Wonder of Wonders, Miracle of Miracles

They say that a picture is worth a thousand words so I’m going to begin this post with a picture…but then I’ll add lots of words below the picture as well.  You didn’t think you’d get out of it that easy, did you?

 Please do not adjust your computer screen.  Yes, the picture is correct and, no, it’s not a photo shop.  Number 1192 in this picture is yours truly.

Now for the explanation.  Our Weight Watcher instructor recently challenged our class to join her for the Thanksgiving Day Turkey Trot in Watertown, NY on November 27^th.  I accepted that challenge and today I actually ran (and walked..a lot) my first 5K run.  Now I should explain that my daily routine is to try and walk an hour or more near my home.  The total distance of that walk is 4 ½ miles so, technically, I have been walking more than 5K on a daily basis for a while now.  I recently added some short runs (now about 200 steps) to my walk and repeat that several times during the hour long exercise.  Sooooooo, it seemed like it was time to “step it up” (pun intended) and join some type of “race”.

The Thanksgiving Day Turkey Trot was the answer.  It includes all ages and abilities and takes place early on Thanksgiving Day.  I thought I could give this kind of activity a try as a way of “coming out” as a man who has determined that he really wants to be serious not only about losing some weight but also in increasing his level of physical activity on a more regular, permanent basis.  Now for the outcome.

I felt great in completing this event today.  I was walking/running with about 1400 others who had joined the Turkey Trot and no one cared whether you ran, walked or crawled.  They were all part of the excitement of and early morning experience with a large group of like thinkers and that was great.  Being a part of such a large group was, in itself, kind of exciting and encouraging.  You weren’t just watching people race, you were one of the “runners”.  I’m about half way to my weight loss goal and as I continue to lose, issues like a bad knee and bad back are less and less noticeable.  As the weight continues to come off I hope to increase my ability to run longer and longer during my daily exercise to the point that I will be able to truly call myself a “runner” at some future 5Ks.

I want to encourage all of you to “step it up” in your own life as well.  If that means walking all the way to the end of the block and back then that’s great.  If you can work up to two blocks or eventually around the block then you are on your way.  Pick an activity you think you would enjoy and get started.  Maybe it’s riding a bike or some other activity.  Try it out and then, once you get used to it, “step it up” in one way or another.  The changes don’t have to be huge, just press yourself to add just a bit more to your activity level.  As you reach the point where you find small victories (like actually participating in a public "race") you will feel better and better about yourself. 

I’ll leave you with another picture I found from a local news agency that was posted along with dozens more taken during today’s race.  These pictures will remind me that “Yes I Can” make a difference in my physical exercise and  my physical ability.  I guess that’s one of the reasons I’m in WW in the first place.  I not only want to lose weight but I want to develop a more healthy lifestyle so this weight loss can be permanent.  I want to encourage you to join me.  And speaking of encouragement, you will never guess who was standing at the finish line today, long after she had already finished her own race.  Yup, it was that same little Weight Watcher instructor I mentioned earlier.  As I ran across the finish line I could hear someone cheering up ahead.  Not only had she encouraged me to start this race but she was there to encourage me to cross that first finish line.  Thanks Alison!  You are a great encourager.  I hope this blog site can be an encouragement to some of you.  I plan to “Step It Up”, won’t you join me?  God bless.

I Had No Idea

For many years I have been eating in ways I didn’t even realize.  I ate a fairly normal breakfast, most of the time.  Lunch and dinner were not that unusual in terms of quality of food or volume.  Now, that I am conscious of everything I put in my mouth (‘cause I need to track it all) I am amazed at just how big a part of my day/life that food had become.

I have discovered that I was “grabbing a little something” throughout my day.  Whether it was taking advantage of some sweet that someone brought into the break room, that candy bar or chips and soda that I picked up when I went in to pay for the gas at the station, or the goodie that I ordered to go along with that cup of coffee at whatever part of the day I sat down for a break.  Food, especially snacks, had become a major part of my eating problem.  It is only now, when I am really counting “points” that I realize how much this part of my diet was really out of control.  It could be that bag of chips that I bought to snack on during that long drive or the bag of candy that I had in the car when I needed “a little something sweet”.  You may find this hard to believe but on occasion I have actually bought a tub of dip to go along with those chips.  Yes, I mean when I’m driving down the highway.  Chip AND dip as I’m driving down the road.  How was that for distracted driving?!  I have become painfully aware .that food, especially the tempting, fattening (very tasty) kind, is all around us.

