Ok, here we go again…
I don’t want to get all long and drawn out about it, but needless to say, I recently started yet another attempt at shedding these unwanted pounds and getting back to a target weight that’s a little more appropriate for a healthy life. I’m not happy about my current weight and with my 30th birthday happening this summer, I feel like time is rapidly running out for my previously established goal of attaining a healthy weight by the time I reach 30.
The thing is, weight loss is hard. If I went back and counted, I’d probably be pretty ashamed at how many times I’ve started (and subsequently failed) at various weight loss attempts over the years. To make matters worse, I’ve even been slowly gaining weight in the process. Shortly after I first moved to Florida in 2003, I began a weight loss challenge with a friend because we were both overweight, and at the time I was floating right around 215 pounds. Seven years and umpteen diet attempts later, I’m actually 25 pounds heavier than I was back in 2003, with the notable exception that now I’m older and I don’t feel nearly as invincible as I did when I made the big decision to move south…
I’ve tried a lot of different things – heavy cardio, salad-diets, counting calories, and the list goes on – and all of these things worked for precisely about two or three weeks before I would plateau after losing maybe 10 or 15 pounds, then eventually I would give up and fail. Anyone who’s endured all of this knows just how devastating the process can be, especially when it feels like everyone else around you can eat whatever they want or spend hours more at the gym than you’re able to find in your own schedule. It can definitely be depressing, to say the very least.
…but the way I see it, all I can do is start again, try a little harder, and give it my best shot one more time. Each of those previous times, I didn’t start off planning on throwing in the towel three weeks in and it’s just counter-productive to let those ideas get the best of me this time around. Nope – this time it’s going to work. Less excuses, less late night binges, less skipping the gym when I don’t feel like it.
And that said, one thing new that I think I want to try this time is doing a better job of writing about my weight loss efforts here. Not necessarily weekly results or calorie counts like I have in the past, but instead more along the lines of what’s going through my head as I endure this process. Just in preparing to write this introduction, I’ve already come up with half a dozen different ideas of short posts to write about – frustrations, goals, random points to ponder. Over the years, writing has helped me through some pretty tough times, so who knows – maybe it’s just crazy enough to work this time!
Wouldn’t that be nice…