Determined To Succeed

My friends, happy weekend and day one-hundred-sixteen!

I first of all have to apologize to all of you for not writing a blog on Wednesday of this past week. You see, I was not well at all and had to take this week off in order to recoup. It was so bad doctors were called (I have been diagnosed with diverticulosis) and everything, including this weight loss blog, had to be put aside for a bit so I could properly recover.

While I am on the mend and feeling a helluva lot better than I have this past week (as you’ve read – it was the cause of my serious dizziness), I am troubled. Not just because this is a crappy way to ring-in this holiday season AND my upcoming 40th birthday) I now have to modify my diet to include and/or exclude certain foods. Even some foods I love (corn, nuts, popcorn and – egads! – strawberries, among others) have to be seriously curtailed because, it seems, they aggravate the condition. This sucks! I love my strawberries (and strawberry ice-cream), nuts and corn! Bah! I am troubled because, for the first time in my weight loss journey, I now have to officially modify my diet.

As you all know I lost weight not using any kind of specific food regimen. I still ate what I wanted when I wanted it. I simply cut back (as much as I could) on the portions. I still ate Chinese food, drank regular Coca-Cola and had Milky Way bars. However, those things became treats. I also exercised as much as I could, too (the two do go hand-in-hand). But now I have to make food choices based on medicine and science and I don’t want it to seem like I am changing my tune in this whole thing.

I am not giving up the foods I described (and there are more) because they are part of some secret society, new wave diet plan-of-the-stars. It doesn’t have a flashy name like Weight Watchers or Jenny Craig. It is simply diverticulosis, a condition that, believe-you-me, you don’t want to have and not just because of the food restrictions.

On the plus side, diverticulosis does have a few decent things in store for my menu – eating more whole grains, leafy green vegetables, and fruits. See, not so bad, especially since we all should be doing that anyway. About that, I am excited. I am also excited about the final thing actually used to combat diverticulosis, exercise. It helps the condition by aiding digestion. Again something we should all be doing anyway.

I hate to drop this kind of blog on you guys like this but I had to explain what is going on (I did always promise to let you know the ups and downs, after all). I just wanted you to know I hadn’t given in and jumped into a program of some sort (not that it is wrong to do so or that people who do it are wrong – in fact, if it works for you go and run with it and more power to you if it helps). My way works for me. It has already and will for the rest of my life. I also wanted to let you guys know I am taking a vacation from writing until December 13, 2011. On that date I hope to be rested, as fully recovered as I can be and ready to share my list of 40 things I want to do in my 40^th year.

As we enter the fever of the holiday season (and I wish all people of all faiths good tidings and well wishes this season) remember to be as strong as you can. I know I will. It may be a crappy way, as I said earlier, to celebrate tidings of comfort and joy but I am happy to just be here. As soon as I am physically able again I’m going to work out so I can get back to that always-mentioned goal weight of mine. Most importantly keep in mind the blessings we have in our lives. I know I will, including the gift of being able to have a medical problem diagnosed before it got me to a far worse health state. All I will say is “whew, that was a close one” and leave it at that.

Have a great week-and-a-half, my friends. I will be bright-eyed, bushy-tailed and ever-so-slightly older when next we meet on these pages. Until then, know I appreciate you all and that I am right there with you in this battle to lose weight. As cheesy as it will sound I, too, am DETERMINED TO SUCCEED.

Last night I couldn’t get to sleep.

You know how you get when things weigh on your mind to the point where all that energy is what’s fueling you? Sort of like an old steam-powered train whose engineer is shoveling coals into the fire. Well, that’s what happened to me last night. I had been waiting for a piece of news all day…and waiting…and waiting…and waiting. And finally, when it was apparent it would never come my mind took over, threw more coals on the fire and kept us (my mind and me) up pretty late.

I know this is going to sound bad but much of why I was up had to do with Coke, also. Not to disparage the greatest soft drink (pop) in the whole world but not having it for the past few days – and subsequently having it all out of my system – meant that when I did have it yesterday all that caffeine and sugar got into my system adding more coals to my engine, heating it up and keeping the train moving.

