and I wanted to get everyone out of there a little earlier. I wore my “fat jeans” tonight. Not the “fat-fat jeans, just the “fat jeans.” “Fat-Fat” is size 62 or larger, my “fat jeans” are size 54's. They're very baggy and without a belt impossible to hold up. I remember the day I bought them, they fit nice and snug, no need for a belt. Now they're my “fat jeans,” that feels awesome! When I wear them I always hear “you're going to have to buy new clothes!” I never get tired of hearing that!

It felt incredible to get back into the YMCA tonight. I hit the treadmill running, well, uh...not running-running, just walking fast, and it was kicking my behind. Maybe being full of crud made me feel weak tonight, I don't know, but 3.8 mph was almost too much, I had to back it down to 3.5 for a majority of the workout. After I finished I ran into Mark's wife in the fitness center, she told me that Mark was downstairs in the weight room, so I headed down. I hated to tell him that I've missed my weight training sessions three times in the last week and a half. One because of work and two because of illness. I told him how difficult it was for me to accept these “excuses,” and he told me they weren't excuses, they were circumstances. Very true, I like that, makes me feel a little better. I also told him I was having trouble remembering some of the exercises, so he said he would bring me a book that illustrates how to do them properly. Mark is an incredibly nice guy, his generosity with his time and knowledge is priceless to me.

After a nice workout, Irene and I enjoyed dinner at Subway. We shared a foot long club and some baked chips. We were curious about the calorie count in some of their more elaborate sandwiches but they were out of nutritional pamphlets, and instead referred us to the Internet. That's fine, but I got a kick out of what she said as she walked away. “You'll also find Jared's diet on that web page.” I've written of the problem I have with Jared's method. Has he kept it off? Yes, he has, but at two million dollars a year, I'd make sure I kept it off too. Really, I think Jared is awesome, I just wonder how he adjusted to eating normal again. Instead of a foot and a half of subs a day, what did he do when all of a sudden he was faced with how to handle regular day to day food situations? That's all I've said about it, I question what his plan taught him along the way about how he interacts with other food. I'm opposed to any plan that calls for eating too much of any one food, or a plan that uses “meal replacement” products. And although a Subway sandwich can be a really healthy meal, Jared was using those subs as “meal replacements” every day, twice a day. Instead of confronting the issues, behaviors, and over-all relationship with food that helped put him over 400 pounds in the beginning. I guess after I've kept it off for ten years by eating a variety of regular, normal, everyday foods in a multitude of settings and situations, my argument will carry more weight, no pun intended.

Tomorrow we're all starting “Jillian's Detox Drink.” Jillian is that trainer from “Biggest Loser.” Dr. Amy gave me the recipe from one of Jillian's books. It's a gallon of distilled water, a tablespoon of real cranberry juice (the kind you find in a health food store, or at The Ranch—it's simply pressed cranberries, nothing artificial or unnatural) two tablespoons of lemon juice, and a dandelion tea bag. We'll drink 60 ounces a day in place of the regular water we've been drinking. After a few weeks, you switch to spring water or just filtered water. You would have to read the book to get exact directions, or just ask Dr. Amy about it at one of her Thursday night health talks. She can tell you the how and why it works. It's so easy to make, we'd be crazy not to give it a try!

This journey is all about happiness. You can't depend on someone to make you happy, you can't buy it at a store, or put it in a bank. You can only get it from you. Happiness comes from within each individual, and it might be different for everyone. Losing this weight, transforming into a much more confident and healthy person, seeing and hearing of the results experienced by so many friends and family, and sharing my journey with as many people as I can, those are the things that make me truly happy. It's life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. You want to be truly happy? Let go of all the hangups that have held you back, accept full responsibility for your choices, be consistent, be honest with yourself at all times, throw away the excuses and the blame game, rid yourself of the rationalizations that have kept you at the line of least resistance, and get ready to reap the rewards. Literally anything is possible when you do this, anything. It doesn't have to be about losing weight. Anything. It's amazing some of the life lessons this journey is teaching me. I'm a much happier person these days. Thank you for reading! Good night and...

Good Choices,
Sean