Determined To Succeed

This morning I awoke to a phone call from a friend of mine from Chicago, Mark, who was helping a friend of his drive a sweet 2010 little red Corvette across country and back to Chicago. What a great weekend they picked, too. The weather, at least in this part of the country is perfect. When we hung up the phone I wondered… did I ever tell you guys the story of the little red sports car? I’m sure I’ve mentioned it (maybe) once or twice in my blog but I will tell it to you now. Pull up a chair, and a great cup of coffee…

Years ago, 2003/2004-ish, I went car shopping. I am extremely brand loyal when I like something so I went to a Chicago-area Honda dealership to find a new Honda-mobile. Now, you know what a dealer’s showroom looks like – filled with all the latest and greatest from that company’s current fleet.

Stumbling through the middle of the showroom I saw it – a beautiful, sporty (and yes, red) two-door sports car. Being human I naturally gravitated to it. It was like the movies when the hero hears the song “Dream Weaver” and the soft light edges frame the love interest with little sparkling lights (think of the first time Wayne saw Cassandra in the first “Wayne’s World” movie). Anyhow, even though I knew I wasn’t going to get it I dared to try it out.

Boy was that a big mistake. Not because I wanted to try it out but because I couldn’t even fit in the thing. I couldn’t fit my fat ass into the driver’s side of the cockpit. It was horrible made worse by the fact that I then felt everyone’s eyes on me because that car, again, was in the middle of the showroom, spotlights beaming and shining on the fat guy who dared to dream and then woke up to the harsh reality that he wasn’t going to fit. No way. No how.

You bet your ass that was one of the things that motivated me to lose weight. Besides the fact that the car’s cockpit was small (it was sporty) my knee hurt like a son-of-a-bitch when I bent it. And if I couldn’t even watch movies in a theater without my knee hurting imagine was just trying to get into this car felt like. It was painful in more ways than one.

This is what I thought of as I spoke to my friend, Mark, this morning as he and Walt, the other friend, picked up this car and started making their way back. I thought about how much easier I fit into my old boss’s car when I lost the first 37 pounds. I thought about how my knee doesn’t hurt anymore when I get into and out of cars. I thought about the ability to now be able to fit into almost any car, airline seat or amusement ride – a dream that seemed so impossible just a few short years ago.

I call it “the other side,” that promised land of weight loss. You get to your goal and you try your best to maintain. That’s right, you never really end a weight loss journey because you have to make those smart choices every day to stay where you are but (BUT) you are enjoying the benefits of that weight loss. It feels good. It is an awesome feeling. It is the greener grass on “the other side.”

I know I still struggle with the last ten or so pounds I need to lose to get back to my goal weight but thinking about how far I’ve driven down this road to weight loss is part of what fuels me to keep going?

And what is your “other side?” What is it that you want to do when you lose weight? Whatever that is, let it fuel you to start or keep going because one day you, too, can fit into your little red Corvette or Honda or other sports car of choice literally or figuratively.