It is amazing for me, now, when I walk into a Quick Stop type of gas station that food is everywhere, and it’s being presented in a flashy, attention getting, you just gotta have this right now fashion.  You step inside the door and there they are…racks and racks of every kind of chip, cracker, corn whatsits and potato whatchamacallits.  And chocolate!  It’s all over the place.  Have you noticed that the entire front of the counter where you have to go to pay for your fuel is entirely covered with shelves clear to the floor filled with candy bars?  Oh yes, and just watch any parent that approaches the cashier and see what their children head for.  “Hey mom!  I need this candy bar right now.”  And then the whining starts.  

No matter which way you look it’s everywhere around you.  It’s like you have stepped into junk food heaven!  And if you finally make it past the minefield of fat, salt and calories that you have to navigate through just to get up to the counter, there sits a tub holding bags of fresh cheese curd on ice just waiting for you to grab one “for the road”.  Did you notice that the enticements start long before you enter the store.  As you pump your fuel you see giant posters positioned nearby you which show a cheesy, delicious slice of pizza or and calzone just dripping with cheese and sauce.  They are reaching out, trying to get into your head to say, “You really need one of these to eat while you are driving home for dinner.”  If you are anything like me you have often agreed totally with those voices and walk out with that greasy slice of pizza on a paper plate.  Of course you need a soft drink to wash it all down too...and maybe a few chips to go along with it.  And don’t get me started on the pastries that are displayed all over the place just waiting for you to take along with that cup of fresh hot coffee.  I knoweth of what I speaketh!   

It’s been said that it’s important to know your enemy and recognize how he operates.  I am not saying that any of the above mentioned foods is evil in and of itself.  What I am saying is that you and I, if we are trying to lose weight and develop a more healthy lifestyle, need to recognize these foods for what they are.  They are the enemy of the dieter.  They give us a temporary satisfaction or sugar rush which lasts only a short time.  That’s when we find ourselves loosing energy fast and starting to droop.  Some call this their sugar crash which follows their sugar rush.  And that says nothing about the guilt we all feel after the fall.  :)

So what do I do?  I still have to go into those places to purchase the fuel or whatever else I need.  I try to see all that junk food for what it is…junk.  I think of it as poison for me as one who is trying to lose weight.  It will not help me to work toward my goals.  Instead, it will impede my progress, give me lots of guilt if I fall for it, and it will continue to reach into my head in any way that it can with those bright colors, great pictures and the smells, oh those smells!  Mmmmmm, makes your mouth water just to think of all those great smells. Just remember, POISON!   I had to laugh just now as I’m typing this post.  In the Bible it speaks about “the pleasures of sin for a season”.  I hadn’t thought much about it but that applies to what I’ve been writing about.  When I take a bite of that chocolate bar or reach into that salty, oily bag of chips and then take a mouthful, it’s pleasure.  It tastes great, mmmmmmm, but I know in my mind that it’s a lie if I am trying to control my weight.  If I would just use my head a little more and trust my taste buds a little less I think I would make out a lot better.

How many times have we all heard, “Once past the lips forever on the hips.”  I remember another phrase that comes to mind, “You are what you eat.”  That means that Bob has been, in large part (pun intended) a big bag of delicious Doritos, or Ruffles with Ridges, or cheese sticks, or Mounds Bars, or Little Debbies, or an Ice Cream Sandwich……I think you get the picture.  That’s how I got ‘thick’ and then this fall I got “tired of it”.  That’s why you often see me write, “I’m thick, and tired of it.”  I knew I needed to make a change and, thank God, I’ve found Weight Watchers.  For me, this has been a great motivator.  I really like the program for many reasons.  I like the folks who are sharing this journey with me and others and I like the young lady who leads our little group.  We truly are, or are becoming, a ‘Big Bunch of Losers’, and I’m lovin’ it. I have decided that I will take control of my eating no matter where I am, including that Dieter’s Lion’s Den we call the gas station.  I want to take control of my environment rather than let it control who I am and what I eat.  It’s hard but then everything in life that’s worth anything usually is.  I will end this post with a poster I saw on line.  Life is hard in many ways, but we get to choose which ones we would rather work hard at.  I hope you can make the hard choices to.  They will be the ones that help you avoid the trap that junk food can be, and those right choices will lead you further down your own weight loss journey.  Happy losing my friends!

