A Thing I Posted on Facebook Which I Will Post Again Here

Left: Salem, MA, July 2010 Right: Today

I wrote most of this post to accompany this new comparison between obese 2010 me on the left (age 43) and me today (like, this morning) on Facebook. The following is what I posted there with some edits. I didn't originally post it here because I will never not feel weird about posting a shirtless pic. Basically reblogging the Facebook post because I'm feeling lazy about writing at the moment.

I got down to the zone I wanted to be in, weight-wise, so I decided to do another before and after partly just to remind myself I'm still really doing it and note the fact I've begun a new tack--seeing how far I can go with strength and endurance.

 There's another reason--while I am not now nor will I ever be the most rah-rah sort of positive guy (it's not in my DNA; I even created LIFECOACHERS on Twitter just to make fun of that shiny-happy crazy way of thinking and living), something I've become aware of as people noted what I've done so far is how many other people in my age range (40 to 50), regardless of gender, seem to feel defeated by being somewhere near the place I was when that "before" pic was made.

The me from 2010 is 43. He's unhappy with his weight, his health, his outlook. Today, I still get depressed. I still eat wrong. I still have a drink and I filch cookies. But I'm in a groove and I like it--exercise, building up is a habit. I can't see stopping. So I won't.

It takes time. It can mean basic, permanent changes in what you do with yourself. But those can be done. I'm sure of it.

My point is I'm not special in any way. My outlook I can be terribly blinkered, limited. So I'm saying if a dipshit like me can do this, I am dead certain a lot of the people who have asked me about making these changes can do it too. I'm not trying to teach anyone anything and I suck at the whole "POSITIVITY ALL THE TIME" line of happy-crappy, but I can at least say "I did it, and I'm an idiot, so no problem for you, pal."