Weekly Update 4/24

This will be an extremely brief update. This has been a good week and i will go into more detail later. This upcoming week is going to be INSANE.

My Family and I are Moving from a nice quiet country setting to a much more convenient neighborhood. WE have to get  everything moved this week, Plus I have a race to run on Saturday. This is a week I feel I have a lot to talk about, but I am afraid life will not permit me to spend much time updating the blog.

I will give quick updates and will continue my quest for Healthiness; but if you don't see or hear much for the next 2 weeks, don't fret....

 

The Joy of Black Jelly Beans

I know black jelly beans are one of those candies you either love or you hate there is usually no middle ground. I happen to fall into the camp that lives these tiny licorice sensations. The problem is I can usually only find them in stores one time per year, this makes them extra hard to resist.

The strange thing is as I sit and enjoy a handful with my daughter, who is a bean lover as well, I harken back to so many memories. I remember so many Eaters of my childhood and I think about the picture of Molly from just a few years ago when her face was coveted with black from devouring bean after bean.

It makes me curious, if simple jelly beans can have that much impact into my psyche, how much do we tie food to our emotions and our memories.

I think this emotional tie is one of the things that makes it so difficult for us to cut certain foods from our diet. We must figure out a way to disassociate the emotional aspect from our eating and merely focus on eating the things we should.

That opens a whole other can of worms, if we only eat and do the things they we should but we really don't enjoy life is that a good trade off for the few extra years we may be adding. Essentially are we trading quality to gain quantity....

Just some things to think about as I delight in these magical beans.

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A little encouragement

It is very easy to let life take it's toll on us. There are so many things that we can worry about. We lose sleep with anxiety about our finances or about a stressful situation. It is our nature to fret over our circumstances trying to figure out a solution.

I have found that the most productive thing I can do in these trying situations is to turn the whole thing over to God.

Don't be confused giving it to God is not the same as giving up and it does not make your problems go away. Giving it to God does put your trust and faith in the one who has proven his love grace and faithfulness to provide.

The one verse in the Bible I have leaned on most when the world has tried to knock me down is Philippians 4: 6, 7

"Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus"

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Just monkeying around

Not a lot of content to this post, just wanted a little sample to see how it would work on the networked blog app on facebook.

This is a picture of me showing my daughter how to traverse the monkey bars. Btw is monkey bars no longer so politically correct term? I only ask because the sign at the park called this piece of equipment a horizontal ladder.

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Sweet Cherry Relief

So, I think I may have mentioned that my foot has been bothering me. After about a week of discomfort I turned to an old friend.

A few years and a lot of pounds ago I had a few battles with gout. If you are not familiar with gout what you need to know is it hurts. I will post some links later for more education on gout but for now trust me it hurts like heck. The treatment is a whole other torture. The prescription I was given destroyed my digestive system.

It was while I read struggling with gout that I discovered the benefits of black cherries. Black cherries are a natural anti inflammatory. It has also worked wonders for many people like myself who have agonized with gout.

I don't think my recent discomfort was full blown gout it didn't hurt near enough, but I still decided to try my old friend pictured above. I am pleased to report, the cherries did it again.

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Day in the Big Easy night in a box

As I wrote my last post I was hoping to get up Friday morning and get another 2 to 3 mile run through the Garden District, unfortunately for a few days now I have been struggling with some discomfort in my left foot. Because of all the walking through the zoo Thursday I woke up with more discomfort than normal. I decided to forego thur morning run. I was confident I would get plenty of movement in during the day.

stock photo from Google Images

Huge Ray!

A fierce Shark

We started our day by walking from the hotel to the St. Charles street car. We rode the street car to Canal St.Molly that this was a blast. I thought it was crowded and loud.. From our drop off point we walked about half a mile to the Audubon Aquarium of America. Plenty of amazing sights and lots of walking, most of the walking carrying a sleeping 30 pound baby. The only thing I didn't like is it seemed there were 62 elementary schools having field trips at the same time we were there. Wow it was loud! But there were some amazing sights and it was a lot of fun.

YUM!

