Freedom

Okay, so I haven't visited in a month. My apologies. Yesterday, I experienced something that I haven't in quite some time. I actually was strapped into a ride at a theme park and was catapulted 32 stories in the air and felt the exhilaration of quickly leaving the ground. I fit into a theme park ride over and over again. I have had many victories over this process and this is one that I dreaded the most. When I started I could not: a) walk into a store and buy clothes off the rack any where but at a specialy store; b) stare at a table of fried foods and not consume great portions of them: c) buckle into an airplane seat without an extension; d) fit comfortably into a movie seat; and e) even consider going to a regulation theme park and ride a ride. It seems as though that ever slowly I'm being given back a life that I had all at once given up. Yesterday, as the ride began the first twenty feet and paused, I thought that I would never be in that seat. As the ride less than gently made me take flight, for a moment I could see the world unfettered. It felt good. I bought season tickets. I will return.

Travel

A guy who has lost more weight than me.

There's a trick to traveling and becoming more healthy. You have to plan. Plan to exercise. Plan to eat well. Plan to take care of yourself. I know. It may seem like a daunting task but try thinking of it this way. If you were home, you'd have to make the same adjustments. Think of it as way of continuing the habit that you have already started. Instead of choosing a hotel based on the restaurants around or in it, choose a place that either has access to a workout facility of any kind -no matter how small, it's still a workout - to keep in step, as much as possible, with your plan. Eating is a bit tricky especially if you don't have control over the menu. Eliminate the impossible. Create a protocol. With me it works this way: a) no fried; b) no simple carbs - cakes, white bread, etc.; c) no sodas - diet or otherwise, from here you build. Are there vegetables? Are there fruits? Is it grilled? By training the mind to focus on what could potentially bad for you and triaging them out of the way, it's easier to build up. Remember, food isn't a pleasure. It's a necessity. Because of it's necessity, it's always best to choose that which will give you energy than slow you down. But, what if you can't follow the protocol? Eat as small as possible and promise to add a little bit to the workout for the day. Don't carry the regret of an occasional out of sync meal. Move in and determine to keep it to a minimum. Yes, it's a lot of work but worth the payoff.

Almost a year

It's been almost a year since I started writing this blog. The changes since I have begun have almost been shocking. I write today because this week, I go to have my yearly physical. I cannot begin to imagine to what extent that my body will have reacted. What will have changed? What will be the same? I won't know until the end of the week. I do know that I am not afraid of exercise or eating less anymore. When I travel, it is more important to me that I am able to work out than where I eat. Don't get me wrong. Eating is still important. Food gives me energy instead of happiness. It gives me fuel not well being. Certainly, another year of hard work will bring me closer to that which I seek -- the ability to have my body better react to its surroundings. One lesson I have learned in the last year, the reflection may change in a month, it is better to discipline and live than to not discipline and slowly see death coming toward you. I know that sounds melodramatic. But, it is where I live now.

Doubts, fears, and triumphs

When I began this journey, I never really thought I'd get very far. The walking, the change in diet and attitude, all part of the process. So, now what? I've crossed the hundred pound barrier and now I fear I'll plateau and stop. Or, that I'll lose so much that I'll have to have surgery to deal with excess skin. No matter the circumstance, I guess it's part of the journey. I do know I'm feeling better and have more energy. I'm coming up on my first year of the blog. I'll post another update picture. Until then, my current profile pic was taken two weeks ago.

It has been a while

I have now officially lost 111 pounds. Life is getting more and more complicated at times but I know this for sure: I can't eat like I used to. Life has gotten a bit stressful at work here lately and I've had a wont to return to some old habits. My body simply won't let me. Overeating used to be where I went for stress relief but no more. I am encouraged by this new trend. I've still got about 70 more pounds to go but they don't seem so insourmountable anymore.

Can hardly wait to reach the next plateau so that I may begin again.

Where I am now...

I know that in a previous post I said I wouldn't say anything about weight anymore but, I have now cleared the 300 pound marker. As of my weigh date, Tuesday, I have now lost 106 pounds. I am now within striking distance of many goals the most of which is to find myself in a position of weighing what I weighed when I began college. But yet, another milestone, I had to have my wedding ring resized and I went from an 11 1/2 to a ten. Even now, I'm making plans to resize in the near future.

A salient moment washes over me and I realize that despite my heart problem, which has remained dormant, I feel better now than I've ever felt in my life. It's as if each new day dawns on the possibility of what better living can provide. God gives us the gift of these days not to squander but to steward. Everything I have severely cut back on - the sweets, the sodas, etc., though I must admit I occasionally indulge but not the rule, - I really don't miss. Healthy living has become my new form of emotional eating. My sincerest prayer is that I stay on this path and not look back. I remember what I felt like when I began writing this blog. I can state today that what I felt like back then is something I don't want to ever feel again.  This self-accountability is what will keep me on this journey. For the record, I am now within 80 pounds of my personal weight loss target. I now weigh 298 pounds. I started at 404. Still, no surgery, no prepared food diet, no plan, no pills, no shakes, no nothing, just simple, direct discipline. Trust me, if I can do this, so can you.

Man time flies

I managed to miss last week's entry. It was a busy day. Here I am. 104 pounds down and many more to go. I have made a decision. I will no longer be posting weight loss. Not that weight loss is not important, it's just that I know that my clothes are melting off me and that is more of what I would like to focus on for right now. I know that as the clothes sizes disappear, so does the weight. I know that any day now I will fully cross the three hundred threshhold and continue with a divine purpose to a place of maintenance. Still, my body is responding to the weight loss. I'm not as a tired as I once was and I am feeling more healthy as well.

There is much more to go but through God's help, it is not impossible. Next week, Lord willing, I hope to post the latest picture since I will have broken through a new plateau.