Of California, Babies, and a Guilty Conscience.

Well, the first ten days are done. I can't say they went extremely well, but they for sure could have been worse. The ten days started off really good. I exercised three days in a row, and had a fairly healthy diet. Things were going good. Last Friday, however, I had the great opportunity to travel to San Francisco with some family and friends for the 49ers Monday Night Football game. We left Friday night and made it to Reno, Nevada, before heading to San Fran on Saturday morning. We were gone Friday through Tuesday. As you can imagine, my exercise routine was severely interrupted and my diet suffered even more. I tried to drink water and eat healthy, but that just wasn't going to happen. It was hard being on the road so much. Fast food and gas stations became my mobile kitchen. It wasn't good.

On Wednesday, Marissa and I had the great opportunity to visit the doctor and get an ultrasound. We found out that we're having a boy!

As you can see, the first ten days were a mild success but I mostly had a hard time reaching my goals. One big positive that I've taken from this experience is the small conscience in the back of my head making me feel slightly guilty for not living up to my goals. It's helped to have something to look forward to and a goal to work for. I can tell it's going to be a struggle. Especially because I really need a complete change of attitude and lifestyle. I need a new paradigm on health and diets. I'm excited to keep working on this and hope that things will become easier as I go along. I know it probably wasn't a good idea to start right before the Holidays, but I figured it's easy to keep finding excuses not to start. I can always find some reason to not change. Excuses like "I'll wait for the new year" or "Once school starts, I'll be able to focus more" just weren't good enough anymore. There's always a reason to not do something. I had to find a reason to do it. That's what keeps me going. I have a clear goal in mind. I'm ready to keep rockin' and rollin'. See you in ten days.

Introduction

My name is Jesse Jensen, and I weigh 225 pounds. Yes, I'm overweight. This blog is about my journey to less-overweightness. I don't plan on losing enough weight to be considered "normal" but I do plan on doing what I can to be more healthy and happy. I passed the 200-pound mark somewhere in 9th grade. Yes, I've been overweight for the majority of my adult life.

I hit my high mark in the fall of 2008. I was a student at Utah State University and I weighed somewhere around 235 to 240 pounds (I'm only 5'10"). I decided something needed to change. I began by eating better. I emphasize better, not healthy. I also began exercising. I started by running one mile everyday. At first, it was a half mile, followed by a rest, followed by another half mile. After about three months I was able to run one mile in ten minutes. This was a huge milestone for me. After six months, I was running two miles a day, six days a week. I lost roughly 70 pounds by the summer of 2009. I started dating the beautiful Marissa Eddy and life was good. The day before Thanksgiving, I proposed to Marissa and we were married in March, 2010. I weighed about 175 pounds at our wedding.

Almost two years have passed since our wedding and, as you can tell, I've regained almost all of the 70 pounds that I lost. I named this blog "How to Lose a Pound in 10 Days" because I want to lose weight gradually. I believe this will help establish habits that will help me keep the weight off. I have some specific goals that I believe will help me reach my ultimate goal of 20 lost pounds in 200 days. I know that may not seem like a great goal, but I'm hoping the trend will continue after the 200 day mark.

Why 200 days? Well, there are exactly 200 days from today (December 13) to June 30, 2012. I figured 200 days at 1 pound every 10 days is very obtainable. I've also set some specific goals to help me along the way. These goals include:

1. Lose 20 pounds by June 30, 2012. One pound every ten days.
2. Be fit enough by June 30, 2012 to run the Kaysville 4th of July 5K race in under 30 minutes. My in-laws have a tradition of running this race every year. 
3. Exercise for at least 20 minutes 4 to 5 days a week.
4. Cut out fats and sweets as often as possible from my diet (as often as possible does NOT mean completely cut out). 
5. Drink more water. I'm trying to replace as many beverages as I can with water (for those of you who don't know me, I LOVE soda. It is one of my favorite things in the world).
6. Post to this blog every 10 days with a recap of the previous 10 days. I'm hoping this will keep me motivated.
7. Stay positive. I tend to complain. I don't want to be known as a complainer. The choice is mine.

So, there you have it. We'll see where this journey takes me. I don't really care who reads this. In fact, the only reason I'm doing it is to make myself accountable for my actions. Do I want to change? Absolutely. Is there anything that can stop me? Only myself. Hopefully you find this blog inspiring, if not entertaining. See you in 10 days!