Rock on.

Rock on.

1. Recognize the need to change and really feel it.
2. Decide and commit to do whatever it takes.
3. Make positive choices to refine what works.
4. Create a habit out of what works.
5. Monitor my progress and refocus as necessary.

Each day is a new beginning an a whole lifetime of beginnings. It occurs to me that there really is no “over” or “done” or “finished” as long as my heart is still beating and I have the desire to improve. As I think about that, it also occurs to me that moving forward requires a destination that is constantly changing and always just out of reach. Weird way to characterize “goals” but hey, I’m a weird guy.

With my goals hanging out there in the distance, preparation has become really important. I mean, how in the world am I going to drop 48 pounds in the next 11+ months? What’s it going to take? What do I need? What do I need to avoid? How do I start? What’s for breakfast? Do I eat?

The cool thing is that even though each day is a new beginning, I’ve done this before, know what to expect, what I need and what I don’t. So, all-righty then, what do I need? What are the “things” I need to get the weight off and improve my health?

Here’s the short list:

Gym clothes
Scale
Blender

Woohoo! Exciting stuff! But these are the “things” that have been constants throughout my prior weight loss. Sure, there have been other things that I’ve used over the past couple of years and 151 pounds- things I still use, but for me (and this is all about me), those three are the Holy Grail of weight loss. Everything else is more distraction than boon. I’ll probably use some of those distractions this year- and maybe take a second look at how they affect my progress. Today, it’s all about those three little things.

Clothing, as it turns out, is not optional at my gym. It’s downright mandatory. Before anyone asks to see pics of Steve v4.6 at the gym in the buff, let me say right now, “Ew!” Luckily for most everyone’s corneas there isn’t a camera made that could survive the attempt. For anyone out there who wants to test out that old “curiosity vs. cat” theorem, here’s an old shot of me early on with a trainer (link). Anyway, clothing should cover all the embarrassing stuff while allowing enough movement to burn calories without splitting at the seams. Simple. Important. And no, I don’t wear a spandex unitard but hey, if that’s your thing, ok.

When I first started (May 2007), I was too heavy for most scales. The dial on my bathroom scale did all but make that cartoonish “spronggg!” as it spun laps past “0” and even the one at the gym (similar to the balance-type at my doctors office) wasn’t built for a guy of my mass and density. That ultimately became the only scale I use, but initially I had to lose weight use it. The first scale I used was one I found (no, not at a truck stop) at Costco. I didn’t buy, I just used it when I went in to shop every couple of weeks. Once I had dropped enough weight, I started weighing myself every time I went to the gym. It was important to me, helping me to modify my behavior and focus on what was working.

I love having a protein smoothie after my morning gym session. It’s kind of a treat and a motivator- no gym, no smoothie. A good blender is important and has to be powerful and easy to use and clean up. Some time ago I tried out a Blendtec (the same kind they used at a local juice bar). That thing absolutely rocked. I made smoothies out of just about anything- some absolutely did not rock. The thing is, I had created a pattern of going to the gym everyday and rewarding myself with some I liked that was good for me. A win-win.

Moving on...

I’ve got the things I need (plus a few distractions). The next step is to use them effectively and efficiently.

Rock on.