Day 269 Satisfying Reflection and Weigh Day Success!

Day 269

Satisfying Reflection and Weigh Day Success!

The wonderful comments and e-mails I received about yesterday's blog were extremely appreciated. You know, I often start the day by reading what I've written the night before. And many times I have a much clearer perspective of the situation after reading. It helped to have so many comments and e-mails giving support, thank you. I cringed at the dramatics in some of my sentences. I'm not a fan of dramatics. I try to maintain a level head at all times, always trying to be cool and collected, but I couldn't help expressing myself in a semi-dramatic tone last night. I needed the therapy writing provided. And I honestly thought about not dealing with it, I mean I didn't break my calorie budget, but I felt like I broke off a piece of my will, and with that I knew I had to be honest about my behavior and share what I was feeling. A couple of comments mentioned something to the effect of 'maybe there's pressure to be perfect...' There isn't, trust me. For one, if you've read this entire blog, you know already that I'm far from perfection, and I'm not after perfection. Trying to be absolutely perfect on a mission like this is a sure fire recipe for disappointment. My goal is to be consistent in my efforts and I've accomplished that successfully so far and I'll continue to be consistent. The mental changes I've experienced are permanent changes and those changes are exactly why I immediately recognized the breakdown last night. As Val put it in her comment... "A year or two ago, that same choice would not have even registered." Very, very true! In fact a year or two ago I would have made it a game where the girls took turns throwing tater tots at my open mouth from across the table. If you think that's a stretch, just ask the girls one of these days, we've done that before! It certainly wasn't as big a deal as I thought it was. I was just scared when I caught myself having those old thoughts and behaviors. I do take pride in my consistency and the example I'm setting for my family and friends. So if I do something I'm not proud of it really gets to me. Today was a new day and I'm stronger from the experience of yesterday. I feel good, real good.

It was a wonderful day at the radio station. Today we really lived up to our company name, Team Radio. Within twenty-four hours we developed a concept, put together a script, produced a killer commercial, presented the concept and audio to a potentially new client and after they listened to what we created and the marketing plan, they became a new client on the spot. It was a process that involved several staff, from the president of our company on down. It felt wonderful to receive an e-mail from the owner and president of the company congratulating on a job well done. It really set a positive tone for the rest of the day. The rock solid state of my focus and resolve on this journey is further strengthened when I have days like today around the workplace.

Let's talk about results! Today was my official weigh day and I'll be honest, I was shooting for a little more than I was shown. But of course we want more! It's only natural to want more right? I do feel like I'm getting too comfortable at this pace. So maybe it's time to kick it up a notch or two in the exercise department! More racquetball matches, more swimming, more workouts. Let's see what we can do! OK, results: Last weigh in two weeks ago found me at 335 for a two week loss of six pounds. I did exactly the same thing this time. Another six pounds gone forever! I weighed 329 today. That's a grand total of 176 pounds in 269 days. An average of 4.58 pounds per week for 38 ½ weeks. I can't complain about that! If I did I would fully expect someone to bop me on the head! Courtney and Amber both posted five pound losses! It was a very successful weigh day indeed. I'm in the 320's! I love it! It's hard to believe really. I'm in the 320's. It doesn't even look right, very foreign to me. I haven't been in the 320's since I was 16 years old, I'm sure of it! And I haven't been below 300 since I was 15, and we're fast approaching that major milestone. In fact we'll have two miles stones coming soon. The 200 pounds lost mark and then right after, crossing into the 200's! I'm fired up, let's go!

Our schedule this afternoon kept us from attending the “Extreme Energy” class. We opted instead for a wonderful workout at the YMCA. The girls and I had the entire fitness center to ourselves, it was really cool. Courtney and Amber jumped on the elliptical machines while I grabbed my choice of treadmills. My iPod battery went completely dead so I plugged into the TV audio and watched NBC's “I'm A Celebrity, Get Me Out Of Here” while I pushed for a 5K. It didn't take long for me to realize that I wasn't missing much by drastically cutting down on my TV viewing. Anyway, Courtney stopped me a little short of my treadmill 5K when she summoned me to the basketball court for a little one on one. I was happy to play and it was really a great workout. We established some rules. The name of the game is 'get the ball' from each other! If one of us shoots and misses, and the other gets the rebound, the ball must be dribbled back behind the three point line before the player can drive back to the basket. It really made for a tough little workout. We were hustling in there! Again, I recognize it as something I couldn't even think about doing at 505. And I doubt Courtney would have been able to do it at her top weight. We were playing one on one and it felt so wonderful. Amber came in after her workout as we were finishing up the basketball. We decided to make basketball something we do on a regular basis. Maybe the two of them against me! I'm game! And just wait until mom's off, then we'll do the parents Vs. the kids! Should be interesting. Often times our exercise pursuits are very simple: move a bunch and sweat a bunch, it doesn't really matter to us how we accomplish it as long as it's accomplished.

I'm headed to bed with a successful day in the books. Our dinner consisted of tacos. I had a couple of all white meat chicken tacos in a crispy shell instead of the flour tortilla, I had it without the creamy avocado sauce plus a beef taco. It was very filling and came in at 470 calories for the meal. I also enjoyed a low fat soft serve vanilla ice cream cone for 150 as a late night snack a little bit ago. Today we've had great choices, super exercise, and wonderfully rewarding results...You will not find any complaints here. Thanks for reading and giving me your support! Goodnight and...

Good Choices,
Sean