Woo-hoo!

Weighed in at 237.2 lbs this morning! Down another 2.6 lbs. Total loss of 279.4 lbs.

Tomorrow is the US 10K Classic and I just got back from picking up my number. I'm going to carb up today, but I don't really want to since the weight is coming off nicely. I will and get right back on track after the race. I'll be honest, I do not like this race, 99% of that opinion comes from my previous experience, but I was talking to a guy who organizes races across Georgia and he doesn't like it either. He said it was a tough race and there is no shade along the way and he's right. I think that is one of the reasons why I liked the Peachtree so much better, parts of it were shaded and there were a ton more water sprays. This one is all out in the blazing sun. Ugh. Anyway, I will do it and get my qualifier for the Peachtree and be done with it. I just want to, again, not be last, and finish under 1:45.

I'm thinking that I will only weigh on the weekends since they are the only time I can really clear my plumbing before I step on the scale, it just doesn't happen during the week because I still have my 7:00-7:30 AM poop and I'm at work by then. We'll see how weekly weigh-ins work and we'll see if I can actually stick to it. :)

Random thought: I'm still not used to people just randomly talking to me out of the blue. I was standing in line for my number and a guy just started chit-chatting with me. He completely surprised me. That never happened when I was 500+ lbs. It's funny how invisible I felt when I was that big.

Year Two

Wow. I can't believe it's been that long. Year 1 was all about "wow, so many changes" and year 2, as it turns out, was all about really coming into my own. Although, I've gone on and on about what's on the scale, but what the scale said turned out to be secondary or even tertiary to the growth and development I've gone through. I left a job I hated, ditched some toxic people out of my life, ran two 10Ks, started playing tennis (which I love), went to the Caribbean, bought clothes at regular stores and gained a lot of confidence.

I truly feel that I've had the journey I've needed to have and have no real regrets, I know I've could have been more strict and diligent along the way, but that's with anything. The idea is keep moving forward, the only time you ever fail is when you stop trying and stop working at it. This -- health and wellness -- is a lifelong endeavor and so I don't think there will ever be a time when I will say "I'm done". I will always have to put my body's needs first and that's a good thing. Seeing a specific number on the scale is a good and honest goal for me, but what is most important and critical for long term success (and happiness) is to maintain being a healthy, vibrant and as enthusiastic about life as I can. I can say, unequivocally, that the Duodenal Switch with Dr. Joao Marchesini has given me that and I am eternally grateful and humbled.

My starting weight was 516.6 lbs, my weight this morning, a new low of 239.8 lbs for a total loss of 276.8 lbs in two years. That's pretty awesome!

I'm happy. Knowing what I need daily in regards to nutrition, hydration, supplementation and exercise, I'm confident I can lose down to goal, just takes a little dedication and some consistency, but I will get there. I'll be there at the end of the year.

I have so many people to thank, but I won't list them all as I'm bound to leave someone off, y'all know who y'all are! I'll say a heartfelt thank you to all of you, it's like they say, no one gets there alone!

I don't have any big celebratory plans today. I'm fixin' to head out to the tennis courts for a bit, then I'm going to go try to find a new tennis bag, some more of those energy beans and then it's a full day of college football! I may run out today to go pick up my race number or may leave that til Sunday. Tomorrow I'm hanging out with a friend that I haven't seen in awhile and then I'll figure out some carb-loading dinner plans. I'm thinking pasta of some kind.

I don't know what Year 3 will be like, but it will be interesting, I know that much!

Woo-hooo!!!!!!!

Slowly....

Weight this morning 244.8 lbs. Crazy day today. Almost got attacked by some kind of squirrel or raccoon ... or like a badger or something, I don't know, but it was scary as hell. In retrospect, it was hilarious, I'll fill ya in when I have more time, it's a good story, I promise.

Got my order of alma mater gear in the mail today, so excited it's ridiculous. Most important thing -- all the shirts are L's, no X's in sight! Woo-hoo!

Alrighty then, time for food!

Just so y'all know I'm not crazy...

Got home around 8:15PM and hopped on the scale, 246.4 lbs.... That's less than this morning. I have my last protein shake to drink before I go to bed tonight, then it's pretty much lather, rinse, repeat here on out...three protein shakes...good grief.

Monday is the US 10K Classic Race which I will most likely run. I say "most likely" because I am on call again this weekend and have to make that top priority. I am working on ways to make it happen though. I went out and bought me a new running shirt and some energy jelly beans, I forgot the name....

