The Y Factor

Monday 9.28.09

I suspect you've heard of "the X factor." In TV circles it is a British talent show. In my world, it is what I call that unexpected factor that threatens to derail well-laid nutritional plans--temptations at work, an unexpected celebratory dinner, unusual stressors. I suspect you know exactly what I mean. The X factor is a post unto itself.

This post, however, is about what I call my "Y factor," another term for how my mom and dad factor into my diet. Somehow around them I revert to the chubby little 13-year-old, ready to gobble up every morsel of food in sight. They offer, and I find my ability to politely decline completely absent. Part of this is a conscious decision on my part. I have made a deal with myself. My mom is 78-years-old; my dad is 73. No matter how badly I want time to stand still, they will not be a part of my life forever. One day, my mom's dinners and my dad's breakfast will be a savored memory, a dream that is the gift of peaceful sleep. There will be no more of Mom's cornbread, pecan pie or chocolate pie, no more of Dad's omelets and bacon. Sharing a meal with them will not be possible. So with them, I let things slide. I take every chance to eat their cooking, enjoy every bite eaten at the table with them. But then there are liberties I shouldn't take... Mom is as much of a sugar freak as I am, and I allow her to enable me a little much. Dad is a snacker, and I join in a bit too frequently. This is my Y factor.

For the last 26 days, I have been tussling with my Y factor. I don't regret it. I never really thought Mom and Dad would come see me, much less stay 26 days. I have enjoyed this time and treasured it. Today, though, they have gone back to Tennessee, and it's time to put the hammer down.

Mom taking an ice cream break in St. Augustine. The flag and light above are in the background.
St. Augustine Lighthouse

The 219 steps to the top of the lighthouse. Notice that not only do they not have backs to them, they also have holes in them--truly a test of my mettle.

Proof that I made it to the top and didn't flip completely out as I navigated those stairs. There was a time in my life when I would have had to crawl up them if I made it at all. As it was I was seriously hugging the tower and avoiding the rail at the top. LOL

Mom and me in front of the Fountain of Youth. Over my right shoulder, you can sort of see the hole in the ground that Ponce de Leon sought as the source of eternal youth.

TODAY'S WORKOUT:

5 rounds of:

20kg C&P x 1 then C&PP x 1 R then L

Double 16kg C&P x 2

Perfect pushups x 3

20kg goblet squat x 5

double 16kg single leg deads 3/3

high plank x 30 sec

5 challenge burpees

rest 2 min

17 burpees

YESTERDAY: NO WORKOUT, spent the day with Mom and Dad.

SATURDAY'S WORKOUT:

Black and Purple Band assisted pullups/elevated perfect pushups: 4 5-rung ladders.

knee together squats with one-legged pulses at bottom

partial pistols

plank x 30 sec

burpees (15 total)

FRIDAY: NO WORKOUT