He Knows If You've Been Bad or Good...

Things over the last couple of weeks have been hectic because of the Holidays. Running a Produce section for a large retailer at Christmas time can be very stressful. I haven't had much of a chance for "me" time either. I had been doing really well with everything, but over the last couple of weeks, it has just been thrown out the window. My visits to the gym has been sporadic. Once or twice a week. I've gotten my steps almost everyday on my FitBit, and a lot of the time I've gone over 4 to 5 thousand steps. My eating has been even worse! I have hardly tracked at all! The problem I've had with the eating is what I call "Once-A-Year Foods." It's those pesky little things you only eat at Christmas that threw the kink in my plan.  The homemade cookies, cinnamon candy, and some white chocolate covered cereal snack. I tried to resist, but found myself eating a piece as I was walking by the bowls. Melody also makes this thing she just calls crack. Puff corn with toffee mixture on it. It's called crack because it's so addicting!

The meal choices weren't to good either. One night it was BBQ hot links and little smokies washed down with Velveeta Queso and tortilla chips. The next night was tacos. Those are special because it was a recipe my mother in law used to make all the time. I've never found another taco like these anywhere! It's what I would call a loose meat taco. The meat sauce is sweet and really juicy, sorta like a marinara sauce. The shells are corn tortillas just dipped in oil long enough to get them warm. Pour the meat on the tortilla and fold it over. Add the lettuce, tomatoes, onions, cheese, sour cream, and salsa, then it's complete. I ate eight of them, or I should say I stopped at eight. They were so good, I could've eaten eight more! Up till now, I hadn't drank a single pop in over 3 months. This week I drank 3 Diet Dr. Peppers. I know, Diet Sodas are free on Weight Watchers, but they are a crutch for me. I could easily drink 9 - 10 a day! I quit drinking them because that many a day is just not good for you. I like the option of drinking things that are better for me. Water, tea, coffee, flavored waters, or my favorite is water with lemon squeezed in it.

As I sit here writing this, I feel like a failure. I made a lot of bad choices, and I let Melody make some to. I should've resisted harder. Does it make me want to quit? To be very blunt, there is NO WAY in Hell I'm quitting! I've gone to far to stop now! As of my last weigh-in, I've lost right at 58 pounds since September. Christmas only comes once a year. I've been on this program for only a few short months. This was my first Christmas since starting. Could I have done things differently? Yes. Will I do things differently next year? You bet! I have a whole year to plan and be successful! All the stress is now over. Everyone is gone. We can get back to our routine. Eating healthy and working out.

My plan for the next week will be simple. Go back to basics.

1. Lots of vegetables.
2. Good protein meats.
3. Get to the gym, no matter what. 
4. Keep my hands out of the bowls.

I plan on staying home and watching Oklahoma beat Clemson, then watch the other game between Alabama and Michigan State on New Years Eve. No big party. Nothing fancy. Just me and me family watching the games. A quick toast with fake champagne and off to bed. I have to work on New Years this year.

It late on Christmas night, but I hope everyone had a great Christmas, and took time out to remember why we really celebrate. My hope for you for the upcoming New Year is if your resolution is to lose weight and get healthy again, is that you'll pick a wonderful program like Weight Watchers. The support and the teaching you get with the program now is unlimited. With the new app, you can reach anyone on the program and get support for you in your journey. If you need any help, feel free to message me anytime, and I'll help you too!

Good Bless! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

My Favorite Christmas Song. 

There are Seven Days in a Week. Someday is Not One of Them...

While driving home last night from the gym, I talked with Melody about this video clip. Before I explain myself, let me share what's been going on. I gained last week, but only .4 lbs. Considering we finally had our Thanksgiving last weekend, I was surprised it was only that much. Too much food that I get to eat only each once a year, plus sweets around the house. I ate good, but I could've eaten better. I also found myself just getting burned out with the whole routine. Watching what I eat, working out, watching what I eat, work out, watching what I eat, work out. The whole thing was getting mundane. I found myself not going to the gym for a whole week! I just wanted to come home and relax. Thoughts raced through my head. "Other people are losing weight without working out." "You're tired. rest awhile." "One piece of candy can't hurt." My mind started winning the war against my body again. 

I had to find a way to fight back. I called my trainer, Jared, and asked him to switch things up. My son gave my wife a new power cooker for Christmas, so we've been cooking some better, healthy meals. My workout went great Monday, but sometime Tuesday afternoon, my right ankle started hurting. I'm not sure what happened, but it has been hurting ever since. As much pain as I was in, I went to the gym to do cardio and rode 10 minutes till the pain finally forced me to stop. Wednesday night at the gym I started doing my resistance training, when I started having trouble. The lack of coordination I have was stopping me from doing back lunges. No matter how I tried it felt awkward and I was off balance. I hadn't done a lunge like that in almost 20 years! I persisted on though. As much as my body was wanting me to quit, I couldn't do it! I couldn't cheat myself from giving it my all. Even through all the pain I was having in my ankle, I felt I'd be letting myself down and all the accomplishments I've achieved would be for nothing if I quit or cheated.

