Weight loss...

"There is no happiness except in the realization that we have accomplished something."
-Henry Ford

I dread this topic; it is something that I've struggled with for a while and for sure my greatest insecurity. Like most things I use sarcasm and humor to joke about my weight as a defense mechanism to appear confident, but not anymore. This summer while living in NYC, with help from a colleague of mine, I was able to create a simple workout routine and stuck to it, resulting in a loss of about 17 lbs over the course of 6 months and I was feeling great about myself, the way I looked and simply the way I felt, but then I moved to Dallas and used every excuse from I'm busy getting situated to I'll start again as soon as the holidays are over, resulting in a 15lb gain.

I'm starting fresh with new goals for the end of winter and start of spring. Some of this stems from attending weddings, alumni events, etc in the coming months and I don't want to be the big guy in pictures and the other part is turning 24 in a few weeks and if I'm not willing to step up now, when will I ever take the right steps towards being healthy.

Well, in the world of cyberspace I'm documenting my current weight and I am setting some parameters for my goals:

My current weight is: 219
My goal weight is: 185
Total weight loss: 34
Start date: Monday, January 19, 2009
Finish date: Saturday, August 15, 2009 (Stephanie & Tyler's Wedding)
206 days to the big day (thanks wedding window website)
29 weeks away
1.17 lbs/week

Here is the catch…it is easy just to write this goal down and forget about it, but as a piece of motivation my dear friend Megan is taking unflattering, shirtless, winter pale and nasty "before" pictures and if I don't reach my goal she is going to post them on my blog and pass them out amongst my friends. I guess for me there is nothing more motivating than public humiliation or embarrassment.

So here I go…

"You have to stay in shape. My grandmother, she started walking five miles a day when she was 60. She's 97 today and we don't know where the hell she is. You may delay, but time will not."
-Ellen Degeneres