I so wish I could figure out why I am an emotional eater/drinker. And before you start to worry not drinking in terms of booze. Drinking in terms of Coca-Cola. I wish I could figure out what triggers in the minds of big people like me makes food a viable option when it comes to those pesky demons that come for you – especially late, late into the night.

Hurmph.

If I could figure that out I’d be a rich, rich man. I’d also be back at my goal weight and then some by now. I’d not still be fighting the battle of the final ten over a year after my sweet mom died. I’d find it much easier to resist the liquid joy of an ice-cold Coke and not give in to it’s delicious yet empty calories. Oh, and if I could figure that one out I’d also figure out how to extract the unstoppable energy of a child (or find a way to activate that part of an adult brain) so I could add that to the mix. Then I’d be super-duper rich. Like Bill Gates or Warren Buffet rich. No more emotional eating combined with limitless energy? Shit. That would be awesome.

But as my man, Jules, in “Pulp Fiction” says “that shit ain’t the truth,” and there is no such thing as abundant adult energy and there is a such thing as emotional eating. And while I can’t just yet share with you guys the exact reason for this sort of morose weekend blog post please know I take this feeling for what it is – a set of rain clouds that have gathered up in my mind causing it to rain, just like it is today here in southern New Jersey. But like all rain, it will pass and the day will be sunny again (and hopefully not as freaking hot as it has been this past week – when 90 degrees is “cool,” look out).

As for my workout yesterday I did great. I did almost all of what my sensei taught me (although somehow the stretches seem to work better when doing them in class) and I worked up quite a sweat yesterday. And I plan to do the same today in the rescheduled class. Although working out with others is a new aspect of things so I hope I don’t embarrass myself too much in front of others.

Well, that’s all for now. Sorry it couldn’t be a bit more cheery but all will be revealed on Monday. Promise. Until then I will make sure I work out and NOT eat my weight in Chinese food, Milky Way bars and Cokes. After all, the good thing about staying up until all hours of the night thinking about stuff is that all the food places are closed.

See, in every cloud – even rainy ones – there is a silver lining.

Hopefully, you guys are used to my cravings by now. You know I crave good movies and TV shows. My current TV craving is enjoying HBO’s new season of “True Blood.” As for food, you know I crave a good Milky Way bar or an ice-cold Coca-Cola every now and then (even though I have tried to seriously curtail both lately and am making some progress). But every year or so I get an extra weird food craving. Even though I am not pregnant (although that would be a medical miracle) I guess you could say it is my pickles and ice-cream. My craving yesterday was for a tomato juice.

I don’t know why that was, either. I think because I started that once-a-year craving on a plane a long time ago and saw lots of planes recently and the craving was activated. Maybe it was because there was a new episode of “True Blood” on last night and I wanted to join in? I don’t know. I know it sounds weird and it is. But, true to myself and true to my craving I had me a can of “True bl…”, er, I mean tomato juice.

Usually, I go for a can of V8. It has a few more spices and tastes better than regular ol’ tomato juice but I thought I heard once how bad V8 was in its sodium content so I went with a can of regular Mott’s Tomato Juice. Turns out I couldn’t have been more wrong.

Before I delved into the nutritional info (which I should have done before drinking the stuff) I tried it in my usual way – with ice. Turns out my taste buds have changed and I prefered it warm. Almost like drinking a can of totato soup. That plus a grilled cheese would have been perfect. Maybe I am turining into a vampire from Bon Temps. Anyway…

While I had a good portion of my daily need for carbs, vitamins A and C, in addition to calcium, iron and protein, one can of Mott’s Tomato Juice has – get this – a whopping 980 mg of sodium and 12 g of sugar! I kid you not. That’s horrible. So I looked up V8 100% vegetable juice and it was way better. One serving has only 8 g of sugar (not great but better than the Mott’s) and about 1/2 the sodium of the Mott’s (480 mg). V8 also has way more daily allotment of vitamin C (120% of your recommended daily helping).

