My Journey from 214 Pounds on January 3, 2019, to 183.2 Today and on My Way to 145 by Sometime in 2035

The crux of the matter is Obesity

There, I have said it, I am obese! I admit, even after having lost 30+ pounds, I am still obese. My current body mass index (BMI) is 30.4, down from my all-time high of 35.6.

Yippee!

Well, except, I’m still considered obese. I will have to lose another 30+ pounds to get to a normal BMI of 24.9 (Assessing Your Weight and Health Risk (nih.gov)). That’s the rub!

What do I do now? Easy! I pat myself on the back for having gotten this far, and then I get my ass in gear to work off the next 30+ pounds. I don’t care how long it took or will take, to get the weight off. I just want it g-o-n-e!

Everywhere we look, we can point to someone as being more overweight than us, as if that somehow matters. Misery loves company, I guess.

It must give us some sense of satisfaction to know that, at least we aren’t as bad off as him, or her, or that person.

My trouble with this logic is that it is destructive rather than constructive. Why tear someone else down to inflate our own sense of worth, our own ego? I have always found it better to encourage everyone in their goals to change themselves. It helps build their egos.

Part of my nature is to make people laugh. It makes me happy; it makes them happy, and it strengthens the bonds we have with each other.

Take my fitness trainer as an example. We were starting a new workout routine and he was trying to establish a baseline for what I thought I was capable of doing.

One of the questions he asked during this process was “What kind of squats do you like to do?” The smart-alec that I am, I answered “Diddly.”

We looked at each other and burst into a belly-roll round of laughter so hard we both had tears rolling down our cheeks.

He and I still laugh at that every time we get together.

The reason I brought it up is that I don’t think that every chore I undertake is meant to be arduous and can't be fun. I enjoy working out as much as I enjoy sleeping and eating. I enjoy the sense of accomplishment I get from all three of these activities.

On a scale of 1–100, I’d rate working out at an enjoyably strong 65, while eating and sleeping both would come in at a solid 95 on my joyful scale — which proves a point: you don’t have to mete out the same level of joy for the different activities you achieve.

Take cleaning the bathroom, for instance. On my scale of fun things to do, it gets a terrible score of 20. Nobody likes to clean the bathroom, especially one that's icky. But it is a routine task that I have to perform from time to time.

Checking in on Facebook, Twitter, or any of a number of social media apps will easily get a higher score, somewhere over 70. We enjoy seeing what our friends post, or looking at all the pictures on Pinterest. It helps us stay connected with each other.

Try smiling the next time you go for a run, or do sit-ups, or squats. In whatever way you try to better yourself, whether it’s household chores or a difficult task at work, try smiling as you complete it.

By keeping a positive mental attitude, you may find you have lessened your burden and increased your drive, determination, and satisfaction from getting positive results.

Happy weight loss!

Thanks for reading this.

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