Deep Fried Porkchops!

This morning I drug myself out of my comfy bed to do the "Jingle Bells" run in downtown Portland with 2 of my 3 boys.  This physical exertion sort of took my guilt away for some not-so-great eating choices during the past two weeks.  I just returned from Alabama where I'd been visiting with relatives after the death of my grandfather (mentioned in my previous post).  The raw emotion of sadness and loss really wreaked havoc on the body.  My stomach was in knots and I actually felt guilty for eating.  "How could I eat when my grandfather just died?", I asked myself.  Well after a few days of this thinking, my hunger really set in.  After the funeral, all of the family gathered for a rememberance luncheon.  This was really nice and I must say that southern buffets are very different from Yankee buffets.  I can't say that I've ever eaten deep fried porkchops at a Yankee buffet!  Sugary sweet tea is gladly sold in gallon jugs at the grocery stores and offered at all restaurants and stocked in nearly everyone's refrigerator. The stress and turmoil in the days following really threw me for a loop.  I missed my wife and the boys and I was still grieving the loss of my grandfather and feeling a deep sadness for my grandmother who is basically confined to her bed and/or wheelchair at a local nursing home. 

Eating right was in my mind but it definitely wasn't ranking high on my to-do list.  Near the end of my 12-day trip it had sunk in that I gained weight.  I normally weigh myself every single morning so that I can keep tabs on my body.  I could feel my one pair of jeans that I brought beginning to tighten.  I finally weighed myself and I had gained a steady 3 pounds.  Now if you recall that 3500 calories equals one pound...you'll see that I ate about 10,500 too many calories during that 12-days!!!  10,500 divided by 12-days equals 875 excess calories per day.  My normal daily requirement is about 1800 calories.  Anything extra turns to fat in my body.  So the homemade apple dumplings with a scoop of ice cream on Thanksgiving, the two glasses of sweet tea, the Hardees hamburger on the way to pick up flowers, the shared milkshake that was offered when I was thirsty etc. all really did add up!  Remember "The Creeper" blog earlier?

We all have our bad moments and times in our lives.  We all slide and do things we shouldn't.  We all want to taste grandma's homemade apple pie.  We're only human.  However, we need to make sure that we get back on the wagon and monitor ourselves and our eating habits.  Knowing our daily caloric intake requirement is very important in monitoring ourselves.  For this reason I'd visit my main website at http://www.mojoefitness.com/ and click on the "self-assessment" or "automated self-assessment" tabs for help in computing your own caloric intake needs.  Anything in excess turns to fat!  Today's run with my boys is a start to get me back on track with good habits. 
"Don't Eat Like a Goldfish".