Darren Burgfeld - LOSER.

I thought about starting a totally new blog for the later part of this post, but screw that. I always say I'm going to post a bunch, and then slack off. Two blogs? What am I, a hipster?!?
For instance, my last post was on Mom's accident. I haven't updated this blog since. I blame Facebook for making my communication that much easier... *shakes fist in air*

For the record, my mom is doing really well. She still has a long way to go, but it's been two months. She had emergency brain surgery after her fall, and was in ICU for 11 days. Then she stayed at the hospital for weeks after, finally coming home about a month after the accident.
Her motor skills have come leaps and bounds. She's walking; with assistance, but walking none the less. Her speech is incredible; possibly from years of teaching, but if you talk to her on the phone, you'd never know this happened.
I'm proud of how hard she has worked to get where she is after this. Looking back, I was devastated, thinking that she may never be able to talk, walk... Just thinking about it hurts. But she fought back, persevered, and is still conquering. Nothing can stop this woman, my mother, and I've taken her resilience as inspiration for what I decided to do.
Please keep mom in your prayers. Still a fight but every day is a winner.


Now, about my decision. My weight has been an issue for me for many years now. I've fought and won, lost again, gave up, kicked my own ass... It's like Fight Club with the demons inside (which I guess is pretty much just Fight Club).
I've always had excuses: Crazy schedules, always on the road, too tired to cook, etc. Well, now, the majority of any semblance of excuse is gone. Especially since Carrie's new job, which has her home every evening and off on the weekends. We're in that middle-class, regular schedule world, and it feels fantastic.

Yet here I sat, day after day, watching the pounds blob around, frustrated with every ounce (and that's a lot of damn ounces) of my being. Spiritually, I've been able to refocus, correct the wrongs of the past that needed it, forgiven myself for the years of hatred and anger over death and sadness. I'm past all of that. But here I sat, big and fat, watching the cat play on the mat. Drat.

I used past tense on the "sat" for one reason: I sat until last week.

I've been researching diet plans and such to try and find a way off this mountain, and really just didn't take anything too seriously. My boss, Chris E. and I were talking about my weight (we're close enough that we talk about these things; he's an incredible man and boss), and he presented me with a challenge. Then he left for Germany the next day, and so I had a couple weeks to think about it.

Two days before Chris got back, I went to Dr. Eric Becking's office in Jackson (local chiropractor) to learn more about his ChiroThin program. I had looked into it, but didn't get any gory details before this meeting.

I won't go on a sales pitch now, about this program. And I don't need to; that's what I like. It's not one of those "work from home and lose weight" things; it's a doctor supervised program. NUTSHELL VERSION: 6-week program. First 2 days, load calories. Like, 5k a day. YEEK. After that, 500 cal/day. Yeah. 4oz each lean protein, veggies and fruit, lunch and dinner. For 40 days. It's my walk in the desert...
However, there are supplemental drops along with it that keep my metabolism up in that 5k region, so I keep burning fat and not going into starvation mode.

Today is day 7, and I'm down 18.4 lbs so far. Yep.

I weighed in Saturday morning at 379 pounds. Saturday and Sunday were my loading days, and I was a complete pig. I said goodbye to White Castle, Jersey Mike's and a couple other favorites. Carrie and I were in STL for The Urge concert (#PTMFUS), and so I did it up. It was hard, honestly.
After my loading days, I weighed in at 383.2, which meant my loading weekend piled on more pounds (imagine that). Between Monday and today (Friday), I've lost that loading weight and another 14 pounds.

So, I'm determined, and excited. We're all making changes around here, as a family, so this journey will be hardest on me but it will not be easy on the family. But Carrie's got my back, and although Layla said she'll be sad because she won't be able to jump on my belly, I know the kiddos are right there with me, too. And that's my warm, fuzzy. That's my cross-checker.

I won't blow this. I won't screw it up. I will follow mom's example and stick to the straight and narrow, and hopefully narrow my ass so I can sit more comfortably at the Cardinals' games. :)

I've been enjoying my foods. I cook everything: Chicken, fish, shrimp or pork so far for protien, and I've always loved veggies and fruit. That part's a piece of cake (figuratively). I don't like cake.

So, off to the races. the record on this program is 52.7, I believe. I'm shooting for that bar, and hope to top it. Time will tell, but the Force is strong with this one, young padowan.

Stick around, and follow me on Facebook if you want. I'm taking a picture every day so I can make a shrinky-Darren gif when this program is over. Because that would be the best idea ever.

PLR,
D