Initially I underestimated how heavy I had gotten. I thought my weight was around 200 pounds so my goal was to lose 25 pounds. When I started this diet I found I was not 200 but in actuality I was just over 210! This put my weight loss goal at 40 pounds instead of 25.

For the first few weeks this was a pretty depressing thought. Losing 25 pounds seemed like climbing a mountain. Losing 40 pounds was more like scaling Mt. Everest and as out of shape as I was that would be impossible.

I truly did not think I had what it took to get anywhere near my goal. Through hard work and the encouragement of my health coach Amy, I just kept working and staying on plan. Some days were better than others as I tried to overcome the everyday temptations that an obese society throws at us.

The first week was great losing 10 pounds but from that point forward the weight dropped much more slowly and it seemed as though I would never reach my goal. Today though I stepped on the scale and it read 179.9 pounds.

I have to admit, I did a double take when I looked at the scale display. I have not been in the 170’s since I graduated from college and that seemed like an eternity ago.

Now the goal seems obtainable. I am no longer trying to lose double-digits of weight. I am only 9.9 pounds away from my goal! I have to keep reminding myself that the last few pounds will likely be the hardest to lose.

My body has less fat now than it did when it started and my metabolism is becoming more efficient meaning that it doesn’t need as much fuel to maintain itself. Hopefully with continued exercise and sticking to the meal plans I will be able to continue the path.

I have to imagine this is a lot like running a marathon. In the beginning 26.2 miles may as well be 262,000 miles. When you start out you have the desire to finish the race but you can’t think about crossing the finish line. Instead you have to focus on the short-term goals. You just have to reach the first mile marker then the second and so forth.

After 13.1 miles you begin to tell yourself not that you still have halfway to go but rather that you have survived the first half and if you can just hang on the distance is getting shorter. It is not until you reach mile 20 that the end seems in sight. You still cannot sprint that last 6.2 miles but you can pace yourself and will your body to hold on.

I feel like I am in that final stretch. I can’t see the finish line on the horizon yet but I know it’s coming and I just need to find that little bit of energy that will keep me moving until the finish comes into view. So let the countdown begin as I move closer and closer to the end of this journey.

At the time I weighed just over 210 pounds, an all-time high for me. I was diagnosed with high blood pressure and the doctor had me on two separate medications to manage my condition. Even on two pills for treatment my blood pressure was still 146/95. The doctor went on to say that I was suffering from a fatty liver and that I was slowly killing myself.

With all this bad news in my life I seriously considered just giving up and letting nature and a series of bad health choices doom me to an existence where I died prematurely leaving a wife and kids to pick up the pieces. I am not a quitter and made a choice to see if I could curb the health problems and become healthier.

Starting this program with my health coach Amy I began a journey not just to lose weight but to hopefully learn what caused my gradual weight gain. It was this educational process that I had not expected and one that I have grown to really appreciate.

Now here I am eight weeks later and I am shocked at the progress I have made in so many aspects of my life. Besides eating better, I am now more active walking approximately 5 miles a day, which equates to around 11,000 steps. I am making better food choices and have an understanding of what the nutritional labels on the back of packages actually mean. I’m getting more sleep. Although I am still not getting the recommended 8 hours a night I have increased my rest from 3 hours to just over 6 hours so I am making progress.

I stepped on my Withings Wi-Fi Body Scale to get an end of week reading. I hoped I would see a 2.5-pound loss, which is what I have been averaging over the past little while. Instead my mouth fell open to see I was now at 181.6 pounds. That is a loss of over three pounds and a total loss of 29 pounds since I started less than two months ago! My body mass index is now solidly in the normal range and my percent body fat has dropped to 18.2%. I have not been this weight in over 20 years.

When I started my blood pressure was alarmingly high. Now eight weeks later I have stopped taking both medications and my readings are now 112/72, which is slightly low. It’s not just the weight; it’s how I feel. I have more energy and I’m able to enjoy things with my kids that I had thought I had outgrown long ago.

I could not have done any of this alone. My health coach Amy has been amazing. She is there to listen when I was discouraged and pepped me up when I needed it the most. She patiently answers all of my questions which I am sure are anything but normal.

My family has been a major source of support. My wife Trina painstakingly shops and prepares meals encouraging me beyond my comfort zone to try new healthier items. She has rearranged her schedule so that she makes sure I eat at the proper time. There are days when she is fixing several different meals for members of the family and she never complains. My kids have been eager to help cheering me on and motivating me to continue when I didn’t really want to.

