The morning after...

Friday, November 26, 2010

There’s something weird about the way smell travels in our house. For some reason, all of the great cooking smells associated with cooking don’t seem to linger in the kitchen, or anywhere on the first floor, for that matter. They do, on the other hand, make it to the top of the stairs and my bedroom door just beyond, with no problem. And that’s where they were when I woke up. Turkey soup simmering on the stove and I was gaining weight just breathing. Damn…I hate when that happens.

My plan was to hold off eating anything fat until lunch. It was a good plan. Tony and I reunited for another breakfast of Frosted Flakes. It was Black Friday and I had no intention of going anywhere near a shopping institution, other than to drop Heidi at Golf Galaxy so she could work with the shopping maniacs that populated all retail stores on this day. Not me. Jack wanted to buy some running shoes at Beachwood Place and Holly said that was my job, but I stated flatly “not today, boss.” She would end up taking him later in the afternoon since he was insisting there was a 50% discount on the shoes he wanted. I highly doubted that.

I headed for the park with Dakota in the early afternoon for a hike. I just couldn’t see myself on the trainer a second day in a row…not on a sunny, cool day with the park 10 minutes away. I grabbed my camera, but left the pack in the trunk. I knew the trails would be muddy and slick from the rains we’d gotten yesterday and didn’t want to be slipping and sliding with 30 pounds on my back making me more unstable. I saw no one on the hour plus hike…except for Kim who was in the middle of a 90-minute run. She was looking lean and fast…she is…and showing no signs of having overeaten the previous day. Very un-American.

I returned home to eat a lunch of leftovers, but kept myself in check since I knew I was going to my sister’s for a post-Thanksgiving dinner party where I would graze my way through another 5,000 calories. As we were preparing to leave, Jack – who had decided to stay home – asked if we could go to a store and buy a football. He had a renewed interest in the game since I’d told him the football coaches inquiry about his playing. I looked at him like he was a character from one of his video games.

“Jack…two things. One…we’re going to Aunt Cecilia’s in five minutes, and two…IT’S STILL BLACK FRIDAY AND I’M NOT GOING ANYWHERE NEAR A STORE!!”

He was unfazed by my response and replied, “how about tomorrow?” We’d have a discussion a little later about the proximity to Christmas and the likelihood of getting non-essentials in the three weeks leading up to that date…and knowing him…probably more than once.

I tried to restrain myself somewhat at my sister’s, but with only partial success. She had sweet potatoes…and about 15 other selections, which I found myself tasting. There should be a law that if you only take a taste…decide you don’t want anymore and move on…that the taste calories don’t count. There should be…but there isn’t. I probably had about 2,000 calories doing this. Well…I’ll stick to the excuse it’s the holidays and I have to eat like this. I’ll keep trying to limit myself and get in some form of exercise every day. It’s a plan…not a great one…but it’s a plan.

Hike duration: 70 minutes.
Training Heart Rate: 70 bpm.
Calories burned during workout: 350.