Part 4 - Keep Stepping Up!!

     Two men have decided to climb a mountain.  One of the men is an elderly man and the other is a young man.  As they climb, the younger man begins to pull away from the older man.  The younger man looks back and notices that the older man has stumbled and fallen.  Seeing that the older man has picked himself up and continued his climb the younger man continues confidently.  After a while, the younger man notices that his companion has stumbled many more times and is now sitting on the ground looking discouraged.  Still confident in his own climbing skills the younger man returns to the older man and offers him his hand.  The older man accepts his hand and gets back to his feet dusting himself off.  The younger man says to him, "Don't give up, you can not climb a mountain without stumbling and falling every so often.  The trick is to get yourself back up and dusted off.  Take a look toward the peak you are climbing to and keep stepping up."  Encouraged, the older man thanks the younger man and they part ways again.  As the climb continues the younger man has pulled far ahead and out of sight of the older man.  Stumble as he might the older man never gives up.  When he falls, he hears the younger man's voice in his head and goes on encouraged.  Later in the climb the older man comes across the younger man sitting on a rock looking exhausted.  The younger man confesses to the older man that he has no energy or drive left and he can't finish his climb.  The older man takes the younger man's hand and offers his shoulder to lean on.  He says, "You can not climb a mountain alone.  Let me help you and together we will look toward the peak and keep stepping up."  Together the men reached the peak and stood above the world.  

     This is a simple story but it is a source of encouragement for me.  Let me take a moment to welcome you once again to The Rendering.  For any that are new to my blog, this is a written account of my own personal battle with obesity.  My journey to conquer this "mountain" of mine and to stand above the world having reclaimed my life.  This week has had it's ups and downs but mostly ups.  I have spoken with several people this week that are on their own journeys and a common theme among them was how they get discouraged when they stumbled.  I too stumble and we all will from time to time.  When I do, I think of this story and I realize that even though I do stumble I have climbed so far already and I get up, dust myself off, and keep stepping up toward my goal.  I also remind myself that I am not alone on this mountain and that when I am tired and discouraged there are always shoulders available to lean on to help me get to the peak.  I want everybody to know that you are not alone either and we will make it together!  Once again I would like to thank everyone for the support you have all shown me.  Your kind words make me keep pushing myself.  I have not felt so good in a long long time.  I guess I will give you all the numbers.  Here we go:

     That's right folks.  That is a picture of my scale from this week's weigh in and it reads 570 lbs!  I am down 8 lbs. from last week and (drum roll please...) I am down a total of 104 lbs. from the beginning of my journey!  My waist was 73" last week and is 72.5" this week.  I am so excited because I can already feel the freedom.  As I have previously mentioned, I attend Weight Watchers meetings and they have been a huge encouragement for me.  Here are my key chain charms that I have received for losing 25, 50, 75, and my most recent achievement 100 lbs.

     I actually went to the driving range this weekend and hit some golf balls with some very old and dear friends.  Then they some how convinced me to play a bowling video game on Xbox Kinect and I loved it!  I know that these may sound like simple things but I not been able to do things like this in years and it was great to do something physical.  I can't wait to see what I try next.  I have mapped out my new walking trail and it is exactly 1/2 of a mile.  I am going to be timing myself each lap so I can work on improving my speed.  I have had several suggestions to do the "couch to 5K" program.  I don't see myself running a 5K anytime soon(yet) but this is where I am starting.  I am calling it my "couch to 500" program because it is getting me off of my butt and I am going to make 500 lbs by Christmas.  I am always looking for walking buddies if anybody wants to go with me.  

     I had a doctor appointment this week for more blood work and to check on my progress with my weight loss.  Here are some important numbers I thought I would share with everybody.  There has been one month between my last two blood tests so this is how I have improved...

Triglycerides which are factors with heart disease, stroke, and diabetes are normal below 150 mg/dL. I was 111 at the first test and 72 as of this week.

LDL Cholesterol(bad type) is normal between 0-100mg/dL.  I was 130 at the first test and 76 as of this week.

Finally, my BP was 142/100 when we began and this week it was 150/82.  Even though the systolic number went up, the diastolic number has dropped significantly.  We are still fiddling with the right medicine combinations to level it out but I will get there.  Overall, my doctor was very pleased with my progress and so am I.  

     Lastly, I would like to talk about a support system.  As the young, confident climber in my story learned, we can not climb this mountain alone.  I have several layers for my own personal support system.  At home I have my father and my sister that support me fully.  I have to admit that sometimes I don't care for the way they support me but that is what I need.  They refuse to serve me meals or bring me things in general and that has motivated me to get up and do for myself.  I then have outside family and friends to turn to as well for my next level.  They are just a phone call away if I need some encouragement or a buddy to workout with or go to a meeting with.  My final level of support has come from places like this blog and the management team where I work.  As well as people who may not know me personally but are still encouraging me to keep stepping up when I stumble.

     I have decided that I am going to include in my posts a recipe that I have found not only to be delicious but also helpful in my journey.  Try this out because it is awesome!  Let me know what you think or any tweaks you might make to it.

          

Total Time:

30 min

Prep

10 min

Cook

20 min

Yield:

2 servings

Ingredients

• Two 6-ounce tilapia fillets – 3 points per serving
• 2 tablespoons olive oil – 3 points per serving
• 2 tablespoon lemon juice – 0 points per serving
• 2 cloves garlic, minced - 0 points per serving
• 2 plum tomatoes, chopped & seeded - 0 points per serving
• 1 small shallot, minced - 0 points per serving
• 2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme - 0 points per serving
• 2 teaspoons chopped basil - 0 points per serving
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper - 0 points per serving

Directions 

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. 

Combine the garlic, tomatoes, shallots, parsley, basil, thyme, olive, lemon and some salt and pepper in a small bowl. Allow mixture to set for about 15 minutes to marry flavors.  Lay each fillet out on its own piece of foil. The foil should be a few inches longer than the fillet.  Top each fillet with the tomato mixture. Fold over the foil and roll up the edges to create a seal.

Place on a baking sheet and bake for 15 to 20 minutes. Serve removed from the foil on a bed of cooked brown rice (1 cup per serving – 5 points per serving) with veggies on the top and any sauce drizzled over the fish.  As a side steam 3 cups of chopped asparagus and serve 1 ½ cups per serving sprinkled with lemon juice (0 points per serving).

 

Serves – 2

Total Weight Watchers Points Per Serving - 11

   

     As I close this week's post I will leave with a cautionary bit of advice.  On your journey, as it is in my own, keep your eyes open and be honest and real with yourself.  It is easy to allow yourself to try to "play" the system or program that you are using.  I have lied to myself in the past saying "I can eat just a little of this and make up for it at this other point."  If I am being honest, I was only making excuses to enable myself for failure.  Stumbling is OK because we all will but accept it for the truth that it is and don't make excuses.  I have to humble myself and own my slip ups when I make them.  Then I just look up, refocus, and keep stepping up.  As always, thank you all for being there with support and please keep the encouragement and positive thoughts, prayers, and words coming along with your questions.  Please share this on your Facebook pages or other sites that you use so perhaps my story will encourage somebody else and will convince them that they are not alone either.  Let's start a fat revolution and save some lives!  God bless you all.  To be continued...