Wow! What a huge difference that is, and a surprising one., Whodathunk a can of 100% tomato juice was worse for you. Well, consider me educated nmow and chalk it up to me taking one for the team, I guess. And now I also get why vampires don’t like to drink “True Blood” cold. It goes down smoother when it’s warm.

I don’t think I need to worry about this craving anymore, though. I should be done with my tomato/veggie jusice craving for at least a year now. That is, until next Sunday night when the vampires in Bon Temps come out to play.

If I get another craving for a warm red drink then you and I can officially start to worry. Although, my name is Bill…

Oh my God. Google has the coolest thing ever! If you visit Google even semi-regularly you know it changes its logo from time to time in celebration or honor of an event, person or anniversary. Well, this weekend, if you visit Google’s home page you will see they are honoring the 30th anniversary (!) of probably the most well-known, popular and addictive video game of the 1980s – Pac-Man. And not only do you see yet another in a long line of way-cool ways Google re-invents it’s logo to suit the event, person or anniversary – BUT YOU ACTUALLY GET TO PLAY PAC-MAN USING YOUR ARROW KEYS! It is freaking awesome!

Man! I remember going to the “game room” or arcade when I was a kid (it’s charming to say game room since and arcade since that was the only place to play games like Pac-Man) and spending quarter after quarter, and hour after hour, playing these games. It also just so happened that my local arcade was also a candy store. If you were willing to NOT spend $.50 of your Pac-Man money on the game itself you could buy a small bag of some sour this or sweet that, strawberry twists or gum balls. It was heaven for a kid…

…an unsuspecting kid who would never have thought i n a million years he’d grow up to grow out to 400 pounds.

It is very easy to say there were (and are) times I feel like that insatiable little yellow guy eating his way through dot after dot, fruit after fruit and ghost after ghost. I still look at certain foods and can almost hear the start up music that accompanied the beginning of each Pac-Man game as I salivate and ready myself to gobble up everything in sight.

I guess what I am trying to say here is that it took me a helluva long time as a kid to break myself of the video game habit (which I did after spending ten dollars in quarters, my entire allowance, in just a couple of hours one Friday) and it took a helluva lot longer to break myself of the unhealthy food cycle I was in as an adult that I don’t want to ever go back to being that way. I love food, don’t get me wrong. I so do. I just had a bad habit of eating everything, eating it fast and always wanting more – like being at a party and eating chip after chip, pretzel after pretzel and dip after dip.

Sound familiar? It should. They created a whole video game craze after it. I can hear the “wocka-wocka” sound now.

These days I exercise the control learned after three-and-a-half years of losing weight and a year-and-a-half of keeping it off to be able to go into a store or restaurant and not eat everything in sight. I wish it weren’t so easy to buy and eat crap. I wish bad foods didn’t taste so freaking good (especially fried mushrooms, hot dogs, buffalo wings, egg rolls, Milky Way candy bars, bacon cheeseburgers, fried chicken, ribs, chips, dips, french fries, etc.), but they do. And I wish it weren’t so easy to have them any time I want them just by getting into my car to go get them. But it is.

This is exactly when and why I pull back to remember what the weight loss journey was like, and that I am worth more than any of the regularly-gobbled up foods I used to consume in mass quantity on a daily basis. I still do have these foods, all of them, in moderation because I don’t want to be Pac-Man anymore. That no one’s going to take these foods away from me. That there are healthier, just as great tasting healthier foods out there. That I don’t need to feel full to feel satisfied. That I want to be at or around 225 to be around for another 30 years (at least) to enjoy foods from all over the world just in smaller portions. And that it’s OK to have them not as every day meals but wonderful treats…

…like visiting Google and having a good game of Pac-Man for old time’s sake.

