It ends today...

Current Weight: 215
Target Weight:  170

The title says it all. I'm tired of being overweight. Something must be done.

For most of my life, or for as long as I can remember, I have had a gut. When I look through pictures of myself throughout my life, I see pictures of a man in varying states of weight loss and weight gain, trying desperately to reach that goal I posted for myself the last time I lost weight, or the time before that, or the time before that...

I weighed myself today: 215lbs. I always wondered how many pounds there are in a "stone." I'm sure there is a conversion calculator out there on the web. But I'm not looking it up because 215lbs. means enough to me that I don't need to know how fat I am in other units of measure.

In the interest of complete disclosure, I should probably divulge that I have been fatter. In fact, I at one point got so fat that I stopped weighing myself altogether. I have much bigger jeans in storage than the ones I'm wearing now. I don't want to have to take those clothes out of storage. That is just one of the goals for why I'm starting this blog.

What does it take for someone to remain motivated? To stay focused? To commit for life? In essence, how does one finally acheive success and maintain it, never again to look upon a goal never achieved as a haunting reminder of failure?

I believe the promise to committment has to be larger than the goal itself. I don't just want to lose 45 lbs. I want someone to read this blog and follow my Tweets and find hope. I want someone to read about a guy just like him or her who gets weak from time to time. The regular guy or girl, the average Joe or Jane.

I am not perfect and I am not setting out to be. I just want to feel better about myself. And I know that I am not alone.