Goals

I was sending a friend an e-mail, and I started laying out all my goals and strategies and getting into all the details of what I intend to do and how I intend to do it, when I realized...NO ONE CARES!!!

I know that sounds harsh, but seriously? No one wants to hear about what you PLAN to do. I know quite a few people who are always talking about their intended fitness and weight loss goals. But I've been hearing them talk about it for years, and nothing ever changes. I'm as guilty of this as anyone. So while I recognize the value of getting your friends' and family's support, I also recognize the value in shutting the eff up and just doing it.

The impetus for wanting to lose the weight is several-fold. First, obesity is (pun intended) HUGE in my family. On every side. I've known for years that, unless I work my ass off (literally), I will be facing the same fate as nearly everyone who has come before me.

Second, while I was reasonably fit as a kid and teen, for the past 17 years or so, my weight has been a theme: trying to lose it; trying to "be ok" with whatever I weighed; trying to maintain a healthy weight (for the brief time I WAS at one). I would seriously like to get myself where I want to be, and have learned enough from that process to keep it off. So no crazy diets, no dropping 10 lbs in 10 days. Just legitimately BECOMING healthy and then staying that way.

There's more, I'm sure. Looking awesome, wearing great clothes, being able to try zip-lining without worrying that I'll snap the cable and die a mangled mess in some rainforest.

So the optimistic goal is to lose 50 by June 24 (my 40th birthday), but the truth is, if it means losing it and keeping it off, I'd be fine with almost any steady weight loss (even if it takes a lot longer).

This article was extremely eye-opening and really brings home how honest we need to be with ourselves about what it takes to lose weight and keep it off. (It's long, but totally worth it.)