Sunday Morning Selfie

Welcome to Sunday Morning Selfie! My name is Joe Bryant and I am a Seattle area Broadcast media teacher that writes a weekly blog, snaps a selfie and publishes my current weight every Sunday morning.

 I started this weekly self reflection as an accountability tool for my choices that affect my health. My thinking is if we spend Sunday mornings looking inward to nourish the soul  why not also take a moment to look outward at our body and the lifestyle choices we make. The goal is to be healthy in spirit AND body!

Catching the Curve balls

Life is always going to throw us curve balls and unexpected events are going to pop up. These can affect your choices about diet and most everything else. Last week had more of these than most and I can’t say I was 100% successful in catching them. 

Looking back to last Sunday it all began with the Super Bowl. I had a solid plan for Super Bowl snacking and stuck with it pretty well…. until about the 4th quarter. As the Patriots mounted the most improbable comeback in Super Bowl history and the snow started to fall and cover the streets I soon realized this was not a typical game or typical day.

 My choice of soda water shifted to light beer as I realized we would not be going to school or anywhere on Monday. I have always been a big time snow guy and have used it as an excuse to celebrate since I was old enough to pack a snowball. My inner self told me that this was an excellent excuse to make dietary exceptions since snow has become an only once every few years occasion.

While I did not go totally off the rails I did veer slightly into oncoming caloric traffic and that set a pattern that would repeat itself  thru the week.

Tuesday was my morning go check in at 30/10 Weight Loss for Life in Renton but, due to a curve ball of the very good sort I had to miss my first week of accountability to the 30/10 scale since I joined the program.

 Thanks to a very successful launch of our new radio station 889 The Bridge my Rock Star PD Leah was invited by KING TV to perform Tuesday morning on New Day Northwest! Check out her performance and interview here. Leah is a serious talent and bigger musical opportunities are on the near horizon for her including sharing the stage with Rock and Roll Hall of Fame members on March 25th!

 While this amazing morning would have been a great excuse to celebrate with a lunch with Leah’s family I resisted and stayed on program.

But little did I know more curve balls would be thrown at me Tuesday evening. I am assisting in planning an AWESOME benefit for music in schools “Play it Forward 7” and we had a meeting Tuesday evening at the home of Music Aid Northwest President Dr. Bob Tomberg.

 Dr. Bob and his wife Shelley are incredible people and very gracious hosts. I was able to resist the premium wine and gourmet chocolate for at least the first 90 minutes but as the meeting stretched into hour two and the conversation became more and more engaging that huge bottle of wine and the dark chocolate that was easily in reach got the best of me. While I only had a small taste of each this was past 9:00 pm and certainly was not going to help me have a successful weight loss.

On Wednesday school resumed after two snow days and I recaptured the rhythm of my diet plan…. at least for 24 hours.

On Thursday things were going perfect until at about 6:00 when I decided to go into Seattle and see Dark Star Orchestra perform at The Showbox instead of going home.This was an EXCELLENT decision from a fun and rejuvenating the spirit standpoint as I saw many old friends and heard some great music.

 But I also saw a sign that said “Spacedust IPA”, a favorite of mine I had not enjoyed for about a year. As the second set began I decided I could “spare a few calories” and had one of these hearty, tasty brews.

 These are a little like Lay’s potato chips I suppose because I could not have just one and had two. And since I rarely drink these days and had skipped dinner two was plenty. But this led me to the decision that I needed to do the “responsible” thing and eat before I drove home. So one big Bacon Burger and two beers later it’s almost midnight and I am as full as I have been since the year began. 😦

 Of course I wake up Friday remorseful of my choices and DETERMINED to be perfect for the rest of the week. This went well until last night when I decided Alec Baldwin hosting SNL was a great excuse to bust out some Skinny Pop popcorn. Hey, it says skinny right in the name so it cant be THAT bad.

So after all this straying I wake up this morning and, for the first time since I started Sunday Morning Selfie I am actually dreading getting on the scale, facing the camera and the computer.

 I weigh myself and my current weight is ….. drum roll….. 232 pounds. Despite what could really be considered a rather disastrous week as far as being true to myself and my program goes I still managed to lose one pound.

Obviously if I am going to accomplish my goal of getting under 200 lbs. before graduation season I am going to have to lose more than one pound a week.

As of this morning I am re-dedicated, back on track and looking forward to a PERFECT week following the 30/10 Weight Loss for Life program. 

I apologize if this week seems more like a confessional than a Blog but my goal is to be brutally honest with myself and you about my successes and shortcomings.

 How do you deal with the curve balls? Is there any internal messaging you use to ride out unexpected temptations?

 While I am by no means saying this week was a failure, after all lots of GREAT stuff happened. It does make me realize that I have a long way to go on my healthy lifestyle journey, particularly when unforeseen events and opportunities throw me out of my routine. 

Until next Sunday, Cheers! Joe