Day 58 Who Says You Can't Live Life?

Guys and Gals, I have had a wonderful day. I am starting to wind it down while watching the remaining minutes of the Razorback game that we are whooping up on ULM in. A great way to end the day of many great experiences.

First of the great experiences was during this morning's usual 5k. I was letting the dogs out to the back yard as they don't wait for me to come back very well and are usually noisy and get the trash and strew it about. So as I am letting them out, I notice it is raining. Crap. I realize immediately that it will be a treadmill day. I really prefer to walk outside whenever possible it just works for me to get some fresh air in my lungs and to see the scenery change, even if it is only six times around my block looking at the same thing. So I get a towel out and I get the treadmill fired up and guestimated how fast I had to be walking to get the times I have in my last couple of 5k's. I guessed 3.5 mph,and I cranked up the incline to a whopping 1.5! Well I decided last week that I wanted to do a bit more jogging than I had lately, so I was gonna start jogging the straight in front of my house after a mile. Well I didn't abandon the plan because of the treadmill. At one mile I decided originally that I would start jogging for 3 minutes after the first mile. Well, at three minutes, I still felt good, my pace was smooth and my breathing was fine. I decided to try to go for a half mile of jogging instead. So I did, it took me somewhere in the area of like 5 minutes maybe, don't recall, but I was feeling it! So I finally tired out and turned the treadmill back to walking speed. I did do another jog later in the program, but is was only for .15 miles. All told, I came in at 51 or 52 minutes, 57 seconds. Slower than last week's. So if the weather permits, I am getting back outside tomorrow and though I usually go for just getting the walk in on Sunday, I am going for time tomorrow! We are debating about going for a hike tomorrow. I want to but I am not sure Kathy is down with the idea as yet.

So the next great thing that happened? I got in the shower and as I was getting dressed after, I noticed the shirt I picked had what looked like a paint stain on it? So I audibled to another shirt. I had gotten this shirt at my University's Homecoming last year. It was a giveaway to alumni and as an associate's degree holder, I qualified. So the trick is, it was an XL. It was a large cut XL, but an XL nonetheless. I have tried it on a couple of times, but not lately. So today I said heck with it, let's try again. Bingo! I was wearing an XL! Woo hoo!!

As I talked about yesterday, I had to go to Springdale today for Gary's football game. It was a little sad cause the other team was frikkin huge and Gary's team had no chance. But we yelled and screamed and hollered and had a good time anyway. After that, my best friends mom was having a birthday party at the lake and they invited me out. I knew I had homework, but I couldn't pass this up. My best friend was killed in a motorcycle wreck in 2007, so his family and I are even closer now than we were back then. I cherish every minute I get to spend with them. They are are pretty much like family. We have acted like asses together as kids, gotten in trouble as adults, and come full circle all starting families and getting late starts in school. So yeah, we have a bond. I stayed out there for a couple of hours and it was great to catch up.

I had a phenomenal eating day. I had to think on my feet and I did a good job of not giving in and living in the moment. For breakfast, we only had one egg in the house, not sure how that happened, but I fried that and then had a stick of my pepper jack cheese, then my cereal. We were also out of pancake mix, so the girls decided they wanted Mcdonalds for breakfast. We got there at like 10:15, which is snack time for me usually, so I had a fruit and granola yogurt parfait from there. Way more calories that my usual snack, but that early in the day, I can budget around it. So we finally were on our way to Springdale. I got there a few minutes late but caught the second quarter on of the game. So as we were talking about going out to the lake, it became apparent the cooking was gonna be a lot later than I could stand to wait for lunch, so I once again audibled and Kathy and I went to AQ Chicken House in Springdale. It is a well known little establishment that was founded in 1947. The walls are filled with pictures of a every President from that year forward having come to eat there at some point. Also, many many stars, like Randy Travis, Pat Sajak, some wrestling guys that started after I stopped watching apparently, and the list goes on. So we had a great lunch. I ordered the lemon pepper grilled catfish and green beans for the side, I ate the two fillets of catfish, about a half cup of the rice they came on and the green beans, as well as half a dinner roll. I was so proud of me! I am really becoming conscious of portion sizes and responsible in my eating! I was never able to to this before. With the rice left on the plate and the roll basket still on the table, I never buckled! Suhweet!

Now the spread at the party was one heck of a hard thing to resist folks. I have got some great cooks in my life and they still are whether I am trying to lose weight or not! There was potato salad, baked beans, cole slaw, grilled chicken breast, steak, rolls, I mean you name it, they had broken it out! Buuuuuut, since I chose to eat lunch prior, I was not able to indulge. I did have two ounces of chicken breast by splitting the breast with Kathy, but it was at snack time so it made sense to get a quick 90 calories of protein in.

As a last meal, Kathy and I stopped at Firehouse Subs in Van Buren and I had the turkey as usual. If you leave off mayo and cheese, it is only 410 calories with all the veggies and with spicy brown mustard. It is an unbelievable calorie value!

With my usual yogurt and celery and peanut butter as snacks, I finished off the day with a Mr. Goodbar mini candy bar and all told, I flirted with the bank limit at 1710 calories. I am ok with the little higher calorie total than the weekdays since I am more active on the weekends and I had that starving episode a couple of weeks back. I now trust myself to get close to the line and never break over it. It is a great feeling to get there. At day 58, I am settled into habits I never have even imagined! I mean for me to be practicing portion control? Really? It is what I prayed for and God, as is his business, answered that prayer and I cannot thank Him enough for empowering me, giving me dominion over food. Thank you Lord for saving my life. So my next prayer is this. Lord, I know the suffering and heartache of having an addiction to food, and I pray that you speak to the hearts of all that are having this same struggle. Lord please put you hand over them and instill in them the blessing you have upon me. Show each of them the light Lord. Help them walk through the door and see the light that shines on me now.

Well I better get off here and get to bed as I need my sleep for tomorrow. If I get my 5k in, mow my yards, and get a hike in, I am gonna be tired folks!