Banning Food Chocies?

I have to admit that my first reaction to the story the L.A. was banning fast food in poor neighborhoods was one of head shaking anger. OK anger may be a strong word but I did think "who are they to ban fast food?" We should be able to take care of ourselves, right?

Maybe Not?

I look at myself and my eating habits and see that I had plenty of healthy choices around. I just chose not to use them. I am not sure if it was convenience, taste or some other excuse I obviously chose to eat many of the wrong things and too much of them. After reading the article and found out that the ban was only for one year so that the community could try and attract healthier alternatives I thought that it may not be a bad idea. If someone, a long time ago, would have said hey try this for a 1 month or 1 year and see how it goes who knows were I would be today. Now I have a creature of habit and that habit is hard to break. My brain is wired for those types of foods, almost like an addict. I see that I am breaking the cycle and hope that I can keep it from beginning in my children. Do not get me wrong. I feel like we allow the government to get way to involved in our lives and are way too quick to give up some freedoms but I have to say that one year could make a difference. If it makes a difference for one person it is worth it in my book.

plan the work, work the plan

I had the majority of menu planned today (left dinner open so we could be flexible) and that seemed to work for me. I have the food listed and just check off the food. Well balanced. Plenty of veggies, not a lot of processed food. I am really looking forward to next week when all of the exercise excuses are gone. My new office is across the street from the YMCA that we belong to. So no excuses there....... Funny thing is the new office is 100 yards away from weight watchers ....

Back in the Saddle!

Well, I got to the weigh in on Saturday after two weeks of not being there due to the health issues etc and I considered it to be new starting point. My goal was to not have gained more than five pounds and I only gained 2.4 lbs. I feel pretty good about that..... So I am back in the saddle and have pre-planned the first tow days of meals so I know exactly what I am going to be eating. I am actually excited about the program again and looking forward to moving forward.

11 Days

It has been a while since my last post and there has not been a weigh in since. I have debated on if I wanted to post about this topic but when I set out to do this my commitment was to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth about my journey, good or bad. Well the last 8 to 9 days have been pretty bad.

Being over weight has many challenges. As I have gotten older my body shape has changed and I carry a lot of weight in the gut. This allows for my belly to hang over my waist line just a bit. This finally caused an issue last week when I got a scratch or sore of some kind that got infected and I had a huge abscess right under stomach in hip area. After prodding from wife and some consultation with my brother( he is a Doctor) I went to the emergency room and had it looked at. I knew they were going to say it needed to be lanced. However, I did not know how bad the infection was and how damn painful lancing an abscess could be. OMG it was the most miserable pain I have ever felt and to this point they were only numbing the area to actually lance the abscess. After a half hour of pressing and draining ( with pieces of infected tissue the size of my little finger coming out) I could not take any more and the doctor stopped. ( with much begging from me). They backed the open wound with sterile material and told me to see my doctor 48 hours later. Needless to say that did not go as well as expected either and the doctor debated on if he should send me to surgeon or not. The good news is that he did not and as of today I am feeling much better and the infection seems to be gone (heavy duty anti-biotics for the next 4 or 5 days )

The reason I am writing about this is that it was kind of a wake up call in a sense. There can be numerous health problems from being over weight but this is one I never imagined. It almost made me feel unclean. Granted, people get abscess's all the time but the severity of this one was due to the location and fold of fat that allowed it to fester. This could have been very serious. The doctor said if I would not have had it treated I was about 24 hours away from a hospital stay to get the infection under control. Talk about motivation..... So, I am back on plan. Spent tonight in the backyard playing with my daughter instead of on the couch or the bed and looking forward to a good week and weigh in on Saturday.

I just do not get it.

Here I am 3 days since my last post and fast approaching another weigh in where I know I have not done well. Do not get me wrong, I am not going on a binge or eating crazy stuff I am just not following plan like I know I should. I am not writing down my food, etc. I can not figure out for life of me why I can not seem to follow through on something I believe to be so important to me?????? I am really searching for some answers here???????

Happy Birthday to You

Today was my wife's birthday so.......... a little off on plan tonight. I did really well all day but had a little more treat of carrot cake ( her favorite!!!) than I should have. All in all still doing OK and excited about getting back on track. It was a great afternoon with my wife and the girls as we celebrated with her parents and her grandmother. Another reminder of why we are working on making healthier choices....

More of the same

Well, today was a day later weigh in and the results were nothing. I stayed the same. I guess some of it could be a little off plan on Friday the 4th but I am trying to look at it as starting over. The bottom line is that I am going no where fast so I need to change something. In looking back over the last 4 months I see that by weighing in on Friday morning I tend to go off track on Friday and Saturday try to get back on Sunday only staying strict on plan for 4 days a week.... part time healthy choices are not going to work!!!! One thing that does motivate me, even though it does not seem like it, is facing the scale. So, if I know I need to weigh in tomorrow I will stay good today. With that in mind I am going to start going to meetings on Saturday mornings. This will keep me more honest on Friday and more on track (at least 6 days a week!!!!!)

Going into the weekend

The 4th is upon us and it should be a great long weekend. I will not be weighing in until Saturday, a day later than normal. I would normally think this to be a good thing but with Friday being the 4th with cookouts etc.... could be interesting. I just have to stay focused on being "on plan". I will not write on Friday but will check in Saturday with the weigh in results......

Three days

3 days of renewed commitment and I am still following through. exercise, writing things down, making good selections and drinking my water. I know it sounds like no big deal but I feel really good about what I am doing. You see, in the past, with the set backs I have had the last few weeks I would have just given up the the notion of losing weight and gone back to my old ways. Not this time. I will not go backwards. I am trying to look at it as a learning experience and that it is not all about the scale and losing weight, although that is the ultimate goal. This all about health and a change in life style long term. I know there are a lot of people that have been where I have been and the kept going. I am looking to them for inspiration this time and not jealousy. Tomorrow is another day to help continue forming good habits for life.

Two in a Row

Well after two days of being refocused I am doing well. I wrote down all of my food for the day, made good selections and got some good moderate exercise by ACTIVELY playing with my daughter outside tonight. We had a blast!!!

Made the buy of the week with my favorite "True Lemon" packets. They usually are about 3 or 4 bucks at the grocery but I found them at Walgreen's for $1.50 a box. I bought 5 boxes. I just find it so much easier to drink my water with a bit of lemon flavor and of course the packets are so much more convenient than carrying a lemon around in your pocket..... especially after it has been cut.