Climbing back on the wagon

Picture this if you can.

Joey Millwood is on the floor. He’s crawling towards the computer keyboard. He’s trying his best to reach out for the keys to ask for the help of all the readers who have followed him down the “Highway to Health” in the past.

Just as he reaches out and touches the keyboard, he rolls over on his back because his belly is in the way.

Well...maybe I am exaggerating a bit but that could be the scenario.

It could be the scenario because this sports reporter has fallen off the wagon.

Don’t ask me how because I don’t know how. All I know is that I am not Superman or if I am Superman, food is my kryptonite.

I can’t escape to my giant crystal castle and ask for help from my dad in this problem.

My dad is skinny!

He could eat all day and not gain weight. I, on the other hand, will gain weight by just looking the wrong way at a twinkie.

So here I am, a humbled man, crawling on my knees, trying to avoid my fat belly, lifting myself up back on the wagon so that I might journey down the “Highway to Health” again.

Can I get the same support I did before? After all, I am human just like you. As much as I wish that I were Superman, it is not so.

We all fall off the wagon at some point. I just happen to do it in the most embarrassing fashion. I’ve done it in front of all of you.

I’ve enlisted some more help this time around. I’m not sure if you guys have heard about the “Ache Around the Lake,” but I am going to attempt to run, walk, crawl, or whatever I have to do to compete in this 5 mile run around Lake Lanier.

I know. I can read your minds now. How in the world is this guy going to do this?

The answer is my secret weapon. I affectionately call her my secret weapon but some of you may know her as Katie Malone. In other words...Superwoman.

Malone and friend, Scarlette Tapp are the people who are putting together this journey for residents to take part in around Lake Lanier.

This event will take place on September 23 so I have a little over two months to get myself in the shape I need to be in to circle Lake Lanier. For more information on how you can run this race, check out www.lakelanier5miler.org/.

The truth of the matter is that I feel all of your pain. For so long I have heard it from everyone involved in the Millwood Meltdown. It’s hard to keep going. You’ve told me that my accountability is a lot more because I write about it in the paper.

You were right!

The idea of weight-loss is what I know call the “never-ending void.” What does that mean?
Well...for one thing, the road to weightloss is never-ending. It’s a constant struggle to work off the pounds that we have so happily built up for the years that we have existed on this food-filled Earth.

The second thing is that it’s a void. What do I mean by void? There is no answer. It’s a path that most have to figure out on their own. Whatever path you think will get you there is the path you must try. The truth is, however, is that you may have to try numerous paths before you get there. It’s a void. There’s nothing that anyone can say to help you.

Dr. Picone is constantly on me about my diet. That’s the first thing that most will say that you need to change and it’s probably the truth.

But an even greater truth than that is that it’s hard. Getting this fat belly off of me has been the hardest thing that I have ever tried to do.

But then you come back full circle. The void and your journey is never-ending. You have to work at it daily forever.

I’m going to give it another shot and I hope you’ll journey with me.

This time around you can check out my blog and post immediate comments anonymously or with your name. Just go to www.tryondailybulletin.com and click on my name, Joey Millwood not Superman, under the blogs listing and I will respond to your posts.

Hope to see you there.