A Long Journey Begins (not cat related)

Clarissa and her brothers and sisters said I could take over the their blog for today. Kitties and woofers, let your pawrents and purrents read this if you like it.

One of my favorite actor's is Sean Patrick Flanery. You may remember him from the movies Powder or The Boondock Saints, or my favorite, Mongolian Death Worm. He also played the young Indiana Jones on t.v., and he was in the last season of Dexter.  I met him the first time in 2012 at a convention in Virginia Beach. He was super nice and he posed with me for this picture:

In early January 2014 I ran across his blog, Shine...Until Tomorrow. His first post for 2014 struck a chord with me. Sean does not mince words. If you take the time to read the post you will understand when I say I kept right on eating those Oreos.

March 2014 rolled around and I was going to Wizard World/Louisville Comic Con. Sean was one of the celebrities at the convention. On Saturday night at the con, I met a woman named Shannon. We started talking about Sean and the subject of weight came up. I told her how I wanted to lose weight and how unhappy I had become with not only my appearance, but my general health and the way I felt (tired, easily winded, knee pain). She said, "If you really want to do this you need to go talk to Sean tomorrow. Tell him what you want to do and he will be behind you 100%."

Sunday afternoon arrived and I found myself standing in the line at Sean's booth. I had already spoken with him on Friday afternoon and had gotten the covers of 3 movies signed. As I waited for my turn, I wasn't sure if I could make this commitment to get healthy. I used the excuse if I chicken out I'll just get a pic signed for a friend of mine. I reached the front of the line and there I was, standing in front of Sean. I said, "Sean, I'm ready to shine."

I will tell you exactly what I told him. I'm almost 54 years old. I have type 2 diabetes and high blood pressure. I weighed 292 lbs. When I told him what I weighed he didn't sugar coat it and say, "Oh, you don't look like it." No, he looked at me and nodded. "That's about right," he replied.

I told him that I want to lose 150 lbs. "That's great for a long term goal, but what is your short term goal?" He asked.  I told him that I wanted to lose 50 lbs. by the end of December.

This the pro shot photo that I had taken with him about an hour later. All 292 lbs. of me.

With Sean Patrick Flanery on March 30, 2014.

On April 1st I started walking. A half-mile nearly did me in. But I stuck with it. I cut out most of the bread, sweets, and fried foods that I used to eat. Those a now an occasional treat for me. I felt so much better without the extra sugars! I weighed in at the doctor's on May 9th. I had lost 12 lbs.

On May 31st, I participated in my first ever charity walk (for the local chapter of the MS Society). I chose the longest route and walked 3 miles. Was it easy? No. I almost fell out on the last half-mile. But the sense of accomplishment I felt when I crossed the end point was amazing.

Right before the MS walk began. May 31, 2014.

I am also amazed at the difference in my appearance. In two months I have gone from 292 lbs. to 268 lbs. I've dropped approximately 2 sizes. I still have a long way to go. But I will keep on shining!