Steve v5.0

Posts Tagged ‘holiday’

“Mmm-mmm, good!”
“Delicious!”
“May I have some more?”
“Passive-Aggressive”

I guess I should have posted the question first. Here it is: “Name three things I didn’t say and the conversation style of all around me during this past Thanksgiving.” Gotta love dysfunctional families and the appetite suppression that comes along with them. Nothing could have been better for me. Not to say that it was bad– the turkey was ok, everything was. It’s just that nothing was all that special, it just was… well… fuel, and for a guy who shouldn’t be cramming his piehole with pie, it was blandtastic! I don’t think anyone was all that distracted with food and there was quite a bit leftover. Not a lot made it home with us either. Bonus!

Rock on.

 

I feel bloated and preggers– showing but far from glowing. My due date is in June. No congratulations necessary; I’m a dude.

The gym I go to is closed today in observance of Labor Day. Can’t wait to go in tomorrow and work it/move it twice as hard. Funny how much I feel out of sorts when my schedule is disrupted. This little disruption also mixed up my diet a tad. A smoothie is my usual first meal of the day following my workout at the gym. Gym closure means no weight-lifting workout, and like dominoes through a Pachinko machine designed by Rube Goldberg, subsequent events topple in my personal gravity-assisted milieu. Anyhow, instead of a smoothie I had oatmeal, eggs, crumbled bacon, and milk– all in one bowl. A little off-beat but it rocked while getting the job done.

Labor Day also marks the end of summer vacation for my kids. Tomorrow they’ll be back at school– a seasonally new schedule to incorporate. It’s kind of a big deal for me. The kids’ are going to be preoccupied with school, sports, new friends, and all that other stuff that comes with the beginning of the school year. Any opportunities we had for fun and frolic have either been realized or wasted. I guess summer’s passing is not without some melancholy. I’m curious as to how others feel about it.

On the “plus side” of the equation, my schedule gets a heck of a lot of additional structure and I’m less likely to fritter time away. Focus becomes my coping mechanism and I look forward to getting a little more productive.

Rock on.

 

I’m a Yankee-Doodle-Frickin-Dandy, I is. America, hell yeah! Hot dogs, apple pie, and Chevrolet– America. Born and bred in the land o’ plenty where mac n’ cheese is comfort food, everything is super-sized, deep-fried, and all-you-can-eat. I’ve been a mountain of a man, as big as a whale, and all I can be– and then some.

OK, I’m more than a little embarrassed by that last part. While I’m not embarrassed about being an American, becoming a fat American was selfish, irresponsible, and misrepresentative of what I believe America is all about. That’s embarrassing.

I believe that I do live in a country of terrific opportunity. It’s a place of abundant freedom where, with effort, tenacity, and intelligence many things are possible. I see examples of it every day; flashes of brilliance that create tremendous things that improve my life. Creations that create opportunity and abundance for society as a whole. Hey, American innovators rock.

That said, tomorrow represents my country’s Independence Day; a day of parades, fireworks, and barbecues. I, myself, won’t be parading around but will be at a barbecue with friends and family. It’ll be a day of remembrance of the highlights of American history: wars fought, sacrifices made, hard work, innovation, social responsibility, and tenacity. All things I aspire to represent.

So, tomorrow at our barbecue I’ll focus less on the food and more on the things that make me grateful to live in a country that offers so much. I’ll continue to be grateful to those who historically and currently provide for the welfare of my fellow citizens and who, through their innovation, intelligence, and tenacity continue to inspire me. My thanks and gratitude to you all.

To all those who live in countries other than my own, I’m sure you revel in your heritage, holidays, and heroes as well. You have my respect and gratitude for all the positive influence you have in furthering the human race.

Rock on.

 

It is with reverence, gratitude, and respect that we recognize all those who served their country and paid the ultimate price for the freedoms we hold dear.  To all those currently serving at home and abroad, thank you for service, dedication, and patriotism.  Thank you!

 

This time of year typically has us seeing a lot more of family than usual.  It’s good to catch up on what everyone is doing, how various kids have grown, and just stoke to coals of dysfunction.  Good times, good times.

Our gatherings have always been staged around a big meal; some holiday dinner, Sunday brunch, reunion picnic, potluck, whatever- always a meal.  That’s OK I guess, it’s kind of tough to yell at each other with our pieholes stuffed with… well, pie.

Here’s the thing though, I’ve often wondered why the meal had to be central to the activity.  Why can’t we just get together without the big production that goes into coordinating and creating some huge dinner?  I understand that we all have to eat, I just don’t think that eating is all we have to do.

