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Why is it taking longer than six months? |
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Initially I tried to map this stuff out using Route
66 information in books and on the internet, but there are holes in every plan. Route 66 is disjointed and starts and stops in several places. Maps are inaccurate where roads just end where they should go on and I have made some costly mistakes that requires me to backtrack sometimes for miles and miles. A knee injury at less than 100 miles into the walk cost me dearly in time. For three weeks I couldn't walk more than 3-4 miles per day until the knee really began to heal.
Additionally, about five weeks into this walk my outlook on it changed. I decided that I did not want to rush my way across the country. Instead I started taking time to meet the people that are along the way and really take the time to search for who I was inside.
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What is Steve's plan after New York City? |
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During any event in ones life that is dramatic and life changing there's an element of uncertainty and this is no exception. For quite a long time on this journey I could not say what I was going to do after the walk but I was certain that it had to be different than my life before the walk. It has only been in the later part of this walk that I have come to realize the importance of what I am doing and how much it has come to help a lot of people. This has shown me the importance of giving that back to the world in the best way that I am able.
I am still not sure what is going to happen in my life after this walk but there are plenty of opportunities ahead of me now that are attributable to my new brighter outlook.
I am healthier, happier and hopeful, so I think things are going to be alright; whatever happens.
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How much weight has Steve lost? |
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As of 02 17 2006 I weigh 308 lbs and I started this walk at approximately 410 lbs so the answer is obviously 102 lbs. Now for the hard part, so what!
I have learned that there is a debilitating process that occurs with obesity and that is number obsession. Now granted losing 102 lbs is significant and important, but dwelling on a number or becoming a slave to a scale is a surefire way to fail at weightloss.
So now, with my experiences on this walk, I have learned to judge my health not by a scale of weight but by a scale of mental harmony. Once you accept that you are in control of your life and weight, then lose the obsessive tendencies and work on curing the emotional base of the weight problem you will find that the body will take care of itself.
In short – Cure the mind and the ass will follow!
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In the beginning of this walk my eating habits were deplorable. Now, through a great deal of struggle, they are much better.
I liken the process of relearning proper habits to that of teaching a child good behavior. It is like there is a child/parent dynamic inside an obese person. There is the rational side that tries to remind you to eat well and not stuff yourself and then there is the irrational-impulsive side that just wants instant gratification. The missing element is authority. Once a person believes that the ability of self control is out of their hands then authority to compel the child side to do the right thing is gone. In short, when you think you have lost control, you have.
It took me a long time to come to this conclusion, and even longer to accept it. But now I am very conscious of the food that I put into my body. Now I think of food not as entertainment but as fuel and in this manner I only need what I need and no more.
Now the dilemma here is that as a nation we a nutritionally handicapped, most people don’t understand what good balanced nutrition is and even worse we are hooked on fried foods, carbohydrates and hollowness. I have had many struggles to learn to exist above this but it remains a battle even now.
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For the most part, I sleep in a tent while in between towns and in hotels when in town. Around dusk I begin looking for a place to set up camp, so I am not stumbling around in the dark.
I have been very fortune on this journey to have a lot of people offer to put me up as I pass through their towns and I accept the hospitality when it is reasonable to do so. The bottom line is that I have never been without a place to stay. One way or the other the world provides me with what I need exactly when I need it.
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Why isn't Steve on the road right now? |
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I want this journey to be successful for many reasons and I am going to do what ever is necessary to make that success happen. I'm taking 21 days out of my walk to focus on upper body development, nutrition education and portion control, and better physical conditioning overall.
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