Progress...

When I got home last night, I weighed 248.8 lbs ... down from 249.8 from the morning. Yesterday I drank three protein shakes, weight this morning 246.8 lb. I knew it...

Craziness

Warning! Major whinefest ahead:
Every morning I weigh, it's around 250 lbs. Every evening, first thing when I get home, 250 lbs. Doesn't matter what I drink, what I eat, when I eat, it stays the same. What does that tell you?

I've added a protein shake at night and much of the edema is gone, but still no movement on the scale. I'm a little discouraged because I put in a good bit of work this month and not even the tiniest bit of progress, in fact, I'm 5-7 lbs over my lowest. Sigh. Major bummer. I was hoping to finish off the year well, but I guess not. I can't even say "oh, but I've dropped a size." Nope, nothing.

I can't even muster enough energy to intellectualize all this. I'm just disappointed. I was hoping to not only be far away from 250, but out of the 240's by now, but now I'm not sure if it'll happen. I'm not sure what to do. It's one thing to be up 10 lbs and see fluctuations throughout the course of the day. I honestly wouldn't be as annoyed/frustrated if I weighed 257 lbs when I got home and 250 in the mornings, but nooooooo, always within a 1.5 or so from 250. It's downright maddening.

Ironically, this happened the last time I went to work at the same place where I'm working now. Same commute, same increased level of activity. In six weeks I only lost 15 lbs and this was over month 9 & 10 post surgery. The funny, interesting part is that I lost 20 lbs in the subsequent 3 weeks. Grrrrrrr.

The only conclusion I can come to is that I am not eating enough for my level of activity. It's not like I feel tired or weak or anything, only about once every two weeks am I ravenous, but that's pretty typical. I'm pretty desperate to show a loss this month so it's up to 3 protein shakes a day for me for the next week, just to see. If nothing, then it's back to square one, that or I'm gonna cry.

Okay, enough of that crap. So anyway, COLLEGE FOOTBALL SEASON IS HERE!!!!! Thank GOD!!! It's been a long, looooong break and I am so ready. I don't have high hopes for my alma mater, but as long as they do better than last year, I am happy. The local alumni club has game watches and I am going to go even though the whole social part of it is nervewracking, but I just have to get over it and do it. I ordered some gear so hopefully it'll be here before Friday. I love football, it's in my blood. I think it's because I was born in Texas, I'm not sure. Anyway, I won't be going to my alma mater for a game on the 6th, Guy is going to be there and I just don't even want to deal with that crap, no way! Instead, I am going to Texas on the 18th to see my nephew play in a big, televised game. He's a senior in high school and his squad will be playing their cross town rivals. It's a huge deal, think Friday Night Lights on steroids. The game is what like 3 weeks away and my sister is scrambling to make sure she can get enough tickets. I know he'll be happy that I'll be there and it'll be so awesome to see him play as he'll be playing on Saturdays next year.

You must do the thing you think you can not do.

I'm totally low on protein for the day, the day just got away from, but I totally rocked the box in another regard. I work on the 8th floor of my office building and I totally walked up 4 flights of stairs with my 20+ lb backpack on AFTER walking a brisk 15 minutes from the bus stop to the building. My goal is to do away with elevators at work. I think in a couple of weeks, I can walk up the entire way. Totally awesome!

I'm in a totally "totally" mood right now, I have no idea why, but I feel good so I will use "totally" and probably "awesome" a lot for the rest of the day! Y'know what else was totally awesome? My lunch. I had vegetables with my lunch. Green beans with butter and garlic, a little salt and pepper. Yum! Awesomeness abounds!

Y'know what else was awesome? I apparently overpaid a bill awhile ago and today I got a $350 reimbursement check in the mail.

One more totally awesome thing. Found while reading about Michael Phelps and his coach's philosophy about his training: "successful people make a habit of doing things that unsuccessful people don't like to do." I love that. I thought about it all night and all day. That really motivates me in all kinds of ways!

Hmmmmmm.....

So it's been about two weeks since I've been eating really well and getting more exercise and strangely enough, I've been hovering very, very close to 249 lbs the entire time, at best I've been fluctuating between the same roughly pound and a half. Now, I've been averaging 130-150g of protein throughout this whole time, drinking my water and exercising at least 1/2 an hour a day. I'm retaining a good bit of water as I can always tell when I do and I can especially feel it in my extremities. Now the question is, what to do now...

