Day 228 The Mountain High and Snack Talk Then A 5K Walk

Day 228

The Mountain High and Snack Talk Then A 5K Walk

I jumped right up this morning, no snooze alarm for me today! It's just not like me to not enjoy at least one nine minute snooze. I set the alarm early to allow for a snooze or two. This morning there was a spring in my step and it was because of the fantastic weigh day results. I'm in the 340's! That makes me really happy. After 156 pounds, I can clearly see what use to seem so far out of reach. Too many times I let the overwhelming burden of my weight discourage me from even trying to lose an ounce. The mountain before me looked way to big to even think about climbing. Just thinking about the task before me would make me depressed and then I would do what came naturally when I was depressed, I'd eat everything in sight, and if it wasn't in sight, I'd go to the store and grab it! Of course this did nothing for me but make the situation even more serious as the weight piled on. It was a vicious cycle. The more I gained, the more out of reach it seemed, and the more I gained, the more reasons I had to get busy. But just knowing that I desperately needed to lose weight wasn't even close to being enough to make me do something positive in that direction. Now I'm getting closer and closer to the mountain top. I've proven to myself that if I just keep moving in the right direction, a step at a time, I will get there for sure. I'm not there yet, but I'm making positive progress everyday. It's a consistent effort that defeats this mountain. I can see the flags raised on top of this mountain by those who've gone before me. I'm going to make it this time, I'm really going to make it! I will be up there raising my flag of freedom from obesity and helping others as they climb behind me.

I met Brandon, my friend and our “Lose To Win” teammate, at Subway for lunch. I thought we would share a foot-long, but Brandon had an even better idea. A kids meal. That's right, two big grown men, and there we were today ordering a kids meal. The old habits we both have in common would have no doubt given each of us our own foot-long. But that was then, and this is now. The Mini-Fit Subway Sandwich was a perfect lunch portion, coming in at just under 200 calories. We had them load our sandwiches with a bunch of low cal veggies and it was good! We each had a bag of baked chips for 140, and I enjoyed Minute Maid Lite Lemonade, I think Brandon did as well. The Minute Maid Lite is only 5 calories per 8 ounce serving and it taste so much like the lemonade I remember as a kid. I usually don't allow drinks with calories, but this stuff is the exception everywhere I can find it! We each had a toy in our kids meal too! I couldn't finish my chips, seriously! I was sitting there picking at them like I had to finish them. It was very strange. Me not finishing my chips? That's crazy talk. But I didn't. After Brandon declined them, I threw 'em away. It was a very satisfying meal and we had a good conversation too. The best part had nothing to do with the food or conversation. The best part was our seating selection. Both of us have dealt with tiny booths before. We both can relate to walking into a restaurant and realizing that it's going to be a very uncomfortable visit because the seats are not made for morbidly obese people. I've even turned around and walked out of a restaurant before if they didn't have “fat friendly” seating. In my family, our dining out plans always hinged on one thing, it wasn't the food or the service, it wasn't the prices, it was always the seating arrangement. At Subway they have tables and free roaming chairs, fat friendly for sure, but they also have the once dreaded “Formica-Lined Row-A-Booths.” These things use to be impossible for me. In fact, any “fixed” seating was usually not big enough. Today, Brandon and I chose the row-a-booths and we were both comfortable as we enjoyed our fresh fit kids meals! Sitting with room to spare, not doing internal damage, and being totally comfortable, yes indeed, that was the best part. Oh, and we made plans to do another 10K this weekend, we might even do a couple of 'em just because we can now!

I stopped by the doctors office today for a blood pressure check. I'm happy to report a reading of 129/84. That's not only good, but it's fairly normal. My pulse was 74. I was very happy with these numbers! The doctor even said it was good and that's good enough for me! Oh by the way, it was the same doctor that gave me the wake up talk on June 10th, 2008. Now every time she sees me, she just smiles real big. That's awesome. She's really good at telling it like it is in graphic detail. She doesn't hold back and I really appreciate the “slap in the face” she gave me. Even though I didn't do anything about it until September 15th, 2008, her talk on June 10th was something that I thought about everyday, several times a day. Back then I was flirting with stroke level blood pressure, now it's normal. I have to give thanks for that!

Courtney and I made a trip to the Wal-Mart Super Center to stock up on some good snacks tonight. Our snack selection use to consist of: Nutty Bars, Chips and French onion sour cream dip, ice cream, frozen pizzas, hot pockets, deli fried burritos, and anything else loaded with calories. Tonight our trip was for bottled water, bananas, apples, string cheese, high fiber soft tortillas (7grams of fiber each!), and salsa. Slightly different list huh? We even stopped by the McDonald's located inside the store for a little “On The Go” Video with Ronald McDonald. We decided to show Ronald some healthy low calorie snack choices. The video is posted below. Now understand, I've had everything on the first list at least once along this journey, some of them many times, but I find myself seeking out better “calorie value” foods these days. I may still allow for a Nutty Bar every now and then, but have you ever enjoyed a lemon marinated apple slice? They're really good too! And you talk about a metabolism booster! The metabolism loves 'em! I've posted many of these “On The Go” Videos along this journey. If you're new to this blog, you'll find many more spread out along this journey in the archives. I haven't posted one in a while, so I was happy to do this one and I look forward to many more!

After our shopping trip it was off to the Hutchins Trail for a late evening 5K. As we walked we noticed how it was considerably more humid than usual. We were really sweating good before the first mile was down. The air was thick and smelled of rain as we power walked the trail. We ran into a couple of “Lose To Win” contestants while we walked, and that was very nice. But the best part? The best part came as we started the third mile. We were warm and drenched in perspiration when suddenly the clouds opened up just enough to sprinkle us with cool rain drops. It was just what we needed to boost us to the finish line of our 5K.

Thank you for reading, you're support is a wonderful blessing to me. Good night and...

Good Choices,
Sean


Ronald McDonald has been a big part of my life since the pre-school days. I actually remember different points in time, earmarked by the release of new McDonald's products. I was there the day they unveiled the McRib for the first time. I was there when Chicken McNuggets made their debut. Remember the McDLT? I do! It's high time I show Ronald some good calorie value snacks!