Everybody needs a little time away. That's the opening lyric to a late 70's/early 80's hit song by the group; Chicago. But it's really true. Sometimes you need to get away by yourself. Today I used the occasion of my 3 month checkup with my surgeon to treat myself to a little getaway in Nashville.
The check up didn't take very long at all. I had an 8:30 appointment and was only in the surgeon's office for about 20 minutes or so. During that time I got on the scale to get weighed. The receptionist/nurse calculated that I had "officially" lost 92 pounds since my initial consult back on March 20. Also my BMI (Body Mass Index) has gone from 58 to 52. Not anywhere near an acceptable level yet but still much improved.
I only actually saw Dr. Houston (pronounced "House-ton") for about 2 minutes. He came into the consultation room, looked at my chart to see my progress and asked if I had any questions. I really didn't or couldn't think of any. He told me to "keep doing what you're doing." He warned me to resist the temptation to add any new foods and to continue to "keep it boring" as far as my diet was concerned.
Finally I had my blood drawn so an analysis of its components (vitamin levels, protein levels ect) could be made. The nurse told me that as far as the results were concerned "no news is good news". If I didn't hear anything from the surgeon's office in the next 2 weeks about changing my vitamins or supplements everything was just fine. I should just keep going.
I had the day off from work so after I left the surgeon's office I had some time to spend doing whatever I wanted to do in Nashville. I headed off to the Opry Mills Mall. I was going to spend some time there doing some shopping and then going to see a movie.
My first 90 minutes there proved to be a time of redemption for me. Seven months ago, on March 20, after Paula and I had our initial surgical consultation we also went to the Opry Mills. We decided to walk around the entire mall for some exercise. This involved walking from the theater about 500 yards down section 1and then going either right or left and making a "loop" around the mall and back down the same corridor to the movie theater again. I don't know how far a distance it is but I'd say it's anywhere from 1/2 to 3/4 of a mile. Well the combination of walking and stopping in stores to do some shopping proved to be a very difficult task for both of us.
We had to stop and rest quite often. This was true more so for me than it was for Paula. She did most of the shopping. I usually sat on a bench outside the various stores and waited for her. By the time we finished the walk around and went to see a movie we were both exhausted. It was a very sad testimony as to the poor physical condition I was in at the time.
Now let's go back to the future to nearly 7 months later, today. The movie I wanted to see didn't start until noon and I was there about 10:20. I had some time to kill. I decided to try my hand at walking about the mall again.
This time I had a much easier time of it. I not only did I walk around the mall but I actually did some shopping as well. I only stopped to sit down twice. Once was to answer a call on my cell phone from my wife and the second was to sit and rest on a bench; but that was only for about 2 minutes.
It took me about an hour and 30 minutes to make the loop but I took my time and enjoyed the journey. I looked around in several stores including the Disney discount store, a sports teams apparel shop, and the Black Lion flea market area. I also enjoyed looking at the stuff in the kiosks along the corridors. There's a picture the view walking down corridor 3 that the top of this post.
The check up didn't take very long at all. I had an 8:30 appointment and was only in the surgeon's office for about 20 minutes or so. During that time I got on the scale to get weighed. The receptionist/nurse calculated that I had "officially" lost 92 pounds since my initial consult back on March 20. Also my BMI (Body Mass Index) has gone from 58 to 52. Not anywhere near an acceptable level yet but still much improved.
I only actually saw Dr. Houston (pronounced "House-ton") for about 2 minutes. He came into the consultation room, looked at my chart to see my progress and asked if I had any questions. I really didn't or couldn't think of any. He told me to "keep doing what you're doing." He warned me to resist the temptation to add any new foods and to continue to "keep it boring" as far as my diet was concerned.
Finally I had my blood drawn so an analysis of its components (vitamin levels, protein levels ect) could be made. The nurse told me that as far as the results were concerned "no news is good news". If I didn't hear anything from the surgeon's office in the next 2 weeks about changing my vitamins or supplements everything was just fine. I should just keep going.
