Woo-hoo! Down 64 lbs!

Today was a gym day. It felt pretty good to get back in there after the long weekend away. It also felt great to discover that I hadn't done much damage during the campout. Really, I don't know how I could have. I still ate the same as I have since I began back in May- the only thing different was the TYPE of exercise I was getting. It was more hiking and walking and not a lot of weight training (other than hefting the gear from car to campsite and back).

Yesterday was my son's first day on his first real job- a pretty big deal for him. I could blame the pride or excitement I was feeling but really have no excuse for breaking one of my own rules. After picking him up from work I asked him what he wanted for dinner- the response was an immediate, "Burger King!" and off we went. He ordered the Ultimate Double Whopper- you know, the one that American Excesses' poster boy, Homer Simpson, is endorsing in conjunction with the Simpsons Movie out in the theaters just now. The thing was huge and according to their nutrition brochure, packs 990 calories, 64 grams of fat, 195 mg of cholesterol, and 1520 mg of Sodium. Adding a medium french fries and a medium Dr Pepper brought the total count to 1540 calories, 84 grams of fat, 195 mg of cholesterol, and 2160 mg of Sodium.

I didn't really think about it at the time because I wasn't the one eating it (I had a small lean steak and salad at home), but as I sit here the day after, I am ashamed. Ashamed of not only 1) rewarding him with food (which is totally against my unwritten rules of parenting), but 2) feeding him something as nutritionally devastating as what he chose.

Never again.

What could possibly add to the experience? While we sat in our car ordering through the drive-thru menu, I saw someone sneak up behind us on foot through my rear-view mirror. Bracing myself for a carjacking, I was surprised instead by a friend who just happened to be eating at a small restaurant across the parking lot from us. Not just any friend, but the same friend who was the final piece of inspiration that started me on my path of change; the guy who had lost about 80 lbs on one of the packaged-food diet programs. He was absolutely the last guy I wanted to see me at the drive-thru of a fast food restaurant.

Well, we sat with him and his wife (who had lost about 50 lbs on the same diet program and was now a Health Advisor for the business opportunity end of the same diet program) for a while and chatted while my son consumed his prize and I concealed my embarrassment.

Never again.

It is clear to me that our entire family deserves nutritional food on a consistent basis. Never again will I reward good behavior with bad food. We'll eat out, but we'll do it more carefully.