Looking back over the past eight weeks it has perhaps been one of the most enjoyable journeys in my life. I feel like a completely new person who is taking advantage of being healthy for the first time in a very long time. I have not reached my goal yet. I still have 11.6 pounds to get where I want to be but for now I am happy with the results and I encourage everyone to stop and consider finding a healthy lifestyle that will make them happy.

Let me give you a historical example. A few years back I was involved in an online community of Disney pin traders. It was a close-knit group of people who loved Disney magic and happened to collect pins. Walt Disney World scheduled a pin trading convention at Epcot and several of the people from the online community decided to attend.

I thought it sounded like fun and made reservations for Trina and I to be at the convention. I mentioned online how it would be great if we all could meet at the convention and get to put a face with a name. Everyone loved the idea and I volunteered to set something up.

With Disney expecting well over 1,000 people at the event I wondered how in the world our little group would ever be able to identify each other since none of us had ever met in person. It occurred to me that we needed some way for us to know we were part of the same group. A simple nametag sticker would suffice but seemed kind of lame. Instead I suggested that we get matching pin lanyards. Everyone loved the idea. The problem was, we had no idea where to get them.

I approached Trina and knowing how talented and crafty she is I asked if she could make a pin-trading lanyard. I showed her what I was thinking and after pondering it for a bit she agreed that she should be able to do that but the question was, how many did I need. Trina constantly reminds me that my answer was, “oh not too many maybe 10 or 12.”

As God is my witness I thought that estimate was right. I went back to the online community and begin telling people about my plans and about Trina offering to make us each a custom lanyard. I set up a sign-up page online and asked everyone who was interested to sign up. At the end of the first day there were 25 people who planned on attending.

Obviously my estimate of 10 or 12 had suddenly doubled. I went back to Trina and apologized saying I had slightly underestimated but that the number should top out at around 25. Trina agreed and began making plans to create the lanyards. Within a week we had over 250 people sign up for the event and it became legendary. Trina not only made 250 custom lanyards but we also made lanyard cards, tags, and other things. That small gathering grew into three gigantic yearly events that people are still talking about a decade later.

As a result of that one small event Trina and I became an official 2002 Winter Olympics vendor selling lanyards in Salt Lake City. We’ve also sold lanyards to the National Football League as part of the Super Bowl and our lanyards have sold in national parks around the country. Don’t ask me how I still have no idea.

Today’s episode pales in comparison to the great lanyard debacle as it has come to be known in our household. During the recent goal setting exercise I committed to myself to walk 10,000 steps a day. Much like the lanyard thing, I didn’t really think that would be too difficult.

What I found out was that 10,000 are a lot of steps especially for someone who normally sits in front of a computer screen typing all day long. At the end of today I had just 1,000 steps well short of my goal. Instead of just shrugging it off I decided I would meet my goal even if it killed me.

I went to Trina and asked her if she wanted to walk with me. She asked where we were going and how long would we be. My response was, “oh not too far and it shouldn’t take us too long I just need to get some steps in.”

I have to say right here that after being married 30 years, part of the blame should go to Trina because she should know better than listen to me especially when I am estimating. Instead of a short 20-minute walk it turned into a 5.5-mile death march get to the 10,000 step goal.

By the end we were both exhausted but according to my FitBit we had walked about 11,000 steps putting my total at over 12,000 for the day. But at least we didn’t end up making 5,000 custom lanyards so I am getting better.

It’s funny, when I was younger I fashioned myself an athlete. From a very early age I was involved in one sport or another. I was always active whether it be running, throwing, hitting, kicking, or swimming. As I got older and heavier I found my level of activity diminish.

Some of that had to do with becoming a father and settling down to provide for my family. Other parts of my life took precedent and I was less active. Add to this the fact that my job became more sedentary requiring me to sit in front of a computer screen for long periods of time and it was no wonder why I was gaining weight.

Every year I would promise myself that I would become more active but the thoughts of going to the gym made me cringe. I didn’t have a good positive image of myself and thought I was too old to make any difference.

As a companion to changing my eating habits, my health coach has given me homework to read about how I can make changes to live a healthier lifestyle. I initially expected this to be how to start exercise but I was surprised to learn that the program instead was teaching simple motion versus devoted exercise routines.

