In sync

My wife and I are certainly getting in sync on this whole experience. We go to church in the morning, eat lunch, take a small break, get in a workout together, and take care of shopping, laundry and cooking for the week. I can't believe how fiercely she has embraced the whole program, and I know she's working harder at this than I am.

We're losing roughly the same amount of weight (seems like we're always a fraction of percentage away from each other), but she's doing it without EJ, Amber, etc. So that's impressive. She also doesn't have the same access to Spiece that I do, so that's also impressive. She does the lion's share of the cooking and laundry (I help). She tackled Rick's challenge today and finished the 100 flights, one mile, 50 flights in 56:30. It was her first extended stint on the stepper, so I'm darn proud of that time. She's run two 5k events with me so far and is registered for two more. Together, we've lost over 70 pounds!

Could I have made it this far into FWSW by myself? I know that I wouldn't have came this far without her ... not just because she's helping me to do it, but because she's my reason for doing it.

If only ...

I ran another 5k today, and set another personal best (35:34). That felt pretty good. It was really sparsely attended, which was probably due to the weather, but it had to be a disappointment to the organizers. That was a real shame, because it was obvious that they had worked really hard to pull it all together. I've occasionally been on the planner/organizer side of an event that wasn't well attended, and I remember how I felt. I appreciate all of the hard work and I hope they'll continue to do this event in the future.

You would be surprised how many people are already doing things like this to help people get healthy. I don't think anyone can ever say "I'd get into shape if only I had some help." Competent support is available all over the place. Sometimes you have to look for it. Most of the time you'll have to let someone know you need it. But you can't say it's not there at all. There are no valid excuses.

Compliments?

One of the cool things about being two months into the program is all of the weird compliments you get. Here's two I've received just today:

1) Someone told me I was working hard and looking good, which was nice. Then it got a little weird ... she said that if I ever dared to put the weight back on, she would be so angry that she would have to hunt me down, butcher me, put an apple in my mouth and barbecue me. That might qualify as one of the strangest nice things I've ever heard.

2) A friend at work told me that someone in his department had asked him if I had cancer. She had noticed that I had lost a lot of weight in a short time frame, and didn't want to congratulate me if the circumstances were unpleasant. Having put my foot in my mouth many times, I really appreciated her sensitivity and tact.

Today was also my "one on one" with CeCe. I'll let you in on a little secret about her ... she's just a big ol' teddy bear. Of course, the villain in Toy Story 3 was also a teddy bear (Lotso). He ruled the toy room with an iron fist and made the others obey his every whim. CeCe is also demanding and she wore me out. It was the single most demanding hour I've had in FWSW to date. It also felt really good to finish it and know that I did it. As hard as CeCe can be, she is also quick to praise a job well done, and her "attaboy" at the end meant a lot to me.

Too muscular

My sons watched Toby's latest FWSW video (S06E05) and thought it was pretty cool. My youngest son said that the soundtrack sounded like a Lord of the Rings movie. He's not far from the truth ... one does not simply walk in morning workouts. Sometimes I think the ability to turn invisible would be a nice ability to have during a workout. I'm paying close attention to my fellow FWSWers to see who makes a comment about a "precious" so we can find out who our Gollum is.

On another note, we were back in the pool today. For many folks, that's their favorite workout, but it's definitely my least favorite workout. I want to go at it hard, but it's really hard to do that. I feel like Spiece should compensate me for my fine work as a pool filter (I'm pretty sure I swallow as much pool water as I sweat during the workout.) And then there's treading water ... it's tough, and apparently it will only get tougher as I continue to get less buoyant (i.e., less fat). I've heard alumni say that Rick has a real hard time treading water because he's so muscular. I'm sure that's my problem too ...

Double check

Today, I was walking down an aisle in a public place and I noticed a woman walking towards me. That isn't unusual. As she passed me, her eyes did a "down and up" appraisal. That was unusual. I can't remember the last time that happened.

I've replayed that brief moment in my head a few times, and I'm trying to be realistic. I don't think it was a lustful look, and I'm willing to admit that I might have seen something that wasn't there. But dang it, the more I think about it, the more I think that she was checking me out.

Please understand that I in no way intend to advocate stuff like construction workers doing catcalls and other forms of harassment. That's not what this is about. Having said that, I will say that, at 43 years of age, it was flattering to warrant a second look.

I've never really considered myself a superficial person. I prefer to wear plain, boring simple clothes. I don't spend much time in front of a mirror. I'm bald because it's low maintenance. And while all of those things are true, the last two months I've caught myself taking a double look in the mirror. I now like how I look, and it's been a long time since that's been true.

The best part is that I'm only halfway to my goal ... it's only going to be get better!