Hitting the Brakes on the Highway to Yeah
Besides the Blondie song that has a little rapping break toward the end, the first real hip-hop song I remember hearing was probably Kurtis Blow’s The Breaks. That album was a huge favorite of some My friends and mine. Good stuff.
I recently finished an autobiography by John Oates, of Hall & Oates, and he described how they hired the bass player who performed on that track with Kurtis Blow. He went on to help produce their albums and became a member of their touring band until he passed away in the 2010s.
Those are good breaks.
And bad breaks.
What does this have to do with today’s article?
I am hitting the brakes.
Not on writing and posting an article to the blog every day for a year, nor on any of the other One Hit Wonders that I have publicly committed to seeing through for a year.
I will keep writing and posting.
I will keep walking 15,000 steps per day (on average).
I will keep tracking my health, fitness, financial, and other goals each day.
I will continue to avoid distracting myself by watching YouTube, cable TV, other streaming platforms (e.g., Netflix, Prime, etc.), or playing video games on my phone.
And I will continue to sustain my target weight for the year.
Last month I got back to my target weight on June 18th or 19th. I have stayed there, or below it, ever since.
Except for this past weekend.
Now, I have a range that I am committed to staying within. There is the target weight, and then I allow myself 4 pounds above that before I “slam” on the brakes.
Over the weekend, I weighed in at about 1–2 pounds above my target weight.
Hmm.
Not good, but sometimes that happens. Water retention. The time of day I step on the scale. A little fluctuation is normal.
However, yesterday I stepped on the scale and I was 4.6 pounds over my target!
I went from Yellow or Orange Alert to Red.
WTH?
I thought I was doing great. How could this be?
To be fair, I got on the scale earlier in the day than I normally do because of a scheduled meeting. But still, the red lights went off.
Here’s what happened this past week that I think contributed to it:
I started having a few beers at open mics. My plan was two per show.
Then I decided to switch to light beer and allow myself one per hour over a four-hour period at the shows.
But Two times last week, I went above the four that were “okay.” And they weren’t all light beers, either.
Plus, I hadn’t had a sweet treat since May 30th, and decided, “Hey, I can have some donuts… four is a nice even number.”
And while I’m at it, those jumbo cookies look good. Let’s grab a couple of two-packs of those, too.
Then on Sunday, I was disappointed in my playing at the show, didn’t really like the venue, and left in a bit of a funk.
I did stop at two pints, but I wanted to get something to eat. I was going to grab some fast food, but talked myself into going to the grocery store and getting something from the deli.
Oh, they have these “small” cookies on sale… 18 for $5. What a bargain! And why not some Sweet Tarts while I’m at it? Oh, and that bag of kettle corn, too.
There you go.
The slippery slope of addictive behavior.
I am a sugar addict.
It’s insidious.
My calorie count so far this month is already about 500 calories per day higher than it was in June.
SCREEEECCCCHHH!!
Smoke from the tires on the pavement.
Breaking the cycle now.
No excuses.
Here’s the plan.
Go back to the beginning.
I am better off having zero sweets than even allowing myself one time per month.
But I don’t like saying “never” because that gives the cravings too much power.
However, I am definitely going to curb my calorie count for the remainder of the month.
With careful meal planning, and by skipping the beers and sweets, I have a good shot at coming in at or below last month’s average daily calorie count.
The goals will be:
Keep protein grams at or Above 70% of my target weight.
Eat a minimum of 30 grams of fiber per day.
Keep calories at about 1,500 per day on average.
All this is good, but here’s the rub.
I have a get-together planned with a dear friend and former colleague on Thursday.
What do I do then?
I was planning on going to Bellingham all next week, too.
Four nights of open mics.
Four days to explore the city.
Have a few pints.
Eat some of the local food.
Do I still go?
I’m not sure.
One idea is to take my daily step count up to 20,000 while I’m in Bellingham, and also on the day I get together with my friend. That way, I’ll be burning more calories.
However, this also goes against the spirit of the 1,500-calorie target.
I will need to decide if I am “okaY’ with that, since these are special events. I probably am, but it depends on what Happens on the scale over the next week.
So we’ll have to see how the next few days go.
Today and tomorrow I might get on the scale and discover I’m already back at my target.
If not, then I’ll really need to consider my options carefully and get back to you on what I decide.
One Hit Wonders are about 100% commitment.
If you’re not committed 100%, don’t set the goal.
It really is that simple.
Heck…
Life may be that simple.
We’ll have to wait and see.