I wanted to lose 25 lbs this month, but not sure that is going to happen if I stay the current course. I know what the problem is and I know how to fix it, but I am kinda tempted to keep my protein as is to see if things resolve themselves... or ... I can say screw it, up my protein and just do what I gotta do til the end of the year to get the weight off and just make sure I get in more than enough water (which ain't easy).... I'm more interested in being done than being "right" so, up my protein it is. I will start today and by mid-week next week I should know where I stand.

I had an unanticipated late night last night, I had to be up at midnight because the network folks were going to test the data center's UPS. So if a catastrophe happened and everything went down, I had to be around to get the frantic phone call so that I could panic and try to get things back up and/or start calling all kinds of other folks to help things get back up and running. Luckily, nothing happened and I was knocked out by 1:15 AM. Fun stuff.

This weekend I'm gonna finalize my exercise plans, probably a mix of tennis lessons and the gym, but I'm still torn about whether to use the gym at work or one closer to home. I'm fixin' to head out to a couple of different places in my neighborhood, including the Y and then make my decision. The gym at work is the most convenient, but I'd have to go after work which means I'd have to take the transit home kinda stinky...I have a phobia about using gym showers, totally icks me out...

I spent a good bit of today pooping. TMI, I know, but what can I say? Amazing, I didn't know I could poop so much. Weight this morning was 249.4 lbs....when I got home after all the pooping 249.4 lbs. The last 5 days I've been between 249 and 250 lbs, something tells me I will be hugging 250 lbs until I increase my protein. I've been averaging in the 130's - 150's grams of protein consistently and my legs show signs of retaining water like crazy. Here we go again...I'm really, really curious to see how long this will hold up if I stay in the 150g of protein range, I mean, DS common sense says I shouldn't have to eat more than that, but I'm going to keep doing what I am doing. I'm not yet discouraged, it's more intrigued than anything else. I have made an effort to boost my calories via fat so we'll see if that does anything.

One of the most frequent comments/questions I hear when people see that I’ve lost a lot of weight is along the lines of “You must feel so much better” or “don’t you feel so much better”. Typically, I respond with a mildly enthusiastic “hell, yeah” with just a hint of “duh”. I usually don’t think too much about it later, but today one lady said this comment to me in a tone that just totally rubbed me the wrong way, almost like I unwittingly validated her personal deep-seeded disgust of overweight people, almost like I gave her future ammunition to say “I told you so” to somebody. Ugh…kinda made me want to her the evil eye or something….

Anyway, work is getting crazy, but in a good way. I’m working on a sports related site that has a lot going on in the next several weeks. The parallel that I would draw here is if I was working for NBC and it was a month before the Olympics and I was one of the web developers for the Olympics website. It’s kinda like that, it’s a high profile website, with a very wide reach and the entire team is working hard to get everything ready for our biggest time of the season. Good stuff. We had a meeting today with about 10 people from different departments and we were all trying to problem solve a few issues and it was just so awesome to be in that kind of environment with a lot of smart, capable, normal people brainstorming trying to come up with a good plan of action. I totally dug it. I really missed that kind of thing working at my company. Just another confirmation that I did the right thing in leaving. This week is going to be busy though as I have several streaming video projects that I have to knock out in the next 6 days. It’s also such a confidence booster that I am entrusted to come up with a viable solution and get it implemented. I don’t want to let the team down and want to come up with an innovative solution so this will definitely be consuming a lot of my intellectual energy. I love it.

Last week I sent off for a few brochures for Executive Certificate programs at MIT, Emory, Harvard, Notre Dame and Cornell. I’m thinking about pursuing one maybe next fall. With the extra money I am making now, I should be able to have saved enough money to pay for a good chunk of the cost for one of these programs. For the longest time I swore off more school, but I don’t want to be a developer forever, I do like getting my hands dirty, but I like to think of myself as more of a creative/idea type of person so I’d like to try to find a program so that eventually I can either join a company or start my own where I can find a role that suits all my strengths. I’m just looking for now, but I need to start thinking longer term.

Have y’all been watching the Olympics? Good grief, I love this stuff and it’s not that I am just rooting for the Americans, there are so many compelling stories all the way around. Like the South Korean swimmer who redeemed himself after he got disqualified as a 14 year old four years ago. Or the Chinese male gymnast who spoke so passionately about bearing the burden of an entire country on his shoulders after the men’s team stumbled at the last Olympics. Or the three American women who swept all three medals in fencing. Or Dara Torres who is one of the fastest swimmers at the age of 41 – she is kicking butt, by the way. Or Michael Phelps who’s trying for 8 gold medals – did you see the 4 x 100 medley race from earlier today? There are so many folks to cheer for from all over, it’s so exciting!