The reading text sounded like something I had first-hand experience with. Sixty percent of people get no regular physical activity. Twenty-five percent get no activity at all. Fifty percent of those who begin an exercise program quit within six months. Within a year of purchase 90 percent of all exercise equipment goes unused.

With those kinds of statistics its no wonder I have failed in maintaining the proper approach to exercise. I have a million and one excuses for not exercising but somehow cannot find a single reason important enough for me to stay focused.

This program attempts to change my way of thinking about physical activity. It doesn’t have to involve going to the gym, using specialized equipment, or even tracking the amount of weight or minutes I exercise each day. Instead they focus on adding regular movement to my daily life.

Every movement we make burns calories. Some movements burn more than other but the important piece is to begin slowly increasing the amount of calories we expend and not increasing the amount we consume.

They talk about simple things such as the number of calories you burn standing versus sitting or how you can add to your movement program by getting up out of your chair even if you don’t do anything other than sitting back down. Walk to the television or to the sink rather than asking someone to bring something because they are already there.

I’ve begun looking at every motion I make on a daily basis and contemplating how I can use this to my advantage buy increasing either the duration or intensity to burn a few more calories. Rather than looking for a parking place close to the entrance I am not looking at each step from the parking lot as another opportunity to burn excess calories.

It’s an interesting way of looking at the world and one I had taken for granted. From this point forward I need to consider what I can do to maximize movement in my life. Every step I take, every move I make needs to work to help me become healthier. It’s a small thing that who knows may make a difference in me living longer.

Several of the highlights of the past 12 months have something to do with baseball and in particular the Arizona Diamondbacks, which is to be expected if you know me at all. Rather than recount everything that happened last year I have written it in our Family Newsletter that normally goes out with our Christmas cards which were somehow lost (I’m still claiming they are either in the pantry that needs to be cleaned or aliens abducted them and are now probing the cards for some scientific experiment).

Despite trying to say positive and optimistic about the past year there were some things I would just as soon try to forget some of the events we endured. As I stop to ponder the problems I’m left with an overwhelming sense of gratitude not because of the pain or suffering but for the humility these trials have taught me. In nearly every instance the problem or trial I’ve endured has resulted in more blessings.

While it was difficult to see Ashley and Eli’s marriage end and there were countless phone calls and trips to Utah to deal with the aftermath there was a hidden silver lining. Ashley and Lily have now moved back to Arizona and are currently living with us. When our kids were little I was so involved in my career that I was not around nearly as much as I should have been. Now I have been given a Mulligan to learn from that. Now I have the opportunity to be around every day and engage with Lily and watch everything she learns.

When 2011 started it did so under very uncertain terms. Starting in December 2010 I went through a series of surgeries. First my gallbladder was removed that was to help with a lot of the problems I was having with my health. During tests leading up to that though the doctors uncovered several other “areas of concern”.

During a chest X-ray doctors found an irregular mass in my chest that they cannot account for. I’ve seen several specialists and the mass to date continues to baffle the medical community. It is in such a place that it is impossible to remove or do a biopsy without potentially impacting my heart. It’s always fun when you’re told you have a mystery mass in your chest that may or may not be a problem and that the only treatment process seems to be to regularly do chest X-rays to monitor if it is moving or growing.

If that was not troublesome enough, tests also suggested that I might have prostate cancer. This of course led to additional tests and was finally given a clean bill of health at least in that area. These tests though led to other tests and a year ago I went in for exploratory surgery for possible pancreatic cancer.

It’s funny how different your outlook on life is when they start using the “C” word. More tests and more surgical procedures and the doctor came back with the diagnosis that what they found was “pre-cancerous”. I’m not exactly sure what “pre-cancerous” means. I thought the answer was a simple yes or no but that doesn’t necessarily seem to be the case.

I had always been under the impression that Medicine was kind of an exact science but the more deeply I get involved I realize that it’s a lot like playing the lottery but doctors get paid more and my odds of winning are greater for the lottery.

Despite all the uncertainty and being poked and prodded more than one of the Kardashian sisters I’m trying to relax and find the humor in all of this. That’s easier said than done at times. You try to come up with an appropriate comeback while wearing a hospital gown bent over a table with banjo music playing on the doctor’s office speakers.

Trina has begun going to the doctors with me. At first I thought it was because she wanted to see the hospital gown but she quickly denied that. No, she wanted to hear first hand what the doctor was saying. It’s not that she didn’t trust me. Ok, it’s exactly that she didn’t trust me to tell her what the doctor said.

