If we had no winter, the spring would not be so pleasant; if we did not sometimes taste of adversity, prosperity would not be so welcome. Anne Bradstreet

And if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness. I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them. Ether 12:27

Yea, all things which come of the earth, in the season therof, are made for the benefit and the use of man, both to please the eye and to gladden the heart; Yea, for food and for raiment, for taste and for smell, to strengthen the body and to enliven the soul. And it pleaseth God that he hath given all these things unto man; for unto this end were they made to be used, with judgment, not to excess, neither by extortion. D&C 59:18-20

Friday, August 31, 2007

The ticker at the bottom of the page

The ticker represents my success so far in losing weight. I don't know for sure what my start weight was, in the fall of 2005, but I know it was at least 255. So, I've come a long way.

I chose a turtle because of the fable The Tortoise and the Hare. If you are not familiar with the fable, here it is:

There once was a speedy hare who bragged about how fast he could run. Tired of hearing him boast, Slow and Steady, the tortoise, challenged him to a race. All the animals in the forest gathered to watch.

Hare ran down the road for a while and then paused to rest. He looked back at Slow and Steady and cried out, "How do you expect to win this race when you are walking along at your slow, slow pace?"

Hare stretched himself out alongside the road and fell asleep, thinking, "There is plenty of time to relax."

Slow and Steady walked and walked. He never, ever stopped until he came to the finish line.

The animals who were watching cheered so loudly for Tortoise, they woke up Hare.

Hare stretched and yawned and began to run again, but it was too late. Tortoise was over the line.

After that, Hare always reminded himself, "Don't brag about your lightning pace, for Slow and Steady won the race!"
[borrowed from http://www.storyarts.org/library/aesops/stories/tortoise.html]

I included my BMI because that is a significant indicator of good health. I chose 124 as my goal weight because that is the top of the range for a healthy BMI for my height. I may go lower than that, we'll see, but for now, my goal is to be a healthy weight.

My next intermittent goal is 160. That is when I can remove the word "obese" from my weight description. You can watch the ticker, but I'll also make a special announcement, and we can all have a "virtual" party to celebrate.

In future posts, I'll describe the various plans I used along the way to weight loss success, and pass along some well-learned lessons and some insightful websites.

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