For some strange reason I weighed in at 249.2 lbs this morning. Actually, I do know why, the big C (been pooping all day though...TMI, yes, I know). Sigh. Enough already! I went back over my last labs more thoroughly today and I think I will keep my protein in the 120-150g range during the week and maybe let it creep up over the weekend, this should take some of the pressure off my kidneys, but prevent the edema that I’m prone to. I’d rather retain the water now than have to have a freakin’ kidney transplant 30 years from now. Hells no! I don’t want any kidney damage. Nope. Nuh-uh.

Anyway, food was good, water was good, fixin’ to hop on my stationary bike while I watch some Olympics coverage. I swear, it’s like crack…

I'm just past the one month mark working at the new job and I now think that I can tweak my routine in order to get the best benefit healthwise. My walks to and from the bus stop to my office is quite enjoyable -- except when it rains. Each way is about 10-12 minutes with a couple of semi-steep hills. Way back when I used to do Body-for-Life and one of the things that I really liked about it was it's 20 minute cardio routine. I was surprised at what a good workout it was in that short amount of time. The plan is to do that routine every morning AND on nights when I don't have tennis. I'm gonna try to get to at least two tennis drill classes a week. Anyway, that'll give me roughly an hour's worth of cardio, it'll just be spread out over the course of the day. That might actually be better than all at once.

On the food front, I am going to do 2 protein shakes a day, something like this:

M1: Protein shake before I walk out the door in the AM
M2: Light snack mid-morning
M3: Lunch
M4: Light snack mid- afternoon
M5: Protein shake when I get home from work
M6: Dinner, post workout

Previously I had been drinking 50g protein shakes, but these will be more like 35g each. My goal is to get adequate, but not excess, protein in daily while doing what I can to help mitigate constipation issues. I'm getting in about a gallon of water, no problem.

175-180 is the goal by the end of the year, if not sooner. I'm going to do my best to get there. In some respects I feel like I've wasted a good part of my second year, but on the other hand, I feel like I have had the journey I needed to have, everything happened the way it needed to and now I find myself exactly where I needed to. These last 65-70 lbs aren't going to just fall off easily, I know I will have to put some work into it, but thankfully with the DS, it'll be much easier than if I hadn't had the surgery PLUS I know that once the weight is gone, it's gone. The fluctuations I have had over the past few months have all been water weight, easily lost when I get back on track. It's a false comfort, of course, to know it's not fat that I'm constantly gaining and losing, and it doesn't really do anything for me in the short or long term.

According to Dr. Marchesini, I've surpassed my weight loss goal, to him, I'm at 102% EWL. In order to have a normal BMI and get down to a weight where I can best have plastic surgery, have to weigh 178 lbs given my height of 5'11". This morning I weighed in at 245.2 lbs, that gives me a total loss of 271.4 lbs. I need to lose a total of 338.6 lbs. I therefore have 67.2 more lbs to go. This is truly homestretch time. I'm 80% of the way there. It's like the last 1.2 miles of the Peachtree Road Race where it seemed like the race would never end and much of the energy and vigor I had was spent and the only thing that would get me to the finish would be the will to want to finish and the holding on to the notion that I just need to take it one day at a time. I think my problem has been looking at the goal I want to accomplish as one big giant scary thing. I need to not do that and just break it down in manageable steps. Feeling overwhelmed or feeling like this is an impossible task is a quick and fast way for me to get derailed. I think I've probably spent the last 6 months being off track.

I think now that I am away from the toxic environment of working with my business partner and am in a much more satisfying environment, I can go start focusing on my health and weight loss again. So much of my time and energy was spent on dealing with that nightmare situation that I'm actually surprised at how draining it actually was. It's amazing.

