50 by 50

Are you a bit perplexed by the title? I would almost solicit what possible answers the readers might think that it means but with my small readership, probably less than a half-dozen, I doubt it would be worth it.

Let's see....50 by 50. That would make for a great barn or hobby shed, don't you think?

50 by 50 would make for a HUGE garden too! Forget that noise, I wouldn't want to have to take care of something that big.

50 by 50 would make a great beach front lot on the lake!

Oh alright, I'll just have to tell you then.

Well, Tam and I really enjoy watching "The Biggest Loser" on Tuesday nights here at the Palmerosa. If I had to choose one show out of the entire week....it would be this show. I think we started watching either at Season 4 or 5, I'm not sure.

***I bet you can already figure out where this is going, right? *****

I must say that over the last few seasons there have been some incredible things happen on the show. Some things nearly "unbelievable" unless you had watched the whole season. Some of these contestants "metamorphosized" into something completely different when compared to how they started the season.

The guy who won the last season was from Broken Arrow, OK (near my hometown of Tulsa). He broke a record of losing 100 lbs in only seven weeks. By the end of the season he had lost over 50% of his body weight. He was a mere shadow of his former self.

Anyway over the last few seasons, we experience with some of these contestants some of the psychological barriers, hurdles, and other challenges people who have weight issues deal with on an on-going basis. Somehow, Bob and Jillian, the personal fitness trainers are able to reach into the hearts and minds of these contestants, and mine too, and touch them in areas we didn't even know existed. Sometimes it makes you very uncomfortable not only for yourself but for the contestant. I cannot tell you how many times a contestant might be explaining what they're dealing with or some obstacle they've just come up against and it's like they're reading my mail! I've realize over time that I'm not the only one out there - there must be millions of us.

Well, one of the things that the trainers tell you to do is to announce to your family, friends, co-workers, etc. that you're embarking on a journey to change your life. When you "put it out there" by telling people, then you've just set some things into motion. Once you've told them, you just became accountable. You see, if you don't tell anyone, and you fail to lose the weight you wanted, well no one knew in the first place.

Okay, have I built this up enough at this point? I can imagine you've already figured it out though.

Well, okay, here it is.........the title 50 by 50 is ......

Oh, do I really have to say? I don't wanna........

"Help me Jesus. I need thee, oh how I need thee".

I want to lose 50 lbs by the time I turn 50. As of today.....I have exactly 11 months.

Well, there it is! It's out there for the world to see. Now, I've done it! I've gone and opened by big mouth and now I really have to do something about it. Now I'm ACCOUNTABLE! Oh....yuk....that really leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

I told Tamala just this evening after dinner that we've been able to modify our behavior when it comes to money over the last 2.5 years. Now, we need to turn our attention to modifying our behavior when it comes to food.

50 by 50....you think I should have a T-shirt made up?

So, now that I've humiliated myself by broadcasting to the universe via cyberspace of my goal, I'm going to sign off and contemplate just what I've done.

Blessings!