May 16th, 2014 A Nice Long Day
Last night's blog was good for me. I couldn't get it off my mind today. And every time I thought about the exploration of it, I smiled. It felt phenomenal to process, understand and write. It was a breakthrough in my thinking and I can tell, this will have a profound effect on me for the rest of my life. I can't look at myself the same anymore, not even if I tried.
This was a long day. I just finished dinner and it's 11:26pm. My day started before 6am. I was broadcasting from the Titan FC 28 event held at a casino tonight. I've never thrown a punch in my entire life, so naturally me attending and broadcasting from an event like this took a considerable amount of forced enthusiasm. Plenty of people LOVE the MMA fights and to that I say, what's wrong with those people? I'm kidding. But seriously, I become very uncomfortable watching people beat each other senseless. I feel for the guy against the mat, being held down and pounded. If I'm rooting for anyone, it's that guy. Get up, breathe--you can do it--survive!!! I didn't stay for all of it--the main event part of it. Just not my thing, I suppose.
I did get to interview Johhny Hendricks, the UFC Welterweight Champion of The World!! He was much smaller than I imagined, but solid. And he was as nice as he could be. I know next to nothing about his sport, so I kept the questions generic and easy. "Johhny, after being a four year All-American wrestler in college (yes, I did some homework), you transitioned to MMA and now you're a world champion. How do you make it look so easy?" In case you're keeping score--I stated three facts and followed with a softball question...he hit it out of the park. Had I done a little more homework i would have asked him about training or defending his title... Nah...I'm not a radio MMA reporter, I'm a morning radio personality. I'll leave the real interviews to those involved in the sports world. I wanted to ask him if we could take a selfie together with him holding his fist to my face but I decided that would be a tad bit unprofessional. Besides, as friendly as he was, there's still a seriousness about him, an intensity and I didn't want to risk upsetting him--I mean, if you're going to upset someone, a professional fighter isn't the best choice.
The VIP meet and greet with Johhny was stocked with plenty of food and drink. And I failed to plan properly, meaning I didn't bring any snack baggies of fruit. I didn't want to eat dinner there. I wanted dinner on my own terms, so I made the decision to eat a few pieces of the fruit from the big spread and patiently wait until I could get home and cook something nice.
In this same scenario, time and time again--I've forfeited control and just thought, oh well--I'm here, I'm hungry--let's see what we can do. But I feel different now. It's hard to explain--but it's thrilling, I'll tell you that!! To be exposed to a big spread of food--free food at that--and simply grab a few pieces of fruit, waiting until later, I'm patting myself on the back and feeling awesome.
I didn't finish in time to get into the YMCA and when I left the venue it was 48 degrees with a steady cold rain. So, I've decided to forego the workout tonight and be okay with it. I'll be hitting the Y again tomorrow.
I stopped at Walgreen's on the way home to pick up some trash bags. I cannot count the number of times over the last year and a half that I've walked in that store and walked out with a whole bunch of binge calories. Cereal, ice cream, cookies and milk, chips, candy bars--and sometimes more than one from this list...and all of it was there tonight. And so was I. I left Walgreen's with trash bags. That's it. And that's huge for me.
I made it home, sliced up some sweet potato and threw 'em in the oven. Wrapped some fish in foil and threw it in there too. Every bit of food, every single day--is photographed and tweeted with calorie counts. It's an extreme accountability, but it's what I need and I'm loving it. I'd love you to follow me on Twitter, @SeanAAnderson I'm also keeping a food and exercise diary on MyFitnessPal, username: SeanAAnderson
I'm looking forward to a wonderful weekend. I hope you are too!
Thank you for reading,
Strength,
Sean
Thank you Christine! I agree about the fighters--every single one I met last night was very cool, very friendly. I was also impressed with the level of respect and professionalism they clearly expressed to one another--it confirmed to me, they're professionals, this is what they do--and when the bell rings, they're at work...and it's nothing personal--somebody has got to lose. I bet some of the same guys fighting one another last night, also train together...wouldn't surprise me...in fact, seems obvious many of them are friends.
ReplyDeleteI'll say this--their training must be the best in the world. Johnny doesn't appear to have an ounce of fat on him. It is HUGE! I get to the venue 25 minutes from my apartment and it was like stepping onto a TV set--CBS Sports, the cameras, the stage---and the crowds---wow...it was insane how excited everyone was to be there. They were selling merch to a line of people... It's a big deal... Amber's (daughter) boyfriend KL is a big fan, I made sure they had some tickets and he was on cloud 9, his first time at a live event...he was so excited. When you train, what exactly does it include? I'd love to know more. It's a Saturday morning and I get a day to catch up--headed to your blog soon to see how you are. Thank you Christine for your support and incredibly insightful input along the way. It's appreciated!!
Had to make a stop at Walgreens yesterday myself. Hubs got home from the hospital and needed a scrip, as well as some supplies. I walked down the snack aisle and salivated, but got out of there with nothing to eat. When I buy this "stuff" at Walgreens, I try to stick to the healthy snacks: sugar-free candy, dark chocolate, pomegranate granola bites, but in large quantities, they cease to be healthy! Small victories count too, right? RIGHT!!!
ReplyDeletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ee8-t76unkE this is some of it..he's my trainer. I do street self defense...then they have mma training upstairs.
ReplyDeleteI've been trying to comment for several days now but never seem able to from my ipad so I'm finally on the computer and here. I felt so happy for your ah ha moment. It's so tough figuring things out sometimes but I think once we make the connections it just makes things so much better :) You are a great person Sean and I'm so happy you're figuring it all out. I had so much more I wanted to say but will just say I can so see you giving that Ted talk :) I too know it will happen for you :) You are strong and you will get where ever you want to be :)
ReplyDeleteextreme accountability works! :) I don't always comment...but I'm reading. Keep blogging. I enjoy following your journey. You are succeeding!
ReplyDelete