It’s true. I enjoy my couch.

From this location, I watch TV, surf the web on my laptop, entertain guests, and most importantly NAP. When I get home from work, it beckons me to come sit. Often times, I obey. Sedentary moments follow. Combine this with multiple bad eating habits, and this 34 year old is staring at 35 around the corner fearing another pound gained here and another there.

Since a tremendous lifechange is around the corner with the coming birth of our first child, I’m pondering what kind of dad I’ll be and what type of example I’ll set for him. Obviously, I want to be the best dad I can be, and in many areas of my life I feel confident that I’ll do pretty good.

One area of my life that makes me pause is my health, specifically my weight. While I don’t feel that I’m abnormal in this area, I recognize a pattern of weight gain throughout my life with not even a hint of weight loss (except for that one summer).

Here is the timeline as I recall (keep in mind that I’m 5′-7″):

Year – Weight
1992 – 135 lbs
1994 – 155 lbs
2003 – 165 lbs
2004- 177 lbs
2005 – 180 lbs
2007 – 184 lbs
2009 – 200 lbs

I read an inspiring story today of a women who weighed 300 lbs who got fed up with it and decided to change her life. She began her transformational process by walking. Then she jogged. Then she ran. Then she ran marathons…fast. She’s lost 110 lbs and is totally addicted to running competitively. And she started her transformation at age 34.

So as I sit here  typing this post, I confess to you that I weigh more now and have a higher body fat percentage than ever before in my life. Not a terribly encouraging observation.

But I’m not without hope. I want to change, and I’m going to. Who’s with me??

I suppose some goals would be helpful so here they are.

EXERCISE GOALS for this week:

1. Go for walk/jog two more times this week (I walked 2.5 miles tonight after church).

2. Go to gym once this week for strength training.

3. Find and register for a 5k race this fall

While it feels odd to share this type of stuff so openly to the world wide web, I feel like it could generate a sense of social media accountability. If you are in the same or similar boat as I’m in, please don’t hesitate to jump in the conversation and begin a new journey of transformation. Let’s help each other achieve our goals and live life with more oomph than the couch can provide.

Mine does. Ines and I both got our teeth cleaned the other day, and laughed hysterically as we drove away from the doctor’s office when it was over.

Dr. Happy (not his real name) is an awesome dentist. My wife and I really appreciate his bedside manner and how pleasant he is. He’s just a freakin’ nice guy.

One of the medical procedures that he concludes every visit with is a check for lumps (cancer) around the jaws, cheeks, and neck. He examines these areas by sort of massaging the face with his thumbs and stroking them across the skin like a masseur would at a day spa.

With my wife in the room waiting on Dr. Happy to finish checking my face, I said, “Man, this is my favorite part of these visits. So relaxing.”

Dr. Happy replied, “I hate it when guys say that. It’s OK when women say that, but not guys.”

We all chuckled a bit in the room, but when Ines and I got to the car we belly-laughed. You just have to know Dr. Happy. He’s so nice and it was funny to see him squirm a little.

Probably had to be there.

QUESTION: When was the last time you laughed so hard that your eyes watered or your stomach cramped up?