GET PARDONED

Being too heavy to enjoy life is a heavy burden to bear (pun intended)    
Being too heavy to enjoy life can be a life sentence.
There is only one person who can grant a pardon for this.
And it will be no president, nor king who will grant the pardon.

Being released from the shackles of obesity will not be this easy - even if your Daddy is the Governor

It was only one month ago that my wife suggested that my family get involved in CRITICAL MASS.  The massive bike ride that takes place in cities all over the world on the last Friday of the month.  In order to prepare for this ride I 'rescued' my bike from storage - as I had not used it for three years. As I have previously written - It was not that I had forgotten how much fun bike riding can be.  Bike riding for me was NOT fun - it is not fun when one weighs 309 lbs as I did on December 24, 2014.  Bike riding is great fun when one weighs 225 lbs. 225 lbs still seems like a lot of weight, but I promise I feel thin.  I think I am thin.  Surely, I could be thinner. Let me say this: I enjoy looking at  my reflection when I see it - I used to dread my reflection.

This month was also the debut of my fitbit.  And the fitbit has ALSO changed by life.  I am very conscious of how many steps I am taking each day. I have developed a new desire to walk, and to walk as a method of transportation. Last night I needed to be at my daughter's school for a meeting about her upcoming trip to France. In the old days, more than one month ago, I would have certainly taken the car.  Nowadays, I don't even consider taking the car for a trip like this that is less than 2 miles.  I now consider taking my bike or walking.  Lately, I have been more inclined to walk as I am interested in logging steps. I finally figured out how to log my actual route taken with the fitbit application.  I didn't even know that this application was available until my brother told me about it.

The application is very cool as you can play music while using it. The application will interrupt the music to advise you each time you walk a mile.  ELECTRONICS MAKE EXERCISE FUN.

Walking back from my daughter's school, I made an effort to walk as fast as possible.  My rate was 14 minutes per mile. (just a bit faster than 4 mph)   The fitbit calculated that this short burst of activiy, just 25 minutes walking 1.73 miles 'burned' 240 calories.  I walked to the school too, but as I was going to a meeting, I was trying not to work up a sweat so my meandering pace surely burned far less calories.

TODAY IS THE LAST FRIDAY OF THE MONTH... I am going to participate in the September edition of CRITICAL MASS tonight.  My family, who don't yet own their own bikes, are sitting this one out. Everyone is planning the HALLOWEEN EDITION of this ride - as that is supposed to be extra fun.  That is still one month away.

In three days, I hop onto a plane to San Francisco to meet up with six other guys as we get ready for our Half Dome Hike.  This seems like a lot of activity for someone who was a couch potato for nearly a decade.

A pardon is the forgiveness of a crime and the cancellation of the relevant penalty; it is usually granted by a head of state (such as monarch or president) or by acts of parliament or a religious authority.

Life is definitely more fun as I am no longer a prisoner of my own morbidly obese body. Prisoner is the right word.  Being too fat to participate in physical activity is a harsh sentence for someone to impose on oneself.  It is not unusual but it truly is a cruel punishment. The good thing is that everyone has the power to grant their own pardon when they are ready.  The thing with being too fat to enjoy life is that you can't sit around waiting for a 'head of state' to commute your sentence.  Each one of us is our own 'head of state.' My recommendation is that you show compassion for yourself - Issue that pardon.

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 Thursday MENU

breakfast  center cut bacon, oatmeal, poached eggs                         550 calories
lunch        apples, ginger, yogurt raisins                                            838 calories
dinner      apples, cabbage soup, banana chips, pumpkin seeds        838 calories
SNACK   date pieces, corn snack, granola                                        530 calories

TOTAL CALORIES CONSUMED 2756 CALORIES

calories burned

YMCA PRECOR elliptical machine 125 minutes, 4:3 interval training              1670  calories

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ThursDAY NET CALORIES 1086 CALORIES

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fitbit day 22

21325 steps

Approximately 5000 of the steps recorded on Thursday were from my walk to and back from my daughter's school for an evening meeting.  Without the fitbit, surely I would have driven. I do enjoy racking up the steps and thinking about ways to increase my steps each day. Twice yesterday I drove to two different retail stores and each time I parked as far away from the front door as possible.

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