Determined To Succeed

Day eighty-eight.

So I survived another day of not eating too badly. After my breakfast yesterday of french toast (only two pieces) and some turkey sausage (only two patties) I had a bagel with butter for lunch (as I didn’t want to eat too heavily before going to martial arts training – but more on that later) and for dinner had this rocking cinnamon chipotle pork chop with apple salsa dish for dinner complete with a side of sweet potatoes. I even resisted the urge to have seconds and saved the rest for din din tonight. I am also down another three ounces today and I will take each and every one of them, so at 240.2 I am as happy as an achy clam.

Why am I achy? It’s my own damn fault, really. I hadn’t been working out and stretching like I should and Sensei Doug really gave me a great workout yesterday. I am not being funny, either. He gave me an awesome workout that left me feeling…well, let’s just say achy breaky. Achy because I hadn’t stretched out my hip joints in days and I did a lot of kicking. Breaky because I felt like I was going to break down before even getting to my car afterward.

We started with the usual – shadowboxing and some light bag work but then went right into kicking. Kicking helps open up the hips and gives you better range of motion. It also had the effect of making you feel like your leg is like a fried chicken wing you have to break apart to eat. It was soooooo stiff. It took a while for it to open up a bit. But by then we were on to the floor exercises which take a serious toll on your arm strength. How can someone feel like a piece of broken friend chicken and spaghetti at the same time? I don’t know but I achieved it. Ugh! Man, was I in serious need of a sauna.

After the workout I came home and took a long hot shower and sat for a bit. I knew that today I’d have to stretch again but it was OK. I needed that kind of workout – the achy breaky. I always need that kind of workout and it is what I signed up for. Why shouldn’t I feel tired (exhausted), hurting and sweaty? That is what I want and that is what I get, which is why my sensei is awesome. truly. Think of it this way. When I went to college, a school I had to pay for, I went to classes because I PAID FOR THEM. Why should I ditch classes I paid for. That wasn’t smart money if I didn’t go (and thanks to my own stupid actions and the encouragement of an old girlfriend I did ditch and it took me three years to make that grade up in my GPA). In college you pay for the privilege of school and in working out I pay for the privilege of getting masterful instruction with my sweat.

That is a small price to pay, especially since I so desperately want to get into that Calvin Klein suit by my birthday.

Amazingly enough, though, I am not feeling achy breaky today. My body is good and is gearing up for a similar workout today. Yep, I’m gonna work myself out today and make myself sweat. I need it. I want it. I will have it. So on this chilly and rainy day here in southern New Jersey it will feel like the tropics to me. My weight is slowly coming back down and I am feeling better day by day. I already had my raisin toast today and will clear a space soon for myself.

I may not be the 400 pounds I once was, but still, a six-foot-one, 240 pound guy isn’t small and needs a lot of space in which to workout and continue losing weight. To be continued…

 Have a great day, everyone, and don’t forget to workout and eat well.