September 11th, 2015 It Was Surreal

September 11th, 2015 It Was Surreal

Today had the potential to be a disaster. I was up late last night for on-air weather coverage, after midnight as expected, getting home after 1am--then up at 5am for my radio show at 6am. Don't try this at home!!

My plan was do my show, get to the doctor for my rescheduled appointment followup on the recent procedure on my mouth (went well-pathology came back normal--everything healing nicely without infection), then get home for some midday sleep. I still had things to do back at the studio post doctor appointment--so I headed back, then finally made it home a little after 11am for sleep--then returned to the studio for a few more hours later in the afternoon.

I needed to make a few things critically important today. I resolved to manage my food/calories better, get a good workout right after leaving the studio and participate in some good support exchanges via text and phone. I'm happy to report I did all of those things.

I made my workout the elliptical this evening with plans for my next training jog set for tomorrow afternoon. I had to get this workout in early, before my evening plans--or it wasn't going to happen. It always feels good getting a solid elliptical workout. I believe the work the elliptical has done on my legs is making a tremendous difference with my jogging progress.

I had the opportunity to spend the evening with two time Cy Young Award winner and 1985 World Series MVP Brett Saberhagen. I interviewed him on my radio show via phone on Thursday, but tonight was in person. It was surreal. Had he not been the ace for the Royals, my team growing up--it wouldn't have been such a big deal. But he was one of my childhood baseball heroes. And that made tonight extra special. 
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We posed for a picture before sitting down for an interview in front of a live audience.
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The interview was conducted by Mike Beezley (on the right) and me. Mike asked the more complex questions. I stuck with the kind of questions a wide eyed kid would ask, like, Who was the toughest hitter you faced in your career? (Wade Boggs) and Did you have any strange superstitions? (He always wore a raccoon skin hat prior to suiting up for games he was scheduled to pitch--and he changed undershirts after every inning, every game.)

It was a fun exchange. Afterwards, I was invited to enjoy dinner with Brett, along with several others, including the owner of the Wichita Wingnuts professional baseball team. Brett and I sat right next to one another. Again--surreal!!

I stuck with one of my go-to meals for dinner out--a sirloin steak and cottage cheese, plus I ordered a small baked potato with a side of sour cream. The steak was big--10 ounces big (450 cal). After entering the steak and cottage cheese in MyFitnessPal, I realized these two things alone totaled nearly 600 calories. I opted to leave the potato and sour cream untouched. The only vegetable option was cooked carrots. I'm not a fan--so I happily enjoyed the steak and cottage cheese.

At one point, Mike asked me to show a "before and now" side by side picture and share with the table how much I once weighed. When I said over 500 pounds, the entire table reacted in disbelief. Saberhagen commented, "I would have never guessed." That felt really good.

A day like today is a nice reminder for me of all the wonderful effects in taking extraordinary care of my fundamental elements. My continued recovery and weight maintenance isn't guaranteed, ever. It is only as strong as my next choice. Choosing to stay connected in good support, choosing to keep my accountability measures in excellent standing--choosing to make these things important in my life, means I'm making me important. And I've had a long history of not doing that very well. 

I often said weight maintenance would be strikingly similar to losing mode--and it is, with some added calories. Finding my personal groove, something I can do each day, indefinitely--has been key so far. I can do this. And I can easily NOT do this. I like doing what I'm doing. I love the way I feel, physically, emotionally, mentally and spiritually--and not necessarily in that order.

My Tweets Today:




























Thank you for reading and your continued support,
Strength,
Sean
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