Determined To Succeed

I’ve loved (LOVED) the movies ever since I was a kid. But this is old news to you guys. Regular readers to my blog KNOW how much I love, quote and sometimes breathe movies. And with it being summertime I am in my element – lots of shoot-em-up, blow-em-up and fight-em-up action in theaters to keep me (hopefully) entertained for the two-hour stretches I invest (as well as the $10-plus dollars I spend).

In 1984 the original “The Karate Kid” came out and every kid on my block was hooked, including yours truly. That, plus reruns of movies like “Enter The Dragon” and other then-current movies like “The Last Dragon,” “Bloodsport” and “Cyborg” had us all doing the “hey-ya” sound followed by some awkward-as-hell kick/punch move that was supposed to be lightning but instead looked like, well, a kid TRYING to do a very-uncoordinated martial arts move. The heroes of the day were Jean-Claude Van Damme (before he started taking lots of drugs), Steven Segal (before we knew how weird that guy turned out to be) and the immortal Bruce Lee. Oh yeah, and Ralph Macchio.  Yes, Ralph Macchio, who will forever be doing that goofy crane move to win the tournament, the adoration of his mentor, Mr. Miyagi (the awesome Pat Morita), the girl and the respect of his enemies at the end of “The Karate Kid.”

Why am I waxing nostalgic on “The Karate Kid?” Today, I am taking a step into a larger world and am beginning martial arts training as part of a newer overall fitness regimen. That’s right, me, Bill Ivory Larson, is heading out to Lansdale, PA to begin martial arts training under the teachings of martial arts and self-defense expert Doug Shaffer. I met Doug (excuse me, Sensei) at a Tweet-up (a social media gathering of people who frequently use Twitter) and told him about my 175-pound weight loss and my journey so far. He asked me what kind of gym training I had had and I said “none really,” and he invited me to join him at his studio to begin working out using martial arts.

Whenever you lose a ton of weight, unless you are working out like a fiend every single day, you are going to have flab and skin issues. I am no exception. I have what I call “chicken arms,” flabby thighs and my tummy longs for the day it can have abs as ripped as Ryan Reynolds or Jason Statham. So part of why I am taking martial arts training is to do what I’ve always learned – change up my workouts to trick my body into burning more fat. I am also doing it to tone up those saggy bits and hopefully improve my overall fitness and health. My training will be two times a week (Wednesdays and Fridays) and will supplement the things I already do (cardio and weight training in my gym).

You know I have to say I am truly looking forward to this. I’ve never been afraid of a challenge – hell, I took scuba diving training and I was afraid of drowning – and this will certainly be one. One of the things I promised myself I’d do when I lost all that weight is do things I wasn’t ever able to do before. Being physical is one of them, whether it’s sports or activities. It doesn’t matter that I have less than half-a-year until I turn 40. Because I lost weight I feel like a new person who, knock on wood, has a new lease on life and will (hopefully) live a much longer and healthier one. And don’t worry, I will keep you all posted on how things go during my martial arts training. It will be interesting, to say the least, to see a guy whose greatest activity used to be sitting in a darkened movie theater watching movies like “The Karate Kid” actually learn to do this stuff.

It’s funny how life sometimes comes back around. We can see it every day with styles the kids are wearing (I can’t believe the long-haired look is back for boys), by the fact that 80s music is back and being embraced (only this time it’s retro) and by seeing old TV shows or movies like “The A-Team” or “The Karate Kid” remade into this summer’s blockbuster movies.  Well, while Jaden Smith learns Kung-Fu from Jackie Chan in this year’s remake (yes, it’s Kung-Fu not Karate but you don’t mess with cool movie name and franchise recognition) I will finally be living out a childhood movie fantasy of mine, too, while getting healthier and hopefully leaner in the process.

I just hope I don’t look as silly doing the crane move thing or learning “wax on, wax off.”

I have talked many times about prepping yourself for the delicious foods offered at social functions so you don’t overeat. How you do this is by eating before you go and making sure you eat a better, healthier meal at least twenty minutes before so your brain registers that you’ve eaten and that you’re full.

Last night, that was not the case for me.

