...but we make time when we can. At least that is what i have been doing these past couple weeks as i have been swamped with all things: AW. For all steps forward, and basking in the glory of, we cannot close our eyes to the reality that we may have to endure some step backwards. More on this in a bit.
The weather has been downright gorgeous and has me itching for Spring. Not necessarily experiencing Spring fever merely starting to think about things to do in milder weather. Bicycling (i have done some in the Winter months but it just doesn't feel good on the joints), disc golf, hiking, etc. are all on my melon HARD. February is a long month is year and it is still winter here in Nebraska so I am not setting myself up for disappointment if I start to see a few flakes this weekend. Superbowl weekend. It snuck up on me. I really must have been distracted (necessarily so) when big blue rematch with the patriots this Sunday. It should be a great game. And after AW falls asleep i should be able to watch the entire second half uninterrupted. We shall see. Go BIG BLUE!
AW entered my life when I was still in a definite state of transition: emotionally, vocationally, and physically. Last Summer, I lost 35 of the 50 lbs goal i had set for myself the previous February of '11. For the record, glycemic index is no joke. Totally ramped up my losses in both overall weight and definitely body fat percentage. Coming from the family i did, where the cure all to every ailment was fresh air and plenty of food, an over sized appetite is encoded in my DNA. But using the glycemic index allows me to trick my body (more precisely my brain) into thinking i have totally binged. At this point i know my stomach has shrunk down some because i get fuller faster even on my cheat days. There's a funny side story to this.
This past July a friend of mine egged me on to enter a taco challenge at a local bar here in the capitol. We would meet up there on Sundays as the bar had a super sweet deal on tacos. I adjust my cheat day of the week to Sundays so i could indulge in some tacos and beer and not feel too guilty. In a span of twenty minutes or so I would run through some 12-15 tacos. So my buddy did some math and researched the bar's then current record of tacos eaten in an hour: 34.
So low and behold the "S----- vs. Tacos" event hit Facebook and within a matter of a week over 100 friends hit "join." So it was crunch time, pardon the pun. Now normally I would have chuckled off a challenge of 35 tacos in an hour. But the fact remained that due to my dieting my stomach did shrink up a bit. So I was worried that I would not be able to do this as easily as i may have been able to before dieting. Now that this was becoming more and more a public event the competitive side of me knew i had to step up my game. The twenty four hours before the event i did what i had to to temporarily expand my stomach. This involved eating an entire large pizza and drinking nearly two gallons of Gatorade and green tea. The morning of the event i evacuated my entire system and showed up at the bar starving. In the battle of tacos I was victorious having broken the record with 35. Plus, after finishing I was able to enjoy two pints of Ranger IPA. Needless to say, I will not be returning to defend my record anytime soon.
So despite my own version of man vs. food i was able to reach the fall having lost 35 pounds. A bit short of my goal but honestly my goal was very ambitious. Besides, weight that is lost slower tends not to rebound back. All my life my weight hasn't yo-yo'd so I didn't want to start then (or now). The winter has seen my gain back some pounds, 8 to be precise, but this is most due in part to my work with AW and not having the free time necessary to hit the gym as regularly as I would like. I find ways of sneaking in a workout here and there, for example, living on the third floor I always jog up the flights of stairs and never walk. When I check the mail i jog to and from the mailboxes. Before bed, i plank and do crunches. There is always a way of sneaking in some exercise. I'll be the first to admit since I'm an outdoors person i tend to find more ways of sneaking exercise in by just being outside more. But the Spring is coming damn it. So if it flakes in February so be it.
AW has been in the forefront of all things on my daily and weekly to-dos. The support he needs warrants such and that is part of my job. Being a DSP means much more than merely managing the life and care of a special needs person. It means wearing many hats: mentor, friend, boss, big brother and sometimes a supplement to a father figure that might have never really existed before. True, my days of switching hats does leave me tired and spent on more days than not. But when I do finally settle down at night and sleep peacefully knowing i have done something positive for AW. With me, AW can be more independent and participate more in his own life. There might not be all the warm fuzzies that came from being a teacher back in the day. AW does let me know that my work is appreciated. Of course, that's when I'm not being a bitch! lol
SYS
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