Tuesday, June 24, 2008

3) My Body Is An Amusement Park

Anyone that knows me, knows that eating food is more like an adventure or distorted hobby to me. Almost as a defense mechanism, I would joke with people who witnessed my eating habits, a phrase I heard back in high school and repeated throughout most of my life: "Some people treat their bodies like a temple. I treat mine like an amusement park". It was usually good for a laugh and in actuality pretty close to reality.

Fried foods were my specialty and one that goes back to my early childhood, way before anyone even thought of the word Transfats. Growing up in Maine, I'm pretty sure my first introduction to fried foods began when I had my first Fried Clam by the age of 6 or 7. Like a heroin addict, I was pretty much hooked before the last golden crumb fell to the empty plate below and any type of frying oil or Crisco shortening was my poison. Within 2-3 years, I was digging clams in the mud flaps of Kennebunport, ME just for the purpose of frying them up, with the assistance of one of my older siblings who usually kept a portion for their services.

When I was 12, I moved to a small little town in the panhandle of Texas and got a job working in a small highway cafe washing dishes at $1.00 an hour. While the pay was low, one of the perks was free food, and another was my new best friend, The Frialater, who agreed to fry anything that I threw in him. Nothing fried was sacred and even vegetables dressed up in a shiny coat of golden crust were invited to the party I regularly had in my mouth. I even gobbled down the official "seafood" of the Texas panhandle, Rocky Mountain Oysters with reckless abandon until their true origin was discovered. I still get a little queasy about that one.

In addition to fried foods, anything else listed on a nutritionist's "DO NOT EAT" list was thought of as a challenge instead of a warning. I have seen owners of pizza and chinese buffets almost start to panic as they see me walking into their establishment. I still believe that less than three trips to "the line" is not only an insult to the chef who had worked so hard preparing the foods for me, but also indicates a lack of effort on my part.

Sure, there were numerous diets and attempts to control my eating, but unfortunately the dedication would usually start to erode after 2-3 days. After this "intro" period, I would reward myself with a "regular" meal that was repeated over and over for the next 3-4 days, justifying it by averaging the regular and diet meals for the week. Another tool I used was the Evolution of Food. For example, I would start out with grilled chicken. After a couple of days I determined that Chicken McNuggets were actually just chicken with a little bit of coating on them, so how bad could they be? A few days later I justified eating General Tso's (aka Gao's) Chicken, somewhat content that I was sticking to my diet as it was merely Chicken Nuggets with a "healthy" chinese sauce poured on it. In addition it usually came with brocoli which took care of the extra calories! I can honestly state that I had never stayed on a diet for longer than a week, and that week didn't include the weekend.

I say "had", because as I type this, I have not only stayed completely on my diet for the last 21 days, but have left almost half my allocated calories on the table, in the refridgerator, or on the shelves of the kitchen cabinets. Somehow something switched and each meal is no longer an adventure but something that I need to think about BEFORE I put the food in my mouth, not after. It seems almost scripted and somewhat cliché, but it really is true: Before I started this project it was as if I was almost existing, just to eat. Now I am eating to exist.

How I changed is really quite simple. Rick, my trainer, sat down with me and we set up a diet. First, to maintain my body weight, I could take in approximately 10 times my weight (ie 2760) in calories, so to lose weight we set out on a diet of 2000 calories. In addition Rick pointed out that all calories are not the same and that to maintain a healthy body, I really needed to break down my food intake to 40% Protein, 40% Carbohydrates and 20% Fat. I created an Excel spreadsheet that breaks down each food item into these categories, as well as calculates how many calories each item equals (ie 1 gram of Protein and Carbs equals 4 calories and 1 gram of Fat equals 9 calories). As I eat a food, I just copy and paste that food from a master list of foods that I constantly update into my daily log of foods eaten. Might sound complicated but it really isn't, especially with sites like Calorie King that does a great job of breaking down just about all foods out there.