Almost failed to mention we also spent some time walking through the River Walk where we split an order of beignets from Cafe' Du Monde. This was Molly's first true beignet and she absolutely loved it. she got to watch them make them before eating them. I had forgot how messy those powdery delights can be.. A true New Orleans legend.



After the aquarium we went for an amazing lunch at the Camellia Grill. This place is not your typical NOLA fare. It is a throwback old school short order diner. we were in and out ion less than 30 minutes and the food was exceptional.

The wife's sandwich

The Night's Accomodations

When we got home out was time for us to spend our night on a box. This was an amazing experience, and much less comfortable than I had imagined. We had a great mixture of wind and rain throughout the night and really not much sleep. If you ever find yourself in need of a box to sleep in make sure there is enough room for your eight year old who won't be able to get comfortable in her own box. Comfortable must be a relative term as I was never truly comfortable, but she snoozed through the night once she took over half my box..A couple of good things were that many off us gained some more compassion for what others have to deal with. Also there were thousands of dollars raised to support the Back Bay Mission.

A little tired and stiff this am, but life is good

By the way I got on the scale this morning and despite the mini vacation I was still happy to see 191 that is a total loss of 108 lbs

Life is good.

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A bit of decadence

Enjoying a few days in New Orleans for a long planed Family vacation. We had originally planned this get away 2 years ago but the night before we wee going to leave I fell and broke my leg. Started my day with a beautiful run through the Garden District (about 2.7 miles) followed by a light breakfast.

After breakfast we spent the entire day walking around the Audubon Zoo with the girls. A great time was had by all. On an effort to save money and eat a little healthier we packed a picnic ate a light lunch on front of a sloth and an anteater.

For a dinner wet wanted a true taste off the city and we ventured a visit to Joey K's where I had a great trout tchoupitoulas (basically it was seared and covered with shrimp and crab meat).

After dinner I gave In to a fantastic local desert spot called Sucre and had the most wonderful chocolate caramel milkshake ever. Amazingly decadent I think I may still be somewhere close to my calorie goal since breakfast and lunch were light. Even if I am way over for the day, I still thoroughly enjoyed it.

Try to get another run in the morning then get to sleep in a box tomorrow night.

Life is good

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Daddy's new shoes

"I went out got some brand new shoes now I walk like someone else,"

I made a quick stop by academy sports and found a great deal on these New Balance 760. Normally they sell for $ 85 they were on clearance for only $ 41.

I am excited

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Life in a Box

I have previously mentioned this event a couple of times, but I wanted to take an opportunity to expound on what exactly we will be doing, and more importantly why.

“Life in a Box” is an Outreach Project of Mosaic Church designed to bring an awareness of the homeless population we have on our Mississippi Gulf Coast.  Our goal, is for those who participate to experience a small part of what others live out every day, being homeless (having limited shelter, clothes, food, etc.).”

To make this experience tangible, on April 15, all those who participate will spend the entire night in a cardboard box.

For anyone who may be tapping their finger on their desk wondering why the fat dude who lost 100 pounds is talking about homelessness not food and exercise… rest assured, the primary focus of this blog will always be my personal fitness journey, but as I have mentioned my journey toward a healthy lifestyle is not exclusively about physical well being but it also focuses on my journey to be healthier mentally, and spiritually.  I also feel it is far too important that we don’t expend all of our focus on our own journey when there are people who can benefit greatly from our time and energy. Besides, in the current economy how far are any of us from the prospect of homelessness?

So, this Friday evening I, along with my daughter and many other members from my church will be sleeping in a box in our church parking lot with nothing more than a blanket. This isn’t as sheltered as you may think as our church actually meets in a skating rink that is part of a strip mall. In the same strip mall there is a 24 hour fitness facility and a 24 hour drug store. So, we won’t be completely isolated from the world.

Of course the stated goal is to raise awareness, but there is another goal and that is to raise funds to help the homeless population. To that end we are asking anyone who feels led to “sponsor” our boxes. Simply put any size donation equals a sponsorship. All Sponsors will have their name or business logo on our  box.

