So it begins (the epic blabbermouth first post!)

I was reading a post on the Zen Habits blog about six  months ago. It was in regards to motivating yourself to make a lasting change in your life. One piece of advice in particular stayed with me: Positive public pressure is one of the best ways to help you reach a goal.

So here it is ladies and gentlemen! You are my public pressure. I don't need to know who you are but I want to hold myself accountable to an audience larger than just myself. According to Zen Habits,

Post your goal on your blog and post regular updates. It’s important that you not just post the goal but also stay accountable with the updates. Encourage people to ask you about your goal if you don’t report your progress.

My goal, shallow as you may perhaps think it, is to weigh under 200 pounds for the first time since I was about 14 or 15 years old. If a warning flag has just gone off in your mind please allow me to explain my situation and reasons for setting this goal. I assure you that it is not unhealthy or spurred by dubious self loathing or instability of character.

Currently I am close to being in the best shape of my life. I have a sexy, gorgeous, super intelligent, wonderful girlfriend whom I intend to spend the rest of my life with. I am not depressed or longing for human companionship and/or attention. I say none of this to brag but simply to let you know that I am not fragile or in need of psychological analysis. So perhaps I should admit that maybe I do want to look a little better in a three piece suit ;-) but here are the main reasons why I am doing this:

1. My family has a history of heart disease. While doing a health assignment in college I discovered that nearly everyone on both sides of my family has died due to heart complications. Since I am also extremely tall (about 6'5" if I stand up straight) I feel like I am doubly susceptible to obesity induced health/heart problems.
   
2. I have a very sedentary job. Basically I am a cube monkey. I write code and mess with computers all day. There is no sunlight and there are few calories to burn. I don't plan on doing this sort of thing for much longer but it does slow down my weight loss dramatically. Thus I need some good motivation at the end of the day to get me moving.
3. It's something I've been working at for a long time. My peak weight back in 2000 (my freshman year of college, go figure) was 288 pounds. I can't believe that I'm writing "for the last nine years" but for the last nine years (!!!!) I've been slowly whittling that down to my current weight of 218 pounds. It has not been easy and there was no magic diet. I had to rewire my entire life to do it.
4. I want to help other people who have struggled with obesity. There are many things I have learned and been taught in my adult life. I want to share that knowledge in the hopes that perhaps just one person can learn just one thing that may help them live a life more free from pain and enable them to perhaps find peace on their own someday.

This blog may border on the boring sometimes. I intend to record tiny little things I do such as riding my bike to work and taking a hike on the weekend. My hope is that it will keep me honest and dedicated though. I love helping other people and that may be the one thing that I've been missing all this time!