Day 272 Sean And Mom's Excellent Adventure

Day 272

Sean And Mom's Excellent Adventure

I slept in today. I like sleeping in when I can because I'm the “morning man” during the week. Sometimes it's nice to roll out around noon. I always wake up early anyway, then I have to remind myself that it's OK to turn over and go back to sleep. I prepared omelets for everyone this morning. I had two pans going simultaneously! Each two egg cheese and chicken breast chunk omelet checked in at 230 calories, not bad for a filling brunch.

Courtney and I decided that we would workout at the YMCA today, so we brought mom along for the ride. I was surprised that she agreed to hop on a treadmill, but she did, and she did wonderful! Courtney tackled the elliptical and I claimed my favorite treadmill. I jogged on that thing for three minutes straight! I know that doesn't sound like much, but really, that's big for me. The longest before was one minute. I might turn into a runner someday, who knows? After we thoroughly worked it inside the fitness center, we traveled over into the basketball court for some one on one while grandma cheered us on. It was another wonderful workout that left us dripping wet. We worked hard in there.

I had to broadcast from the speedway this evening. We only “hype” the event before it starts, then we roll out. Once the crowd is packed in, we've done our job! Courtney was back in studio pressing all the buttons and getting dad on the air for every break. I took my mom along for the broadcast too, it was a nice time to visit while I worked. The last time I did a broadcast from the speedway I weighed over 500 pounds. I remember being there one time when a track official took me on a tour of the pits and around the entire track, all on foot! I remember thinking where's our golf cart? I thought I was going to die! Not tonight! I also remember being asked to come up into the tower booth, then my 500 pound body falling on the stairs, spilling my drink all over everyone below. It was so embarrassing! This evening it was a different experience. I made my way around with confidence and ease. That track official from back then, he was there tonight and was amazed by my transformation, he just couldn't believe it...it was wonderful to experience his genuine “wow” reaction. He remembers that guy who could barely walk around the facility, and was so big, he couldn't pick his feet up enough to walk up the stairs. I'm a totally different person these days. I made it up the stairs just fine tonight and I did a couple of breaks from the tower booth overlooking the speedway, it was a wonderful feeling. 176 pounds makes a world of difference for so many things. Another big difference? I didn't take advantage of the “give the radio crew whatever they want from the concessions for free” speedway policy. Oh, I never really took advantage of it before, but I always made sure to get a hamburger, nachos, hotdog, a couple of Cokes, maybe a roasted corn...You know what? Maybe I did take advantage of that in the past. Anyway, this evening I didn't order one thing, nothing, not even an ear of fresh roasted corn! We packed a banana and a Nutri-Grain bar for the evening, plus some bottled water. I don't even think the concession stand people recognized me. I made eye contact with them, but they didn't say a word, they were still looking for the 500 pound plus version of the radio guy to mosey on up to the window. It was so much easier to do that broadcast at 329 pounds.

Courtney had plans tonight to sleep over at a friends house. Irene was gone to work, so mom and I made an evening of it! First, mom treated me to dinner at one of her favorite restaurants around here, JW Cobbs. We dined from the “senior” menu. Smaller price, smaller portions. Normally you have to be 55 years old to do it, but when you tell them you want the smaller portions because you're losing weight, they don't mind at all. We each enjoyed a meal that registered under 500 calories. I ordered the chopped beef with mashed potatoes and kernel corn with gravy on the side. Smaller portions, smaller price, and smaller calories! They brought two big dinner rolls, so we shared one and left the other on the table with the tip. We also left our gravy bowls full of gravy, well, minus a teaspoon from each. It was a great meal, very filling, and easy to calculate!

Since mom treated me to the dinner, I decided to treat her to a movie. I haven't been to a movie in over two years. We usually just wait for the DVD release of whatever we want to see, and I always hated trying to squeeze into the theater seats. We gave it a try tonight and it was the most comfortable seat! I not only fit, I did it without crowding my mom beside me. Irene and I use to go to the movies and leave a seat between us, that seat would be the popcorn and goodies seat, and that way I wouldn't crowd her as I spilled over in squeezed in pain. I wasn't feeling any pain this time, it was easy and very enjoyable. The seat, not the movie. The movie was horrible. I can't believe we wasted two hours on “Land Of The Lost.” I remember the TV show from the seventies, I watched it all the time back then, kind of expected the same thing, but no. I was very disappointed. I don't step foot in a movie theater in over two years, then I do for that? Oh well, we enjoyed our time together regardless of the horrible movie. We stayed away from the popcorn tonight. Movie theater popcorn has the kind of calories that will make you sick. If you don't know already, it will shock you! It's the oil they use I'm pretty sure. A small bag can be loaded with up to 800 calories, that's a small! I can't tell you how many times we bought the large and took advantage of the free refills during the movie. I've said it before in these writings, not all popcorn is created equal. I bet I use to easily consume 2500 calories worth of movie popcorn every visit. I can have a whole bag of the microwave version we use at home for 120. It might not taste the same as at the movies, but it's still good and it doesn't destroy a calorie budget. It was a very nice night indeed.

Courtney and I plan on another 10K tomorrow afternoon. I hope it's cloudy! I know that may sound strange, but I don't want a sunburn. That's horribly selfish of me huh? OK, I guess sunshine is good, maybe if I walk faster it will spare me the frying. Yeah right! Our goal is to always do at least a 10K once a weekend. We don't always hit that goal, but we try our best.

We're attending a cookout tomorrow at my sister in laws house. I'm use to hosting the cookouts, it'll be nice to sit back and let someone else be the grill master! I wonder what choices I'll make at this cookout...you can bet the farm they'll be good, I guarantee it! Goodnight and...

Good Choices,
Sean