Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town

A little early for Christmas shows, huh?  The title fits today, because at lunch I made a step in the right direction. That's the way I thought of it.  It reminded me of the song "One Foot in Front of the Other" from Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town.

What was the step, you ask?

Last night for dinner we had black beans and brown rice, so today I had leftovers for lunch.  When I opened up the container and saw that it was FULL, I thought to myself, "That's a lot of food!"  I ate half of it, put the lid back on it, and stuck the rest back in the refrigerator.

I've never done that before, except maybe with a whole pie, or entire meatloaf.  Scratch that...I would eat the entire meatloaf.  So for me, that was a step in the right direction.

Also, just as a side note, I weighed this morning.  I am 16.2 lbs down from my baseline weight.  Only 133.8 lbs to go!!  Umm....maybe I shouldn't think of it that way...

Are You Just Fat?

So...that's the question.  Are you just fat?  That pretty much sums it up for me.

As far as I know, I don't have a thyroid problem.  I don't have any chronic illnesses of which I'm aware.  In fact, for someone as out of shape as I am, I'm actually pretty healthy.  I'm just fat.  I eat too much.  I don't exercise enough.  I have some aches and pains, my blood sugar is trending a little high, I'm not as limber as I shoot be...but basically I'm fat.

I'm working to change that.

This next part was pretty hard to write.  It took me a while to pound it out, and it still doesn't say everything like I would like.  It's something I've been thinking about since December.

Back in August of '08, my older sister was diagnosed with lung cancer.  It was advanced, and the prognosis wasn't good.  She kept her spirits up and fought it hard through two rounds of chemo.  But she lost the fight on December 20, 2009.

The entire time she was battling the cancer, she ate right, exercised, and did everything she could to be healthy.  Everything.  And still it wasn't enough.  Her health failed her.  Her spirit was stronger than her body.

"Aaron, are you just trying to depress us with this sad story?"

Absolutely not.  I just want you to know something I've been thinking about:

I have no excuse.  I have absolutely no excuse.  Here I am blessed with a perfectly healthy body (other than just being fat), and I haven't been taking care of it.  I need to quit taking my health for granted.  There are people everywhere - fighting disease, missing limbs, unable to get out of bed - that would love to be as healthy as me.

Anyway...that's what I've been thinking.  That's one of the things that has been motivating me.  I'm not doing it out of a sense of guilt.  I'm doing it for myself, and for my family.  I plan on living a long time in this healthy body.  Shedding the fat is part of that plan.

Really? No, Really?

I just saw an insurance commercial.  It had a guy playing the part of "wind".  He was dressed in a suit, sitting up in a tree on a limb.  The limb overhung a new car.  He bounced up and down on the limb and made it break off and fall on the car.  Simulating wind and all.

Here's the "really" part.

As he did this (bounced on the limb and broke it off so that it fell on the car below), some small text popped on the bottom of the screen:

"Professional stuntman.  Do not attempt."

How far down the path of the ludicrous have we traveled that some legal department somewhere felt the need to let us know not to do that.

Thanks for the advice...I was really considering it.

Long Week

This was a long week, especially at work.  We had lots of technical problems, and it was just mentally and emotionally draining.

On the flip side, this was a good week for "the program".  I really only squeezed in one official "workout", instead of the three I planned, but I was more active.  I took the stairs at work, and this afternoon we washed the van and put up some blinds in the boy's room.  Not to mention our little walk we took earlier in the week.  I know that blinds, a car wash, and a walk don't equal a triathlon, but it IS better than sitting on my laziness all day.

Truth be told, I think I hurt my foot a bit...I kind of overdid it ion Tuesday.  I'm hoping by Monday it will be rested up and I can do some more aerobic type stuff.  Either way, I'm hitting the weights...I don't need my foot to do that.

If you are one of my inactive friends, I challenge you to find something new to add to your routine this week to get your blood pumping.

Another positive note is my eating habits.  I've kept my self completely off of sweet drinks, kept my portions under control, and I would just guess that I have cut my calorie intake to 1/3 of what it used to be, and my sugar intake to 1/5 or less of what it was.

One week doesn't make it a habit, but I'm one step closer than before!

Clever Marketing

The Scorpions and Ratt are coming to Atlanta.  I'm sure it will be an awesome concert.

The concert sponsor?  A local pest control company.  Hilarious.

McEvil Goodness

An oxymoron, you say?  To what am I referring, you ask?  Speak in questions much, you deride?

I am referring to McDonald's new McFrappe things.

My wife had a tooth filled today, and on the way home from the dentist, I, being the loving husband that I am, asked if she wanted to try one of McDonald's new cold-coffee-smoothee-thingies.  She agreed that it would be nice.

I took a sip to try it myself.

E.V.I.L.

But oh so good.  I will admit that I had a more than one drink.  It was McAwesome.  I don't recommend it.

