Day 6 – Good Days and Good Friends

The time may seem a little off with this blog, but it seems Blogger was down when I went to post this. So, please forgive the timing mix up. I'll try to remember Sunday night maintenance from now on. ~H

Today (Sunday) was a wonderful day for me. The hubby and I get to sleep in thanks to my mom watching our son in the morning. It's our one chance every week to have that time together and we cherish it. While a part of me wanted nothing more than to stay in bed as long as I could with him, today was a big day for me. Today, I completed my first official 5K! As I said in my Day 5 post, Weight Watchers organized this 5K “Walk-It Challenge” program over the last several weeks, culminating on Sunday with 5K walks held all over the country. (Members could organize their own as well if they wanted.) I had jumped at the chance of completing this when it was first announced and have been anxiously looking forward to it for weeks! Well, Sunday was the day and I was ready!

The walk itself took place on the walking path that runs around a nearby community college. Lovely grounds and close to home. Everyone signed in as they arrived, then took off down the path. We were told 3 laps equaled a little over 5K with a water stop at the end of each lap. Sounded good to me! I fired up my iShuffle and headed out. I'm so very glad I walked 5K both days at the gym this week as it gave me a good idea as to time and stride. I wouldn't have known that 1) it would take me an hour to walk and 2) that I could withstand walking for an hour straight. To feel such a sense of accomplishment...!
Just... wow! It helped me prepare for this day and I took full advantage of it.

I walked alone for the first two laps, which was fine as I could set a great pace, jam out on my music, and just enjoy the day. It was mostly sunny with a wonderful cool breeze, but I could see the nasty storm clouds rolling past. I knew it was just a matter of time before one decided to hang out in my part of town and I didn't want to not finish. Kept me going!

During the third lap, I came across a fellow meeting member and a member from a different town. I slowed my pace a little and we walked the remaining distance together. We shared food tips, gossip tidbits, and other WW small talk. I shared with them my new-found online inspiration (http://losingweighteveryday.blogspot.com/) and my current love of Edy's low fat sugar free Butter Pecan ice cream. I hope they check out both.

As we three rounded the final turn, it was obvious we had to pick up the pace and cross the finish. The very dark clouds looming ahead of us were ready to open up. We crossed the finish line, said our goodbyes, and headed directly for our cars. I had enough time to drive home, park, and start making some lunch when the rains came. It poured for all of 20 minutes. Maybe 30? Then the sun came back out and all was right with the world again. Figures. As for the rest of the day, I made some healthy choices, knowing that later in the evening some of my friends would be coming over for game night and bringing lots of food.

You see, I'm a gamer; have been one all of my life. Started when my parents relented to us kids and bought us an Atari 2600. Then it was a Nintendo (original, not Super). Then I received a Sega Genesis as a prize. I learned to program in BASIC on my dad's “portable computer” in the 80s and played Qbert on it when he let me. In 1989, when I was 16, I was given my first set of dice and my D&D (1st Ed) Players Handbook, adding Roleplayer to my Gamer title. In 1993, I added LARPer as well. Since then, I have GM'd both “pencil and dice” games as well as wrote and GM'd my own LARP. I have worked with other GMs on multiple endeavors over the years with varying degrees of success, most recently with my husband. I have now been a gamer for over half of my life (21 years) and will continue to proudly be a part of the gaming community for years to come.

That said, for all of the non-gamers out there, the normal gaming diet consists of chips & fattening dips, fast food of all types, and copious amounts of soda, many of the caffeinated variety. While this may be a bit of a stereotype, it's held mostly true for many years (and still does to some extent). But, as today's title states, I have good friends. My friends who come over on Sunday nights saw me struggling on a weekly basis to not dive into the mountain of snack food piled high on the dining room table. They saw me sigh... a lot... into my tiny bag of popcorn, drinking glass after glass of water, and eventually giving in anyway. I forgot exactly how it came about, but I believe a discussion started one fateful day a few months ago regarding me following Weight Watchers, what the points were for each snack, how bad some fast food items truly are, and how rough it can be for me each week with all of the delicious smells, sounds, and tastes just staring me in the face. While nothing was spoken of right then, what happened the next week made me realize just how great my friends are.

The next week rolled around and I tried to leave some points available to me to deal with the upcoming onslaught of food. As it turns out, I need not have worried. People filtered in and, instead of Taco Bell, Pizza Hut, Doritos, Mountain Dew, and all of the other regular fare, I saw veggie trays, containers of fresh fruit, low fat dip, fat free beans (for dip), diet soda, and only 1 bag of chips (a higher end brand too!) I was overwhelmed by their thoughtfulness and willingness to help me on my journey. It was humbling to know I had an even better support system than I realized! Oh yeah, we chowed down that night and every game night since. There are always fresh fruit and veggies, combined with a bag or two of really good chips. A dip is usually available and I always keep a fat free dip here for me and anyone who wants to share. We now get -one- pizza that everyone shares (I take 1 piece only) and my hubby's best friend always makes sure I get a 2 liter of my favorite diet soda. I still splurge, but now I do it sensibly. I measure out my 1oz of chips and only keep those next to me. I only take my 1 slice of pizza and I always make sure I have the points available first.

In changing our eating habits like this, we've all discovered that we prefer the healthy goodies to the fattening ones most of the time. By the time the pizza is usually ready, we're just about full. One slice and we're set! It works out beautifully.

I have a few other friends who, when they cook items they know I'm going to be eating, always make sure to have a few healthier choices available. They understand when I don't eat large quantities of everything they make and don't push food onto me; the “Oh, just have a bite” sort of rhetoric.

I have some great friends and I am grateful!

Wow, long post. Ok, off to bed for me. Keep on movin' ya'll! ;)

~H