Day 1

Today is day one. Patty & I decided to join Pure Fitness in Chandler, AZ. I am so tired of making empty promises to myself and to Patty so we made a full 2 year committment to eliminate any objections to reaching our fitness goals. It's a long road ahead for us but we didn't get ourselves out here overnight nor do we expect to be at our goals overnight.

Some basic particulars:

Height - 5' 8 1/2"
Weight - 278 lbs. - this is actually down from 355 in 2003
Emotional Goal - 168 lbs - 175 lbs.
Waist - 46" - this is down from 52" to 54" in 2003
Emotional Goal - 33"
Body Fat - 32% - this is down from 53% in 2003
Emotional Goal - 12-14 %
Committment - Cardio 3-4 times per week, weights/machines/exercizes at 3-4 times per week.
Issues - July, 2005 diagnosed with Type-II Diabetes. This is primarily the case from being overweight for the majority of my life plus family genes. I am not blaming anyone for my diabetes. The hope is that once we have decreased our body mass, the liver, kidneys and pancreas will start to work properly and I will be able to control my sugars with diet and exercize.

This blog is also my committment to documenting my progress and my committment to achieving my fitness goals. All excuses for exercizing and getting fit are now put aside. There are no acceptable reasons to quit.

Great movie line from "The Shawshank Redemption". Tim Robbins tells Morgan Freeman, "You have to get busy living or get busy dying". In my case, pushing 360 lbs., I was on the tail end of that statement pushing myself to an early grave. After having all the pains in my body plus my desire to remain among the living, this blog becomes one of my committments to my success. I will post a few photos of me throughout my journey.

Feel free to post comments and encouragement to help me stay on track. Thank you!!

Jerry van West
9/10/05 - 278 lbs.
110 lbs. to weight goal