Happy Fathers Day, Junk Food, and 6 Pack Abs?

So my son is still in Colombia, South America, with my wife’s sister and kids and grandmother and cousins. Unfortunately, I have spent my father’s day alone without him. It’s ok, he’s 5, and know that he’s having a great time there.

You should see this little town they built in the middle of the jungle just for the workers of the national coal mining company. My wife’s sister’s husband is an executive for the coal company and is responsible for the human resources of the entire company. A great guy, he was recently given an honorary award for his charitable contributions to the local school for helping underprivileged kids get a better education and get exposed to better training if they show athletic prowess.

They used to pay him a small salary for coming to help educate and teach their students, and he gave all of it back to help out the school. Budgetary constraints forced this school to cut back on paying him a salary, but he pledged to continue giving to the school every month from his own pocket. A great man.

Today I went out on a boat with my friends and their family, and did something I rarely do… I drank alcohol…

Can you drink alcohol and still have 6 pack abs? Read on to find out...

It started out as a nice sunny day, that as soon as we got to the island in the intracoastal waterway, turned extremely ugly very fast. It was the first time my entire life of living in Florida I can honestly say I was scared for my life.

Florida is the lightning storm capital of the United States. For good reason… We have the highest per capita lightning strikes over any other state in the Union. Today was just one of those days. Except we were really vulnerable. 8 adults and 6 kids packed in a 25 foot boat. We huddled under the meager canopy top the boat provided as the rains started and the distant lightning creeped menacingly towards us.

I’ve been in many a storm in my time, but this time was different… This time there was nowhere to go. Imagine torrential rain, a small, flat island with some small palm trees, and a boat  with lots of metal on it. Just think “lightning rod”. As the rain started to pelt us, we tried to construct some makeshift deflectors by opening up a beach umbrella on the side of the boat where the wind was blowing from (and driving the rain into the boat on us). In the process of doing this, there were several lightning strikes with NO pause from the flash to when the sound of the thunder was heard. This meant the lighting was less than 1 mile away. When I heard the crack of static electricity on the tall mast of the sailboat next to us after a  particularly close lightning strike I started to become concerned. Most of the people on board were trying to get as close to the ground on the boat as possible. The wife of my friend was cowering in a corner, a look of extreme fear written all over her face — later she would tell me that the night before she had a nightmare that she would be struck by lightning.

When lightning is raining down all around you, your quest for 6 pack abs goes right out the window

As I was fixing the umbrella we had opened on the side of the boat and another friend was holding, there was another loud “CRACK!” and then I felt it. Electricity coursed from my wrist through my body. I was touching the metal umbrella, trying to fix it, when the lightning stuck nearby and I got shocked from the static electricity in the air. To say I was now scared was an understatement. I’ve never felt this way before… ever. I was certain we were going to get get hit.

The tall mast of the sailboat next to us cackled with static electricity as the lightning bolts rained from the sky all around us. Shrinking ever lower in the boat, the grim look on all the adults was punctuated by the shrieks of the children, by now crying their little hearts out. There was nothing for us to do, nor was there anywhere to go. We had to ride this out. Only God knew what the final outcome would be.

As I’m writing this to you at close to midnight of Sunday night, it’s obvious we survived. After it was all over everyone started to break out the Proseco (sparkling wine) bottles and celebrate our sheer survival. Of course I joined in. I was shaken, and a good drink sure sounded good after what we had just gone through.

Only problem was, 1 glass of Proseco turned into 6, or maybe even 8. Then 2 bottles of beer and 2 glasses of wine. Since I never, ever, drink, and can get buzzed on just 1 single bottle of beer, you can imagine how I was feeling. Pretty loosey goosey. In fact, I’m writing you now in kind of a hazy state, so please forgive me if I sound incomprehensible.

Today was NOT my day to partake in indulgent foods. That was supposed to be tomorrow. Knowing what I know about how the body works, I knew it was ok to cut it short by one day, and start eating and drinking to my heart’s content – knowing it would not damage my overall bodyfat (which currently stands at less than 6%). I knew that 1 day of eating junk food early, would not affect my 6 pack abs, nor my ability to recuperate from this one “off” day.

So it should be with you. Don’t beat yourself up if one day you start eating your junk foods a little early. The problem only arises when you do it regularly. But when you do it seldomly, or hardly ever, if you do one day decide to partake a day or two early, don’t beat yourself up about it, your 6 pack abs quest won’t suffer. Go with the flow, enjoy yourself, and then get back on the bandwagon again with your program.

Happy Father’s Day!

Take Charge!

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