So far, so good ... So what?

Day 3. Things are going pretty well. No real hunger pains or cravings. Keeping the water intake up is a big thing.

When I was active-duty, I battled weight issues for a long time. I entered the Army at 150 pounds. I am now nearly double that.

I had no problem keeping the weight off my first year or so in the Army. Then I had a bad knee injury. While recuperating from that, I put on a little chunk. No worries. But then, shortly after recovering, I have a back injury. Add more chunk. Then I injur my knee again. Chunk-o-rama! I reached a point where I really had to work hard to keep the weight off -- exercising twice a day most days. 'Course, my diet wasn't the best and I was drinking at the time also.

Quitting drinking didn't help though. I have always had a problem with food. I was raised by Southerners and food isn't just a fuel source to us -- it's a lifestyle. I worked at a seafood restaurant for a bit and the bacon for their sandwiches was deep fried. Deep-fried bacon, only in the South.

I was also raised with food as rewards. So, that's been difficult to overcome. Every time I made a weight goal, I'd celebrate by eating something nasty. That's probably one of the hardest things to overcome, for me, mentally.

A little over a year ago I quit smoking and that's when the weight really started getting packed on. I have an addictive personality. If I find something I like, I'm going to do it a lot, as long as it doesn't require a lot of effort on my part. Drinking, smoking, eating, and general sloth are things I have done or do all too well.

But I'm attempting to change. It's time to change my lifestyle. Not just a diet to lose some weight for a little bit, but change the way I think about food and eating and activity. And to be quite honest, none of this is for me. I could care less what I look like. I don't even care too much for my health. I'd rather live quality than quantity -- enjoying my life.

What I need to do is set an example for my children. I want them to be happy and healthy and I think it's important for me and my wife to set that example. And since they may need me down the road someday, I should probably make sure I'm here as long as God will allow. So, that's my motivation -- the sparkle in my chlidren's eyes.

On a related but different topic, if you've ever wondered about the nutritional value of certain foods, check out the Nutrition Data website. A great site that tells you the nutrition information for tons of foods and has a drop menu for each kind of food to change the serving size. Very cool.