Saturday Test

Tomorrow should be interesting.

Going with my family and a church group to Six Flags in Atlanta. The plan is to be at the park from open to close. Which means, obviously, much walking.

Flashback to July last year.

Pre-diet. With the family in Cincinnati, taking in the Reds one night and the next day heading out to Paramount's Kings Island. Just the wife, the kids and me.

It was, in a word, awful. Couldn't walk for any great length of time without massive back and knee pain. Spent half the time sitting, half the time trying to play catch-up with my family. Ultimately I had to just send them on their way and spend quite a bit of time alone.

By the time the park closed, I was a mess. Thankfully I found a ride from the center of the park to my car in the parking lot.

Otherwise, I might still be trying to get there.

I told my wife that night that enough was enough. I'd had it. I had to do something about my weight, because I didn't think I could go through something like that again.

Naturally, I didn't act on it. Even though I suffered for a few days afterwards.

If you've followed this blog, it wasn't until my dad's health issues cropped up in December that I got scared into action. Sometimes, as I've noted in the past, I have trouble seeing the painfully obvious.

Anyway.

So now, nearly 60 pounds lighter and getting around a little better seemingly every day, Saturday will be yet another test for me. How will I handle another day in another amusement park?

Stay tuned.

Reason To Be Proud?

Weighed in today for the first time in two weeks. After 11 days and 10 nights on the road in Florida for Clemson baseball, eating ballpark, hotel and restaurant food, I stepped on the scales today and...

I had lost one pound.

Doesn't sound like much, but for me I consider it a victory. It shows me that maybe, just maybe, I'm starting to figure out this thing. Not that I can't screw it up again, but to me that represents a big challenge I was able to meet. Or at least battle.

So, with the scorecard below, the total now stands at 57 pounds.

Week One - Lost 9
Week Two - Lost 3
Week Three - Lost 3
Week Four - Lost 0
Week Five - Lost 9
Week Six - Lost 5
Week Seven - GAINED 2
Week Eight - Lost 0
Week Nine - Lost 5
Week 10 - Lost 1
Week 11 - Lost 3
Week 12 - Lost 0
Week 13 - Lost 7
Week 14 - Lost 1
Week 15 - GAINED 3
Week 16 - Lost 5
Week 17 - GAINED 3
Week 18 - Lost 4
Week 19 - Lost 3
Week 20 - Lost 0
Week 21 - Lost 6
Week 22 - No Weigh-In Due To Traveling
Week 23 - Lost 1 (Covers Week 22 as well)

The Ol' Ball Game

Just got back from my youngest daughter's softball game.

She's 12, and has a natural aptitude behind the plate. She's been playing rec ball for four years now, and this fall - as a seventh grader - will be able to try out for high school junior varsity.

With years of coaching under my belt, not to mention even more years of playing and/or covering high school and youth sports, I've seen the good and bad of parental interaction with their kids. I watch Becky and encourage her, but usually spend most of my time at games off to myself, sitting quietly and not interfering.

One thing I haven't been able to do, though, is spend a lot of time working with her. At least until the last couple of months, when the weight I've already lost has allowed me to do more with less back pain and less struggling for breath.

She's getting an inkling that her old man used to be be athletic, and now when I tell her something about her batting stance, or her footwork behind the plate, it seems to make more of an impression on her.

And while I made a promise to myself a long time ago that I'd never coach one of my own kids in an organized sport (talk about seeing the bad side. Parents coaching kids can be a disaster waiting to happen), my desire to coach baseball again has been rekindled.

I don't think I'll be able to anytime soon because of my schedule, but it's interesting that as I've gotten even a little more active the desire seems to have returned.

For now, though, I'll stick with helping Becky.

And love every minute of it.

Familiar Surroundings

Made it back home last night (Saturday).

Now, here on Sunday afternoon, it's three days until weigh-in day. I'll go over and check in tomorrow morning to see how I'm doing. But Wednesday will be the first official weigh-in in two weeks. Should be interesting.

