I'm on a mission. Having dropped 32lbs and being aggressively on task to continue towards a personal goal, I'm on task and focused like a laser on accomplishing my goal. I'm thrilled to find clothes not worn in at least 4+ years fitting again. Being able to glance down at the scale and see the numbers below 200, let alone simply being able to see the numbers while glancing down without sucking my gut in... it's invigorating.
I've been trying to return to my fighting weight for years, and losing that fight every time. After reaching an all time high, I saw it as an all time low, and committed to focus for just one week, and one week alone, on an aggressive diet change. I stopped riding the bus from Caltrain to work and walked instead. I stopped eating candy and soda. I stopped eating after 7pm. And I stopped ordering lunch (with the self-imposed "carrot on a string" that I'd do so until I broken the 200lb mark). I opted to eat healthier, and in much smaller portions.
It has worked wonderfully, and in that first week I dropped just enough weight to feel traction in the right direction. I've stayed on course. As they say, nothing succeeds like success, and I've been successful in maintaining a daily consciousness about what I eat and what I want to achieve.
What's not great, however, is learning that some of my wife's friends have raised eyebrows and mutter words of caution to her about what might be motivating me when she's conveyed the fact that I'm losing this girth. Contrary to popular belief, loosing weight after starting a new job does not equate to having an affair and going through a mid-life crisis.
It's funny when I think about the concept of a mid-life crisis. I see that as something that somebody who never had time of their own to grow and experience life might have. If I'd gotten married in my early 20's and gone from being a child to a student to a husband to a parent in my relative youth, I might understand the reasoning behind wanting to abandon the minivan for a sports car, getting hair plugs, and taking extra time to chat up the cute girl working the counter at the coffee shop.
But that's not me, not my history, and not in my character. Fortunately for me, my wife knows that about me. In addition, in the realm of mid-life crisis, i've pretty much worked that out pre-marriage; I chatted up the coffee girl, travelled extensively, drove a convertible, stayed out late, and pretty much tackled it all before truly settling down.
Except for the hair plugs. Those just aren't in the cards for me.