It is not often in life we get to visit Mecca, the home and/or birthplace of something we love. Heck, it’s even a rarity in the cartoon world, too (remember Homer Simpson’s all-too-brief “dream job” working as a taster for Duff Beer?). Well, I got the chance of a lifetime wrapping up the conference I attended because Atlanta is the home and birthplace of my number one kryptonite, above Chinese food and above Milky Way bars. You guessed it, Coca-Cola.

Yep. I treated myself to a tour of the World of Coca-Cola, a museum and tourist attraction dedicated to all things Coke. And I will admit now, part of the serious attraction of going was the ability to taste different Coke products from all over the world and have at the end of the tour – wait for it again – an ice-cold Coca-Cola. And I know what you’re thinking: “you mean to tell me, after all your griping about you gaining weight on your trip, you’re a drug addict going to the place that not only sells drugs but makes them?”

Yup.

I freely admit to going into the lion’s den, the belly of the whale. The place where it all happens (well, at least the museum dedicated to it). I have always said on my weight loss journey I will have the things I want, just in moderation. And yes, those of you who read me regularly know I have had a few bad Coke binges from time to time, so much so I had to detox from Coke for a time. But this was going to be cool, seeing a museum dedicated to the history of a drink invented by John S. Pemberton just a few blocks from the museum, itself. It was also a way to confront my desire and addiction to this awesome, yet fattening, beverage.

I won’t bore you with the details of every aspect of the place – the tour and brief walk through the history of the marketingf of Coke, the movies you see (including the 4D one), even its impact on pop culture. What I will tell you, though, since my blog is dedicated to eating (and drinking) and weight loss is the best part of visiting the place – tasting Coke products from all over the world.

Yes, at the end of your self-guided tour you get to a tasting room where you can personally sample, as many times as you’d like, each and every soft drink beverage made and distributed by Coca-Cola around the world. Like the awesome Sparletta brand Spar-Berry from Zimbabwe. Or the Fanta Good Apple Kiwi from Thailand. You can even taste the most horrible-tasting soft drink in the world – a drink available in Italy called Beverly. It is so bad the workers there encourage you to taste it just to see how bad it is (which is wretched). And while the ability to taste these beverages, including my beloved TAB, is cool. I was there for a glass (OK, plastic cup) of the “good stuff.”

Looking around the tastng room I was wondering where the regular Coke fountain was. It was awesome to see that it had a tasting room all it’s own, a room dedicated to Coke, Diet Coke, Coke Zero, Coke Cherry Zero, etc. In other words, the belly of the whale. I had two cups, each about four ounces, of Coke and then I cut myself off. Any all-you-can-eat buffet is dangerous and I avoid them at all costs. And in this all-you-can-drink buffet I limited myself to just a splash of each of the six other beverages I tasted because soft drinks are one of those things I am addicted to. It is a comfort food for me and therefore a dangerous one, and I didn’t want to inadvertently give myself the taste for the drug again. So I left after that, but not before taking a complimentary bottle of Coke on the way out (don’t worry, it was only another eight ounces).

My kryptonite foods are just that to me. They weaken me and cause me to go off the rails of my new and healthier lifestyle. I had to, over time, learn to control my cravings and desires for these things because they are all bad for you. Is pop as healthy as water? Hell no, and just because I visit the land of Coke I’m not going to change my mind. It is one of those things you should give up or seriously cut back on if you want to lose weight and keep it off. What was cool was seeing how one guy created the world’s number one soft drink and how that formula is one of the best and most kept secrets in the world.

I do my best every day to curtail having Cokes, you guys know that, and this visit helped me do that. I have overdosed on Coke from time to time. I am a Coke fiend. It is dangerous stuff to me. Every time I visit Wawa I have to stop myself from going to the cooler, the taste is that strong. And to be able to visit Mecca and not claim one of the Coke fountains for my very own and rip it from the wall and try to take it on trhe plane back with me is a triumph. Not just because I overcame the urge to do something stupid that would have landed me in jail, but because I have overcome so many urges along this almost five year weight loss journey(both weight loss and weight maintenance) to give in to the temptations that would easily take me back to being 400 pounds.