Keep Both Your Oars in the Water !

I bet you are asking yourself, “What the heck is he talking about?”  Well, I’m glad you asked that question.  Let me tell you a little story.  Once upon a time there was a young man who was crossing Ireland and came upon a lake in his path.  It was a large lake which would require a significant amount of time to walk all the way around.  Luckily, there was a man with a row boat which he hired out as a ferry boat to carry passengers across the lake in a fraction of the time it would take to walk around.  So, the young man agreed to hire the boatman, got into the boat and the two of them began their short trip across the water.  As they rowed, the two got talking about how a person lives their faith in this world.  The boat man listened to the young man’s thoughts for some time and then leaned on his oars and said this to the man.  “Son, it’s been my experience in this life that folks of true faith who want to accomplish significant things are those who have both faith and works in their lives.  Here, let me show you what I mean.”  Then the oarsman put the left oar in the water and pulled hard on the one oar for several strokes.  The boat didn’t move through the water at all but, instead, spun in tight circles in a counter clockwise direction!  “You see”, the oarsman said, “when I pull on this left oar all I do is go in circles and don’t really see much progress.  No matter how hard I work at pulling this one oar I don't accomplish any forward motion.  I just keep going in circles.  Let’s call this oar ‘faith’ .”  Then he raised that oar out of the water and dipped the right oar deep into the lake, pulling hard and strong for several powerful strokes.  In almost identical fashion the boat spun in a tight circles as before but in the opposite direction.  “Now, you see, the boat is still moving but only in a circle, not getting any closer to shore.  Let’s say we name this oar ‘works’.  Son, here’s what I’m trying to tell you.  In your life, if you just live with your faith hiding quietly inside without letting it affect what you do, you just spin in place with little impact or progress toward any kind of goal.  It’s only when these two things, faith AND works, act together that you see any real accomplishment in your life.  And you move your boat, I mean, your life in a positive direction and move toward whatever goals you have in mind.  And with that, the oarsman dipped both oars into the water and, pulling strongly, soon had the young man at the opposite shore.”  So, you may be asking, “What the heck does this story have to do with losing weight?”  I’m glad you asked that question too.  Read on.

It’s been my experience over the years that many people approach weight loss like the young man.  They try “dieting” by eating less food or more healthy food but they often find limited success.  Then there are those who some call “gym rats” or “exercise fanatics” who work out in one fashion or another, trying to sweat off those extra pounds.  They too, often find limited success in what they are trying to accomplish.  The most successful weight loss I have had over the years and seen in others were the ones where diet AND exercise were both a part of what was happening.  It’s been my experience over time and talking with many other folks who have also been in their own “Battle of the Bulge” that focusing too much on one or the other seems to limit success.  Don’t get me wrong, either severely limiting calorie intake or exercising to some kind of extreme level will bring about weight loss but it’s often short-lived and demands a pretty severe regimen.  However, by including both a reduction in the volume of food (which should include moving toward healthier choices) WITH an increase in the amount of exercise, or calorie burning, a person experiences results in a quicker and longer lasting weight loss. 

It’s sort of a ‘1 – 2’ punch.  If you burn more food energy (calories) in a day than you consume, then your body draws on the food energy it has stored within itself in the form of fat.  If, at the same time, you are also reducing the amount of food you consume (eat less) then your body is quicker to tap into those stored reserves.  The short version of all this is very simple:  EAT LESS, EXERCISE MORE.  Yup, it’s really that simple.  If you do either one you should, over time, see progress but if you do both at the same time you should see a lot more success a lot more quickly and that feels great.  It’s something I am still learning to apply in my life and I’m trying to make lifestyle changes so I won’t have to repeat this whole weight loss thing all over again (and again, and again, and again…).  Time will tell how successful I will be but for now, it’s working as long as I stay on the plan…that is to “Keep Both Oars in the Water”.  You get it, right?  The key to success for you and I in this whole “journey” is to combine eating smarter with exercising more.  So here’s to our efforts and winning our own battle.  Remember, “Keep Both Your Oars in the Water”.  God bless!