IT ALL BEGINS TOMORROW!

I'm doing Optifast. Tomorrow is the last day of food and starting Tuesday I go on a liquid fast. Sounds drastic, huh? Well, I'm desperate.

Why am I doing this?

Two months ago I sat down with my mother and I told her I wanted to do Optifast. She said it was too expensive. She said it would be too hard. But I had a comeback.

I knew at that time there were two truths.
1) I spend more that $140 a week on food. Optifast was cheaper.
2) I had been obese since 4th or 5th grade. That means I had been "over weight" or simply fat (aka: Fatty McFatterton) for 27 years. (I'm 38 right now- 39 in September).

Plus, I have an arsenal of health reasons:
- Diabetes: My mom, dad and dad's side of the family
- Cancer: Uncle Larry died of Colo-rectal Cancer and another uncle from testicular. And my grandma had leukemia (or was it lymphoma. I can't recall which one).
- Heart problems: Uncle Robert died just 2 months ago from a heart attack and my parents have high blood pressure. I have struggled with it, too.
- Arthritis: On both sides of my family and my mom has Fibromyalgia.

I think that's a good list. But then there's the incredibly vain side of me: I'd say it's because I'm a gay man but I think we all feel this way...

I want to wear a speedo. I want to look good in some designer clothes and wear things that make me feel sexy. As my brother put it, " I'm sick of shopping for clothes and picking the the one thing that looks less like a pup-tent." Also my sister-in-law made a good point about her weight. "I can be fat and I can be forty. But, I can't be fat AND forty." I think that gets right to the point.

On top of it all I chose to run a 1/2 marathon. I signed up for the Disneyland Half on September 4th. Needless to say I can't do it. But I'm up for the 1/2 Marathon at Disney World in January. I should be at my goal weight and mostly on solid food again. I used to run 5K's when I was 250 lbs. Now at 311 lbs I think I can work my way to 220 lbs and 13.1 miles of walking and running with a pace of 15 minutes per mile.

I kind-of have to. It was $150 to register and I have a $2,000.00 vacation planned with my buddy Matt Myers.

So: "Fat since a kid," and "Bad family health," plus "Crazy-Big Challenge." Oh, and, "Really selfish but understandable reasons."

I'm gonna suck-down shakes and make a change in my life.