During one visit as we were either going over the fielding statistics for the Arizona Diamondbacks infield or my blood work from the latest tests the doctor explained that I was overweight. It’s funny how they phrase it. It’s not, “Oh man you are seriously fat!” It’s a little more subtle than that. They use phrases like, “According to the levels you have a fatty liver.”

It’s kind of sneaky really. My response was, “ok doc so how much exercise do you think we should make my liver do so it gets back in shape and loses a few pounds?” This is met with some kind of blank stare followed by an explanation that its me who has to lose the pounds and that the liver just sits there.

So as a result Trina came away with the solution that I need to change my eating habits and lose some weight. And since it is New Years this is perfect since I will have plenty of company with other beached whales who’s liver is requiring them to drop a few pounds and a few hamburgers.

Just so we are all clear, this sucks. I like sitting on the couch and watching the MLB Network while eating Lucky Charms. My wife, my doctor, and that traitor my liver seems to think it’s time to change. So I have been given one New Years resolution, reduce my weight.

I figured that since this is my first attempt at dieting it might be fun to document the process. After all, if my liver and me end up getting into an argument I at least want everyone to know my side of the story.

In its simplest form a pedometer is attached to your waistband and will measure the number of steps that you take in the course of a day. Obviously though I was not interested in the simplest form of a device. No, I had to find the most tricked out pedometer on the planet.

I wanted something that would not only document the number of steps I took but would also provide other data that could be used to determine how efficient I was walking. I began my search for the ultimate pedometer and after exhaustive research I found the Omron HJ-720IT pedometer.

The HJ-720IT will calculate the number of steps you take but also offers several other features. For example, you can calibrate the pedometer by entering your weight and length of stride and the device will calculate how many steps you have taken, the number of calories you have burned, and the distance you have travelled. It will also measure the pace of the walking you have done as well as the time you have taken. With these measurements it can determine if you have entered aerobic exercise range and will calculate the number of steps and the time you spent working out aerobically.

All of these data points are supposed to help you understand what type of exercise you are getting and how long the exercise is lasting. Of course having all of this information on your pedometer is great but who wants to have to go home each night and write down the data for tracking your progress?

The people at Omron understand what a pain that is so they designed the HJ-720IT with a mini-USB port that can be connected to a personal computer running Windows. The pedometer comes with health management software that will download the information from the device and enter the data in a proprietary Microsoft Access database.

The data is then presented to the user in graph format. Within the software you can set daily goals for each of the measurements. When the data is downloaded from the pedometer it is compared against the goals and will display which days you reached your goal and which days you were unsuccessful.

The software is fairly straight forward to use. You can create separate user accounts for each person having a pedometer. The software will recognize when the pedometer is attached to the computer and if you try to download the data in the wrong user account you are given a warning.

Initially the software would only support Windows XP but a recent release has also made the software available for Windows Vista as well. I’ve attempted to find out whether a new version will be made available for Windows 7 but no work yet from the manufacturer.

The display on the pedometer itself will display data for the last seven days but the pedometer itself will store data for up to 45 days after which you will get a few days of warning to down the data on the pedometer. If you ignore the warnings the pedometer will cease collecting data until it is downloaded.

Once data has been downloaded to the computer it is erased from the pedometer so I would definitely recommend backing up the database on the computer regularly to avoid losing anything.

The HJ-720IT pedometer runs on a single 2032 wafer battery. The battery life is roughly 6 months regardless of whether the pedometer is used or not. The device does give you some warning when the battery is low but not very much so when the display begins flashing, make sure you replace the battery soon.

Overall the device has worked flawlessly. It has given me an indication of exactly how sedentary I have actually become which is kind of depressing to think about. Having the data in graph form has been interesting and I can see what times of day I am most idle.

I do wish there was a Macintosh version of the software but that does not seem to be a high priority to Omron making it fairly useless for Mac users. The software will also interface with Omron’s blood pressure devices to allow you to track your blood pressure as well as your walking activities.

While I probably didn’t need a pedometer with a computer interface it has been fun to watch and see how my walking activities have changed since I’ve started using it. I would recommend the HJ-720IT but with the caveat that you need a Windows PC to make it useful. For now, I have to go, I’m still 7,231 steps away from my daily goal and the day is half over.