Sunday Morning Selfie

Welcome to Sunday Morning Selfie, a weekly look at my life, lifestyle and the choices I make to help me overcome obesity in 2017.

 My name is Joe Bryant and on New Years Day I resolved to weigh and take a pic of myself every Sunday morning in hopes that the accountability would help in my quest for better health. Thanks for reading!

Waning Willpower

Why is making the right choices so danged hard? All any of this really comes down to is choosing NOT to go to Happy Hour with friends… NOT to eat that leftover slice of pizza sitting on the counter…. NOT to decide that, even though it is 9:00 pm you “don’t want to go to bed hungry”, so you smear a glob of peanut butter on a piece of bread. Those were all choices I was faced with this week and I succumbed to the temptation of doing what feels good at the moment every single time.

 As a result I get on the scale this morning and see 225 pounds… one pound up from last week.

 If you recall last weeks blog I vowed to get the “final four” pounds off so I could be reporting 220 this week and another milestone achieved. Obviously that did not happen and really there is nobody to blame but myself. Every time I was faced with choices I seemed to choose the higher calorie option.

The good news is that I got into 30/10 Weight Loss For Life in Renton on Thursday and, after a pep talk and listening to a tape PACKED with subliminal messaging about overcoming the urge to make the wrong choices, I am certain April is going to be a time of much less madness than March. Gaining a pound in a week where you boldly vowed to lose four sucks… but that’s what I did so that’s what I am reporting.

New Clothes !

You may have noticed that my weekly selfie shot was done with the aid of the bathroom mirror. While I gained a pound this week I realized also that I am down 75 from my peak and pulling out my best suit from the closet demonstrated how far I have come.

On Wednesday evening I will be the host of Mercer Island School Districts Fine Arts Night. I was told it’s a pretty big deal and most of the teachers involved wear tuxes. I don’t own a tux but have a fairly nice suit…. at least I did 50 pounds ago! When I pulled it out it was like a clown suit. You could maybe fit two of me in this suit now!

This led me on an emergency hunt for a nice jacket and tie. In the past I would be looking at a “big guys” store but this time it took only ten minutes of shopping at the Nordstrom Rack to find a coat that fits perfect! OK, maybe the sleeves are a little long but it will get me by for sure. I also paid less than $100 for a jacket that lists for $400.

 One tip when shopping The Rack. The place was PACKED and the line to check out was literally 30 plus people.

 After I found the jacket I told a sales associate to please set it aside as I had my daughter waiting in the car and did not want to leave her for the amount of time it would take to check out. She said “oh I understand, I have a little girl of my own”, and went and checked out my purchases for me with ZERO wait.

 I don’t know what she had pictured in her head but my “little girl” is 18 and was patiently waiting and Snap Chatting all her friends. I am not suggesting you abandon your kid in a car when you shop BUT that worked out pretty good for me!

Grade Grubbing

This blog is about changing the way we think and making good decisions so I think there may be something to learn here.

I have some GREAT students. And I don’t mean just good, I mean absolutely GREAT. But something even the best ones seem to struggle with is time management. (as do I).

The big quarterly project I assigned was to interview the most famous or fascinating person you can find. One student brought a ghost hunter in the station, another had a wonderful conversation with Tom Skerritt!

 But the majority of them kept talking about all the great people they were pitching for interviews, everyone from President Trump on down, but producing nothing. I want to mention that this was not something there was no time to prepare. These guys had six weeks to land ONE interview.

 So on Friday the quarter ends and students are literally lined up outside my office waiting for an opportunity to ply me with excuses and beg for mercy. We in the Education biz call this “Grade Grubbing” and I have never seen it on this level before. Check out an excerpt from an email I received from one of my most talented students…

I’m sorry for not being more responsible and locking in an interview at an earlier date…

This is just one example of many pleas I have received this week.

 I had told my students to use me as a resource to find guests and even gave them the old “back in my day I had to walk three miles to the radio station in the snow and interview 3 or 4 guests EVERY DAY” speech. I am really am not feeling like offering too much slack on this one.  But I also realize these kids are the same as me.

Every Sunday my homework is “due” when I stand on that scale. And today I gained a pound simply because, like my students, I did not take care of my business and chose some opportunities of instant gratification instead of looking at the due date that was coming. If anyone has good tips on time management and how to remember whats important when you are making choices regarding your obligations I would love to hear them.

 Student grades go into the book on Wednesday and I do accept late work. I expect there to be many, “sorry I did not get President Trump but here is an interview with my brother does that count” interviews being turned in tomorrow and Tuesday.

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

Next week I will be taking a break from Sunday Morning Selfie as Kelli and I will be in New York to see our dear friend Alan White and his YES band mates be inducted in the RRHOF! This is a long overdue accolade but better late than never.

 And the bonus of going in this year is that Pearl Jam is also being inducted. I have known these guys and been a booster since the beginning and feel, without a doubt, they are the greatest rock band the city of Seattle has ever produced. I know some may disagree but show me another group from this area that has managed to stay at the top for 25 plus years and never compromised their belief system or artistic integrity the whole way thru.

It will be a thrill to raise a toast to Alan, Rick, Steve and Jon as well as Mike, Jeff, Stone and Eddie next Friday evening! BTW- Anybody know how many calories are in a glass of champagne ?

I will check back in two weeks with a full report and hopefully some good weight loss progress! My last trip to NY I actually dropped two pounds,

 Until then Cheers, Joe