Day 549 Weigh Day and The Tattoo

Day 549

Weigh Day and The Tattoo

Weigh day has been a pleasure every two weeks. And even as it’s slowed dramatically over the last several months, we’re still headed in the right direction. A friend made the comment today “you shouldn’t have that much left to lose.” Actually, I do…and I could show you the pictures to prove it, but uh…yeah, no…I can’t. Not brave enough to show those “exposed” pictures just yet. Maybe someday when my fitness level is more defined, I’ll be able to let go and post them. I applaud the brave people that have posted “exposed” pictures on their blog, I just can’t do it yet. Trust me. It’s best for all of us that I wait, even though that kind of goes against the proud spirit of the “exposed” movement.

I don’t have a scale in my home. I just don’t. If I did, I might be tempted to jump on it everyday---and if you are a regular reader, then you know how I feel about weighing too often and the negative effects it can have on our brains. So I opt to weigh at the doctors office. The only problem with that arrangement? I can’t weigh first thing in the morning. I could change that though, I’ve thought about weighing at the YMCA at 5:30am every weigh day. That might be a good idea actually. I may do that!

Here’s a confession: I sometimes abuse my metabolism on weigh day, by eating just a bare minimum of calories before the weigh-in. I feel like, if I eat normally before I weigh---then I might be negatively affecting my results. Weighing early at the YMCA is the solution to that craziness. I don’t know why I haven’t thought of doing that before now. Hmmm. It’s very strange for me to accept the idea that I can weigh anywhere now. There isn’t a scale that I can’t use. So different from when I was entertaining the idea of weighing at the farmers co-op where they weigh hogs and truckloads of grain. Very different.

I was crossing my fingers and hoping to see 259 on the scale today. I envisioned it, I focused hard, I wished and hoped and wished some more. But no amount of wishing and re-weighing would make the scale go down another pound. Nope…only good workouts and choices can get me there, and it will. I weighed 260 today. That’s 3 more pounds down, and a total of 245 lost!

I can’t help asking myself what might happen if I put two solid weeks of super focused and serious workouts back to back to back? I bet the results would shock my britches off. Seriously, 3 more pounds is wonderful, that’s great---but you know I’m capable of more…and most importantly, I know I’m capable of more. As I walked back to the vehicle after my weigh-in, I had the crazy thought: Maybe if I go home and change out of these jeans and into some really light-weight wind pants and a super thin shirt, I bet the scale would show 259, heck for, maybe even 258! But no…I’m 260. And that’s a wonderful thing.

I’ve talked before about my desire to get a tattoo. I wanted a simple “505” somewhere on my body where I can see it as a reminder of how far I’ve come. The original plan was cool: Backwards and right over the heart, so in a mirror, it would look right to me. I decided that was too complicated. Give me a simple “505” on my upper left arm! That’ll do me just fine. Amber wanted one too, not “505,” but a crescent moon with stars on her upper right shoulder blade. She’s 20, an adult, ok! So we made our way to the tattoo place this evening.

We were both a little nervous. OK—honestly, we were scared horribly. I joked with Amber about walking out right before. I wasn’t really joking. She thought I was. But had she said “let’s go dad,” I would have bolted. I’m not a tattoo person. I never dreamed I’d ever get one either. But this one is special to me. It’s small, simple, and full of powerful emotions and meaning for me. Just a simple “505.” But the story behind that number, oh my…that story is all here in these 549 blog pages.

The tattoo artist was really good too. His name is Mike Springer and he works for Skinsations in Arkansas City, Kansas. Mike is an amazing artist. Our simple tattoos didn’t come close to challenging his artistic excellence. He was very cool and even expressed interest in reading this blog. When I explained the reason for “505,” his first question was “how? Tell me!” I shared the blog address and he shared his desire to lose weight too. It was nice. I hope he comes around these pages sometime.

We were faced with dinner out in Ark City while we waited for our tattoo times. We picked a very simple Mexican fast food place. We both agreed that we just couldn’t handle the big nationally known chain, so we decided on a small regional favorite instead. I enjoyed three small beef tacos. They were really good and not too greasy. I compared these tacos with other taco chain calorie counts and concluded that each taco had approximately 150 calories. We didn’t count on being there so long. We didn’t get out of the tattoo place until just after 10pm. Then we had to wait until midnight to take off the bandages and doctor the tats. It was too late to be up, considering that the alarm was set for 4am—with Amber joining me for my show Thursday morning. We are both going to need a nap tomorrow!

Thank you for reading. I guess there’s no turning back. I have ink now. I’m officially a bad *ss. I’m kidding. I’m so not a bad *ss. I’m just Sean. Goodnight and…

Good Choices,
Sean


Amber’s tattoo!


Getting the “505” ink.


Trying really hard to look tough. Can I stop flexing my poor little bicep already? It’s been through enough tonight! I like it! I guess I better, huh? I mean—it’s with me for life, that’s how these things work. We did have a good laugh when we heard a “Tattoo Regret” commercial for a local Laser Center…a commercial that I voiced, how funny. No regrets!