Why?

Well, I'll tell you why...

Why...what exactly?

Why am I trying to lose weight and get down to 200 lbs.? Well, it's not so much the number, but that number has always been in the back of my mind. I think I remember being in maybe 6th or 7th grade and stepping on the scale and seeing 197 lbs. and vowing to myself that I wasn't going to pass 200. Then the next time I stepped on, it said something like 205. I remember being pretty discouraged then, but I never really changed any behavior in order to lose weight. The heaviest I remember seeing on the scale was 277 when I was a senior in high school.

So, this has been pretty much a lifelong battle and it's not at all healthy to be as overweight as I was, or even as I am now. Elliot provides even more motivation to get healthy. I know that I'm not guaranteed to live long and prosper if I lose weight and eat right, God may take me at any time. But, if it's up to me, I want to be healthy so that I can spend as much time with my family as I can and do so with energy and life. Other, less consequential reasons I have include turning 30 this year and a nagging lower back/sciatic nerve issue that I'm sure will be somewhat ameliorated with less stress, i.e. weight, on it every second of the day.