Day 271 About The Future and Sailing Right Along

Day 271

About The Future and Sailing Right Along

A couple of my friends are having a really tough time lately. Their journey's are young and they're doing fantastic, however they're experiencing critical slumps that threaten their success. Remember in the movie Back To The Future when Marty gave Doc a note warning him of the Libyan terrorist? Marty had witnessed what had happened in 1985, and although Doc didn't want to hear about what happens in the future, he eventually read the note. When the Libyan terrorist showed up to kill Doc Brown in 1985, Doc was ready with a bullet proof vest that saved his life. Since I'm on Day 271 on this journey, I sometimes feel like Marty McFly when I warn of the pitfalls that can hit hard along this road. I understand the feeling of it all being over. I don't have enough fingers to count the number of my weight loss attempts that seemed so promising before crumbling to pieces along the way. Every now and then a certain mood can hit that really shakes us. Every now and then circumstances become too difficult and the added stress takes us down. Every now and then, for no apparent reason at all, we feel controlled by some kind of evil force that makes us want to binge regardless of how on track we've been. Those feelings and those circumstances, the stressful triggers and completely unexplained feelings of hopelessness can still roll up in their VW Bus even after 271 successful days. You have to put on your bullet proof vest. I'm warning you of these future situations, I've been there, I know what happens. If you don't protect yourself from the “weight loss terrorist” your weight loss journey will die. Put on the vest! You have to defend your journey with everything you can muster. You have to make one of the most solid decisions you've ever made. You have to decide that there isn't a circumstance, a person, place, or thing, or food and drink that can shake you. Once I decided that I would defend my success with everything I am, it made it so much easier to identify the potentially journey ending situations, circumstances, and emotions that always laid me out before. Life is always full of ups and downs. I knew that if I was waiting for a year or two free of weight loss pitfalls, so I could finally do it, I would never be successful. Don't let these 'downs' steal this away from you. You've worked way too hard to have it all stop now. Fight for yourself, you're worth it! Don't throw it all away over a slump. Slumps are temporary. Put on the bullet proof vest and survive the assault, then you'll be lifted by the 'ups' that come frequently and often in the nick of time along this wonderful road. You've got to believe you can. You can ya know. Seriously, I know I can, and do you realize how hopelessly lost I was for nearly two decades at 500 pounds plus? I know you can do it too.

I made a trip down to Stillwater tonight to pick up my mom and bring her back to our house for the weekend. Before heading over to get her, I met up with our friends Rachel and Neal at Taco Mayo. We had a nice visit over a taco. A crispy beef taco is 161 at Mayo, so to keep my snack at 150 or less, I ordered my taco minus cheese. I'll admit, that's a little too strict, 161 calories wouldn't have been bad at all. But I'm like that sometimes. Anyway, the visit was brief but very nice. Afterwards I made my way to my grandmothers house to pick up my mom for a weekend in Ponca City.

We talked about stopping at The Paradise Ballroom on the way back to see a concert but it just would have put us up way too late. We still had a workout to accomplish and a blog to write, not a good night for a concert. I almost made an exception considering the artist...It was Christopher Cross. I still can't believe that he was ten minutes from my house performing hit songs that have inspired me immensely along this journey, and I didn't go. “Sailing” is one of my all time favorites. The following is a blog excerpt from Day 148 about that song: As I walked tonight I listened to a couple of songs that you wouldn't really consider “workout songs.” There are no rhythmic beats to Christopher Cross's “Sailing,” but that song has always been special to me. It stirs my emotions with it's lyrics of hope and freedom. I heard Christopher Cross once say that “Sailing,” was literally about sailing, but to me I interpret it metaphorically and apply it to my journey. “Oh, the canvas can do miracles, just you wait and see, believe me. Sailing, takes me away to where I've always heard it could be, just a dream and the wind to carry me, soon I will be free.” I hope to see him live one day, tonight just wasn't a good night for a concert, we had things to do!

We hit the trail tonight with mom! Courtney and I did a 5K and mom did an entire mile. I felt bad leaving her behind on the dark trail, but I explained to her that when we go to the trail, we're not there to visit, we're there to get the best workout we possibly can. And that means going at your own pace, not somebody else's for the sake of talking along the way. We can talk later! She completely understood this attitude and assured me that she would be OK. She did fantastic! I'm so proud of her progress and success. She told me that everything is starting to get easier because of her steady progress. I can't tell you, I just can't express properly how much this means to me to watch her experience the fruits of her consistent effort.

Thank you for reading! I'm headed to sleepy town now. Goodnight and...

Good Choices,
Sean


Not your typical “workout” song—but it really inspires me!