I may not have it every day anymore but I’ve never stopped drinking Coke. I never will completely. Everything in moderation, or to use another phrase “drink responsibly.” There are empty calories in soft drinks, and if you’re going to still have them have them as a treat not an every day with every meal thing like I once did. I have to moderate that moderation and not make up excuses to have as much Coke as I’ve been known to have in my life and in the pages of this blog.

When I get back home you bet your ass I will be hitting the gym to work off the calories of convention food, room service and Coca-Cola. I have to because I know I’ve gained some weight on this trip. Business trips frequently make us gain weight because they take us out of our normal routine. But re-reaching my weight loss goal will cause me to make the same sound heard when I open the ever-so-familiar bottle (fizzzzzzzzzz) and taste its icy-cold goodness…

…aaaaahhhhhhhhh!!!!!!

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Cravings. What is it about them? They happen all the time, everywhere. Being an emotional eater I’ve had my share of them lately (especially when I had to drop a very unexpected $2K on my car for maintenance) and I wish I could stop. Milky Way bars, egg rolls, cheese fries, Cinnabon, Auntie Anne’s pretzels and more. As I’m writing this, I have a craving for my usual cup of extra cream, extra crunchy (sugary) coffee.

You know how it is when you get a craving for something. Don’t ya? You’re deep in thought about how to save the planet, the report you have to do the next day at work, errands you have to run – it doesn’t matter. Once that craving hits you it’s like all the other thoughts in your head all somehow lead back to that craving and you try to justify it in any way possible…

“It would certainly help me think better about saving the planet/these errands/this report if I had (insert the name/type of craving you have here) in my tummy.”

I even heard from one of my friends on Twitter today who had a taste for birthday cake this morning – even though it’s eight months until her birthday.

Lately, I’ve had one helluva craving for strawberry ice-cream. I don’t know what it is or why but there are times when I’m just sitting on the couch and all I can think about is having a pint of good ol’ bad-for-you strawberry ice-cream. The last time it hit me was just the other night. I was watching the Chicago Bulls get beaten by the Cleveland Cavaliers in the NBA Playoffs (I was also craving a little bit of home). I was sitting on the couch wondering how much effort it would take to actually get dressed, drive to the store and purchase a pint. Is that bad? OK, I know the answer to that. “Yes, it is.” But if we had beaming technology I would have been so there at the Wawa (the best convenience stores on the planet) looking over the freezer to find a pint of Haagen-Dazs Strawberry Ice-Cream.

Yum.

I think ultimately I replaced one sweet craving for another. I have done a really good job as of late weaning myself off of Coca-Cola (at least as much of it as I’d been having) so I think at night, when cravings really get bad and my cravings are strongest, instead of reaching for a Coke I want to reach for ice-cream. It just so happens that I’m too damn lazy to get dressed to go get a pint which is a really, really good thing. I have also been doing my best to be Zen about my cravings. I allow myself to have my cravings every now and then so I don’t turn into a miserable, grumpy bastard but I also control them and don’t make them a part of my every day. However, it all means one thing – I soooooo need to go shopping and get some good healthier food in the house. I need to at least follow the advice of the personal trainer, Jorge, I saw recently…

1. Apples and peanut butter is a great mid-day snack.
2. Cheat with a liquid – sugar free Jello, frozen yogurt, water ice or low-cal pudding
3. Cheat with a fat – like eating a cheese steak without the bread, wings, ribs, cheeseburger without the bun

These suggestions may not help me stem my cravings for delicious strawberry ice-cream entirely but seeing my numbers go down gradually on my electronic scale sure as hell does.

