June 27th, 2014 Vitals

June 27th, 2014 Vitals

Remember last week when I struggled against my desire to eat the catfish brought into the studio? I had already eaten my breakfast and was satisfied when the fish showed up, filling our studios with the smell of deep fried fish and chips. The fried catfish last Thursday morning was a preview for today's event. After last Thursday's struggle, I decided I would enjoy a catfish lunch today, making it a part of my food plan. I was fine as long as I found some accurate calorie information and brought along my food scale. What made last week so difficult was knowing that I wanted to eat it, purely for sport--driven by food lust. Today it was my planned lunch.

The event today was the 8th Annual All-American Fish Fry Blood Drive with the Oklahoma Blood Institute. This critical blood drive is always scheduled right before the Independence Day holiday and serves as a boost to the blood supply going into what is typically a high demand holiday. It also serves as an opportunity for me to donate blood. I was on the air live when the needle was inserted into my left arm. I enjoy donating despite my fear of needles for several reasons.  I know my donation can save up to three lives is the biggest reason. Another is because I wasn't always able to donate. At my heaviest I was turned away because of my raging high blood pressure. Donating now is a wonderful reminder that I'm not in that shape anymore and this is one reality check that feels very good. I also appreciate the mini health screening automatically accompanying each donation. I received my vitals and an iron count (48) today. Soon, I'll receive my cholesterol numbers via mail.  My pre-donation vitals were wonderful! This would not have been the case 9 weeks ago, I promise you.



My food plan included the fried catfish today but I didn't want the baked beans and french fries being offered as side dishes. Instead, I brought homemade guacamole and a serving of wild rice chips. I also brought along my trusty digital food scale.


4.1 ounces of fried catfish checked in at a reasonable 255 calories


The entire lunch totaled 543 calories.

Today's event broke its record for most blood donors. The staff from OBI had to shut it down early because they were running out of critical supplies. It was a big success on all fronts.

I felt prepared today and exceptionally calm. I declined the typical cookies and various snacks offered post donation, opting for lunch instead. I took the cookies last year and even some extra for the road. I'm a different person today.

A late afternoon nap, a great dinner and a short workout followed. Then I discovered I still had over 500 calories remaining in my budget.  My dinner was ultra low in calories:

Chicken kabobs. Grilled chick. brst chunks (5.8oz), grilled zucchini (4oz), grilled peprs & onions (3/4cup). 312 cal pic.twitter.com/ewvibbFwfD
— Sean Anderson (@SeanAAnderson) June 28, 2014

It was after 9pm when I discovered the calorie situation. I decided to get my workout in then decide if I was hungry for something afterward.  I ended up with a good snack after the workout and another well after midnight as my #lastfoodofday.

Why so late tonight? Once again Mother Nature called me into work for weather coverage. This has been happening a lot lately but I'm not complaining. I handled the day well. I feel accomplished.

Thank you for reading,
Strength,
Sean

June 14th, 2014 For The Sake of Accuracy

June 14th, 2014 For The Sake of Accuracy

This was a very busy Saturday. I meant to sleep in this morning but for some reason I was up and wide eyed before 7am.  My schedule consisted of three back to back location broadcasts. It was nine hours straight, so I knew to be prepared.  That was it, preparedness. Had I not been prepared, things could have went South real fast.

I started with a good breakfast, then prepared a lunch and fruit snacks to get me through without being tempted by the free food being offered throughout the day.  I really like the food I'm eating and that makes a monumental difference. The free food today wasn't even the slightest bit tempting. I had a plan, was prepared and stuck with it.

My biggest challenge was being tired. I started to nod off a couple of times right in the middle of the day. I was up way too early this morning.  I had a big evening planned with my oldest daughter, Amber, a Father's Day weekend dinner out and a movie. I had to nix the movie plan. There's no way I would have stayed awake past the opening credits. I know myself well. I've fallen asleep while attempting to watch some of the greatest films of all time. Amber and I opted for dinner and visiting and it was wonderful.  We're both fascinated by how much we're alike. We're two of a kind, for sure.

We dined at a small Mexican restaurant where they serve Hawaiian Fajitas. It's shrimp, steak, chicken and pineapple grilled and served in a hollowed out pineapple. I've enjoyed it three or four times in the last two months. Each time, I've made my best guesstimate on the calorie content based on my knowledge of each individual item and the amazing data base of MyFitnessPal.  This time I wanted to be sure.

I took my digital food scale into the restaurant. I've never done this before. I did it because I was pretty sure I was over-estimating the calories during previous trips. The calories came in a little lower than expected so I added a serving of nine chips and salsa. Exactly nine. I've successfully avoided the chips the last few Mexican restaurant visits, but since the fajita calories were fairly low, I decided to enjoy the limited number. The key to this strategy is to separate my chips from the bowl. Amber counted me out 9 chips and that was it. I didn't reach for more. I enjoyed each one. I avoided the rice and beans altogether. Without some pretty rigid rules, I could easily consume a thousand calories in a place like this. I didn't have a thousand calories to spend. Weighing the ingredients at the table wasn't a big deal and and our server never acknowledged this unusual practice. Although he did ask us several times if everything was okay. Everything was wonderful.

I've once again stayed up way too late. I spoke with a support friend on my way home and expressed that I might just go to bed and write this post on Sunday morning. They suggested a cup of coffee and get it done because I would feel better about it in the morning. They were right. I feel better about it already. And as tired as I am, this cup of coffee doesn't have a chance of keeping me awake tonight.

If you're into food pictures, you'll love my Twitter feed. It's www.twitter.com/seanaanderson   You don't need a Twitter account to look through the tweets. You only need an account if you want to interact with me on Twitter. As part of my accountability system, every thing I eat is first logged into MyFitnessPal--then photographed and tweeted with a calorie count. The picture tweets have made a profoundly positive difference in me.

Thank you for reading,
Strength,
Sean