Incidentally, added something to the blog that might be useful. At the top of the left side column is a Google search engine. So now if you're here and want to look up something, you don't have to navigate away from the page to do so.

It's good to be home.

Catch A Wave

I did not, as the headline on this entry may suggest, venture into the world of surfing today.

Can you imagine me, at this size, on a surfboard? I'd look like Mr. Kool Aid on a single ski. But I digress.

What I did do this afternoon was take a nice walk along the beach. About 25 minutes at a brisk (for me) pace. Probably could have done more, but a few of my joints were beginning to bark just a bit. So I figure, a little at a time.

The encouraging thing was twofold:

1) I could walk that far and not require an oxygen tent when I returned:

2) No back pain.

Before I lost the weight that's gone already, the pain in my kidney areas was pretty strong if I was on my feet more than about five minutes. But after running an ocean of water through them in the last five-plus months, plus dropping the 50-plus pounds, I don't have that problem anymore.

Who knows? Maybe this time next year I'll feel totally human again.

(Note: Yes, I know this is a lot to read stemming from just one afternoon walk. However, you asked for more blogging, and I'm trying to build on the positives here. Slow and small as they may be.)

Tournament Tidbits

The ACC Tournament started today. Clemson lost to Miami, 7-1.

One thing about these postseason venues. Besides the press meals, they always put out an endless supply of snacks - M&Ms, trail mix, Craker Jacks, chips, soda, etc.

I avoided all of that today, plus stayed away from the Chick-Fil-A brownie for dessert. Just had some nuggets and a salad there for lunch. So a small victory there. Breakfast and dinner went okay, too. Today hasn't been bad at all.

The toughest part is when I'm not busy. Like now, sitting in the hotel room watching TV. My reflex is to snack, drink, snack, drink, eat, snack...etc. It's tough not to do so. When I'm occupied, I've not been thinking about eating hardly at all.

That in and of itself is progress.

However, to be honest, I have no idea how my weigh-in is going to go a week from today. If I break even, it'll be a victory considering everything.

Meantime, starting tomorrow there will be some walks on the beach. A relaxing way to get a little exercise.

I have stayed away from the beach in recent years because of how I've looked. But now I say hell with it. If I look that much like a beached whale, they can try rolling me back in the water.

Wouldn't that make for good television?

More Blogging?

There have been, in recent days, a few requests for more blogging. A couple are in the "comment" section of recent entries.

I tend to over analyze myself. I go back and read and think, "Well, that sounded stupid." Or, "Jeez, quit with the whining already."

This is going to be hard to believe, but I'm being as honest as I can. In 22 years in the business - be it newspaper or radio - I still have a hard time believing that people really care what I have to say. It's a fascinating thing to me, and always has been.

Obviously, in my line of work I have to say a lot (some of it maybe even semi-intelligent...LOL). And yeah, sometimes when I get fired up on some topic on the show I'm sure there's an entertainment factor - or an infuriation factor, depending on which side you're on.

But at the end of the day, there's still that "gee-whiz" factor. I still get a kick out of what I do, and can't believe that people actually make my show - or blog - a part of their regular daily schedule.

So, besides being busy and using that as an excuse, I think that maybe folks are getting bored reading the blog. Or that with all the problems we have in the world today, my personal battles are really insignificant.

But then I see the comments on other entries, or read the emails I've received. So maybe I should write more.

I'll just try to make sure it's relevant.

But as I've said before, just as some of you say I'm inspirational in some way in your lives, you are equally as such in mine. Please keep the comments and emails coming.

***
Speaking of relevant, had a little slip-up today.

I was invited to a cookout at a friend's house down here, which turned out to be part of a birthday party. And I ate a small piece of cake.

No ice cream, for what that's worth.

I'll have to think back, but it may be the first real sugar I've had since I started this thing.

The guilt was unbelievable. But the cake was delicious.

We'll see what the effects are in about 10 days.