If anyone is interested in the Excel Spreadsheet that I created (very basic form but hopefully you can figure it out) I have uploaded to a website HERE. Just a couple of things about it. One, the website that hosts it requires you to wait 25 seconds before downloading it. Two, if there is a number to the right of the food item, you need to change it to the number of ounces, cups, etc you are eating. Three, the bags of vegetables (ie green beans, etc) are based on half a bag as I split them with my wife. Four, I have added a hyperlink to the Calorie King website to the left of the foods. Fifth, you have to edit the formulas for all foods that you add that are broken down into ounces, cups, etc. Six, I left the usual three things I eat everyday on the list as an example. Email me if you have any problems.

BTW, sorry I haven't updated this but unfortunately I got hit with a wicked cold. Hopefully, I'm finally at the tailend of it. And even though I felt like pretty crummy, I still completed my exercise routine (ie 3 mile walk/run, spin class, and weight training) everyday except last Friday!

Sunday, June 8, 2008

2) The Turning Point

I suppose there's something quite ironic about the fact that a portion of my 3 mile walk is through a cemetery, and even more ironic is that it contains my "Turning Point". So essentially I'm running INTO a cemetery so that I stay OUT of a cemetery! I suppose I should explain.

One of the major reasons that I am taking on this task of running the Boston Marathon is to get myself in shape and lose at least 50-75 pounds. As a start. I just turned 47 years old and on Thursday my doctor informed me that my Body Mass Index (BMI) is literally "off the chart" that they have posted on the wall next to the scale. And not just barely off the chart, but off of it by a couple of inches if they extended to include my weight! She said it with a laugh, but I have no doubt that she was not laughing inside. Neither was I.

At my current weight of 276 pounds, I am classified as "Morbidly Obese", a term that is much uglier than the friendly "portly" or "big boned" adjectives that I have used during the majority of my life to describe my weight. Believe it or not, it suddenly dawned on me that the only reward that I see for remaining at such an elevated weight is an early seating at the cemetery of my choice. I'm sure heaven's a nice place (I'm making an assumption about my future membership here...) but I really kind of like my Existence here on earth and would prefer to stay here as long as possible, with my wife, family and friends. I mean, I haven't even been to Branson, MO yet! lol

I started my 3 mile walk on Monday, and even though my shins were killing me due to not using my legs like they are supposed to be used for the last 20 years ("shin splints"), I crossed the finish line at Home just under the one hour mark (58 minutes and 8 Seconds to be exact). And while I actually considered playing the "If your muscles start to hurt too much, go ahead and stop walking for the day" card that my trainer Rick had given me, I persevered and pushed through the pain. (On a sidenote and a question I still don't have an answer too, how I am supposed to get home if I'm a mile away from home and I decide to stop walking?) In any event, I did make it home and was somewhat surprised to learn that my shins did not snap and fall off my legs, and with a little ice, felt much better after 20 minutes.

The weather gods were very nice on Monday, with temps in the upper 60s, and they repeated the gesture on Tuesday, with temps in the lower 70s! The evil Shin Splints reared their ugly head again, but I had done some stretches before I left and this time they didn't seem to be as severe so I was able to knock ~3 1/2 minutes off my time to finish at 54:33!

Then came Wednesday and with it, rain. I decided to wait it out and see if it would pass, but as noon rolled around, it continued to come down even harder. As I have done for pretty much my entire life, I saw a perfect opportunity to skip this day and blame the rain. In addition, I had no doubt that I could convince Rick that I had taken his advice and given my poor overworked legs and muscles a break for fear of doing major damage. And even though times in the mortgage business (my occupation) are slow right now, I was positive that there were some files to shuffle or phone calls to make and answer. I was sure that I could even create a few more excuses on demand, if needed, to convince myself and everyone else why I was not able to give a 100% commitment to my project that Wednesday. I decided to call it a day and took my running shoes off.

But then something happened. Something I hadn't experienced before. It was almost as if I was getting sick from the guilt that lay inside of me. Guilt that I was lying to myself, to Rick, to my wife Mary, my friends and family as well as everyone* at the "Turning Point" cemetery who, even though they probably don't know it, are supporting me. I put my shoes back on and headed out the door. To make a long story short, I arrived back Home 30 seconds faster than the day before, my shins still killing me, and completely soaked from head to toe. I really don't recall ever being more proud of myself or ever feeling better.

