Day 557 Speaking Engagement Day and A Happy Emotion

Day 557

Speaking Engagement Day and A Happy Emotion

I arrived at the Conoco-Phillips complex about forty minutes before I was to speak today. I met Amy, my contact there, and she showed me to the auditorium and introduced me to the audio/video guy. This event was open to employees on the complex, so not everyone attending was interested in losing weight, but some were. It was a nice experience. After my talk, I opened up the floor for questions and a nice man shared the story of when he first saw me years ago. He said he had been listening to me on the radio for years, when one day he drove by a remote broadcast and noticed the voice he had heard all this time was coming from a most unexpected person. He didn't expect to see such a huge guy behind the voice he was hearing. I don't remember his exact words, but it was something to the effect of: You had to have been one of the biggest guys in Ponca City. He complimented me on the drastic change and then approached me afterward to tell me that when I walked in the room, he didn't know it was me. He was still looking for one of the biggest guys in town. That's certainly not me anymore, thank goodness!

I started by going all the way back to my birth. I was a really big baby, a ten pounder, easily the biggest baby in the nursery. This trend of being the biggest continued into pre-school, kindergarten, elementary, junior high, high school, and right into my adult years. I talked about hitting the snooze button on wake up calls, like my devastating doctors visit June 10th, 2008---the one that convinced me of my imminent death, yet still wasn't enough to make me really do something. I talked about what finally motivated me to start and how strange it was that the fear of death wasn't enough. I talked about the simplistic approach from Day 1 and how it differed from my past failed attempts. And I focused heavy on the mental aspects and since I noticed many people in attendance that may have not been interested in weight loss, I mentioned how these mental "gymnastics" can be applied to other areas of life. I used my favorite little words and phrases. The Calorie Bank and Trust, Steel Curtain Zone, Motivating Thoughts, Iron-Clad Decision, Importance Level, and several others. Words and phrases that mean so much to me and my journey. And although my self-critical nature found so many ways I could have communicated better today, Amy--and several others told me it was wonderful. And it was, I sincerely appreciated the opportunity to share my story.

After the talks, it was back to the studio for some work---and then home for a much deserved nap! My workout tonight included the Hutchins Trail, where it all began on September 15th, 2008. I guess that's why I like going back there so much. It is a strong reminder of how far I've come. I completed a 5K tonight, and although it may not have been my best workout performance, it was highly satisfying and enjoyable.

By the time I returned home and returned a few phone calls and text, it was almost 9pm and I still had 600 calories on the table. I needed dinner! A late dinner. I prepared a large chicken breast on the Foreman grill, sliced it up and put it inside a big three whole egg omelet with mushrooms and salsa. I was out of cheese, time to go to the store! It was really good and still fell a little short of the 600 calories, but it was close enough.

I sat in my recliner tonight, turned the TV off, and just reflected on this entire journey amid the quiet of my apartment. Alone with my thoughts, I started to get a little emotional, and then I realized---it wasn't a bad thing. It was a happy emotion. Because despite the challenges and setbacks along this road, the ups and downs, the stressful situations, the marital issues, despite everything...life is good. I feel great. I didn't wear an over-shirt today or an over-sized sport coat to cover me up...I just put on a collared shirt, and I still received "wow" reactions of "you look great!" Not once did I focus on those clothing insecurities today. I was calm, cool, and confident. It felt amazing.

Tomorrow is very busy. I have my show to do from 6-9am and then two remote broadcasts all day long until 6pm. It's going to be crazy busy! But we'll be fine and probably ready to go to bed way early again on a Friday night.

Thank you for reading. Goodnight and...

Good Choices,
Sean