Happy 5th Anniversary Destination 195!

Lay off me… I’m STARVING!

                                 -Chris Farley

Happy 5^th anniversary to the 2012 Destination 195! Challenge; the only successful descent to 195 pounds since my wedding prep in 2003. My motivation to get skinny leading into my wedding was for posterity sake… Didn’t want to be fat-faced in my wedding photos. I won’t be around in 300 years to defend the chubby choice. Vanity is one way to get it done.

When Destination 195! Blogging came to life in 2009 I had been enjoying married life, two kids, and the middle American dream for a good stretch. Very little motivated me to lose weight. I’m comfortable in my skin, world. Take me for who I am and stop interrupting my nap! However, I had not completely lost my primal urges to look good for the wife. She occasionally gave me the Pillsbury Doughboy tummy poke, yet never held the pounds over my head. She was good, so I was good. Who knew, but it only took a dare to get me going again. (Check out the early No Fat Jokes Please entries to gain perspective - especially if you are not the type of person who has ever chugged a full bottle of Hidden Valley Ranch for $5.00.) I don’t climb mountains just because they are there, I climb mountains because a buddy bets me I can’t climb the mountain while holding up the universal simple for acting like a complete wuss. The dare is the fundamental motivator for my weight loss. There is nothing left to prove to myself. I just need rub it in the rube’s face who dared to dare me to climb that stupid mountain. That and my desire to break 18:00 minutes in the 1500 meter freestyle at the December Masters swimming regional championships. Either one will work!  

Here are the past numbers, cuz I don’t hide from the scale:

2003    

January 1^st starting weight 234         

June 21^st ending weight 195

2009   

July 14^th starting weight 235              

Nov 5^th ending weight 214

2012    

August 1^st starting weight 231          

Dec 1^st ending weight 193

2017    

August 1^st starting weight 231           

Dec 1^st ending weight TBD

Hopefully history will use the revisionist eraser to block out my piss poor 2009 results. Unlike years past where my weight cruised around the uncomfortable, yet manageable 230 plus range, this year I had to lose 20 pounds to get back to the common starting weight. Since changing careers in 2015 the weight climbed a steady upward grade to a peak of 250. This past spring I required no extra time with wardrobe to get into my Matt Foley costume. Well, la-de frickin’ dah there is another fat guy with an office job. Mr. Foley, let’s get this challenge started again. And rumor has been confirmed, Jaron will be along for the ride to encourage, craft workouts, and join in on all the gym shenanigans.