Day 25 - Another Kick In The Pants & Insane Adverts

As my wife and I were once again taking in some of the cool, fall weather with a bike ride through the park, we stumbled upon a very interesting find. The Terry Fox Fitness Trail, which consists of numerous fitness tests scattered throughout a running trail in the park. It's a good mix of easy tasks with a few that are quite taxing, and some near impossible. It was a great way to be active and to gain a little more confidence and inspiration in what I was trying to accomplish. I found myself thinking about Terry's journey and it gave me even more incentive to continue pushing myself to be a stronger person, physically and mentally. (See the sidebar for a link to the history of Terry Fox and his foundation.)

We continued our ride through the park and I spotted a familiar face in the distance, as we approached, my suspicions were confirmed. He had sent me his own weight-loss story via e-mail after reading my blog, and had invited me out to run with him a while back. I hadn't yet taken him up on that offer, but we'd remained in occasional contact via e-mail, keeping each other posted on our struggles and successes. To have the opportunity to meet him in person was an honour indeed. He's lost around 150 pounds to date, and is very committed and focused on his goals. His devotion is highly contagious, and before I knew it, we were headed out for a quick trot. After a few laps, and some casual chit-chat and story swapping, we bid he and his group farewell, feeling even more energized and optimistic.

We arrived home anxious to reap the rewards of our session of activity...rest and relaxation. Kicking up our feet after such a physically active evening was so much more rewarding than simply flopping on the couch after work and remaining there for the entire night. Not being much of a TV watcher, I miss out on some of the nuttiest commercials out there, food commercials especially. There's one in particular that completely had me in awe. A fellow walks into a pizza place and asks for a "BIG pizza". What he is offered is almost incomprehensible. Apparently the evolution of the pizza has been swift, cruel and unusual. Thick, pan baked, triple topping, stuffed crust pies have nothing on this wonder of pizza engineering. To be completely blunt, it was two pizzas stacked on top of each other, weighing "nearly 4 POUNDS!" as the over-zealous employee stated in no uncertain terms. They didn't just stuff the crust, they stuffed the ENTIRE PIZZA! Essentially, I regard it's hierarchy to be as follows: Crust, sauce, cheese, toppings, crust, sauce, cheese, toppings. The eager employee with the Cheshire Cat grin hands the double-wall reinforced pizza box to the smiling (and notably not overweight) customer, only to have him fall through the floor. Hilarious. Seriously, look at me laughing. :| Why, in a society where people are being removed from their houses via forklift do we need to "up the ante" on pizza? That's just one of many instances of companies enticing people of all sizes to dine on these disasters they attempt to pass off as "food". This brings me to one of my great weaknesses, the Slurpee. The cravings have waned as the time has passed, and it's been almost one month since my last one. In the simplest terms, I haven't had one because I don't really want one. I no longer feel compelled to, and though the desire will likely never leave me, the habitual nature of "just getting one because..." seems to have subsided. That's not to say I've gone completely without treating myself to minor sweets, but nothing quite as damaging as that almighty Slurpee, and I'm OK with that.

Continuous support and motivation is a major key to this process, and our adventure through the park had provided me with a positive reminder as to what I'm striving to accomplish. As our Thanksgiving weekend approaches, I'll once again be faced with the need to control my eating, and I'm feeling much better prepared to handle the adversity. Nearing the first "10 pounds lost" mark, there's no amount of temptation that's going to prevent me from seeing that scale roll into the 240's. Not this time.