(Day 379/ - 147 lbs.) D-Day Minus 1 / Resisting The Urge To Purge

Coach: What's shaking, Norm?
Norm: All four cheeks and a couple of chins, Coach.

If you're as ancient as I am (or have expanded basic cable) you may recognize the characters above as the bar-tending retired baseball coach and the rotund malcontent accountant whose weekly exchange of greetings in a Boston pub (where everybody knows your name) became the standard of comedy in the era of the feel-good sitcom.

Now, part of what made Norm's character funny was his self-deprecation. He was a "big" guy, a guy who's steady diet of beer and stool-sitting was paying off in chins and moobs aplenty. He didn't hide it, he'd jiggle it in your face for a laugh- and laugh I did. I don't think I'd laugh much at the fat jokes any more. I've been "Norm" and it hasn't been all that funny. I was, and still am, a self-deprecating SOB. It's a "first strike at one's self" method of self-defense in order to head off outside attack. Ah yes, the psychosis of coping.

Anyhoo, here I am at the end of a long trek realizing that I am at the beginning again. I've shed almost enough weight to shake the "obese" label and now I'm ready to attack "overweight". That, in fact, is my ambition for Steve v4.7; to take all that I've learned and use it to lose another 40 pounds before my NEXT birthday.

But what of Steve v4.6? Don't I still have a few pounds to lose and a couple of days left during which to lose it? Why yes. Yes I do and yes I will.

#2 - The Road Has No End

It's said that "Half the fun is getting there." I say that "getting" is really all there is- and is where my focus should be.

#3 - Enjoy Life

Nothing is more tragic than a life wasted on wishing I was doing something else. There is joy in doing- doing it right now and enjoying the process before time runs out.

#4 - I'm Dying

The fact is, ultimately, we all are. That inevitability alone should be enough to motivate me to make the most of every moment I have "topside". And killing myself with gluttony is a wasted effort- better to focus on better and better life experiences than waste time shortening a life that's already (by design and happenstance) very temporary.