We’re hosting the Christmas get-together this year.  We just hosted Thanksgiving- and that was a pretty big production meal-wise (though I maintained myself and ate a modest portion) and I really don’t want a repeat.  I’ve considered backing off a little food-wise and instead of huge sit-down meal, just putting out a variety of snack-sized things to nosh while people visit.

I wonder how that will go over…

Meanwhile…

Our family had an absolutely phenomenal time today.  We went up Mt Hood to hunt down a Christmas tree.   It was quite the adventure, we climbed hills and hiked all over the place through an incredible snow storm.  We found a great tree and at one point almost sank our car in a lake.  This little adventure lasted all day, everyone had a great time, and none of it involved a huge elaborate meal.

All the days of my life should go this way.

 

Image by roboppy via Flickr

Thanksgiving has traditionally been a gastro-blast of over-indulgence in my family.  We’d belly-up to a table that was piled eye-high with pork, poultry, lamb, and enough “sides” to fill a Vegas buffet.   We’d say a quick stomach-growl accompanied grace and shovel our plates full of food and drown the whole mess in gravy, then commence packing it in our pieholes like it was an IFCE sponsored event.

After an hour or so the frenzy would start winding down; belts loosened, eyes rolling back, conversation reduced to grunts and purging, people crawling to the den to soak up radiation from the friendly glow of football on the TV.

After a couple hours of yelling at the TV and each other- and a few commercial breaks to the library, we’d move on to the pie round.  Most would go for the sampler plate (four different pieces on a dinner plate) while I focused all my energy and remaining gullet-room on a slab of pumpkin hidden somewhere in the haystack of whipped cream covering my pie-sized plate.

I’m getting indigestion just thinking about it.

That’s what it was like for as long as I can remember- up until last Thanksgiving.  Last year I was six months into my weight loss transformation and already down over 100 lbs. — I was focused and hell-bent on eating healthy.   Thanksgiving had become different.  It had become better.  I ate what I wanted in moderation- actually chewing and tasting everything.  I ate slowly and responded to grunts, not with grunts but with intelligible speech.  It was incredible.  It was enjoyable.  I’m looking forward to doing it again tomorrow.

How about a little appetite suppressant? (I apologize if this offends in any way…)

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Image by Getty Images via Daylife

The holidays are close at hand and with that comes the opportunity to gorge.  Yippee!  Turkey, potatoes, and pie- oh my!  Whoa!  Slow down, dab the drool from your chin and just take a breath, Steve.  The last thing I want to do is follow the norm and add a few pounds over the next month or so (or ever for that matter).  So what am I going to do?  Plan ahead, baby.

1. Take advantage of the veggie tray but go slow with the dressing.
2. More turkey, less gobble.  Ditch the gravy and go light on the sides- especially starchy stuff.
3. Eat slowly to make sure my stomach has caught up with my eyes.  Actually talk to guests beyond demanding they pass the ________ .
4. Leave a little on the plate.  Momma‘s not going to slap me if I don’t lick it clean- this year.
5. Also go light on the pie and modest on the whipped cream (better for me than the pie).

The days of tryptophan-induced stupor and groaning from bloat while watching football and cramming lil’ smokies in my maw while waiting for “pie time” are behind me now.  It’s a time of thanksgiving, a time to share with friends and family and with a little planning and a quantum modicum-

I’ll survive and enjoy.

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The mot juste (dictionary.com‘s word of the day) for my reaction to the scale this morning is expressed phonetically in the title of today’s post.  Obscure, misused rock references from the 80′s aside, a gain wasn’t what I wanted to see but wasn’t completely unexpected either.  So I let out a little exasperation and moved on over to the weight machines- and turned disappointment into a grunting press/pull/squat-fest.  I’m feeling the burn now.

Did all that effort erase the two pound gain?  Of course not.  Lasting change is made over time.  That little gain is but a temporary symptom of behavior that I’m about to change.  It’s a reminder to stay out of the leftover Halloween candy.  It’s a clue that hiding Oreos in my desk wasn’t such a great idea.  It’s motivation to take my dog for walks around the neighborhood rather than just letting her pollute the backyard.  Come to think of it, it would be nice to feel like I could walk around in the back yard without having to throw away my shoes when I’m done.  I’ve really got to get out there more.

The thing is, I know there will be ups and downs on the scale but over time and so long as I’m committed to following through with my goals, there will be mostly downs weight-wise.

That’s the way it’s been from the beginning, and that’s the way it will be throughout the rest of my life.

This morning’s smoothie had a great nose (and a few more carbs):

1/2C Frozen Strawberries
1S EAS Protein
1/2 Banana
1T Fresh Ground Peanut Butter
1 Handful Fresh Spinach
Water