Saturday, May 14, 2016

May 14th, 2016 Short Questions-Long Replies

May 14th, 2016 Short Questions-Long Replies

Before I recap this day, I'm starting tonight's edition with a few great questions:

Lori asked:
"Have you ever gone over your calorie limit and do you plan ahead?"

 Reply:
Great question about the calorie budget! I'm sure I've gone over before--BUT, not intentionally. I use a digital food scale at home and work and that gives me accuracy 85% of the time-- when I'm out at a restaurant, I'm relying on my experience in weighing everything to guide me through the best approx.amounts... Room for error? Certainly, but it's super close. I often test my perception at home and work by giving my best guesstimate prior to weighing things--and most of the time it's super close, if not spot on. I've nailed it, many times! With my #lastfoodofday, I enter the food in MFP to determine the amount I need to hit goal--then I prepare accordingly.

For me, it's very important to enter the food in MFP PRIOR to eating--during preparation or during some kind of pre-planning time (most of the time I do the entry just prior to eating). A few times, I've waited on the entry until after--and was surprised by a super high count.

Here's the most important point: Maintaining the integrity of my calorie budget is super important, always--not because I'm worried about the physical consequences of a couple hundred extra calories--in most cases, a little bit over isn't going to make a big difference...physically. BUT--It makes a HUGE difference mentally. If I disregard the importance of maintaining my budget's integrity--then I'm starting something of a progressive weakening of my entire plan. It's the slippery slope thing...

If I intentionally violate the budget once, it would be easier and easier to justify doing it again and again. I find myself in a hard earned and very fortunate position. My metabolism works more efficiently now than ever before, so my maintenance mode budget is a generous 2300. However, maintaining its integrity is still just as important as it was at 1700, during weight loss mode. And if I need a higher budget--I must officially set it higher, otherwise, from a mental dynamic perspective, the budget must be held in the highest--And if it isn't, I will relapse/regain, period.

 Caryl asked:
"I really enjoy reading your blog. What was your motivation to start one? Was it to keep yourself more accountable or to reach out to others?"

 Reply:
I started the blog on Day 1 100% in an effort to build my own personal accountability and support system. I instinctively knew how what I was sharing might resonate with others, but I had no idea how that part would develop over the years. Still, to this day--the number one goal of my blog is to help me stay accountable, in support and to help me further explore/learn along the way.

If/when it helps someone else, it's a wonderful blessing of a bonus to me. And trust me, that part feels good, but truly--sincerely, I do my best to stay present and mindful of the importance of its original purpose.

The difference is this: I'm never immune to relapse/regain. It doesn't matter how many days, months, years or epiphanies I experience--It doesn't matter how much I develop my personal weight loss philosophy and techniques--It doesn't matter how passionate I am about sharing these things--I am the same as you or anyone else working hard to navigate through what this is all about.

We all have different circumstances, different experiences--completely different everything--and yet, regardless of the method used for weight loss, we can most usually relate precisely on the most critical emotional/mental elements--and those are the things that every single one of us, if we desire the deeper transformation, must face in our pursuit of continued positive progress.

In my opinion, the long term morbidly obese (like me) becomes and stays morbidly obese for long periods of time as a physical side effect of these deeper mental/emotional/psychological dynamics. With that firmly in mind, then, I believe we must ask ourselves--is the method/plan we're choosing treating only the side effects? And if so, and if it's focused exclusively on the method to lose--without focusing on the deeper elements, the roots--then is its success sustainable? I've often referred to this as "calling in a plumbing crew to clean up the mess--but not fix the leak."

Do we spend the rest of our lives constantly cleaning the mess--or do we get super real with ourselves, patch the leak--then monitor it daily in an effort to keep it patched?

Okay--that was way more than what you asked. I kind of got carried away. Thank you for the question, Caryl!

Renee writes:
"I enjoy the Tweets only posts just as much as the others because of the way you make the food look so appetizing! Always a "treat" (no pun intended, I try to abstain from refined sugar) to peruse your blog."

 Reply:
Renee, thank you! I sincerely appreciate this! I do make it important to enjoy the process of planning, preparing and enjoying what I eat--and that effort, to me, is an important part of embracing my plan. Thank you so much for your continued support and loyal readership!

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After falling asleep sitting up at my desk, trying to write--I dropped into bed last night and slept nice and deep. I needed it. Today was a busy one.

I had two back to back location broadcasts on the schedule, one from a library--the other from a grocery store fifteen miles north of here. I planned one of my "on-the-go" lunches of almonds, cheese and fruit and I planned to grab a coffee in between broadcasts, but ran out of time. Kristin came to my rescue with a mid-afternoon coffee (see tweet below), just the way I prefer. She knows me well! It was an incredibly nice thing to do. She's awesome!

I grabbed a nap late afternoon because I knew full well that my plan was to stay up late working on some things--so I needed to be able to do that without falling asleep at my desk, again.

I stopped by my oldest daughter's new house and visited briefly with everyone. My son-in-law's parents were in town visiting. Irene and Allen were both there along with my youngest daughter and Noah. I made plans to pick up my grandson Noah midday Sunday for some good times. Noah and I plan on visiting mom as a belated Mother's Day get together. We'll be dining out with mom tomorrow night.

That planned restaurant visit tomorrow night is precisely why I changed course tonight. The original plan was to meet Kristin at a restaurant for a late on-plan dinner. Instead, I offered to cook dinner at my place. Kristin enjoyed the meal--and so did I! I cook for just me 98% of the time--so it was nice to prepare a meal for someone else. I recently did this for mom at her place and at Amber's place, too--and I'm looking forward to doing it more often!

Tomorrow is the two year anniversary of my "Epiphany Day." The self-worth/identity epiphanies and subsequent exploration of my personal happiness code is still with me, as strong as ever--two years later. I'll be highlighting "Epiphany Day" in tomorrow night's edition. In the meantime, if you haven't had a chance to read--May 15th, 2014 and May 19th, 2014--both are in the archives listed along the left hand sidebar, those are two days I highly recommend. Those explorations have made and continue to make a profound difference in my life.

Today's Live-Tweet Stream:
















































Thank you for reading and your continued support,
Strength,
Sean
at

1 comment:

  1. KarenMay 15, 2016 at 9:43 AM

    Lapses and Relapses are but one bite away. Abstaining for the win. Can't problem solve weight maintenance with the same foods that caused morbid obesity. Truth. Onward!

    ReplyDelete

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