I had the day off from work so after I left the surgeon's office I had some time to spend doing whatever I wanted to do in Nashville. I headed off to the Opry Mills Mall. I was going to spend some time there doing some shopping and then going to see a movie.
My first 90 minutes there proved to be a time of redemption for me. Seven months ago, on March 20, after Paula and I had our initial surgical consultation we also went to the Opry Mills. We decided to walk around the entire mall for some exercise. This involved walking from the theater about 500 yards down section 1and then going either right or left and making a "loop" around the mall and back down the same corridor to the movie theater again. I don't know how far a distance it is but I'd say it's anywhere from 1/2 to 3/4 of a mile. Well the combination of walking and stopping in stores to do some shopping proved to be a very difficult task for both of us.
We had to stop and rest quite often. This was true more so for me than it was for Paula. She did most of the shopping. I usually sat on a bench outside the various stores and waited for her. By the time we finished the walk around and went to see a movie we were both exhausted. It was a very sad testimony as to the poor physical condition I was in at the time.
Now let's go back to the future to nearly 7 months later, today. The movie I wanted to see didn't start until noon and I was there about 10:20. I had some time to kill. I decided to try my hand at walking about the mall again.
This time I had a much easier time of it. I not only did I walk around the mall but I actually did some shopping as well. I only stopped to sit down twice. Once was to answer a call on my cell phone from my wife and the second was to sit and rest on a bench; but that was only for about 2 minutes.
It took me about an hour and 30 minutes to make the loop but I took my time and enjoyed the journey. I looked around in several stores including the Disney discount store, a sports teams apparel shop, and the Black Lion flea market area. I also enjoyed looking at the stuff in the kiosks along the corridors. There's a picture the view walking down corridor 3 that the top of this post.
As I got in line for my movie ticket I was tired and a bit sweaty but I was rejoicing inside at my personal victory. I had redeemed my poor performance from March. It was a personal victory.
I went to see the movie "Zombieland". From the beginning it was very humorous and unique, two things I like about a movie. As it progressed it kind of lost it's edge and turned into "just another zombie movie" but overall I liked it.
Before leaving the city I went to the Cracker Barrel just off of Music City drive for lunch. It's one of my favorite restaurants in Nashville. It was a cold rainy day and the warm fire in the fireplace warmed me up.
Also I want to document the fact that while waiting for my food I played the jumping golf tees game that's at the tables of every Cracker Barrel and ended up with just 1 tee left. I was both excited and disappointed about doing it. Excited because I've been trying to do it for years and disappointed because I was by myself and no one could verify that I'd done it. But since I've written it on my blog it's now "officially" documented as the truth.
After lunch I drove onto Briley Parkway merged onto I-65 and headed home. The rest of the day was spent at home relaxing. I really enjoyed my little getaway to Nashville. While it wasn't something I haven't done before the break from the daily routine and the accomplishments that went with it made it a memorable day.
I went to see the movie "Zombieland". From the beginning it was very humorous and unique, two things I like about a movie. As it progressed it kind of lost it's edge and turned into "just another zombie movie" but overall I liked it.
Before leaving the city I went to the Cracker Barrel just off of Music City drive for lunch. It's one of my favorite restaurants in Nashville. It was a cold rainy day and the warm fire in the fireplace warmed me up.
Also I want to document the fact that while waiting for my food I played the jumping golf tees game that's at the tables of every Cracker Barrel and ended up with just 1 tee left. I was both excited and disappointed about doing it. Excited because I've been trying to do it for years and disappointed because I was by myself and no one could verify that I'd done it. But since I've written it on my blog it's now "officially" documented as the truth.
After lunch I drove onto Briley Parkway merged onto I-65 and headed home. The rest of the day was spent at home relaxing. I really enjoyed my little getaway to Nashville. While it wasn't something I haven't done before the break from the daily routine and the accomplishments that went with it made it a memorable day.
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