Let me tell you a little about Matt. He is invested either zero percent or a hundred and ten percent. If you are so lucky to be part of the adventure then you will take the fall with him or revel together in the glory of victory. With that being said, I tried to behave myself the entire week from a caloric standpoint because I knew that there was going to be some heavy drinking and eating done over the weekend. Unfortunately I was so busy last week that when I would try not to eat as much I would end up not eating at all for long periods as I was too busy to think about it. This would lead to binges later on in the day/night. I will say with a hundred percent confidence that none of those days I crossed the 2,200 calorie mark. So I'm still doing okay by staying under my goal for daily intake. What that meant though was two days of eating Chipotle burritos towards the end of the day. So rather than eating three normal meals or even four to five small meals I ended up on a couple of days eating a small breakfast and then a huge dinner. I've still got some work to do in that aspect.
Anyhow, I get to St Louis and I'm picked up by the best man. Matt is already at a bar with a few others warming up to the evening's festivities. I get there and he's pretty coherent. I'm introduced to all the guys in our party (mostly they were the bride's brothers) and then I chat with Matt to catch up on each other's weeks leading up to then. Next thing I know it's time to do shots.
Before coming out, I told Matt that I was avoiding beer because it's mostly calories. By the time I get a buzz/drunk (10-15 cans) I've blown calories out of the water.
Matt sees me apprehensively looking at my shot of Tequila then stares me in the eyes and says "Frank. Shots have zero calories." I know this is not true. Not in the slightest. Shots are better in beer in the fact that they have less calories, but they do have calories. Nonetheless, it's that little nugget of fiction got me to loosen up and take the shot. Next thing I know there are three shots sitting in front of me and three in front of Matt because I needed to catch up and he was my date. He was everyone's date that night. By the time the night is nearing it's end I had consumed eight or nine shots... I think... And a Jack and Coke. On this day I really didn't have much to eat because right after work I went to the airport and flew out. So I could afford to drink freely. Plus I behaved during the week... Kinda...
Next morning we head over to the Bride-to-be Kristin's family's house for breakfast prepared by her mother. Kristin is the oldest of 11 children, so it was a spectacle looking at all the food made and everyone eating together. I'd also like to say that her family is one of the most amazing families I have ever had the pleasure of meeting in my entire life! (Outside of my own that is.) I ate light, partially cause the concoction stewing in my stomach of White Castle and liquor, but mostly cause I didn't know what to expect from the rest of my day. An interesting day it was. We went to pick up the tuxes and then got haircuts. Correction. They got haircuts. I just sat in a chair and watched while being harassed by Matt's dad about it my turn. After that we ran to Walmart to get hair gel and I got M&M's because it was 4 and I was pretty hungry. M&M's aren't the best of choice for a meal, but it was something tasty that would hold me over until dinner time. Then it was off for the wedding rehearsal! That breezed by and the next thing I know it's 8 and we're at a pizza joint called Cecil Whittaker's Pizza. I have yet to find a good pizza place in Los Angeles so I allowed myself more than the customary 4 pieces of pizza. We get back to Kristin's and it's time for hot wings and beer. I swear to you that every person in that family skinny/fit. Los Angeles doesn't have any good places for wings so against my normal good judgement I had a half dozen or so wings and a few beers and relaxed with the lucky groom's incredible extended family as well as his equally as great immediate family. I moved between the older crowd and my own age's crowd chatting about stars, awkwardness, Pirate shirts and Arrrrrrrrrrgies.
Wedding day hits and I have two donuts for breakfast. I don't really like donuts at all but it was my only option. I knew that the wedding was at 1 and the reception was at six so I needed something in me. The wedding was great. Matt and Kristin couldn't have looked any happier. I am happy for them. Then it was off to the park to take pictures of the wedding party. I can't wait to see those because we're all a goofy bunch and besides the lovey-dovey pictures, we took some pretty entertaining pictures. After an hour of posing, smiling, jumping, lifting, laughing, and walking we departed to the lodge for the wedding reception.
This is the moment I've been preparing for. I've kept my diet lower than usual for the entire week. The dinner was a buffet style reception. I'd like to clarify that I didn't attend the wedding just for the dinner. Food and calories were the last things on my mind this weekend. This is a health-based blog so I'm recapping what applies to here for you all. We cheered the toasts made by the best man and bridesmaid with pink champagne from France and then were excused to eat. I had salad, some ravioli, roast, and mashed potatoes. All average sizes. I took my time eating and, lo and behold, I was not hungry when I finished! I tried the mixed drinks and, as Rian said, I was sooner to get diabetes than a buzz. The liquor that they were using was severely watered down. I gave up after four and turned to my old buddy, beer. Matt made sure to check on me and make sure that if I was close to empty that I was getting another one. Here's where things got interesting.
I danced.
When I say that I danced, I don't mean I joined everyone for a song or two. I danced the whole night long! Had I been drinking? Yes. At no point was I blacked out or trashed. My energy and dancing goes far beyond the effects of alcohol. It was like I was being goofy with my own family or very close friends. I danced for the better part of two hours. At the best man "H's" wedding, Matt had poked, prodded, begged, bribed, pulled and drug me out doing everything in his power to get me up and on the dance floor. I outright refused. Even when he pulled me out onto the dance floor I would go back to my chair and sit again. This also signals that my self confidence/self image is rising. I was able to not worry about me and let myself have fun. I felt so good! It helped that I was surrounded by such incredible people too. I acted the way I did because I wasn't worrying about what other people thought of me. I just let me be the human dynamo that I am. I sang. I danced. I created new dances. I sweat a whole bunch. I had a great time that started within and pushed outward! The entire trip home and well into the night I was just glowing! I wanted to sing karaoke because I had so much energy that I needed to expel it in a non-self-combustion way. Today was the first day that I wasn't sore from my dancing on Saturday night. I laughed at the fact that people complimented me on my dancing. I was told I was the life of the party. If they had seen me at every other dancing function I had ever attended in my life they'd be shocked at the difference.
Overall, Thursday I came close to my 2200 limit to lose 2 pounds a week. Friday and Saturday both I knew I went over my weight loss ceiling and possibly over the max of 3200 calories to maintain weight but I don't care.I went to St Louis to celebrate the union of two beautiful people and that was my main focus. You only get married once! ;-D I know that everyday is not going to be like last weekend. I'm proud of myself that I was able to not fret about calories the whole weekend but then also come back to realistic eating habits once I returned without any problems! I eat to live, not live to eat!
Thank you Matt, Kristin, Matt, Rian and every person in both families for sharing the night with me. I learned a lot about myself while having a blast!
That is all for me! I've have a few subjects floating around to write about over the next week or so so stay tuned for another post very soon! Till the next episode!