Apr 11, 2011

The Journey: Reaching goals feels good.

There's an old saying... "Aim for nothing and you'll hit it every time." Which means for most of my life I've been a raging success. I've always aimed at nothing, and I've always accomplished nothing! But, if you are on a Journey, you have to know where you are heading and when you need to be there, or you'll never know if you are making progress.

I've had three immediate goals in front of me, and I've happy to announced that I've reached two of them. (By the way, if you are just joining us, you can go back and start reading about the Journey here and work forward.) Last week I talked about the bag full of jeans I have that got too small a few years back. Well, the jeans didn't get too small... I got too big. But it's funny how we say something got "too small." Like it's the clothing's fault....

This weekend we were Anchorage hanging out with Donnie & Joy. Before coming back to the Valley, Christy wanted to swing by Fred Meyers. I wandered over the fat boy section (they kindly call it "Big & Tall" but we all know what they are really wanting to say) and noticed they had the same Levi's 560's that I'm hoping to be able to fit into soon. I hate trying on clothes, but I decided to see if these fit. I was thinking maybe the ones I've got at home shrunk a little bit from being washed...

So I go into the fitting room and give it my best. But they just weren't going to button... But, that night when we got home, I happened to walk by the bag. On a whim I grabbed the pair on top and tried them on. And while it took some effort, they buttoned!!! Granted, they were too tight to comfortably wear, but they buttoned. So, that goal is accomplished!

On the 21st, the wife & I leave for our first vacation in over two years. We are headed to Hawaii. Flying and squeezing into the tiny seats are a pain for everyone, but even worse when you are fat. If you've ever been stuck next to the fat person on the plane, we are suffering even more than you are, so shut up and deal with it...

A while back I stated I had a goal to be 325 before going to Hawaii. Why 325? When I made that goal, it was a number that looked obtainable in the time that was available. Goals have to be obtainable or else they are just a daydream. Also, 325 represented a milestone for me... Six or seven years ago Christy & I got on a work out kick, and I remember being 325 at that time. By getting to 325, I would know it was the lightest I've been in that many years.

Here's what this morning's reading on the scale was:





That's goal #2 achieved!!

My weight loss so far in April looks like this:



The orange line represents what my progress needed to be in order to be below 325 by Hawaii. I'm way ahead of that. So I added a 3rd goal of being 321 by Hawaii, as shown by the pink line. 321 will mean that I've lost 50 pounds since starting the Journey. I have at least another 100-130 pounds still to lose but at least I'm on my way!

4 comments:

ORStafford said...

Don't say you have accomplised nothing. You have done many great things. Just to mention a few, you have a wonderful wife, a beautiful home, a job you love, and most importantly maintained a committed relationship with Jesus Christ.

Sonja said...

Way to go Todd!

Sonja said...

Way to go Todd!

tbbotts said...

Congratulations Todd- you're doing great. You've got a lot to be proud of. You're an inspiration to me. Keep up the good work.