Giddyup

Weekly weigh-in: 202.2
Loss: -1.8
Total loss: 89.3 lbs.
Emotion: Galloping forward

Once upon a time, way back when, my not-yet-wife Anita and I went to this stable at a nearby park to take some horses out on a trail ride. These decrepit old beasts were in pretty sorry shape, and truth to tell, so was I.

They gave me Rusty, a large brown horse (Anita thinks there are all different “kinds” of horses, silly woman). I felt kind of bad sitting on his back actually, because I felt like I probably weighed just as much as he did.

Anyway, I managed to clumsily saddle up, and we started down the trail. Rusty plodded his way sure-footedly down the familiar path. It was a gorgeous summer day, but you could tell that neither of our hearts was much in the day’s adventure.

Anita was going on and on about how poor the horses were being kept and how crappy the equipment was while I was concentrating on two things and two things only: (1) trying to keep from making Rusty mad and (2) trying not to fall off.

We’d been out for quite some time, and I was starting to feel like I might just survive the outing, when suddenly, ol Rusty’s ears perked up and he started trotting.

“Wha?” I said, shocked that my zombie mount had suddenly sprung back to life. “Slow down, big fella.”

But Rusty didn’t slow down; he actually broke into a spirited gallop and I held on for dear life, though my portly ass was bouncing unmercifully on the hard saddle.

We turned the corner and I saw what Rusty knew from a lifetime of experience was just ahead: the barn… and quittin’ time.

I weighed in at a bit over 202 this morning, and folks… I know in my heart the barn is just up ahead.

My energy’s spiking with turbo-charged enthusiasm and my eating’s been spot-on despite a veritable minefield of holiday temptations. I have no doubt that I’ll be jumping the fence to 199 in the not-too-distant future.

It’s a pretty big deal for me, because I’ve wracked my brains and I simply can’t remember ever standing on a scale and not seeing the number start with “2” (and in the last twenty years, it’s been a whole lot closer to starting with a “3” than with a “1”).

I was worried that December might provide some annoying detours on my weight-loss journey, but so far… well, I’ve managed to stay in the saddle.

Here’s hoping you and your family have the most joyous holiday season imaginable.

I’ll be taking some time off from the office, but I’ll still be around here. After all, I’ve got a little work left to do.

And how do I plan on celebrating the new year?

I’m going to Onederland!