40 BY 40

A few days before my 38th birthday I decided that I would give myself the gift of striving to be in good health for at least the next year. Since that time, I've joined a gym and started exercising every morning before work, and been very careful about what I've put into my body. While it's an admirable goal -- to eat healthy and to exercise daily and to get a normal amount of sleep and to not work too much and to yada, yada, yada -- I've already come to realize that it's not going to be enough. Maybe it's my morning exercise routine, or perhaps it's the lack of crappy foods these past three weeks, but I've now decided to shoot for an ever longer period of time and a more realistic goal (in terms of actual weight loss).

So, without further delay, today I officially announce my "40 by 40" campaign: A change in lifestyle that *will* result in me dropping and maintaining a 40 pound reduction in weight by the time I turn 40, and becoming even more comfortable with who I am along the way. To help me achieve my goals, I've decided to enroll in a medically-supervised weight loss program that provides the skills, strategies, and the tools necessary for a lifetime of effective health and weight management.

More on the program and my results in the weeks and months to come. In the meantime, if you know me and see me doing unhealthy things, feel free to call me on it. It's all about choice, and I choose me!

You go, Mikal! We could all stand to lose some and get healthy! Set a good example for us and we will follow. I would be interested in this program you are doing.

I'm so excited for you. You're going to do great. I vow to be supportive.

That's the Mikal I know - always thinking and re-thinking. Sounds like a good and reasonable goal. Godspeed. (to 40? What? Am I crazy?)