Progress By Me

 Last post was 2015 - 7 years ago! But believe it or not, I'm still going hard at this, setting and achieving my goals. And I'm proud to say I'm more knowledgable and more resilient than ever. The name of the blog has changed, to something I think will resonate more strongly with the message I try to get across - that progress, not goals is what is most important.   We often get caught up in where we are not, rather than the road so far, and how we got here. So I'm going to take a moment to go over the biggest changes to my life since 2015, and what the future holds in store for me.

Losing weight isn't easy. I tell you this from experience. I've lost weight, gained weight, stayed just about the same weight... If you struggle with weight loss, I feel your pain, and I've been there! But before you go sign yourself up for Fat Camp, or worse, schedule a stomach staple surgery (ew!) or even liposuction, consider this. Weight loss really shouldn't be complicated. There are plenty of people who manage to stay thin their whole lives. Is it purely good genetics, or are they doing something you're not.

I didn't end up making it past the end of Day 1 of the Juice Fast. And that's okay.

It does seem like I spend a lot of my time thinking about food, and not in a healthy way. I spend my time thinking about how hungry I am and what I'd rather be eating than what I happen to be doing right at that moment.  

It's a new year. A new year and a whole new day. Tonight is the first night of the rest of my life. Tonight I looked in the mirror and realized I look quite pregnant. And I'm a man. That's not supposed to happen, is it?

I'm a stressed out guy. Lately, I've been quite stressed, due mainly to work, and partially also because of recent updates to my life that include but are not limited to house-hunting.

Sure, I'd like to look good with my shirt off, but the truth is, I focus on it way more than it's actually worth to me. I'm realizing more and more that if I want to stay consistent, I need a battery of reasons that I focus on equally. I've spoken in the past about why I began my journey, but I don't think I've ever discussed all of the reasons that keep me going in one place.

In the beginning it was easy. It was fresh, it was new, I was excited about it. The charm has worn off a bit, and now I just want to eat junk food.

What have I been up to in the two days that I neglected to post here? Well, to be perfectly honest, I've been in a bit of a slump. There's quite a story and I think it's a lesson I've learned well. At least I hope I've learned it. We'll see.

I hate gaining weight, especially when I wasn't trying. Especially when I was trying to lose weight. I weigh more on Sunday than I do on Friday, every week, without fail, but this... This is just not good.

I have a lot of reasons for doing what I do. And I do a lot of things. Most recently, I've been focusing on my health, and trying to make myself healthy. Yesterday was Thanksgiving. I have a lot to be Thankful for. Here are some reasons I do what I do.

Today, here in Cleveland, OH, I was gifted with a white Thanksgiving day, and in that merit, I will take today's post to talk about Thanks, and the things we can be Thankful for.

This morning I promised you all (there aren't any of you, are there. When I say "you," I mean "me." I know from the stats that I'm the only one reading. It's okay. Writing keeps me focused.) that I would run today, and possibly more importantly, that I would upload some new progress photos.

Hey, that rhymes. If you look at the bottom of the page today, it'll say I'm down about 3 lb. from where I started, but that's not actually accurate. Because I used MyFitnessPal a few months ago to lose weight, it registers my starting weight as 184.6 lb. A few weeks ago I was way up at 188 lb. So I'm just adding an extra 3 lb. to whatever that number is. 6 lb.! Six pounds! I lost six lb.

I've never kept track of how much water I drink. Okay, there's an exception, but that was when I did a juice fast for 10 days. That was an awesome time. Really cool experiment. I might just do that again sometime soon. But yeah water...

The last you heard was Wednesday. There's a reason I didn't post between then and now, and it's not because I've been slacking off. Listen and hear my excuses.