Reboot

Anyone who knows me, knows that I've always been big. A big kid, a big teen, and now, a big adult. Big here being a euphemism for overweight. (I'm also pretty tall, but unsurprisingly, that doesn't bother me). After 37 years of being big, and being lucky enough to so far not really have any health consequences from it, I decided it's time to get serious and get to what I've picked as my ideal weight.

Why, you might ask? A number of reasons. One, I'm the father of an 18 month old, and there's nothing I can do about being an old dad chasing a kid around. I just don't want to be an old and fat dad.

Two, I'm tired of pushing my luck with the health consequences. Because of said 18 month old, I was the recipient of some health screenings to get life insurance. The warning signs (high triglycerides, a high ratio of "bad" to "good" cholesterol with an overall average level of cholesterol) are there. So far as I can tell, I don't have any knee or joint problems, but that would just be a matter of time.

Three, I'm following the example of both my father and my father-in-law, both of whom have within the last three years made a big push to lose weight and get healthier themselves.

I'd initially started to do this last summer, around my 36th birthday. I'd started to make some pretty good progress, but the past 12 months not very kind to me and mine, both professionally and personally, and surprise, surprise, that's not particularly conducive to weight loss, better eating habits, and regular exercise. Why the blog? So friends, family, and even complete strangers who happen upon this can keep me honest and encourage me to stick with the gameplan, and, if I'm actually successful at this, maybe I can share some advice with others trying to reboot themselves.

So, that's the gist of it. The next post will lay out my method for the Road to 220. I'd love to be there by the time I'm 38. We'll see how that goes.