It may not seem like much to anyone outside my head, but this was a turning point for me. Without everyone's support, I have little doubt that I would have put my shoes back on and walked those 3 miles in the rain. But I did, and I have continued to walk the 3 miles everyday since. Thank you.

Me, Saturday June 7th

Everyone At The Turning Point Cemetery
Hello Carla. Same to you Newell.
Nice seeing you Augusta. How's it going Al?
Clarence, do you mind if I call you Larry
To rhyme with your neighbor to the north, Harry?
I know you don't know me, n
or me know you,
But thank
s for the support, see you tomorrow,
sleep well.

Monday, June 2, 2008

1) One Point Five: The Journey Begins.

Today, Monday June 2nd at 7:30 AM, I opened the side door of my house and stared down upon what I have always considered just a normal step that I take to "Everyday". But not today. Today the step seemed to stare back at me, almost challenging me, and I knew that once I stepped down off of it, onto the driveway and down the street, my life would forever change.

Like most people, I don't remember taking my first steps as a baby. Being the youngest of six, I doubt it was a very big deal at the time. (Has anyone seen Roger? Oh there he is standing by the street. I guess he's walking now. Please pass the corn). And while I would like to think that my Mom (Hope) was there standing beside me for the big event, chances are she probably viewed it from heaven. Either way, I'm sure she was watching over me, making sure I was OK...

Friday, I met with my friend/trainer (Rick) and discussed my training schedule for the Boston Marathon. As I'm not really a big fan of walking/running, I have put it on the backburner of life's necessities. Somehow Rick, in his infinite wisdom, had already figured that out about me and knew I had to start off slow. Very slow. So my first assignment was to chart out a course of 3 miles, making sure that the ending point was the same as the starting point. I decided to call this point "Home". Using skills I obtained from my many years of schooling and applying these skills through a series of extremely complicated calculations, I was able to determine that my "turning point" would be 1.5 miles. One Point Five

Since "Home" is on a relatively busy street, it was issued a nice big sidewalk that has been a route for joggers for many many years. Matter of fact, if I was a little more industrious, I really should consider setting up a juice stand or maybe a toll booth on the sidewalk as the foot traffic is actually quite intense at times. But I digress.

I hopped in my car and reset the odometer. zero point zero Following the street away from the sun, I was surprised just how far a mile actually was. one point zero Much to my surprise, I was already in the next town over when the odometer clicked to one point one and realized that the sidewalk had suddenly disappeared, and I was forced to continue my course off of the main street and onto a small side street. one point three

It was at this point that I sensed something was happening that was bigger than me. You see, even though I didn't grow up anywhere near where I now lived, not even in the same state, I had actually been on this street many times before. As I drove up the street, the odometer updated itself. one point four

As I realized my "turning point" was approaching, I decided to make a turn into a cemetery and I was faced with a very steep hill. Rick had mentioned that I should try to incorporate some hills in my route if at all possible because unless you are running a marathon in Arizona, hills are going to be popping up just trying to ruin your day. I drove to the top of the hill and my car made a right turn almost out of habit and after about 30 feet, I watched the odometer change. One Point Five.

I stopped the car and realized that something quite close to miraculous had happened. As I looked out my window, there was a headstone with the simple word HOPE on it. A simple word for a person that I never knew, but a person I knew by a different name. Mom.

Today I took my first step on a path that will forever change my life, and my Mom was there to see me do it, making sure I was OK.

UPDATE: It has been over three years since I updated this blog but today I wanted to update this with a video I created a few week ago for a CF fundraiser. I am posting this video here today because, as my brother reminded me earlier today, today marks the 50th anniversary of my mom's death. So beyond running to her grave and saying a prayer, I decided to post the video I created about her. It's just something I needed to do. Thanks for watching over me mom. I hope I have made you proud of me. :)