I Went to Burger King!

Right about now, you're saying, "What?!??  Burger King!  I thought you were on a die-it."

A-ha!  Wrong...it's not a die-it, it's a lifestyle, remember?  Sheesh?  That was just one post ago that I established that.

So NOW you're saying, "What kind of 'lifestyle change' is going to Burger King?"

I'll tell you.

Right after this sentence.

Here we go.

Normally when I go to a burger joint of any type, I get a double-meat burger.  I like the meat in a burger.  The bread is just something to keep my hands from getting greasy.  I've strayed from that formula slightly in recent months because of the advent of the Value Menu.  Value Menu!!

Burger King is good because they have all their food "stats" posted right by entrance.  I did some quick math.  My typical double-meat (full-sized) burger, large fries, and large drink tallied up a total of about 1770 calories.  Of course, that's with no refills.  Right.  Like that's going to happen.  Let's say I get two refills.  One in the store and another to take with me.  That brings the total to approximately 2640 calories.  Scary, huh?

Today, I had a Buck Double, value fries, and water.  This tallies up to 630 calories.  Oops!  Hold on.  I have four refills of my drink.  So now, the total is...630 calories.

To top it off, we walked to Target to get a battery for my scale (yikes!), then walked to BK, then walked home. Not quite a mile, but part of it is uphill!

Some may consider this a small victory.  I consider it a step in the right direction.

Let Us Pray

This afternoon, I called my almost-four-year-old over and said, "Grab my hand...now grab momma's.  We're gonna pray..."

I closed my eyes and started to pray, and he said, "Wait, Daddy!  I want to pray!"  Then he closed his eyes, and said, "Lord Jesus..."

"Nathanael, if you want to pray first, you should just ask, not interrupt."

He opened his eyes and looked at me for a second, then closed them again, "Lord Jesus..."

"Nathanael..."

He just plowed ahead, "Lord Jesus..."

"Nathanael.  Listen to me.  We've talked about interrupting before.  Just ask if you want to pray."

"Okay.  Lord Jesus"  Pause.  "What are we praying about?"

They Call It a "Lifestyle" Change

Not a diet...a "lifestyle" change. I've got to change the way I've eaten my entire life - my entire relationship with food. That's a tall order.

I just recently got my labs results back from my latest employee physical. Good news!! My lipids have improved! Bad news!! My blood HgA1C has not. My A1C is a little high, and I want to get it under control now.

So I am now at war with sugar. Sugar! Thou are mine enemy!

Sugar doesn't have a chance. I'm a pretty smart guy, and it's an inert substance. They odds are in my favor I believe.

"What steps have you taken?" you might ask...I'm glad you did.

1. I have retained, at a not insignificant cost, a mentor/accountability partner/health coach. Okay, truth be told, he's a friend of mine...I didn't really hire him. We are going to meet twice a month to help me keep on track.
2. No more sweet drinks, cutting back on the white foods (white bread, potatoes, etc...you know the drill), limiting my portions. Nothing drastic.
3. Working out. I'm hitting the dumbbells and getting active on the carport 3 days a week. That's the target for now.
4. Last of all...this blog. A place for me to record my frustrations, my successes, my insights, and more. Of course, I may be the only person that ever reads it. And that's just fine.

It's a Quiz

One of my favorite bloggers, Misfit in Paradise, tagged me with this task. The task is to answer 10 questions presented to me, then tag 5 other people to answer 10 new questions. Sadly, I don't really have 5 other blogger friends, but I may (or may not) tag a few people in Facebook (since this will end up there as well).

1. (My old standby) You can invite 3 people to dinner. They can be from the past, present, or future. Who are they? C.S. Lewis, Axel Rose, Jesus

2. Why did you start a blog? (Blatantly stolen from Strawberry Jam Anne) I like to write, but I am usually too lazy. I thought a blog might require writing in small enough chunks that I would actually do it. And I crack myself up sometimes, and wanted to share it.

3. Monkeys, llamas, or horses? Yes.

4. Comedies or poignant dramas? Definitely comedies. I'm too much of a crier.

5. Do you have siblings? What kind (brothers, sisters, evil aliens)? If yes, where do you fit in the lineup? I am the youngest of three siblings (by 7 years). If you've been reading my blog for a while, you probably already know that my oldest sister passed away last December after a year and a half fight with lung cancer. She was a incredible person. My "middle" sister is one of the most compassionate, kind, and sweetest (and goofiest) people I've ever met.

6. Besides me, who is your favorite author? What book? C.S. Lewis - Perelandra

7. Are you a Gleek? Unfortunately.

8. Do you have any You Tube subscriptions? If yes, what? RhettandLink (great internetainers), Pomplamoose (very inventive musicians)

9. Inside? Outside? Country? City? Summer - inside, winter - outside, country - living, city - vacationing.

10. Paper, plastic, or bring your own? Bring our own.