The one thing I promised myself when I got back into this, is that no matter what happened, I would be real about my experience. So, here’s me being real: I’m failing.

While sending the check off to Free Arts was a great feeling, hoping that our small, collective effort could help, the time lapse has yielded nothing good in terms of my weight. I feel my body changing, and it sickens me. Now, I’ve always been content with who I am, and have mostly been able to carry out my life with a decent dose of confidence, but I’m feeling the great effect of doing nothing.

I’d like to get started with the next fund raiser, and in fact, I’ve got a really unique, small foundation that I have some ties to that I think is very deserving. However, in order for me to pick up where I left off, I need to lose weight.

Yes, you read correctly. I gained weight back. I suck.

I have, however, started running again, though after a few weeks, I managed to find myself in a rut. I am not much of a morning person, so I’ve not been getting runs in. It’s getting way too hot out there…and I need to find away to get up early and get motivated again.

I’m not going to tell you how much I’ve gained back (it’s not much), but I need to get back to my magic number so we can start the dang fund raiser.

It’s time to stop failing.

And I mean donuts as in more than one donut per person. At the time, it seemed like a decent idea. We were both in the mood for a treat, so John went and found us one. I don’t think a treat once in a while is going to wreck our goals.

The problem isn’t that we ate a treat, it’s that we ate too much of it. That much sugar in the body at one time just isn’t a good thing. A blood sugar spike can cause you to feel weak and tired. Not to mention that I just felt angry at myself for giving in to my cravings. I worked out yesterday morning and then neutralized the benefits by overeating.

I guess the thing to take away from this experience is that right after making the mistake of eating too many donuts, we picked ourselves back up and got back on the wagon. We got up early this morning and worked out. We are back to trying to eat healthy foods.

Living a healthy lifestyle is not easy. We have setbacks all the time. But the main thing is to keep doing small things that move us toward our goals. It isn’t the one messup or the one workout that will make or break things. It’s the things we do every day that matter.

Photo by D Sharon Pruitt

Weigh-In Wednesday – Jan. 7, 2010 from The Fitlanthropist on Vimeo.

Well, friends, it’s over. I set a goal of 15 pounds and lost 10…and frankly, I’m pretty happy about that. I had a few doubters going into this, and rightfully so. It didn’t seem logical to some that I might actually be able to lose weight over the holidays, but miraculously, I did.

So, what does this mean? This means that I am in need of DONORS. $10 is all you have to commit, and you can pledge your donation by going HERE. That page details all the ways you can contribute. Once you pledge your support, I will contact you individually to solicit your donation. Once all of the donations have been collected, they will be sent to Free Arts of Arizona. However, time is of the essence. I need these donations in ONE WEEK, so that I can start building the next project, which will most likely last longer, and have a higher goal. So, again, please pledge your $10 donation HERE, and I’ll be in touch. Some of you have already done so, and one individual has made a sizable flat donation, and for that I am grateful to all of you…but we need more.  Wednesday, January 14th is the last day I’ll accept any pledges for Free Arts of Arizona, so please sign up today…

Weigh-In…Tuesday? – December 15, 2009 from The Fitlanthropist on Vimeo.

So, now the real work begins. Time to step up and find the donors. Who will match me? Who’ll take my challenge? Who will at least give a little? And who’s willing to send me a cool product for a giveaway?

Stick with me guys, this is going to get interesting!

First Weigh-In Wednesday – October 28, 2009 from The Fitlanthropist on Vimeo.

Seems to me that runners are often doing something along similar lines…raising money per mile run or something like that. And though it’s been quite some time since I’ve headed out to pound the pavement, I’m hoping I can get back in the swing of things…perhaps I’ll do the Couch-to-5k program again, as it seemed to be quite useful, not to mention pretty fun!

There’s a lot to be done, and I conteplated not starting until I had everything in place, but in heeding my wife’s suggestion of, “You’ve got to start someplace,” I am going to proceed…and hopefully be able to incorporate some others’ help in making some decisions. Like which organization I’m raising funds for…

In the words of the not-so-immortal Jimmy Buffet: “Come Monday, it’ll be all right…”

I’m getting less shy and more candid about my life over the past couple of years. In that time, my wife and I quit our jobs and moved from Arizona to Georgia, I started a Ph.D., we had our son, I was challenged exponentially in my doctoral program (this will surely be strung out in other posts, so I’ll spare you here), I discovered relatively late in my education that I had a learning disability, I watched a loved one go through substance abuse issues, I discovered I had diabetes, and I summarily watched other areas of my health decline. Needless to say, it’s been a challenge.

So, I thought that I needed to get serious…and creative. I started a blog thinking that it would be a useful tool to help keep me accountable in my weightloss. And, in fact, the many readers of Fat Guy in a Little Coat did just that. They were warm and supportive. I, for the most part, was also relatively anonymous. I kept my ordeal to myself, a few others close to me, and to my new supporters. Then, I decided to go public and let all of my family and friends know. This time around, there’s no secrecy–I plan on being up front, honest and real. I had started running (I even ran a 5k and won an award in my age division) and in a matter of months, I lost 30 pounds. I was happy with my progress.

But then I stopped. And here I am with those 30 pounds back in tow.

So, I am here to start anew. This, as the title indicates, is my “new, new” beginning. I realize that I may be starting from scratch again, but I think that my health, my family, and my cause are all worth it. I hope you will explore this site and follow my endeavor. It’s not necessarily a new concept, but it is an experiment  I’m excited to be involved in. And yes, I also hope that you will become a matching donor for my dollar-per-pound goal, or make an in-kind donation once I have settled on the organization I wish to donate to.

Here’s to a new beginning.