What a month this is! Hitting a weight loss goal, becoming a year older, and the coolest thing of all- celebrating twenty (20) years of matrimony.

That's right, this Wednesday my wife will have completed twenty years of a life sentence that can be best described as "cruel and unusual" while I on the other hand will mark the twentieth installment of an eternal wedded bliss annuity.

It truly has been wonderful; I have an awesome wife and great kids and all are inspiring, challenging, and motivating. Best of all, they don't seem to mind my presence all that much. Good times.

I really don't have to look very far for reasons to work towards being healthy. There are way too many things that I don't want to miss due to illness or disability; too many things I want to see my kids accomplish, memories to create, aisles to walk, etc.

It's not all selfishness. I want to be there to help them meet the challenges they'll face in life- as a hand, a shoulder, a resource.

I'd be hard-pressed to do much of that from hospital furniture or an urn on the mantle.

That's much of why I want to improve myself physically. I also want to improve the other aspects of what constitutes a "Steve" er, I mean, me.

I hereby dedicate this next year to not only losing another 40 pounds but improving myself in other ways as well. I'll focus on being a better husband, father, friend, and all around dude.

I got so many reasons WHY, HOW is going to be really cool. Stay tuned.

Today, my bride and I will head off for a little vacation. We've farmed the kids out to a few friends so it's just us- off for a little beach and sun not unlike we did two decades ago.

In the meanwhile, don't eat this: Men's Health Magazine - Worst Food in America.

Seven minutes of heaven, baby! That was my pedal home this morning. What can compare to the wind in your face as the gym shrinks quickly into the background after an invigorating hour of pushing and pulling. Ah, sweet sweat evaporation and the promise of an ice cold smoothie packed with protein and a little something-something! No round about meandering through the burbs for me this morning- it's just Point A to Point B and back again. Got stuff to do!

I was up a pound this morning but I'm not going to let that harsh my mellow. The scale will continue to dip so long as I remain steadfast to my goals. Besides, I'm thinking that the Chinese take-out we had last night was my Judas and its' ill effects are oh-so temporary.

I'm trying a couple of new things this week.

One of our local markets carries Açaí pulp in the freezer section. It's claimed to contain:

- A remarkable concentration of antioxidants that help combat premature aging, with 10 times more antioxidants than red grapes and 10 to 30 times the anthocyanins of red wine.

- A synergy of monounsaturated (healthy) fats, dietary fiber and phytosterols to help promote cardiovascular and digestive health.

- An almost perfect essential amino acid complex in conjunction with valuable trace minerals, vital to proper muscle contraction and regeneration.

That what I read on Oprah's website so it's got to be fan-freakin'-tastic and I'm onboard [toot-toot!]. So here we go, todays' smoothie:

1/2S (packet) Açaí Pulp
1/2 Small Banana
1T Peanut Butter
1S EAS Protein (Chocolate)
1S Ground Flax
1/2Pkg Crystal Light (Metabolism)

This mixture tastes remarkably sweet- perhaps a little sweeter than I like. We'll have to see if a weeks' worth of this stuff helps or hinders my efforts.

Moving on...

Everyone who knows me is antagonistically aware of my mildly obsessive paranoia (I'm told it's quite charming, really) when it comes to germs, cats, toxins and doing things in threes, so it was no surprise when I began drinking solely from a 27oz stainless steel bottle I bought from Kleen Kanteen rather than my usual 44oz Nalgene or the 32oz-er with the custom narrow-neck straw cap.

I read that, while most likely safe, the Lexan Nalgene bottles can release BPA under certain circumstances. Link BPA to the lovely horrors of breast and prostate cancer and other health issues in animal studies and I'm thinking, hey, I have both breasts (in moob-form) and a prostate so why risk losing them to cancer? Add that I'm running about a gallon and a half through my bottles and past my kidneys each day and that I'm kind of an animal, and I'm- well, let's just say that I like my Kleen Kanteen (despite them using a K instead of a C -- ugh, drives me nuts when people do that). I bought mine at Amazon. I'm going to order the larger 40oz version this week. They're a little spendy so if you'd like to buy me one I won't stop you. If you buy one, maybe you could tell Kleen Kanteen that I said it was a good idea and perhaps they'll send me one out of gratitude. Wishful thinking, I know, but a guy's gotta dream.