I attended a social function called a “tweet up,” a gathering of those connected and involved in the Twitter community. Not only was it attended by the coolest people (huge shout out to the Philadelphia/Jersey “Tweeps”) it was also a pretty good party. Alas there was one problem. The function had “that” table – the table of food. The table with chaffing dishes, salad bowls, condiments and such. The table perfectly situated in the middle of the room. The elephant…

…the table I needed to avoid.

I fully admit to two things. One, I am weak and a sucker for the buffets at social functions. Hell, why not be? Some of these swanky to-dos are paid for swanky to-dos and you have to feel you got your money’s worth somehow, right? Two, the more I drink the more my stomach goes “hey, drunkie drunkie! Where’s the food down here? You don’t want a hangover do ya?”

As soon as I walked into the joint I could smell it…wonderful hot foods like slices of beef for roast beef sandwiches (which is what I should have had), gigantic meatballs in gravy (no, not brown gravy – spicy marinara sauce). Plus the usual assortment of bar-type appetizers like buffalo wings, etc. Damn it all looked good. But as the night wore on I just felt my food self-control slipping and slipping as I walked closer and closer to “that” table.

Now, you guys know I will tell you anything when it comes to my weight so I am completely honest when I tell you I was successful in avoiding the table (did I mention it was in the center of the room so you had to walk around it all night and not get away from it?). But as this morning’s headache proves I should have had SOMETHING in my belly to absorb the one martini, glass of wine and gin (ugh, cheap gin) I consumed.

Sigh. I so need to be stronger at things like this and be smarter. I could have and should have had something healthier to eat before. I shouldn’t have been afraid to have something at the event. I shouldn’t have been afraid I’d lose control at the grand center table of food. It would have been fine.

Coulda, shoulda, woulda.

In the end, my friends, this is where discipline comes into play. Having one or two things at the event would have been OK, just as having the occasional egg roll won’t kill me. But in my quest to try to be good and avoid “that” table, I ended up not eating at all and having a nice bit of hangover to show for it. Sorry tummy. I should have listened to you.

And yes, I will get you some Tylenol or Advil asap.

So last night I went to a “tweet-up,” a meeting of people involved in the Twitter community. These meetings are very cool for a few reasons. You get to visit new places/restaurants (this time it was the awesome Victory Brewing Company in Downingtown PA), you get to meet great people face-to-face (many of whom follow you on Twitter and vice versa) and you find out tons about the social media community.

What makes meetings like this hard, though, is the food aspect of things. Not that the food at Victory was bad (quite the contrary – it was amazing and their homemade warm soft pretzels with cheese and mustard are to die for, really) it’s just that I have my extra poundage to lose and I knew going into last night I’d have to be careful with what I ate (and drank).

I wrote a column a couple of months back on how social situations can derail your weight loss journey and believe me when I tell you – I had to remember every word of it last night. There were a ton of people there, too, ordering everything from buffalo wings to salads, burgers to loaded nachos and all of it seemed to pass right by me. So I got a good whiff of some amazing looking food. But I had to keep in mind my inner voice (that darned little angel that sits on your shoulder) telling me “you know you have to be good. So just be good.”

It took a lot but I listened. It’s hard when we’re out and about and wanting to sample the great smelling foods of where you are. But I knew I couldn’t do that last night because 1) I need to re-lose the weight I’ve gained back recently and 2) just because we can eat doesn’t mean we should eat. So I compromised with myself. I ordered one of those wonderful, delicious and warm soft pretzels and shared it with a few folks around me. This way I could have my pretzel and eat it, too.

And you wanna know something? That was alright.

I didn’t totally give in to having wings, or a burger or what sounded like amazing chili. Nope. I was good, especially knowing I couldn’t work out first thing this morning as I had to get right to work today due to an appointment I have at Noon. But as I lose more weight I will treat myself to more of their food and the foods of other places I want to visit. I am just proud that I resisted my urges to splurge calories.

I CAN resist bar food!

Sure, I will always eat what I want on my weight loss journey but last night would have been bad when I’m just now getting back on track after the holidays. And when I have been good for a while I will go back and have another one of those pretzels (they really are their own food group) and one or two other things from their menu.

After all, good things come to those who wait.