Longer strides (1 year anniversary post)

Yes, that’s right sports fans. This is my first anniversary of the Halftheman revolution. It was January 25th of 2017 that I had enough. I call it my line in the sand moment. I started a journal titled Halftheman, documented where I was (378lbs) where I wanted to go (189lbs) and when I wanted to do it (cut my weight in half in two years). That’s what I wrote on 1.25.2017.

Goals are funny things. Setting them is not easy; create to big of a goal and you have to break it into increments. Completing them takes hard work and creates a vacuum that needs to be filled. Let’s first examine the process and then address the results.

At first a goal might begin as a simple “I think I’d like to start a business or lose some weight”. It could be a challenge of some sorts: Run a marathon or 5K. It could be a need like saving money or improving a credit rating. Beginning to imagine a change is a step that can’t be discounted. Before you ever change anything you have to be able to envision it happening. I started out this whole thing at 378lbs. The high water mark for me was 388. I was a set of clothes and boots from 4bills! Dropping two hundred pounds is daunting and it takes imagination to believe I can drop half my body weight. Imagination is a fine thing if you want to change something – that’s the dreamy side. Then the “how in the world am I going to do this” sets in.

After the initial imagination process begins the definition of the goal. How you define it also will let you know what success looks like. “Loosing weight” is a poor goal because you have no specifics. Lose 50 pounds in a certain amount if time is a measurable goal. The specific nature let’s you know when you’ve successfully completed the quest.

And then following the what comes the how in the world am I going to do this phase. Where you begin to develop a plan. For me this part changed over time. At first I dove in to OMAD or one meal a day, going Keto or low-carb and switching my beverages choices to Javita. Each of these changes really kick started this journey. I lost like 30 lbs in the first month! This kind of loss is completely unsustainable. I didn’t know that at the time. By April first I was down fifty and thinking that 250 lbs by the 4th of July was possible. I laugh now. It took til August to break the 300 lb mark. But by May I felt well enough to seriously start exercising. I set a goal to complete a 5K by the end of summer. I registered for the corn maze 5K scheduled in October and completed a virtual 5K in August at the solar eclipse. When I started losing weight I couldn’t run to the end of the block without stopping. Now I can run a 5or6K. (I have the medals)

I set a goal to do an Ironman in August and over the course of the month completed the requisite distances in swimming, cycling and running. All this to say that the process will change. As I started focusing on fitness my weight loss began to slow, plateau and even at times rise and fall based on caloric consumption and amount of activity. I’ve also encountered the setbacks of sports injury; I’m dealing with foot pain. I’ve had some back pain/strain/soreness at times. Nothing unmanageable. This has slowed my progress. But progress it is.

When I started this I made my goal specific and measurable. I set a time frame for two years not knowing how long it was going to take me to get south of 200lbs. Today I’m one year in. I weigh 293lbs. I’ve lost 85lbs. I can’t begin to tell you all the things I’ve gotten back that were sacrificed on the alter of too much Bill. I celebrate the increments. And as I approach completing this goal (Halftheman I used to be) I’ll set new goals to avoid the vacuum and take longer strides.