Happy Sunday, my friends. As the sun shines it’s early morning light over southern New Jersey I am still feeling nostalgic. Yesterday I listened to and wrote about “Proud Mary,” but today my nostalgic brain thinks not about music but TV.  So talk a quick walk down Memory Lane with me before you start your day or as a nice break from it…

“Now the world don’t move to the beat of just one drum. What might be right for you may not be right for some…”

Do you remember the “just say no” anti-drug campaign from the very early 80s? I was a kid when Nancy Reagan made her guest appearance on television’s number one show at the time, “Diff’rent Strokes,” to tell Arnold (”whatchu talkin’ ’bout, Willis”), Willis, Kimberly and kids all over the country to “just say no” to drugs. (Crap, now’s I’ve got that damn show theme running through my head…bah)

A weight loss journey is a constant thing. If you’re not on the road to losing (or re-losing as I am) you are on the weight maintenance road trying to keep those dreaded pounds from coming back (I’m kind of walking that path, too). And on this constant road I think about how many tempting food situations come up in the course of the day. When shopping at the mall I pass the food court, Godiva Chocolatier or Auntie Anne’s delicious (evil) pretzels.  When I see friends we sometimes go to a bar with not-so-healthy bar food or, like last night, stay at their house ordering really-not-so-healthy pizza or cheesesteaks, cheese fries or fried mushrooms. Damn! And even when I try to be good and go to the grocery store I pass aisle upon aisle, endcap upon endcap and impulse buy station after impulse buy station of tempting snacks (like Hostess Twinkies or cupcakes, Milky Way bars or – gulp – Coca Colas).

It’s enough to knock a food-a-holic like me around and throw me out of whack.  What do all of these situations have in common?  They are all situations that make me have to make smarter choices and “just say no.” Now, how many times during the course of the day do I “just say no?” I have no freaking clue but it’s a lot, I assure you. And it always seems worse on weekends. We’re always surrounded by food but it’s up to us to be strong and steel our resolve and “just say no,” at least in that particular instance, to the extra calories we don’t need.

Can you tell I’m kind of getting twitchy about snack foods? Earlier in the week I described my self-imposed moratorium from Coke as like, well, going through detox. Sometimes there’s such an overwhelming urge to have a snack I literally have to make myself walk away from the item in question to avoid getting and having it. Since I’ve been so nervous about weekends lately I’ve tried to steer clear of bad situations and meals like the ones I described above and “just say no.” (he says as he knocks on the wood top to his desk), mainly because I have lost another pound. Damn, these final fifteen are a bitch. They really are.

But am I perfect? Hell no. I sometimes do give in to a small dessert here or there, or a candy bar or doughnut with my coffee because, as I’ve said before, if I don’t I will be a miserable bastard not just in detox but more akin to a zombie searching for fresh brains to eat. These small tastes taken in moderation keep me sane and also continuously teach me that these things are treats not normal occurrences.

Like the theme song says, what choices might be right for you (or me) may not be right for others so I make my food choices and they are for me that day in that moment. Sometimes they are bad but most times they are good. I want to keep these hard-earned pounds off my body once-and-for-all and I always hope and pray I have way more many good food choices (like grilling foods, eating at home, walking away from the sweets and soft drinks, etc.) than bad ones. Because I like seeing a 238.1 on my scale instead of a 239. I hope you guys can, too. We are all struggling together. Believe me.

And I will apologize now if I’ve put the “Diff’rent Strokes” theme in your heads, too. Your 80s retro TV misery certainly has company. It ain’t leaving my mind any time soon, either…

My friends, welcome to Sunday and the first full day of Spring. The weekend winds down and the hours count down to yet another Monday. This has been the best weekend yet, weather-wise, and everyone (at least it seemed like everyone) was out and about enjoying the beautiful 70+-degree day. But for me, there was a shadow looming. A shadow that’s been following me around for days now that I can’t seem to shake (mmmmm, a shake sounds good. Doesn’t it?) And what was that shadow? That spectre looming?

“Snack Attacks,” that’s what.

I think I have done OK overall, both with exercise and eating. But while this was the best weather weekend it has been one of the worst for the “snack attacks.” It’s weird. I have had such cravings for snacks especially at night. I’ve craved chocolate (my precious Milky Way bars), soda (my ice-cold Coca-Colas) and, believe it or not, ice-cream (strawberry, please). I have to say I am sooooo glad I am following this meal plan because it made me go out and buy healthier snacks like Jello and pudding packs, string cheese and my darling clementine oranges. I’ve also snacked on yogurt as a nice compromise for ice-cream. If I didn’t have these in the house I would have gone straight to Wawa and gotten one or more of these, curled up on my couch and watched TV – a deadly combination.

