Jeff Blogs

As the first rays of sunlight crept through the window and across the bed I found myself wide-awake. I didn’t have to be reminded that today was Friday that fact was clearly at the forefront of my mind. It’s funny; I used to look forward to Friday. It was the end of the workweek and with it brought the weekend where I could relax and lounge around without being on conference calls or locked in meetings.

Since starting this diet though I have found myself filled with equal parts of enthusiasm and dread. On the one hand it signaled the end of another week on my journey to a healthier lifestyle. On the other hand it represented the time where I would have to step on the scale and see the results of being on this diet.

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It seems like every day I use my FitBit Ultra I learn a little bit more. I am finding capabilities that I didn’t know existed and I’m now working on a plan on how to incorporate these features into my overall health plan. Initially I bought the FitBit to merely track my physical activity in the form of steps but shortly thereafter I’ve found an abundance of useful and sometimes non-useful information.

Being on the Take Shape For Life diet I have not really had to worry too much about what I eat and in what quantity. These types of decisions are taken care of especially for the five meal replacements that are strung throughout the day.

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It’s funny, for most of my life I could care very little whether I gained acceptance from anyone other than myself. What people think has very little bearing on my confidence or self-esteem. It didn’t matter whether it was a complete stranger or someone I loved, people’s perceptions of me had only nominal value.

I’ve come to learn that this is not necessarily a normal personality trait. It leads to many people being awkward around me and give me the impression of being aloof, conceited, or self-centered. In a sense that may be right. From a very early age I decided that the only person who really mattered when defining my self-worth was me.

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When I was considering going on a diet I carefully calculated the date when I would start. Initially I considered trying to lose weight shortly after baseball season ended last October. I expected that it would take 2-3 months for me to get down to the weight I wanted and that was being aggressive with the amount I would lose each week.

The problem I ran into was that if I started this diet in mid-October I would be on it through the first of the year. This would mean that I would be on a strict meal regime and exercise program through the holiday season. It would mean I would not be able to sneak into the kids’ Halloween candy; I wouldn’t be able to partake in the luscious Thanksgiving feast; and I would miss out on all of the delicious treats that are only available at Christmas.

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It’s hard to believe but I have now officially been on my diet for one month. On January 13th I made the decision that I needed to make some changes in my life. I had steadily gained weight over the past 30 years and had gone from 175 when I got married to just over 210 pounds a month ago.

I don’t really remember the weight gain; but looking at recent photographs and at myself in the mirror one month ago I was shocked to see the transformation. I was once an athlete who could run tirelessly and eat whatever I wanted. Suddenly I was plump around the middle and had a hard time catching my breath after walking up a flight of stairs.

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