I'm Somebody's Hero

Yes, it has been two weeks since my last post.

Yes, I have been God-awful about eating well and working out. And writing in my blog.

Yes, I need to get my nose back to that grindstone and turn things around in a big way.

But you know what? It's okay. Because I'm somebody's hero. Sometimes it takes just a little thing to put your life into perspective.

Two weeks ago, I had some family come into town. I showed them around, i.e. ate EVERYWHERE and EVERYTHING. Then my brother and I road-tripped across the country. My blood was temporarily 83% jerky. And for the past week I've been staying with family. Despite the occasional somewhat healthy meal, it's been a pretty steady stream of pizza, breads, snacks and sweets.

It's all my fault, of course. I urged my mother to keep things healthy while I was here, but she has other people to accommodate, and in the end it simply comes down to my own will power, which has turned out to be quite powerless. Things will be easier once I am back home and am more in charge of what's in my kitchen, and I have newly resolved to take a serious crack at the gym.

But in the meantime, other things seem more important.

My ten-year-old brother, who is a frightening combination of all of the better aspects of me and my siblings, read to me something he wrote for school. He had received an assignment to talk about his hero. Wouldn't you know it - it was me!

I know it may be a tad cliche for a young boy to look up to his older brother as his hero, but still - that he looks at me in that way might be one of my proudest accomplishments. Since I've been home I've been reading my book to him (for those of you who don't know, it was inspired by and written for and about him) and the excited look in his eye, the rapt attention, the frequent remarks such as "cool" or "awesome" - I can't explain how much it warms the cockles of my heart. My cockles have never been this warm.

So as much as I'm going to get back into the swing of things, eating more protein and getting that ol' heart rate up, it's important also to remind myself once in a while that I'm not a total mess. As long as I'm somebody's hero, I must be doing something right.

Starting weight: 222.4 lbs
Day 158 weight: 172 lbs. Sure, why not.
Total loss: Oh, I'll bet you've fudged the truth yourself from time to time.