I’ve been writing about weight loss - on and off- for more than 2 years.  In that time, I’ve managed to lose about 100 points.  But, I’ve also managed to gain 100 pounds.  That’s right.  I weigh almost exactly the same amount today as I did two years ago.  I could go on and on, giving you reasons for ‘why’ - but there’s only one real reason.

I want results, and I want them to me immediate.  So, I follow a particular program, lose 10 or 15 pounds, and get excited.  Then, once the rapid weight loss stops, I get discouraged, and quit.  I’ve done this several times - not just over the course of my blog - but over the course of the last 15 years.

Yesterday, I had a long talk with a very good friend.  He was going on and on about my finance success - and he pointed out something very important.  He said, “You do a great job of creating financial goals, but you do a pitiful job of setting weight loss goals.  When you set a financial goal, you push yourself, but you manage to live in the ‘real’ world.  But, when you set a weight loss goal, you always go crazy, demanding ten pounds in two weeks, or fifty pounds in one month.  You need to have a goal - and it needs to be aggressive - but it also needs to be realistic.  And, you need to honor each meal, just like you honor each dollar.”

Pretty honest, right?  It’s good to have friends who will be ‘real’.  And, he’s right.  When it comes to weight loss, I want to work six weeks and undo a decade and a half of bad habits.

So, here’s my new, realistic, optimistic, doable goal.

I want to lose 1 pound, per week, over the course of the next two years.

Right now, I weigh right around 250 pounds.  If I lose a pound a week, I’ll weigh 200 by next summer and 150 by 2010.

I’ve done some calculations.  I’ll continue to eat consciously and follow the “I Will Make You Thin” principles - but I’ll also focus, just a bit, on calories.

If I eat 2500 calories, I should maintain my current weight.

If I eat 2000 calories, I should lose, roughly, 1 pound per week.

I plan to eat between 1800 and 2200 calories, and continue to walk 45 minutes per day.  I also plan to eat four or five small meals, instead of two or three big ones.  And, since I’m no longer drinking sodas, I’m already drinking copious amounts of water.

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As always, I like to be brutally honest.  After watching this video from over at Get Fit Slowly, I’m convinced that I’ve been doing my pushups ‘wrong’.  So, I retested myself, and I’m not ready to move to ‘level 3′.  In fact, I’ve decided that I need to be doing ‘level 1′ training.  Why?  Because, I want to do 100, super-awesome, perfect push ups, not 100, kinda wobbly, sloppy, almost ups.

So, today, I did the level 1 workout for day 2, week 1.  Here’s the chart -

As you can see, I’ll be doing far fewer push ups during each training session, but I feel that I’ll be much better served - in the long run - if I learn to do them correctly.

(I also need to hit the treadmill just a bit more.)

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A few days ago, I decided to join several of my fellow bloggers and attempt to do 100 Push Ups.  During my initial test, I was able to do 13 good, ‘regulation’ push ups.  Today, I officially started the program.

Here’s a chart detailing my Week 1 routine (chart comes directly from the HundredPushUps site.)

The first two sets of 10 were pretty easy, the set of 8 was more difficult, the set of 6 was excruciating, and the final set of 7 (actually 8 for me) nearly killed me.  But, I did a total of 42 push ups!!!

I’m really excited about being able to do 100 push ups - but I’m much more excited about feeling stronger.

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I’ve decided to jump on the one hundred push ups bandwagon. Following JD over at Get Fit Slowly, Nickel over at Fit36, and Jim over at Journal of Healthy Living, I’ve decided to try to do one hundred push ups - in just six weeks!

I just finished my initial test and I managed to do 13 push ups! How cool is that. Seriously, I didn’t think that I could do 3 push ups, but I managed to do 13! According to the one hundred push ups page, I’ll start at column three.

So, anybody else out there willing to take the challenge? If so, leave a comment and let me know!

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I weighed myself this morning - and I’m right at 243 pounds. This works well for my 33 by 33 project - my goal is to lose 33 pounds before my 33rd birthday in January. I have decided to go “low-carb” for a week or two. I’ve done this before and I find that it’s a pretty good way to curb my appetite, shed a little water weight, and jump start the weight loss.

I’ve picked out this week’s state park - and I’ll let you know all about it in my next post. I can’t wait to hit a new trail! I cannot explain to you how much I enjoyed last week’s “adventure”. I’ve purchased a can a bug spray, a little notebook for writing down my thoughts, and a new pair of boots.

If you haven’t visited No Credit Needed, check it out - I purchased a newer minivan for our family. I have been really, really stressed thinking about this purchase, and I’m glad to have it behind me. (Isn’t it strange how we eat when we are stressed - and then we just get more stressed because we’ve eaten so much!?!)

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