Determined To Succeed

Wow! Did we get hit with snow.

Anyone who knows me and knows that I’m from Chicago knows that I’m not afraid of snow. No one from the Midwest is. It’s a part of life. It’s even a way of life. So we just suck it up, grab a shovel and push on through.

Living in Jersey on the other hand adds some interesting flavor to the mix. Because the east is more temperate because of the oceans snow like we got yesterday and into this morning is rare. At least rarer than a snowfall like this would be in Chicago. So how it’s dealt with is different. The Chicago boy in me gets downright mad sometimes that the basic infrastructure doesn’t seem to exist here to handle when two or more feet of snow are dumped on the area.

To me, it’s simple. When the first flakes hit the ground, mobilize the salt trucks and lay down a time-buying layer of salt that will help melt at least the first wave. Then, as snow builds, the plows come to work the major arteries, then throughways/secondary streets, then side and residential streets. And I have vastly over-simplified this. I know that but thanks to the Chicago blizzard of 79 we look at this now as more of a science – something down-pat, tried-and-true and something that (for the most part) works.

A weight loss goal and extra pounds are the same way. You’ve heard me the past few days talk about my stupid Taylor scale. How that brand let me down twice. And while that is very true I have no one to blame but my internal infrastructure breaking down as the reason I gained back almost 15 lbs. I let the pounds (snow) accumulate and didn’t do anything about that (like working out more and eating less and drinking less Cokes) so that my streets were clear (and I didn’t gain weight).

See. The Chicago boy in me is mad as hell because I should have seen this coming. I didn’t need a new scale. I just needed some good old-fashioned common sense.

So the Chicago boy in me is going to get to work. Not necessarily outside but I’m going to work. I’ve already done 100 sit-ups and will do 100 more by day’s end. I am also going to do 20 reps up and down my stairs. So as the plows are SLOOOOOOLY digging us out I am beginning to dig myself out or the heap of extra snow I have accumulated. This way it doesn’t turn into a blizzard.

Time for me to accept that weight loss is the path I have chosen. This is my new way of life. Time for me to grab a shovel, suck it up and push on through. I will lose this weight again. And my streets will be clear…

…especially as I fight southern Jerseyans for the last whole grain bread and non-fat milk in the stores.