While I have been poor about hitting the gym the last few weeks, one thing that I never miss is playing on my softball team.  Sure, it's co-ed recreational league (i.e. you don't have to be any good to play), but I have a great time.  My baseball/softball career began with me playing one man baseball as a four year old in my front lawn.  I would toss the ball up, hit it, then run after it and try to touch or throw the ball and hit the tree (first base) before I could count to 10.  Needless to say, I didn't play many innings with all of this running around. 

When I turned 8 years old, my parents signed me up for Little League and I was in heaven.  My "serious" ambitions in baseball ended when I was a Junior in high school and was the last person cut from a very good high school team two years in a row!  This coming after a summer league season in which I led an underdog team to an upset victory for the district championship by batting 1.000 in 12 at bats (3 games) with 3 outfield assists.  The team we beat twice had 9 players from my high school team and we had only 4, including myself. 

After being cut, my love for baseball went dormant for about 8 years until I graduated from college and had more time to focus on finding a new passion.  This is when I started playing in the local softball league. 

At this point you are probably wondering how this is relevant to my eDiets plan.  Well, adult softball leagues can range from semi-professional serious athletes fighting tooth and nail to prove their athletic dominance all the way to the most recreational of recreational leagues in which the only requirement is that you don't drink so much that you can't run out to your position.  I play in a league that is co-ed and recreational (i.e. it's ok to drink a beer during the game), but the league has also been around for so long that the level of play of the teams is pretty high for a rec league. 

The competitor in me wants to play for keeps, but the relaxed version of me wants to party it up and enjoy the sun.  I try to focus all three of my goals of relaxing, socializing, and excercising when I play.  This means that I will only have 1 beer or gatorade (high in sugar - drink water instead) for the day.  This allows me to be part of the crowd, but not undue any calories I have burned from running around in the blazing sun all day.  I think the weight loss posse can relate to the temptation of drinking beer, eating hot-dogs, then going out after the game.  This is a real life example of "not falling off the wagon."