I'm Back! 212.0

After 19 long days, I am finally home again!  Over those three weeks, I gained 3.2 pounds... and I couldn't be happier.  I have not been very good over that period of time.  Between the stress of losing my father, all of the temptations that a big city like Tampa presents, and a refrigerator full of bad food, I couldn't stop eating.  I am not looking for sympathy or even justifying my behavior because of the events over the last couple of weeks.  I am simply reiterating some well-established habits of mine and wondering how the number above wasn't far worse.

Within three days of arriving in Tampa, I had already had three of my favorites, Panda Express, Qdoba, and Chik-Fil-A, with plans to visit Long John's Silvers, CiCi's Pizza, and a first-time visit to Five Guys.  When I wasn't eating out, I was eating too much pasta with my dad. Real pasta, not whole wheat, something I hadn't had in probably over a year!  I started noticing my stomach a little more.  I felt like I had gained 20 pounds. 

After a few days of that, I finally settled down and started eating a little bit better.  Well, as good as I could eat without having a refrigerator full of all of the things that make it easy for me to be good.  I was running each evening in that awful Florida humidity and there was even a point about a week after I got there that I felt like I might have been lighter. 

Well, that all changed after my father passed.  After that day, where I ate practically nothing, I proceeded to eat pretty much everything in site over the last week.  On top of all of my favorites, I had found an ice cream place early in my trip with the perfect soft-serve twist ice cream cone.  In the end, I ate at Chik-Fil-A three times, Qdoba twice, Panda Express twice, Five Guys twice, Burger King twice, CiCi's Pizza, Long John Silver's, Dairy Queen, and Campbell's Dairyland for ice cream about seven times.  The only really good day, other than the day I didn't eat, was an incredible, and very healthy meal, at my friend Will's house.  And, after eating all of my favorites listed above, that healthy meal was still the highlight of my trip!  In addition, my left shin had started to bother me after the first week of running.  I ended up walking over the last two weeks because of the pain.  Though I still exercised every single day that I was there and again last night at 12:15.

Last night, when Niko and I pulled up at about 8:15 PM, I couldn't wait to find the scale... though I knew I wasn't going to like what it said.  I didn't know what to expect.  I feel like I know my body pretty well and I knew I had gained at least 10 pounds.  I fully expected to see 220+ and after a day of driving and sitting on my butt while eating salty snacks, I prepared to see something between 225 and 230.  I told myself to accept whatever it said and be glad that I was home and ready to get busy again.  I could barely step on the scale.  Finally, I did.  213.6.  I couldn't believe my eyes.  I was up less than five pounds total.  I thought I was going to cry.  This morning, my official post-trip weight was even better and I am stunned. 

Only 3.2 pounds!  Now, it is time to get busy once again.  If seeing my father struggle with health issues because of weight and diabetes doesn't motivate me to finish what I started, then I doubt anything else will.  It was hard to see my dad struggle to breathe, struggle to move around the house, struggle to sleep.  Today I start again with a promise to my son that he will never have to see me go through those same struggles. 

Here's to being home...