This is when I started thinking of this video while working out. I told her I didn't want to be like that little overweight kid. As cute as he was when they take off, he tries his best, but when he sees he is so far behind everybody, he turns around and tries cheating to win. When the dust has settled and at the end of the video, where does that little boy end up? Last of the line. Last place. The bottom. The very end! He gave it an effort, but not his best. He tried to cheat, but still wound up last. I don't want to be that! I want to give it my best effort! If I come in last, who cares? I tried my best! That all that matters. If I cheat myself, and don't eat right, or cutting short my workout routines, I'm going to end up last every time! I told her I want to win. I want to get there! I know eventually, I won't be last. I will gradually move up, and as I do, you better watch out! 

Video Games Ruined My Life! Thank Goodness I Have 2 Left....

My introduction to video games started in the late 70's. We got a Pong game for our TV. It was really cool for the time, and every one wanted to have one. It was basically a tennis game that you and another player could play against each other. I would spend hours on that thing. As I grew older and the games developed, I remember getting an Atari game system. I'd come home from school and hop on it, but Mom would only let me play for a little while, after dinner and homework were done, I'd go back in and play till bedtime. As I got older, I started going to the arcades. At lunch, when I was going to school, I'd go to this place, that I can't remember the name of, on North Porter, just a couple blocks away from school. Dad would give me $2 or $3 for lunch and I'd go up there and get a hot dog and a coke for $1 and spend the rest in video games. There was also a little shack across from our school called The Cubs Den. I'd go there, and get a Kit Kat and a coke for lunch and spend the rest in games. If that wasn't bad enough, I would go to the Gold Mine in Sooner Fashion Mall. That was my favorite! Wall to wall games. All the latest and greatest. I could play there all day. 

When I hit high school and I started making my own money, I'd go whenever I got the chance. When we'd stop after our ball games in high school, instead of sitting with my girl friend, I'd play games till I was broke, then go sit with her. She'd get so mad at me at times, I still think I'm very lucky she married me. When we were dating, I'd drop her off at her house by 11 p.m. and then stop down the block from our house and play video games till 1 or 2 in the morning. Mom got worried about me once and got out to check on me about 2 in the morning. She drove down the road, saw my car at the convenience store, turned around and went home. She never worried about me partying or getting drunk. That would get in the way of my games!

After we got married, we went over to a cousins house. He had a Nintendo. Me and him stayed up all night playing Mario Bros. I saved up all my money. I had to get me one too! I lost many hours of sleep but I had cto rescue the princess! After that there was the Sega, than the Playstion, the Nintendo 64, the Xbox, the Playstion 2, the Xbox 360, and then my last one, the Playstion 3, which I've owned for a couple of years. My youngest son bought himself a Playstion 4, and I'd play on it quite a bit too. If he was at work or asleep, I'd jump at the chance to play for a little bit. I would always jump at a chance to play video games! I feel video games were a big factor into my becoming obese. I'd like nothing better than to sit for hours and play games uninterrupted. Over the years the amount of sleep I've lost would be staggering. I've gone to work too many times after getting only 1 or 2 hours of sleep after staying up all night. My constant sitting around, and lack of proper rest, and eating all different hours, I feel, is what put me in the predicament I'm in.

I hadn't played in a while when I joined Weight Watchers, that was till my son brought home a game called Fallout 4. I had played the previous 3 and was looking forward to playing this one. Over the last couple of weeks, my routine took a hit. I started changing things so I could play it. I didn't change my eating habits I had started, but my gym time became game time. For the first time since I started my jpurney, I was feeling tired and sluggish all day. I wasn't losing alot of sleep, but I thought is was just the stress of Thanksgiving week. After talking to some co-workers, I came to the logical conclusion that I was tired because of the video game. I will sit for hours in the same position and not move a muscle other than my hands or head. I will get so caught up in a game, that I will lose aspect of time. I thought that was okay. Till today. 

My journey took a hard right and veered of the road. I hit the biggest wall yet. How can I get past this wall? It goes up as high as I can see, and as far wide as I can see. This wall has been being built for almost 40 years, so it's huge! The only way I can get through it is to ram a hole right through it, and the only way I can do that is to stop playing games. I've got to quit doing the thing I have been consumed with! That's the only logical way I can see it. To take all my energy that I used to p,aye games with, and focus it into my health. When I bored, leave the tv off, and go to the gym, or go outside. I'm really wanting to buy me a bike and start riding it, so maybe that's something I can focus on. I like to write and I have a song that I've been messing with in my head, so maybe I can write it now. Who knows what I can do now, but it won't be video games! Wow! I can't even believe I'm saying this! I am giving up video games! I've got to! I made a pledge to myself to get healthy no matter the cost! That game cost me .4 lbs this week, but no more! I'm still over 50 lbs lost, and I want to keep it that way!