Week 11, Day 6

Adam ran for the first time last night at a session of laser tag. No, really. He ran for the first time....ever. He was born with a rare orthopedic birth defect and had many, many surgeries over several years to correct the problems and save his left leg. It is still a couple inches shorter than the other, but the past 2 or 3 years especially he has made tremendous progress in his Pinocchio journey toward becoming a "real boy". And now my 20 year old little boy finally is able to run like any other guy.

He stated that his expectation is that someday in the not so distant future I will be able to run, too. I think it would be awesome to be able to go play laser tag! Toward that goal, Adam took me out today to buy me an early Christmas gift. I've been wearing my office shoes because without a job I can't really afford to spend dollars on walking shoes or athletic shoes. So Adam got me a pair I've been wanting so my workouts will be easier on my feet. Famous Footwear has Skechers brand shoes, and the new models are called Shape Ups. They are built to simulate walking on soft sand, so your legs work harder as you walk. If you're familiar with FitFlops brand that came out a few years ago, these are similar. But Shape Ups come in styles besides summertime flip-flops and Skechers' prices are more affordable.

I went out for my daily walk in my new shoes. Man, oh man! Thirty minutes in these shoes and I thought my lower legs were going to fall off! But these are by far the most comfortable shoes I have EVER worn. It seriously feels like walking on a pillow. There is absolutely no stress on my heels or my knees. So we'll see how they work over the long haul. Skechers claims, "Shape-ups will help you lose weight and improve your circulation, creating a healthier you!" If they're right and that's not just marketing-speak, then Adam just gave me one of the best possible gifts I'll receive this year. I'll keep you posted!

I've eaten well today. It's getting to take less and less thought and energy to figure out what to eat now. I had a bowl of cereal for breakfast. I'm pretty well settled on Cascadian Farm organic Flax Right with pomegranate raspberry clusters. It's really, really yummy and amazingly filling. When it gets cold outside, I'll eat more hot cereal, probably oatmeal. We needed to run errands at the mall today, so I got lunch at Manchu Wok. The honey garlic chicken has only 430 calories in it, and I took half of it home for dinner. I'll have some yogurt later after Adam gets off work.

Today's Tip:
A couple of weeks ago I recommended the CalorieKing book for figuring out calories, cholesterol, etc. in food, both at home and when eating out. But today I discovered that they have a website, too, with a free database. I checked, and there is a mobile version of the website so you can access it from your cellphone when you're out shopping or dining. You can get to it at this link: http://www.calorieking.com/foods/ Be sure to bookmark it, both on your home computer and your cellphone!