Today I’m going to supplement my weight workouts with cardio as well as some weight training. That should keep my momentum going in terms of exercise. And during that I’m going to continue to try to curb my cravings for my old (and new) kryptonite. Grrrrrr.  As long as I keep telling myself I don’t need it my mind begins to believe it and I win that particular “battle of the bulge.”

Here’s how I did yesterday with my trainer-prescribed meal plan:

Meal 1 Oatmeal (I replaced this with my Kashi Warm Cinnamon cereal)

Meal 2 String Cheese and Yogurt (this I did have)

Meal 3 Lean Cuisine (while I didn’t have one for lunch I took the suggestion and had baked chicken with veggies)

Meal 4 Apple with Peanut Butter (OK, I cheated here a bit and had two egg rolls. I had a taste for Chinese food and instead of giving in full to the cravings for egg foo young or beef fried rice I had these. They did the trick)

Meal 5 Steak, String Beans and Salad (here is where I had a small salad with fat-free dressing, a spaghetti with meat sauce Lean Cuisine and two yogurts for dessert).

It’s so hard sometimes. When I stop for gas or, worse yet, go into the mall I’ve had to resist more and more the smells and sights of Auntie Anne’s, Godiva Chocolates, Cokes, the food courts…all of it. Damn! But here I stand able to say I did resist (for the most part) so I could continue my downward trend.

I will report to you guys tomorrow to let you know how I did today. Hopefully I can resist the draw of a warm pretzel and mustard, a Milky Way or that ever-taunting ice-cold Coca-Cola. In the meantime I’m going to enjoy as much of today as I can before the rain comes and the temperature dips and reminds us, yet again, that it’s not summer quite yet but beautiful springtime…

…no matter how many “snack attacks” lurk in the shadows.

Hey there, my friends. Today’s blog is gonna be short and sweet as I am getting ready to hop in a car and head to New York City. And with the “impending storm” the east is supposed to get again I’ll be spending the night there, too.

OK, I’m gonna let the cat out of the bag. The reason I am headed to New York City is to tape a segment for the 100th episode of the Dr. Oz show. I am thrilled they thought my weight loss story was good enough for the show which focuses on people who have lost over 100 lbs.

I’m also hoping to tell the world about this website, DETERMINEDTOSUCCEED.COM. It really is my goal to help people in every way I can to lose weight and do it being healthy and happy. I may not be trained in any way but I know I like food, I know I’m human and I knew if I didn’t lose weight I was not gonna live (or live well) later in life.

Problem is, I am a nervous eater and I nervously ate last night and am nervously hungry today. However, I was smart yesterday. While I had a Lean Cuisine for lunch, some chili and Wawa salad for dinner I snacked on bowls of cereal instead of acting on my fast food instinct. So I consider it a victory. Should I have eaten at all? No. But at least I had healthier cereal and milk instead of a 600-calorie Whopper with Cheese, fries and a Coke.

I just need to keep my healthier, thinner wits about me today as I tackle the Big Apple. Is the prospect of being on national TV a powerful motivator to not gorge myself? Hell yes. But that doesn’t mean I’m not human and don’t WANT to. But I packed my workout clothes and hopefully the hotel has a gym in which I can burn off the need for beef fried rice, Milky Way bars and Cokes.

I will give you guys a full report after tomorrow, Wednesday. That is when we tape the show. Today I just head in to record an audio piece that will be used later. Can you tell I’m a bit nervous? I feel like I’m just rambling…

…oh, which reminds me I have to pack some clementines on which to snack. I don’t want to actually take a bite out of that Big Apple and they’re a far better and healthier than anything I’m sure the hotel will carry in their mini-store.