It’s not what I want right now that matters but rather what do I want in the future. I know that I am not alone when I speak of wanting instant gratification. The choice between eating the pizza now and stay fat or eat the salad and become thin later. We all desire to be thin but for some reason the urge for instant gratification over rides our thoughts and controls our actions.

What helps you focus on your goals? For me, I have to consistently see the goal and become obsessed with it. For example: This blog is a major part of keeping me on track. When I write and keep it up to date, it becomes my primary focus. In the beginning, I was more interested in seeing how much money I could make with this website. (BTW: I’ve turned off all advertising). Now my goal is simple - lose the weight and live the life I want. Not now but soon!

Where is Tony Robbins when you need him? I have a goal. I have the desire. I have the tools needed to achieve my goal. Nothing can stop me from reaching my goal if it is truly my desire to achieve.

“Do you remember the man that gave up smoking, drinking, sex, and pizza? He was healthy right up to the day he killed himself.”

I need to replace a bad habit with a good habit. Deprivation is one key to failure. So, when I quit smoking I need to exchange it for something else that I like.

I am certain that I can attribute much of my weight gain to my local carry out store. Almost everything they sell in that place is high in calories and fat. I have been in a habit of stopping there twice or more a day. Once in the morning to get my Diet Mt. Dew, cigarettes and Krispy Kreme Donuts. I’d stop home and get about the same with the exception of the donuts which I usually exchanged for a Nestle Crunch bar or some other fatting snack.

Now that I have quit smoking, there is no need for me to ever step foot back into the store. Today, I am also declaring it - No Carry Out day. If you have stock in Speed Way or Thorton’s gas stations then I would sell come Monday as the only thing I am buying from them from now on is gasoline.

Weight: 274.6 lbs

Day 1 Quit Smoking and Day 1 No Carry Out

Today, along with Weight Loss I am going to quit smoking. Smoking is something I have done for the past 22 years and I have tried to quit before but today is the day. I had a cousin that just died from Lung Cancer and I found out this morning on Mothers day that my ex-mother in law now has cancer. Both of them smoked and I am seeing a correlation here - duh!

I am doing the Nicorette gum. It usually holds me over during the day at work but I am just going to keep on going and say enough is enough. $4 x 2 = $8 per day that I usually spend. That is $64 per week not even counting gum. Which is $3328 dollars I can save a year. That will pay for a cruise - heck it would even pay for a personal trainer. Good bye and don’t come back in my life - ever.

I am putting together my gym bag. The goal is to have everything I need together so that I can go to the gym early in the morning and then straight to work. I am not saying this is the end all and may not even apply to women but here is what I am taking:

1. Gym Bag
2. Lock & Key
3. Work Clothes & Shoes
4. Pair of underwear & socks
5. Comb or brush
6. Deodorant, cologne
7. Shampoo, soap

My plan is to get up between 4:00 am and 4:30 am and drive to the gym by 5:15 am when they open. I will wear my gym clothes on the way. This will let me throw my gym bag into the locker and start working out immediately. Thirty minutes on the treadmill or elliptical machine will get me to around 5:50 am. I will then head to the shower, taking along my gym bag so that I can have access to the shampoo and soap. Drying off and changing clothes puts me to about 6:10 am. Dry my hair with the gym furnished hair dryer and out the door by 6:20 am. and drive to work by 7:00 am.

I’ve done this before and I think I can even beat that time but it is an approximate schedule that I would like to make a daily activity in my life. I think I will have to shave at home before I go because I have never seen it done at the gym and it would probably not be appreciated at the gym either? My main problem is getting to sleep early enough to do this on a consistent basis.