One definition of earnest is “marked by or showing deep sincerity or seriousness.”  In many ways, this journey will be an earnest attempt at this weight loss and exercise thing.  My last post discussed the reasons why my previous attempt was not earnest.  Why is this attempt earnest?  In other words, why I am sincere or serious about this lifestyle change?

1. If I remain over 300 pounds, I will die in my forties or fifties.  My wife probably would not appreciate that.
2. I’m letting down the people I love the most by not putting any effort into my well-being.
3. Unhealthy food and drinks just make me feel bad.  Took me a long time to realize that.
4. Common ailments and disease linked to obesity:  diabetes, cancer, congestive heart failure, enlarged heart, osteoarthritis, lymph edema, gastro esophageal reflux disease, urinary incontinence, abdominal hernias, gallbladder disease, fatty liver disease, gout, and…last but not least…erectile dysfunction.  Ouch.
5. After a while, sitting on the couch and doing nothing for days on end becomes quite boring.
6. Sick, sick, sick of being fat.

I believe that this journey will change who I am for the rest of my life.  I won’t be Fatty McFat anymore…I’ll be the person I should be and should have been all along.  I’m going to come out of this journey a completely different person.  But the journey doesn’t stop after a few weeks, months, or years.  It continues for life.

This time, it’s for real, peeps.

NOTE:  I’m going to try attending an Overeaters Anonymous meeting tomorrow.  I will update everyone on how it went in a future post.

Links of the Day

• Water Consumption Calculator:  Think you know how much water you should be drinking on a daily basis?  Try answering the simple questions on this site and see how much you should be drinking every day.  Apparently, I should be drinking 148 ounces of water.  If you are eating healthy, about 20% of your water may come from food you eat.  If I eat healthy, then I only need to drink 118 ounces of water.  Wowzers.  That’s a lot of water entering my body…and a lot of running to the bathroom.
• One Hundred Pushups:  I really suck at pushups.  Last time I tried a pushup (over two years ago), I barely got through one.  Currently, I have no idea how many I could do properly.  On this site, you can follow a six-week training program and eventually you will be able to complete 100 consecutive push ups.  Soooo…what the hell – I’m going to give a shot.  Tomorrow, I’m going to do the initial test, and then I will start on Monday.  I’ll keep you all updated on my progress.  Please feel free to follow along and test yourself too!