Today started out so good. I haven’t ridden my bike in about two weeks—thanks
to a car accident and a schedule that gives me no time to ditch my kids for 2
to 4 hours. I can feel my belly pushing against my t-shirt—a sure fire sign
that I am putting weight on. I flirted with the idea of buying a stationary
trainer so I can go on “rides” on my back patio while the kids snooze in the
mornings. But then I rationalized that my wife would be home for the weekend,
some friends (who can watch my kids) will be visiting for several days, and my
daughter starts dance camp next week. So I decided if I can hang on another day
or two I can start riding on the roads again. In the meantime to stem my
personal expansion I decided I should rein in the eating and get some other
kind of exercise.
So I got up this morning and had some yogurt and granola for breakfast
followed by a rice cake with peanut butter. Then I went on a run, yes a run. I
dislike running…it is too hard. But I did it just to burn some calories and
torture my body a little bit. Now it really wasn’t much of a run. First of all,
I got about a hundred meters down the street when a friend who is visiting us
soon called. So I walked and talked for a few minutes. After the call I ran for
a while but my breathing was pretty bad and I stopped to walk. I continued to
runwalk for about 2 miles before I stopped. It was better than nothing, but it
only lasted about 20 minutes. I did get my heart rate up and broke a good
sweat. Surely tomorrow my leg muscles will let me know I did a little
something.
I did pretty well with the eating for the rest of the day…until I found
the leftover pudding in the fridge. That is when things started to slide
downhill. Then my son begged me to buy some hot wings while we were at the
grocery store. Actually he’s been begging me for days and I told him that if
they had some ready we’d get them. Who knew they’d actually have a batch sitting
there at noon on a Wednesday. Now who can have hot wings in their house, watch
others eat them, and not partake? Not me, that’s for sure. So I had a few hot
wings on top of the pudding.
I did OK through the afternoon—a few potato chips along with humus and
crackers. For dinner I made chicken noodle soup—lots of filling liquid, didn’t
eat the noodles. After dinner my kids started begging me for gum (after
watching an episode of Johnny Test that featured bubble gum) so I told them we
could go to a store and they could get sugar-free gum. I made them walk with me
to the corner CVS. They didn’t have a good gum selection (I knew they wouldn’t
have what they wanted) so we had to walk further to get to the Piggly Wiggly
(all part of my evil plot to get us all walking).
Feeling all high and mighty and healthy I mentioned going to Rosewood
Dairy Bar for some ice cream on the walk home from the Pig. My kids latched on
to that throw-away comment like dogs on a bloody bone. I hoped I could throw
them off the idea by making them finish a movie we started last night—20,000
Leagues under the Sea (while chewing bubble gum). By the way, my kids didn’t
really like the movie. They weren’t impressed with the 1954 special effects and
had a hard time really getting traction on the
technology-for-peace-not-war-and-exploitation undercurrent of the movie. They
were pretty bummed (spoiler alert) that Captain Nemo had to die and the Nautilus
had to sink.
In discussing the themes of the movie with my kids (something that
turns entertainment into homeschool edutainment) the conversation turned. My
daughter started talking about how she can’t get her head around the idea that
there could be nothing—no people, no earth, no universe. She said it really
blows her mind to think about it. Personally, I think it is pretty cool that a
10-year old is contemplating something like that. That got my son talking about
how amazing it was that the earth was created in space from rocks. And from
there he hit me with a biggie. He asked when the first person was born—poor guy
got a long story that started about 8 million years ago.
After subjecting them to learned discussions I figured I owed them a
trip to the dairy bar…and they weren’t going to let me forget it anyway. We set
off in the car (head down in shame) and I told myself I wouldn’t get anything. When
we got there my belly and sweet tooth gave my brain some pitch about only
living once and not constantly denying myself a little joy. I quickly caved and
got a small hot fudge sundae like my son had gotten.
I am glad it was a small because I finished the whole thing—whipped cream,
nuts, maraschino cherry, vanilla ice cream, hot fudge sauce all on top of
chocolate cake (I swear I knew nothing about the cake at the bottom, it was
never there before). Surprisingly I feel like I could barf right now. I am so
full I can’t stand it. And I am pretty sure that any good I did for myself and
my belly reduction program has been completely undone by the chips, pudding,
wings, and sundae. Taking a page from Scarlett O’Hara’s book, I’ll worry about
that tomorrow.
Oh wait, tomorrow BBQ day at the Bomb Plant.
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