(Day 384 / -149 lbs.) Surprise! It's No Surprise

Holy crap!

I neglected to post on my birthday- due in part to merriment and frivolity associated with adding a ring to the old trunk, you know, birthday merriment. The thing is, life can indeed get in the way of my best intentions and if I let it, thwart plans altogether. I am repentant but make no excuses- only recommit and confirm future efforts.

Forty-seven years ago and after 147 hours of excruciating, body-wrecking labor, my mother awoke in a cabbage patch to find a stork gently tucking a swaddled bundle of joy between the leaves of maternal toil and sacrifice and with the determination akin to crusades and pilgrimages, nurtured me to adulthood. A lot of stuff happened between then and now but hey, the purpose and scope of this little exercise is to chronicle the events occurring from the time I realized I needed to eliminate an ungodly amount of weight from my body and my next birthday (which was Friday, June 6th).

And so I have. The really cool thing is, though unsuccessful in reaching my weight loss goal, I learned a lot along the way; stuff that should streamline my efforts through this year as I work to lose another 40 pounds before my NEXT birthday.

#1 - Pay Attention, Stupid!

It's amazing how much and how quickly things can get past me- and I'm talking about things like calories past my lips and years slipping into my past. I have to pay attention to everything that is happening, the results I'm getting or the time I'm wasting in order to facilitate positive change.

That's it, the number one thing I learned while living as Steve v4.6 and it's the my #1 priority as I move forward to lose the next 40 pounds before my next birthday (there, I said it again, "Lose 40 pounds before my next birthday." Now it's got to happen!).

Moving on...

Many have expressed an interest in seeing some before and after pictures. What do they think- I'm running some kind of freakshow here? Well hey, then a freakshow it shall be. I'll get some pics together for my next post. In later installments I also post specific exercises, recipes and other examples of how I'm applying everything I've learned (I'm talking about my 50 tips) on this next leg of my journey.

I used to dread birthdays- each one marking another year as an uncomfortable hulk. I feel so much better now and look forward to improving each and every day over the next year- not just by losing weight but by going after other aspects of my life that my previous condition of obesity affected.

Until next time, rock on Steve v4.7 (ew! I will NOT start speaking in the third-person!)