Today is May 30, 2008 and it's a mere

That's right, just a week until I stick a fork in this goal to see if it's done; to see if I'll be able to eliminate the "obese" moniker from the colorful string of adjectives one would use to describe me. Hmm, I think that was the only five-letter word in the whole bunch. Oh well. Good times. Good times.

Moving on.

As I come to the end of this goal I'm reminded of this wacky thing that's been the bane of life with Steve vX.Y for the longest of times and weirdly, something that those who work with me have yet to witness.

I'm absolutely rabid about finishing projects at work but at home, well, let's just say that things are typically "finished-to-functionality" but rarely "finished-to-completion". Take for example a kitchen remodel that's still (after six years) missing electrical outlet covers, a bathroom remodel in which I have yet (3 years) to attach the cabinet doors, a china cabinet build that has yet (5 years) to be wired-in, the panels for a home theater installation that is still sitting on my saw in the garage, and so many more. "Hey, whiner *GULP* dear/honey/light-of-my-life" I say to my disgruntled-yet-amazingly-breathtaking wife, "You can still make dinner/scrub the sink/put away the dishes." After which I pick myself up off the floor, make dinner, scrub the sink, put away the dishes, and kick myself in my freshly bruised butt for not finishing the aforementioned projects.

Why aren't these projects finished? Why do I choke right before the finish? Clearly, I have a problem.

#5 - Admitting I Have A Problem Is The First Step Towards Accepting The Problem

Acceptance, for me, is a bad thing. I "accept" nothing. Instead,

#6 - Reject The Problem And Make It Temporary

Coddling problems distracts me from taking action and solving them. Recognize that,

#7 - NOTHING In Life Is Permanent

It's the adoption and internalization of that precept that lights the tunnel's end.

#8 - Disappointment Is An Unavoidable Fact Of Life

It means my expectations are where they should be. My focus is to become better, in some way, every day.

#9 - Disappointment Isn't A Gateway Drug To Discouragement

Oh, hell no! It's a trigger for DETERMINATION.

The thing is, and I really think this is what's been going on, that I don't apply the same methodology of goal setting and accomplishment in some areas of my personal life that I do in my professional life.

Now, I could go on and on analyzing the problem. Instead I think I'll just start applying more of what works (at work) to what I'm trying to accomplish at home.

So here I am, knocking on the door of what I consider to be a major personal accomplishment- trying not to make it personal. Good times.

Hey, be sure to enter my Entrecard giveaway. All comments will be posted on the big day (6/6/08) and the winner will be drawn from that list.

Ruh-row! Two weeks left until my goal date. I guess I better get started.

#10 - Don't Wait For Anything

Nothing should (scratch that, nothing will) get in the way of accomplishing what I want and there's just no putting off success when I'm committed. I'm doing something right NOW...

...and I'm back. Whew, that was strenuous!

Ok, so I have a year under my belt and I'm two weeks away from checking off current weight loss goal. Then what? Do I start the back slide into my former self or am I just "done"? The simple and sad fact for me is that I've got to continue on. One hundred fifty pounds is a lot of weight; losing that much for some would be a literal disappearing act. It's more a milestone for me along the path to my ideal weight. The thing is while obesity may no longer apply- well, I'm still overweight according to BMI calculators.

#11 - A Short Term Commitment To Weight Loss Is Less Than Ideal

Weight loss, permanent weight loss, is a life-long commitment. This 380 day exercise is but the first step towards my ultimate goal; maintaining a healthy weight for the rest of my life.