Project: Final Reset: The Beginning

Tomorrow, I turn 33.

I couldn't ask for a better way to start my 34th year of living: I have all four of my boys (Ohio and Georgia), my daughter and awesome wife around me. That said, there are things I know I could improve with myself.

While Tammy was pregnant with Hannah, I put on a lot of "sympathy" weight. That's what Tammy called it anyway. Personally, I called it "competitive" weight. Regardless of the why, the simple fact is that I put on too much weight. Now, I have to lose it.

Project: Final Reset
Tammy and I plan on Hannah being our final contribution (of little bundles of joy) to the world. Recently, we were talking about that while we took a mile walk around a park with Hannah and Will. Tammy said something along the lines of, "It's nice to know we won't have to hit the reset button anymore."

Obviously, we love having children, but we both have to hit the reset button on our weight with each child. Tammy has biological reasons. Mine are more psychological, I guess (and yes, I realize there's probably plenty everyone could say about that).

Anyway, I consider this latest round of weight loss Project: Final Reset. The goal is that I don't have to hit that dreaded reset button again on my weight and my health. Here's how it works:

1. Lose weight. I'm doing this by eating healthier foods and smaller portions. Not exactly brain science, but I do feel the diet I'm using (mentioned below) is the best out of the several diets I've tried over the years.
2. Start running. I'm waiting until my weight gets close to or below 210 pounds before running. I've tried running at heavier weights before, and the same thing always happens: I slim down, but lose virtually no weight. And heavy is heavy when you're running, whether it's fat or muscle.
3. Stay consistent. This means that I plan to make my diet my normal way of eating. I don't have an end date for quitting the diet. Once I get close to my target weight, I will try to adjust portions to ensure I don't completely disappear, but I want to stay healthy. This also means I want to continue working out at least 3-4 days a week too.
4. Budget. Not all my changes are physical. Tammy and I had to create a tight budget to accommodate for her maternity leave (after Hannah). We both plan on continuing the tight budget after she goes back to work. That way, we can finish paying off all our debt and put more money in savings.
5. Simplify. I've already been working on this for more than a year, but it's a process that I think is very important to all my other goals. The more I can simplify processes and my own schedule the more time I can spend with my family and on myself.

Already started
I could've waited until my birthday (or Janaury 1, 2012), but I didn't. I've actually been working toward my goals for 3 weeks now. In 3 weeks, I've lost 19 pounds!

I'm following a healthy liver diet that was working extremely well for me when Tammy got pregnant with Hannah. Of course, I quit the diet soon after hearing the news. Now that I'm back on it, I really can't understand why I ever left it.

The diet cuts out foods that overload the liver--red meats, sugar, dairy, and processed meats--and replaces them with healthy foods--raw fruits and veggies, whole wheat breads, eggs, chicken, and fish. I still have cravings for the bad stuff, but I also know how carried away I can get once I get started.

A goal
I don't have an end date for my diet and fitness objectives. However, I do have one goal: On Thanksgiving morning, I want to run the Atlanta Half-Marathon. I don't have a goal time; the goal is simply to run the whole race from beginning to end.

Maybe after 13.1 miles of punishment, I'll let myself have a day of feasting.

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The diet I'm on worked in the past and is working again. It's not only a diet that helps you lose weight, but it helps your body function better by taking care of your liver. In fact, the diet was originally created to help cure other ailments--outside of weight loss--and for me, it's helped my skin feel smoother and gets rid of headaches.

Click here to learn more about The Liver Cleansing Diet, by Sandra Cabot.