Day 254 Not The Best Choice and "Do I Want Fries With That?"

Day 254

Not The Best Choice and “Do I Want Fries With That?”

Some days, oh some days. Some days start out great and go well, then for whatever reason a decision is made that totally upsets my rhythm. Instead of working out last night I slept. Yep, that's right, Mr. Good Choices, Mr. Do the right thing slept from 6:45pm to 2:45 am. The plan was simple: take a refresher nap for an hour and then head to the YMCA for a good workout. I know that maybe I needed the sleep, OK, I'm being too hard on myself...I needed the sleep. But at the expense of my workout? It was the day before weigh day! I can't miss a workout the day before weigh day! I'm really upset with myself right now. Not for getting a solid eight hours of sleep, how can I be upset about that? I'm upset because if I wanted to go to bed early, fine. I just needed to get my responsibilities finished before hand. Instead I just threw them out the window and slept. Was I rebelling? Who knows. I'm happy to report that Amber still worked out without me, I'm very happy about that. Courtney is staying the night at a friends house, and she had planned to recruit her friends for a good walk, I bet she did too! And Irene was at work all evening. I can't get last night back and I can't get too down about it. It's over, lesson learned. What was the lesson? Manage my time better so that I'm not compelled to go to sleep for the night at 6:45 before my workout and nightly blog. If I managed my time correctly, there is no reason why I shouldn't be able to drop in bed by 9:45pm every night. I could get a wonderful seven hours a night that way. I should make that a goal. OK, it's official. My goal is to get in a workout, finish writing, and be in bed by 9:45pm on weeknights.

I'm always ready for weigh day and even though I know that missing my workout the night before probably will not make that much of a difference physically, it sure does mentally. Today (Tuesday) I enjoyed McDonald's for lunch. There are so many people that know about the journey I'm on and I always wonder if they'll see me in the drive-thru and get the wrong idea. “Would you look at that Mabel, Sean is going off the deep end, he's in the McDonald's drive-thru!” Just in case anyone could hear, I made sure to shout my order a little louder to prevent any confusion...Me: “I'LL HAVE A GRILLED CHICKEN WRAP WITHOUT SAUCE AND A FRUIT AND YOGURT PARFAIT.” McDonald's employee: “Could you please repeat that sir?” Me: “A 270 CALORIE GRILLED CHICKEN WRAP WITHOUT THE EXTRA 70 CALORIES WORTH OF RANCH, MAKING IT ONLY 200 CALORIES AND A 160 CALORIE FRUIT AND YOGURT PARFAIT.” McDonald's employee: “Would you like any fries or a hot apple pie with that today?” Me: “Are you serious?” Now don't get me wrong, I've enjoyed McDonald's fries on a few occasions along this journey, but not today. I have yet to have an apple pie, or have I? They are baked instead of fried. I don't think I have, anyway...McDonald's does deserve some kudos for putting the nutrition information on most of the wrappers and packages of items. I think they should do what they are required to do in New York and put the calorie counts on the menu next to each item. I think all restaurants should be required to do this! We had an early dinner Tuesday evening. I grilled some lean beef outside and prepared some mashed potatoes and some boiled okra with stewed tomatoes. The entire dinner plate checked in at 400 calories.

Cravings are something that I deal with on a regular basis. Cravings by themselves are not a bad thing. After all, I've lost weight using a philosophy that anything is permitted within reason, but when the cravings are coupled with crazy “pig out” ideas, that's when they're bad. I'm telling you right now, I could pick any fast food place with a fish sandwich, and easily eat two, maybe three of them. I love fish sandwiches! I almost ordered a fish for lunch, easy on the sauce, but didn't. If I had, I would have dropped the parfait from the calorie budget for sure. When we're talking about cravings and crazy “pig out” thoughts, we're really talking about two very different things. If I'm craving something, I'll eat it in a portion size that doesn't wreck my calorie budget. If I'm having crazy out of control thoughts about gorging, well, that takes a more aggressive approach. I have to stop myself, but how? By getting really serious with myself really fast. I've come too far and accomplished too much to throw it all away. My reasons for losing this weight are not small reasons, they're life or death reasons. I guess you could say that I bring out the hardcore dramatic motivating thoughts. I have a bunch of motivating thoughts, but when I need to shut down some crazy urges, I have to go to the big guns, the dying young scenarios always snap me back into reality. I've fallen victim too many times by submitting to these urges. And trust me, the feeling afterward is a hundred times worse than the feeling I had when I awoke and realized that I had slept right through my workout and writing time.

I'm headed out now at 4:45am to get in a quick 5K before my morning radio show. I have to hurry! I've never walked this early before, but I owe it to myself! I think it'll be fun and I know it will make me feel so much better about myself. Wish me luck on the scales today! Good morning and...

Good Choices,
Sean