Anyway, football season is just a few weeks away and I CAN NOT WAIT. It's been a long hiatus and I'm anxious to see how well my team will perform this year. Unfortunately, it looks like I may not be going up to my alma mater to see a game after all. Sept 1 is the US 10K Classic and I really want to run in it since I did so poorly last time around, plus it'll help get me a good number for the Peachtree Road Race next year. I will most likely be taking at least 1/2 a day off that day. If I were to leave to my alma mater, I'd be leaving on the 5th and I'd rather not have too many days off or miss to many hours since I'm technically a contractor and I really want to make as much money as I can, I need to pad the nest egg and pay off some bills and just raise my standard of living a tad. I will be going to Texas for Thanksgiving so I'll already be losing 2-3 days there so I just want to be careful about time off. There is a big reunion next summer that I might shoot for, I'll be at goal weight by then and hopefully looking into at least the first phase of plastics. We'll see.

Anyway, time to do some laundry and make my lunches for the week. The better prepared I am with good, nutritious food, the less likely I am to want to stray.

Day 4 - Funny how that is

With the Duodenal Switch, your eating somewhat returns to normal. It's not like you have to eat pureed food for the rest of your life, you can, for the most part, eat like a "normal" person. One thing, I have learned I can't do is drink large quantities of liquid within 15-30 minutes of getting a full stomach. If I do, whatever I just ate & drank is coming right back up. This is not a frequent occurrence, but happens every now and again when I forget that I need to NOT try to chug a glass of water after dinner. Ugh. Talk about horrible. It's just going to be one of those things I will not ever be able to do. I'm totally cool with that, especially if it prevents the fun I had last night. Ugh.

Today, was a good day food-wise. I kept it pretty straightforward, and honestly, take Day 2 and you've basically got what I ate today. My weight is down to 247.8 lbs, down 3 more lbs, and just 67.8 lbs til goal. Still dealing with a good bit of the big C, but things are moving a little bit, but I'm not all cleared out. Yuck, I know, I know, but such is the DS life.

On the exercise front, I didn't do any extra tonight since I'm pretty much sore all over. Training on the bike and really pushing myself is taking it's toll. I need to rest.

I can't believe tomorrow is Friday. Where doth the time go? Craziness. Well, I'm at the end of a book that I am desperate to finish so that's it for me today.

Day 3 - No poop

Not a good way to start off the day. I will be patient because I know a big ol'whoosh is bound to come any day now, hopefully sooner than later. Since I've been über diligent with my iron and calcium, constipation is my companion. Boo-hiss. I'm gonna take my stool softeners on a regular basis 'cause as much as I hate constipation, I hate hemorrhoids more.

Weight this morning, 251. Ironically, a few minutes ago I hopped on the scale and weighed 250.8. That never happens!

The day went pretty awesome, except that I forgot to eat the 2nd chicken leg I brought to lunch with me:

M1: Protein shake
M2: Chili
M3: Chicken leg, slice of corned beef, 3 slices of hard salami
M4: Sunflower seeds
M5: Fajitas! sans tortillas. Yum! Shrimp, beef, pulled pork AND beef. I ate nearly all the meat except for some of the chicken. I had a 3-4 corn chips with salsa, two bites of rice and about a tablespoon of cheese (sorry, couldn't help it).
M6: Protein shake

I'm fixin' to hop on my bike in a few minutes and get to peddlin' for at least 1/2 an hour. I just got back from the bookstore where I picked up a few books for my daily commute to work as well as a couple of moleskines...they have soft-cover ones now....so pretty!

Alrighty then!

Day 2

Today was much like yesterday. Got in plenty of water and all my vits. Meals looked like this:

M1: Protein shake
M2: Chili
M3: 3 oz sunflower seeds, shelled
M4: 2 Chicken legs
M5: Tequila lime chicken wings (6)
M6: More wings (3)
M7: Protein shake

Exercise: 20 minutes on the exercise bike, plus 30 minutes of walking.

Somehow I injured my left foot because my arch is killing me. It hurts when I take a step and roll my foot from heel to toe, like a tendon or ligament is pulled or something. It's not broken, but definitely inflamed somehow. I'm trying to take it easy, but that ain't easy, I'm used to moving faster than I currently am. Gonna take some Tylenol and see how it goes. If it's not better by the weekend, doctor-time! Bummer.

I'm battling the water-retention and constipation demons. My weight has jumped up to 254! Grrrrrrrr. That's more than 10 lbs than my lowest. Not happy about that, but it's not completely out of the ordinary whenever I transition from poor/mediocre eating to good eating, especially when I increase the protein. I went back and looked at my protein more closely over the past couple of weeks and it was more in the 100-125 range than the 150's which was what I though. Oh how the mind deceives.... Ugh, I've been trying to keep it over 200 for now to see how it goes. Hopefully by the weekend, it'll be back to normal.

