July 21st, 2012: Here’s the thing – I planned this program so that I’d lose 100 pounds in 6 months. This wasn’t guesswork, or arbitrary, but there has been trial and error, because humans err. Although I’ve built in many of the details of the program as I’ve gone along, kinda like a railroad, I did always have an overall destination/goal, and a timeline, and a strategy to reach it. Down another pound today to 253. This means I have 8 days to lose 3 pounds.
The program, as I’ve said, is not “set it and forget it”, and that’s where it does differ from building a metaphorical railroad. There’s room to attempt to accelerate results if you think that’s what you need. In my case, losing 100 pounds in 6 months represents a proof-of-concept that means a lot to me. Toward that end, I did cut my intake calories by 100 a day, and I plan on doing 90 minutes of cardio every day until I hit 250 lbs.
I’ve built The Program on a foundation of mental health, because my obesity was a manifestation of the mess of wires in my brain that needed to be sorted out. When you’re stressed, you need somewhere to turn, some pathway to feeling better, and since I took away alcohol from myself, food was the next logical escape route.
Attempting to change my relationship with food has turned into a gargantuan task. However, if I can hit this goal of 100 in 6, it’s going to require me to smile a little, and think that maybe I’m on to something here.
Gotta get 3 pounds in 8 days – and do it while keeping within the navigational beacons.
July 21st, 2020: I did reach my goal of 189 lbs. BUT, I have yet to look ahead in my posts to see if I did it within 6 months – I honestly don’t remember. The wires in my brain have been sorted out to some extent, but there’s still some work to be done there.
One of the things I had to come to terms with is the” how much do I want it” concept. I know how much I want success in weight loss. Conveying that to others is difficult. The knowledge from my education and experience I can and will pass on to you in The Program, but the desire…that’s got to come from you, and I want to be able to stoke that fire.
Things that stoked my fire and kept the desire and drive burning in me were often unpleasant. I’m talking about everything from direct comments, to passive aggressive comments, to advice from doctors, to abject failures. I’ve had to learn to anticipate those unpleasant moments without turning into a grumpy old fuck. If you let your guard down too much, the unpleasant moments may blow you off the wagon, but if your guard is up all the time, your personality will begin to metaphorically resemble a cactus, or even worse, a buzzing rattlesnake.
So I have to look for a balance, and I am in no way adept at striking balances in my life. I’m all about the principle of all-or-nothing, and although I believe you have to enter The Program all-or-nothing, with respect to your desire, I don’t think you’ve got to alter your personality. To clarify, you can’t approach this program, your program, or any program half-ass, or you’ll only get half-ass results. Half-ass results in the Thunderdome of weight loss tend to have short half-lives. However, this doesn’t mean you need to be a douche bag. You can still smile once in awhile 🙂
