Go For 20!

Back when I started my career, I worked for a company that ran a “Go For 10!” promotion. They were a smaller company in their industry, and they wanted to push sales to get into the top 10. So, Go For 10! They failed. In fact, they may have fallen further down the ranks, and I was a part of it. Great story, right?

I’m running my own personal “Go For 20” promotion, but not to get into the top 20 of human beings. I don’t have a chance of getting there, especially when I publish a series of blog posts titled “Am I a Bad Guy?”

But I do have a chance to lose 20 pounds! I’m going for 20 pounds lost! By the end of August, I had officially lost 17 pounds of winter tubbiness and am currently trending toward 18 lost pounds of lard. How? COVID lead to underemployment which lead to less money which lead to me to walking and biking while contemplating my dilemma which lead me to notice things growing which lead me to eating those growing things. Here’s my harvest of European plums today …

They kind of look like sweet, juicy red seedless grapes. They’re not. NOT AT ALL. They taste nothing like grapes. They are edible but tart. I will eat them, but it’s not like there’s a chance I’m going to overeat. The real key to the weight loss has been in taking steps to better health, literally. Take a look at this pic.

I started to ratchet up my steps in April, and have topped a 10K steps per day average for 3 straight months. Some of those steps are actually cranks on my bike or steps on our elliptical trainer. I stopped trying to record the strokes when I swim because that led to frequent phone replacement.

I have found it to be not too difficult. Walking the dog, cutting the lawn (unless you own a riding mower), biking to the bank’s drive-thru, and stomping my feet while tantrumming when I can’t have the dessert I want are normal activities for me that all add onto steps taken.

I’ve got 1 more month of good weather before the outdoors starts getting sketchier in October. I’ve lost 17 pounds in 3 months that averages out to … uh … something over 3 pounds a month. I should be able to lose 20 by the end of September.

And then? I expect it’ll get a bit tougher as the weather keeps me indoors more. Go For 25? By the end of 2020? If I survive to the end of 2020, anything’s possible.