“All funds raised will go to Back Bay Mission which is located in Biloxi, Mississippi on Division Street.  It is an 87 year old non-profit ministry/agency who serves our community.  They offer programs for the less fortunate that cover laundry services, job placement services, and have birthed at least 10 other ministries on our Gulf Coast (i.e. Loaves and Fishes, Gulf Coast Family Counseling, Harrison County Headstart, etc.).”

If you would be interested in helping out in any way you either by joining us in your own box or by sponsoring ours please contact me. You can email me atewcollum@yahoo.com and simply title the email “Life in a Box” You also can follow this link http://mosaicgc.com/2011/03/10/life-in-a-box/ to learn more.

Thanks as always to anyone who may be following along as always I appreciate your support.

what did I eat today? 4/8

Today started out innocent enough as I put in a quick 1 mile run this morning and then grabbed one of the Life Cereal Bars

130 Calories

Unfortunately the next series of events did not go as I had hoped. It was my day to bring breakfast to the office and I was hoping to be respectful to those coworkers who are strictly following the Lenten guidelines of having no meat on Friday.

With all that love and respect in my heart I stopped at the local Donut Hut and ordered a box of Mixed. I even assured the lady at the counter and the friend I was speaking to on the phone that these were just for my co-workers... Not for me...

Around 200 Sinful Empty Calories

Unfortunately the Spirit is strong.. but the flesh is weak.. and I enjoyed one of those hot flaky gooey delicous bites of heaven. It was only about 30 minutes before I remembered why I don't allow myself do-nuts very often.. you see wonderful donut is nothing but a temptress. She is sweet and tasty, but the high doesn't last long before you are craving another one.

only 260 calories

I resisted the remainder of the donuts pretty well until Lunch time when i enjoyed a pretty good frozen Spaghetti dinner from Smart Ones. This wasn't too bad for a frozen dinner and only had 260 Calories.

I also enjoyed a nice long walk around Biloxi where I snacked on a Clif Bar and Drank a Vitamin Water. Since i didn't bring a fruit today I ate The Clif bar as I was walking both for nourishment and to hopefully keep me sustained through the afternoon.

Unfortunately, Sometime during the afternoon I was tempted by the Donut box again... this time when I gave in, I used a knife and cut the donut in half.

Of course for me to eat it you have to add
Bacon bits and croutons

Sometimes it is funny how things work out. My worst eating day in a long time also turns out to be the same day my church group meets. The Theme for tonights get together was "Salad Night". If you have ever met me you know I am not much for salads, especially mixed up fruits or things I can't identify... just not my thing... SO I eat a small green salad with a Raspberry Vinaigrette.

I did realize not long after my salad that I was still Hungry so as i sit here and type this I am finishing off my day with a bowl of Frosted Flakes... I love me some Kids Cereal.


Even as Poorly as I probably did in terms of nutrients and even though i gave in to temptation with the Donuts. I still Finished the day right around 1800 calories. That's really not too bad after all

Thanks to everyone who is following along. I Appreciate your support.Don't expect an update tomorrow as I will be out of town for a special event. However I will catch you up in Sunday's Weekly Update.

what did I eat today? 4/7

 Today started with a 1.5 mile run which I never really got "into" I just wasn't feeling it. But at least I got a run in. I still need 3.8 miles to complete my goal of 10 miles this week

25 Calories per serving

Breakfast
I tried to make an Egg Beaters omelette, but it fell apart so I had scrambled eggs with cheese and bacon for 250 Calories and a bowl of Quaker Raisin Date & Walnut Oatmeal  for another 140

3 Slices 70 Calories

140 Calories

Total Calories from Breakfast 390

160 Calories

For a Morning Snack I enjoyed some flavored almonds

320 Calories

Lunchtime I tried the Ziti from Smartones.. it was quite good and I enjoyed a Honeycrisp Apple

80 Calories

Total for Lunch 400 Calories

240 Calories

For afternoon snack I had a Cif Bar

250 Calories per 2. (375 for the 3 I ate

For supper I ate 3 Tacos straight from Old El Paso

Total for Supper 375

Total for the Day1565...

Looks like I can have some DESSERT!!!