I am going to try a new blog

I am an unashamed blog stalker. I read about 60 blogs and really enjoy hearing about how other people are living life. I figure, why not throw my hat into the ring of blogs? I'm as interesting as anyone else is. Also, I am hoping this blog will get me into the habit of writing regularly. I could really benefit from that in my professional life. This will also help me to stay on track with my healthy lifestyle (or at least be accountable to the world of cyberspace).

The purpose of this blog is pretty much to talk about my experiences with food, Weight Watchers, eating and exercising. I will probably throw in a little bit about myself, but that is not the focus of this blog. The purpose of this blog is to keep me on track. I have struggled with my weight most of my life, and certainly all of my adult life. I am, for the second time, dealing with it. I hope this time it sticks.

I started off this journey (this time) at 299.4 lbs. I was often tired, didn't feel good about myself, and was just generally trapped in the doldrums of life. It was awful and almost makes me cry to think about it.

I am now about 40 lbs lighter, in much better shape, and pushing toward ever more ambitious goals health wise. How have I been able to do this? Well, hard work. I started this journey (let's call it Journey 2.0) on April 21. The first 30 lbs. just came off easily. My motivation was high, my self-discipline was great and I had more WW points, too, which made the program easier to stick to. My initial goal was to lose 30 lbs by my 30th birthday, and I did this a month early. I hit a bit of a faux-plateau in July and early August, not so much because my body was fighting the weight loss, but more because of vacations, birthdays, etc. that caused me to gain and lose the same 5-10 lbs over and over.

My next goal was called "50 by Fall", where I wanted to lose an additional 20 lbs by the September 21, the first day of fall. This goal now appears ambitious, but it could still happen. I am not going to push it too hard but would obviously love it to happen.

I am now focusing more on the long term. Yes, I'd love to lose this all by tomorrow, but I am trying to approach this more as a lifestyle choice. I am going to do this for the rest of my life, so as long as the "vector" of this all is in an improving direction the timing is not so important. This is more of a recent realization/attitude for me. One more step in this life overhaul. I am sure I will have tons more. You've gotta love being a work in progress.