Day 637 Consistency Is The Word and Photos From My Mini-Vacation

Day 637

Consistency Is The Word and Photos From My Mini-Vacation

I'm trying to get a post together here, despite trying to cram in several different activities in a really short time. I've been so prolific in my writing, that the thought of missing a day, even on a mini-vacation, freaks me out. I just can't. But what I can do is share little details from the day---and excerpts from this road, and of course---Pictures!!!

I did something today I've never done---I walked out to a garden, picked a fresh bell pepper, brought it in and sliced it up---then made omelets for Kenz and her step-dad CJ. It was very nice. The green pepper, onion, and cheese omelets were amazing! You might be asking, "what about mushrooms?" Yeah, we ran into Wal-Mart and picked up some mushrooms earlier today. It was great!

Consistency is absolutely imperative along this road. It is the key to everything good here. It makes everything easier in time. Here's an excerpt from June 15th, 2009 on the topic of Consistency:

If I had to pick one word to explain my success so far it would be: Consistency. I was always inconsistent before with every other attempt at weight loss. I would do great two days, then bad for one. Then good for three days and bad for four. Then I would wonder why I wasn't getting results. There was no way I would be honest enough to just admit my inconsistencies. I might even pretend to be dumbfounded to a friend “I have no idea what's happening, I'm doing everything I'm supposed to be doing.” Then I would come up with a few possible reasons “You know I must be retaining fluid,” or “I've been really constipated, I probably just need to go to the bathroom,” or “I'm just cursed with a horrible metabolism.” When I would lie to myself, lying to others was real easy. What made me so inconsistent in the past?

Everything. It didn't take much for me to designate something to be a wonderful excuse. I would even postpone starting because if I looked at the calendar long enough, I could find reasons to wait. “Oh, look at that, Kelli's birthday is coming up, then the Fourth of July, then mom's birthday right after that, there's no way I can start trying to lose weight now.” And I wouldn't dare start a weight loss journey anywhere near Thanksgiving or Christmas. “I don't want to ruin the holidays.” I still don't understand how I would convince myself that me eating responsibly could possibly “ruin” the holidays. “Oh, wow...There he goes again. Every holiday it's the same thing...Do you have to ruin every holiday with your responsible eating habits? You're making the rest of us feel gluttonous!” “Somebody hold him down while I pour gravy down his pie hole, we'll teach him to ruin the holidays with his highfalutin eating habits.”

How silly I was to come up with so many reasons to NOT do this. I never spent too much time thinking about reasons TO do this. In fact, if I scoured every month of the year, I would find the optimal time for me to lose weight would actually be between February 2nd and February 8th. Not really enough time to get it done. Being consistent on this journey means making this attempt different than any other I've ever tried. Consistency means steamrolling every excuse or rationalization that comes along. When you really decide that nothing will stop you, then nothing can. It sounds simple and it can be if you make it that way. It can also be very difficult if you make it that way. So basically, it will be what you decide it will be. I decided it would be simple. It's as simple as answering this question: Is this thought, emotion, circumstance, holiday, birthday, day off from work, or anything else, is it threatening the structural integrity of my journey?

If it's a thought, emotion, or circumstance I just have to remind myself that over eating when I'm dealing with these triggers only compounds my sorrows. And staying on track and focused on doing the right things exercise and food wise will only contribute in a positive way. Actually helping me get to a better place mentally. If it's a holiday, birthday, day off, or any other type of celebration...I enjoy it responsibly. I'll eat cake, I have several times along this journey, I just don't devour four or five pieces like I might have before. I can't count the number of cookouts and family get togethers we've had over the last 274 days, again, a responsible approach---focusing on the people around me and enjoying the atmosphere and not focusing, or in my case obsessing over the food, has worked every time. I still eat, I still enjoy, I'm still happy...even more so because I know I'm being consistent.

“But Sean, things happen, we can't expect to be strong all the time.” Really? I've endured deaths in the family, financial woes, the holidays, birthdays, my 20th wedding anniversary, Halloween, Valentines Day, reconnecting with a father and brother I've never known, and many other things that life can throw my way. None of it stopped me for even a day. Why? How? I'm not special, I don't have super human weight loss powers, but I made a decision to stay on track regardless of the circumstances. I knew that was the only way I would ever get this done for real. I voided all excuses or reasons to not do it this time. Have I deprived myself along the way? No, not in the least. I eat three meals and at least three snacks a day. If it's a special occasion, I plan my calorie budget around the events, and eat what everyone else is eating...maybe not as much as some, but I'll enjoy whatever we're having in a responsible way.

Consistency is the key. Consistent effort equals consistent results. When somebody tells me that I've lost the weight too fast so far, I wonder if they think I'm starving myself? I'm certainly not! I eat, I exercise, I steamroll excuses and rationalizations to be inconsistent, and I lose weight. Wow, I've really gotten off on a tangent here!

We visited Kenz's cousin and her husband (cousin in-law--lol) tonight---where we ate a second dinner--uh, yeah---a second dinner---lighter than the first!! Then we enjoyed a very high calorie desert, followed by a very low calorie desert. Snickers has a mini-ice cream bar version for 90 calories. I gave Kenz a bite and ate the rest---just popped that delicious little thing into my mouth and let it explode with Snickery goodness. The low cal desert was about 100 calories total...Kenz will be putting a picture of this on her blog. Strawberry and whipped cream topped angel food cake---UNBELIEVABLE! We enjoyed these wonderful deserts over a game of Super Scrabble. It was so much fun!! And her cousins are good people, just like everyone I've met on the bayou!

The first dinner was some amazing cooking. Kenz's mom Joan cooked up some shrimp and stuffed crab, me oh my oh---we're havin' fun on the bayou! It was so incredible. She baked the crab, and fried the best shrimp I've ever tasted in my entire life. I had small enough portions---feeling very good about calorie guesstimates on this trip. What a great meal!

Kenz prepared the best low-cal onion rings ever tonight. They're made with Fiber One cereal and they're a featured recipe of www.Hungry-girl.com Kenz baked them---oh yeah!! Very nice!

Thank you for reading! Goodnight and...

Good Choices,
Sean


Joan is so sweet. In the kitchen---probably in her way!! But we needed a picture!


Can you imagine? An entire platter of onion rings for less than 130 calories!! Add a little more calories for the ketchup---and you're good! So nice of Kenz to make them for me. I'm a big fan.


Onion Ring-eriffic!!!


Stuffed crab and fried shrimp---Very good---with some white beans and rice, me-oh-my-oh!


After a workout---at the trail behind the hospital.