The question is whether I should shoot for a 25-lb loss from 254 or from 243...Hmmmm....

Day 1

Today was a pretty darn good day. First and foremost, food log:

M1: Protein shake
M2: Bowl of chili
M3: Protein bar
M4: Chicken leg
M5: Chicken leg
M6: Turkey, corned beef, salami rolls
M7: Protein shake
M8: Chicken leg

Protein in the vicinity of around 200g, a little higher than I'd like, but I was starving when I got home from work. 180-200 may just have to be my range. Too little protein and I get sluggish and start retaining water, too much and I risk kidney issues so I just have to watch it. Carbs were under 50 for sure. Gonna try to work in some veggies of some kind tomorrow, maybe some green beans. Also of note, no cheese, no wheat besides what could have been in my protein bar.

For exercise, I had my two 15 min brisk walks to and from the bus to my job and then I rode my stationary bike for 35 minutes and worked up a good sweat. I was pedaling my butt off!

Water-wise, I'll end the day around a gallon and I've taken all my vitamins except for my last dose of Calcium.

Alrighty then, right on track!

Speed of Light

Time is freakin' flyin' by. Working at my new gig is keeping me busy, but I am enjoying myself immensely. It's just a nice, much needed change of pace, plus the boost in moolah doesn't hurt either. I'm planning to put much of the extra money away as I know some day I'll need plastics done and want to be at least prepared for that, plus I want to take a European trip next year at some point. I haven't been to Europe in my adulthood so it's something I am very much looking forward to.

I had a good conversation with Kim this afternoon, a much needed one I must admit. She's always there to challenge me to push myself, especially when it's obvious I've been settling into old, bad or lazy habits. The last few months have seen my zest for weight loss slowing declining. You can clearly see that in my blog posts. It wasn't intentional, but as I've become more and more comfortable in my skin, am able to do more, I've come to really be lax about it all. To be honest, I've felt like I could lose maybe 25-30 more lbs and be done, settling in at 216 and calling it all a success. I think that thinking was largely flawed because I didn't take the long term into account. If and when I decide to get plastics, I need to be under 200 lbs, I need to be in the best shape possible, and at 216 lbs, that's may not be the case.

My initial goal when I first got my surgery was 175 lbs, over time it's gone to 185, to 199.8 to 216 and now I've even entertained thoughts that I was just about done where I'm currently at. The truth is, I need to get down to the 180's at least. I need to do it. I need to buckle down, get my food and water back on the right track and I need to exercise more. I need to do this. I have to do this. I don't necessarily want to do the work required, but here's the thing, and Kim is right, I didn't pay $16,000 to end up still obese. I didn't go to Brazil, risk my life having this surgery to end up weighing 240 lbs. Not after all that. I need finish what I started and not settle for almost getting there. I am almost there, it's home stretch time, I only have 60-70 more lbs to lose and I will be there. If I put my head down and get serious and focused like I know I can, I can be done by the end of the year, I could celebrate New Year's weighing 180 lbs.

I can't stop now. I can't stop at 240 and two years from now have a 20 lbs bounce back and weigh in the 260's. Hell, if I let my protein slip for an extended period of time, it's easy for me to pop into the 260's, God only knows what would happen if I really let things slip. I'd be way too close to 300 lbs for my own good. That's enough to scare me straight.

Starting today, I'm going all out Atkin's, baby! No cheese, no wheat, nothing to drink but water. Food as fuel, food as fuel. I'm going to get my 160g of protein in a day, less than 30g of carbs and a gallon of ice cold water. I am going to exercise for one hour a day -- tennis, riding my stationary bike, walking or dare I say, running. There is a gym at work and another one five minutes from my house. One of those will have to do.

My overriding desire is to be done already, but instead of settling at where I am and really biding my time til regret shows up, I'm gonna buckle down and get the job done by the end of the year. The sooner I get to my ultimate goal, the sooner I can truly put the weight loss part of my life behind me. I've been listening too much to my family members who think I've lost enough weight.

Anyway, I will be tracking my food here at least through the month. My crazy, insane goal is to lose 25 lbs by September 2nd. I know, I know, but I need to set the bar high to really push myself. I haven't pushed myself in a long time, I need to have that feeling. I will let you know how it goes!

My reward, besides "normalcy" and great health, will be a new Macbook Pro and/or a new flat screen TV. Yea!