The Fat Dance

I'm getting fat again. There's no way around it.

I can't wear any of my favorite skinny shirts like my Star Wars shirt or GiantBomb or Foo Fighters or Punisher. They all just highlights the gut.

This started when I moved to Madison for 2 months last year. I put on about 8 lbs there and it wasn't temporary bloated water weight. It was that permanent weight that you just know is different.

I've been trying to fight it. I got myself back down to almost normal weight for a brief period between August and October, but then stress and travel got to me.

I spent so much time socially catching up with family and friends that I was going out eating and drinking Thursday - Saturday pretty well through Thanksgiving.

Currently I'm about 12 lbs and several inches larger than I'd like to be. Last time I had to break this barrier, I broke my leg and didn't have an appetite thanks to the narcotics I was on.

I'm starting to get worried. I've been making short term goals that I've not been able to meet.

If I can just get through Thanksgiving, I can get back on a normal workout routine and eat better.

Then the holidays filled up every weekend.

OK, well, Thanksgiving really kicks off holiday season, so after New Years I can really hit it again, I have nothing planned in January.

Then I had to go to Dothan Alabama, where as far as I can tell, you just need a good fryer to open a restaurant there.

Then two trips to Madison, then to Columbia, then there's the Blues games I have tickets to, and the events we've had on the calendar.

I've done well this week and have eaten relatively well and have gotten a solid workout in every day.

I feel good right now, but I'm just looking at non-stop travel and am realizing I need to figure out a system.

Between April 10th and May 14th, I'm traveling every week. Madison, Louisville, Luxembourg, Los Angeles, Chicago, and Knoxville.

I don't even know how I'm going to stay awake let alone eat well on these trips. I'll be running through a crowded airport trying to get to my connection while shoveling a pretzel in my mouth or grabbing Wendy's on the road because there is nothing else to eat.

And beyond that... how do you keep a workout schedule? Most these trips are going to require me to be with a client or friend the entire trip. I'm going to try to sneak away for at least a jog, but from what I've experienced so far with these sorts of trips, I'm going to maybe get one run in while wine-ing and dinning with clients.

I really don't know the answer to these questions. Eat better. Really make an effort to workout. If drinking is involved, stay away from beer.

We've even talked about looking at houses in Madison just as a way to potentially cut down on travel, but soon realized, I'd be traveling just as much, it'd just be coming back to St. Louis.

I gotta lose this gut. I cannot be a fat man again. I just felt so terrible all the time. I'm starting to feel that way now. Just constantly tired and apathetic to any events. I don't like it.