Morning Foks!!
I am 'Goal Oriented'. I was not always wired that way. It was taught and then self learned and then employed over and over and over again over time. It's a great feeling to know you have a road map to almost every goal before you even set the goal. A realistic chance of achievement so strong there is little or no doubt of success. Some goals loftier than others. Each usually a pretty long journey.
Today I hit a Major personal goal of mine. But it was made up of a lot of Mini-Goals and rewards along the way. But this one was the toughest one I may have ever faced. I had to change my habits in a real way. I had to change things in life that I did not want to change. But I made a choice. I made a decision. I decided to do something and not do it the conventional way, but my way and in my time.
What motivated me? Diabetes, Cancer, Death or whatever else, God willing, being in the 60's, 70's, 80's might bring. So I decided to do something proactive. I decided to lose the weight I had gained from being a domainer and sitting at this computer for the past 17 years. Going from fit to fat.
I like to eat! Strike that. I LOVE to eat! What better way to celebrate a good day but with a great, and in my case, HUGE meal. I am an eater. Get into the hotel, let's have rooms service before we go to cocktail hour on the way to dinner and then maybe a hot fudge sunday on the way back and maybe a late night snack. Set you clocks for 8AM because the breakfast buffet is off the hook. Then we'll do something special for lunch and get a quick snack before we order room service and go to the cocktail hour......repeat, repeat, repeat. FAT! FAT! FAT!
It was not unusual for me when I look back to go out and eat 5000 calories at one sitting. 10,000-12,000 a day. Day after day after day until there was no room in my body and I almost exploded. I ate like Michael Phelps and looked like I swallowed a bowling ball or two.
When I went on my 30 day Honeymoon with Alina I weighed 197LB. 48 hours before the Ceremony. Then 203 at the wedding and a whopping 217 at the Beverly Hills Hotel before I stopped weighing myself on the trip. So I guess I would have topped out at 220LBS as I arrived back home from that trip. I mean it was a culinary trip the likes of which I had never done or imagined before.
Then 3 summers ago I decided that if I did not get this under control it was going to get completely out of control. It would make me have health issues and so I prepared my mind for the journey to come. I prepared to change the habits that got me to that point. It was not easy after 55 years of eating for sport. My favorite pass time. Almost.
When I set goals I set them in steps. Achievable steps that give me the fuel and motivation to continue and see results along the way. My Long term RIDICULOUS goal was 169. I mean that was like shooting for the moon. Something you shoot for but know it is not really within reach. So you aim high and do what you can to get as close as possible,
So I set all these mini goals. 210, 205, 200, 199, 195, 190, 187.5, 185, 183, 181, 180, 179, 177.5, 176, 175, 174, 172.5, 172, 171, 170.5, 170, 169. It is one step at a time. The only way ANYTHING works. It's a ladder. Skip steps and you fall to the bottom and that means you wasted a lot of time and energy to only be where you started. No progress. All pain, no gain. So I celebrate EVERY step along the way! Its the story of the tortoise and the hare. Folks laugh at me for my slow progress on things. But the keyword is progress. Any measurable progress is a success.
So TODAY, after 3 years, after some ups and downs, after learning what I could, after reducing this and that, I have reached my GOAL! Yippie! 169lbs baby!! Never thought I would see that number again.
My doctor asked me what I did because it is rare to see somebody keep the weight off? First of all I NEVER exercised. I just SLOWLY began to change my habits. Slowly going down from 5 bottles of Ginger Ale everyday to 1-2 bottles. Having one bite of Chocolate cake instead of a large piece. Having a few bites of everything I like but that's it. I told him I knew if I did not change these things and my habits by myself, I would go into see him one day and he would tell me I could NEVER eat this or that again. I like food too much for that to happen.
In certain circles I am known as the 'Domain King'. In other circles I am known as the the '800 King' but in even another circle, I am known as the 'Carpaccio King'. Really. Coast to coast and a few countries and ships. But that story is for another day.
So TODAY I am 50LBS less than I was and I still eat my bacon and eggs each day. But now I am even trying to modify that a bit to reduce the fat. But first I decided to tackle the big problem. Overeating. Now I will refine what I am doing and hopefully as those new habits get reinforced, I will be able to maybe lose just a couple more pounds. But I am going to celebrate to with a nice lunch, hopefully take half home for dinner and so it goes.
If I had to boil it down to five or six words I would say it would certainly be discipline, decision making, determination added with a desire and then realizing it takes 30-60 days to break any habit or to form any habit. Add that with a passion to succeed and there is not much in life that can stop you or me from achieving any goal. But few goals happen overnight. It's a long process. Many steps. Sometimes thousands. This one was just over 1000 days. But there is no force on this planet that can hold any of us back when there is a true desire to succeed and the PATIENCE to see it through. Whether 3 years or 20 years.
I had a choice 1000 days ago. I could have kept on going and today maybe I would have been 269lbs instead of 100lbs less. Isn't that the REAL reality?
Have a GREAT Day!
Rick Schwartz
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